Whether you’re a hardcore crime fanatic or just your average Jane with a penchant for the macabre, you’ve surely heard of Elizabeth Short, A.K.A. “The Black Dahlia.” You probably know ​how she was found​: no clothes, bloodless, posed like a mannequin, and cut in half, wearing a “Glasgow smile.” Those facts alone are deeply unsettling, but the story goes deeper than that.

Women Were First On The Case

In the early hours of January 15, 1947, Mrs. Betty Bersinger was walking with her three-year old daughter when she ​found Elizabeth Short’s body​ in a vacant lot in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. She initially thought it was a mannequin due to its pose and pallor. When she realized she was looking at a corpse, she immediately telephoned the police. The first reporter to arrive was Agness Underwood with the ​Los Angeles Herald-Express, ​also known for her interview with ​Amelia Earhart​. Despite her capable background, Underwood was abruptly taken from the case ​not once but twice​ and promoted to editor of the paper’s city desk to keep her happy.

Reporters Tricked Short’s Mother

Elizabeth Short’s horrific murder so electrified the press that they decided not only to question the locals but to reach out to Short’s family in Massachusetts. Reporters from the ​Los Angeles Examiner​, rather than telling Mrs. Short about the tragedy, told her Elizabeth had won a beauty contest​ in order to get information about her life. Imagine Mrs. Short’s despair when she found out that her daughter had been killed right after receiving such an honor. Press interference continued throughout the case as the Black Dahlia murder made the newspapers more and more money. In fact, Elizabeth Short’s death was literally front page news for 35 days straight. Preceded by the ​Cleveland Torso Murders​ in the 1930s and followed only a month later by the ​Lipstick Killer​, the gruesome Black Dahlia more or less gave reporters a triple feature.

The Murderer Toyed With The Police

Not content with killing and mutilating Elizabeth Short, the killer ​began contacting police within a week​ of the body’s discovery. He started with a phone call, saying they should “expect souvenirs of Beth Short in the mail.” The ​Herald Examiner ​began receiving letters three days later. Some were cut-and-paste, but others were handwritten. They did, indeed, receive many of Short’s personal documents and effects, which must have been one depressing day in the mail room. Despite the boon of evidence, law enforcement officers couldn’t get any fingerprints off it or positively identify the handwriting. Short’s murderer loved toying with the press so much he outright ​told them he was doing it​. The letters’ similarity to those of the Zodiac Killer was not lost on Steve Hodel.

Two Different People Think Their Dads Did It

Steve Hodel, a former Los Angeles detective, has spent 23 years ​gathering evidence​ to posthumously I.D. his father as Elizabeth Short’s killer as well as the perpetrator of the Zodiac murders. Why? Well, George Hodel all but admitted it, for one. He was recorded on tape saying “Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia. They can’t prove it now. They can’t talk to my secretary anymore because she’s dead.” (He was questioned and released about his secretary’s death). He was a doctor, more than capable of the precise hemicorporectomy performed on Elizabeth Short. Also, the initials “G.H” were repeatedly mentioned in a posthumous letter from police informant W. Glenn Martin referencing both the Black Dahlia murder as well as the Green Twig murder only two years later. ​George Hodel was questioned and released for that one, too​. Steve Hodel wasn’t the only one to point the finger at their dad. Janice Knowlton​ also believed that her father killed Elizabeth Short. She urged investigators to examine his property and told them that she saw him beat Short to death with a hammer, but they found no supporting evidence. Knowlton’s own sister insisted that “she believed it, but it wasn’t reality.”

So Many People Confessed, It Became “An Obstruction Of Justice”

The LAPD ​had six main suspects​ but very few good leads. There was only one witness, the body had been scrubbed clean with gasoline, and Short had been missing for days before her body was found. The investigation was cloudy enough even before City Councilman Lloyd G. Davis offered a $10,000 reward for any information on the killer (over $100,000 in today’s currency). Law enforcement ended up with more than 150 potential suspects and more than 500 confessions. Since it was very unlikely this was a case of flash mob murder police figured most of those confessions had to be false. It was such a problem, in fact, that while ​no one was ever charged for the murder​, there were some arrests in the Black Dahlia case-for obstruction of justice by false confession.

The LAPD Handled It So Badly, They Were Sent Before A Grand Jury

At the time of the murder, the Los Angeles Police Department was​ not doing their best​. They were still recovering from World War II, not to mention the ​Zoot Suit Riots​, which left hundreds injured. Then there was their consistent ​failure to solve any of the “Los Angeles Horror Murders” – all lone women, grotesquely killed. The department was so overwhelmed that they were ​sent before a grand jury two years later​. ​It’s likely that this mass mishandling of Short’s case helped inspire California state assemblyman C. Don Field to write a bill demanding a sex offenders registry.

Even 750 Investigators Couldn’t Solve The Case

The Black Dahlia murder has remained unsolved for over 70 years, but it’s certainly not for lack of manpower. Between January 1947 and the spring of that same year, 400 sheriff’s deputies and 250 California State Patrol officers tried, unsuccessfully, to solve the crime. Some, like Hodel, think it’s because the LAPD ​was actually trying to cover it up.​It’s likely that we’ll never know what really happened. Short’s tragic end remains one of the most infamous cold cases of all time.