Box Turtle Bulletin

Today In History, 1977: Murder Suspect Goes Free Because Gays Fear Coming Out of the Closet

Police sketch of “The Doodler”

The Associated Press reported:

(San Francisco) Police say a suspect in 14 homosexual murders has not been charged because three survivors of his knife attacks, including a “well-known entertainer” and a diplomat, won’t “come out of the closet” and testify against him. For the past year, police have been questioning a young man they call “The Doodler” about the 14 slayings and three assaults that occurred in San Francisco’s gay community between January 1974 and September 1975, Inspector Rotea Gilford said Thursday.

Interest in the case surfaced again this week after two Redondo Beach, Calif., men were arrested in Riverside for questioning about as many as 28 slayings linked to homosexual encounters.

The suspect here, his name not released, has talked freely with police but has not admitted the slayings, Gilford said. He said police are “fairly certain” they have the right man, but need the testimony of survivors who may be able to identify “The Doodler.”

In the attacks, the murderer met other men at a number of after-hours gay clubs and restaurants in San Francisco. He usually sketched them men before having sex with them and then stabbing them. Police believe the man committed the murders after feeling shame over his homosexual experiences.

Gilford said the three survivors include the entertainer, the diplomat and a man who left San Francisco and won’t answer letters or phone calls at his new express. “My feeling is that they don’t want to be exposed,” he said.

Harvey Milk, an advocate for homosexual rights, said of the victims who refuse to speak up, “I can understand their position. I respect the pressure society has put on them. Milk said many homosexuals may keep their sexual preference a secret because they fear losing their jobs. “They have to stay in the closet,” he said.

Another spokesman for the gay community, teacher Hank Wilson, said the case represents society’s “double standards” in dealing with crimes involving homosexuals. “You never year about the heterosexual murderer who had killed 12 women after raping them,” he said.

“The Doodler’s” victims included:

• Gerald Earl Cavanaugh, 49. The Canadian immigrant was found fully clothed on January 24, 1974 on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. He was still wearing his wristwatch when police found him, and $21.12 was in his picket.
• Joseph “Jae” Stevens, 27. He had been seen at the Cabaret Club on Montgomery Street the day before his body was found along Spreckels Lake in Golden Gate Park on June 25, 1974. He was a popular female impersonator and comedian at Finocchio’s.
• Klaus Chritsmann, 31. A German immigrant who worked at Michelin, he had been in the city for only three months. His body was found on July 7, 1974 on the beach near Lincoln way by a woman walking her dog. His death appeared more violent than the others, with his throat slashed several times. Unlike the others, he was married and two children, though a “makeup tube” found on him led police to suspect he may have been a closeted gay man.
• Frederick Elmer Capin, 32. A Vietnam war veteran, he had been awarded a commendation medal for saving four men under fire. His body was discovered on May 12, 1975 near a sand dune between Vicente and Ulloa Streets.
• Harald Gullberg, 66. The Swedish native and sailor by profession, he was the Doodler’s oldest victim. He was found on June 4, 1975, on a Lincoln Park golf course by a hiker. He’d been dead for approximately two weeks.
• Nick “Granny Goose” Bauman, 20. He was found on May 2, 1976 in a South of Market basement. His skull was fractured and his scrotum looked “like someone had stomped them into nothing.”

With no witnesses willing to identify him, “The Doodler” was never brought to justice.