June 28, 2023 • 30 mins
The Doodler was one of the first stories that drew me into the true crime world. Back in the 70s, a man was terrorizing The Castro District in San Francisco by luring in his victims with drawings of them on a cocktail napkin. I'd definitely be a sucker for a portrait of myself but would not want to meet the fate these men did. Originally broadcast June 19, 2019.
Written, narrated, and edited by Schuyler Fastenau-Jones. Additional voices by Jacob Walle, Chris Wilkin, Richard Torres, Rick Jr., Steven Coe, Antonio Hill, Brandon Maple, Sandy Rose, and Daniel Fastenau-Jones.
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Written, narrated, and edited by Schuyler Fastenau-Jones. Additional voices by Jacob Walle, Chris Wilkin, Richard Torres, Rick Jr., Steven Coe, Antonio Hill, Brandon Maple, Sandy Rose, and Daniel Fastenau-Jones.
Follow us on:
Check out our other shows:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
And gentlemen and ladies, if therehappened to be any present, find your
seats. Our vote is about tobegin. It was December fifteenth, nineteen
seventy three, and an important decisionwas about to be made. Doctor Alfred
Freemans did before the American Psychiatric Associationto discuss an issue that had plagued The
(00:28):
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Our DSMtwo currently describes homosexuality as a form of
paraphilia, a term that means abnormalsexual desires like voyeurism, pedophilia, and
at the time gay sex. Wewill be replacing the term homosexuality. From
now on, queers troubled by theirsexuality and seeking the help of psychiatrists will
(00:52):
be classified as having sexual orientation disturbance. The New York Times reported that journalists
argued with psychiatrists at the conference,saying that there really wasn't any difference in
this new definition other than a name. They felt the name change only served
to end criticism from gay rights groupsinstead of changing the world's view of them.
Today, the idea that being gayfalls into the same category as pedophilia
(01:15):
is absurd, but this was thecommon belief at the time, and psychiatrists
would try to cure their patients bychanging their behavior patterns to those that mimic
the stereotypical straight person. Not surprisingly, the Surgeon General released a statement that
said, quote, there is novalid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be
changed end quote. What's surprising isthat this statement wasn't released until two thousand
(01:38):
and one. And there are stillpeople out there who believe your sexual preference
as a choice. But I won'tdwell on that because well, that's not
what this podcast is about. Backto the nineteen seventy three APA conference,
with the votes counted, fifty eightpercent support the removal of homosexuality from our
nomenclature. Now, in regards tothe laws, sexual or has been used
(02:00):
as a tool of discrimination. Thisneeds to end. Although the APA itself
willn't be able to change laws,they made it quite clear they did not
support rules that made gay sex betweenconsenting adults and private illegal. Now,
I'm not sure how exactly law enforcementwas able to track that, but apparently
(02:20):
they did. With an understanding ofhow the world operated in the seventies.
Let's start the next chapter of DeadTime stories. Oh gay, please don't
(02:43):
It was probably very cold that Januarynight, maybe around forty three degrees on
San Francisco's Ocean Beach. If thefog rolled in, it might have covered
the waxing crescent Moon. Why areyou doing this? I didn't think you'd
be that type of man. Aguidebook for Ocean Beach warns tourists about the
water. Even though it's a popularsurfing spot, the rip currents will destroy
(03:06):
novice swimmers. That aside, thisbeach isn't your stereotypical layout in tan type
of beach, All you guys arethe same. There is the scene at
Cliffhouse offering great seaside delicacies, andat this particular time, a museum of
penny arcade games rested in its basement. Though something tells me in the wee
(03:31):
hours of January twenty seventh, nineteenseventy four, Gerald Earl Kavanaugh was not
visiting Ocean Beach for any of theabove activities. As his assailant walked off,
bloody knife in hand, Gerald lookedup at the moon and released his
last few breaths. He might haveflexed his left pinky, freshly slashed from
where he tried to stop the knifeto no avail. His timex watch ticked
(03:54):
away the final seconds of his life. Around one twenty five am, a
man stumbled upon Gerald's body, faceup in the sand and ran to a
nearby pay phone communications. This iswhen Tana, May I help you?
(04:15):
Yes, I believe there might bea dead person on the beach at a
right across from Iloa Street. IlolaStreet, if you follow the street right
down to the water. I waswalking along there and I saw somebody lying
there. But I didn't want toget too closed because you know, you
never know what could happen. Okay, did you want to give us your
(04:39):
name, sir? No, Idon't think that's necessary. I just wanted
to let somebody know maybe he needshelp or something. But I felt it
was my duty to report it.Okay, fine, we'll check it out.
Okay. As a coroner looked overGerald's stout body and balding head,
(05:03):
he took notes on every detail.John Doe number seven was discovered in a
supine position, fully clothed, withtwenty one dollars and twelve cents in his
pocket. He was never married,a polite way of calling someone gay in
the seventies. Not much else isknown about our John Doe, but he
(05:24):
appears to have tried to defend himself. Even now, forty five years later,
we still don't know much about Geraldother than he was a gay Canadian
immigrant board in March of nineteen twentythree. After moving to San Francisco,
he worked at a mattress factory untilhe became the first victim of a serial
killer that terrorized San Francisco's Cast Roaddistrict in the seventies. Each target story
(05:46):
began inside of a bar. Yeah, Mama, thank you, ladies and
boys. It's an honored performance foryou here tonight, mom Andy to drink,
so please enjoy our very own AlasiaBranford Joseph Stevens was twenty seven years
(06:11):
old and performed under the stage nameof Jay. Originally from Texas, he
moved to San Francisco, where hequickly found a home performing as a drag
queen at Pinocchio's. Surprisingly, theestablishment didn't start as a gay bar.
When owner Joe Pinocchio realized that touristsloved shows with female impersonators, he jumped
on the brand and began advertising hisclub as a place for entertainment and fun.
(06:34):
Naturally, as time went by,the bar became a safe haven for
gays, even though pinocchio can bea derogatory term for homosexual map. Please
have a vodka soda. My god, it is hot on that stage.
As Jay recuperated from her performance,she might have looked over to see an
(06:56):
African American man on the stool nextto her, eyes blazing into his cocktail
napkin. You joined the shower,sweetie, Yeah? Sure. The man
wheelded a pen and etched its inkonto the napkin. I've watched you working
on that all night. Now letus see that masterpiece. The artist looked
up and sheepishly grinned. Can youturn your head again? I want to
(07:17):
get that pose? Justest right?You've been drawn me? Yeah, turn
right. I'm sorry. You've beena great subject, the way the lighting
falls off that soft skin of yours, and how your hair flips when you
bob your head to the music.How could I not draw you there?
(07:41):
What do you think? Jay turnedand saw what we can assume was a
sensational sketch on the tiny white napkin. She took the square and beamed,
oh wow, this is gargeous.Cannot keep it. I'd rather hold on
to it. It's not my bestwork, but I mean I could draw
another one for you, perhaps ina different setting, maybe back at my
(08:03):
apartment, Jay blushed, Oh ohmy. The two may have finished their
drinks and headed to a different bar. All we know is Jay was last
seen leaving North Beaches Cabaret Club.She drove the artist to Golden Gate Park,
where they enjoyed an intimate evening out. You're being a bit rough around
(08:26):
midnight. I never thought she heardcries for help, but ignored it,
assuming it was just another gay manmoaning and pleasure as was common in the
area. Disgusting. Then, onthe morning of June sixth, nineteen seventy
five, what in the world.A woman out for a walk by Spreckles
Lake squinted her eyes as she approachedthe lumpy object. She confirmed that it
(08:50):
was in fact a bloody body.We don't know why, but instead of
calling police, she called her friend, who just happened to be Emmy Award
winning composer Warner Jepson. Warner hadlEurope early. Not now, have you
walked the dogs yet? No?Why walk through Sparkle's Lake and tell me
if you see what I saw.Pumpkin just go, You'll know what I'm
(09:15):
talking about. As Warner walked hisdogs through the park, he noticed the
body his friend had seen off tothe side. Quickly returned to his house
and notified police. As you've probablyalready guessed, the body was none other
than our drag performer Jay. Thecoroner later reported her assailant stabbed her three
(09:41):
times, leaving blood in her noseand mouth. When police investigated the scene,
they were able to tell Jay hadmost likely put up a fight,
as the brush ten feet from herbody was disturbed and there was a puddle
of blood. This pool led tothe body, which meant she had been
dragged away. Afterwards, they alsoconcluded Jay was the one that had brought
the attacker to the park, asher empty car still resided not far from
(10:03):
her corpse. Local police were beginningto see a pattern in the area's murders,
so Inspector roteat Guildford an African American, to go for the case.
I've been looking at these John Doemurders for the past few months, and
every single one is a queer.You think someone's doing us a favor,
and often the fangs. I thinkit's three people. Our first five victims
were drag queens. The next fivewere involved in that sato masochism stuff.
(10:26):
Disgusting. Agreed, but stick tothe point. Our third guy picked up
six middle aged man from bars,took them home and stabbing to Dell,
I think they're working together. I'mnot sure yet. Well, while you
figure that out, I'm gonna gopick up some more of them from the
park. You know how guessburd fangsare. We don't know the exact exchanges
(10:48):
officers had in regards to the murdersin the gay community. To put things
in context, this was a fewyears before openly gay politician Harvey Milk was
murdered resulted in the White Knight riots, and pons were still rising between police
and the gay community. To thisday, officers claim they never prioritize heterosexual
murders over homosexual murders, but giventhe shady activities going on back then,
(11:11):
it's easy to see why the Castrodistrict was adamant that police were focusing more
on rich white murder cases. SanFrancisco's lgbtwo newspaper, The Advocate, reported
on many crimes against gay's with aspecial interest in two officers in particular Cornelius
Lucy, and ironically William Gay.In the evenings, Officer Gay would drive
(11:33):
through local parks and trail men whowere out walking alone. Nice night.
Huh. Officer Gay, who wasnot in uniform at the time, stretched
out and spread his legs ever soslightly. The burly bear of a man
he had been stalking, watched intriguedas the cop rub the spot where his
(11:54):
legs met. Little chilly out there. Huh, me warm. The bear
man looked around, confirming nobody elsewas there. He hopped into the passenger
seat. When Officer Gay flashed abadge and a pair of handcuffs, the
bear's heart sank. You're under arrestfor cruising parks looking for lewd, an
unnatural and illegal sex. You havethe right to remain silent. Everything you
(12:18):
say will be used against you.And that was just one of the ways
police lashed out at Gaze. Ofcourse, I'm not saying every single officer
on the force was hunting homosexuals,but reading some of the hate crimes they
committed, it's hard to believe officersdesperately wanted to arrest whoever was terrorizing the
Castro. Just a few weeks afterJay's body was found. A German immigrant
(12:45):
named Klaus Crisman was on the town. He might have stood outside Bojangle's nightclub
nervously rubbing a tube of lipstick acrosshis mouth when another man left the bar,
sketchbook in hand. Well, Iput on makeup when you already have
a gorgeous face, Boden. Isaw you inside and was instantly captured.
The artist looked around, and where'sthe guy you're with? You must be
(13:07):
in a stick and I doesn't feaceanybody. Come on, don't be bashful.
That's the other way you looked athim. Got it right here?
He held up his book to showKlaus the portrait he had sketched, so
life like, not as handsome asthe real thing, though you misunderstand.
I am not like you. Ihave a wife and kids back home in
Germany. I had a long dayat work and needed a drink. What
(13:31):
do you do? I've worked formish, but that doesn't consent. Well,
you have to be at least alittle interested to share so much with
a stranger. The artist might havegrabbed Klaus's hand, who gasped, but
didn't I try to pull away.I won't tell your wife if you won't.
(13:52):
We don't know how exactly it happened, other than Klaus was lasting alive
at that bar. On July seventh, nineteen seventy four, woman by the
name of Talbo Weiss was walking herdog on Ocean Beach near the end of
Lincoln Way. Yep, yep,come back here. Tabo ran after her
pup, but froze when she sawwhat he was so interested in. She
(14:13):
jetted home and phoned police, notifyingthem of Klaus's dead body. We have
an unidentified male here with fifteen stabwounds, three of which are in the
throat, indicating a possible decapitation attempt. Despite the subject's wedding ring, he
is likely one of the Castro killer'svictims, as he has a makeup tube
(14:33):
in his pocket and he appears tobe wearing orange bikini shorts. His wife
is likely a cover up for hissexuality. The serial killer was beginning to
get more violent, but the decapitationattempt may have been too much for him,
as he would lay quiet for severalmonths. It wasn't until May twelfth,
nineteen seventy five, that he leftanother known victim, A hiker found
(14:58):
Vietnam War vet Frederick Cappine behind asand dune at Vicente and Yuloa Streets.
A little under a month later,on June fourth, Harold Gahlberg was found
on a Lincoln Park golf course.Rote looked over the body with his partner,
Prentice Earl Sanders. Think this guy'sone of ours serial killer's victims.
I don't know. He's a lotolder than the rest of them, but
(15:18):
he's not wearing underwear and his pantswere unzipped. He was probably trying to
get his rocks off in the park. Harold was indeed the oldest known victim
at sixty six years old. Originallyfrom Sweden, the sailors settled in America
in nineteen fifty five after visiting severalports during the thirties. The coroner determined
he had been dead for about twoweeks as fly larva and maggots covered his
(15:39):
face. At this point, therewere five confirmed slanes by the man.
Police were now calling the Doodler andreference to the sketches he made of his
victims, but they still had noidea who he was, and the mainstream
media was largely ignoring the case.If it wasn't for thorough reporting by LGBTQ
newspapers. I doubt we would evenknow this case existed. What we do
(16:00):
know is police were getting all kindsof tips, but no witnesses wanted to
speak on the record. Now,remember this was a time where gays were
severely oppressed. Some places made itillegal to sell alcohol to homosexuals, while
newspapers published the names of known membersat the LGBTQ community to clean up the
neighborhoods. Because of rules like this, a lot of gay men and women
(16:22):
lived in fear, but a fewwere brave enough to speak candidly with Charles
Morris, owner of the Sentinel newspaper, and gay activists who work closely with
a younger Diane Feinstein. Charles hadacross from a reporter with the San Francisco
Chronicle. Everybody, now, Ican't tell you their names, but a
few guys have told me about theirexperiences with the Doubler. Can you share
(16:47):
their stories on the record, keeptheir names out of it, and you
have a deal. It started outlike this, A buddy of mine walking
home late the other night after afew drinks from one of our usual watering
holes. Are you sure I can'thold on to that cocktail napkin. You
(17:08):
can take my cock but not thenapkin. I'm not a professional yet,
just a humble art student bumber.Well, well, here we are,
my little corner of the world.They were about to do their thing when
our suspect removed his jacket. Ohdarling, you dropped this. Why the
hell is there a knife in yourpocket? Guess you ran off before answering,
(17:34):
and he never thought to tell thepolice, would you if you were
like us? But listen, Charlesleaned closer to the reporter. There were
others, more prominent men. Well, don't leave me hanging here. There's
a popular guy you know San Francisco. You know him. Another guy's an
(17:56):
entertainer. People all across the countryknow his work. What kind of entertainer?
Stage actor? Writer? Let's justsay flights from LA to San Francisco
aren't too expensive. And there's onemore. Diplomat from Europe told me some
good details about the night he metthe doopler. He was in upper market,
(18:22):
claimed he needed a midnight snack andinnuendo, I'll let you decide.
Hey, there need some weed.The suspect took a small tin from his
coat, and showed it off tothe diplomat. No thanks, what about
blow? He stared at the dealerfor a bit, then check to see
if anyone was around before taking abump patch Brown's inside. When they went
(18:49):
back to the diplomat's place, thesuspect hit in the bathroom for thirty minutes.
When he finally came back, hestabbed that diplomat six times. And
you can't me their names. Don'tcome on, Chuck, it might save
some lives. I'm sorry, I'veprobably said too much already. Unfortunately,
(19:12):
police never got far with these threewitnesses. The San Francisco public figure moved
and avoided any phone calls. Peoplehave assumptions as to who the entertainer was,
but nobody could ever confirm it,and the diplomat is still trying to
be sniffed out. Luckily, though, there were enough eyewitness testimonies for police
to create a sketch and personality profilefor the doodler. In November nineteen seventy
(19:37):
five, the sketch was released tothe public. We're looking for a young
black man around twenty years old,between five foot ten and six feet tall.
He slim, and many witnesses sayhe wears a navy type watchcat He
frequents bars in the upper market inCastro areas, but we don't think he
lives in San Francisco. Personality wasI assume he's quiet, takes things seriously,
(20:02):
and was raised in an upper middleclass family. His intelligence is above
average, and he's likely an artstudent, as one witness reported the doodler
telling him he was studying commercial art. Question with a sketch now out and
were growing. Tip started coming inmore frequently, and the neighborhood was on
(20:25):
high alert. On the night ofJanuary twenty third, nineteen seventy six,
a bartender in the Tenderloin area polishedglasses and listened to the quiet chatter of
his patrons. The door opened andhe cautiously eyed the newcomer, a young
African American who wore a dark hatand carried a sketchbuck glass of CABERNETI.
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There the man on the next stoolgingerly raised his glass in response. As
the bartender slowly poured the drink,he watched, the new comer removed his
coat, A knife flashed from theinside pocket mind if us sketching patron nervously
giggled as the bartender set the glassdown, never removing his eyes from the
artist. Thanks, how much doI owe you? It's on the house.
(21:15):
As the newcomer took out his pen, the bartender marched through the hallway,
where a paythone awaited. Police soonhad the suspect and custody for carrying
(21:37):
a weapon into a public place.Why do you guys always assume the black
man's guilty? Did you see thecolor MOUs game? You realize I'm black
like you? Right? A pigis a pig is a pig. You
entered the bar with a knife.What the hell did you think was gonna
happen? Fuck you? The suspectwas charged with the salt, but it's
still unclear whether he was the doodler. You've got a second, someone's on
(22:02):
the phone asking for you. Roteaglared at the enraged suspect. I'll deal
with you in a minute, hesays. He's a psychiatrist, last name
of priest. The officers shuffled downthe hall determination in their eyes. His
secretary called three days ago, screaminghow her boss is patient? Is the
doodler? I thought she was zappy? But just wait. They entered the
(22:26):
office and Rotea picked up the phone. All right, we're both here.
Good. My stomach's been a noncefor weeks because of this doctor patient confidentiality.
You know. My secretary admitted shecalled a few days ago and well,
I wanted to follow up one ofmy patients. He's a younger guy,
(22:47):
black. I know beyond any question, he's the stoodler for the past
three or four months. He's beengoing on and on about how he's killed
gays in the Bay Area. Andyou didn't think to tell us until now.
How can my patients trust me ifI go around having everything they do
running a business, you know?Sure? Sure you got his phone number
or something. Yeah, I havehis whole chart here. What's he seeing
(23:07):
you for anyway? Reparative therapy?Thank you, we'll look into it.
You see what's happening here, right. He's probably ashamed of fucking other guys,
you know as well as I do. Homosexuality has never been accepted in
the black community. Ah, sohe thinks killing them raises the sin exactly.
(23:29):
Let's get a hold of him,see what he has to say about
his business with doctor priests. Theywere able to bring the patient in for
questioning Over the course of a year, he was interviewed on and off and
willingly spoke each time, but despitewhat he told his psychiatrist, he never
confessed the slatings to police. Whenasked about murdering anyone, he pled the
fifth, and when his sexuality wasbrought up, he always claimed to have
(23:52):
a stable relationship with a female.If he won't confess, you can't do
anything. We need an eyewitness.We still have contact Infolk for the actor
and the diploma. Both survivors begrudginglycame in and looked at a photo lineup
where they picked out the Doodler,but when asked about testifying and out myself
to the world, absolutely not.With virtually every way of arresting the suspect
(24:15):
exhausted, the case fell to theside and slowly disappeared in history. Most
people I've spoken to have never heardof the Doodler. His story is so
secretive that we don't even know thenumber of murders he committed. Some say
(24:37):
it could be as many as fourteen. Others argue police at the time,
we're just desperate to close murder casesto appease the gay population, and so
filed more than they should have underthe Doodler. Perhaps we don't know a
lot about him because San Francisco's woundsfrom the Zebra and Zodiac killers were still
fresh, and in less than adecade, gay men across the country would
(24:57):
be struck down by a different killknown as acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The
AIDS epidemics stole the spotlight from theDoodler and claimed way more lives than our
artists could ever attempt. But thecase was almost forgotten, not entirely forgotten,
so there's still hope a killer willbe brought to justice. Around this
(25:18):
time last year, another serial killerwho terrorized California was taken into custody thanks
to a DNA profile. The GoldenState killer case was long assumed to remain
unsolved, but thanks to genealogists andinvestigators, his DNA was used to find
family members and then ultimately Joseph JamesDeAngelo. Joseph now faces thirteen counts of
murder with special circumstances and thirteen countsof kidnapping for robbery. Police Inspector Dan
(25:44):
Cunningham, who's now in charge ofSan Francisco's cold case unit, found the
Doudler case and moved it to thefront of his list. With the help
of his supervisor, Commander Greg mckeachern, Dan has found new leads in the
case and plans on using crime sceneDNA. Kenneth Moses worked in the evidence
lab in the seventies and mature tocollect as many blood samples as possible and
dry them thoroughly. If there's nomoisture on the samples, they can't decompose
(26:07):
and investigators can get a good DNAprofile from them. In February, police
released an age progressed sketch of whatthe doodler looks like today and informed the
public they've tracked down the suspect Roteinterviewed in nineteen seventy six. They say
he's still a suspect, but wouldnot say if he matches the updated sketch.
He's perhaps the easiest one to find, though history has lost the names
(26:30):
of the suspect, psychiatrist and Europeandiplomat who survived an attack, and there's
one major player Rote and never gotthe name of. Today, Dan hopes
the caller that started at all,the one who didn't feel it necessary to
give his name. Early that morningat Ocean Beach, will now find it
necessary to come forward and reveal anyinformation he might not have found pertinent at
the time. As for the diplomatand psychiatrist, Dan has a few leads,
(26:53):
but has to confirm they're the correctpeople. In the meantime, all
we can do is sit back andhope whoever was doodling his victims in the
seventies will finally be brought to justice. The artist San Francisco Forgot was written
and edited by me Skyler Fastenell.Jacob Wally voiced the Doodler, Chris Wilson
(27:17):
voice Rotea Guilford and Gerald earl'cavanaugh,Richard Torres voice, j Rick Junior voice,
Charles Morris, the coroner and theDiplomat. Stephen Co voiced doctor Priest
and Klaus Chrisman. Antonio Hill voicedEarl Sanders, the nine one one caller
and twink picked up by the Doodler, Brendan Maple voice Officer Gay Warner Jepson
(27:38):
and doctor Freeman. Sandy McCabe voicedTalba Weiss, the nine one one dispatcher
and Scamp's owner, and Daniel Jonesvoice to San Francisco Chronicle reporter and bartender.
If you have any information that couldhelp close this case. San Francisco
Police Department's anonymous tipline is four onefive five seven five forty four forty four,
(28:00):
or you can text tip for oneone with SFPD at the start of
the message. This has been anamazing first season of Deadtime Stories, and
I'm already hard at work putting togethera second season with more twisted crimes.
Check back on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Libson,
or wherever else you listen on Julythirty first for new episodes. But if
(28:22):
you can't wait that long, Iwill be putting out minisodes on Instagram every
Friday. You can find those byfollowing Deadtime Stories podcast on Instagram and checking
out our Facebook page for other updates. In the meantime, Here's what we
learned in today's episode. Words canbe hard to discuss an issue that had
(28:48):
plagued the diagnostics and statistical manual.That is so freaking hard to say.
With the boats counted, fifty eightpercent support the removal of homosexuality from our
norm. Oh god, my god, let's have some more vodka. Mm
hmm. Hook Up standards have goneup since the seventies Esteve Hunts is such
(29:12):
an ugly drag name, but worksus. Listen, she didn't know any
better. She's so dumb, she'sdead. He was drawing on a napkin.
I don't go home for a napkin. Start come to the bar with
a canvas next time. He didupgrade to a sketchbook a day. That's
(29:32):
really cute. I probably would havedone that. Phone, and my house
is clearly infested with demons. You'vebeen a great subject that the way the
lightning falls on that. So whatthe do you hear that? What's happening?
I thought that that was just likeyour phone giving like seventeen messages that
(29:53):
once. It was just it wasjust my phone, fucking yes, okay, anyways,
And gentlemen and ladies, if therehappened to be any present, find your
seats. Our vote is about tobegin. It was December fifteenth, nineteen
seventy three, and an important decisionwas about to be made. Doctor Alfred
Freemans did before the American Psychiatric Associationto discuss an issue that had plagued The
(00:28):
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Our DSMtwo currently describes homosexuality as a form of
paraphilia, a term that means abnormalsexual desires like voyeurism, pedophilia, and
at the time gay sex. Wewill be replacing the term homosexuality. From
now on, queers troubled by theirsexuality and seeking the help of psychiatrists will
(00:52):
be classified as having sexual orientation disturbance. The New York Times reported that journalists
argued with psychiatrists at the conference,saying that there really wasn't any difference in
this new definition other than a name. They felt the name change only served
to end criticism from gay rights groupsinstead of changing the world's view of them.
Today, the idea that being gayfalls into the same category as pedophilia
(01:15):
is absurd, but this was thecommon belief at the time, and psychiatrists
would try to cure their patients bychanging their behavior patterns to those that mimic
the stereotypical straight person. Not surprisingly, the Surgeon General released a statement that
said, quote, there is novalid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be
changed end quote. What's surprising isthat this statement wasn't released until two thousand
(01:38):
and one. And there are stillpeople out there who believe your sexual preference
as a choice. But I won'tdwell on that because well, that's not
what this podcast is about. Backto the nineteen seventy three APA conference,
with the votes counted, fifty eightpercent support the removal of homosexuality from our
nomenclature. Now, in regards tothe laws, sexual or has been used
(02:00):
as a tool of discrimination. Thisneeds to end. Although the APA itself
willn't be able to change laws,they made it quite clear they did not
support rules that made gay sex betweenconsenting adults and private illegal. Now,
I'm not sure how exactly law enforcementwas able to track that, but apparently
(02:20):
they did. With an understanding ofhow the world operated in the seventies.
Let's start the next chapter of DeadTime stories. Oh gay, please don't
(02:43):
It was probably very cold that Januarynight, maybe around forty three degrees on
San Francisco's Ocean Beach. If thefog rolled in, it might have covered
the waxing crescent Moon. Why areyou doing this? I didn't think you'd
be that type of man. Aguidebook for Ocean Beach warns tourists about the
water. Even though it's a popularsurfing spot, the rip currents will destroy
(03:06):
novice swimmers. That aside, thisbeach isn't your stereotypical layout in tan type
of beach, All you guys arethe same. There is the scene at
Cliffhouse offering great seaside delicacies, andat this particular time, a museum of
penny arcade games rested in its basement. Though something tells me in the wee
(03:31):
hours of January twenty seventh, nineteenseventy four, Gerald Earl Kavanaugh was not
visiting Ocean Beach for any of theabove activities. As his assailant walked off,
bloody knife in hand, Gerald lookedup at the moon and released his
last few breaths. He might haveflexed his left pinky, freshly slashed from
where he tried to stop the knifeto no avail. His timex watch ticked
(03:54):
away the final seconds of his life. Around one twenty five am, a
man stumbled upon Gerald's body, faceup in the sand and ran to a
nearby pay phone communications. This iswhen Tana, May I help you?
(04:15):
Yes, I believe there might bea dead person on the beach at a
right across from Iloa Street. IlolaStreet, if you follow the street right
down to the water. I waswalking along there and I saw somebody lying
there. But I didn't want toget too closed because you know, you
never know what could happen. Okay, did you want to give us your
(04:39):
name, sir? No, Idon't think that's necessary. I just wanted
to let somebody know maybe he needshelp or something. But I felt it
was my duty to report it.Okay, fine, we'll check it out.
Okay. As a coroner looked overGerald's stout body and balding head,
(05:03):
he took notes on every detail.John Doe number seven was discovered in a
supine position, fully clothed, withtwenty one dollars and twelve cents in his
pocket. He was never married,a polite way of calling someone gay in
the seventies. Not much else isknown about our John Doe, but he
(05:24):
appears to have tried to defend himself. Even now, forty five years later,
we still don't know much about Geraldother than he was a gay Canadian
immigrant board in March of nineteen twentythree. After moving to San Francisco,
he worked at a mattress factory untilhe became the first victim of a serial
killer that terrorized San Francisco's Cast Roaddistrict in the seventies. Each target story
(05:46):
began inside of a bar. Yeah, Mama, thank you, ladies and
boys. It's an honored performance foryou here tonight, mom Andy to drink,
so please enjoy our very own AlasiaBranford Joseph Stevens was twenty seven years
(06:11):
old and performed under the stage nameof Jay. Originally from Texas, he
moved to San Francisco, where hequickly found a home performing as a drag
queen at Pinocchio's. Surprisingly, theestablishment didn't start as a gay bar.
When owner Joe Pinocchio realized that touristsloved shows with female impersonators, he jumped
on the brand and began advertising hisclub as a place for entertainment and fun.
(06:34):
Naturally, as time went by,the bar became a safe haven for
gays, even though pinocchio can bea derogatory term for homosexual map. Please
have a vodka soda. My god, it is hot on that stage.
As Jay recuperated from her performance,she might have looked over to see an
(06:56):
African American man on the stool nextto her, eyes blazing into his cocktail
napkin. You joined the shower,sweetie, Yeah? Sure. The man
wheelded a pen and etched its inkonto the napkin. I've watched you working
on that all night. Now letus see that masterpiece. The artist looked
up and sheepishly grinned. Can youturn your head again? I want to
(07:17):
get that pose? Justest right?You've been drawn me? Yeah, turn
right. I'm sorry. You've beena great subject, the way the lighting
falls off that soft skin of yours, and how your hair flips when you
bob your head to the music.How could I not draw you there?
(07:41):
What do you think? Jay turnedand saw what we can assume was a
sensational sketch on the tiny white napkin. She took the square and beamed,
oh wow, this is gargeous.Cannot keep it. I'd rather hold on
to it. It's not my bestwork, but I mean I could draw
another one for you, perhaps ina different setting, maybe back at my
(08:03):
apartment, Jay blushed, Oh ohmy. The two may have finished their
drinks and headed to a different bar. All we know is Jay was last
seen leaving North Beaches Cabaret Club.She drove the artist to Golden Gate Park,
where they enjoyed an intimate evening out. You're being a bit rough around
(08:26):
midnight. I never thought she heardcries for help, but ignored it,
assuming it was just another gay manmoaning and pleasure as was common in the
area. Disgusting. Then, onthe morning of June sixth, nineteen seventy
five, what in the world.A woman out for a walk by Spreckles
Lake squinted her eyes as she approachedthe lumpy object. She confirmed that it
(08:50):
was in fact a bloody body.We don't know why, but instead of
calling police, she called her friend, who just happened to be Emmy Award
winning composer Warner Jepson. Warner hadlEurope early. Not now, have you
walked the dogs yet? No?Why walk through Sparkle's Lake and tell me
if you see what I saw.Pumpkin just go, You'll know what I'm
(09:15):
talking about. As Warner walked hisdogs through the park, he noticed the
body his friend had seen off tothe side. Quickly returned to his house
and notified police. As you've probablyalready guessed, the body was none other
than our drag performer Jay. Thecoroner later reported her assailant stabbed her three
(09:41):
times, leaving blood in her noseand mouth. When police investigated the scene,
they were able to tell Jay hadmost likely put up a fight,
as the brush ten feet from herbody was disturbed and there was a puddle
of blood. This pool led tothe body, which meant she had been
dragged away. Afterwards, they alsoconcluded Jay was the one that had brought
the attacker to the park, asher empty car still resided not far from
(10:03):
her corpse. Local police were beginningto see a pattern in the area's murders,
so Inspector roteat Guildford an African American, to go for the case.
I've been looking at these John Doemurders for the past few months, and
every single one is a queer.You think someone's doing us a favor,
and often the fangs. I thinkit's three people. Our first five victims
were drag queens. The next fivewere involved in that sato masochism stuff.
(10:26):
Disgusting. Agreed, but stick tothe point. Our third guy picked up
six middle aged man from bars,took them home and stabbing to Dell,
I think they're working together. I'mnot sure yet. Well, while you
figure that out, I'm gonna gopick up some more of them from the
park. You know how guessburd fangsare. We don't know the exact exchanges
(10:48):
officers had in regards to the murdersin the gay community. To put things
in context, this was a fewyears before openly gay politician Harvey Milk was
murdered resulted in the White Knight riots, and pons were still rising between police
and the gay community. To thisday, officers claim they never prioritize heterosexual
murders over homosexual murders, but giventhe shady activities going on back then,
(11:11):
it's easy to see why the Castrodistrict was adamant that police were focusing more
on rich white murder cases. SanFrancisco's lgbtwo newspaper, The Advocate, reported
on many crimes against gay's with aspecial interest in two officers in particular Cornelius
Lucy, and ironically William Gay.In the evenings, Officer Gay would drive
(11:33):
through local parks and trail men whowere out walking alone. Nice night.
Huh. Officer Gay, who wasnot in uniform at the time, stretched
out and spread his legs ever soslightly. The burly bear of a man
he had been stalking, watched intriguedas the cop rub the spot where his
(11:54):
legs met. Little chilly out there. Huh, me warm. The bear
man looked around, confirming nobody elsewas there. He hopped into the passenger
seat. When Officer Gay flashed abadge and a pair of handcuffs, the
bear's heart sank. You're under arrestfor cruising parks looking for lewd, an
unnatural and illegal sex. You havethe right to remain silent. Everything you
(12:18):
say will be used against you.And that was just one of the ways
police lashed out at Gaze. Ofcourse, I'm not saying every single officer
on the force was hunting homosexuals,but reading some of the hate crimes they
committed, it's hard to believe officersdesperately wanted to arrest whoever was terrorizing the
Castro. Just a few weeks afterJay's body was found. A German immigrant
(12:45):
named Klaus Crisman was on the town. He might have stood outside Bojangle's nightclub
nervously rubbing a tube of lipstick acrosshis mouth when another man left the bar,
sketchbook in hand. Well, Iput on makeup when you already have
a gorgeous face, Boden. Isaw you inside and was instantly captured.
The artist looked around, and where'sthe guy you're with? You must be
(13:07):
in a stick and I doesn't feaceanybody. Come on, don't be bashful.
That's the other way you looked athim. Got it right here?
He held up his book to showKlaus the portrait he had sketched, so
life like, not as handsome asthe real thing, though you misunderstand.
I am not like you. Ihave a wife and kids back home in
Germany. I had a long dayat work and needed a drink. What
(13:31):
do you do? I've worked formish, but that doesn't consent. Well,
you have to be at least alittle interested to share so much with
a stranger. The artist might havegrabbed Klaus's hand, who gasped, but
didn't I try to pull away.I won't tell your wife if you won't.
(13:52):
We don't know how exactly it happened, other than Klaus was lasting alive
at that bar. On July seventh, nineteen seventy four, woman by the
name of Talbo Weiss was walking herdog on Ocean Beach near the end of
Lincoln Way. Yep, yep,come back here. Tabo ran after her
pup, but froze when she sawwhat he was so interested in. She
(14:13):
jetted home and phoned police, notifyingthem of Klaus's dead body. We have
an unidentified male here with fifteen stabwounds, three of which are in the
throat, indicating a possible decapitation attempt. Despite the subject's wedding ring, he
is likely one of the Castro killer'svictims, as he has a makeup tube
(14:33):
in his pocket and he appears tobe wearing orange bikini shorts. His wife
is likely a cover up for hissexuality. The serial killer was beginning to
get more violent, but the decapitationattempt may have been too much for him,
as he would lay quiet for severalmonths. It wasn't until May twelfth,
nineteen seventy five, that he leftanother known victim, A hiker found
(14:58):
Vietnam War vet Frederick Cappine behind asand dune at Vicente and Yuloa Streets.
A little under a month later,on June fourth, Harold Gahlberg was found
on a Lincoln Park golf course.Rote looked over the body with his partner,
Prentice Earl Sanders. Think this guy'sone of ours serial killer's victims.
I don't know. He's a lotolder than the rest of them, but
(15:18):
he's not wearing underwear and his pantswere unzipped. He was probably trying to
get his rocks off in the park. Harold was indeed the oldest known victim
at sixty six years old. Originallyfrom Sweden, the sailors settled in America
in nineteen fifty five after visiting severalports during the thirties. The coroner determined
he had been dead for about twoweeks as fly larva and maggots covered his
(15:39):
face. At this point, therewere five confirmed slanes by the man.
Police were now calling the Doodler andreference to the sketches he made of his
victims, but they still had noidea who he was, and the mainstream
media was largely ignoring the case.If it wasn't for thorough reporting by LGBTQ
newspapers. I doubt we would evenknow this case existed. What we do
(16:00):
know is police were getting all kindsof tips, but no witnesses wanted to
speak on the record. Now,remember this was a time where gays were
severely oppressed. Some places made itillegal to sell alcohol to homosexuals, while
newspapers published the names of known membersat the LGBTQ community to clean up the
neighborhoods. Because of rules like this, a lot of gay men and women
(16:22):
lived in fear, but a fewwere brave enough to speak candidly with Charles
Morris, owner of the Sentinel newspaper, and gay activists who work closely with
a younger Diane Feinstein. Charles hadacross from a reporter with the San Francisco
Chronicle. Everybody, now, Ican't tell you their names, but a
few guys have told me about theirexperiences with the Doubler. Can you share
(16:47):
their stories on the record, keeptheir names out of it, and you
have a deal. It started outlike this, A buddy of mine walking
home late the other night after afew drinks from one of our usual watering
holes. Are you sure I can'thold on to that cocktail napkin. You
(17:08):
can take my cock but not thenapkin. I'm not a professional yet,
just a humble art student bumber.Well, well, here we are,
my little corner of the world.They were about to do their thing when
our suspect removed his jacket. Ohdarling, you dropped this. Why the
hell is there a knife in yourpocket? Guess you ran off before answering,
(17:34):
and he never thought to tell thepolice, would you if you were
like us? But listen, Charlesleaned closer to the reporter. There were
others, more prominent men. Well, don't leave me hanging here. There's
a popular guy you know San Francisco. You know him. Another guy's an
(17:56):
entertainer. People all across the countryknow his work. What kind of entertainer?
Stage actor? Writer? Let's justsay flights from LA to San Francisco
aren't too expensive. And there's onemore. Diplomat from Europe told me some
good details about the night he metthe doopler. He was in upper market,
(18:22):
claimed he needed a midnight snack andinnuendo, I'll let you decide.
Hey, there need some weed.The suspect took a small tin from his
coat, and showed it off tothe diplomat. No thanks, what about
blow? He stared at the dealerfor a bit, then check to see
if anyone was around before taking abump patch Brown's inside. When they went
(18:49):
back to the diplomat's place, thesuspect hit in the bathroom for thirty minutes.
When he finally came back, hestabbed that diplomat six times. And
you can't me their names. Don'tcome on, Chuck, it might save
some lives. I'm sorry, I'veprobably said too much already. Unfortunately,
(19:12):
police never got far with these threewitnesses. The San Francisco public figure moved
and avoided any phone calls. Peoplehave assumptions as to who the entertainer was,
but nobody could ever confirm it,and the diplomat is still trying to
be sniffed out. Luckily, though, there were enough eyewitness testimonies for police
to create a sketch and personality profilefor the doodler. In November nineteen seventy
(19:37):
five, the sketch was released tothe public. We're looking for a young
black man around twenty years old,between five foot ten and six feet tall.
He slim, and many witnesses sayhe wears a navy type watchcat He
frequents bars in the upper market inCastro areas, but we don't think he
lives in San Francisco. Personality wasI assume he's quiet, takes things seriously,
(20:02):
and was raised in an upper middleclass family. His intelligence is above
average, and he's likely an artstudent, as one witness reported the doodler
telling him he was studying commercial art. Question with a sketch now out and
were growing. Tip started coming inmore frequently, and the neighborhood was on
(20:25):
high alert. On the night ofJanuary twenty third, nineteen seventy six,
a bartender in the Tenderloin area polishedglasses and listened to the quiet chatter of
his patrons. The door opened andhe cautiously eyed the newcomer, a young
African American who wore a dark hatand carried a sketchbuck glass of CABERNETI.
(20:52):
There the man on the next stoolgingerly raised his glass in response. As
the bartender slowly poured the drink,he watched, the new comer removed his
coat, A knife flashed from theinside pocket mind if us sketching patron nervously
giggled as the bartender set the glassdown, never removing his eyes from the
artist. Thanks, how much doI owe you? It's on the house.
(21:15):
As the newcomer took out his pen, the bartender marched through the hallway,
where a paythone awaited. Police soonhad the suspect and custody for carrying
(21:37):
a weapon into a public place.Why do you guys always assume the black
man's guilty? Did you see thecolor MOUs game? You realize I'm black
like you? Right? A pigis a pig is a pig. You
entered the bar with a knife.What the hell did you think was gonna
happen? Fuck you? The suspectwas charged with the salt, but it's
still unclear whether he was the doodler. You've got a second, someone's on
(22:02):
the phone asking for you. Roteaglared at the enraged suspect. I'll deal
with you in a minute, hesays. He's a psychiatrist, last name
of priest. The officers shuffled downthe hall determination in their eyes. His
secretary called three days ago, screaminghow her boss is patient? Is the
doodler? I thought she was zappy? But just wait. They entered the
(22:26):
office and Rotea picked up the phone. All right, we're both here.
Good. My stomach's been a noncefor weeks because of this doctor patient confidentiality.
You know. My secretary admitted shecalled a few days ago and well,
I wanted to follow up one ofmy patients. He's a younger guy,
(22:47):
black. I know beyond any question, he's the stoodler for the past
three or four months. He's beengoing on and on about how he's killed
gays in the Bay Area. Andyou didn't think to tell us until now.
How can my patients trust me ifI go around having everything they do
running a business, you know?Sure? Sure you got his phone number
or something. Yeah, I havehis whole chart here. What's he seeing
(23:07):
you for anyway? Reparative therapy?Thank you, we'll look into it.
You see what's happening here, right. He's probably ashamed of fucking other guys,
you know as well as I do. Homosexuality has never been accepted in
the black community. Ah, sohe thinks killing them raises the sin exactly.
(23:29):
Let's get a hold of him,see what he has to say about
his business with doctor priests. Theywere able to bring the patient in for
questioning Over the course of a year, he was interviewed on and off and
willingly spoke each time, but despitewhat he told his psychiatrist, he never
confessed the slatings to police. Whenasked about murdering anyone, he pled the
fifth, and when his sexuality wasbrought up, he always claimed to have
(23:52):
a stable relationship with a female.If he won't confess, you can't do
anything. We need an eyewitness.We still have contact Infolk for the actor
and the diploma. Both survivors begrudginglycame in and looked at a photo lineup
where they picked out the Doodler,but when asked about testifying and out myself
to the world, absolutely not.With virtually every way of arresting the suspect
(24:15):
exhausted, the case fell to theside and slowly disappeared in history. Most
people I've spoken to have never heardof the Doodler. His story is so
secretive that we don't even know thenumber of murders he committed. Some say
(24:37):
it could be as many as fourteen. Others argue police at the time,
we're just desperate to close murder casesto appease the gay population, and so
filed more than they should have underthe Doodler. Perhaps we don't know a
lot about him because San Francisco's woundsfrom the Zebra and Zodiac killers were still
fresh, and in less than adecade, gay men across the country would
(24:57):
be struck down by a different killknown as acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The
AIDS epidemics stole the spotlight from theDoodler and claimed way more lives than our
artists could ever attempt. But thecase was almost forgotten, not entirely forgotten,
so there's still hope a killer willbe brought to justice. Around this
(25:18):
time last year, another serial killerwho terrorized California was taken into custody thanks
to a DNA profile. The GoldenState killer case was long assumed to remain
unsolved, but thanks to genealogists andinvestigators, his DNA was used to find
family members and then ultimately Joseph JamesDeAngelo. Joseph now faces thirteen counts of
murder with special circumstances and thirteen countsof kidnapping for robbery. Police Inspector Dan
(25:44):
Cunningham, who's now in charge ofSan Francisco's cold case unit, found the
Doudler case and moved it to thefront of his list. With the help
of his supervisor, Commander Greg mckeachern, Dan has found new leads in the
case and plans on using crime sceneDNA. Kenneth Moses worked in the evidence
lab in the seventies and mature tocollect as many blood samples as possible and
dry them thoroughly. If there's nomoisture on the samples, they can't decompose
(26:07):
and investigators can get a good DNAprofile from them. In February, police
released an age progressed sketch of whatthe doodler looks like today and informed the
public they've tracked down the suspect Roteinterviewed in nineteen seventy six. They say
he's still a suspect, but wouldnot say if he matches the updated sketch.
He's perhaps the easiest one to find, though history has lost the names
(26:30):
of the suspect, psychiatrist and Europeandiplomat who survived an attack, and there's
one major player Rote and never gotthe name of. Today, Dan hopes
the caller that started at all,the one who didn't feel it necessary to
give his name. Early that morningat Ocean Beach, will now find it
necessary to come forward and reveal anyinformation he might not have found pertinent at
the time. As for the diplomatand psychiatrist, Dan has a few leads,
(26:53):
but has to confirm they're the correctpeople. In the meantime, all
we can do is sit back andhope whoever was doodling his victims in the
seventies will finally be brought to justice. The artist San Francisco Forgot was written
and edited by me Skyler Fastenell.Jacob Wally voiced the Doodler, Chris Wilson
(27:17):
voice Rotea Guilford and Gerald earl'cavanaugh,Richard Torres voice, j Rick Junior voice,
Charles Morris, the coroner and theDiplomat. Stephen Co voiced doctor Priest
and Klaus Chrisman. Antonio Hill voicedEarl Sanders, the nine one one caller
and twink picked up by the Doodler, Brendan Maple voice Officer Gay Warner Jepson
(27:38):
and doctor Freeman. Sandy McCabe voicedTalba Weiss, the nine one one dispatcher
and Scamp's owner, and Daniel Jonesvoice to San Francisco Chronicle reporter and bartender.
If you have any information that couldhelp close this case. San Francisco
Police Department's anonymous tipline is four onefive five seven five forty four forty four,
(28:00):
or you can text tip for oneone with SFPD at the start of
the message. This has been anamazing first season of Deadtime Stories, and
I'm already hard at work putting togethera second season with more twisted crimes.
Check back on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Libson,
or wherever else you listen on Julythirty first for new episodes. But if
(28:22):
you can't wait that long, Iwill be putting out minisodes on Instagram every
Friday. You can find those byfollowing Deadtime Stories podcast on Instagram and checking
out our Facebook page for other updates. In the meantime, Here's what we
learned in today's episode. Words canbe hard to discuss an issue that had
(28:48):
plagued the diagnostics and statistical manual.That is so freaking hard to say.
With the boats counted, fifty eightpercent support the removal of homosexuality from our
norm. Oh god, my god, let's have some more vodka. Mm
hmm. Hook Up standards have goneup since the seventies Esteve Hunts is such
(29:12):
an ugly drag name, but worksus. Listen, she didn't know any
better. She's so dumb, she'sdead. He was drawing on a napkin.
I don't go home for a napkin. Start come to the bar with
a canvas next time. He didupgrade to a sketchbook a day. That's
(29:32):
really cute. I probably would havedone that. Phone, and my house
is clearly infested with demons. You'vebeen a great subject that the way the
lightning falls on that. So whatthe do you hear that? What's happening?
I thought that that was just likeyour phone giving like seventeen messages that
(29:53):
once. It was just it wasjust my phone, fucking yes, okay, anyways,
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