the drag queen & the mummy

Yes a mummified corpse was found hanging in a faux leather garment bag in Dorian Corey's closet when friends went in to clean out her belongings upon her death. The corpse was estimated there at least 30 years. There was never any proof that Dorian was the person behind the homicide. The mummy JUST happened to be hanging in her closet. It was an adult male who was presumed about 35 years old at the time of his death. Thats all anybody really knows.

I thought it was in a trunk?

I heard that it was a trunk and it was a pizza delivery boy who had come to her home and tried to rape her and she shot him. It being the early sixties, she knew she wouldn't have a chance at self defense so she covered him in baking soda as a preservative and wrapped him in leather and plastic and then into the trunk and closet he went, only to be discovered 30 years later after her death. I heard there was also a note inclosed explaining the entire thing.

. . . I love the easy drag looks that allow minimal make-up and flats: nun, school marm, and of course, librarian . . . right now, my hair is up in a bun, I am wearing a light dusting of powder,blue eye-shadow, and biege lip-liner, along with my high-powered magnifying-lens tortoise shell eyeglasses (hanging from a chain, of course) . . . Please note the identity of the expert that the AP turned to for word on the street . . . Rule Empress, Rule!

-H. Phace, Research Librarian
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The Associated Press
December 17, 1993, Friday, AM cycle
SECTION: Domestic News
LENGTH: 351 words

HEADLINE: Inside Dorian's Closet: Wigs, Feather Boas, Mummified Body

BYLINE: By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: NEW YORK

Copyright 1993 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

BODY:
When famed drag queen Dorian Corey died earlier this year, he didn't leave any skeletons in the closet. He did, however, leave wigs, sequined dresses, feather boas - and the mummified body of a murder victim.

Friends of Corey found the body in October while rummaging through his Manhattan apartment after he died of AIDS. Two months later, investigators still can't explain how it got there.

"This remains a complete mystery," said Detective Louis Llanes, a police spokesman.

Corey, 56, was a veteran of the drag show circuit and star of the 1991 documentary "Paris Is Burning," which chronicled the lives of female impersonators. He died Aug. 29.

On Oct. 19, friends of Corey went to his fifth-floor apartment in Harlem to look through his expansive wardrobe, police said. They made their grisly discovery after coming across a heavy trunk.

Inside was a male body, tucked into a fetal position and wrapped in imitation leather.

Police soon determined the man died from a gunshot to the back of the head. But the body's dried and shriveled state made finding out who he was and when he died difficult.

Soaking the body in a special solution to loosen up the skin, investigators took a fingerprint they eventually matched with a name: Robert Wells.

Wells, who was last seen by his family in 1968, had a history of trouble with the law, including arrests for rape, burglary and assault, said Sgt. Mark Giffen, who is investigating the case.

Through other tests and evidence found in the trunk, investigators determined Wells was killed about 15 years ago, Giffen said.

But who pulled the trigger remains open to speculation.

A diary recovered from Corey's apartment did not contain a confession or any other clues, Llanes said.

Still, one rumor circulating in the transvestite community points to Corey. He supposedly left a note explaining he killed Wells in self-defense during a break-in, said Chi Chi Valenti, the producer of "Jackie 60," an underground club where Corey often performed.

"This only makes her more legendary," Valenti said of Corey.

Police said they found no note.

# # #

facinating...utterly facinating...chi chi's remark in that article is absolutely the truth...you cant deny...the image of a beauty like Dorian with a smoking gun in her hand leaves one breathless...perhaps it is only my naivete that i say such things. there are no more like her...

Hi all. I just had to chime in and tell you all that I am the guy that found the body. I am a NYPD police officer. I was there to just pick up things that my friends aunt had us picking up of a party. The suitcase was not hanging. There was no note. It was not the 5th floor. It was the first floor. And it was a brown stone. The address was 453 W 140 Street. We did not know that there was a body. There was a transvestite that open the door. She told us that the costumes were ready but a few things we had to look for. We went into a walk in closet and while searching, there was an old fashion cloth suitcase on the floor. The transexual woman, named carol told me to look at that suitcase. I tried to move it and it did not move. It ripped. There was a plastic bag, I cut it and found another one. Then another one. I started to smell what is only described as death. I then informed her that I was an off duty police officer and had her call 911. When all the police rank and file arrived. It was in fact a male shot once in the head.

It did make the New yorker mag. and all the news papers at the time.

Notes came out in the NYPD that I followed that stated that the male was a missing person for over 20 years. They removed his fingers and soked them. Then they printed the fingers and found that the male had been arrested. They also found that the person had been reported missing for over 20 years. So any rumors about how or why were solved by a transcript that they found that was written by Dorian. She had stated that she killed him and that she had moved with the body twice. If I remember right, he was abusive to her and that was the reason she killed him.

Robert

See how everything comes around if you just wait long enough. I have been wanting to know the true story for so long. And I love that occb2 is on the Motherboards. What a crazy mix of people we are.

Hello Bobby,

I join this forum to set the record streight. I was at work and it was brought up. So when I did a little research I found this page. The way everything got twisted is nuts. My friend Carlos and his aunt I think set me up, knowing I was a cop. Now almost 16 years later, I'm a detective and I would love to get a case like this. So much details were found in the transcript of what happen. It was her boyfriend who use to abuise her. She moved with the body from apartment to apartment and then when she got that apartment the body stay in the closet until one day...the day that I am doing a favor for my buddy and his aunt. I haven't spoke to Carlos and his aunt in over 15 years now. All because after a year or two, I felt like they set me up. Why did they take so long to try to find the capes? Why when I went into the closet to see what was talking them so long did she ask me to help and sent me to that suitcase? All those questions didn't strike me then because I had a year and a half in the police department at the time. But I'll tell you, it is a hell of a story to tell and I have all the police reports of that day in my personel file. Anyway thanks for the nice commets.

Robert

Hi occb2

Welcome to the Motherboards, and thank you so much for sharing your intimate knowledge of a case that has fascinated us for many years.

It was so amazing, too, that you chose Christmas Eve for your first post. I ALWAYS think of Miss Dorian on Christmas Eve, ever since we had the great fortune to spend a Very memorable Jackie 60 Christmas Eve with her - "SANTA IS BURNING" in 1991. I will never forget her show that night.

Thanks Chi Chi,

It all came about when I went to a neighboring detective squad and I bumped into someone I worked with back in 93. She said, "You remember that dead body you found in the closet in 1993." I told her yes. She said that she wondered what happen with that case. When we did a search. This forum turned up. So after reading all the rumors that have been going around, I felt that I should set the record straight.

I hope all have a great New year and it brings happiness to everyone.

Robert

It just serves to remind us never to mess with a drag queen.....

wow this was very insightful. I was trying to read about this on an article called "the drag queen and the mummy" but its hosted on JSTOR and its by login access only.

 

None the less, the comments posted here helped me get a better understanding of this story. Thank you.

chri

 

It is a FASCINATING story, even for someone like myself who knew and loved Miss Dorian - Ill see if I can dig up a link to the piece anywhere else (free) and if so post it here.

If you do, please let me know.

 

Like I said, i was amazed by this story.

I'm sure miss Dorian's life would be filled with amazing stories.