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It's not every day that a body cut in half is found lying in the streets. What started out as a shocking, gruesome murder now remains one of the most well-known cases that inspired many movies, books, and theories. Keep listening to find out more about the story of Elizabeth Short, the victim of an infamous crime that was never solved. You're listening to the first episode of Cold Case Files.
Young LA girl slain, body slashed in two, reads the headline of a newspaper from 1947. It may sound like an exaggeration, but in this case, it was literal in every way. Betty Berthinger, who was a housewife who lived in the area, was headed for a shoe repair shop on what seemed to be a perfectly normal, cold morning in Los Angeles.
However, while walking with her daughter, she stumbled across a body that was positioned in such a way that she, at first, didn't think it was an actual human body. After all, it was cut in half and deathly pale. However, the longer she stared at it, the more unusual it seemed. Finally, she realized that what was in the grass was in fact a dead human body and it was cut in half. She immediately called the police.
This brutal murder of a young actress, famously nicknamed the Black Dahlia case, baffled Los Angeles. Committed on January 15, 1947, it unfortunately still remains unsolved to this day. Why the name Black Dahlia? During the 1940s, it was pretty common for newspapers to give names to female murder victims.
In this case for Elizabeth Short, the name came from how some people from a drugstore that she went to frequently saw her and connected her to a character from the murder mystery movie, The Blue Dahlia. But since her hair and clothes were black, it became Block Dahlia instead. Interestingly though, before the case was nicknamed the Black Dahlia case, it was called the Werewolf Murder.
I guess Black Dahlia was a bit more catchy compared to Werewolf Murder. Eh, I kinda liked the second one better. Anyways, let's take a closer look at the crime scene. It was on the corner of Norton and 39th in the city of Los Angeles. After the panic call from Betty Burgsinger, two cops arrived and confirmed that there was a body cut in two on the side of the sidewalk.
They immediately called for backup and thus began one of the most famous investigations of the 20th century. Two senior detectives, Harry Hansen and Finnis Brown, were quickly assigned to the case. I heard that reporters, curious onlookers, and photographers were all on the scene pretty quickly. Yep, and a good amount of the precious evidence was trampled on, touched, and lost. Hansen immediately ordered for the area to be cleared. But it was probably already too late, right? Probably.
Evidence is very perishable and that day there were no exceptions. The simplest of movements and steps can destroy irreparable evidence that is important to the case. Just think about the JonBenet Ramsey case. It's so unfortunate that LAPD didn't do what they were supposed to do with this case. Yeah, it is. Well, because of the horrible nature of this crime, LAPD made solving this their top priority. What did the detectives find at the crime scene?
They found a cement bag with a drop of blood on it, which had likely been brought from some other location, a tire track right up against the curbing, a bloody heel mark, and another drop of blood on the curb. They then lifted her fingerprints and immediately sent them to FBI headquarters for identification. Well, do you want to tell us a little bit about the body itself, Coleman? Sure. In short, no pun intended, it was super gruesome.
the body of elizabeth short was completely cut in half thoroughly cleaned and her body was drained of blood her intestines had been removed she had three-inch gashes cut in the corners of her mouth to resemble a creepy smile this is called a gazglo smile and the victim's face is cut from the corners of the mouth up to the ears
A famous example of this would be the Joker from The Dark Knight. The investigators believed that the victim had been tortured while tied down because of the rope marks on her waist, ankle, and neck. She had cuts in a criss-cross pattern over her pubic area, and she had her pubic hair ripped out. She had no sperm on her body because the killer wiped the body completely clean. You know, it sounds like someone with a medical background could be a suspect. Right, Coleman?
We will get to that later, Lynn. LAPD officers who were at the scene observed that the body appeared to have been set up in a sort of gruesome pose. The woman, Elizabeth Short, was lying on her back with her arms raised up and her legs were made to look as if she were trying to be seductive. Looking at all the evidence linked to the body in the scene, the investigators determined that her time of death was about 10 hours before the discovery.
Although the body was heavily mutilated, the scene was relatively free of any blood from the victim or the suspect, which led investigators to believe that Short had been killed somewhere else then brought to the location where she was found. Okay, um, well let's take a look at what Detective Haskins said. Whoa, wait a second, who's that? Uh, one of the first officers who arrived at the scene. Dude, were you even paying attention? I have the script right here, Lin, we never said that. Oh, oops.
Anyways, let's take a look. And this is a quote directly from Haskins. That's pretty intense, Lynn. That's an understatement. Okay, let's look at what the cause of death was.
Let me guess, uh, being cut in half? No, actually, the cause of death was due to, and I'm quoting from the official FBI report, hemorrhage and shock from her concussion of the brain and lacerations to the face. Basically, internal bleeding, brain injury, and a lot of damage to the face. Yikes, okay. Right after the case was made public, an interesting relationship formed between the press and the police. The newspaper called the Herald Express said,
had reporters who could uncover very valuable evidence related to the Black Dahlia case and proposed that they would share this information with the LAPD if the newspaper could keep investigating the case and have exclusive related to the case. The LAPD took the offer. They were really desperate for anything. Honestly, it seems like a reasonable decision to make in rough times. I agree.
Well, after the body and the scene were observed in detail, what came next was the investigation of the Black Dahlia as a person. In other words, her social life. And before I start, I'll just say that things get even more interesting as we look at this. Oh yeah? What's so interesting about it? Well, Elizabeth grew up in Boston and always had dreams of being a star actress. Don't we all? Yep.
She was known as Beth and she grew up to be a very pretty girl. She was always told that she acted very mature compared to other people her age. Sounds like the beginning of a star actress career. It could have been if she hadn't died so soon. Guys were obsessed with her. Everywhere she went, she turned heads because she was so beautiful. This is a quote from one of her neighbors. The truck drivers and men would stare when she walked down the street.
It was a wonder there weren't more truck accidents when she walked down Salem Street. She just looked so graceful but eye-catching, something to look at. Wow, uh, well she does sound very pretty. Yup. Anyways, um, so she moved to Los Angeles and met the love of her life named Gordon Fickling. He died in World War II and she had to move on.
So in the last few days of her life, she was going out every night partying. As you do. Yep. Then she met a guy named Manly. He was a businessman from Los Angeles. One morning she was with him. She told him that she needed to go to the Biltmore Hotel in Hollywood. When he dropped her off, he didn't stick around because he had an appointment to go to. So she was last seen by Manly and the hotel employees.
Then she went missing for six days until she was found. Man, now that gives me the chills. Yeah, it's some creepy stuff. Now, I know we're both wondering the same thing. Oh yeah? What's for lunch today? Who did it? Oh, oops. Okay, Lynn, can you give me the suspects? Sure, let's start with Leslie Dillon.
He was 27 years old at the time of the investigation. He worked at a hotel, wanted to become a writer, and used to be a mortician's assistant. In October of 1948, he wrote to Dr. J. Paul DeRiver, an LAPD psychiatrist, asking about the case. He said that he was very interested in writing a book on sadistic and sexual psychopaths. Well, that's...
Not suspicious at all, right, Lynn? Not yet. I was being sarcastic. Oh, well, anyways, he asked Dr. River about what theories he had on the case. But then here is where it gets a bit more interesting. He said that Jeff Connors, apparently one of his friends, had killed Elizabeth Short. Really? Yeah, friend of the year, right?
Dylan was questioned on January 10th and his friend who apparently killed Elizabeth Short was found on January 11th. But here's a plot twist. His name wasn't actually Jeff Connors but Artie Lane. He lived in LA around the time of the murder and worked at Columbia Studios where Elizabeth liked to hang out. That escalated pretty quickly. Some people think that Leslie Dylan and Artie Lane were the same person. Really?
Yeah, however, LAPD never really confirmed this theory. By the end of 1949, the police lost interest in Dylan. His whereabout could not be determined in January of 1947, which is when Elizabeth had been missing prior to her death. So he was never convicted? Yes, Coleman, we already said it was unsolved. I was just asking. On to the next suspect.
Looks like his name was Ed Burns. Wanna take us through this one, Coleman? Sure thing. Take it away. So, with this one we really have to start with talking about Susan Degnan. Kay, who's that? She was a six-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered in Chicago in 1946. She was soon found in the sewers in pieces. Well, that sounds gruesome and not really related at all. Keep listening.
a man named william herons confessed to susan's murder and was arrested he was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison apparently elizabeth became super obsessed with it after the murder went public to the point where she would lie to people that she was a reporter and talk about the details of the murder over and over
Oh, that's not weird at all. Nope, I did the same exact thing on the weekend. Me too. Anyways, while she was doing this, she was also still trying to meet another man after her husband's death. This man happened to be our suspect, Ed Burns. He lived in the LA Harbor District and hit it off with Elizabeth immediately.
The relationship worked out great at first. She was beautiful, which worked for Ed, and Elizabeth apparently enjoyed giving him her money and talking about the murder of Susan, that girl from before. Honestly, that sounds like a great relationship. You don't say. One thing is that he was not a very good-looking guy, so Elizabeth assumed that he would not want to show him off, which made him difficult to pin down later.
Well, that escalated pretty quickly.
So he basically killed her so that she could live out her obsession? I guess you could put it that way, although she probably didn't intend for things to happen like that. Oh, I wouldn't have either. Anyways, Ed Burns is believed to have committed suicide two months after Elizabeth's murder. He left a suicide note that seemed to clearly state that he murdered Elizabeth. It read, To whom it may concern, I have waited for the police to capture me for the Black Dahlia killing, but have not.
i am too much of a coward to turn myself in so this is the best way out for me i couldn't help myself for that or this sorry mary well that's pretty clear isn't it so he was the killer it'd be nice if we could just say that but unfortunately we don't have a clear answer even though it might seem like someone confessed to her murder we should also consider that many other people have come forth to claim being the murderer of the black dahlia case
He could have simply been one of those attention seekers, or he could have been the real killer. We'll never know. So why exactly are we unsure that he wasn't the real killer? It literally says it right here. He says he killed her. I know that. Let me explain. What I'm about to say is a series of speculations at best. It is believed that the LAPD was likely able to connect Ed Burns to Elizabeth's murder, but they didn't tell the public that the killer with such an infamous murder case was already dead.
So, some people think that LAPD covered it up when they really knew what happened. I really do love clear answers in these murder cases. Well, there's a reason that our podcast is named Cold Case Files, Lynn. Yeah, yeah, okay. We have one more suspect, don't we? Yes, we do. Our last guy is George Hodel. Lynn...
Do you want to introduce him? Sure. So this guy actually didn't get on the police radar because of the black Dahlia case, but for sexually molesting his daughter. This is what actually put him under police surveillance. Well, that's great. Definitely. While the police were keeping an eye on Hodo, he was recorded talking to a confidant. This is a direct quote. Realized there was nothing I could do, put a pillow over her head and cover her with a blanket.
Get a taxi. Expired 12:59. They thought there was something fishy. Anyway, now they may have figured it out. Killed her. Wow, pretty obvious to me. Maybe, maybe not. Anyways, the police kept their eyes on this guy until they caught another highly incriminating statement. Wanna read it for us, Coleman? Sure. It says here that he said,
Supposing I did kill the black Dahlia, they can't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead. Wow. This wasn't the only thing that they could pin on him. He often intentionally misdiagnosed his patients and gave them wrong prescriptions. His secretary died during a drug overdose. Some speculate that she just knew too much, I guess you could say. Okay, well that concludes our list of suspects. Thanks, Lynn.
No problem Coleman. So let me put this question out there again. Who killed Elizabeth Short? Nobody actually knows who killed her. There are a lot of different possible theories with different suspects. The biggest explanation that could be believable is that the LAPD knew who did the murder but never let the public know it was Salt.
LAPD had corrupt officers operating with jealousy and secrecy. There could have been evidence hidden or destroyed. The police department there was a corrupt political system. As one source put it, "There is a high possibility that the LAPD is covering up information related to the short case." That would be such a shock. I can't imagine why a police department would be corrupt like that. Just like any business in the world, there are hidden agendas within police departments.
This is less of a reality now, but it was a reality back in the 1950s. Well, okay. With all the evidence above, who do you think did it, Coleman? I just... I just really want to hear what you think about it. I personally think that George Hodel committed this murder because there is solid evidence of circumstance leading to him. He was a doctor, which would explain how the killer was so good with the anatomy and skills related to mutilating the body.
He had a long history of sexual assault and when he was put under surveillance he said, "Supposing I did kill the Black Dahlia, they can't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead." Receipts from the, for cement from George were found that were the week of the murder and before the police could arrest him he went to the Philippines.
Man, that honestly sounds very plausible. We did say that the body had the blood drained out of it and all the organs were removed, so he could be the murderer. You know, his son went on to be an LAPD investigator too. When his father died, he was going through his things and saw a picture of Elizabeth Short. He then looked into it and is still trying to prove his guilt to this day.
With all these things being said, however, the Black Dahlia case is unsolved and there most likely never will be complete closure on this case. It has been unsolved for years and I don't see that magically changing. Yeah. Quick fact, unfortunately, many murders actually go unsolved. In 2017, nearly 40% of murders in the United States never got solved. Did you know that, Coleman?
I did not know that. Hopefully it doesn't stay that way for the sake of the victims and the families. I hope so too. Well, this concludes our podcast. We will see you next time on Cold Case Files.
