Tillie Klimek

Background

Ottilie “Tillie” Klimek (also known as Tillie Gburek) was a Polish American serial killer active in Chicago. She lived among Chicago’s Near North Side Polish population and was described in local accounts as a “psychic” who foresaw the future. The accounts tied her notoriety to predictions of deaths for her husbands and certain neighbors, with the idea that she acted through scheduling deaths rather than claiming a psychic role.

Tillie was born Ottilie Gburek in Poland and came to the United States as an infant with her parents.

The offence

Tillie was accused of poisoning husbands, relatives, and neighbors, with lethal doses of arsenic found in exhumed bodies. Her case became associated with poison killings that were described as involving a “Bluebeard clique,” and she was linked to “Bluebeard” poisoners in the Chicago Little Poland neighborhood.

Murder of Frank Kupzsyk

The murder for which Tillie was eventually tried was the killing of Frank Kupzsyk, her third known husband. Frank became ill at 924 N. Winchester, where Tillie had previously lived with a boyfriend under the name of Meyers. Tillie told neighbors that Frank “would not live long.” She mocked Frank, greeting him in the morning by saying “It won’t be long now,” and “You’ll be dying soon,” and she joked with neighbors that he had “two inches to live.” She knitted her own mourning hat as she sat at his bedside (later worn to the trial). She also asked the landlady’s permission to store a bargain coffin she had found for sale in the basement.

After Frank’s death, Tillie married Joseph Klimek and lived with him at 1453 Thomas Street (1453 Tell PLace in the scraped text). When Joseph Klimek became ill, doctors suspected arsenic poisoning, and tests confirmed it. Tillie was arrested. It was later said that she told the arresting officer: “The next one I want to cook a dinner for is you.”

Bodies of Tillie’s other husbands were soon exhumed and found to contain lethal doses of arsenic, while the soil around them was clean.

Alleged poison victims and insurance motive

Tillie was found to have taken out life insurance policies on her husbands and profited greatly. Police also arrested her cousin, Nellie. Tillie told police that she was tired of her husband Frank, that Nellie suggested divorce, and that Tillie said: “I will get rid of him some other way.” Tillie claimed that Nellie had given her a “goodly portion” of a poison called “Rough on Rats.”

After Tillie’s arrest, investigators noted that several relatives and neighbors of Tillie and Nellie had died after being exposed to poison. The scraped material lists a wider set of alleged victims, including those said to have been poisoned but not to have died.

A narrative sequence described the reported pattern: Tillie took out insurance policies, acted while victims were ill, and in at least one case kept close conduct around the body. The scraped text also described an episode after a husband died in which Tillie played dance music on a phonograph in the room where the body lay, and it described Tillie securing a bargain coffin before a husband’s death.

Investigation

Police exhumed multiple bodies tied to deaths alleged to be caused by arsenic poisoning. Physicians and chemists were described as finding arsenic sufficient to kill in the exhumed remains and in cases where victims were reported to have become gravely ill or partially paralyzed.

Detectives described tracing Tillie’s “nuptial ventures” and gathering evidence including insurance policies and poison administration allegations. Joseph Klimek was described as slowly recovering and as having been paralyzed after prolonged secret arsenic exposure.

Arrest

Tillie was arrested after doctors confirmed arsenic poisoning in Joseph Klimek. The scraped text also stated that Joseph Klimek had been dragged back to life from the very edge of the grave.

Trial

In March 1923, Tillie was found guilty of the murder of Frank Kupzsyk, her third known husband. The trial is described as being held in Cook County, and observers noted that Tillie was not “beautiful or charming,” and spoke only broken English despite living in the country since infancy.

Jury and sentencing remarks (courtroom conduct and statements)

The scraped material reported Tillie’s stance in the Cook County Courthouse, describing her chanting that the “netherworld defied the mortals to send her to death.” It stated:

“She would not be executed for her crimes, she oathed.”

It also stated that she was sentenced to life in prison, described as the harshest sentence leveled against a woman in Cook County at the time.

Sentencing

Tillie was sentenced to life in prison in 1923.

Appeals

The scraped material did not provide an appeals outcome for Tillie.

Nellie’s case was addressed in the scraped text as well: Nellie was acquitted after spending a year in prison during a drawn-out trial.

Outcome

Tillie died in prison on November 20, 1936.

Aftermath

The case attracted local attention and continued discussion. Nellie’s acquittal after a year in prison was mentioned. Tillie’s death in prison closed her life sentence.

Alleged poison plot victims (as listed in the scraped material)

Alleged to have been poisoned and to have died

1. Jospeh Mitkiewicz, first husband (arsenic found in body; had $1000 insurance; died 1914); lived on Lubeck St (now Dickens Ave).
2. Joseph Ruskowski, second husband (arsenic found; left about $2k in cash/insurance; died 1914).
3. Frank Kupszyk, third husband (arsenic found; murder for which she was convicted); died 1921; had 1k in insurance.
4. John Guszkowaki, former sweetheart of Mrs. Klimek, who jilted her.
5. Mrs. Rose Chudzinski, cousin (died 1919 after attending Tillie and Frank’s wedding party).
6. Helen Zakrzewski, cousin (died 1915, age 15).
7. Stanley Zakzewski, cousin (died 1912, age 16).
8. Stelle Zakrewski, cousin (died 1913 at 23); Tillie tended to the above three when they were ill.
9. “Meyers,” a husband or sweetheart (missing as of March, 1923).
10. Wojek Strummer, first husband of Nellie Koulik (died 1918; arsenic found); Nellie was a cousin of Tillie who was tried along with her.
11. Dorothy Spera, granddaughter of Mrs. Koulik (died age 2).
12. Sophie Sturmer, daughter of Mrs. Koulik (died 1917).
13. Ben Sturmer, twin brother of Sophie (died a month after his sister).
14. Joseph Klimek, husband of Tillie (poisoned but recovered).
15. John Sturmer, son of Mrs. Koulic (recovered when sick after father died in 1918; thought his mother poisoned him).
16. Mrs. Rose Splitt.
17. Miss Stelle Grantowski, sister of former boyfriend of Tillie.
18. Nick Micko, cousin (got sick of arsenic but recovered).
19. Mrs. Bessie Kupcyzk, sister in law of Frank K. (ill after eating at Tillie’s; recovered).
20. Miss Lillian Sturmer, 15, daughter of Mrs. Koulik (lived at Mrs. Klimek’s home for a year at age 13; deathly sick from the food and still suffered heart trouble).

Alleged to have been poisoned but not to have died

• John Sturmer, son of Mrs. Koulik (taken ill but recovered; aiding state to prosecute his mother).
• Mrs. Rose Splitt (says she was poisoned by candy given to her by Mrs. Klimek because of jealousy).
• Miss Stella Guszkowski, sister of John Guszkowski (sweetheart of Mrs. Klimek); given candy by Mrs. Klimek and became ill.
• Nick Micke, son-in-law of Mrs. Kuizlowski, sister of Mrs. Koulik, and cousin of Mrs. Klimek (whose life was insured by Mrs. Koxlowski); found wandering about streets stricken with partial paralysis, which physicians said was caused by arsenic.
• Mrs. Bessie Kupczyk, sister-in-law of Frank Kupczyk (told state’s attorneys she was taken ill after eating at Mrs. Klimek’s home).
• Miss Lillian Sturmer (15-year-old daughter of Mrs. Koulik by first marriage; lived at Mrs. Koulik’s home for one year when 13 years old; made deathly sick by food; still suffered heart trouble).

Other details

Marriages and deaths described in the scraped material

• Tillie married her original husband John Mitkiewicz around 1890, and he died after a short illness in 1914; the death certificate listed the cause of death as heart trouble.
• After Mitkiewicz’s death, Tillie quickly remarried Joseph Ruskowski, who lived nearby. Ruskowski also died in short order.
• A boyfriend who “jilted” her also died shortly afterward.
• Tillie later married Frank Kupzsyk (described as her third husband).
• After Frank Kupzsyk’s death, Tillie married Joseph Klimek and lived with him at 1453 Thomas Street.
• The scraped material also listed Joseph Klimek as a fourth husband in a separate narrative thread.

Family and legal co-accused

• The scraped material stated that Tillie’s cousin was Nellie and that Nellie was tried along with her.
• It stated that Nellie was acquitted after spending a year in prison during a drawn-out trial.

Quotations

• Tillie to the arresting officer: “The next one I want to cook a dinner for is you.”
• Tillie to Nellie regarding getting rid of Frank: “I will get rid of him some other way,”
• Tillie’s alleged words about Frank to neighbors included: “It won’t be long now,” “You’ll be dying soon,” and “two inches to live.”
• A quoted description from the scraped material about Tillie’s alleged prison teasing included that she convinced Nellie she was about to be taken out and hanged.
• The scraped material included a quoted framing about a proposed trial asking for death penalties:
  • “W. F. MacLaughlin says the trial jury wilt be asked to impose death penalties, which, if granted, will break an established precedent—for no woman ever has been executed in Illinois.”
  • “Crippled by Arsenic”
• A statement attributed to physicians in the scraped material described: “Crippled by Arsenic” and that Joseph Klimek was “paralyzed by the secret ‘introduction of arsenic into his food over a prolonged period.’”
• Joseph Klimek was quoted as muttering: “She made me get more insurance,” and “I did not suspect, though the soup and things did taste queer. Then I got sick.”
• The scraped material included a quotation attributed to the prosecution: “They are going to the rope,” and “I’ll help send them there.”
• The scraped material included quoted statements attributed to the women:
  • “We’re going to be freed,”
  • “But a jury is yet to have the final word.”
• The scraped material included a quotation describing a courtroom stance and vow:

Observations and descriptions included in the scraped material

• The scraped material described Tillie as “squat” and speaking only broken English, and that reporters noted she was not beautiful or charming.
• It stated that papers began to speak of Tillie not as a solo murderer but as “high priestess” of a “Bluebeard clique” in Chicago’s Little Poland neighborhood.
• It stated that Joseph Klimek would survive, though he was still in the hospital more than three months later.
• It stated that other wives in the neighborhood were arrested and released.