Jack Wilson

John Gilmore’s SEVERED was the first book to discuss in detail the life and death of Beth Short. Gilmore wasn’t new to the case when he sat down to investigate and write. His father was an LAPD cop at the time of Beth’s murder.

Having the name Short in is own family tree, Gilmore explains that at age 11, he met Beth - she had visited his grandmother’s house to inquire about possible relations.

Gilmore fingerpoints Jack Wilson, an alcoholic with a rap sheet (robbery, sodomy, lewd behavior), as a suspect. In an interview in the 1980s, 6-foot-4 Wilson, who was 27 at the time of Beth’s demise, reportedly divulged information that only the killer could have known. Wilson also relayed information that may have tied him to involvement in the Georgette Bauerdorf murder, which took place months before Beth’s slaughter.

A few days before his arrest, Wilson perished in a fire.