American Decades
Spectacular Crimes of the 1940s
The Black Dahlia Case.
The 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short is notable in that it garnered the greatest number of spurious confessions in California history Short, who had become known as the Black Dahlia for her propensity always to dress in black, was born in 1925 By the age of twenty-two she 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. On 15 January 1947 her naked body was found cut in half and eviscerated in a vacant lot in a Los Angeles suburb. On her thigh were carved the initials "BD," presumably for Black Dahlia. Her 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. However, at least two tantalizing leads developed. A letter writer sent Short's social security card, birth certificate, and address book (with one...
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1940's Law and Justice
