If dark tourism is your thing, consider the Cecil Hotel. With its rich history of murder, hauntings, and celebrity serial killers, the Cecil has a little something for everyone.
Built in 1927, the Cecil (now called the Stay on Main) opened with an eye toward the discerning traveler and offered 700 luxury rooms. However, soon after opening, the nation was struck by the great depression, drastically altering its business model. Located at 640 Main Street, near the Skid Row district, the Cecil survived by catering to the lower rung of the economic ladder, swiftly establishing a dark and sordid reputation.
Tragedy and horror walk hand in hand through the halls of the Cecil Hotel. Take the 1964 murder of Pigeon Goldie, a well-liked, 60-year-old telephone operator known for her love of feeding pigeons. She was found brutally beaten and violated in her room at the Cecil, pigeon food scattered around the room. Despite the murder of another woman, Viva Brown, a month earlier under similar circumstances, the police were unable to find the killer.
Then, there is the bizarre suicide of Pauline Otton. On October 12, 1962, Pauline and her husband, George Otton, argued in their 9th-floor room at the Cecil Hotel. George stormed out, leaving Pauline to stew in her rage. Fed up with it all, she threw herself from their hotel window, falling nine stories and landing on George, who was exiting the hotel at that precise moment! They were both killed instantly.
One of the most heartbreaking events occurred in 1944, involving a woman named Dorthy Purcell. Purcell and her husband, a shoe salesman, were staying together at the Cecil. At the time, she was nine months pregnant, though her husband was somehow unaware of this. One night, Dorthy went into labor as he slept, went into the bathroom, and delivered the baby. Though she later claimed she believed the child was dead, her true motivations can only be speculated upon. Dorthy Purcell through the infant out the window, where it landed on the roof of a neighboring building. The child died from its injuries. She was charged with murder, though later acquitted by reason of insanity, an entirely plausible condition considering the history of the hotel.
Death has been a constant resident of the Cecil Hotel, presiding over its nearly 100-year legacy of murder and madness. However, I would be remiss to not include two of Cecil’s most famous tenants, Jack Unteweger and the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez. Both stayed at the Cecil during the height of their killing sprees. The Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, was a frequent visitor to the hotel before her infamous death.
By far, the most puzzling death at the Cecil was that of Elisa Lam. The peculiar circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death have inspired theories ranging from murder to the paranormal. Ultimately, her death was ruled accidental, though countless questions remain unanswered. The case is too long and nuanced to do justice here, though there is no shortage of material to research. In fact, it is the subject of a Netflix documentary.
In brief, Elisa Lam was a twenty-one-year-old college student from Vancouver, B.C., traveling by herself in Los Angeles and staying at the Cecil. After failing to contact her parents and being reported missing, CCTV footage was released by the LAPD representing her last known location. The disturbing clip shows Lam in the elevator of the Cecil Hotel, desperately pushing buttons and hiding as if she is being pursued. Lam was known to suffer from bipolar disorder, her manic behavior adding to the mystery of her disappearance. The mystery deepened two weeks later when residents began to complain about dark, foul-tasting water and low water pressure. The problem was sourced to the hotel’s rooftop water tanks, one of which contained the naked and decomposing body of Elisa Lam. Her clothes were found folded neatly outside the tank, possibly suggesting she went in voluntarily.
The rooftop and water tanks are particularly difficult to access; it is uncertain how she could have even reached them. The prevailing theory is that she experienced an episode caused by an acute mental disorder, which caused her to become frightened and disoriented. Somehow, she made her way to the roof, possibly via fire escape ladders, and crawled into the tank. Once inside, she could not reach the exit hatch and eventually succumbed to the elements and drowned. While plausible, this leaves so many unanswered questions that it’s almost more believable that she was just another victim of the dark forces at play within the walls of the Cecil Hotel.
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed western horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy as well as other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions, examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
