David Joseph Carpenter

Serial Killer

David Joseph Carpenter: The Trailside Killer

David Joseph Carpenter, born May 6, 1930, in San Francisco, California, became one of Northern California's most notorious serial killers. Known as the "Trailside Killer," Carpenter preyed on people using hiking trails and wooded recreation areas around the San Francisco Bay Area. His crimes were concentrated in Marin and Santa Cruz counties, where the peaceful isolation of places such as Mount Tamalpais, Point Reyes National Seashore, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and Big Basin Redwoods State Park gave him opportunities to approach victims away from witnesses. Carpenter was ultimately convicted of seven murders committed between October 1980 and May 1981. Decades later, DNA evidence also connected him to the 1979 murder of Mary Frances Bennett in San Francisco, making her another firmly linked victim even though Carpenter was never prosecuted for her death. Investigators have suspected him in additional killings, although those cases were never proven in court.

A Long History of Violence Before the Murders

Carpenter's violent criminal history began many years before the Trailside murders. In 1960, he attacked a woman in the Presidio of San Francisco with a knife and hammer. When a military police officer intervened, Carpenter fired a tear-gas gun at the officer. The woman survived, and Carpenter was convicted and imprisoned. After his release, Carpenter returned to violent crime. During January and February 1970, he committed a series of attacks in Northern California. On January 27, he confronted a woman on an isolated Santa Cruz County road, attempted to rape her, and stabbed her three times. The following day he broke into a home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, abducted a woman at gunpoint, tied her hands, drove her elsewhere, and raped her. On January 29, he confronted another woman at gunpoint in Daly City, bound her hands, and stole her automobile. On February 3, 1970, Carpenter robbed another woman at gunpoint in Calaveras County and stole her vehicle. Later that day, he abducted a woman and her infant son from their home in Angels Camp. He forced the woman to drive to an isolated location and raped her. Carpenter was convicted of crimes arising from this period and returned to prison. He was also convicted of escaping from the Calaveras County jail. Despite this extensive record of violence against women, Carpenter was eventually released again. By 1979 he was back in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was during this period that a succession of women began disappearing or being found murdered in or near parks and hiking trails.

The Beginning of the Trailside Murders

The attacks that became associated with Carpenter were particularly frightening because they occurred in places normally associated with recreation and solitude. Victims were hikers, joggers, students, or young people simply spending time outdoors. Remote trails allowed the killer to approach without attracting attention and to move victims away from areas where other hikers might see what was happening. Early investigators referred to the unknown offender as the "Mount Tam Killer" because several crimes occurred around Mount Tamalpais. As the attacks spread to additional parks, the more familiar name "Trailside Killer" came into use. ...

Confirmed Victims: (8)

Mary Frances Bennett Age: (23), Date of Death: October 21, 1979

Suspected Victims:

Edda Kane Age: (44), Date of Death: August 19, 1979

Barbara Schwartz Age: (23), Date of Death: March 8, 1980

Anna Kelly Menjivar Age: (17), Date of Death: 1980-12-28

Survivors:

Lois Irene DeAndrade Rinna , Date of Attack: July 1960

Cheryl Lynn Smith , Date of Attack: January 27, 1970

Wilma Joyce , Date of Attack: January 27, 1970

Steven Haertle , Date of Attack: March 29, 1981

David Carpenter - Wikipedia