In the January 2025 Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case, I talk about my work in progress, Heaven Is HERE! and my current focus on the Los Angeles Examiner’s phone call to Phoebe Short, claiming that Elizabeth Short won a beauty contest.

Reminder: Trim your roses on January 15 in memory of Elizabeth Short, and consider a donation to an agency that provides services for the homeless/unhoused in her memory. I make my donation to Heading Home, which operates in the Boston area, but any similar institution would suffice.

WARNING: I am the “grumpiest man in the world” according to Last Podcast on the Left.

In this session, I discussed:

–“Black Dahlia season,” which begins with the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s murder on January 15 and runs through Halloween, with a peak on her birthday, July 29. Expect numerous anniversary stories, poorly researched and hastily written.
–Report on the book, now at 167,000 words.
–Have I been in touch with members of the Bayley family?
–How did Elizabeth Short meet Robert M. “Red” Manley?
–Was Elizabeth Short thinking of returning to Boston before she was killed?
–Who was Elizabeth Short’s “best friend?”
–When Red Manley and Elizabeth Short returned to Los Angeles from San Diego did they travel by his car, someone else’s car, or public transportation?
–Did Anne Toth loan Elizabeth Short a lot of money?
–You mention that the murderer(s) had to have running water in order to drain the blood
from Elizabeth Short’s body – was having running water so unusual in Los Angeles at the time? ex: available only to the upper-middle class ?
–Michael Connelly’s “The Waiting” (Spoiler Alert).
–How much did Elizabeth Short depend on public transportation?
–Are you in touch with the French family?
–What is the most important clue or piece of information at the crime scene?
–Did the LAPD consult Eliot Ness about the Cleveland Torso killings?
–Why is Dr. Patrick O’Reilly a non-starter as a suspect?
–Who was the person closest to Elizabeth Short whom you interviewed?
–Is it possible the killer is someone we never heard of?
–Is anyone even tangentially involved with the case still alive?
–Do any of Elizabeth Short’s possessions survive?
–Also Donald Wolfe’s “Black Dahlia Files” book claiming Bugsy Siegel and Norman Chandler killed Elizabeth Short.