Police in San Francisco have renewed their search for a man dubbed “The Doodler”, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least six men in the mid-1970s.
Investigators believe the men were targeted because they were gay, and that each met the suspected killer before being killed in isolated coastal locations. The deaths occurred between January 1974 and June 1975. Four of the bodies were found near Ocean Beach, south of the Golden Gate Bridge, while another was discovered in nearby Golden Gate Park.
The victims were Gerald Cavanaugh, 49, Joseph “Jae” Stevens, 27, Klaus Achim Christmann, 31, Warren Andrews, 52, Frederick Elmer Capin, 32, and Harald Gullberg, 66.
The suspect was dubbed “The Doodler” after a surviving victim told police that the man described himself as a cartoonist and was sketching in a notebook when they met.
Police believe the suspect met men in bars and offered to sketch them before allegedly luring them to isolated locations where they were killed.
He was described as a clean-shaven African American man, around 5 feet 11 inches tall and in his early 20s at the time. This would mean he is now likely in his mid-70s.
Police have shared an artists sketch of what the man may have looked like in 1975, alongside an updated image that was created in 2018. They believe he many still be living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The case has recently been the subject of a podcast, sparking renewed public interest.
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