The Black Dahlia, A Realistic View Of The 1947 Los Angeles Murder Of Elizabeth Short Part 3 of 3

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The Victims Of The Killers

These “Two Tony” serial killers mostly picked their victims up close to the bar closing and women that did not go home with somebody or have their own car. “Elizabeth Short” who always left before the “Trolley’s” stopped running would have had to walk to the trolley pick up point. Some of these women were alcoholics whom lost everything or were begging to survive. Some of these alcoholic women had dates with men who had good incomes and when the man wanted to leave the women stayed and kept drinking at the bar until the bar closed then they walked to whatever place they stayed. These barfly women walking home alone after the bar closed were literally kidnapped off the sidewalk by the “Two Tony” serial killers. A few of the women were abducted during the day by a single individual while they were alone but most were after hour bar abductions.

This complied list of murders fit the “Black Dahlia” profile in that they were very brutal (except for the two bodies that were never found). In at least 4 of the murders the killers left messages for the police. With 2 of the 4 bodies only the messages were left with the bodies never being found. None of the other bodies were cut in two. All were beaten and brutalized to no end with their faces beaten so bad at times you would not be able to recognize them. One was strangled in her car. I didn’t look up murders before 1947 because there’s nothing that fits these kinds of murders. “The Two Tony’s” didn’t show up until 1946 and most of the brutal murders before 1947 were solved. I could not find any murders before 1946 in the Kansas City area where, “The Two Tony’s” came from. Stats and records prior to the 1960’s are inaccurate or non existent.

Elizabeth Short (Black Dehlia) January 15th 1947 B.D. on body. Body dumped in “Leimert Park” on “Norton Ave.” appox. 6 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Jeanne “Nette” Axford (French) “The Lipstick Murder” February 10th 1947 B.D. and TEX on body. Body dumped in a construction area next to the “Santa Monica” airport on “Indianapolis Street” near “Grand View”.

Evelyn Winters March 12th 1947. Body dumped 2 miles north of downtown Los Angeles near “North Main Street” just a few miles from where “South Main Street” turns into “North Main Street” on “Ducommun Street” near the “Union Station Railroad Terminal”.

Laura Trelstad May 11th 1947 Body Dumped In Long Beach Oil Fields. Last seen intoxicated in bars near there.

Rosenda Mondragon July 8th 1947. Body dumped in a vacant lot 1 mile north of where “Evelyn Winters” body was found right off “North Main Street” north of downtown Los Angeles.

Louise Dominguez October 2nd 1947. 17th Street and Michigan Avenue in Santa Monica. Man walked by her and her friends on a really dark sidewalk area and stabbed her. Her body fell on the sidewalk where she died.

Viola Norton February 14th 1948 Survived the attempted murder. Body dumped and left for dead in “Leimert Park” 1 block from where “Elizabeth Short’s” body was found.

Gladys Kern February 16th 1948. Body found laid out in the home she was showing to a potential buyer in the “Hollywood Hills”.

Louise Springer June 13th 1949 Abducted during daylight hours from a parking lot in her car only “One” block away from where “Elizabeth Short’s” body was found in “Leimert Park”. The body was left in the car she was abducted in on “125 W. 38th Street” off of “South Main Street” 2.8 miles south of the bus station in downtown Los Angeles.

Jean Spangler August 11th 1949 One time roommate of “Elizabeth Short”. Body never found but the killer left her purse in “Griffith Park Fern Dell Section” north of “Hollywood Blvd.” at the end of “Los Feliz Drive” just a few miles from “Mark Hansen’s” “Carlos Ave.” home next to the 101 freeway. Jean is listed as a “Missing Person” but her purse strap was broken as is someone ripped it from her and set it down while they were kidnapping her. Same “MO” as Viola Norton. The question is? “Who Did She Know In This Very Wealthy Area?” and “Why Was She Walking Through This Narrow Park Area?”

Mimi Boombauer August 18 1949 Body never found. Purse found with note written in lipstick left on “Wilshire Blvd.” just like the lipstick on the “Jeanne French” body.

Note: The problem with the “B.D.” whom people say is short for “Black Dahlia” is wrong. “Elizabeth Short” was not dubbed the “Black Dahlia” until after her death so the B.D. on her body means something else. Most law enforcement at the time deemed the lettering to be, “P.D” on both bodies and not “B.D.”.

What I saw during my research of the “Black Dahlia” murder was that these two serial killers operated mainly along “South Main Street” in downtown L.A. close to “Skid Row”. The bus station where “Elizabeth Short” was begging for money was on “Los Angeles Street And 6th” around 4 blocks east of “Pershing Square” in downtown L.A. right next to “Skid Row” to the east. It seems that “Elizabeth” lived at the “Astor” hotel 2 1/2 miles away from the bus station so she would have had to leave before the “Trolley’s” stopped running or take a taxi cab back to the “Aster Motel”. Did she get “Snatched Off The Street” as what happened to “Viola Norton” walking to public transportation or did she accept a ride from the two serial killers who ended her life?

In 1947 there were many people turning up missing due to these two serial killers who operated around the “Skid Row” area. There were an estimated 10,000 homeless people wandering around this 4 mile radius. The “Cecil Hotel” at “640 South Main Street” one block over to the South West of the Greyhound bus station where “Elizabeth Short” was last seen alive by a woman police officer was a haven for criminal activity and a rooming house for low income people.

These missing “Skid Row” people were never fully investigated because they were poverty stricken and during WWII and the police dept. was extremely understaffed and struggling to get new police officers trained and out on the streets. In 1947 the Los Angeles Police Dept. was still extremely understaffed and fighting an unbelievable crime rate so many missing persons that were reported were never added to any statistics unless their bodies showed up.

The Crime Families Makeup

Lets be honest here! The “Los Angeles” mafia is listed as being run by the “Jewish Leadership” of “Bugsy Siegel” and “Mickey Cohen” as the Hollywood movie industry still is controlled by the “Jewish Religious Makeup”. The Jewish bosses running the movie studios always replace an outgoing Jewish movie studio boss with an incoming Jewish movie studio boss. Hollywood still is staffed by “Cultural Warriors” but there’s only “Jewish” in the executive positions. The 1947 makeup of the Los Angeles mafia is said to be, “Multi Cultural” except for the mafia bosses. I actually learned this from, “Wikipedia” under the title of “Cohen Crime Family”. The only exception is the “Los Angeles Crime Family” run by “Jack Dragna” who was Italian which is not a religion but I haven’t read it was jewish. “Jack Dragna” was a Catholic.

The way the Los Angeles mafia was set up is that “Bugsy Siegel” was a crime boss in the New York crime family of “Lucky Luciano”. “Bugsy” was sent out to Los Angeles to oversee New York operations in the Los Angeles market. There were already two crime families operating in Los Angeles and these families were the “Cohen” and “Los Angeles (Jack Dragna)” crime families. “Bugsy Siegel” arrived and brought both crime families together under one tent. The “Cohen” and “Los Angeles” crime families hated each other but were under pressure to get along or “Lucky Luciano” who had a crime family that would wipe out both of their crime families, “Would Do So”.

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was the crime boss in the Los Angeles area since the early 1930’s. “Mickey Cohen” with his “Cohen Crime Family” was “Bugsy Siegel’s” Lieutenant” in 1947 and became the “Boss” after “Bugsy” was killed in June of 1947 by “Lucky Luciano” for 2 million dollars that was missing from the “Flamingo Hotel” build in Las Vegas. “Bugsy Siegel” was killed in June of 1947 which caused a huge mafia war for power after his June death between “Mickey Cohen” and “Jack Dragna”. My point is that the two rival crime families united under”Bugsy Siegel” may have imported some of his most ruthless killers prior to 1947. People may reject this theory but when you need an army of “Hit Men” you hire intelligent people that like to kill naturally even if there is no pay involved.

What people do not see is that “Jack Dragna” a “Mafia Boss” in the Los Angeles area lived just 4 1/2 blocks from the “Elizabeth Short” body dump site in “Leimert Park”. Really makes you turn your attention to whom you believe was the killer of the “Black Dahlia” who were in my own opinion the “Mafia Serial Killer Soldiers” called “The Two Tony’s” out doing random killings between “Mafia” contracts or ordered by “Mickey Cohen” to send a message to his rival “Jack Dragna”.

Bugsy Siegel was the big daddy of Los Angeles and was part of the New York mafia of “Lucky Luciano”. If you were an intelligent killer and could get the job done without bringing attention to the “Mafia Families” you had a job.

Mickey Cohen operated the “Cohen” crime family under his mobster boss “Bugsy Siegel”. Cohen was constantly being attacked and had numerous of these, “Serial Killer Type Body Guards” around. As a matter of fact, one of “Mickey Cohen’s” body guards was killed by the daughter of “Lana Turner”.

Jack Dragna ran the “Los Angeles” crime family with his own slew of “Mafia Serial Killer Hit men” so there were no shortages of “Serial Killers” running around Los Angeles. When “Bugsy Siegel” came to Los Angeles it was said that himself and “Dragna” worked well together but many people in the city were dying.

There have been stories of the “Hollywood” mafia killing “Elizabeth” and although an ordered hit on her is not likely it may be that some of the “Hit Men” employed by “Mickey Cohen” were mentally ill “Serial Killers”. The city of Los Angeles blamed the high crime rate on returning soldiers but the reality most likely is the high crime rate was due to the many “Mentally Ill Hit Men Serial Killers” being brought into the Los Angeles area to eliminate witnesses in prosecutions against the “Mafia”, protection of the Mafia and to fight the wars between the rival “Cohen” and “Dragna” families.

When these mafia “Hit Men” did not have any paid contracts they would scour the Los Angeles streets looking for “Victims” which are always women but some men here and there. Women are easier targets but I’m sure some men were victims of these “Mentally Ill Mafia Hit Men Serial Killers”. The women usually get raped before they are killed so women are more preferable.

The Serial Killers On The Loose

When I finished this look at “Elizabeth Short’s” murder I came to a possible conclusion that her “Serial Killers” may have been imported by the “Jewish Mafia Boss Mickey Cohen” who controlled the Hollywood/Los Angeles crime syndicate under “Bugsy Siegel”. I say “Jewish” because the two big bosses and many mafia executives in Los Angeles were Jewish while the rest of the crime family members were mainly “Italian” with a huge mixture of others. These mafia crime families unlike the “New York” crime families were seeded in a cultural mix.

Yes, in 1947 a mafia war broke out in “Los Angeles” and “Mafia Serial Killer Soldiers” were brought in from all over the United States to fight the war. Even though “Elizabeth” was killed before the “Mafia War” started I’m sure a slew of “Mafia Serial Killer Soldiers” were brought into the Los Angeles area long before “Elizabeth” was killed in the struggle for dominance between the “Cohen” and “Los Angeles” “Mafia” families.

I was absolutely correct in my speculation that “Elizabeth Short’s” killers were brought in before the mafia war started in mid 1947. I really cannot believe I found the conclusion that “Mickey Cohen” was indirectly responsible but what is really more shocking to me is I may have found out who the actual “Mafia Serial Killer Soldiers” are who murdered “Elizabeth”. I believe the “Two Tony’s” were the pair of killers that took “Elizabeth Short’s” life.

The Two Tony’s

The “Two Tony’s” were “Anthony Brancato” and “Anthony Joseph Trombino”. Both met in the Kansas City mafia and started handling business in Los Angeles away from any organized mafia family. The “Two Tony’s” were part of a Kansas City mafia family and needed permission to move to Los Angeles. Once in Los Angeles they worked for the “Cohen Crime Family” for several months before they went independent.

It’s said that both migrated to Los Angeles in “Mid 1947” after “Bugsy Siegel” was killed and the mafia war broke out but in reality they migrated to Los Angeles in 1946 and worked for the “Mickey Cohen” crime family before they broke away to become, “Independent Hit Men For Hire”. There’s no absolute date as to when they migrated to Los Angeles but it was in 1946 before the “Black Dahlia” murder. I’ve read several statements saying the “Two Tony’s” were involved in the shooting of “Bugsy Siegel” which means they were in Los Angeles before the mafia war broke out. People just assumed “The Two Tony’s” were brought to Los Angeles to fight in the mafia war between “Dragna” and “Cohen” but in reality they were in Los Angeles in late 1946.

Even though the “Two Tony’s” worked for the “Cohen Crime Family” the “Two Tony’s” went freelance shortly after they came to Los Angeles and it’s said in many statements that they are suspected of being involved in the assassination of “Bugsy Siegel in June of 1947 which was ordered by “Lucky Luciano” himself. “The Two Tony’s” did participate in the assassination attempt of “Mickey Cohen” by “Jack Dragna” in 1949. I speculate the “Two Tony’s” split from the “Cohen Crime Family” in the late part of 1946.

The “Two Tony’s” whom really were “Independent Hit Men For Hire” were also “Violent Serial Killers”. They had been arrested 46 times with 17 convictions while working for the big three crime families in Los Angeles. Their crimes included aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary, narcotics violations, rape, and in addition, they were suspected of several murders. I haven’t read anything about the LAPD suspecting them of the non mob murders around L.A.. With all these arrests between 1946 and 1951 they were still set free. Reality says something about the Los Angeles justice system which was filled with corrupt judges.

What really gets me about the “Two Tony’s” is that they went to work for the “Cohen Crime Family” then started working for the “Los Angeles Crime Family (Jack Dragna)” and “Mickey Cohen” did not retaliate against them for this. “Mickey Cohen” did make a small statement about the “Two Tony’s” years later and he said the “Two Tony’s” started to disrespect and bully ordinary people which was not needed on the west coast.

The “Two Tony’s” may have been trying to form their own “Crime Family” by hustling cash on their own away from any of the established Los Angeles crime families with a few other personalities of the day. “Bugsy Siegel”, “Mickey Cohen” and “Jack Dragna” never did anything to stop them. What finally got the “Two Tony’s” killed is they robbed the “Flamingo Hotel In Las Vegas” which was owned by the really powerful “New York Mafia” and “Lucky Luciano” who killed the “Two Tony’s” August, 6th 1951 on the spot for the robberies.

Did the Los Angeles police know about, “The Two Tony’s”? Maybe not at the time of the “Black Dahlia” killing even though they started racking up their 46 arrests and 17 criminal convictions. The police were “On The Take” and downplaying mafia activity.

I could not find any 1945 or 1946 murder reports in Kansas City where the “Two Tony’s” met showing any unsolved murder pattern that moved to the Los Angeles area. Except for the bloody beatings of women in Los Angeles during 1947 that were published in print any records of other murders not published in newspapers cannot be found and there were plenty of them.

“The Two Tony’s” were violent and savage serial killers whom were paid good money by organized crime to beat up and kill any resistance against organized crime. Assaults in this time period were 8 to 1 compared with murders. “The Two Tony’s” were paid to “Beat The Holy Crap Out Of People” too and this explains why so many women in 1947 Los Angeles were found dead after they were brutally beaten, strangled or cut in half.

My personal thought is “Elizabeth Short” was one of the “Two Tony’s” first serial killings after they arrived in Los Angeles. “The Two Tony’s” killed “Elizabeth” and sent her body as a message to “Jack Dragna” who lived 4 1/2 blocks from the body dump site.

“The Two Tony’s” were getting contracts from both the “Cohen” and “Dragna” crime families for sure. It’s definitely known that “The Two Tony’s” tried to kill their former boss “Mickey Cohen” several times for “Jack Dragna”. “The Two Tony’s” in their spare time were raping and beating women which the LAPD suspected them of doing right along with many unsolved murders. Did the police suspect “The Two Tony’s” of killing all the women that were turning up dead, “NO”. I did not read anything that stated the police suspected them of slaying these unsolved “Elizabeth Short” type serial killings but the LAPD did suspect them of other killings.

The End Result Of My Look Into The Elizabeth Short Killing

The “Mickey Cohen” “Two Tony Mafia Soldiers” brought into the Los Angeles area were responsible for the death of “Elizabeth Short”. I will say the “Two Tony Mafia Soldiers” who worked for “Mickey Cohen” at the time of “Elizabeth Short’s” death did it because “Mickey Cohen” had more ties to Irish and Scottish gangs who used the “Glaskow Smile” to make a statement. At one time “Mickey Cohen” was called the “Irish Mickey Cohen” which isn’t Scottish but it shows he was in involved with people from the Irish/Scottish area in England. “Jack Dragna” was “Mickey Cohen’s” bitter rival and his home was just 4 1/2 blocks from the “Elizabeth Short” body dump site which makes me believe “Elizabeth” was placed there cut in half with the “Glaskow Smile” as a message to “Jack Dragna”.

Most of the women were taken off the streets and beaten up to the point they could not be recognized or stabbed viciously to the point the stabbing was about releasing anger and rage rather than just being an ordinary killing. “Elizabeth Short” was a message to “Jack Dragna” and I further believe that “Mickey Cohen” told his “Two Tony Serial Killer Soldiers” to grab any ol women during one of their killing sprees and dump it next to “Jack Dragna’s” home so brutalized the message could not be misunderstood.

In my opinion “Elizabeth Short” was killed by the roving “Two Tony Mafia Soldiers” of “Mickey Cohen” who tried to kill “Viola Norton” a year later but failed and the Los Angeles police department due to public pressure to solve her murder kept investigating the murder as being done by someone she knew instead of targeting the “Two Tony Mafia Soldiers” whom were “Serial Killers” by nature. These acts of not investigating the crimes as mafia related would have been ordered by corrupt cops and judges.

The public pressure was great in 1950 to find the killer of “Elizabeth Short” and some push back on “Mickey Cohen” himself was going on by the LAPD because of public pressure. “Mickey Cohen” was being harassed extensively by the Los Angeles police department as his attempted assassination by “Jack Dragna” and the “Two Tony’s” was ongoing. The “Two Tony’s” left the “Cohen Crime Family” and became freelance killers for hire while they formed their own crime family.

Even though the LAPD were harassing “Mickey Cohen” it really makes you think the Los Angeles Police Dept. did not see “The Two Tony’s” as the “Black Dahlia” killer because they “Tossed Mark Hansen’s” home looking for blood evidence in 1949.

Some of the Los Angeles police were on the “Mafia Payroll” and for decades avoided going after the killers the “Mafia” hired as their soldiers. In the 1970’s when “Serial Killers” emerged on their own not associated with the “Mafia” is when the problem of “Serial Killers” had to be addressed and taken seriously by all police departments. During the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s the federal and local governments were breaking up most of these crime families leaving these serial killers without jobs working for the mafia.

In my own opinion the top “Prosecutors” and “Police Executives” governing Los Angeles in 1947 did not know anything about who killed “The Black Dahlia”. She was killed by rogue mafia soldiers who were between “Mafia Contracts”. Body’s were popping up here and there all over Los Angeles that the newspapers “Never” printed up. The newspapers only printed up the killings that became “Popular”, just like today with hundreds of other killings never getting a mention. The big thought was veterans were still blood thirsty after WWII and doing all the killings when the fact was the mafia was hiring “Serial Killers” to lets say, “Take Care Of Business”.

The Final Conclusion

The Los Angeles police dept. without a doubt knew all about the “Mafia” families working the city and them not knowing that women were being killed by these “Mafia Serial Killer Soldiers For Sport” is a sandwich that is hard for me to swallow but I have to swallow it because they tossed “Mark Hansen’s” home in 1949 looking for blood evidence in the “Black Dahlia” murder. I have to believe law enforcement in 1947 did not know the killings were being done by the “Two Tony’s” even after they had been arrested 43 times with 17 convictions.

In my personal opinion, “The Two Tony’s” snatched “Elizabeth Short” off a Los Angeles street when she left the “Corral Bar” in the “Greyhound Bus Station” just like “Viola Norton” was snatched off an Alhambra street a year after “Elizabeth” was taken. Alhambra sets on the northern border of Downtown Los Angeles near the Skid Row district.

“Gladys Kern” on February 16th 1948 was found laid out and dead in the home she was showing to a potential buyer in the “Hollywood Hills”. The police got a message from the killers assistant indicating there were “Two” killers.

“Elizabeth” was on her way to catch a “Trolley” or even the “Subway” back down to the “Astor Motel” 2 1/2 miles away where she was residing at the time when, “The Two Tony’s” saw her walking and grabbed her off the street like they did to “Viola Norton” a year later. Of course she should have taken a “Cab” but the “Trolley” would have saved her so much money over taking a “Cab”.

The “Two Tony’s” were vicious out of control “Serial Killers” who found a way to make money while applying their skilled trade of killing and satisfying their urges of murdering people in the underworld of organized crime.

“Elizabeth Short” in my own opinion may not have been the first “Two Tony” killing in the Los Angeles area. The “Two Tony’s” at that time were seriously controlled by “Mickey Cohen” until they broke away before the “Big Los Angeles Mafia War” broke out. On appearances and in speculation it looks like “Mickey Cohen” who was brutal himself ordered a body from the Skid Row area be brutalized and dumped in the area of “Jack Dragna’s” home to send a message.

What “Mickey Cohen” did not expect was the way the “Two Tony’s” brutalized “Elizabeth Short’s” body. Whenever there is a suspected mafia killing it makes headlines but the snatching of an innocent woman off the street then “Cut In Half” and given the “Glasgow Smile” of over the top. “Mickey Cohen” even as brutal as he was most likely went ballistic over the media sensation that happened.

This type of brutal killing really satisfied the “Two Tony’s” so they kept grabbing women through 1947, 1948 and 1949 between their work as organized crime operatives. I would suspect many women outside the L.A. jurisdiction were victims of, “The Two Tony’s” and never recognized in newspaper and police reports.

This quote below is from “Mickey Cohen” about the “Two Tony’s”. This statement is most likely a confession as to why “The Two Tony’s” and the “Cohen Crime Family” parted ways. “Mickey Cohen” admitted the “Two Tony’s” were out of control killers after they murdered “Elizabeth Short” so brutally in a way that disrespected the rules of the “Cohen Crime Family”. The actual killing wasn’t the problem but the brutalization of “Elizabeth’s” body was a big deal that was not necessary for the message to “Jack Dragna”. The way “Elizabeth’s” body was brutalized was so horrific even the brutal “Mickey Cohen” was freaked out. The rules of mafia murders were not being respected. It Really makes me wonder why the “Mafia Crime Families” let the “Two Tony’s” live? My speculation is the “Two Tony’s” were being used as pawns to take any heat off of them.

Actual Quote From “Mickey Cohen” About The “Two Tony’s”:

“Then he started stepping out on his own. He was on the heavy and on the heist, but he was heisting people that were contrary to the rules of the people that he was supposed to have respected – not only me, but others. They were wild-haired young bloods that thought they were just going to run roughshod over everybody. Well, I couldn’t pay them much attention then. But because of my troubles, they thought they didn’t have to show any respect for nobody.”

In 1950 I didn’t see any reports of missing or brutalized women unsolved. I speculate between November of 1949 and August 6, 1951 “The Two Tony’s” were racking up many of their “49 arrests” and “17 convictions” said to have happened and this would be the reason these brutal serial killings would have stopped. I do know in 1951 before “Lucky Luciano” killed “The Two Tony’s” “One Of The Two Tony’s” spent his last $10,000 on bail and when the police released him another law enforcement agency picked him up on another robbery charge and he didn’t have any more cash to bail himself out again. The police constantly arresting the “Two Tony’s” for all the robbery’s they were doing most likely saved many women from becoming victims of this pair of serial killers.

Did the police connect their knowledge received here and there of the possibility that the killings were done by two? “NO”! at least in 1947 the police had no idea because the hint of two killers had not be received. I haven’t read anything that stated they knew in 1948 when “Viola Norton” told them. The city of Los Angeles was blaming the rise in crime and murder on returning WWII vets and this assumption was “Dead Wrong”. The “Two Tony’s” were laughing at the police and running around Los Angeles raping women and killing people at their leisure. The police were just chasing around all the people in “Elizabeth Short’s” stolen address book the “Two Tony’s” sent the police and ignoring all other hints and evidence.

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Source by Jim Allan