Douglas Daniel Clark – The Sunset Strip Killer
Douglas Daniel Clark was an American serial killer whose 1980 murder spree in the Los Angeles area became known as the Sunset Strip killings. Clark and his girlfriend, Carol Mary Bundy, became collectively known as the "Sunset Strip Killers," although the six murders for which Clark was convicted were attributed directly to him. His victims included teenage girls, young women, and women working as prostitutes in and around Hollywood. Clark's crimes were distinguished by shootings with small-caliber handguns, sexual violence, postmortem sexual acts, mutilation, and his disturbing practice of discussing or boasting about the killings afterward.
Clark was ultimately convicted of six counts of first-degree murder. Evidence introduced during his trial also connected him to additional unidentified homicide victims who were not included among the six murder counts. He received six death sentences in 1983 and remained under a sentence of death in California until he died in 2023.
Clark and Carol Bundy
Clark met Carol Bundy in December 1979 at a country-western nightclub in the Los Angeles area. Bundy was a vocational nurse, and the two developed an intense relationship in which violent and increasingly disturbing sexual fantasies became a recurring subject. By early 1980, Clark was periodically living with Bundy.
In April 1980, Bundy purchased two .25-caliber Raven semiautomatic pistols after Clark selected the weapons at a Van Nuys pawnshop. Bundy later testified that Clark claimed he could not legally purchase the guns himself. Clark had access to both weapons and was known to carry one or both of them.
The .25-caliber pistols became important pieces of evidence because multiple victims were killed with .25-caliber bullets. Investigators later recovered the two Raven pistols hidden in the boiler-room area of Clark's workplace.
The Attack on Charlene A.
Before the known murders began, Clark was accused of a violent attack against a woman identified in court records as Charlene A. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on April 27, 1980, Charlene was on Sunset Boulevard when Clark approached her in a blue station wagon. She entered the vehicle after the two discussed a sexual transaction.
Once she was inside, Clark suddenly began stabbing her repeatedly. Charlene suffered wounds to her back, neck, chest, stomach, arms, and hand. During the struggle, she grabbed the knife blade and suffered severe tendon injuries. Despite her wounds, she managed to open the vehicle door, escape, and survive. She later identified Clark from a photographic lineup and again identified him in court.
Clark was originally convicted of attempted murder and mayhem for the attack, although those convictions were reversed by the California Supreme Court in 1992. His six murder convictions and death sentence remained intact.
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