The case of The Black Dahlia is one of the oldest unsolved cases in Los Angeles. The murder of a young woman was so horrific that the press nicknamed the woman “The Black Dahlia”. Elizabeth Short was 22 years old when she was found murdered. At first, she was thought to be a store mannequin that had fallen apart but the reality was that Short had been sliced in half at the waist and her blood drained.
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Elizabeth Short was born in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was a child, she suffered from lung problems and was sent to live in Miami, Florida, when she was 16 years old for the winter. When the weather improved she returned to live with her mother. She had moved to Los Angeles and was an aspiring actress. Short was known to visit jazz nightclubs and making friends with many of the men she met.
The nude body of Elizabeth Short was discovered by a mother and daughter on 15th January 1947 in Leimert Park in Los Angeles. Betty Bersinger was the local resident who had been walking with her daughter at around 10am. The body had been washed, drained of blood, cut in half at the waist, and her face had been slashed in the corners of the mouth up to her ears. As well as these horrible mutilations, there was multiple cuts and slashes on her body. Some were minor cuts but others had removed sections of her flesh. The detectives on the scene described how her body had been posed. Her hands were placed above her head and her legs were spread apart. Her face had been sliced at the mouth which created a creepy, grotesque smile.
When the press heard of the murder, they attempted to get as much information out of her mother before they told her what had become of her daughter. The killer became unhappy at how the story was being told by the press and contacted the Los Angeles Examiner on 23 January 1947. After speaking with the editor on the phone, the killer mailed personal items belonging to Elizabeth to the newspaper office. Among the items was her birth certificate. After this, letters began appearing in the Los Angeles Examiner office claiming to be from the killer.
Over 50 men confessed to the killing of Elizabeth Short within the first year of her death. The police were never able to pin down a suspect due to Short’s love of spending time in jazz clubs. She was known for meeting many different people, making it nearly impossible for the police to work out who would have last seen her before she was killed. The killer was never found and this case is one of the oldest cold cases in Los Angeles.
There were several suspects who could have been the killer but none of them were ever charged with the murder. One suspect was Daniel Voorhees who confessed to the murder. Another suspect was Dr. George Hill Hodel. He was suspected of killing Elizabeth Short and several other women, including his secretary.
Unlike most other crimes, the name “The Black Dahlia” is the nickname for Elizabeth, not her killer.
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