‘Doodler’ Serial Killer: Sketch & $100K Reward to Crack 1970s Cold Case

By
Tammy Waitt
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The ‘Doodler’ serial killer terrorized San Francisco's gay community in 1974 and 1975, stabbing at least five men to death and giving rise to a series of cold cases that have thwarted investigators for four decades. (Courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department)
The ‘Doodler’ serial killer terrorized San Francisco's gay community in 1974 and 1975, stabbing at least five men to death and giving rise to a series of cold cases that have thwarted investigators for four decades. (Courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department)

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) provided the community and news media with an update on the “Doodler” cold case investigation, in a press conference, on Wednesday.

SFPD homicide investigators released new information which included a $100,000 reward, an age-progressed sketch of the suspect based on a 1975 forensic sketch, and audio from a January 27, 1974 call to the SFPD dispatch reporting a body along Ocean Beach.

(The San Francisco Police Department has released new sketch of infamous ‘Doodler’ suspect, and is pursuing DNA testing. Courtesy of KPIX CBS SF Bay Area and YouTube. Posted on Feb 6, 2019.)

In the mid-1970s, the San Francisco Police Department investigated several violent assaults of gay white male victims, at least one of which provided information which led to the aforementioned forensic sketch of the suspect.

The San Francisco Police Department’s forensic sketch artist completed an age progression sketch that depicts what the suspect may look like today.

Those sketches are part of an SFPD Crime Bulletin announcing a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assault suspect.

One of the assault victims reported to the police that the suspect claimed to be a cartoonist, who was doodling while conversing with the victim in a late night diner.

This information led to the suspect being called ‘The Doodler.’ Although a suspect was detained in 1976, no one has never been charged.

Over the course of the investigation, five gay, white male victims were found murdered in the Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park area, with four victims found along the beach and one found in the park.

Following one of the homicides, an unidentified person placed a call to SFPD dispatch to report a body.

(San Francisco police released new information Wednesday in the long-unsolved slayings of five gay men during the 1970s – dubbed “The Doodler” serial murders – and are offering a $100,000 reward in hopes of closing the cold case. Courtesy of USA Today and YouTube. Posted on Feb 7, 2019.)

Connections between the “Doodler” attacks and the five homicides led investigators in the SFPD Homicide and Cold Case Unit to believe the same suspect was responsible for both sets of crimes.

The San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Detail is actively working this cold case.

Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD 24 hour tip line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

You may remain anonymous.

Courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department
Courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department

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