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- [00:02]
Vanessa Richardson
Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts New episodes out every Monday.
- [00:41]
Narrator/Advertiser
This is crime house.
- [00:47]
Vanessa Richardson
In 1947, Los Angeles was rocked by one of the most disturbing crimes in US history. That January, the body of 22 year old Elizabeth Short, or as the media would come to call her, the Black Dahlia, was discovered in a vacant lot. She'd been mutilated, posed and left for the world to find. From the start, the case captured national attention. Newspapers splashed the grisly details across their front pages, painting Elizabeth as everything from a Hollywood starlet to a femme fatale. Detectives chased hundreds of tips, sifted through false confessions, and followed one dead end lead after another. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's true killer remained elusive, slipping further into the shadows. But nearly eight decades after Elizabeth's death, we have to wonder, what if her killer wasn't hiding at all? What if he was under our noses the whole time, watching, waiting and celebrating the fact that he'd gotten away with me? Murder. From UFO cults and mass suicides to secret CIA experiments, presidential assassinations and murderous doctors, these aren't just theories, they're real stories that blur the line between fact and fiction. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Every Wednesday I'll explore the real people at the center of the world's most shocking events and nefarious organizations. These cases are wild and I want to hear what you think at the end of each episode. Leave a comment wherever you listen. Be sure to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes to continue building this community together and for early ad. Free access to every episode plus exclusive bonus content. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts Today I'm diving into one of the most infamous unsolved murders in American history. The Black Dahlia. In 1947, a 22 year old woman named Elizabeth Short was found brutally killed in Los Angeles. The discovery was so shocking, newspapers called it the most gruesome crime the city had ever seen. Also with that in mind, please be advised that this episode includes graphic descriptions of death and murder, including bodily mutilation and sexual exploitation. Listener discretion is advised. Although no one has ever been charged with Elizabeth's murder. That hasn't stopped the theories from piling up. Some say it was the work of an ex lover. Others point to Hollywood figures with dark secrets. One man has even accused his own father of being the killer. We're going to dig into those theories and more. I've got my own take on this case, but I want to know what you think. Once you listen to the episod, leave a comment and tell me who you believe killed Elizabeth Short. Because when there are this many suspects, someone's bound to be guilty. And nearly 80 years later, we're still wondering who. All that and more coming up.
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- [04:22]
Vanessa Richardson
So good.
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Vanessa Richardson
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- [05:16]
Vanessa Richardson
Learn more@WhatsApp.com on the morning of January 15, 1947, a woman named Betty Bersinger was walking through the Leimert park neighborhood of Los Angeles with her daughter. She gently played pushed the stroller in front of her, lost in thought about her plans for the day ahead. She was about to round a corner when something strange caught her eye. There appeared to be a broken mannequin lying in the weeds right near her feet. Betsy glanced around, confused. She swatted at a fly as it landed on her arm, then realized there were dozens more buzzing around. Betsy was immediately uneasy. Flies wouldn't be attracted to a plastic dummy. They would, however, swarm a dead body. Betsy Bersinger would soon learn she'd just stumbled upon the mutilated and severed corpse of Elizabeth Short and set in motion one of the most infamous homicide investigations in American history. Before Elizabeth Short was a grisly headline, she she was just another young woman from New England. Elizabeth was born on July 29, 1924, in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Her parents, Phoebe and Cleo Alvin Short, had five daughters in total. Elizabeth fell squarely in the middle. Three years after Elizabeth's birth, the family moved to Medford, an affluent Boston suburb with good schools, nice churches and peaceful parks. They lived in a spacious house and drove a brand new Ford, all of which was funded by Cleo's business. He built miniature golf courses around the Boston area. But in 1929, the short's comfortable life came to an abrupt end. That year, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression ravaged the nation along with Cleo's business. Rather than look for another way to support his family, Cleo deserted them in 1930 when Elizabeth was just six years old. Old. Shortly after he vanished, his car was discovered abandoned near the Charleston Bridge in Boston. To most people the implication was clear. Cleo had thrown himself into the Charles river, leaving Phoebe to pick up the pieces. From then on, life for the Shorts was a slow downward spiral. They moved out of their beautiful house and into a one bedroom apartment. Phoebe found work as a bookkeeper. But it was never enough to support her five daughters. Out of all the short girls, Elizabeth was especially affected by her father's absence. Phoebe watched as her once happy daughter became withdrawn and irritable. Phoebe knew there was only one way to cheer her up. A trip to the movies. For young Elizabeth, Boston's cinemas with their grand lobbies and sparkling chandeliers offered the promise of a bigger, better life. She took these visits seriously and dressed up for every screening. For a few hours, Elizabeth was transported to another world, one where anything was possible. And while going to the movies helped Elizabeth's mood, it didn't do anything for her physical health. Ever since they'd moved into the railroad apartment, Elizabeth had been suffering from severe asthma attacks. After several late night visits and adrenaline shots from doctors, they recommended surgery. In 1939, 15 year old Elizabeth was sent to Boston Hospital where surgeons successfully cleared out her lungs. Afterwards, her doctors said Elizabeth should spend the upcoming winter months somewhere warmer. It would make the recovery easier on her lungs. Phoebe was willing to do anything for her daughter. So in 1940 she arranged for Elizabeth to visit family friends in Miami Beach. Elizabeth ended up staying there for 22 years. By the time she returned to Medford in 1942, 18 year old Elizabeth was practically unrecognizable. Gone was the sad, sweet, innocent girl her neighbors had once known. Now Elizabeth was a sophisticated young woman. Sultry even. Men would stare as she walked down the street, her platform heels clicking along the pavement. But later that year, an unexpected message knocked her off balance. At some point, the short family women received a letter From Cleo. He said he'd faked his own death 12 years ago. He actually hadn't jumped off a bridge. He'd fled to Vallejo, California where he'd been working as a handyman in a naval yard ever since. Cleo begged his family for forgiveness. He said he was desperate to reunite with them. For Phoebe, it was too little, too late. Elizabeth, on the other hand, saw an opportunity. Although Elizabeth had changed a lot over the last few years, one thing had stayed the same. She still dreamed of becoming a famous actress. Vallejo may have been several hundred miles north of Hollywood, but it was closer than Boston. For Elizabeth, that was all that mattered. In December of 1942, she boarded a train and headed west to move in with Cleo. Unfortunately, it wasn't the picture perfect reunion she'd imagined. It was clear to Elizabeth that Cleo had a drinking problem. They spent more time arguing than making up for lost time. Still, Elizabeth kept her eyes on the prize. She begged Cleo to take her down to Los Angeles in January 1943. He finally did. But the three weeks they spent in LA weren't much better than their time in Vallejo. They continued fighting about everything from money to Cleo's alcoholism. By the end of the trip, Elizabeth knew she wanted nothing to do with her father. And she certainly didn't want to go back to Vallejo. Luckily, she had other options. At some point during their visit to LA, 18 year old Elizabeth had cozied up to a US army sergeant named Chuck. So she decided to follow him up to his base. Camp Cook was located north of Santa Barbara and Elizabeth got a position as a clerk at their post exchange. Sadly, her relationship with Chuck turned out to be more turbulent than her relationship with her father. Chuck was extremely abusive. Eventually it got so bad that Elizabeth filed a complaint with his commanding officer. Instead of investigating the issue, the army shipped Chuck overseas. Alone and angry, Elizabeth drowned herself sorrows in alcohol drinking her nights away with other soldiers on the base. This continued until September 1943 when the 19 year old was arrested for underage drinking. After being released on probation, she packed her bags once again. For the next year, she bounced from job to job and one city to the next. Elizabeth was always chasing something. And in 1943, 4, she thought she'd finally found her salvation. Someone to settle down with. She'd moved back to Miami and began seeing a decorated Air Force officer named Major Matthew Gordon. Some sources say they were engaged, but any plans for a wedding were put on hold. When he was deployed overseas, Elizabeth waited for him to return until the summer of 1945 when she got a telegram from Matthew's mother. His plane had gone down over India. Matthew was dead. Elizabeth was devastated. Her family said she never recovered. Afterwards, Elizabeth threw herself into a steady stream of whirlwind romances. She followed one lover, a Lieutenant colonel named Joseph Gordon, fickling to Long Beach, California. But their affair was short lived. By August of 1946, 22 year old Elizabeth found herself alone, broke and unhoused. In December of that same year, a young cashier named Dorothy French discovered Elizabeth curled up in the back row of the Aztec Theater in San Diego. Dorothy took pity on Elizabeth and brought her home. She was just supposed to stay with the French family for one night. Instead she was there for a month. It was around this time that she crossed paths with a 26 year old salesman named Robert Manley, who went by Red. Red had recently become a father and was going through a rough patch in his marriage. So when he saw a beautiful young woman standing on a street corner, he had a hard time driving away. Instead, he stopped to speak with her. She introduced herself as Elizabeth Short and Red offered her a ride. Elizabeth was struck by Red's boldness and hopped in the car. He drove her back to the French's and when Red parked outside, they kissed. He picked her up again the next night and the next. Elizabeth reportedly saw Red five nights in a row. A few weeks later, on January 9, 1947, Elizabeth asked Red to give her a ride to LA. She said her sister Ginny was going to be in town. She packed her bags, threw them in Red's car and left the French's home without saying goodbye. On the drive, Elizabeth was cold, distant and nervous. Red noticed her carefully observing the cars that passed them as if she was looking for someone in particular. But he didn't press her on it. Elizabeth told Red to drop her off at the Biltmore Hotel where Jenny was going to be staying. As they pulled up that evening, Red was getting anxious. The drive had taken longer than he'd anticipated and he had to get home to his wife and child. Elizabeth went inside the lobby to see if her sister had arrived. A few minutes later she walked back up to Red. According to the front desk, Ginny hadn't checked in yet. Elizabeth assured Red that she could wait on her own. He didn't argue. At 6:30pm he left the hotel not knowing Elizabeth had lied. Ginny wasn't coming to la. According to the doorman at the Biltmore, Elizabeth spent the next several hours Alone in the lobby. Then at 10pm he watched as she exited onto Olive street and walked south through the fog. That was the last confirmed sighting of Elizabeth Short and Doug.
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- [16:32]
Vanessa Richardson
Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us?
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Vanessa Richardson
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Vanessa Richardson
Mom, you're bringing snacks tomorrow, right?
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- [17:17]
Vanessa Richardson
On January 9th, 1947, 22 year old Elizabeth Short walked out of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and went vanished into the night. Six days later, on January 15, she was found savagely murdered in a vacant lot. Elizabeth's body was discovered by a woman named Betty Bersinger in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park. After the shock wore off, Betsy ran to the nearest house and called 91 1. Within minutes, officers, detectives and reporters were on the scene. They'd all dealt with homicide cases before, but this was different. This was the most gruesome murder many of them had ever seen. These next details are pretty disturbing if you want to skip ahead 30 seconds. Not only was the victim's body severed in two, but her mouth had been cut from ear to ear as if in a permanent smile. Her face and skull showed signs of severe blunt force trauma. Her eyes were half open and her arms were posed above her head. There was almost no blood on the grass beneath her, indicating the murder had happened somewhere else. Two of the LAPD's best detectives, Harry Hansen and Fanis Brown, were leading the investigation. Harry, in particular, was known for his attention to detail and objectivity. He noted that there were rope marks on the victim's wrists, ankles and knees. Neck. She had knife cuts on her pubic area. Her breasts had been removed, as had some of her inner organs. All of this, including the bisection of the remains, had been done with almost surgical precision. Rather than dumping the body haphazardly the killer had carefully posed it, placing it in a public place where it was sure to be found. Whoever this monster was, they wanted people to see their work. Detective Hansen looked around the scene. The victim had no ID on her, but he saw an empty cement sack a few feet away that appeared to have watery blood stains on it. A similar stain was found on the sidewalk near the body. And a man's bloody heel print sat in the grass near her head. These details started to make sense when an official from the crime lab arrived. According to him, the victim had been dead for at least 10 hours and her body had been transported in the cement sack around 2pm shortly after the examination, the body was taken to the morgue for an autopsy. But the press had already caught wind of the crime and they weren't going to wait for more answers before going to print. An hour later, the Los Angeles examiner published a story about the murder, referring to the deceased woman as Jane Doe number one. The photos of the victim were airbrushed, protecting the public from seeing the terror that had been inflicted upon her. An hour after the examiner article hit stands, more newspapers published their own stories about the heinous crime. At the time, the LAPD and the local press had a mutually beneficial relationship. The police provided them with information. In exchange, the media kept mum about the department's seedier escapades. So when Jim Richardson, the editor of the examiner, learned the investigation might be stalled, he was eager to help. Detectives needed to mail the victim's fingerprints all the way to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. the whole process would take a while and give the perpetrator more time to cover his tracks. But the examiner had recently acquired a device and called Sound photo that could instantly transmit photos around the country. It was essentially an early form of the fax machine. Jim offered to let the detectives on the case use it. On the morning of January 16, 1947, a fingerprint card was transmitted to the FBI via sound photo. This was the first time in the history of criminal investigations that this technology was used. Within an hour, the FBI identified the victim as 22 year old Elizabeth Short. Her prints had been entered into the national database after she was arrested for underage drinking back in 1943. Now their Jane Doe had a name. At 10:30am right around the time Elizabeth Short was identified, her autopsy began. The medical examiner determined her. Her cause of death was both hemorrhage and shock. She had received repeated crushing blows to her forehead with a heavy blunt object that left her with a concussion and severe trauma to her Face and skull. The discoloration around these wounds confirmed they'd been inflicted before death and could have caused her to bleed out. The mutilations to her face, including the cut along her mouth from ear to ear, had also been done while Elizabeth was still alive. The wound was so excruciating, it could have triggered her body to go into a deadly shock and shut down her organs. The lack of bruising around her other wounds suggested they'd been done post mortem. After reviewing everything, the medical examiner believed Elizabeth had been tied up, maimed, and killed in a bathtub. Apparently, there were signs she'd been washed before being posed at the crime scene. The medical examiner also determined Elizabeth had not been sexually assaulted. On top of that, he found Elizabeth's injuries weren't all made by the same weapon. The jagged cuts to her mouth and face were consistent with a knife. The bisection of her body, however, had been done using a surgical instrument. Two different tools, two different methods. This opened up the possibility that there may have been more than one killer. Although Elizabeth's autopsy provided some answers, it still left detectives Hansen and Brown scratching their heads. Several young women had been brutally murdered in the last few years, but Nothing in the LAPD's files matched this particular movie. While detectives tried to make heads or tails of the crime, local media outlets were doing their own investigating. Over at the examiner, reporters had tracked down Elizabeth's mother, Phoebe. At that point, Elizabeth was being referred to as the Black Dahlia in the press. She got the nickname because of her ink black hair, all the black clothes she wore, and the fact that the film the Blue Dahlia was popular at the time. A journalist for the examiner got Phoebe on the phone. Before breaking the news that the Black Dahlia was, in fact, Elizabeth. He squeezed some information out of Phoebe. That's how he learned Elizabeth had recently driven from San Diego to Los Angeles with a man named Red. Now they just needed to find him. Examiner editor Jim Richardson figured Elizabeth and Red must have stopped at some point along their route. So he sent reporters to check out every rest stop, diner, gas station, and hotel on that stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. They got lucky when they pulled into the Mecca Motel. Elizabeth and Red hadn't stopped there on that particular drive. But the clerk remembered a couple matching their description who'd stayed there back in December. The reporters were shocked to see see that Elizabeth and Red hadn't signed into the CD Motel using pseudonyms. Instead, next to Elizabeth's name was Red's real name and full address. They were looking for 26 year old Robert Manley from Huntington Park, California. As soon as Jim Richardson heard the news, he sent a reporter to Red's house. His wife, Harriet, answered the door. She explained that Red was away for work, but would be back the next day. She said he'd parked his car at his boss's house in LA and provided the address. The reporter quickly passed this information along to the lapd. Now detectives just had to wait for the right moment to strike. On January 19, 1947, Red was walking to his car when he was surrounded by police officers. Their guns were drawn and pointed directly at him. Red immediately put his hands in the air and announced, I know why you're here, but I didn't do it. His pleas fell on deaf ears. Red was taken down to the station where detectives Hansen and Brown questioned him. Red admitted that he'd known Elizabeth and had driven her to LA on January 9, but insisted he hadn't seen her since. He'd only learned about her murder when he saw her picture in the paper a couple of days ago. He said it made him sick to his stomach. The interrogation continued the next morning. Red was given two lie detector tests and endured several hours of questioning until he collapsed from stress and exhaustion. And although he'd passed the tests and his answers were consistent, he wasn't off the hook yet. Detective Hansen worked with Red's wife and other witnesses to confirm his whereabouts on January 14th and 15th, the days before and after Elizabeth's murder. They all verified that he was either at work or at home. And when the forensics team examined Red's car, they found no trace of blood. Eventually, even Detective Hansen was convinced Red Manley wasn't guilty. Besides his alibi, he just didn't fit the profile of the Kitchen Killer or killers that the medical examiner had offered. Whoever murdered Elizabeth had bisected her body with surgical precision. Red was a traveling salesman. He didn't have any medical training. Detective Hansen was back at square one. And he wasn't the only person who was struggling to unravel the mystery of the Black Dalia. Over at the examiner, editor Jim Richardson was also working hard to find Elizabeth's killer and coming up short. But on the night of January 24, 1947, that all changed. Just as he was about to leave the office, Jim received a call. The person on the other line offered to send the examiner some of Elizabeth's belongings, items she had on her the night she died. Before Jim could trace the call or ask for more information, the line went dead. A couple of days later, a large envelope was intercepted by police postmarked the same day as the phone call. The envelope was composed of letters and words cut from newspapers. It was addressed to the Los Angeles examiner and other papers and said here is Dalia's belongings letter to follow. The sender had struck soaked the envelope in gasoline to remove any fingerprints, but its contents still offered plenty for officials to work with. The envelope contained Elizabeth's birth certificate, her Social Security card, the obituary of her former boyfriend Matthew Gordon, business cards for several male acquaintances, and her address book. Three days later, on January 27, Jim received the follow up letter at the examiner offices. It read, here it is Turning in Wednesday, January 29, 10am had my fun at Police Black Dahlia Avenger. Jim was floored. It sounded like Elizabeth's killer was prepared to turn themselves in.
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Vanessa Richardson
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- [30:56]
Vanessa Richardson
On January 15, 1947, 22 year old Elizabeth Short was found murdered in Los Angeles. Twelve days later, on January 27, the editor of the Los Angeles examiner received a picture postcard from Elizabeth's alleged killer. They seemed willing to turn themselves in and even provided a date and time. January 29th at 10:00am Jim turned the postcard over to the LAPD Chief of Homicide, Captain Jack Donahoe. He responded to the letter through a press release printed in the Los Angeles papers. Donahoe told the killer that if he wanted to surrender, he'd be be happy to meet at any public location. He asked that the murderer call a specific extension at the police station to set up a time. The killer may have tried to follow Captain Donahoe's instructions, but unfortunately, so did hundreds of impostors. The line was flooded and no one could get through for days. Still, on Wednesday, January 29, Donahoe stationed several policemen around the offices of the Los Angeles Examiner. Since the mysterious sender had been mainly communicating with Jim, Donahoe figured that's where they'd go to turn themselves in. Word spread quickly, and soon the building was flooded with both police officials and rival reporters. Jim Richardson was appalled. There was no way this guy was going to turn himself in when they were all sitting, standing around staring, waiting for him. Unfortunately, Jim was right. No one ever showed. Jim Richardson wasn't the only person frustrated with Captain Donahoe. Detective Harry Hansen was also losing patience with his superior. Donahoe's blunders with the press, mistakes in the case, and increasingly secretive behavior made Hansen question whether or not his captain was as to close committed to solving this case as he was when the contents of the envelope were turned over to the police as evidence. Donahoe was particularly interested in the address book. The names could provide valuable clues about Elizabeth's social circle. But some people speculated Donohoe had ulterior motives for keeping the book close to his chest. Maybe he didn't want his detectives to investigate the people listed in Inside. Rumors were already circulating that Captain Donahoe had ties to the LA criminal underworld. It was also rumored that Elizabeth's address book contained the names of over 75 prominent Los Angelenos and Hollywood personalities, and that several names and addresses had been deliberately cut out of the book at some point. In a suspicious move, Donahoe made sure that the contents the of. Of the address book were never made public. Not even reporters from the newspaper were allowed to peek inside it. But one name embossed in gold on the COVID of the book was impossible to conceal. Mark Hansen, no relation to Detective Harry Hansen, was a multimillionaire who owned several apartment buildings, a theater, the Roseland Ballroom, and a nightclub called Florentine Gardens. Florentine Gardens had a reputation as a hangout for Los Angeles lowlifes. It was common knowledge that Mark had cozied up to local gangsters and even let them host a secret card game in the nightclub. It's not clear how Mark Hansen and Elizabeth Short first met, but his connection offered a glimpse into a missing piece of her past, one that Detective Harry Hansen was eager to uncover. Hansen traced Elizabeth's movements in the months before her death and learned that she was in Long beach until her affair with Joseph fickling ended in August 1946. She next popped up in December of that year when Dorothy French found her asleep in a San Diego movie theater. That left four months that Elizabeth was unaccounted for. But Detective Hansen was able to fill in the blanks. It turned out Elizabeth had moved back to Los Angeles during that time. Shortly after that, she met Mark Hanson. Before long, Mark started paying her rent at the Hawthorne Hotel, a seedy spot known for its popularity with sex workers. In September of 1946, Mark picked Elizabeth up at the Hawthorne and moved her into one of his apartment buildings behind Florentine Gardens. If Elizabeth was wasn't already considered one of his many girlfriends, she certainly was then. She wasn't faithful to Mark, though apparently she was also seeing a man named Maurice Clement. Detective Harry Hansen questioned both men who were cooperative. Maurice Clement even admitted to seeing Elizabeth frequently just before she left for San Diego. Ultimately, both Mark and Maurice were cleared. If they had motives for killing Elizabeth, Hanson couldn't discern them. More than that, the men didn't have the medical expertise that Hansen was looking for in Elizabeth's murderer. Detective Hansen was growing frustrated. The leads had gone nowhere, and Captain Donahoe seemed indifferent to the lack of progress. Worse, he'd repeatedly broken protocol by letting junior officers question people from Elizabeth's address book. Contacts meant to be kept strictly within the top ranks of the LAPD. To Hansen, it seemed obvious that Donahoe was deliberately keeping his best detectives away from certain suspects. This suggested that for some reason, the captain was protecting them, even at the expense of the case. In February of 1947, just over a month after Elizabeth Short's body was found, Captain Jack Donahoe was removed from his position as chief of the Homicide Division and transferred to robbery detail. It's not clear if he was being reprimanded because he'd mishandled the case or because of his alleged underworld connections. However, both reasons have been speculated. And while removing Donahoe seemed like the right decision, there's no denying it set the investigation back over the next two years. Years, police interviewed numerous suspects, fielded countless false confessions, sifted through questionable letters, and worked alongside the press to try to find Elizabeth's killer. Still, they weren't any closer to solving the case. By 1950, the investigation had gone cold. It stayed that way for another 50 years, until 1990, when a retired LAPD detective breathed new life into the case. Steve Hodel had grown up in Los Angeles and worked for the police department for almost 24 years. As a detective in the homicide division, Steve heard all about the mysterious Black Dahlia case. Not that he wasn't aware of it already. In 1947. He'd only been six years old when LA's most famous famous unsolved crime occurred. But people talked about it for decades afterward. Despite Steve's incredible solve record in the lapd, he never imagined he would have anything to do with this particular homicide. That changed when his father, George Hodel, passed away in 1999. Steve was looking through his dad's old photos. There were pictures of him, his siblings, his father's wives, and some other unidentified young women. Steve was taken aback. Who were these girls? And why were their pictures kept alongside photos of George's family? Two of the photos stuck out to Steve. They featured the same woman with dark hair, thin eyebrows, and full lips. Something about her looked familiar, but Steve couldn't pinpoint who she was. Neither could George's widow. As he walked home, Steve racked his brain, wondering who this mysterious woman could be. And suddenly it hit him. It was Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia herself. Weeks later, Steve looked up a photo of Elizabeth. He couldn't deny it. She was identical to the woman in his father's picture. Steve knew the prevailing theory was that Elizabeth's killer must have had medical training to bisect her body. The way they kid. It just so happened that his father, George Hodel, had been a successful doctor. Steve also knew that while his father was respected in his profession, he wasn't the most upstanding man. He married multiple times, had girlfriends on the side, and was known for throwing orgies at his home in Los Angeles. Even worse, George had been accused of sexual assault, including the assault of his teenage daughter, who he also trafficked to other adults as well. In 1949, Steve's half sister, 14 year old Tamar Hodel, ran away from home and told police her father had assaulted her and gotten her pregnant. George hired the best lawyer he could, ran a smear campaign against his own daughter, and was ultimately acquitted of the crime. After that, Tamar cut ties with most of the Hodels. As Steve dug into his father's past, he reconnected with Tamar. She told him the harrowing story of what happened to her. She also mentioned that during her trial in 1949, a district attorney revealed that George had been a suspect in the Black Dahlia murder. After Tamar's revelation, Steve requested as many files on the Black Dahlia case as possible and was was granted access via the Freedom of Information Act. He discovered that the DA had told Tamar the truth. George Hodel had once been listed as a suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short. However, he was later cleared. As Steve sifted through everything, he came across the postcard Jim Richardson had received from the Black Dalia Avenger. Steve momentarily held, held his breath. He recognized the handwriting on that postcard. He knew in his gut that George Hodel had written it. In 2003, Steve Hodel published a book titled the Black Dahlia Avenger, where he laid out the case against his father. It was so compelling that more than 20 years later, George Hodel is still the most well known suspect in Elizabeth Short's murder. However, many have pointed out that the evidence Steve presented was largely circumstantial. The photos Steve found in George's possessions were never proven to be of Elizabeth Short. And no direct relationship between George and Elizabeth was ever established. But after reading Black Dahlia Avenger, an LA Times reporter was intrigued enough to dig through the case files himself. And he found a document that Steve Hodel had never seen. George Hodel's house had been bugged by the LAPD in early 1950. It's not clear if this was related to Elizabeth's investigation or Tamar's trial. But at one point, the recording devices captured George speaking to an unidentified visitor. He said, quote, suppose and I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't prove it. Now they can't talk to my secretary because she's dead. This was another detail that Tamar had mentioned to Steve. George's secretary had been found dead by an apparent overdose. But many have speculated that George killed her because she knew about his potential involvement in Elizabeth's death. In Steve's eyes, this was even more proof that George had murdered Elizabeth. Unfortunately for Steve, detectives cleared George a long time ago. But even that has been a point of debate. George was a well respected doctor and a prominent member of LA high society. He had alleged connections to organized crime and the lapd. Steve believes the only reason George was cleared was because someone in the department was protecting him. Those allegations haven't been enough for the LAPD to take another look look at George. In the 78 years since Elizabeth Short's murder, rumors about what really happened to her have multiplied. Many conspiracy theorists agree with Steve Hodel. They think George was Elizabeth's killer. Still others believe Elizabeth was involved in organized crime and that her death was connected to the mob. Infamous Mafioso Bugsy Siegel has even been floated as a suspect. Then there are the more imaginative theories. One of George Hodel's friends was a visual artist named Man Ray because of how Elizabeth's body was drained of blood and posed. Some people suggest her death was actually intended to be a piece of surrealist art, an attempt by George to emulate the surrealist artist's work. They think it was carried out by Man Ray, George and others. Then there are those who believe unethical doctors. Either George Hodel or someone else used her for medical experiments. Of course, none of these theories has been proven, but I'm curious to know which of these theories or any others you think are the most likely. Let us know in the comments. I'd love to hear Regardless of the many rumors about Elizabeth, one thing is for sure, she's never been forgotten. Today she's immortalized by numerous movies, books and podcasts, including a series made by Tamar Hodel's granddaughters. It's called Root of Evil. If you haven't listened, you should definitely check it out. Another notable Example is a 2006 film starring Scarlett Johansson. It's strange and a little scary. Sad to think that this is how Elizabeth finally ended up on the big screen. But we don't have to remember her that way because before Elizabeth Short became known as the Black Dalia, before she ever set foot on Hollywood Boulevard, she was a little girl playing dress up with her sisters and looking starry eyed at the silver screen. And in telling her story, we can keep her memory alive because it's never too late to search for the truth. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes. Come back next week. We'll decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world. World's Most notorious Cults, Conspiracies and Criminal Acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes Wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House. Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free, plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertofsky, Lori Marinelli, Ellie Reed, Sarah Camp, Leah Roche and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. 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