Death at 816 Whitcomb Road: Part 2
Inconsistencies in the evidence and an unexpected conclusion
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Release Date: July 15, 2025
The evidence unfolds and theories fall
Cleveland police, the coroner and city forensic chemists were all involved in gathering and processing clues to what had killed the Fulvi family that cold January night in 1926. Their investigations began with the victims.
The bodies showed no signs of physical struggle or injury, and none had died in their sleep, instead, it appeared they’d been mobile, conscious and aware just prior to death.
Dorothy, age 8, and Mary, age 6, were locked in a final embrace in their shared bed, the two boys, James, age 14 and Rueben, age 10, were on the bathroom floor clutching their stomachs, and 34-year-old Arturo appeared to have been struck down while attempting to get out of bed, perhaps in response the cries of his children.
All were cold and rigid, suggesting they’d been dead some 12 hours, putting likely time of death sometime around 4 a.m. on Friday, January 29.
One of the first theories to be brought forward was food poisoning since it appeared that the two boys, at least, had experienced stomach pains prior to death. A possible suspect was the stewed fruit, which, if not properly prepared and handled could lead to bacterial contamination. Another idea along the same lines was that the combination of spaghetti, canned pineapple and wine had somehow created a poison-releasing chemical reaction.
Both theories were set aside when police interviewed the other guests, none of whom had gotten sick. 1
A second theory rose up when investigators looked at the heating system in the basement of the Fulvi home and determined the furnace flue hadn’t been connected to the chimney. The thought was carbon monoxide gas, odorless and colorless, may have filled the home and killed the victims. The “silent killer” as it was known, carbon monoxide gas seemed to explain the loss of so many lives in one home over the course of a single night, however, it too, was quickly removed as a possible cause of death.
“City Health Commissioner Harry L. Rockwood said this theory was very unlikely. Carbon monoxide poisoning always produces a cherry red color in the lips of the victims, he said, and this indication was lacking. If carbon monoxide was the case, he said, the mother and baby would not have escaped and none of the family would have roused from their sleep.” 2
The blisters and burns discovered on three-year-old Gina’s tongue and lips when he got to the hospital, led to yet another theory: maybe something the lad had eaten, or at least put in his mouth, had contained some sort of acid poison. 3 None of the victims showed similar signs, however, and the theory was not pursued.
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Something in the wine
As potential leads to the cause of death fell away, investigators turned their attention to the wine, a theory first suggested by 32-year-old Elvira Fulvi, the lone adult survivor of the tragic night, well before authorities had even shown up.
When asked by Good Samaritan Carl Benevol what had happened to her family, she’d replied, “they must have been drinking wine” 4
Given all the wine consumed the evening in question, the possibility existed that some of it could have been contained with wood alcohol. A by-product of the fermentation process, toxic levels of wood alcohol, also known as methanol, could lead to unconsciousness, seizures, coma and even death in some cases — symptoms at least similar to some of those seen in the dead members of the Fulvi family.
Since he was the evening’s host, Arturo likely provided most of the wine. Having worked at a brewery as a young man, and given America was in the seventh year of Prohibition, he probably made that wine himself. 5
Which may have been good news for his guests.
Arturo understood the importance of maintaining proper sanitation and care during processing and had at least a basic awareness of botulism and other fermentation-related health risks, including methanol contamination. This knowledge meant his wine was perhaps safer to consume than some.
In addition to Arturo’s wine, dinner guests and later-arriving relatives also brought wine to share throughout the evening, some of which was homemade, but likely also some purchased on the black market, which presented its own risks. Bootleggers often cut their product with denatured alcohol, including wood alcohol and other toxic liquids.
While tainted wine seemed a highly likely cause of death, investigators struggled to understand how it had killed so selectively.
Of all the people in the house that Thursday evening – Elvira, Arturo and their six children, the eight dinner guests and the other relatives who joined the gathering later and drank wine – only the members of the Fulvi family had been affected.
And even then, not all of them.
Twelve-year-old Victor had been present at the dinner, but when investigators asked about the wine, he admitted he hadn’t had any. And he hadn’t stayed. In fact, shortly after dinner, Victor said he’d left the party and gone to spend the night with his mother’s parents, Vincenzo and Elisabetta D’Ercole.
And, Elvira told authorities she’d had some wine, as well. Yet she survived.
Late on Friday, before any autopsies had been conducted and while city chemists were still hard at work analyzing the left over food and wine, authorities confidently released a preliminary statement on the case:
“Pending further investigation, Police Lieut. Harley H. Moffitt reported the case officially as ‘sudden death from poison, probably administered with criminal intent’. Detectives said the poisoning might be the result of a family quarrel.” 6
Copyright 2025 Lori Olson White
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Foot Notes
1 “Entire Family is Poisoned: 5 Die from Poisoned Wine, Belief”, The Daily Times, New Philadelphia, OH, January 30, P8.
2 “Murder Plot Suspected as Death Claims Five Family in Night: Guests at Feast on Fatal Night Escape Without Harm”, The Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, TX, Feb. 7, 1926, P. 8.
3 “Murder Plot Suspected as Death Claims Five Family in Night: Guests at Feast on Fatal Night Escape Without Harm”, The Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, TX, Feb. 7, 1926, P. 8.
4 Man, 4 Children Poison Victims: Murder Suspected in Deaths in Cleveland – Dead 12 Hours when Found; Mother in Hospital. Three-Year-Ols Baby Also Seriously Ill – Analyze Food and Liquor”, Youngstown Vindicator, January 30, 1926, Youngstown, OH, P1.
5 “Italian Maiden’s Suitors Galore: Elvira D’Ercole Rejects Many Wooers to Wed Her Choice”, Altoona Times, Altoona PA, November 24, 1910, P 1.
6 “Man, 4 Children Poison Victims: Murder Suspected in Deaths in Cleveland – Dead 12 Hours when Found; Mother in Hospital. Three-Year-Ols Baby Also Seriously Ill – Analyze Food and Liquor”, Youngstown Vindicator, January 30, 1926, Youngstown, OH, P1.
I'm beginning to think she may have intended to kill her husband.
The plot thickens!! Just catching up with this and I am rather proud of myself as I was shouting out possible causes of death, you were gradually ruling each one out, but I got most of the potential causes!! Another great story Lori!