LAPD Cold Case Detectives Examine 1943 Fingerprints in Black Dahlia Murder

Cold case detectives in Los Angeles are examining newly discovered fingerprints from 1943 linked to the Black Dahlia murder, the unsolved 1947 slaying and dismemberment of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short.

The 22-year-old Massachusetts native's mutilated remains turned up in a vacant lot in Los Angeles nearly 80 years ago. She had been cut in half, drained of blood, scrubbed clean and posed in a way that the young mother who found her first thought she was a mannequin, according to the FBI.

"This is probably one of the most difficult cases, realistically, because of the time that's passed," said Detective Marty Mojarro, one of two LAPD cold case investigators handling the case.

Independent forensic examiner Alex Baber, co-founder of Cold Case Consultants of America, said he uncovered evidence that could tie Short's ex-boyfriend Marvin Margolis to her murder and to the Zodiac Killer, another unsolved California case.

Mojarro said the claim requires vetting but merits further investigation. He has received what Baber describes as Margolis' government fingerprint card from 1943, which police had not obtained before.

"As an investigator, if it potentially could help, I would absolutely not turn it down," Mojarro told Fox News Digital.

Margolis served in the Pacific with the Navy during World War II. After the war, he lived in Los Angeles with roommate Bill Robinson, a Navy cryptologist, and he dated Short.

Police records from 1951 list Margolis among 22 persons of interest in her death, according to documents Baber shared with Fox News Digital. He later changed his name to Marvin Merrill, then to Marty Merrill, and moved to the Midwest.

Mojarro declined to comment on other evidence in the LAPD case file for comparing exemplars.

The FBI has noted a letter possibly sent to authorities by Short's killer. Past checks found fingerprints on the packaging did not match anything in the FBI database.

Baber said his team at Cold Case Consultants could not exclude a print on that package, sent to the Los Angeles Herald Express on Jan. 24, 1947.

"It contained 23 pieces of Elizabeth's personal belongings that would've been in her purse the night she was abducted and murdered on Jan. 14," Baber said.

LAPD cold case investigators pursue all leads with potential.