Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story

be the killer. On June 21, a newspaper article appeared under the headline: 'Mystery Man Hunted in L.A. Sex Murder.' It hinted at a possible jealousy motive, indicating that in the weeks preceding the murder the victim's husband, Laurence Springer, had received six suspicious telephone calls from a male caller to a payphone located inside his office. Tabloidtype references were also made to the fact that police were looking into 'the husband's relationship with an as yet unidentified girl.'

Heartbroken, disillusioned, and bitter at the lack of cooperation from local authorities, Laurence Springer took his two-year-old son and moved out of Hollywood. His wife's kidnapping and murder also remains 'open' in the police files at LAPD's Parker Center.

'Jane Doe' (Unknown date, 1947-49)

Based on the information I received from my sister Tamar, as told to her by my mother and later confirmed in a slightly modified version by Sexton's daughter 'Mary Moe,' I must include another victim in our list of women believed slain by George Hodel. I have been unable to learn her identity, but if all that Tamar has told is accurate — and I believe it is — then LAPD has already investigated Father as a named murder suspect to the crime, and the victim's name is known to them.

I shall refer to her as 'Jane Doe.' Her death likely occurred sometime after the murder of Elizabeth Short, although I cannot be certain, since Mother's story to Tamar could have referred to an earlier murder. One recalls that her death was originally listed as a 'suicide' from an overdose of pills, and, according to what Mother told Tamar, Father apparently signed her death certificate. Procedurally this would be dubious and highly suspect. Legally, all suicides occurring within Los Angeles County are required to be assigned as a coroner's case, which requires that an autopsy be performed.

Based on the possibility that 'Gloria,' the dark-haired young woman found in Father's photo album, might be this Jane Doe, girlfriend/employee, I have included an enlargement of that photograph to allow for potential identification. Should 'Gloria' not be that employee, then perhaps a reader will recognize her as a relative or acquaintance. On the reverse side of her photograph she had written, 'George — the teacher, from Gloria. Too little time — No?'

Exhibit 64

^*912 West 6th Street was only two blocks from George Hodel's medical office on 7th Street.

^*As referenced in our earlier investigations, this unusual 'calling card' evidence corresponds to handkerchiefs also left at the French and Kern crime scenes.

32

Forgotten Victims, 1950s:

The Probables

IN THE SUMMER OF 1997 I had finished my investigative work on a high-profile, year-long investigation for a local Northwest attorney. The results had been positive and he was grateful for the many hours of hard work I had put in. Along with my final paycheck, he gave me the gift of a book, saying, 'You might find it interesting, since it's about a writer and a retired detective working on an old unsolved murder case from Los Angeles.' Having spent the past few years working as a defense investigator on a Japanese/Los Angeles murder investigation, I had little interest in and less curiosity about doing any recreational reading on the subject of murder. I glanced at the dustjacket: the title was My Dark Places, by an author named James Ellroy. I had no desire to read about other people's dark places. Without opening the present, I tossed it into a box in my garage and forgot about it.

Three years later, the author's name would resurface in connection with my Dahlia investigation, for I learned that he had written a novel entitled The Black Dahlia, a fictionalized account of Elizabeth Short's murder. Though tempted to read it, I also had no desire to confuse fact with fiction and fought off the part of me that was naturally curious. I told myself that Ellroy was probably just another sensationalist, wanting to capitalize on Hollywood noir and the brutality of her story. Besides, I wasn't into whodunit novels. I prided myself in wanting to know things as they are, not as they are imagined.

Six months later, having gained a thorough working knowledge of the Dahlia case on my own, I felt more confident and my curiosity won out. I sat down and read The Black Dahlia. I found Ellroy's fiction to be simultaneously disgusting and brilliant, profane and prophetic. It was obvious that he had done his homework and knew a great deal about the case. He mixed real names, real dates, and real locations with fictitious ones. I especially respected his street smarts: it was apparent he knew cops inside and out. I admired his ability to walk their walk and talk their talk. He knew their strengths and weaknesses. His 'soft time' in L.A. County Jail, his homelessness, his sleeping in the L.A. public parks, and his golf caddying in West Los Angeles for the rich and famous had prepared him well. His novel clearly revealed that he understood people. Like a cop, he knew about their goods, their bads, and their uglies.

Forgetting that I already owned a copy of My Dark Places — I hadn't made the connection between Ellroy the novelist and Ellroy the true-crime author — I e-mailed an order for a copy.

I read it nonstop. In 1958, Geneva 'Jean' Ellroy, the forty-threeyear old mother of then ten-year-old James Ellroy, was raped and murdered in El Monte, a town twelve miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The crime was never solved. Thirty-four years later the victim's son-cum-novelist teamed up with Sergeant Bill Stoner, a retired L.A. Sheriff's Department homicide detective, and in the spring of 1994 the two men became 'partners' to try and solve the crime. Because Stoner had worked in LASD's Homicide Unsolved Unit, which had originally investigated the case, and Ellroy was not only the victim's son but a respected author, the two were given carte blanche by the sheriff's brass. All the 1958 police files were opened to them; they were provided copies of the photos, evidence, and original witness statements. Together the two-man team gumshoed the hell out of the case. Their investigation began in the spring of 1994 and it appears they spent almost a year pursuing every possible lead.

The results of their investigation were fully documented in Ellroy's writing. My Dark Places served as an impressive homicide progress report, as well as a son's tribute to the memory of his murdered mother. Ellroy and Stoner's thoroughness and hard work may have been successful.

Based on my review of their entire investigation as documented in My Dark Places, it is my professional opinion that, like many of the other crimes previously described in my investigative summary, the rape-murder of Geneva Ellroy in June 1958, and the rape-murder of Elspeth Long seven months later, in January 1959, may well have been committed by Fred Sexton. Here is a summary of the original facts and the subsequent Ellroy/Stoner investigation that provide the basis for my belief.

Geneva Hilliker Ellroy (June 22, 1958)