Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ex-Cop Claims His Father Was 'Black Dahlia' Killer
NBC4 - TV, Los Angeles ^ | April 11, 2003 | AP

Posted on 04/11/2003 7:04:51 PM PDT by concentric circles

A retired homicide detective believes that his father committed the notorious "Black Dahlia" murder that has been unsolved for half a century.

In a new book, Steve Hodel states that late physician George Hodel killed 22-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short in a fit of jealousy.

Her body, severed at the waist, nearly drained of blood and posed with arms and legs spread-eagle, was found in a vacant lot in 1947. Authorities said her face and body had been slashed, apparently while she was alive.

Short was nicknamed the "Black Dahlia" by acquaintances because of the black clothing and the flower she wore in her hair.

In "Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story," the former Los Angeles police detective also claims that his father killed another woman, Jeanne French, less than month later. That killing was dubbed the "Red Lipstick Murder" because the cosmetic was used to scrawl "B.D." on the body -- a possible reference to the Black Dahlia case.

"The man responsible for these terrible murders, that of the Black Dahlia and the Red Lipstick Murder, and most probably many others, is my own father, Dr. George Hill Hodel," Steve Hodel told a press conference Friday.

"I'm asking the press and the detectives to now take up that responsibility and reopen the murder books and continue the investigations so that all of us may know the truth," he said.

He believes his father was a serial killer who may have committed 20 unsolved murders in the 1940s and 1950s.

There have been many other claims by authors to have discovered the Black Dahlia's killer. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office was aware of Steve Hodel's claims but noted that even if they were true, his father's death leaves no one to prosecute.

Steve Hodel said he began his investigation of his own father by chance. He said he looked through his belongings after the man died in 1999 and found two photographs of a woman that he now believes is Short.

"I've been to hell for the last three years," the son said.

However, Detective Brian Carr, who oversees the Police Department files of the Black Dahlia case, said he was unable to determine whether they were photographs of the victim.

Hodel also alleged similarities in notes written by his father and one the killer supposedly sent to a newspaper after the murder.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: blackdahlia; california; crime; elizabethshort; georgehodel; losangeles; murdermystery; raymondchandler
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last
Now I'll have to dig up some Raymond Chandler for a little midnight reading.
1 posted on 04/11/2003 7:04:51 PM PDT by concentric circles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: All

PRETTY IN PINK


Donate Here By Secure Server

Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD-
It is in the breaking news sidebar!


2 posted on 04/11/2003 7:05:48 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles

3 posted on 04/11/2003 7:08:02 PM PDT by concentric circles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
good grief! Has anyone notified James Ellroy???
4 posted on 04/11/2003 7:19:44 PM PDT by Temple Drake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Immagine finding out your dad was a murderer...sick!!!

Immagine macking it up just to get some cash after your dad is dead...Now that would be sicker.
5 posted on 04/11/2003 7:20:42 PM PDT by dinok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles

6 posted on 04/11/2003 7:30:03 PM PDT by Temple Drake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles

7 posted on 04/11/2003 7:30:05 PM PDT by Temple Drake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Is this the physician the two principal cops working the case had in custody, and who they strongly supected, but just couldn't turn enough evidence on?
8 posted on 04/11/2003 7:30:22 PM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dinok
I read a book by a woman who said HER Dad did it!
9 posted on 04/11/2003 7:34:24 PM PDT by pitinkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Who're you gonna believe? My dad said: "I did it!" and died.
10 posted on 04/11/2003 7:35:35 PM PDT by UnklGene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dinok

And then there's this one
where Janice Knowlton claims
her father was the killer.

11 posted on 04/11/2003 7:36:19 PM PDT by concentric circles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: dinok
Yes, it must be very difficult for him. It is not unlike the feelings of many German children who, having grown up, found out the roles of their parents during WWII.
12 posted on 04/11/2003 7:40:59 PM PDT by TopQuark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Now I'll have to dig up some Raymond Chandler for a little midnight reading.

Old LA did have unique feel

13 posted on 04/11/2003 7:47:24 PM PDT by tophat9000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Now I'll have to dig up some Raymond Chandler for a little midnight reading.

Old LA did have a unique feel

14 posted on 04/11/2003 7:48:16 PM PDT by tophat9000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
My mom had that book.
15 posted on 04/11/2003 7:48:17 PM PDT by The Hon. Galahad Threepwood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Temple Drake
Has anyone notified James Ellroy???

Why? The guy only wrote a novel that was based on the murder, but so did Max Allan Collins.

Truth is, we will never know who Elizabeth Short's killer was.

16 posted on 04/11/2003 8:15:22 PM PDT by Houmatt (Call Ashcroft and demand he enforce the laws on treason, sedition and sabotage!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles
Janice Knowlton is also nutty as a fruitcake. Take a look here to see her posts at the Usenet newsgroup alt.true-crime to see what I mean.
17 posted on 04/11/2003 8:22:29 PM PDT by Houmatt (Call Ashcroft and demand he enforce the laws on treason, sedition and sabotage!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: concentric circles

Elizabeth Short. A beautiful young woman who went to Hollywood for fame, and found it, only in death.

18 posted on 04/11/2003 8:29:04 PM PDT by Houmatt (Call Ashcroft and demand he enforce the laws on treason, sedition and sabotage!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dinok
Oh, yea, MY daddy was a democrat
19 posted on 04/11/2003 8:41:19 PM PDT by bybybill (first the public employees, next the fish and, finally, the children)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Houmatt
Rumors have abounded that she was sexually deformed and the killer was probably disappointed to find out that this great looking beauty wasn't someone he could take to bed.

Without better proof than what this article provides, I would be unpursuaded that Daddy Doc was her killer.

Look at how many people have come forward claiming their family member was the gunman on the Grassy Knoll. I honestly don't know if some of these fakers are looking for fame, money or revenge.

20 posted on 04/11/2003 8:46:29 PM PDT by Tall_Texan (Where liberals lead, misery follows.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson