92-Year-Old Witness Comes Forward In Support of Tamar Hodel’s 1949 Incest Trial Accusations

June 30, 2025
Birch Bay, California

  A Most Remarkable Witness

Once again, let me share with you, the reader, just how much of a living, breathing phenomenon my investigation into the murder of Elizabeth Short, ‘The Black Dahlia’ continues to be. Though I revealed the cover-up and law enforcement’s solution to this horrific murder long ago, new investigative facts continue to reveal themselves.

It seemingly will not die.

The date is June 29, 2025.

Yesterday, I awoke, prepared my morning coffee, and as is my custom, went to my home office to check my emails.

This subject line caught my attention, “Mr. Hodel, I knew Tamar, please call me.”

Curious, and seeing that the number to call was an East Coast number, and knowing the caller would be three hours ahead of my time zone in Washington State, I dialed the number.

A woman answered.

“Hello, yes my name is Steve Hodel, and you emailed me, saying you knew my half-siter, Tamar Hodel.”

There was a momentary pause and the woman’s voice said, “Oh my God. Thank you for calling me. Yes, I knew your sister Tamar. The two of us shared a room together in San Francisco, at a Home for Girls.”

I held the phone in stunned silence.  Was this some prank? She “shared a room with Tamar in San Francisco?” Not possible.

I was about to hang up on her, but decided to ask the next obvious question.

“I see, and how old are you?”

Her response, “I am 92 years old. I was 15 when the two of us were together with the nuns in San Francisco.”

What followed for the next ninety minutes was a live conversation with a percipient witness, a “roomie” of my deceased half-sister where she (Tamar) had been placed in protective custody during the pretrial months (pending the Incest Charges against our father, Dr. George Hill Hodel) in the summer/fall of 1949.

In a early Chapter of my book, Black Dahlia Avenger, Chapter  30, “The Dahlia Investigation 2000-2001” written some twenty-five years ago, I wrote the following as relates to the interview I conducted with LAPD uniform police officer, Myrl McBride:

“This interview with Myrl was the strangest of my career. On the surface,we were sitting together in her home, sharing a cup of coffee, linked as we were, “fellow retired LAPD” discussing the facts of an ice-cold murder case. Below the surface, the link was surreal. The last known witness to see and speak with Elizabeth Short—and that in the presence of her killers—was, five decades later, seated next to that killer’s son, now an ex-homicide detective, who was putting the final pieces in place to solve the murder.”

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon?

Yesterday’s conversation, a quarter of a century later, was right up there with McBride’s.

 The woman, age 92,who requested her name remain private, informed me that she and Tamar shared a room at a Girl’s Home, run by the nuns. The home was in San Francisco near the water. She said, the room was shared by just the two of them.

During their time together (1949) Tamar after having this roomate promise not to tell anyone then went on to relate how my sister, Tamar, told her she was the victim of sexual abuse from her father. Tamar said her father had been involved in sex with her since she was 11-years-old and had had sexual intercouse with her.

Further that she became pregnant and had a secret abortion performed on her in Los Angeles.  That she (Tamar) was in danger of her life and that’s why she was sent to San Francisco, from Los Angeles for her own protection.

The witness described Tamar as being beautiful and intelligent and during their time together in the summer of 1949, she became very fond of Tamar and found her to be very sophisticated. She described her having blonde hair in 1950.

The witness went on to say she believed every word Tamar told her  about the Incest charges and never doubted that she was being truthful.  Tamar told her she was named after “Tamar” in the poem by Robinson Jeffers.

Once Tamar left the home for girls the witness never saw or spoke with her again.

In my search for the possible 1949 San Francisco location that Tamar and  I discovered “The Sisters of the Good Shepard” residence in the Portola District near the waterfront. It served as a Home for Girls from the 1930s-1970s. I sent the below photograph to the witness  and she confirmed, “Yes, that is the place, Detective.”

“Sisters of the Good Shepard” Home for Girls circa 1950

I want to thank this witness for  coming forward and telling us of my sister Tamar’s early “secret” pre-trial disclosure to her, confirming her 1949 allegations of incest and sexual molestations.

My sister, Tamar Nais Hodel, passed away at age 80 in October 2015.

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