Talk:George Hodel

Steve Hodel
A large edit supposedly made by Steve Hodel seems to be entirely composed of OR and acts as advertisement for his books, suggesting a strong lack of NPOV. I suggest rewording this set of edits and making it clear what it is. Antiaverage (talk) 15:06, 26 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It seems okay now. There are some critics of Steve Hodel's hypotheses, and there are other candidates put forth for the identity of Short's killer.  Some of that is detailed at Black Dahlia, and we could summarize is much more compactly here, in a paragraph presenting counter claims to hose of Steve Hodel.  I've also added an external link to a site claiming to debunk at least S. Hodel's claims about G. Hodel being the Zodiac killer.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:21, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

The first line of the article claims Hodel's son was a detective, while the article on Black Dahlia says he was a writer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C1:8900:83D8:1DE1:6411:6621:A9E4 (talk) 04:03, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Not mutually exclusive. Most detectives know how to write. :-) In this case, he's retired as a detective and working as a writer.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:21, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

User:Steve Hodel has taken to editing the article again, in Feb. 2019. I've left a WP:COI notice on his talk page, cleaned up what he added to an extent, and flagged it as needing citations. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:47, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

Removed the suspected serial killer bit as Hodel has only been proven to have been an official police suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short. Removed reference to the murder of Hodel's secretary as her official cause of death listed on the death certificate is suicide, not homicide. Why is the bulk of this article about Steve and not George Hodel? If Steve Hodel can produce sources other than his own books perhaps this can be added in the future. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.255.13.97 (talk) 02:37, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

Ogham translation
The Ogham translation into the word HODEL is presented as a very factual, weighty piece of evidence. But the sources are actually Steve Hodel and an interview with Steve Hodel, and in further investigation of theory there are questions. It's just so final to say a guy in Paris cracked the code it's Hodel and it's a ways off, maybe slightly more inquisitive wording or a source that doesn't involve testimony of Steve Hodel? Kismetmiss (talk) 01:33, 30 July 2018 (UTC)
 * The text at present suggests that Steve Hodel and this guy in Paris are making this claim; it's not a claim offered in Wikipedia's own voice (presumably due to editors moderating the text; I've done a bit more of that today, throughout).  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:21, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I have removed this entire section. Steve Hodel and his associates original research is the only thing that links George Hodel to the Zodiac killings. Hodel was never listed as a suspect in any official case files. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.255.13.97 (talk) 15:28, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

Lots of confusion
I find a lot of this article to be severely lacking in NPOV, as mentioned above, and increasingly confusing in it's presentation of the 'facts' the farther you read through it. I've made attempts to clean some of the wording up and create a little bit of clarity in the information being presented, but I don't have any facts so I cant make any larger changes.

I am also left very confused about Steve Hodel's huge leaps in connecting his father to the Zodiac Killer specifically, I'm talking some seemingly insurmountable leaps here. Wasn't he "...living in Asia" during the Zodiac timeframe?...which is another thing I'm confused about...was it China where its mentioned he fled to because the heat was on him and he had previously done work over there, or was it Manila where it is stated he lived until 1990?...but I digress...my point is, why make, what would have to have been, several trips back to the States to kill people in and around the SF Bay Area? He would have been somewhere around 60 in 1968 when the first confirmed Zodiac murder took place. Finally, from what I remember of the survivors account and description, George Hill Hodel is definitively not a match. Lanni260 (talk) 17:11, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I've significantly worked it over. It's not perfect, but it's better.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:13, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch, SMcCandlish. I'm not sure why but just had an odd inkling about checking back on this now almost 18 month old question. I appreciate your quick response even though i just found it. And your changes go a long way in fostering some clarity in this article. As you said...not perfect, but definitely better...lots better. Thanks again Lanni260 (talk) 23:22, 8 May 2020 (UTC)


 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: moved as requested per the discussion below. Dekimasu よ! 05:44, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

George Hill Hodel → George Hodel – WP:CONCISE, WP:PRECISE, WP:NCP. We do not disambiguate by middle name except in extenuating circumstances, and there is no other notable George Hodel from whom to disambiguate this one, anyway. Most sources refer to him as George Hodel (except at first occurrence when giving his full name, birth date and place, etc.). The shorter name is exactly as precise as we need to be. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:21, 7 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Support per WP:COMMONNAME. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:46, 12 February 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Martin letter
Is there a transcription of the Martin letter that someone can link? I'm having a hard time making some of that out. "Martin's letter claimed that both he and "GH" personally knew the Springer woman and that he believed "GH" also killed her." What does it actually say? Also Martin's lead-in for this is discussing an unidentified woman's body being found at 116 E. 3rd St. but Springer is found at 136 W. 38th St. How is this being connected? "personally knew the Springer woman" - she had only lived in LA for about six months so they couldn't have known her too personally. That doesn't sound right. — Berean Hunter   (talk)  13:25, 25 February 2019 (UTC)

Notability etc
What is this article based on? It seems to be based entirely around Hodels son's personal investigation, with very little support from actual reliable sources to establish either the notability or significance of the man, or the claims being made about him. It seems to me that the man almost certainly has no obvious significance for the purposes of wikipedia beyond a single alleged event. Lot of the content appears to be formed from Black Dahlia suspects in any case. Given the only published material on the man seems to be related specifically to the related TV Show, or his son, it seems to me that either the book is itself notable (and so the theories should be there) or Steve Hodels theories in and of themself afford Steve Hodel some notability and so his theories should go under an article for himself. Otherwise this is just scuttlebutt type of rumour mongering we generally don't entertain (regardless of if a relative is making the claim). An article on Steve Hodel / his Books / theories would make for a decent expansion of the Black Dahlia case for George, compared to an article about George. Koncorde (talk) 01:37, 15 April 2020 (UTC)

Gardener
Was he ever a gardener for a rich Scotsman in LA who mutilated his face? 2603:7080:9740:CCA3:1CD7:BC39:39FF:D844 (talk) 21:31, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

Musical Prodigy
Removed the part about Rachmaninoff and the Russian culture ambassador traveling to LA to see Hodel perform as a child. No sources exist beyond Steve Hodel's claims, as they are unlikely considering the documented movements of Rachmaninoff and the fact that a defector would not be traveling with a government official from the country they defected from. Removed the part about playing solo concerts at the Shrine Auditorium as he only played once there as a part of various forms of entertainment put on by the French committee on July 14, 1917.