Black Dahlia

Since Elizabeth Short's death, more than fifty people have "confessed" to the crime. One is left to wonder at their motives. Whenever "The Black Dahlia Murder" is in the headlines, police receive "new tips."

Some of the more notorious "confessions" are worth mentioning:

• Daniel Voorhies [Voorhees], an Army veteran, "confessed," allegedly saying: "I can't stand it any longer - I killed Beth Short." He passed a lie detector test.


• Minnie Sepulveda also said she was guilty of the crime.


• Max Handler (also known as Mack Chandler) - with Homicide Detective Ed Barrett - was the 25th man to confess to the murder. When he took a lie detector test, however, the truth came out. Apparently, he "wanted to get away from a gang of men who have been following me constantly."


• Carol Marshall said she could identify the killer. Nothing reliable ever came from her "evidence."

Writers have named "likely killers" - including Bugsy Siegel - in a variety of books. Relatives have even "given-up" the names of family members to the police. The murder of Elizabeth Short, however, remains a "cold case."

Because there is little forensic evidence available, and decades have passed since the gruesome events took place, it is doubtful the murder will ever be solved. Perhaps, if all the records were made public, that situation would change. But until that day happens, the murder of "The Black Dahlia" is, in a way, the Los Angeles equivalent of "Jack the Ripper." There, too, police believed that someone with medical knowledge was involved.

A change in the law was directly related to the unsolved crime. The month after Elizabeth Short died, California became the first state in America to require registration of convicted sex offenders.