There is a reason why cellars are scary and that is because it is where you hide the dead bodies. No, seriously. The cellar is often the coolest place in a house. It’s out of the way, out of sight, and almost no one visiting your home wants to check out your basement. If you lived in one of the older homes, all the better because you probably had a dirt or sandy floor. That meant the cellar was also the best place to bury the body.
On the downside, the cellar is often the first place investigators check out when someone has gone missing or if there is suspicion of foul play.
The Sealed Trunk
In 1910, a trunk was discovered in the cellar of a New York City apartment building. It was determined to have been sitting there for at least four years before anyone decided to look into the matter further.
When they tried to open it, however, they found the trunk had been hermetically sealed to, no doubt, prevent any foul odor from escaping.
After a bit of force, the trunk was opened and inside was a body, packed tightly into the small space. [1]
The Hotel’s Mummified Body
Two barmen went into the basement of the Equestrian Hotel in London, 1935, to clean it out. According to the one barman, “We decided to clear a recess that had been not touched, so far as I know, for many years.”
That is not surprising. Many old businesses will store things in the cellar and then allow the junk to simply accumulate without ever clearing it out. However, these two barmen were in for an ugly discovery:
“What we took to be a big roll of carpet was standing behind [two sofas], and we pulled it out and undid the rope. Then we began to peel off the mass of curtains and stuff, but as we did so I saw to my horror the shape of a body appear.
“I took off some more of the lower wrappings and then saw a pair of boots. I ran from the place…”
Who could blame the man?
The police were called in and the mummified body was examined. It was believed that the body might have been rolled up in the carpet for 10 to 40 years before being discovered. [2]
A Trail of Blood Down the Stairs
One day, Mrs. Wilkinson’s half-cousin showed up at her home in Sheffield, Tasmania, 1914. She invited him in and with her husband and adult daughter, they all sat down for a meal. Afterwards, her husband and daughter left for work, leaving Mrs. Wilkinson alone with her half-cousin.
Everything seemed just fine when they left, but upon the daughter’s return, she found the house dark and the front door unlocked. She entered the house and lit a lamp. As she walked into the living room looking for her mother, she found a pool of blood instead.
The daughter screamed and quickly ran to the neighbor’s house who returned to the scene of the crime. From the pool of blood was a trail. The neighbor followed it straight down the stairs and into the cellar where he found the body of Mrs. Wilkinson. Her neck had been slashed open and her body was terribly mutilated.
The police were called and they soon found the half-cousin at his home. Upon searching his residence, two blood stained knives were found in the outhouse. [3]
Under the Brick Floor
Harry Hubert Gamble was awaiting his hanging in the Lincoln Prison, England, in 1939, and it was all because he refused to admit what he had done to his wife. In fact, when her dead body was found in the cellar, buried under the brick flooring, he insisted that he had no idea how it got there.
He was tried for murder and given the death penalty, but the authorities continued to investigate the case. It wasn’t long before they found out what had really happened.
Mr. Gamble and his wife got into an argument on September 25, 1935. In the fury of the moment, Gamble fatally punched his wife and he panicked. He took her lifeless body down into the cellar, pulled up the brick flooring, and buried her there under the sandy dirt.
To explain her disappearance, Gamble told his family that his wife had left him, but after he sold the house her body was discovered.
With the new evidence, Gamble’s case was appealed, his charge was reduced to manslaughter, and he did not have to face the hangman’s noose. [4]
When Your Spouse Starts Digging in the Basement It is Time to Leave
The Plymouth, Massachusetts police were certain that Charles Dubois murdered his wife back in 1933. They had a blood stained mattress to prove that something went horribly wrong, but they could not find the wife’s body.
It was not long after they released the husband that they were called to his home once again. This time, Charles had committed suicide.
The home was thoroughly searched and buried within the cellar floor they found his wife’s body.
Upon investigating the wife’s death, they were given a letter that the wife had written to a friend shortly before she ended up buried in the cellar. In the letter, the wife complained that her husband simply wasn’t himself and that she was angry at the neighbor’s daughter for flirting with her husband. Incidentally, the letter also mentioned Charles digging in the basement. [5]
Limbs Sawed Off
Eva Swan, a young typist, had been missing for months until her remains were discovered in an abandoned house in San Francisco, 1910. Thanks to a tip from a young man, her tragic story was uncovered.
Eva had fallen in love with a wealthy man. When she discovered that she was pregnant and that there was no chance of becoming a wife to the wealthy boyfriend, she sought the help of a doctor and nurse. However, the abortion was botched and young Eva died.
In order to cover up the crime, Eva’s limbs were sawed off and a hole was dug in the cellar of the house. After her remains were placed in the hole, nitric acid was poured over her in the hopes of destroying the remains. A foot and a half of cement was then poured over her and a month later, the home’s occupants packed up and left.
Fortunately for all, both the doctor and the nurse were located and arrested. [6]
Well I have a human brain in a large jar in my cellar but there’s a good reason for that.
The rabid dust bunnies live in my basement, so you definitely have me beat in the weird department.