L.A. Noire: The True Story Behind The Black Dahlia

First, a little context. The 'Black Dahlia' is the posthumous name given to Elizabeth Short, a 22-year-old woman who was murdered in Los Angeles January 1947. The name is believed to have been derived from The Blue Dahlia, a film noir released the previous year. 'B.D.' was widely adopted by the press and was chillingly repeated by Short's killer in a letter sent to newspapers which contained several of her belongings, including her birth certificate. (The killer doused the envelope with gasoline to remove any fingerprints.)

Short herself had been severed in two, drained of all blood, and had her face mutilated by her killer, implying the suspect had a medical background.

The nature of the crime, the subsequent correspondence from Short's murderer and the failure of the LAPD to apprehend the suspect have all contributed to the Dahlia legend, of which L.A. Noire could accurately be described as being a product of. The game itself echoes many of the theories that have emerged since Short's death, both in its immediate aftermath and in the ensuing decades. Was Short the killer's only victim, or was the B.D. murderer a serial killer, connected to other grisly crimes like the Cleveland Torso Murders or other crimes in the L.A. area?

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