Black Dahlia Part 1: The Biltmore Hotel (Los Angeles, CA)

Dark House

House Beautiful/Hearst

Religion & Spirituality, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.4 • 757 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2023

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hadley and Alyssa dive into the life and gruesome death of Elizabeth Short—better known as the Black Dahlia—whose unsolved murder spurred Hollywood’s most persistent ghost story. Working to uncover whether or not the iconic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was the last place she was seen alive, the hosts retrace Elizabeth's final steps through her unmailed letters, stories from people who knew her, and eye-witness testimony. Having tracked her movements up to the evening of January 9, 1947, when she was seen leaving the lobby of the Biltmore, Alyssa and Hadley review all the possible sightings that may prove Elizabeth was seen elsewhere in Los Angeles the following week. They also sift through the many chilling stories of paranormal activity reported by Biltmore guests in recent years, which have many people convinced that Elizabeth’s spirit remains at the hotel. Later, the hosts learn about several top suspects in the case, including one who stands out among the rest. CREDITS Alyssa Fiorentino - Co-host & Producer Hadley Mendelsohn - Co-host & Producer Jessy Caron - Producer & Audio Editor Jacob Stone - Sound Editor & Mixer To advertise on the show: https://www.advertisecast.com/DarkHouse or email us at [email protected]. RELATED LINKS Ghost Captured in the Biltmore Hotel by Ginny Myers Sain (PHOTO): bit.ly/45UCN85 ‘Childhood Shadows’ by Mary Pacios: https://amzn.to/4532RwC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.5	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.5	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go. Shopify is made for
0:22.9	entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:29.9	But around midnight, she woke with a cold chill. Mama told me she felt as if the blanket had
0:35.1	been yanked off the bed. She went over to the window
0:37.7	thinking maybe the wind had blown it off, but the windows were closed. Mama said she got a
0:42.2	strange feeling. She knew something was wrong, that something had happened to Betty. Well, hello, everyone. I'm Hadley Mendelsohn. And I'm Melissa Fiorentino. We're your hosts.
1:03.6	You are listening to Dark House Season 3. If you're new here, in each episode, we dig into the backstory of a house that's allegedly haunted or notorious for some reason or another.
1:13.4	We talk about who lived there, who died there, and all the events that led to its eventual infamy.
1:19.0	And today I'll be telling you all part one of a two-part story about the infamous 1947 murder case of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia. It's one of the
1:29.2	most famous cold cases in American history, and most of you have probably already heard about it.
1:34.8	But to give you a brief primer in 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was brutally tortured and murdered,
1:41.8	and then her body was discovered in South Central L.A.
1:45.3	Authorities had over 300 suspects, but no one was ever charged with the crime. And in the years
1:50.8	since, Elizabeth's murder has become L.A.'s most notorious ghost story, cautionary tale and cash cow,
1:56.7	if you will, all rolled into one. And there have been countless books like James Elroy's book about
2:02.5	it and movies made about the case. There's also a bus tour that takes you to some of the places
2:07.1	that Elizabeth would have gone to, including the last place that Elizabeth was seen alive,
2:11.7	the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. And there's even a band named after her case. And I also had a neighbor in Silver Lake whose
2:18.9	Bengal cats were named Dahlia and Dahmer, which just, I didn't love that. And it's just another
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -506 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from House Beautiful/Hearst, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of House Beautiful/Hearst and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.