More Paul DeGaston

The greatest whodunit I have ever been even tangentially involved with is the strange story of Paul de Gaston. Nazi spy, artist, abortionist, Black dahlia figure, etc.

I have written a lot about this curious fellow, should have written a book on the subject as it unfolded. But I didn't. 

Oh well.

Here is my first article if you need to get reacquainted. 

And this one gives a loose compendium of other things I have written but still not all of them. 

For that you need to do a blast search, this should be near everything.

Except that I got another note from the family recently that I thought I should share with you, keep everything on the table.

Hello, 

I am the granddaughter of Paul deGaston and your blog has been a source of interest to me and my cousin who died a couple years ago. I am the granddaughter of the abortion doctor Paul deGaston. I thought I would send you his known signature on a piece of art he made.  I have the final post card and the original which he signed.  Maybe this helps you identify the signatures?  He was pretty young when he did this one. I have some other documents like letters to his ex wife, my grandmother, but they are not at my easy disposal at the moment. 

Regards,

Patricia

Patricia, that is so sweet. You know, the story is so fascinating, I should have written a book but I take solace in knowing that so many people have read the tale on my blog.Thank you so much for this, I will put it on line.

best,

Robert

Patricia deGaston

Apr 6, 2024, 6:48 PM

I have some other information about him if you’re interested. My dad was his second oldest child with his first wife, born in 1929. My dad told me when he was about 14-16 his dad had a Packard limousine and had several mining claims out in the desert.  According my dad when his dad would lose an abortion patient he took him out to his “mining claims” and would dispose of the patients remains in those mines.  He said his dad took him with for these a few times and then bought him a prostitute as a reward.  He said he was so young and afraid the hookers just took him to a room and talked him as a kid. 

He said they took the limousine through the desert with a trunk full of dynamite and a dead woman.  His primary customers were starlets with “morals” clauses referred to him by the movie studios and the Catholic Church.  

He was not a good person and my dad said he feels lucky that he didn’t have much of a relationship with his father and his experiences with him weren’t very good. Paul used to say “I walk down the middle of the road so people can kiss my ass from both sides” and that was how he lived. He was murdered by his lawyer for sleeping with his wife. His life ended when he was bludgeoned to death in his home.   I may have some photos of movie stills from films he was in but the films themselves burned in that large fire I was told.  

He was born in China because his parents were missionaries. The original family name was Bach but they changed it to Gaston to escape the Boxer rebellion because they pretended to be French instead of German. Paul added the “de” to sound more fancy for his film career. When he came to the US he didn’t register and got annoyed with the immigration process and jumped from the boat and swam to shore to skip registering. He spent WWII in a US concentration camp because of his relationship with Adolph Hitler. They had gone to school together apparently. I don’t think he was actually a spy but they were concerned he was.  His letters with Hitler were more of a personal nature because of their schoolmate relationship. 

Regards, 

Patricia  

So charming, a drawing of a coffin. That Paul De Gaston was quite a fellow!