45 Murderers by Craig Rice

Author:Craig Rice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Media
Published: 2017-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

THE RELUCTANT COP

Remember the story of “Jack the Ripper,” whose frightful crimes terrorized the city of London more than fifty years ago?

For a few horrible hours, Los Angeles citizens believed they had a Jack the Ripper in their city. Perhaps we should say, an unbelievably few hours—since the first crime was discovered at 2 P.M. on November 15, 1944, the second at 3 P.M. and, at 5:30 P.M. of the same day, the suspect had been taken into custody. By 7:30 he had decided to talk.

Thanks to the quick thinking of Patrolman Harold Donlan of the city police, Los Angeles citizens drew a long breath of relief that night. One young woman in particular must have been greatly relieved when headlines announced that Otto Steven Wilson was in jail—but, more of that story later.

The “Downtown” of most American cities is a strange mixture of expensive hotels and cheap flop-houses, good theatres and burlesque joints, fashionable cocktail lounges and low saloons, magnificent department stores and dingy resale shops; with a sprinkling of overnight missions, cab-stands and flower stalls.

In Los Angeles, the “downtown” boils down to Skid Row, where Otto Steven Wilson was, to use his words, “looking for love.”

It was early afternoon on November 15th when the first body was discovered in a hotel room by a horrified chambermaid. That word “horrified” is my entry for the prize understatement of the year—because the victim, Virginia Lee Griffin, 25-year-old wife of a Los Angeles truck driver, had been literally hacked to death.

What Detective Lieutenant Harry Hansen found stuffed in the closet of that hotel room was not a pretty picture. Let’s not go into details.

The ink couldn’t have been dry on his report before the second victim was discovered, again by a horrified chambermaid. This time the victim was Mrs. Lillian Johnson, 38, whose hideously mutilated body was found in another hotel room only a few blocks from the scene of the first crime.

Before nightfall the biggest manhunt in Los Angeles history was underway, centering on Skid Row bars.

Otto Steven Wilson, “The Romeo with the butcher knife,” was also concentrating his attention on Skid Row bars. He was still looking for love in a big city jungle of saloons, cheap hotels, second-hand stores and second-hand lives. He’d met a girl and was buying her a drink when Patrolman Donlan happened in.

Patrolman Donlan is the kind of cop you yell for when there is a burglar in the house—and who prompts you to tell your small children, “If you ever get lost, look for a policeman.” He’d been a member of the homicide squad. Three years before the murders, he’d asked to be returned to street duty. The reason? I’ll tell you later.

While other members of the police force combed the city, Patrolman Donlan did his duty and covered his beat near 3rd and Hill Streets, but he was looking for “Jack the Ripper.” He told his story later:

“I heard the description and remembered I had seen a guy that looked like that. So I looked into a few of the bars and in one of them, I saw him.

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