Who Killed the Black Dahlia? Filmmakers Say They Know and Need Your Help Proving It
Criminally ObsessedShow Notes
Nearly 80 years after 22-year-old Elizabeth Short's body was found in Los Angeles, the Black Dahlia case remains one of America's most famous unsolved cold cases. In this episode, investigative reporter Anne Emerson speaks with filmmaker Jeff Thomas, producer Kimberly Lupini, and senior criminalist Leslie Thompson about their five-year investigation for Deconstructing Dahlia, why they say they have identified a still-operating Los Angeles motel as the murder scene, and why they say they know who killed Elizabeth Short but cannot name him yet. Plus they share with us exclusive pictures of the alleged crime scene and hidden room they found.
Thompson describes why she started skeptical, what she says she found after removing layers of drywall down to original plaster, how presumptive testing indicated blood and suggested a major bloodshed event consistent with bludgeoning, and why mitochondrial DNA testing on blood and hairs is still pending after nearly eight decades. The team also lays out supporting claims from 1949-1950 grand jury testimony placing Elizabeth and the suspect they have identified at the motel, an eyewitness account of a bloody room found the day her body was discovered, and claims the owner cleaned it up himself. Thomas and Lupini say the final piece is Elizabeth's original medical examiner's report, which they say has never been made public and which the LAPD has refused to release, and they explain why they say that single document matters for motive and why they are asking the public for help getting it.
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