George Hill Hodel

Born on October 10, 1907, in Los Angeles, California, George Hill Hodel, Jr. was the only son of George Hill Hodel, Sr and Esther Hodel.

He was a musical prodigy as a child and performed as a solo pianist in several concerts at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. He played for music legend Sergei Rachmaninoff at his grandparents’ house.

A bright youth, he received an excellent education and after graduating with a medical degree, he started his practice in an affluent neighbourhood in Los Angeles. He was friends with several Hollywood celebrities, including photographer Man Ray and filmmaker John Huston.

He was married four times and had at least two children, son Steve and daughter Tamar Nais Hodel.

In 1949, Hodel was accused of sexual abuse by Tamar. The ensuing trial garnered much media attention and Hodel was eventually acquitted of all charges.

The authorities first became interested in Hodel in 1945, after the sudden death of his secretary Ruth Spaulding by a drug overdose. According to reports, Hodel was involved in financial frauds, such as charging his patients for tests that had not been conducted. It was suspected that he had killed Spaulding to cover up his frauds. However, he was never convicted.

Elizabeth Short was a native of Boston, and had spent a significant part of her life in Massachusetts and Florida before she moved to Los Angeles. She was reportedly an aspiring actress, despite not having any known acting credits during her stay in Los Angles. In January 1947, she was having an affair with a married man named Robert Manley. She went on a holiday to San Diego with him, returning on 9 January.

Six days later, her remains were discovered on a vacant lot on the west side of South Norton Avenue. She was naked and her body had been severed at the waist in two pieces. The blood had been completely drained as well. The case garnered massive media and public attention. People were horrified and LAPD began one of the biggest investigations in its history.

Initially, there were over 150 suspects. They were rigorously interviewed and the authorities managed to trim the list down to 25. Hodel was one of them. Following his public trial involving his daughter, Tamar, the investigators began to consider him as a possible suspect for Short’s murder. He received special interest due to his medical background as it had been already established that only someone with considerable surgical skill could have bisected Short’s body with such precision.

The media and the public at large were unaware of the investigation until 2004, when the ‘George Hodel—Black Dahlia File’ was found in the vault at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. According to the file, Hodel had emerged as the prime suspect in 1950 and an 18-man DA / LAPD task force monitored him from 18 February to 27 March. They had planted multiple listening devices all over his house in Hollywood. The transcripts of the recordings paint an alarming picture of Hodel. He had not only performed illegal abortions but had also bribed several law officials.