Conversation with a Killer- Dr. George Hill Hodel Speaks To The Public
The Black Dahlia Avenger’s – “Soft Sly Voice”
“I believe he is an egomaniac who deliberately planned the murder to prove to himself that he was a superman who could outwit and outthink the whole world… He would be one against the world, the perpetrator of the perfect crime… I am convinced that his mad ego will cause him to commit another crime and in the same manner….Every time I put the receiver to my ear I hope that I will hear that same soft sly voice that I heard that day that I talked with the killer of the Black Dahlia.”
James Richardson, City Editor, Los Angeles Examiner
James Richardson speaking with “Black Dahlia Avenger” Jan. 23, 1947
(Photo reenacted for his book cover, For the Life of Me: Memoirs of a City Editor)
Voice of George Hill Hodel M.D. – “The Black Dahlia Avenger”
Here, presented for the first time publicly, are several samples of my father’s voice. Two of them were recorded in Manila, circa 1959, some twelve-years after the murder of Elizabeth Short. George is reading bedtime poems to my four half-brothers and sisters in Manila. (The children’s ages then ranged from approximately 3-8 years.) The piano heard in the background is being played by his then wife, Hortensia, who was an accomplished pianist.
George Hodel circa 1959 reading:
George Hodel circa 1959 reading:”
GHH Where GoThe Boats MPS final
This third sample below was recorded in San Francisco circa 1997. The “Avenger” is now 89 years-old and living with his wife June in their 39th floor penthouse suite on Bush Street, in the Financial District. IS THIS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING?
George Hodel circa 1997, San Francisco –
GHH SF 1997 mps.mp3
Additional samples of George Hodel’s speaking voice can be heard on the just posted YouTube video- (Click below)
“THE VOICE” – City Editor Richardson’s Conversation with the Killer-
From Black Dahlia Avenger, Chapter 12 – The LAPD and the Press: The Joint Investigation
Page 163:
On the afternoon of January 23, Los Angeles Examiner city editor James Richardson received a phone call from a man identifying himself as the Black Dahlia killer. In Richardson’s autobiography, For the Life of Me: Memoirs of a City Editor; he describes the eerie call and the killer’s follow-up. Richardson explained that he never published the story in the paper at the time because he wanted to keep the evidence confidential, even though there was a feeding frenzy among crime reporters for any stray piece of information on the case.
His revelation of the phone call became an important piece of evidence for me, primarily because of his verbatim description of his brief conversation with the killer and his impressions of the suspect. That this call came from the real killer is not in doubt. During their conversation he promised Richardson to send him “a few of her [Elizabeth’s] belongings.” As Richardson described the conversation:
The story dwindled to a few paragraphs and was about to fade out altogether when one day I answered the phone and heard the voice I’ll never forget.
“Is this the city editor?” it asked.
“Yes.”
“What is your name, please?”
“Richardson.”
“Well, Mr. Richardson, I must congratulate you on what the Examiner has done in the Black Dahlia case.”
“Thank you,” I said, and there was a slight pause before the voice spoke again.
“You seem to have run out of material,” it said.
“That’s right.”
A soft laugh sounded in the earpiece.
“Maybe I can be of some assistance,” the voice said.
There was something in the way he said it that sent a shiver up my spine.
“We need it,” I said and there was that soft laugh again.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” the voice said. “I’ll send you some of the things she had with her when she, shall we say, disappeared?”
It was difficult for me to control my voice. I began scribbling on a sheet of paper the words: “Trace this call.”
“What kind of things?” I asked as I tossed the paper to my assistant on the desk. I could see him read and start jiggling the receiver arm on his phone to get the attention of the switchboard girl.
“Oh say, her address book and her birth certificate and a few other things she had in her handbag.”
“When will I get them?” I asked, and I could hear my assistant telling Mae Northern the switchboard girl to trace my call.
“Oh, within the next day or so. See how far you can get with them. And now I must say goodbye. You may be trying to trace this call.”
“Wait a minute,” I said but I heard the click and the phone was dead.
Richard concluded his book with some observations and reflections about the caller/killer he had spoken with seven years earlier. He was, Richardson was convinced, an egomaniac who planned the murder to show the world he was a superman, someone who could “outwit and outthink the whole world.” He also stated–and again he was right–that the killer had placed the body where it would be quickly found, and mutilated it so horribly to attract the greatest attention on the part of the police and public. “He would be one against the world,” he wrote, “the perpetrator of the perfect crime.”
Richardson was also certain the killer would strike again, and in the same manner, but that ultimately he would make a mistake that would result in his capture. Richardson hoped that the Dahlia killer would again pick up the phone, dial the city desk and ask for him. He revealed that his switchboard operators had developed a sixth sense and screened the “nuts and crackpots,” but every now and then did put through a call to him, which invariably was important. He said he still believed that one day he would pick up the receiver and “again hear that soft, sly voice.”
THREE DAYS LATER-
City Editor Richardson receives Elizabeth Short’s personal belongings mailed by killer, “To the Los Angeles Examiner and Other L.A. Papers.”
Author’s Signed Copy of City Editor Richardson’s Memoirs
Early on in my investigation and research in 2000, I was fortunate to obtain a first edition, signed copy of James Richardson’s 1954 memoirs. The copy I found was exceptionally COOL as the Front Page, Old School editor had inscribed the book to the legendary film director, John Ford. Richardson’s inscription reads:
“For John Ford
Cagney says you like good reading.
So, here you are . And if thats boasting – make the most of it.
Best Wishes, J.H. Richardson
For The Life Of Me; Memoirs Of A City Editor RICHARDSON, James Hugh Putnam’s New York 1954
Do you think your dad was capable of killing even in the 1990’s? I ask this because when I was living in Carson in the early 90’s, I read in the Daily Breeze that 2 women had been found on 190th St in the LA strip area cut up and left on the side of the street. Drivers had thought they were mannequins. I remember thinking that it was like the Black Dahlia case, but I thought that by the 90’s, the murderer must be dead.
I always wanted to see the evidence from the Stein killing match and see if your father had something to do with it and ask the gentleman who was stabbed and survived at the lake if your fathers voice sounded familiar I read your fathers handwriting and zodiacs it’s an almost perfect pare I also wonder if your father had stolen or had multiple guns he used over time also would like to see dna from u to the dna left at the steins killing see if the midrocondria matches up with steinsblood and zodiacs as maybe just maybe because of fingerprint left there etc that they would have it lastly would like to add did your father every have boots did you father ever drive the car driven at the lake as it appears it was a blue car and was a fast car. Did you Dad have any friends in the Richmond district as seems when a cop stopped zodiac if and if your dad was zodiac he stated it checking in this report was never given to the newspapers as the police officer wrote this in his diary people suspect he lived in me or two blocks from steins murder. Lastly dna and the 21 and me or any online dna database would be interesting to see if the evidence from the black dialah case was a fingerprint as the person who killed never used gloves in fact always stabbed himself as he was clumsy so appears that that may be a connection? Murders can be linked with MO and how the killer behavior was at the time and where the killer was would be interesting to have a documentary who a production company pays to take a radar or Scabner they use at the border go around the old house in LA and see if they can dig up bodies. I always thought zodiac was a guy who the police let go and he is still alive in Walnut Creek how I know news reports stated in the 62 killing in Santa Barbra that two boys were possibly connected to z or two were z or maybe just one but there age and everything match up with my profile of Zodiac which was a young killer kid who cont killing as he was mentally ill suspressed it hated couples because he couldn’t have sex and never wanted to expose his secret of killing many of Zs papers he wrote is like a child your father did act somewhat like a child maybe a mental disability that stemmed from trauma as a child and than because of hatred towards women lusted in hatred of women so he had that as his outlet a dearly depraved soul within a smart mans mind and lastly zodiacs picture looked nothing like Bryan’s and or the witness that was taken kidnapped as she was in the car with Z for an hour she if anyone should be interviewed if only a producer could get a line way all voices and people and just go to the survivors I would remember my killer and or kidnapper 30 years later nothing ever changed the voices always haunt you that’s for sure lastly I did listen to so called zodiacs voice on YouTube the one where he called in of course was. Prank the only person who would remember is Bryan or the male surviver of the lake and he went underground and or has passed
Big Detective:
Because GHH was transient in SF in the Sixties he would likely have rented a car and I’m sure he had a storage locker in town where he could keep various guns and ?? All sources of his fingerprints “disappeared” from LAPD files as well as those taken when he obtained his M.D. with the State of Calif? Voice ID even if “positive” from surviving victim, Bryan Hartnell would not add much to the case and would not be determinative. The only final positive would be the DNA and LE has no confirmed Zodiac DNA. Apparently, either LE has not compared the separate agency sources, or they don’t match each other? GHH’s DNA, which I have, would have to be compared to the different DNA samples separately to see if it matches any of them. It would only be inclusive, not exclusive, since their samples are not known to belong to Zodiac.
Yvonne:
No, highly doubtful he could have continued killing into the 1990s. In fact, I think that it is very likely that his last victim was San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine. That crime occurred on Oct 11, 1969 – one day after my father’s 62nd birthday. It’s possible he continued into the early to mid-1970s, but my research/investigation hasn’t found anything- so far.
Regards,
SKH
I believe your Father was responsible for the Black Dahlia Murder and the Lipstick Murders. Actually, before I watched or read anything related to the evidence you’d already found, when I had been reading an article which listed the Dr. as one of the suspects, I said to myself, ‘he was probably the murderer, he meets all of the criteria, they have the wrong man in Prison’. I’m curious though, of why you believe your Father was also responsible for the Zoidac killings? Other than the antagonizing letters, I don’t see much correlation between the two. Is there other evidence you’ve come accross to make you believe it was him?
Hi Amber:
In my second book, MOST EVIL I document all the linkage that I believe connects my father to not only the Chicago Lipstick Murders, a Black Dahlia copycat murder in the Philippines, and then to the San Francisco Bay area murders by “Zodiac.” In these later crimes I’m not saying, “solved” but that he needs to go to the top of the list and they need to obtain confirmed DNA and compare it to George Hodel’s. Suggest you check out the book for all the reasons why I believe he is linked to the 1960s crimes. All my best, Steve
Steve,
Just watch the 2007 Zodiac documentary, interviewing a lot of the original personnel in the investigation. I DID NOT KNOW two of the survivors were still alive at that time, (as well as the Vellijo dispatcher, who took the killer’s call.)
Both Hartnell and this dispatcher heard the killer distinctively. (Hartnell had an extended conversation with him.) Have you tried to contact them and let them hear your father’s voice recordings? Could be some interest.
Hi Hooday:
During my investigative stage prior to publication of MOST EVIL I did write to Hartnell requesting he listen to “The Voice” but he never responded. The problem with a voice ID is the same as a photo ID. Especially from forty-years past. A witness inclusion or exclusion is basically meaningless at this stage. Half will believe the witness and the other half won’t. As I keep saying, the only way the Zodiac case will ever be solved/cleared is through confirmed DNA. That’s why I emphasized it in detail in my “Touch DNA” chapter in BDA II.
Best, Steve
I fully believe that George Hill Hodel was the Black Dahlia Killer, Lipstick Killer, and Zodiac, along with a few other murders. I do not believe I share any relation to him, but I was born with the same last name. I researched the Zodiac since I was 11, and only became convinced of the true killer when I read Most Evil.
Hi Jasmine: (pretty name)
Yes, as author of both books, I’ve found that the biggest hurdle is getting the public to read the second book. Initial reaction is, “This cannot be.” (That was my own reaction when I began looking at the possibility.) But, once they have read MOST EVIL they realize that a compelling case exits and the probability that George Hodel reinvented himself as ZODIAC is very high.. As you know, in MOST EVIL I’m not saying, “case solved” rather I’m saying, “Let’s do the DNA and rule him in or out.” All my best, Steve
Hi Steve, I read your book The Black Dahlia many years ago. Great book…amazing at every turn!
Am I remembering correctly that your dad was friends with John Ford, the director, and that they were involved in many kinky sexual parties etc?
This came up in conversation lately, and I am curious.
Thanks for any info you can shed. Cheers!! Carol
Hi Carol M. Thanks, glad you enjoyed BDA.
I think you are confusing director John Ford, with my dad’s good and longtime friend, director John Huston. (Maltese Falcon, African Queen, Treasure of Sierra Madre etc.) Huston and my dad were close friends and my mother, Dorothy Huston Hodel had been married to John seven years, before divorcing him and marrying my father in 1940. Best, Steve.
Hello Steve,
I’ve been trying to listen to the MP4 that you posted regarding your father’s voice but it says error?
Jana: Try it now. Should work. Steve
Hello, Mr. Hodel,
I absolutely love your books, true master piece your father was a very fasinating guy. Its ashame such a talented handsome genius can have such madness in his surreal dream like desires. I do have couple of questions, I listened to your fathers voice but has your father ever been filmed( such as home video / proffessional)? And have you considered on making a movie about your Father? Thanks John
Hi John: Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated. Yes, he had the potential and the brain power to cure cancer or almost anything and it all went to the Darkside. Tragic. Dad’s wife, June took a lot of video/film of him, but none of that will ever be available. I have a few videos of the two of them from visits in WA State, trips to Orcas Island etc. We hare hoping to make a six or eight-part miniseries documentary in the near future. Top pros are going to pitch it to studios soon, so hopefully we can tell the full story on film. Best, Steve