Randy Kraft: The Scorecard Killer (Part 1) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid, where we're really happy. [Music]
We're happy. I just want to be happy. Happy. I'm trying and it's finally enough.
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you know, that was that was a big deal for us. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Um, but it's very exciting because
everything's, you know, everything's going to be >> awesome. It's all happening, Sheena
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shoot for it yesterday with our friend, our new friend Johnny. >> Yeah, definitely go. We We tagged him in
the post about the release. >> Tag is literally just is a hermit. >> Yeah. And he's an amazing photographer,
so definitely check him out. >> Hire him for all your photography needs. He made us feel [ __ ] amazing.
>> Yeah. I hate I literally hate getting my picture taken. >> Yeah. We were both like panicking on the
way there. >> I hate it. We both were like, "Why did we set this up? Do we Oh my god, what do
we do?" And then we got there and we were like, "Oh, this is so easy." >> Yeah. I genuinely hate like I don't find
photo shoots fun. Like I'm not one of those people who gets excited for I get very anxious and I just don't like it. I
had a blast. >> You made me feel very comfortable. >> I love a photo shoot. I hate the part
where you get the pictures back because you're like, "Oh no, I didn't think I didn't think that was going to happen."
The only two people who have ever made me feel that way are Johnny, who we shot with yesterday, and then my wedding
photographer, Molly Quill. Yeah. >> Two best photographers ever. >> Yeah. So, see, it's all great.
>> Yeah. It's all good stuff, everybody. >> Yeah. >> We're excited about it. And I I'm really
glad that I brought you all up. Um because I'm going to pile drive you down into the ground now.
>> Thank you for >> with one of the worst cases I have ever read in >> my life. Okay. So,
uh, so hold on to that serotonin, I hear it, cuz it Whoops. >> Hold on to your serotonin.
>> Hold on to it. Uh, cuz today we are going to be talking about a case I'm going to, this case is going to be three
parts. Um, it's a long case. Like, this is not three parts that are short. This is
pretty long. >> Um, we're breaking it up. I'm going to break it up because one, there is so
much happening in this. There are many, many victims, many, many intense details, and it it took a long time to
figure who this guy was. And there's all kinds of other crazy stuff that we still
haven't even determined yet about this case. And it took place in, you know, the the 70s and 80s essentially.
>> So, this is going to be a three-parter. This first one is going to be pretty long and it's going to be pretty rough.
So, I just need to let you guys know ahead of time that this episode in particular is going to be a tough one.
>> So, yeah, in between this series, like this three-parter and whatever we put out next, we're going to do a spooky
episode as like a palette cleanser. >> Yeah, because after these three episodes, you're going to need a a
minute to breathe. Um, so we're talking about Randy Craft, also known by the press as the scorecard killer.
Um, so let's start way back in the 1970s, Southern California. I mean, people who
lived in Southern California, they were held in terror because multiple serial killers were stalking their area at any
given time. >> California really had a time where they just [ __ ] went through it.
>> Especially the 70s, it was like they were just the 70s and 80s, they were really going through it. And the thing
is like these these serial killers were praying on victims from like a lot of different walks of life.
>> Um no one was safe. >> Yeah. No one was safe there. From 1971 to 1983, Randy Craft, who we are talking
about today, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered at least 16 men and boys. >> Jeez.
>> But the real number of victims is considered to be very higher than that. >> Yeah.
>> Like much higher than that. Um, when he was arrested in 1983, investigators searched his house and found this like
really cryptic list with like cryptic references to what they believed were 61 victims in total.
>> What the [ __ ] >> 61. >> That's insane. Think I need you to think about lining 61 people up in front of
you. >> That's a lot of [ __ ] people. That's like somebody's entire family. >> Yeah. Like extended extended family. I
don't even know if our family reunions have that many people at them. >> And the discovery of that list is what
led to the nickname the scorecard killer. >> Um, after he was arrested in 1983, Randy
Craft was tried and convicted of 16 counts of firstdegree murder and sentenced to death. In fact, and don't
worry, we'll go over all of that. Um, but the the arrest and trial were definitely putting an end to the murder
spree that had happened. But there were some questions that weren't yet answered. And this is the part of the
case that really threw me for a loop because like that happens. We arrest Randy Craft. He's sentenced. He's
charged. >> But then the question remained, who helped him? >> Oh, he had help. He They think he had an
accomplice. >> What? >> Yeah. >> And they don't still able to figure out who it was.
>> No. I [ __ ] hate that. And when you hear the details of why they thought about this, it will chill your bones.
>> I really hate that a lot >> because when you really look at the evidence of it, you're like, "Yeah, I
think he had to help." >> And the fact that they didn't find this person is just gut-wrenching because of
what? >> And they think he had a help in like almost all of these. >> I think they do. Yeah.
>> What? >> Or at least some of them. >> Most of them. >> Yeah. Now, let's go back to 1972. It was
in the early morning hours, December 26th of that year, just before 2:00 a.m., a California Highway Patrol
officer was driving near the 17th Street exit on the 405 freeway. And as he drove
by, he saw like a a group of people just standing on the shoulder of the off-ramp, like gathered around something
on the side of the road. So when he pulled up to them to be like, "What the [ __ ] are you doing?" He gets out and
sees that they're all standing at a decomposing body of a young man who was just laying there crumpled on the
ground. and appeared to be in his maybe early 20s. >> Oh. >> Now, from what the officer could tell,
the man had been dead for at least a day and his body had already started decomposing. He was fully dressed in a
jacket, sweater, t-shirts, and pants, but he was only wearing one sock, no shoes, and his belt appeared to be
missing. >> Okay. Now, uh this poor man had obvious liature marks around his neck. And the
officer saw that and was like, I suspect that's probably the cause of death. But
as he looked closer, he also saw that this young man appeared to have been struck in the face with an object or a
fist because there was severe bruising around his nose and mouth. >> Now, in the days that followed this, um,
this man would be identified as 20-year-old Edward Daniel Moore. >> It's a baby.
>> He was a serviceman stationed at nearby Camp Pedleton. Uh, he was last seen a
few days earlier at the Army base, but he had a history of going AWOL. >> Yeah. Uh, so when he wasn't immediately
located, no one really suspected anything bad had happened. >> Um, he had a, you know, he had a tough
childhood. He was placed in foster care as a child because his parents were deemed unfit.
>> So he probably had a very difficult upbringing. And so he ended up having a lot of disciplinary issues growing up
because obviously he was acting out due to likely trauma. >> Yeah. >> Um, since then though, he'd managed to
like get by on his instincts and knowhow. He was like a very savvy guy that way. Now, when the autopsy was
done, the medical examiner determined that his cause of death had been esphyxiation,
>> but he found out that he had been gared, not manually strangled. >> Oh, that always adds such a layer.
>> A garat is um you may have remember hearing about it in the um John Ramsey case, which is really awful. It's
unfortunately always what I think of when it's brought. >> It's usually when there's um something
put around the neck several times usually and it's tied into a mechanism. Usually it can you know in John Bane
Ramsay's case it was the end of a paintbrush. >> Yeah. >> And it is used to twist and tighten it
like like a machine almost. >> It's like medieval torture. >> Yeah. It really is. It's an awful awful
in whoever is doing the garading can kind of loosen it or tighten it at will. So it prolongs it.
>> Yeah, it can prolong it. >> Now, in addition to the ligature marks around his neck, there were similar
marks on his wrists and ankles which indicated he had been restrained prior to death.
>> There was also a bunch of abrasions on his face from being beaten. Um, this is
going to get very graphic and just from here on out, we're going to get very graphic and I apologize ahead of time
cuz we're essentially talking about torture here. There's a lot of torture happening in these and it's brutal. Um,
his genitals had clear bite marks on them and scratch marks. >> Oh. >> Um, it also appeared that he had been
sexually assaulted. Um, and his missing sock, cuz he was only wearing one sock, had been found stuffed into his anus.
>> Oh my god. >> Yeah. Um, that is kind of a calling card. That >> he does that. This killer does that a
lot. >> Yeah, this is kind of a thing. Um, and the medical examiner believed that he
had been redressed after being killed. >> That for some I mean for so many reasons
is so freaking >> that's a chilling detail. >> Yeah. Yeah. Like what are you doing?
>> There was also a lot of superficial scratches on his arms and other exposed body parts which looked like they were
um like like he had fallen on gravel. And the medical examiner believed they were consistent with the type of
injuries one would get if they had fallen on gravel or been pushed but from a moving vehicle. Oh wow.
>> Um so they believe that that's what happened. Um in fact the medical examiner told investigators it probably
slowed down but it didn't stop. >> So maybe when he was pushed out or dumped. >> Yeah. Okay.
>> Like when they believe he was probably killed and pushed out of a moving vehicle on the side of the freeway.
>> A few days later the results of a toxicology test showed that there were no drugs in Moore's system and his blood
alcohol was well below the legal limit. Um, Detective Bill Tines knew the most reasonable place to start their
interviews would be with the other soldiers at Camp Pendleton. But because there was like a very particular sexual
nature of Moore's injuries, he also expected that they should interview people he may have socialized within the
community, anyone he may have had a relationship with at some point. Investigators soon learned that Eddie
Moore had only just turned 20 a few months earlier. He was basically 19, >> and his tenure in the military had been
pretty short. Um he'd come to Camp Pendleton after enlisting in the south and before that he and his brother had
spent their youths bouncing from one foster home to another. >> That's awful. >> Yeah. So fellow soldier Charles Vines
said uh told investigators, "My impression of Eddie is that he is a lonely kind of person and kind of lost."
>> Yeah. >> Um Eddie and Charles had had a very close relationship for a bit before his
murder. >> And he said Eddie is the kind of person that would befriend or try to become
friends with anybody who would talk to him for very long. If somebody Yeah. If somebody in a restaurant or on the beach
or any place would stop and talk to Eddie for four or five minutes, Eddie would want to become that person's
friend. >> Oh, like >> and that just shows he probably like that's a direct result of like
abandonment, you know? >> Absolutely. Like you're just looking for love and just connection. Yeah. Although
there were no suspects or leads and evidence was very slim, a picture of Eddie Moore was beginning to kind of
like emerge that was suggesting just how he may have been lured to the beach in the first place. Right.
>> Vines had told the detective that Moore had hitchhiked a lot. He liked to go to
that beach. >> He liked to go there to escape the stress of life. You know, that was a
sanctuary place. He was also fairly irresponsible and impulsive, according to Vines, often acting without regard
for consequences. Yeah, he's just a 20-year-old. Um, so it seemed pretty reasonable to assume that he had either
been picked up by or gone off with a stranger who had shown him just some kindness.
>> Yeah. >> Um, >> which was also like very normal at that time. >> Exactly. After a month of slow
investigation, Detective Tines hadn't made much progress on the Moore case. And then a second body was discovered
under very similar circumstances. Uh this time this body was discovered on the muddy bank of the Terminal Island
Freeway in Wilmington. On the afternoon of February 6th, 1973, investigators in Wilmington were called to Seal Beach for
what was described as the discovery of a murder victim. When LAPD detective John
St. John arrived at the scene. He saw that the victim, a young man in his late teens, or early 20s, was lying nude in
the overgrowth near the off-ramp to the Terminal Island freeway. According to the medical examiner, um this young man
had only been dead for about 6 hours, and like Eddie Moore, the cause of death appeared to be asphyxiation from
garotting. >> Um and the gar was a steel wire. Oh. >> Now to Detective St. John, there was a
lot of similarities between these two cases like right off the bat. Not only had the victim been strangled with a
garage um and seemed to have been pushed out of a slowmoving vehicle on the side
of the highway again, but the victim also had the sock placed where it had been placed in the first case.
>> Yeah. >> Um otherwise, the two young men were similar in age and build, so that was
also something to look at. But unlike the Eddie Moore case, detectives were unable to identify this young man found
near Terminal Island through fingerprinting or any other kind of identification.
>> Wow. >> Several sketches and digital renderings have been made of this victim in the
years after this. No identity has been found for this young man. >> That's awful.
>> That [ __ ] kills me. >> And how old was he? Did you say 19? >> He was like they think he was like late
teen, early 20s. >> Oh, that's that's so sad. It's like why has nobody come forward and claimed this
person? >> No one has claimed him. That's so sad. It >> is really really sad. >> But it just like it goes to show people
these serial killers can sense that in so many upon it. >> Oh, and it's so awful.
>> Now nearly 6 weeks passed since the discovery of the second body when on April 17th, Huntington Beach police
received another early morning call from a driver who claimed to have found a body by the side of the road. Another
one. Uh this was in an area lo known locally as Airport Hill. Uh so investigators get to the scene and they
found the body of a young man, again in his late teens or early 20s, lying near the side of the road. Uh this boy
appeared to be between 18 and 25, anywhere in there. He had blonde hair. He was average build. He was dressed in
a shirt, pants, and socks, but he was wearing no shoes. And his belt was missing.
>> Based on his appearance, detectives at the scene believed his cause of death had been blunt force trauma to the head.
Oh wow. >> When an autopsy was performed later that day, it turned out that the cause of
death was not blunt force trauma, it was suffocation. Uh but the medical examiner
couldn't tell whether it was by strangulation or quote by a gag or something put over the nose and mouth.
In addition to the suffocation, there was also evidence of considerable anti-mortem trauma to the body,
including ligature marks on the wrist, bruising around his mouth and nose, and his genitals had been removed. Oh. Um,
he had lost at least two pints of blood because of that. >> And they he was still alive when that
happened, they think. >> Mhm. >> Oh my god. >> There was also evidence of sexual
assault and postmortem road burns and cuts all over his exposed parts of his body, which indicated that he too had
been pushed out of the vehicle. >> The victim had no ID on him, and they ran his fingerprints through the state
database, and nothing came back. Like the previous victim, a composite sketch was made and circulated, but no one in
the area seemed to recognize this young man or know who he was. >> And he's still unidentified.
>> It seemed Well, we'll get to it. It seemed surprising to the officers that somebody, especially someone this age,
would disappear and not be reported by anyone. >> Yeah. >> But as they would later find out, that
was because they were looking in the wrong place. >> Okay. In March 1995, so we're skipping
ahead, nearly 22 years after this body was found in Huntington Beach, Kurt Marine, a Santa Ana County Deputy
Coroner, merged his California fingerprint database with that of the wider western United States and received
a match on the fingerprints. >> Oh. >> The young man from 1973 turned out to be 18-year-old
Kevin Clark Bailey. His father, Clark Bailey, after receiving a phone call about this, said, "I was a little
stunned." >> Yeah. >> Clark Bailey had divorced his wife when Kevin was just four years old, and he
hadn't seen either of his children since then. Oh. >> According to report records, Kevin
Bailey had grown up in Middleton, New York, and had been living in Corvalis, Oregon, nearly a thousand miles away
from Huntington Beach, as recently as 5 days before his murder. >> Oh. In fact, he he had been
fingerprinted on April 4th, 1973 when he was picked up for loitering around a schoolyard, which is how they were able
to get the match on the fingerprints. >> Oh. >> Had police in Huntington Beach had the
capability of searching fingerprint records like around where that area was, they would have matched those two and he
would have been identified immediately. >> Yeah. It was just the fact that it was
too >> Yeah. >> too early on. Now, it would have been pretty helpful for investigators to
identify Bailey's body at the time it was found, >> but that doesn't really mean that they
would have found the killer. >> Yeah. >> Um, in addition to not knowing the identity of the victim, they also had
literally no forensic evidence and no leads. >> In fact, just about the only thing they
did have was a very strong suspicion that the Moore case and the two identified cases were all the work of
the same killer. That's literally at this point, >> which is nothing really. >> Yeah. And they had barely any time to
even like sit here and ponder on this. Um because what April 22nd, investigators received a call about
several body parts having been found in locations around Wilmington. >> And this is just like month to month.
>> Yeah. This is literally like days at this point. So, they arrive at the scene
and detectives learn that, as had been described to them over the phone, locals had indeed found one leg, two arms, a
torso, and human skin had been found in four green plastic bags on Terminal Island, not far from where the second
victim was discovered. >> Human skin? >> Yeah. >> Just a bag of human skin. >> Human skin.
>> Yep. >> Holy [ __ ] dude. According to the press, quote, "The torso, that of a young man,
had been mutilated. A few days later, on the morning of April 25th, the victim's
other leg was discovered in a dumpster behind a bar just off the Pacific Coast Highway. Unlike the other limbs, it had
been wrapped in cloth and placed in the trash." 2 days after the leg was discovered, the victim's head was
discovered in a paper bag by an employee loading paper waste on a conveyor belt in the Pioneer Paper Stock Company.
>> Jesus. Because the company processes paper waste from all over the LA area, there was no way to know where the head
had originally been discarded. >> Yeah. >> Nevertheless, investigators were like
99% sure that the head belonged to the dismembered victim found on Terminal Island. Cuz
>> you would think, >> you know, what are the odds? >> Yeah. >> According to the medical examiner, all
the limbs, quote, were severed with a dull knife. Oh, what the [ __ ] This is like horror movie [ __ ] I was just
thinking that >> um as with the previous two victims, investigators were unable to identify
this dismembered victim and the remains are still unidentified to this day. >> You have to another one
>> that's awful that that's still unidentified that person is. And you have to think too
>> the enjoyment that this person must be like the killer must be getting out of this
because think about how long we've talked about it taking to dissect a body with a good knife. Like that's a project
that's going to take some time. >> But a dull >> a dull knife. >> Yeah, >> that's going to take
>> a long time. >> Days I would think. >> A long time. And they knew at this point
they were like this is definitely the work of the same killer. I mean this is just
>> this person is depraved. Now, whenever there are multiple victims discovered over kind of a short period of time,
investigators obviously have to consider whether they should even disclose these
connections to the public because that might cause panic. >> Yeah. This was particularly true in
Southern California in the 1970s where residents had also kind of already been traumatized by multiple serial killers
like Herbert Mullen, Ed Keer, the Zodiac Killer. Mhm. But with the discovery of the fourth body, investigators were
like, "We got to let the public know." Like, "You can't hold that. You need to be vigilant."
>> Yeah. They were like, "You know what? We're pretty sure there's a killer operating in the area, but this time
preying on young men." >> Yeah. >> In a press conference held after the discovery of the body parts, an LAPD
spokesperson told reporters, quote, "There may be more than one sex maniac loose in the area, but they had yet to
identify a motive for the murders and had no suspects." Now, just to go in, you know, broadly
speaking, the murder of gay men or men who authorities just assumed to be gay because they did a lot of that back
then. >> Yeah. >> Have not been pursued with the same kind of enthusiasm as straight victims or,
you know, like there's the missing white woman >> syndrome >> syndrome that happens. Also,
investigations into the murder of gay men have historically been kind of influenced by a lot of assumptions about
not the killer, but the victims. >> Yeah. And a lot of biases go into it a lot of time. It's just fact. Like you
can look back on it. We've covered a lot of cases like this. >> Ronald Dominique,
>> the Bayou Strangler we talked about. It's the same kind of thing. There's a lot of assumptions that go into it. a
lot of well whatever they got themselves into the it's the same thing that happens to sex workers a lot you know
>> and Ronald Dominique was before the or was after this think about the bias that
was going on in the 70s I'm sure >> yeah and the thing is with the victims in this case they represent when we go
through them various sexual identities across the spectrum like they're not locked into one
>> um I mean most people do you know >> yeah they weren't all gay they weren't all bisexual at least a couple of them
had were definitely didn't have any interest, you know, sexual interest in men at all.
>> Um, so weren't part of that spectrum. Um, but when it came to the four bodies
they now believe to be the work of the same killer, detectives Bill Tines and George Troop were pretty confident that
the victims, and I quote, >> no, >> had a one night stand with a boyfriend and things got out of hand.
Four of them and also got out of hand. Got out of hand. There's also just no evidence to literally no indication
>> whatsoever. First of all, you don't have a one night stand with a boyfriend. That's that doesn't usually work that
way. Those two things are usually mutually exclusive. >> All four of them had a one night stand
with a boyfriend. >> What? Two only two of them are identified. So, so far and so half of
them you don't know, but you're saying they had a one night stand with a boyfriend. And I'm sorry, things got out
of hand. Like I'm sorry, one of them was dismembered with a dull knife. >> There was a bag of human skin socks.
Yeah. In parts where they shouldn't. Like >> there was a bag of human skin part of
this case. >> That's beyond getting out of hand. >> Jesus Christ. >> Yeah. It just shows that that kind of
like flippant like just whatever. They had a nightstand and things. Wo. >> It's such a lack of tact that you're
like, who lets you talk to people? >> Who lets you say things that are going to be written down for?
>> Yeah. >> These are young guys. Like literally out of high school kind of young with like
And it's like [ __ ] Like you're just like flippantly being like, well, whatever. I don't even if that was the
case. Even if that was the case that it was a one night stand gone wrong, so they deserve it. Like what does that
mean? >> Well, and it's just so funny. that we shouldn't investigate it as far. No,
someone still did this to them and should be locked up for it. >> We're just going to be like, "Oh, yeah,
it's fine. >> It's the things getting out of hand for me." >> What's nice to me is that that theory
completely shat in their face very quickly. I'd fell apart on July 30th, 1973, when the body of 20-year-old
Ronald Weeb was discovered at the 7th Street exit near Seal Beach, almost exactly where Eddie Moore's body had
been discovered. >> Oh, okay. >> According to his mother, Ronald had left her house in um Los Alamidos around 8:30
p.m. on July 27th and was headed to the sportsman's lodge to have some drinks with friends. He was last seen at the
bar a little before 2:00 a.m. when he said goodbye to his friends and left. >> Okay. That night, Ronald had driven to
the bar, but got a flat tire along the way and parked near a tire store a short distance from the lodge. So, it's
assumed that he began walking or hitchhiking in order to get home. >> Mhm. >> Uh the following morning, when his
sister became worried and went out looking for him, she found his car parked near the tire store, the tire
obviously flat. Now, Ronald's body was discovered 2 days um 2 days later just off the highway. And to investigators on
the case, everything looked pretty familiar to what they had been seeing. Like Edward Moore, Ronald was fully
dressed, except he was missing his belt, shoes, and one sock. >> His pants were unbuttoned, and he was
exposed. There was also a quarter inch wide ligature mark around his neck. There was also superficial scratches all
over exposed parts of his body. He had clearly been pushed out of a moving vehicle. Um, an autopsy was performed
that day and it basically just confirmed the link between him and the other victims. Ronald's cause of death was
asphixxiation from ligature strangle strangulation and the Emmy estimated that he had been killed approximately 2
days earlier. So, it all lined up. >> Yeah. >> Um, that would place his time of death a
short time after he left the sportsman's lodge. Um, they determined that he had also been hit with a blunt instrument at
least two or three times hard enough to fracture his skull. >> Jesus. >> And there was ligature marks on his
wrists and ankles. This this next part really just disturbs me. The way the blood had settled
suggested that he had been suspended at the time of death. >> Wow. Suspended in the air. I don't think
we've talked about that since we talked about um Willie Pikton. >> Yeah, >> that's another [ __ ] level.
>> Yeah. >> of sadistic to determine that he had been suspended in the air when he was
killed is >> I don't know why. It's it's something about that part of it. It's all
obviously I don't think I need to say it, but >> it's [ __ ] you hear and [ __ ] you see in a
horror movie. >> It just doesn't feel like real life. Like you're like people do that to other
people? There's poor people. >> It's awful. >> Who is this [ __ ] dude Randy? >> You know, like some of the other
victims, there was evidence of sexual assault and the sock was found where it was found with the other ones. Um, this
time though, there was little evidence of anti-mortem torture or post-mortem mutilation. Um, there was no drugs found
in his system. His blood alcohol level was 0.02, far below the legal limit. Um, one of the more troubling aspects of the
crime scene was the position and location of where the body was found. It was obvious that the body had been
dragged or dropped on the road, but it was discovered laying right next to an ice plant, which is a kind of succulent
apparently common in California to Tines and Troop, which this is interesting. It
seemed very unlikely that a body pushed from a me moving vehicle would have landed in exactly that spot, not
disturbing the plant in any way. >> Yeah. >> They then considered that the killer may
have drove to the location and carried the body from the car, but we he would have had to move very quickly.
>> Yeah. >> And even though this man only um he only weighed about 130 lb, that much dead
weight would still be very difficult for one person to carry. So, in fact, it seemed more likely and
like alarmingly so that the killer had some help moving the body. >> This is when they first said, "Wait a
second. >> This doesn't just happen one person." >> I still have no idea. >> I still
>> during their investigation, Ty and Troop learned a lot about Ronald Weeb. Um, and
all of it seriously undermined their initial must be an angry one night stand boyfriend theory. At the time of his
death, Ronald was living with his father after becoming estranged from his wife.
>> Obviously, gay men can marry women. It has happened. It still happens. >> But in this case, he had become
estranged from his wife because he was having an affair with another woman. >> So, he was a straight man.
>> Yeah. And he was dating this other woman at the time of his death. >> Okay. >> So, he was presenting very straight. Um,
also no one who knew Ronald had even the slightest suspicion or inkling that he had any kind of romantic interest in
men. >> Okay? You know, and nothing about his life suggested that. >> It just wasn't the case here.
>> The details of his personal life changed the investigation a lot. Uh, previously
investigators assumed the killer was preying on members of the gay community or on what they were calling hustlers
who lived on the margins of the so of society. >> Oh my god. >> Yeah. Like people must be drug addicts.
must be people, you know, hustling and putting themselves in danger essentially.
>> It's crazy how much people hate gay people. Yeah. >> Like it's actually wild.
>> When you sit and you hear it and you think about it, it's like it has nothing
to do with you. So why do you give a [ __ ] >> That's the thing. >> I say it every time we cover a case like
this, but every time it just echoes in my brain. Why do you give a [ __ ] How does it affect you? All right. It
[ __ ] doesn't. It literally does not. >> It's so like gay panic to me is insane.
>> It's the weirdest way to live your life to be like worried about what consenting
adults are doing >> cuz all you like I literally don't care. >> It says so much more about you to be
freaked out and like up in arms about gay people than it does about the the gay person
>> people just living their lives >> cuz it's like y'all this is just about who we sleep with. So that's real
[ __ ] weird that you're that worried about that. >> Who gives a [ __ ] In fact, there was
while I was researching this case, there was like some quote from one of these investigators
and I brought it up to Mikey and Ash because I was like, "Am I crazy or does this just not matter?" And it was
talking about one of the victims and it was like, "Oh, and this person that they
interviewed, they had a sexual relationship, >> but it never made I was looking further
into it and I was like, >> why did they even like why would this matter?" >> Like I was like, this isn't pertinent
information. Am I being crazy or like it's too it's like kind of like a microaggression to be like oh like
>> gay people sleep with a like have a lot of relationships you know it's like no
>> yeah cuz it's like you you hear about interviews all the time they interview family friends acquaintances all that
stuff >> very little I mean I don't care straight gay by anything I don't care if those
two people slept together once or twice cuz it doesn't have an effect >> as long as they're if are they becoming
a suspect Sure, that might become pertinent. Absolutely. But if they're not, why the [ __ ] do I care if they're
just giving information about their their friend who maybe they had a relationship with,
>> but that's why it happens. It should be like a gay person will sleep with anybody.
>> Yeah. It's like that's the thing. It just doesn't >> and they have so many partners like,
"Shut the [ __ ] up." >> Yeah. So, yeah. It's just It's very strange to me. It's strange behavior.
It's strange that it's still a thing. >> It's It just grinds my gears. >> Yeah. That's the thing. It's like it's
very infuriating >> cuz it's like no these are just people who were murdered and we can just
investigate it as if these are people who were murdered >> and it's like I know we're talking about
something from the '7s so obviously it's like so different but it's really not because these are still things that that
that the community faces today and it's so irritating. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um, like we should
just investigate deaths of humans the same across humans, you know, to make sure that the people who are killing
humans are are not just flossing around. >> Keep your weird comments to yourself.
>> Yeah. Exactly. >> Um, so again, they were assuming that they this was, you know, victims were
only part of the gay community or like they said quote unquote hustlers who lived on the margins of the community.
>> Truly unreal. But now they had to consider the potential victim pool was much larger, including any young man who
seemed at least even slightly susceptible to whatever roost the killer was using to get his victims alone. Cuz
remember, he might not be luring them in being like, "Hey, want to fuck?" >> Yeah.
>> I think that's the assumption that these like idiots were making at first. They
were just like, "Well, that has to be it." And it's like, "No, maybe he just offered them a ride."
>> Yeah. And then did awful. guy had like Ronald had a flat tire. >> Yeah. >> He could have easily been lured in with,
"Hey, I can drive you to this place or I can drop you off down the road." Like, >> it's just wild. Unfortunately, again,
there was very little evidence collected at this dump site, and no one had seen or heard from Ronald since he left the
bar that that night. So, the case was almost kind of cold from the start. >> Wow. with nothing to go on,
investigators had to just kind of like wait until the next victim was discovered, which is the most horrifying
thing I've ever heard. >> Yeah. >> Um, and this would take at least 6 months, actually. But detectives were
pretty sure it was going to happen. Like even through that 6 months, they were like, he's not going to stop.
>> It's actually crazy that it took 6 months after this whole everything you've said happened so quickly.
>> But now when we look back, that scorecard that he had, quote unquote scorecard,
>> victims in between, >> there might have been more in between that just weren't linked to him. and
like maybe not even >> maybe he traveled, maybe he went different places. Like who knows?
>> That's so scary. >> Now, on December 29th, 1973, hikers in the San Bernardino Mountains discovered
the body of 23-year-old Cal State art student Vincent Cruz Mestus in a ravine near the base of the mountain. It was
immediately clear to investigators that Vincent was killed by the same man. He was fully dressed except for his shoes
and he was missing one sock. According to the medical examiner, the cause of death was asphyxiation. But according to
the medical examiner, the cause of death was asphyxiation. And like the others, the victim had been tortured before
being killed and his body was mutilated after death, which that was a little different from the other ones. Um, in
addition to the sock that had been found, um, there was, and this is awful, there was a pencil or large toothpick
pushed into his urethra. >> Oh my god. which the medical examiner believed happened before death.
Oh my god. His hands had also been cut off and placed into plastic bags while he was alive or
>> the wounds had been covered with plastic bags. >> Oh, the hands have never been found by
the way. >> Oh my god. Um yeah, also the medical examiner said that um in addition to the
various injuries, it looked like the killer had shaved his face and head after he had murdered him. Ew. Ew.
Because that's so creepy. >> Yeah. >> There like what is the pathology behind that? Like when people when killers will
wash their victims or set them up or dress them. It's so >> there's many different pathologies
for each different thing. It's I hate it. Uh, according to friends, um, Vincent was, you know, he was young. He
was like adorable. He was slightly naive and was known to be bisexual. >> Well, he was young.
>> We're all [ __ ] naive when we're young. At 23, I was the most naive I've ever been.
>> Exactly. In fact, Vincent had been picked up by police a few times for um sex work around the apartment he shared
with a roommate. So, it didn't seem unreasonable that he would go off with a stranger. That's what they were kind of
linking that to. Yeah. Particularly if there was some transaction that had happened.
>> Vincent was last seen by his roommate 3 days before his body was found. >> According to the roommate, Vincent had
said he was quote going into the mountains to do some drawing. >> Oh. >> And he had taken his sketch pad and
pencils with him. >> Stop it. He just wanted to get away and relax. >> Exactly. Those items weren't found with
the body and have never been found. Um, in fact, there was very little evidence collected in that ravine and nothing
that would point to the killer. Like he was not leaving anything at these scenes.
>> No. >> Now, nearly half of all murder victims are killed by someone they know.
>> Yeah. >> Um, but the rate is all like very much higher for women. >> Um, these are the cases that are pretty
easily and eventually solved because there's some evidence that's going to lead to that connection. You know,
>> in cases where the victim's killed by a stranger, though, it is so much [ __ ]
harder than anyone. >> There's no connection. It can be anyone in the entire world
>> and he's not leaving anything. >> So the Exactly. So those kind of cases almost always are solved because of
luck. >> Yeah. >> Just sheer luck. >> No, it's true. >> Um and in the case of the murdered men
in Southern California, investigators just weren't having that luck. It wasn't happening. They were getting left
nothing. There was no connection between these guys, so there was nothing to go on.
>> Yeah. >> Now, because there was similarities in all the cases, investigators were
confident that Vincent's case was connected to the other killed men. But whoever was killing these men again was
not leaving any witnesses, any evidence, nothing. And 6 months passed with pretty
little progress in the case again. Then on June 2nd, 1974, the body of 20-year-old Malcolm Little was
discovered sitting propped up against a mosquite tree along Highway 86 just south of Sultan Sea.
>> Oh. >> Now, despite being more than 150 miles from the area where the other bodies
were found, 150 miles away, >> very far, >> his body bore many of the signatures and
mutilation investigators had come to recognize from this killer. He had been strangled. His genitals had been cut
off. This is awful. There was a mosquite branch inserted into his rectum. Oh. Now, at first, investigators questioned
whether Malcolm Little's killer was the same man who' killed the others in LA because of the the distance.
>> Yeah. >> But as soon as they started interviewing friends and family, everything started
piecing together. Malcolm was an out-of work truck driver from Selma, Alabama, who just arrived in California a week
earlier. >> Oh my god. >> To visit his brother in Long Beach, not far from where the killer usually
hunted. >> And he was just visiting his brother. >> But not long after he had arrived in
California, his girlfriend called from Alabama, pissed that he had left without taking her with him.
>> Oh. >> Uh, yeah. So, the girlfriend demanded that he come back to Alabama and they
could go to California together >> when he was on his way. and Little explained that he didn't have enough
money to get a bus ticket back and two additional tickets to get them back to California, but she was like, "No, you
got to come back and get me." So, he was like, "Okay." So, he agreed. >> So, on May 27th, Bill, who's Malcolm's
um brother, dropped him at the intersection of the Garden Grove and Santa Ana Freeways, where he intended to
hitchhike his way back to Alabama cuz remember, it's the 70s. >> Yeah. Everybody was doing it. This was
the last time Bill saw his brother alive. That's so sad that he was so committed.
>> Yeah, he was going back. Yeah. >> Malcolm Little's cause of death was determined to be asphixxiation from
strangulation and the majority of the mutilation had, I guess thankfully, occurred postmortem.
After identifying this victim and verifying some of the information, Malcolm Little was added to the growing
list of victims. But if detectives were thinking that, you know, something about
this latest victim was going to break the case, they were very disappointed. >> Yeah. Uh like the other cases, no clues
found at the place he was found. >> Nothing. >> Um he had only been in the state for a
little, you know, under a week at that point, too. So there were no leads, nothing that was going to point to any
kind of connection. >> This time, investigators wouldn't have to wait long, though, for another victim
to be discovered. On June 22nd, just a few weeks after Malcolm Little's body was discovered, the nude body of
18-year-old Roger Dickerson was found at the end of a dead-end road in Laguna Beach.
>> Oh. >> Near a private golf club, >> which is a very affluent area. >> Yeah, I'm sure we all know.
>> Yeah, exactly. Dickerson had been sexually assaulted. There were bite marks on his genitals.
Um, and his cause of death was asphixxiation from strangulation. This time though there was something new that
hadn't been a factor in the other cases. In addition to a small amount of alcohol
in his system, there was also the presence of dazipam which is the generic form of valium.
>> Mhm. >> Once they identified this victim who turned out to be US Marine, a US Marine
stationed at Camp Pendleton. >> Oh. >> Detectives got to work interviewing, you know, associates, friends, family. And
this is the second person from Camp Pendleton. >> Second one. According to his fellow
Marines at the base, Dickerson had just been granted liberty, which is an authorized absence from the base, I
guess it's called. Like you can go out on your own, >> um for a short period, and he wanted to
visit Los Angeles. On the night he went missing, um he and several other Marines
had went out to Buds Cove Bar in Sanh San Clemente where he told them of his plan to go to LA for a few days.
>> Yeah. >> According to those friends, he had found someone to drive him to LA, but he
didn't mention that person's name. M that was the last time any of them saw him alive. A little over a month later
on August 3rd, another body was discovered. >> Jeez. This time found in an oil field in
Long Beach. >> Oh, that's chilling. >> That morning, oil field workers arrived for their shift and discovered the fully
clothed body of 25-year-old Thomas Lee. Like some of the more recent victims, Lee's body had been dumped in a less
obvious location cuz before they were like right in the open. >> Yeah. It's like shock value.
>> Yeah. And he was placed at the bottom of a steep incline, though clearly still in
an area where it would be found kind of quickly, but still a little further out.
>> Yeah. >> Lee had a high blood alcohol level at the time of his death, and the cause of
death was listed as a asphixia from um a strangulation. >> Upon further investigation, detectives
learned that Thomas Lee worked as a waiter at Princess Louise, which was a popular San Pedro restaurant. He was
also a regular um at at area bars like Lil Lucy in Long Beach and The Diamond in Wilmington.
>> Both areas were places where the killer had found other victims. Lee was also
known among the the gay community as one of the more active cruisers in the area.
>> And they a lot of people they talked to said he was he was a one night stand guy. He was he had a lot of
>> a lot of friends, you know. >> He was hanging out. >> Yeah, he was hanging out at the back. He
>> was living. uh that is, you know, he's something he's allowed to do. He's a consenting adult and as he's doing it
with other consenting adults. >> Live your damn life. >> But unfortunately, this would make him a
perfect target for this killer. Right. >> The last time anyone had seen Lee was around closing time the night before his
body was discovered on August 3rd. >> Investigators had barely time to blow their nose when on August 12th, another
body was found. >> Jesus, >> this is days. >> Yeah. >> Hours. Really? Yeah. >> This time, this body was found at the
bottom of an embankment off the Ozo Parkway in Orange County. Although the victim, 23-year-old Gary Wayne Cordova,
is considered to be one of the victims in this case, it's a little confusing why exactly. According to his friends,
Gary had said he was moving from Pasadena and was going to hitchhike to Oceanside.
>> Mhm. >> He was fully dressed when he was found. I think this is probably why they
started to connect him. He didn't have any shoes or socks on. >> Okay. and his cause of death was
determined to be acute intoxication from drugs and alcohol, >> specifically dasopam.
>> So maybe from the one of the last victims. >> It's believed apparently that like this
is the theory that they came up with that connects him to this. They believe that the killer picked Gary up while he
was hitchhiking cuz he was >> and intended to assault and kill him like the others, but Gary began
overdosing before that could happen. >> Oh, >> so that is a possibility. He is counted
among the victims. >> Interesting. Uh, the final victim discovered that year was found on
November 29th. It was shortly after 400 p.m. when Irvine police received a call about a body found near the San Diego
freeway. When they got there, investigators found the body of 19-year-old James Dale Reeves about 25
ft from the road, not far. Um, he was clothed in just a blood soaked t-shirt and was laying face down between two
trees just a few feet from the rest of his clothing. All of which were soaked in blood. Although the medical examiner
wasn't able to identify a cause of death. >> Oh. >> He suspected suffocation. Also,
when the body was discovered, the killer had inserted a 4ft tree branch. >> 4 foot?
>> Yes. a 4foot tree branch. Yeah, I told you this is just horrific in every way. It gets like it gets worse
and worse. How is that even possible? >> Yeah, it's awful. And he's like, again, he's
19 years old. These are like kids. >> That's that's like beyond brutal, >> you know. Now, according to his family,
James had asked to borrow the family car on the afternoon of November 27th. He drove down to the newly formed Gay
Community Church in Costa Mesa, where he had Thanksgiving dinner with other members of the community.
>> Then he drove over to Ripples, which is a popular bar in the Belmont Shores neighborhood. When investigators
searched the area, they found the car was still in the parking lot of Ripples, indicating that James had been picked up
at the bar. Yeah. likely by the killer who dumped his body on the highway. >> It will never not be strange to hear
what people do in their last hours and to to picture that in your head. >> Yeah. You just had Thanksgiving with
your friends at the newly formed church for your community, >> right? >> And you have no idea after celebrating
what was probably like a nice we just formed this church together, we have this community, this is our Thanksgiving
together. And then to have this happen and just to think like obviously >> nobody has any idea that this is
happening and they're thinking about their plans for the next couple hours or their plans for the next
>> couple days. >> It will never it will never cease to like [ __ ] me up. >> It will never.
>> Now in their statement to the press, investigators hedged their bets on this one. this they said. So JJ um detective
JJ Hurlbert told reporters, "We're not necessarily saying he's homosexual, but he certainly prays on homosexuals and
engages in homosexual activities with his victims." So they're like, "We're not like saying the killer's gay. We're
not saying he's not gay cuz he sexually assaults these guys." So like, but like >> wow. I just I'm like way ahead on that
one. Like we're not saying he's necessarily gay, but like he might be. It's like, thank you. That's so helpful.
>> I'm not sure about all that. >> Thank you for that. >> Now, after so many murders and so little
evidence, investigators were looking for any help, which I understand that they have nothing to go on. Um, and so they
started turning to the gay community to be like, "Can you help us identify who this could be because he might be
praying in these certain areas?" But the gay community was very reluctant to speak with detectives for obvious
reasons. >> JJ Hbert said, "We can't find anyone who can put the victim and the killer
together. However, we feel there must have been cases of someone being picked up by this guy who got away and just
hasn't come forward." Which is very possible. Yeah. But they might feel, you know, they might feel like ashamed about
it. They might feel scared. They might feel like they're they're going to be pinned for it for somehow or in trouble
somehow. >> Yeah. >> Cuz it's not like they haven't seen >> this happen a million times to their
community. So, of course, they're not going to run and be like, "Let me help." >> Yeah. Now, unfortunately for the
detectives, you know, and the other investigators, they had just formed a newly formed task force for this, but no
one came forward with any suspicious members of the community or providing tips on anything that they had seen,
>> which also there's a there's a possibility no one saw anything that they figured was worth noting, right, or
had been picked up by this guy and let out. He might not let anyone go. So for George Troop and the other
detectives on the case, it was obvious these were the victims of the same killer obviously, but it seemed
impossible that someone could commit so many murders and not leave any evidence behind or be seen by anybody ever.
>> Equally frustrating was the fact that while they were struggling to make progress, the body count was just rising
and less time was happening between discovery victims. >> Yeah. So, the new year comes and they
immediately get a call for a newly discovered body in the killer's hunting ground.
>> Oh no. >> This time, a teenage boy, 17-year-old John Williams Laris was last seen
boarding a bus carrying a pair of roller skates. >> Oh, >> yeah. The day before his nude body was
discovered, January 4th, 1975. He was floating in the surf off Sunset Beach. Oh. According to the bus driver,
Jon got off the bus at a stop near Ripples Bar, where previous victim James Reeves disappeared from a month earlier.
Like many of the other victims, Laris had been sexually assaulted, and there was a foreign object, which was later
identified as a wooden surveyor stake inserted into his anus, and he had been strangled to death.
>> Jesus Christ. 17 years old. >> 17 years old. In addition to the discovery of another victim, what was
probably most alarming was that there were drag marks in the sand where the victim where the killer had dragged the
body to the water and alongside those >> were two sets of footprints. >> Oh, [ __ ] that.
>> Yep. As some investigators had suspected already, the killer likely had an accomplice.
>> Yeah. I mean, at this point, that's just a fact. >> At the very least, someone was helping
him dispose of bodies. >> Yeah. you know, >> an I mean, that's an accomplice. Yeah.
Unfortunately, detectives had barely started to even contemplate the implications of this, that there's a
second set of footprints. Less than two weeks later, another body is discovered.
>> It almost makes, and obviously, this is not the case, but it makes you feel like
with two people, it would be easier to find them. You know, >> you would think, I don't know why it
just more people to [ __ ] up, you know, exactly. >> Humans are fallible. So, you would think
with two of them, it's >> two people to turn on each other. >> Yeah. On the morning of January 17th,
construction workers arriving to a job site next to the Golden Sales Hotel off the Pacific Coast Highway discovered the
body of 21-year-old Craig Jonitis. In this case, he was fully clothed except he was missing his shoes and socks.
>> There was a dark red liature mark around his neck indicating that he'd been strangled, but there was very little
evidence found at the scene. Nothing that could help them trace anything back. And despite the lack of forensic
evidence or witness statements for Troop and the other detectives, they were they
were like there's a profile that can be taken out of this at the very least, >> right?
>> With three exceptions, all of the victims were gay or had some sexual interest in men that was like discovered
in their background. So, it was fair to assume they'd gone with the killer willingly perhaps. Yeah. Like at least
some of the time. >> And he definitely had a type. Young white men with a medium build. They all
were. It was also obvious that rather than cover up the crimes, the killer appeared to be leaving his victims in
places where they would be discovered by either police or the public. >> Mhm. You know, on the side of the
highway, public beaches, like that kind of thing, near golf courses, >> right? >> During the investigation, something else
occurred to Troopines that may have revealed something about the killer's background. Actually, in many of the
cases, a sock had been inserted into the victim's anus. >> Yeah. Similarly, many of the victims
were discovered with white tissue either on their body or inserted into their nostrils. Oh, at first they initially
took this, they didn't even reveal this at first and then later they when they did they talked about how this they
believe this could have been some kind of like you know fetish >> or some kind of signature
>> but eventually troop made an interesting association with this. It turned out
that plugging orififices in that manner was something commonly done in the military in circumstances where a
serviceman has been killed but won't be immediately transferred to a hospital or
morg because investigators believe the killer had used this to keep the bodies from purging while they were being
transported to a dump site. >> I don't I don't It's apparently like a thing. Okay.
>> Yeah. So, it gave them at least something that they could at least I know there's no words for it, but it
gave them something that they could touch upon to say >> maybe he knows of this practice, which
would indicate >> and it narrows down a little. Yeah. It's it's that's literally all they have.
That's literally >> all they have. >> Holy [ __ ] And I also I feel like either way it's sexually rooted in nature. Like
he's I think he's getting like for him he's getting some kind of kicks from that. Yeah, for sure. It's I'm
interested in like the tissue in the nose. >> Yeah, that's interesting. That's an
interesting one. >> But the other >> Yeah. >> is different. >> So to the local investigators on the
case, the idea of a killer, you know, systematically choosing, killing, and dumping victims was a relatively new and
foreign concept actually. Um it's not that California obviously didn't have its fair share of, you know, serial
killers. Um but it was the way that this killer was behaving that was new to them. Like, you know, they had Charles
Manson who like reveled in the adoration of his cult members. Zodiac Killer sought fame more than anything else.
>> This killer seemed to be pretty highly intelligent in the worst kind of way. >> And knew exactly what he was doing. And
maybe he didn't know why he was doing it, but he knew what he was doing. He was a hunter. He was getting more
skilled each time. and he was leaving nothing. While getting the attention, he was also
leaving absolutely nothing for them to go on. Knowing that they wouldn't catch their killer without some kind of
insight into the psychology here, the task force s reached out to the FBI and uh the behavioral analysis unit was
doing at this time like super innovative work in studying killers and other violent predators. Um go watch Mind
Hunter. Yes. Uh, in his profile of the killer, FBI agent Howard Tetton categorized the suspect as a lust
killer, someone who's whose periodic murders were usually committed to satisfy a sexual urge.
>> Yeah. >> Another analyst on the team, Dr. E. Manel Patterson from the California
College of Medicine, described the killer in a way. They got something out of these profiles, but this is a wild
description. >> Okay, I'm getting ready. described the killer as a man who quote desires to
feel masculine and veriral but does not feel masculine. He vicariously identifies with the masculine image of
the victim. Sod sodomizing the victim affirms that he is a potent aggressive verile heterosexual male. So he's
essentially saying this is a guy who hates himself, >> okay, >> and wants to feel masculine but isn't.
>> So he's like taking masculinity from his victims. >> He's kind of assuming that this is a gay
killer as well. So, he's like putting it in there that like this is obviously a gay man who doesn't feel masculine and
feels masculine by taking masculinity away from other men. >> Okay. >> Which is just like a It's a strange way
of saying it. >> Yeah. >> Um it's got a lot of assumptions in there. >> Yeah. Lots of implications there.
>> Some some kind of bizarre way of looking at it. >> Frankly, it wasn't as bad as I was
expecting. >> No, it could have been way worse. There was parts of it that were worse that I I
don't choose to say. >> Love that. >> But we did. What I wanted to take from this is like from those two different
analyses, we got a few things from them. One, there was likely more victims than
were known to investigators, >> which we confirm later, >> which we do. Two, the killer felt
absolutely no sense of guilt or remorse because he's a lost killer. He doesn't give a [ __ ]
>> Yep. >> Three, it was highly unlikely he would stop on his own valition. >> Yeah. No. I mean, clearly not.
>> Yeah, he can't stop. The urges are too much. Now, the insight provided by the
profilers and psychologists was of some value, obviously, to the task force, but
it didn't really do anything to point them in the direction of a [ __ ] suspect, which is what they've been
trying to do this whole time. >> Yeah. >> In the meantime, within a couple of months of murdering Craig Jonitis, the
killer was back out on the streets looking for another victim already, and he's going to find one.
>> Mhm. And that's where we're going to end for part one because >> because we all need a collective minute.
>> The amount of men who have died in part one >> and so >> in horrific, violent, just
>> graphic, >> atrocious ways. >> Yeah. >> Is something I think we need to take a
minute from. >> Yeah. >> Um because part two is going to pick right up there with some more victims
because we are not done with this piece of [ __ ] >> unfortunately. And we are going to get
into how they discover who Randy Craft is. >> Okay. Love that. I love the part where
they're apprehended. >> We are going to get there. >> The part where they're not stresses me
out so much. >> So, we will get there. Um, but yeah, this is a real This is a hard one. This
tough one. >> Yeah. >> Because of the era it happened in. >> Mhm. >> Like for so many ways, obviously because
of the brutality of the entire thing, but also because of the era it happened in and the way that things were talked
about in the press and by investigators. It's just there's a lot to unpack to like chew on while you're learning all
the details of all the brutality that happened to these poor men >> to hear how it was described and certain
assumptions that are made about victims mostly >> is like what makes it really tough to
swallow. That's why it's just like I got to take a minute. >> Absolutely. Yeah, I agree.
>> Yeah. So, we'll we'll be back with a lot more. >> All right. >> It's rough. We'll see you then because
we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird but not so weird that you don't come back for part two, honey.
>> Hey yo, bye >> bye bye. [Music] [Music] [Music]

Throughout the 1970s, Southern California residents were held in the grip of terror as multiple serial killers stalked the streets, preying on victims from every walk of life, including the area’s gay community. From 1971 to 1983, Randy Kraft kidnapped, tortured, and murdered at least sixteen men and boys, but the real number of victims is believed to be considerably higher. When he was arrested in 1983, investigators searched Kraft’s home and found a list with cryptic references to what they believed were sixty-one victims in total. The discovery of that list led the press to dub Kraft “The Scorecard Killer.”

Following his arrest in 1983, Randy Kraft was tried and convicted of sixteen counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Although the arrest and trial put an end to Kraft’s murder spree, several critical questions remain unanswered, including the most important aspect of the case detectives were never able to solve: who was Randy Kraft’s accomplice?

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

References Arnold, Roxane, and Jerry Hicks. 1983. "Kraft suspected in deaths of 14 men in 3 states, Gates says." Los Angeles Times, May 20: 73.

Associated Press. 1983. "Five murders charged to computer analyst." Sacramento Bee, May 25: 2.

—. 1978. "Police seek link in deaths of 18." San Bernardino County Sun, November 24: 3.

—. 1983. "Freeway killing pattern repeats." The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA), February 19: 2.

Bajko, Matthew. 2016. Gay serial killer breaks silence. November 2. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.ebar.com/story/246748.

Grant, Gordon. 1983. "How a routine stop led to a big arrest." Los Angeles Times, May 20: 73.

Hicks, Jerry. 1988. "Alleged 'death list' made public as Kraft trial opens." Los Angeles Times, September 27: 69.

—. 1989. "Kraft condemned to death by jury for serial killings." Los Angeles Times, August 12: 1.

—. 1988. "Kraft defense says marine found in car was not dead." Los Angeles Times, September 28: 76.

—. 1989. "Kraft guilty of 16 sex slayings, jury decides." Los Angeles Times, May 13: 1.

—. 1989. "Orange County jury gets Kraft serial murder case." Los Angeles Times, April 28: 76.

—. 1988. "Two other states were closing in on Kraft." Los Angeles Times, January 4: 3.

—. 1989. "Witness says Kraft drugged and sexually assaulted him in 1970." Los Angeles Times, June 6: 3.

Hughes, Beth. 1982. "L.A. area's missing youths-a trail of mystery and murder." San Francisco Examiner, August 23: B5.

Jarlson, Gary. 1983. "Suspect in 4 slayings also investigated in 6 Oregon murders." Los Angeles Times, May 19: 80.

Kennedy, J. Michael. 1978. "Four deaths turn into four mysteries." Los Angeles Times, September 2: 17.

Los Angeles Times. 1973. "Head of a man found in a bag at paper plant." Los Angeles Times, April 27: 23.

—. 1988. "Randy Kraft's scorecard?" Los Angeles Times, October 2: 117.

McDougal, Dennis. 1991. Angel of Darkness: The True Story of Randy Kraft and the Most Heinous Murder Spree. New York, NY: Warner Books.

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Brief Summary

Elena and Ash discuss their podcast's move to SiriusXM and begin detailing the case of Randy Craft, the scorecard killer.

Key points

Exciting New Partnership. Elena and Ash announce their new partnership with Sirius XM, promising more content for fans.
Chilling Discovery of Victims. The hosts discuss the gruesome details surrounding the murders committed by Randy Craft.
Unidentified Victim Found. A young man is discovered dead with no ID, raising questions about his identity.
Fingerprint Match After 22 Years. Decades later, a fingerprint match reveals the identity of the victim as Kevin Clark Bailey.
Dismembered Body Parts Discovered. Investigators find dismembered body parts in plastic bags, escalating the horror of the case.
Suspended During Death. The disturbing detail that the victim was suspended at the time of death shocks investigators.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Hold on to your serotonin.

5:35WatchAug 14, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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