Police Identify 6th Victim in Gay Serial Killings, Raise Reward to $250k

Police in San Francisco yesterday announced a sixth suspected victim of a notorious serial killer who sketched his gay male victims before killing them during the 1970s. Police also increased the reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the serial killer dubbed the Doodler from $200,000 to $250,000.

“As a result of a new investigation, it is believed that Warren Andrews may be the sixth victim of the ‘Doodler,’” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement released yesterday. “On April 27, 1975, Andrews was a victim of an assault at Land’s End. Andrews was found unconscious and never regained consciousness dying several weeks later. All six (6) victims are believed to be Gay Caucasian males.”

The Doodler is suspected of fatally stabbing at least six gay men between January 1974 and June 1975, although he may be responsible for up to 16 additional murders. The victims’ brutally stabbed bodies were found near bodies of water on Ocean Beach, in Golden Gate Park, and at Land’s End.

Police reportedly have a suspect who was interviewed at the time of the killings and may still be alive today, but need further help from witnesses to make an arrest. They acknowledge that surviving victims’ fear of being outed stopped them from testifying in the case at the time. Two of the survivors lived on the same floor of the Fox Plaza Apartments.

The Doodler is described as a good-looking Black male, six feet tall, and aged 19 to 25 at the time of the killings. He met his victims in bars and diners in the Castro, Polk Gulch, and Tenderloin neighborhoods.

“One of the survivors from the Fox Plaza attacks had met the suspect after the bars closed in July of 1975 at the Truck Stop diner near Market/Church St.,” SFPD wrote. “The suspect was drawing animal figures on a napkin. The suspect commented to the victim that he was attending art school and was studying to be a cartoonist.”

Using information from this survivor, police were able to create a sketch of the Doodler.

“Soon after the initial suspect sketch was released, an anonymous phone call was made by a female to SFPD,” the SFPD continued. “This anonymous caller provided police with a name and a vehicle plate of a suspect. This female called twice within 10 days. We are looking to identify this caller. After this caller contacted SFPD it is believed that at least two different people also contacted SFPD providing the same suspect name. We would also want to speak with these individuals.”

The Doodler left at least three survivors, and two were described by police as a diplomat and as a well-known entertainer.

The five other suspected victims include Gerald Cavanaugh, 49, whose body was found on January 27, 1974, at Ocean Beach; Joseph Stevens, 27, whose body was found on June 25, 1974, in Golden Gate Park’ Klaus Christmann, 31, whose body was found on July 7, 1974, at Ocean Beach; Frederick Capin, 32, whose body was found on May 12, 1975, at Ocean Beach; and Harald Gullberg, 66, whose body was found on June 4, 1975, at Lincoln Park.