Hopeless Romantic? Or Strange Obsession? The Story of Carl Von Cosel | Halloween Storytime - video Dailymotion

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The story of Carl Von Cosel aka Carl Tanzler, who's obsession with a beautiful young woman took a strange turn.  #carlvoncosel #corpsebride #carltanzler #keywest #florida

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00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge. Today we are going to have another Halloween

00:04story time. We are going to take a look at the story of Carl von Kosel and his love

00:10or obsession with a beautiful young woman.

00:21Let's take a trip back to April of 1930. Dr. Carl von Kosel, real name Carl Tanzler,

00:27was working as a radiologist at the Marine Hospital in Key West Florida when a beautiful

00:32young woman was brought to the hospital by her mother for an examination. Her name is Elena

00:38Milagro de Hoyos, age 22, the daughter of a local cigar maker. Elena was showing signs and symptoms

00:45of tuberculosis, which was a fatal disease at the time, and had taken the lives of most of her family.

00:51Carl was taken aback by this beautiful young lady. This was the very woman he had visions and dreams

00:56about for a long time, so he wanted to help her as much as possible so that maybe, if she's cured,

01:02then he might have a shot at dating her, even though both of them are married. Elena was eventually

01:07diagnosed with tuberculosis. Carl, with his self-professed medical knowledge, attempted to

01:12treat and cure Elena with a variety of medicines as well as x-ray and electrical equipment that were

01:18brought to Elena's home. He also showered her with jewelry and clothing and allegedly professed his love

01:24to her, but no evidence has surfaced to show that any of his affection was reciprocated by Elena.

01:30Despite his best efforts, Elena died on October 25, 1931. Carl paid for her funeral and, with her

01:38family's permission, had an above-ground mausoleum built in the Key West Cemetery. He visited his beloved

01:44Elena every night. He claims that Elena's spirit would sing to him and often told him to take her from the

01:51grave. One evening, in April 1933, Carl crept through the cemetery where Elena was buried and removed her

01:58body from the mausoleum, carting her through the cemetery after dark, on a toy wagon and transporting

02:04her to his home. Taking her to his laboratory constructed out of an old airplane he named after

02:09her, Carl began his reconstruction of Elena. He attached bones together with piano wire and fitted the face with

02:16glass eyes. He replaced her decomposing skin with silk cloth soaked in wax and plaster of Paris.

02:22Carl fashioned a wig from her hair as it started to fall out over time and the hair that he had received

02:28from Elena's mother. He stuffed her abdominal and chest cavity with rags to keep the original form,

02:35then dressed Elena's body in a gown, stockings, jewelry, and gloves, and kept the body in his bed.

02:41He used a lot of perfume, disinfectants, and preserving agents to mask the odor. He even

02:47inserted a tube so that he could have sex with her body. At last Elena was his and no one could take

02:53her away. That is until October 1940 when Elena's sister, Florinda, heard rumors of Carl sleeping with

03:01the body of her deceased sister. She went to Carl's home and demanded to know where Elena was. He took

03:07her into the bedroom where Elena was. Florinda was shocked and horrified, not really wanting to

03:12believe that this doll was her sister. She notified police and Carl was arrested. He was charged with

03:18wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization. Carl was

03:24examined by psychiatrists and found to be mentally competent to stand trial. After a preliminary hearing on

03:30October 9, 1940, at Monroe County Courthouse in Key West, Carl was held to answer on the charge, but the

03:37case was eventually dropped and he was released as the statute of limitation before the crime had expired.

03:44Elena's body was examined and put on public display in the Dean Lopez Funeral Home, where almost 7,000

03:50people came to see this corpse bride. The public move was generally sympathetic towards Carl, whom many

03:57viewed as an eccentric romantic. Eventually she was buried at the same cemetery, but this time her grave

04:03was unmarked to keep Carl from attempting, or anyone else, to steal Elena again. In 1944, Carl moved up to

04:11Pasco County, Florida. He wrote an autobiography that appeared in a pulp publication, Fantastic Adventures,

04:18in 1947. Separated from his obsession, Carl used a death mask to create a life-size effigy of Elena,

04:25and lived with it until his death at the age of 75 on July 3, 1952. His body was discovered on the floor.

04:33Three weeks after his death, it had been recounted that Carl was found in the arms of Elena's effigy upon

04:40discovery of his corpse, but his obituary reports that he died on the floor behind one of his organs.

04:46The obituary recounted, A metal cylinder on a shelf above a table, in it wrapped in silken cloth,

04:53and a robe was a waxen image. He remained loyal to his obsession until his last day on earth.

04:59So what did you think of this story? Let me know down in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this

05:04video, please smash that like button, and if you really like what I do, subscribe, will ya?

05:09Thank you for hanging out with me in the Dark Mystery Lounge. This is Phoenix, signing out.

05:14Have a good evening, and stay safe.

Hopeless Romantic? Or Strange Obsession? The Story of Carl Von Cosel | Halloween Storytime

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