The Wasp Woman Murder: The Death of Susan Cabot

Many of the elements of my first novel The Drowning Ground are based around killers I have researched in the past. I used to be a regular contributor to Bizarre magazine in the UK. While working for Bizarre, I interviewed some of the most eminent psychologists, criminologist, and CSI investigators operating in their field today and wrote extensively about some of the world’s most notorious killers. It was after these experiences that I wrote The World’s Most Bizarre Murders. Perhaps the strangest of all the cases I have ever covered is the Wasp Woman Murder, elements of which also served as inspiration for the first Inspector Guillermo Downes thriller, specifically the death of a recluse who is found dead on the top of a remote hill in the Cotswolds.   

Among the many murderers and psychotics portrayed in the movies there is one type of deranged lunatic particularly close to Hollywood’s heart:  the actress-turned-recluse. Both Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Robert Aldrich’s gothic horror What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) were set in decaying Hollywood mansions and both tell the story of actresses driven mad by their sudden loss of fame. Both movies end in tragedy. So, when in 1986 a real Hollywood recluse was found bludgeoned to death in her dilapidated home, it made headlines all over America. Throw in a Latin American ninja and a dwarf on a strange experimental drug and the “Wasp Woman murder,” as it was known, became a Hollywood legend almost overnight.

The murder victim was Susan Cabot, who had been a household name in the 1950s. Cabot had acted alongside Hollywood legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Charles Bronson, and Lee Marvin. But Cabot abruptly terminated her contract with Universal after a brief stint on Broadway where she started working with Roger Corman and starred in The Wasp Woman, where she excelled in what was to be her final role – as Janice Starlin, a character who unwisely tests out a rejuvenating beauty product derived from wasp enzymes. Extracted from royal jelly, these enzymes make her young again but ultimately, turn Cabot’s character into a lustful, murderous queen wasp.

Cabot soon afterwards disappeared into obscurity. Cabot and her son lived in a large property in an exclusive neighbourhood in Encino in Los Angeles but were very rarely seen by neighbours. For all intents and purposes, Cabot had vanished.

On the night of December 10, 1986, emergency services received a call from Susan Cabot’s home on 4601 Charmion Lane. The caller breathlessly identified himself as Timothy Cabot and he reported the entry of a burglar at the house that he shared with his mother. A fire department paramedic unit responded to the call and arrived just four minutes later, by which time Timothy was waiting for them, now quite calmly, outside the front door. He told the two paramedics that he had been attacked, that his mother was in the bedroom and that he believed she was also injured.

Their house was a prime piece of real estate perched on top of a hill with a view of the lights of Los Angeles below, though it seemed a bit dilapidated from the outside and shabbier than the other impeccably maintained properties on the street. Nothing, however, could have prepared paramedics for the chaos that met them when they pushed open the door.

Inside, rubbish bags lay strewn in every room, newspapers and magazines were stacked in toppling piles along the corridors and trash and rotting food was everywhere. The house also appeared to have been ransacked: furniture was overturned, drawers were open and their contents strewn about the house. The sudden eeriness was made worse by the sound of Timothy’s four pet Attika dogs. Usually a docile breed, these four were in an absolute frenzy, and Timothy, in order to protect the paramedics, had locked them up in his room.  

The paramedics found Susan Cabot lying dead on her bed dressed only in a purple V-neck nightgown. There was blood everywhere: a large arc of it was sprayed on the bedroom mirror near her bed, there were large splatter stains on the ceiling above her prone body and further bloodstains on the floor and the bed. For some reason, the killer had covered Cabot’s face and head with a piece of bed linen before bludgeoning her to death. Under the blood soaked material, Cabot’s face was all but unrecognisable. There were human hairs and brain matter smeared on the linen, and shards and splinters of bone protruding from the back of her shattered skull.

By now police had arrived on the scene and were busy checking all of the other rooms to check for signs of forced entry and to make sure that the intruder was no longer on the premises. But the dogs were deemed too vicious and dangerous to remove without the help of animal control and so there was one room they could not enter. Investigators were, however, able to glimpse weight-training equipment and barbells on the floor. On the walls were pictures of Timothy’s idol, Bruce Lee.

There was something rather unnerving about Susan Cabot’s son. With soft brown eyes and straight chestnut hair, Timothy looked just like a teenage boy upon first glance. But on closer inspection, his face seemed older, as if a wizened adult were somehow peering from out of a young boy’s face. He didn’t act and talk like a teenager either. In fact, Timothy was 22 years old.

Born with a form of dwarfism caused by a defective pituitary gland, he should have stood at only just four foot. But due to an experimental growth hormone, which he had been taking for 15 years, he had grown by almost a foot and a half and  what he said next stunned investigators.

He told police that he had woken up at around 9:30, when he had heard his mother being attacked in her room. He had gone into the kitchen, where he confronted a burglar. The burglar, he told police, was a tall Latino man with curly hair, and he had been dressed like a Japanese ninja warrior. Timothy was a practising martial-arts enthusiast, but despite this he proved no match for the masked intruder, who had knocked him out cold.

Over the next few hours Timothy’s statements became “increasingly inconsistent.” The doubts increased when the paramedics examined his injuries. Timothy was immediately taken in for questioning at LAPD West Valley station, where he held his own during a three hour grilling. When asked about his relationship with his mother, he described it as “very close.” His mother and he talked about everything, he told investigators, including “intimate sexual matters.” When the questioning was over, Timothy was formally charged with his mother’s murder. He demanded that he be taken home to collect some medication that he said he needed, and there, without any prompting at all, Timothy led detectives to the murder weapon.

By this time, it was the early hours of the morning. It had taken animal-control officers six hours to finally remove the dogs and Timothy now led police to a hamper in the room where they had been. Inside the hamper was a box of soap powder and in the box was a bloody barbell and a scalpel. His fingerprints were on one end of the barbell and his mother’s blood was on the other. Timothy said that he had hidden the barbell because he was sure that no one would have believed his story.

And, of course, nobody did. Apart from the forensic evidence stacked against him, his story just didn’t make any sense. Yet it wasn’t going to be a straightforward matter for the prosecution team, even when later he confessed to lawyers that he had made up the whole ninja story and killed his own mother. When he stood trial in May 1989, his legal defence initially put in a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In arguably one of the strangest defence strategies of all time, Timothy’s lawyers argued that he could not be held responsible for his actions because their client was “a human experiment gone wrong.”

The experiment in question had first begun in 1958, and Timothy had been one of many test subjects. As a possible cure for dwarfism, the National Institute of Health had started to offer a supply of cadaver-derived pituitary free of charge to children diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD); the batch of hormones had been extracted from the pituitary glands of around 80,000 dead human bodies. The experiment lasted eight years and around 700 children with GHD received the treatment.

Timothy, who had been diagnosed with pituitary dwarfism as a child, was one of them and had been taking the injections since he was six years old. But, for some, the wonder cure was to have tragic results. Due to a contaminated batch of growth hormones, the supply had been infected with a fatal neurological illness. Over the years, an unusually high percentage of the test subjects had developed Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (more commonly known today as mad cow disease). The incubation period for CJD is long, in some cases 20 years, and as there was no way to diagnose for CJD there was no way of knowing if Timothy had CJD or would one day contract it. All the same, his lawyers used it as a cornerstone of his defence. His mother, they argued, had warped his mind by bombing it for decades with potent chemicals, harvested from the genetic material of hundreds of thousands of dead bodies.

This all fitted in perfectly with Timothy’s insanity plea, because the psychological symptoms of CJD include extreme changes in personality, dementia, the loss of the ability to think clearly and memory loss. Then, it was sensationally revealed that Cabot, wrongly believing that it would help her look younger, had been helping herself to her son’s drugs for years too. So had the frequent injections affected Susan Cabot’s mental stability as well? Had she become deranged and attacked Timothy and if so had he simply been acting in self-defense?

It was just another bizarre twist to the death of Susan Cabot and inevitably recalled one of her most famous roles as The Wasp Woman, a character who had taken an experimental anti-aging drug only to become a crazed and violent killer. Timothy’s lawyers were busy painting a disturbing profile of Susan Cabot as a woman unable to cope with her loss of fame, a faded Hollywood has-been who had shut herself up and away from the lights of Hollywood and slowly driven both herself and her son insane.

Actually, very little is known about what really happened behind the walls of 4601 Charmion Lane, or indeed the kind of life Timothy had to endure under his mother’s roof. One person who had been allowed to set foot inside the house was Timothy’s tutor, who was called as a witness at his trial. She stated that his mother frequently screamed at her son, apparently for no reason. According to a paediatric report presented as evidence for the defence, Susan Cabot’s degenerating mental illness had already taken its toll on Timothy by the time he was just 11 years old. The report described Cabot as overly dramatic and overly protective and Timothy as emotionally immature and disturbed. But the state of disrepair of the house was perhaps the most shocking indicator as to just how mentally unbalanced Susan Cabot was and filmed footage of the house was shown in court.

In September, Timothy changed his plea from not guilty for reasons of insanity to not guilty. He finally took the stand on October 6, 1989. There, he quickly broke into tears and recalled that his mother, moments before her death, had started screaming at him and had seemed to have had no idea of who he was. Fearful of her worsening state, he had tried to call paramedics, at which point she had attacked him with the barbell. Timothy had taken the barbell off her but she had come at him again – this time with a scalpel. Timothy, in self defence, had beaten her to death.

On October 10, 1989, he was found  guilty of involuntary manslaughter – a sentence that carried a sentence of six years in jail; he had already spent two-and-a-half years in jail while awaiting trial. He was given three years’ probation. The judge concluded her summation by saying that that there was no doubt in her mind that he had “loved his mother very much.”

Meanwhile, the house he once shared with his mother on Charmion Lane has since been demolished and in its place stands a newer, more luxurious property more in keeping with the other elegant houses on the street. What really happened that night over 20 years ago remains a mystery.

Comment below for a chance to win a copy of The Drowning Ground by James Marrison!

To enter, make sure you're a registered member of the site and simply leave a comment below.

TIP: Since only comments from registered users will be tabulated, if your user name appears in red above your comment—STOP—go log in, then try commenting again. If your user name appears in black above your comment,You’re In!

The Drowning Ground Comment Sweepstakes: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.  Sweepstakes open to legal residents of 50 United States, D.C., and Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 years or older as of the date of entry.  To enter, complete the “Post a Comment” entry at https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2015/11/the-wasp-woman-murder-the-death-of-susan-cabot-by-james-marrison-true-crime-hollywood beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) November 6, 2015. Sweepstakes ends 3:29 p.m. ET November 13, 2015. Void outside the United States and Canada and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules here. Sponsor: Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.


James Marrison is a journalist with a Master's degree in history, specializing in American Secret Intelligence, from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Marrison was a regular contributor to Bizarre magazine in the UK, where he wrote about true crime, and he also wrote for an English language newspaper in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he now lives. The Drowning Ground is his first novel.

Comments

  1. Nissa Evans

    I want to win a copy of this book.

  2. Gordon Bingham

    Absolutely fascinationg story. Would love to read this title.

  3. Deb Philippon

    Please enter my name for this book. Wish me luck!

  4. Rebecca Brothers

    Yet more proof that real life is weirder than fiction any day of the week. Would love to read the book inspired by all of this.

  5. Lynn Ristau

    This all sounds intriguing. Enter me please!

  6. Lynn Ristau

    Sorry for a double post!

  7. Peter W. Horton Jr.

    The price of beauty! Yes!

  8. Todd Henson

    Sounds very interesting. Would love the chance to read it.

  9. Rick Ollerman

    This book really intrigues me and I look forward to reading it.

  10. Shannon Baas

    I would like this.

  11. Sandy Klocinski

    In it to Win It!

  12. Joe

    Nice Book, Ive researched, and watched a documentary about this..
    I know it would be a great read. Please enter me.. Thank you!!!

  13. Robertedgar Dout

    Would love to win a copy of this!

  14. Lori Walker

    Want!

  15. MaryC

    Real life can be stranger than fiction.

  16. Denise Sachs

    This would be very interesting, thanks!

  17. Tammy Evans

    I would love to read this

  18. Cindy Jameson

    I love true crime stories. This one sounds like a great one!

  19. Michelle Garrity

    Looks like a great book!

  20. Thomas Walker

    I would love to win this book!

  21. Patricia Hill

    This sounds like a book I would love to read

  22. Mary Ann Brady

    Sounds really interesting. Thx.

  23. Barbara Lima

    I remember this, I lived in the LA area at the time. I would love to read the book.

  24. HESTER MAYO

    Fascinating!!

  25. Janice

    Wow! Sounds loike an exciting and very interesting read. Would love to win and read (even if I don’t win) the book.

  26. Jeffrey Malis

    Gripping synopsis! Looking forward to reading this… Thank you for the article and the opportunity to enter!

  27. Linda Knowles

    Wow, how incredibly sad, yet fascinating…I would love to read this book.

  28. Carol Lawman

    Frightening….and I want to read this!

  29. Karen Mikusak

    Would love to win!

  30. Tammy Z Evans

    Thanks for the opportunity hope I win.

  31. Russell Moore

    I remember watching Ms Cabot in a lot of old movies and tv shows. Sad end.

  32. Kat Emerick

    I want to read!

  33. Tarah Manning

    I’d love to win this book, it sounds like a great read! 🙂

  34. Alyson Widen

    The insanity plea is used a lot especially in old movies. I think a murderer has to be a bit off or enraged in order to push past the reasonable limits of civility and into the danger zone.

  35. Karl Stenger

    I would love to read this book.

  36. Mary Vernau

    Thanks for the chance to win!

  37. Candlefox

    Weird an creepy. Sounds like a really interesting book and it’s getting added to my to read lst

  38. Jackie Wisherd

    What an interesting sounding story…now I am anxious to read the book.

  39. Kevin McKernan

    Really interesting. Thanks

  40. Andrew Kuligowski

    This sounds bizarre. And we probably won’t be able to turn away once we open the cover.

  41. Clydia DeFreese

    Thanks for a chance to win.

  42. peter gladue

    Sounds like a great read, consider in it, to win it

  43. Sue Leonhardt

    Love to read this book. Looks really interesting.

  44. ellie lewis

    This sounds fascinating. Thanks.

  45. Karen Terry

    This sounds like a good one. I have seen so many old horror flicks, I don’t remember seeing the Wasp Woman.

  46. vicki wurgler

    I would love to read this

  47. Betty Ramsey

    I’d like to win this one…sounds great.

  48. Teelioli

    Anything related to old Hollywood, ala Sunset Boulevard, sounds great to me, would love to read it, thanks for the opportunity.

  49. susan beamon

    I would love to win this book. Every time I read or hear about someone with hoarding problems, I check my house to make sure I’m not there. It’s only my books that are spreading.

  50. pearl berger

    This book is intriguing and fantastic. Many thanks.

  51. David Siegel

    Creepy.

  52. Denlink

    What a fantastic story; is it a case of art imitating life or the other way around? Would love to read this book. Thanks for resurrecting this sad but true story.

  53. Sissy

    Thanks for the chance to win!

  54. Sissy 9

    Thanks for the chance to win!

  55. Lisa Altland

    Would love to read this awesome book! Thanks for the opportunity!

  56. Jeanette Barney

    I love murder mysteries and would love to win.

  57. Barbara Bibel

    This sounds like a good one. I’d love to read it.

  58. Darlene Slocum

    From the excerpt this looks like a good book to read.

  59. Patty Andersen

    I’m a long time reader of true crime — so how did I miss this one? I need to read more about this case, it intrigues me.

  60. Cheryl English

    This is very interesting. Would love to read it.

  61. Joyce Mitchell

    Fascinating – thanks for the chance to win.

  62. Anna Mills

    Makes you wonder if the new house is, perhaps, haunted.

  63. Kelly Greenwood

    I’d like to read this book, it sounds interesting.

  64. susanadams

    Must have been a mind-boggling case. I wonder if the detectives were sorry to be on duty that day. Would love to read the book!

  65. Doris Calvert

    I love books like this full of suspense, looks like a good read

  66. Lori P

    Tragic tale, which I’d never before heard of, to be sure. No doubt it would make a very compelling read.

  67. kent w. smith

    Proves the old saying that “fact is stranger than fiction.” Would enjoy reading this book. Thank you.

  68. Michael Carter

    Count me in!
    Yes, please enter in this sweepstakes.
    Thanks —

  69. Lorri S

    Looks like another good one!

  70. Ellen

    I have seen the movie The Wasp Women but didn’t know about Cabot’s strange ironic death.

  71. Donna Antonio

    Count me in I’m intrigued

  72. shawn manning

    What an utterly bizarre story

  73. Cici Loftis

    Would love to read this book! Sounds like a very bizarre tale.

  74. Desmond Warzel

    Count me in, please!

  75. Sabine

    Would love to read this book. Thank you for the chance!

  76. Daniel Morrell

    sounds like a fun one

  77. Justine

    Looks great.

  78. Donna Marton

    Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction. How very sad, for them both.

  79. Jim Belcher

    We have made some horrible mistakes in the name of medicine.

  80. Patrick Murphy

    I have to read this

  81. Susan Smoaks

    this sounds like a great read

  82. Ed Nemmers

    I would like to read the work of James Marrison.

  83. Rina Horenian

    Looks like a good read.

  84. Bridgette Kolesarwilliams

    would love to read this!

  85. Brenda Elsner

    This sounds like a great read!!!

  86. mrevil

    Would love to read this!

  87. Kim Keithline

    sounds great sign me up

  88. LabRat517

    This is a strange and disturbing incident. Makes me want to read the book and find out more. Just shows that real life can be as interesting as fiction.

  89. Linda Peters

    now this sounds interesting, thanks

  90. JAMES LYNAM

    Great winter read. Hope I win.

  91. Sandra Slack

    This looks like a book to curl up in front of the fire with. Thanks for that chance to win it.

  92. Michele Baron

    This sounds like a terrific book to read on a cold, snowy night

  93. Sand Lopez

    I would love to read this!

  94. Lily

    Thanks for the great giveaway!

  95. Andra

    Sounds intriguing!!! Thanks for the opportunity to enter & good luck to all who enter!!!:)

  96. Carl White

    [b]When I was young I moved to Hollywood to try and become a recluse. I never made it big, I kept making friends, so I gave up and moved to Atlanta.[/b]

  97. Tim Moss

    Good deal, count me in!

  98. Laurence Coven

    HORROR! BLOOD! GORE! We have so much to be thankful for!

  99. Pam Flynn

    This looks to be a really mysterious read! It would be fun to have a different genre to read.

  100. Norm Brontman

    Sounds like a good read .

  101. Janet G

    can’t wait to read this

  102. Joyce Lokitus

    Sometimes real life happenings are more mysterious and bizarre than we can imagine. This story seems like one of those.

  103. Stephen Dottavi

    look at what we have here

Comments are closed.