In 1922, neighbours heard screams coming from a house in the affluent LA area of Layfette Park. When the police arrived, they found Fred Oesterreich dead & his wife Dolly locked inside in a closet. They were certain Dolly had done it, but they had no idea how.

Thread https://t.co/b4IJ044qj9

Dolly & Fred were both German immigrants. Fred had done well & owned a successful textiles company in Milwaukee. D&F married young (17 & 20), but, alas, it was not a happy marriage. At least not for Dolly, who had numerous affairs & was not too subtle about it either.

One affair that Fred found out about was with 17yo Otto Sanhuber, one of the repair men he employed at his factory. Dolly was into her 30s when this began. After confronting Dolly with the evidence, Fred demanded she end things with Otto. Dolly agreed & Otto made himself scarce https://t.co/Zplr9jMnFN

Some 5 years later, Fred & Dolly’s marriage had not improved. They moved from Milwaukee to LA after Fred became certain their house was haunted – things went missing & he was sure he could hear strange noises coming from the walls. https://t.co/UM3DPB1kHl

What Fred didn’t know – what no one knew – was that Dolly had persuaded Otto to permanently live in their attic so they could continue their affair. Otto cut off all contact with the outside world & hid himself away, relying on Dolly for food, water, & clothes. https://t.co/DQaI09JCXD

Later reports claimed she would bring Otto out to have sex with him multiple times every day.

When Fred insisted that they move in 1918, Dolly made sure their new house had an attic & snuck Otto in there too. By 1922, Otto had been secretly living in their attic for almost 10 years.

On August 22, 1922, a violent fight broke out between Dolly & Fred. Otto, fearing his lover was in danger, left his hiding place, grabbed a .25 calibre rifle & shot Fred 3 times, killing him instantly. https://t.co/7a981rOzAu

Dolly & Otto then staged the scene to look like a botched burglary & locked Dolly in the closet, with the key on the outside. Otto returned to his hiding place & Dolly screamed until the neighbours called the police. https://t.co/QDujKU7Qlf

The police were suspicious of Dolly but couldn’t explain how she killed Fred if she was locked inside a closet.

Dolly inherited Fred’s money & bought herself a new house… with an attic. Even though Dolly & Otto were now free to live openly, they continued to stick to their old arrangement. Otto would later say he was Dolly’s sex slave. https://t.co/gkujs3Pzq4

During all this, Dolly had been having other affairs & she had no intension of stopping. In fact, it was her messy love life that really did for her in the end. She gave one lover a watch she said had been stolen in the ‘robbery’.

Another came forward after a bad break up to say Dolly had asked him to get rid of a .25 calibre rifle after the murder. The police arrested Dolly in 1923. While in custody, she asked her lawyer (& lover) Herman Shapiro to feed her ‘vagabond half-brother’, who lived in her attic https://t.co/2M4b33Yi1L

Otto was very pleased to see another human & promptly told Shapiro all about his relationship with Dolly. Shapiro was not impressed & threw him out straight away. Otto legged it to Canada.

When Dolly & Shapiro broke up in 1930, he finally went to the police to spill the beans. Dolly & Otto were arrested & charged with murder. On July 1st, Otto was found guilty of manslaughter BUT as the statute of limitations had expired & he had to be released.

He changed his name to Walter Klein and moved to Canada, where he married, & lived the remainder of his life in obscurity. https://t.co/UYjZ2FgDec

Dolly was also acquitted. She took up with a new lover, whom she later married, & died a free woman in 1961. https://t.co/mESLYQhwmK