San Francisco police believe they can connect an unsolved murder to a serial killer who operated in the mid 1970s and has never been caught.
NBC News reported that the police revealed a possible sixth victim of the serial killer known as the “Doodler” because he told a surviving victim that he was a cartoonist. The serial killer is already suspected in the murders of five gay white men between January 1974 and June 1975. On Thursday, police said a sixth victim may be tied to the killer.
It has been 47 years since the first victim was killed, and the potential sixth victim was first identified last year as part of a San Francisco Chronicle series in 2021 that followed cold case detectives Dan Cunningham and Dan Dedet’s investigation of the death of Warren Andrews. Andrews’ death is now believed to be connected to the Doodler.
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) issued a press release updating the public about the case:
In the mid-1970s the San Francisco Police Department investigated several violent assaults of gay, white male victims. As a result of the investigation, at least one victim provided information that led to a forensic sketch of the suspect that was developed in 1975.
At least one of the victims provided information to police that the suspect said he was a cartoonist and the suspect was doodling while conversing with the victim in a late-night diner.
During the same period of time, five victims were found murdered in the Ocean Beach / Golden Gate Park area. As a result of a new investigation, it is believed that Warren Andrews may be the sixth victim of the “Doodler.” On April 27, 1975, Andrews was a victim of an assault at Land’s End. Andrews was found unconscious and never regained consciousness dying several weeks later. All six (6) victims are believed to be Gay Caucasian males.
The press release noted that January 27, 2022 was the 47th anniversary of the Doodler’s first victim and said the department was doubling its reward for information “leading to the identification, apprehension, and conviction of the serial homicide suspect” from $100,000 to $200,000.
NBC noted that “Investigators have spent years trying to identify the killer, who they believe targeted men at gay clubs and restaurants around San Francisco and often had sex with them before he attacked them.” Four of the serial killer’s victims were discovered around Ocean Beach, while a fifth was found at Golden Gate Park. Andrews was attacked just north of Golden Gate Park near Lands End, which is also about 1.5 miles north of Ocean Beach.
Andrews’ murder was connected to the case even though he was bludgeoned with a rock and a tree branch rather than stabbed, like the other victims. Detective Cunningham told the Chronicle that Andrews was still considered one of the serial killer’s victims because of the location of the attack, the time of his death, and his “victimology.”