In a 2003 bestselling book, "Black Dahlia Avenger", author Steve Hodel claims that his late father, Dr. George Hodel, was guilty of the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, famously dubbed "The Black Dahlia" by the press. Hodel further asserts that his accomplice in the crime was Fred Sexton, the artist commissioned by Warner Bros. to create the Maltese Falcon statue.