Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder the most extensive non-fiction accounts of Elizabeth Short's murder. The grisly 1947 murder of aspiring starlet and nightclub habitué Elizabeth Short, known even before her death as the "Black Dahlia," has over the decades transmogrified from L.A.'s crime of the century to an almost mythical symbol of Hollywood Babylon/film noir glamour-cum-sordidness. The book offer a documented solution to the case as endorsed by law enforcement and forensic science experts. Through the narrative, Gilmore, whose father was an LAPD officer at the time of the murder, unravels the multilayered mystery of Short's slaying. Gilmore tells several previously unrevealed stories at once,
Charles Walton (murder victim) wife, Lillian Elizabeth Potter, was asked to stay close to them to see what they might unwittingly reveal. Detective Sergeant Saunders began interviewing the Italian World War II prisoners of war held at Long Marston. Prisoners were apparently able to roam the area at will and although there was a schedule for work days and free days no record was kept of these movements. On the afternoon of the day of the murder some prisoners had gone into Stratford to see a play, while others had visited the cinema. However, it does not appear that any of the Italians was