On the 40th anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s murder writer John Gilmore declared he had ultimately solved the Black Dahlia Murder case and would share all in an upcoming book, the first non-fiction book covering the case in detail. A package sent to the press containing Elizabeth Short’s belongings was posted from downtown Los Angeles when Leslie Dillon was definitely back at work in San Francisco, again giving him an alibi. The fact he was back in San Francisco after the murder still causes a problem. This has been debated but let us assume those who argue there is no proof he was in San Francisco until January the 17th, two days after the murder, are correct. On the third point, there are those who claim otherwise, stating it wasn’t proven Leslie Dillon was in San Francisco between January 8 and January 16 claiming the witnesses were unreliable. Thirdly, Dillon’s alibi was thoroughly checked and he had witnesses proving he was in San Francisco at the time of the murder. Secondly, Leslie Dillon had absolutely no surgical or medical knowledge, something which has clearly been stated throughout the investigation was required to carry out the bisection as cleanly as it was. Firstly there is no real evidence he knew either Mark Hansen or Elizabeth Short. Eatwell also claims witnesses at the hotel saw a dark-haired woman matching Elizabeth Short’s description at the motel and that the owners found a room covered in blood and faecal matter on January 15, 1947, the day the body of Elizabeth was discovered.Ī couple of problems arise with Leslie Dillon as a Black Dahlia suspect. Despite being a suspect himself in the early investigation it should be said there was never any proof that Mark Hansen was anything but a law-abiding citizen, which included having no criminal record.Īccording to author Piu Eatwell, Elizabeth was murdered by Dillon at The Astor Motel were he often stayed. Hansen, according to the theory, had a number of corrupt officers in his pocket which allowed Dillon and Hansen to get away with murder. Furthermore, Dillon later sued the City Of Los Angeles for $100,000, it’s not entirely clear whether a payout was received with little evidence to prove it either way. Basically, the investigation of Leslie Dillon was a massive cock-up and was a huge contributing factor in an inquiry into the handling of the entire Black Dahlia Murders been ordered before a Grand Jury in 1949. His illegal detainment did not go down well. In a further embarrassment to the investigation, Dillon had been interrogated outside of official channels and kept in a room against his will, at one point he managed to eject a postcard through a window reading: Connors, whose real name was Arthur Lane, lived in LA at the time of the murder and had worked at one of Elizabeth Short’s known hangouts which led Dillon to genuinely believe him to be a possible suspect. In another revelation, it turned out Jeff Connors wasn’t a figment of Dillon’s imagination as claimed by De River. During the search, Dillon allegedly revealed several details of the Black Dahlia case that had never been made public.Īfter what initially looked a promising lead problems arose when it was discovered Dillon was in San Francisco at the time of the murders. Under one of the personas Dillon had created he committed the murder and was actually the man police had been looking for, according to De River’s theory.Īlong with undercover officers from the “Gangster Squad”, De River set up an unsanctioned meet with Leslie Dillon (behind the back of the LAPD officers actually investigating the case) under the ruse of going in search of Jeff Connors. However, De River himself began to believe that Connors didn’t exist and Dillon had a split personality. Leslie Dillon read a story on the case in the October issue of True Detective magazine and shortly after wrote to LAPD psychiatrist Dr Joseph Paul De River who featured in the article.Īfter continued correspondence between the two, Dillon declared he believed he knew who the killer was and named Jeff Connors as his suspect. The twenty-seven-year-old, a bellhop at the time of the murders, became a suspect in 1948, a year after Elizabeth Short’s murder.
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