David Fechheimer

David Fechheimer (30 April 1942 – 2 April 2019), nicknamed "Fech," was an American private investigator based in San Francisco. He worked on many cases involving celebrities or other notables, including Patty Hearst, Martha Stewart, Kobe Bryant, Timothy McVeigh and Angela Davis.[1][2]

David Fechheimer
Born
David Burgess Bissinger

(1942-04-30)30 April 1942
Cincinnati, Ohio
Died2 April 2019(2019-04-02) (aged 76)
Redwood City, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSan Francisco State University
OccupationPrivate investigator

Inspired by Dashiell Hammett'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.[3] Later he worked for Hal Lipset, then in 1976 he formed his own agency,[2] where he employed Josiah Thompson.[4][5]

Among the many famous cases Fechheimer worked on was the paternity controversy after Larry Hillblom's death, where he obtained a DNA sample from Hillblom's mother by tricking her into licking a donation envelope at her church.[1] He often worked for the defense in criminal cases, including in 2002 John Walker Lindh, when he travelled to Afghanistan to interview people to gather background information to discredit the prosecution case.[6][7] He worked for Theranos, investigating employees Erika Cheung and Tyler Schultz.[8]

Fechheimer had a lifelong interest in Dashiell Hammett. He was also a winemaker, owning a small vineyard and selling a cabernet sauvignon named after Hammett's novel Red Harvest.[2][1]

References
  1. Roberts, Sam (2019-04-03). "David Fechheimer, a Reserved but Adroit Sam Spade, Dies at 76". New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. Rubenstein, Steve (2019-04-12). "David Fechheimer, prominent Bay Area private eye, dies". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  3. Costantinou, Marianne (2005-02-15). "This aspiring poet read 'The Maltese Falcon' and his life was transformed. He's a modern-day Sam Spade". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  4. Thompson, Josiah (1988). Gumshoe: Reflections in a Private Eye. Boston: Little, Brown.
  5. Trillin, Calvin (1978-11-27). "Tink". The New Yorker.
  6. Junod, Tom (July 2006). "Innocent: can America and Islam coexist? The answer may lie with the fate of twenty-five-year-old "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh. The prison profile of the man who now calls himself Hamza". Esquire. 146 (1).
  7. Mayer, Jane (2003-03-10). "Lost in the Jihad: Why did the government's case against John Walker Lindh collapse?". The New Yorker.
  8. Randazzo, Sara; Somerville, Heather (2021-10-19). "What the Elizabeth Holmes Trial Is Revealing About Theranos". Wall Street Journal.
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