Chapter 1
While those who first step foot into The Cecil hotel might be too amazed by the hotels classy décor, polished floors and chandeliers. This old hotel has a very dark and gruesome past which some people might not know about.
The Cecil Hotel which is located in Downtown LA, was built in 1924 by 3 men called William Banks Hanner, Charles L. Dix and Robert H. Schops. The hotel has 299 rooms, 19 floors and 301 suites. The hotel first opened at the end of 1927. It was first made for travelling businessmen who would spend 1 or 2 nights at the hotel. The hotel is now called ‘The Stay On Main’ and I think it’s still open.
The First Documented Death At The Hotel:
On the evening of 22nd January 1927 52 year old Percy Ormond was dealing with family issues and had shot himself in the head in his hotel room. He survived the gunshot and was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
During the great depression which occurred from August 1929- March 1933 the hotel had multiple suicides, from people who jumped from the hotels windows, slit their wrists or throats and shot themselves. In 1931 a man called W.K. Norton died in his room after taking poisonous capsules. Through out the 1940′s and 1950′s more suicides occurred at the hotel and it gained the nickname ‘the suicide’. Some of these documented deaths are accidents. For example in March 1937 a woman named Grace E. Magro fell from the 9th story window. Her fall was broken by telephone wires which wrapped around her body. She later died at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
The Youngest victim of The Cecil Hotel was a new born baby. In September 1944 Dorothy Jean Purcell who was 19 years old was staying at the hotel with her partner named Ben Levine. Dorothy had woken up in the middle of the night with stomach pains. She had no idea she was pregnant. She went into the bathroom and gave birth. Thinking that her baby was still born and instead of telling her partner, Dorothy threw her baby out of a high window and it landed on a roof. The baby sadly died and was later found. Dorothy was found not guilty due to reasons of insanity.
