More than 50 years after the Doodler stabbed or beat at least six gay men to death in San Francisco, police renewed their calls for the public’s help in identifying the notorious serial killer.
The San Francisco Police Department promised a $250,000 reward for identification of the Doodler — so-called because investigators believe the killer picked up his victims by sketching them at gay bars, then inviting them to isolated outdoor hookup spots. The $250,000 reward, set in January 2023, is the maximum amount permitted by the department.
The first known victim, Gerald Cavanagh, was a 50-year-old mattress factory worker found on January 27, 1974 near Ulloa Street and Great Highway. Cavanagh was stabbed 17 times, leading investigators to believe he was the victim of a “rage killing.”
Investigators at the time identified four more possible victims, adding a sixth to the group in 2021 after investigators and Chronicle reporters identified similarities to the other murders.
“Investigators believed all the victims were targeted because they were gay, white adult males, and the victims met the suspect shortly before they were killed in isolated coastal locations,” police said in a Wednesday statement.
The six homicides occurred between January 1974 and June 1975, police said. In July 1975, the Doodler was linked to two violent attacks at the Fox Plaza apartment complex. With the help of the surviving victims, police developed the first sketch of the suspect — a rendering of a young Black man in a knit cap.
That sketch drew a tip from an East Bay psychiatrist who said he had treated a man he believed was the Doodler. The man, who is alive in the East Bay, was interviewed by police and identified as a person of interest in the case.
But cold case investigators have been unable to definitively connect the Fox Plaza attacks with the Ocean Beach murders. Investigators also believe the suspect may have fled the Bay Area after the slayings, driving through the southeastern United States.
Anyone with information about the case was encouraged to call the SFPD Homicide Cold Case Unit at 415-553-1450 or call or text the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444. Tipsters may remain anonymous.