On 10 December 2024, 22-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short was found brutally murdered in Los Angeles — with her body cut in half and a ghastly smile carved into her face.
The 1947 slaying of Elizabeth Short , also have a go at it as the “ Black Dahlia , ” is one of the oldest cold case in Los Angeles . Not only was it a direful crime , but it ’s also try out notoriously difficult to solve .
In the decennary since the Black Dahlia slaying , police , the press , and amateur sleuths alike have all delved deeply into this unsolved crime and develop several convincing theories .
Wikimedia CommonsThe mugshot of Elizabeth Short , aka the Black Dahlia . She was arrested in 1943 for underage drinking in Santa Barbara .
Wikimedia CommonsThe mugshot of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia. She was arrested in 1943 for underage drinking in Santa Barbara.
Though we may never know who killed the Black Dahlia , concentrate over the grounds of this case is just as in darkness captivating today as it was in 1947 .
The Murder Of Elizabeth Short
On January 15 , 1947 , Elizabeth Short’sdead torso was foundin the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park . The first soul who reported the sick mint was a female parent out for a morning walk with her child .
Getty ImagesA tack compensate the horrific mutilation of Elizabeth Short ’s body .
According to the woman , the way Short ’s body had been posed made her think that the corpse was a mannequin at first . But a secretive look disclose the honest horror of the Black Dahlia crime tantrum .
Getty ImagesA sheet covers the horrific mutilation of Elizabeth Short’s body.
The 22 - year - old Short had been sliced in two at the shank and completely drain of rakehell . Some of her organs — such as her intestines — had been removed and neatly placed underneath her buttocks .
piece of flesh had been tailor out from her thighs and breasts . And her stomach was full of faecal matter , lead some to believe that she ’d been squeeze to eat them before she was killed .
The most scary mutilations , however , were the lacerations on her face . The killer had slice each side of her face from the turning point of her lip to her ears , creating what ’s known as a “ Glasgow smile . ”
Since the body had already been washed sporting , Los Angeles Police Department detectives concluded that she must have been pour down elsewhere before being dump in Leimert Park .
Near her body , detective noted a heel mark and a cement sacking with traces of blood that had presumably been used to delight her eubstance to the vacant spate .
The LAPD reached out to the FBI to help identify the body by searching their fingermark database . Short ’s fingerprints turn up rather quickly because she had applied for a job as a clerk at the commissary of the U.S. Army ’s Camp Cooke in California back in 1943 .
And then her prints change state up a second metre since she had been arrest by the Santa Barbara Police Department for underage drinking — just seven month after she ’d applied to the job .
The FBI also had her mugshot from her arrest , which they provided to the press . Before long , the medium began reporting every lustful detail they could find about Short .
Meanwhile , Elizabeth Short ’s mother Phoebe Short did n’t learn of her girl ’s death until newsperson fromThe Los Angeles Examinertelephoned her pretending that Elizabeth had won a mantrap contest .
They pump her for all the details they could get on Elizabeth before revealing the terrible truth . Her girl had been murdered , and her corpse had been discerp in unutterable ways .
The Press Gets Involved In The Black Dahlia Murder Investigation
Matt Terhune / Splash NewsAutopsy picture of Elizabeth Short show the terrifying smile that was chip at into her brass .
As the medium get wind more about Elizabeth Short ’s history , they begin to mark her as a sexual deviant . One police force reputation read , “ This victim knew at least fifty men at the time of her death and at least twenty - five men had been seen with her in the sixty sidereal day preceding her destruction … She was known as a teaser of men . ”
They give Short the nickname , “ The Black Dahlia , ” due to her reported predilection for wearing a lot of sheer pitch-black clothing . This was a reference book to the movieThe Blue Dahlia , which was out at the clip . Some hoi polloi spread the false rumour that Short was a prostitute , while others baselessly claimed that she like to tease men because she was a lesbian .
Matt Terhune/Splash NewsAutopsy photos of Elizabeth Short show the terrifying smile that was carved into her face.
tote up to her mystique , Short was reportedly a Hollywood promising . She had moved to Los Angeles just six months before her dying and worked as a waitress . Sadly , she had no known acting job and her decease became her one claim to fame .
But as famous as the casing was , authorities had tremendous difficultness compute out who was behind it . However , members of the media did receive a few clues .
On January 21st , about a week after the body was discover , theExaminerreceived a call from a soul take to be the liquidator , who allege he would be sending Short ’s belongings in the post as proof of his title .
Wikimedia CommonsA police bulletin seeking information on Elizabeth Short’s activities prior to the murder describes her as “very attractive” with “bad lower teeth” and “fingernails chewed to quick.”
concisely thereafter on the 24th , theExaminerreceived a package with Short ’s birth certificate , picture , business cards , and an address Christian Bible with the name Mark Hansen on the natural covering . Also include was a varsity letter pasted together from newspaper and magazine letter clipping that read , “ Los Angeles Examiner and other Los Angeles papers here is Dahlia ’s property letter to follow . ”
All of these items had been wipe down with gasoline , leaving no fingerprint behind . Though a partial fingerprint was found on the envelope , it was damage in tape drive and never analyzed .
On January 26th , another letter arrived . This handwritten note read , “ Here it is . change state in We d. January 29 , 10 a.m. Had my fun at police . Black Dahlia Avenger . ” The letter admit a location . police force waited at the charge time and place , but the author never showed .
Wikimedia CommonsGeorge Hodel, the man Steve Hodel believes is responsible for killing the Black Dahlia.
later on , the alleged Orcinus orca station a note made of letter cut and pasted from magazines to theExaminerthat said , “ Have convert my judgement . You would not give me a straight hatful . Dahlia kill was justified . ”
Yet again , everything post by the person had been wiped clean with gas , so investigators could n’t come up any fingerprints from the grounds .
At one point , the LAPD had 750 investigator on the case and interview more than 150 potentialsuspects tie to the Black Dahlia putting to death . policeman hear more than 60 confessions during the initial investigating , but none of them were considered legitimate . Since then , there have been more than 500 confessions , none of which leave to anyone being charged .
Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives/UCLA Library Special CollectionsBritish author Piu Eatwell believes that Mark Hansen, pictured here, orchestrated the murder of the Black Dahlia.
As time went on and the compositor’s case went frigid , many people assumed that the Black Dahlia execution was a escort gone wrong , or that Short had take to the woods into a sinister stranger late at dark while walk alone .
After over 70 geezerhood , the Black Dahlia murder lawsuit remain open . But in recent year , a twosome of intriguing — and scary — theories have emerge .
The Man Who Thinks His Father Killed Elizabeth Short
Wikimedia CommonsA police force bulletin seek information on Elizabeth Short ’s action prior to the execution identify her as “ very attractive ” with “ high-risk lower tooth ” and “ fingernails chewed to quick . ”
Shortly after his Father-God ’s death in 1999 , now - retired LAPD detective Steve Hodel wasgoing through his dad ’s belongingswhen he noticed two pic of a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Short .
After discovering these haunt epitome , Hodel began using the skills he had take in as a officer to investigate his own gone father .
Getty ImagesLeslie Dillon, the man Eatwell believes was asked by Mark Hansen to kill Elizabeth Short.
Hodel went through newspaper archive and witness interviews from the example , and even filed a Freedom of Information Act to obtain FBI files on the Black Dahlia execution .
He also had a script expert equate sampling of his begetter ’s writing to the writing on some of the notes send to the jam from the alleged sea wolf . The depth psychology find a unattackable possibility that his father ’s handwriting match , but the results were not conclusive .
On the grislier side , the Black Dahlia crime scene photos demo that Short ’s consistence had been turn off in a manner consistent with a hemicorporectomy , a medical procedure that slices the body beneath the lumbar spine . Hodel ’s begetter had been a doctor — who attended medical school when this procedure was being learn in the thirties .
Additionally , Hodel search his Church Father ’s archive at UCLA , finding a pamphlet full of receipts for contracting employment on his childhood home .
In that leaflet , there was a receipt date a few days before the murder for a heavy bag of concrete , the same size , and stain as a concrete traveling bag discover near Elizabeth Short ’s body .
By the meter Hodel began his investigation , many of the law officers who originally worked on the case were already numb . However , he carefully reconstruct conversations these officer had about the typesetter’s case .
finally , Hodel amass all of his evidence into a 2003 bestseller calledBlack Dahlia Avenger : The True Story .
Wikimedia CommonsGeorge Hodel , the military personnel Steve Hodel believes is responsible for stamp out the Black Dahlia .
While fact - checking the Holy Scripture , Los Angeles Timescolumnist Steve Lopez request prescribed police force files from the case and made an important discovery . Shortly after the execution , the LAPD had six main suspects , andGeorge Hodelwas on their listing .
In fact , he was such a serious suspect that his home was bugged in 1950 so the law could monitor his activities . Much of the audio was innocuous , but one scarey central stuck out :
“ 8:25pm . ‘ charwoman screamed . Woman screamed again . ( It should be noted , the woman not heard before the scream . ) ' ”
Later that day , George Hodel was overheard telling someone , “ realise there was nothing I could do , put a pillow over her point and cut through her with a cover . Get a hack . Expired 12:59 . They thought there was something fishy . Anyway , now they may have reckon it out . kill her . ”
He continued , “ Supposin ’ I did kill the Black Dahlia . They could n’t prove it now . They ca n’t talk to my secretary anymore because she ’s dead . ”
Even after this shocking Apocalypse , which seems to keep going that George Hodel killed Short — and possibly also his escritoire — the Black Dahlia case still has n’t been formally closed . However , this has n’t halt Steve Hodel from investigating his father .
He says he has found details from piles of other murders that could mayhap be touch base to his father , implicate him not only as the Black Dahlia manslayer but also as a throw out of kilter serial killer .
Hodel ’s research has even garner some attention from law enforcement . In 2004 , Stephen R. Kay , the head deputy sheriff for L.A. County ’s district attorney office , said that if George Hodel was still alive he would have enough to indict him for the Elizabeth Short execution .
Did Leslie Dillon Murder The Black Dahlia?
Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives / UCLA Library Special CollectionsBritish author Piu Eatwell believes that Mark Hansen , pictured here , orchestrate the murder of the Black Dahlia .
In 2017 , British author Piu Eatwellannouncedthat she had at long last solved the ten - old case , and published her findings in a Word calledBlack Dahlia , Red Rose : The Crime , Corruption , and Cover - Up of America ’s Greatest Unsolved Murder .
The real culprit , she exact , was Leslie Dillon , a piece who police concisely study the primary defendant but finally permit go . However , she also take there was much more to the case besides the killer himself .
accord to Eatwell , Dillon , who worked as a bellboy , slay Short at the behest of Mark Hansen , a local club and movie theater owner who worked with Dillon .
Hansen was another suspect that had eventually been let go — and the owner of the address Word of God that had been mailed to theExaminer . He later take that he gave the address book to Short as a gift .
Short had reportedly stayed with Hansen a few nights , and he was one of the last hoi polloi report to have spoken with her before her death in a phone call on January 8th . Eatwell alleges that Hansen was infatuate with Short and came onto her , though she repel his feeler .
Then , he supposedly call on Leslie Dillon to “ take care of her . ” Hansen , it seemed , knew Dillon was capable of murder but did n’t realize just how deranged he really was .
Previously , Leslie Dillon had work as a funeral undertaker ’s assistant , where he could have potentially larn how to shed blood a torso dry .
Getty ImagesLeslie Dillon , the mankind Eatwell believes was asked by Mark Hansen to kill Elizabeth Short .
Eatwell also bring out , from police records , that Dillon knew details about the crime that had not yet been released to the world . One detail was that Short had a tattoo of a blush wine on her second joint , which had been abridge out and shoved inside her vagina .
For his part , Dillon claim to be an aspiring criminal offence author and told authorities that he was writing a Scripture about the Dahlia type — which never materialized .
Despite all the evidence pointing to him , Dillon was never charged with the criminal offense . Eatwell claims he was released due to Mark Hansen ’s ties to some of the bull at the LAPD . While Eatwell believes the department was corrupt to begin with , she also thinks that Hansen add mostly to its corruption by exploiting his tie to certain police officer .
Another discovery that lent itself to Eatwell ’s possibility was a crime scene obtain at a local motel . During her enquiry , Eatwell came across a report by Aster Motel owner Henry Hoffman . The Aster Motel was a small , 10 - cabin readiness near the University of Southern California .
On the first light of January 15 , 1947 , he opened the door to one of his cabin and found the room “ covered in blood and fecal affair . ” In another cabin , he come across that someone had left a megabucks of woman ’s wearing apparel wrapped up in brown theme , which was also stained with pedigree .
alternatively of reporting the law-breaking , Hoffman simply cleaned it up . He had been halt four days earlier for beating his married woman and did n’t need to lay on the line another run - in with the police .
Eatwell believes that the motel is where Elizabeth Short was slay . Eyewitness reports , though uncorroborated , claim that a adult female who resembled Short was watch at the motel shortly before the execution .
Eatwell ’s theories have not been proven , as everyone involve with the original Black Dahlia slaying causa is most in all probability dead by now , and many prescribed LAPD documents rest interlock away in vault .
However , Eatwell remains sure-footed in her findings , and truly believe that she ’s solve the mysterious and gruesome type of the Black Dahlia murder .
Though we still do n’t know for sure who killed the Black Dahlia , these late theories present compelling cases . And it ’s possible that the truth is still out there , just waiting for the right investigation to at long last bring it to light .
After understand about Elizabeth Short and the Black Dahlia murder , pick up about theCleveland Torso Murders . Then , crack out some morecreepy unsolved crimes .
