July 22, 2020
Los Angeles, California

Here’s a six-minute video interview I did with Traci Stumpf giving a quick overview of my Black Dahlia investigation. Ironically, and synchronistically, without her being aware, she posted it to air back on October 10, 2019, which just happened to be the birthday of my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel.

The post Investigation Discovery: Crime Obsession with Traci Stumpf- Black Dahlia Interview with Steve Hodel appeared first on Steve Hodel.

July 24, 2020
Los Angeles, California

“Harvey” and Harvey- The Pooka and the Printer

Continuing the “Nothing Is As It Appears” surreal reality of Dr. George Hill Hodel I here present my readers with the eight-page chapter on my maternal grandfather, Charles Eugene Harvey his life and his death. (Published in BDA II 2014 ed.)  The facts as presented here bring to mind the tried and true adage, “Timing is everything.”

Chapter 16- Grandfather Harvey

The post A Death in the Family-Grandfather Harvey from Black Dahlia Avenger II Chapter 16 appeared first on Steve Hodel.

July 28, 2020
Los Angeles, California

“The formless fastidiousness of perfumes in a seventeenth-century boudoir is comparable to my mind in the presence of twilight.”

                                                                               George Hodel
                                                                              The Clouded Past of a Poet
                                                                               December 9, 1925
                                                                              Los Angeles Evening Herald

Fetish (noun)

a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc.”Victorian men developed fetishes focusing on feet, shoes, and boots”

I initially commented on the Givenchy perfume “Black Dahlia” back in 2011 when it was first introduced and promoted. I found the product to be opportunistic and in bad taste in the extreme.

Memorializing Murder? Marketing the scent of Death? A perfume, inspired by one of the world’s most infamous sex crimes that involved the kidnapping of a young woman who was taken to a private residence and bound hand and foot and sadistically tortured with cigarette burns to her back and knife wounds to her body. Then the coup de grace, blunt for trauma to her head, and the excising of her right breast? This followed by a surgical bisection and the posing of her body as a surreal artwork on a public vacant lot.

This is Givenchy’s inspiration for women to wear to attract and allure?

I am updating my original blog posts to include what I believe was “the marketing teams” possible source (consciously or not?) for their photo and video promotions.

I believe that the source may well have come from surrealist photographer Man Ray’s early photographs involving his own personal fetishes with bound nudes.

In addition, consider  the photographs he took for his friend, William Seabrook, which clearly demonstrate Sado/Masochistic scenes and the wearing of a collar similar to the one worn in the Givenchy advertisement.

I also cannot help but notice the similar “costume” worn by the Givenchy model with the black strap at the waist which we know that Man Ray used in his early photographs to suggest bisection of the upper and lower torso, arms and legs as seen below in his 1930 photograph “White and Black”.

2011 Givenchy introduces new perfume Dahlia Noir

Promoted as a “Femme Fatale and Fatal Flower”

Dahlia Noir launches on August 22, 2011, in France. A 50 ml bottle of the Eau de Parfum is priced at 82€.  ($96.00 US)

See short ad promo at below link:

2011 Givenchy Video promo ad for Black Dahlia perfume

Photo clips and stills from Givenchy promo 2011

Six-Surrealist Man Ray photographs from  (Paris, France)

  Juliet Man Ray   William Seabrook Lee Miller    Unk Man Ray Nude

Photos by Man Ray 2 Fetish scenes for Anthropologist William Seabrook 1930

August 1, 2012, an excellent related article by Susan Amper.

Click on the link below for the full article.

Death of a Dream: The Black Dahlia

The post Black Dahlia Noir Perfume-“A Femme Fatale and Fatal Flower” and the Scent of Death? appeared first on Steve Hodel.

July 29, 2020
Los Angeles, California
Elizabeth Short’s Birthday

Today would have been murder victim Elizabeth Short’s 96th Birthday.

In another bizarre synchronicity, the below photograph of Dr. George Hill Hodel was taken by the press photographer during his lecture at the Los Angeles Police Department Police Academy where Dr. Hodel, then Head of L.A. County Health Department (V.D. Czar) was lecturing police officers on the newly established “May Act” making prostitution a Federal offense during WWII.  The date of the lecture when this photograph was taken was  JULY 29, 1942, which would have been Elizabeth Short’s 18th birthday.  Investigation indicates that it appears that Dr. Hodel first met Elizabeth in Los Angeles that either that same year, or possibly in 1943.

As supported by the LA DA secret Hodel/Black Dahlia Files, they would date off and on for the next four years and after Dr. Hodel returned from China in 1946 Elizabeth would flee for her life, hideout and then be kidnapped off the streets of Los Angeles by Dr. Hodel and after extended torture be slain at his Franklin/Sowden residence on January 15, 1947.

1943 Photo of Elizabeth Short

   Rest in Peace

The post 1942 Photograph of Dr. George Hill Hodel Lecturing at LAPD Police Academy on Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short’s Birthday appeared first on Steve Hodel.

August 22, 2020
Los Angeles, California

CRIME
by
ALIX LAMBERT

A series of extraordinary INTERVIEWS exposing the world of CRIME-REAL and IMAGINED

In 2008 author/photographer/documentarian Alix Lambert published a remarkable book on CRIME where she interviewed fifty (50), individuals on the subject. As her title implies the interviews covered both “the real and imagined.” Here is a list of her interviewees:

http://creosotejournal.com/2011/07/alix-lamberts-world-of-crime/

Alix interview of Steve Hodel Click the link here for full-ten page interview : skh interv CRIME FAQ 73

Alix interview of Tamar Hodel

SKH Note:

At the close of Tamar’s interview she makes the following statement to Alix:

 “Had I known that he (my brother, Steve Hodel) was writing about our father, me, and the incest trial, I would have corrected much of the information concerning my character. Steve quoted the newspaper reports to describe my character and statements. It was unknown to him that they were very inaccurate. He was most anxious to report that I had told the truth about my father.

In BDA I had described Tamar as being “incorrigible” which is a legal term for describing a minor.

There are basically three parts to the definition of incorrigibility. To be incorrigible, your child’s actions must occur repeatedly and be disruptive, dangerous, disobedient, and in direct violation of lawful commands. One or two instances of disobedience could just be a part of growing up or being a teenager. (Examples of incorrigible would include “beyond the control of their parents, runaway, curfew violations, possession or consumption of intoxicating liquor”etc.)

The fact is Tamar at age fourteen and living with us at the Sowden/Franklin House easily met the definition of “incorrigible.” She was highly intelligent, independent, strong-willed and unbeknownst to all of us, would, in just a few years more, be living her own life and by the summer of 1950 be off to Mexico and marry her first husband, a short-lived relationship that freed her from her mother’s dominance and control.  A quickie divorce then north to San Francisco and full speed ahead to her much sought after “Bohemian lifestyle.”

The post Author/Photographer Alix Lambert’s book, “CRIME”: A Series of Extraordinary Interviews Exposing the World of Crime, Real and Imagined” appeared first on Steve Hodel.

September 11, 2020
Los Angeles, California
(Blessing and Rest In Peace to all those that  lost their lives in NYC in the 9-11 attack in 2001)

Reproduced in full below is an excellent article from the Santa Monica Daily News by reporter, Jack Neworth that features Paul Veglia, who is one, (or maybe the only living person in California) to have had personal contact with Black Dahlia victim, Elizabeth Short.

“Two years later, another daily chore was added, sweeping the porch of a beautiful and often barefoot boarder and movie star wannabe, Elizabeth Short. Tragically, in 1947, fame “found” Short posthumously as the murder victim “Black Dahlia,” perhaps Los Angeles’ most infamous and the subject of numerous movies. Paul’s interactions with Short are documented in former L.A. homicide detective Steve Hodel’s latest book on the Black Dahlia that shockingly proved his surgeon father was the actual murderer.”
Santa Monica Daily Press
September 4, 2020

Paul Veglia, still hard at work

_________________________________

From BDA III Chapter 3- Paul Veglia Interview
“A Walk Through the Willows”

…

My three-hour interview with Paul came to an end. I thanked him for sharing his memories of Elizabeth Short and the stories of his life with its trials, tribulations, and successes.

It wasn’t until I returned home and transcribed the taped interview that I became aware of how powerful an impression Paul’s story and description of Elizabeth had made on me.

It was not Paul’s conversation with her that had impressed me. In truth, there were no conversations between them, just a regular morning “Hello” and “Thank you, Paulie.”

However, the picture Paul has shared with us, as seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old farm boy, is very real and very powerful.

After hearing his story, I find myself haunted by his personal description of Elizabeth Short more than any other “witness” I have interviewed over the past fifteen years. Why?

Because he confirmed and had made real what I have always felt and suspected was the essence of Elizabeth Short—her loneliness.

A young woman alone, with few or no real friends. Living in a rural broken-down cabin with a porch covered with chicken manure that needs to be swept away each morning.

She walks barefoot out her front door, through the wet pastureland, passing through the clump of standing willow trees, walking the quarter-mile to the Post Office. On her slow walk, she has hope in her heart. Hope that a soldier or sailor that she dated has written her to say, “I love you. Come join me.” But, it was not to be.

Thank you, Paul Veglia, for lending us your twelve-year-old eyes that saw more of the truth in those two short months than all those that have come forward since to claim “they knew her well.”

Thank you, Yves, for your beautiful drawings that help us to capture a brief “through the willows” moment in the young life of Elizabeth Short. Merci!

Here is a link to my original blog on Paul Veglia detailing when and how he met Elizabeth Short shortly after the end of WWII.

The post Santa Monica Daily News Reporter Jack Neworth Interviews “Black Dahlia” Acquaintance Paul Veglia appeared first on Steve Hodel.

September 17, 2020
Los Angeles, California

Very much enjoyed my video/podcast interview last Tuesday, with Fritz Coleman and Louise “Weezy” Palanker on their new and very cool show on Media Path Podcast. Both are real pros and have contributed majorly to Southern California and Hollywood Storytelling for decades.

Here’s the YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK:

Here’s a link to our “Black Dahlia “, our one-hour podcast interview just out today.

Apple Podcast HERE.

and Spotify link HERE: 

New “Media Path” Podcasts Will Take Audiences on Engrossing Journeys Deep into the Worlds of Movies, Music & Books with Guests Including Henry Winkler, Keith Morrison, and Josh Mankiewicz

Media Path Press Release on Fritz and Louise. 

The post Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker Media Path Podcast: Interview Steve Hodel on his Black Dahlia Investigation appeared first on Steve Hodel.

September 24, 2020
Los Angeles, California

Big thank you to reader Scott Tracy for the heads up on a broken link and also for his discovery of a new witness (now my fifteenth) to substantiate that there was NO BLACK DAHLIA MISSING WEEK. Scott writes:

“I have another witness on the missing days for you-Betty Blake of the Gay Way bar on Main Street Jan 12th.  Written up in the Valley Times and SF Chronicle but not in LA Times.”

I found Scott’s reference published in The Valley Times on January 22, 1947 and reproduced below.

…”A red-haired man entered the murder picture in yet another way today on reports of Betty Blake, dancer, that such a person came to the Gay Way bar, 514 S. Main St., on the night of Jan 12. Miss Blake said he asked for Miss Short who had been there earlier in the evening. According to Mr. and Mrs. William Johnson, operators of a hotel at 300 E. Washington Blvd., a girl answering Miss Short’s description registered there with a man on Jan 12.” (Witnesses 12 on below chronology.)

    Gay Way Bar 514 S. Main St DTLA (1948)

Dancer Betty Blake would is now the fifteenth witness that saw victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short between Jan 9-14, 1947 further establishing there was in fact no missing week.

Black Dahlia Avenger Chap 12 PDF Witnesses to “No Missing Week” chap 12 bda pdf

The post No “Black Dahlia Missing Week” Further Confirmed By A Fifteenth Reliable Witness, Dancer Betty Blake appeared first on Steve Hodel.

October 10, 2020
Los Angeles, California
( George Hill Hodel’s 113th birthday)

Here’s another example of the seemingly non-stop “synchronicities” that keep presenting themselves to me in this ongoing investigation. (This one on GHH’s birthday, October 10th.)

My good friend and forensic expert and retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s detective, Karen Smith sent me the below “first photograph” of Ruth Spaulding. (As of this date I had been unable to locate any actual photograph of that victim.) Huge THANK YOU Karen.

Ruth Frances Spaulding was the 1940s former girlfriend/clinic secretary of Dr. George Hill Hodel whom he murdered by giving her a forced overdose of “Seconal” in her LA residence apartment in May 1945. (He then called our mother, Dorero to come to the apt and while Ruth lay unconscious but still alive, gave her the damning written evidence Ruth had documented and ordered her to “burn it” which mother did.)

LAPD acknowledged suspecting and investigating GHH for the “possible overdosing of Spaulding” but he then joined UNRRA and was billeted overseas in China, effectively ending their investigation back in 1945. His admission to committing this crime was electronically recorded during the six-week “electronic surveillance” of his home as documented in the 1950 Hodel/Black Dahlia DA transcripts.

Here then are the only known photographs of Ruth Spaulding from her 1934 L.A. High School yearbook.  Ruth would have been 16 or 17 years old in these photographs and was murdered (to keep her from revealing his criminality) by Dr. George Hill Hodel on May 8, 1945, at age 27.

Ruth Frances Spaulding

Ruth in white dress third from the right front row 

Los Angeles High School Yearbook   1934

REST IN PEACE RUTH

The post First Photos of Dr. George Hill Hodel’s L.A. Lone Woman Murder Victim Ruth Spaulding Found appeared first on Steve Hodel.

October 20, 2020
Los Angeles, California
Happy Birthday to Kamala Harris

In these stressed-out times, I’d like to try and put a smile on a few readers’ faces.

Thought I would provide a short clip from the TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) which contains my ex-wife’s Kiyo’s “big moment” where she gets to share the big screen with Yul Brynner (Pharoh) and Charlton Heston (Moses) for her 90 seconds of fame.

You decide, was she ready for her closeup?  Kiyo is the “high priestess” in white holding a tray and kneeling at Pharoah’s feet she hands him the urn to try and change Moses’  water into blood trick back to water.

But, sadly no go. Pharoah drops the urn and Kiyo recoils in horror as Moses tells them he’s cutting off their water for seven days.

Click on the below link for ninety-second film clip:

Kiyo Ten Commandments 1956

 I would meet Kiyo five years later at a “Hollywood Party” in Laurel Canyon while home on leave from the Navy and still a minor and we would elope to Twin Falls, Idaho in 1962. (The closest state where I could marry her in secret without my mother’s permission.)

See link HERE for more details.

“Astrologer to the Stars” Kiyo with a young Neil Young 1969
Time Magazine Photo was taken four years after our divorce in 1965

The post Is Kiyo Hodel Ex-Mistress of George Hodel and Future Wife of Steve Hodel Ready For Her Closeup? appeared first on Steve Hodel.

October 30, 2020
Los Angeles, California

Author and P.I. Robert J. Sadler and Friend

(Photo by Bill Crump, also a friend who you will be hearing from and about in my yet to publish “The Early Years”)

I wanted to take the time to publicly thank my good friend and fellow author, Robert J. Sadler, of Dallas, Texas for his collaboration and help in formatting, editing, along with creating the cover design (see below) on my most recent book, “In The Mesquite,” 

Cover design by R.J. Sadler-How cool is that?

My friendship with Robert goes back more than a decade when we first met and connected by Email, then in person when he came out further West to visit with his son and daughter-in-law and a new granddaughter.

Robert Sadler is not your average retired cop.  After his career with Dallas PD, he put on many new hats: Licensed P.I., Mystery Writer, Photographer, Poet, Grandfather, and long-distance friend/collaborator currently helping me edit and proof my yet to publish, “The Early Years” which will cover suspected crimes from my father’s distant past. (In The Mesquite so far is the oldest crime presented in print  which occurred in 1938.)

Up until I connected with Robert some tens years ago, my work and investigations into my father’s criminal past was pretty much a one-man job. What in my old LAPD days we used to call “working an L car.”

So, it has been great to have Robert as my “partner” on the recent investigations. Someone to bounce things off of who has “been there/done that” so to speak. I jokingly think of him as my own “Dr. Watson” but don’t tell him that. Let’s keep it secret.

He is highly intelligent and as well as being creatively gifted. Some of Robert’s photographs in his on-line collection are really amazing! (Second only, to my son Matt’s and definitely on a par with our mutual friend, Photographer, Bill Crump.)

Below is a link to Robert’s Author Website. Check it out.

https://www.robertjsadler.com/

In 2012 we had a chance to meet in person here in Hollywood and the below photos capture us having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, MUSSO & FRANK GRILL. It was a mutual admiration luncheon where we signed and exchanged each other’s books.

Again, HUGE THANKS ROBERT, for all the past, present, and future help you have, are and will be providing me as pardner (Texas spelling) on this very dusty trail to Truth.

The post Author Shout Out to Retired Dallas PD Detective and Fellow Writer Robert J. Sadler appeared first on Steve Hodel.

Los Angeles, California
November 28, 2020

Much to my amazement I just received “Breaking News” that the infamous Elizabeth Short, “Black Dahlia” murder was originally solved in 1947, just weeks after its commission. The case was “cracked”  by one of the world’s leading detectives who had been asked by LAPD brass to assist them in their attempts to identify her killer.

In an EXCLUSIVE with noted British film and screenwriter, Scott McQuaid, the distinguished detective sat down and narrated his complete 1947 investigation on tape. The interview runs about 53 minutes as we listen to deduction after deduction from this World Class Detective as he “makes his case.”

Link to his 53 min 1947  solving of the Black Dahlia Murder HERE.

Mini bio on Scott McQuaid  HERE

Scott McQuaid is a British writer and director for stage and screen that grew up in Essex, England. He spent most of his teenage years making camcorder movies with the kids in his neighborhood. With a great admiration for Hong Kong movies, he moved to Hong Kong and began his career volunteering on film sets. He worked as a production assistant and sometimes as an extra from 1995 to 1998. McQuaid later turned his attention to theatre and began writing and directing skits, plays and musicals. He majored in performing arts and then with a masters in film making. He worked in England, America and Japan before eventually relocating to Malaysia, where he took the position as resident director for the Cempaka Performing Arts Company. During this time, he has directed numerous plays and musicals winning consecutive BOH Cameronian Art Awards including the best director award. He has also been recognized by the Malaysian book of records for producing an original musical. McQuaid started up his own stage company, pop up theatre and also a film production house, plastic monkey films and after producing a handful of short films, that screened at various film festivals he then made his debut feature movie in 2017. On a shoe string budget with an intense 22 day shoot, he made the self-aware B movie ‘Space Ninjas’, which was released worldwide on streaming networks Amazon Prime, iTunes, Apple TV, Fandango Now and Avail TV. He continues to create new imaginative works for both stage and screen.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Wayne Crawford

The post Breaking News- Black Dahlia Murder Secretly Solved by Internationally Renowned Detective in 1947 appeared first on Steve Hodel.

December 11, 2020
Los Angeles, California

Huge Kudos to the civilian team of code-breakers that have cracked the Zodiac 340 cryptogram. Truly, an international accomplishment.

David Oranchank, VA, USA     Sam Blake, Australia       Jarl Van Eykcke, Belgium

Zodiac 340 Cipher mailed 1969

The solution to the 340 cipher, according to Oranchak’s team:

I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH

Many had thought (hoped) that Zodiac would reveal his actual identity in this code, but as we see, that was not to be.

SFPD detectives working with sociologists back in 1969 determined the concept of “collecting slaves for paradise” originated in Negroes, Occidental in the Southern Philippines.

I included the fact that my father, George Hodel and his wife Hortensia Starke Hodel owned a large Sugar Plantation in Negroes, Occidental in the 1960s forward. (Actually, my stepmother and her family owned the plantation for many decades preceding the Sixties, and had become quite wealthy and she was elected a Congresswoman representing that region in Manila. While stationed in the Navy in Subic Bay, I visited the plantation with my father and Hortensia and spent a few days of R&R. (Rest and Relaxation.) No question that George Hodel would have been well aware of this island lore of “collecting slaves for paradise.”

The cracking of the code while itself was an amazing accomplishment adds little to what we already knew, just more ramblings by Zodiac and his “collecting slaves.”

Here is an excellent YouTube video produced by David Orachank explaining the team’s work and “how they did it.”

Today’s article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco Chronicle “Zodiac ‘340 Cipher’ cracked by code experts 51 tears after it was sent to the S.F. Chronicle (full article.)

The post Zodiac ‘340 Cipher” Cracked by International Three Man Team of Code Breakers appeared first on Steve Hodel.

December 21. 2020
Los Angeles, California
Happy Winter Solstice!

I just had the great pleasure of watching Beyond Baroque’s 83-minute video “The Signature of All Things: A passionate ode to the artist Kenneth Rexroth.”  (It live streams free through the end of December 2020, do try to watch it.)  Or, if in the holiday gift mode, better yet, purchase a copy of the show for yourself or a friend.

The George and Dorothy Hodel/Kenneth Rexroth Connection

George Hodel                      Kenneth Rexroth                       Dorothy Hodel

For those of you that are familiar with my ongoing series of books, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, you may recall that included in the LA DA Secret George Hodel Black Dahlia taped transcripts there is a recorded conversation between my father, George Hodel and his and my mother’s good friend, poet KENNETH REXROTH. Rexroth’s friend, author, Henry Miller, was also a regular friend/visitor to  the Hodel residence and the Hodel’s also regularly visited Miller in BIG SUR.)

Kenneth Rexroth  recorded at our then residence, the Sowden/Franklin House, 5121 Franklin Ave., Hollywood.)


                                                Dr. George Hill Hodel residence 1945-1950

My main interest in this blog is to present the aforementioned Beyond Baroque video documentary on Rexroth’s remarkable life and poetry, however, as a point of interest, I will here include the secretly recorded DA transcript between my father and Rexroth.
It was recorded as part of the Black Dahlia Surveillance of George Hodel which lasted six weeks (February 15, 1950-March 27, 1950).

The Rexroth/Hodel conversations begin just four days into the electronic stakeout. DA and LAPD officers are monitoring the conversations LIVE (not phone taps) and have broken into the residence and implanted microphones in the wall and have run a “hard line” to telephone wires outside and then to the basement of LAPD Hollywood Detectives (about two miles away) where 18 detectives monitor the conversations in six hour shifts 24/7 for the next six weeks.

SKH Note:  Remarkably this Kenneth Rexroth visit to the Hodel Franklin House occurs just two days after a probable “murder in progress” has occurred by GHH and an accomplice, Baron Harringa. Details of that assault of a “Jane Doe Female” in the basement are summarized in the transcript pages preceding this interview and include an extensive “confession” by GHH to the Black Dahlia murder and the forced overdose “staged suicide” of his personal secretary, Ruth Spaulding. (For those interested a full copy of the original 146 pages (print or Kindle) can be ordered HERE. 

GEORGE HODEL AND KENNETH REXROTH CONVERSATION

Scanned pages from original LADA Hodel Black Dahlia Surveillance that occurred beginning Feb 15, 1950 and continued 24/7 for the next six weeks. Pages below include telephone call and then physical visit to residence by Kenneth Rexroth who stayed overnight then accompanied GHH to visit Dorothy Hodel in Santa Monica. Rexroth conversations begin on February 19, 1950. These pages appear as scanned from original LADA Secret Black Dahlia Files obtained as part of my investigation in 2003.
(Included below are jpeg scans as well as duplicate pages as a PDF.)

rexroth hodel conv final da file

The post Black Dahlia Tapes: Poet Kenneth Rexroth/George Hodel in Conversation and Beyond Baroque Video Rexroth “Signature Beyond All Things” 100th Year Ode to Rexroth appeared first on Steve Hodel.

January 3, 2021
Los Angeles, California

I am the first to admit that in the world of ciphers and cryptograms at a first look my mind immediately blurs and fades to black. Clearly, I got zero of my father’s genes when it comes to the world of codes and mathematics.

Fortunately, many of my readers are not so afflicted.

Three weeks ago, I blogged on the recent developments of the International Team (David Oranchank, VA, USA; Sam Black, Australia, and Jarl Van Eykcke, Belgium) in cracking the Zodiac 340 Cipher. 

As we begin the New Year I would like to update what I believe are some dramatic new linkages that build on and from the solving of the 340 cipher.

The credit for this potential linkage goes to two separate individuals.

Here are their separate contributions as I received them in chronological order.

LINKAGE NO. 1- James Valks aka “No Excuses”

In December 2020, shortly after the Zodiac 340 cipher was solved,  in reading the comments section of the team’s YouTube solution I came across an entry by an individual identifying himself as “No Excuses.”  (That  person  has  now given me permission to use his real name, which is JAMES VALKS.) James using the 340 cipher solution applied it to Zodiac’s “My Name Is… Thirteen Letter cipher” and believes it translates as indicated below.

SKH Note-  In my previous book publications and writings as relates to the “Zodiac Thirteen Letter Cipher” I had suggested that two potential signatures of my father could potentially fit:  DR GEORGE HODEL or GEORGE HODEL MD.

Huge KUDOS to James Valks for this initial linkage to a separate Zodiac Letter as a potential anagram using Zodiac’s 340 Code.

LINKAGE NO. 2  – Dr. Luigi Warren 

I have known and communicated with Dr. Warren (he has a Ph.D. in Biology from Cal Tech) for many years and his thoughts as relate to my father’s history and actions have been invaluable. He also has communicated much of his thinking as relates to GHH crimes both as Black Dahlia Avenger and Zodiac in his public tweets through the years.

I approached Luigi with the following email on January 1st, 2021:

Luigi responded the following day:

Click below to open Luigi’s PDF response and analysis:

The 13-Character Cipher

The Fairfied Letter

Many self-proclaimed “Zodiac experts” have for decades opined that two letters allegedly sent by Zodiac back in December 1969 and postmarked from Fairfield, CA, were not written by Zodiac and were “copycat” letters and “not legit.”

The first letter was mailed on December 7, 1969  and addressed to the “San Francisco Chronicle“

The second Zodiac letter followed and was mailed to the San Francisco Examiner on December 16, 1969. In addition to the letter it contained a crude drawing of “the bleeding knife of Zodiac”.

I have always maintained that both of the 1969 “Fairfield Letters” were absolutely legitimate and both were written by Zodiac.

I believe the handwriting (printing) is that of my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel.

Further, compare the word “knife” written in the drawing “bleeding knife of Zodiac” to the word “knife” written on the car door at the Lake Berryessa Zodiac assault.

     
Zodiac Lake Berryessa car              Zodiac Fairfield Letter

Here is what I wrote in Black Dahlia Avenger III (Rare Bird Books 2018), as relates to the Fairfield Letter and linking “Zodiac’s Bleeding Knife” to George Hodel. It is my position that GHH inspired by his hero “Jack The Ripper” and his crude drawing of a bleeding knife in his mailing of the “Boss Letter” copied JtR and his drawing in both his Black Dahlia Avenger and Zodiac letters to the press.

BDA III pages 42-43

With this as background let us now return to the further analysis of the good Dr. Luigi Warren.

And after his Fairfield Letter contribution, Luigi follows it up by sending his below analysis, just a few hours ago:

Zodiac’s Celebrity Cipher

Steve:

Now looking at the 1990 Celebrity Cypher Card – the one with a picture of Carmel Beach – using the Z340 key to get the clear text and assuming that is an anagram. It sure looks like a lot of interesting words are popping out. There’s several ambiguities in the available image of the lettering, and I always end up with a few letters left over. Still, I believe the message may go something like this:

POLICE
BE NOT AFEARD (or NOW FREE?)
HE (or HODEL?) CANNOT FUC (or WOO?) THAT WANTON WOMAN IN HELL
THE AVENGER

“THE AVENGER” really stands out. You can’t miss it – look at the second and third lines of the clear text (below).

The plot thickens…

Best,

Luigi

SKH NOTE:

My respect and sincere appreciation to both JAMES VALKS and LUIGI WARREN for their contributions and anagrammic insights into our ongoing investigation. I say to both of you- AMAZING WORK.

Here’s a slightly clearer sample of the Celebrity Card along with my observation. I see the card was mailed in September, 1990 which means it was after my father and his wife June had permanently relocated to their 39th floor condo at 333 Bush St. in DTSF. During one of my visits in the early Nineties, June showed me her full page collection of stamps. These were all of the major poets as recognized by the USPS. I point that out as I see the stamp used on the Celebrity Post Card was that of the American poet, “Marianne Moore 1887-1972”.

PPS:  See Comments Section below from Luigi Warren. Here is his latest, revised version from the Celebrity Cipher Anagram:

FATE CANT FAIL THE WANTON WOMAN CAN BURN IN A HELLHOLE THE AVENGER WON

The post James Valks and Luigi Warren Use Recent Zodiac 340 Cryptogram Solution To Sleuth Out Potential Anagram Linkage of Dr. George Hodel to Separate Zodiac Ciphers appeared first on Steve Hodel.

January 15, 2021
Los Angeles, California
74th Anniversary of Elizabeth  Short-“Black Dahlia” Murder

KUDOS to DiscoverNet’s journalist/reporter ALBERT WHITWOOD for his January 12, 2021, published article, “What’s Come Out About The Black Dahlia”. (I recommend reading his piece at the above link before proceeding.) CLICK HERE.

The article, published to recognize the January 15th, 74th Anniversary of one of LA’s most infamous murders, is not only extraordinarily well-researched and well-written, but it is also a “Black Dahlia” rarity in that Mr. Whitwood’s reportage is HIGHLY ACCURATE.

In presenting “what’s come out”, the article does an excellent job of updating readers to some of what has been newly discovered in the past twenty-years since my original publication of Black Dahlia Avenger in 2003. (Obviously, an article of this size can only present a limited amount of the new evidence and linkage. It has taken me six books to date, with two more “on the way.”)

Again, my sincere appreciation to DiscoverNet’s reporter Whitwood for presenting us with his updated summary. Clearly, he has done his homework.

While in no way desiring to detract from the article’s reportage, I would like to take the opportunity to clarify specific points in his article for the sake of historical accuracy. Most of the inaccuracies have become part of the Dahlia myth and thus deeply ingrained as collective misconceptions. They have been repeated so many times from so many sources that to quote the famous statement from the classic Western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance:  

“This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

To further dispel and replace some of the “legends” with facts, I offer the following comments and observations on the DiscoverNet article.

Fact-Checking “What’s Come Out About The Black Dahlia”

(Reporter Albert Whitwood’s quotes from his article in bold.)

• “…her intestines had been removed.”

Actually, no, they had not. Gravity at the vacant lot simply allowed the intestines to partially flow from the bisected open upper torso.

• “…but the case was never solved and remains open.”

 Partially correct.” The case was “solved” and privately acknowledged so by LAPD’s “top brass.” But never publicly/officially by LAPD and technically “remains open, but with no active investigation.” LAPD Chief of Police William Bratton, in a public statement made at his  book signing at Book Soup Bookstore on the Sunset Strip in November 2004, stated, “I just told our Cold Case Squad guys to give it up. (Stop investigating the Black Dahlia case.) “I’m more concerned about the nine (9) murders we had last week than one going back that many years. …I know that is problematic for some people who would like to see it solved. But what would you have to write about if it was solved? Better it go unsolved. There are more and more books being written about it all the time.” (Stunned silence from the crowd for ten seconds.)  Full Summary “Special Report” here.

• (Re. bisection of victim Short’s body.) “…It’s called a hemicorpectomy, and it’s such a difficult procedure …taught through the 1930s as a way of successfully dividing the body by cutting through two specific vertebrae and no other bone. …no way it could have been done by someone without extensive medical knowledge.”

Correct.  To be clear, the procedure was taught in the 1930s at my father’s medical school UCSF San Francisco, but in those early years, as I understand it, it was performed as an autopsy procedure as the best way to divide the body without having to cut through bone and rarely if ever used to “save lives” which procedure would not be developed or at least perfected for several more decades.

• (Re. cement bags found at the crime scene) “…thought to be how the killer got her to the dump site.”

Actually, not “thought to be” but rather it is based on direct testimony at the Coroner’s Inquest and documented in those transcripts by LAPD detectives, “the cement sacks were definitely used to transport her body from an unknown location to the vacant lot.”  Later original receipts found in the Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. (Lloyd Wright) files at UCLA provided a direct connection to identical cement sacks purchased for construction work at the Hodel Franklin House just days before the murder  to those used to transport and left at the vacant lot next to the body.

• “…Even without the speculated connection between George Hodel and Short…”

 The connection between George Hodel and Elizabeth Short is not “speculation”. Rather it is definite and documented in police and the LADA investigators’ secret DA Hodel/Black Dahlia Investigation reports found and published in 2003. Those reports clearly state that “George Hodel and Elizabeth Short were acquainted and had dated prior to her murder.”

• (Re. Jeanne French “Red Lipstick Murder” three weeks after Dahlia Murder)

“…she had been badly beaten and dumped with “F*CK YOU B.D.” written on her torso in her own lipstick, followed by “TEX.”

The reporting of the letters “TEX” that numerous authors and journalists have claimed was written on the body and that this author is quoting from those sources are false. Part of the Dahlia Myth. While additional lipstick lines are visible, they are not actual letters, and they only spell “TEX” in the viewer’s imagination. (Think Rorschach Test) Likewise, many readers interpret the lipstick writing as “Fuck You P.D.” (Police Dept), attempting to deny it was written by “B.D.” as in Black Dahlia killer.  (The WHY of the message and motive for this “follow up murder” are detailed in Black Dahlia Avenger Chapter 14, “The Red Lipstick Murder.”

Jeanne French “Red Lipstick” letters shown written on body posed in the vacant lot.

• “…The LAPD was reluctant to suggest the Black Dahlia was murdered by a serial killer, but…”

This is true only in more “modern times” coming from statements made decades after by LAPD Robbery/Homicide detectives who “inherited” the cold case, but had no real familiarity with the investigation. By example in 2003, when my first book, Black Dahlia Avenger was published, documenting what I believed were the “L.A. Lone Woman Murders which included Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short, the then LAPD detective, Brian Carr, assigned as “gatekeeper” to the then 56-year-old, Black Dahlia investigation, came out with the statement to the press that, “The Black Dahlia Murder was a standalone. One suspect. None before and none after.”
Not true. The 1947 LAPD detectives were convinced that many of the crimes were connected.

The truth is- IN 1950, BOTH THE LAPD AND THE L.A. SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT WERE CONVINCED THAT MANY OF THESE L.A. LONE WOMAN MURDERS WERE COMMITTED BY THE SAME SUSPECT. On March 14, 1947, two months after the Black Dahlia murder, LAPD provided and requested the local newspapers print their, 11-POINT LIST OF SIMILARITIES which justified their belief that at least three recent crimes committed in close proximity to each other in the previous two-month period were connected. (Elizabeth Short, Jeanne French and Evelyn Winters) The secret DA Files discovered in 2003 showed LE was actively investigating at least five of the crimes as serially connected.

THE NewCastle SUN –  July 19,  1947

• “… in 2018, Piu Eatwell released the book Black Dahlia, Red Rose that suggested she’s found proof it was another original suspect—Leslie Duane Dillon—who was the killer.” “…The rest of the story paints Short as a member of a hotel-robbing gang, and her involvement led to her murder. Truth or fiction?”

Pure Fiction!  LADA official reports and follow up made after Leslie Dillon’s arrest as a “suspect” completely cleared him of any involvement in the Elizabeth Short murder.  In late 1949, nearly three years after the crime occurred, the lead LAPD Black Dahlia investigator, Harry Hansen, working with LADA Lt. Frank Jemison confirmed Dillon’s alibi. Det. Hansen traveled to San Francisco and verified that Dillon was in that city at the time of the January 15, 1947 Dahlia murder and under oath, provided a full and complete report to the 1949 LA Grand Jury clearing Leslie Dillon of any involvement.

The post DiscoverNet’s Reporter Albert Whitwood Takes a Look at “What’s Come Out” Over Past Two Decades on “Black Dahlia” Evidence on 74th Anniversary of LA’s Most Infamous Murder appeared first on Steve Hodel.

January 18, 2021
Los Angeles, California

On January 15, 2021 I received the below email from Jelle Haversmans, an artist/writer living in Amsterdam, Holland.

Hi!

Today, on the 15th of January – which is, as you know, the same date as when Elizabeth Short’s (The Black Dahlia) body was found, a Dutch woman from Amsterdam found a mannequin that eerily resembles the Black Dahlia. She didn’t report it to the police but called some newspapers to notify them of her gruesome find. It was located near a subway rail close to a street called Dolingadreef in the south of Amsterdam. For a few seconds she thought she had stumbled upon a dumped body but then noticed it was a painted mannequin that seemed to be cut in half (I can send you the pictures). Like the Black Dahlia, the corpse is carefully painted white and ‘her’ mouth is cut from ear to ear. The mannequin is cut in two, just like with Elizabeth Short.

I sometimes write for Dutch newspapers like Het Parool en de Volkskrant, and a reporter I know sent me the images the woman took with her phone, because he knows I’ve always been interested in the Elizabeth Short murder case ever since I read your book. He connected the dots rightaway and thought of me. I asked the woman who found the mannequin if she wanted to talk with me but, unfortunately, she didn’t want anything more to do with it. I think it is not a coincidence that this disfigured mannequin was found on the same date as Elizabeth Short.
Perhaps it is a sick prank, or maybe something else? I thought it was worth sending this news to you, as you must be compelled by anything that is Black Dahlia related. I would be happy to send you the pictures of the ‘corpse’ so you can see the resemblances. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Kind regards,
Jelle Havermans from Holland

Many thanks to Jelle for forwarding the information and photographs. Thanks to his efforts, let’s make Jelle, our foreign correspondent, “Our Man in Amsterdam.”

Clearly this sculpted “artwork” (unclaimed and uncredited) is the artist’s imitation of and re-presents the January 15, 1947 Los Angeles’ Crime and infamous murder of Elizabeth Short, better known to the world as “The Black Dahlia.” (The “artist” in his/her recreation has even included the detailed trauma to the face, head, breasts and lower body; the bisected torso; and the posing of the arms in what the surrealists referred to as: “The Minotaur position.”

Location where mannequin posed on South Amsterdam lot:

Below are the photographs forwarded to me by Jelle Haversmans, taken in the South Amsterdam lot, by the anonymous “passerby”.  That witness must have been affected and shocked much as the original witness, Mrs. Betty Basinger was, when she and her three-year-old daughter discovered what they at first they believed was a mannequin, as they passed by the Los Angeles vacant lot in Liemert Park District on the same date in 1947.

Five photographs taken by anonymous passerby witness of mannequin
posed in vacant lot off Dolingadreef Street in South Amsterdam, Holland.

Photo of victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short circa 1946

Victim Elizabeth Short

January 15, 1947 crime scene photos of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short, posed in vacant lot 3815 S. Norton Ave, in Liemert Park District of Los Angeles:

“Murder as a Fine Art” Crime Signature as discussed in Black Dahlia Avenger (Skyhorse Publications 2015)

Het Parool Newspaper article Click Here

English translation of Het Parool article by Jelle Haversmans:

Steve, I translated the article for you here:

Shocking: “Corpse” turns out to be battered mannequin

Imagine this happening to you: during your daily corona walk through Southeast you will see two feet sticking out, motionless, from behind a bush. You suspect the worst. You slowly walk towards it and guess what? It is not a body, but a mannequin.

It happened to one of our readers, who forwarded the photo to the editors. The shock is understandable, all the more because the mannequin seems to be severely battered. The doll is cut in half and has many cuts.

What tragic fate exactly fell to the mannequin woman remains a guess, for the time being. The reader has reported the eerie find to the police, who removed the doll.

Interesting that the article fails to make the obvious connection to the infamous crime when they ask the question, “What tragic fate exactly fell to the mannequin woman remains a guess for the time being.”

However, it is understandable considering that what is Big Front Page News in the U.S. is hardly recognized in Europe and vice versa.

For example, here is a headline from Holland, (on the same day, Jan. 15, 2021, as the mannequin was found) which I, nor likely most American’s were unaware of, but is HUGE NEWS in Holland. 

Thanks again to “Our Man in Amsterdam” – As we say here, It’s all Good. “Jam Up and Jelle Tight”.

The post A Holland “Passerby” Captures Photographs of “Black Dahlia” Mannequin Posed on Vacant Lot in South Amsterdam appeared first on Steve Hodel.

January 21, 2021
Los Angeles, California

Received an email from a reader today who was complimentary of my past publications and ongoing investigation and regular “updates” and he also provided a Twitter link to some interesting photographs that were a real “blast to the past” for me.
Big Thank You to JFS for forwarding the links to me.

As referenced in my writings and blogs in the mid-Sixties I married  the then (unbeknownst to me) serial marrying wife, and my father’s former mistress, Amilda Kiyoko Tachibana better known to the Laurel Canyon folk as just plain “KIYO, Astrologer to the stars.”

Shortly after marrying, in 1962, while living above the “Country Store” on Kirkwood Drive we “moved up” and bought the large estate at 8451 Utica Drive, higher up in Laurel Canyon.

The residence was built by former Hollywood film director, Tay Garnett and had a number of separate  rentals on the grounds including “the cabin” which would later be rented by up-and-coming “Buffalo Springfield” musician-singer, Neil Young.

We bought the residence from the old Western actor, Lash LaRue and his wife. See anecdote HERE. 

Below are the connecting links provided that link to (Stephen Stills Official Twitter)  showing “the shack” and the adjoining grounds.

Neil Young sitting on the roof of the cabin he rented from Steve and Kiyo Hodel at 8451 Utica Dr, Laurel Canyon. Photo by Jini Dellaccio. pic.twitter.com/LLkECixrz1

— Stephen Stills Official (@Stephen__Stills) January 12, 2021

Buffalo Springfield by the shack Neil Young rented from Steve Hodel at 8451 Utica Dr, Laurel Canyon. Neil wrote Mr. Soul, Broken Arrow & Expecting to Fly while here. & was an undocumented immigrant. Photos by Dennis Hopper. Dewey Martin, Jim Fielder, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills. pic.twitter.com/h2smVoOmJ4

— Stephen Stills Official (@Stephen__Stills) January 12, 2021

Stephen Stills Bio  HERE. 

Songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and seminal member of a number of successful bands. Stills has combined record sales of over 35 million albums.

My ex-wife, Kiyo and soon to be discovered singer Neil Young 1969

The post A Blast to the Past: Some Stephen Stills stills and Laurel Canyon Lore appeared first on Steve Hodel.

January 23, 2021
Los Angeles, California

Here’s a link to a well-researched and well-written article by EW columnist,  Maureen Lee Lenker updating the Jean Spangler murder investigation.

Kudos to Ms. Lenker on her accurate and objective research that goes a long way in helping dispel the many MYTHS that were initially generated in the 1940s and then continued to be sensationalized through the decades.

Click HERE to read the Ms. Lenker’s full article in EW. 

Actress Jean Spangler

Below graphic shows  my own Jean Spangler  timeline showing her movements on October 8, 1949 in the hours just prior to her kidnap/murder. See my earlier post HERE.

SKH Note:  Not included on the below timeline is the fact that prior to the sighting on Spangler at the Cheese Box Restaurant she was seen with possibly the same individual seen with her at the restaurant. Earlier description matched, “a tall dapper man seated in a car at the Hollywood Ranch Market” in the early evening hours.  The Hwd Ranch Market location was directly across the street from the VILLA ELAINE, 1245 N. Vine St, which on that date was the residence apartment of Dr. George Hodel’s good friend, MAN RAY and his wife, JULIET, who resided in Apt 10. Could they have just come from visiting them? Very possible. It is also worth noting that George Hodel had just been arrested for INCEST with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Tamar and had bailed out of jail on October 7, 1949, literally the day before the suspect met and kidnapped Jean Spangler. (See my earlier post for full details.) Was Jean Spangler silenced because she knew too much?  Again, very possible.

Man Ray’s Villa Elaine Apt directly across street from Hollywood
Ranch Mkt, 1245 N. Vine St., Hollywood

The post EW columnist Maureen Lee Lenker examines Fact from Fiction in 1949 Actress Jean Spangler Murder appeared first on Steve Hodel.

February 2, 2021
Los Angeles, California
Ground Hog Day

I dearly miss my brother, Mike. I came across the below photograph taken by Steven Moore showing Mike interviewing Ray Bradbury on his late night show, “Mike Hodel’s Hour 25” back in 1982.

Born and raised here, Mike was a true “Force for Good” in Los Angeles and devoted his life to “causes” and loved and was loved by his many listeners.

Brother Mike died way too young, taken from us at the age of 47 after being diagnosed with Cancer. Melanoma took him fast, just a few months from diagnosis to death. He passed on May 6, 1986.

Mike Hodel & Ray Bradbury on “Hour 25 SFTV” (1982)

Mike Hodel era (1972-1986)

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Hour 25 was one of the longest-running science fiction radio programs, surpassed by only Hour of the Wolf, and surpassing Shockwave Radio Theater‘s 28 year run. In its first years, Hour 25 functioned almost as a science fiction “web page” for the Los Angeles area fan base, before computer technology made it much simpler to keep up-to-date on news and events in the relatively small world of science-fiction fandom. It was also one of the earliest programs to be taken seriously by both authors and publishers.

…

As the show became more of a fixture in the LA science-fiction community, noted authors began to make appearances on the show. Theodore Sturgeon was the first author to be interviewed by the show, in 1973; in the years following, Hour 25 interviewed virtually every major writer in the field. One well-known recorded interview was with author Philip K. Dick in 1976, in which Mike Hodel talked with Dick about his new book, “A Scanner Darkly“, and Dick read some passages which he said were inspired by his own use of drugs. The original recording was over three hours long, but the broadcast version was edited to be much shorter. Some time after being aired, Hodel realized that neither version of the interview could be found in the station archives, but a 75-minute version of the Dick interview is now available and a transcript is held on the Internet Archive. ^[1]

Here’s a much longer blog I did a few years back with additional details. 

GOOD NIGHT MIKE!

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