There were drag marks from this point to where the deceased was found, indicating that an altercation had taken place."
According to the coroner's report, "Approximately 10 feet west of the deceased's feet was a large disturbed area of brush, with a pool of blood. His body was found by a dog walker in Golden Gate Park early one morning in June 1974. Joseph Stevens, a 27-year-old drag queen, was the next to die. There are four other corpses on Cunningham's list. I remember the case," says Cunningham, who in January began wading through the Doodler case files, cross-referencing details with the scant media coverage from the time. There was an apparent defense wound on the left little finger." Cavanagh had been stabbed 16 times. The coroner states that Cavanagh's corpse was, "Lying on the sand, in a supine position. Cavanagh's body was found early one January morning in 1974, lying at the water's edge on Ocean Beach where Golden Gate Park meets the Pacific. According to the coroner's report, he never married. The first of the Doodler's alleged victims to be found was Gerald Cavanagh, a 50-year-old who had worked in a mattress factory. "Two of the bodies were found near where two of my aunts lived," he says. The Vallejo Police Department and mayor's office did not return repeated calls for comment.Īcross the bay, Cunningham, who grew up in San Francisco, remembers the Doodler case from his childhood. Detectives have reportedly sent two letters written by the killer to a crime lab for analysis. At a court appearance in late April he did not enter a plea.Īuthorities in Vallejo, California, also hope DNA technology might now lead them to the Zodiac Killer, who killed at least five people in the Bay Area in the late-1960s. DeAngelo, now 72 years old, is married with children and was living near the scenes of some of his crimes. The suspect, Joseph DeAngelo, was arrested six days after investigators surreptitiously swabbed his car door, collecting a DNA sample that reportedly matched samples gathered at crime scenes decades ago. He's accused of a string of robberies, rapes and killings committed across California in the 1970s and 1980s. The Doodler is one of a number of cold cases now creeping back into the spotlight after a suspect in the so-called Golden State Killer case was arrested in April thanks to advances in DNA technology. "And it was standard procedure then to dry samples thoroughly." Cold cases warm up
"If there's no moisture, there will be no decomposition," says Moses. "We made a lot of effort to collect a lot of blood samples at that time," says Inspector Kenneth Moses, who worked at the lab in the 1970s. The updated sketch will be released, says Cunningham, "once I've got all my ducks in a row." If he's still alive, the Doodler will be in his early 60s.Ĭunningham will also work with the SFPD crime lab, hoping modern forensic technology might manage to extract a usable DNA sample from evidence gathered at two Doodler crime scenes 43 years ago. "But I'd be a fool to say he didn't do more."Ī police artist has updated the sketch: aging the Doodler, drawing him as he might look now.
"I'm looking at five murders," says Cunningham, who recently took charge of the department's cold case unit. In the 1970s, detectives said the Doodler might have butchered as many as 14 people. "I'm waiting to determine if this person is still alive," he says. "I'm working to see if that assault is actually connected to the murders." And Cunningham is now looking for the diplomat. "I'm still connecting the dots," he said. Police at the time were convinced that assailant was the Doodler, but Cunningham is now working to confirm the details. "We have a suspect in the assault that spawned the sketch," Inspector Dan Cunningham says. They gave police descriptions of the Doodler. Three men were assaulted but somehow managed to escape the Doodler's clutches, the lead inspector on the case at the time told reporters: a well-known entertainer, a European diplomat, and a third man who left the city and didn't respond to police calls.