On the Record: The Black Dahlia Investigation –“This Investigation Came to Me, I didn’t go looking for it.”
May 25, 2026
Memorial Day –
A huge Thank You to all our servicemen and women living and dead.
Birch Bay, Washington
After more than twenty-five years investigating the Black Dahlia case, I felt it necessary to clarify several longstanding misconceptions regarding the origin and purpose of my investigation.
You have summed up your journey very well. I am in the process of reading the “case closed” edition of BDA which reads, as usual, like a first-rate mystery novel. I doubt that any novelist or true crime writer would have taken more than two decades to finish (?) their stories like you have.
Even though you have repeatedly stated that you had no prior theory in mind, there will still be critics. This is precisely how J. T. Looney discovered prior to 1920 that the 17th Earl of Oxford wrote using the name William Shakespeare. Like you, he did not have anyone in mind but by following each piece of evidence, he came to the conclusion that a previously obscure nobleman was likely the world’s greatest English writer.
Thanks for putting the record straight.
Ron R: Thanks again for the kind words. Did not know about J.T. Looney and “Shakespeare Identified” from the 1920s. (Checked to see if that is where the term “looney” came from, but, no, the term far preceded the author. But, sadly, I’m sure the term was applied to his investigation and writings. I just ordered his book. Thanks for the “clew.” I was familiar with the Philosophical Research Society’s, Manley P. Hall and the inclusion of a chapter on the Shakespeare Controversy in his “Big Book” also published in the 1920s. Best Regards, Steve.
Hi Steve;
I think you will find his book an interesting read. It’s interesting that you mention Manly P. Hall’s “big book”. A fellow authorship doubter who is a Masonic historian has had a copy of that book for nearly 50 years and is using it for his research. My, how enigmas and all things esoteric can cross paths in the most unusual ways. Have a super rest of the day and stay cool.
Ron