Black Dahlia: My 24 Years With L.A.’s Coldest Cold Case

Delacorte Review

UC Irvine professor Miles Corwin, an old friend from the L.A. Times, spent months interviewing me about the Black Dahlia case. Here is Miles’ deep dive, published in the Delacorte Review, into my decades-long journey exploring the life and death of Elizabeth Short. It’s also been published on Crime Reads.

About lmharnisch

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

3 Responses to Black Dahlia: My 24 Years With L.A.’s Coldest Cold Case

  1. William Desmond Taylor says:

    Great -and epic- news, Larry! Thanks for sharing your methods and deductive reasoning so other writers investigating cold case murders and historical malpractice have some important clues to guide them. Your battles with decades of myths, rumors and lies really honor Elizabeth Short’s tragic life story. There are certainly other famous cold cases in LA that could use your scrupulous eye for detail, perseverance and demand for the whole truth.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Sylvia E. says:

    This article was like reading a really good mystery; this clue leads to that clue, away from one direction and then towards another. What a good interviewer and interview-ee. So glad you shared this. Looking forward to when your book is finished.

    Like

  3. cinemaocd says:

    This is a very moving account of your Knight Errant quest to protect the memory of Elizabeth Short and unravel the mystery of her death. I have a good friend who is a researcher outside of academia on a famous 19th century writer. This story reminds me a lot of him, trying to protect the memory of get to the truth of a long dead woman. He has also been writing and re-writing a book for as long as I’ve known him, going on two decades. I eagerly await your book. I don’t think interest has gone away. True Crime is so popular right now and there is so much (mostly badly researched) stuff out there. I did listen to the Root of Evil podcast and about 40 minutes in realized that Tamar Hodel had all the hallmarks of people I’ve known who were pathological liars. I do think Steve Hodel has been damaged by his family and have some sympathy for him, though I think his ideas are crackpot. About a year ago I stumbled on his blog when I was looking for information for my tumblr blog when Kirk Douglas passed away, and the old accusations arose about Jean Spengler. I was surprised the he responded so quickly and with such certainty to my query, though I wasn’t convinced by what he said. I think I swayed by his conviction at first, and of course the fact that he has this massive effort behind him, is a former cop etc.
    I found your blog today, while researching locations from the film Sunset Boulevard and was impressed that you cleared up a whole host of rumors and lies about Alto Nido Apartments and then came up with a long list of notable people who lived there, all new to me. Wish I’d found it before I wasted however many hours on that podcast…

    Like

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