A New Push To Find A Serial Killer Who Terrorized Gay Men In SF

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Decades after a serial killer made headlines across San Francisco for the slaying of six gay men, police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect.

Police say the suspect, known as the "Doodler" due to his background as a cartoonist and because he was doodling while talking with a victim during a late-night dinner, is responsible for the fatal stabbings of six gay men between 1974 and 1975.

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The "Doodler" and his victims didn't know each other before carrying out the attacks at an isolated coastal location near Ocean Beach, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The first victim tied back to the suspect was Gerald Cavanaugh, whose body, according to police, was reported by an anonymous caller on Jan. 24, 1974, police said, adding that he was found near the area of Ulloa Street and the Great Highway.

Over the next year, the "Doodler" killed Joseph Stevens, Klaus Christmann, Frederick Capin, Warren Andrews and Harald Gullberg, authorities said.

Few details about the "Doodler" are publicly known. It is believed he traveled by car from the southeastern or eastern United States to the Bay Area, police said.

Police believe the "Doodler" may be responsible for more attacks on gay men across the San Francisco area during his time there.

Authorities have been working with the FBI to review similarities between cases in hopes of piecing the puzzle together.

So far, police say they have a person of interest living in the San Francisco Area, but they've yet to link them to the "Doodler" attacks.

"The investigation remains active," police said. "Advances in forensic technology continue to provide new opportunities for leads."

The Department is also offering a $250,000 reward for the identification of the suspect or suspects responsible for these killings, authorities said.