Fred Sexton-The Falcon’s Shadow: The Triple Life of an Artist; Predator, Accomplice
Birch Bay, Washington
August 31, 2025
Most people who recognize the name Fred Sexton know him only as the man who sculpted the Maltese Falcon statuette for John Huston’s 1941 Warner Bros. classic. But that single credit hides a lifetime of darkness. Sexton was not just an artist. He was my father Dr. George Hill Hodel’s accomplice — from the Early Years (1921-1938) forward. He was a sexual predator who struck deals to save himself, molested his stepdaughter, and fled the country rather than face justice.
It’s time to reintroduce Sexton to newer readers for what he truly was: an artist who lived a double life as an enabler of George Hodel’s crimes.
Early Bond with George Hodel
Sexton and George Hodel grew up together in Los Angeles in the 1920s. They moved in the same CalTech/bohemian/artistic circles and bonded early. Both were brilliant and ambitious, but both also demonstrated early predatory behavior and boundary-breaking.
From those beginnings, Sexton appears again and again in proximity to Hodel — not on the periphery, but as a willing participant in what would grow into decades of crimes.
The 1949 Incest Trial – Sexton’s Deal
In 1949, when my half-sister Tamar Hodel accused George Hodel of incest, Sexton’s involvement was dragged into open court.
Sexton admitted on the stand that he had also sexually molested Tamar, though he pled down to the lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
That plea was not mercy — it was a deal. He testified against George, giving the prosecution leverage, and in return walked away with minimal punishment.
Sexton’s testimony saved himself, but it confirmed in the public record what Tamar had said all along: he was an active participant, not a bystander.
Art as Confession – Death of Monalita
In 1955, Sexton painted Death of Monalita, a disturbing modernist canvas that echoes details from at least two of Hodel/Sexton kidnap/murder bisections. 1) The Janurary 4, 1946 “Chicago Lipstick Murder” of little six-year-old victim, Suzanne Degnan and 2) the January 15, 1947 kidnap/torture murder of Elizabeth “Black Dahlia” Short.
skeletal figures,
cut-away anatomy,
mutilated and disjointed human forms.
This was not coincidence. Like Man Ray, Duchamp, and Copley, Sexton encoded crime-scene confessions in his art. Death of Monalita reads as a subconscious admission — a painter’s version of the mutilations he and Hodel had seen and covered up.
Gemma Taccogna & Confirmed Abuse
In the late 1950s, Sexton married Gemma Taccogna, a gifted Italian-Mexican artist. Together they lived in Mexico and the U.S. with her three children.
Here is where the mask fully slips. This is not speculation, and it is not hearsay.
I personally interviewed both Gemma and her daughter.
Both independently confirmed that Sexton molested the daughter when she was 11 years old.
When confronted, Sexton did what predators always do: he ran. He abandoned Gemma and her children, emptied his wife’s sizeable bank account in California and fled to Mexico.
Exile and Death in Mexico
In Guadalajara, Sexton married yet another teenage girl, continuing his lifelong pattern of exploitation. He lived out his last decades there, sheltered from U.S. authorities and carrying his secrets.
When he died in 1995 at age 88, he ordered that all his personal effects be destroyed — a final attempt to erase the evidence of a life lived as predator and accomplice. (George Hodel did the same, ordering his wife June to burn all of his posessions at his death in 1999.)
The Truth of Fred Sexton
Fred Sexton was not just an artist. He was:
George Hodel’s accomplice from the Early Years crimes forward.
A sexual predator who assaulted Tamar Hodel and later his own and his first wife’s biological daughter (Michelle) and later his second wife’s daughter. (His stepdaughter,Gemma.)
A man who cut a deal in court to escape justice.
A fugitive who fled the country to continue his abuses abroad.
Yes, he sculpted the Maltese Falcon. But his true legacy is far darker. Without men like Fred Sexton, George Hill Hodel’s crimes could never have gone on as long as they did.
Why We Must Remember
Sexton represents the hidden machinery behind GHH. He provided cover, complicity, and collaboration. His art, his testimony, and the survivors’ voices expose him for what he was.
So let’s be clear: Fred Sexton is not just the “artist of the Falcon.” He is a documented predator, an accomplice to crimes stretching across decades, and a reminder that behind every monstrous figure like George Hodel, there are others who helped him get away with it.
For readers who want to go deeper:
I do remember Steve you did mention Fred Sexton as a highly probable suspect who could have beaten and left for dead my mother’s & her sisters’ family friend whom he met at the Ali Baba Ballroom in San Francisco when I was a teenager. My mother, then a widow, was to accompany her cousin to the Ballroom on a Friday nite. I threw a fit saying “No” as I was attending a very good High School in Belmont CA thanks to my wonderful grandfather Patrick🍀! Our unfortunate family friend never recovered after being found in the Piedmont Hills badly beaten, thrown & left for dead. She did survive the assault but was never herself again. Predators do find each other and use their association with other predators to increase the behavior, connect with more victims & probably feel some mutual bond of much needed companionship…..evil doth beget evil. A very scary world we inhabit, Steve. Stay well, stay healthy……you have literally looked evil dead on, eye to eye and endured✊……but it hasn’t been easy has it! Live on dear friend,…….we both know the rewards!💕🤗
Patricia O:
Thanks Patricia. Yes, so much Evil out there. As you know, both George and Fred did use ballrooms in LA and San Diego to met women, so San Francisco not out of the range of possibility for sure. Stay well yourself. Both of us seem to be keeping on keeping on as another summer begins to close. We know one thing for sure. Our PARTY up there just keeps growing. Best, XO steve and rima.
Over the yrs since reading BDA in 09 I’ve often wondered about GHH and Sextons “evil partnership”what were the power dynamics? were they equals or like many killer pairs a more dominant “leader” and the “submissive”. Did they evolve together or one mentor the other in their awful crimes.
I wonder if the Baron went along also. The whole thing you’ve layed out(I’ve read all the books,most several times) both fascinates and horrifies me. Your dads many lives n wives kids,murder and fine art, 1940s/50s Hollywood intertwined in and the backdrop of the famous murder/insect trail.
You and Keyo and then like it wasn’t ironic synchronic or wild enough unknowingly you become a Hollywood homicide detective.(you could write a book on that) it’s such a rollercoaster. Plus all the stuff that’s been found n sent to the blog.
I understand to you this isn’t just some abstract case, it’s concerning your family. I try to consider that when reading especially the weight of what your mom went through those last yrs before GHH split. I can’t imagine her stress and fear the just tumble of emotions she must have felt. knowing eventually she had loved and given children to a man who’d crossed such a line as George crossed. That not even her or his children were safe from his madness and to have to keep silent. Smh.
The fact Sexton. snd GHH both escaped justice and lived long successful life’s after leaving such path of death and generational suffering in their wake is depressing.
It’s an odd feeling having a parent that did evil things. My father was his own kind of evil. Lifelong klansman,high ranking member(exalted cyclops)smh of the klan group who opened fire killing 5 ppl in Greensboro North Carolina in late 70s. They did it with cameras rolling. It’s on YouTube. The old man missed the killings.he was in jail for failure to pay child support.later arrested never convicted for several arsons(intimidation over housing) n felony assaults using weapon. He wasn’t any more fun at home. Our fathers were different but I think I have some understanding. In this area and maybe that’s one reason. The story resonates with me as much as it has. I ment to keep this short.
Thanks for all you do. Have a great Labor Day.
Frank A:
Wow, yes you’ve had a very tough going too my friend. Don’t have to tell you anything about “surviving.”
Yes, our mother’s life was a living hell. First with Huston then George. Not enough booze in the world to drowned out those two. Especially, back to back. Amazing how she was despite her many personal weaknesses, able to instill a love for Truth and Justice in all three of her sons. Each sharing it in their own way. Thanks for sharing your personal hardships and yes we have a lot in common. My very best to you and yours. (P.S. Stay tuned. At least, one more biggie down the road.) Steve