The Doodler | 6. A Sketch for the Street Cops

Summary

The Binge Crimes: The Doodler | Episode 6: A Sketch for the Street Cops

Host: Sony Music Entertainment

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Introduction to The Doodler

In the mid-1970s, San Francisco's vibrant gay community was terrorized by a serial killer dubbed "The Doodler." Unlike the more notorious Golden State Killer or Ted Bundy, The Doodler's name remains less recognized despite potentially matching the Zodiac Killer's victim count. This episode delves into the complex investigation that ultimately went cold, allowing the perpetrator to evade justice for nearly half a century.

Police Investigation and the Composite Sketch

The investigation into The Doodler gained momentum in late October 1975 when the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) released a composite sketch based on a diplomat's harrowing attack at Fox Plaza earlier that year.

James Andre Boles (00:42): "The San Francisco Chronicle published the sketch in a short story in November 1975 and then again months later... The San Francisco Sentinel, the gay newspaper, published the sketch about a week before the Chronicle."

This strategic release aimed to engage the public in the hunt for the serial murderer, encouraging tips and increasing community vigilance.

Media Involvement and Public Response

The media played a pivotal role in bringing The Doodler's case to the forefront. Publications like the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Sentinel not only disseminated the composite sketch but also highlighted the ongoing threat to the gay community.

Kevin Fagan (00:42): "The Doodler couldn't hide in the shadows anymore. I'm Kevin Fagan from the San Francisco Chronicle... This is the untold story of the Doodler."

By fostering public awareness, the media hoped to generate leads that could break the case open.

The Suspect Arrested and Its Implications

Officer James Andre Boles, fresh from a brief stint in homicide, took an active role in the investigation. In November 1975, he pursued a suspect matching the composite sketch in the Castro District.

Officer (03:01): "I was an officer, driving a black and white with my partner."

Boles apprehended a man carrying a kukri, a curved knife resembling a scimitar, and other incriminating items. While this arrest seemed promising, doubts lingered about the suspect's true identity.

James Andre Boles (07:10): "A kukri is more like a machete than a stabbing knife... But Bowles is remembering this just a little hazily."

Despite the initial evidence, the connection between the suspect and The Doodler remained inconclusive, leading to further investigative pursuits.

Racial and Cultural Context of the Investigation

The SFPD's approach to the case was marred by prevalent racial and sexual prejudices of the 1970s. Profiling and biased attitudes complicated the investigation, particularly when targeting black men.

Officer (07:28): "There are certain guys you get that feeling from... Seldom have I been wrong with that."

Inspectors Rotay and Sanders, who were actively challenging the department's inequities, faced the dilemma of pursuing a suspect within a biased policing environment.

Community Response: The Butterfly Brigade

Frustrated by the lack of effective police protection, the gay community in San Francisco took matters into their own hands by forming the Butterfly Brigade.

Ann Cronenberg (12:57): "We had to come up with our own system of... neighborhood watch... we started the whole whistle movement."

This volunteer group patrolled the Castro District, armed only with whistles and a commitment to safeguard their community. Their efforts provided a sense of security amid growing fears.

Mike Taylor (13:40): "We were armed with whistles, nothing else... Harvey Milk came out on one or two occasions with us."

The Butterfly Brigade's presence served as a deterrent, although The Doodler remained elusive, ensuring his victims were isolated from any protective oversight.

Renewed Leads and Potential Breakthroughs

As the investigation progressed, anonymous tips began to surface, suggesting a potential confession from a psychiatrist's patient.

Dan Cunningham (16:59): "An anonymous woman called twice... provided a license plate of the suspect."

These leads pointed towards Dr. Priest at Highland Hospital, who allegedly had a patient confessing to the murders. However, accessing crucial records proved challenging.

Mike Taylor (19:57): "Highland Hospital is still in operation today... Everything before the 90s had been purged."

The uncertainty surrounding Dr. Priest's identity and the missing records hampered efforts to follow this promising lead.

Challenges in Solving the Case

The investigation into The Doodler was fraught with obstacles, including:

• Broad Suspect Description: The composite sketch was detailed yet vague enough to target a wide range of individuals.

• Racial and Sexual Prejudices: Profiling and biases within the SFPD impeded objective policing.

• Missing Evidence: Essential records from Highland Hospital were unavailable, leaving critical connections unresolved.

James Andre Boles (21:29): "Why didn't Rotea and Earl write down the full name of this psychiatrist? Was Dr. Priest shorthand for something else?"

These factors collectively contributed to the case remaining unsolved, allowing The Doodler to evade capture.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

Despite renewed efforts and compelling leads, The Doodler's identity remains a mystery. The case underscores the complexities of serial killer investigations, especially within marginalized communities facing systemic biases. As the podcast promises, future episodes will delve deeper into the interrogations and potential breakthroughs that could finally bring The Doodler to justice.

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Produced by Sony Music Entertainment in association with The Binge. For more true crime stories, subscribe to The Binge Crimes on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com.

Transcript

[Kevin Fagan]

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[James Andre Boles]

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[Officer]

Fast.

[Kevin Fagan]

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[James Andre Boles]

The Binge.

[Randy Alfred]

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 Binge Feed your true crime obsession.

[James Andre Boles]

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. SFPD released a composite sketch near the end of October 1975 based on a description given by the diplomat who was attacked in Fox Plaza earlier that year. Was this the same man behind the murder of Jay Stevens in Golden Gate Park? Harold Goldberg at Land's End? The multiple murders on Ocean Beach? Police thought so, but they couldn't prove it. Risks aside, publishing the sketch was pivotal. It was an opportunity to enlist the public in an effort to rid San Francisco of a serial murderer. My newspaper, the Chronicle, published the sketch in a short story in November 1975 and then again months later at the bottom of a larger series about sadomasochist culture in the gay community. At the end of that series, the paper made mention of a killer known as the Doodler. The San Francisco Sentinel, the gay newspaper, published the sketch, too, about a week before the Chronicle. This was actually their second big break in the Doodler case. Only a year earlier, they were the first outlet to notice a pattern in the Ocean beach murders. Along with the sketch, they printed a clear and direct message there was a serial killer on the loose and he was targeting came in. Now there was new and desperately needed publicity on the case, and readers had a number to call if they had any information with the sketch. The entire SFPD had a face to look for in the crowd, and queer people had a face to watch for in the bars. The Doodler couldn't hide in the shadows anymore. I'm Kevin Fagan from the San Francisco Chronicle, Ugly Duckling Films and Neon Hub Media. This is the untold story of the Doodler.

[Officer]

I had A picture in my mind of the doodler. There was a flyer out with him.

[James Andre Boles]

This is James Andre Boles.

[Officer]

I was an officer, blue suit, driving a black and white with my partner.

[James Andre Boles]

In November of 1975. Boles was just off a short stint in homicide, but still on the force and still in touch.

[Officer]

Well, San Francisco Homicide, you know, we. We thought it was the best homicide unit on earth. They were working on the doodler at that time. And so I talked to everybody. It was a very, very big topic of discussion.

[James Andre Boles]

Five people had been killed, two more assaulted. And now that there was a composite sketch, it felt like only a matter of time until someone found this guy. Like a lot of cops, James Bowles wanted that someone to be him.

[Officer]

I knew what he looked like, and so I was working alone one night, and so I told my lieutenant, I said, I'm gonna go look for this homicide suspect. And I don't remember calling him the Doodler, but I'm gonna go look for this homicide suspect. I'm gonna go down on foot and see if I can spot them. So I went to 18th and Castro, and I spent the evening there.

[James Andre Boles]

Boles walked around in the Castro trying to envision the doodler. A Black man, about 6ft tall, slight build, around 20 years old, and matching the composite police sketch.

[Officer]

Well, about 9:30, I saw this guy walking down the street, and he fit the description fairly well. He was about the right height, build, and he looked really hinky because his right arm was straight, it didn't bend at the elbow, and he's wearing a long pea coat.

[James Andre Boles]

Bowles jumped into action without another thought. This was his chance.

[Officer]

So I stop him and I say, get up against the wall, because I don't know what he had in that sleeve, but it didn't look right. So I started patting him down. He's got something in his sleeve. And I lowered his arm and said, open your hand. And he did. And it was a sawed off baseball bat. Well, that was the first clue that this guy wasn't real, right? So then I finished patting him down and he's got something down in his pants. So I pull that out. It's a scimitar. It's a curved sword. That's the first and last time I ever stopped a crook. And he was carrying a scimitar.

[James Andre Boles]

Bowles is remembering this just a little hazily. It was actually a kukri, a curved knife that is similar to a scimitar, but not as long as he says he took this suspect back to the police station. Bowles booked him, and when he did, he found another piece of evidence.

[Officer]

I'm not free to discuss specifically what it is publicly, but I found some evidence that made me think that this guy was good for at least one of these murders.

[James Andre Boles]

Was it some sketches?

[Officer]

No, it was something that was it. It was an indication that this guy had been in possession of some stolen property. That, and I can't say for a fact it was stolen. But let's put it this way. Ain't no doubt in my mind that was stolen property.

[James Andre Boles]

Was. Was it from one of the Doodler victims?

[Officer]

Yeah.

[James Andre Boles]

Boles says he passed the evidence and the suspect off to Homicide Inspectors Rotay, Guilford and Earl Sanders. Had he caught the Doodler?

[Officer]

I have some doubts in my mind, but no real strong doubts. Plus, he had some crimes in his history that would match this sort of guy, so he fit my profile. About as tight as anything.

[James Andre Boles]

A kukri is more like a machete than a stabbing knife. Police know a steak knife was used in the diplomat's attack, but no weapon was found at the scene of any of the other Doodler incidents. So this cookery could actually be a viable Doodler weapon. And Bol says this suspect did have a history of arrests.

[Officer]

There are certain guys you get that feeling from. You meet some guys that are just evil to the core. Seldom have I been wrong with that. In fact, I don't think I ever have.

[James Andre Boles]

It's unclear what happened to the cook rebuilder. That piece of evidence Bowles found on him was pretty incriminating. Dan Cunningham told me it was a pawn slip. This guy had sold a wristwatch belonging to the Doodler's fourth known victim, Fred Kappen, but detectives couldn't link it to the murder. The watch was apparently stolen from Kappen's apartment before he was murdered. A few months after Bowles made that arrest, Rotagofer told the San Francisco Sentinel that there were several suspects being looked at. I was able to get Dan Cunningham to tell me that the original case files include 16 suspects. That sketch must have kick started the tip line. I don't have tabs on all of them, but the man James Bowles arrested is one of them. And the others? Some of them shared the Doodler's artistic streak.

[Dan Cunningham]

There's two. At least two police have. We have those photos of sketches they had done.

[James Andre Boles]

Cunningham says at least one man was apprehended for bringing a sketchbook into a gay bar. And there was another man offering to draw sketches of patrons in a Tenderloin bar. He was carrying a butcher knife and a book of drawings. That sounds spot on. So the cops were getting more leads and the case had a new sense of momentum. But casting with such a wide net gets complicated, right? The circumstances of some arrests can get a bit shaky. The composite sketch was detailed, but the suspect description was fairly broad. So any young black man carrying a sketchbook into a bar or even just walking down the street could be stopped. This was the 1970s. Racial and sexual prejudice was explicit in the SFPD, even in the prestigious homicide department. Only one year earlier, the SFPD had been stopping and profiling hundreds of black men during the zebra murder case, a move that the federal court called a civil rights violation. And remember, when Earl and Rotaf first became inspectors, they were held to a different standard by the old boy's atmosphere in the department. I didn't mention that since 1973, they'd been participating in a lawsuit alleging the SFPD was biased against hiring minorities. Earl wrote in his book the Zeber Murders, that at one point a crowd of something like 200 white officers gathered to protest their allegations in that lawsuit. As Earl and Rotea pushed through the crowd, one even threw a racial slur as he called for a contract to be put out on their heads. To which Earl hotly replied, why doesn't the asshole who said that come over here and try to make good on that contract himself? So Inspectors Guilford and Sanders were actively fighting the inequities within the sfpd. Earl's son, Marcus Sanders, told me his father's hunt for a suspect was purely focused on catching the bad guy. But I don't know how they felt about sending that very police force out into the streets to hunt down a black suspect. If they were alive today, we could ask them. I did ask Rottea's widow, Jude, but she said he never discussed his work with her.

[Randy Alfred]

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[James Andre Boles]

The sketch was getting police closer to catching the doodler than they had ever been. But for the regular bar goer, the sketch wasn't going to protect them from another knife attack. The queer community was entirely fed up with the lack of security in their neighborhoods. They had been for a while. Whether it was marauding teenagers throwing bricks from a car window or a serial murderer on the prowl, activist Ann Cronenberg said they took matters into their own hands.

[Ann Cronenberg]

We had to come up with our own system of, you know, kind of like a neighborhood watch or something. It's like take care of ourselves. You know, we started, and this is a little later in the 70s, more like 73, 74, started the whole whistle movement. So everybody, men and women in the gay community, carried a whistle with them, you know, on your keychain, wherever, so that if there was trouble, you could blow the whistle and a community member hopefully would come and help you. Because again, you could not trust the cops for being there.

[James Andre Boles]

By 1976, this coalesced into an organized effort.

[Mike Taylor]

We were called the Butterfly Brigade and we were gay and, you know, the examiner called us vigilantes.

[James Andre Boles]

That's former Sentinel editor Randy Alfred again. He was one of the organizers of the Butterfly Brigade.

[Mike Taylor]

We were armed with whistles, nothing else. And basically we were what was later called a neighborhood watch.

[James Andre Boles]

They wore robes and some carried walkie talkies. They could only afford a few. The Butterfly Brigade was a group of volunteers who actually patrolled the streets in the Castro.

[Mike Taylor]

Harvey Milk came out on one or two occasions with us. He didn't come out on a lot because he didn't want a grandstand. He signed up for a shift like everybody else. He did the full hour and a half watch and we did two watches a night, Friday night and Saturday night.

[James Andre Boles]

It was a huge commitment. The shifts went past 2am some nights. Randy Alford wrote a story about the patrols in the Sentinel and he said when someone yelled slurs from their car, the Butterflies would write down their license plate number and send them a letter just to let them know that records were being kept and sometimes to let a parent know their teenage son was driving around town harassing people. The Butterfly Brigade was pretty small and limited to a few blocks in the Castro, but it did a lot of good. And even the cops seemed to agree the brigade used peaceful intimidation against violent homophobes. The doodler was probably too careful to get caught by the Butterfly Brigade. He made sure his victims were well away from anyone or anything that could protect them.

[Kevin Fagan]

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[James Andre Boles]

As I've said, the publication of the sketch meant a lot more tips were coming in. Many were bogus, but some were intriguing. Earl and Rotea were operating on a hunch. They suspected that the man who attacked the diplomat was the same person killing folks on Ocean Beach. But they didn't have hard evidence to support that connection. All they had were rumors about a sketch artist and a consistent pattern of attack. Until another lead fell into their lap.

[Dan Cunningham]

It was an anonymous call and she gave a very specific name.

[James Andre Boles]

A name Dan Cunningham says the caller claimed that the name she gave was the man in the sketch and that he killed the people down on Ocean Beach.

[Dan Cunningham]

Approximately 10 days later, she called up again, a little upset, apparently agitated because she didn't think anything was getting done and provided a license plate of the suspect.

[James Andre Boles]

This anonymous woman called twice. First with a claim that she knows the man in the sketch. Second with a license plate number to pressure the police into arresting him. Subsequently, did you. Did the department then determine who the woman was and talk to this person of interest?

[Dan Cunningham]

So the investigators at that time start working up an individual that she provided a name for.

[James Andre Boles]

But just because the police got a name doesn't mean they could go kick down that person's door. Like Cunningham says. Inspectors Earl and Rotea had to figure out more about the person named in the anonymous tip before they could pursue him outright. So they put him under police surveillance. Then the phone rang again.

[Dan Cunningham]

Within a short period of time after you got a third phone call from a secretary at a psychiatrist's office saying that the person that committed these beach murders had been seeing the psychiatrist that she works for.

[James Andre Boles]

According to a later Chronicle article, the secretary called less than a week after the anonymous woman. The article references a fourth call, too.

[Dan Cunningham]

The fourth was the actual couple days later, the actual psychiatrist himself.

[James Andre Boles]

The psychiatrist alleged that his patient confessed during therapy. The same person the anonymous woman and the secretary had called about over the past three or four months. This patient had been talking about how he committed the murders on Ocean Beach. Rottea quoted the psychiatrist in the article, saying his patient was the doodler. Beyond any question, the doodler potentially had a name. Was he this therapy patient sitting on a couch, week after week, month after month, confessing to these crimes? We have to know who that patient was. But to figure that out, we have to know first who was the psychiatrist. This is a question Cunningham was looking at, too. He tells me Rotea and Earl's case file only has one line that hints at who the psychiatrist may have been. It says, Dr. Priest, Highland Hospital.

[Mike Taylor]

My experience in the past has been you spend endless hours, and then suddenly one thing you know is the key and it unlocks it.

[James Andre Boles]

That name and that location were things our private investigator, Mike Taylor, could work with. Highland Hospital is still in operation today.

[Mike Taylor]

You know, hope springs eternal.

[James Andre Boles]

So Mike called up the hospital to see what records we could get about a doctor priest who may have worked there in 1975, but nothing. They told him that everything before the 90s had been purged. I tried to get more information out of Cunningham, but he got the same response from Highland Hospital that we did, though he had a few small details that Mike and I could talk through. Dan was saying that yesterday when we were walking around that the psychiatrist had met with the Doodler suspect or person of interest at an actual clinic at Highland Hospital in Oakland back then.

[Mike Taylor]

But there was something about what media at Highland and they had these temporary shacks set up outside the hospital or something like that.

[James Andre Boles]

Yeah, mobile units.

[Mike Taylor]

So I was going to chase that out with somebody I interviewed long ago who was at Highland at the time and just see if the guy's still alive and see if he remembers anything.

[James Andre Boles]

Mike and I have called up every doctor priest who could have been practicing back in 1975, at least the ones we could find, but no luck so far. Why didn't Rotea and Earl write down the full name of this psychiatrist? Was Dr. Priest shorthand for something else? Or is this another matter of missing files?

[Mike Taylor]

A doctor that I talked to a week ago brought this up when I was talking about the psychiatrist at Highland Hospital who might have talked to the Doodler. Whoever that was was probably in his or her 40s. So you'd be looking for someone in his or her 90s now. Good luck. But I don't think they're gonna be around.

[James Andre Boles]

Yeah, really. And good luck having him be a. Or her be a witness, you know.

[Mike Taylor]

Here, Id this person from 45 years ago. Mr. 92 year old doctor. That could be tough.

[James Andre Boles]

In Mike's conversation with the doctor, he also learned that the Highland Hospital files may not have been purged after all. They may be sitting in a storage unit somewhere waiting to be reopened. We've put in a Public Records act request for those files. Even more than the diplomat, this psychiatrist Dr. Priest could have information implicating the Doodler. Back in the 70s he had what every investigator wants. A confession. Next time on the Untold Story of the Doodler. Earl and Rotea interrogate the suspect. What kind of things did he say?

[Dan Cunningham]

You know, I've had other people have done this to before and I enjoy this so your anguish and pain and everything else is something I enjoy type of thing.

[James Andre Boles]

That's next time on the Untold Story of the Doodler.

[Ann Cronenberg]

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[Ann Cronenberg]

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[James Andre Boles]

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's 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 Chloe Chobel and Ryan J. Brown. Our sound designer and composer is Hansdale Suit, our editor is Nick White and our executive editor is Catherine St. Louis. Editorial support from King Kaufman and Tim O' Rourke for the San Francisco Chronicle. Executive producers are Sophia Gibber and Lena Bowsager for Ugly Duckling Films and Jonathan Hirsch for Neon Hum Media.