When I first examined the possibility that the Black Dahlia and Zodiac murders were committed by the same individual—Dr. George Hill Hodel—I did so cautiously.
Most Evil I (Dutton 2009)
In Most Evil (Dutton, 2009), which reached No. 2 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, I stated that the evidence strongly suggested a single offender linking the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases. At that time, however, I stopped short of absolute certainty, noting that DNA confirmation—should it ever become available—would represent the ideal evidentiary standard.
Most Evil II (Rare Bird Books 2015)
By the time I published Most Evil II (Rare Bird Books, 2015), additional evidence had emerged. This included further analysis of the Zodiac correspondence and the identification of the name HODEL, embedded and spelled out in one of the Zodiac ciphers. Taken together with established timelines, documented behavior, and previously known investigative findings, and thirty-two separate crime signature links between “Black Dahlia Avenger” and “Zodiac”, this evidence moved my conclusion from probable to affirmative.
At that point, based on the totality of the evidence, I concluded that the same suspect—George Hill Hodel, who was determined by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, based on the evidence I presented, to be the Black Dahlia murderer, with Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay stating that the case was strong enough to be filed and proven in a jury trial—was responsible for the later 1960s crimes committed under the name “Zodiac.”
That progression reflects investigation, not hindsight.
Note- After a joint briefing by the author and Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay, LAPD Chief of Detectives James McMurray accepted the District Attorney’s determination and directed that the Black Dahlia murder be cleared based on the evidence presented.
For those interested in a fuller explanation of the basis for these conclusions, see the following video interview and published article from The Sun, released in 2024, in which I discuss the linkage in detail: Copy and paste below link.
