The Doodler, also known as the Black Doodler, was an unidentified serial killer believed responsible for the slayings of 14 and 3 assaults of men in the gay community of San Francisco, California between January 1974 and September 1975. The nickname was given due to the perpetrator's habit of sketching his vitims prior to having sex with them and stabbing them to death. The perpetrator met his victims in gay nightclubs, bars and restaurants.


Police questioned a young man as a murder suspect in the case but could not proceed with criminal charges because of three surviving victims did not want to out themselves by testifying against him in court. Amoung the survivors were a well known entertainer and a diplomat. The suspect spoke freely with police, although he did not admit to the slayings.


At the time, activist Harvey Milk publicly expressed empathy for the victims who refused to speak to the police stating "I understand their position. I respect the pressure society has put on them" To date, the suspect has never been publicly named and apprehended: very little information is available about the crimes.


For more information type in Tru Tv The Doodler On Google.

Young, Queer And Dead: A Biography Of San Francisco's Most Overlooked Serial Killer
By Reagan Martin
Amazon.com

BOOK DESCRIPTION
Publication Date: May 13, 2013


The Zodiac Killer may have been San Francisco's most notorious serial killer, but another equally cruel killer was stalking the streets at the same time, and like the Zodiac Killer, has never been arrested for his crimes. The differance is, while the Zodiac Killer's murder spree has been heavily publicized, this other killer, nicnnamed the Doodler, went unreported by the media and is nearly unknown today.

How did this ruthless killer be almost forgotten? because he didn't target helpess women and children--he targetted gays--and in the 70's many people believed they had it comming, if they were to stop being gay, then all would be well.

In this gripping short book, you will gon on the trail for one of the most brutal killers that ever lived. Read about why his victims were disregarded by a homophobic press, and how he was positively indentified by three escaped victims... only to walk free with out being arrested.

Tru TV
The Unsolved Case Of The Doodler
By Kristal Hawkins


A rash of serial killing is no guarante of fame, even if the perpetrator has a good shtick. An unknown killer slayed 14 men in San Francisco between January 1974 and September 1975: 3 more victims got away. His trademark behavior--he picked up gay men by sketching them in bars and sex clubs, then stabbed them once they were alone--won him the nick name "the Doodler". An Associated Press article widley reprinted in random cities, got the Doodler some attention, but his surviving victims reluctance to come forward means he was never caught and his crimes faded from public memory. Dead or alive, the Doodler has been forgotten.


His move could have been a charming gesture: The Doodler would draw a quick sketch and present it to his targets to start a conversation. They were often honoured-- and, his stomping grounds included some of the wildest bars and clubs in San Francisco's post-liberation, pre-plague heyday, they often left with him.


Police first thought they were dealing with multiple murderers, as the victims seemed to fit into three distinct groups. When five Tenderloing drag queens were found mutilated, cops hypothesized that their kiler was someone with a violent physcological issues with transexuals, or something against drag queens. Six other men met their killer in sadomasochistic leather bars such as the Ramrod, Fe-Be's and Folsom Prison, this group included murdered attorney George Gilbert. Another six where what cops called "regular buisnessmen" or other successfull figures, and they met their match is tamer Castro "Disctrict Bars", all three of the survivors were part of the latter group.


These three survivors included a prominent entertainer and a diplomat, as well as another man who left San Francisco, disapearing from investigator's radar by 1977. These men identified the killer--but were unwilling to go public and help nail their assailant.


Openly gay politican and hero Harvey Milk himself excuesed that seemingly cowardly behavior, telling a reporter that he understood why people would refuse to talk: They were worried about losing their jobs, Milk told his interviewer that he estimated that there was about 85.000 homosexuals in San Francisco, and that about 20-25% of them were closeted.


Police spoke multiple times in the mid-70's with a man to whom the survivors pointed, according to Inspector Rotea Gillford. A former phychiatric patient who recieved treatment for sex-related problems, the suspect had hinted about the killings and seemed to be toying with the cops. He never confessed, and the victims never stepped up. Unidentified police sources cited in a 1977 AP story suggested that the man may have killed his victims in a horrible reaction born out of his shame around his own homosexual impulses.


The Doodler today would be an oid man--he could be dead of natural causes, or he could have died years ago, perhaps one of the many Bay Area residents felled by AIDS in its most brutal years. It's unclear whether his anonymous victims are still around, and much less whether they are interested in talking. The cops around this story are also being culled from our ranks too: Investigator Gilford, the first SFPD's African American homocide detective died of Diabetes-related complications in 1998.


So The Doodler will almost certainly remain a mystery. Not only are we will unlikely to ever know his identity, but his sick story has already faded from our memories in a world beset with seemingly endless series of inexplicable and strange crimes.

San Mateo Times
Man suspected of 14 SF slayings
San Francisco (AP)


A man police call "The Doodler"suspected in the killings of 14 men after homoexual relations, may be waking the streets because three survivors of his knife attacks won't "come out of the closet" and testify against him.


For the past year, police have been questioning a young man about the 14 slayings and 3 assaults that have occured in San Francisco's homosexual community between Janauary 1974 and September 1975. Inspector Rotea Gilford said Thursday in an interview.


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


The suspect here, his name not been released, has talked freely with police, but stops short of confessing to the slayings, Gilford said.


Gilford said police are "fairly certain" that they have the right man, but needed the testimony of the survivors to identity "The Doodler".


In the attacks, the murderer met other men at a number of after-hours homosexual clubs and restaurants in San Francisco. He usually sketched the men before having sex with them and stabbing them. Police believe the slayings were prompted by shame the man felt after homosexual experiances.


Gilford said the three survivors includes "a well known male entertainer, a diplomat and a man who left San Francisco and wont answer letters or phone calls at his new residence".


"My feeling is that they don't want to be expossed" he said.


Harvey Milk an advocate of homosexual rights, said the victims who refuse to speek up "I can understand their position, I respect the presure that society has put on them"


Milk said many homsexuals keep their sexual preferances a secret because they fear losing their jobs, "They have to stay in the closet" he said.


Milk estimates that San Francisco has about 85.000 homosexuals.


"Of that number, a good 20-25 percent are in the closet" he said. "Those are people with high paying jobs--doctors, bankers, lawyers and entertainers".


Another spokesman for the gay community, teacher Hank Wilson said the case represents societies "double standards" in dealing with crimes involving homosexuals.


"You never hear about the hetrosexual who had killed 12 women after raping them" he said.


"We have diversity in the gay community". Wilson said. "We have the crazies, but so does every other part of society".


Inspector Gilford said the man suspected of "The Doodler" slayings has a history of mental difficulties in dealing with his sexuality. The young man has had pyschiatric care, he added.

I was semi-familiar with this case. I'd like to see this case brought to the public's attention, now that attitudes about gays have changed drastically on the whole, since the time of the crimes.

I wonder who the famous entertainer was. Also, what was the basis for the term "The Black Doodler"? Was that in regards to his race, the victims race, or something else entirely?

I was semi-familiar with this case. I'd like to see this case brought to the public's attention, now that attitudes about gays have changed drastically on the whole, since the time of the crimes.

I wonder who the famous entertainer was. Also, what was the basis for the term "The Black Doodler"? Was that in regards to his race, the victims race, or something else entirely?


I believe the basis for the term "The Black Doodler" should be taken not in its literal sense in implying that the serial killer (The Black Doodler) himself and or his victims themselves are black in reguards to their race. I believe the basis for the term "The Black Doodler" should be taken in its figurative sense by implying the evilness of the "The Black Doodler" and the darkness of his crimes. The colour black has been associated with evil and darkness for centuries in the West. We have had many examples of where Black has been used to describe negative things such as 1)The Black Death which was an epidemic that killed 1/4 to 1/2 of Europe's populaition in the 14th century, 2)The Black Sheep which is a term given to a member(s) of the family who are seen as disruptive and odd in the family and are considered as outcasts, etc, etc, etc. So when you hear and or read about the term "The Black Doodler" You should take it not in its racial connotation but in its evil connotation.



I too would like to see this case gain the public attention that it deserves as well. I find it very shamefull and weird that the case of the Doodler does not get the same attention as his fellow San Francisco serial killer the Zodiac Killer gets. I am ashamed of how the victims and survivors of the Doodler were treated just because they were homosexuals and I am very surprised that this could occure in the most liberal and progressive city in the United States which is San Francisco which blows my mind. I never would have thought that a city like San Francisco would at one time be as a homophobic as it was back in the 1970's. I am outraged that the survivors of the Doodler were forced not to come forward because it would ruin their lives and that they could lose their jobs if they came "out of the closet" by testifying against the suspect believed to be being the Doodler. The only reason why the Doodler has not been caught and tried for his crimes and sentenced to life in prison or even death by the gas chamber is because of homophobia and the persecution of homosexuals back then into being 2nd class citizens. I would like to see Unsolved Mysteries cover this story just like how they covered other serial killers such as the 1)New Orleans Serial Killer, 2)Ohio Prostitute Killer and 3)New Hampshire Serial Killer, etc. The Doodler in my oppion is just as dangerous and even more violent than even in the Zodiac Killer and still he gets no coverage. The Doodler murdered 14 people while the Zodiac Killer murdered 5 people, the Doodler murdered 9 more people than the Zodiac Killer. I hope one day that someone will be brave and courageous enough to come forward to reveal the true identity of the Doodler and hopefully he is still alive and can be brought to justice and be sent to San Quentin to recieve a needle in the arm.


I want to hear more of your views on the Doodler?

I was semi-familiar with this case. I'd like to see this case brought to the public's attention, now that attitudes about gays have changed drastically on the whole, since the time of the crimes.

I wonder who the famous entertainer was. Also, what was the basis for the term "The Black Doodler"? Was that in regards to his race, the victims race, or something else entirely?



Apparently the Doodler is not the only unidentified and nearly forgotten serial killer in the San Francisco. Today I have discovered another serial killer that many people today have never heard about and that serial killer is called "The Gypsy Hill Killer". The Gypsy Hill Killer murdered 5 women between January 1976 to April 1976. I have even found a small website devoted to the Gypsy Hill Killer composed of articles in San Francisco Bay newspapers. Here is is the headline of the site I have mentioned to you


THE 1976 GYPSY HILL MURDERS OF SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA
In the first four months of 1976, five women were murdered by a still- unidentified assailant in San Mateo, CA. The five women, in order of the deaths are
-Veronica Ann "Ronnie" Cascio murdered Janaury 1976
-Tatiana Marie "Tanya" Blackwell murdered Janaury 1976, found in June 1976
-Paula Louise Baxter murdered February 1977
-Carol Lee Both murdered March 1976, found in May 1976
-Denise Lampe murdered April 1976
This sight contains a collection of articles that have appeared in local newspapers about the series of murders and the five women.

For more information of the Gypsy Hill Killer go to this website

http://gypsyhillmurders.com/


Some additional information about Denise Lampe the last murder associated with the Gypsy Hill Killer on the Unsolved section of the Daly City Police Department's website

Date:
April 4th, 1976
Name:
Denise Lampe
Location:
Sarramonte Shopping Center


Denise was a 19 year old woman who was found stabbed to death in her vehicle in the Sarramonte Mall parking lot somteime between 9:20PM and 9:55PM. It is possible that Denise's murder was the work of a serial killer who commited other murders in Pacifica, South San Francisco and Millbraein early 1976.

Rotea Gilford, former deputy mayor, dies at 70
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Rotea-Gilford-former-deputy-mayor-dies-at-70-3100127.php#page-1


Sections of the article on Rotea Gilford's time as a San Francisco police officer


Mr Gilford worked as a Muni bus driver and bridge toll taker before he joined the San Francisco Police Department in 1960.


Four years later he became the department's first black homicide inspector. Along with partner Earl Sanders, now the assistant police chief, they were known as the "Soul Brothers" and worked such celebrated cases such as the Zebra serial killings and assaults. He recieved 15 commodations during his 18-year stint on the force.


He made headlines by quickly breaking the case of a Muni bus driver who was shot to death during the turmoil that followed Martin Luther King's assassinationin 1968. Mr Gilford was the first San Francisco cop to mobilize The City's gay community to help catch a serial killer (The Doodler) who was preying on homosexual men in 1973.


"A lot of cops didn't want to go into a gar bar back the, but Gil was comfortable with everyone", said Sanders, Mr Gilford's investigative parner for nine years. He Showed if you treated everyone with respect, you would recieve alot more cooperation. He showed the ulitmate ideal of community policing-long before ther term became popular".


Homocide Detevtive Napoleon Hendrix, who joined the police department in 1965, agreed. "He was the lighning rod for black investigators. He set the standard that we follow", Hendrix said. "He was never out of the loop even after left the department... he gave his all. He will be sorley missed. He affected alot of people in this city".


BTW: How come I am not getting a feedback from the members of this forum. Dont you people care about the victims of the Doodler, I see you talk about other unidentified serial killers on this forum such as the Ohio Prostitute Killer, New Hampshire Serial Killer and the New Orleans Serial Killer and their poor and innocent victims but won't talk about the Doodler and his poor and innocent victims. I thought that you people would jump on this case of the Doodler because this case is very much unknown about by the vast majority of the people who are interested in the history of crime. Why is that? Dont tell me that you people would agree that because he did not kill helpess and defencless women and children and infact killed gays does not make this case important. At least Wiseguy182 is differant because he is the only member to comment on this case, which I am very thankfull. I am shocked and saddend that you people would comment about the Zodiac Killer who murdered 5 people but would not comment about the Doodler who murdered 14 people. I guess that people on this forum are part of the reason why this case is fading from people's memories and is nearly forgotten. CONGRATULATIONS PEOPLE.

BTW: How come I am not getting a feedback from the members of this forum. Dont you people care about the victims of the Doodler, I see you talk about other unidentified serial killers on this forum such as the Ohio Prostitute Killer, New Hampshire Serial Killer and the New Orleans Serial Killer and their poor and innocent victims but won't talk about the Doodler and his poor and innocent victims. I thought that you people would jump on this case of the Doodler because this case is very much unknown about by the vast majority of the people who are interested in the history of crime. Why is that? Dont tell me that you people would agree that because he did not kill helpess and defencless women and children and infact killed gays does not make this case important. At least Wiseguy182 is differant because he is the only member to comment on this case, which I am very thankfull. I am shocked and saddend that you people would comment about the Zodiac Killer who murdered 5 people but would not comment about the Doodler who murdered 14 people. I guess that people on this forum are part of the reason why this case is fading from people's memories and is nearly forgotten. CONGRATULATIONS PEOPLE.


This thread is only 3 days old AND it's not UM related so it's going to get less traffic.

Look at how short our Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman thread is here. It's about 2 years old and only has 7 pages. That's a hugely controversial case and Zimmerman is constantly in the news, even today. That case blew up message boards all over the internet. This place is a bit different than other forums and it has nothing to do with people here being uncaring.

Demanding immediate attention and then accusing us of all being homophobes when you don't get it is weird, IMO.

I read this entire thread and looked up extra info on the case a couple days ago. I didn't post a comment because I had nothing to say that could contribute to the conversation. Sorry.

I just saw this thread now. I'm ticked that I missed it because I am fascinated by the Doodler.

With regards to the meaning of "The Black Doodler", I have the answer for you. The sketches the doodler would make of his victims were always done in black charcoal, the doodles were it black, hence The Black Doodler. I'm sure it's also a bit of a play on words because of the evilness of the crimes, as someone already mentioned.

There are several baffling things about this case. First, after all these years why hasn't someone come "out" and ID'd this guy? The cops apparently already know who he is, and there is no statute of limitations on murder, so all someone has to do is agree to testify and charges can be laid. Next, because this hasn't happened, I'm wondering if the guy is serving a life sentence for a murder they could pin on him, and that's why they've dropped this whole "Doodler" case, as they already have the person in jail? Maybe he is dead - in which case, why not issue a statement saying "Joe Schmo is the doodler, he is dead, case closed"?

I find it odd that there is so little information out there about this case. I also think it's VERY strange that so little people have even heard of The Doodler, similar to the way not many people know about the East Area Rapist (obviously EAR is more well known now, but only because of the media attention the case finally got after a long period of time without hardly anyone paying attention to it). I wonder what information Harvey Milk had (if any at all) and who he might have confided in? What about the families of the cops working the case, I mean they must have heard some whispers going on about who the guy was and why they couldn't nail him. There has to be at least of handful of people out there who could reach out, even to a public forum like this, but there is just nothing.