Re “The Black Dahlia,” 2025 Our People, Our Places magazine, Sept. 25

Couple of corrections to this article: One, I didn’t discover my father while working at LAPD Hollywood Homicide Division. The case “came to me.” I was long retired (14 years) and at my father’s death in 1999, I learned from my sister, Tamar, the victim of the 1949 incest, that when she was taken to court, from Juvenile Detention, the “police told her they believed our father killed Elizabeth Short.” That started me down a path to prove his innocence.

Two, it’s not “my theory.” In the 1940s, the LAPD was a very corrupt department ala “L.A. Confidential.” Dr. George Hodel was the “V.D. Czar” of L.A. County [and] was basically untouchable. I have recently updated “Black Dahlia Avenger” to be released Oct. 21 with major updates and new evidence, so stay tuned.

P.S.: During one of my high-profile murder investigations in the early 1990s I rented and lived at the Park La Brea Towers for six months. Very nice stay. Enjoyed my time there.

Detective III Steve Hodel

LAPD Hollywood Homicide (ret.)