Dr. J. Paul De River analyzes accused killer R. Bernard Finch based on the left and right sides of his face in the Jan. 27, 1960, Herald-Express.

In case you just tuned in, we’re exploring some of the topics dealt with in Piu Eatwell’s new book “Black Dahlia, Red Rose,” which “solves” the Dahlia case by going back to one of the original suspects, Leslie Dillon, who investigators eliminated in the 1940s after he drew the attention of LAPD “sex crimes expert” Dr. J. Paul De River.

From previous posts, we know that De River reinvented himself, having been born in Louisiana as Joseph Paul Israel.

And we know that he was an ear, nose and throat specialist who reinvented himself as an expert on sex crimes and sex criminals.

Are you skeptical yet? Because there’s more.

The Black Dahlia: Leslie Dillon, Paul De River and the LAPD: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Here’s a bit more of his work, and perhaps you can see why I have doubts about him. In 1960, he wrote several articles for the Los Angeles Herald-Express, analyzing murder defendants Dr. R. Bernard Finch and his secretary/lover, Carole Tregoff, based on their facial appearance.

No, really, he did this.

De River wrote: “The left side of the face is what we really are, not what we present or wish to present to the world….. The right side of the face is what we present to the world and what we have built up through experience.”

I could go on, but it’s just more of the same. So De River’s idea that Leslie Dillon killed Elizabeth Short under a separate personality that Dillon called “Jack Sand” is pretty ridiculous. I give De River zero credibility, but at a minimum, the diligent researcher has to be extremely skeptical of any theory that he floated.

To be continued as time permits.