220
O
n a winter morning just
after 10am, Betty
Bersinger went for a walk
next to a vacant lot in a southwest
Los Angeles suburb. She stumbled
upon a disturbing scene. Lying
next to the pavement at West 39th
Street and South Norton Avenue –
an area in Leimert Park known as
lover’s lane – was the mutilated
body of a naked woman. The
discovery, on 15 January 1947, led
the Los Angeles Police Department
to launch the largest manhunt in
the city’s history.
The body had been cleanly
severed at the waist, drained of
blood, bathed, and positioned with
the lower half 30 cm (1 ft) away from
the upper half. The victim’s
greenish-blue eyes were open, and
her hands were positioned by her
head, with the elbows bent. Her
legs were wide apart. Rope burns
marked her wrists, ankles, and
neck, while her arms, left thigh,
and right breast all featured deep
lacerations. Each corner of her
mouth had been cut, creating the
chilling impression that she was
smiling. According to a report
archived by the University of
Southern California’s College ofEducation, the letters “BD” had
been carved into her thigh –
however, the authenticity of this
claim is still debated.
LAPD homicide detectives Finis
Brown and Harry Hansen arrived
and scoured the crime scene, but
not before the press had arrived
and taken photographs. However,
despite the extent and severity of
the injuries, the woman’s body had
been carefully scrubbed clean, so
there was little physical evidence to
be found. The victim was identified
by her fingerprints as 22-year-oldTHE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
IN CONTEXT
LOCATION
Los Angeles, California, USTHEME
Unsolved murderBEFORE
27 July 1943 Ora Murray is
beaten to death and left near
the clubhouse at Fox Hills Golf
Course, Los Angeles.4 May 1932 Lilly Lindeström
is found dead in her apartment
in Atlas, Sweden. The killer
drains her blood, causing the
case to be known as the
“Vampire murder”.AFTER
17 January 1996 Amber
Hagerman, nine, is abducted
while riding her bike. Her body
is found four days later.26 April 1999 British
journalist Jill Dando is shot
outside her home in Fulham,
London. Barry George is
wrongfully convicted for the
murder, and is later acquitted.Elizabeth Short Elizabeth Short, known as “Beth”
by her family and “Betty” by her
friends, grew up in Medford,
Massachusetts. Her father, who
built mini-golf courses, abandoned
the family soon after the Great
Depression. Short suffered from
asthma so at 16, her mother sent
her to Florida, hoping that the
weather would improve her
health. There, Short met Air Force
officer Matthew Gordon Jr. In
1943, at 19, she went to Vallejo,
California, to live with her father,
but left his care that same year
and moved to Santa Barbara. She
was arrested there for underagedrinking in September 1943, and
a judge ordered her to return to
Medford. Instead, Short went
back to Florida.
Short told her friends that
she and Gordon were engaged
to be married. Gordon, however,
was killed in August 1945, less
than a week before the end of
World War II. That year, Short
returned to Medford, but soon
became restless. In 1946, she
moved to Los Angeles. After
Short’s murder, Gordon’s
wedding announcement – to
another woman – was found
among her possessions.She knew I was bashful and
liked to see my face turn
crimson. She would say,
‘We ought to go out dancing
together.’ But she was
a nice girl.
Bob Pacios218-223_Black_Dahlia.indd 220 02/12/2016 15:04
221
A collection of evidence in the Black
Dahlia case, including Short’s birth
certificate and one of the threatening
letters written by the person claiming
to be “The Black Dahlia Avenger”.aspiring actress Elizabeth Short.
The detectives surmised that she
had been killed elsewhere and
then driven to the vacant lot.
Dr Frederick Newbarr, the chief
coroner for LA County, ruled that
the cause of death was a brain
haemorrhage due to concussion,
combined with blood loss arising
from the lacerations to her face.Last movements
Beginning in May 1946, Short had
for several months rented a room
at a Hollywood home behind the
Florentine Gardens nightclub, and
worked as a waitress. Short had
made contacts with a few people in
the movie business, including Mark
Hansen, her landlord, who, besides
co-owning the nightclub, also part-
owned cinemas. Short’s close
friend, actress and model Ann Toth,
told police that Short was promised
a role in Florentine Gardens’
burlesque revue. Short shared thenews with her mother in a letter
dated 2 January 1947. It was the
last correspondence Phoebe Short
received from her daughter.
On Thursday, 9 January, Short
returned from a trip to San Diego
with Robert “Red” Manley, a
25-year-old married salesman she
had been dating. He dropped her
off at the Biltmore Hotel, where she
was to meet her visiting sister.
Short, wearing a black tailored suit
and matching suede high heels,
was seen using a lobby telephone
and then leaving the hotel on foot.
She headed south on Olive Street
and walked five minutes to the
Crown Grill Cocktail Lounge where
patrons recalled seeing her stop by,
as if she were looking for someone.Six days later, at dawn on
Wednesday, 15 January, a black
luxury sedan driven by an
unidentified driver briefly parked
next to a vacant lot in Leimert Park.
By late morning, Elizabeth Short’s
body had been discovered.Mysterious letters
On 21 January, the city editor of
the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Jimmy Richardson, received a
phone call from a man claiming
to be Short’s killer. The caller
congratulated the paper for its work
on the case, but suggested that it
may have run out of material. The
caller offered his assistance – he
told the paper that he was going
to turn himself in, but wanted the
police to keep chasing him. He
told Richardson to “expect some
souvenirs of Beth Short in the mail.”
On 24 January, a US Postal
Service worker came across a
manila envelope featuring words
and individual letters cut and
pasted from the pages of a
newspaper. On it was written “Los
Angeles Examiner and other Los ❯❯See also: The Dripping Killer 206–07 ■ The Manson Family 230–37 ■ Jack the Ripper 266–73 ■ Harvey Glatman 274–75MURDER CASES
She’d come into our drug
store frequently. She’d usually
wear a two-piece beach
costume, which left her midriff
bare. Or she’d wear the
black lacy things.
Arnold Landers Sr218-223_Black_Dahlia.indd 221 13/01/2017 15:19