From the Archives: Before the Recent Headlines — Most Evil I & II: Linking Black Dahlia to Zodiac

August 5, 2026
Birch Bay, Washington

Recent media coverage of the Team Connelly/Baber investigation has generated renewed public interest in the George Hodel case and its possible connection to the Zodiac murders. Many readers have asked where they should begin.

The following presentation is the complete Introduction to my 2015 book, Most Evil II, read by acclaimed audiobook narrator Malcolm Hillgartner.

In Most Evil (2009), I was the first author to present Dr. George Hill Hodel as a viable suspect in the Zodiac murders. At that time, I concluded that the evidence was compelling but not yet sufficient to declare the case solved. In Most Evil, I also published my father’s DNA profile and encouraged law enforcement to compare it with any viable Zodiac biological evidence that might become available.

Over the next six years, additional documentary discoveries, forensic analysis, and investigative research substantially strengthened the case. By the publication of Most Evil II in 2015, I concluded that the cumulative evidence established Dr. George Hodel as the Zodiac Killer and presented that conclusion in the book.

This recording is being reposted as an archival introduction to Most Evil II.  Although this recording dates from 2015, I believe it remains a useful overview of the investigative path that led to my conclusions. Readers can then compare those findings with the more recent work of other investigators and decide for themselves.

I hope both longtime readers and those discovering my work for the first time will find it informative.

— Det. III Steve Hodel #11394
LAPD Hollywood Homicide Division (ret.)