Zodiac Killer Forum

As soon as Black Dahlia Avenger was published, I suspected that Steve Hodel has daddy issues. I was right... and he has other issues as well, it seems.

Hodel was 8 years old when his dad left him and his family (Most Evil, p. 1), and admits he barely knew him (p. 20). He even claims his father gave him a Tinkertoy set for his 16th birthday (p. 8). Despite this, he thought, at the age of 7, his father "was extremely cool" (p. 15). He goes on to say:



Hodel claims his father taught his half-sister, Tamar, how to perform oral sex at the age of 11 and raped her at 14 in front of three witnesses (pp. 7, 16). He says George "... had sex with her at fourteen in the presence of three other adults..." (p. 7). A former LAPD cop knows that is statutory rape! Why'd he make it sound so much more palatable, especially since he's accusing his dead father of being a serial killer???. George Hodel also "branded her a liar the rest of her life" (p. 7). He also claims that, many years later, his father once took his 13 year old granddaughter, Deborah (Tamar's daughter), out to dinner, where he drugged her, took her to a hotel room, then began to take nude pictures of her (p. 9).

Tamar had a lot of famous friends, such as Lenny Bruce, Jim Morrison, Harry Belafonte, Otis Redding and John Phillips, among others. Tamar's best friend was Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas (p. 7). Steve Hodel, in contrast, became a cop and "worked the Hollywood beat for twenty-four years, in the same neighbor where [he] grew up" (p. 2).

Despite the fact that Hodel claims his father fled the country after being "tipped off by friends in the LAPD" (p. 1), presumably in connection with an impending arrest in the Black Dahlia murder, he also states that, "Dad left Los Angeles in 1950 after a very public incest trial involving his relationship with Tamar—he was declared innocent..." (p. 8). Not only was it "very public," it made front page news (p. 16). George Hodel had 2 attorneys, Jerry "Get Me" Giesler and Robert Neeb, and then states that (pp. 16-17):


It's obvious that George Hodel left the country because of the public embarrassment involved in this incest trial, despite the fact that he was found not guilty. He did not flee because he was about to be arrested as the killer of the Black Dahlia.

So, what we're looking at here is Steve Hodel's anger at a father he barely knew who left him as a child, anger at a father who raped his sister and got away with it, and anger at a father who was so very cool and important while he was just a cop. I suspect there is also some jealousy involved here, since his sister had all sorts of very famous friends, and now... Steve Hodel is even more famous because he's solved the Black Dahlia murder, Suzanne Degnan's murder, some murders in the Philippines, and even the Z murders!

Yes, George Hodel was a monster as Steve Hodel's mother once claimed while drunk (p. 8), but it's because his father was an incestuous pedophile... not because his father was a serial killer.

I'm not certain that Most Evil is worth reading, and it is not to be taken seriously. I suggest that everyone think of this novel in the same terms as any of the works of Robert Graysmith.

One of our members took some initiative to do some asking around and received a fairly quick response:



I'm not versed in the Zodiac case much at all so bear with my ignorance. When I was a moderator on BethShort.com Dennis Kaufmann started a thread in the "Other Crime" section on his theory that his stepfather was the killer. I remembered a map but wasn't sure where I'd seen it and it was on his site. I was shocked, baffled, and amused to see an announcement dated in September AFTER Steve Hodel's book claiming that his father was the Zodiac and much more, the Kaufmann has evidence that Jack Tarrance killed Beth Short too! Dueling daddy dunits!!
In reality Steve's claims about his father being the Black Dahlia Avenger is one of my favorite theories. He was a suspect at the time, IMO the murderer was a doctor, he was a sick and shady man, but I'm a firm believer in Occam's Razor. The simple solution is usually the case. I felt Steve's Avenger book was too overdone, too much supposition (although we don't have the luxury of many facts). I've been a vocal supporter of Steve for years. I truly thought he was going to streamline his theory and present more possibilities. Tie up some loose ends. I was shocked to see him take on MORE murders, as he still has much to do to close his case on Beth Short. I feel a bit foolish because I truly believed that it wasn't about the money. I think I was really wrong.
I'm curious about somethings I read about Kaufmann's theory about his stepfather and I apologize for asking questions that to you guys are old news or something I should find on my own, but I suddenly find myself trying to get up to speed on A LOT of murders. So what was the results of the DNA of Jack Tarrance? Also I saw a news report saying that Kaufman had a lot of undeveloped film that he gave to the FBI. Was there anything of use to them?
Thanks for your help,
Briar.

I'm curious, how did anyone know to look for Neal Adams as the author? I was going to call SFPD to ask how many composites they actually did, but have been told that they are difficult to get ahold of re: the Z case...

As far as Kaufman goes, he claimed that his dad's DNA actually identified his other son as Z! That's absurd, and only someone as ignorant as Kaufman would make a statement like that and assume that anyone would actually believe it. I don't remember much about the film, except that it was useless, IIRC.

Briar, I don't know how much of what I wrote above was mentioned in Black Dahlia Avenger, but it didn't take long before what little I read in Most Evil made it clear what Hodel's real motivations are regarding his father. The guy has problems (some of the justified), but to accuse an incestuous pedophile of being a serial killer (where have I heard that before???) is another thing entirely...

To be honest, I can't even bring myself to finish Most Evil. I know the Daddy Dunnits come with the territory, but in this case he has one of the most convincing cases. Like I said, I've been an active supporter of the the theory that Dr. Hodel did it, because it's so him. So megalomaniac. I can't pretend to be a professional profiler but to me it's clear as day that the MO's are nothing alike. The age of George Hodel compared to the legit Zodiac composites and eye witness account just don't work. I actually think that the murderer of Beth Short was very, very, intelligent. The Zodiac doesn't seem quite so bright (I have always imagined a socially awkward guy that had no real life outside of this monstrous bid for attention.) the type of guy who didn't necessarily care who his victims were. He wanted infamy. Yeah I know.. Armchair profiler.. Poaching on your case that I know next to nothing about. I appreciate that are willing to answer my questions with such patience.
Our stellar researcher goes by the screen name Lou SFar and here are his previous posts:


This came later:


Lou Sfar=Will Barnes in the emails. He's a great researcher when he gets onto something. Like I said, you guys are always welcome to our board. We're a fairly normal lot!
Here's the link that Lou has been working on: http://forum.theblackdahliainhollywood.com/showthread.php?tid=262&page=1

Main forum link:

Briar, if you haven't done so yet (or Will hasn't found it), send him a pic of the cover I posted...

I think Hodel just wanted the fame and when he saw Kauffman blaming his Stepdad an idea to make more money because he had a few facts to work with, his dad lived in SF , Beth Short was buried in Oakland, visited her dad in Vallejo and when he learned of Gareth Penns theories he figured he could use them. He was lucky to have these things going for him in the Bay Area to write his fiction about. What was funny was when Kaufman and Barto heard about the new Hodel book they immediately tried to steal Hodels first book by claiming the Black dahlia as a Jack Tarrance murder. Anything to get a book deal it worked for Hodel so far for Kauffman not yet.

This is short notice but if you've joined the BDiH site we are having a chat about Most Evil. We could really use the input on a Zodiac expert.

So I had borrowed the book to read thinking I would be able to wade through the whole thing...
I couldn't.
Or rather I couldn't force myself. I returned it having only read about 3 or 4 chapters. It was soooo speculative and amateurish. I am shocked and amazed a guy who is a former homicide detective would jump to the conclusions he did with such little evidence.
I could have formed an equivalent circumstantial case against my own dad (by the by, MY dad didn't do it either).

I guess I really can't say I'm disappointed though as I didn't harbor that much hope for the book going into it. I guess I just thought a former homicide cop would be more, I dunno, cop-like...

It was all to make money, after his first book became a NY Times bestseller , he had to come up with a sequel . Because the first one sold he proably got a nice advance sum , he should have stuck to the Dahlia case.

Steve Hodel, who was born in 1941, was in the Navy, and was a police officer, actually makes a better suspect than George. You would think that people living in Zynchronisity Glass Houses wouldn't throw stones, but oh well, to each his own. (This is not an accusation at all, I'm just pointing out some facts from his own biography page). Zs