The San Francisco Police Department has posted its maximum available reward — $250,000 — for information in the "Doodler" murders, a string of six killings that targeted gay men at Ocean Beach in the mid-1970s and have never been solved.

The announcement, made June 10 during Pride Month, revives one of San Francisco's oldest and most painful unsolved serial killing cases. The Doodler preyed on men in the city's gay community over 17 months in 1974 and 1975, and investigators believe two survivors who were present at the time — but feared coming out — may hold the key to identifying a killer who has now evaded justice for five decades.

The San Francisco Police Department's Cold Case Homicide Unit went public June 10 with a renewed plea for tips in the murders of six men killed near Ocean Beach between January 1974 and mid-1975 — and backed it with the largest reward available through its Homicide Reward Fund.

The victims were Gerald Cavanaugh, Frederick Capin, Warren Andrews, Klaus Christmann, Harald Gullberg and Joseph Stephens. All were stabbed, most repeatedly, at or near the beach and surrounding areas. Cavanaugh, the first known victim, was discovered January 27, 1974 after a passerby reported finding a dead body.

Over the following 17 months, five more men were killed in similar fashion. Among them: Capin, a decorated Vietnam veteran who worked as a nurse, and Stephens, a 27-year-old female impersonator and cabaret performer. The victims were connected by more than geography — they frequented the gay social scene that had taken root along Ocean Beach and in the nearby bars that served San Francisco's gay community in an era before the Castro had fully emerged as its center.

The 'Doodler' Gets His Name

The killer earned his moniker through a disturbing habit that police say witnesses described: he would sketch his victims — meet them, draw them — before attacking. According to SFPD, one survivor told police the man claimed to be an art school student hoping to become a cartoonist. That survivor's description helped investigators produce a composite sketch, versions of which have circulated since 1975 and were updated as recently as 2018.

Police say there were at least two people who survived attacks by the same suspect, both assaulted at the Fox Plaza Apartments. One gave investigators enough of a description to produce the composite sketch that remains the closest thing investigators have to a face.

Five Decades Without an Arrest

The case is a window into how law enforcement's relationship with San Francisco's gay community shaped — and in some cases stunted — investigations in that era. SFPD has previously acknowledged that potential witnesses and survivors at the time may have been reluctant to cooperate with police, fearing that doing so would expose their sexuality at a time when that carried enormous personal and professional risk.

Whoever the Doodler is, investigators say he would be in his 60s today — if he's still alive.

SFPD has confirmed its Homicide Detail is actively working the case. The $250,000 reward represents the ceiling for what the department's reward fund can offer, signaling the seriousness with which investigators still view this case. The announcement arriving in June — Pride Month — underscores both the historical weight of the killings and the ongoing gap between the city's LGBTQ identity and its capacity to deliver justice for crimes committed against that community half a century ago.

Anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD's 24-hour tip line at 415-575-4444, or text TIP411 with the keyword SFPD followed by the message.