#186 March 29, 2021 [The Doodler]

San Francisco in the 1970s was known as a gay man's Mecca. More glitz, more glamour, and more freedom than wherever you came from (or ran away from). But despite being a known safe haven for the LGBTQ community, gay men were regularly attacked.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan found himself confounded while researching a string of attacks and murders between 1974 and 1975. Next thing he knew, he was deep into the case of The Doodler – one of San Francisco‘s most-prolific yet least-known serial killers.

The Doodler would frequent gay bars to watch people, picking someone as his subject and start sketching them on something like a cocktail napkin. Once he chose you, you were guaranteed to be dead by the next morning.

A break in the case came in 2019 when San Francisco police released an updated sketch of what The Doodler might look like today because police have reason to believe he is still alive and out there.

Kevin Fagan uses his personal investigation and podcast in a unique way here: Early on we get to learn about the victims – who they are, where they’re from, and what life was like for them in San Francisco in the '70s. In many of these instances, the victim's families are hard to track down and it becomes clear that telling their stories is also a way to eke out more information and potential leads.

True crime podcasts have left their mark and there are many reasons for that. It's not every day that we get to participate in an investigation as it unfolds in front of us and in real-time.

If you have any meaningful information to share about the murder of Gerald Kavanaugh, Joseph “Jae” Stevens, Klaus Christmann, Frederick Capin or Harald Gullberg or can share anything about the identity of The Doodler, please call 415-570-9299.

Have a listen and let us know what you think,

Stephen and EvanYour Podcast Delivery crew

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