David Fechheimer (30 April 1942 – 2 April 2019), nicknamed "Fech," was an American private investigator based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He worked on many cases involving celebrities or other notables, including

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and

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. Inspired by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Ma ...

's novel '' The Maltese Falcon'', while in graduate school Fechheimer enquired with Pinkerton about a job, asking if they would employ someone with a beard, and was immediately hired for an undercover job. This led to him leaving his master's program and becoming a private investigator. Later he worked for

Hal Lipset HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bengaluru, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

, then in 1976 he formed his own agency, where he employed

Josiah Thompson Josiah "Tink" Thompson (b. 17 January 1935) is an American writer, retired professional private investigator, and former philosophy professor. In 1967, he published both ''The Lonely Labyrinth'', a study of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous works, and ...

. Among the many famous cases Fechheimer worked on was the paternity controversy after

Larry Hillblom Larry Lee Hillblom (May 12, 1943 – May 21, 1995) was an American businessman and, alongside Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, co-founded the shipping company DHL. After his disappearance in 1995, his estate paid $360 million to four impoverished ...

's death, where he obtained a DNA sample from Hillblom's mother by tricking her into licking a donation envelope at her church. He often worked for the defense in criminal cases, including in 2002

John Walker Lindh John Philip Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981) is an American Taliban member who was captured by United States forces as an enemy combatant during the United States' invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001. He was detained at Qala-i-Jangi ...

, when he travelled to Afghanistan to interview people to gather background information to discredit the prosecution case. He worked for

Theranos Theranos Inc. () was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company. Founded in 2003 by then 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised more than US$700 million from venture capitalists an ...

, investigating employees Erika Cheung and Tyler Schultz. Fechheimer had a lifelong interest in Dashiell Hammett. He was also a

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

, owning a small vineyard and selling a cabernet sauvignon named after Hammett's novel ''

Red Harvest ''Red Harvest'' ( 1929) is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction, much of which is drawn from his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fechheimer, David 1942 births 2019 deaths People from Cincinnati American private investigators San Francisco State University alumni