David Carpenter: The Trailside Killer (Part 1) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. [Music] Hi. We were just talking about Dinda
Medley from uh New York Housewives. always in forever. Uh cuz I'm watching the old episodes on they're so fun.
They're constant in my house. If we don't know what to watch, we just put that on and disassoc New York
housewives. Jules Forever. Jules should have gotten Jules should have gotten when more. I was going to say way more
and then I said many. So many more seasons. She should have. I loved her. I liked her personality. She was great.
Yeah. Yeah. Carol, I didn't like her husband, but I liked her. No. And that's why she should have stayed on because
they ended up divorcing and I'm pretty sure she like might have um He got his Yeah. Which like nobody should Nobody
should hit anyone. No, it's probably not. No, don't hit people. Yeah, don't do that. Did she hit him? I think there
was some allegations. I will say I'm not saying that I know what happened, but there was a little bit of allegations.
So like keep your hands to yourself. But Well, anyway, he was a turd. Yeah. How How do you soo away from that? How
do you get out of that? How do you Where do we go from here? Anywhere, baby? I I've had like not enough and too
much coffee all at the same time today. I haven't had enough cuz for some reason
last night I couldn't fall asleep, which I I rarely have trouble falling asleep.
I'm usually a hit the pillow kind of gal. I know. Uh it just I don't know. There's nothing really going on that's
like keeping me up at night, you know? Like maybe it's cuz like we got some sickies in my house and I think I'm just
on high alert. Oh my god, your kids are sick again. Oh my god, they're actually on the mend. Everybody John's on the
mend as well. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Isn't that such a fun thing to
say? It is. I like that. It's good cuz it's just it's very aggressive. It's so aggressive. Yeah, I like that. I like
being aggressive sometimes. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. But yeah, everything's, you know, things are
things are here. You know, spring is is springing in in New England. It is. I'm I'm about to plant a little bit. I
actually I'm, you know, my witchy class, we planted um we got to pick what flower
we wanted to do and we did like a little um Oara celebration. Oh, cute. And I planted a little moonflower and it's
starting to bloom. Yeah. I love that. So, what we did was we got like a little pot and we painted it and then you put a
little um affirmation or like wish in the jar and in the pot and you put the soil over it and then you planted it.
So, like your It's like as the flower grows like your wish is growing. Oh, I really dig that. Yeah, my wish is
growing everywhere. I dig that a lot. Do you know what flower Sabrina picked? I don't I She might have picked a
moonflower. I feel like she would have I feel like that's very Yeah. Me and my girly Sabrina from Two Girls One Ghost
are taking the class together. Go listen to Two Girls, One Ghost, too. They're awesome. They're really great. What are
you doing if you're not listening to Two Girls One? You got to go listen to them.
Don't be an idiot. They're a great podcast and great ladies. Put two girls, one ghost in your pipe and smoke it.
There you go. I like that. Aggressively supporting our friends. Aggressively. Oh, you know, I think I'm tired. You're
like, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I don't know. No, you just said you didn't have enough caffeine,
but too much all at once. That's what I said. So, that was different. Yeah. Um, we Yeah, I don't think we have a whole
lot more business to attend to. I can't really think of anything. And I'm trying
to think of any fun life updates that some people will will like to hear, but what's going on? I know there's some
people that are like, just get to the [ __ ] case. Yeah, I don't really have I don't really have much life going on
right now. It's really only it's if I have exciting things, I like to say it. But it's like we said spring was coming,
but it's also sort of that weird transitional transitional period. Yeah. So, it's like spring is coming, but also
it's [ __ ] cold, so you can't do much yet. Yeah. But it's not super cold. It's like that we're getting into that place
where we're in the 50s now, which is New England summer, and that feels so everybody's wearing shorts and t-shirts.
Not me. That's for me. You go outside and it's shorts and t-shirts. Drew is fully in his shorts mode, which is fun.
So, we're almost there. Yeah. Um, we are going to cover this is going to be a two-parter because it's a little intense
and it's there's a lot. This is somebody who kind of got like swept under the wave of serial killers that
were in the Los Angeles, you know, that area. San Francisco, that kind of area in California in the 60s and 70s. Kind
of like what you were saying when you when we talked about Herbert Mullen. Exactly. I'm kind of hitting that wave
of these killers and a lot of them got swept under each other because there were other bigger ones, I guess, like
bigger, you know, uh, victim counts or like more, for some reason, some got more like coverage than others, which is
a little wild to me because they're all awful, equally gnarly. It's just what the media wants to cover. It's very
strange like you just don't know what people latch on to in the media. But uh we are going to cover David Carpenter,
the trailside killer. Oh. Uh we have covered other quote unquote trailside killers. This is not the same. So don't
worry. Uh but even I looked at it and I was like we've covered somebody who would like do this on like trails, but I
think we briefly talked about crime countdown. Exactly. Which sometimes throws me off. Yeah. Uh but David
Carpenter is really rough. Uh trigger warning. He is like a sexual satist. He's He sucks. Uh he sucks a lot. Um and
we're going to be talking about like some rough stuff, so just so you know. But again, we're going to break it into
two parts. Yeah. So you can kind of just like, you know, absorb all the information in small doses. Um so again,
we're talking about the 60s and 70s, you know, from Los Angeles to San Francisco. At this point, Californians
were literally terrorized. like I was saying by multiple killers. You know, we're talking about the Zodiac Killer,
the Hillside Stranglers, Herbert Mullen, Ed Keer. All of them were in different parts, but like near each other around
the same time. And the decade between the 60s and 70s definitely ended with a lot of these killers either just
disappearing, Zodiac, Yep. or being apprehended. Uh but the terror and the near constant threat of violence and
murder was kind of just simply moving north at this point. So David Carpenter terrorized Point Reyes in Santa Cruz
County for a decade, which is where Santa Cruz is where Herbert Mullen was also hanging out a lot, right? Um he
assaulted, he kidnapped, and he killed at least eight people and he was suspected of more. Wow. Yeah. Now, who
is David Carpenter? Tell me. because unfortunately we got to know who this dumb [ __ ] is. So David Joseph Carpenter
was born May 6th, 1930 in San Francisco. He was born to Lwood and Francis Carpenter. Lwood. Um Lwood. Yeah. Close.
Um neither all both of them suck. Uh so I'm just going to say that right up front. Don't get attached to either of
them. I won't. Um they were a postal worker and a homemaker. Uh by his own accounts, his early life was quote
unquote hellish. um due in large part, according to him, by what he described as his mother's
quote unloving, inflexible, and exceedingly doineering stance. Damn. According to Carpenter himself, uh his
unhappy home life and constant fighting between his parents led his father um to
move out for a year while David was 14 years old, leaving David and his sister an alone with his mother. That's a rough
time for your dad to move out. I mean, it's always a pretty rough time for your dad to move out. feel that. But like I
feel like that would be rough no matter what. So the biggest issue that was affecting his relationship with his
parents was and this is this is sad again feel bad for the child. It was his pronounced stutter that he had which he
developed at a very early age. Uh one probation officer later wrote quote his parents and siblings were not fond of
him at all being somewhat ashamed of his speech impediment. What the [ __ ] Yeah,
they're just pieces of [ __ ] Yeah, don't help him with that at all or anything.
On top of this, David also had really bad eyesight and was left-handed. Both of these things were viewed by his
mother as being failings. The work of the devil. Yeah. Just complete failings. I love that being left-handed is a fail.
Yeah. That's like what? Wow. That's like kind of cool. Yeah. That's different, man. Yeah. But even seeing what she
deemed to be big issues and failings, Francis refused to seek treatment for her son's developmental problems, uh
choosing instead to address the problem in the home with very aggressive discipline. Oh. Cuz that always works.
No, it doesn't. That doesn't turn people into angry adults. That's totally fine.
Uh when those attempts strangely failed, uh Francis made a series of appointments
finally at the University of California Medical Center, which when I first read this, I said, "Okay." But then the day
of the appointments would arrive and she would drive to the hospital, sometimes get as far as the door, and then just
turn around and go home. That's a waste of time. And whenever she was asked about the missed appointment, she would
just blame him. Oh, okay. But she was just like blame the child and didn't want to do it. Neglectful. Yeah. So
while Francis was, you know, she was verbally abusive, she was emotionally abusive towards David, she was also
known to be very physically abusive, like very physically abusive. According to Ivonne Kerry, who grew up a few
houses down from the Carpenters, she said it was common knowledge in the neighborhood that Francis Carpenter was
abusing her children. At times, it would be so bad that they would have to be kept out of school for a day or two. Oh
my god. Yeah. Um, she later recalled, "Then when he would come back, meaning David, he would be covered with bruises
from head to toe. He wore short pants so you could see the black and blue marks on his legs as well as painful welts on
his arms and face." It's crazy that back then, like that didn't cause anybody to
like was CPS even a thing back then? I don't think it I think it was literally like I mean this is the 50s so I think
it's fine to beat the [ __ ] out of your kids. It's just expected like keep them
in line. Oh my god. the point where they have to beat your kids ever and then to
the point where they have welts and bruises. Like, oh my god. Also, again, you have to be a literal sociopathic
monster to hit a child to harm a child like that. You simply do and I will take no arguments to the like I just No. I
mean, I will never understand that kind of behavior with a child. I will never understand it. Nope. I just won't. And
especially like in the 50s it's like oh yeah, that was just like the thing. Okay, cool. That was the thing. You
still have to be a [ __ ] monster to be able to do that to a child. Well, and it's like I think people get confused
because it's like in the 50s like spankings were normal and like hitting your, you know, like using a belt even
that is [ __ ] awful. But this is like beating and literally like punching a child in the face. That shouldn't have
been normal for the 50s. It definitely shouldn't have been, but I don't think it was I think it was one of those
things. People just looked the other way. Yeah. And it was So it wasn't just his mother. Carpenter said that Elwood
was equally distant and abusive when it came to David. But his abuse was mostly verbal. Okay. I mean, still that's
awful. Decades later, when he was evaluated by psychiatrists, David would minimize the abuse he suffered from his
father. Huh. And he would focus instead on his mother as the instigator of all his problems. I mean, she was beating
the [ __ ] out of them. Sounds like she was [ __ ] terrible. It sounds like the dad was [ __ ] terrible, too. Now, if
David's home life was hellish, his experience at school was not much better. Um, he was very intelligent and
very capable of doing well in school, but if you're dealing with that at home as a child, I'm sure that is difficult.
Yeah. Uh, his teachers struggled to work with him. Um, they said he was largely disengaged, which of course he was. Sure
he was. Um, one teacher said, "I tried and tried and I just couldn't get through to him." That's sad. David's
stutter and his poor social skills made him a frequent target for bullying. And he endured years of physical and
emotional torment from his peers. People suck. Yeah. And again, you can feel bad
for the child. No child deserves to go through that. No. Um and it also teaches you like not that this is like people go
through [ __ ] like that and they come out and they're good people and they don't
do this. You know what I mean? Like I'm not saying this is the like you do that then that's cause and effect. But you
can see how but you can also sit there and go maybe I shouldn't treat people like [ __ ] Like do think about it the
next time that you want to like ruthlessly bully someone because this guy like if they are slightly unstable,
if there's something slightly off chemically, then you have just lit the match. And it's like just don't treat
people like [ __ ] It's just a weird thing to do anyway. Like I just don't bully people. If you're a bully, go [ __ ]
yourself. Like honestly, if you're like if you're a bully out in life, if you're
a bully in your job, if you're a bully on the internet, go [ __ ] yourself. Like
you're going to get what you deserve. I agree. Like this is just like I don't understand treating people like this.
Unhappy people treat people that way. Yeah. And often times it's easier to see that as you grow older. I think like
kids just don't see that. No, you just you kids automatically think it's my fault. What did I do? What's wrong with
me? But it's like damn, just don't you get the people I'm awesome. Exactly. like let's go. Yeah. So, in one
evaluation written by Dr. Ralph Ellison, um a psychiatrist, he wrote, "At school,
he was always made fun of because of the stammer and inability to get answers out
even though he was brighter than most children in the school. And additionally, it looks like David's kind
of like unusual and disturbing behavior sometimes made him a target because he would also do things because again, he's
doing he's being abused at home, so there's going to be some emotional issues here. He would regularly do
things like pull the wings off of flies to try to shock kids. And if a kid is doing that to something smaller than
him, that is a big red flag. But again, we're in the 50s. So that's just boys being boys. That's
just boys being boys. Now, on the rare occasion that David would make a friend in school or in the neighborhood,
Francis, his mother, would inevitably interfere in the relationship, not allowing any children in the house or
putting very strict time limits on her son's socialization with other kids. The [ __ ] It's like you don't want them at
home. Well, that's what I never get with these kind of parents. It's like, so you're abusing your kid. You clearly
don't like them. You don't like being a parent. You don't like the responsibility of being a parent, but
then you like won't allow that kid to go out of your respons like like So you're not responsible. Yeah. But
instead you that that to me shows that you are a like you're a monster that just likes hurting this child. It's not
that you are not capable of being a big it's like you are just you're getting enjoyment out of it. You are evil and
you just enjoy hurting something smaller than you and it's like and you should be
[ __ ] locked up. So David's friend Robert Gorabek said Francis and Elwood had lain down specific rules. It was
like you had to make an appointment before you could go over and see him. The [ __ ] Instead, Francis would make
sure to fill David's afternoons. Um, she signed him up for violin and ballet lessons, which at this time made him a
bigger target for bullying because we're in the 50s again. And these are seen as
two very unmasculine activities to do. Would you almost wonder if that was like another layer of her cruelty? Yeah. I
mean, putting him in ballet in the ' 50s was pretty cruel. putting your kids in ballet now. [ __ ] yeah. Everybody put
everybody in ballet back then. But like everybody had it had a uh it just we're in the 50s where masculinity is looked
at in a very different way. Yes. And it's like that's he's going to be targeted and you know that. And if he's
not passionate about ballet, which it doesn't sound like he was, then you're really doing a detriment here. It's like
if he's passionate about ballet, then yeah, like otherwise it's okay. But you're just doing this to kind of like
get him one out of your hair, but making sure he's not doing something that fulfills or him or makes him happy.
Yeah. While he's out of your hair, y which is like another layer of [ __ ] up. Now, these were exacerbated by how
she would dress him as well. She would make him dress in like very formal outfits.
um his friend there said they always dressed him up like some fancy pants and the kids on the block were always
pounding the hell out of him which is so shitty cuz it's like he's obviously not
choosing this. No. And it's just like [ __ ] a dude. This woman has a strange pathology. Yeah, it's true. And it's
just like God just stop being mean to people. Now obviously due to a variety of factors David struggled to develop
positive social skills. You don't say. and developed a reputation for now inappropriate and cruel behavior because
he's also being shown cruel behavior. You show a child cruel behavior, they will then show others cruel behavior.
That is cause and effect. Like that just is so unable to bond with boys his own age cuz that wasn't working. David would
socialize with the girls in the neighborhood. They were often in the beginning very sympathetic and like pied
him a little bit and were like, "You know what? let's just like try to help him out, you know, just girls being
girls. Girls being like, "Come on, take care of you." Yeah. But while the neighborhood girls were definitely more
patient with him, even their sympathy had limits, obviously. Yeah. Everybody does. One girl recalled, "He usually had
my sympathy, but then he'd do something cruel, like twisting the head off of some girl's doll, and he'd get that
stupid smile on his face like it was a prank." So, it's like he's doing things like that and they're like, "Dude, we're
trying to help you out." And you're like, "Not Yeah. like don't [ __ ] with my dolls. Like I feel like he's
acting out like a typical boy. He thinks like taking the head off a doll or like
you know doing some kind of prank like that. But it's like not cuz he's not been socialized to know what is of his
age. You know what I mean? What a typical prank of his age is. Well, and if you're ripping the heads off of
dolls, that's like alone. That's one thing. Like that's an very annoying boy thing to do. But if it goes hand inhand
with you also pulling the wings off flies, I'm going to be a little scared of you. Yes, exactly. You know, now his
and it gets and it started getting worse because his cruel and inappropriate behavior started getting increasingly
sexual in nature. I had a feeling that was coming and soon he found that the girls around him were perfect targets or
um years later he told psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Allison, "I pulled down a little girl's pants for the first time when I
was 8 years old." Oh, Christ. Eight years old. That's a baby. Mhm. In Allison's estimation, by the time he was
10 years old, David had quote learned to take out his anger sexually. And that was by the time he was 10.
Yeah. Which would eventually become one of the driving forces of his personality
as an adult. Sure. You start that at 10 years old. And it was never addressed. Like it's like he it was not addressed
until he saw the law for it. Like it was never addressed in any kind of like medical way. Yeah. They should have
gotten past the doors of the hospital. Yeah. When he was a child, this should have been taken care of. Yeah. Um by the
time he was 14 years old, he had committed his first sexual assault. Wow. Against one of his younger family
members. Oh. The assault result resulted in him being committed to the Napa State
Hospital and he was housed with other sex offenders there. Um upon his release, he returned to his parents
house, but everything just kept going downward. When he wasn't in school, he started spending a lot of time alone in
the woods. Oh god. Before long, he was suspected of committing burglaries and homes in and around Santa Cruz. The next
year, when David was in the 10th grade, he ran away from home and hid out for a few days in the uh family cabin in
Redwood Grove. And this disappearance was the last straw because so the school um uh expelled him because he stopped
going to school. Oh, okay. Okay. Now, a year after being kicked out of school, he was in trouble with the law again,
and this is awful. after he committed a sexual assault against two cousins. Not his cousins, but they were cousins. A
pair of cousins, an eight-year-old and a three-year-old. Oh god. Uh he met them at Diamond's Heights, Diamond Heights
Park, and according to Dr. Allison's evaluation, he threatened the two with a knife, which marked the first time that
he used a weapon in an assault. Uh which indicates a very severe escalation in violent behavior. Yep. Um, and this
again, this was when he was 15. Holy [ __ ] Maybe 15 or 16. Yeah, around there. Yeah. Um, he was quickly arrested
for the assault and sentenced to the California Youth Authority at Preston. Do you remember that? We covered Yeah,
we covered the Preston School, right? Yeah. Preston School of Industry. Yeah. Go back to that episode. Uh, where
he was held until his 18th birthday. Oh, [ __ ] After he turned 18, he was transferred to Napa State Hospital for
observation and after 90 days, he was determined no longer a threat. I don't know about that. There um this this is a
story of many failures. It usually is. Um he could have been stopped many times. No one had to die. Yeah. No one
had to die here. [ __ ] hate that. Now, looking back, his juvenile record, which
contained a number of incidents that, you know, if we looked at now in 2025, they would be the most giant red flags,
right? Five arrests for sexual assault, one escape from juvenile detention, a long history of bragging about sexual
assaults to the other inmates. All of that would now be looked at as like, oh no, this is going to escalate. Yeah.
Like, let's keep him locked up. and his personal history included several experiences and characteristics that are
now associated with antisocial personalities and serial murders in particular, including a history of bedwedding and
cruelty to animals. So, it's like he's got all the red flags. He's ticking all the boxes. If psychiatrists had known
then what we know now, they would have had every reason to believe that David Carpenter would pose a severe threat to
those around him. And they and it kills me that they didn't. now in 1950. So actually most of what he was
going through when he was younger was in the 40s. So I was wrong about the even worse. Um in 1950 when he was 20 years
old, Carpenter found work as an office assistant and messenger for the HB Thomas company on Battery Street in San
Francisco. One day in midsummer, he ended up picking up a girl he knew who was hitchhiking to a friend's house, and
he offered to drive her the rest of the way. So he knew this girl. Uhhuh. As they drove, he said, "Do you actually
mind if I make a quick stop at my house?" "Yes, I do." And she was like, "Yeah, totally." Cuz she Yeah. Why would
she think anything of that? Once inside the house, though, he started to become sexually aggressive with her, and she
was like, "No." And then she was like, "I want to leave." But he said, "No, you're not going to leave." Oh. The girl
only managed to escape after fighting him off and locking herself in the bathroom and climbing through a very
small window that left outside. That's literally what nightmares are made of. And she had to run somewhere and contact
the police. Now, he was quickly picked up on a charge that he quote willfully and
feloniously made an assault upon a female under the age of 18 with the intent to have and accomplish the act of
sexual intercourse upon said female. He plead not guilty and was taken to trial where he was acquitted.
What the [ __ ] Hello, 1950s. For real. Hello. Now, Ralph Allison's notes, though, indicate that David quote made
no attempt to deny the allegations against him and had been quite proerative and asked only that he be
placed in a facility where he could receive help. So, he even asked for help. But 1950s, they were like, "Nah,
you're good. Just get on out. Get on out of here." Yeah. In 1955, David ended up
dating and then marrying a 19-year-old woman named Ellen uh Ellen Heedel, I believe it is. The pier the pair met at
um in Daily City a few years earlier. And when David u they when they met, David was briefly dating her sister
Willilamina. Oh. Um yeah. when she broke off their relationship after only a few
dates, he turned his attention to Ellen and within a few months they were married at Yeah, that is not girl code.
No, that is not sister code. Sister code goes above girl code. It certainly does.
And they were married at San Francisco City Hall. Less than a year later, Ellen gave birth to their first child,
Michael. And the family moved to a small house in West Lake, and David found a steady job as a shipping clerk there.
Two years later, Ellen gave birth to their second child, Gabrielle, who was followed in 1960 by their third child,
Cersei. By this point in his life, his attitude towards women was pretty [ __ ] clear. He without fail
portrayed himself as the victim of women. Like women were to blame. His mother was to blame, therefore women
were to blame. He basically said everything he did it it was going to fall upon women as being the problem
here, not him. He was never to be placed blame upon. It wasn't him. And it's like, [ __ ] you, dude. Yeah. You're your
own person. Plenty of people go I'm not saying he had a great he had a terrible life. No, but you can't make excuses for
your behavior once you become an adult. No, it's like based on your childhood. I'm sorry. You got to look at people who
make that. And again, he's in a different like time period, so I don't know like what's going on here. all the
resources that we have now are not available. Still, there are still people who went through like so you really do
like you can't just blame how you were raised on how you act as an adult. Like you can't if you're you can't hurt
people. Like that's not it just it drives me crazy. And it's like so many of these guys will be like, "Well, I
kill women because of my mom." Get get over it. Like really, you're going to kill women because of your mom. Like not
all women are your mom and you should be able to make that differentiation. Exactly. Now, unfortunately, like we've
said before, medical understandings of personalities like his were very poorly understood in 1950. So, they weren't
exactly like analyzing David's symptoms, right? Instead, like his psychiatrist, Ralph Allison, who we've cited here
before, he was focusing more on like finding effective treatment. Yeah. Which Yeah, that's good. But like you also
need to figure out what the [ __ ] is going on here. Well, and also there's just not treatment for everybody. And as
we know now, there's not treatment for people like this really. No. And from Allison's perspective, Dr. Allison, he
said he thought it came down to David's stutter. He said, I think it's a lot more than that. If he could get proper
therapy for the stammer, we might be able to prevent further catastrophes of this sort. That's what he had. I think
that's a wild point of view. Yeah. I also think that is a very wild point of view. Absolutely bonkers. I think that's
the most 1950s point of view I have ever seen in my life. A psychiatrist just being like I think if you could just
speak clear, you wouldn't want to kill people. It's like no, I don't think that's the
driving force. No, I think that's part of his struggles. Sure. And especially that that was not taken as something
that like they worked through with him or made him accept and and be able to, you know, work through, right? It was
treated as like we're ashamed of you. Like that's awful. Of course, that's going to affect somebody. Not to this
extent. I think there's other things here at play and I think we should maybe look at them. I agree with you. Between
the responsibilities of his new job and now his growing family, he was feeling like he was under a lot of pressure,
which left him with a lot of rage. Oh, goody. Because this is not a man who can handle even the slightest inconvenience
in his life. The only thing that seemed to keep his anger in check, according to
Ellen, his wife at the time, was his need to have sex at least three times per night. Oh,
honey, your face. I'm not laughing at this. No, she's about to match his face. Never. Yeah, that's I was like, wo,
that's wild. And it's like [ __ ] poor Ellen. She has three children, has three children, and she's dealing with this
[ __ ] manchild who is like abusive, uncontrollably angry, and I I just like wonder what she what he presented to
her. I know, like to to to get like to get him to marry her. You know what I mean? Like it is so weird how we hear
about these men who have these awful childhoods and they have a lot of issues with girls and women and then they find
one woman who they are able to woo. Yeah. You know, and I think it's because they see that there's an end result
where they can have the control they want. So they so they're cunning enough to know that they have to put some
effort in in the beginning to, you know, like the the means justify the end. Yes.
Kind of thing. Yeah. Um and like and vice versa. So I think it's like the mask falls. That feels like it was
probably the scenario. And I and I feel so badly for Ellen cuz like it sounds like she was just completely entrapped
in this. Well, and remember this wasn't a time where she could even seek a divorce. Exactly. That's the other thing
to keep in mind. And she's got three kids now. Um, but there were times that even that wasn't enough for him and he
would come explosively violent with her. Um, and then he would claim to have no recollection of it. So, he's like
blacking out or he's just lying about it and being like, I don't want to take responsibility for that, so I'm going to
pretend it didn't happen. I'm sure probably like I'm sure like that accounts for some instances, but I do
believe that some people are so scary that they do black out. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. But I don't think it counts for
every instance. Now, in mid July 1960, he ran into an old friend, Lois Deandradi, Lisa Rena's mother. I was
just going to say, I don't know if that sounds familiar to you, Lisa Rena. You guys, like, you know, she's been a soap
opera actress forever. Days of our lives. She's she's on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I I don't I
haven't watched it in forever, but she was on it. She dances on TikTok. You might remember her mother Lois who
passed away recently, I think, didn't she? A couple years. Couple years. Um, she was adorable. Oh, I loved Lois. Lois
was the cutest thing. And they seemed like they were they were superly close. Yep. So, like, I'm sorry. And Lois went
through a lot. Yeah. Yes, Lois did go for through a lot because um you might be saying, "I'm sorry. Back it up. Why
are we mentioning Lois in this story?" Yeah. And why are we mentioning her as an old friend? She was they worked
together, I think, right? Yeah. So, they had met through mutual acquaintances a few years earlier. And again, they had
like and they had gone to coffee together a couple times in the past. They knew each other, you know? They
just knew each other. Like, they were friends. It was whatever. Lois had been on her way to work one
morning when David offered her a ride. That's what it is. Again, they're friends. Cool. David's offering me a
ride. no reason not to. Why the [ __ ] would I care? As he'd done a few years earlier,
David asked whether Lois would mind if they made a quick stop. But this time, he said, "Hey, Lois, I got to pick up my
wife, Ellen, and my new baby." Disarming. So, of course, Lois is like, "Of course you can. That sounds lovely.
I'd love to see the babe." But the more they drove, the more Lois began to wonder whether they were actually going
to pick up his wife and baby. Finally, David pulled over on the side on a side street and Lois immediately knew
something wasn't right. She later said, "By then I was really nervous, so I started to get out of the right hand
side of the car and I started to run." Wow. Now, Carpenter managed to reach Lois before she had gone far and she he
dragged her back to the car. Oh my god. And she's unable to move and he pulled out rope and a knife from the glove
compartment and threatened her to keep quiet. And later she said, "He told me to be quiet, and if I was quiet, he
wouldn't kill me, but if I made any noise, he would." Now, the entire scene was [ __ ] terrifying and
completely confusing to Lois, who'd known Carpenter for years, and she was like, "I'd never seen him behave
violently." Right. His violent [ __ ] was contained. Yeah. To his home, right, behind closed doors. going to say
everyone else saw this pretty normal like guy like they're just David like what? So I I can't imagine knowing
someone for years and then having them snap on you like this. That must be uh and like it would be paralyzing. Yeah.
And she said it was she was like I literally didn't know what to do. I was like what are you talking about? You'll
kill me. Like what? So she later said per she said she thought perhaps David went crazy. That's a quote. I was so
terrified. I don't think I moved after that. Yeah. And although she wasn't planning on moving at that point because
she was terrified, she was looking around and scanning her surroundings trying to look for anything that could
help her get out of this situation. Smart. So, she's desperately searching for a sign of anyone around her. And
David reached into the back seat and grabbed a hammer. At the same time that he was doing that,
Lois spotted a car a few dozen yards away. And without thinking, she threw her hand out and slammed down on the car
horn just to that's the only thing she could think of. But Carpenter immediately slashed at her with the
knife he had slicing into her hand. He ended up lacerating tendons in two of her fingers. Now, despite that injury,
which is a pretty [ __ ] massive injury, gnarly, Lois managed to get the door open and she tumbled out and hit
the ground running. David Carpenter got out and [ __ ] chased her at full speed. Oh my god.
This must have been horrifying. Absolutely he did. He caught up with her and he raised he's right behind her
running after her and he raised the hammer to hit her in the head, but just as he came down with it, she threw her
hands up to deflect the blow from the hammer and the hammer struck a watch she was wearing and shattered it.
But there was only a brief moment of luck because he raised the hammer again and brought it right down on her head
and it made contact. So she knocked it right to the ground and he struck her five more times in the head with the
hammer. I didn't realize that she did. I thought she got out of this like unharmed. Oh no, she got ruthlessly
beaten in the head with this hammer. Holy [ __ ] Barely conscious, she managed to scream for help, which caught the
attention of a military police officer, Jewel Wayne Hicks, who happened to be driving down the narrow street at the
time. Whoa. What are the odds? And also, a military police officer caught this man doing this, but we have eight
stories of murder to tell. Yeah. Huh. That should be your first like knowledge of how many times
this is uh a failure to keep a absolute animal locked up. Ticking box number one. Yeah. Whoa. Um so Hicks, the
military police officer, slammed on his brakes, got out and ran in the direction
of the car and the screams and he was holding a riot baton in one hand and a 45 pistol in the other. And that's the
way we get out of the car, folks. That's how we get out of the car for one of these scenes. At first, he couldn't he
couldn't see the two people on the ground since there was a car door in the way, but he could hear the sounds. And
he said he immediately knew what was happening. By the time he made it to the car, Carpenter was on top of Lois still
hitting her with the hammer. Jesus. And Hicks said even when he saw me coming down the hill, he kept hitting her.
So he saw this man and just kept hitting. So that makes you like honestly question if he is in a blind rage at
this point. It's so scary cuz that is and I think it I mean I think it's how you define a blind rage. Like I still
think he knows what he's doing is wrong, but like you're looking at a police officer and you're not stopping. I think
he is singularly focused on his rage and the and the focus of his rage and it just doesn't matter. So wild to think of
somebody's thought process because then officer Hicks shouted for him to stop obviously and that caused David to jump
up and run, but he ran at Hicks swinging the hammer at him. He's a mad man. And he said he was quote screaming in rage.
Oh, that's horrifying. So he's just an animal. Yep. And when the officer finally managed to successfully fend off
the hammer with his baton, Carpenter pulled out a quote fountain pen tear gas gun and fired it in Hicks's face. [ __ ]
what? So he came fully prepared to incapacitate someone. I had no idea that this was this that this was this. I also
didn't know that they briefly discussed this at a dinner on housewives briefly over sushi, I believe. Holy [ __ ] The
gun produced a large plume of smoke which confused Hicks momentarily. But he wasn't quite sure what happened. He just
got hit in the face with this tear gas pen which is nothing new for a military police. And he said he recognized the
sound of a gunshot. Oh [ __ ] And instinctively raised his pistol and fired in the direction of where
Carpenter was. And Hicks was didn't know where he was at the time, but he still managed to hit Carpenter twice. once in
the abdomen and once in the leg which knocked him off his feet and caused him to shout that he surrendered. So he got
shot twice and surrendered. Hello. Now I want to be So when you guys hear this that he was on top of this
woman hitting her in the head with a hammer repeatedly, uh what would you say is the uh end result that he was
probably looking for by doing that? Either rape or murder. Uh both. I would say you don't hit someone five times in
the head with a hammer and not assume that they're going to die. Yep. He was trying to murder her. Yep. 100%. Yeah,
definitely murder. I was just questioning I'm sure he was also going to do that. But he This is a murder that
he failed at. Yep. This isn't assault. No, this is attempted. This is a murder that he fa that he failed to commit. And
you guys know how we feel about attempted murder. So with Carpenter incapacitated, Hicks went back to his
car and radioed for backup, which arrived very quickly. Lois was taken to the hospital. She was treated for a
fractured skull, which was broken in two places. Her skull was shattered in two places. It's remarkable that she
survived this. Yeah. And she also had severe lacerations on her hands and face after multiple surgeries during which
metal plates were placed in her skull and tendons were grafted in two fingers and nearly 2 months of
hospitalization. She recovered. Unreal. But she never regained full use of those
fingers. Oh. In her statement to police, Lois detailed what happened from the moment Carpenter picked her up,
including that he had told her, quote, "I have a sex quirk just moments before attacking her." A quirk? A quirk? Babe,
that's not a kink. Like a quirk. David Carpenter was taken to Letterman General General Hospital where surgeons
removed the two bullets from his body before I know unfortunately before he was cuffed to a bed and he recovered
there before being transferred to San Quentin like a little over a week later I think it was to await his hearing.
Okay, this it turned out would take much longer than expected. Um because due to
his injuries and his claims of mental illness, it was going to go a lot longer than just like charge. blah blah blah.
In the two months that followed, he was evaluated twice by psychiatrists before finally being indicted on September 22nd
where a grand jury returned four counts of assault that if convicted would have put
him in jail for 30 years. Question, which like cool 30 years, but but like where's the attempted murder
assault? Yeah. Where's the attempted murder charge? Right. Like are we really pretending that he wasn't trying to kill
her? You fractured her skull in two places and hit her over five times with a hammer and sliced her hands open. Like
he attacked her with a knife and a hammer. Yeah. Are we all okay? At his arraignment in October, Carpenter plead
not guilty and his lawyer indicated their intent to plead insanity as a defense. But you already got evaluated.
Yeah. Instead, just as they were preparing to go to trial, he accepted a plea deal from the prosecution and plead
guilty to one count of assault with a deadly weapon. Um, I I'll say I understand plea deals
for certain things. They piss me off, but I get them. This Yeah, I don't see this one. I feel like they would have
got him on all those four counts. Well, and Judge Oliver Carter wasn't certain he would accept the deal and instead
blame him, he ordered Carpenter to a 90-day hold in federal prison where he was going to be examined thoroughly by
psychiatrists. And on March 9th, 1961, Carpenter was back in front of a judge after having been evaluated many times
at San Quinton. And after reading the reports, which diagnosed Carpenter as a sociopathic personality, Uh-huh. The
judge deemed David a quote personality who should be locked away in the interests of society. That's completely
correct. Thank you, sir. Given the brutality of the attack and his past offenses, he sentenced him to 14 years
in federal prison. Okay. Like I wish it was the full 30 though. Yeah. But then for some reason the judge kind of like
softened somewhat after announcing the ruling and recommended the parole board conduct routine evaluations and release
Carpenter quote at any time he is considered rehabilitated. Oliver like I'm sorry. What the [ __ ] You literally
said he's a threat to society and then they're like hey Pearl Board like keep it keep tabs on that though. Check it
out. If you feel like it's cool that day just let him out. Yeah. Just be be cool,
man. Don't be all uncool. He was diagnosed as a sociopathic personality. Yeah. And tried to kill this woman.
Yeah. And this officer tried to kill Lois and this officer. Yeah. So, after the sentence was passed, Ellen
filed for divorce. Oh, good. Uh listing their separation as July 12th, 1960, the
night of the attack on Lois. Wow. Good for her. That's women supporting women. Hell yeah. And she cited extreme cruelty
as a reason. Yeah. and wrongfully inflicting upon her grievous mental suffering. Um, so she I guess you could
file for divorce back then as a woman. The divorce was finalized on o August 27th, 1962 and Carpenter was ordered to
pay $1 per month in child support and $1 per month in alimony. Three kids. Yeah. She was awarded the
couple's assets, including the house. That's good. and granted her requ they granted her request for a restraining
order to prevent David from quote annoying or molesting the children. Oh god. Yeah. Um I don't know if that means
what that word means. Some that there's terms legal terms that that can mean like bothering which is weird I know but
I'm not sure where how that one was used. Blesting is what I'm talking about. Okay. But he is also he has like
pedophilic tendencies. So it's like I that could um but I am not positive. Yeah. Now in
the meantime, David was sent to McNeel Island Correctional Facility and began serving his sentence on April 12th,
1961. Now he applied for parole in 1964, but it was unanimously rejected. Good. In April 1969, however, he came up for
parole a second time and his petition was granted. bad on the grounds that he'd served the minimum 9-year sentence.
What about the maximum though? We don't want to talk about that today. And also like, okay, we're not going to like So,
he just served his minimum sentence, so you're going to let him out? So, it's all good regardless of what kind of
person he is. So, now he's a free man. Christ. And he moved in with his stepbrother, William, and began taking
welding classes at the local vocational school. I feel as though we shouldn't offer people like that welding classes.
Let's not give him tools. I don't think. Yeah. In his free time, he started attending group therapy on the
recommendation of his parole officer. And it was there that he met Helen. Bad question mark. David and Helen began
dating that spring and on August 8th, 1969, they were married at city hall. He gets that woman to marry him quickly.
Yeah. Um William Carpenter, his stepbrother, was the witness to the marriage. It appears little is known
about this period of his life. Um he remained in regular contact with his probation officer at this point and he
was meeting all the conditions of his parole for a while. He's probably laying low at this point. Um yeah. Then rather
suddenly he cut off all communication with the probation officer and the parole board that December. Huh. And he
had like years left on his probation. So there's no reason for this. And around the same time, Helen, having been driven
to what author Robert Gaymith referred to as quote, "The edge of a nervous breakdown, left California on a long
trip to Hawaii and just left her husband behind." Damn. Yeah. Who knows what that
poor woman endured what was going on? The fact that she left the entire state of California tells us everything we
need to know. Yeah. Now, without anyone watching over him, it didn't take long before David Carpenter began losing
control of his rage. On the evening of January 27th, 1970, he went out for a drive on Highway 280 towards Santa Cruz.
And at some point, the driver of a passing car, who was a young blonde woman, caught his attention. And for no
explicable reason, she became the focus of his [ __ ] rage. Oh no. Uh without any warning to this driver, David sped
up beside her and forced her car off the road. Oh, that's so scary. She's just driving. That is so scary. Terrified,
she jumped out of the car and ran into the underbrush, quickly losing him. And he stood at the side of the road and
called out to her in threatening voices. What the [ __ ] But when he heard no sounds, he got back in his Volkswagen
Beetle and steered the car back onto the highway. That poor girl. Holy holy [ __ ]
I just can't imagine later in life being like that. What would have happened? And
did she ever even realize that it was him? I don't know. You know? Yeah. That's the thing. It's like that's why.
Imagine thinking back to that being like, "Oh my god." Like, and you just read this and you're like, "Holy fuck."
A short time later, a little past 10 p.m., he found himself driving on Highway 9 towards Boulder Creek, where
the only other car on the road easily caught his attention again cuz he's pissed. Determined to relieve his
tension and anger, he pressed the accelerator and rammed his car into the other driver, who was 19-year-old Cheryl
Lynn Smith. Thinking the man was drunk, she shouted at him. She was like, "Fuck you, dude." Yeah. But Carpenter ignored
her and they they pulled over to the side of the road and he started like quote unquote evaluating the damage. Oh
my god. So Smith got out of her car and was looking over the damage as well. And
then Carpenter's hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck. Oh, that's awful. He grabbed her by the neck and
said, "I want to rape you. I'll have to kill you if you don't come with me." Oh god. Like what the [ __ ] So, and this is
like graphic. I apologize. Carpenter dragged her into the brush where he literally tore off her clothing and
violently sexually assaulted her. As Cheryl tried to get out of his grasp, he sliced her arm with his knife, partially
severing the muscles and rendering it temporarily useless. Oh my god, the the force that would take. Yeah. And she
said, so she's trying to get away from him. He does this and then she said she finally was like, I'm just going to look
at him. Cuz she wasn't looking at him. And she said she looked at him and she said she was stunned because she said
all I had seen up until that point was this like violent scary man and she was like suddenly he looked totally
different. What? Suddenly she said his features had softened and he spoke to her with a pronounced stutter suddenly
which he didn't have before. Uh-huh. And she said to her bewilderment she he looked at her and said, "Look, you're
hurt and bleeding. let me follow you home and I'll bandage you up and I'll promise not to if you promise not to
call the police. That's and like said it in like a like look you're hurt and bleeding like not
like oh my god I hurt you for it was like oh my god like how did that happen? But it softened into like, "Oh no, like
I didn't mean like what? You violently raped her? Like what do you mean?" And Cheryl was like, "No, I'm good." Like
it's it's good. She managed to get back to her own car and drove away and he just let her.
Oh, that poor girl. But 19 years old. But as she's driving home, she notices that he's driving behind her. Oh no. and
he was keeping distance, but he was behind her. And so she saw a large hotel in the distance. So she drove in the
direction of what she was hoping would be help. And he was driving behind her the entire way. So she gets into the
very well-lit parking lot and he sped off. So he was planning on following her right to her house. Yep. But she managed
to write down his license plate. Smart. She immediately reported the attack to police and gave them the license plate
number. and she described her attacker as white, 30 to 35 years of age, 5' 10 in, 160 lb, and brown hair. That same
night, an anonymous caller reported witnessing what appeared to be a fender bender accident on Highway 9, which is
that. So later, it was discovered that Cheryl was the second woman that he had attacked that day. The first was a woman
named Wilma Joyce. Now, this isn't the blonde woman who ran away from him. This is another one. Oh, so they think it's
two. Really? It was three. Yeah. So far. Yeah. That afternoon, Joyce had returned
home from a shopping trip to find Carpenter waiting in her house with a shotgun. Nope. Nope. Yeah. Walked in
from shopping to him sitting in her home with a shotgun. Do you know that's one of my biggest fears? That is the
scariest thing I've ever heard. That's Oh, [ __ ] That's literally horror movie [ __ ] That is horror movie [ __ ] and he
forced her to leave with him in her car and the two drove for a short time before he sexually assaulted her and
then let her out of the car. What? This is awful, too. In the days after that, he kidnapped and assaulted two other
women, one of whom had a toddler in the car with her. Oh, and stole a car from a
third woman. Why was he not stopped? This is crazy. When they were interviewed by police, all the women
identified David Carpenter as their attacker. They like they knew his name unanimously. They were able to identify
him. Oh, okay. Okay. Now, Carpenter was arrested at a motel in Modesto on February 3rd, 1970 after a week-long
manhunt conducted by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department. And this is when he should be put away forever
because he has a violent past that he's now continuing. He has just assaulted numerous women. Numerous women. after
assaulting Lois, the police officer, and just dodging parole. Yeah. Yep. Um, so at the time of his arrest, the district
attorneys in Santa Cruz County and nearby uh Calaveris County filed charges against him for attempted rape, rape,
kidnapping, and assault. And because he had been on parole at the time with four
years left on his sentence, he was placed in Calaveris County Jail pending a transfer to a prison where he could
serve out the rest of his sentence. So he has now also violated parole. These are all huge charges. Massive. David was
held at Calaveris County Jail for two months until he managed to escape on the night of April
26th. According to the press, he was being held in a cell with four other men and they managed to cut through the bars
and all five of them escaped out of a skylight. And that's why we don't let prisoners just hang out together in the
cells. They were unsure how they cut through the bars, but a spokesperson person for the sheriff's office said
they may have used a hacksaw blade. I'm sorry. Where the [ __ ] did they get a hacksaw blade?
My question exactly. These violent prisoners. Had access to a uh hacksaw blade. Oops.
We forgot the hacksaw blade was in there. I'm a normal [ __ ] I don't have access to a hacksaw blade. Yeah, I've
never committed a violent crime. The [ __ ] And how would they one have a hacksaw blade and two have enough time
to hacksaw through bars? Like that's going to also make some noise. No one was looking at them. No one was
checking. I wonder if they like bribed a guard or something. Yeah. Now, the good
news is all five of them were rounded up the following day. And while the other four were returned to jail to await
their trials, David Carpenter was transferred to Soladad Prison. On July 17th, a grand jury in Santa Cruz
indicted Carpenter for rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, and assault. District Attorney Peter Chang told the press,
"Right now, Carpenter is serving a minimum 5-year sentence. If we can make the aggravated kidnapping charge stick,
the term will be increased to life." Let's go. Already serving a sentence of 1 to 25 years for the charges in
Calaveris County on October 8th, Carpenter pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of armed robbery and
in exchange he was given a sentence of 5 years. That's [ __ ] They should be ashamed of this. Absolutely they should.
These all these deaths are on their hands 100%. Now, despite Peter Chang thinking that he would be able to lock
him up for life, David would only spend nine years at Solidad Prison until being
parrolled to a halfway house in late May 1979. You guys did this before, though.
Yeah, you did it before and it didn't work out. He just failed. What? And just like the last time he was released out
on parole way too soon, it didn't take long before he returned right back to his old habits. Yeah, I bet. Yep. Now on
May 21st, 1979, he was released on parole and by that time Helen had divorced him and he was to remain on
probation until 1982. So he was sent to live at Reality House West, which was a halfway house for federal prisoners
transitioning back into society, which is not something he should have been. No. As part of his parole conditions, he
was required to find a job. So he started taking classes at the vocational center and eventually began
participating in courses in computer repair. Okay. Around this time he also took up hiking around Santa Cruz. No.
And developed a particular fondness for the trails on Mount Tamalpace. Uh which is which I think
they call it uh Mount Tam for sure. Oh, I've heard of Mount Tam. Yeah. Um it's a
popular hiking spot in Marane County about 10 miles outside San Francisco. At the foot of the mountain was a small
community of renters including John and Edain. Now on the morning of August 19th, 1979, Etakaine was preparing for a
4-hour hike that the couple had planned to take together that afternoon. Uh unfortunately, Jon's arthritis was
acting up that morning, so he was unable to take the hike with Eda. Um she was a
very experienced hiker, so she just decided to go alone. Yeah. Several hours passed and Eda had still not returned
home. This caused Jon to be very anxious. His wife wife was very skilled, but it was getting dark. So, he called
the sheriff's department and reported it and deputies were sent out immediately to look for Eda. Now, sheriff's deputies
along with a search and rescue team and packs of dogs combed the mountain all night. But by dawn, they still hadn't
found Eda. And her car was still in the parking lot where it had been all night.
That's chilling. The only other car that John noticed in the parking lot that morning, other than the members of the
search team, was a Volkswagen Beetle that had been there since the previous evening. Always a Volkswagen Beetle. And
he drives one. Around 1:30 that afternoon, one of the dogs discovered Eda's body. Um, it was a short distance
off Rock Springs Trail. Uh, it's very chilling. She was in a kneeling position and her body had fallen forward face
down with a large bullet hole in the back of her head. Oh. Um, Sergeant Rich Katon said, "When we finally came across
Miss Kane's body, all p items of personal nature of hers had been removed with the exception of one sock." Oh, so
she is nude except for one sock in a kneeling position with her face down. That's awful. The discovery was shocking
for about a million reasons. Not the least of which was the fact that while sheriff's deputies had found many bodies
on Mount Tam, to to their knowledge, Eda was the first person to be murdered on the mountain, right? Um that alone made
the press immediately take notice and start reporting the story. Now, in interviews with those who'd been at the
mountain that day at that went missing, several people reported seeing a single man hiking around the same time Eda was.
Um, Lieutenant Robert Gadini told reporters, "We are by no means certain the man murdered Edain, but
investigators were just trying to come up with a composite sketch of this man from the witness's descriptions." Yeah.
Otherwise, there was very little evidence that could point investigators towards any suspect. There were rumors
and there were rumors that Eda had been having an affair with a younger man. So,
detectives did wonder whether he might have been involved or whether Jon might have killed her out of jealousy. That
was like their initial thoughts. Yeah, they got to go to like that. Yeah, they have to. John Kaine was quickly ruled
out. That's good. But police shifted their attention to the younger man that Eta had allegedly been seeing. Although
he denied seeing Eda that day, the man still couldn't account for his whereabouts. So, detectives couldn't
rule him out. Um, a sergeant working the case later said after Eda's death, John
Kaine just withered away without her and eventually died. Oh, that's so sad. Um,
as for the young man, he killed himself while we were investigating him. Oh wow,
that must have been so strange. Yeah, that's bizarre. Yeah. So, that is where we're going to
leave you in part one. All right. But, um Yeah, it's a lot. And it um it's going to keep going. That's a
crazy leadup. Yeah. Uh wow. And he he This is only the first murder. I was just Yeah, that's what I mean. Uh we
have seven more. We had a full part one um with one murder. Yeah, but his his assaults are enough to They're gnarly.
His assaults are basically attempted murder. Yeah, they are. All of them. Um but yeah, he's a horrible horrible human
being. Like very horrible. He really is. And he somehow gets worse. Well, with that being said, we hope keep listening
and we hope you keep it weird. We're not so weird that you don't tune in to part
two. [Music] [Music]

Throughout the 1960s and 70s, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Californians were terrorized by multiple killers including notorious serial killers like the Zodiac Killer, the Hillside Stranglers, Herbert Mullin, and Ed Kemper. While the decade may have ended with these killers disappearing or apprehended, the threat of violence and murder simply moved north.

Though less known than his contemporaries, David Carpenter was no less prolific and frightening a killer than those men mentioned above. Nicknamed “The Trailside Killer” by the press, Carpenter terrorized Point Reyes and Santa Cruz County for a decade, assaulting, kidnapping, and killing at least eight people, but he was suspected of more. Like those other killers, Carpenter had a long history of violent and antisocial behavior going back to his childhood, including multiple arrests and incarcerations. How was it that a man with such an alarming history of violence could go uncaught for a decade?

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References Associated Press. 1980. "Trail Killer will strike again." Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 1: 1.

Burkhardt, Bill. 1979. "Woman found murdered on Mt. Tam." San Francisco Examiner, August 21: 1.

Graysmith, Robert. 1990. The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate. New York, NY: Onyx.

Keraghosian, Greg. 2020. "'Do not hike alone': For 21 months, the Trailside Killer terrorized Bay Area's outdoors." San Francisco Chronicle, October 25.

Leader, Lewis. 1980. "Identification ends dad's long quest." San Francisco Examiner, December 2: 2.

San Francisco Examiner. 1960. "MP's shots foil attack on woman." San Francisco Examiner, July 13: 1.

—. 1961. "Presidio attacker gets 14 yrs." San Francisco Examiner, March 10: 11.

—. 1960. "Sex case insanity plea." San Francisco Examiner, October 8: 5.

Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1970. "Boulder Creek girl attacked." Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 29: 22.

—. 1970. "Grand jury indicts con." Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 17: 7.

—. 1970. "SLV kidnap suspect flees Calaveras jail." Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 27: 1.

The People v. Carpenter. 1997. S004654 (Superior Court of Los Angeles County, April 28).

The People vs. David Carpenter. 1999. S006547 (Superior Court of San Diego County, November 29).

Todd, John. 1980. "Tam closed in hunt for clues." San Francisco Examiner, October 16: 1.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

David Carpenter's violent history and systemic failures lead to multiple assaults and a murder, setting up a chilling two-part story.

Key points

Discussion on New York Housewives. The hosts share their love for the New York Housewives, particularly Dinda Medley.
Carpenter's Troubled Childhood. Exploration of David Carpenter's abusive upbringing and its impact on his life.
The Impact of Bullying. The hosts discuss the effects of bullying on children, particularly David Carpenter.
David's Early Behavior. David's cruel behavior escalated to sexual violence by age 10, indicating severe issues.
Escalation of Violence. David's violent behavior escalated significantly by age 15, marking a dangerous turning point.
Lois Deandradi's Attack. David attacked Lois, a friend, in a shocking display of violence after offering her a ride.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Don't be an idiot. They're a great podcast and great ladies.

A strong recommendation for a podcast.

3:16WatchApr 14, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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