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Arts & Entertainment

Cleveland Author to Lead Discussion Tonight At Lakewood Public Library

Local researcher of some of Cleveland's most notorious unsolved crimes set for event Tuesday.

Death! Murder! Decapitations!

On Tuesday, Cleveland-based author James Jessen Badal will be talking about it all at the . The event will take place in the Main Auditorium at 7 p.m. and Badal will be available afterward for a Q & A session.

Badal is a leading expert on some of Cleveland’s most notorious crimes, including the Torso Murders of Kingsbury Run in Cleveland’s heyday, back in the early 1930s. The case involves an unidentified butcher who killed and dismembered at least 12 victims.

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“They were about a dozen decapitation murders,” said Badal of the Torso Murders. “This was when Eliot Ness was the city’s security director.”

 The author’s work includes the investigation of unsolved crimes such as the Torso Murders as well as the disappearance of Beverly Potts in 1951. Several of his books have become local hits including his latest, “Though Murder Has No Tongue: The Lost Victim of Cleveland’s Mad Butcher” released in August 2010.

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“We’re always looking for local talent,” said Martha Wood, the library’s adult program coordinator. “We chose (Badal) because of his association with the Doris O’Donnell’s Cleveland documentary series.”

The Doris O’Donnell’s Cleveland is an Emmy award-winning documentary series available at the library. Badal's contribution has become a widely checked out item.

“He does part of the narration and it was a very popular selection here," Wood said. "He has investigated some of Cleveland’s great mysteries.”

Badal said he’ll present a slideshow Tuesday to go along with his presentation, that will include crime scene photos from some of the original murders 80 years ago.

Visitors be warned: Some of the images may not be for the faint of heart.

“It’s some pretty grim stuff,” said Badal.

Badal is also a professor of English and journalism at Cuyahoga Community College East Branch, and in his spare time he continues to research and write about some of Cleveland’s greatest mysteries.

“I’m working on another book, but that’s at least a year down the pike,” he added.

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