BLACK DAHLIA, L. A. MURDER MYSTERY 1947, 3 ITEMS

[BLACK DAHLIA LOS ANGELES MURDER MYSTERY DOCUMENTS / ANN BANKS, JANICE KNOWLTON, WILL FOWLER] DOCUMENTS/MANUSCRIPTS RELATING TO THE SENSATIONAL 1947 LOS ANGELES UNSOLVED "BLACK DAHLIA" (Elizabeth Short) MURDER MYSTERY gathered by leading Hollywood/celebrity reporter Hal Jacques active from the 1950s-'80s, (1) ANN BANKS, typed letter signed 2x/TLS, dated Sept. 25, 1972, on SuperStar International Productions, Inc., Las Vegas, Nevada, letterhead to "Dear Sir" at National Enquirer, Latana, FL (National Enquirer was one of the periodicals Hal Jacques wrote articles for), 8-1/2" x 11", about 60 words signed in pen "Ann Banks" in salutation and at top with handwritten note under the letterhead, "Make it a morning call, please, Ann Banks", excerpts, "We wish to set up appointments to discuss publication in the National Enquirer on the following re: scheduled motion picture 'I Killed the Black Dahlia': and book publication under the same title…We not only name the killer…but depict the 'mechanical device' the 'killer used to sever the victim's body…."; stapled to a page from the September 15, 1972, issue of Variety with a notice "I Killed the Black Dahlia…to shoot in L. A. and Hawaii…starts Feb.26, 1973" and a copy of a Mar. 28, 1971, article in the L. A. Times, "Farewell, My Black Dahlia", there is no record at WorldCat/OCLC or online bookselling sites (6/11/22) that a book by Ann Banks on the Black Dahlia murder was ever published, although there are copyright records for "I Killed the Black Dahlia" by Ibycus Crane, pseud. 156 l [leafs], Screenplay, [copyright] Ann Banks, 15May72" and "BLACK DAHLIA DIRGE, Ibycus Crane, pseud. of Ann Banks. 1 p. [apparently just an outline] [copyright] Ann Banks 26Sep72", ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEM, Ann Banks signature confirmed by seller with lifetime guarantee; (2) WILL FOWLER (1922-2004), first reporter on the scene of the Black Dahlia murder, signed note/TNS, "[Fowler] was the one who found the body, and closed her eyes when he came upon it." (N. Y. Times obituary, April 17, 2004), note to "Dear Hal [Jacques]: As promised…Last week a California State College senior journalism student sent me a copy of a biography which he had written…to be computerized and put in with my manuscripts, letters [etc.]…Trying to get back to the writing of my new book. I dashed off a rewrite and am herewith sending it for you…[signed in blue ink] Will" dated March 5, 1991, from Sherman Oaks, CA, address, stapled at the end of stapled "Chapter Nine – The Black Dahlia" pages 143-65 about his discovery of the body, the police investigation, suspects, evidence, comments on "Ibycus Crane", etc., and following 3-page plus 4 line "Will Fowler Biography" by the journalism student dated March 1991, the book Fowler was referring to would have been the forthcoming "Reporters : Memoirs of a Young Newspaperman" published by Roundtable Publishing in December 1991, the Black Dahlia being one chapter of this memoir…besides writing Hollywood celebrity articles, Hal Jacques had an interest in sensational events associated with Hollywood and California…RARE, likely one-of-a-kind item, typed manuscript print-out of the Black Dahlia chapter of Will Fowler's book-in-progress sent to Hal Jacques whom Fowler was in contact with on the basis of their shared interest as reporters in the Black Dahlia murder, Will Fowler signature authenticated by seller with lifetime guarantee; (3) JANICE KNOWLTON, claimed her father George Knowlton murdered Elizabeth Short/BlackDahlia, 9-page photocopy of a letter from Janice Knowlton dated February 21, 1991, with letterhead of her business Knowlton Public Relations/Advertising, Anaheim, CA, to Hal Jacques, photocopy originally sent to an editor of the Evening News-Mercury, Malden, MA (she and her father lived in Massachusetts before going to California), with photocopied handwriting "slightly revised - save" in the upper right-hand corner of first page and also "(Later he [my father] killed redheads, his 'momma' hennaed her hair in middle age)" photocopied at end of last paragraph of the first page, but with original, blue-ink initials and signature with copyright on last page indicating this slightly revised copy was a copy Janice Knowlton sent to Evening News-Mercury and was saved by her for her files, initialed at the end in blue ink "JK" and below this in blue ink "[copyright] 1991 J Knowlton", signature authenticated as original by seller with lifetime guarantee",the copyright notice below her initials on the last page indicates the content of the long letter was to be used in her book "Daddy Was the Black Dahlia Killer" published by Pocket Books in 1995, Janice Knowlton (d. 2004) claimed that her father George Knowlton was the murderer of Elizabeth Short/Black Dahlia, she claimed she witnessed the murder and was with her father when he cut the body in half and disposed of it, experiences that became repressed memories that surfaced in 1991, police instigated, but discounted the accusation even though George Knowlton was know to have a violent temper and abuser of family members ///// NOTES: HAL JACQUES, 1916-2007, leading Hollywood and celebrity reporter active from the 1950s to the '80s, he at times worked with celebrities on projects of theirs and also became involved in journalism projects on sensational and controversial stories of public interest such as the Robert Kennedy assassination and the Tate/LaBianca murders by members of the notorious Manson family ///// PROVENANCE: Black Dahlia items acquired at a Hal Jacques estate sale of office and career memorabilia in Fairfield County, CT; CONDITION: well preserved, negligible wear, all pages legible. keywords: true crime, popular culture, Hollywood scandal, unsolved murder mystery