The Black Dahlia Murder

Yaeji White

Social 10-1 IB

Mary Marshall

March 22, 2022

Word count 1428

 Possibly one of the most notorious cold case homicides in American history, the murder

of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia, is a mystery that has stumped Los Angeles

Police Department (LAPD) detectives since the 1940s. On the morning of January 15, 1947,

Betty Bersinger was walking with her daughter through Leimert Park in South Los Angeles (LA)

when she saw what appeared to be a mannequin laying in a field ahead of her--in reality, it was

the body of twenty-two-year-old Elizabeth Short. Bersinger later told police, “[She] glanced to

[her] right, and saw this very dead, white body. It didn't look like anything more than perhaps an

artificial model.” (qtd. in Kalafatis) Even the veteran homicide detectives that were assigned to

the case were shocked by the manner in which Short’s body was found, Brian Carr mentioned

that “it was pretty gruesome” and "[he] just [couldn’t] imagine someone doing that to another

human being.” (qtd. in Gordon) Short was bisected at the waist and was oddly posed, with her

eyes open, hands above her head, and legs spread out and straight. She had been hit over the

head and pieces of her flesh had been cut out. As well as the corners of her mouth had three-

inch-long slits--leaving her with a permanent smile. The mystery of the Black Dahlia has been

held subject to conspiracy theorists for decades, leading to the development of a plethora of

theories as to who her killer may have been. The question is, who killed her? Were the police

unable to catch the killer due to lack of information or was it an inside cover-up?

One of the most popular conspiracy theories surrounding the Black Dahlia murder is that

a venereal disease doctor, Dr. George Hodel, was responsible for the killing and that the Los

Angeles Police Department helped him cover up the murder. (“The Hollywood Files” 00:03:26-

00:03:39)  The conspiracy was brought to light by Dr. Hodel’s own son, Steve Hodel, a retired

LAPD homicide detective. Short’s body was found perfectly bisected at the waist and was cut

with such precision that only someone with extensive medical experience could have done it, as
they had severed the spinal cord “so that there would be a minimum of hitting vital organs.”

(“The Hollywood Files'' 00:06:03-00:06:24) Dr. Hodel had the experience needed to dissect

Short’s body, as he was the venereal disease chief of the city. He would also have the materials

needed to kill, clean, and dispose of her body since he owned his own clinic. In addition, he had

knowledge of the medical history of many people in Los Angeles: including Hollywood stars.

During the 1940s, Hollywood was in its golden era and having a scandal, like getting pregnant or

getting someone else pregnant would have been detrimental to the careers of the actors and

actresses. This led to many actresses getting illegal abortions, who would pay Dr. Hodel

plentifully to make their problems go away. (“The Hollywood Files'' 00:09:23-00:09:48) At this

time, the LAPD was very corrupt, and would take monetary bribes from Hollywood to keep their

stars out of trouble. Since Dr. Hodel “had sensitive medical files on film people, police officials,

and politicians,” he was nearly untouchable as nobody wanted their secrets spilled. (“The

Hollywood Files'' 00:12:25-00:12:46) Dr. Hodel was allegedly granted police protection because

of the medical information he had. (Hodel 176) While searching for the murderer, detectives

searched for anyone with a medical background who had been accused of a sex crime: Dr. Hodel

fit both of the categories by having a medical degree and was accused of incest on one of his

daughters. (Kalafatis) At one point, Dr. Hodel was the main suspect of the Black Dahlia case. In

relation to the LAPD cover-up, Hodel argues that detectives had ignored or lost significant

pieces of evidence during the investigation. It was noted that all of the physical evidence that

could possibly incriminate Dr. Hodel by DNA was missing and that the LAPD dismissed Dr.

Hodel as a suspect after only one interview. (D. Vasquez and A. Vasquez) It is extremely

suspicious that all of the evidence from an infamous unsolved murder has somehow vanished,

and Hodel surmised that “[it was] no accident. The real telling thing about this is the fact that
everything connected to George Hodel – all of the transcripts, all of the tape recordings, all of the

witness interviews – everything had disappeared.” (qtd. in Gordon)

The source I have decided to analyze is the book, Black Dahlia Avenger, A Genius for

Murder: The True Story which was published on April 10, 2003. It is a secondary source and

was released 56 years after the original murder written by Steve Hodel, a retired homicide

detective and the son of Dr. George Hodel. The book is written in a one-sided perspective that

perfectly encapsulates Hodel’s belief that his father was the murderer, as it is presented in an

official investigation style that includes pictures and quotes from various sources that help build

his case. Hodel took up the case after his retirement in 1986 and discovered that his father was a

prime suspect. The crime took place in Los Angeles, where Hodel grew up and continues to live.

Hodel very explicitly states that he believes that his father murdered the Black Dahlia and

possibly many others and wanted to convince others of his conclusion. Although, it is important

to note that there isn’t an investigation on any of the other suspects that the LAPD accused: only

Dr. Hodel was mentioned. As for the verity of the piece, after being cross-referenced with FBI

databases and other sources, it is found that the facts of the book are true, while some of the

inferences that Hodel makes can only be backed by circumstantial evidence. It seems that Hodel

purposely leaves out the possibility of there being any other suspect to fully convince the reader

that his father was the killer.

In reality, we will never know whether this theory has any validity. It is possible that Dr.

Hodel killed Short due to his extensive medical expertise. Dr. Hodel was a graduate of the San

Francisco School of Medicine and even owned his own venereal disease clinic. Since he

graduated before the 1930s, it would give him enough knowledge to perform a
hemicorporectomy on Short and drain her blood completely before placing her in her final

resting place. As for the police cover-up, it is still a questionable theory. Is having a few

Hollywood stars go to jail for abortion worse than someone being put away for murder? Would

the police really go to such lengths to erase all of the physical evidence related to the case to

keep their secrets? In addition, was Dr. Hodel willing to risk his career by committing the

murder? He was at his peak, was very wealthy and lived in an extravagant house with his family,

and often hosted parties with notable guests such as Man Ray, a famous artist. There was also the

speculation that his interest in Man Ray’s art piece, Minotaur, could have led him to replicate it

in real life. Although Dr. Hodel doesn’t seem like the best person--because of his incest case

with his daughter and the abuse of his family--it doesn’t seem likely that he would kill someone

soley for the sake of art. When the LAPD wiretapped his home for forty days, the District

Attorney caught Dr. Hodel stating, “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.” This could be seen as an

incriminating statement, because why would he place himself as the murderer if he wasn’t the

murderer? The interesting thing though is that the LAPD dropped their investigation after

hearing the tape, which could be seen as them trying to cover-up the case. They didn’t even look

into the odd timing of his secretary’s death. Could she have been murdered for knowing too

much? As for the physical evidence being lost, there are two possibilities. One is that it was true

that the LAPD covered-up Dr. Hodel’s crime so that he would never be prosecuted, and the other

is that the evidence was simply lost to time. The question remains, who killed the Black Dahlia

and why? Unfortunately, it will probably continue as a mystery due to the passage of time and

we will never truly know if Dr. George Hodel was aided by the LAPD to cover up the murder of

Elizabeth Short.