Serial Killer As An Artist: Dr. George Hill Hodel’s “Character Analysis In Photography” Circa 1925

September 1, 2022
Birch Bay, Washington

December 22, 1925

Self-portraits of GHH

 Photo by George Hodel believed to be Kent Kane Parrot, early Los Angeles Crime Boss who “owned half of the LAPD as well as then Los Angeles mayor, George Cryer, who was known as, “Parrot’s Puppet.”

LA’s top crime boss 1920s-1940s.
From “The Early Years-Part I (1920s)-Chapter 7

Below photo believed to be Fred Sexton age 18
(Sexton a close friend and “fellow artist” believed to be George Hodel’s serial killer accomplice and assisted in many of the crimes from 1920s-1950. (Sexton fled to Mexico after sexually molesting his second wife’s child in the 1960s. He would then marry a teenager in Mexico and die in Guadalajara at age 88, in 1995. George Hodel outlived his murder accomplice by some four years and died in San Francisco at age 91, in 1999.
Fred Sexton circa 1925
Unknown individuals are possible henchmen to Kent Kane Parrot circa 1925. Photo far right believed to be Tom Evans, a known drug smuggler and convicted felon who in 1949 would be questioned in relation to possible association with one of the LA Lone Woman Murder victims. (Mimi Boomhower).

Sample of GHH art photos as referenced in above article 1925. (For all twenty-seven (27) photographs, with a detailed analysis of each photo by Dallas-based photographer/art historian Bill Crump.   See The Early Years-Part I (the 1920s): The Further Serial Crimes of George Hill Hodel M.D.

GHH photo circa 1933 taken in medical school

In 1925 George Hodel photographs were on exhibit at The Gamut Club 

(https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2018/11/gamut-auditorium.html)

“Opened: 1904 as an exclusively male musical society by L.E. Behymer and other L.A. musicians. Soon the Gamut Club broadened its focus to other types of artists as well as local people of “artistic tastes.” This 1926 view of the Gamut Club is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
Behymer was also involved in the production of opera at Hazard’s Pavilion and became the head of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, presenting at the later building on the site at 5th and Olive, the Philharmonic Auditorium.
Seating: 668 in the auditorium plus various other meeting, banquet rooms and music studios. The club was the scene of a great variety of musical performances.
Status: The building has been demolished. It’s unknown when the club ceased to be active. Late 20s perhaps? It’s listed in the 1923 city directory under “theatres.”

13 Comments

  1. Joakim on September 27, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    Was he interested in Arthurian legends like Merlin the Magician?

    • Steve Hodel on September 27, 2022 at 8:49 pm

      Joakim:
      Subject never came up but he read everything.

  2. Sister Veronica Young on September 27, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    I compliment you on all of your research and work. I also feel that Dr. George Hodel was the Black Dahlia’s murderer. Thank you.

  3. Steve Hodel on September 27, 2022 at 8:50 pm

    Sister Veronica:
    Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.

  4. Adrienne Adriani on September 27, 2022 at 10:20 pm

    Your research is impeccable. However, it is with some incredulity that in the reading I am struck by how you are able to separate entirely from the man you propose as the suspect and the boy who was to be his little son. Or do you?
    I do so enjoy your posts.
    Kind Regards,
    Adrienne Adriani

    • Steve Hodel on September 27, 2022 at 10:42 pm

      Adrienne A:
      This question has come up a number of times in the past. I guess the answer rests in a number of factors. “The little boy” (intermittent fathering during my ages 1-9) has very little memory of how my father treated me and my two brothers. He was gone much of the time from home and I have very few real memories of him during the Sowden/Franklin years. (1945-1950). Fast forward to age 21 and my chosen profession as an LAPD cop. Six years patrol, then a detective for the rest of my career and primarily a homicide detective. In that job I had to “remove my emotions” on every murder case, I worked on. The father who has just beaten his young son or daughter to death and is in custody. I walk in, offer him a cigarette and cup of coffee and without any anger (if I fake he will know it) say, “OK, John, tell me about earlier tonight. I want to hear your side.”) So, guess I’m saying a lot of it “came with the territory.” 300 murders over 17 years in homicide. A combination plate.

      • Patricia ONeill on September 28, 2022 at 1:26 pm

        Oh, believe me Steve, you had “real” memories of GHH during the Sowden/Franklin years ‘45-50! And those memories produced responses that probably saved your life! Those responses were every bit innate to you as GHH’s & Fred Sexton’s forays into their Jeckyl/Hyde personnas! Your choosing to join the LAPD & training as a homicide detective was IMO every bit second nature to you as surgery was to your father! The “removal” of emotion in your investigations was a gift (not without some downsides in personal life) and granted you insights perhaps not available to others you worked & associated with. Not always an asset but so needed in your chosen profession👍. The self-portrait photos of your father in this article are heartbreaking……a beautiful but terribly tormented young man😔. As I learned in my years as a teacher w/emotionally disabled youths, the repair, if you will, of the youth is extremely difficult, taking several generations to those who succeed in the path to wellness. And that was & is your path, Steve…….. you chose truth and exposure which is so desperately needed to heal all involved! Onward & upward!💪😎🌵

  5. Steve Hodel on September 28, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    Patrica O:
    Always appreciate your wise insights. Yes, onward and upward.
    And, expect to have a “new partner” full-time in the next few weeks or months.
    Getting me a a DOG now that I have a home (prohibited from having one in the LA apartment past twenty-plus years.) Probably go with a smaller/older 1-2 yr old, rescue dog. Too old to try and train a new recruit at this stage. Putting in a fence next week, then go hunting for just the right partner.
    Excited to see how it all unfolds.

  6. Patricia ONeill on September 28, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    👍……Happy shopping! Sadly one of son Joe’s rescues, Ozzie, has now passed, so peacefully a blessing….about 15 years old! And Oz’s best friend Diamond nearing her end too😥. The shopping for rescues is heartbreaking….you want them all! But one will hit your soft spot and you’ll know it when you spot him or her!👌. He or she will bring down your blood pressure too! Don’t worry about the training….it always seems like they train you without you knowing it! Post pics!! 🤗🌵

  7. Steve Hodel on September 28, 2022 at 4:28 pm

    Patricia O:
    I KNOW, this “big city homicide detective” is a total mark when it comes to dogs. Always love at first sight, so taking my son Matt along as my “guide dog guy.” I will post pics when “hooked”.

  8. Angela on September 29, 2022 at 2:31 am

    You should watch the German-language series Freud produced by ORF in Austria: it’s available on prime I believe. Not only is it a fabulous series but if you do watch it you may see what I mean when I say that the occult practices in Europe and Freudian theories seem to have a direct link to GHH and his crimes.

    • Steve Hodel on September 29, 2022 at 2:35 am

      Angela:
      Thanks. I will check it out for sure.

  9. Yolanda Camacho on October 1, 2022 at 10:37 am

    Steve, our Healing Circle sends you a deep, cleansing breath and Vibrations of serenity and peace. The first of October is an axis of ancestral healing for our Forefathers and Foremothers.
    May all the lines of the Hodel lineage have peace and serenity this week!

    Peace always,
    Yolie 💎

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