Anne Sterling

In March of 1952, Anne Sterling (age 26) was kidnapped and held for 90 minutes in a Hollywood mansion by four unidentified thugs who viciously beat her with their fists and feet and a blunt instrument. Police said she had been beaten "from her eyebrows to her toenails." She claimed her captors told her, "This will teach you a lesson". The incident followed a court case involving the theft of a marten stole worth $2,000 belonging to Miss Sterling. She accused her roommate, fashion designer Yolanda Elliott, of the crime but, in a subsequent court case, Elliot was acquitted. Elliott then sued Sterling for $100,800. Sterling said the abduction and beating came after threats had been made by an investigator hired by Elliott. Sources: Associated Press (March 25, 1952) and Central Press Canadian (March 28, 1952).