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MILITARY
BOOKS
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Steve Hodel
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Detective Steve Hodel, LAPD (ret.) “was born
and raised in Los Angeles, California. He
served four years as a medic in the U.S. Navy,
and then joined the Los Angeles Police
Department in 1963. After six years in uniform
patrol, he transferred to Hollywood Division
Detectives where he worked all of the "tables":
Burglary, Robbery, Auto-Theft, Juvenile, Crimes
against Persons and was then permanently
assigned to the Homicide Detail. During his
career at Hollywood Homicide, Steve promoted to
Detective II and in 1983 was the senior field
homicide detective. During his years of service
he received more than 75 commendations and
handled over 300 separate murder investigations
and had one of the departments highest "solve
rates. " Steve promoted to Detective III (the
highest attainable rank in detectives) and
retired from LAPD in 1986.” Detective Steve
Hodel is the author of Black Dahlia
Avenger II: Presenting the Follow-Up
Investigation and Further Evidence Linking Dr.
George Hill Hodel to Los Angeles's Black Dahlia
and other 1940s- LONE WOMAN MURDERS, Black
Dahlia Avenger: The True Story, Most Evil:
Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders
of Dr. George Hill Hodel and Thicker' N
Thieves: The 1950 Factual Expose of Police
Pay-Offs, Graft, Political Corruption and
Prostitution In Los Angeles and Hollywood. |
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According to the book description of Most
Evil: Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders of Dr. George Hill Hodel, “Former LAPD detective
Steve Hodel compiles never-before-seen evidence that reveals his father as a serial killer who may have been responsible for
some of the most infamous murders of the last century- including the Zodiac killings.”
According to the book description of Black
Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, “In 1947, California's infamous Black Dahlia murder inspired the
largest manhunt in Los Angeles history. Despite an unprecedented allocation of money and manpower, police investigators failed
to identify the psychopath responsible for the sadistic murder and mutilation of beautiful twenty-two-year-old Elizabeth Short.
Decades later, former LAPD homicide detective-turned-private investigator Steve Hodel launched his own investigation into
the grisly unsolved crime -- and it led him to a shockingly unexpected perpetrator: Hodel's own father.
A spellbinding tour de force of true-crime writing,
this newly revised edition includes never-before-published forensic evidence, photos, and previously unreleased documents,
definitively closing the case that has often been called "the most notorious unsolved murder of the twentieth century.”
One reader of Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius
for Murder said, “Quoting from AP reporter Linda Deutsch's review of this book as published in Denver's
Rocky Mountain News on April 15, 2003: "When District Attorney Steven Cooley decided recently to release the long-secret
files on the [Black Dahlia] case, Steve Hodel's theory gained substance. His father's photograph was in the file, along with
transcripts of electronic surveillance on his home for three weeks in 1950. The reports on onionskin paper
that is yellowed make clear that Dr. Hodel was a prime suspect in the investigation of Short's murder. . . . The transcripts
of overheard conversations include a statement in Hodel's voice saying, 'Supposin' I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't
prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead.'"
This may not be conclusive (and may well be to obscure
for anyone who has not read the book) but it does prove that Dr. Hodel was the wealthy and influential Hollywood resident
referred to by the grand jury and it proves that the LAPD or the DA's investigators zeroed in on Dr. Hodel without benefit
of the two pictures that may or may not be Short that began the author's investigation. I, of course, do not know whether
the author's theory is wrong or right. I found this book to be highly entertaining and I think that it may have lit a fuse
that may solve the case once and for all. At the very least, it has caused previously secret files to be released. I see a
film all right, but not an Oliver Stone film, this should be a film by somebody who cares whether a story is true or false.
This theory deserves to be taken seriously.”
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Amazon.com
said of Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, “For 56 years, the Black Dahlia murder
case remained one of the most notorious and high-profile unsolved crimes of the 20th century. Now, Steve Hodel, a 24-year
veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, believes he has finally solved the case. On January 15, 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth
Short—"The Black Dahlia"—was found dead in a vacant lot in Los Angeles, her body horribly mutilated,
bisected at the waist, and posed in a bizarre manner. The horrific crime shocked the country and commanded headlines for months
as the killer taunted the police with notes and phone calls. Despite the massive manhunt, the murderer was never found.
Hodel began working on the case after he retired from
the LAPD when he chanced upon an intriguing piece of evidence that led him on trail that he had no choice but to follow since
it pertained directly to him. As he dug deeper, he came to believe that the killer was also responsible for over a dozen other
unsolved murders in the Los Angeles area around the same time. He also found copious evidence of corruption at the LAPD, leading
him to accuse the department top brass of covering up the Black Dahlia murder in order to conceal a deeper conspiracy involving
crooked politicians and gangsters.
Despite a lack of physical evidence (which had been
destroyed), Hodel is able to connect numerous dots and make a plausible case, complete with lurid tales of wild orgies that
were attended by celebrities such as the artist Man Ray, the director John Huston, and a host of other Hollywood elites. He
also discloses his killer’s obsession with the Marquis de Sade and Jack the Ripper and how he modeled his own crimes
on their behavior. In particular, there is a disturbing connection between the work of Man Ray and the horrific circumstances
of Short’s murder. It is doubtful that this will be the final word on the Black Dahlia murder—too much myth surrounds
it and much of his evidence is circumstantial--but Hodel’s labyrinthine tale adds much to this intriguing case."
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