A Deeper Dive into the Murder of Elizabeth Short (Part 2)

Morbid

Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart

Comedy, Paranormal, Dark History, True Crime

4.5 • 95.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2025

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the morning of January 15, 1947, a woman walking with her young daughter spotted something pale and white lying in the weeds of a vacant lot. When the woman walked closer to get a better look, she made a horrifying discovery: the bisected body of a young woman, brutally murdered and like trash in the abandoned overgrown lot. The woman in the lot would soon be identified as twenty-two-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, who the press nicknamed “The Black Dahlia.” Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support! References Associated Press. 1947. "Mrs. Phoebe Short can't believe slain girl hers." Los Angeles Times, Janaury 17: 2. Bartlett, Jim. 2017. The Black Dahlia: Los Angeles' most famous unsolved murder. January 8. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38513320. Daily News. 1947. "Body of girl mutilated by murderer." Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), January 15: 1. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1947. Correspondence, Identification Division, FBI. Letter from R.B. Hood, SAC to Director Hoover, re: Black Dahlia identification, Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice. Gilmore, John. 1994. Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia. Gardena, CA: Zanja Press. Goffard, Christopher. 2024. "The killing of Elizabeth Short, dubbed the Black Dahlia, has inspired endless theories." Los Angeles Times, October 26: B1. Hodel, Steve. 2003. Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder. New York, NY: Arcade Publishing. Lait, Matt. 1991. "Memories of murder." Los Angeles Times, June 22: B1. —. 1991. "Search fails to turn up evidence of '47 murder." Los Angeles Times, June 23: B1. Los Angeles Times. 1947. "Beth Short slaying suspect jailed after asserted admission of crime." Los Angeles Times, January 29: 2. —. 1947. "'Black Dahlia' knife braggart terroizes girl." Los Angeles Times, February 5: 7. —. 1947. "'Black Dahlia's' love life traced in search for her fiendish murderer." Los Angeles Times, Janaury 18: 3. —. 1947. "'Dahlia' clues fail; inquest conducted." Los Angeles Times, Janaury 23: 2. —. 1947. "Elizabeth Short case slayer baffles police." Los Angeles Times, Janaury 31: 2. —. 1947. "Girl victim of sex fiend found slain." Los Angeles Times, January 16: 2. —. 2004. "Janice Knowlton claimed a link to Black Dahlia murder." Los Angeles Times, December 19: B7. —. 1947. "'Killer' fails to surrender in Elizabeth Short death." Los Angeles Times, January 30: 2. —. 1947. "Mystery envelope sent in 'Dahlia' case; address book gives dozens of fresh leads." Los Angeles Times, January 25: 3. —. 1947. "Police await second 'Dahlia' letter for clue to break murder case." Los Angeles Times, January 27: 2. —. 1947. "Police free red-haired salesman as suspect in 'Black Dahlia' murder." Los Angeles Times, Janaury 21: 2. —. 1947. "Police stumped in beauty killing." Los Angeles Times, February 2: 2. —. 1947. "Soldier's 'Dahlia' date tale newest clue in slaying." Los Angeles Times, February 6: 2. —. 1947. "Soldier's leave time checked in 'Dahlia' murder." Los Angeles Times, February 7: 2. —. 1947. "Suspect detained for questioning in 'Black Dahlia' mutilation murder." Los Angeles Times, January 20: 2. —. 1947. "Tooth cavities clue checked in beauty slaying." Los Angeles Times, February 4: 2. Nightingale, Suzan. 1982. "Author claims to have found 1947 murderer." Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Janaury 17. United Press. 1947. "'Sick' veteran is booked in Dahlia death." Fresno Bee, January 29: 1. —. 1947. "Spurned lover is hunted in murder of 'Black Dahlia'." Fresno Bee, January 17: 1. —. 1947. "L.A. Police hope Dahliua murderer will surrender." Sacramento Bee, January 28: 4. Weller, Sheila. 2015. "The sins of the father." Dujour, June 01.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey weirdos, it's Ash here, ready to share a little secret. Have you heard of Wondery Plus? With ad-free episodes in one week early access, it's like having an all-access pass to our lighthearted nightmare. So come join us on the dark side and try Wondery Plus today. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
0:18.2	You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.
0:25.8	Let's talk about something that might be keeping you up at night.
0:29.7	Cybersecurity.
0:30.8	According to Vantar's latest state of trust report, it's the number one concern for UK businesses.
0:36.8	That's where Vantar comes in. Whether you're a
0:38.9	startup, growing fast or already established, Vanta can help you get ISO-27-001 certified and more
0:46.5	without the headaches. And Vanta allows your company to centralise security workflows, complete
0:51.5	questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor
0:55.6	risk to help your team not only gets compliant, but stay compliant.
1:00.1	Stop stressing over cybersecurity and start focusing on growing your business.
1:05.0	For a limited time, our audience gets $1,000 off Vanta.com slash Wondery. That's V-A-N-T-A.com
1:14.6	for $1,000 off. Because when it comes to your business, it's not just about keeping the lights on.
1:21.4	It's about keeping everything secure.
1:24.9	In the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ends in tragedy.
1:30.7	I'm Matthew Scher, and on my new podcast, We Came to the Forest.
1:34.1	We expose the hidden truths behind a shootout.
1:36.5	They left one activist dead and countless lives forever changed.
1:40.3	Binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad-free on Wondery Plus.
1:45.5	Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash.
1:47.7	And I'm Alina.
1:48.7	And this is morbid.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.