In the nineteen seventies, San Francisco cemented itself in history as a place with a thriving gay community. It was a place people could flock to and live their lives. However, though it was a place the LGBTQ community could prosper, they had to do so at night, as there were still a looming stigma around their way of life. So people took to the shadows to have fun and romantic encounters. The only problem is that in the shadows, evil also
is able to fester. It was here that a mysterious man would sketch his victims before viciously attacking them under the guise of romance. This is the unsolved tale of the man simply known as the Doodler.
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked Ingram, a true crime podcast.
The following material more mature audience listeners. Hot Coffee, hot Tea, and a true crime podcast. I mean, this is going to be a good episode, right ready to go. It's always a good episode when you have a good drink in your hand. And I want to clarify when I say a good drink in your hand could be alcoholic, could be non right now, we're enjoying non alcoholic ones.
Okay, Well it is Friday, though, so you forgot what you could have put Carolines in there?
Oh, I know I had carolines earlier this week, and I think it was Tuesdays.
Oh okay, because like Friday, Saturday, Saturday, Sunday. It's like kind of fair game. I guess.
Yeah, I usually irish up my coffee. I guess if you want to put in that terms on the weekends, and yeah, starting Friday, I usually do that if I want. But I took a cheat day this week, so I need to make up for it, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We had a very married life conversation right before this.
We did. We really did.
Then had like a fuzzy or something on his eyelid, and I like stopped and I was like, can you take that? Also, I don't have to stare at it this whole hour episode or whatever.
Yeah, we recorded the intro and Nicole stopped the recording. She's like, you need to fucking take care of that. I'm not staring at that for the next fucking hour while we record. So here we are.
I would literally, I don't know, just like with my OCD and shit, I would just be staring at that the whole time, like it would not go well.
It's like a piece of lettuce in someone's teeth or something. I gotcha, I feel you.
Oh anyway, that's what That's what you get for being married for fifteen years, I guess.
Yeah, yeah, and it's only the beginning as long as hey, you know what, we enjoying a full life, you know what I mean?
So yeah, there you go.
But we are talking about a unsolved case today. I know, I get shipped from you primarily, but a lot a lot of other people as well. When all of a sudden at the end, it's like, oh my god, it's unsolved. I'm warning you flat out this is an unsolved case. And I will also warn you I wish I had more time to do a deeper dive into this tale.
Could it have been a deep dive?
Oh, it definitely could be a deep dive. Yeah, I mean, with all unsolved cases, there is only so much information out there, of course, but I just really wish that I had more time to really get into the nitty gritty of this one. So I'm gonna after this episode, I want you guys to Hey, if you feel the same way, go ahead and dive deeper into it, because I have a feeling it's gonna be worth it. Okay, Okay, because I know I will be.
I also have to say that I like, I'm obsessed with San Francisco. It's one of my favorite cities.
I've never been, but everything I've heard it's fabulous.
Yeah.
I mean that both like in a joking way, ye, in a literal just it just sounds fucking fabulous.
You know, I've been there twice, but I haven't been there. Oh gosh. Like the last time I was there was probably six or so years ago, so it's been a while.
Yeah. Well, get prepared to take a little bit of a travel back into San Francisco because we are going to the nineteen seventies. Okay, So we are diving into a time that is far less accepting than the world we are living in today. Although I know that there's many political and social troubles going on with much of the world, so let's just throw that aside. This time period that we're going to is definitely still less accepting
than today now. Despite that, it in fact, it did help shape many of the rights and freedoms that people do have in the modern age. Because like after the gay liberation movement in the late sixties and early seventies, the city of San Francisco, like of course, this is the United States, became a beacon for the LGBTQ plus unity and its people.
Yep.
So it was seen as a rare place where people in this community could actually live openly, free from you know, constant fear of persecution that followed them elsewhere anywhere in the world where they would live right. The city's vibrant nightlife created opportunities to connect fine community community, like minded individuals, and simply exist without shame. But not everyone welcomed this
new cultural shift. The San Francisco Police Department, for example, which had you know, a deeply conservative ties at the time, had an official policy against hiring LGBTQ plus officers. In fact, in an interview, a police officer outright stated that the LGBTQ plus people were quote bad moral characters whah yeah, and made it clear that they had no intention of hiring covert homosexual holy shit.
Yeah, And I guaranteed they had probably some on their force. But then those poor individuals.
Just had to hide it exactly. So that's what we're looking at here. There's a lot of this community that's the riving and people are flocking to it for this. However, they still have to hide who they are. It's just this community has its certain areas or clubs or you know, nights where they you know, can thrive. Ye, so under the daylight, it's kind of like a vampire situation in a satirical way. You know, during the day, you know, you've got to blend in. You you can't really do
your thing. You got to just wait till the night comes and then you can, you know, go out and and be what you want to be.
Which sucks. Yeah.
Now, the police regularly rated gay bars, harassed people on the streets, and even resorted to physical violence, all which rarely made the mainstream news. Because of this, many of the community didn't trust the police and often avoided reporting crimes, even when they were the victims of some serious offenses themselves. The lack of protection led to a significant rise in
violence against the LGBTQ plus community. In fact, one hundred and twenty nine people of this community were murdered in San Francisco in nineteen seventy four alone, followed by another one hundred and thirty one in nineteen seventy five.
Holy shit, Yeah.
So you are over. You're nearly three hundred people in two years older.
Okay.
Yeah, So to help paint this picture, there was an incident in nineteen seventy three where a gay man was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Now, this traffic violation, I'm not exactly sure what it was, whether it was speeding, rolling a stop sign, I don't know, that's kind of unclear. But what I do know, Yeah, what I do know is this traffic stop should have been a routine stop, right However, it turned brutal fast. The officers actually beat
this man so severely that he suffered permanent brain damage. Now, he did later receive a six figure settlement, but no charges were ever actually filed against the officers.
It's like, I don't know, I know, I don't even think. I mean cool, like you got some money, but not like that's not okay.
It's not okay. But the problem is, what's he going to do if he files a complaint, which no formal complaint was filed. What's gonna happen of it? It's probably even if it does go through, it's going to paint a picture on him. Officers are gonna come seeking him out, you.
Know, probably. But I mean I'm just saying, like your health is priceless, right, Like no amount of money is gonna like help with that to fix that really.
Which is exactly why he didn't form a complaint because his livelihood, his his well being was more important than filing complaint against the officers because it could mean his life is on the line if he did.
Yeah, like so right now he still is able to He's still alive.
I guess exactly, now, I know what you're meaning. Like the six figure settlement meant nothing, because it's like your health is more important.
He has like brain damage now, right exactly, I know.
What you're meaning. It just totally goes along the lines of why no formal complat was filed. So but with that no complaint being filed, nothing happened to the officers. They walked away Scott free.
Oh that is terrible.
Yeah, so, like no, like everyone knew that speaking out just basically would make things worse, not better. Now, as one of the community members put it, quote, even in a place like San Francisco, being gay meant living with constant judgment. The police were more interested in shutting down bars and targeting us in public spaces than protecting us from real threats. And this is unfortunately the life that
many people were living. And honestly, it's even sadder to think that this is where people were flocking to because this was the best place to be openly gay at the time, well as openly gay as you could.
This is kind of just like piss us off, isn't it.
I feel like, oh, definitely, Oh well, if I'm infamal, honest like, that's that's kind of the worst of the uh,
discriminatory acts right there. Yeah, I'm telling you kind of like the climate of what it's like in the era and what it's like in you know, San Francisco, even because you know, I'm painting a picture of the times, right So the times were bad and it was in this climate that you know, fear and distrust led to a serial killer named the Doodler to be born, and he was able to target gay men relentlessly because of
this atmosphere. Now, he attacked at least five and possibly as many as fourteen people during his serial killing career, let's put it that way, leaving behind three survivors because you know, of their social status, none of them would come forward to testify. So with no conviction, he simply faded into history, getting away with these crimes. And that's what we're looking at. So let's actually get into the events and not just the history of San Francisco and communities.
Sounds good.
So in the quiet hours of the night, Ocean Beach Golden Gate Park took on an eerie stillness. Now by the day it was filled with energy of tourists and locals going outside and enjoying San Francisco's you know, green spaces and parks and you know, going for leisurely walks, jogs, whatever. Right, But after dark that all changed. It was a place where people could, you know, slip away and get a little privacy in the dark for some well private encounters.
Okay, I see what you're saying.
Yeah, So on this day, it was just before two am on Sunday, January twenty seventh, nineteen seventy four, when a man's body was found near the water's edge at Ocean Beach. It was close to the eastern boundary of Golden Gate Park, he had been stabbed multiple times. His hands had deep defensive wounds, which of course suggests that there was a desperate struggle to survive as he likely tried to escape. You know, the victim or sorry, the the culprit, the attacker.
Yes.
When authorities searched the man's body and effort to try and identify him, they discovered that whoever it had killed him had also taken the man's identification, leaving him as an anonymous John Doe for now. The early signs of rigamortis were setting in on the remains, and it suggested that the two investigators that he had been murdered somewhere between late Saturday night and in the early hours of Sunday morning, the same morning which his body was discovered.
Eventually the victim would be identified, and he was found to be forty nine year old Gerald Earl Cavanaugh, a Canadian immigrant who had made San Francisco his home. Now, not a whole lot is known about Gerald and what his life was like, but we do know that he worked in a mattress factory and was practicing Catholic. Also, on his corner report, under marital status, the word never married was put which was also likely a subtle stab at his identity as a potential gay man.
Okay, not necessarily, but yeah, not necessarily, but it how would the coroner know that he's never married? I guess, Oh, geez, oh gosh, okay, I guess yes, wow, huh.
I mean at a time where you know, marying gay was highly illegal and you couldn't do it.
Okay, Okay, my brain just didn't, like, doesn't go there, I guess, like, which is good.
Well, it means that, yeah, you're kind of a little more on the innocent side and not someone who would think that, oh, you know, gay people can't get married, Like that's honestly, in today's society, that's where we should be at, like people can get married, Like what are you're talking about? Yeah, to just be a standard, but unfortunately that's not always the case.
Okay, So that was kind of like, yeah, that meant okay, I see.
Yeah, Now, where his body was found near water would prove to be rather significant, or at least in these parks in this area, but that comes later. Now, as I already already mentioned, at the time, violence against you know, this LGBTQ plus community was disturbingly common and in this case, police had little evidence to work with still, though they collected biological samples at the scene, though forensic technology wasn't quite advanced enough to make anything any use of them.
Yet all they know is that they had, you know, a murder against someone in this community, which honestly isn't all that uncommon, as we discussed earlier, and they're going to collect some some samples, some evidence and beyond their day.
Well, I'm curious if they even like gave it there all really, Like, I don't know if you'll get to that, but I'm curious.
Well by the statter to them, by the sounds of it, the police were doing their job, yes, okay, I mean the only problem is, like, as I mentioned, there's like one hundred and thirty plus murders in a year. So how can you give it you're all on a case when there's that many cases, you know what I mean?
Yeah, and that's just murders like within this community, right, yes, so I'm sure there's more than that, but that's just of.
This that's just of this community in this city.
Okay, Yeah, that is not okay, that is so many I know, holy shit.
Now, Gerald was laid to rest on Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, and his murder was added to a long list of unsolved cases. As the months passed, more victims followed, and a pattern began to emerge among them. It was when another man by the name of Joseph or also known as Jay Stevens so first named Joseph, last name Stevens, but we'll be calling him Jay, was found deceased, investigators began to connect the dots between the two.
Now originally from Texas, Jay had come to San Francisco in his late teens, like so many others, drawn to the city with promise of freedom in his sexuality. As he and so many others in the community saw it, San Francisco was a haven for young people seeking to live their life, you know, and be themselves without fear. And Jay lived life that blurred lines between performance and reality.
So by day, Jay navigated the world as a man, but by night, under the bright lights of San Francisco's club scene, Jay transformed into a glamorized female impersonator, entertaining the crowds with dazzling costumes and lip sync performances. Or simply put, Jay was a drag queen performer, and by the sounds of it, he was fucking good at what he did.
Okay.
While it's unclear what pronouns Jay personally identified with, historical records suggests Jay lived publicly as a man so like outside his performances as such, So that's what I'll be referring to Jay as is, you know, he in him. One of the most famous venues in San Francisco's drag scene was a place called Finuccinos, a club that had been a cornerstone in the city's night life since it started as a speakeasy in nineteen thirty three until it
eventually closed in nineteen ninety nine. Now, the word finaccio finccio, not finicccino, I should correct myself there. It's finaccio means fennel in Italian. But it was also used as a slur against gay men. Now regardless, Finiccchio eventually became known for its high caliber drag performances, which I honestly kind of fucking love because it's like, we're taking this slur against the community and we're using it to like make us proud of our community, you know.
Okay, Okay, you know what I'm meanure. Yeah, I wasn't sure how that was going to go. Like, okay, so they like it actually is a welcomed place, like they are welcoming.
Yes, yes, no, this is it's. Finccio's is a place known for its like drag performances, Entertainers donned extravagant gowns, lip syncs popular songs.
It was.
It was unlike much of the other like dingier or even like grittier underground, kind of like LGBTQ plus bars.
Uh.
Finccio's had a high class, polished and even a tour tourist friendly reputation. So this was a gay hot spot to put it in short term, like a safe place definitely. Now the club was located in North Beach and it had a culturally diverse neighborhood that was home to poets, punks, Indian immigrants, and of course the LGBTQ plus. It was
here that Finaccios became a landmark of its time. Now j had been a fixture in the city's drag scene for nearly a decade at this point before he died, and he had just secured himself a summer performance spot at Finiccio's. It was a dream come true for him, and a significant milestone in his career as well, one that unfortunately would have been cut short.
Like did he get to a perform there at all?
Or do you know, as far as I'm aware, no, he did not.
Ah shit.
Now, In recent months, Jay had been exploring comedy as well as a new creative outlet, expanding beyond the traditional drag female impersonators and that sort of thing. Right, He's trying new avenues of his repertoire, and on the night of Monday, June twenty fourth, nineteen seventy four, Jay was last spotted leaving the Cabaret Club, another North Beach hotspot.
It's unknown whether Jay had left alone that night or if he had left the club with someone else, but police later suspected that he had at least arranged to meet someone that night, suggesting no witnesses had actually reported being seen accompanying him outside the bar. Early the next morning, a woman was walking her dog through Golden Gate Park and she made a grim discovery Jay's body laying in
the bushes near Spreckle's Lake. He had been stabbed three times, and blood around his nose and mouth suggested he had been attacked violently. His wallet his jewelry were missing, preventing immediate identification. Now, of course, he would be later identified, right, but this was becoming to be a little bit of a pattern already.
Man. He seemed I mean, I'm sure the other one, the uh Jared I think was the other guy's name, Gerald, Gerald, like both awesome guys. But Jay just seemed like he had so much like potential and he was like this creative person that was like, you know, making a name for himself and like the community kind of.
Well exactly, and that's what he was doing. He was literally making a name for himself. Yeah, I mean he's about to perform at the yeah, the place to be for drag, right, So I mean, good on him, But unfortunately, yeah, he fell victim to the wrong person. Now, the scene born unsettling similarities to the murder of Jerald Cavanaugh. Now, Gerald's body had been found just a mile away on Ocean Beach earlier that year, from where Jay was now found.
Investigators also discovered Jay's abandoned car parked near the crime scene, leading them to believe that he had either driven himself there or had been accompanied by someone he trusted. Now, given the secluded nature of the spot, it was likely chosen as a place for a private encounter, something that was rather common practice for you know, gay men at the time. They're trying to be openly affection in public
and that carried risks. So, hey, you're in a park where it's a little bit more quiet, little dark people can't see they're doing their thing, right now, Most signs pointed to Jay Willingly going to Spreckels Lake expecting to have this intimate moment with someone new. Instead, however, this encounter didn't turn out out as expected, and instead the
moment of romance met in violence. Now, whether the killer was someone that he met at this cabaret club or perhaps was a stranger looking in the shadows of the park remains a mystery because there is a potential that he went there to meet someone and along the way
someone else crossed his path, right right, So yep. Now, What was becoming clear to you authorities, though, was that San Francisco's LGBTQ plus community was being targeted and the murders were likely far from over and they were right. Claus Chrisman was a thirty one year old German national visiting San Francisco, and he was staying with friends mister and Missus Booker Williams. He had been in the city for three months while his wife and two children remained
at Germany. Early on the morning of Sunday, July seventh, nineteen seventy four, a woman, again walking her dog, was the one to make the discovery of finding Klaus's body lying in Lincoln Way, a street connecting Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach.
Gosh, is it the same woman? Could you imagine that? Man, brig I would definitely be changing.
My root No kidding, And honest, we've had this conversation before, like how often does a body get discovered by someone going out in water?
I know, I just hate that. I don't know. You kind of envision like how you would act, but I don't even think you can predict that. Really, No, it's terrible.
But I mean, honestly, if you look at it, there is a silver lining in everything. And the silver lining I pulled from from that of you know, you go and walk your dog, you're going to find a body because that happens lots. The silver lining I find is dogs make you active, dogs will get you outside because it's not very often that just someone walking alone finds a body. You find someone walking a dog, so they're getting outside and enjoying time with a companion. That's the silver line.
Yeah, that poor dog's never going to get to go for a walk again. I'm just kidding.
They'll get a private yard. They'll buy a house and have a yard, and that's where the dog will get Yeah. But anyways, I digress, enough of the jokes. Back into this. Now, where the body was found was only mere two miles from Spreckles Lake where Jay Stevens had been found, and less than a mile from Ocean Beach in the crime scene where Gerald Cavanaugh had been found. Now, the attack
on close was particularly brutal. One investigator, who had also worked on the infamous Zodiac killer case described it as the most savage stabbing he had ever seen. The coroner even suggested that the killer may have attempted to decapitate him gosh. Now, like the other victims, Klaus's identification was missing, leaving him classified as a John Doe until authorities could find his identity.
What the hell is with the decapitation? I don't understand why someone would even like go there. You know that seems so weird and gross.
The way I look at it, there's two possibilities. There's one, there's aggression being taken out, and two, I think morbid curiosity. Those are the two reasons that I can think of in my head.
Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you watch a lot of movies and stuff and in war or or like any kind of fight. We watched like a Viking show the other day and like, yeah, there was a decapitation in there, So maybe it comes from entertainment and you're like, oh, I wonder what that would be.
Like I don't know, and if we're going back into history, like removing someone's head like that, it was. It was a tactic of It was a scare tactic, right, Yeah, like a head on a pike outside, you know, a village, removing the king's head and holding it up so his army could see those sort of things. It was a scare tactic and like a thing of power removing the head of someone. So maybe there is that power dynamic
in there as well. Okay, Yeah, Now, details from the coroner's report painted a picture of white what might have led Klaus to that secluded area. Now, his pants were unzipped, suggesting that he had gone there for a consensual encounter before being attacked. In his pocket, police found a tube of face paint, and beneath his clothes, he wore bright orange bikini shorts. Now, these details led investigators to speculate that he may have secretly been involved in drag performances,
though they were uncertain. This was the third murder happening in close proximity to the others and with strikingly similar circumstances, Police officially began investigating the killings as the work of a serial killer. Their working theory was that the killer was motivated by internalized shame of their own sexuality, engaging in sexual encounters with men before turning violent, either during
or immediately afterwards. Now there is also the potential, I do want to point out that he led them there and then never did actually have these encounters and raged prior to.
But yeah, but I yeah, even like at the start of this, I was wondering if he himself, you know, was struggling or identified as differently than you know, what he actually wanted to be and stuff.
So now, the Sentinel and LGBTQ plus publication that followed the case more closely than mainstream media did, because hey, you know, mainstream media didn't care too much to publish that about what the community was suffering, and instead just went with hey, you know, literal mainstream. But I digress now. The Sentinel ran a series of articles in August of nineteen seventy four reporting that police had formally linked the
three murders. In one article from August ninth, they summarized the growing concerns quote all apparently involved the victim meeting someone who suggested driving to a remote area such as the beach or Golden Gate Park, were viciously stabbed front and back. All three were stripped of identification and property. A police bulletin for the reinforce the departments perspective on
the case as well. Quote victims one and two had homosexual propensities, and due to underclothing and makeup in victim number three, Klaus Chrisman in his pocket, he also may have the same propensities. Now, I have to say, propensities is a new word for me, so I don't even really know exactly what that means. But I'm sure we can all assume. I'm sure you guys know I've never heard that word in my life. It's a new one, so it was tough for me to actually pronounce it.
But now, despite recognizing the emerging pattern in the three different cases, police faced some challenges. Other violent deaths were also occurring across the city. Now I kind of alluded to this earlier. Officers were being pulled in multiple different directions as they were chasing leads from case to case. So at the time some speculated that San Francisco had not just one, but even three step active serial killers operating at once.
Well, honestly, that's not surprising with those numbers, right, it's not. So.
While I don't know one hundred percent, this is my speculation that the authorities were doing their job, regardless of the community being LGBTQ plus whether it was you know what, a straight white person, color person, I don't know, regardless of who the person was, they were treating a murder case like a murder case, and they were trying to.
Solve that case. Well, we can help, yes.
We can hope, and that is my assumption. But because of the sheer volume of you know, attacks and violence that were occurring, it was taking their attention away from many of the cases.
Well then also too, I'm just kind of thinking, how easily would they be able to necessarily chat with the community that, you know, they had treated so poorly. These these people who could be like helpful might not want to talk to them, which is totally fair.
We'll get into that. Oh okay, yeah, trust me, we'll get into that now. In response to everything that was going on, police ramped up their presence in the LGBTQ plus spaces, visiting bars and clubs in the Castro, the Tenderloin, and other districts known for their nightlife. It's actually funny, I recognized the Tenderloin. I don't know if that came from another case that we covered before, potentially, but I've heard of that place before.
It could have.
Now they questioned patrons, hoping to identify, you know, a suspect or uncover some sort of connections between victims. Right, But even as the investigation intensified, the murders weren't stopping. Frederick Elmer Kappan, a thirty two year old from Washington State, had served as a medical corpsman in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He even earned recognition in his service after his time in the military, he moved to San Francisco,
where he worked as a registered nurse. Despite being far from home, Frederick remained close with his family, particularly his grandparents and sister in Port Angelus, Washington. But on Monday May twelfth, nineteen seventy five, a hiker found Frederick's lifeless body laying in the sand dunes just a quarter mile south of Ocean Beach, the same area, same area where
the first known victim had been found. Now, unlike the others, there were clear drag marks in the sand leading to his remains, which showed that he had been moved after he was killed, and these drag marks suggested he had been moved about twenty feet.
That is so creepy. Yeah, oh, the drag marks like and I'm assuming this hiker you know, what's that? And when looked like, oh gosh.
Now it also, as far as I can tell, this hiker didn't have a dog.
I know, I was wondering where the hell is his dog? His dog would have gone and looked for now.
The coroner estimated that he had been dead for approximately ten hours, placing his death or his time of death on the night of Sunday, May tenth, he had been stabbed multiple times, with fatal wounds to his heart and a order. Once again. The murder had taken place in an isolated outdoor location, secluded enough for a private encounter but also for a predator to strike without witness.
It's interesting that because it doesn't seem like he's necessarily hiding the bodies per se, right, So it's interesting that he would have like even dragged it at all.
Well, there is potentially that maybe the spot like maybe it was a little bit up on a hump and it was a little bit more visible, so he's just drugging out of view or something.
You know. Yeah, I guess give him.
More time to get away and you know, close that gap or so widen the gap of you know, when it was found. So who knows. It's hard to say. Maybe a wolf grabbed him. Maybe I don't. I'm joking,
but you know, used to say, who knows. Now. Frederick was now the fourth confirmed victim in what was clearly a pattern, but the San Francisco Police Department was still overwhelmed as they were juggling multiple homicide cases at a time and trying to determine even which ones were linked to each other and which ones would be linked in this case. Right, So, five months after Frederick's murder, the San Francisco Police Department finally released a composite sketch of
a suspect. Now, the man they were looking for was described as a black man between nineteen and twenty two years old, slim, around five foot ten and six foot tall, and often seeing navy style watch cap. He was known to frequent bars and restaurants in the Upper Marquee and Castro area. Investigators suspected he might have been an art student, as he had a habit of sketching his victims before luring them away. Now, despite the progress, the sketch that
was made of this suspect was never made public. Yeah, which was strange. Now, clearly the police knew more than they were letting on because there was a lot of details released in this They had apparently even identified an actual suspect. Clearly, Now, when I say they had identified a suspect, I mean they had identified a suspect because they had someone who is a suspect who reportedly confessed his actions to a therapist in one of his sessions,
confessing to the murders. In this session, what authorities even spoke to this therapist confirming that a patient, yes, had admitted these killings, but without witnessing sorry, any witnesses coming forward. Apparently their hands were tied and they could do nothing. Huh huh, because who's to say this is an actual confession, right? Police might might have questioned this guy. We don't know
because this has happened behind the scenes. Might have questioned this guy and he's like, I don't know what you're talking about. No, wow, So what can they do?
Oh man? Okay? And like the therapist is allowed to probably I know, there's like so much with confidentiality, right, but they're allowed to spill the beans there.
I think when it comes to harm of an individual, yeah, so like harm of yourself or someone else. If you're like I'm gonna hurt myself, yeah, they can call in, like this guy's gonna hurt himself, right, or it's like I'm gonna kill some one or I have killed someone. It's like, you know, imagine.
Just sitting in a room with this person a and they confessing shit like that.
No kidding. Now, That same publication, The Sentinel was dedicated to covering this case, and once reported that you know, police had detained this man fitting the suspects description at a nightclub. Witnesses had even seen him offering sketches to patrons. Now officers approached him and allegedly he dropped a butcher knife. Yeah, the man. Psychiatrists later confirmed that he confessed these murders. But still, regardless of the butcher knife the apparent confession, nothing came of it.
Hmm. Okay.
Now I mentioned that without witnesses the police couldn't do anything.
Well, yeah, and I was just thinking too, I guess they don't really like have DNA and all that sort of jazz really back then either, exactly. Now.
The unfortunate part, though, was police technically weren't without witnesses. See, there were actually three witnesses, three men who had encountered the man and survived. One of these survivors was a well known entertainer, and he recounted a meeting with a young man who offered to draw his portrait. Another survivor was a European diplomat. A similar experience was had and he had approached it was approached by a man who
sketched him before attempting to take him somewhere private. Now apparently he was moments away from going home with him until he dropped a knife from out of his coat.
Gosh, why is he just dropping butcher knife from his coat? That is I don't know, not Okay.
Now, a third survivor was actually attacked and was even stabbed six times, but managed to escape. The only problem was none of them were willing to work with police or testify really because they were concerned for their own safety. They were that afraid of police.
Oh jeez, oh, I hate that.
Yeah. So I remember when you were saying that if only they work with police, Yeah, I said, we'll talk about that.
Yeah, we're here, we're talking about that.
They were not willing to because of that stigma because you know, because of how they were treated.
Yeah, which is just so terrible, because like it could save lives and stuff, right, But then I mean, you gotta protect yourself too, right, So that's just a really tough position.
It's seriously tough and very unfortunate. Now in nineteen seventy San Francisco, we also have to talk about, like it's not just the you know, fear of the police. They were also afraid of, you know, being publicly identified as gay, which could destroy careers, reputations, break apart families. You know, many of these men probably or these individuals were probably married, right and living a day life, you know, covering their their true set els so they could go out and
live at night and do what they really wanted to do. Yeah, so they had These men had survived their encounter, but they were just not willing to risk coming forward and without that cooperation, police had no case.
Now.
During this time, a writer by the name of Armistead Maupin was documenting his life in San Francisco through the Tales of a City series. In his writings, he even referenced the elusive murderer known as the Doodler, describing him as a sinister black man who sat at the bar and sketched your face before taking you home to murder you.
I don't even know how that would work like nowadays. I'm just thinking if someone was like just sketching you like, you would be like, holy shit, well you are creep and I'm getting the hell away from you.
It's kind of funny because it's reminiscent of some creators I've seen on like TikTok and Instagram and stuff. They go on like trains, and then they'll like sketch a person. They'll give the sketch and it's like, oh my god, that's so cool, thank you, and stuff like that. And you see it with photographers too. Photographers will go out take a photo of someone they have like a little mini portable printer, quickly edited up on their phone, printed out,
and give them their portrait. It's no different. It's the same thing that's happening. Just the only difference is this man was like, now I'm gonna stab you.
Yeah, But in all those cases that you just listed, I think i'd be like, no.
Well, in the videos, I'm pretty sure they always get the consent and talk to the person first. I'm pretty sure it's staged. But regardless, I digress now. Overtime investigators came to believe that the Doodler could have killed as many as fourteen different people during his spree, and here we are decades later. The case is still unsolved, but it was reopened at one point, with police revisiting at
least five unsolved murders they believe could be connected. Now, a forensic artists recently updated the original composite sketch aging the suspect to show what might look what he might look like now if he was still alive, and the Doodler would be in his sixties. But that's all we have. That's all we know. The story and the identity of the Doodler. It remains a mystery and it remains unsolved
to this day. However, with advances in DNA technology and renewed interest in the case, many people still hold out hope that the killer who terrorized San Francisco's LGBTQ plus community might one day be unmasked and finally held accountable for his brutal crimes. And that's the story of the Doodler that.
Is interesting because it's it seems as though they know they knew exactly.
Who it was, and then the only problem is prove it.
Yeah, But then so you wonder if you know, a like, did this person just stop killing people and what made them stop or did they themselves like get killed or something, right, because an attacker could potentially have like turned on or a victim could have turned on him, you know.
That definitely, all it takes is for one victim to also have a knife. You know, if there's stories of this Doodler going around and people I'm sure are you know, arming themselves to protect themselves, and all it takes is for him to you know, stab someone back, yeah, grow.
Them in the ocean or something.
Yeah, exactly. Or maybe he's now on a list of an unsolved murder as well because someone else murdered him and now he's actually one of the like you know what I mean, Yeah, he's on the victim list.
Wow, huh. It just pisses me off though, Like I you almost want to think something like that, because to think that he took that many people's lives and then just like got to live his life. It's just such a piss off.
I know, I know, I hate it, absolutely hate it. Whah people get to walk away like that.
Yeah.
So yeah, like I say, I do think that there's more that we could have discussed on this episode. So I do recommend you know, doing your own research and watching some documentaries and such on it. I know I'm going to be, you know, in my spare time checking some more stuff out about it and doing a little
bit more learning. But if you guys want to join maybe a discussion on this case, I think we're definitely going to open a thread on you know, our patreon to really talk about this one, because I do want to talk about it a bit more. You guys can feel free to message us, email us, or join us on Patreon, where we will discuss this one a bit more. All links are in the description of this podcast.
I mean, there's always more, right, Like, the information and research you can do is like endless.
Most cases, it really is. It really is.
Yeah, no, but that seems yeah, you cover that well there. I don't know, it's sad. I just like sometimes cases get you right, and this one it just feels. It just feels kind of yucky. I guess at the end of it, it does.
And the biggest thing for me is that like they were so helpless, you know what I mean, they had nowhere to turn to.
Yeah, because it's almost hard to even fathom that. But then it isn't as well, and I know that people to this day still face that sort of thing, right, So yeah, it just makes you think, yeah and feel all the fields.
Shit, you're getting me in the fields?
Oh man? Okay, well, good job.
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Yeah, we're produced, owned, recorded, researched by us in our tiny home.
Yeah there you go. Yeah, So until next episode, stay wicked.