← Murder, Mystery & Makeup
Murder, Mystery & Makeup
She kept her secret lover in the attic for 10 YEARS and no one knew?!
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Hi, friends. How are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian, and today is Monday, which means it's murder mystery and makeup Monday, if you're new here. Hi, my name is Bailey Sarian, and on Mondays, I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin. And I do my makeup at the same time. So today's story. Listen. We delve into, like, one of the strangest, most twisted stories of the 20th century. A tale that begins on a quiet farm, winds through secret lovers, and ends with a murder that will leave you questioning the very essence of love, loyalty, and obsession. So our story begins over 100 years ago with a girl named Valbooga Corshell. Though, like, most would come to know her, they would call her Dolly, okay? And thank God, because Valbuga was like, is. It's a hard one for me. So she goes by Dolly. She's born in Germany in 1880. And Dolly's family, like, soon left for the promise of America, you know, the idea of America, where they settled on, like, a modest farm in the rural Midwest. So little Dolly grew up on a quiet farm where she learned early on that life in the country could be unforgiving. Isolated and lonely and perhaps in isolation, Dolly began dreaming of a different life. And you know, when I was reading this, you know what it reminded me of? Did you see the movie Pearl? You see Pearl? It was giving Pearl, where Pearl's like, mama always told me, I'm gonna be a real big star. You know, did you see Pearl? Okay, that's what it was giving me. In her early 20s, Dolly left the farm and found what she thought was an escape. A man named Fred Oesterich. Fred was a wealthy, respected businessman. And he was also like the owner of a successful apron factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So the two meet, they fell in love, they got married. On the surface it seemed like Dolly had found her perfect match. He was wealthy, he was well connected, he was kind of charming. I hear it was like he wasn't that charming. He was like kind of charming. But life inside the ostrich home was a different story. Fred, Mr. Fred, he loved drinking whiskey, which made him pretty gruff and unpredictable. And also I guess it left Dolly like sexually unsatisfied. I mean she had her own desires. So there were rumors going around town that hinted that Dolly kept like a line of lovers to escape the unhappiness that she felt within the home. I'm not judging, but rumor had it she had like a lot of lovers. Good for her. But you know, she's married, so. But in 1913, Dolly's life took a fateful turn. So it was a quiet day in 1913. Dolly, home alone, asked Fred on the phone to send over one of his men to fix her sewing machine. It was broken and she needed some help with the repairs, you know. So that someone was Otto Sanhuber. And he was said to be a very like shy, lanky 17 year old with. With a soft spoken demeanor and downcast eyes. Now to most, Otto would be unremarkable, hardly noticeable. But Dolly saw him differently. When Otto arrived, he didn't just find a broken sewing machine. No, I think she would have done this for anyone who was gonna show up. It just happened to be Otto, you know. But when she answered the door, she was wearing nothing but a silk robe and stockings. She's like, hello. So yeah, imagine young man, 17, face to face with like a wealthy woman in such a state. She's like, hello, Are you here to fix my sewing machine? It's over here. I could show you where it's at. Dolly and Otto, they began an affair that grew more intense with like every passing week. At first they were like meeting in hotels away from the small town, prying eyes. But soon their meetings just moved straigh into the Oseric home. While Fred was away. Like they just were over it. They were over trying to be sneaky. So the neighbors, of course, you know how bored housewives they're watching. They notice a strange young man coming to the couple's home. And Dolly, ever resourceful, spun a tail saying that Otto was her vagabond half Brother. So she's telling everyone this and she's realizing, like, over time it became clear that simply deflecting attention would not be enough. So Dolly decided to start a new plan. A odd, odd plan. She had Otto move into the attic and live in there. This was her plan so they could be together. Yes. Oh yes, you heard that right. Otto, the quiet 17 year old lover, agreed to move into the ostrich attic. Now there are some rules in place. Otto agreed to abandon all human contact except for having sex with Dolly. This is a real story. He agreed to this? It's not funny. It's just like, okay. And I was like, well, wouldn't people miss him? No. He didn't have any family. I guess he didn't really have any friends or anything. So like, he personally didn't mind, according to him. I mean, looking back, he's a child. He's only 17. So, you know, not great. Now the attic, like, okay, it wasn't like a guest room or like a proper living space. It was an attic. It was cramped, it was musty. There was just enough room for like a cotton, a dim light, and a stack of books that Dolly brought him from the library. It was said that he especially loved reading nautical adventure books. Fun fact. So during the day he would come down into Dolly's house, he would clean. He was like their housekeeper. Sometimes he would distill gin. And then of course, he would engage in sexual relations with Dolly. So Otter later claimed that he loved Dolly as a boy loves his mother. Yeah, but like the relationship was far from motherly. I mean, they were having sex. Are you having sex with your mom? Hope not. By 1918, he became pretty much like a ghost in the attic. He was hidden from Fred, lurking above without Fred having any idea. When I was reading this story, I was like, is this true? Is this real? This? This what? Yes, yes. Now, it was said that Fred did notice like some strange things happening within the home. There would be times when, like he would hear footsteps when he's home alone. He's like, what is that? You know? He also noticed that his cigars were mysteriously vanishing. Once he thought he saw a man's face in the window. And he's thinking to himself, like, am I going crazy? Am I drinking too much? He had no idea that his wife's lover was living literally just above him. So in 1918, Fred's work took the family west to Los Angeles. So Dolly's like, that's fine. I don't mind going to Los Angeles. But there's One condition. This new house, wherever we live, has to have an attic. Fred didn't, like, question it. He's like, oh, okay, yeah, sure. Like an attic, sure. For your stuff or whatever. So he agreed. You know, they found the place. They found a home on what was 858 North Andrews Boulevard in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. And fun fact, the house still stands today. It's now, like, 858 N. Lafayette Park-place. The street name changed at some point, but the house is still there. So I looked it up on Zillow, and I was like, ooh, I wonder if they knew what happened in this house. So they move, and guess who came along. Otto. Bizarre. Bizarre. So Otto, I guess, was sent ahead of everybody else. So he goes to Los Angeles, and he already moves into the attic by the time that the Osterix had moved into the house. So he's already all, like, settled. So by this point, Otto was not just Dolly's lover, but also the housekeeper. And now he was considered. He would even say this later. He was considered, like, Dolly's sex slave. I know. I was like, what? This poor guy? But Otto also thought of himself as Dolly's protector, literally watching over her from the attic, willing to do anything to, like, keep her safe. So after moving to Los Angeles, the marriage between Dolly and Fred seemed to just go to shit. Okay, look, well, it was already bad, but I guess it got worse. Like, Fred began drinking more and more, and then they would get into arguments all the time. And it was said that sometimes the arguments would become violent. So August 22, 1922. Dolly and Fred, I guess they were in a. Another one of their heated arguments. And this, like, fight was fierce. Their voices were rising and anger filling the air. Okay, not great. So hearing the commotion, Otto decided that he had to protect his lover. And he had had enough. He had had enough of this fighting and this bickering, and he needed to step in so he hears the fighting going on. He creeps down from the attic. Oh, yes, he creeps down from the attic. He's, like, silent as a shadow. And with him, he was carrying two.25 caliber pistols. Now, without a word, Otto aimed and fired three shots into Fred's chest. So the sound of gunfire, like, shattered the house's silence. And Fred fell dead before he hit the floor dead. So I guess allegedly, we don't know. I wasn't there, but allegedly, Otto quickly, like, told Dolly to get into the closet and, like, locked her in the closet. And he was going to stage the scene. Then he climbed back up to the attic, guns still in hand. So when the police arrived, they found Dolly locked in the closet and Fred dead on the floor. So police, they suspected a robbery was the motive, because Fred's gold watch, a very expensive gold watch, was missing. It was taken by Otto, but it was missing. And Dolly was locked in the closet, which couldn't have been locked from the inside. So they're like, oh, someone came in, stole some jewelry, whatever, and then locked her in there, shot him dead, whatever. Police end up arresting this guy named James Casey, who was found with a.25 caliber weapon, which was missing four rounds, the number of shots fired in the home. I'm not sure how they connected him to it, but they thought it was this guy for a while. Then they realized it wasn't this guy. Police also suspected a disgruntled employee, thinking that Fred's employee must have just, like, hated him or something and, you know, killed him. The police went and as far as tapping his phone to see if he would confess or something, but that was proven unsuccessful. Police didn't check the attic because why would they, you know? So Dolly took her next steps carefully. She disposed of the murder weapons with the help of a new lover. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. She had a new lover. His name was Roy Klum. So he takes the murder weapons and he threw them into the la Brea Tar pits. It's in Los Angeles. It's these big tar pits where, like, if you throw something in there, it'll get sucked down, and then you'll never see it again. It's very bizarre. So great place to hide a murder weapon, really. When questioned by police, Dolly, you know, she played the role of, like, the grieving widow. She was like, oh, my God. It was just, like, so traumatizing. I just didn't know what to do, you know? And she was able to collect her husband's fortune. It was, like, millions of dollars and any the property. So with this new money, Dolly bought a new house with a spacious attic. I know. I was thinking, okay, once her husband was gone, wouldn't she just, like, allow Otto to, like, live in the house freely? No, he was still sent to live in the attic. I don't know. I don't know. So by this point, the relationship between Otto and Dolly had evolved into an S and M relationship. Dolly was the dom and Otto was the sub. Very ahead of their time, huh? So they're into that, and this is, like, their new arrangement. And Otto just continues his life in the shadows, hid from the world. As Dolly's ghostly Lover. I don't know if he's getting vitamin D. But things started to unravel when Dolly, in a fatal lapse of judgment, gave Fred's supposedly stolen watch to her lawyer, who was also now her new lover. His name was Herman Shapiro. So she gifted him Fred's watch that was stolen. So he grew suspicious because again, this watch, where did it come from? Dolly swore up and down that she had found the watch under the couch cushions. She's like, I swear it was in the couch cushions. That's crazy. But this was enough to raise some serious red flags. And then remember Dolly's other lover, Roy? So Roy came forward to the police about him disposing the guns in the tar pit. I guess Dolly tried to end things with Roy and you know, she was like ready to move on with her lawyer. And this made him very upset. So he went straight to the police and told them what he knew. I know Dolly must have had some like, beer flavored nipples, right? These men just were loving her. So police, they end up going out to the tar pits. And they were actually able to get the weapons out, but they were way too deteriorated to positively tell if they were the ones that had fired the bullets. But Dolly's story was beginning to crack the police. They had found out about the watch and they felt that they had enough evidence to arrest her. Now, mind you, at this point, they didn't even know about the guy in the attic. So as time is going on and the case is unfolding, they learned about Otto living in her attic. They learned about him because while she was incarcerated and she's in prison, you know, so while she's incarcerated, she asked her lawyer to bring food to her vagabond half brother to the house. And that's when her lawyer, Shapiro, he found out about Otto living in the frickin addict years in the attic. And at the time, he revealed himself as Dolly's longtime lover and self described sex slave. So the lawyer's like, what the F did I am I involved in right now? So in 1930, Otto, he confessed to the murder, but claimed that he was under Dolly's control. Fair. The press was having a field day and they described Otto as living in the attic in his cave, like home, calling him the Batman. It kind of makes sense though. So the trial concluded with Otto being found guilty of manslaughter. But he was released nine days later due to the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations at this time when this story happened was not what it is today. So he was out really quick. Okay, so he gets released, Otto, he finds a new wife, her name's Matilda Klein. And he ended up like marrying her right after leaving Dolly. And honestly, like, I kind of think, like, okay, he did kill someone, but that was fucked up the whole situation, right? So, you know, I kind of don't. I don't know. I don't think he really should have been in prison that long. I don't know. But Dolly, she had faced her own trial in August of 1930. Now, to be fair, they didn't really know what they were charging her with because they didn't have anything linking her to the crime. Nothing did nothing besides Otto's words of like, she made me do it. And that was about it. But Dolly, she stood on the witness stand, she was tearful, she was expressing regret. And then in the end, three days of deliberations, the jury was deadlocked. The prosecution tried to get a retrial, but after much back and forth, the judge dismissed the charge on the grounds of insufficient evidence and Dolly was set free. Her charges were officially dropped in 1936. So, up, up, following the trials, Dolly and Otto, they went their separate ways for good. Dolly ended up marrying another man. His name was like Ray Hedrick. So she became Dolly Hedrick. And Ray Hedrick was 15 years younger than Dolly and just one year older than Otto. So she had a thing for just like young men. Dolly ended up passing away in 1961 at the age of 80, completely scot free. She got to keep that her, Fred's money and everything. And she had a little sex slave later on. Otto, he ended up changing his name to Walter Klein because everyone knew him like it was all over the media and he was labeled the Batman. So he changed his name to like get away from that. He ended up passing away in 1948 at the age of 60 and is actually buried in Hollywood. Ah, yes. A man lived in an attic for 10 years. 10 years. Consumed by love, lust and loyalty, A wife manipulated those around her, all to escape her empty marriage. A husband died unaware that the secret of his death had been hidden in his own home for 10 years. Like what? In the end, you know, maybe Dolly's only true love was the power she held over those who like, thought they knew her. I think she just liked power. Obviously she was a dom. You know what was funny though, this is a side note because I was reading like some of the court stuff and they were saying in court, like a court reporter said that Dolly was like. They didn't say she was ugly. But they were like, she's nothing special. I don't know why she's getting all these men. It was really saucy and sassy. So the scandal of Dolly continued throughout the years to inspire various adaptations, including there was a movie in 1968 called the Bliss of Miss Blossom. There was another adaptation that came in 1995. It was like a made for TV movie called the man in the Attic. Great title. And then finally, there was a more recent film in 2018 called the Lover in the Attic. A true story. The end. Well, short and kind of sweet, huh? That, my friends, is the story of Dolly Ostrich. I hope I sing her last name correctly. I know it's kind of bare, but I found it very interesting because first of all, who keeps a lover in the attic for 10 years? And, like, do you even think Otto should have gotten, like, longer jail time? I don't think so. I mean, he killed someone, but, like, also, he was young and, like, kept in a fricking attic away from people for a long time. Dolly for sure should have gotten prison time, but they couldn't link anything to her. So. Yeah, talk about a psycho. You know what I'm saying? Talk about psychic. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. Do your skin care, because we're getting old. Okay? And I'll be seeing you guys later. Goodbye.