 St. John's cases led "Los Angeles Times" writer Al Martinez to write the book "Jigsaw John" which became a 1976 NBC television series by the same name, starring veteran character actor Jack Warden.Over the course of his career, he solved at least two-thirds of the more than 1,000 homicides he worked including cop killings such as the famed Onion Fields murder, cop-turned-contract murderer William Leasure and myriad other cop killings, murders for money, gangland killings and drive-by shootings.In 1982, St. John became the second recipient of the LAPD's Distinguished Service Medal for his eight-year investigation resulting in the conviction of William Bonin.