Chloe McPolin

Stay out of trouble.

Thank you.

The unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short became known as the Black Dahlia case after the young woman's mutilated body was found in Los Angeles, becoming one of Hollywood's most infamous cold cases.

Today, I'm talking to author William J. Mann about his book, The Black Dahlia, and the case which continues to mystify the world.

I'm Chloe McPolin, and you are listening to Crime World, a podcast from crimeworld.com.

So, William, I suppose the Black Dahlia is America's kind of most notorious cold case.

I suppose it's hard to believe that eight years on, we're still talking about it.

But I suppose if we could just kind of go back in time, we're in Los Angeles in 1940, in the 1940s, and we're just after the Great Depression, kind of film noir and Hollywood stuff.

are kind of booming, but people are flocking to Los Angeles kind of looking for stardom.

But I suppose this story truly begins in January 1947 with the discovery of a body.

Could you kind of describe how Elizabeth Short was found?

And we obviously know that the identity of that woman was Elizabeth Short.

But I suppose to people who are unfamiliar with the case, could you kind of describe who Elizabeth Short was?

She was kind of a budding actor from Boston, Massachusetts.

No, 100%.

And do we know exactly why she was in LA at the time or was she just kind of drifting from place to place?

Totally.

And I suppose just bringing us back to the discovery of this body, it was quickly, she was quickly called the Black Dahlia.

I know, obviously, journalists often kind of come up with names about the individuals they're writing about.

But why the Black Dahlia?