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Coincidence or Destiny? A Star in the Heavens and the Black Dahlia Case
September 15, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Tracing destiny through a father’s gift, a photograph, and the enduring mystery of George Hodel and the Black Dahlia Steve and George Hodel side by side 1943 (Cropped from larger family photo.) For the past twenty-six years I’ve wrestled with the question of coincidence versus destiny. In my younger…
Read MoreCase Solved: Black Dahlia Avenger — Updated Definitive Edition Out October 21, 2025 with 150 New Pages
September 11, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Black Dahlia Avenger – Case Closed:2025 Update October 21, 2025 — Mark the date. Twenty-two years ago, I released Black Dahlia Avenger, presenting evidence that my father, Dr. George Hill Hodel, was the killer of Elizabeth Short. That first book sparked a firestorm of debate — hailed as “thoroughly…
Read MoreAuthor, Art Expert Jean-Michel Rabaté on Duchamp, Surrealism, and the Black Dahlia
September 6, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Jean-Michel Rabaté is one of the world’s leading voices on modernism and surrealism. A longtime professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of more than forty books, he has shaped the fields of literary and cultural theory for decades. Rabaté is a founding curator of Philadelphia’s Slought Foundation,…
Read MoreFred 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…
Read MoreJe Defends–Dr. Walter A. Bayley
August 28, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Je Défends — Dr. Walter A. Bayley A Good Man Who Served His Country and His County “Bayley, a 67-year-old man with severe Alzheimer’s could not have committed this murder.” — Joseph Wambaugh, Case Reopened: The Black Dahlia (1999) Ex-LAPD Sgt. Joseph Wambaugh The Man Behind the Name Walter…
Read MoreSynchronicities of a Detective: Black Dahlia, Hollywood, and My Origins
August 24, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Synchronicities: A Life Intertwined with Hollywood and History As a homicide detective, I’ve been trained to separate fact from fiction, evidence from coincidence. Yet over the past six decades of investigation, I’ve found that life has a way of weaving both together.In exploring my father’s crimes and the…
Read MoreA New Taunting Double Entendre “Clew” Linking Dr. George Hodel to the 1947 “Black Dahlia Avenger” Mailings
August 20, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington On January 28, 1947, some thirteen days after his torture/murder and posing of the body of Elizabeth Short on the vacant lot in Liemert Park, five miles south of Hollywood, the “Black Dahlia Avenger” mailed in a collage, a cut-and-paste letter to the Herald Express newspaper. It read: “Go…
Read MoreEchoes in Elysian Park—Cast in Stone: A Tale of Two Hodels and the LAPD Police Academy
August 1, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington The Academy: Born from Reform, Cast in Stone The LAPD Police Academy was dedicated in 1936, built with assistance from the federal WPA under Chief James E. Davis, to clean up a force once riddled with scandal. Nestled in the canyons of Elysian Park, it served both as…
Read MoreManhattan Beach Artist/Surfer Zen Del Rio’s Death at Age 68, Shocks Hundreds of South Bay Friends
July 15, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington Zen Del Rio Sad news to report. Zen Del Rio, the son of artist, Gemma Toccogna, has passed away. Zen, an artist/surfing guru and all around good guy died on June 30, 2025 at age-68. Rest In Peace Zen and Thank You for the Love and Friendship you shared…
Read MoreMike Hodel’s “Negotiations at a Lower Level” originally published in Fantasy Book, November 1982
July 8, 2025 Birch Bay, Washington “Negotiations at a Lower Level” by Mike Hodel My brother, Michael Paul Hodel, passed away in 1986 after a diagnosis of cancer. From diagnosis to death in about 30 days. He was 47 years old. He is greatly missed. He was an author (Enter the Lion) and and for…
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