Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - The Black Dahlia: Hollywood Dreams Stolen | Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

In 1947, the mutilated body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles, shocking the nation and spawning a media firestorm. Dubbed “The Black Dahlia,” her case became one of the most infamous unsolved murders in American history. This episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes unravels the secrets, suspects, and sinister theories that still haunt Hollywood nearly 80 years later. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money and Murder to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Scams, Money and Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, it's Vanessa. If you're drawn to true crime stories about disappearances, there's a new crime house original you should check out. It's called The Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah's an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who's seen firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, examining the moments just before a person disappears, the routines, the timelines, the small

details that often get overlooked, because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal until it doesn't. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday. This is Crime House. In 1947, Los Angeles was rocked by one of the most disturbing crimes in U.S. 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 the world. their front pages, painting Elizabeth as everything from a Hollywood starlet to a femme fatal. 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 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 theory. theories, cults and crimes, a crimehouse 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, add 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 sea. 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 episode, 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.

On the morning of January 15, 1947, a woman named Betty Bursinger was walking through the Lamert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles with her daughter. She gently 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 Bursinger 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 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. 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 two 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 L.A. 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 L.A., 18-year-old Elizabeth had cozyed up to a U.S. 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 the 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 her 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 1944, 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 broke. 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 read. 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 Redd to give her a ride to L.A. 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 Ginny 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 Redd that she could wait on her own. He didn't argue. At 6.30 p.m., he left the hotel, not knowing Elizabeth had lied. Ginny wasn't coming to L.A. According to the doorman at the Biltmore, Elizabeth spent the next several hours alone in the lobby. Then, at 10 p.m., he watched as she exited

onto Olive Street and walked south through the fog. That was the last confirmed sighting of Elizabeth Short. Ah, where are my gloves? Come on, heat. Winter is hard, but your groceries don't have to be. This winter, stay warm. Tap the banner to order your groceries online at voila.ca. Enjoy in-store prices without leaving your home.

You'll find the same regular prices online in store. Many promotions are available both in store and online, though some may vary. On January 9, 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth Short walked out of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and vanished into the night. Six days later, on January 15th, she was found savagely murdered in a vacant lot. Elizabeth's body was discovered by a woman named Betty Bursinger in a Los Angeles neighborhood of Lamert Park. After the shock war off, Betsy ran to the nearest house and called 911. 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 Fainis 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 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

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 2 p.m., 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 No. 1. 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 seedyer 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 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 10.30 a.m., right around the time Elizabeth Short was identified, her autopsy began. The medical examiner determined 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 MO. While detectives tried to make heads or tales 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 that Elizabeth and Red hadn't signed into the CD Motel using pseudonyms. Instead, next to Elizabeth's name was Redd'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 L.A. 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 Detective Hansen and Brown questioned him. Red admitted that he'd known Elizabeth and had, driven her to L.A. on January 9th, 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 test. 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 Manly wasn't guilty. Besides his alibi, he just didn't fit the profile of the 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 Dahlia. 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 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 27th, Jim received the follow-up letter at the examiner offices. It read, Here it is. Turning in Wednesday, January 29th, 10 a.m., had my fun at police. Black Dahlia Avenger. Jim was floored. It sounded like Elizabeth's killer was prepared to turn themselves in. At Desjardin, our business is helping yours. We're here to support your business through every stage of growth, from your first pitch to your first acquisition. Whether it's improving cash flow or exploring investment banking solutions, with Desjardin business, it's all under one roof. So join the

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pivotal hallway chats or big ideas. People do. And people, when given the best AI platform, they're freed up to do the fulfilling work they want to do. To see how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart starts pounding, horrors, hauntings, and mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen Moore. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying, true urban legends, bizarre, true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror, and more. So if you're looking to join a passionate community of The Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. On January 15th, 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was found murdered in Los Angeles.

Twelve days later, on January 27th, the editor of the Los Angeles Examiner received a postcard from Elizabeth's alleged killer. They seemed willing to turn themselves in and even provided a date and time January 29th at 10 a.m. 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 happy to meet at any public location. He asked that the murderer call a specific person, 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 29th, 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 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 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 Donahoe had ulterior motives for keeping the book close to his chest. Maybe he didn't want his detectives to investigate the people listed inside. Rumors were already circulating that Captain Donahoe had ties to the L.A. criminal underworld. It was also rumored that Elizabeth's address book contained the names of over 75 prominent Los Angelinos,

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 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 cover of the book, was impossible to conceal. Mark Hanson, no relation to Detective Harry Hanson, was a multi-millionaire 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 Hanson was eager to uncover. Hanson 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 Hanson 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 CD 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 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, Hansen 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 Hanson 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 mishanded 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, police interviewed numerous suspects, wielded 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 1999, 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 L.A.'s most 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 did. 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 to Mar-Hodell, 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 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 Dahlia Avenger. Steve momentarily 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 L.A. Times reporter was in 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 an 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 L.A. 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 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 they're 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 no. numerous movies, books, and podcasts, including a series made by Tamara 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

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 Dahlia, 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 of the center of the world's most notorious cults, conspiracies, and criminal acts. Conspiracy theories, cults and crimes is a crimehouse original, powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crimehouse, 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 at Crimehouse on TikTok and Instagram.

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