Chapter 1
This story is about a beautiful blue-eyed, black hair woman brutally murdered and her body dumped beside a street. There were more than 33 individuals who surrendered themselves to police and claimed that they have murdered the lady. After 72 years, finally, the actual identity of the killer was revealed.
Los Angeles in 1947 was a town of hope and aspirations. It was home to moviemakers, producers and people interested in the movie business. On 15th of January 1947, Paddy Persinger and her three years old daughter were taking a morning stroll.
As they were passing by a plot of vacant land she observed a woman lying beside the road. Her first thought was that of a discarded mannequin being placed there. On closer observation she realized, it was not a mannequin, rather a body of a young woman completely nude lying on her back.
The body of the woman was precisely cut above the waist into two halves, the torso and waist each laid about a foot from each other. Her joints of her lips were cut up to the ear and her body also had other injury marks. The most important thing she notices is that there was no blood around.
She screamed, and the police were informed. The murdered woman had black hair and later when her identity was revealed, the women’s love for black dresses gave the case the name of ‘Black Dahlia’. Police sent her fingerprints to the FBI, for identifying the victim’s identity and within a short time, she was identified as Elizabeth Short.
Chapter 2
Elizabeth Short was one of the five daughters, her father Cleo Short was into golfing business and the family was financially stable. During the recession of 1930s, his father amongst others suffered substantial losses. He was unable to support his family and subsequently left.
Fibi Short, her mother along with other daughters moved into a smaller apartment and she struggled financially and it was hard to manage her family alone. Elizabeth was beautiful and ambitious, she had a nice persona and confidence. She walked like a queen with sensuality and used to draw a lot of attention from the passerby.
She wanted to be a movie star, and she was fond of watching movies, going to jazz clubs freaking out with friends. She took up a job of a cashier at the camp cook, which is the place soldiers would come to had their meals. She was approached by many soldiers who made advances towards her, but she rejected them all.
She was very fond of men in uniform. One day Elizabeth Short was having fun with her friends at a local bar when she was arrested by police as she was drinking being a minor, she was only 16 then. She was let off with a warning.
She met a lieutenant during one of the parties and decided to settle down, but during World War 2 lieutenant was called for duty and never returned. Some days later she met another man in uniform, he was a major. They fell in love.
They dated and were going along nicely and she decided to marry him. Unfortunately amongst twists, she got the news of a plane crash just a day before he was scheduled to return home killing the major. She went into depression.
She was still very ambitious and young as well as beautiful. She took up the job of a waitress in Los Angeles, in one of the hotels frequented by Hollywood movie stars. Mark Henson a Danish businessman was the owner of this hotel.
He provided her with a place to stay along with 8 other bar girls and dancers. Mark Henson told her that she need not pay any rent for the place to stay as long as she meets his sexual relationship.
She though declined his advances. She was seen with different persons different night, that was because she was running short of money and hence she dated a young man who used to take care of dinner bills.
Chapter 3
One day Elizabeth Short was waiting outside the hotel when a young businessman named Robert Manly. He offered her a ride back home, she accepted and they became good friends.
On the evening of 14th January, she requested Robert to drop her at Biltmore hotel where she was expected to meet somebody. Accordingly, Robert drops her at the hotel and that was the last time she was seen. Next day morning her bisected nude body was found in a vacant plot besides a street.
During that time Los Angeles Police Department officers were pretty corrupt; instead of monetary benefits, they would not lay their hands on politicians, gangsters and businessman. When police were informed about the discovery of a body they sealed the crime scene.
They concluded that Elizabeth Short, had been killed somewhere else and her body was dumped at that place due to lack of blood. This gruesome death was covered by all the leading newspapers during that time.
Police went to every door within the vicinity to get a clue as to whether somebody has seen something that night. But the answer was negative. FBI sends a list of medical practitioners based on the precision with which the body was bisected. All of them were questioned but nothing positive came out.
Police arrested Robert Manly as he was the last person who had seen Elizabeth Short, he underwent polygraph test and was questioned throughout the night but nothing conclusive was found.
He told the investigators that he was playing cards with his wife throughout the night. During that time newspapers carried out stories claiming Elizabeth Short as a loose woman who would love to go out with any person.
Chapter 4
During that time as many as 33 persons approached police claiming that they had killed Elizabeth Short. Police investigated each of the suspects but found no relevant fact to link up the suspects with her.
Police believed that the claimants just wanted to gain popularity and their photos published in newspapers. One day police received a phone call from an anonymous person claiming to be black Dahlia avenger.
This person was very upset over media reports about the character of Elizabeth Short. On a subsequent day, a parcel was received by the police, containing some important documents related to Elizabeth Short like her social security card, birth certificates and personal photographs and a letter assembled from the cutouts of a newspaper.
Police believed that this packet containing the personal belonging of Elizabeth Short was sent by his killer. Few days’ later police recovered her Handbag and shoes from the garbage. Next police turned on Mark Hanson the businessman who was a womanizer and his advances were declined.
He was the last person whom Elizabeth Short called on 14th January. So was it Mark Henson with whom Elizabeth Short intended to meet at Biltmore hotel.
Chapter 5
The third suspect named Dr George Hodal emerged into the police investigation. He was an eminent doctor and occupied an important portfolio in the Los Angeles health department.
He was the most approached doctor by the Hollywood actors, politicians and businessman. He was a surgeon and also helped to abort women who became pregnant from a politician, actors or high ranking officials.
This doctor was a womanizer and during his life has made many women pregnant. It was later revealed that he was also having an incest affair his own step daughter aged 14.
When investigators were questioning Dr Hodal in their office, they planted microphones all over his house to have some evidence. There were pieces of evidence found related to police payoffs, he was recorded saying that supposedly he killed Black Dahlia, police could not extract anything as her secretary is dead.
It was revealed later that Dr Hodal secretary had committed suicide by drug overdose. The transcripts were not very clear and had a lot of background noise. Due to lack of conclusive evidence police closed the case.
Chapter 6
After getting acquitted Dr Hodal sold his property and leaves for Manila in the Philippines. There he is appointed as a psychiatrist. In 1967 a similar bisected body of a woman was founded in Manila lying in the same way as Black Dahlia.
He returned to Los Angeles in 1991 and died in 1999. Receiving his news of death his son Steve Hodal, who was a retired homicide detective of Los Angeles Police Department went to collect his father’s belongings.
In the belongings, he finds the pictures of Elizabeth Short. This leads him to start an investigation about his father’s relation with Elizabeth Short.
After a long investigation that took many years, he concluded that it was his father Dr George Hodal who had murdered Elizabeth Short on the night of 14th of January 1947 and some other women during that period. So after 72 years, the actual killer of the gruesome murder was revealed.
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)