Winner of the Fall 2019 StMU History Media Award for
Best Article in the Category of “Crime”
Elizabeth Short, widely known as The Black Dahlia, was a young 22-year-old American woman who was raped, brutally murdered, dismembered, and thrown on a vacant lot in a Los Angeles suburb for everyone to see. Elizabeth’s murder took place in Los Angeles County on January 15, 1947. No one knows the exact events that led to Elizabeth Short’s last moments when she fought for her life. There was no murder confession, and there was a lack of evidence to lead investigators further. Sadly, Elizabeth Short and her family never saw justice for her brutal murder. To this day, the case of The Black Dahlia is still unsolved. A man named Steve Hodel believed that The Black Dahlia murder was in fact not unsolved. Steve Hodel, a former detective, believed he had solved one of Los Angeles’ most notorious murders—but the infamous, troubled, charismatic doctor that Steve Hodel accused for being Short’s murderer, happened to be his own father, George Hodel.1
Elizabeth Short aspired to be an actress, and her young life was full of drinking and partying. She was very attracted to men and the sexual connections that came with men. Short had a desire to attend nightspots and nightclubs. Going to these nightspots, she frequently drew attention to herself, and she was arrested on September 23, 1943 for underage drinking of alcohol. She was only nineteen.2 By this time, Elizabeth had achieved a reputation as an aspiring actress who would go to bed with anyone who could possibly offer her a part in a movie.3 But her lifestyle soon led her to have a horrible encounter with a horrible man.
January 15, 1947 was just like any other day in the Los Angeles area. It was especially cool and overcast, which set the mood for the horrific discovery later that morning. A woman walking with her young daughter caught a glimpse of white flesh through a clump of brown grass in a vacant lot just a few inches from the sidewalk.4 They stumbled across the horrific sight of Elizabeth Short’s naked body cut in half just above the hipbone, drained of blood and arranged as if on display, with her legs spread and arms raised at right angles above her head. In a gruesome addition, two knife gashes extended her mouth up towards her ears.5 Her body also had the letters “B D” carved deeply into one thigh, and these letters were believed to represent the initials of Elizabeth Short’s well-known nickname Black Dahlia.6 This name stuck with her because of her tendency to always wear black clothing that contrasted with her white complexion, as well as having a dahlia flower in her hair on most occasions.7
George Hodel seemed to be an extraordinary man. He was a phenomenal doctor with a very respected reputation. Due to the extensive dismembering and perfect cuts discovered on Elizabeth’s body, her murderer had to have been a doctor.8 A couple years after the Black Dahlia murder, in 1949, Dr. Hodel’s reputation was left in tatters when he was tried for incest with his daughter Tamar Hodel, Steve Hodel’s half-sister.9 This trial brought light to George Hodel’s name in the police department. Because everyone knew that he was a very talented doctor, Dr. Hodel was put at the top of the suspect list for Elizabeth Short’s murder. Due to police corruption at the time, Dr. Hodel’s possible guilt was not presented to the public.
Dr. Hodel ended up passing away on May 16, 1999 due to a heart attack.10 Upon his passing, his son Steve Hodel began an intensive investigation into his father’s past. Steve Hodel made the trip to his father’s home to gather his father’s assets. While looking through his father’s belongings, Steve came across a tiny, palm-sized wood-bound photo album, with twelve golden fleurs-de-lys imprinted on the front.11 Inside this photo album, Steve discovered a number of strange photos of many familiar women. One of the women looked very similar to the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short. There were two photos of this women. In one, the woman had paper dahlia flowers in her hair. In the other, the woman was nude with her eyes shut.12 After Steve realized that the women in his father’s old photo album was the Black Dahlia, he became determined to find answers, to possibly clear his father’s name in the eyes of the law. Shortly into his private investigation, Steve Hodel realized that the evidence he was uncovering led to his father’s obvious guilt, not his exoneration. Now he wanted only to do all he could to prove it.
When Steve Hodel started the investigation into his father’s connection to the murder of the Black Dahlia, he found a substantial amount of sufficient yet circumstantial evidence against him. He soon found out that his father and Elizabeth Short knew each other. They had met in 1944 and had begun a non-sexual relationship. George would provide Elizabeth with financial aid for food and rent whenever she needed it in return for showing love interest in George. Steve’s suspicions of his father’s guilt skyrocketed when he came to find out that Elizabeth and his father were together at a downtown hotel three days before Elizabeth’s body was found. During the course of Steve Hodel’s investigation, he recognized his father’s unique handwriting multiple times, especially on the original note mailed by the Black Dahlia Avenger to the LAPD and to the press. The note with his father’s handwriting read “Here it is; Turning in Wed; Jan. 29 10 A.M.; Had my fun at police; Black Dahlia Avenger.” This was the first note that the Black Dahlia Avenger made no attempt to distort or conceal his actual handwriting.13 Hand writing analysis has since confirmed these claims. Although this evidence is circumstantial, Steve Hodel was very passionate in proving his father’s guilt. Another piece of incriminating evidence was a white-faced military watch that Dr. Hodel was seen wearing in contemporary photographs. A similar watch was found in the vacant lot close to where Elizabeth’s body was found.14
A number of men and one woman confessed to the crime, but none of them were able to match the gory details of the slaying known only by the police.15 Elizabeth’s murder seemed to bring out the worst among the psychologically disturbed in the Los Angeles area. The police were overwhelmed with the number of people who confessed to the murder.16 Despite all of these possible killers, Steve Hodel still truly believes that George Hodel was the guilty one.
The former detective for the LAPD and George Hodel’s son, Steve Hodel, had concluded his investigation on his father’s guilt, and developed an accurate timeline and detailed insight into Elizabeth Short’s last moments. Steve Hodel believes that the torture began on January 14, 1947 around 3:00-4:00 PM. Around this time, George Hodel took Elizabeth Short to the Franklin House. He gagged her mouth, bound her hands and feet with rope, and then began a prolonged and systematic process in which Elizabeth was beaten and subjected to ritualistic and sadistic torture.17 The torture included, but was not limited to the infliction of minor cuts to her body. She was beaten and kicked about her entire body, and she was forced to eat her own or his fecal excrement. Large pieces of flesh were cut from Elizabeth’s body and inserted into her orifices. Her face and breasts were also cut to imitate two of Man Ray’s famous photographs.18 Following this unimaginable torture, George Hodel then proceeded to sexually assault the then-slain Elizabeth Short.19 Although Elizabeth Short’s murderer was never convicted, it is now widely believed that George Hodel is the guilty one. The case of the Black Dahlia is considered an unsolved murder to this day, which makes it the most horrific unsolved murder in American history.20 Steve Hodel did not start his investigation until after George Hodel passed away, and only then because he passed away. George Hodel got away with his crime for over forty years. And even if he had not passed away until later in his life, face it, he still probably wouldn’t have ever been held to pay for his crime.
- Grace Bradberry, “My father was the Black Dahlia killer,” The Times, April 24, 2003. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 18. ↵
- Spectacular Crimes of the 1940s, 2007, s.v. “The Black Dahlia Case.” ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 10. ↵
- Grace Bradberry, “My father was the Black Dahlia killer,” The Times, April 24, 2003. ↵
- Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002, s.v. “Short,Elizabeth(1925–1947),” by Anne Commire. ↵
- Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002, s.v. “Short,Elizabeth(1925–1947),” by Anne Commire. ↵
- Grace Bradberry, “My father was the Black Dahlia killer,” The Times, April 24, 2003. ↵
- Grace Bradberry, “My father was the Black Dahlia killer,” The Times, April 24, 2003. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 22. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 36. ↵
- Grace Bradberry, “My father was the Black Dahlia killer,” The Times, April 24, 2003. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 273. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 445. ↵
- Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002, s.v. “Short, Elizabeth (1925–1947),” by Anne Commire. ↵
- Spectacular Crimes of the 1940s, 2007, s.v. “The Black Dahlia Case.” ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 434. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 445. ↵
- Steve Hodel, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder (New York: Arcade Pub., 2003), 434. ↵
- Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002, s.v. “Short, Elizabeth(1925–1947),” by Anne Commire. ↵
This Post Has 99 Comments
I had heard of the Black Dahlia previously, yet it had been in a TV show and it didn’t really go into detail about the case. Reading this article I was able to understand more about the case itself. Something that surprised me was that they noticed the first letter ever written for the Black Dahlia case was actually not “masked” at all, and usually hand writing and fingerprinting are one of the basics of forensics, yet for them to not have annualized the hand writing was a little odd. It is good to know that the case was somewhat solved and the killer was eventually found.
I have heard many theories about the Black Dahlia murder case but none of them seemed accurate because different people were confessing to doing it. But, after reading this article I found it very intriguing because of the irony in this case between the father and son. I had never heard of a George Hodel but from the information given in this article I can see how Hodel could have ben found guilty of her murder.
This article is a horrifying one. Very interesting though. I love how well explained it is. And even though the murderer was never caught lets face it we all know it was George Hodel. This article was really informative. To be honest I only heard of Elizabeth Short on American Horror Story (Murder House) and I never knew it was an actual case. Watching the episode gave me a lot of chills thinking of how there is actually happen to an innocent girl is nasty.
Prior to reading this article, I really didn’t know much about this case. I have definitely heard of “The Black Dahlia,” but I never actually looked into the case. This article was very informative and it brought my attention to the traumatic experience Elizabeth faced. It was also interesting to learn about how so many people tried to confess to this murder, and it’s sad that this murder remains a mystery.
Having heard of the Black Dahlia through a true crime podcast, I am somewhat familiar with her story. What I don’t recall or am familiar with, is George Hodel who was the top suspect. I was unfamiliar with him and his past until I read this article. This article made me sympathize all over again for Elizabeth as her murder still remains to be without a true murder conviction and she may never be completely brought to justice.
I had always heard of the murder of the Black Dahlia, but I was never actually familiar into what had happened. So this article was very informative for me as well at the same time it really drew me into wanting to know more about the murder itself. While maybe George Hodel will never serve for the murder of the Black Dahlia, and it may actually never be one hundred percent sure he did it, at least the unsolved murder doesn’t end without some kind of answer.
I think the opening intro to this article really got me hooked in reading the rest of it. I enjoyed learning about the sad story of the Black Dahlia. I had never heard about this crime story but after reading it I have found a great interest in learning more about this case.
The Black Dahlia case will always be a case I will enjoy learning new things about. I think the life and reputation she set for herself was one that she never intended to have. Of course she wanted fame, but not through death. I feel that the suspected murderer of Elizabeth, Doctor George Hodel, was the murderer due to his affiliation with Elizabeth and his extensive knowledge with medical history. She didn’t deserve the ending she received, but her name will live on.
I had heard of this case prior to reading the article. However, I knew very little and not the immense details that are presented in this article. It’s a very interesting and sad story, but this article is very well written. It’s sad to think about what Elizabeth endured before her death. It’s also crazy that so many people confessed to be the killer!
Great opening paragraph really captured my attention, as I knew some things about the case already, but it got my full attention back into the story. I admire Steve not quitting his search for answers after he came to the conclusion that his father might have not been innocent. It’s sad to know that Elizabeth and her family never got peace knowing her killer was still out there with no justice being served.