Latest news with #ScorecardKiller
USA Today
12-05-2025
- USA Today
Notorious serial killer suspected in death of Vietnam vet identified after 45 years
Notorious serial killer suspected in death of Vietnam vet identified after 45 years Show Caption Hide Caption Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper and DNA: New tech solving murders From Ted Bundy to Jack the Ripper, new DNA technology is solving murder mysteries, finding serial killers, and exonerating innocents. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY A homicide victim who remained unknown for more than four decades has been identified as a 30-year-old Vietnam veteran whose death may be linked to the so-called serial Scorecard Killer, convicted of committing a string of California murders in the 1970s and 1980s. Oregon State Police said DNA samples led to the identification of the unknown victim as Larry Eugene Parks, whose body had been found in July 1980 along Oregon's Interstate 5. His body was found a day after the body of Michael O'Fallon was found along Interstate 5 in Talbot, about 34 miles to the south, the department said. Investigators suspected the two killings were related but ran out of leads and the cases went cold. With his identity now known, the department said, investigators are working to resolve the 45-year-old case and confirm whether the killing is tied to Randy Steven Kraft, alternately known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler and the Freeway Killer. According to author Jack Smith's "The Scorecard Killer: The Life of Serial Killer Randy Steven Kraft," Kraft was a computer programmer who preyed on hitchhikers and unsuspecting bar hoppers, torturing, mutilating and sexually assaulting his mostly gay victims. Evidence from both Oregon killings had been used during Kraft's trial and remained with authorities in Orange County, California, until last year. Who was Randy Kraft? Bodies of multiple young men were found killed throughout Orange County and Southern California in the 1970s and early 1980s, several of them within a few miles of where Parks' remains were discovered. Randy Steven Kraft was taken into custody in 1983 after being pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer who observed him swerving on Interstate 5 near Mission Viejo, in Orange County. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the officer found a dead male victim in the front seat of Kraft's vehicle along with empty beer bottles and an open bottle of the sedative medication Lorazepam. The victim was later identified as Terry Lee Gambrel, a 25-year-old Marine corporal, who had hitched a ride with Kraft to meet friends at a party, the sheriff's department said in a separate release. In the trunk, officers found a coded list that authorities believe Kraft used to record incidents involving at least 67 victims. Alternately known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler and the Freeway Killer, Kraft was ultimately convicted in May 1989 of 16 murders in California, though authorities say he may be responsible for more than 60 killings along the West Coast and in Michigan. Now 80, he remains on death row at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California. How the Parks case unfolded According to Oregon State Police, Parks' family had lost touch with him in 1979. His last known whereabouts were in Pensacola, Florida. The 1980 discovery of his unidentified body near Woodburn, in Oregon's Marion County between Portland and Salem, prompted the opening of a homicide investigation. However, detectives were unable to identify him and he remained a John Doe until last month. Last year, an Orange County Sheriff's Department investigator contacted the department's cold case unit offering to help identify Parks' remains with the use of forensic genealogy. Possible family members were contacted and submitted DNA samples for comparison, leading to Parks' definitive identification. Similarly, in October 2023, Orange County investigators used the technology to identity Michael Ray Schlicht of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, whose body had been found in 1974 near in unincorporated Laguna Hills, now the city of Aliso Viejo, California. Detectives are likewise working to determine whether Kraft is linked to Schlicht's death. Contributing: Whitney Woodworth
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
HUNTER: Serial killers Bruce McArthur, Gacy and Candyman the undead
When cops arrest a particularly egregious fiend, there is always one last question on everyone's lips: Are there more victims? Former Toronto Police homicide chief Hank Idsinga told me his detectives always believed that mall Santa turned serial killer, Bruce McArthur, had more victims. McArthur murdered eight men in Toronto and was finally convicted in 2019. But it was doubtful the serial killer got up one morning when he was 58 years old and started killing people. Every year, new developments occur in the still-open John Wayne Gacy case. Gacy, who was executed in 1994, murdered 33 young men and boys in suburban Chicago in the 1970s. One detective told me they believe there are at least a dozen more victims. Gacy's inspiration for his reign of terror was Dean 'Candyman' Corll. Now, 52 years after one of his teen acolytes parked a bullet in the Candyman, new evidence has emerged that he, too, had more victims. Dozens of teen boys and young men vanished off the streets of Houston in the early 1970s. Cops mostly dismissed these disappearances as runaways. That changed on Aug. 8, 1973, when 17-year-old Elmer Wayne Henley sent Corll to the morgue. Henley outlined a gut-wrenching rampage of rape, torture and murder that left dozens of boys dead. Then there were the mass graves. A boat storage facility contained 17 bodies. There were 27 in total. Some of those tragic boys remain nameless, but a forensic anthropologist told ABC13 one young man has already been identified. Donnie Falcon was 16 when he moved from Corpus Christi to Houston in 1971. That August, he vanished without a trace 'We never could find him,' his niece, Debra Christy, said. 'Some people said he joined the mafia. Everybody had a story. I heard the stories, you know, like the searching.' Falcon was recently identified and is considered one of Candyman's victims. There were at least 30 murders, maybe as many as 35. It's believed there are also undiscovered unmarked graves. More than 3,500 kilometres away in Oregon, another notorious serial killer has emerged from the tomb of the death row at San Quentin decades after his grisly murder spree. Randy Kraft carried the moniker 'The Scorecard Killer' during his days of rage because of his detailed descriptions and bizarre scoring system of the murders he committed. Now, the Oregon State Police say that Vietnam War veteran Larry Eugene Parks, whose body was discovered along Interstate 5 in 1980, has finally been identified. According to cops, Kraft, now 80, and still on death row at the Big Q, is their only suspect. 'There's some evidence that we're processing to determine that link,' spokesman Kyle Kennedy said. 'We are very confident that we have the correct person of interest.' The Scorecard Killer was convicted of the torture murders of 16 young men along the highways of California, Michigan and Oregon, but detectives suspect his true kill count could be as high as 65. For his troubles, Kraft was sentenced to death. When he was pulled over by the CHIPs in 1983, there was a strangled U.S. Marine in the passenger seat. In the trunk of his car, cops found a coded list detailing 67 murders. In 2023, the remains of a teenager believed to have been killed by Kraft in California were also identified using investigative genetic genealogy. Across North America, modern-day monsters buried secrets and bodies, now rapidly being exposed to merciful sunlight. bhunter@ @HunterTOSun
BreakingNews.ie
10-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Body identified after 45 years linked to serial killer
Police say a California serial killer is the sole person of interest after a man found dead in Oregon was identified after nearly 45 years. The 30-year-old, whose body was found alongside an interstate, was identified on Friday as Larry Eugene Parks. Advertisement Oregon State Police spokesman Kyle Kennedy said Randy Kraft, who has been dubbed the Scorecard Killer, is the only person under investigation for the 1980 killing. 'There's some evidence that we're processing to determine that link,' Mr Kennedy said. 'We are very confident that we have the correct person of interest.' Booking photo provided by the California Department of Corrections showing San Quentin inmate Randy Kraft (California Department of Corrections/AP) Kraft, now 80, was convicted in 1989 of brutalising and killing 16 men over a decade in California and sentenced to death. He remains in San Quentin State Prison and has denied killing anyone. On July 18 1980, police responded to a report of the body identified as Mr Parks along I-5, south of Portland. A homicide investigation unsuccessfully tried to identify the victim. Advertisement A Vietnam veteran whose family had lost contact with him in 1979, Mr Parks had last been seen in Pensacola, Florida, police said. Kraft was pulled over in his vehicle on a California freeway in 1983 after being spotted driving erratically. In the passenger seat of the vehicle was a strangled US Marine. In the trunk of Kraft's vehicle was a coded list believed to tally 67 victims in California, Oregon and Michigan, according to police. Prosecutors described Kraft, a former computer programmer, as a fetishist who kept some of the dismembered parts of his victims in his freezer. Advertisement In 2024, an Orange County Sheriff's Department investigator reached out to the Oregon State Police Cold Case Unit and offered to help identify the remains using forensic investigative genetic genealogy. A genetic profile was developed from a blood sample and Parks' identity was confirmed after possible family members submitted DNA profiles for comparison, according to police. Until his identification last month, the circumstances of his disappearance were unknown to his family, police said. In 2023, the remains of a teenager believed to have been killed by Kraft in California were also identified using investigative genetic genealogy. Advertisement
Washington Post
10-05-2025
- Washington Post
Decades-old death in Oregon potentially linked to notorious California serial killer
A man who was found dead along Interstate 5 in Oregon has been identified after nearly 45 years and police say a notorious California serial killer is the sole person of interest in the case. The 30-year-old was identified Friday as Larry Eugene Parks. Oregon State Police spokesperson Kyle Kennedy said Randy Kraft, who has been dubbed the 'Scorecard Killer,' is the only person under investigation for the 1980 killing.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Vietnam War veteran identified as possible victim of 1980s serial killer
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After 45 years, investigators have identified a Marion County man they believe was the victim of a notorious West Coast serial killer. On July 18, 1980, Oregon State Police officers originally responded to a report of a man found dead along I-5 near Woodburn. Although a homicide investigation into the man's death was open, authorities were unable to identify him until now. 15 years later, FBI to re-examine Kyron Horman case after files go digital In April 2025, he was positively identified as Larry Eugene Parks, a Vietnam War veteran who was 30 years old at the time of his death. OSP added that the discovery of Parks' body came a day after the body of another man was found along I-5 in Marion County. Although investigators suspected the two murders were related, leads dried up and both cases went cold. Then in 1983, a man named Randy Kraft was arrested in Orange County, Calif. on suspicion of being the Scorecard Killer, who murdered 60 victims across the West Coast, as well as Michigan. Teen arrested after fight at Salem pool hall leads to death Even though Kraft was ultimately convicted of 16 murders in California in 1989, officials believed Parks and O'Fallon were also killed by Kraft and evidence collected from their murders was used during trial, which was then stored in Orange County. But in January 2024, OSP said the Orange County Sheriff's Department contacted their Cold Case Unit about the John Doe (Parks) case and offered to help them identify the remains by creating a genetic profile from a blood sample. Investigators used the information to find possible family members who then submitted their own DNA samples, leading to the identification of Parks. According to OSP, Parks' family had lost contact with him the year before and he was last seen in Pensacola, Florida. 'With Parks' identity confirmed, investigators are now working to bring resolution to the 45-year-old case,' officials said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
