The Black Dahlia Mystery

Summary

48 Hours: The Black Dahlia Mystery – A Detailed Summary

Introduction to the Black Dahlia Case

The "48 Hours" episode titled The Black Dahlia Mystery, released on January 2, 2025, delves into one of Los Angeles' most infamous unsolved murders—the brutal 1947 killing of Elizabeth Short, widely known as the Black Dahlia. The case captivated the nation for over five decades, marked by gruesome crime scenes, a massive manhunt, and enduring mystery.

Steve Hodel and His Quest for the Truth

At the heart of this episode is Steve Hodel, a former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) homicide detective with an extensive career spanning 24 years and over 300 murder investigations. Hodel brings a personal dimension to the narrative, as he embarks on a mission to uncover the truth behind his own father's potential involvement in the Black Dahlia case.

“Nothing on a level of this kind of horror,” says Steve Hodel at [00:07], emphasizing the severity and intrigue that the case holds for him.

Allegations Against Dr. George Hodel

Steve Hodel's investigation takes a dramatic turn when he begins to scrutinize his father, Dr. George Hodel, a respected figure with a mysterious past. George Hodel, a brilliant man with an IQ of 186, was known for his charm and eccentric lifestyle, running a prestigious venereal disease clinic in Los Angeles. However, beneath this facade, allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse linger.

“I think he knew Elizabeth Short,” Steve Hodel reveals at [22:53], connecting his father's past with the notorious murder case.

Supporting Evidence and Expert Opinions

Hodel's theory is bolstered by several pieces of circumstantial evidence:

1. Handwriting Analysis: The killer sent taunting letters to the police, which Hodel believes match his father's handwriting. Although expert opinions remain inconclusive, Hodel remains steadfast in his conviction.

   “That’s my father’s handwriting. I know my father’s handwriting. There was no question about it,” asserts Hodel at [23:33].

2. Photographic Evidence: Photographs found in George Hodel's album bear a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Short, leading Hodel to suspect a deeper connection.

   “The diamond-shaped face, the high forehead, the thick hair,” Steve notes at [37:16], highlighting the similarities he perceives.

3. Murder Technique: The precision of the surgical cuts suggests the hand of a skilled surgeon, narrowing the pool of suspects to those with medical expertise.

   “She was killed by a surgeon. That really is a limiting pool of suspects,” explains Hodel at [35:47].

Additionally, crime writer James Ellroy and Assistant District Attorney Stephen Kay support Hodel's theory, adding credibility to his claims.

“I think Steve Hodel is a good and noble guy. I think he solved the Black Dahlia murder case,” praises Ellroy at [42:22].

Contradictory Evidence and Skepticism

Despite Hodel's compelling arguments, significant skepticism remains. Critics point to the lack of concrete evidence and question the reliability of Hodel's interpretations:

1. Handwriting Doubts: Forensic expert John Osborne concluded that the handwriting evidence does not definitively link George Hodel to the letters.

   “There is simply not enough evidence to prove one way or the other whether his father was the writer or not the writer,” states Osborne at [37:05].

2. Missing Physical Evidence: The LAPD admits that much of the original evidence from the Black Dahlia case has vanished, including crucial interviews and wire recordings, casting doubt on the integrity of the investigation.

   “It's not just the physical evidence. It's the interviews, it's the wire recordings of my father. Everything has disappeared,” laments Hodel at [43:56].

3. Legal and Procedural Irregularities: Historical accounts reveal that the LAPD was embroiled in corruption and scandals during the time of the murder, leading to suspicions of a possible cover-up.

   “He couldn’t prove it. Now they can’t talk to my secretary anymore because she’s dead,” recounts Hodel, hinting at potential cover-ups [27:02].

Impact on Family and Legacy

The allegations against George Hodel have profound effects on his family. Steve Hodel grapples with conflicted emotions, striving to separate the man from the possible monster.

“This hasn't been an easy thing. People saying, oh, this is just a son who hates his father and stuff,” shares Hodel at [45:04].

Meanwhile, Steve's half-sister, Tamar Hodel, recounts traumatic experiences of abuse by their father, further complicating the family's legacy.

“My father had intercourse with me. It wasn’t loving. He acted guilt-ridden. That was very bad,” confesses Tamar at [21:17].

Conclusion: An Unresolved Mystery

Despite Steve Hodel's relentless pursuit, the Black Dahlia case remains officially unsolved. The disappearance of key evidence, coupled with conflicting testimonies and expert opinions, ensures that the mystery endures. Whether George Hodel was the true killer or another suspect remains a topic of heated debate.

“This case, this investigation, has been described as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” concludes Steve Hodel at [47:54], encapsulating the enduring allure and frustration surrounding the Black Dahlia mystery.

The "48 Hours" episode masterfully intertwines personal narratives, expert analyses, and historical context to provide a comprehensive exploration of one of America's most perplexing crimes. For listeners seeking to understand the intricate web of evidence and emotion behind the Black Dahlia case, this episode offers a compelling and thought-provoking journey.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Steve Hodel]

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[Narrator]

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[Steve Hodel]

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[Narrator]

Black Dahlia Confidential.

[Steve Hodel]

She's Elizabeth Short. A roemer. A sweet kid. She's a ghost in a blank page. To record our fears and desires.

[Narrator]

To crime writer James Ellroy. The brief life and horrific death of Elizabeth Short is a classic American tragedy known as the Black Dahlia case.

[Steve Hodel]

A post war Mona Lisa. An L. A quintessential A story about.

[Narrator]

Love and loneliness, murder and madness. Played out in the city of dreams. Los Angeles.

[Steve Hodel]

A body in a vacant lot. And an apparition called the Black Dahlia.

[Narrator]

It's the most famous unsolved murder in Los Angeles history. A beautiful young victim. A cunning psychopathic killer. A real life mystery that's inspired countless movie makers and writers. From double indemnity to Chinatown, to LA Confidential. Even the nickname the Black Dahlia is straight out of the movies. The Blue Dahlia was a nightclub in a 1946 crime film. Newspapers adapted that title to fit the Elizabeth Short case. And the Black Dahlia legend was born. The mystery behind the legend continues to inspire great storytellers. Director Brian DePalma and a cast that includes Hilary Swank. Which do I have to do to.

[Tamar Hodel]

Keep my name out of the papers?

[Narrator]

Scarlett Johansson. I'm scared. And Josh Hartnett once again brings the twisted tale of the Black Dahlia to the big screen.

[Steve Hodel]

Great test. Elizabeth Short.

[Narrator]

Say you care. Save it, Short. This is a very sad scene.

[Steve Hodel]

Beautiful Hollywood wannabe. That's the camera that's covering you.

[Narrator]

Yes, Director Brian De Palma. And of course, the question's always when.

[Steve Hodel]

Something like that, how does that beautiful.

[Narrator]

Girl, which you've seen pin up shots of, become this?

[Steve Hodel]

And who did that to her and why? It's one of these mysteries that will go on forever. Nothing stays buried forever. Nothing. It's the great L A murder. And L A s had some doozies. Well, it's up here a ways more.

[Narrator]

Steve O'Dell was just five years old when Elizabeth Short was murdered.

[Steve Hodel]

The crime scene, we're just coming up here. Now.

[Narrator]

As a cop, he worked the same Hollywood streets Elizabeth once knew.

[Steve Hodel]

You know, I had lots of murders where you had young runaways. And within weeks they'd have a needle in their arm and they'd be doing tricks on Hollywood boulevard.

[Narrator]

For over 17 years, he investigated 300 murders. The black Dahlia case was just another cold case. But after he retired, it would come to haunt him.

[Steve Hodel]

We're standing just at the location where the body would have been placed. Now, this would have been a large vacant lot. The upper torso was juxtaposed just off to the left, about 12 inches.

[Narrator]

Do you have any idea why the body would be left here?

[Steve Hodel]

Because the killer was sure that it would be found fairly quickly as it was. Clearly he wasn't trying to hide it. He wanted the notoriety.

[Narrator]

The killer got what he wanted. For weeks, a terrified city watched as the search for the murderer unfolded. There were dozens of false confessions, hundreds of other suspects questioned and cleared. The killer even wrote letters taunting the police and also sent Elizabeth Short's personal address book to a local newspaper. But after the biggest manhunt in LA history, the murder was listed officially unsolved. It stayed that way for 58 years.

[Tamar Hodel]

That's Elizabeth when she was between 10 and 11.

[Narrator]

Mary Pasios has never forgotten Elizabeth. Elizabeth was her babysitter and idol in their working class neighborhood of Medford, Massachusetts, outside Boston.

[Tamar Hodel]

She was black Irish. She had the dark hair, the translucent blue green eyes and a flawless complexion. She had beautiful skin.

[Narrator]

A vibrant young woman growing up in a dark, drab time, the height of the Depression. Did she ever talk about her dreams to you?

[Tamar Hodel]

Just that she was going to Hollywood.

[Narrator]

And this is Hollywood Boulevard, the business and theater center of the Film cabinet. Post war Los Angeles was a boom town overrun with ex servicemen, starstruck wannabes. Here's a gorgeous number in blue, knitted wool and hustlers. Then as now, a place where pretty faces were a dime a dozen and life could be tough.

[Steve Hodel]

Most of the girls are applauded, thanked and then quickly forgotten till the next contest comes along.

[Tamar Hodel]

She was broke and she was borrowing money.

[Narrator]

Elizabeth became a Hollywood hanger on, going out on the town each night, usually with a different guy, to places like the Frolic Room, which looks pretty much the same now as it did back then.

[Tamar Hodel]

Friends said they would get her a date so that she'd eat. It was pretty common for women to do that. Dating for dinner, dating for dinner.

[Narrator]

Her last night on Earth was January 14, 1947. Merry Christmas. It's a Wonderful Life was playing at Hollywood's Pantages Theater. Around dawn the next day, a mysterious black car was seen at the spot where Elizabeth's body was later found. A black car, very similar to the 1936 Packard owned by Steve Hodele's father, Dr. George Hodele.

[Steve Hodel]

Here's a photograph of me sitting on father's lap.

[Narrator]

And that's you here?

[Steve Hodel]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

And that's your father, right? George Hodel was a brilliant man with an IQ of 186. A point higher, he would say, than Einstein's. He began as a child musical prodigy studying in Paris with Madame Montessori. After a stint as a newspaper reporter at the age of 16, he sailed through medical school, studying surgery. He settled in Los Angeles, running the county's venereal disease clinic, where it was rumored he treated some of LA's top. A man with family money who lived in an exotic house in the middle of Los Angeles that was as eccentric as its owner.

[Tamar Hodel]

I would describe it as looking like a Mayan temple. It really did. It was a fortress from the world.

[Narrator]

Tamar Hodel was one of 11 children the doctor had by five different women. She and her half brother Steve remember their father's house as a place where artists and movie people came for flamboyant parties, presided over by the dynamic George Hodele.

[Tamar Hodel]

Anyone that's ever met this man will tell you the kind of charm and power that he had.

[Narrator]

George Hodele's charm was certainly not lost on his son Steve. The two remain close until 1999 when the doctor died in his high rise apartment in San Francisco at the age of 91.

[Steve Hodel]

I flew to San Francisco. I'm sitting there with June, my stepmother, who had been with my father for 30 years. And June said, I think your father would want you to have this. And she handed me this small album. I looked at it and I said to June, june, who is this? And June said, I don't know. Somebody your father knew from a long time ago. I was trying to pull it in. Where do I know this picture? Why do I know this woman? Somewhere deep within me, I made the connection. The Black Dahlia.

[Narrator]

He was hip hop's biggest mogul. The man who redefined fame, fortune and the music industry.

[Steve Hodel]

The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sean Diddy Combs.

[Narrator]

Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know ain't no party like a Diddy party. So, yeah, that's your son. But just as quickly as his empire rose, it came crashing down. Today I'm announcing the unsealing of a.

[Steve Hodel]

Three count indictment charging Sean Combs with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution.

[Narrator]

I was up. I hit rock bottom.

[Steve Hodel]

But I made no excuses.

[Narrator]

I'm disgusted.

[Steve Hodel]

I'm so sorry. Until you're wearing an orange jumpsuit, it's not real. Now it's real.

[Narrator]

From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace from law and crime, this is the rise and fall of Diddy. Listen to the rise and fall of Diddy. Exclusively with Wondery. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock rich, be adored and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Raiden was found dead in a Canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and crime. The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and the Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of the Cotton Club murder early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus.

[Steve Hodel]

The Black Dahlia. I knew that it was a famous unsolved case from long ago, but I didn't know any of the details. I didn't even know her name.

[Narrator]

To this day, Steve O'Dell isn't sure what it was that made him compare pictures of the Black Dahlia to snapshots his father had seen saved of a mystery woman.

[Steve Hodel]

Maybe it was because the Black Dahlia always wore the flower in her hair and looked like that. Maybe that was the connection.

[Narrator]

The search for answers became an obsession. Steve spent months combing through newspaper accounts, talking to old timers and traveling back to his childhood.

[Steve Hodel]

This is our backyard.

[Narrator]

Steve revisited the exotic house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood.

[Steve Hodel]

The three of us were standing right.

[Narrator]

About here where he and his brothers lived off and on with their father. In the late 1940s, when we were.

[Steve Hodel]

Living here, there was nothing but a large white polar bear rug in here.

[Narrator]

He suspects one of the pictures from his father's album was taken here.

[Steve Hodel]

There's a Chinese statuary that you can see in the picture, and it looks very much like the statuary that dad had here at the house.

[Narrator]

It was literally a house of secrets.

[Steve Hodel]

Off in this direction, we have what was Dad's study, complete with a secret.

[Narrator]

Room where the children were never allowed to go.

[Steve Hodel]

Lo and behold.

[Narrator]

What did your father use this room for?

[Steve Hodel]

We just assumed storage. And the truth was far different and far more terrible.

[Narrator]

It was in this fortress of a house, Steve says, that his father could do what he wanted, no matter how immoral or illegal.

[Tamar Hodel]

I have seen my father's cruelty. When I was 11, he wanted to teach me oral sex.

[Narrator]

When you were 11?

[Tamar Hodel]

11.

[Narrator]

Your own father.

[Tamar Hodel]

My own father.

[Narrator]

Assured that sex between father and daughter was normal. Tamar had anything but a normal childhood. She remembers the doctor's friends, among them famous photographer Man Ray.

[Tamar Hodel]

He was a dirty old man. He took pictures of everybody.

[Narrator]

Man Ray became the family photographer, a perverse family photographer.

[Tamar Hodel]

He took pictures of me, and they were nudes.

[Narrator]

But how old were you when he was taking these Pictures of?

[Tamar Hodel]

Maybe 12.

[Narrator]

A frequent house guest was John Huston, the famous movie director.

[Tamar Hodel]

I had an experience with him. He came in after me and he lunged and put me down on the floor and was definitely going to rape me. And my stepmother came in and she pulled him off, saying, john, John, stop it.

[Narrator]

And there were always women. Tamar remembers a constant stream of young, beautiful women.

[Tamar Hodel]

There always a line of beautiful women waiting to see my father or to go into his quarters into the golden bedroom. I met Tamar when I was 14 and she was 23.

[Narrator]

Michelle Phillips, former singer with the Mamas and the Papas, has been Tamar's friend since 1958.

[Tamar Hodel]

This is how she'd grown up in this crazy environment with her father. And she had obviously been used as sexual object with him and his friends. He was all amazing to me.

[Narrator]

It wasn't until some years later, after one of her concerts that Michelle Phillips met George Hodele for herself.

[Tamar Hodel]

I felt a chill.

[Narrator]

And a lot.

[Tamar Hodel]

Of it was because I knew that he knew that she had told me. And I recently started thinking about the way he looked at me. I think he wanted to kill me.

[Narrator]

Tamar Hodel must have felt a similar chill when as a teenager in 1949 she ran away from her father's home. She told police what had been going on there within.

[Steve Hodel]

The next day there's a knock on the door at the Franklin house. LAPD juvenile detectives. Dr. George Hodel, you're under arrest for incest.

[Narrator]

The well known doctor was put on trial, charged with offering his 14 year old daughter to several of his friends at an orgy.

[Tamar Hodel]

My father had intercourse with me. It wasn't loving. He acted guilt ridden. That's how he acted. Ashamed. It was very bad.

[Narrator]

But in the courtroom, a parade of family members testified that Tamar made up the story.

[Tamar Hodel]

No one wanted George Hodele to go to jail because George Hodel was the one who was making all the money first of all. And he was supporting all the people surrounding this tale.

[Steve Hodel]

They parade all of these witnesses. The jury comes back in a kind of an OJ decision real quick in 45 minutes, said not guilty.

[Narrator]

What was your reaction when the verdict was acquittal?

[Tamar Hodel]

I didn't know what to think. I didn't do anything. But I became the criminal after my father was acquitted.

[Narrator]

But George Hodele's troubles with the law were far from over. During the incest investigation, police got a tip that Hodele had known Elizabeth Shore before her murder. Tamar believes her father knew he had become a suspect.

[Tamar Hodel]

He said we were being investigated or.

[Narrator]

Watched when all of this was going on. Steve was just a kid, but as an adult it began to make sense. It's when he began sorting out the details of his father's past and the Black Dahlia case that he found the two stories merging.

[Steve Hodel]

I see strong similarities in the mouth and the nose, the hair.

[Narrator]

Steve Hodele was convinced the photos in his father's album were indeed of the Black Dahlia.

[Steve Hodel]

It wasn't all that surprising that my father knew Elizabeth Short. She was hanging out in Hollywood at the same time, going to parties. Dad was famous for throwing these parties.

[Narrator]

But what did catch Steve Hodele by surprise was one of the many taunting cards and letters the killer sent to newspapers. It was this one, written by hand. Turning in Wednesday, January 29th. Had my fun with police. Black Dahlia Avenger.

[Steve Hodel]

That's my father's handwriting. I know my father's handwriting. There was no question about it. So at that point I thought, oh, my God, this is the real deal.

[Narrator]

Steve Hodele took his suspicions to an old friend, Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay. Steve Kay speaking. When Steve called me and told me what he had concluded, you could have knocked me off my chair. It was just. Wow. Kay tracked down the Black Dahlia file in the DA's office. A box of investigative notes and transcripts that no one had touched for over half a century.

[Steve Hodel]

I sit down and I open the box and I start going through it, and out falls a picture of George O'Dell. This is the smoking guns. This is the proof that I've been looking for.

[Tamar Hodel]

The first thing they said to me was, Dr. Hodel's daughter. Oh, yes, we know all about Dr. Hodele.

[Narrator]

When investigators for the Los Angeles DA's office began questioning Tamar Hodel about her father, it was clear there was more than the 1949 orgy on their minds.

[Tamar Hodel]

They also suspected that he had committed the murder of the Black Dahlia.

[Narrator]

They told you that?

[Tamar Hodel]

They told me that.

[Narrator]

But she never told her younger half brother, Steve. So years later, when going through the DA's file on the Black Dahlia case, Steve Hodele got the shock of his life. In 1949, two years after Elizabeth Short was murdered, the District Attorney had begun to zero in on a suspect. You could just tell by the wealth of material that Dr. Hodele was their prime suspect. Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay says that in the file is information from a female witness who told authorities that George Hodele definitely knew Elizabeth Short. Do you remember the Black Dahlia case?

[Steve Hodel]

Yes, I do.

[Tamar Hodel]

Yes, I remember it.

[Narrator]

And then there's Walter Morgan. He's 90 years old now, but back in the day, he was a young investigator working for the LA District Attorney who took over the Black dahlia investigation in 1949.

[Tamar Hodel]

We tailed Dr. George Hodel, but I.

[Steve Hodel]

Never did get to see his face.

[Tamar Hodel]

I only saw the back of Him.

[Narrator]

But that's not all he did. In fact, he did something then he couldn't do today. At least not legally. Morgan, along with police detectives, came here to the Franklin house. Using a plastic identification card to open the door, the cops slipped into the house and surreptitiously planted eavesdropping devices in here. For the next 40 days, 24 hours a day, detectives listened to hundreds of Dr. Hodel's private conversations.

[Steve Hodel]

This was actually live microphones hidden in the house.

[Narrator]

How unusual was that?

[Steve Hodel]

That was very unusual.

[Narrator]

While the recordings no longer exist, the transcripts are in the DA's file. Sometimes you'd have a DA investigator in the basement of the Hollywood Division police station, and sometimes it would be LAPD. At one point, George O'Dell is heard saying, supposing I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't prove it. Now they can't talk to my secretary anymore because she's dead. I just can't believe that an innocent man would say that. The secretary was Ruth Spalding. Her death certificate blames a drug overdose. Despite the statements captured on wire recordings, in the spring of 1950, the DA abruptly stopped investigating George Hodele. Even more surprising, the chief investigator of the case, Frank Jemison, summed up the evidence, saying, it tends to eliminate this suspect. Do you believe that at least the lieutenant in charge, Jemison, really thought that George Hodele should have been eliminated as a suspect? No, I don't believe that. How can you say that Those tapes clear Dr. Hodele. If anything, I think they sound like a guilty man who is ready to take it on the lam. So why did the DA stop looking at George Hodel? Perhaps the answer is also in those secret recordings. At one point, George Hodel is heard saying, this is the best payoff I've seen between law enforcement agencies. I'd like to get a connection made in the DA's office. What do you think he's referring to there? Paying off someone in the DA's office. That's what he would like to do. Yeah. And obviously I can take from this that he's done it before.

[Steve Hodel]

The only thing I can think is.

[Tamar Hodel]

Some money must have transpired between people.

[Narrator]

But it sounds like you think there may have been a cover up of some sort. Well, everybody thought that. In fact, 48 Hours has learned that in 1950, both the DA and the LAPD stopped pursuing the Black Dahlia case, even though several investigators later told their relatives that they knew who the killer was. This is the city. Los Angeles, California. And actor Jack Webb My name's Friday, who played a cop on television and had close friends on the force, told an acquaintance that the chief of detectives had specifically described the Black Dahlia killer as a doctor in Hollywood who lived on Franklin Avenue, the very street where George Hodele lived. And it's important to remember that back in 1949, the LAPD was a dirty department rocked by scandals involving cops and gangsters, prostitutes and payoffs. A time and a place crime writer James Ellroy knows well.

[Steve Hodel]

Reports recommending whether or not to file charges to the district attorney were on sale for 500 bucks a pop. The detective bureau was a repository of drunks and cronies of high ranking LAPD officers. At the time of Elizabeth Short's death, it was a very corrupt institution.

[Narrator]

Did the LAPD allow a killer to go free?

[Steve Hodel]

I'm sure that the powers that be said you gotta get out of Dodge.

[Narrator]

Can modern technology help with the mystery of the Black Dahlia? The hairline is the same. I think the nose is the same. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. But when a social media fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection.

[Steve Hodel]

Claudine Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime and there's much more to come.

[Narrator]

This is the Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's on the Media. To listen, subscribe to onthemedia wherever you get your podcasts.

[Steve Hodel]

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery show American Scandal.

[Narrator]

We bring to life some of the.

[Steve Hodel]

Biggest controversies in US history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable.

[Narrator]

Vehicle, the space shuttle.

[Steve Hodel]

And in 1985 they announced they're sending teacher Christa McAuliffe into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad free and be the first binge the newest season only on Wondery. You can join Wondery in the Wondery.

[Narrator]

App, Apple podcasts or Spotify.

[Steve Hodel]

Start your free trial today.

[Narrator]

Los Angeles seen from one of its many hills.

[Steve Hodel]

This is Cherokee Avenue in the heart of Hollywood were just a block north of Hollywood Boulevard and Elizabeth during 46 lived in this apartment building here which Is the Chancellor Apartments.

[Narrator]

Before she was known only as the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short was just another struggling young woman.

[Steve Hodel]

And she actually lived at the top floor. She shared an apartment there with six other girls. So there were seven girls, each paying a buck for rent.

[Narrator]

Hollywood's motion picture industry beckoning thousands with stars in their eyes. She was, says Steve Hodel, like so many dreamers before her, who had come to post war Los Angeles, a willingness to do almost anything to crash the movies. How did she support herself?

[Steve Hodel]

Well, basically, she lived off her friends, didn't have a job. She'd go out on dates with men, but she wasn't a prostitute and she didn't drink.

[Narrator]

But that clean cut image of Elizabeth Short did not sell newspapers. Crime novelist James Elroy. How was Elizabeth Short portrayed in these years since she was killed?

[Steve Hodel]

Portrayed as a prostitute. It isn't true. Portrayed as a movie mad girl who got parts in a lot of movies of the time, including Castle Black. It certainly isn't true.

[Tamar Hodel]

I believe she's been victimized twice, brutally murdered. And then the person who was murdered was so badly smeared, that would be how I'd first remember her. Smiling. She smiled a great deal.

[Narrator]

Mary Pasio's was a neighbor of Short's back in her hometown of Medford, Massachusetts.

[Tamar Hodel]

I want people to know she was a very nice person. She was not just beautiful outside, she was beautiful inside.

[Narrator]

Her beauty certainly entranced men. After Short was murdered, a lot of the men she knew became suspects. Among them, Mark Hanson, a nightclub owner reported, reportedly obsessed with Elizabeth Short. And Glenn Wolf, one of Short's landlords, described to police as a sexual maniac. But they can be eliminated, says Hodele, for one simple reason. The condition of Elizabeth Short's body.

[Steve Hodel]

I started looking at the crime itself, and what I discovered to my surprise was that the killer was a surgeon. Not a meat cutter, not a butcher. A skilled, professional surgeon.

[Narrator]

48 Hours decided to put the theories of Steve Hodele, the former homicide detective, to the test.

[Steve Hodel]

The person who committed this horrible crime cut across the bone in order to separate one half of her body from.

[Narrator]

The other half of her body. We asked Dr. Mark Wallach, chief of surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, to look at the crime scene photos as well as the autopsy.

[Steve Hodel]

You don't get this kind of training where you can actually invade a human body unless you've had some surgical experience, in my opinion.

[Narrator]

So you're saying you think it must have been a doctor?

[Steve Hodel]

In my opinion, yes.

[Narrator]

While Steve Odell's father didn't actually practice surgery. He excelled at it in medical school.

[Steve Hodel]

He was a surgeon. She was killed by a surgeon. That really is a limiting pool of suspects.

[Narrator]

There are other pieces of the puzzle that convinced Steve Hodele his father was the killer. Take the handwritten notes the killer sent newspapers right after Elizabeth Short's murder.

[Steve Hodel]

I'm not saying it's similar. I'm saying this is my father's handwriting. Let's take a look at the uppercase.

[Narrator]

Forms of the letter N. We then asked John Osborne, one of the most respected document examiners in the field to compare letters the killers sent to the newspapers with examples of handwriting from Dr. George Hodel. In this example, you'll note that the ends are written almost in a technical printing style. However, if you take a look at the ends that appear in the questioned writing, you'll note that it's a narrow form of the letter. There is simply not enough evidence to prove one way or the other whether his father was the writer or not the writer.

[Steve Hodel]

Then I came to these two pictures.

[Narrator]

And what about the photographs of the mystery woman found in the album? The ones that started Steve Hodele on his investigation in the first place?

[Steve Hodel]

The diamond shaped face, the high forehead, the thick hair.

[Narrator]

Is this in fact Elizabeth Short? Initially I did think that they were very, very close. Suni Chapman is a forensic artist who uses and distributes E fits facial identification software that helps create detailed sketches of suspects for police investigations. If it was actually developed for Scotland Yard, Chapman was able to compare one of the photos of the mystery woman to a picture of Elizabeth Short and initially saw a lot of similarities. The hairline is the same. I think the nose tip is the same. I think the nostrils have a strong likeness. But upon closer examination, where I don't think there is a strong similarity is in the bridge of the nose. And then there's the chin. Elizabeth Schultz photograph. Although she has quite a long chin, the photograph of the other woman has a very, very strong sort of half moon shape and a much shorter chin. After measuring the facial features in both photos, chapman says, I'm 85% sure that these two photographs are not of the same woman. But none of these expert opinions changes Steve's.

[Steve Hodel]

Even if those are not Elizabeth Shore.

[Narrator]

You mean you actually entertain the possibility that those two pictures that started you on this investigation might not be Elizabeth Shore?

[Steve Hodel]

A lot of people look at them and say I don't see it.

[Narrator]

But you still then even if you started for the wrong reason, you ended with the right result.

[Steve Hodel]

Exactly.

[Narrator]

That's because Steve Hodel says he's uncovered yet another clue that points to his father as the killer. This photo done by Dr. Hodele's close friend, the artist Man Ray.

[Steve Hodel]

He wanted to be like Man Ray. He wanted to be an artist. And I think this was his masterpiece. The body was positioned north to south. So this is north. It was carefully placed. You're not going to get these. The hands were positioned over the head as if almost to form horns.

[Narrator]

Steve believes his father posed Elizabeth Short's body to mimic this classic art photo titled the Minotaur, the mythical beast that devoured young maidens. Her arms were positioned like the horns. The way her arms were up like this at the same angle above her head. Now, I've tried lots of murder cases and I've only had one other case where the victim has been posed. Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay not only agrees with Steve Hodele's theory, he thinks the cuts found across the victim's mouth and face were meant to mimic another Man Ray work the lovers. I know that that is a bizarre thing, but this was a bizarre man. After Steve Odell published a book, the the LAPD was willing to hear its theories, but not to open the original police files on the case. Until now. You don't believe in ghosts. I get it. Lots of people don't. I didn't either until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits and the unexplained have consumed my entire life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years. I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness and inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons, and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada as we journey through terrifying and bone chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for haunted Canada on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

[Steve Hodel]

Unknown Elizabeth Short compared to my father's picture. Again, we all see through different lenses.

[Narrator]

Steve Hodele's theory continues to fascinate and intrigue readers. Despite the questions raised by 48 hours, there is simply not enough evidence to prove one way or the other. Whether his father was the writer or not the writer, I'm 85% sure that these two photographs are not of the same woman. Hodel still has powerful allies. Assistant District Attorney Stephen Kaye believes Hodele's father was the killer. He was a despicable human being. I mean, the way he treated women, it was like a piece of Kleenex that he would blow his nose and throw it away in the trash.

[Steve Hodel]

In the DA's office.

[Narrator]

Then crime novelist James Ellroy is also convinced.

[Steve Hodel]

I think Steve Hodel is a good and noble guy. I think he solved the Black Die, a murder case.

[Narrator]

But there are also plenty of skeptics. Do you believe that Steve Hodele has solved the murder of Elizabeth Short? No. You don't?

[Tamar Hodel]

No.

[Narrator]

Mary Pasios believes that Hodele relies too much on speculation in the case against his father.

[Tamar Hodel]

He could probably go in a list of about half a dozen good suspects.

[Narrator]

And the Los Angeles Police Police Department agrees. A year and a half after the district attorney opened his files, the LAPD finally revealed in an off camera briefing the secrets of its own Black Dahlia investigation. No surprise, Dr. George Hodel was at one point a major suspect. But police say he was only one of 22 major suspects, seven of whom were doctors. Police also contradicted Steve Hodele and claimed there was no proof that his father even knew Elizabeth Short. But the Los Angeles Police Department has its own credibility problems. The LAPD now admits that in the years since Elizabeth Short's murder, virtually all the physical evidence in this case has disappeared. The police aren't sure how, but it has simply vanished from the files. The bottom line, LA's most famous unsolved murder may never be solved.

[Steve Hodel]

How can you lose all of the physical evidence and the most important crime that LAPD's ever had? And it's not just the physical evidence. It's the interviews, it's the wire recordings of my father. Everything has disappeared.

[Narrator]

Shocked and angered by the lap, according to LAPD's response, Steve Odell also dismisses the findings of two handwriting experts, our own and the LAPDs who both said they were not convinced that the handwriting in the killer's letters matched Dr. George Hodele's.

[Steve Hodel]

It is my father's handwriting. I don't have to be convinced. I don't need an expert to tell me. I know it as a fact.

[Narrator]

Most people would be happy to hear that the LAPD doubts that his father is a killer. Why aren't you? Why are you so determined to prove that he was in fact the Black Dahlia killer?

[Steve Hodel]

Because it's the truth.

[Narrator]

Whatever the truth about Dr. George O'Dell, he is still causing pain for the people closest to him. There is Steve the son, struggling with conflicting emotions for the man he believes is both a monster and is father.

[Steve Hodel]

This hasn't been an easy thing. People saying, oh, this is just a son who hates his father and stuff. You know, this is a daddy dearest thing.

[Narrator]

Was there any sense of revenge against your father by publishing this?

[Steve Hodel]

None at all. No. I mean, I love my father. I love him to this day.

[Tamar Hodel]

I loved him too, even though I was very hurt by him and kept waiting for him to be a good guy.

[Narrator]

And there is Tamar, Steve's half sister, who never got over the trauma of being molested at age 14 by her father. Tamar's old friend Michelle Phillips.

[Tamar Hodel]

The relationship was just so monstrous and sad for her.

[Narrator]

And if Steve Hodele is correct, the ultimate victim of his father was Elizabeth Short.

[Tamar Hodel]

She was missed. That's why I'd like people to understand she was gorgeous inside and out.

[Narrator]

You miss her even 57 years afterwards.

[Tamar Hodel]

Yeah, I mean it. I never know when and it will creep up.

[Steve Hodel]

Great test. Elizabeth Short.

[Narrator]

I'm told that I'm very photogenic. And again, almost six decades after her brutal killing, the Black Dahlia, the feature film is set to play upon a mystery.

[Tamar Hodel]

What happened?

[Narrator]

And the imaginations of millions of Americans.

[Tamar Hodel]

And action.

[Narrator]

And now real movie stars like Scarlett Johansson.

[Steve Hodel]

He's sick and he's no.

[Narrator]

Hey, Mark. Hilary Swank.

[Steve Hodel]

You know, not being able to solve.

[Narrator]

A murder of that caliber, I think was a pretty big deal. And I think that was the infatuation that people have.

[Steve Hodel]

Okay, stand by, please. We'll shoot this one.

[Narrator]

And Josh Hartnett, anybody who was around California area at that time knew, you know, the whole saga, it was in the newspapers every day. It was a big deal. I guess you kind of liken it to maybe the, you know, JonBenet Ramsey case.

[Steve Hodel]

And action.

[Narrator]

They will become part of a news story that's already a Hollywood legend.

[Steve Hodel]

She was young and beautiful, determined to.

[Narrator]

Be famous, but destined to be infamous. We may never know for sure who killed Elizabeth Short or whether George Hodele was the Black Dahlia killer. He fled the United States just days after the district attorney stopped investigating him in 1950, not to return until 40 years later when the search for the killer had long gone cold.

[Steve Hodel]

This case, this investigation, has been described as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And I can't think of a more perfect description than that.

[Narrator]

A mystery. But to crime writer James Elroy, one with a perfect ending.

[Steve Hodel]

It's divine providence that the mad doctor spawns. A son who becomes an LAPD homicide detective who sees photographs that are not even of Elizabeth Short. And it turns out that his own man did the job anyway. I dig it.

[Narrator]

If you like this podcast, you can listen ad free right now by joining.

[Steve Hodel]

Wondery plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself.

[Narrator]

By filling out a quick [e-mail] survey.