Zorba the Face Eater

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Zorba Mousalakis more commonly known in the press as Zorba the Face Eater was a Greek serial killer operating in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area from 1949 – 1952. He lived and operated from his home in the area now known as the Italian Market near Montrose and 8th Street. Zorba had twenty-five known victims and was suspected to have been responsible for thirty-seven more. The bodies of seven of his twenty-five victims were found in a crawl space in the living area of his house. As his name in the press would suggest, he frequently would consume the faces of his victims both to hinder in their identification and for sexual gratification. His actions terrorized Philadelphians for three years until a chance accident exposed his activities. He was savaged by a runaway horse and lay in a coma for five days. His estranged brother visited his house to keep everything in order while Zorba recovered in the hospital, and he discovered the bodies in the crawl space. Zorba was indicted for those seven murders. When he had recovered adequately, he was taken into custody and brought to the city jail. He committed suicide before being brought to trial.