1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Welcome fans of movie history and true crime to Hollywood Land, 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: where we are once again going back into our archive 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of stories to bring you this episode on Elizabeth Short, 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: aka the Black Dahlia. The gruesome, still unsolved case of 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: the Black Dahlia has haunted Hollywood and Hollywood storytelling ever 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: since Elizabeth Short's severed body was found seventy nine years 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: ago this month in January of nineteen forty seven. On 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: the one hand, it's a tidy metaphor for the violent, 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: exploitative underbelly operating beneath the shiny veneer of La the 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: mold growing unseen at the base of the Hollywood Sign. 11 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: But it's a story that's anything but tidy. It's about 12 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: disillusionment and danger, about how dreams can turn to nightmares, 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: and about how a myth can take hold and never 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: let go. I hope you enjoyed this episode on the 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: Black Dahlia, and then I hope you join me on 16 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: Wednesday to discuss this case further in the wrap Party, 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: and also again on Friday, when I talk at length 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: about one of those movies haunted by the Dahlia myth, 19 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: La Confidential, in our latest Screening Room Bonus episode. 20 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 2: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 2: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 22 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 2: is a production of Double Elvis Woo. The stories about 23 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short aka the Black Dahlia are insane. In January 24 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 2: of nineteen forty seven, her mutilated body was found literally 25 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 2: cut in two, at a vacant lot in Los Angeles. 26 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 2: Her murder was one of the most gruesome in Hollywood history. 27 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 2: More than seven decades later, it remains one of the 28 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 2: most notorious unsolved homicides in the country. It happened at 29 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 2: a time when corruption within the ranks of the LAPD 30 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 2: was so severe it was impossible to tell the good 31 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 2: guys from the bad guys. Hundreds of suspects were investigated, 32 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 2: dozens of confessions were made. Over the years, the case 33 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 2: has gotten hot and then cold again. Speculation into motive 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 2: and method has been endless, and it continues today. Despite 35 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 2: contrary belief, Elizabeth Short was not an actress and therefore 36 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 2: did not make great films. But the web of secrets 37 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 2: lies rumors, accusations, in innuendo that have followed her tragic death. 38 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 2: This is the stuff that great films are made of. 39 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 2: Unlike that clip I played for you at the top 40 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 2: of the show. That wasn't a clip from a great film, 41 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 2: that was a fair use from the Library of Congress 42 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 2: of Guido Chicolini performing Elegy in nineteen eighteen. I played 43 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: you that clip because I can't afford the rights to 44 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 2: a clip from Walter Langs when my baby smiles at me? 45 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 2: And why would I play you that specific slice of 46 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 2: burlesque to Broadway Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that 47 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 2: was the number one movie in America on January fourteenth, 48 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 2: nineteen forty nine, And that was the day that the 49 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 2: lapd let, a prime suspect in the Black Dahlia case, 50 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 2: walk free on the two year anniversary of her death. 51 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: On this episode, police Corruption, Unsolved, Homicides, a web of secrets, 52 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 2: lies and rumors in Hollywood's Black Dahlia. I'm Jake Brennan 53 00:03:52,440 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 2: and this is Hollywood Landing Officer Jones scanned the crowd 54 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 2: at Wolfe's restaurant. Place was a magnet for Miami octagenarians. 55 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 2: Regular nash On triple decker sandwiches, Pistrami chicken livers, bottomless 56 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 2: cups of diner grave coffee. Jones nursed his own cup. 57 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 2: The coffee was shit, but he needed a reason to 58 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 2: sit at a table alone and not stick out like 59 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 2: a throbbing asshole. He wasn't hungry, so shitty coffee it was. 60 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 2: Jones was tailing. He had a photo, and he had 61 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 2: a name, Jack Sand. The guy's old lady was a 62 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 2: waitress at Wolfie's, and he either really liked visiting her 63 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 2: at work or he had bad taste and coffee. Jones 64 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 2: didn't know exactly why he was tailing, Jack Sand. He 65 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 2: was sent there on Chief Horror's orders, and when the 66 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 2: Chief told you to do something, you did it, even 67 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 2: if it meant traveling way outside of your jurisdiction, like 68 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 2: thousands of miles Miami was a long way from Los Angeles, 69 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 2: didn't matter. Jones was a member of the LAPD's elite 70 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 2: Gangster Squad. Gangster Squad could do what they wanted and 71 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 2: go where they wanted, well, at least where the Chief 72 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 2: wanted them to go. The Gangster Squad was a group 73 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 2: of supposedly incorruptible LA cops, which, of course was more 74 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 2: than a little bit ironic, since at the time of 75 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 2: the group's inception the late nineteen forties, the LAPDE was 76 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 2: one of, if not the most corrupt institutions in AMERICAAPD 77 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 2: was so deep into crooked symbiotic relationships with both organized 78 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 2: crime and the city's power elite that it is difficult 79 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 2: to explain the depths of the corruption, but I'll give 80 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 2: it a shot. LAPD gave zero fox when it came 81 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 2: to the letter of the law or the spirit of 82 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 2: the law, LAPD was the law. They mercilessly beat suspects. 83 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 2: Rubber hoses worked best since they didn't leave visible marks. 84 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 2: They were always on the take. They stuffed their own 85 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 2: pockets with cash from politicians, lawyers, businesses, and of course, 86 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 2: the mob. The entire reason that the squad was formed 87 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 2: in the first place was to eighty six the rotten 88 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 2: relationship between mob boss Mickey Cohen and LAPD. But LA 89 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 2: was so goddamn crooked that the beat cops walked their 90 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 2: streets on a tilt. A criminal lawyer once said, in Chicago, 91 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 2: the gangsters paid off the police, but the gangsters did 92 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 2: the job. In Los Angeles, the police were the gangsters, 93 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 2: and so theoretically, so called good cops like Officer Jones 94 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 2: were supposed to be above the bullshit, trustworthy not that 95 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 2: lapd Brass trusted them. As a precaution, gangster squad members 96 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 2: were often put on an assignment without any enlightening information 97 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 2: as to why they were doing what they were doing, 98 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 2: which is how Officer Jones found himself choking down Miami's 99 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 2: worst coffee at Wolfe's while keeping tabs on the tall, lanky, 100 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 2: twenty seven year old who called himself Jack Sand. And 101 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 2: if Jones didn't know why he was there, then the 102 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 2: rest of Miami didn't either. Shit, they didn't even know 103 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 2: his real name. Officer Jones, Please, that was an alias. 104 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 2: Everyone used an alias in nineteen forty eight if they 105 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 2: were smart cops and purps alike. Naturally, it came as 106 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 2: no surprise when the cop using an alias figured out 107 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 2: that the guy he was tailing wasn't actually named Jack Sand. 108 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 2: The Eureka moment happened in Sand's apartment. Jones staked the 109 00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 2: place out when he wasn't at Wolfe's and deduced to 110 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 2: day rhythm. He slipped inside when the coast was clear. 111 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 2: No warrant, no legal right to be in there, no problem. 112 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 2: There was mail on the coffee table. None of the 113 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 2: envelopes said Jack Sand. Instead, they were all addressed to 114 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 2: Leslie Dwayne Dillon. Then he saw it sitting on the 115 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 2: dining table, a copy of True Detective Magazine, the latest edition, 116 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 2: October nineteen forty eight. He flipped it open to find 117 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 2: the cover story article, the one about la is most 118 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,959 Speaker 2: notorious unsolved murder, the same article that was planted in 119 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 2: the issue by the LAPD's chief psychologist, doctor Joseph Paul 120 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 2: the River as bait to help nab an elusive suspect. 121 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 2: The margins of the magazine pages were full of scribbles, 122 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 2: the rantings of an obsessive of someone who knew even 123 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 2: more than the article they had bare. The pages of 124 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 2: the magazine were worn, like they had been read and 125 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: re read and read again and agonized over for days. 126 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 2: And then it hit Jones the reason why he had 127 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 2: traveled all the way to the other side of the 128 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 2: goddamn country to tail some lanky bastard in a diner. 129 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 2: He wasn't just a guy. He was the guy, the 130 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 2: guy who had eluded the Los Angeles Police Department for 131 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 2: almost two years, the guy responsible for the most gruesome 132 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 2: murder in LA history. Jones made the call back to 133 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 2: Los Angeles. They had their man, and that man was 134 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 2: Jack sand aka Leslie Dwayne Dillon, Prime suspect Numero Uno 135 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 2: and the brutal killing of Elizabeth Short. Elizabeth Short was 136 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 2: originally from Medford, Massachusetts, but found herself, like a lot 137 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 2: of men and women in their early twenties in post 138 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 2: World War two America, out west. The sun shone brighter 139 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 2: out there, and so did the future. But for Elizabeth Short, 140 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 2: there was no future. Out West. Los Angeles wasn't all 141 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 2: silver screen dreams and big tinseltown breaks. The Los Angeles 142 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 2: that Elizabeth Short discovered was populated by drunks, junkies, rat 143 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 2: infested motels, syphilitic ex cons, and petty thieves. On January fifteenth, 144 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 2: nineteen forty seven, a housewife pushing her toddler or a 145 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 2: stroller for their morning walk happened upon Elizabeth Short's body 146 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 2: a vacant lot in the Lamert Park section of Los Angeles. 147 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 2: The housewife saw what looked to be a mannequin on 148 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 2: its back and the overgrown parcel of land. As she 149 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 2: got closer, however, she noticed the dense cluster of flies 150 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 2: that hovered like a black cloud. It was no mannequin. 151 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 2: The woman ran to the nearest house and screamed for 152 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 2: someone to call the police. The cops had never seen 153 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 2: anything like it, and they had to look away every 154 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 2: few minutes just to stave off the nausea. Elizabeth Short's 155 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 2: mutilated body had literally been severed in two at the waist. 156 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 2: The two halves were placed about twelve inches apart and 157 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 2: looked like they had been posed. Her arms were placed 158 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 2: above her head and her legs were spread apart. Her 159 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 2: face had been given a glassgow smile, both sides slashed 160 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 2: from the corners of her mouth to her ears. Her 161 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 2: entire body was completely trained of blood, and there were 162 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 2: chunks of flesh cut and stuffed into her rectum, and 163 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 2: a rose tattoo was cut from her leg and stuffed 164 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 2: inside her vagina. Seriously, do not do a Google image 165 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 2: search for black dahlia unless you are fully prepared for 166 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 2: a bad night's sleep. But before they even had the 167 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 2: chance to put Elizabeth Short's body on the adutopsy table, 168 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 2: the press descended on the murder site. The story took 169 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 2: on a life of its own the papers in the public. 170 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short's tragic death was sensationalized from the start. The 171 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 2: day after her body was found the La Examiner of 172 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 2: peddling A story of Sleeves and Sects, sold more copies 173 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 2: than it had on any other day in its history, 174 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 2: with the exception of when it announced the Allied victory 175 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 2: in World War II. A feeding frenzy of lies, innuendo, 176 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 2: and rumor followed for twenty two months, including accusations of police, 177 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 2: press and district attorney cover ups and incompetence. Hundreds of 178 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 2: suspects were considered. Dozens of confessions were recorded, but nothing 179 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 2: that led the Cobs to the guy. Until now. Officer Jones, 180 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 2: Doctor Joseph Paul De River, and Chief Hurral are all 181 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 2: sure they have the guy they have been looking for. 182 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 2: He'd taken the bait, the bait being the magazine article 183 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,599 Speaker 2: and true Detective Leslie Dwayne Dylan, under the known de 184 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 2: faress of Jack sand had been exchanging letters with Dr 185 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 2: De River about that article. Dylan claimed he knew the 186 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 2: murder suspect and further claimed that he could help track 187 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 2: him down. Now, this wasn't the first time lapd had 188 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 2: been fed that line. But what really get Doctor De 189 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 2: River interested in Dylan is the suspect, was that in 190 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 2: his correspondence he had included a sketch of a cross 191 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 2: hatched pattern that drew eerie similarities to the crisscross lacerations 192 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 2: found on Elizabeth Short's pelvis and hip, and Dylan peddled 193 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 2: a wild theory that the killer had moved parts of 194 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 2: Short's body into places where they didn't belong. The cops 195 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 2: hadn't let any of those hard details slip to the press. 196 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 2: The only person who would know such things was the 197 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 2: one who did it. But when Officer Jones and doctor 198 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 2: de River got Leslie Dwayne Dillon to agree to a 199 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 2: meet up in Palm Springs neutral ground, Dylan continued to 200 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 2: insist that he was not the killer. It was another guy, 201 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 2: a guy named Jeff Conners. Doctor de River knew better. 202 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,319 Speaker 2: Jeff Connors was just another alias like Jack sand maybe 203 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 2: a figment of Dylan's imagination, maybe a split personality. There 204 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 2: was no other guy. Les Dwayne Dyllon was the other guy, 205 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 2: and the LAPD staff psychiatrist was going to do what 206 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 2: he had to do to prove it. It is generally 207 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 2: assumed that since Elizabeth Short relocated from Massachusetts to California 208 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 2: in her late teens, that naturally she was pursuing a 209 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 2: life of fame and fortune. That's not entirely true. She 210 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 2: was bedazzled by the glamour of it all, as many 211 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 2: young people were then and still are today. She wondered 212 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 2: what it would be like to model, or to step 213 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 2: onto a Hollywood set. There was and remains an alert 214 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 2: a show business that some people cannot resist. But Elizabeth 215 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 2: Short never appeared on television nor the silver screen. She 216 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 2: may never have even dreamt about life as a movie star. 217 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 2: Still she makes sense as the subject of a Hollywood 218 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 2: Land episode because her murder, not only to find the 219 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 2: time she died in it had the movie capital of 220 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 2: the world in the grip of paranoia in fear, not 221 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 2: unlike the way the Charles Manson murders put the town 222 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 2: on edge some twenty odd years later. Why was Elizabeth 223 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 2: in California in the first place if she had no 224 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 2: interest in chasing dreams of movie stardom, Because California was 225 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 2: a mysterious place all the way on the other side 226 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 2: of the country, and it had the potential to make 227 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 2: some of her other dreams come true. Elizabeth Short was 228 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 2: born in Hyde Park, an upmarket neighborhood of Boston, in 229 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty four and grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, a 230 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 2: Boston suburb. She was one of five daughters. Her father 231 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 2: lost most of the family's money in the Great Crash 232 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 2: of nineteen twenty nine, and shortly thereafter his car was 233 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 2: found abandoned on the Charlestown Bridge. It was assumed that 234 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 2: the stress of financial ruin had simply been too much 235 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 2: to bear, and as a result, he had flung himself 236 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 2: to his death in the icy waters of the River Charles. 237 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 2: The Short family mourned the loss of its patriarch, and 238 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 2: for years Elizabeth grieved and wished that her father hadn't 239 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 2: been taken from her so soon. It would be twelve 240 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 2: years before Elizabeth Short learned that her father's death had 241 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 2: been a lie. When Elizabeth was eighteen years old, her 242 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 2: mother received a letter from a ghost. Elizabeth's father was 243 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 2: not dead after all, but very much alive in living 244 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 2: a new life in Valeo, California, near San Francisco. No doubt. 245 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 2: Swept up in a whirlwind of emotions, Elizabeth decided to 246 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 2: go west to chase a dream, the dream of her 247 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 2: absent father who had ditched his family so many years ago. 248 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 2: When she arrived, she found no dream, just a long 249 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 2: lost dad who was as foreign to her as the 250 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 2: Bay Area weather. Her father was from a generation that 251 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 2: saw a value in hard work, nine to five work, 252 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,679 Speaker 2: and didn't understand daydreams about modeling and movie stars. They 253 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:22,360 Speaker 2: were incompatible. Elizabeth moved on. The next few years were tumultuous. 254 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 2: She was arrested for underage drinking at a bar in 255 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 2: Santa Barbara, and she went crawling back to her East 256 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 2: Coast family for a spell. She met an Army Air 257 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 2: Force officer in Florida who asked her to marry him. 258 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 2: Elizabeth said yes, but less than a week before the 259 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 2: end of World War Two, he was killed on a 260 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 2: plane crash. She found her way back out to California, 261 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 2: and this time to la where she worked as a 262 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 2: waitress and rented a room behind the Florentine Gardens nightclub 263 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 2: on Hollywood Boulevard. Her landlord, a middle aged ski named 264 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 2: Mark Hansen, straddled the worlds of legitimate business and criminal 265 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 2: underworld k and movie theaters around town. He also ran 266 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 2: a burlesque review inside the Florentine Gardens. Elizabeth was one 267 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 2: of many young women who sat on Hanson's not so 268 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 2: proverbial casting couch to be groomed for an exploitative career 269 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 2: in tassels. She frequently rebuffed Hanson's sexual overtures. Hanson frequently 270 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 2: reminded her that he was tight with Jimmy Little Giant Utley, 271 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 2: the toughest nails irishman who operated the clandestine casino nestled 272 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 2: inside Florentine Gardens. Utley was a bookmaker, a drug runner, 273 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 2: a pimp, and a snitch, and was most commonly known 274 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 2: around Los Angeles as the thorn in Mickey cohen'side. Cohen 275 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 2: didn't take kindly to a guy encroaching on his business, 276 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 2: especially if said guy had loose lips when the fucking 277 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 2: pigs came calling. Mickey Cohen, of course, was LA's pre 278 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 2: eminent gangster and self appointed king of the Sunset Strip, 279 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 2: the one who employed notorious bagman Johnny Stompinado, the guy 280 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 2: who met the sharp end of a knife in Lana 281 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 2: Turner's house a decade later. Elizabeth Short never got to 282 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 2: appear in Hanson's burlesque show, and she never got to 283 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 2: find out if knowing a guy who worked alongside Mickey 284 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 2: Cohen's art rival was a good or a bad thing, 285 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 2: and whether or not she wanted fame of any kind. 286 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 2: She unknowingly became famous, infamous to be exact, when her 287 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 2: body turned up in two different pieces in that vacant 288 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 2: lot in Lamur Park. It was standard practice for the 289 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 2: press to give female murder victims a flowery epithet, and 290 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 2: so Elizabeth Short stopped being known as Elizabeth Short and 291 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 2: started being referred to as the Black Dahlia, so named 292 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 2: because of the black outfits she was partial to wearing, 293 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 2: not to mention her hair, which was also dyed black. 294 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 2: More than likely it was a hat tip to the 295 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 2: Blue Dahlia, a recent Veronica Lake film noir with a 296 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 2: screenplay by Raymond Chandler, the renowned crime novelist with a 297 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 2: pensiant for Labyrinthian plots. But even Raymond Chandler could never 298 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 2: have written a plot this twisted, or imagined a case 299 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,880 Speaker 2: so mired in corruption and confusion. Because the Black Dahlia 300 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 2: was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Leslie Dwayne Dylan's wrists 301 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 2: still hurt. It was red and raw. He rubbed it 302 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 2: with his other hand to soothe the dull ache. He 303 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 2: knew the pain would go away soon, even if the 304 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 2: memory of being chained to a radiator in a hotel 305 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 2: room would last forever. He knew this was wrong. LAPD 306 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 2: had him chained to a heater and a flophouse hotel 307 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 2: like a fucking dog. He hadn't even been interrogated by 308 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 2: a detective. It was just that psychiatrist doctor de River 309 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,959 Speaker 2: and another cop, a muscle bound pig who probably pounded 310 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 2: heads more than he pounded pavement, and the whole thing 311 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 2: just stunk. Plus the cops were buying as Jeff Connor's story. 312 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,959 Speaker 2: Dylan knew the guy was real. He wasn't some figment 313 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 2: of Dylan's imagination, but it was against theirs. Besides, pretty 314 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 2: soon the LAPD would get tired of using words altogether 315 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 2: and move on to a more universal language. Dylan needed 316 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 2: to get the fuck out before doctor de River set 317 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,679 Speaker 2: his goon loose on Dylan's skull. He waited until he 318 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 2: was once again alone before he finished scribbling on the 319 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 2: back of the postcard he'd stolen from the room's desk. 320 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 2: His handwriting wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. 321 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 2: The message was simple. He was being held by doctor J. 322 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 2: Paul De River at the Strand Hotel in connection with 323 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 2: the Black Dahlia Murder, and he wanted legal console. Now, 324 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 2: he had no stamp, no way to get the postcard 325 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 2: in the mail, so he did the next best thing. 326 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 2: He slid open the window to his room. He took 327 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 2: the postcard between his pointer and middle finger and flung 328 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 2: it out into the air. It flapped on the wind 329 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 2: and landed on the sidewalk. Dylan prayed it would fall 330 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 2: into the right hands, and the postcard was recovered suspiciously, 331 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 2: perhaps by reporter for the La Herald Express, who gave 332 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 2: it to his editor. The editor rang up the head 333 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,159 Speaker 2: of the LAPDS gangster squad and asked why a staff 334 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 2: psychiatrist was holding a potential suspect hostage in a hotel 335 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 2: room without any formal charges. Dylan's own mother caught win 336 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 2: to the news, with the help of a lawyer, obtained 337 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 2: a writ of habeas corpus translation. The cops had one 338 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 2: day to charge Leslie Dwayne Dylon with something or let 339 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 2: him go free. Ultimately, they had to admit that they 340 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 2: had nothing on them. On January twelfth, nineteen forty nine, 341 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 2: the LAPD released their prime suspect in the Black Dahlia 342 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 2: Murder from custody. But it wasn't just the writ of 343 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 2: Habeas Corpus that got Leslie Dwayne Dilon off the hook. 344 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 2: It was something else, and it conveniently happened at the 345 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 2: very same time. The LAPD had managed to do the unthinkable. 346 00:22:54,520 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 2: They had found Jeff Connors. We'll be right back after this. 347 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 2: We're were were Jeff Connors squirmed in his chair. The 348 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 2: one light that shone down on his face was dramatic 349 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 2: and hot. It made him nervous, made him feel like 350 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 2: he was guilty before he had even opened his mouth. 351 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 2: It really was like he'd seen in the movies. He 352 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 2: felt like Gene Tierney and Laura. Two floodlamps pointed at 353 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 2: her face while a detective asked the tough questions. Unlike 354 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 2: Gene Tierney, though, who maintained a perfectly composed and perfectly 355 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 2: beautiful face throughout her interrogation scene, Jeff Connors could feel 356 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 2: the beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks. This wasn't Hollywood, California. Yes, 357 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 2: three hundred miles north of Hollywood, but it might as 358 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 2: well have been a world away. LAPD had found him 359 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 2: in a gold rush town, Gilroy the gold and Gilroy 360 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 2: had long been rushed, but Connors was just about a 361 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 2: shock to see the cops as they were to see him. 362 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 2: The place seemed like a comfortable spot for a person 363 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,400 Speaker 2: who could have last seen Elizabeth Short alive and now. 364 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 2: The LAPD wanted Connors to tell them everything they wanted, details, 365 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 2: the truth, they wanted, every fucking secret he had to give, 366 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 2: so he started talking. First of all, he told him 367 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 2: that his real name wasn't Jeff Connors, shocker, it was 368 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 2: actually Arthur Artie Lange Junior. He had done some work 369 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 2: as a janitor at Columbia Studios. He said he knew 370 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short by sight, which struck the LAPD as odd, 371 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 2: seeing as though Elizabeth hadn't so much as attended one 372 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 2: audition on a major studio lot while she lived in 373 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,359 Speaker 2: la He further confessed that he and his then wife, 374 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 2: a blonde bombshell named Grace Allen, had actually been out 375 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 2: drinking at a bar with Elizabeth Short the night before 376 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 2: her murder. Must detail of Lane's story could have added 377 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 2: up to a pretty compelling case too, if only any 378 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,880 Speaker 2: of it had been true. When the cops brought in 379 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 2: Lane's now ex wife to corroborate his story, Gray Sallen 380 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 2: told them that the guy lived in a fantasy world. 381 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 2: He made shit up like he was a regular Charles Dickens. 382 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 2: He probably even believed some of it. Gray Allen informed 383 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,239 Speaker 2: the LAPD that no, her ex had no clue who 384 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,919 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short was before she was killed. And further, he 385 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,439 Speaker 2: had worked a shift at Columbia from two to eleven 386 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 2: PM the night of Elizabeth's murder, after which he came 387 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,959 Speaker 2: straight home. Lane's alibi was not to be fucked with, 388 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 2: even if he was doing his best to make it 389 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 2: seem otherwise. The cops chalked it up to a crazy 390 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 2: man talking crazy. On January fourteenth, nineteen forty nine, the 391 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 2: two year anniversary of Elizabeth Short's murder, the LAPD release 392 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 2: started laying from custody. He walked out the front door 393 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 2: of the station and was never seen again. Meanwhile, some 394 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 2: of those quote unquote incorruptible cops on the LAPD gangster 395 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 2: squad were having a hard time shaking Leslie Duwayne Dylon 396 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 2: for more reasons than one. First up, Dylan had launched 397 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 2: a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles to the 398 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 2: tune of one hundred grand roughly one point one million 399 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 2: dollars in twenty twenty two money. He claimed he had 400 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 2: been falsely imprisoned when he was held by doctor de 401 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 2: river Back at the Strand Hotel. Well, he wasn't wrong. 402 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 2: The city played hardball in its response by threatening to 403 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 2: prosecute Dylan for his role in a robbery when he 404 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 2: worked as a bell hop in a Santa Monica hotel. 405 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 2: He dropped the lawsuit, but still gangster squad Di's got 406 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 2: that unexplainable detective hunch every time they thought about Dylan, 407 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 2: so they kept digging. One of the places they visited 408 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 2: was the Astor Motel in downtown La A strip of 409 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 2: ten concrete cabins where Leslie Dwayne Dillon had previously stayed 410 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 2: had also been separate eyewitness reports of a guest matching 411 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short's description at the motel. Motel owner Harry Hoffman 412 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 2: told the police that on the morning of Elizabeth's body 413 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 2: being found, Hoffman walked into one of the recently vacated 414 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 2: cabins and found a grisly crime scene. The entire room 415 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 2: was bathed in blood and fecal matter, and there wasn't 416 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 2: a surface that wasn't covered with gore. It was all 417 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 2: over the floor splattered on the walls. The sheets on 418 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 2: the bed were saturated. If a person were to say, 419 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 2: saw a human body in half, the resultant mess might 420 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 2: look like this. Hoffman's wife, Chlora, typically did the cleaning 421 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 2: of cabin rooms between guests, but he wouldn't let her 422 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 2: get near this one. Hoffman did the dirty work himself. 423 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 2: Hoffman never told police about what he had found. He 424 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 2: had his own private reasons. Like some business owners in town, 425 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 2: Hoffman had beef with the Lapd in the past. The 426 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 2: astor had a bad rep place was cheap, a known 427 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 2: spot for prostitution and vice. Hoffin himself was an ex khan, 428 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 2: and the fuzz had recently been by to look into 429 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 2: how often he raised his hand to his wife. The 430 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,360 Speaker 2: less attention he could attract to himself and his establishment, 431 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,679 Speaker 2: the better. A gangster squad officer named Wagoner held up 432 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 2: two photos and asked Hoffman if they rang his spell. 433 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 2: One was Leslie Dwayne Dillon, the other was Elizabeth Short. Yeah, 434 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 2: he'd seen both of them. He couldn't remember the day 435 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 2: or how long they stayed for. He couldn't remember if 436 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 2: they came together or were separate, but they had definitely 437 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 2: been guests of the motel in the past, that's for sure. 438 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 2: What about the other guy, though Hoffman was doing the 439 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 2: asking now, He asked the cop Wagoner one other guy. 440 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 2: Wagoner responded he wasn't sure if he was being played, 441 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 2: but he was curious. The motel owner described a middle 442 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 2: aged man with graying hair and a foreign accent. He 443 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 2: checked into the astor on January eleventh, four days before 444 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short's body was discovered. He hung around for a 445 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 2: few days. Hoffman even knew his name, Mark Hanson. Mark Hanson, 446 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 2: the Florentine Gardens nightclub owner, movie theater owner and criminal 447 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 2: underworld liaison, the one and the same who had been 448 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 2: Elizabeth Short's landlord. Hoffman knew that Hanson had at one 449 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 2: point been considered a suspect, not simply because of all 450 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 2: the close contact he had with Elizabeth, including those numerous 451 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 2: sexual advances that had been shot down, but because in 452 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 2: the days following her murder, a package of Elizabeth Short's 453 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 2: belongings had been mailed to the Los Angeles Examiner. The 454 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 2: package included her business cards, birth certificate, photographs, and an 455 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 2: address book. The front of the address book was embossed 456 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 2: with Mark Hanson's name. Mark Hanson knew everybody, and not 457 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 2: just the usual suspects either. His connections went deep. Many 458 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 2: of them were kept from the LAPD. Artie Lang's ex wife, 459 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 2: Grace Allen, for one, initially failed to reveal that she 460 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 2: had stayed with Mark Hanson at his home when she 461 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 2: first separated from her husband. The puzzle wasn't complete, but 462 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 2: the pieces were starting to come together. Mark Hanson, Leslie 463 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 2: Dwayne Dylon, Arty Lang, Grace Allen. The foursome were connected 464 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 2: in various ways, and for members of the Gangster Squad, 465 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 2: the fuzzy picture was getting clearer every day. They were 466 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 2: closer than they had ever been to solving the murder 467 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 2: of the Black Dahlia, a little too close. Within days, 468 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 2: the LAPD officially disbanded the Gangster Squad. Its officers and 469 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 2: agents were all reassigned to other duties, to those quote 470 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 2: unquote incorruptible cops. It didn't make any sense, of course 471 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 2: it didn't. It wasn't supposed to make sense. They weren't 472 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 2: even supposed to ever figure it out. The only people 473 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 2: that likely made any sense to were perched very high up, 474 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 2: perhaps at the top of the police department or organized 475 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 2: crime or city government. Maybe all three way up hie, 476 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 2: out of sight, out of mind. That's where the secrets are, 477 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 2: and that's where they'll be kept forever. Mark Hanson died 478 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty four of natural causes. Though he remained 479 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 2: on the Black Dahlia suspect list his entire life, he 480 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 2: was never charged with murder. Neither was Woody Guthrie, who, 481 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,719 Speaker 2: no shit found himself one of the many improbable suspects 482 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 2: after he wrote steamy sex letters to the sister of 483 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 2: a friend in northern California. In reality, the cops just 484 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 2: wanted an excuse to rough up a no good piece 485 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 2: of rabble rousing Kami scum. More than seven decades later, 486 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 2: the case the Black Dahlia remains unsolved, but it has 487 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 2: refused to go cold in the public consciousness. In fact, 488 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 2: the mystery surrounding Elizabeth Shortt's brutal murder has only deepened, 489 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 2: and every few years someone new steps forward with a 490 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 2: brand new take, hoping to break the case wide open. 491 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety four, John Gilmour wrote a book called 492 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 2: Severed that drew on Gilmore's nineteen eighty one interview with 493 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 2: an alcoholic named Arnold Smith aka Jack Anderson Wilson. Like 494 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 2: many other suspects over the years, Arnold Smith appeared to 495 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 2: know intimate details, and only the murderer would know. He 496 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 2: had Gilmour plying with money and booze in exchange for 497 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 2: his spilled guts. Tragically, Arnold Smith perished in a house 498 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 2: fire before Gilmour could get every last secret. Still, the 499 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 2: book's conclusion was pretty confident that Smith was the guy. 500 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 2: The book was eventually criticized as slezoid bunk. The Lost. 501 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 2: Angelo's Review of Books described Gilmore as quote a purveyor 502 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 2: of fictional trash about conveniently dead celebrities who are beyond 503 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 2: the protection of libel laws unquote. The same article warrened 504 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 2: potential readers that they should quote put on latex gloves 505 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 2: or preferably a hazmat suit before delving into Gilmore's literary 506 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 2: legacy unquote. The publication accused Gilmore of inventing sources like 507 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 2: entire LAPD detectives who did not exist, and of coming 508 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 2: to the conclusion that Ernold Smith was the killer only 509 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 2: after Smith conveniently died and could no longer be interrogated. 510 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 2: Other theories were published in subsequent years. One ex cop 511 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 2: thought his own father, a doctor, was the killer. Another 512 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 2: blamed wise guy Buggsy Siegel, who allegedly committed the murder 513 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 2: at the past of an La Times publisher who had 514 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 2: gotten Elizabeth Short pregnant. And there was no irrefutable proof 515 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 2: that any of this was remotely true. These claims and 516 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,719 Speaker 2: Moore have only served to muddy the waters with conjecture 517 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 2: and fantasy, and perhaps one need look no further than 518 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 2: the existing muddy waters of rampant police corruption in the 519 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 2: nineteen forties. I haven't even gotten into the complicated story 520 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 2: of LAPD Sergeant Phinnis Brown aka Fatars, one of the 521 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 2: original lead homicide detectors on the Black Dahlia case. Phinnis 522 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 2: Brown was just about as corrupt as they came, but 523 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 2: he was untouchable thanks to an older brother who worked 524 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 2: as a powerful commander for the LAPD Patrol Bureau. It's 525 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 2: rumored that Brown was in debt to Mark Hanson for 526 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 2: upwards of five thousand dollars, which may not sound like 527 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 2: a lot, but that's like fifty eight grand today. It's 528 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 2: not outside the realm of possibility that Mark Hanson was 529 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:44,720 Speaker 2: evolved directly or indirectly in the death of Elizabeth Short, 530 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 2: and that the reason he was always kept at arm's 531 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,720 Speaker 2: length and never formally charged was because he had Phinnis 532 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 2: Brown and thus the lapd by the balls. That's the 533 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,320 Speaker 2: conclusion that author Pugh eat Well drew in her twenty 534 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,960 Speaker 2: seventeen book Black Dolly a Red Rose, and it goes 535 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,440 Speaker 2: like this, Mark Hanson was pissed that Elizabeth Short wouldn't 536 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 2: sleep with them. He wanted her dead. Leslie Dwayne Dylon 537 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:11,920 Speaker 2: was one of the guys in Hanson's Tangled Webb who 538 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,160 Speaker 2: did his dirty work, and so Dylan was either hired 539 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 2: by Hanson to kill Elizabeth Short in the most fucked 540 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 2: up way possible, or he simply took it upon himself 541 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 2: to make her go away and thus make the boss 542 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,239 Speaker 2: man happy. Maybe Jeff Connors was involved too. They did 543 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,920 Speaker 2: it at the Astor Hotel, where Dylan had been staying. 544 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 2: Dylan didn't want the murder coming back on him, so 545 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 2: he could have also been the one to send the 546 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 2: address book with Hanson's name in Boston the cover to 547 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 2: the press as a warning to Hanson. It was a 548 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 2: similar play that Dylan made with the lapd when he 549 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 2: was held legally at the Strand Hotel. Dylan made sure 550 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 2: the LAPD knew that he knew all about the department's 551 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 2: dirty dealings with Mark Hanson and the Los Angeles Organized 552 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 2: Crime Syndicate. In essence, if they squeezed him too hard, 553 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,960 Speaker 2: he would squeal. Eatwell's theory became even more complicated after 554 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,240 Speaker 2: she published her book. She heard from a retired cop 555 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 2: named Buzz Williams, whose father was an original member of 556 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 2: the LAPD gangster squad. According to Williams, he remembers overhearing 557 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,640 Speaker 2: his father talking with other cops about how Mark Hanson, Leslie, 558 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,879 Speaker 2: Dwayne Dylon, and Jeff Conners were part of a robbery crew. 559 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,359 Speaker 2: One of the crew's members would get a gig as 560 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 2: a bellboy at a hotel. After he located the safe 561 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,480 Speaker 2: on site, he would quit the gig, and days later 562 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,760 Speaker 2: the gang would knock over the joint. What if Elizabeth 563 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,799 Speaker 2: Short was murdered not because she rejected the libidinous advances 564 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 2: of Mark Hanson, but because she knew too much about 565 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:40,600 Speaker 2: a hush hush robbery crew. But then if that were true, 566 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 2: then why would Leslie Dwayne Dylan go out of his 567 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,520 Speaker 2: way to incriminate Jeff Conners if he was part of 568 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 2: the gang and thus part of the entire conspiracy, isn't 569 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:55,120 Speaker 2: there some honor amongst thieves? Even though this final theory 570 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 2: is likely the closest will ever get to the truth, 571 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 2: it's not perfect. There are still details that don't add up, 572 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 2: Questions that will never be answered, corruption that will never 573 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 2: be completely understood, Secrets that will never be revealed because 574 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 2: Los Angeles says nothing without its secrets. Secrets make for 575 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 2: good stories, and those stories they ought to be in pictures. 576 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,239 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is hollywood Land. 577 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 3: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 578 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 3: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate and review 579 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:48,799 Speaker 3: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts and get in 580 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 3: touch with us on social. 581 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 2: Media at double Elvis. 582 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:53,919 Speaker 3: If you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, 583 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,719 Speaker 3: the award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of 584 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 3: music through the lens of true crime. Just search for Disgraceland. 585 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:08,239 Speaker 2: Wherever you get your podcasts, there's there's a lab. 586 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 3: H