TRUE CRIME ATLAS

Black Dahlia

Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories

Spotify Studios
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Episodes
  • The Black Dahlia Murder Pt. 1
    Sep 19, 2023

    In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile....

  • The Black Dahlia Murder Pt. 2
    Sep 26, 2023

    Elizabeth Short’s gruesome murder is the LAPD’s most infamous unsolved case. But there’s one person who thinks he’s cracked it — the alleged killer’s own son....

Once Upon A Crime

Esther Ludlow

Step into the darker side of history with Once Upon A Crime, a true-crime podcast that delves deep into some of the world’s most gripping cases. Hosted by an expert storyteller, Esther Ludlow, each episode unravels the mysteries behind notorious crimes, exploring the lives of victims, perpetrators, and the intricate details of the investigations that followed....

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Episodes
  • The Black Dahlia Murder - Part Six: The Black Dahlia Legacy
    Dec 2, 2025

    In the sixth and final episode of our series Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder, we explore the enduring cultural legacy of one of America’s most haunting unsolved crimes. For nearly eight decades, Elizabeth Short’s name, and the moniker “The Black Dahlia”....

  • Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder - Part Five: Severed
    Nov 25, 2025

    In Part Five of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder, we examine the discovery of Elizabeth Short’s mutilated body, the forensic evidence revealed by the autopsy, and how early investigative missteps and media sensationalism derailed the search for her killer. We break down the crime scene on Norton Avenue, the medical examiner’s key findings—including signs of strangulation, postmortem mutilation, and the surgical precision of the bisection—and how these details shaped investigators’ understanding of the murder....

  • Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder - Part Three: City of Broken Dreams
    Nov 4, 2025

    In 1946, Elizabeth Short – the young woman the world would later know as The Black Dahlia – returned to California chasing love, glamour, and a new beginning. Instead, she found herself drifting through a postwar Los Angeles filled with promise, danger, and people who would soon become key figures in one of the most infamous unsolved murders in American history....

  • Bonus: The First Suspects - The Black Dahlia Files
    Nov 18, 2025

    In this bonus episode, Esther takes listeners back to the earliest days of the Black Dahlia investigation — before the world even knew the victim’s name. Detectives faced a gruesome and mystifying crime scene in a quiet Los Angeles neighborhood....

  • Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder - Part One: The Girl in the Empty Lot
    Oct 14, 2025

    In January 1947, a mother walking through a quiet Los Angeles neighborhood made a horrifying discovery — the bisected body of a young woman posed in a vacant lot. Within hours, newspapers had a headline that would echo for decades: The Black Dahlia Murder....

  • Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder - Part Two: Becoming Elizabeth
    Oct 21, 2025

    Before she became The Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short was simply Beth — a young woman with big dreams, an open heart, and a longing for something beyond the ordinary. In Part Two: Becoming Elizabeth, we step back in time to uncover the story of the woman behind the legend....

  • Bonus: Love Letters from The Black Dahlia
    Oct 28, 2025

    Before Elizabeth Short became known to the world as The Black Dahlia, she was a young woman searching for love and belonging in a world still recovering from war. In this bonus episode, Esther reads excerpts from Elizabeth’s personal correspondence with Lt....

  • Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder - Part Four: The Black Dahlia’s Lost Week
    Nov 11, 2025

    In this fourth installment of Broken: The Black Dahlia Murder, we trace Elizabeth Short’s final, mysterious days — the missing week between her last confirmed sightings in early January 1947 and the shocking discovery of her body on January 15th. This episode follows “The Lost Week” through the eyes of those who crossed her path, beginning with Robert “Red” Manley, the married salesman who would become the first and most infamous suspect in the case....

Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia

TNT / Cadence13

When Elizabeth Short, also known as The Black Dahlia, was brutally killed in 1947, it gripped the entire country. More than 70 years later, it remains America's most infamous unsolved murder....

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Episodes
  • A Skilled Surgeon
    Feb 20, 2019

    Former LAPD Homicide Detective, Steve Hodel, explains the identity of the Black Dahlia, the circumstances of her murder in 1947 Los Angeles, and how the LAPD's profile of her killer fit Steve's own father, George Hodel. Learn more about your ad choices....

  • Supposin' I Did Kill The Black Dahlia
    Mar 20, 2019

    Steve Hodel uncovers a pile of evidence connecting his father, George Hodel, to the Black Dahlia murder. Learn more about your ad choices....

  • The Minotaur
    Mar 6, 2019

    Steve Hodel receives a phone call that pulls him out of retirement to investigate the Black Dahlia, a murder that had been ice cold for more than 50 years. The deeper Steve gets, the more he comes to accept his father was a sadistic killer....

  • George's Gift
    Feb 27, 2019

    A deeper look into the life of George Hodel and his children; his interests, his parties, and the horrifying incident in 1949 that would reshape the Hodel family forever. Learn more about your ad choices....

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