Craig Victor Jonaitis, a 21-year-old white male, was found dead on January 17, 1975, in Long Beach, California. His body was discovered in the parking lot of the Golden Sails Hotel near the Pacific Coast Highway and Loynes Drive. Jonaitis had been strangled with a length of string, possibly a shoelace, and his body was discarded in a manner consistent with other victims of a known serial killer operating in Southern California during that era.
Jonaitis was later identified as one of the
many victims of Randy Steven Kraft, a white male serial killer born in Long Beach, California. Kraft, who became known by several monikers including “The Scorecard Killer,” “The Freeway Killer,” and “The Southern California Strangler,” was active between 1972 and 1983. He targeted young men, often subjecting them to rape, torture, and murder before disposing of their bodies near freeways or remote locations. Kraft maintained a coded list of his victims, which investigators later referred to as a “scorecard,” containing cryptic references to each individual.
Although Randy Kraft was never specifically tried for the murder of Craig Jonaitis, Jonaitis is widely believed to be among Kraft’s victims. Kraft was ultimately convicted in 1989 of 16 counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, along with charges of sodomy and mutilation. He was sentenced to death and remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in San Bernardino County. The inclusion of Jonaitis in the list of suspected victims is based on patterns of modus operandi, geographic proximity, and forensic evidence consistent with Kraft’s other known crimes.
Craig Jonaitis’s death remains a chilling example of the brutality inflicted by Kraft, whose total number of victims is suspected to be as high as 67. While Jonaitis’s case did not result in a separate trial or conviction, it is part of the broader narrative that led to Kraft’s apprehension and sentencing. The murder of this 21-year-old white male underscores the tragic toll of Kraft’s decade-long killing spree across California and neighboring states.
