WHO KILLED THE BLACK DAHLIA?
A former Los Angeles police detective is sure he knows who the murderer is, and the suspect is too close for comfort.
WINTER MORNINGS IN Los Angeles can be chilly, and so it was as Betty Bersinger pushed her daughter’s stroller along the weedy sidewalks of Leimert Park on January 15, 1947. In those days, LA was full of half-finished developments like this: gap-toothed mixtures of bungalows and empty lots, construction stalled by the war.
As she approached 39th and Norton at about 11 a.m., Bersinger spotted amid the tall grass and shattered glass what she thought was a broken mannequin just feet from the street. A cloud of insects hung over pale body parts. In the distance, she saw children on bikes. “It just didn’t seem right,” she said later. “I thought I’d better call somebody.”
Within an hour, the overgrown lot was crawling with cops and reporters, all gaping at a dismembered corpse. The body of the victim—a small woman, about 118 pounds, dark hair, five foot six—had been meticulously severed at the waist and emptied of blood, and it was covered with bruises and violent lacerations. The woman’s liver hung from her torso. Her mouth had been sliced from ear to ear. It was, said one eyewitness, “sadism at its most frenzied.”
All signs pointed to an agonizing death at the hands of a disturbed soul—perfect fodder for LA’s rapacious news biz. The victim, Elizabeth Short, was on every front page within hours: an unemployed Boston girl with no fixed address who’d once been named “Cutie of the Week” while working the PX at a nearby Army base. The owner of a drugstore the aspiring actress frequented mentioned the floral nickname some of his male customers had for her, and the papers soon slapped “Black Dahlia” on every story they ran.
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Reader's Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Reader's Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
GOTCHA!
We asked for it: What's the best prank you ever pulled?
KITT THE COURAGEOUS K-9
Officer Bill Cushing needed a partner. His dog needed a purpose. Together, they rescued each other.
Let's Dance!
It's good for your body, soul and even your brain
DISASTER ON THE RIVER
Two canoeists struggle to keep themselves and their friendship-afloat
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THE STUFF WE RETURN
Think your rejects go back on the shelves? Think again.
Words to Live By
Poems offered me an anchor as I lost my son, so I shared them
LOST, FOUND, HOMEWARD BOUND
A collection of heart-thumping, tail-wagging, zoomies-inducing pet reunion tales
Paging Dr. AI
IF YOU'VE EVER Googled symptoms (and who hasn't?), you've probably scared yourself with a dire diagnosis, with no doctor there to vet the source and put the information in context. But we can't help ourselves. So can AI help?
The HEALTHY WELLNESS FROM THEHEALTHY.COM
A vaccine is finally on the way. In the meantime, here's how to protect yourself from ticks.
How to Speak Like a Midwesterner
FROM THE BOOK A GUIDE TO MIDWESTERN CONVERSATION