Suspect in the Black Dahlia Murder:Robert Manley Robert Manley was the last person to see Elizabet

Suspect in the Black Dahlia Murder: Robert Manley Robert Manley was the last person to see Elizabeth Short alive. He was an aquitance of Short. Manley was a 25 year old salesman with the nickname “Red” due to his hair color. Manley noticed Short standing alone on a street corner in San Diego. At first, Short played him off not even looking his way. Manley kept talking and offered her a ride home. He assured that he was harmless and just wanted to help. At this time, Short had been staying with a family who had took her in after finding her sleeping in a 24-hour movie theater. The family grew tired of hair being lazy around the house all day and partying at night. In January 1947, they asked her to leave. Manley came and picked her up. The two ended up staying at a local hotel. Manley told resporters they had not had sex. On January 9, the day after, he had drove her to LA. He helped her with her luggage at the bus station. Short told him she was going to Berkeley to stay with her sister. She was meeting her at the Biltmore hotel downtown. Manley stayed with her til they reached the hotel lobby. He left at 6:30 to head back to his family in San Diego. Manley was initally booked as a suspect. However, he was released becuase he was able to pass a polygraph test. Manley had a history of mental illness. In 1954, his wife committed him to a psychiatric hospital after he’d told her he was hearing voices. The doctors gave him a shot of “the truth serum” in an attempt to gain info about the Black Dahlia murder from him. He was absolved again. Manley died in 1986, 39 years to the day he’d left Short in the hotel. The cause of death was determined by the cororner was to be an accidental fall. -- source link

More pics about