Black Dahlia

In 1947 the body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was discovered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The brutal nature of her murder—she was believed to have been tortured, and her body was cut in half and provocatively posed—helped spark a media frenzy. The fact that she was attractive and had recently moved to California added to public interest. She was soon dubbed “the Black Dahlia,” and hundreds of suspects were investigated. However, the identity of the killer remains unknown, and the murder is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases, inspiring numerous books, films, and television shows.

The victim

Elizabeth Short was born in Boston on July 29, 1924. During the stock market crash of 1929, her father lost most of his money, and the following year he disappeared. Initially it was believed that he had taken his own life by jumping off a bridge. It was eventually discovered that he had moved to California.

Short dropped out of high school during her sophomore year, and she traveled around the country. For a time she lived in Florida, which is where, in 1944, she met Matt Gordon, a pilot in the U.S. Army. The couple reportedly became engaged, but Gordon died the following year. In 1946 Short moved to Los Angeles, where she worked odd jobs and was often helped by others. Although some people later alleged that she was a sex worker, there was no evidence to support the claim. On January 9, 1947, she was dropped off at the Biltmore Hotel. Her movements thereafter are uncertain. A doorman reportedly claimed to have seen her leave after a man arrived outside. Others speculate that she went alone to a nearby bar.

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Murder and investigation

On January 15, 1947, a mother and her child out for a walk discovered Short’s mutilated body a few feet from the sidewalk. Her body had been cut in half, in a manner resembling a hemicorporectomy, a rare medical procedure in which the lower body is amputated at the waist. Cuts to her face stretched from the edges of her mouth to her ears—resulting in a clownlike smile—and markings on her body suggested Short had been bound, tortured, and sexually assaulted. The official cause of death was determined to be cerebral hemorrhage and shock.

Short was identified by her fingerprints, which were on file for both a job application at an army base and a teenage arrest for underage drinking. Her mug shot was provided to the press, which pounced on the story of the young woman’s gruesome murder. In the media’s sensationalized coverage, Short was described, often incorrectly and contradictorily, as an aspiring actress, as a sex worker, as promiscuous with men, as a lesbian, and as a prude.

Press speculation and misinformation clouded many details of the Black Dahlia case, including the origin of the nickname. The Los Angeles Herald-Express initially dubbed Short’s death “the Werewolf Murder,” in a reference to her brutal bisection, before adopting the name “Black Dahlia.” Some sources, including the FBI, attribute the name to Short’s alleged “penchant for sheer black clothes” and the recently released film The Blue Dahlia (1946); others claim Short received the nickname for her habit of wearing black flowers in her hair.

Regardless of origin, the name solidified after mysterious letters were sent to the press by “the Black Dahlia Avenger”—Short’s purported killer. In the weeks after her death, a packet of Short’s belongings—including her birth certificate and an address book—was mailed to the Los Angeles Examiner alongside a letter claiming, “Here is Dahlia’s belongings.” Another message read: “I will give up in Dahlia killing if I get 10 years. Don’t try to find me.”

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Suspects

The Los Angeles Police Department conducted hundreds of interviews and received more than 60 confessions from both men and women. However, no one was ever charged, and the case remains unsolved.

One of the main suspects was George Hodel, a doctor who was friends with a number of celebrities and reportedly held hedonistic parties. In 1949 he was arrested for allegedly raping his 14-year-old daughter but was acquitted. In 2003 retired Los Angeles detective Steve Hodel published Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, an attempt to prove that his late father had been Short’s murderer. Steve Hodel said that after his father’s death, he found photos of a young woman he believed resembled Short. George Hodel’s handwriting also resembled that on notes sent by the killer to law enforcement. In addition an old police wiretap of the Hodel home was later uncovered, and in the recording George Hodel said, “Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn’t prove it now.” Though suspicious, the recording was not considered incriminating, as Hodel may have suspected his home was wiretapped and was taunting police. Steve Hodel also claimed that his father was the Zodiac Killer (another unidentified killer accused of a string of murders in northern California between 1968 and 1969).

Other notable suspects include Mark Hansen, a nightclub owner acquainted with Short, and Leslie Dillon, a former mortician’s assistant who knew details about the crime that had not been released to the public. Marvin Margolis, who reportedly had a brief relationship with Short, was also investigated. In addition, some have speculated that Margolis, a World War II medic who briefly studied medicine, was also the Zodiac Killer. Podcaster and amateur sleuth Alex Baber said that he used AI to decode a cipher, sent by the Zodiac Killer to the police. It reportedly says, “My name is Marvin Merrill” (a pseudonym used by Margolis). In 2025 crime writer Michael Connelly debuted the podcast Killer in the Code, which advances the theory that Margolis is both the Black Dahlia Avenger and the Zodiac Killer.

Popular culture

Numerous books—fiction, nonfiction, and those closer to conspiracy—have been written about the case. In 1987 crime fiction author James Ellroy published The Black Dahlia, a fictionalization of Short’s murder that focused on two police officers obsessed with solving the case. The novel was adapted into a 2006 film of the same name by director Brian De Palma.

Other books include Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder (1994) by John Gilmore and Donald Wolfe’s The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and the Murder that Transfixed Hollywood (2005). In 2026 William J. Mann published Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood, which features a detailed and sympathetic exploration of Short’s life. The case also inspired episodes of American Horror Story and 48 Hours Mystery.