Why was Elizabeth Short murdered?

Answer 1

The Black Dahlia murder is still unsolved. However, Steve Hodel, a former LAPD detective, believes that his father, George Hodel, committed the murder. He actually has some pretty compelling evidence that suggests his father may really have murdered Elizabeth Short. In fact, it turns out that George Hodel was the LAPD's top suspect for the crime. It has been speculated that the evidence against him was buried and destroyed because Hodel ran a venereal disease clinic for Hollywood's elite, and his knowledge of the sexual secrets of celebrities protected him from prosecution.

Steve Hodel also speculates that his father may have committed at least one, and perhaps all, of the murders attributed to the "Lipstick Killer." The so-called Lipstick Killer's last alleged victim, 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan, was killed in a very similar manner as Elizabeth Short: tortured, the joints severed with surgical precision, and the torso bisected between the second and third lumbar vertabrae. George Hodel traveled around the US a lot and was known to have been in Chicago at the time Suzanne Degnan was murdered.

One of the most eerie pieces of evidence Steve Hodel has to offer is the location where Elizabeth's Short's body was placed. She was found on South Norton Avenue. Adjacent to South Norton Avenue is a street called Degnan Boulevard. Steve Hodel believes that his father intended to place Elizabeth Short's body on Degnan Boulevard, to provide the police with a subtle but tantalizing clue about the connection between Suzanne Degnan's murder and the Black Dahlia murder, but took a wrong turn on the dark LA streets and accidentally placed the body on South Norton Avenue instead.

William "Bill" Heirens was arrested for the Lipstick Killer murders and eventually confessed to the crimes, but he says that he only confessed because he would have been executed if he'd claimed he was innocent. He says he would rather spend his life in jail than be executed. It is indeed true that he would have been convicted and executed, had he pled not guilty. Ever since, he has steadfastly maintained that he never killed anyone.

For full details about Steve Hodel's evidence against his father, George Hodel, and the connection between the Black Dahlia murder and the Lipstick Killer murders, see the Investigation Discovery Channel series Most Evil, Disc 1, Episode 5, "Unsolved Cases." Steve Hodel has also published a book called Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, detailing his evidence against his father.

Also see the Related Link below for the Wikipedia entry on the Black Dahlia suspects.

Answer 2

It is unknown of why she was murdered. One of the US's greatest mysteries.

Answer 3

Elizabeth Short died on January 15, 1947 at the age of 22.