Black Dahlia Murder Case Summary

Three murder case studies will be presented and compare here: Marian Bates, Martha Moxley, and Elizabeth Short. Marian Bates was a 64 year old Nottingham Jeweler who was murdered in front of her husband, Victor Bates, and children. Peter Williams, a 19 year old drug addict was released early from prison and was supposedly under “intense supervision”. Williams removed his tag and violated his curfew. He and an unidentified gunman who is still at large, raided a jewelry store on September 30th 2003. The gunman later identified as James Brodie pointed a pistol at the Bates’s daughter Xanthe. Bates leaped forward to protect her and was shot in chest, while Williams bludgeoned her husband with a crow bar. In 2005, Peter Williams was convicted and

The Black Dahlia Murder was the informal name given to her murder by the media. Her body was found on a vacant lot in Leimert Park, in suburban Los Angeles, California on January 15th, 1947. Short was 22 years old at the time of her death. Her body was found on some abandoned land in Leimert Park. Primitive forensic technology prevented the LAPD from determining the exact time of her murder. Her body was drained of majority of her blood; she had been brutally cut in half at the waist and her mouth sliced into a sinister smile. Her body was thought to have been washed to remove any evidence and she was found with her hands on her head and her legs spread open. Elizabeth Short is assumed to have bee forced to eat feces and was raped postmortem. Historians believe that the nickname “Black Dahlia” comes from the fact that Short often wore black clothing that complimented her fair skin and dark hair. More that 60 suspects were questions, however, her murder remains unsolved. Elizabeth Short’s murder is one of the most notable cold case in the history of the U.S. . The failure to catch her murderer was blamed on the sensationalization of the murder by the media. The 2nd and 3rd cases were either once or still are cold cases, probably because of the time when the murders were committed. The first murder was more obvious who the killer was, unlike the last two who have twist and