Black Dahlia: ‘Suspect’ Jacob Edward Fisk — Wikipedia Prank Takes on a Life of Its Own

Wikipedia Black Dahlia Suspects

Let’s see what happens when Wikipedia vandalism takes on a life of its own. That would be Black Dahlia “suspect” Jacob Edward Fisk. Never a suspect. It was all just a prank.

On April 13, 2009, someone apparently signing on from Xavier University in Columbus, Ohio, added a few lines about Jacob Edward Fisk to the list of Black Dahlia suspects.

“Though born in 1988, Jacob committed the murder of Elizabeth Short by travelling through time. The time machine he used was build in his sunbird.”

Wikipedia Jacob Fisk

The entry was removed the same day.

Wikipedia Jacob Fisk

More than 10 years ago.

Wikipedia suspects

But as recently as May 2019, Fisk was still listed as an “original suspect” with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s files as the purported source.

Nope.

image

And he appears in Google results. Because Google loves Wikipedia. Never a suspect. Just a 10-year-old prank.

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
This entry was posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD, Wikipedia and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Black Dahlia: ‘Suspect’ Jacob Edward Fisk — Wikipedia Prank Takes on a Life of Its Own

  1. Eve says:

    Okay, that is actually hilarious, and has to go into your book, complete with the quote about the Sunbird!

    Like

  2. Pingback: Black Dahlia: ‘Suspect’ Dr. Adam Fairall — Another Wikipedia Prank |

  3. Pingback: Black Dahlia: Jacob Edward Fisk, Victim of Long-Running Wikipedia Prank |

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