I couldn’t read it fast enough: Steve Hodel’s new book, Most Evil.
In it, the veteran Los Angeles homicide detective, suggests that his father, George Hodel, was not only the Black Dahlia killer, as Hodel outlined in his earlier book Black Dahlia Avenger, but may also have been responsible for the Chicago “lipstick murders” that predated the Black Dahlia case, serial killings in the Philippines, and (Are you ready for this?) the killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s: Zodiac.
This book is not the work of a creative fiction writer, but a hardened police detective.
As his bio states: “During his years of service he received more than 75 commendations and handled over 300 separate murder investigations and had one of the department’s highest “solve rates. “
Hodel retired from the department in 1986 and started Hodel Investigations as a California private investigator.
I’m supposed to keep these pieces short, but if I’ve tantalized you enough to go read the book, that’s just fine. I loved it. Of course, that’s coming from an ex-police reporter and reporters, especially police reporters, love conspiracy theories and mysteries.
There are some less-than-flattering reviews of the book on Amazon.com. There are some flattering ones, too. The former seem a tad forced to me.
I did find a discrepancy in the book which I emailed Hodel about. He answered me promptly, and convincingly and even posted the correction to his blog.
It’s almost as if he doesn’t even believe it himself sometimes as he pores over evidence and recalls times growing up with the father he's since tracked over four decades of death.
He questions his own theories and ultimately lets the reader decide.
It could all be answered, of course, with some DNA testing, which would be possible in all of the cases. Hodel points that out himself and would relish this ultimate test.
The most draw dropping piece in the book, for me at least, was a picture from an early San Francisco Police Department wanted poster on the Zodiac nestled next to a photograph of Steve’s father, George Hodel. Take a look for yourself. You decide.
And speaking of jaw dropping, here’s my own Zodiac story: I was a rookie reporter at the San Jose Mercury-News in the early 1970s when Zodiac was still grabbing the headlines in the Bay Area. There was an assistant city editor who worked nights and listened to San Francisco talk radio stations as he handled copy. The subject this evening was the Zodiac. Feeling gregarious, this assistant city editor called the radio station and told the host that if the Zodiac just needed to talk to someone, he was available.
This was all being observed and heard across the city room by a copy clerk who ducked down behind the copy desk and called the assistant city editor’s extension immediately after he made his offer on the air.
“This is the Zodiac speaking,” the copy clerk said in a gruff voice, the way the killer began his notes to San Francisco newspapers. The assistant city editor’s jaw dropped as he slammed the phone back on the hook.
Black Dahlia Avenger at Amazon.com
Comments
My biggest concern(s) or question(s) is this: how long did Hodel suspected that his father was the one who did all these murders, and if he knew for a long time, why is this just now coming out in the open?
That's not an "early San Francisco Police Department wanted poster on the Zodiac". It's the cover of a trashy true-crime paperback, drawn by the (now famous) comic book artist Neal Adams. It's as phony as the rest of Steve Hodel's so-called evidence.
Re. S.B.comment:
It's not just coming out now. Book I published in 2004 and was updated in 2006 with new info re. the crimes. This is a sequel to that investigation, showing additional linkage. I didn't know my father was a suspect in any crime until after his death in 1999. At that point I had been retired from LAPD for 13 years.
Re. BS comment:
I have tentatively confirmed that composite #2 was drawn by artist Neal Adams circa 1974. I am currently attempting to determine what his source was for the drawing and why it was placed on an official SFPD Police Bulletin format using the actual Crime Rpt numbers from the Zodiac Paul Stine shooting in October 1969. The book was not a "trashy crime book" but a serious article on Zodiac by respected S.F. Chronicle crime-reporter,Duffy Jennings who in 2006 confirmed that the cover-art drawing composite "had come from law enforcement."
See www.stevehodel.com/evidenceroom/?p=70
See www.stevehodel.com/evidenceroom/?p=
I support Steve Hodel's claim his father was the Black Dahlia Avenger. I also believe he killed before and after. I've exchanged several e-mails with Steve over the years, and I appreciate both his predicament, as Dr. George Hodel's son, and his genuine courtesy in promptly and magnanimously replying to such inquiries. That said, I don't for a moment believe his father was the Zodiac, for reasons I could detail at length, even before having a chance to read the new book-- which I plan to do, regardless. The logistics alone are highly implausible, since Dr. Hodel was living in Asia. More to the point, and the direct evidence, however, descriptions from the witnesses and survivors of the Zodiac attacks don't match Steve's father at all-- not in age (60s), height (6'1"), weight (168 lbs.), ever-present mustache, personal manner, nor murderous m.o.! That sketch isn't the SFPD's, and clearly doesn't resemble its pair from 10/18/69. Were I a betting Dan, I would bet the farm on this one....
Having examined the Zodiac materials in the homicide files of the SJPD(including unpublished letters with postmarks) I can say without doubt that this guy is full of it.
I read both books and thought they were bunko. Since the Black Dahlia case occurred before many of us were born, it's easier to hoodwink the audience. However, I was around during Zodiac's reign, and I must say that Mr. Hodel did not provide one shred of evidence that his father -- who was 58 at the time -- was the Zodiac killer. This is why law enforcement is tired of this case -- in the past year alone, three people have claimed Daddy was Zodiac. Back in the day, LE had to instigateover 3,000 people.
Avid Reader, despite my having been born nearly a decade after the Black Dahlia killing-- in fact, on George Hill Hodel, Jr.'s 49th birthday, in 1956-- I am really not that easily hoodwinked. (If you would care to compare IQs and relevant educational attainments, I would be more than happy to oblige....) Among other talents, I can count rather well: George Hodel turned 59 on my 10th birthday: Monday, October 10, 1966. Now, which Zodiac murder(s) do you claim took place in the previous year? The official murders all took place between Friday night, December 20, 1968, and Saturday night, October 11, 1969-- the day after Dr. Hodel's 62nd birthday. The Riverside killing, which is not officially labeled a Zodiac killing, took place twenty days after George Hodel turned 59. You should at least have an adult check your math before you post your ad hominem attacks, not only on Steve Hodel, but also on any of us who are convinced that his father tortured and killed Elizabeth Short in 1947.
i have never seen that composite photo ofthe zodiac suspect before.
I returned "Most Evil" to the library tonight, after finally getting a chance to read it-- twice, in fact-- from cover to cover. All I can say is, with a sequel like this, who needs enemies like Larry Harnisch and Gary Indiana (the degenerate writer, not my erstwhile hometown)? Theories-- let alone esoteric and attenuated ones-- are not evidence. Steve Hodel provides no new, let alone credible, evidence tying his father to the new claims. He provides no evidence his father was in Chicago-- ever, let alone on the days of the three murders there the son now wishes to pin on his father! No evidence is provided to show Dr. Hodel was ever in Riverside, Benicia, or Vallejo, or at Lake Berryessa, in California. Mr. Hodel simply says Dr. Hodel travelled frequently, and then concludes his father thereby had the requisite opportunities to have committed the Lipstick and Zodiac killings (in Chicago and California, respectively), despite living thousands of miles away. The new book is a travesty!
I have read most of the book, Most Evil and I am not entirely convinced of Hodel's guilt. Very compelling evidence! It will be interesting to see where this leads.
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