From the Archive: The 2009 National Radio Tour That First Linked Dr. George Hill Hodel to the Black Dahlia and Zodiac Murders

June 29, 2026
Birch Bay, Washington

Purloined Letter No. 1
Rediscovering the complete national radio tour for Most Evil (September 22, 2009).

Every so often, the archive yields an unexpected surprise.

A few days ago, while organizing what I now call the Steve Hodel Master Reference Library, I came across an old CD whose existence I had completely forgotten. Written across the face of the disc was a simple notation:

Most Evil – National Radio Tour – September 22, 2009

I slipped it into my computer expecting to find perhaps a few interviews.

Instead, I discovered all twenty radio interviews that I gave across the country on the publication day of my Dutton hardcover, Most Evil: Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders of Dr. George Hill Hodel.

The interviews began early that morning and continued until evening, reaching an estimated eight million listeners through major-market stations and nationally syndicated programs.

What made the discovery even more exciting was that every interview could now be digitally transcribed and preserved. Within a few hours, all twenty broadcasts had been converted into searchable text, creating a permanent historical archive of that remarkable day.

Looking back seventeen years later, I realize these interviews document something far more significanrt than a book publicity tour.

At the time, they represented the first nationwide media presentation of my investigative case linking Dr. George Hill Hodel to both the 1947 Black Dahlia murder and the 1968–69 Zodiac murders.

When Black Dahlia Avenger was published in 2003, my investigation focused on the murder of Elizabeth Short and the related 1940s L.A. Lone Woman Murders.

Six years later, Most Evil followed the evidence further.

After years of additional investigation, I presented what I believed was a compelling circumstantial case that George Hodel had reinvented himself two decades later as the serial murderer who called himself “Zodiac.”

At that point, I stopped short of declaring the Zodiac case solved. Instead, I challenged law enforcement to do what I believed would ultimately answer the question: compare confirmed Zodiac DNA with George Hodel’s known DNA, which I had located and made available.

Six years later, after continuing my investigation and publishing Most Evil II, I concluded that the accumulated new evidence established that George Hodel was not only the Black Dahlia murderer but also the Zodiac killer.

Listening to these interviews again reminded me of that investigations evolve. Conclusions are rarely reached overnight. They develop one clue at a time, one document at a time, one witness at a time, and sometimes over decades.

One observation also struck me as I revisited these broadcasts.

In most major serial murder investigations, the enduring name of the killer is supplied by the press or law enforcement. “Night Stalker,” “Hillside Strangler,” and “Green River Killer” are familiar examples.

The Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases are different.

Elizabeth Short had already acquired the nickname “Black Dahlia” before her murder. The individual who mailed letters and personal effects to the newspapers then adopted the signature “Black Dahlia Avenger,” deliberately creating a public persona around the crime.

Two decades later, the Zodiac correspondent likewise introduced himself by writing, “This is the Zodiac speaking…” From that point forward, the press, law enforcement, and ultimately history accepted the name he had chosen for himself.

My investigation ultimately led me to conclude that these were not isolated acts of self-identification but part of the same individual’s deliberate and recurring pattern of constructing public identities through his crimes. The creation of “Black Dahlia Avenger” and, later, “Zodiac” was, in my view, intentional, purposeful, and psychologically revealing.

As part of this post I’ve included photographs of the original Dutton hardcover edition, including the front cover and jacket text exactly as readers first encountered it in September 2009.

Artist Neal Adams 1974 True Crimes cover                 San Francisco Chronicle reporter
Duffy  Jennings Chapter on Zodiac

   
2009 Dutton hardcover publication  The same Neal Adams composite that later appeared on the above cover of Most Evil was originally published in 1974 on the cover of Great Crimes of San Francisco. Adams later confirmed through a mutual acquaintance that the drawing had been prepared “for and with law enforcement.”

• 1974 — Great Crimes of San Francisco (where many readers first encounter the Neal Adams composite).
• 2009 — Most Evil front cover.
• 2009 — Most Evil back cover.
• 2026 — The twenty interviews are rediscovered, digitally preserved and made publicly available.

I’ve also attached two of my favorite audio recorded interviews from that remarkable day. As today’s headlines once again debate the identities of both the Black Dahlia murderer and the Zodiac Killer, these interviews preserve—without revision or hindsight—exactly what I was presenting nationally on September 22, 2009.

Seventeen years later, they have become more than old radio broadcasts. They are a time capsule—a permanent record of where the investigation stood on the day Most Evil was introduced to the world.

Sometimes history has a way of waiting patiently until we’re ready to rediscover it.

Perhaps the greatest satisfaction for any investigator is knowing that, in the end, the record speaks for itself.

—Steve Hodel

Listen to the Original Broadcasts

The following two broadcasts are presented exactly as they aired on September 22, 2009, the publication day of Most Evil. They are preserved as part of the Steve Hodel Master Reference Library and document the first nationwide media presentation of my investigative case linking Dr. George Hill Hodel to both the 1947 Black Dahlia murder and the 1968–69 Zodiac murders.

Interview 1: Nationally Syndicated — Mancow Muller 

Interview 2: Washington, D.C. — WTOP News Radio