The Black Dahlia Mystery

48 Hours

CBS News

True Crime, News, Tv & Film, Cbs

3.9 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In January of 1947, the mutilated body of young Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short was discovered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. The press gave her the nickname, "The Black Dahlia," stemming from a popular crime film, and her case gripped headlines when the killer sent handwritten notes to the tabloids. Former Los Angeles Detective Steve Hodel believed his father was the killer, but Elizabeth's murder still remains unsolved. “48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/29/2006. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast, ad-free, right now.
0:04.4	Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app today.
0:20.4	Elizabeth Short, 22-year-old female from Medford, Massachusetts.
0:27.6	Beautiful girl, came out to Hollywood, California, to fall in love and live happily ever after. It's LA on VJ Day.
0:31.6	Revelers pour down Hollywood Boulevard.
0:34.6	Girls lean out of cars.
0:36.6	Soldiers and sailors run up and grab kisses. There's
0:40.3	a pretty dark-haired girl caught in close up. It's Betty's short. She's young. She's vibrant.
0:48.3	She lives. The crime scene looked like this.
0:57.0	We'd covered lots north to south.
1:00.0	The body on the west side mid block.
1:04.0	It was a horrific sight.
1:06.0	The body was surgically cut in half, bisected.
1:10.0	There are people out there who are only aroused when they're killing.
1:14.8	She met someone like that.
1:18.0	This was a huge story in 1947.
1:20.2	It was headlines for 30 days straight.
1:22.6	They had 1,000 law enforcement officers working on the case.
1:26.3	This is Los Angeles' most notorious unsolved murder.
1:29.3	My name is Steve Hodel.
1:31.3	I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
1:34.3	Steve Hodel.
	...

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