Detective III Kirk Mellecker, the longest assigned homicide case investigator on the Black Dahlia Murder (sixteen years, 1975-1991) passed away on September 31, 2022 at age 77.
I knew from recent emails with Kirk that he was fighting cancer for the past many months and in his last email was optimistic that he would beat it. Sadly, he did not.
Kirk and I met and became partners working in Hollywood Division Homicide in the early to mid-1970s. I, with a few more years on the job, became his training officer. Kirk was a quick learner and by 1975 had developed into an outstanding homicide detective and was a major force in helping our team keep our Divisional “solve rate” at 75-80%. His personnel ratings were always in the “upper 10%”.
After a few years in Hollywood Division, downtown Robbery/Homicide recognized Kirk’s abilities and offered him a transfer. Like many of the top divisional detectives, he accepted and in 1975 was assigned to Major Crimes at Parker Center.
Other than an occasional “hello” through the years Kirk and I would have little or no contact. I believe the last time I saw Kirk “on-the-job” was at my retirement party in 1986.
Upon his transfer to Major Crimes, Kirk’s first assignment was being handed the keys to one of Los Angeles’ Coldest of Cold Cases–Victim Elizabeth Short-The Black Dahlia 1947 Whodunit. (Not uncommon for “the new guy in the unit”, as mostly it amounted to taking calls and “tips” from private citizens.” Call-ins saying, “I know who killed the Black Dahlia.” A joke of sorts in the unit, since the infamous case was at that time, already 27 years cold.)
But, to Kirk Mellecker, it was NO JOKE. He was given the keys to the six-drawer-locked Black Dahlia Files and he alone had investigative responsibility and sole access to them.
Kirk’s career in the Robbery/Homicide Division was stellar. He investigated and solved dozens of high-profile cases through the decades and would promote to Detective III in 1990.
My next contact with Kirk was in 2001, some twenty-six years after we were partners and he was well into his retirement from LAPD.
In this contact, I learned he was now a major case specialist at NCAVC, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime near Quantico, Virginia. Kirk’s current job was to train law enforcement officers nationwide in the use of a national crime computer database and retrieval program called VICAP, which is primarily used for analyzing patterns and potential evidence in serial sexual homicides and identifying possible suspects.
I knew he had been assigned to the Black Dahlia investigation (which I was secretly investigating), and it would be another two years before my publication of Black Dahlia Avenger) in 2003, in which I document that most revealing conversation between Kirk and myself. I knew that Kirk had partnered and become personally very close with “Jigsaw John” the legendary LAPD detective who had over forty years on the job. (I had met Det. John St. John on many occasions at various crime scenes during my 17 years working Hollywood Homicide.)
Several years ago, famed director, David Lynch wrote an article in which he states he had dinner with then retired Det. John St. John at Musso & Franks restaurant in Hollywood. (Happens to be my favorite Hollywood restaurant.) The bottom line of Lynch’s story is that Det. St John showed him a crime scene photo of the original Black Dahlia, which at the time made no impression on Lynch since he had seen them many times before. Lynch claims St.John smiled, put the photo away, and left. Then it hit Lynch. The photo was taken at night in the moonlight! That photo had never been seen or shown before. Elizabeth Short’s killer left the body there before daybreak on January 15, 1947. See my 2019 blog on Lynch’s account and “dinner with John John.”
Now, let me fast forward to the present 2022–just two months back.
I decided to recontact Kirk and see if he could shed any light on the alleged meeting between his old partner “Jigsaw John” and David Lynch. What follows are an exchange of emails between myself and Kirk leading up to just days before his death.
I am sharing these emails knowing that Kirk, like myself, was all about getting to the TRUTH and knowing things AS THEY ARE–a “Just The Facts” kind of attitude if you will.
Thu, Jul 21, 2022, at 6:13 PM Steve Hodel wrote:
Hey Kirk:
Trust all is well with you and yours.Forgot to ask you if you were aware of the below story or maybe it was after St. John retired?All good here. Loving my move to WA state.
Best,
Steve
Hey Steve,
I am very glad your move back to Washington has been enjoyable.
As you know, I went to RHD in August 1975 and received case responsibility for the Dahlia investigation shortly thereafter, along with the only key to the filing cabinet containing all of the investigative files. As I know now, ALL was not exactly correct, but that is not important here. St John was working Major Crimes and came back to Homicide Special in 1977 to work the Trash Bag murders. He did not have a partner so I was assigned to work with him when he needed assistance. The duration of that assignment was about eight months and the Dahlia case was never discussed. We became partners in late 1979. St John was on the job at the time of the Dahlia murder but was never a part of the investigation. Obviously, with his time on the job and years in homicide, he knew all the players and all the rumors, but by his own admission, he had never seen or read the investigative file. I was glad to have him, partner, with me on the investigation and we would putter around with it whenever we had the time, which wasn’t too often.
Our partnership ended when I made D-lll, but St John would still come to me when he was fed information, with the usual source being old-time reporters.
All this to say, while St John and I were working together he never mentioned the restaurant Musso & Franks, even though we must have driven past it over a hundred times, or having dinner there with a David Lynch or anyone else. I am not saying Davis Lynch did not have dinner at Musso & Franks and was shown a photo of Elizabeth Short taken during the hours of darkness. I am saying St John did not obtain the photo from the Dahlia file because it was never in the file since I took control of it in 1975. In all the years I knew St John, I never saw him carry a briefcase of any type, but the real kicker is he would never ever offer to take anyone to dinner if he had information they were requesting or, and I cannot imagine him doing it if he had information they wanted. His policy, for a lack of a better term, was for them to buy him dinner and a couple of drinks! It was never negotiable.
Sorry, Steve for rambling on but my brain has been overrun by a bit of cancer which I’m hoping will be taken care of over the next couple of weeks of radiation. No worries for now.
I hope this has been useful.
Take care and stay safe.
Kirk
My July 22, 2022 response to Kirk:
Hi Kirk:
So sorry to hear about the cancer diagnosis. Damn! Why do these things always seem to happen to “The Good Guys?” Hope the radiation therapy catches it quick. Keep in touch and let me know how things progress.
Thanks for the St. John info. Very believable as you tell it. First thing that struck me as “odd” in the film director’s telling of the story was, “Hard to imagine St. John taking/buying at a fancy dinner place like Musso Franks. (Happens to be one of my favorite Hwd restaurants and it is expensive and always was.)
Much appreciated old friend.
Steve
On Sat, Aug 6, 2022, at 11:36 PM Steve Hodel wrote:
Hey Kirk:
Just wanted to check in with you and see how your medical prognosis is going? Did you have the treatment yet?Hoping you will start to improve and beat this thing.
Best from your old partner,
Steve
Ever the optimist, Kirk’s final email came the following day, August 7, 2022:
Steve, Nine days into radiation treatment and one to go. Feel weak, but regaining some use of my right leg and arm. All in all, doing well. God has gotten me through a lot worse. Thanks for checking.
Your friend and partner,
Kirk
Seven weeks later, on Wednesday, September 31, 2022, my friend and old partner drew his last breath. Kirk Mellecker, a native Angeleno and one of LAPD’s finest, was 77 years old.
Thank you for your decades of service to the city and citizens of Los Angeles and condolences to his wife, Caryn, and his surviving family.
October 10, 2022
Birch Bay, WA.
(Dr. George Hill Hodel’s birthday.)
While I did not consciously intend this blog to be written on this, my father’s birthday, how fitting that the subject be explored and examined TODAY.
FACT-
Dr. George Hill Hodel was an international serial killer that evidence shows committed at least 8-12 Los Angeles Lone Woman Murders in the 1940s and was identified by LAPD and the LADA’s Office as the killer of victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short.
FACT-
In 1950, LAPD and the LADA’s Office conducted a joint investigation and a six-week stakeout (Feb-Mar.) of Dr. Hodel’s private residence at 5121 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, which resulted in his confessing to the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, the 1945 murder (forced overdose) of his personal secretary, Ruth Spaulding. Further tape-recorded confessions by Dr. Hodel included: “Personal payoffs to law enforcement, and performing abortions at his DTLA First Street Clinic.” Further, the tapes contained a police-recorded felony assault, or more probably an actual murder committed and recorded in the basement of the Hodel residence (in the company of Baron Ernst Harringa) at 8:00 p.m on the night of February 18, 1950, of an unknown female victim. (LAPD recorded the woman’s screams and assault with a pipe, but made no response from their stakeout position, just three miles away at Hollywood Police Station.) The crime or the victim was never publicly mentioned and the six weeks of tape recordings were given to LAPD Chief of Detectives Thad Brown and “disappeared”, (think destroyed). A copy of the full transcripts of these recordings was secretly locked away in a DA vault by OIC DA Lt. Frank Jemison and discovered during my investigation in 2003.
FACT–
LADA OIC Lt. Frank Jemison suspected a body or bodies of multiple victims were buried in the Hodel residence basement and had his detectives interview a plumber who had recently been at the house and asked if “he saw any signs of digging?” See DA documentation found in Secret Hodel DA Black Dahlia Files below:
FACT-
On March 31, 1950 LADA Lt. Frank Jemison and his partner, DA Det. Walter Morgan had prepared their case against Dr. George Hill Hodel and were just days away from presenting it and obtaining “formal murder complaints” when they were suddenly and unexpectedly removed from the investigation at the orders of DA Simpson. Lt. Jemison was ordered to collect all his investigative reports, the tape recordings and personally hand them over to LAPD Chief of Detectives, Thad Brown. Both Lt. Jemison and Det. Morgan were immediately removed from the case and ordered to never discuss their findings.
FACT-
In 2013 a court-certified “Cadaver Dog”, BUSTER, conducted a search of the Hodel residence and “alerted” to human remains in multiple locations in the basement. Subsequently, soil samples were recovered and submitted to Dr. Arpad Vass (formerly of “The Body Farm” and the soil samples were “positive for human remains.” (Analysis submitted to LAPD Cold Case homicide detectives, who responded, “we are too busy with current cases to conduct any follow-up on the Black Dahlia case.”
Fact-
Dr. George Hill Hodel, tipped as to his pending arrest in 1950 fled Los Angeles and relocated to the Territory of Hawaii. There he would doctor to the criminally insane at the territorial prison after obtaining his degree in psychiatry, marry a Wealthy Filipina, move on to Manila, Philippines, and start a new family and life as a Market Researcher. Dr. Hodel would become the leading Market Research expert throughout Asia and regularly travel to the U.S. and Europe for nearly four decades (multiple trips to the U.S. each year). In 1990 Dr. Hodel relocated to San Francisco and resided with his new wife, June Hirano Hodel until his death in 1999 age the advanced age of 91.
Dr. George Hill Hodel in his San Francisco penthouse suite circa 1997
FACT-
In separate conversations in the years following the Black Dahlia Murder the top original law enforcement officers in charge of the investigation (LAPD Chief Parker, LAPD Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, DA OIC Lt. Frank Jemison and LA Undersheriff James Downey) all indicated that “they identified the killer and the case was solved and identified that individual as Dr. George Hill Hodel, 5121 Franklin Ave, Hollywood.” See their separate statements below:
FACT-
In 2003 active LA Head DDA Steve Kay reviewed my entire investigation and publicly declared “Case Solved” and that were witnesses and Dr. Hodel still alive he would have filed multiple counts of murder on him including that of victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short” and stated “he would have won the cases in a jury trial.”
In 2004 after I and Head DA Kay presented the case to high-ranking LAPD officers, then active LAPD Chief of Detectives, James McMurray, (Chief Thad Brown’s modern-day counterpart) ordered his men as follows, “unless you find some major holes in Hodel’s investigation, go ahead and clear the Black Dahlia case.” (Homicide detectives, knowing Chief McMurray was going to retire in six months, ignored his order and did nothing.
FACT-
In the following two decades (2003-2023) despite a massive amount of additional new findings and linkage (including hard physical evidence connecting the Hodel residence (the original crime scene) to physical evidence found next to the body of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short at the vacant lot where her nude, tortured body was posed. LAPD Chiefs (Brattan, Beck, Moore) knowing they can’t defeat the evidence have maintained “LAPD is too busy with current cases to take time to look at the cold case.”
All of the forgoing (backgrounding) brings me now to the real reason for this blog.
To ask WHY? Why does LAPD continue to refuse to even look at the evidence? Why do they continue to ignore the statements “Case was Solved” coming from the mouths of their most respected commanders who actually were in charge of the 1947 investigation?
For decades my answer was along the lines of “LAPD doesn’t want to throw dirt on the reputations of its two greatest heroes: Chief William H. Parker and Chief of Detectives Thad Brown.” Also, I factored in the obvious coverup of the tape-recorded murder at Dr. Hodel’s residence, and his confessions to “other crimes and payoffs.”
For twenty-three years I have been thinking as a criminal homicide detective-strictly criminal.
Not until TODAY (which happens to be my father’s birthday) did it dawn on me that maybe I’m completely off base about the WHY of the cover-up. Maybe it’s not the criminal, the obvious documented corruption, and damaged reputations LAPD fears, revealing. But rather maybe it’s the CIVIL? Civil Litigations-and the consequential Reparations for Wrongdoing and Obstruction of Justice?
FACT-
The LAPD and LADA coverup can be pinpointed to almost the exact month and day. That would be April, 1950. The date LADA Lt. Jemison and Det. Morgan were stopped from seeking the indictment on Dr. George Hodel and ordered to return all evidence to LAPD Chief of Detectives, Thad Brown. That was the effective date of the coverup.
On that date, the powers within both Departments decided to lock away the evidence and allow Dr. Hodel to flee the country rather than expose themselves to corruption. Dr. Hodel, as Head of the LA County Health Department, was untouchable. He knew and had files on all the top brass and power brokers in LA and had performed many abortions for the rich and famous in Hollywood filmdom. “He’s gone. Lock away the files. Let’s clean up Dodge and come back to it in the future.”
FACT-
By their actions, these corrupt lawmen and prosecutors allowed a serial killer to remain free and permitted him to kill and kill again and again for the next twenty years. Here is a list of his victims, ALL believed committed AFTER LAPD, and LADA brass let him escape with no follow-up or obtaining an arrest warrant. By THEIR ACTIONS, it is my belief that all of the following victims were slain by Dr. Hodel. Had they done their duty, all of these victims would very likely have lived full and productive lives. (The evidence connecting him to their crimes found in my follow-up investigations is: BDA II, BDA III, Most Evil I, and Most Evil II.
The Victims post-1950:
Additionally, many of the surviving relatives and families of the victims of the L.A. Lone Woman Murder victims killed by Dr. Hodel after the Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” murder, but before he fled the country in April 1950, could well have a right to civil claims due to the ongoing cover-up and obstructions of justice. (Also, to include the relatives of Elizabeth Short.) Here are the names of those victims:
I’m no civil lawyer, but could this ongoing refusal by LAPD to look at the evidence and admit the case was solved actually be an ongoing cover-up out of fear of potential civil suits coming from the many victims living relatives?
We have statutes of limitations on criminal acts (though not for murder.) Are there statutes of limitations for civil wrongdoing by government officials? If so, when does the clock start running? When the wrongdoings are discovered? I’ll leave the legality to the trained lawyers out there, but though slow in coming to this possibility, it is certainly something to consider. If the two Departments were found civilly liable, imagine what the restitutions might be to the wronged family members of the many victims?
What price do you put on official city employees LE officers all intentionally covering up a serial killer’s crimes and allowing him to remain free to kill again and again? What do you say to the grieving relatives and families?
I am looking forward to making a presentation at the NOIRCON 2022 Virtual Conference this coming weekend. The conference begins on Friday, Oct 21st, and runs through Sun, Oct 23rd.
NoirConVirtual 2022 will consist of three days of panels, award presentations, conversations with authors, and more, all hosted on Accelevents! The proceedings will be a combination of pre-recorded and live events. The virtual platform also includes digital galleries for artists and exhibitors to share their work and hang-outs for social interactions.
And remember—don’t worry if you miss something because all of the virtual events will be available on the Accelevents platform for 30 days!
Fri, Oct 21, 2022 at 6:00 AM – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 4:00 PM (PDT)
Tickets for the three-day event are $36.00 Register HERE.
If noir is what we fear most—loneliness, isolation, darkness, violence—then NoirCon is a community bent on embracing our fears as seen through movies, books, music or art. Misery does love company, but when it is amongst friends, it makes life just a little sweeter. By contributing to NoirCon, you help our community grow by creating a unique camaraderie of respect and love of noir arts in all their forms.
My live presentation on IN THE MESQUITE: The Solving of the 1938 West Texas Kidnap Torture Murders of Hazel and Nancy Frome is scheduled for Sat Oct.22nd, 1:00-2:00 pm (Eastern) or for you West Coast viewers-10:00-11:00 am PST.
Had a great time at NOIRCON 2014 and was able to make the trip back to Philly for a live conference back in 2014. Below is a photo with Dr. Lou Boxer, past and current founder of NOIRCON, and my original blog from eight years ago.
On this my 81st birthday I want to take a minute to sincerely thank my many friends and readers who have contributed so much support to me personally and to my ongoing investigations through the past 2+ decades.
You (too many to name individually) have provided dozens of “clews” and “thoughtprints” that have provided significant linkage in the chain of evidence and your strong personal support has been the main driving force that’s kept me moving forward in so many of the separate unsolved murders.
THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!
As I begin this personal “New Year” I am looking forward to what WE together may find down the block or around the next corner. Great to have you riding shotgun as we together continue to “hit the streets.”
Most Sincerely,
LAPD Det.III Steve Hodel 11394, Hollywood Homicide (ret.)
“D” written by the killer of Jeanne French 1947-compare to-“D” written by Dr. G. Hodel to me in 1995
The above-signed note to me from my father was just discovered today (11/19/22) therefore
was not used by QDE (Questioned Document Expert) Hanna McFarland when she positively identified
Dr. George Hill Hodel as the killer/writer of notes in both the Black Dahlia and Red Lipstick murders in her original analysis back in 2000.
“We believe the postcard is from the killer and is legitimate and is the “letter to follow.” The fact that the postcard was printed rather than lettered with words cut out of newspapers also supports the theory that the killer intends to turn himself in to the police and no longer needs to take pains to conceal his identity.”
…We believe the Elizabeth Short and Jeanne French murders were committed by the same suspect.”
Captain Jack Donahoe, LAPD Homicide Division
HANDWRITING ANALYSIS
As many of my readers know, I’m NOT a big fan of handwriting analysis. In most analyses, especially in criminal prosecutions, you wind up with “dueling experts.” One says, “The defendant definitely wrote the note.” And, a second testifies, “The note was not written by Mr. Jones, it can be excluded.” Who to believe? The jury is left with a coin toss.
Well, not quite. While not definitive by itself, handwriting can contribute and qualify as “circumstantial evidence” when considered along with additional independent evidence.
As in my own investigations, linking George Hodel to the Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short and three weeks later, to the Jeanne French, “Red Lipstick Murder.”
In those investigations, initialed back in 2000, I hired a Questioned Document Expert, Ms. Hannah McFarland, and provided her with more than a dozen known samples of my father, Dr. Geroge Hill Hodel’s handwriting.
I had her conduct a “blind” analysis, by removing any identification to either crime victim and provided her with handwriting samples written by the killer in both the Short and French murders. (Exhibit 50 below.)
The above HW samples were compared to the dozen HW samples of Dr. George Hill Hodel.
Her findings?
Her complete detailed analysis can be found in BDA (Arcade Pub. 2003) in the chapter “Handwriting Analysis” but in brief, Ms. McFarland found that in her expert opinion, Dr. George Hill Hodel wrote at least four of the postcards mailed in by the “Black Dahlia Avenger” as well as the handwriting in lipstick on the body of Jeanne French.
SKH NOTE- As of this date there has been NO QDE that has contradicted Hanna McFarland’s finding of “Highly Probable” (which corresponds to a finding of “virtually certain the HW is the same.”) In a documentary, CBS 48 Hours did hire a QDE and his opinion was “inconclusive” meaning he could not rule Dr. Hodel’s HW “in” or “out”. Unlike McFarland, his was a rush analysis using only several (two or three) of Hodel’s known HW samples. Hanna had more than a dozen samples.)
As I have indicated, I consider this additional finding to be “circumstantial evidence” but highly relevant when taken with the mountain of evidence presented in my eight additional books, with their separate linkage of my father to these and other serial crimes.
I recently received a query from a reader, Tom Balderas as follows:
Hi Steve, just out of curiosity do you think the photo of the girl / ES in the photo album was actually photographed horizontally as opposed to a vertical? In the photo, it looks as though she is standing or propped up against a wall but if you turn it on its side ‘horizontal’ direction it is actually a reclining / laid out girl on a cement floor or perhaps carpet. Was the basement concrete flooring? I hope I’m making the question clear. Tom
Excellent question Tom.
Initially, when I originally examined the photograph, I did believe that she was laying in a supine position on the floor on a carpet. However, in studying the photograph I now believe that she is sitting in an upright position with her back and arm braced against what I believe is one of my father’s upholstered chairs in the living room of the Sowden/Franklin House. Here’s my summary as published in Black Dahlia Avenger II (Thoughtprint Press 2014) pages 83-84.
Setting aside speculation about who appears in Photo No. 2, let’s
take a closer look at the actual photo.
Here’s an enlargement of the No.2 photo and the back of one of the two upholstered chairs that were present in the Sowden/Franklin House living room in January 1947.
Clearly, her upper body and left arm could have been posed against this chair which closely matches the background material in Photo No.2.
SKH Note- As published in my later books/investigation we now know that based on results from one of the world’s leading Facial Recognition Analysis Laboratories, comparing known photographs of Elizabeth Short, Photo No. 2 has been identified with “95-97% certainty that it is the victim, Elizabeth Short. (A “positive ID requires 99.7%)
SKH Note II- In regards to the above Photo No.2 several naysayers who saw it claimed, “the family looked at the photo and said it was not Elizabeth Short. The family eliminated the photo.” IN FACT, only one elderly sister was shown the two album photos side by side and said, “It’s not Elizabeth because she never wore a flower in her hair.” Her comment would indicate she was “eliminating” the other photo in the album which I eliminated fifteen years ago. That sister “witness” had not seen Elizabeth in 58 years since she herself was a teen. (In fact, Elizabeth Short did wear flowers in her hair and photos exist to prove it.) Based on the sister’s statement she well could have been eliminating the George Hodel album photo below (rt.)of “Maganda” true name, Marya Marco whom I identified and eliminated on CNN Anderson Cooper back in 2010. Also, regarding ‘the family eliminated her” the fact is that “the family”: Cleo, Phoebe, Virginia, and Elenora, were all deceased before BDA was published. That leaves two remaining sisters: Muriel, (unknown if she was deceased prior to publication or not), but if still living in 2003, it would have been over fifty years since she saw a photo of her sister as she was born in 1929. That would leave Dorothea, unknown if she was still living, but she would have been in her eighties and would not have seen a photo of her sister for also over fifty years. Finally, I am not aware of any individual that has come forward and identified his or herself as the person obtaining a “photo elimination from the family” or even naming the family member they claim made the elimination. Again, part of the MYTH, “Oh, the Hodel photo was eliminated.” If so, When? By Whom?
Actress, Marya Marco was eliminated by Steve Hodel on CNN Adderson Cooper in 2010. This was done by an in-person interview with Marya in Central California. She indicated that George Hodel got her in films in the 1940s and the photo was taken at the Sowden/Franklin House. She further provided statements that tended to confirm Tamar’s allegation of sexual molestation by her father, George Hodel back in 1949. (See Marya Marco’s statements/interview in BDA II (2014) where she stated that in 1949 she was contacted by GHH who asked her to take care of Tamar for a few days as he was “in trouble.” Marco agreed and Tamar sent by taxi stayed with her for several days and told her, “My daddy was bad to me.”)
Like so many times in the past, a sharp-eyed reader has just discovered and forwarded to me what in actuality is a major new thoughtprint, further linking my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel to the horrific 1938 double torture murders of Hazel and Nancy Frome.
I have just now, included this new “clew”, as a three-page additional text and graphic, in the updated version of the paperback edition, now available for purchase online.
Huge Kudos and my gratitude to my new “partner” for her discovery of a visual crime-scene clue that has been in plain view for all these years.
Have decided by way of a “thank you” to all my loyal readers (consider it an early Xmas present, which I will unwrap for you today) have decided to publish the “new clue” here on the website. For those who have already purchased the print or e-book, here it is.
In the comments section of the original 2019 blog announcing the publication of In The Mesquite “A Reader” wrote:
“I just read the book and have been reading through comments on the blog but I haven’t seen this anywhere: am I the only one who sees the letters “G” and “H” in the positioning of the victims’ arms?”
My answer to “A Reader”- Yes, you were the only one to see this and it is a huge “clew” and thoughtprint. Thank You, Thank you for this additional linkage to G.H.-George Hodel. As in his later killings, the egomaniacal G.H. just could not resist leaving a clue, a thoughtprint to his name at the crime scene.
No police photos exist publicly, showing this positioning, but thanks to the carefully reproduced 1938 crime sketch we see it captured in the illustration.
Here is my editor/author/partner, retired Dallas PD officer Robert Sadler’s graphic to help us aid in seeing how George Hodel positioned the bodies to write out his actual initials, G.H.
Here is a link to the original 2019 announcement of the IN THE MESQUITE publication which includes “A Reader” comment/discovery. (I have asked the anonymous reader for permission to include his/her name so I may credit the writer for the discovery. No response to date.)
As the clock struck twelve and we entered into a New Year, I was wondering just how long it would be before a “new clew” was discovered in one of the many serial crimes attributed to my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel. Would it be a week? Two? A month?
And, to which of his many serial crimes might it be related? The Black Dahlia or one of the many L.A. Lone Woman Murders; The Chicago Lipstick Murders; Manila’s Jigsaw Murder; the San Francisco Bay Area Zodiac Murders; or might it help add to the solution of one of the two dozen, “Early Years Crimes” from the long ago?
Well, my answer came much faster than I had thought.
Here it is, just two days into the new year. The crime? Elizabeth Short, “The Black Dahlia Murder”- Los Angeles 1947.
Sixth Visual Clew Discovered – A Quick Review of 1-5:
Through the years and in the chapters of my previous eight publications, I have presented the Man Ray clews and linkage revealing (during his decade of residency [1940-1951] known as Ray’s “Hollywood Years.”) his and his good friend surrealist’s, (William Copley), knowledge of and connections to George Hodel as the Black Dahlia killer. Here is a brief reminder of those five previous links as a preface to my newest discovery, the sixth visual clew. Consider them as structural building blocks, much like those used by Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. to construct and hold together the walls of his most famous architectural work, “Hollywood’s SowdenHouse” at 5121 Franklin- The actual residence of Dr. Geoge Hill Hodel and family from 1945-1950 and the likely 1947 crime scene of LA’s most infamous murder, that of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short.
Sowden/Hodel residence 1945-1950
Man Ray Linkage No. 1
L’Equivoque painting 1943
Man Ray’s L’Equivoque painting (1943) obviously preceded the murder of Elizabeth Short by four years, still, it is my belief (later substantiated by and documented in the LADA/LAPD Hodel Black Dahlia Files) that Man Ray and George Hodel knew the victim and the painting helps to establish her identity and the fact that she was known to both men. Evidence that Elizabeth Short likely posed for this painting in 1943 has been detailed in my previous writings. As shown above, it is my belief that during the 1947 torture/murder that occurred at the Franklin House, George Hodel copied and surgically carved the above geometrical figure into the victim’s right hip in imitation of the crosshatching in the painted figure’s face in Man Ray’s L’Equivoque painting (1943) along with additional posings and crime signatures referencing other Man Ray artworks such as: (The Minotaure, The Loves Lips). (Above photo right shows victim’s body at LA Coroner’s autopsy.)
Man Ray Linkage No. 2 & No.3
Man Ray/William Copley Secret Linkage/”Alphabet For Adults”-Q for Quarrel
In the 1940s Man Ray and California surrealist William Copley became close friends and Copley opened an art exhibition house, “The Copley Galleries” at 257 N. Canon Drive, in Beverly Hills.
Rene Magritte and Man Ray exhibitions at Copley Galleries, 1949
Included in this exhibition was Man Ray’s painting (above left), Observatory Time, The Lovers (1936) which showed the Paris Observatory with a pair of Man Ray’s former lover, Lee Miller’s lips suspended in air, floating across the horizon.
Lee Miller and Man Ray
Copley’s gallery venture was short-lived his gallery closed within six months. However, his relationship with Man Ray remained active. In 1948 Copley collaborated with Man Ray to publish an art book, “Alphabet for Adults”, containing whimsical illustrations by Man Ray which included each letter of the alphabet.
Of particular interest to us is the book’s letter Q.
Man Ray writes, “Q is for Quarrel.
Graphic by Author/Dallas PD officer (ret.) Robert Sadler
Man Ray Clew No. 3
The drawing upper left depicts “Q” for Quarrel as it appeared in the original 1948 book. It shows a couple in profile, “quarreling” inside the courtyard of Dr. George Hodel’s Sowden/Franklin House, 5121 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood. Also, included is the drawing of a woman’s lower torso with Man Ray’s 1944 sculpture “Object of my affection- The Occulist”, positioned to represent her vagina, as well as an “all-seeing eye, and witness to the couples, “quarrel.”
Man Ray gifted this sculpture to his good friend Dr. George Hodel in 1948 just a year after the Black Dahlia murder.
L’Occuliste on display at Dr. Hodel’s headquarters in Manila, Philippines.
William Copley Clew No. 4
“It’s Midnight Dr. _______.” William Copley (1961)
Graphics by author Robert Sadler
Surrealist William Copley, following his good friend Man Ray’s lead, created his own homage to Dr. George Hodel showing him about to perform the surgical bisection of Elizabeth Short at the Franklin House residence. His “clews” included the actual name HODEL spelled out as surgical tools and the use of simulated tiles to form the painting’s background. Also, we see in the enlargement of the doctor’s hatband the possibility that Copley has again, spelled out the name George Hodel.
Master tiled bathroom at Hodel residence.
Copley went even further by not only copying the master bathroom tiles for the painting’s background but, also cleverly disclosing the murder location’s address. (Note: LAPD believed the surgical bisection occurred in a tub at a private residence where the body could be washed clean, as found posed at the vacant lot.) Copley accomplished this disguised disclosure by making the background a grid of tiles twelve wide by fifteen high or 12×15 which, read backward is: 5121-the actual address of the Hodel residence on Franklin Avenue.
Man Ray Clew No. 5- The Minotaur (1969)
Man Ray lithograph 1969
Man Ray’s drawing of the minotaur shows blood flowing out from the lower torso to form the creature’s body and feet. An artistic visual metaphor referencing the 1947 Black Dahlia bisection and posing by Dr. George Hodel.
Now, with this backgrounding of the five surrealists “clews” let’s take a look and the newly discovered 6th clew, in which Man Ray again takes us directly back to the Hodel residence/crime scene and by name identification to his earlier drawings. NOTE: in French, L’Equivoque can be translated to English as The Equivocation or The Confluence. Both translations at once become enigmatic metaphors for both surrealist expression and surrealist criminal acts.
Man Ray Clew No. 6- L’Equivoque 1950
L’Equivoque 1950
Man Ray drawing 1950
Man Ray’s 1950 sketch, in my opinion, reinforces his earlier 1943 and 1948 visual revelations and again embodies and entombs (literally) victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short as part of the architecture of the George Hodel Sowden/Franklin House. Here again, Man Ray shows us his earlier referenced nude woman, though in this 1950 sketch her head and “hair’ appear to match or simulate the residence’s superstructure, becoming part of it. Not unlike the use of the Sowden House’s interior courtyard’s facade in “Q for Quarrel”.
To the left of her naked body (above) we see dark lines that to my mind resemble “dripping blood.” The original sketch shows Man Ray chose the color burnt sienna, a reddish brown (below right) to depict the outlines of her body and the lines at the side, which is about as close to the color of real blood as one can get.
Agreed, art is subjective, as to the intent of the artist (if the artist’s intent has not been personally revealed) and the interpretation is left to each viewer. However, when taken holistically this 6th clew, (drawn in 1950, the very year that his good friend was tape-recorded by the DA/LAPD confessing to the Black Dahlia Murder and was about to be arrested and fled the country) must be considered among Man Ray’s winks and nods to his fellow surrealist’s acknowledging Dr. George Hill Hodel’s 1947 murderous masterpiece of the macabre. That is to say, Man Ray, through his own art, acknowledges George Hodel and pays homage to him as the creator of the ultimate example of Murder as a Fine Art.
P.S.
To those who might find these Man Ray links to the Sowden/Hodel residence farfetched, I here add my good friend LW’s blog comment and insight in response.
Luigi Warren 1/6/23:
“That melding of a human figure with architectural features, e.g., the battlements of a castle, crops up a few times in MR’s drawings. Other examples: Les Tours d’Eliane, Le Point Neuf and his Imaginary Portrait of D. A. F. de Sade.” -LW
And, right on the heels of Clew No. 6 (four days) comes CLEW NO. 7 another Man Ray/William Copley “production”.
See the graphic below for Images 1 through 5.
In 1933 Surrealist Man Ray painted “Observatory Time, The Lovers” (Image 3), showing the outsized bright red lips of his former lover and muse, Lee Miller, floating in the skies above the Paris observatory. This became one of Man Ray’s most famous images.
In 1947, twenty-two-year-old, Elizabeth Short, (known to the world as “The Black Dahlia”) was tortured, mutilated, murdered and her body surgically bisected and posed in an open field near some six miles south of Dr. George Hodel’s residence at 5121 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California.
Included as one of the ghastly mutilations to Elizabeth’s body was the surgically well-rounded incision carved into her cheeks which extended on both sides of her mouth,
Elizabeth Short’s body at the vacant lot. Clearly, the incision can be seen as carefully rounded
and not the mythological “jagged cutting” which was later photographed at the Coroner’s Office after
sutures were sewn into the mouth to close the wound after the autopsy was performed.
As indicated in my previous writings it is my opinion that these were deliberate wounds in imitation of my father’s good friend, Man Ray’s earlier artworks. Specifically his “Observatory Time, The Lovers”). “The Minotaur” and his painting, “L’Equivoque” to which it is believed the victim, Elizabeth Short personally posed for the painting in 1943.
In 1961, William Copley (friend to both Man Ray and Dr. Hodel), painted, “It’s Midnight, Dr.____” (Image 4). In this painting, we see two human figures. In the upper left, we see a male wearing a hat and holding what is clearly a “doctor’s bag” in his right hand.
At the bottom of the painting, we see a nude female, lying on her back beneath a background of ‘tiles’. (As previously noted in my writings and blogs, the man’s hat may well conceal and spell out the name GEORGE HODEL in block letters in the horizontal and vertical lines in the hatband.
Finally in the upper right of the painting are five surgical instruments that in my opinion again spell out the name HODEL M.D.
In 1999, after the death of my father, his wife June, gave me his personal photo album. (Image 1).
My father’s album contained numerous photographs of family members, my grandfather, my mother, and my brothers. All were taken by my father and developed and likely printed in his personal darkroom at the Franklin residence.
In looking at the face of the young unidentified female in my father’s photo album (Image 2), I asked June if she knew this person? Her response was, “No. Somebody your father knew long ago.”
Two days after receiving the album, in a phone conversation with my half-sister, Tamar, I was informed by her that “The police that took me to court from Juvenile Hall in the Incest Trial back in 1949 told me they thought our father had committed the “Black Dahlia Murder.”
Thus began my investigation in 1999 to show my father could not have committed the horrendous crime which as we know, led me in exactly the opposite direction, resulting in a massive amount of clews and evidence linking my father, George Hill Hodel, MD as the killer of Elizabeth Short, as well as the eventual uncovering of the secret Hodel/Black Dahlia Files locked in the DA’s vault for fifty-five years.
My investigation led me to believe that the photo (Image 2) in my father’s photo album (Image 1) was likely Elizabeth Short.
I believe the photo (Image 2/2a), was taken late at night or early morning of the actual torture murder on January 14-15, 1947. In my opinion, the victim was likely drugged and unconscious when posed against an upholstered chair in the living room/office at our then-home at 5121 Franklin Avenue. (Later the secret Hodel Black Dahlia Files and other police documents established that my mother and we three boys were away for several weeks staying with our uncle in Los Angeles during the January 14-15 time period.)
Dr. Frischholz’s original findings of a “90-95% match to Image 2 to known photos of Elizabeth Short have now in 2023 increased to a “95-98% probability” the photograph is Elizabeth Short due to improved advances in computer technology.
It is highly probable that the GHH photo (Image 2/2a) was staged and taken by my father prior to the victim’s actual murder. It is my belief that in preparation to taking the photograph, George Hodel, using lipstick actually drew and reproduced his good friend Man Ray’s Lovers Lips over the victim’s own lips. (Image 2b).
It is also my belief that William Copley, in addition to the above-mentioned “clews” went a step further and revealed his knowledge of Dr. Hodel’s homage to Man Ray’s “Lover’s Lips” cuttings to the victim’s mouth and included a “back at you” in his own artwork. I believe he has literally drawn the “Lover’s Lips” on the face in his own painting and put them on the face of the killer, Dr. George Hodel.
In the graphic (Image 2b), red color is superimposed over the lips in black and white (Image 2a) to demonstrate the similarity between (Image 3b and Image 2b1).
Likewise extracted from Copley’s “It’s Midnight, Dr.____” is the head (Image 4) of the male figure identified as George Hodel, MD whose figurative lips appear to simulate the lips in Man Ray’s “Observatory Time, The Lovers”. Images 4a, 4b, and 4c are progressively larger views of Image 4. And the lips in Image 4c were superimposed with red to demonstrate their similarity to Image 3.
Man Ray was hugely despondent and heartbroken when his muse and lover, Lee Miller rejected and left him. He immortalized her in one of his most famous artworks. Fellow surrealist George Hodel also paid tribute to his wannabe lover, Elizabeth Short, who rejected his advances. How? By slow horrific torture, and then posing her as his “surreal masterpiece” and immortalizing her in death as one of the world’s most horrific murders ever committed-establishing his crime signature of “Murder As a Fine Art.”
The close connections of GHH to Man Ray to William Copley are undeniable and well documented. Each is paying secret and surreal homage to the other. Winks and nods hidden in their separate artworks and only now, some seventy-five years later, do we, the public, ‘get it”.
Author’s Note- Huge KUDOS to Robert Sadler, who has been assisting me in creating graphics (as above) for over a decade. Robert, a retired Dallas Police Officer, mystery writer, poet, and photographer has been my “partner” and I couldn’t ask for a better friend and “sidekick”. Mucho Gras Amigo.
Would like to welcome and introduce Rima to my readers. I have just brought her “on board” to Hodel Investigations as my new “partner” and she will begin work on January 15, 2023. (As we all know that is a rather momentous day in the investigative history of this company.)
Rima was born and raised in the Great Northwest, in Skagit County, just fifty miles south of my new home here in Birch Bay, WA.
She’s young, but very energetic and highly motivated and will be on probation for a year as a detective trainee, but I predict she will quickly promote to Detective I.
Rima types, is fluent both in English and Spanish, super computer savvy and will initially be assigned to do background checks and newspaper archival research.
My “partner” search has been ongoing for the past year since I relocated to Birch Bay, and has finally paid off BIGTIME.
Welcome aboard “Rima. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Now let’s hit the streets. This first week you will be riding shotgun.
Here are a few recent pictures of my new partner.
First meet and introduction at Skagit Valley Humane Society this last Tuesday
January 15, 2023
Birch Bay, Washington
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday (January 15, 1929)
Today is the 76th anniversary of the kidnap/torture/murder of Elizabeth Short, better known to the world as, “The Black Dahlia”.
Here is a short summary interview (7 minutes) I did a few years ago for the Today Show Australia.
For those that want a more detailed summary here are two interviews I did the first is a video with Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker on their show: Media Path Podcast. My interview begins at 8.5 mins into the show and runs for about 50 mins. See the link below:
The second is an audio interview with Dr. Alan Campbell (Apple podcast) that also provides a deeper look, but again, way too much to try and cover in 45mins. Dr. Campbell link to the apple podcast below:
The Early Years: The Further Serial Crimes of George Hill Hodel M.D. (Part I (the 1920s) and Part II (the 1930s)as AUDIO BOOKS.*
*(Both Audiobooks include PDF with full text and graphics.)
But, more than that, they are read by Award Winning Narrator, Malcolm Hillgartner. (Malcolm read my earlier books, Most Evil I (Dutton 2009) and Most Evil II (Rare Bird Books 2015).
I have just proof-listened to both books and Malcolm as usual presents us with a masterful performance. A consummate professional, and more “he really gets it” and his understanding comes through in every sentence.
In my humble opinion, in the world of audio narration, there is simply, none better than Malcolm.
Malcolm Hillgartner
Malcolm Hillgartner is an accomplished actor, writer, and songwriter. He has narrated over 265 audiobooks, with a 2017 SOVAS VoiceArts award, an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013 award, and 6 Earphones awards to his credit. With his wife Jahnna, he wrote the bestselling fantasy book series The Jewel Kingdom, which is currently in development at Bron Studios.
And here’s an excerpt from a January 1, 2014 interview by Jeff Pearlman where Malcolm is describing the “how to” on the art of book narration. M.H.=Malcolm Hillgartner:
…
Book I (1920s) (Both Books Include PDF Full Text (over 400 pages each and Graphics)Book II (1930s)
Sample of Audiobook- The Early Years Introduction by Malcolm Hillgartner
AUDIO BOOK PART I & II
Available on most major retailers, libraries, and apps such as: Audible, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Audiobooks.com, Overdrive, iTunes, Scribd, Downpour, Libro, Barnes & Noble, Spotify, Chirp, and more.
Once again my many thanks to a reader for forwarding new information on our ongoing investigation into the life and crimes of my father, George Hill Hodel, M.D.
I received the below email message from Charles D, yesterday:
Steve,
Thought you might find this interesting. I found the 1950 census entry for you dad. Lots of “guests” in Franklin house. This seems to have been collected on March 12th but it is hard to read (upper right-hand corner).
Hope all is well up North!
Chuck!
1950 Census for 5121 Franklin Ave, Hollywood CA.
SKH Note: Since 1930 the U.S. Census collection date began on April 1 of each decade. I read the date as “April 12, 1950, and “Checked by Crew Leader on April 13, 1950.” This would have been just two weeks after the final entry in the “LADA Hodel-Black Dahlia Bugging Tape Recordings on March 27, 1950.” (The LADA/LAPD stakeout likely continued, for some time after this date, but apparently pages were missing from the original DA file as to any “after action” ie. removal of hard microphones from the residence.)
Many thanks to Chuck for finding and forwarding this fascinating document.
Let’s take a closer look and see what it might reveal.
The named residents at our family home on the date the census was taken in April 1950 and their identifying information as reported in the census. His “house guests” were five woman ranging in ages from 15-42.
George H. Hodel (Head of household) White, Male, age 42, divorced, born in California, showed ‘worked 20 hours the previous week, profession listed as “surgeon”, a medical doctor.”
Shirley F. Rappaport “Guest” White, Female, age 23, born in Illinois.
(This “guest’s” name I believe was mentioned somewhere in the 3000+ pages of my ongoing twenty-three-year investigation, but darned if I can find it at this time.)
Goodee Montgomery, “Guest”, White, Female, age 35, divorced, born in Missouri, worked 30 hours the previous week, profession artist. (While Goodee gave her stated age as “35” official records show she was born on March 28, 1906, which would mean she had just celebrated her 44th birthday.)
Chagud, Alicia C. “Guest” White, Female, age 42, separated, born in Costa Rica, profession seamstress, clothing factory.
Chagud, Wilma T., “Guest”, White, Female, 18, never married, born in Costa Rica, worked 40 hours the previous week, profession file clerk, Insurance company.
Chagud, Sonia “Guest”, White Female, 15, never married, born in Costa Rica.
Interestingly, “Guest No. 3” was a Hollywood film actress and watercolor artist, Ms. Goodee Montgomery. She was active in the 1930s. Goodee was married to American film and television director, Frank Burgess McDonald, who directed over 100 films, mostly Westerns starring film legends, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
I would like to here include “Charles D’s” further observations due to the fact that they add additional valuable thoughts and insights re. GHH’s listing of himself on the 1950 Census as “Surgeon.” I quote him verbatim, with minor editing to respect his privacy:
What is interesting to me is there are several neighbors who are also doctors who describe themselves as ” Physician Medical Doctor” on the same page, so this wasn’t the census taker inserting their prefered term.
The hand wringing over the term “Surgeon” is specious at best–a great example of presentism as they say in the history profession.
The term “Physician and Surgeon” is still used in the California Business and Professions Code and MDs are still given a “Physicians and Surgeons license”. More importantly, most people today have no idea how medicine was practiced in the era before antibiotics. Remember people with mastoid scars? You don’t see them anymore, and most people have never seen them, because of antibiotics.
As you demonstrated through your dad’s UCSF transcripts, everyone who attended medical school in the first half of the 20th century had way more surgical training than in the last 40 years because even family doctors were doing way, way more cutting. This changed when minor ailments could be treated with antibiotics instead of being drained or excised.
Also, medical specialization was much less formal or rigid than it is now. Doctors could change specialties much more easily (like your dad moving to psych) than they can today. Modern practice requires that you complete a residency and then pass boards for a specialty. In the early 20th century these things were more fluid. A good example of this was Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was doing neurosurgery at the family hospital in the 1950s with training that today might qualify a doctor to be a general surgeon.
Thanks again to “Charles D” for his in-depth comments and observations.
Dr. George Hill Hodel at 5121 Franklin Ave, 1950 at the time Census was taken
This is Part II of the original blog posted on January 27, 2023.
Part I Here: (https://stevehodel.com/2023/01/28/1950-los-angeles-census-names-guests-staying-at-surgeon-george-hodels-sowden-franklin-house/)
(SKH Note- Karen Smith comes highly recommended for any forensic investigation or expert crime scene testimony and has relocated her business to Los Angeles, California.)
Huge Kudos and thanks to the Eagle Eyes and near-photographic memory of one of my favorite P.I.’s, Karen Smith, retired detective extraordinaire from Jacksonville S.O., Florida, forensic expert, lecturer and fellow U.S. Navy veteran.
Karen caught what I missed and is responsible for adding the below additional information capturing the “guests” interactions at the Sowden House with GHH during the six-week LADA Hodel/Black Dahlia Bugging of the residence.
Karen recalled the name “Chagud” and pointed me to pages 129-130 of the official secret transcripts. The officers record GHH making calls for Wilma Chagud, the 18-year-old daughter attempting to find her a live-in roommate at the Hodel residence to “share the rent.”
Complete Electronic DA/LAPD Stakeout transcript and my investigative summary/notes ORDER HERE (Kindle or Paperback)
SKH Note- We know from my mother’s August 3rd telegram and follow-up letters to her ex-husband, John Huston that same month that she (and we three boys) returned to the house in the summer of 1950. Her communications to John were clearly coming from a place of fear and terror that George would physically harm the four of us. As best I can tell, George Hodel permanently left the country in the summer and fled to the then Territory of Hawaii, where he accepted a job at the Territorial Hospital.
Have had several inquiries asking. “How is Rima’s detective training coming along?”
She’s doing very well thanks. Her rating this past month remains in the “Upper 10%” and she has a natural ability at “stealth searches.” The below photographs show her in action “in the field” as she silently approaches a suspect who she believed was in possession of contraband. Based on her probable cause (the nose knows) she immediately conducted a “patdown” search of his person. (Turns out it was a biscuit, but no harm, no foul.)
Man Ray and Juliet Browner (top) and Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning (bottom)
celebrate October 25, 1946, double marriages in Beverly Hills, California.
The photo was taken on that date by famed portrait photographer Florence Homolka
Los Angeles records show they were married on October 23, 1946.
Critics of my investigation have claimed for decades that Man Ray did not leave Los Angeles until 1951, some four years after the brutal murder of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short that occurred on January 15, 1947.
Recent documented records prove otherwise. While I have yet to discover their actual departure date from Los Angeles, travel records show that Man Ray and Juliet returned from Paris, France via TWA Flight 84717 arriving in New York on September 17, 1947. (Making an educated guess I would estimate the Rays left LA sometime in June 1947, likely for the expressed purpose of attending their good friend Marcel Duchamp’s “Le Surrealisme en 1947 Exhibition’ in Paris, France which was on display in July-August 1947. See below for further details.)
On January 15, 1947 LAPD detectives responded to the “dump site” (not actual original crime scene) and photographed victim’s posed and tortured body, bisected at the waist. The right breast had been surgically removed and was not recovered at the location and its whereabouts was never discovered.
As detailed in Black Dahlia Avenger I, II and III strong linkage and evidence that the crime was committed by Dr. George Hodel. Further, that these close friends Man Ray, Juliet Man Ray, William Copely, and most probably Marcel Duchamp all KNEW of the crime and that their friend, Dr. Hodel committed it as his ultimate “surreal masterpiece.”
A few months after the January 1947 “Black Dahlia” occurred Marcel Duchamp created his “Please Touch” art object, (a surgically bisected woman’s breast) and it became the cover piece for his exhibition in Paris in July/August of the same year.
Marcel Duchamp and Enrico Donati – Priere de toucher (Please Touch) Paris Exhibition July-August 1947
Victim Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short
Coroner’s Office Crime scene, Los Angeles
The 2023 asking price is $50,000 for the original 1947 publication with foam breast on the cover.
The volume includes contributions by: Dorothea Tanning, Max Ernst, Henry Miller (all personal friends/acquaintances of Dr. George Hill Hodel)
This new documentation clearly shows that Man Ray and his new wife, Juliet traveled to Paris, France in the weeks or months preceding his good friend Marcel Duchamp’s exhibition and returned shortly after the exhibition closed in August 1947. Included in the Duchamp exhibition were artworks created by both Dorothea Tanning and her new husband, Max Ernst. While it would seem likely that they also traveled to Paris to view the exhibit, documentation has yet to be found confirming my suspicions.
Here is a short bio/obituary on Max Ernst’s death at age 85. Ernst was married four times, including to art collector, Peggy Guggenheim who helped Ernst come to America in 1940. (Same year that Man Ray arrived in the United States.)
Murder loomed as a possibility today in the death of an auburn-haired ex-showgirl whose nude body was found in an East Third St. hotel on a tip to The Mirror that the Black Dahlia killer had struck again.
The woman was tentatively identified as Lucille Bowen, former Folies dancer also known as Lucille Hodges.
…A man who gave the name of James Johnson when he registered at the hotel with the showgirl earlier in the night was sought after a preliminary examination showed she apparently had been beaten about the face.
There were deep bruises around the left eye and extending down into the cheek. There was also an abrasion in the skin below the lower lip and a bruise on the left shoulder.
Meanwhile, possession by the woman of courtesy cards from two former vice squad officers was under investigation.
The body was discovered by Mirror reporters after a man who refused to give his name telephoned at 4:06 a.m. that the “Black Dahlia killer” had slain again.
The man with whom the woman had registered several hours earlier had vanished when investigators arrived.
The suspect signed in with the victim as “Mr.&Mrs. James Johnson”
Courtesy cards found in the woman’s purse were those of Officer C.O. Smith, formerly of Central vice squad, and R.E. Myers, formerly of the administrative vice squad. Smith’s card bore the message, “Introducing Lucille Bowen, a good friend of mine. Any courtesy extended her will be appreciated.” Myers’ card had similar wording.
…
Mirror reporters investigating the anonymous tip found the woman, auburn-haired and about 35 years old, sprawled under covers on a bed in Room 206 of the St. George Hotel, 115 E. Third St.
… The face bore bruises, indicating she had been struck heavily at least twice.
Desk clerk Ralph Myers, 46, told police the woman and a man he described as short, slim, partly bald, and about 40, had appeared at the hotel shortly before midnight without luggage. The man, he said, signed the register, “Mr. and Mrs. James Johnson.” They went up to the room immediately. Myers said, and he did not see the man leave.
… Among papers in the purse was a certificate from a physician with offices in the Stack Bldg., 228 W. Fourth St., dated May 12, and saying, “Lucille Bowen has been found free of infectious disease.”
…
Scrawled on scraps of paper in the purse were the names and addresses of a half dozen men.
Downtown Los Angeles 1949
On October 25, 1949, the date Martin writes his letter accusing George Hodel of the murders of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short and Louise Springer and the body of victim Lucille Bowen (Hodges) is found at the St. George Hotel, GHH is in court and on trial at the Hall of Justice. As the above map shows, GHH’s First Street Clinic and the St. George Hotel and the trial court are just short blocks from each other.
The suspect:
Naysayers can easily jump on this one’s “an easy elimination of Dr. George Hill Hodel. ” I mean handwriting doesn’t even look close and the description, of “Mr. Johnson was, ” short, slim, partly bald, and about 40. Other than the age (GHH had just turned 42) nothing fits. ” “If the man don’t fit you must acquit.”
Not quite so fast.
I found this article printed in the Los Angeles Times a day later.
It is basically a rehash of information printed in the Mirror article the day prior, but with a few additional pieces of information:
1. “Police identified her fingerprints as those of a dancer, Rena Lucille Hodge, who was arrested at 337 S. Main St. in December 1944, with nine others on charges of contributing to delinquency of minors by presenting a lewd show. Police records indicate she was a striking beauty at that time, coming here from Oklahoma City to enter motion pictures.”
2. Autopy by Dr. Newbarr “death due to liver ailment induced by heavy drinking. Heavy bruises about the head and face, but Newbarr stated, “She had not been injured fatally.”
(I can hear the LAPD homicide detectives now. An LA Confidential conversation by the homicide detectives at the autopsy goes something like this. “Come on Doc. Give us a break. It’s borderline huh? We got a rummy dead whore in a flophouse who was busted a few years back for showing her tush to some kids. A down-and-out loser and the Department can’t take another “Black Dahlia” suspected murder. The press is all over our ass now. New Chief is transferring us all over the city. Cut us some slack. She died from the booze right?”)
3. The article goes on to say, “She had registered at the hotel at 115 E 3rd St. the night before with an unidentified man, according to Ralph Myers, room clerk.”
It was very likely “Lucille’ was prostituting, and took the” short balding trick” to the room and showed him her medical record, “Dr. say’s I’m free from disease” (found in her purse} and “Mr. Johson” was literally “in and out”- probably gone in 30 minutes max. An attractive prostitute, once she has a room, will more often than not have multiple tricks (2 or 3) prior to “check out” time.
The fact that she registered “the night before” gives her plenty of time to meet a second or third trick, “Mr. Wrong” and become another “Lone Woman Murder Victim.”
The suspect attacks and kills her, and phones the police “at 4:06 am”, just as he had phoned James Richardson, the Editor of the Los Angeles Examiner saying, “This is the Black Dahlia killer” and promising to send him “some of her personal belongings. (Which he did.)
One of the most curious pieces of information, for the most part, ignored, was a statement attributed to the victim in the October 25, 1949, Mirror article that read:
“Friends said the onetime showgirl often had voiced a premonition that she would meet the fate of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, whose mutilated body was found in January 1947, and whose murder never has been solved.”
(Ironically, an adjacent article describes LAPD officer Audre Davis in Charles Stoker/Brenda Allen Scandal quitting job ‘for personal reasons.”
So, while the information is minimal and became a “case closed” within just several days with the Coroner’s calling it a “natural death” one has to be concerned.
A very attractive woman, dancer, wannabe actress, possibly a confidential informant to LAPD Vice, concerned she will be killed just like the “Black Dahlia.” Found with heavy trauma to the body in a DTLA hotel room and mentioned in and by a known LAPD confidential informant W. Glenn Martin in his written letter identifying his personal acquaintance Dr. George Hill Hodel as the killer of the Black Dahlia and a second Lone Woman Murder victim, Louise Springer, also known to both Hodel and himself.
“Hannibal Lector Meets LA Confidential in Chinatown”
That’s how a producer (whose name I forget) who read my book Black Dahlia Avenger back in 2003 described it. How right he was! Here’s the kicker to today’s blog. How I missed in my writing of the Afterword Chapter – “Out Of The Past” in Black Dahlia Avenger III pages 241-293 (Rare Bird Books 2018) beats the hell out of me, but I did. Only in reviewing these newly discovered articles did the lightbulb go on.
W. Glenn Martin’s handwritten letter was written the day victim Rena Lucille Hodge body was found in the DTLA hotel (October 25-6, 1949) and sealed, with instructions only to be opened in case of the death of either of his daughters. His letter was never discovered until opened by his granddaughter Sandi Nichols some sixty-nine years later. (Sandi contacted me and sent me the original letter and envelope, which remains in my custody. Martin’s full three-page letter is reproduced in BDA III.)
W. Glenn Martin 1954
In addition to naming “GH” as the Black Dahlia killer as well as naming him as the killer of Louise Springer, murdered just six months earlier on June 13, 1049, who both Hodel and Martin knew as an acquaintance.
Martin in his letter then (re. victim Bowen/Hodges) goes on to say:
“I have friends in Coroners office who in talking next AM Let me see the body, as do a lot of those known on jury there, see. I near came sick at sight. …The papers in Coroner’s office name police officers present in case. Of course People from Okl. Were sent word of a Lucille Bowen. (Hodges) death.
Incredibly, we now discover that not only did LAPD Confidential Undercover Informant W. Glenn Martin, name his friend Dr. George Hodel “GH” in multiple killings, and implicate LAPD officers in protecting and covering up for Hodel, but also had enough “juice” to be able to actually go and view victim Lucille Bowen Hodges body at the Hall of Justice and “became sick at the sight.”
The perceptive film producer back in 2003 nailed it for sure- “Hannibal Lector Meets LA Confidential in Chinatown”
Below poem “Inference” was written by eighteen-year-old George Hodel in 1925 and describes how he was “born in sin”..on a dark night as the sky darkened dismally.” Young George published his poem under the pseudonym, “Vernon Morel.” The poem is excerpted from my audiobook, “The Early Years- Part I (1920s) and is read by Malcolm Hillgartner.
George Hodel aka “Vernon Morel”
George Hodel’s Review of Ben Hecht’s novel, “The Kingdom of Evil”
In the weeks following the Black Dahlia murder on January 15, 1947, my mother, Dorothy Huston Hodel was having an ongoing affair with well-known screenwriter, Rowland Brown. Rowland had worked with and was good friends with fellow Hollywood screenwriters, Ben Hecht and Steve Fisher. Brown would have very likely been “the source” for both Hecht and Fisher knowing that George Hodel was the actual killer.
Screenwriter Ben Hecht
A close friend of Steve Fisher and Rowland Brown, screenwriter, Ben Hecht (his 1925 novel “Kingdom of Evil” reviewed by George Hodel) reveals he knows the killer’s name.
Los Angeles Herald-Express
February 1, 1947
“I know the name of the killer and the psychology of his deed. There is only one form of hatred that can equal in violence the symbolizing rage of the lunatic–and what that hatred is I will leave unsaid.”
Screenwriter Steve Fisher
A close friend of Ben Hecht and Rowland Brown, screenwriter, Steve Fisher reveals he knows the killer’s name and believes police also know the identity of the man who slew Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short.
Herald Express, February 3, 1947 “Noted Film Scenarist Predicts ‘Dahlia Killer Will Soon Be in Toils”
“By following the case in the Evening Herald I think I know who the killer is, and think the police do also, and in a very short time will have his name. When the killer’s name is published I think all of his friends will be very surprised and terrified. I think he is still in Los Angeles. When arrested his attorneys will plead insanity, but the killer will be his own worst enemy. He will not want people to think he is crazy. He is an egomaniac.
I believe that the killer believed that the Dahlia had wronged him, and because of his punctured ego, she had to be exposed. People had to know it. Vengeance had to complete itself. That is why he tortured her and chopped her up in ways so gruesome that many of the revolting details have not been revealed, even with all that has been printed about the Dahia.
… I believe the police right now have a definite “line” on the real killer…Look for a thriller finish to this case.”
Just tonight I received a fun recording of my “Irish Twin” brother, Kelvin “Kelly” Hodel giving a short talk about his experience as a Navy Corpsman, attached to the Marines in the late 1950s. I had never heard it and really enjoyed hearing him give his first-person harrowing account of a few days back circa 1960. (See below link to hear him read his nine-minute narration.)
Kelly Hodel narrates a jumping-off point in his teen years. Click HERE.
My younger brother’s given name was George Kelvin Hodel, (named after our father), and was born in Los Angeles on October 4, 1942. (Our mother shortly after his birth only spoke his name as “Kelvin”, which as he grew older became “Kelly”. My older brother Michael and I would not discover his first name was actually “George” until I, in my research, obtained a copy of his birth certificate which was quite late in both our lives. (Only now can we understand why our mother, with the knowledge that she carried and buried deep in her heart, had no desire for her third son to bear the name of our father.)
My brother, Kelly, just turned eighty and only eleven months younger than myself, lives with his wife, Angel in West Los Angeles.
Kelly and Angel
I would here like to take this opportunity to introduce my readers to my brother Kelly and give you a deeper understanding of a brother that I love and respect and who has lived a very unique and fun-filled life, which like all of us Hodel’s, has not been without its ‘challenges.”
Of we three brothers, Michael (the eldest born in ’39; myself born in ’41, and Kelvin born in ’42), Kelly was the natural-born charmer and the one that always got the girls. Movie star handsome, the number of hearts he broke growing up can never be counted.
Below are three separate photographs each taken by well-known modernist artists of the “Hodel Boys”. (Galka Scheyer; Man Ray; Edmund Teske.)
I won’t attempt to bio my brother’s remarkable life other than to provide a few highlights of his remarkable service to our fellow Angelenos.
Born at Queen of Angeles Hospital near DTLA in 1942
Joined USN at seventeen to “see the world”
Married and had two children, Kelli Jean and David, with his first wife.
Lived life on the “cutting edge” in Venice, California as a young man in “The Sixties”
Gifted musician, played guitar, and wrote his own songs/ballads
Actively engaged in LA’s counter-culture and helped start most of the original “Free Clinics” in Los Angeles and became a Liaison-Administrator for LA County and lectured on the need for additional clinics throughout SoCal.
LA Times Oct 15, 1970
Attended college and obtained his RN and was employed at the LA VA Administration
Met and married fellow RN Angel and the two currently reside in West Los Angeles
With the passing of our father (suicide/pills at age 91) and mother (heart attack at age 76) and older brother Michael ( cancer in 1986 at the young age of 47) Kelly and I are privileged to be alive and to enter our Eighties together as witnesses to and the sharing of a most remarkable journey.
Much Love Bro.
Wikipedia Bio on Hodel Family photographer, Galka Scheyer HERE
Wikipedia Bio on Hodel Family photographer, Man Ray HERE
Wikipedia Bio on Hodel Family photographer, Edmund Teske HERE
“D” written by the killer of Jeanne French 1947-compare to-“D” written by Dr. G. Hodel to me in 1995
The above HW samples were compared to the dozen HW samples of Dr. George Hill Hodel.
Graphic by author 
Graphic by Author/Dallas PD officer (ret.) 
Graphics by author Robert Sadler
Man Ray lithograph 1969
Man Ray drawing 1950
Graphic by 
Man Ray and Juliet Browner (top) and Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning (bottom)
The suspect signed in with the victim as “Mr.&Mrs. James Johnson”
(Ironically, an adjacent article describes LAPD officer Audre Davis in Charles Stoker/Brenda Allen Scandal quitting job ‘for personal reasons.”
George Hodel aka “Vernon Morel”
Screenwriter Ben Hecht
Screenwriter Steve Fisher
Kelly age-32
Kelly with my son Michael early 1980s
Kelly and Steve circa 2004
