Dr. George Hodel 1940s "L.A. Lone Woman Murders" Victim Map Update

Los Angeles, California

Here is an updated map showing the approximate locations of the nine (9) “L.A. Lone Woman Murders” in chronological order, covering the years 1943-1949 prior to George Hodel fleeing the country in 1950. In BDA I and II I have catagorized these murders as “Category I- Definites” as opposed to the additional crimes which I list as: Category II (Probables) and III (Possibles).

1940s Lone Woman Murders Category I  (Definites) Victim Map Update -2014

LWM Map final rev.
(Click map to enlarge)

 CATEGORY I

“L.A. Lone Woman Murders” Chronological

  1. Ora Murray 1943
  2. Georgette Bauerdorf 1944
  3. Elizabeth Short 1947
  4. Jeanne French 1947
  5. Lillian Dominguez 1947
  6. Gladys Kern 1948
  7. Mimi Boomhower 1948
  8. Jean Spangler 1948
  9. Louise Springer 1949

By the Numbers

As I pointed out in my original 2003 investigation, if one takes the position that none of these 1940s Lone Woman murders were connected then, statistically, at least half should have been solved. None were.

It’s now obvious these murders were not committed by nine different sadistic sexual psychopaths all operating within the same locales and tripping over each other’s bodies. The reason none were cleared was because all were committed by the same killer.

Despite the fact that sixty-years ago law enforcement did not really think in terms of “serial killings,” LAPD (with a lot of help from the press) still managed to go public with their belief that many or most of these killings were serial crimes.

With the June 13, 1949, murder of Louise Springer, police reaffirmed, as they had from the very beginning, their suspicions that many if not all of the crimes were connected.

“Police are not overlooking the possibility that a single slayer committed all [nine] of the Los Angeles ‘Horror Murders’”

Long Beach Press Telegram June 17, 1949

 springer headline 9 victims 300

41 Comments

  1. Mary on May 7, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    Are you writing another book? At the end of the 2012 edition, it sounded like you were going to write about your father’s history before the Black Dahlia killing, and the others you’ve covered.

    If so, when do you plan to publish it? It’s an amazing, though horrendous, saga.

    • Steve Hodel on May 7, 2014 at 2:26 pm

      Hi Mary: Yes, am writing a new book, “The Early Years” but its going to take some time as I am only half done with the investigations. Have just added five (5) new chapters to BDA II and will be updating and publishing that in the next few weeks. BDA III won’t be published for some time. A year or more? Best, Steve

  2. Mary on May 12, 2014 at 11:22 am

    Thanks for the update! I have BDA II and will certainly check out the updated version.

    I have a print copy. If I buy the kindle version, will any subsequent updates be included automatically?

    • Steve Hodel on May 12, 2014 at 2:23 pm

      Mary: Don’t think they automatically update older editions, but not sure. I think there is a program that they offer that allows me to offer the revised Ebook version for just a few dollars, but will have to wait and see how that plays out. They also have a library program that I think permits users to have it on loan free for a certain time span? Steve

  3. pierre arteau on August 26, 2014 at 12:57 am

    dear mr hodel congrats for your great courage.it takes that to face the possible reality like you didI read your book(in french),it’s fascinating,although frightening…the killer of those women was certainly very sickbut unfortunately all those victims paid for his sickness

    • Steve Hodel on August 26, 2014 at 1:41 am

      Dear Pierre: MERCI for the kind words. Yes, very sad story. So many families suffered so much.
      Wish BDA II was translated into French and available. So much more added to the investigation from 2006-2014.
      Maybe some day will be translated. Best Regards, Steve

      • pierre arteau on August 27, 2014 at 12:09 pm

        dear mr hodel I just read about your fantastic career,you even saved a japanese arrested wrongfully..Now I have an info to ask you…Recently I came across a gruesome video on Youtube,showing the hanging of childkiller gordon northcott oct 2 1930…Was that a real film or actors playing the roles?I can hardly understand that an execution be filmed in all its horror what’s more,there were even onlooker women…even today,it’s not permitted to show real executions once again,I loved and bought your bookthere were so many details and evidences too I’d recommend it to anyone

        • Steve Hodel on August 27, 2014 at 12:47 pm

          Pierre:

          Thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
          If are referencing the link below, the hanging is not real and is a recreation from a recent film, ” Changeling”
          that was in theaters some years back. The 2008 feature film was based on a real life serial killer Gordon Northcott,
          who was arrested, tried and convicted of the serial murders of many young boys in the 1920s. The recent film was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred, Angelina Jolie.
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changeling_(2008_film)
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Qap03dvMo

  4. Panda on May 27, 2016 at 9:20 am

    While I do not agree that the two pictures of women that appear in your fathers little photo album are Elizabeth short – one woman out of the two (the one with the statue in the background) CERTAINLY looks a LOT like Jean Spangler.

    • Steve Hodel on May 27, 2016 at 9:44 am

      Panda: In 2006, I was able to locate, identify and eliminate that woman as not being Elizabeth Short. I conducted a lengthy personal interview with her and determined she was an actress friend of my father and the photo was taken by my father at the Franklin/Sowden House circa 1947. Her name was Marya Marcos.
      Many readers believed, like you, that one or both photos bore a strong resemblance to actress Jean Spangler. In 2013, I conducted state-of-the-art Facial Recognition analysis on the other photograph. I had comparisons made to known photographs of both Jean Spangler and Elizabeth Short. The results indicated there was a “90-95% possibility that the photograph (reclining nude) was Elizabeth Short.
      A 99.8% is required to make a positive ID. See my follow-up book, BDA II (2014 ed.) for those and much more new evidence.

  5. Mr Hood on June 2, 2016 at 3:39 am

    Steve, I have my own personal reasons for believing that Georgette Bauerdorf was murder number four, Ora Murray being number three, do you have any idea who number one and two could be?

    • Steve Hodel on June 2, 2016 at 11:39 am

      Mr. Hood: Not sure what you mean re. the numbering of victims? I have listed the nine victims chronologically by year of crime, starting with Ora Murray in 1943 followed by Bauerdorf in 1944 moving forward in time. Regards, Steve

  6. Patricia O'Neill on June 2, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    Steve, many years ago my good friend La Rue Raymond lost her mother in much the same way as the LA Lone Woman Murders. The year was 1944 or 1945 in or around Santa Monica. Mrs. Raymond left her home in late afternoon to pick up La Rue’s 5th birthday cake. Capt. Raymond (as I knew him in later years) was a pilot for Pan Am or TWA and was at home with their 2 children. La Rue’s brother (forgotten name now) was the oldest. Mrs. Raymond’s never returned home; her body was found later that evening (I think it was same day) in a horrifying state in some alley near the bakery (only description as told to me by a nun at our high school, Notre Dame, Belmont). From pictures La Rue had, she was a beautiful woman. The murder was never solved. Could this be another Lone Woman victim? Have you ever run across the Raymond name as a cold case? My friend passed away in her 60’s. Our only contact in later years was thru alumni news. Through much of my true crime readings over the years I have learned how murders (both solved & unsolved) can be devastating to family members for perhaps several generations. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Raymond and La Rue.

    • Steve Hodel on June 2, 2016 at 8:10 pm

      Patricia: No, the name has never come up in my research, but if it was Santa Monica PD that investigated, then chances are I would not have seen it. (I only linked the other Santa Monica LWM of Lillian Dominguez because of the note left by her killer) I’ll try and do some research and see if I can locate/identify that crime. From your description, it sounds like it well could be a possible “Lone Woman Murder.” I will let you know if I can locate it. Thank you.

      • Paula A. Holley on July 16, 2020 at 4:53 pm

        Thank you, Steve for all your research. I continue to follow your publications and interviews with fascination. I think your investigations have brought attention and recognition to the LA,Lone Women,and I am grateful for this. Godd luck into your work on Zodiac

        • Steve Hodel on July 16, 2020 at 4:57 pm

          Hi Paula H:
          Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.
          Yes, will be pressing forward (or rather backwards now) to present “The Early Years.”
          Stay tuned lot more to come. Best, Steve

    • Steve Hodel on June 3, 2016 at 5:31 pm

      Patricia: I’m not finding any victim named Raymond in a search of LA Times newspapers, for that time period, which I would think would have mentioned it? Anything additional? Will keep checking. Steve

      • Patricia O'Neill on June 5, 2016 at 7:00 pm

        Thanks Steve. Yes, if you do uncover anything do let me know. Unfortunately I do not have any additional information….only teenage memories. It is, though, a memory never forgotten. I have found in reading your books a feeling of familiarity with your descriptions of LA and the LAPD. I’m sure it is due to my growing up in SF and with a father and 2 uncles in the SFPD. Also experienced this familiarity when reading “True North” by Thomas North….a biography of his youth and his path to eventual healing and return to Carmel, CA. Watching the funeral of Nancy Reagan and observing Patti and Ron Reagan there also brought this same feeling. I could relate to their pain, confusion and yet fierce loyalty to being Californians. I recall a statement by Jerry Brown saying how The Eagles captured the many feelings of our state. Perhaps we have all experienced in one way or another our own personal “Hotel California” and survived the stronger. Hoping your visit with your new grandson was most enjoyable…..the ultimate reward, Steve!

  7. Mr Hood on June 3, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    That is very interesting Patricia. I will go check it out too.

    Steve, there’s is something that I think was over looked by LE at the Bauerdorf crime scene that hinted she was victim number four. I can’t disclose what it is it yet but I will be looking for similar murders that happened before Ora’s, Patricia O’Neill’s post will be a start.
    Best regards.

  8. Patricia O'Neill on June 5, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    Thanks Mr. Hood. As I said to Steve, it is strange how a memory stays with you for so many years! As I write this, could I have mistaken Santa Monica with Malibu after so many years? Still feel it is S. Monica, but this just crossed my mind! Do let me know if you find any results.

  9. Smt on July 11, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    Steve: given theirs it seems like their are missing cases for 1945 and 1946. Also the frequency in the occur ancestors is picking up each year.

    • Steve Hodel on July 11, 2016 at 3:59 pm

      Sam: GHH committed to “Lipstick Murder” crimes in Chicago, in 1945 and one more there in early 1946, then in February left the U.S. for China and UNRRA and did not return until September, 1946. SKH

  10. lmcvjnr on December 19, 2016 at 7:18 am

    why’d it stop here? i was really enjoying the read

    • Steve Hodel on December 19, 2016 at 10:48 am

      Imcvjnr: Not sure what you mean by “Why’d it stop here?” I’ve written four books on his killings which now total twenty-five. The blogs are just short updates/overviews on the information presented in my overall investigation and new updates. Regards, Steve

  11. W.W. on November 4, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Not sure if this site is still active but I have a few questions that perhaps you can answer.

    I believe I read somewhere that you believe it is possible he was also the Zodiac killer and lipstick(?) killer. I attempted to find more information and there seems to be no DNA evidence from the Zodiac to compare to but there was a match on handwriting analysis? Also is there any victims named “Penny” or perhaps were nicknamed penny?

    If we operate on the assumption that he is in fact the killer, is it not also possible he had an accomplice, possibly female to gain women’s trust?

    Also read that a Soil analysis was done in an area around the house and tested positive for human remains. Is there any truth to that?

    • Steve Hodel on November 5, 2017 at 1:08 am

      W.W.: Yes, I have written four books on the entire investigation. They are all connected to the one suspect, my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel.
      The books are: Black Dahlia Avenger, Most Evil, BDA II, Most Evil II. Suggest you check them out on Amazon. Also, massive updated investigations on my website blog at: http://www.stevehodel.com/blog Not sure who Penny is? No confirmed DNA on Zodiac to date, but I do have a full DNA profile available on my father, if and when they ever obtain Zodiac’s. Doubtful he had a female accomplice on any of the Zodiac crimes. No witness indicate that. Yes, soil analysis obtained from my father’s residence came back positive for human remains as well as a cadaver dog (Buster) alerting to human remains prior to the testing. See blogs at my website. Regards, Steve

  12. Paul Kaufman on November 14, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    What about my other questions i asked?

    • Steve Hodel on November 14, 2017 at 10:10 pm

      Paul K: This is not a chat board for Q&A. Happy to post comments but not to use as a location for exploring and analyzing other “theories” which would be an impossible and endless task. Regards, Steve Hodel

  13. joey lowell on February 10, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    Hi Steve i spoke with you before but on a different page anyway the first time i spoke with you i asked if you would be willing to take on the case of Jack the ripper at the time you said you had other things going on like another book and i do understand but I just can’t find another ex or detective to take the ripper case.i want to ask you one more time please take this case and the reason i am asking you is because you are a great detective and i respect you very much.also i have heard you say that you solve murder cases not for money but because you want to bring an end to the pain families are going through when this happens.I believe i know that a man named George Hutchinson was Jack the ripper,i did research the case and i have studied serial killers and how they work and i have also studied forensic’s and after using the tools of today this man is the only man who could have been the ripper.the reason i need you is because i am not a detective and have very little money plus i believe only a detective can find things that a non detective cannot.as i am sure you know this case has turned into a money tree and i just think it so wrong to not solve this case because of greed.I do not want any money from this if you need to make money to solve it that’s fine and if you wish to write a book to tell how you solved it that is also fine by me.one other thing i need to tell you is i have a gift, now you may not believe me but i see things that have happened and are going to happen.case in point i knew who the green river killer was nine years before he was caught and i have people who will back me on that.also i told the police where to find Crystal wilbugers body after she had been raped and murdered.anyway please Steve take this case cause if you do and you can prove the man i said did the murders you will be the most famous detective in the world.I know your writing another book about the early years of your fathers life but if you would take the case after that book i would be so happy as i believe you have what it takes to solve it,your a detective who never gives up and that is what this case needs.please think hard on this but whatever your answer is i will not bother you about it anymore but i just had to try one more time thank you for your time and thank you for protecting and serving the people.

  14. A Curious Party on January 29, 2019 at 10:54 am

    Hi Mr. Hodel. I was wondering if you would mind elaborating on why you think your father had to do with Mimi Boomhower and Jean Spangler? I’ve just recently started looking into your father and what you’ve presented about him is so intriguing. I’ve yet to read your book, but I am very curious as to how you’ve connected him to them with what I understand to be nearly no evidence in their cases.

    • Steve Hodel on January 31, 2019 at 4:50 pm

      A Curious Party: Suggest you read their separate chapters in BDA and updated evidence in BDA II. Very strong compelling circumstantial case, but too much to try and summarize here. Regards, Steve

  15. Elizabeth on February 15, 2019 at 3:56 am

    Hi Steve, Thank you for all of your research and connections! It must be “eviscerating” emotionally for you at times. Very brave. And gives the women voices to be heard. I’ve been watching “I Am the Night.” Fascinating. As you say though, the more one learns, the more seems to unravel, like that yarn of the sweater. I’m looking for your original 2003 investigation you mention that links the earlier murder of Georgette Bauerdorf to Chicago Lipstick to Black Dahlia. Could you re-post that please? Is it just the NOTE LEAVING that links them and the car being left in same place as Black Dahlia would be found later, and near Green Twig abduction, or was there more pattern? Bathtubs? I’m interested, too, in what you have uncovered started all this, what/when was his FIRST TIME? And why???? Is there a connection with his abortions/hysterectomies, or some fascination with the bloody insides of women/discarded fetuses that got him started? Where did this femicide come from (art, though motivating, could not be enough. Some sexual predation, it seems, with an intellectual bent. Competition with his esteemed intellectual friends? A pissing contest? All these traumatized soldiers coming back from a brutal war, photos of the Holocaust emerging for the first time — how did all this evil and narcissism get into the psyches? I’m very curious, too, on more about Georgette — she lived nearby me in LA and I’m creeped out, to be honest. How did she and GH meet? I’d like to see your original investigation to see the details connecting patterns of she to Black Dahlia. My theory from reading your blog and other clippings is that perhaps GH came to her house to do an abortion? That’s why she was nervous the day of…? Is that something you’ve looked into? Could that be why there’s a spot of blood in her bedroom that the killer tried to clean up? In my limited knowledge, to me, Jeanne French and Georgette, Mimi are fascinating as women, in some ways even more so than Elizabeth Short. Lot of questions. Would love a reply. Thank you and congratulations in finding some closure, and honoring women in doing so.

    • Steve Hodel on February 15, 2019 at 10:13 am

      Elizabeth: Thanks for the kind words. All your questions are answered, but you need to read the five books which are really one ongoing investigation presenting 25 crimes over a thirty-year period. Reading order should be: 1) BDA (Skyhorse/Arcade 2015); 2) Most Evil (Dutton 2009) 3) BDA II (Thoughprint Press 2014 ed.); 4) Most Evil II (Rare Bird Books 2015) and finally the recently published BDA III (Rare Bird Books 2018). Best, Steve

  16. jonathan menard on February 26, 2019 at 12:43 am

    I have some questions for you. And I love what your doing I’m hoping to buy your first book.

  17. Lila on March 3, 2020 at 6:09 pm

    Hi Steve, is it possible GHH to be the torso killer? In those years he was at university in California, do you know if he flew to Cleveland occasionally? Thanks and compliments for your work and search for the truth.

    • Steve Hodel on March 3, 2020 at 11:28 pm

      Hi Lila: I don’t see it. It would require way too much time spent in Cleveland and I don’t see how he could have done that many crimes due to time restraints. Also, men were not really on his “hit list” unless they were with the victim as in the later Zodiac crimes. Best, Steve

  18. jennifer nickerson on October 11, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    Dear Mr. Hodel,

    I agree that you are most courageous to out your father as the killer of our beloved Massachusetts daughter, Elizabeth Short. What are your thought on the alleged incest and rape that your father was accused of during the trials. Quite sad.

    Best,
    Jennifer

    • Steve Hodel on October 11, 2020 at 11:51 pm

      Jennifer N:
      Thank you Jennifer.
      There is no doubt that the incest/child molestation charges were TRUE.
      Three adult witnesses testified to being present when the acts occurred.
      Our father obtained the services of attorney Jerry Giesler, the “Johnny Cochran” of his day, and painted our 14-year-old sister Tamar with a “pathological liar” brush. The jury bought it.
      Later DA Files revealed a probable $15,000 payoff to the DA’s Office. All summarized in the updated book, Black Dahlia Avenger (Skyhorse 2015 ed.) Best, Steve

  19. Sofía on May 9, 2021 at 6:37 am

    Buenos días.
    Desde España, como estudiante de Criminología, estamos realizando un trabajo sobre Elisabeth Short y tenemos que realizar un perfil criminal sobre su posible autor. Sólo le escribía para agradecer su valor y todas sus pruebas aportadas, que efectivamente coinciden en espacio, tiempo y lugar con las que dejaría el asesino de Elisabeth Short. He escogido este caso porque me impresionó mucho y estoy deseando leer sus libros.
    Gracias.
    Un saludo.

    (English translation via computer):

    Good Morning.
    From Spain, as a Criminology student, we are doing a work on Elisabeth Short and we have to carry out a criminal profile on her possible author. I only wrote to thank him for his courage and for all his evidence, which indeed coincide in space, time and place with what the murderer of Elisabeth Short would leave behind. I have chosen this case because I was so impressed and I am looking forward to reading your books.
    Thanks.
    All the best.

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