Elizabeth Short: The Black Dahlia's Killer

On January 15, 1947, a mother walking her baby found the body of a young woman cut in half and severely mutilated. The police and FBI were called to the scene to investigate. Within just 56 minutes they were able to identify the young woman as twenty-two year old Elizabeth Short, other wise know as “the Black Dahlia.” Today, The Black Dahlia’s killer still remains a mystery, which makes her one of the oldest cold case files in Los Angeles and one of the most famous. Most people believe they have solved the mystery, that Robert “Red” Manley killed Elizabeth Short or even Mark Hansen, but research shows strong evidence pointing toward Dr. Walter Bayley as Elizabeth’s killer. Robert “Red” Manley was a twenty-five year old salesman and wanted

Walter Bayley. He accurately fits three things investigators speculated about the murderer, the murder, and the crime scene. Firstly, Bayley was sixty-seven years old at the time of Elizabeth’s murder. Therefore, he was in no shape to be carrying around a full intact body. Secondly, the location of the body was significant because Bayley’s wife, whom he lived with before leaving her for young Alexandra, lived only a block away. Lastly, investigators believe that the facial lacerations on her face were made out of anger. People stated that Elizabeth used to tell men about her son who died tragically. If she told this to Bayley it could have caused him to act out in personal rage toward her because he lost his son in a tragic automobile accident at age eleven. Not only did he match what investigators speculate, but he also has a few other things tying him to the murder. Dr. Bayley specialized in mastectomies, hysterectomies, and the surgical removal of fat. A mastectomy is a surgical operation to remove all breast tissue from the breast as a way to treat or prevent breast cancer and a hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. Both of his specializations were key to the way Elizabeth’s body was