Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCH

FOR DAHLIA MURDER CLUE

Underwood's article began:

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In the gory album of unsolved murders, kidnappings and crimes against women in general, Los Angeles police may have to insert a new page — 'The Mystery of the Sadistic Slaying of Elizabeth Short — the Black Dahlia.' So far all clues have failed. This latest murder mystery which has provoked the greatest mobilization of crime detection experts in the city's history, is the latest in a long series. The finding of her dismembered body was preceded by other gruesome discoveries of women victims slain for lust, for revenge, for reasons unknown.

Underwood's article provided the names and details of seven recent L.A. lone female victims of unsolved sex- related murders.

On the afternoon of January 23, Los Angeles Examiner city editor James Richardson received a phone call from a man identifying himself as the Black Dahlia killer. In Richardson's autobiography, For the Life of Me: Memoirs of a City Editor, he describes the eerie call and the killer's follow-up. Richardson explained that he never published the story in the paper at the time because he wanted to keep the evidence confidential, even though there was a feeding frenzy among crime reporters for any stray piece of information on the case. His revelation of the phone call became an important piece of evidence for me, primarily because of his verbatim description of his brief conversation with the killer and his impressions of the suspect. That this call came from the real killer is not in doubt. During their conversation he promised Richardson to send him 'a few of her [Elizabeth's] belongings.' As Richardson described the conversation:

The story dwindled to a few paragraphs and was about to fade out altogether when one day I answered the phone and heard the voice I'll never forget.

'Is this the city editor?' it asked.

'Yes.'

'What is your name, please?'

'Richardson.'

'Well, Mr. Richardson, I must congratulate you on what the

Examiner

has done in the Black Dahlia case.'

'Thank you,' I said, and there was a slight pause before the voice spoke again.

'You seem to have run out of material,' it said.

'That's right.'

A soft laugh sounded in the earpiece.

'Maybe I can be of some assistance,' the voice said.

There was something in the way he said it that sent a shiver up my spine.

'We need it,' I said and there was that soft laugh again.

'I'll tell you what I'll do,' the voice said. 'I'll send you some of the things she had with her when she, shall we say, disappeared?'

It was difficult for me to control my voice. I began scribbling on a sheet of paper the words: 'Trace this call.'

'What kind of things?' I asked as I tossed the paper to my assistant on the desk. I could see him read and start jiggling the receiver arm on his phone to get the attention of the switchboard girl.

'Oh say, her address book and her birth certificate and a few other things she had in her handbag.'

'When will I get them?' I asked, and I could hear my assistant telling Mae Northern the switchboard girl to trace my call.

'Oh, within the next day or so. See how far you can get with them. And now I must say goodbye. You may be trying to trace this call.'