(YouTube video transcript)
In February 1964, a neighbour in a Cole Valley rooming house in San Francisco heard disturbing sounds coming through the ceiling.
First came a young woman’s voice, crying out about her missing dog. Then screams, the sounds of a struggle, repeated flushing of a toilet… and finally the noise of a saw.
Weeks later, on the 3rd of March 1964, two scorched suitcases were found beside Highway 1 near San Gregorio.
Inside were the dismembered remains of 21-year-old Elinor Ann “Elly” Kahn.
The woman who killed her would later confess to the crime — during a dinner date.
This is the Cole Valley Suitcase Murder.
Intro
Welcome to True Crime Tales with Cosette.
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The Setting
The house still stands at 826 Ashbury Street in Cole Valley, San Francisco. In 1964 it was a rooming house, just a short distance from the corner of Haight and Ashbury — an area that would become famous a few years later during the Summer of Love.
Jean Marie Toman, then 35, managed the property. She was a twice-divorced mother of six.
One of the people living there was 21-year-old Elinor Kahn, known as Elly.
Who Was Elly Kahn?
Elly Kahn had a difficult early life. She had spent time at the Homewood Terrace orphanage as a child. She later lived in Long Beach, attended college there, and eventually returned to San Francisco.
She worked as a pharmacy clerk and as a real estate salesperson, and she took night classes with the hope of becoming a veterinarian. Friends said she loved animals, especially her black cocker spaniel named Judy.
She also struggled with personal problems, including issues with medication and her mental health. Her father had previously sought psychiatric care for her.
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The Crime
According to later accounts, the fatal quarrel took place on or around the 7th of February 1964.
The neighbour downstairs, Kovita Cox, heard Elly shouting about her missing dog: “What did you do with my dog? It’s the only one that loves me.” Then came screams, the sounds of a struggle, and later the unmistakable noise of sawing.
When Cox asked Toman about the noise, Toman claimed she had been sawing the legs off a table.
Toman later told a different story. She claimed that during a violent argument Elly had become hysterical. Toman said she tied the young woman to a chair and gagged her to stop her screaming, and that Elly died in the process.
She kept the body in the apartment for several days. She then used a saw to dismember it and packed the remains into two suitcases.
Disposal of the Body
Toman drove south along Highway 1 to a lonely gully near San Gregorio. There she poured kerosene over the suitcases and set them on fire.
The Dinner Date Confession
Some time later, Toman met a local writer named Arnold Kottwitz at a laundromat in the Haight-Ashbury. After several encounters, he invited her to his apartment for dinner.
That evening he cooked chicken and opened a bottle of wine. Toman arrived nervous. She spoke about suicide, saying she had to “face the music” and that there was “no way out but the bridge.”
After Kottwitz calmed her down, she began talking about “Elly.” She told him she had killed a girl who stayed at her rooming house, kept the body for days, cut it apart, and burned the remains in suitcases by the side of the road.
Kottwitz was deeply unsettled. After thinking about it over the weekend, he contacted the police on the Monday.
Investigation and Arrest
Police questioned Toman at the Ashbury Street house. She denied the confession and said Elly had simply gone out of town. Officers found bloodstains and two saws in the flat, but they did not arrest her that day.
The next day, the burned suitcases were discovered near San Gregorio. By then, Toman had disappeared.
An anonymous tip later directed police to Room 501 of the Ambassador Hotel in the Tenderloin district. There they found and arrested her.
The Trial
Jean Toman was charged with murder.
She waived her right to a jury trial. The case was heard by Judge Harry J. Neubarth.
A psychiatrist testified that Toman was mentally ill and not legally responsible at the time of the killing. Toman herself repeatedly insisted that she was sane.
The judge found her guilty of second-degree murder but not guilty by reason of insanity. She was committed to Mendocino State Hospital.
Aftermath
Years later, hospital doctors reported that Toman had improved and was ready to return to society. Prosecutors opposed her release, but further psychiatric examinations were ordered.
She was eventually released. Available information indicates that she later lived a quiet life in Santa Barbara County and was never arrested again.
The house at 826 Ashbury Street remains standing today.
Outro
A missing dog.
The sound of a saw through the ceiling.
Two burned suitcases by the highway.
And a murder confession over dinner in 1964.
This has been True Crime Tales with Cosette.
If this story stayed with you, please like the video and subscribe.
Until next time… stay safe.
