I can prove my father was the Zodiac & Black Dahlia killer beyond reasonable doubt – now cops need to test his DNA

WHILE existent transgression fans eagerly watercourse the latest Netflix documentary connected the Zodiac killer, 1 adept connected the perplexing lawsuit volition beryllium taking it with a pinch of salt.

Retired LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel is definite that This Is The Zodiac Speaking taxable Arthur Leigh Allen - the lone idiosyncratic ever named arsenic a fishy successful the lawsuit - is not the serial slayer who terrorized the Bay Area, California, successful the precocious 60s - due to the fact that helium says - his ain dada was the Zodiac.

Steve has spent the past 25 years painstakingly investigating his father, Dr George Hodel's engagement successful dozens of unsolved and macabre murders - including the infamous Black Dahlia sidesplitting of 1947 and the Zodiac killings.

Using skills honed implicit a agelong vocation arsenic a detective successful Los Angeles, Hodel has travel to the decision that his dada - a highly intelligent and well-traveled doc and surgeon - was liable for 50 murders successful 50 years - making him the worst serial slayer the satellite has ever seen.

And his dada ended his murderous rampage, helium says, with the Zodiac killings - successful which 7 radical were killed, and the culprit taunted section constabulary and media with coded messages and letters.

As good arsenic his dada bearing a striking resemblance to constabulary sketches of the suspect, Hodel cites handwriting analysis, transgression signatures, and dozens of circumstantial links and connections arsenic grounds that his mentation is correct.

His lone anticipation of proving his dada was liable for the high-profile killings - and bringing closure to the surviving relatives of the victims - is if constabulary successful 1 of the 5 jurisdictions wherever the victims were murdered comparison his dad's DNA illustration - with DNA they recovered from the Zodiac scenes.

To date, nary of the constabulary forces progressive person done this - with the 5 constabulary departments ignoring Hodel's requests.

In an exclusive interrogation with The U.S. Sun, Steve revealed however helium archetypal started looking into his father's mysterious beingness aft his decease successful 1999, erstwhile his half-sister Tamar claimed that helium had erstwhile been a fishy successful the Black Dahlia murder, a celebrated LA lawsuit successful which a 22-year-old pistillate named Elizabeth Short was murdered and her corpse brutally mutilated.

George Hodel had been accused of raping Tamar arsenic a 14-year-old - but yet acquitted - though Steve would aboriginal find retired helium really paid disconnected prosecutors

Steve acceptable retired to beryllium his dada was not a slayer but was shocked erstwhile grounds not lone linked George Hodel to the Black Dahlia execution - but dozens of crimes earlier and aft it.

"I knew Dad had immoderate hangups, and I judge the incest charges due to the fact that I knew helium had immoderate superior problems coming successful regards to sex. But murder? No way," helium said from his location successful Washington.

"So I started retired to amusement helium had thing to bash with [Black Dahlia]. I said, 'I tin amusement that successful 10 minutes with my inheritance experience.'"

Steve relocated backmost to LA, wherever helium carried retired a thorough investigation, which yet led him to constitute a publication called Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder - astir however his dada was the murderer.

"Doors conscionable kept opening 1 aft the other. Initially, I saw connected the beforehand leafage the Black Dahlia slayer sent successful a clump of taunting notes
- astir a twelve notes implicit a clip play - benignant of drawback maine if you tin benignant stuff, chopped and paste that benignant of thing...

"And 1 of them was connected the beforehand leafage of a newspaper. I look astatine it, and it's my father's handwriting.

"I mean, you cognize your parents handwriting... and I thought, 'Is helium pretending to beryllium him? This can't be..what's going connected here?'"

Eventually, Steve's probe led him to nexus his dada with 8 different murders of women successful LA, which helium dubbed the Lone Women Murders.

He secretly submitted his lawsuit to an progressive territory lawyer (DA) successful Los Angeles who told him determination was capable grounds to convict George Hodel of the Black Dahlia execution and 1 of the others - and helium published his book, which became a New York Times bestseller.

"There are precise fewer that uncertainty that the lawsuit is solved successful regards to Black Dahlia," Steve said.

Following the book's release, Steve came crossed a concealed DA record that confirmed his begetter was a fishy successful the murder.

It besides revealed his dada had been electronically bugged astatine his location - the Mayan-inspired Sowden House successful LA - by a squad from the DA investigating the crime.

Steve said: "Eighteen detectives were listening to him for 5 weeks astir the clock.

"They fundamentally got confessions from dad; they get him saying, 'Supposing I did termination the Black Dahlia. They can't beryllium it now. My caput is dead.'

"Well, 1 of the things I travel up with is that helium astir apt overdosed his secretary....

"The kicker is... I got to the 3rd leafage of the transcript, and it describes however George and a friend, who they don't identify, spell down to the basement, an entity is struck, a pistillate screams, past much blows. She screams again, and past it goes silent.

"I'm speechmaking this, and I'm saying, 'What the hell! Why aren't they there? They're 5 minutes away...They bash nothing."

Years later, Steve would instrumentality a cadaver canine named Buster to the spot to bash a hunt of the basement - and helium alerted to quality remains. Soil samples extracurricular besides tested affirmative for quality remains.

He besides linked his begetter to 3 murders successful Chicago called the Lipstick Murders successful 1956-46 - including that of a six-year-old miss called Suzanne Degnan - and an unsolved execution of a pistillate successful Manila, the Philippines, which matched with his father's clip successful the country.

In a chilling twist, the unfortunate - the pistillate had been murdered, bisected, and posed connected a thoroughfare called Zodiac.

"Part of Suzanne's assemblage was buried adjacent a thoroughfare called Hollywood. Coincidence, dada was a Hollywood surgeon...but you could accidental that's a spot of a stretch, Steve," helium said.

"So accelerated guardant to Elizabeth Short's murder. A twelvemonth later,
her assemblage is posed disconnected a thoroughfare named Degnan - the sanction of the small miss successful Chicago.

"Unusual name. I ne'er adjacent heard the sanction Degnan, accelerated guardant a week, a unfortunate named Jean French's dormant assemblage is posed disconnected a thoroughfare named Mountain View - Mountain View is wherever Elizabeth Short was buried successful Oakland a week earlier.

"So this is his MO. He poses assemblage parts; helium leaves clues.

"I came crossed a execution successful Manila successful 1967, and her sanction was Lucilla Lalu, and she was strangled, surgically bisected, and her assemblage is posed connected a vacant batch astir a mile from George's backstage residence successful Manila.

"They were definite it had to beryllium done by a surgeon. And hold for it...her assemblage was posed disconnected a thoroughfare named Zodiac.

"I didn't cognize overmuch astir the Zodiac killings, but I knew it was a famous, unsolved serial slayer from Northern California.

"I thought helium was overmuch younger - there's nary mode that could person been George, but I said, 'Well, astatine slightest I've got to look astatine it due to the fact that of what I cognize from the past.'"

Immediately, Steve was struck by however overmuch his dada resembled constabulary sketches of the Zodiac suspect.

While the killer's age, according to witnesses, enactment the Zodiac slayer astatine overmuch younger than George Hodel, Steve believes incorrect witnesser statements taken astatine the time, and the information his dada could walk for overmuch younger - addresses this.

A handwriting adept instructed by Steve - utilizing letters from his dada compared with the Zodiac letters - concluded handwriting samples indicated it was "probable" George Hodel was the Zodiac.

Steve besides believes helium has deciphered the Zodiac's signature - a bizarre awesome the slayer utilized to motion disconnected a Halloween paper helium sent to the San Francisco Chronicle successful 1970.

"Dad was 60, but helium could easy walk for 45 to 50. He looked overmuch younger, and I looked astatine the 3rd composite, and it's representation cleanable to George Hodel," Steve said.

"So that fundamentally started maine connected my probe into Zodiac.

"You've got the mailings - really astir 25 mailings by Zodiac implicit decades galore of them.

"Again, a batch of disguised handwriting, but I got a qualified handwriting expert, and she said it was 'probable' these came from George Hodel.

"And that leads maine to the Halloween card, which is signed disconnected with an encrypted signature.

"A retired teacher from France named Yves Person contacts maine and says it's past Celtic handwriting, and helium said the awesome is 5 letters and they spell H. O. D. E. L....

"You cognize helium considers himself the maestro criminal. He's the 'Moriarty' of the world, and helium tin outthink and outfox anybody.
So helium leaves clues to his crimes."

Steve has besides compiled a database of 32 transgression signatures - bizarre transgression characteristics that lucifer the Zodiac killings to the Black Dahlia - including however he: taunted constabulary and property by telephone and missive aft the murders, packaged and sent victims' items to the press, and constabulary to beryllium helium was the murderer and wrote taunting messages astatine the scene.

He believes galore of the crimes besides person links to the Surrealist creation and Hollywood movie worlds that his begetter loved.

Asked however helium felt astir discovering his father's links to specified horrific crimes, Steve said: "In each homicide you analyse - I've investigated implicit 300 murders successful my career, and I had an exceptionally precocious lick complaint 75 to 80% - you person to abstracted my feelings from the transgression itself.

"And I've had to bash that to a aboriginal oregon to a greater oregon lesser grade connected each execution lawsuit I've had.

"So, successful a way, I was insulated to immoderate grade - adjacent though it was my father.

"It was hard due to the fact that you've got the lad who loves his father, and initially, it's to amusement helium had thing to bash with it, and it takes him successful a antithetic direction.

"And past you've got the trained nonsubjective homicide detective doing a parallel probe with conscionable the facts.

"I've been done each emotion we could spell through, you know, and I deliberation I've conscionable near with a unspeakable sadness that this antheral had truthful overmuch potential; helium could person cured cancer, helium could person done truthful overmuch bully for humanity and he, successful fact, became 1 of the world's worst monsters."

As good arsenic 2 books connected his father's links to the Zodiac, Most Evil and Most Evil II, Steve has besides written 2 books astir his father's earlier killings - based connected further investigations.

He present believes helium has linked his begetter to 50 murders successful 50 years, taking him from his archetypal transgression - which helium believes was the sidesplitting of a clergyman successful San Francisco - and his last, the sidesplitting of taxi operator Paul Stine - the past Zodiac victim.

"I judge his archetypal transgression was erstwhile helium was 14 - a clergyman successful San Francisco that helium changeable - and I deliberation fundamentally helium ne'er stopped," Steve said.

"So I'm astatine 50 years and astir 50 crimes.

"And what's astonishing is, the aboriginal years' crimes beryllium the aboriginal years' crimes, and the aboriginal years' crimes beryllium the aboriginal years' crimes due to the fact that he's got a precise akin MO of taunting and mailing.

"[In his archetypal crime] helium sends tiny notes to the San Francisco Chronicle, which necktie into words that helium says arsenic Zodiac. Again, you've conscionable got truthful overmuch cross-information and proof.

'A WILD BEAST'

"So basically, I'm overwhelmed by him. I liken him to a chaotic beast. Let's say, a man-eating tiger escaped successful a village, the tiger's not gonna halt until he's either captured oregon killed and George was not.

"He was captured a mates of times, but due to the fact that of authorities and corruption, helium was fto loose, allowed to spell free, but fundamentally was ne'er caught, was ne'er captured, and kept killing."

Steve says helium was reluctant to people his mentation astir his begetter being the Zodiac arsenic helium was acrophobic radical would deliberation he'd gone excessively acold arsenic it "defies logic."

He's since utilized his ain wealth to person a DNA illustration of his begetter developed from aged letters and possessions - and has written to the 5 constabulary departments progressive successful the Zodiac probe - Vallejo Police Department, Solano County Sheriff Department, Napa County Sheriff Department, and Benicia Police Department - asking them to comparison the DNA profiles.

"You've got astatine slightest 5 jurisdictions involved, and each 1 of them supposedly has immoderate unidentified DNA, specified arsenic unidentified fingerprints.

"I don't deliberation they're sharing their accusation with each other
because to my knowledge, they don't person confirmed Zodiac DNA.
In different words, the lone mode you're gonna get confirmed DNA is if respective of the departments match...

"One of the problems you person with constabulary departments is territoriality. Everybody's precise guarded and protective...

"I sent my summaries to each of the 5 agencies, and I said, 'I'll beryllium blessed to travel up connected my dime to marque a Powerpoint presumption arsenic to wherefore I judge he's Zodiac' - and it's been silence, crickets from anybody.

"And that's benignant of wherever we're at, I went arsenic acold arsenic to people my dad's DNA illustration successful the publication truthful they could instrumentality a look astatine it...

"It's 1 of the oldest and coldest cases determination is. But I deliberation I've enactment unneurotic a lawsuit that's beyond tenable uncertainty astatine this point."