← The Binge Crimes: Cut, Color, Kill
Loading summary
Transcript85 lines
- [00:02]
Advertiser
On WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.
- [00:32]
Narrator
The Binge you're listening to the Doodler, a re release series from the Binge Archives. If you're a subscriber to the Binge, you can listen to all episodes ad free right now. Visit the Binge channel on apple podcasts or getthebinge.com to browse all the great shows on the channel. The feed your true crime obsession. This series contains depictions of violent assault and murder. Listener discretion is advised. Listen to this series carefully and let us know if anything you hear in this show jogs a memory of yours. And if you've got a tip, you can call us at 415-570-9299. Round necks. That was the name San Francisco cops used for cases they considered unsolvable, the kind of cases that would get hung on new investigators. In 1974, two inspectors in the homicide department were famous for actually solving them. Rotea Gilford and Earl Sanders. Rotea wore rimmed glasses. He had attentive eyes and a bright smile. Earl was stout, all muscle and a mustache. Earl and Rotea weren't like the rest of the guys in their department, and not just because they were the only black detectives.
- [01:54]
Marcus Sanders
One thing about Rotea and my dad is they knew people on the street.
- [01:59]
Narrator
That's Earl Sanders son Marcus.
- [02:01]
Marcus Sanders
That was really their secret sauce, because people would tell them things. Rotea told me a story once that we knew more criminals than we knew police because you couldn't solve a homicide in the hall of Justice.
- [02:13]
Narrator
Criminals actually liked Earl and Rotea. They didn't bust people unless they were directly related to a homicide, and that built them trust and connections all over the city.
- [02:24]
Marcus Sanders
His informants were everywhere. He used to have a I remember it was a shoeshine guy that we would go when I was a kid over near the old Regional Joe's. He would take me there for dinner and the guy was in. He said, look, man, let me tell you what I know.
- [02:39]
Narrator
This was especially true in the black communities of San Francisco. People would tell them things they wouldn't tell the white cops. That's how they built a reputation for solving the unsolvable. The Round necks. By the middle of 1975, Patty Hearst was still on the loose, the zebra suspects were on trial, and the zodiac was fading from the headlines. The Doodler case was a year in, but police weren't even calling him the Doodler yet. The murders of Gerald Kavanaugh, Jay Stevens and Klaus Christman looked a lot like round necks. From the San Francisco Chronicle, Ugly duckling films and neon Hum Media. This is the untold story of the doodler. May 12, 1975. Police find another body in the dunes on Ocean Beach, a block from where they found Kavanaugh, stabbed 16 times. Characteristic of a rage killing. The method and location fit a familiar pattern. This victim's fingerprints were in the state records. That's how they identified him as Frederick Kapan, 33 years old, a registered nurse working in the city of St. Joseph's Hospital. The location and method of Fred Kappen's killing weren't new, but investigator Dan Cunningham tells me there was one thing different about this victim.
- [04:14]
Dan Cunningham
It was believed that his body had been moved maybe several yards on the beach after he was killed.
- [04:21]
Narrator
He knows this from the coroner's report. Why would someone move a body several yards?
- [04:27]
Dan Cunningham
It could be a lot of things. Like, could be the surf, or maybe somebody saw it and didn't want it to go out to the. The body to go out to the sea and moved it. Maybe they were putting it in a different location that couldn't be seen off the thoroughfare. It could be a lot of different reasons.
- [04:46]
Narrator
Cunningham and I went to Ocean beach in October of 2020.
- [04:50]
Dan Cunningham
Look at this. Look at this. I mean, you think about it, there's a lot of coverage. The waves of the ocean. There's houses over on 48th, but that's. By the time you hear sounds, you don't know where those sounds are coming from bouncing off the walls here or.
- [05:05]
Narrator
The sand dunes between Yoloa and Vicente Street. The dunes are like a wall of sand separating the ocean from the road. This is around where the body was found. And this bandstand, or whatever the heck.
- [05:19]
Dan Cunningham
It is, that structure right there, that's been there forever.
- [05:22]
Narrator
There's a large concrete platform covered with graffiti. It sticks out from the dunes, kind of like a pier that doesn't quite reach the water. At about 8ft high, it looks like it would provide pretty good cover. I started to think about why Kappen's body had been moved. Is it possible that the killer might have had sex in the dunes or alongside this bandstand or started the attack and then chased him into the flatter area out more open.
- [05:49]
Dan Cunningham
It is possible. I'm not exactly sure where I'm standing at in relationship to where it actually happened, but we're in close proximity I would say.
- [05:58]
Narrator
It seems to me the ocean would be a perfect place to dispose of a body. So why go through the trouble of dragging Fred Kappen into the dunes where he was more likely to be found? The fact that he was dragged might mean that this killing didn't go as planned. And it's weird looking out on this placid beach scene. I'm standing right now where Capen was killed and there's little kids playing in the sand. There's people stretched out on the blanket. There's a gay couple embracing on the ground in front of me. It's all these years later and it's the same beautiful beach scene that it was the with a whole different societal overlay. You got to think, I just. That never leaves my head about this thing. I am absolutely sure no one here having a good time on the beach right at this moment knows the kind of awful things that happened here nearly half a century ago. But I do know what happened and I want answers. Fred Kappen was the Doodler's fourth known victim. And like the others, his crime scene left investigators little but questions. To me this was looking like another round neck.
- [07:17]
Advertiser
Does anyone really know what hormones do? There is so much talk about women's hormonal health. But most women are left even more confused about what it means for them and what to do about it. This confusion ends now. An award winning German nutrition scientist created a powerful herbal formula called Hormone Harmony which which contains 12 powerful adaptogens into one single capsule. Each of these ingredients is carefully selected based on scientific evidence and has been proven effective in clinical studies for women of various ages and hormonal profiles. Happy Mammoth, the company that produces Hormone Harmony is famous for its zero compromise policy. No GMOs, artificial fillers or flavors or any other junk. Only science backed ingredients in amounts that are clinically proven. The company surveyed 1,831 women to see how Hormone Harmony helped them and the results are mind blowing. 86% of women started losing weight, 77% said it improved their mood and 100% said they're feeling like themselves again. Hormone harmony has over 50,000 raving reviews from women all over the world and 98% of them saying they'd gladly recommend it to their friends and family. For limited time. You can get 15% off your entire first order@happy mammoth.com just use the code happy15 at checkout. This episode is brought to you by JCPenney. And if you've been to JCPenney recently. Yes, JCPenney, you'll know it's becoming the way to find good clothes for prices that still make sense. They've got hidden gems for everyone and every budget with deals and rewards that actually make a dentist. If you already shop JCPenney, you feel like you know a secret. But if not, it's time to ask. Wait, am I sleeping on JCPenney? Shopjcpenney.com, yes, JCPenney.
- [09:15]
Narrator
By 1975, homicide inspectors Rattea, Guilford and Earl Sanders had been partners for four years. In that time, they'd become best friends and they'd help solve the Zebra killings and some of the city's other big cases. Former inspector Frank Falzone. They were very competent investigators. I'll tell you one thing. They both loved the overtime, so they put in long hours. Rotea was a rising star. He had been an inspector since 1964. In fact, he was the first black inspector in any department of the sfpd. And that had come with some perks. Rotea was always on the security detail when Martin Luther King came to town. That's Jude Guilford, Rotea's wife. She sent me a picture of Rottea grinning behind Martin Luther King Jr. Meanwhile, Rotea wasn't allowed to drive a patrol car like the other detectives. He could be a passenger, but he couldn't drive. And they told him it was because the insurance rates would go up if black officers were driving the police cars. It was among the many racist slights that Rotea put up with his partner. Earl later described the SFPD as an Irish old boys club. But Rottea broke that barrier, too. Rottea was the first black homicide detective, and he was going to be the first black chief. Falzon was a young gun and homicide back then, and he looked up to Rotea. He was sharp as a tack. The way he dressed, the way he spoke. He was definitely a leader. And in those days, Earl was the follower. When Rotea was promoted to homicide inspector in 1971, he was allowed to choose his own partner. He picked a 33 year old patrolman named Earl Sanders, making him the second black homicide inspector in the history of the SFPD. Rotea was 10 years older than Earl and had been his mentor since he joined the force. On their first day in homicide, they weren't even given a desk. The two of them had to haul one from an unoccupied office to the fourth floor of the hall of Justice. In spite of the hostile work environment, Earl and Rotea became two of the most successful inspectors in the Homicide department. Two streetwise detectives you did not want to mess with. Former SWAT sergeant Bob Del Torre says they were admired by the street cops too.
- [11:40]
Bob Del Torre
I don't know the percentage, but it seemed like 90% of the time they solved not only those two, but others in the unit solved the murders. Both those guys were snappy. Even if they show up at 3 in the morning, they'd be all decked out. They always were in a suit and there was a presence like, oh, here they are, man, homicide's here.
- [12:02]
Narrator
Rote Guilford wore a three piece suit and a matching tie. Earl Sanders was just as well dressed in his blazer and pants and he wore a classy fedora to match his suit.
- [12:13]
Bob Del Torre
They would come up to the scene, always super polite, really respectful to the, you know, the patrol officers on the street. And they were right to the point, you know, here's what we need. We want you guys to preserve the crime scene. Track down any witnesses for us if you can, get statements, preserve the evidence.
- [12:35]
Narrator
And yes, sir, as the only black inspectors at the time, they may have felt they had to be extra nice. Nevertheless, Earl and Rotea had a reputation for respecting everyone, regardless of who they were.
- [12:47]
Bob Del Torre
They talked to everybody, everybody. It didn't make a difference who the victim was. It was a homicide.
- [12:53]
Narrator
They were not your average cops. They were more connected to the people of San Francisco. A lot of San Francisco inspectors did not live in the city. They were not part of their community. Jude Guilford told me that Rotea was very involved in his community. He spent his free time coaching baseball and basketball and raising money for community campaigns. He always lived in his community and he shopped and he went to restaurants and he, you know, those are the people that he associated with. San Francisco at that time had a vibrant black population. That's former Mayor Willie Brown. He was a state assemblyman back then with restaurants and nightclubs and active churches and active social organizations, all of which Rotea was exposed to. Rotea and Earl knew the streets of San Francisco as well as anyone else in that homicide detail. They worked well together because they were kind of opposites. He particularly didn't mess with Earl. Roteo was not as forceful as Earl, but Earl was very forceful. Marcus Sanders heard some crazy stories growing up. Gallows humor. One time, Earl and Rotea pulled up to a murder scene on the top.
- [14:14]
Marcus Sanders
Of a hill and Rotea stepped out of the car and rolled down the hill. And he rolls up against the dead body. And my dancer was yelling down, Roteus. He said, well, are you okay? Roteus said, no, I'm, I'm fine, but this guy down here is dead.
- [14:35]
Narrator
In mid-1975, inspectors Guilford and Sanders were assigned a set of old cases potentially linked. A handful of gay men murdered out on Ocean beach and one in Golden Gate Park. Lots of similarities, but few leads. Some of the murders were over a year old. With thin evidence and no suspects. Earl and Motea's reputation for solving the unsolvable was. Was about to be put to the test. And they were determined, even if it meant going places where police weren't welcome.
- [15:06]
Ron Huberman
A lot of the guys on Polk were very uptight about a cop being in the bar.
- [15:10]
Narrator
Ron Huberman was a teacher back in 75 and a regular in the Tenderloin and Polk street bars. He later connected with Earl and Rotea when he became the first openly gay investigator for the District attorney.
- [15:22]
Ron Huberman
Rotea was really, really good at interacting with people, and he was what I call a smooth cookie. Reteo did a lot of outreach to the gay community. Reteo was the easiest one for me to introduce.
- [15:35]
Narrator
Earl Sanders was a slightly harder sell.
- [15:37]
Ron Huberman
He was the bulldog. He was a little shorter, but he was like a fire plug. And if they walked in, the people in the bar thought it was a raid. And so, you know, I found the hard way that you can't go in to the bar with cops that look like that.
- [15:50]
Narrator
Earl and Rotea needed to make inroads at several different bars across town. Jay Stevens was last seen at the Cabaret Club. Klaus Christman was at Bojango's Club and perhaps the Shed. What had the cops been missing up to this point?
- [16:04]
Ron Huberman
Rottea Gilford was the kind of guy that could make people talk.
- [16:07]
Narrator
Ron Huberman says there was a very active rumor mill among the bartenders on Polk street and in the Tenderloin.
- [16:13]
Ron Huberman
Everybody would give these rumors because, you know, you always had to have like a sixth sense about people in the bar that were there for nefarious reasons. They were there to rob people. They were there to steal coats. You know, every, every type of crime that you can imagine that can happen in a bar happened in those bars.
- [16:30]
Narrator
It was a kind of defense mechanism the gay community developed with all the dangers around them. They had to know what was going on. Ron Huberman specifically remembers a bartender at the New Bell Saloon named Wayne Friday, the kind of guy who had the inside scoop on everything. He became a gossip columnist years later. Anyway, Wayne knew Jay Stevens. He's the one who told Ron about Jay's disappearance when it happened and how Jay's friends were worried. It wasn't long after that that Wayne heard a new rumor about the man who killed Jay.
- [17:01]
Ron Huberman
From what I heard from Wayne, that this guy would doodle on the napkin and then show the his perspective, you know, victim the picture and say, look, look at this is you. And it just sucks people in. And he was good. I mean, I never saw his work, but from what the rumor was, he could do a representation.
- [17:21]
Narrator
The gay community was buzzing with rumors about this killer, this doodler in their midst.
- [17:27]
Ron Huberman
It put the shivers to everybody on Poke. I mean, everybody heard about it and nobody had any substance.
- [17:33]
Narrator
Earl and Rotea went to the gay bars. They listened to these theories, even if they were mostly rumors. Doodling is a form of flirtation and then seduction to lure someone into a trap. It made sense he was playing on their vanity.
- [17:49]
Ron Huberman
They are being flattered on the fact that he's making a picture of them. And it put their defenses, their usual defenses, right out the window.
- [17:58]
Narrator
The rumor mill. Bartenders like Wayne passing this story around. Tips that Sanders and Guilford scraped up. That's how the name the Doodler came about. Foreign. I've got a level with you here. We don't know for sure who first coined the name the Doodler. It could be Wayne Friday. It could be Earl Sanders or Rattea Guilford. It could be a newspaper editor who wanted a catchy headline. Nobody alive has taken credit. No doodles were left at the crime scenes. However it came about, the name stuck. It's the one the cops started using. There's a lot of hearsay in this case. As Marcus Sanders says Rotaya Guilford was not big on taking notes.
- [18:46]
Marcus Sanders
If he didn't write it down. Now that information is gone.
- [18:50]
Narrator
Dan Cunningham shares new details in a trickle, one drop after the other. I've had to be patient. But in the meantime, there are other ways to learn about the Doodler. This episode is brought to you by Liquid iv. In heart pumping moments, you need hydration that can keep up. That's where Liquid IV comes in. Scientifically formulated to quickly replenish electrolytes and fluids lost from your well earned sweat session. Hydrate your favorite mode of movement with Liquid iv. Made with triple the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins and nutrients also available and sugar free tear pour live breath more. Visit liquidiv.com to learn more. Amazon One Medical presents painful thoughts.
- [19:34]
Advertiser
I've been on hold to make a doctor's appointment for 23 minutes now. The automated voice has told me 47 times that my call is very important to them. I'm starting to think that they don't think my call is important at all.
- [19:49]
Narrator
With Amazon One Medical 24. 7 Virtual Care, you'll get help fast without having to remain on the line to make an appointment. Amazon One Medical Healthcare just got less painful. Yo. Hey, it's me. Mike Taylor's been going down every avenue he can to find people connected to the Doodler's suspected victims. And that goes for the Doodler's fourth victim, Fred Kappen. I called a contact who was retired State Department, and eventually, you know, I got in touch with this person and he showed me the various databases to look at things, but it doesn't, you know, we can't solve the crime in 54 minutes. Mike's gone as far as emailing and calling people who he thinks lived in Fred's apartment building 45 years ago, but he hasn't been getting any replies from anyone. Mike's good at his job, but he can't force people to talk to us. And when you're dredging out a mystery as old as this one, it's a lot of luck and a lot of patience. Last night, I found a niece of Capen and I emailed her, and she actually emailed back. She said her mother was Fred Kapan's sister Gretchen, who passed away a few years ago. So I sent her an email saying, you know, let's talk, and here's what we'd like to know. So, like, anything in this case, we'll just see if she actually follows through. I don't hold out hope. I give it 50 50. Her name is Debbie Wright, and it turns out that 5050 was a good bet. She is more than willing. She put us in contact with her half brother, Marty Johnson, too.
- [21:29]
Marty Johnson
The only thing I knew all my years growing up is Uncle Fred was murdered in San Francisco and nobody knew why or how or anything.
- [21:40]
Narrator
Marty Johnson was just a year old when his Uncle Fred was killed. As an adult, he found out the truth about his uncle's death, but not from his family.
- [21:49]
Marty Johnson
One day I was just, you know, you get bored, you look around on the Internet and I looked up my uncle's name and that article came up, and I read it. I'm like, wow, that's how it all happened.
- [22:03]
Debbie Wright
All I knew as a child was that he was murdered in San Francisco.
- [22:13]
Narrator
That's Debbie Wright, Fred's niece, and that.
- [22:15]
Debbie Wright
His body was dumped on a beach. What I didn't realize was the doodler was an artist. I find that a little bit interesting because my uncle was an artist as well.
- [22:27]
Narrator
Debbie remembers hearing her mom say that Fred's art was hanging in a bar somewhere in Seattle. But that was some years ago, and.
- [22:34]
Marty Johnson
It was beautiful stuff. We painted some portraits, you know, nature scenes and stuff. He was an artist from, like, you wouldn't believe it.
- [22:43]
Narrator
Both relatives told us that Fred and his sister Gretchen were really close growing up. Hardship had bonded them.
- [22:50]
Debbie Wright
They grew up in a. In a kind of a tough situation.
- [22:54]
Marty Johnson
It was a classical, dysfunctional family. My grandfather and grandmother. They liked to party, they drank. There was times where my mom and him would go into foster care, in and out of foster care.
- [23:16]
Narrator
They moved around a lot too.
- [23:18]
Debbie Wright
They lived in Spokane, they lived in the Seattle area. They lived in Gig Harbor, Bremerton.
- [23:26]
Narrator
Debbie and Marty painted a picture of an unstable household, one where children were an afterthought. But Fred and his sister had each other.
- [23:34]
Marty Johnson
My mom and Fred were like the best friend. They were always, if you saw one, there was the other one.
- [23:39]
Narrator
As they grew older, they became more adventurous. They were troublemakers, always going out and drinking and hiking. It was a way to escape the chaos at home. Once Fred's mother attacked him.
- [23:51]
Marty Johnson
One One horrific incident is my grandmother took a beer bottle across his face, smacked him with a beer bottle, and he got a scar on his face from it.
- [24:03]
Narrator
Fred was abused by his mother and his father, and as happens, he pulled away from them. Eventually, he left home to join the military.
- [24:11]
Marty Johnson
He was a medic. He was a corpsman in the Navy and he was attached to a Marine unit. He was a war hero. He saved like three guys. He drug them like three miles under enemy fire and stuff to take them to the aid station.
- [24:26]
Narrator
Mike and I did some digging, and it turns out Kappen actually saved four Marines, not three. According to a Bremerton sun story from the mid-60s, Kappen was waiting with a Marine unit about to spring an ambush, when all hell broke loose. 5 VC walked right into the trap and we opened fire, Cappen said. The VC took cover and we fought all night. Four Marines were wounded beyond their line of fire. Fred Kappen crawled out and took care of them until he could clear the Viet Cong and they could be evacuated by helicopter. In the chaos, one of the Marines guns accidentally went off and the bullet shattered a bone in Kappen's left leg. Debbie still has Fred's Navy medals.
- [25:08]
Debbie Wright
I'm looking. He's got 1, 2, 3, 4 medals, and he's got. I don't know what these bar things are. This is embarrassing. I should know this, but he's got like five of them. And then they've got lots of little pins on them.
- [25:24]
Narrator
She sent us a picture of them. Most of them are service medals. They show that Fred served in three military campaigns in Vietnam. But the one in the middle, a green ribbon with white stripes pinned with a V, was the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor. It's an award Fred could only have received if he took extraordinary action in the line of duty. Fred was a war hero. And here's a detail in that yellowed Bremerton clipping that made my breath skip. The photo with the story shows Fred recuperating with his shattered leg propped up. And this artist, who was later murdered by an artist is carefully painting a picture with a brush. Fred Kappen left the military after four years of service. Of course, he wasn't an out gay man in the military back then. That could get you drummed out with a dishonorable discharge. And every indication from Marty and Debbie is that his family wasn't so accepting of it either.
- [26:25]
Marty Johnson
He was a flamboyant guy. From what my dad said, being gay back in those days, that was like a big deal. You know, when he came out as gay, maybe the family members didn't care for that and they kind of, you know, like, pushed him away.
- [26:48]
Debbie Wright
My granddad died before I was born, but I imagine that it was not taken well. I think in many ways also, my uncle probably didn't feel like he fit in and probably went to California to escape.
- [27:11]
Narrator
Fred came to San Francisco to become a nurse, and he did eventually. In the winter of 1975, Fred's sister reached out about a visit.
- [27:21]
Marty Johnson
We were going to go down there and visit him in San Francisco. And he said, wait, don't come down here. It's getting dangerous down here. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go up north and I'm gonna go relocate to Washington.
- [27:36]
Narrator
Maybe it was the gay bashings or maybe it was the rumors about the doodler that put the fear into him. But Fred never made it to Washington.
- [27:44]
Marty Johnson
And then before you know it, my mom got a visit from the police or whatever, saying that they found Fred and everything else.
- [27:54]
Narrator
For Fred's niece, this topic is still painful. That's how it's been for all of the victim's families. It's why so many don't want to talk about it.
- [28:04]
Debbie Wright
He had a hard life, but he was a good man. I just want my uncle to be remembered for the good that he did and not to be remembered for the circumstances under which he was killed.
- [28:28]
Narrator
I wonder if the Doodler knows that he killed a nurse, a Vietnam veteran, a war hero. I wonder if knowing any of that would have made a difference to him. On the next episode, the Doodler takes a risk and makes his first big mistake.
- [28:47]
Dan Cunningham
I think it was after July of 1975, when you had two people that.
- [28:52]
Narrator
Actually survived an attack and one of them is still alive today. You talked to the diplomat, right?
- [29:00]
Dan Cunningham
I've talked to that victim, yes.
- [29:03]
Narrator
Does he want to come forward? That's next time on the Untold Story of the Doodler.
- [29:18]
Advertiser
This message is sponsored by Greenlight. With school out, summer is the perfect time to teach our kids real world money skills they'll use forever. Greenlight is a debit card and the number one family finance and safety app used by millions of families, helping kids learn how to save, invest and spend wisely. Parents can send their kids money and track their spending and saving while kids build money, confidence and skills in fun ways. Start your risk free Greenlight trial today@greenlight.com Spotify that's greenlight.com Spotify.
- [29:48]
Narrator
The Doodler is created by the San Francisco Chronicle and Ugly Duckling Films and produced in association with Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment. It is reported by Me, the host, Kevin Fagan and Mike Taylor. Produced and written by Tanner Robbins. Natalie Wren is our co producer and Odelia Rubin our supervising producer. Associate producers are Bennett Purser, Chloe Chobel and Ryan J. Brown. Our sound designer and composer is Hansdale sue. Our editor is Nick White and our executive editor is Kathryn St. Louis. Editorial support from King Kaufman and Tim O' Rourke for the San Francisco Chronicle. Executive producers are Sophia Gibber and Lena Bowseger for Ugly Duckling Films and Jonathan Hirsch for Neon Hum Media.