Black Dahlia murder_ How an unsolved 1947 slaying and dark secrets compelled one woman to face ‘family trauma’ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! WARNING: This story contains graphic content. Rasha Pecoraro and Yvette Gentile are hoping to heal after their family has been plagued with tragedy for decades. Over the summer, the sisters launched a weekly podcast titled “Facing Evil,” where they share true-crime stories while delving into topics of wellness after enduring trauma. They previously teamed up in 2019 for “Root of Evil,” a podcast that explored their dark family history involving The Black Dahlia, one of the most infamous unsolved cases in America. The daughters of Fauna Hodel (right, pictured with a young Yvette Gentile) have spoken out about how their family is tied to Elizabeth Short (left), known as ‘The Black Dahlia’. (Getty/Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro) “We’re not true crime – we’re our mother’s daughters,” Pecoraro told Fox News Digital. “We wanted to lift people up and hopefully help them move forward and not remain as victims. We wanted to use our voices to tell the stories that don’t often get told, especially in the true crime genre.” BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: SON OF ‘GANGSTER SQUAD’ COP SAYS DAD ALWAYS SUSPECTED THIS GUY OF THE GRISLY KILLING Fauna Hodel wanted her story of uncovering family secrets - and how she coped - to be told. Fauna Hodel wanted her story of uncovering family secrets – and how she coped – to be told. (Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro) “We’ve got thrown into this arena because we come from this wild story – our mother’s story,” Gentile shared. “But at the heart of it, this is a story about family secrets and the things that families go through, especially when there’s trauma. And generational trauma is a real thing. We know it from our family alone. But we wanted to focus on the victims because people aren’t born victims. These traumatic scenarios happened to them.” “But then there’s the aftermath of the families left behind,” she continued. “And that trauma goes on for generations. Speaking about mental health, hope and healing is our primary message. We’re telling crime stories, but we’re also telling them so that people, the families, can overcome and heal.”

1. Black Dahlia murder: How an
unsolved 1947 slaying and dark
secrets compelled one woman to
face ‘family trauma’
#blackdahlia #murder #unsolved #1947 #slaying #darksecret #woman #familytrauma
https://khadijanews.com/black-dahlia-murder-how-an-unsolved-1947-slaying-and-dark-secrets-c
ompelled-one-woman-to-face-family-trauma/
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
WARNING: This story contains graphic content.
Rasha Pecoraro and Yvette Gentile are hoping to heal after their family has been
plagued with tragedy for decades.

2. Over the summer, the sisters launched a weekly podcast titled “Facing Evil,”
where they share true-crime stories while delving into topics of wellness after
enduring trauma. They previously teamed up in 2019 for “Root of Evil,” a
podcast that explored their dark family history involving The Black Dahlia, one
of the most infamous unsolved cases in America.
The daughters of Fauna Hodel (right, pictured with a young Yvette Gentile) have
spoken out about how their family is tied to Elizabeth Short (left), known as
‘The Black Dahlia’.
(Getty/Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
“We’re not true crime – we’re our mother’s daughters,” Pecoraro told Fox News
Digital. “We wanted to lift people up and hopefully help them move forward and
not remain as victims. We wanted to use our voices to tell the stories that don’t
often get told, especially in the true crime genre.”
BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: SON OF ‘GANGSTER SQUAD’ COP SAYS DAD
ALWAYS SUSPECTED THIS GUY OF THE GRISLY KILLING
Fauna Hodel wanted her story of uncovering family secrets – and how she coped
– to be told.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)

3. “We’ve got thrown into this arena because we come from this wild story – our
mother’s story,” Gentile shared. “But at the heart of it, this is a story about
family secrets and the things that families go through, especially when there’s
trauma. And generational trauma is a real thing. We know it from our family
alone. But we wanted to focus on the victims because people aren’t born
victims. These traumatic scenarios happened to them.”
“But then there’s the aftermath of the families left behind,” she continued. “And
that trauma goes on for generations. Speaking about mental health, hope and
healing is our primary message. We’re telling crime stories, but we’re also
telling them so that people, the families, can overcome and heal.”
After their popular podcast ‘Root of Evil’ in 2019, sisters Yvette Gentile (right)
and Rasha Pecoraro have teamed up once more for ‘Facing Evil’.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
The women are the daughters of Fauna Hodel, who was born in 1951 in San
Francisco, California, to a teenage Tamar Hodel. She was given up for adoption
to an African American family and raised in Reno, Nevada.
Throughout her life, Fauna, who believed she was biracial, endured hardship and
was determined to learn her real identity. It wouldn’t be until the ‘70s when
Fauna found her birth mother in Honolulu, Hawaii. The matriarch then revealed

4. to her daughter that her grandfather, infamous Los Angeles gynecologist Dr.
George Hodel, was accused of murdering Elizabeth Short, who was nicknamed
“The Black Dahlia” after a 1946 film noir.
RETIRED LAPD DETECTIVE THINKS HIS FATHER KILLED THE BLACK
DAHLIA
In 1947, Short’s naked corpse was found in a vacant lot. The 22-year-old was
scrubbed, cut in half and drained of blood. The hopeful New Englander was
viciously mutilated and a joker’s smile was slashed on her face. Short’s rose
tattoo was also carved out of her thigh. The coroner determined Short died of
hemorrhage and shock from a concussion and facial lacerations.
Elizabeth Short was viciously murdered in 1947 at age 22.
(Photo by INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO/Getty Images)
Short’s death became the subject of a 2006 film directed by Brian De Palma
starring Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. It also inspired the FX series
“American Horror Story” in 2011, with Mena Suvari playing Short. In 2019, TNT
premiered the limited series “I Am the Night,” which was inspired by Fauna’s
life. India Eisley, who played Fauna, spoke with Pecoraro and Gentile in
preparation for the role. Executive producer Patty Jenkins remained close with
Fauna until her death in 2017 at age 66.

5. Fauna Hodel previously wrote a book titled ‘One Day She’ll Darken: The
Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel’.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
Steve Hodel, a retired LAPD detective, previously told Fox News Digital he
believed his father, George, was Short’s killer. He once told People magazine his
father dated Short at one point and was allegedly motivated by jealousy. Hodel
has written several books about his findings. Two years before Fauna was born,
Tamar accused her father of molesting her. While George was arrested and
brought to court, the physician was acquitted, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Tamar passed away in 2015 at age 80. George died in 1999 at age 91.

6. Dr. George Hill Hodel was accused of murdering Elizabeth Short.
(Photo By: NY Daily News via Getty Images)
George was under suspicion of killing Short but was never charged in connection
with the murder. The case remains unsolved. Before her death, Fauna wrote a
memoir titled “One Day She’ll Darken,” which inspired “I Am the Night.”
RETIRED LAPD DETECTIVE CLAIMS UNEARTHED LETTER LINKS HIS
FATHER TO BLACK DAHLIA SLAYING

7. Fauna Hodel’s (seen here with her daughters) connection to Dr. George Hodel,
who was accused of killing Elizabeth Short, was the subject of a limited TV
series titled ‘I Am the Night’.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
“Our mother stood in her faith as she made all these revelations,” Gentile
explained. “She always found a way to overcome. She also loved hearing other
people’s stories of overcoming. I think that gave her the courage to move
through her life.”
According to the women, while Fauna suspected that she was a product of
incest, a DNA test ultimately determined that she wasn’t. The identity of her
biological father is unknown.
Gentile noted that her mother had compassion for Short and never referred to
her as “The Black Dahlia.”

8. Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro said their mother Fauna Hodel had
‘compassion’ for Elizabeth Short and didn’t refer to her as ‘The Black Dahlia’.
(Photo by INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images)
“For our mom, it was always about the victim,” she said. “And I supposed that’s
what Rasha and I are doing with this podcast. We’re addressing the victims.
Who they were, what their light was in the world before they were taken so
soon. My mom always focused on finding the light in the darkness.”
BLACK DAHLIA MURDER SOLVED? SHOCKING NEW DETAILS ABOUT
ASPIRING ACTRESS ELIZABETH SHORT’S LIFE AND GRUESOME DEATH
“All the key players are no longer on this Earth,” Pecoraro reflected. “I don’t
know if we’re ever going to find the answer of who [killed Short]. I think all we
can do now is share our truth. We would love to know for certain that George
Hodel didn’t do it. I think mom felt George was responsible for Elizabeth’s
death. But we may never know for certain.”
Gentile said she’s aware critics may scrutinize the women for airing out
so-called dirty laundry, for even discussing a heinous crime that occurred 75
years ago. She said they’d heard it all. And growing up in California, it’s hard
not to learn about Short’s tragic murder.

9. Fauna Hodel (center) passed away in 2017 at age 66 from breast cancer.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
“My mother wanted to share her story,” she said. “It healed her. It brought her
peace. It started with that. As she learned about the trauma that it had on the
family, she wanted to show that you can find peace in sharing your truth. If she
were here, she would tell you that herself. We’re her legacy, and we’re going to
carry out that message. And she firmly believed there was more good than evil
in this world.”
“… If you look deep enough into any family, you will find some secrets,” she
continued. “I don’t think we are any different. I just think that we happened to
share our story with the world. But every family has dark secrets. It just
depends on how you want to move forward with them. Some choose not to talk
about it, and that’s their right. And then others will want to speak out and help
others.”
‘HOMICIDE HUNTER’ STAR JOE KENDA RECALLS ‘EXTREME’ MURDER OF
SOLDIER: ‘WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR HERE, DRACULA?’
Pecoraro said she hoped the podcast will shed new light on her mother’s life and
show listeners that no matter their circumstances, speaking out is the first step
to finding a sense of peace after tragedy.

10. Fauna Hodel (left) seen here at age 30 with Yvette Gentile age 14 (center) and
Rasha Pecoraro age 3 in Maui, circa 1981.
(Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro)
“Our mom was very open with us,” she said. “… I think she would be so proud of
us continuing to tell her story, as well as the stories of so many others.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from abuse, please contact the
National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
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