1975 and 2018 forensic sketches of the Doodler.Photo: SFPD
In the 1970s, five gay men were killed over an 18-month span, with their bodies discovered in remote locations around San Francisco. Police believed the murders were the work of a serial killer.
They nicknamed him the Doodler, for his habit of sketching his victims prior to his sexual encounters with them, which would precede the murders. He would find his victims at diners or gay bars in the neighborhoods of Polk Gulch, the Tenderloin and the Castro. Then he would lure them to a park or a beach before killing them.
Today, the cases are still unsolved, and no suspect has been publicly identified. Police have offered a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the Doodler.
It also tells the stories of the murdered men.
Those victims, saysChroniclereporter Kevin Fagan, who hosts the podcast along with private investigator Michael Taylor, “were really forgotten in history. Everyone deserves attention and sympathy and justice, these five guys were just swept under the waves totally. One of the goals of this project has been to illuminate who they were.”
The Doodler’s first victim was 50-year-old Gerald Cavanagh. Cavanagh moved to San Francisco from Canada and was employed as a furniture finisher when he was fatally stabbed on Jan. 27, 1974 on Ocean Beach.
His next victim was 27-year-old drag performer Joseph Jae Stevens, who was discovered in Golden Gate Park six months later. He had been stabbed multiple times.
Also killed were 31-year-old Klaus Christmann on July 7, 1974; Vietnam War hero Fredrick Capin, 32, on May 12, 1975; and Harald Gullberg, 66, who was fatally attacked on June 4, 1975.
“The Doodler hunted in gay bars, took them out and killed them actually for being gay,” Fagan, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter, tells PEOPLE.
At least three men escaped the Doodler’s attacks, and two of them described their attacker as a Black male who was 6 feet tall, between the ages of 19 and 25.
The killer, says Fagan, may still be alive.
“I just have some suspicions about [the killer],” he says.
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Fagan believes the cases didn’t get much media attention in the ’70s because the victims were gay men.
“We still had sodomy laws on the books,” he says. “You could still bust guys for being gay, essentially. Society wasn’t really tuned in. Media wasn’t really tuned in. So it kind of slipped under the waves. It’s really a spotlight on a less developed time in history.”
Fagan began investigating the murders three years ago after a San Francisco Police Department cold case detective asked him to find a formerChroniclereporter who last wrote about the Doodler. By the time Fagan found the reporter, the man was terminally ill and died before Fagan got a chance to talk to him.
Fagan decided to pick up the torch. Since then, he has interviewed 100 people and along with Taylor has tracked down victims' relatives all over the world.
They have also created an anonymous tip line (415-570-9299) for anyone with information about the Doodler.
“I’ve made it my mission to get to the bottom of these murders, alongside talented investigators and with the help of people involved with the case,” said Fagan in a press release. “With our listeners' help, we aim to put this mystery to rest once and for all, while shedding light on the plight of The Doodler’s victims.”
The first two episodes ofThe Doodlerarecurrently available. Listeners can subscribe toThe Doodleron all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
source: people.com
