April 25, 2025
Birch Bay, Washington
“All of the evidence was gone from that case. (1947 murder of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short)
I worked Hollywood for a long time. You see so many young people come to Hollywood with dreams in their eyes and unfortunately this gets sidetracked and derailed and they end up having their dreams shattered and opens them up for bad things to happen in their life.
In my opinion, that case (Black Dahlia) will never get solved baring somebody cleaning out their house and finding decades before some sort of reference to it. (Black Dahlia Murder).”
LAPD Detective III David Lambkin (ret.)
(Former Supervisor in charge of Cold Case Unit)
2025 Los Angeles Times Interview
Once again, in the “You Can’t Make This Shi# Up Catagory, we find ourselves staring down the Black Dahlis, Black Hole in amazement.
The above quote comes from Detective III David Lambkin which he made just one month ago in an article in the Los Angeles Times.
Det. Lambkin was one of the LAPD detectives present in 2003, when I and Head Deputy DA Steve Kay, briefed the top command officers on my Black Dahlia investigation.
He made no comments during the briefing, but was and remained a strong opponent of my findings (though never having read my extensive investigation) and was one of the officers who, when ordered by Deputy Chief James McMurray (then the No.2 command officer on LAPD, and Chief of Detectives) to “go ahead and clear the Black Dahlia case based on Det. III Steve Hodel’s findings,” ignored the order, knowing Chief McMurray was about to retire in six months.
Det. Lambkin, as head of the Cold Case Unit, excuse was, “We are too busy with other cases to look at Steve Hodel’s investigation.” (That has remained the case for the past twenty-two years.)
We now fast forward some 22-years, and retired Det.III Lambkin, having never read my investigation, and totally unaware of the discovery in 2009 of the Glenn Martin Letter’s existence, after giving a false and perpetuating endorsement of the myth that suggested that Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia came to Hollywood “with dreams in her eyes ..” opening her up to “have bad things happen.” Incredibly, goes on to say:
“the Black Dahlia case will never be solved baring somebody cleaning out their house and finding decades before some sort of reference to it.”
What follows is the Discovery Channel, Expedition Files reportage of my 2009 documentation of Glenn Martin’s granddaughter, Sandi Nichols, discovery after “cleaning out her house and finding decades before some sort of reference to it.” (Black Dahlia)
A reader has just sent me a link to a promotional clip for the Discovery Channel Expedition Files (I haven’t seen it yet and was unaware of its production)
that apparently yesterday aired their opening season with an episode on my Black Dahlia investigation, focused on the discovery of the Glenn Martin Letter.
Glenn Martin Letter (photos by Steve Lawrence, South Pasadenan newspaper)
For those of you that have read or been following my investigation, Glenn Martin was a LAPD paid undercover informant working directly with the LAPD’s brand new Intelligence Division formed in 1949, and headed by then Inspector William “Whiskey Bill” Parker (soon to be appointed LAPD Chief in 1950.) The unit was supervised by Parker’s No.1 man, Lt. Kenneth McCauley, who figures prominently in Martin’s letter describing the coverup and protecting of “GH.” In Martin’s letter he not only identifies his known acquaintance “GH” as the killer of the “Black Dahlia” but also fingers “GH” for the June 1949 kidnap/torture murder of L.A. Lone Murder victim, Louise Springer.
This letter was written and sealed, to be opened “only in case of the death” of one of his two daughters. Martin was fearful they would be killed by “GH” should he find out Martin was an LAPD paid informant. Martin’s daughters were never harmed back in 1949-1950 and “GH” left the country in 1950, so the letter was never opened until found some sixty years later by Martin’s granddaughter, Sandi Nichols, who contacted and sent me the original purloined letter.
Journalist’s Anne and Daniel Vasquez.
In 2018, veteran journalists Anne and Daniel Vasquez (featured and interviewed in yesterday’s Discovery Expedition Files) met with me and for six intensive weeks worked on preparing and writing an article that appeared in the South Pasadenan newspaper. See original article HERE.
Here in her own words, written yesterday on her LinkedIn page, is how Anne Vasquez described those six weeks back in 2018:
The post The Purloined Letter-Discovery Channel Expedition Files Opens New Season Featuring the Black Dahlia George Hodel 1949 “Martin Letter” in which LAPD Paid Undercover Informant Identifies Killer as “GH” appeared first on Steve Hodel.