SFPD posts $250,000 reward for info in string of cold case ‘Doodler’ murders
A sketch of the "Doodler" in 1975 and in 2018. Courtesy: San Francisco police .
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Police Department has upped the reward for information to help solve the murders of six men that occurred in the city’s Ocean Beach neighborhood in the mid 1970s.
The department on Wednesday reiterated its call for help from the public and the $250,000 reward for information in the murders of Gerald Cavanaugh, Frederick Capin, Warren Andrews, Klaus Christmann, Harald Gullberg and Joseph Stephens between 1974 and 1975.
The backstory
What we know:
Authorities have attributed the murders to a single killer dubbed "the Doodler," who has never been positively identified. "The Doodler" was so nicknamed for his supposed habit of sketching his victims prior to the killings.
Police said the first victim – Cavanaugh – was found on January 27, 1974 after officers were called to investigate by a man reporting a dead body at Ocean Beach. He was stabbed to death
Over the next 17 months, five other men were killed, most in the same way – stabbed multiple times at the beach and elsewhere.
The victims included Capin, a decorated Vietnam vet who worked as a nurse, and Joe Stevens, a 27-year-old female impersonator and cabaret performer.
Police said there were two additional victims who survived being attacked in two separate incidents. Both took place at the Fox Plaza Apartments where they lived.
One survivor was able to give a description of the man who attacked him to police to develop a composite sketch.
Police said the suspect had told one survivor he was in art school studying to be a cartoonist.
What's next
What you can do:
It's possible "the Doodler" is also dead, but police estimate if he's alive today the killer would likely be in his 60s.
The SFPD Homicide Detail is actively working the cold case investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD 24 hour tip line at 415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.
The Source: San Francisco Police Department, previous KTVU reporting