Buried Bones - a historical true crime podcast with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes · Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Buried Bones Halloween Special: The Black Dahlia

October 31, 2025·1 hr 38 min·5 clips

The discussion begins with brief banter, then moves into a careful reconstruction of the case of Elizabeth. The hosts orient the listener to the scene, the body, and the first questions that matter. They ask how the scene changes the timeline. A deputy notices dew under the body. That detail matters because the grass underneath is still wet while the uncovered grass has already dried. The hosts use that to narrow the window, while still stressing that time-of-death estimates remain broad. They treat the pathologist's range as useful but not exact. The episode then turns to the injuries that define the case. Elizabeth's mouth has been cut on both sides. Her wrists show binding marks, and her ankles do too. A cord had been around her neck, though it was not used for strangulation. The discussion stays focused on what those details could imply about the offender. It also pauses on the possibility that Elizabeth may have been kept alive for a period of time. That idea is explored carefully rather than sensationally. The hosts keep testing assumptions against what the scene can support. They stop to consider the evidence at the scene and the forensic significance of the fibers, described as bristles from a stiff brush. The episode favors questions over certainty. It frames the case as a reconstruction built from observation, context, and interpretation. The result is steady and analytical. It invites listeners to follow the evidence step by step.

As heard by us

A careful reconstruction built from scene details that keeps the mystery grounded.

The episode treats the killing as a reconstruction problem, starting with the scene and the body’s condition rather than any broad legend. It stays with the wet grass, the narrowing time window, and the injuries that shape how the scene has to be read.

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Why you'd press play

You want a City Hall murder mystery that stays on the evidence and the timeline.

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