William F. Gohl

Serial Killer

William F. "Billy" Gohl: The Ghoul of Grays Harbor

Overview

William F. Gohl, better known as Billy Gohl, became one of the most notorious figures in the early history of Aberdeen, Washington. Born on February 6, 1873, Gohl worked along the waterfront during an era when Grays Harbor was one of the busiest lumber-shipping regions on the Pacific Coast. He eventually became an official with the Sailors' Union of the Pacific, a position that gave him regular contact with sailors, loggers, longshoremen, and other transient laborers moving through Aberdeen. Gohl was convicted of two murders in 1910 and was subsequently portrayed in newspapers and popular accounts as a serial killer responsible for dozens of deaths. He acquired frightening nicknames including the "Ghoul of Grays Harbor" and the "Madman of Aberdeen." Some later writers claimed that he may have killed 40 or more men, while particularly sensational accounts suggested a victim count exceeding 100. Those enormous totals have never been proven. Modern historical research has challenged much of the traditional story surrounding Gohl. What is certain is that Gohl was prosecuted and convicted in connection with the deaths of Charles Hadberg, whose surname was also reported as Hatberg or Hedberg, and John Hoffman. Many additional deaths were attributed to Gohl after his arrest, but evidence connecting him to those cases was often circumstantial, speculative, or nonexistent.

Aberdeen and the "Port of Missing Men"

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Aberdeen and the surrounding Grays Harbor communities were rough industrial towns dominated by lumber mills, shipping companies, saloons, boarding houses, and waterfront businesses. Thousands of transient workers passed through the area. Sailors arrived aboard lumber schooners, while loggers and mill workers frequently moved from one job to another. Life around the waterfront could be extraordinarily dangerous. Men drowned, fell from ships, suffered industrial accidents, became involved in fights, and sometimes disappeared without anyone immediately reporting them missing. Bodies were periodically recovered from the Wishkah River, the Chehalis River, Grays Harbor, and nearby waterways. The unidentified or poorly documented bodies became known locally as part of the "floater fleet." Aberdeen eventually developed the grim reputation of being a "Port of Missing Men." After Gohl became a murder suspect in 1910, many of these earlier deaths were retrospectively attributed to him. Newspapers transformed the already violent waterfront into the setting for stories about a hidden serial murderer who supposedly preyed upon sailors and disposed of their bodies in the harbor. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Charles Hadberg , Date of Death: 1910

Billy Gohl - Wikipedia