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Black Dahlia murder remains unsolved after 78 years

Black Dahlia murderThe Black Dahlia murder remains unsolved after 78 years, but retired LAPD detective Steve Hodel Dr. George Hodel killed Elizabeth Short in 1947.
January 30, 2025
Sirisha Dinavahi - LA Post

The brutal murder of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, known as the "Black Dahlia," remains one of Hollywood's most notorious unsolved cases, with a former Los Angeles Police Department detective now pointing to his own father as the likely killer.

Short's mutilated body was discovered on Jan. 15, 1947, in an undeveloped area of L.A.'s Leimert Park neighborhood. The case garnered widespread media attention and spawned decades of investigation, yet no one has ever been charged with the crime.

Steve Hodel, a retired LAPD detective and private investigator, believes his father, Dr. George Hodel, was responsible for Short's death. The elder Hodel, a prominent L.A. gynecologist who died in 1999, was among the primary suspects when the case went before a grand jury in 1949.

"I told Steve, if his father was still alive, I would have filed murder charges against him," L.A. Deputy District Attorney Steve Kay told PEOPLE magazine. "His evidence was very persuasive."

Black Dahlia murder remains unsolved after 78 years

The morning Short's body was found, a young mother walking with her child initially mistook it for a mannequin, according to FBI records. The discovery revealed a gruesome scene: Short's naked body had been severed at the waist with surgical precision, drained of blood, and showed signs of extensive mutilation.

The coroner determined Short died from hemorrhaging caused by facial lacerations and repeated blows to the head, according to the book "Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia."

Born in 1924, Short grew up outside Boston with her parents and four sisters. Her early life was marked by hardship after her father disappeared following the 1929 stock market crash; his car was found abandoned on the Charlestown Bridge. The family believed he had died by suicide until 1942 when they received an apologetic letter revealing he had started a new life in Northern California.

Short briefly lived with her father after turning 18 but moved out in early 1943. She spent time between Florida and California before settling in L.A., reportedly to pursue an acting career. 

The six months before her death remain partially shrouded in mystery. Former police officer Vince Carter noted in "The Black Dahlia: Shattered Dreams" that Short's life followed a pattern: "She didn't have any visible signs of employment, she'd be broke, and then suddenly have some money."

"Her roommates, the bartenders, and the hotel clerks all came up with the same story. She was secretive - never one to confide. She never said what she was really doing, or who she was really going out with, or where she was really going."

In December 1946, weeks before her murder, Short left L.A. for San Diego, telling friends she was frightened but not explaining why. While staying with a woman named Dorothy French, Short admitted she was hiding from an ex-boyfriend out of fear, according to "Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius Murder."

French disclosed that a few weeks into Short's visit, a woman and two men arrived at the house searching for her. Short refused to see the visitors after being "very frightened" and "panicky" after learning about them. She made the decision to move after they eventually left.

Short returned to L.A. on Jan. 8 with a traveling salesman who dropped her at the Biltmore Hotel, where Short claimed to be meeting her sister, who later confirmed to the authorities that they hadn't arranged to meet. Hotel staff reported seeing her make several increasingly frantic phone calls before departing around 10 p.m. This was the last confirmed sighting of Short alive.

Officer Myrl McBride reported encountering a distressed woman believed to be Short on Jan. 14, just hours before the murder. According to "Black Dahlia Avenger," the woman approached McBride "sobbing in terror," claiming someone had threatened to kill her. Short appeared to be too upset to retrieve her purse from a bar she had been in, so McBride accompanied her. By then, the man had left, so McBride left Short's side. McBride later saw her leaving a bar with two men and a woman.

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The LAPD investigation ran until 1950 but yielded no charges despite numerous leads and false confessions. Detective Harry Hansen, who worked the case for 23 years, testified before a 1949 grand jury that he believed a "medical man" committed the crime based on how the body was severed.

Dr. George Hodel emerged as a suspect in 1949 after being arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting his teenage daughter. Though acquitted of those charges, police surveillance of his home captured recordings of suspicious statements about Short's murder and the 1945 death of his former secretary.

"Supposin' I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead," Hodel said in the recordings. "Killed her. Maybe I did kill my secretary."

Hodel later moved to the Philippines, where he lived for four decades until his death in 1999. His son Steve's investigation began after finding what appeared to be a photo of Short among his father's belongings, though the identity remains unconfirmed.

Steve Hodel's research uncovered multiple pieces of evidence potentially linking his father to the murder. He found newspaper references from five witnesses describing his father as Short's boyfriend. As a University of California, San Francisco graduate, the elder Hodel had formal surgical training.

A handwriting expert noted similarities between Dr. Hodel's writing and letters sent to the L.A. Examiner in 1947. Steve Hodel also discovered receipts showing his father purchased bags of cement days before Short's death, matching an empty bag found near her body.

In 2018, Steve Hodel told the South Pasadenan newspaper he had found a 70-year-old letter from a former police informant identifying Short's killer as "GH."

The LAPD did not pursue Steve Hodel's findings. He believes his father's connections to the department may have protected him from prosecution.

The case gained its infamous "Black Dahlia" nickname while Short was still alive. According to the L.A. Times, during her time in Long Beach, California, she acquired the moniker as a reference to the 1946 film "The Blue Dahlia" and her reported preference for black clothing.

Media coverage of Short's murder was intense, with related stories appearing on the L.A. Record's front page for 31 consecutive days. The L.A. Examiner sold its highest number of copies since World War II the day after Short's body was found.

Police identified Short through fingerprints on file from her previous job application at an army base and an arrest for underage drinking. The prints were transmitted to FBI headquarters using the L.A. Examiner's Sound photo machine, an early version of a fax machine.

Despite the extensive investigation and media coverage, the Black Dahlia case remains officially unsolved after 78 years. While Steve Hodel's evidence pointing to his father has convinced some officials, no formal charges were ever filed, leaving one of Hollywood's most infamous murders an enduring mystery.

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