Chelsea is Dying in Spooktober

"This week join us as Chelsea dives deep into the suspects of the Black Dahlia Murder case in the 1940's. The only truth is that proper police work and investigative ethics could've come into play here."

Presented by: Chelsea
Category: Unsolved Murder

Content Warning: Graphic Descriptions of Murder, Mentions of Rape

Elizabeth Short was a women living in Los Angeles in the 1940s. She was last scene alive after being dropped off at a hotel by her boyfriend. She was found the next morning cut in half and her mouth cut in a Glasgow smile. Her bother was further mutilated.

At one one point, the police had has many as 300 suspects, but Chelsea chose to highlight three of the more serious ones. Leslie Dillon was a former mortician assistant and bellhop (hotel robber). He revealed in a letter that a man called Connors killed Short, but it was believed that he made the man up. It turned out that Connors was real, but the alias of one of his partners in crime. While he worked at a place that Short frequented, it could not be determined whether they knew each other. The theory was Short found out a robber and was murdered to keep it silent.

Ed Burns was a medical student who it was believed to have dated Short. He committed suicide two months after her death and suicide note confessing to the killing is attributed to him.

George Hodel, Jr. was a doctor and considered to be the most likely suspect of the known ones. He was investigated for the rape of his daughter and the death of his secretary by drug overdose. While bugging his house, he was recorded alluding to the Black Dahlia. While he never confessed to it on tape, he said that the police couldn't prove it before or then. He fled the country for 40 years, living in the Philippines before returning in 1990. His own son believes we was guilty of it, though him blaming other crimes on this has made him less credible.

While theories differ, it is likely that the murder would have been solved today. Elizabeth Short will never receive justice because of police corruption and police incompetence.

Takeaway: Fuck the police.