Although history is full of stories of star-crossed lovers and romantic obsessions, few are as strange as that of Carl Tanzler. His deadly infatuation with a young woman named Maria Elena de Hoyos crossed all the boundaries of obsession.
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It was a love affair that persisted not only in life, but his obsession beyond the grave, and that proved that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Dr. Carl Tanzler was born in Dresden, Germany in 1877. Although he grew up in Germany, he spent much of his adult life living in India and Australia.
When World War 1 broke out, he was held prisoner by the British military until the war was over. When he was released, he was barred from re-entering his home country.
Love at First Sight
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Tanzler headed to Holland and spent three years living with his mother until 1926 where he sailed from Rotterdam to Cuba and eventually made his way to the United States.
He settled in Zephyrhills, Florida where he was later joined by his wife and two daughters. The next year, Tanzler left his family and relocated to Key West, where he got a job as a radiological technician at a US Marine Hospital.
On April 22nd, 1930, a 20-year-old Cuban-American woman named Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos was admitted to the hospital where Tanzler worked.
Described as strikingly beautiful, she had always had her fair share of admirers. She had even been married when she was 16 but was abandoned by her husband after a miscarriage.
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Tanzler was immediately enamored by her. But to Tanzler it was more than just a simple crush.
You see when he was a child he claimed to have been visited by visions of a dead ancestor. He revealed to him the face of his true love, a face that he recognized as that of Maria Elena.
As she grew more ill and was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis, Tanzler made it his mission to save her. He convinced his superiors to allow him to conduct his own experimental treatments on her.
Tanzler used all kinds of elixirs and tonics, and even an X-ray machine that he had installed in her home. He also showered her with gifts of jewelry and clothing.
The Obsession
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She tolerated his infatuation, but by all accounts, it was a one-sided love. Despite the doctor’s best efforts, Hoyos died on October 25, 1932, in her parents’ home in Key West.
Tanzler paid for all of her funeral expenses and hired a mortician to embalm her. He even went as far as to build an expensive stone mausoleum for her. Unbeknownst to Elena’s family, Tanzler retained the only key to the mausoleum.
For two years, he visited the tomb as often as he could. Rumors about his obsessive visits to her grave grew so rampant that he was fired from his job.
After two years of frequent visits, Tanzler decided to take his obsession to the next level. In April of 1933, he snuck into the cemetery at night and stole her body, transporting it out using a toy wagon.
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He brought the body home and began work on preserving it, even though it was already very badly decomposed. Tanzler fitted the face with glass eyes, used wire to hold her bones together, mixed plaster and waxed fabric to replace her rotted skin.
He filled her body with rags to maintain the shape, and made a wig out of her own salvaged hair. To top it all off, he applied formaldehyde and perfume.
As the corpse continued to decompose, Tanzler would constantly replace the decaying skin with silk cloth soaked in wax and plaster of paris. He lived with the corpse for almost 7 years.
The Discovery of Corpse and Subsequent Trial
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During that time, neighbors reported looking through his window and seeing him dancing with what they thought was a giant doll. They also found it strange that he would frequently buy women’s clothing even though he lived alone.
In October of 1940, he was finally confronted by Elena’s sister. The decomposed body was found in his house and Tanzler was arrested.
After a psychiatric evaluation, he was deemed mentally competent enough to stand trial. The trial was a media sensation and drew huge crowds.
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During this time, Elena’s corpse was examined by doctors and according to some reports, they discovered a paper tube that had been inserted in the vaginal area of the body that was used for sex.
However, these claims have been disputed and it’s still unclear whether any necrophilia actually happened. Still I don’t think it’s too farfetched to think that it did.
A Spaceship
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To top it all off, he was building a spaceship to fly himself and Elena into the stratosphere. He believed that by doing this she would be rejuvenated by the radiation.
The charges against Tanzler were eventually dropped because the statute of limitations had expired on his crimes. After the trial, Elena’s body was put on display at a funeral home, and over 6,000 people paid to see her.
When the commotion died down, Elena’s body was buried in the Key West Cemetery in an unmarked grave. As for Carl Tanzler, he moved back near his wife in Pasco County, Florida but was never able to shake his obsession.
Using a death mask of Elena, he constructed a life-sized effigy of her that he maintained in his house until he died in 1952. Truly, an insane lover.
