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