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Solving the Black Dahlia cover art

Solving the Black Dahlia

By: Douglas Laux
Narrated by: Douglas Laux
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

  • Summary

  • In 1947, a young woman named Elizabeth Short was murdered in Los Angeles. The killer bisected her body and placed it on the side of a busy street six miles southwest of downtown. The LAPD questioned an endless line of suspects, some of whom claimed to be the killer. But none proved to know certain critical details about the crime scene. Desperate for a lead, a rogue LAPD team even kidnapped a suspect from Florida and interrogated him to no avail. Police could not identify the killer.

    Fast forward 75 years.

    Former CIA case officer Douglas Laux boards a bus in Los Angeles for the Black Dahlia tour. Doug, in his early 30s, is whisked to locations around LA related to Elizabeth Short’s murder. He knows virtually nothing about her case. He also isn’t sure why Short’s identity and name have been replaced by a mostly fictional Hollywood narrative of a tragic ingenue called the Black Dahlia who was murdered after visiting the Biltmore Hotel. But the fact that an unsolved murder from 1947 is still popular enough to support its own bus tour tells him there may be a lot of conflicting history to uncover. He’s surprised to discover that there are still many passionately argued different theories about who killed Elizabeth Short. But only one theory can be right, or they are all wrong. Doug decides to find out.

    Like many before him, Doug becomes fixated on the case. For eight years he leverages his CIA skillset to try and solve the Black Dahlia murder. Now, he believes he has.
    ©2022 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC
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Episodes
  • Solving the Black Dahlia Trailer

    Solving the Black Dahlia Trailer
    Jan 12 2022
    In 1947, a young woman named Elizabeth Short was murdered in Los Angeles. The killer bisected her body and placed it on the side of a busy street six miles southwest of downtown. The LAPD questioned an endless line of suspects, some of whom claimed to be the killer. But none proved to know certain critical details about the crime scene. Desperate for a lead, a rogue LAPD team even kidnapped a suspect from Florida and interrogated him to no avail. Police could not identify the killer.

    Fast forward 75 years.

    Former CIA case officer Douglas Laux boards a bus in Los Angeles for the Black Dahlia tour. Doug, in his early 30s, is whisked to locations around LA related to Elizabeth Short’s murder. He knows virtually nothing about her case. He also isn’t sure why Short’s identity and name have been replaced by a mostly fictional Hollywood narrative of a tragic ingenue called the Black Dahlia who was murdered after visiting the Biltmore Hotel. But the fact that an unsolved murder from 1947 is still popular enough to support its own bus tour tells him there may be a lot of conflicting history to uncover. He’s surprised to discover that there are still many passionately argued different theories about who killed Elizabeth Short. But only one theory can be right, or they are all wrong. Doug decides to find out.

    Like many before him, Doug becomes fixated on the case. For eight years he leverages his CIA skillset to try and solve the Black Dahlia murder. Now, he believes he has.
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    Less than 1 minute
    Free with 30-day trial
  • Episode 1: Photo Evidence

    Episode 1: Photo Evidence
    Jan 13 2022
    When former CIA case officer Douglas Laux takes a Hollywood bus tour about the unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, he knows virtually nothing about the victim, the crime, and the investigation. But when Doug learns just how many different theories there are about who did it, he decides to leverage his CIA skillset to try and solve it once and for all. The first person Doug seeks out is former LAPD detective, Steve Hodel, whose scandalous and personal theory about the case has become a Hollywood sensation.
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    46 mins
    Free with 30-day trial
  • Episode 2: Ok, But…

    Episode 2: Ok, But…
    Jan 13 2022

    Doug and Steve Hodel meet in Griffith Park near the infamous Sowden House, Steve’s childhood home and where he believes Elizabeth Short was murdered in the basement. Steve shares a wealth of information with Doug. In spite of some loose ends and question marks in the decades old case, Doug finds the retired LAPD detective’s story believable, if not entirely verifiable. It seems clear to Doug that no one knows more about this case than Steve Hodel, until Doug talks with former LA Times reporter, Larry Harnisch, who is ready to blow a hole right through Steve’s theories.
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    25 mins
    Free with 30-day trial
True Crime
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Profile Image for Scott Cameron

Better than any other text about Elizabeth Short!

Got onto this through the author's conversation with Nic Edwards. Fascinating listen, and definitely worth the time invested. five stars!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Great Story & Well Told by Various Experts

I'll be upfront, this book claims to have solved the dahlia murder BUT I haven't listened to it all yet, but it has various experts with their voices....I'm drawn in and upto Chapter 2!
Plus it's a FREE Audiobook (Thanks MCRO.cc Public Links for the URL I found this)

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Profile Image for Ishy Neville

Falls Short for Elisabeth

A great study of confirmation bias with 3 out of 4 investigators picking a suspect and trying to shoehorn the remnants of evidence into their hypothesis.
For something that claims to be looking for the victim more than the culprit, very little is said about ms Short.

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Profile Image for what for

it gets boring as the episodes go on

episode 3 the narrator throws the listener down a rabbit hole and you can't get out . The narrator loves his own voice to the point he would be so talkative in other aspects of his life meh nothing much was told to the listener .

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.