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Once Upon A Crime

Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder — Bonus Episode: Series Wrap-Up + Q&A

Once Upon A Crime

Esther Ludlow

Truecrime, Crime, True Crime, Society & Culture, Criminals, History, Criminology

4.65K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 77 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this special bonus episode, Esther and producer Lorena answer listener questions and share their own reflections after a six-week deep dive into the life, death, and murder of Elizabeth Short.

Topics include:

• Who the real Elizabeth Short was versus the myth of “The Black Dahlia”

• Whether her killer was someone she knew or a stranger

• Whether the murderer had medical training

• The possibility of solving the case today with DNA

• Theories on whether more than one person was involved

Esther and Lorena also discuss what surprised them most during the series, how their theories have evolved, and why this case still grips us nearly 80 years later.

Subscribe and stay tuned for more deep-dive true crime investigations.

📚 Sources

Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder by John Gilmore

The Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J. Mann (upcoming)


👉 Pre-order the book here: Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood

To explore more of William J. Mann’s fascinating work — including his previous bestsellers and a calendar of upcoming appearances — visit his author page on Simon & Schuster.


Shop our OUAC MERCH SHOP holiday sale! 

For a limited time, get up to 27% off all products — including $16 tees — during our Holiday Sale. But hurry, deals end December 15th! Place your order by the 15th for delivery before Christmas. 

Shop now at onceuponacrime.dashery.com.

✈️ Travel with Us to Mexico City! 🇲🇽

 We’re taking Once Upon a Crime on the road—and you’re invited! In March 2026, join us for a fun, fabulous 4-day group trip to vibrant Mexico City. Explore incredible sights, savor delicious food, and connect with fellow true crime fans on an unforgettable adventure.

Reserve your spot today with just 25% down—but hurry, space is limited and will sell out fast!

🔗 Click here to learn more and book your spot now!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey everybody, it's Esther.

0:03.7

While the end of the year is here and the days are getting shorter and colder, if you've been creating sunshine, great food, and a little adventure, let me tempt you for a second.

0:13.5

Our Mexico group trip in March 2026 is almost full. We've got just six spots left, and two of those are still at the early birth price of 1851.

0:23.1

That's only $462 down to lock in your spot.

0:27.0

After those two are gone, the remaining spots are 1951, with a $487 deposit.

0:32.8

And yes, you can pay overtime with a firm, so this is absolutely doable.

0:37.2

Now, let me tell you what you're getting. We're talking four days and three nights in a gorgeous neighborhood with cozy three-star accommodations, delicious meals, three breakfasts, one lunch and a taco and tequila dinner that I am way too excited about. We'll explore the city, soak up the culture, take some Mixology master class, visit Frida Callo's iconic home and studio, and of course, enjoy a chill happy hour with me, where we can unwind and get to know each other.

1:02.5

Plus, and this is my favorite part, you'll walk away with some brand new friends for life.

1:07.5

Treat yourself this holiday season to the gift of adventure and great times to look forward to.

1:12.5

Click on the link of the show notes to grab one of the last spots, especially those discounted ones.

1:17.4

And let's make some unforgettable memories together.

1:56.8

Thank you. We are wrapping up the broken up the broken Black Dolly of Murder series, and just like we did with the broken Black Dahl of murder series. And just like we did with the Ruth Ellis series, we want to go over some questions and comments and theories and things that we thought about as well.

2:04.4

Things, of course, not everything can, you know, we can put in the in the series but and then there's always some lingering questions right and especially as this is an unsolved case so i have asked lorenna again

2:11.2

to be here with me today to help me to go over these questions and comments and just our thoughts and things about the series.

2:20.7

And hello, Lorena, how are you doing?

2:22.9

Good, good morning.

2:24.3

Thanks for having me again.

2:25.6

I always love doing these Q&As because, as listeners know, I am the executive producer.

2:32.1

So while I'm listening, I get the, I am the first person who gets to hear the audio, the raw audio and everything. And so I get to hear it without like the sound effects without the, you know, underscore music. And so when I first hear it, I'm like, what? Oh my gosh. And so then I get to play around with like, how do I get to make this more moody? How do I get to make this more dramatic and stuff?

2:52.0

So even just hearing it raw coming from you is still just as shocking as with like the

2:57.8

dramatic, you know, sound effects or under moody score music, anything like that.

3:03.5

So and while I'm researching, I will have thoughts in my head. But I will say nine out of ten times you answer my question as I continue to listen to the audio. So there are some, though. Like you said, there's always those lingering ones. Yeah. And there's some too that I feel like there's more that we could kind of talk about, speculate about, but I don't want to go on a

...

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