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Listener discretion is advised. This episode features discussions of murder, sexuality and medical malpractice that may be upsetting. We advise extreme caution for listeners under 13. It's natural for humans to want immortality for a part of us to live on after we die. Some people are content with the knowledge that their loved ones will remember them fondly. But others build monuments in the sand and carve their names into rock in desperate attempts to not be forgotten.

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Dr. George Hodel wanted his legacy to stand the test of time, but not in the way that most would. He was trained as a surgeon, yet saw himself as an artist. But his masterpieces weren't exactly the stuff of eulogies. His brush was a scalpel. And unfortunately for his victims, their bodies were his canvas. This is Medical Murders, a Spotify original from podcast, every year, thousands of medical students take the Hippocratic Oath. It boils down to do no harm.

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But a closer look reveals a phrase much more interesting. I must not play at God. However, some doctors break that oath. They choose to play God with their patients, deciding who lives and who dies each week on medical murders. We'll investigate these doctors, nurses and medical professionals. We'll explore the specifics of how medical killers operate not just on their patients but within their own minds, examining the psychology and neurology behind heartless medical killers. I'm Alastair Madden and I'm joined by Dr.

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David Kipa, M.D.. Hello, everyone.

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I'm Dr. Kipper. And here to assist Alastair with medical insight into the case of Dr. George Hodel, a physician whom I share something in common, we both doctors in Los Angeles. But George had one additional specialty. We didn't share murder.

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You can find episodes of medical murders and all other PARCA shows for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to stream medical murders for free on Spotify, just open the app and type medical murders in the search bar. This is our first episode on Dr. George Hodel, the alleged mastermind behind one of America's most infamous unsolved murders, the Black Dahlia. Since the gruesome 1947 tragedy, Hodas son has tied his father back to numerous other homicides, including those of the notorious Zodiac killer.

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Ultimately, Dr. Hodel was never convicted. But there is a mountain of evidence, much of it circumstantial, attesting to his guilt. Today, we'll trace his history from child prodigy to troubled adult and finally, supposed murderer.

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Next time, we'll take a look at the gruesome Black Dahlia murder and how George Hodel may have gotten away with the crime of the century.

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All this and more coming up. Stay with us. In the early hours of May 17th, 1999, former LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel received a panicked phone call. Steve's stepmother, June, explained that his 91 year old father, George, had died of a heart attack. The news wasn't particularly moving for Steve, who had essentially grown up without a dad in his few childhood memories. George was always Dr. Hodel, a distant patriarch and stern tyrant who wasn't to be disobeyed.

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It wasn't until his father was much older that Steve made efforts to connect with him. And surprisingly, the two became closer. Nevertheless, Steve felt like he had barely scratched the surface of who his father really was outside of his public reputation as an accomplished physician. Now, the great man was dead and Steve wanted to arrange a funeral, but George had left very specific instructions in a letter to his attorney. He wrote, I do not wish to have funeral services of any kind.

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There is to be no meeting or speeches or music and no gravestone or tablet. George also left instructions for his personal belongings to be destroyed, but Steve managed to save one important item. A pocket sized photo album likely from the mid 1980s, Steve flip through, it's in the empty foyer and saw photos of himself and his brother on their father's knee in childhood. Most of the other photos were of his family, but several of them seemed out of place.

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They were black and white portraits of an attractive young woman. In one, she reclined, possibly nude, with her eyes closed.

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In another, she posed with ornate flowers on her head.

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Steve wondered why she looks so familiar. Then it hit him as a young LAPD cadet, Steve had seen her face in a briefing.

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An Internet search confirmed his theory. The woman was Elizabeth Short, known to her friends and the world as the Black Dahlia.

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In 1947, the young aspiring actress was brutally slain, but the killer was never found. The wheels in Steve's head began to spin. He had to investigate. But in order to do that, he'd have to journey back in time. For as long as George Hodel could remember, he was better than everyone else, he was born to well-off European immigrants in 1947 who immediately recognized his gifts when George was five years old. They sent him to Paris to study at the renowned Montessori school when he returned home to South Pasadena, California.

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His mother hired a piano teacher by age nine. George was a respected concert pianist who even wrote his own compositions. A newspaper clipping from July 14th, 1917, shows his face beneath the headline Boy of nine, chief soloist at Shrine Holiday Exercises. Anything George tried. He excelled at. He aced every class and graduated from high school at age 14. The next year, he enrolled in university at the California Institute of Technology. George, his brilliance caught the attention of Dr.

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Lewis Terman, who adapted one of the first IQ tests used in America. In a study conducted by Dr. Termine, George would go on to record an IQ of hundred and eighty six. To put this in perspective, any score over 140 was considered to be, quote, near genius or genius. Then in 1921, at the age of 13, he achieved the highest scholastic test scores ever seen in California's public school history.

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There are several different tests for intelligence, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. An IQ test or intelligence quotient test is a collection of standardized test administered and reviewed collectively to determine someone's intellectual capability. The test covers a wide range of factors relating to intelligence, including modules related to abstract thought, visual spatial intelligence, mathematical problem solving and general knowledge, which covers areas like crystallized intelligence or how someone is able to learn and adapt from past experience.

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Our contemporary IQ testing comes from an intelligence assessment created by Alfred Benay in 1995, known as the Binay Simon Scale, which he gave to children in hopes of predicting future scholastic problems. Today, IQ scores are sometimes used in things like employee hiring, determining mental disability and educational assessment. As a doctor, I do believe IQ has some intriguing value as there are correlations between low IQ scores and increased morbidity and mortality. But they have no way of conveying creativity or emotional intelligence.

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There are also gender and cultural differences that can affect IQ scores, which on a certain level hurts the tests inherent validity. However, even if the test itself has flaws, it's safe to say that George Hotels high intelligence quotient indicated that he was extremely gifted.

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But being a genius came at a price George didn't have a proper childhood, instead of playing with other children, he was studying or performing at piano concerts, and most of his classmates were far older than him. But his mother assured him this was OK. He didn't need friends because he was special as far as she was concerned. George was the center of the universe and that was all that mattered.

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Unfortunately, his isolation continued as George went through puberty, which made him feel estranged from his sexual impulses. He had the same urges as everyone else, but he didn't know quite what to do with them. In college at the California Institute of Technology, they got him into trouble. Freed from the watchful eye of his mother, George began making advances towards some of his female classmates. But the nerdy 16 year old likely drew laughs and rejections from the older girls.

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He remained persistent as he sought out his sexual partner, and he found it in an unlikely figure.

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In 1923 and just 16 years old, he had an affair with one of his professors wives and accidentally got her pregnant.

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According to some sources, it was this scandal that got George expelled from school after his first year to escape the public shame. The woman reportedly left her husband and traveled east. She allegedly gave birth to a little girl named Folley. And when George learned about his child, he knew it was time to step up and do the right thing. He followed her across the country and proposed marriage seemed like the obvious choice for someone in his position. He was in love and he wanted to be a father.

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But the prospect of marrying a teenager must have sounded absurd to a mature divorcee.

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She rejected him and laughed in his face, turning him bitter towards women. He found himself adrift with no college degree in dire need of a paycheck, but his early devotion to piano didn't earn him much cash. Luckily, he had other talents. George became a crime reporter at the Los Angeles record in 1924 when alcohol sales were prohibited. George followed the LAPD vice squad as it raided bars and arrested prostitutes. He loved the feeling of catching people in their proclivities, and it made his articles especially ripe with scandal.

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More than anything, his piece showcased violence and sexuality with reference to blood smeared sheets and the wildest sort of orgies. In an article from August 14th, 1924, George describes witnessing one of his first murder victims. She lies dead in an unpleasant disarray. That is not art, but death. Readily dangly plume for a face disfigured by a bullet hole.

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In conversation, George spoke in much the same way he chose his words carefully, as if they had been written by an erudite novelist fond of erotic innuendo, perhaps because his own sexuality was stunted, sex permeated his every thought. And for a vice reporter. This was definitely an advantage. In those days, newspapers thrived on pulpy sensationalism. Only a few months after starting at the record, George was promoted. His editors gave him his own crime beat and allowed him to chase his own stories.

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But George was a restless soul and grew tired of the daily hustle, so over the next few years he tried out different roles, including photographer, copywriter and even radio DJ. None seemed to fulfill him, but George was more focused on his social life, which was facilitated by his friendships with L.A. Hot Shots.

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George spent his free time partying with artists such as the acclaimed film director John Huston and surrealist photographer Man Ray. He liked running with an elite crowd where everyone was special like him.

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It gave him a feeling of belonging.

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And soon he began dating John Houston's ex-girlfriend, Amelia, who had his child in 1928 with a family to support. George finally felt the need to get serious about his future. He wanted a real job, one that brought money and respectability. So he traveled north and enrolled in university, paying his way by working nights as a cab driver, a longshoreman and a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Four years later. George entered medical school at the University of California, San Francisco.

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The boy genius was going to become a doctor. Coming up, Dr. Odell's home life fractures as he indulges in darker desires. Podcasters, I am so thrilled to tell you about my latest series, Superstitions, if you haven't had a chance to give it a listen yet, there are already some eerily enjoyable episodes to binge before catching all new ones. Every Wednesday, each week on superstitions step inside stories that illustrate the horror, weirdness and truth behind humanity's strangest codes of conduct.

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Why shouldn't you walk under an open ladder? What's the real reason we should be wary of black cats?

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And how come certain films seem cursed and others don't?

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Each episode presents a story that unlocks the mysteries of unorthodox traditions and surreal phenomena.

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They may sound cryptic or illogical or completely insane, but then again, do they follow my new Spotify original from podcast Superstitions Free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts?

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New episodes, Air Weekly every Wednesday.

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And now back to the story. George Hodel had lived what seemed like 10 lives before his 25th birthday. He entered medical school in 1932 and settled down with Amelia and their newborn son, Duncan. Life, it seemed, could only get better. And it did because medical academia brought George to his true calling. He seemed to possess a near perfect memory that allowed him to recall even the smallest anatomical details.

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And his hand eye coordination was so good that experienced surgeons frequently requested that he assist on operations.

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It was the perfect opportunity for George to accumulate the fieldwork he'd need to lead surgeries in the future.

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Becoming a doctor takes a long time and requires more than just coursework.

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The first prerequisite is completing a four year degree from an accredited college during senior year. Aspiring doctors need to apply to medical school and pass the MEHCAD or medical college admissions test.

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This test is meant to assess skills that will be needed for a career in medicine and centers around basic science, verbal reasoning and writing ability.

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This is a very difficult process and only a small percentage of students who are accepted into medical school, which is a four year curriculum.

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The first two years are very classroom oriented and science driven. The next two years are spent doing clinical rotations in hospitals and health care facilities where students get a comprehensive view of the medical field.

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During these clinical rotations in the fourth and final year of med school, students are able to explore elective courses offered in each field. And this allows them to determine their areas of specialization once they finish med school.

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Doctors have to complete a year long internship focused on medicine or surgery, followed by a residency program that lasts anywhere from three to eight years. If someone chooses to focus on surgery, they can expect their residency program to be on the lengthier side.

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This is then followed by optional one to three year fellowship programs which exist to help up and coming doctors hone their skills. After this, they're finally ready to begin practicing and can work privately or within a university associate, a teaching hospital. It's fair to say that Dr. Hodel was on the right track here and his partaking in surgical work and med school gave him experience and guidance. He couldn't get anywhere else.

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According to his transcript, while in medical school, George spent a total of seven hundred and sixty six hours in the operating room. In total, he conducted 53 separate surgeries and 12 autopsies after a year long internship at San Francisco General Hospital.

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George was ready to see patients on his own, but while his professional life was heating up, his unchecked sexual appetites led to trouble at home. While still in medical school, George began an intimate relationship with a woman named Dorothy Anthony. He was no longer the awkward lovestruck teenager rejected by his his wife. His magnetizing charm drew women in, and he used that power to dominate them completely once he had them under his thumb. Amelia, the mother of his child, likely felt helpless when George asked her to let his mistress, Dorothy Anthony, stay in their house.

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She allowed it, and George spared no kindness, flirting with Dorothy in front of Amelia. It wasn't long before Dorothy was pregnant with George's third child, a daughter named Tamar. But no matter what his lovers gave him, George was never satisfied for long. In 1936, the newly minted Dr. Hodel traveled to Arizona and New Mexico for work. He was only 29 years old, already supporting two families who traveled states with him. The dynamic was short lived not long after his two romantic partners and their children arrived in Arizona.

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George sent them away. It's likely that he'd grown bored of them and wanted to move on. He didn't bother sending them too much money, aside from the occasional gift. But his professional life never suffered as a result of his fractured home dynamics.

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In 1938, 31 year old George Hodel returned to Los Angeles to accept a position in the county health department as a social hygiene physician.

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This branch of medicine was relatively new and aimed at improving the moral fabric of society. Proponents advocated for sexual education in schools, as well as aggressive tactics to stamp out prostitution. They elevated the role of doctors for controlling sexually transmitted diseases and eliminating what they believed were unhealthy elements of society. California, in particular, embrace such movements. In a similar effort, the state conducted thousands of forced sterilizations of people with criminal records, mental illnesses and disabilities as time progressed.

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One of the primary goals of social hygienists became the eradication of venereal meaning sexually transmitted illnesses. In 1938, the federal government passed the National Venereal Disease Control Act, which ultimately funneled millions of dollars into testing and treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea. It was a huge moment in history because the government was tackling a topic that had been taboo for a long time.

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Syphilis and gonorrhea are both bacterial infections that spread through sexual contact, a topic that remains taboo even today. One can only imagine what the perception of sexually transmitted disease was like in the late 1930s. Despite the federal government's open concern and intervention, the social stigma that continue to accompany sexually transmitted diseases are unfortunate for a lot of reasons, and the shame associated with them also has an impact on how they're handled medically.

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This leads to people resisting testing because they feel they may be viewed as unhygienic, sexually promiscuous or morally irresponsible. As a result, many ignore symptoms or warning signs and end up spreading the infection to others. Furthermore, this social hurdle that stands in the way of screening and seeking help impacts the development of treatments and public awareness of these diseases because of STDs have been privately endured for so long. Treatments have historically been slow paced. On top of this, stigmatization leads to lack of discussion, which leads to a lack of understanding.

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The fact that we're still uncomfortable dealing with these diseases today from a societal standpoint only highlights the struggle medical professionals must have been grappling with when Dr. Hotel was starting out. Furthermore, STD treatment was a relatively new frontier at the time, and antibiotics were just emerging as a viable intervention.

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Perhaps that's what attracted George, the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a brand new field of medicine, or perhaps it had more to do with the sexual nature of his new profession. It was, after all, a legal way to peer inside the bedrooms of total strangers. Whatever his reasons, George excelled at it. When George encountered a patient with suspected syphilis, he likely drew a sample of their blood and sent it to a nearby laboratory.

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The lab technician could examine the fluid under a microscope, looking for the corkscrew shaped bacteria that cause the disease. Another test involved mixing the patient's serum with beef extract and cholesterol. If the patient had syphilis, the solution would become clumpy in a few hours. When George learned his patient tested positive, he warned them to avoid having sex until the symptoms cleared. He gave them an educational pamphlet about venereal diseases and told them to inform their previous sexual partners.

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However, George was limited in what he could actually do to cure his patients, sulfa drugs were the only available antibiotics until penicillin surfaced as a treatment method in 1942, and they weren't used against syphilis. Other treatments included arsenic based drugs and Pierro therapy, which had certain risk factors.

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We've discussed the dangers of medical arsenic in the past, and Pierro therapy was another risky treatment. This intervention was common in the early to mid half of the 20th century and involved inducing a fever that would kill disease, spreading bacteria within the body. It was generally done by exposing patients to extreme heat and commonly involved infecting people with malaria. It showed particular success in combating the bacterium that causes syphilis, and patients with the disease received blood transfusions from patients with malaria.

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The resulting fever would then increase the body's temperature, making it an uninhabitable environment for the bacteria that cause syphilis. The use of malaria and pyra therapy was fast, inexpensive and predominantly worked. It was also a better alternative to the mercury treatments that preceded it, which can wreak havoc on the immune system and internal organs. People actually reported quite often that mercury treatment made them feel worse than the disease they were trying to cure.

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However, pirate therapy was no walk in the park either. It had its own major risks as malarial fevers had to be closely monitored due to their potentially fatal quality. This kind of fever could cause anemia, kidney failure and death. However, at the time, it was considered the lesser of two evils when compared to the dangers of syphilis. These treatments all had a high degree of risk. At the end of the day, people really had to trust their doctors to accept them.

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Fortunately, George was exceptionally good at gaining people's trust, and he convinced most patients to accept his treatment methods. After only a year in his position, he became the head of Los Angeles Venereal Disease Control Department. His star was rising and it seemed nothing would stop it.

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With his new job, he soon found a new spouse, Dorothy Harvey Houston, ex-wife of his close friend John Houston. Just to keep things clear, George's previous girlfriend, Amelia, had also been John Houston's ex-girlfriend. Read into that what you will. In 1940, George and his new wife, Dorothy, had a child together, his third from the three significant relationships he'd had. But just like the others, it seemed George had little respect for his wife.

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He nicknamed her Dero after the Greek word store or Gift and Eros, the God of sexual pleasure. It was an inside joke that amused his friends and spoke volumes about his priorities, and no one questioned them by day. He was a respected physician, a wealthy pillar of his community. But his charming exterior was just a mask. He had a much darker nature, and at times he indulged it wholeheartedly. The roots of his pathology run deep. And George was far too complicated a man for anyone to fully understand, but his expressed beliefs and behaviors offer valuable clues about how he saw the world.

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George was a man with seemingly unlimited ability, unquestioned authority and a complete disregard for morality. It wasn't that he couldn't tell right from wrong. He explicitly rejected the notion that either even existed.

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He embraced the ideas of the infamous Marquis de Sade, whose name and ideologies are the source of the word sadism, disarmed, challenged all social norms surrounding sexual behavior and felt that nothing should be off limits.

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According to him, violence, humiliation and incest were only immoral because society said so.

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They were social constructs that could be discarded at will.

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In his mind, true morality even requires surrendering to heinous fantasies that were part of human nature for George and his circle of friends. This philosophy was a carte blanche invitation to depravity. On top of that, disarmed glorified the abuse and sexual submission of women.

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George already dominated everyone around him and treated women as disposable objects. Decides influence only further encouraged Georgia's worst impulses.

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George lived out his sadistic fantasies with various women and his wife, Torero, let him she even bore him three more children. But over time, life with George became intolerable. She drank heavily and fought with him constantly. In September 1944. She divorced him, alleging extreme cruelty. Losing his wife and kids didn't seem to bother George very much, and he never sought custody based on his children's accounts. He probably viewed them more as a nuisance than anything else.

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What he did care about besides sex was power, and George's position brought him a surprising amount of it.

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Shortly after becoming Los Angeles's venereal disease czar. He opened a private clinic on First Street and hired a staff of doctors.

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The clinic was a place where people from all walks of life went to be cured of ailments that were considered embarrassing. At the time, he treated rich husbands who cheated on their wives and prostitutes who needed their illegal activities kept secret. But because many of George's clients were upstanding citizens or industry hotshots who relied on his absolute discretion, George gleaned the sort of power in tending to them. He would have had all the information he needed to expose a vast array of public figures whose careers would end if word of their improprieties ever leaked.

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And with that knowledge came power. According to Georgia's son, Steve, he was untouchable in his book, Black Dahlia Avenger, too, Steve writes that if you were a studio exec, a politician or a cop with a girlfriend in trouble, Dr. George was the go to guy in 1940s L.A., although his clients trusted George to keep his mouth shut. Perhaps they never forgot that George had medical files that could ruin them. And it wasn't just their jobs they would have been worried about.

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George also provided many of them illicit services in addition to treating venereal diseases. George had a side hustle performing abortions in the 1940s. Abortions were illegal in California. If a woman was caught receiving one, she could go to prison along with whoever helped her. At any given moment, George could be the reason a prominent star politician or law enforcement employee went to jail. And maybe it was this control over other people's fates that electrified George. It stroked his ego and assured him that no matter what he got himself into, he'd always be able to crack a deal and protect himself.

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Powerful people were indebted to him, so of course they would come to his aid. Their own freedom depended on it. But George didn't think he'd need their help. He felt smarter than everyone around him. The rules that most of society played by simply didn't exist for him. And it was this belief that began to poison George's already warped perception of women. If he could sexually control women and get away with it, he wondered what else he could do.

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Coming up, Dr. Hodel claims his first victim and now back to the story. In the 1940s, Dr. George Hodel was untouchable. He was the public face of social hygiene in Los Angeles. He had a well respected practice and a clientele that included some of the most powerful people in the city. But his secret life was much darker. Part of that was his alleged practice of performing illegal abortions, which could have sent him to prison for a very long time, and in his personal time, he indulged in a lavish lifestyle replete with drug binges and hedonistic parties, and his appetites were growing.

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In 1945, Dr. Hodel bought a house designed by the architect Lloyd Wright, son of the famous Frank Lloyd Wright, to outsiders, it resembled a Mayan temple to his family. It was a symbol of his enormous ego.

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Yet even with his physicians salary, it seems that George may have struggled to afford the cost of his extravagant lifestyle. So he began inventing diagnoses and charging his patients for unnecessary tests and procedures.

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One woman, known only as Mrs. X, gave a written testimony in June 1945 that supports this claim. She admitted that in February of that year she cheated on her husband with a naval officer. After it was over, Mrs. X visited George's clinic to make sure she hadn't caught anything from her lover, George, and a confident tone reassured her he would take good care of her.

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He drew a blood sample and gave it to his lab technician, then sent her home.

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A few days later, George reached out to Mrs. X and informed her that she tested positive for gonorrhea. He told her not to worry a prescription of antibiotics and she'd be as good as new for the exam testing and medication.

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George billed Mrs. X 75 dollars equivalent to more than a thousand dollars today.

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Mrs. X dutifully took her pills, but her mind kept returning to the diagnosis. She didn't feel any symptoms and considered that perhaps George had made a mistake.

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Doctors are people, and like everyone else, we make mistakes. That's why it's important for patients to advocate for themselves. These mistakes range from misdiagnosis to delayed diagnosis to errors during treatment, which refers to deadly complications caused by medications and fatal accidents during surgery. Given this information. It's important that patients seek a second opinion the minute they feel uncomfortable with the doctor or their diagnosis. It's also a good idea when someone is confused about their diagnosis and when multiple treatment options are available.

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It may be embarrassing for a patient to ask their doctor for a second opinion, but a competent and ethical health care professional will understand and be sympathetic to patient concerns and not take personal offense. The doctor may also see this as an opportunity to expand their knowledge of the situation. If a doctor does become defensive, argumentative or angry in this scenario, it should be considered a major red flag.

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If your gut is telling you something is off or unclear, you should follow that instinct and seek extra or alternative expert advice.

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Mrs. X did seek a second opinion, and when her new doctor ran the same blood test, it came back negative. Alarmed, Mrs. X contacted George's secretary, Ruth Spalding. In an apologetic reply, Ruth told Mrs. X that George had lied. She mailed Mrs. X.. The real laboratory report, which clearly indicated that she had tested negative for gonorrhea.

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Ruth likely struggled with the guilt she felt working for George. She had to have known about the secret abortions and the moneymaking schemes, but she never went to the police, possibly because she was sleeping with George.

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Ruth must have found George's charm and intellect extremely alluring. We don't have many details about their relationship, but it's possible that he simply grew bored with her just as he had so many others in the past. Or perhaps she grew resentful of his controlling nature and broke things off herself, regardless of why the relationship ended. Ruth was determined to make right the wrongs that her silence had incurred. So she decided to write an exposé, including all of the lurid details of George's abortion clinic and medical frauds to back it up.

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She had documents proving his guilt.

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In early May 1945, Ruth revealed that she'd compiled evidence against George, threatening to reveal his horrible doings and did apparently set him off. George was never one to be played by people. They were his pawns. And he couldn't stand the thought that Ruth had incriminating information that threatened his own freedom in George's mind. Ruth simply had too much power, and he would make her pay the price for insulting his intelligence. Perhaps he decided he'd shut her up for good.

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The coroner's report says that at 11 45 p.m. on May 9th, 1945, a comatose Ruth Spalding was brought to the Georgia Street receiving hospital by an unknown person. A doctors suspected she had taken an overdose of barbiturates, barbiturates, like sodium barbital are sedatives that in the past have been used as sleeping pills, barbiturates, her central nervous system depressants, which means they inhibit nerve activity causing muscle relaxation. This causes a reduced heart rate, slowed breathing and a lowered blood pressure on a molecular level.

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These drugs work by stimulating the production of gamma amino butyric acid, or GABA, which is a neurotransmitter that helps nerves in the body communicate with each other.

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This increase in gabble levels leads to sedation and drowsiness, and some common negative side effects can include dizziness, lightheadedness, abdominal pain and vomiting. Barbiturates are both psychologically and physiologically addictive, and the risk of overdose is higher with this family of drugs compared to other sleep agents. And this is because the difference between a safe and deadly dose is very small. Too much of this type of drug causes a heart to slow to a stop and fatally slows respiratory function.

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There's no antidote for a barbiturate overdose, but some treatments like ingesting activated charcoal can be useful if it's caught early enough.

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But it was too late for Ruth. At twelve thirty nine a.m., she passed away.

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George's son, former detective Steve Hodel, believes he's pieced together what happened that night. Although we should mention that like all the other cases, no one was ever found guilty of Ruths death. Steve claims that on the evening of May 8th, 1945, George visited Ruth at her apartment.

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He may have crushed the barbiturate pills and slipped them into a drink or held her down and forced her to swallow them once she was unconscious. George collected any incriminating evidence, including her secret manuscript. Then he picked up the phone and summoned his wife, Torero, to meet him. Dora was alarmed to see Ruth passed out on the bed, but George assured her Ruth would recover. In the meantime, he needed her to burn the documents he'd found, and Darrow went along with it.

[00:43:52]

Everything George did was calculated. He knew that by obeying him, Darrow became an accessory to murder. If the police ever pressured her to betray him, she couldn't do it without risking prison herself. Once his wife left, George removed any trace of his presence and waited. It's possible he wanted to ensure that there was no chance of Ruth recovering once enough time had passed.

[00:44:27]

He dropped Ruth at the hospital. He told the emergency room staff about her supposed suicide attempt and left before anyone could identify him. George is cover up was good, but the circumstances of Ruth's death were enough to raise a few eyebrows. We don't know what tipped them off. Perhaps her apartment reveals signs of a struggle. Whatever it was, the LAPD began investigating it as a possible forced overdose. Detectives interviewed her family members and former co-workers. All signs pointed to George, but they couldn't find concrete proof of his guilt.

[00:45:13]

Still, George must have felt the cold spectre of the police. Months later, on August 3rd, 1945, he applied for a position at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, or UN, are a. It was a program that, among other services, provided economic and medical aid to countries still reeling from the devastation of World War Two.

[00:45:41]

George knew police didn't have the resources to chase him forever. Maybe all he needed was time. So in his UN Orara application, George specifically asked for an assignment outside the United States given his impressive resume. George was hired with the title Chief Regional Medical Officer for China. They gave him an honorary rank equivalent to a three star general. And as George may have suspected, the investigation into Ruth's murder stopped when he left the country.

[00:46:19]

George had very likely killed a woman and the universe rewarded him instead of prison.

[00:46:27]

He received a military jeep, a driver, a personal cook and two aides. The irony couldn't have escaped him as he set off for China. Any concerns about nosy detectives left him. He'd escaped punishment after potentially committing the most vicious crime a human could commit. And now he wondered just how far he could go with this knowledge. Next time on medical murders, Georgia's indulgent lifestyle spins out of control, and as he considers his dark legacy, he turns murder into art.

[00:47:22]

Thanks for listening to medical murders and thanks again to Dr. Kipa for joining me today. Thanks, Allaster.

[00:47:27]

And I'm looking forward to part two of Dr. Hodel for more information on George Hodel. Among the many sources we used, we found The Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of medical murders and all other PARCA shows for free on Spotify, not only to Spotify already have all of your favorite music, but now Spotify is making it easy for you to enjoy all of your favorite PARCA shows like Medical Murders for free from your phone desktop or smart speaker to stream medical matters on Spotify.

[00:48:03]

Just open the app and type medical murders in the search bar. We'll see you next time.

[00:48:12]

Medical Murders is a Spotify original from podcast. It is executive produced by Max Cutler, Sound Design by Trent Williamson with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, Kristen Acevedo, Jonathan Cohen, Alexandra the daughter and Joshua, can. This episode of Medical Murders was written by Zander Bernstein with writing assistants by Maggie Admi, fact checking by Bennett Logan and research by Chelsea Wood. Medical Matters stars Dr. David Kipa and Alastair Murden. Bad omens, good fortune, pure luck.

[00:48:55]

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