Self-Professed Dahlia Expert: Bayley Is “Not Perfect,” but “the Only One” Who Had the Skill
November 8, 2026
Birch Bay, Washington
“He’s not perfect for sure.”
“The only one who actually had the skill to do what was done.”
These are recent descriptions of Dr. Walter A. Bayley offered by a self-proclaimed Black Dahlia expert who has promoted the doctor as his preferred Black Dahlia murder suspect for decades.
The first statement acknowledges reservations about Bayley as a suspect. The second makes an exclusive claim about medical ability that deserves a response based on the historical record.
Dr. George Hodel’s Surgical Training—What the Records Show
My father, Dr. George Hill Hodel, had medical training and surgical experience years before Elizabeth Short’s January 1947 murder. His subsequent specialization in venereal disease control did not erase that training or experience.
His official university record credits him with 53 surgical cases and 12 autopsies during his medical training. The record uses the word “attended”; I am not representing those entries as proof that he independently performed every procedure.
He also completed a hospital internship and subsequently served as a camp surgeon with the Civilian Conservation Corps in New Mexico in 1936–1937. His later UNRRA employment application records that service.
In 1942, he received an appointment as a Passed Assistant Surgeon in the United States Public Health Service Reserve. That title was a service rank and should not, standing alone, be treated as proof of a surgical specialty. His university and employment records provide the evidence of his training and experience.
Those distinctions matter. So does the larger point: describing George Hodel only as a venereal disease specialist presents an incomplete account of his medical background.
None of these credentials, by themselves, establishes that he murdered Elizabeth Short. They do, however, directly challenge the assertion that Bayley was the only proposed suspect with the medical skill to perform what was done.
What, then, connects Dr. Bayley to Elizabeth Short?
I know of no definitive evidence establishing that he ever knew or met her. Nor have I found a contemporary law-enforcement document identifying Bayley as a suspect in her murder.
One circumstance advanced in support of the theory is his daughter Barbara Lindgren’s signature as a witness at the church wedding of Elizabeth’s sister.
Let us be precise about what that establishes.
The marriage certificate lists the groom, Adrian Charles West, as residing in San Jose, California, and the bride, Virginia Mae Short, as residing in Milton, Massachusetts. Both were residing outside Los Angeles, supporting their description as visitors to the city. The wedding took place in February 1945, nearly two years before Elizabeth Short’s murder.
Bayley’s daughter signed as a witness to the marriage. That signature does not, by itself, establish that she knew the couple beforehand or was a friend of the bride. Nor does it establish that her father knew the bride, knew Elizabeth Short, or ever met the murder victim.
Those are separate propositions requiring separate evidence. A wedding witness’s signature cannot establish all of them.
I discussed the Bayley theory at greater length in my earlier article, linked below. Readers can examine that discussion alongside the medical documents reproduced here and draw their own conclusions.
Regarding publication of his forthcoming book, the theorist also made the following statements. These are separate excerpts from his October 2026 podcast:
“I plan to outlive Steve Hodel.”
“Steve Hodel will be taking his, um, dirt nap. Uh, when the book comes out, I guarantee you, he won’t live to see it.”
“I guarantee you the one, my one promise is that Steve Hodel will not live to see this because I won’t give him the chance to be the big dog and piss all over it. Nope. Not getting the chance.”
Those are his words.
He is entitled to challenge my investigation, my conclusions, and anything I have published. I have made my findings available for examination and criticism for more than twenty years.
By his own account, however, he intends to withhold his book until I am no longer alive to respond.
My response today is to put the documentation before the reader. George Hodel’s medical records can be examined now. The limits of what the Bayley wedding signature establishes can be considered now. Neither requires waiting for anyone’s death.
Elizabeth Short’s murder deserves careful investigation, accurate quotation, and a clear distinction between a documented fact and an inference drawn from it.
That is the standard I ask readers to apply here.
For my earlier examination of the Bayley theory, see:
George Hodel Medical School 744 Hours Surgery requirements
1941-1949 Documents listing George Hodel’s occupation as a “physician & surgeon.”
- Section of author’s 1941 birth certificate listing father’s occupation as, “physician & surgeon.”
- George Hodel’s, 1942 commission as “P.A. Surgeon” (equivalent military lieutenant) in U.S. Public Health Service.
- Dorothy Hodel’s 1944 Affidavit for Divorce listing husband’s occupation as “physician & surgeon.”
Defense attorney, Jerry Giesler’s 1949, court paper (Motion for Continuance) describing George Hodel’s as a “P.A. Surgeon.” 
1936-1937 Sole surgeon at a CCC logging camp in New Mexico
Dr. Walter Bayley
Dr. Bayley’s Med Office 1052 W. 6th St., Los Angeles Alexandra Partyka
February 1945 Inglewood Church Marriage Certificate Adrian West and Virginia Short
Not to mention that George was roving around New Mexico trapping, killing, and surgically decapitating suspected mad dogs for rabies testing in the late 1930s, according to local press stories. I guess, to be precise, potentially it could have been an assistant cutting off the heads — but, given that public health services in rural New Mexico during the Depression were probably pretty short-staffed, I suspect the good doctor did it himself.
Incidentally, Harper Lee mentions this practice of cutting off dog’s heads for rabies testing in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Fun fact! I don’t know if this is still the standard, but I guess rabies epidemics aren’t much of a thing these days.
-LW