A startling new theory has emerged that could potentially link two of America's most infamous and enduring unsolved murder cases. Amateur investigator Alex Baber has put forward a claim that a single individual may have been responsible for both the brutal 1947 killing of Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia, and the Zodiac killings that terrorised Northern California in the late 1960s.
The Grisly Details of Two Notorious Cases
The body of 22-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short was discovered in Los Angeles's Leimert Park in January 1947. The crime scene was one of horrific, surgical precision. Her body had been severed in half at the waist, and a grotesque 'Glasgow smile' was carved into her cheeks. Further mutilations included the removal of flesh from her thigh and breast, and criss-cross patterns cut into her abdomen. Notably, the scene contained no blood, indicating she was killed and washed elsewhere before being dumped. The press dubbed her the Black Dahlia, a nickname from her penchant for sheer black clothing.
Nearly two decades later, a different kind of killer emerged. Beginning in December 1968, the Zodiac killer targeted young couples in secluded areas of Northern California, claiming at least five lives and injuring two others. His reign of terror was marked by taunting letters and complex cryptograms sent to local newspapers, boasting of his crimes and challenging authorities to catch him. His attacks included the shootings of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on Lake Herman Road, the stabbings of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa, and the shooting of cab driver Paul Stine in San Francisco.
The Suspect: Marvin Skipton Margolis, Later Merrill
Alex Baber's investigation centres on a man named Marvin Skipton Margolis, who later changed his surname to Merrill. Margolis was a former Navy corpsman who had trained as a surgeon and was a sharpshooter. He was also the only pre-medical student known to have lived with Elizabeth Short before her murder, and was reportedly a jealous ex whom Short feared in the weeks leading to her death.
Baber suggests that Margolis's specific military training provided the precise, methodical skills seen in both the Black Dahlia's dismemberment and the Zodiac's attacks. Furthermore, Baber points to Margolis's experience with code-breaking, which parallels the Zodiac's cryptographic taunts. Intriguingly, Baber notes that Merrill owned a Japanese Nagoya rifle fitted with a Type 30 bayonet, a weapon similar to that used in the Zodiac's Lake Berryessa stabbing.
New Evidence and a Potential Deathbed Confession
The most compelling piece of evidence, according to Baber, came from a box handed over by Merrill's youngest son. It contained a black ink sketch of a nude woman from the waist up, bearing injuries reminiscent of those inflicted on Elizabeth Short. Beneath the figure was the name "ELIZABETH" written in capital letters, in a style Baber claims is similar to the Zodiac's correspondence.
Using image-enhancement software, Baber asserts the word "ZoDiac" is hidden within the drawing's ink. He interprets this as a potential deathbed confession, as Merrill was diagnosed with cancer in 1992, the year the sketch was allegedly created. Baber also states he has decoded the Zodiac's previously unsolved 13-character cipher (Z13) using AI and newly released 1950 Census records, which he claims point to Marvin Merrill.
Baber's timeline suggests Merrill left California for Chicago after the Black Dahlia murder, remarried, had children, and returned to the West Coast in the early 1960s—shortly before the Zodiac's first confirmed attacks.
However, the theory is not without its sceptics. Merrill's youngest son, contacted about the claims, dismissed Baber's conclusions as "a speculative cesspool" and "fiction." If proven correct, the theory would reveal a killer of extraordinary cunning, using military training to evade justice for a lifetime. While Baber's work offers a provocative connection, whether official authorities will ever confirm his findings remains an open question, leaving these two dark chapters in American crime history officially unresolved.
