The Doodler

Serial Killer

The Doodler: San Francisco's Unidentified Serial Killer

Overview

The Doodler is the name given to an unidentified serial killer and attacker who preyed primarily on gay men in San Francisco during 1974 and 1975. The case became one of the city's most enduring unsolved serial-murder investigations. Five men were historically treated as the principal murder victims connected to the same offender, and decades later San Francisco police added Warren Andrews as a probable sixth victim. Contemporary investigators also considered the possibility that the killer was responsible for additional deaths, but the much larger victim totals sometimes associated with the Doodler have never been conclusively established. The murders occurred during a period when San Francisco was developing into a major center of gay culture while gay men continued to face intense social discrimination, professional consequences, and the possibility of being publicly exposed. Those conditions would become unusually important to the investigation. Several men survived encounters with the suspected killer, but investigators later said potential witnesses were reluctant to testify publicly because doing so could reveal their sexual orientation. The result was an extraordinary situation in which police believed they had identified a strong person of interest but were unable to build a prosecutable case.

How the Killer Became Known as the Doodler

The nickname came from information supplied by a surviving victim. According to San Francisco police, the attacker told at least one man that he was a cartoonist and doodled while the two were talking in a late-night diner. Other historical accounts described him using his artistic ability as a way of approaching men in bars, restaurants, and nightlife establishments. The seemingly harmless act of drawing provided a natural conversation starter and may have allowed him to gain the confidence of strangers before leaving with them. Although later retellings often state that the killer drew portraits of every man he murdered, the surviving evidence does not establish that a drawing was recovered for each homicide. What is firmly documented is that surviving victims described an attacker who drew and claimed an interest in cartooning, and investigators believed the assaults and the series of murders were connected. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Gerald Cavanagh Age: (49), Date of Death: January 26, 1974

The San Francisco Doodler Murders - True Crime - Arcadia Publishing