The Los Angeles-based Cecil Hotel, dubbed ‘America’s Hotel Death,’ as per Esquire, has been a breeding ground for murders and suicides. In fact, the establishment has temporarily housedRichard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker. Synonymous with death and violence, the building was also the location of Elisa Lam’s tragic death in 2013.
The outlet reported that between 1931 and 1938, the hotel reported three other deaths. W.K. Norton ingested poisonous pills in 1931. Then, in 1934, Army Sergeant Louis D. Borden slit his own throat with a razor. Lastly, in 1938, Roy Thompson of the Marine Corps jumped from the building. This was followed by Pauline Otton’s suicide in 1962. The 27-year-old reportedly jumped from the ninth floor. During the fall, she accidentally struck George Giannini, 65, who was on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Both individuals instantly died on the spot.Insider’s report confirmed that Richard Ramirez, dubbed The Night Stalker, stayed in one of the rooms at the Cecil Hotel during his killing spree in the mid-80s. Ramirez reigned terror in Los Angeles between 1984 and 1985.
Reportedly, the Cecil Hotel also housed Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger, whose arrest came in 1976. The State handed him a life sentence but released him on parole in 1990, believing he was a reformed man.