Twenty-Three Years Into the Ongoing Investigation: Three Personal Thoughts on the Black Dahlia Investigation
August 17, 2022
Birch Bay, Washington
Greetings from Birch Bay!
I woke up this morning with three thoughts on my mind that I want to clarify and communicate to you, my readers.
NO. 1-
Some naysayers and critics of my investigation claim that my books are “Daddy issues.” That, Steve, was mad because his father left him and his mother and brothers and this is his way of striking back at him.”
Absolutely FALSE. I loved my father and we were never closer than in the final decade of his life when I spoke and visited him in San Francisco on a regular basis. As I’ve often stated in my writings–THIS INVESTIGATION CAME TO ME.
I was long retired (14 years) with no thought or knowledge that there existed any linkage of my father to the 1947 Black Dahlia Murder until my phone conversation with my half-sister, Tamar after our father’s death. It was then that she for the first time in her life said to me, “You know our father was a suspect in the Black Dahlia murder. The police officers who took me to court in the incest trial told me that believed he killed her.”
George, Steve, and June Hodel on a balloon ride in San Francisco circa 1980s
Steve and George Bellingham WA circa 1993
NO. 2-
This point generally comes from the print or television media and goes something like this: “Steve Hodel say’s his father killed Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short, or “Steve Hodel’s theory is that his father is…” or “According to Steve Hodel he solved the Black Dahlia murder…”
NO! The reality, the truth of my investigation as related to the Black Dahlia is that I DISCOVERED THAT THE DA AND LAPD IDENTIFIED DR. GEORGE HILL HODEL AS HER KILLER AND SOLVED THE CASE BACK IN 1950. Steve Hodel didn’t solve it–Law Enforcement DID. All Steve Hodel did was DISCOVER AND UNCOVER THEIR SOLUTION and add more meat to the bone.
No. 3-
I would like to take this opportunity to PERSONALLY THANK all my readers for their long-standing support of my investigations as reflected in the hundreds of positive reviews they have given my books by taking the time to write their thoughts on AMAZON. I am proud to say that Black Dahlia Avenger series has over nine hundred separate reviews with a total rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. And my follow-up Most Evil two-book series also are rated 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.
My sincere gratitude to each one of you that has taken the time to offer your kind words and thoughts in the reviews as well as the dozens of “armchair detectives” who have contributed and continue to provide additional important linkage here on my blog site.
Congrats to you for persisting with something that must have been so difficult, and yet compelling!
Mark S.
Thanks Marcus. You were there from the getgo. Thanks for your decades of support. Do I remember that you met dad way back when? Or my imagination?
Amen! I can’t say it any better, Mark!
Steve: All those “high-falutin” LA brass and not one pushed for nor outed the truth to the public😞! Hence, GHH tries his luck in SF (and adjoining areas) as Zodiac with the same results: Innocent people killed….”hmm, must be someone w/a grudge against the police” to paraphrase then Chief of D’s Martin Lee. Just another day in La La Land! How/why did we (and still do??) tolerate such BS! 😡🌵
Patricia 🌵 you are so good a friend to support Steve!
My healing circle sends you both a deep, cleansing breath and thoughts of a peaceful week. Ancestral healing connects us to our forefathers and foremothers. It heals the ancient wounds of many generations. They will thank you.
Peace this week! Peace always!
Yolie 💎
Patricia O:
Yep. I thought I KNEW WHY in BDA I, II, and III. But, the REAL WHY was hidden in his distant past. As we learn in “The Early Years” books Part I and II. He had both Thad Brown and Bill Simpson by their huevos rancheros way back in the Thirties.
Hello Steve,
Your comments should be the final word on the issue of GHH and his crimes. Let the nay-sayers say what they will because their minds will never be swayed by solid, irrefutable evidence that can stand up in a court of law.
Having read all of the BDA and Zodiac books, I can tell you that whatever awaits you in the future, you have a lasting admirer in me of your integrity and of the hard work that you have done uncovering the truth behind some of the most infamous crimes in US history. I have read dozens and dozens of true crime books and the ones you have written are in my opinion the most logical and straightforward I have read. That you were an LA police homicide detective only adds to the truth of your words and the sadness you express on what you uncovered. I am sure you wish it was all fiction.
Have a super day, stay cool, stay safe, and have a great retirement in the “great northwest”.
PS Let’s hope that the only true crimes you uncover in the future are only a serious as “who drank the last of the milk”.
Ron R:
Very kind. Thank you for your comments. Much appreciated.
You are correct that “made-up minds” are really impossible to change. I’ve found, much to my satisfaction that many (most) readers, much like prospective jurors, do dive in with an open mind and come away convinced of my father’s guilt based on the massive amount of evidence that comes together in the now eight-books. (BDA I, II, III, Most Evil I and II, In The Mesquite, and the most recent two-volume set, “The Early Years” I and II.) As I’ve said many times, they are really just ONE ongoing investigation spanning an incredible fifty victims in nearly fifty years. (1921-1969). I am and will continue to enjoy my “semi-retirement” up here in the Northwest corner of the U.S.
I say “semi” as am hoping to complete my investigations with ongoing input into the docuseries which we are just resuming work on and I think will be a huge factor in presenting the true story as a visual to a much larger audience. As to “who stole the milk” that’s going to be an easy one for me to solve. I’m sure it will be the new dog I will find, just as soon as I get a fence built around the new property I have “retired” to. Best to you and yours. Steve