Michael Connelly’s “Killer in the Code” Podcast Reopens the Black Dahlia and Zodiac Mysteries

Michael Connelly began his career as a crime reporter for *The Los Angeles Times* and later created the fictional detective Harry Bosch. He has written more than 40 novels and sold roughly 90 million books. Retired LAPD detectives Rick Jackson (a partial inspiration for Bosch) and Mitzi Roberts (the model for Ballard) approached Connelly early last year after an amateur sleuth in West Virginia claimed to have solved the city’s most infamous murder. Connelly responded by producing the podcast “Killer in the Code.”

New York Times

The ten-episode first season, which debuted last December, sparked debate in the true-crime community by arguing that World War II veteran Marvin Margolis was responsible for two landmark unsolved crimes: the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short (the Black Dahlia) and the five Zodiac killings in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s. The podcast frames these assertions as investigative hypotheses rather than established facts, presenting newly uncovered documents, forensic re-examinations, and interviews with surviving witnesses.

New York Times

He emphasized that the series is intended to “keep the conversation alive” and to encourage renewed public interest, not to declare a definitive solution. The LAPD has not issued an official comment on the podcast’s specific allegations.

New York Times

The second season of “Killer in the Code” returns on Wednesday, launching with the first two of six episodes. The new installments expand the investigation to additional unsolved murders linked to Margolis, according to the podcast’s producers.

New York Times

• “There’s this emptiness that comes from knowing that people get away with it,” — Michael Connelly — Michael Connelly

New York Times