National Park After Dark - The Trailside Killer: Point Reyes National Seashore

Episode Date: April 18, 2022

We turn to nature for so many reasons. To find peace, seek answers, to heal and more. It’s amazing what a simple walk in the woods can do for the soul and thus, why so many of us trek out into the wild in search of our own slice of magic. But not every person found in the forest is searching for the same. Some turn to nature not for magic, but to search for victims. Today we discuss the crimes of The Trailside Killer, who terrorized the trails and claimed the lives of at least 10 people in National and State Parks of northern California.Check out our Group NPAD ALASKA TRIP!For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Apostrophe: Save $15 off your first visit with code NPADBetterHelp: Get 10% off your first month of online therapy by using our linkBeam: Get $20 off when you use our link and code NPAD at checkoutFor a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Limitless. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally. Breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders.

That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope? It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Humans seek time in nature for many reasons.

To find peace, to seek answers, to heal, to learn, to be humbled or to be rejuvenated. To walk amongst the trees and for a moment in time, feel at one with the earth in an age where there is so much disconnect. That exact feeling is coveted by so many of us. It's amazing what a simple walk in the woods can do for your soul. The curative power of nature isn't something that can be bought. There is no magic pill that provides what nature can. Instead, it must be experienced. And thus, why so many of us trek out into the wild on our own forages in search of our own slice of magic.

But not every person found in the forest is searching for the same. There are those who rig the system, who take advantage of the brilliant wonders of the natural world for their own dark desires. They travel the trails as we do, until, like a snake in the grass, they strike. Some turn to nature, not for magic, but to search for victims. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Okay, so this sounds like we're doing another murder episode. Yes, we are.

What do you mean another? When did we do another? Oh, great smoking mountains. We just did a murder episode and then you did one right before that. We're on a, we're on a theme. Yeah. I just, my mind was on the wolf episode, I guess. So yeah, that was a good one. Yeah. Thank you, everyone for your support for that one also, by the way. We got a really nice response from all walks of life and from every side and every viewpoint. And we're just really excited, especially me, because I was so nervous. I was really nervous. You touched a lot of heartstrings with that episode. It was a really, really good one, and it was really well done. Thank you. Well, this one's going to be also difficult, just in a completely different way. So I guess before we get into that, we have a few things to touch upon.

Number one, you may be like, Kay, Danielle, we just heard from you. Why is this your week again? It's usually Cassie's week. Yes, we usually go back and forth, and we were planning on doing that. but Cassie is feeling super under the weather. You might be able to hear it in my voice. I'm actually physically okay. I don't have COVID. I feel like that's going to be the first thing in everyone's mind. I've been tested a million times. They do not have COVID.

But my voice has suffered from an ongoing cold that I've had. And it is hard for me to talk in really long lengths without coughing up my lungs and sounding horrid. So Danielle has been a trooper and she has taken over this week's episode. that was originally going to come out in two weeks, but now it's coming out today. So murder today. Murder it is. Yeah. So that is why you're hearing me two weeks in a row. You'll hear Cassie two weeks in a row coming up. Just wanted to give her a chance to rest up her voice because we've had a lot going on and she hasn't had the most time to rest. Speaking of a lot going on, we just got back from Arkansas from our live moment event, which thank you.

so much to everyone who came reading through all the comments and doing the show itself was super fun. For anyone who did come and Cassie was like really jazzing it up that she was like, we're going to get haunted here. Like something's got, we were fine. Everything was fine. I got some weird vibes sometimes though and our ghost meter went off during the moment. So, but we were fine. We were fine. And we did have the creepiest hallway I've ever been in in my entire life that led to our room. So there was also that. Oh, and. And we also talked about this on the show. The hotel room that we had in the Crescent Hotel was the first room that we've ever had in any of our travels, either for the podcast or not, that we had two separate sleeping areas.

Usually we sleep literally either in the same bed or the same room with two separate beds. And we're usually in a Best Western that is like six years old and has never had any hauntings. Yeah. So, well, this one we walk in and we were really surprised we had no eye. there was actually two separate sleeping areas within this room or suite itself. We're like, wow, this is great, luxurious. Cassie's like, if you think I'm sleeping by myself, you got another thing coming. So she slept in my bed. Yeah, I was like, I am not. I thought about it for a second. And I'm like, nope, curled up right next to Danielle. I'm like, if I'm getting haunted, you're getting

haunted. But we were fine. So anyways, that was just a quick thank you to everyone who came because you made it successful and we had a great time visiting the Crescent and sharing its story. But as life goes on to bigger and better things, we love you, Arkansas. And something a little bit more up my alley because we're not. Yep. We have a really exciting event happening. We do. And, you know, we loved Arkansas.

It was great. We loved going to Joshua Tree. It was great. But we weren't with you, you know? and that just sometimes is a little bit sad, especially when everyone asks us a lot of like, hey, when are you going to host a trip? Are you going to do this?

Are you going to do a group hike? We'll one up you. We're just going to just one up you. We're going to Alaska together on a week-long trip to the bucketless destination of the last frontier. We have put together a seven-day itinerary for a group NPAD trip to Alaska. We're going to be hiking in Denali Wilderness. We're going to be walking on top of glaciers.

We're going to be in Kenai Fjords National Park on a wildlife cruise looking for whales. We have this insane camping trip planned for us, and we're so, so excited to share it with you all. And the best part about it is we have catered it to every walk of life. If this is your first time camping, if this is your first time hiking, this is still for you. You know, if you have been outdoors your whole life, this is still for you. You know, this is just such an amazing trip that we have put together. And it's don't get too excited because it's not this July. It's next July.

It's July of 2023. And we did that for a couple of reasons, even though we've, if we wanted to go right now, I'm sure people would be on board. But we kind of have to rein it in a little bit. Obviously, there was a lot of planning that went into this. And we wanted to make sure that everyone had the chance to budget to plan. I mean, I know I couldn't drop everything in a couple months' time to go on a week-long trip. So we wanted to extend the grace to everybody to really plan and budget for this.

So the trip itself is not on sale yet, but it will be tomorrow. So just around the corner, which is April 19th. And it's going to go, depending on when you're listening to this, so it'll be April 19th at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time is when the trip will officially go on sale to hold your spot. And there are only 12 spots available because unfortunately we can't bring every single one of you. But we do have 12 spots available. So yes, 12 spots available. And what you want to do is because if we talked about this in depth and went through every single thing, we'd be here this entire episode.

So what we did is we put the link to our trip page. We have like a whole trip page put together that has a breakdown itinerary of day by day, day one through seven. what you can expect, where we'll be, what we'll be doing, the hikes will be doing even, just so you know specifically if this is something you can train for. But I don't know if you're really going to have to train because we didn't do anything on a difficult level. We tried to keep everything between easy and moderate, just so we can bring more people from various backgrounds. Also, there's a breakdown of what's included, what's not included. Things like camping gear, I mean, we're going to be camping six out of the seven nights that we're going to be there. I don't want to bring all my camping

stuff to Alaska. I'm sure not everyone wants to either. Or if you don't have camping stuff, yeah. If you don't have the gear, don't worry. We're providing most of that for you. So literally just go onto the page site and take a look. Yeah, check it out. We've put this all together, especially for anyone to join. And we have most of your supplies. I mean, this trip is going to cover all of your meals. It's going to cover all the transportation. It's going to cover guided hikes. It's going to cover guided tours by a National Park Ranger. You know, like, we have really put a lot of thought into this itinerary and turned it into something that we want to be so special and such a like once in a lifetime opportunity that you're going to enjoy. So if you go to the link, you'll see in detail day-by-day

itinerary that we've put together. And then we are also going to be going live on Instagram on Monday April 18th at 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, which is 7 p.m. Eastern standard time just to answer any of your questions, because I know we're not answering all of your questions, I'm sure, just in the synopsis of how excited we are for this. But we want to answer all your questions. We want to get those details in for you before the trip goes live so you know what to expect and you can secure your spot. And the best part is you can secure your spot with a deposit and then you have almost a year to pay for the trip. So we're trying to make this doable for as many people as possible because we're just so excited. I mean, part of why we started this podcast is because we want to inspire travel and exploration and to go outside and to be able to bring that to you guys and to do it with you.

It's just the most special part of this entire trip. So we're just so, so, so excited and we can't wait. So check it out. It's in the description. The link's there. Yeah. So take a look at the website. Come to our live, which will be if you're listening to this on Monday morning.

the day it releases, it'll be this afternoon or evening, depending on where you are. Come with your questions. If you don't have any questions and you just want to freak out about how excited you are, we can totally do that too. But we'll be here for you to go over everything. And yeah, God, I'm so excited. Can I just say like a couple of highlights just looking at this? Yes, please. Okay. So just because I'm so excited. I've never been to Alaska. I won't be going to Alaska until I'm there with you all. So this is also very exciting. for me. So I'm going to tell Keetna and to Seward, obviously camping there, camping under the, is it Seward? Yeah. Why do I always say that? Is that word? But you're going to learn when we get to

last. No, I actually used to say C word. You're getting closer. Yeah. So anyway, well, it's just exciting because it's things that like we've discussed either in episodes or that I've heard you talk about before. So I'm excited to go see those. A wilderness jetboat tour, hiking on a glacier, going to Kenai Fjords. It just gets better and better, you know? Yeah, we're so excited. That's enough of that. Okay, on to let's center ourselves.

We're more serious topics. Yeah, we doused you with a ton of excitement, and now Daniel's going to bring us down with a bunch of murder and cruisomeness. Yes. And I'm going to say, I understand that we are a true crime podcast, allegedly. Allegedly, we talk about true crime occasionally. But this one is really difficult. And I know that some people are like, okay, yeah, you're a true crime podcast.

And that is what is expected. Sometimes I feel like we get off onto different avenues that aren't always as difficult as some of the subject matter that we're going to be talking about today. So I just want to give a forewarning right here, right now, that this is one of the most graphic and difficult episodes that we have. we have covered as of yet. Any trigger warning that I could give, like, this is it right now. There's a lot of depiction of sexual assault, gruesome, murder, etc. So just please, if that's something that you're not in the right headspace to hear right now, or if you are with a younger audience, just be aware and maybe skip this one, come back to it later, or just pass it up all together. But if you are with us, we're going to be going to Northern California. I love Northern California.

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Watch only on Prime. So before we focus in on the trailside killer himself and his crimes, we are going to focus on the beautiful places where some of these dark occurrences took place. Because there's a lot of dark here. So let's focus on the light before we get into that. And I love Northern California. So, I mean, it's beautiful. It is beautiful. This story actually takes place in a lot of different.

places. It's not one particular park. So I'm going to kind of cover just a brief amount of the various different places, but they're all relatively close together. Like I said, Northern California, in the San Francisco and San Jose areas. So there are two national park units. One is Point Reyes, National Seashore and Golden Gate Recreation Area. And the others are state parks, Mount Tamalpias State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Okay. It's a lot of locations. It is. Yeah, but if you do, if you look them up on the map, they're very close to each other. So let's get familiar with these places because, like I said, even though tragedy did happen

here, they are so very beautiful. So starting with Point Reyes, this is a 21,000, 28 acre, which is 287 square kilometer peninsula that's located right outside of San Francisco and was designated as a national seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from development, which was proposed for that time. They wanted to develop all the area, so they designated it as a national seashore to protect it. This National Park Service Unit does allow and contains agricultural uses, such as private farms and ranches, which utilized the area for cattle grazing, which is kind of unique, I think, within the National Park system. But other parts of the park follow strict conservation rules and jurisdictions. And the northern part of the park is actually a wildlife preserve. It's a preserve for elk.

There's a particular type of elk. It's called the tool elk, which were extirpated from the park entirely by the early 1900s. And they were reintroduced to the park in the 1970s. And now the northern park of Point Reyes is a preserve for them. Oh, that's very cool. So along with elk, raptor, and shorebirds are very prevalent here, and actually nearly half of North America's bird species have all been documented here. So this is a huge birding location. If you're a birder, you need to go here. That's the term, right? A birder? A birder? A bird watcher, a bird enthusiast, if you will. You're a bird person. Other than birds, coyotes, fox, mountain lions, bats, shrews, frogs, and squirrels all roam and scurry throughout the park. But the park is

all about the land, of course, because it's a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean. Seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, and porpoises can all be spotted from the shoreline. And the park also contains national historic landmarks, which contain some really cool things, like some 16th century campsites, different shipwrecks, and several different indigenous sites as well. What does 16th century campsites look like? I didn't look them up, but there was some names associated with them, I think from early European explorers to the areas that they made settlements on the peninsula and a lot of them, or some of them, at least, are preserved to some degree.

Cool. I'm picturing like the Flintstones camping version. I'm absolutely not. I'm thinking of like a Spaniards encampment, whatever that looks like. 1,500 version. I'm picturing like stone axes and like little... Okay, that's like prehistoric, not 1,500. Oh, right, right, right, right, right. Wrong century. So hiking is very popular here, of course,

and a visitor can choose from tons of different miles worth of trails that wind throughout the Douglas fir forests or skirt the coast or that lead to historic lighthouses. And if you think this place sounds super cool, you wouldn't be alone. Over two and a half million people visit here every year. And this is totally like something we've never brought up before, but I saw it in my research. church and it was so cool. So if you're interested in going to this park, but you don't want to stay in the nearby city, which is San Francisco, which is really super close by, there is an awesome looking hostel that runs out of a historic lodge two miles from the beach in this National Park unit. Oh, that's cool. Very cool. And it's not like a grungy hostel like the one I stayed in in Abiza like that. I'm not

talking about that. Like it's really cool. Is it haunted? Probably not. You said, historic. I feel like everything with the word historic in front of it is like at least a little. It has some, it has some character for sure. So now moving down the coast, we arrive at Mount Tamilpaya State Park. This park lies south of Point Reyes and directly north of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. So it's kind of tucked right between the two. And it is known for its deep canyons, sweeping views, open grasslands, and the highest point here is, obviously Mount Tamil Pius. So a lot of people go just to hike the mountain, but there is also camping and hiking here. And they even have an outdoor theater that they do different plays and

astronomy programs out of. It's a little state park, but it's got it going on, sounds like. And then next up, going further south, we're going to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, located in the San Francisco Bay, managed by the park service and mostly used by the U.S. Army. This 82,000 acre, 331 square kilometer park is the most visited National Park Unit in the entire country. 15 million people come here every year and we covered it in our Alcatraz episode. I forget which episode number that was, but as a quick refresher, it's a largely urban park and it was established in 1972 and it encompasses a lot of different historic structures and sites. Of course, it contains Alcatraz. It also contains Muir Woods National Monument and the Presidio, which was an active military base for 218 years,

and was active all the way up until 1994 when it was transferred to the National Park Service. There is camping and hiking here, of course, as well, and a lot of the hikes go through grassland and forests along cliff tops and coastal beaches, and the main attraction is arguably the scenic views of the city skyline and the massive Golden Gate Bridge. A lot of people, come here for that view. And to be able to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. You can walk it, right? Yeah. I haven't walked it, but Al and I did a motorcycle trip. I was on the back of the motorcycle, like, going across the bridge, and it was pretty cool. That is cool. I would be a little frightened. I've developed a fear of bridges later in life, like within the last few years. I just get nervous.

It's not like I'm petrified or it's inhibitive. I just get, there's more thought put into crossing them than ever crossed my mind before. I have like not big bridges, like the Golden Gate Bridge and like big bridges don't really cross my mind. It's bridges in New England in the wintertime because you always see those signs that are like bridges are the last to freeze because they don't touch the ground and they don't have the heat from the earth. So they just get icy really fast. So I guess that's the time where I think about bridges. I'm like, oh, be careful because there's probably black ice on this. Yeah, that's true.

And finally, we're going to move slightly more south to the outside of San Jose. to Redwoods State Park, specifically Big Basin, Redwoods State Park, and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which are less than a half an hour away from each other. They're like 25 minutes away from each other. And starting with Big Basin, it's California's oldest state park and was established in 1902. It has expanded over the years and currently comes in around 18,000 acres or 73 square kilometers. It has over 80 miles or 130 kilometers of hiking trails. and is home to the largest continuous stand of ancient Coast Redwoods south of San Francisco. There are over 100 different campsites here, and the park is slowly reopening as of right now

after it was affected by the 2020 California wildfires. Oh, okay. Yeah, so they got hit hard. And then Henry Cowell was established in 1954, and it is most celebrated for the Redwood Grove, which is about a 40-acre grove of Old Growth Coast Redwoods, some of which reach over 300 feet or 91 meters tall and are over 1,800 years old. So that's the big attraction there. I love redwoods.

They're so cool. Hiking, camping, birdwatching, and mountain biking are all popular activities here. So all in all, a really great place to be. And I can see why so many people are drawn to it, especially looking at pictures. It just has, I love parks that have like a little mixture of everything. It's kind of why I really love Acadia too, because you have the coast, the rugged coast, you have the forest, you have some grasslands. Like it's all, it's like a little grab bag of things.

They're outdoor adventurer paradises because it's like you can go surfing and then you can go hike a mountain, you can jump on a mountain bike, you know, like there's just so many things that you can do and there's so many different outdoor activities and views and it's just like, it's fun. Yeah. I mean, like when we were in the badlands, for example, beautiful, loved it. But it's just like a lot of rocks. You know, it's a lot of rocks. It's just like a rock, a different rock, a rock in a different formation, like the light hitting a rock in a cool way. See,

you can't talk shit on the badlands because I have to say for the badlands, it's probably one of my top favorite parks I've ever been to. Really? Yeah. I agree with you. It is a lot of, it feels like a lot of rocks. but it's so dramatic and like magical and like the sunsets there were just like some of the prettiest. And it's just such a different world I felt like I was stepping into while we were there that it definitely jumped on to one of my favorite places. I agree. For national parks. I agree. I agree with what you said.

But if I had to like be dropped in a national park somewhere and be there for the rest of my life, like I would get pretty bored, I think. I mean, I wouldn't want to be dropped there until. I have to survive here. I did say that. Okay, we're getting off track. I'm just delaying the inevitable. And the inevitable is talking about the trailside killer. And his name was David Joseph Carpenter.

And he claimed the lives of at least 10 people in the places that we just discussed. Wow, that's a lot of people. Yeah, so he's a serial killer. So let's get the introduction and background of the villain of this story out of the way. Carpenter was born on May 6, 1930 in San Francisco. Growing up, he was very shy and withdrawn, probably a result of his upbringing. His childhood was unstable. He had an abusive alcoholic father and a very controlling and demanding mother. His mother actually dictated most of everything that he did growing up, including all of his extracurricular activities. And against his will,

she signed him up for music and ballet classes, which he really, really resented. He thought they were too feminine and he was super embarrassed about having to participate in them. By the time he reached the age of seven, he developed a severe stutter that stuck with him throughout adulthood. As time went on, he started showing concerning behavior patterns. The McDonald triad is a set of three childhood behavior patterns that together are sometimes used to predict future violent criminal behavior. And I will say that although recent studies of the McDonald triad reveal limited impure empirical support for the theory. It is one that is really well known throughout the true crime world. So I had to mention it. Do you know the behaviors? Do I? Yes. Well, I think so. Okay. What do you

think they are? Harming animals. Yep. Is one. Wedding the Bed. Yep. And then very antisocial, like withdrawn lack of emotion behavior. So that's not part of it. That's not the third one. fire setting is the third one. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. So he exhibited two out of these three behaviors. So he tortured animals and was a bedwetter beyond like what is considered normal child behavior. So it went on for a number of years after the typical bedwetting stages.

So child behaviors or not, he committed his first crime at the age of 14. Because he was a minor, much of his juvenile records were. sponged. So there's not really too much info on this particular crime, but we do know that it was sexual in nature and that at the age of 14, he was court ordered to a stay in the Napa State Hospital. So it was significant enough to get him a stay there. And it was something of sexual assault? It said sexual in nature. So I would probably say yes. Although I can't confirm. That's definitely concerning as a 14-year-old. Well, it just gets worse from here. So he was released. in 1947, but his intense sexual desire only grew, and at the age of 17, he was sentenced to the California

Youth Authority after molesting two of his cousins that were aged eight and three. Oh, my God. So at this time, he was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and then was released. And a pedophile. Yeah, he's 17. Yeah, which makes him almost, I mean, isn't 16, I mean, I guess in New Hampshire, 16 is the legal age of consent. A crime Against Children, sexual crimes against children, always like, I don't care how old you are, throw you out. You're done. Yeah. Throw them away. Yeah.

So upon his release, his criminal record kind of took a lull. He didn't take a lull. It's just based on his... You didn't get caught. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So who knows what he was doing between then his release and up to now.

But at the age of 25, in the year 1955, he got married and had three children. To his neighbors and acquaintances, he seemed very mild-mannered and pretty average, just your average Joe. But to Ellen, his wife, she later described their marriage as challenging and imperfect. And she also made a note of his overactive sex drive. He would demand sex three times a night. Oh. Yeah. Like, that's just a little.

Like, don't touch me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot to expect from your wife. Yeah, we'll leave it at that. It's a little much. It's a little much, yeah. So outside of closed doors, things seemed pretty status quo.

He worked at an advertisement company in San Francisco. He had a home in the suburbs, a wife, and children. But all of that changed in July of 1960. He was driving to work one day when he saw Lois Rina. She was his co-worker and apparently walking to her shift. He offered her a ride to offer some reprieve of the hot July California heat, and she gladly accepted and hopped in. They meandered through the roads for a little while, and Lois realized that they weren't going towards work.

And when she brought it to his attention, he said something like, oh, well, I'm just lost. I'm turned around. Red flag, obviously. Yeah, it's like, okay, the place that you go to literally every day. All right. So they end up pulling into the Presidio, and he parked the car, and before she could make a move, he was quickly already on the other side right outside of her door. He opened it and grabbed Lois by the hair.

He dragged her out and held a pocket night. to her throat and raised a hammer above her head. And he said, I have a weird sex quirk. Do as I say, or I'll cut you. Luckily for Lois, the Presidio, which I pointed out earlier in the intro, was transferred to the National Park Service in the 90s. So this is 1960 and it's still an active military base. Like of all the places, why the fuck would you go there? Like armed men are around like? Yeah. I mean, I'm glad he ended up there. It's just an odd choice. Yeah. So a police officer, a military police officer, actually saw him speeding through the neighborhood that led to the presidio somewhere that not a lot of civilians are and noticed his suspicious activity. So he began trailing the car from the beginning before they even

parked. Lois's hands were bound with cord and she was repeatedly stabbed with a pocket knife and bashed in the head with the claw end of the hammer. The officer that was trailing them was quick to arrive and shouted orders to stop as he came down the hill towards the scene of the attack. Not only did Carpenter have a knife and a hammer, he also had a gun. He fired a small pistol at the officer, but thankfully missed. The officer fired back and his shots landed. So once Carpenter was struck, he stopped the attack, although the officer later testified that even when Carpenter saw that the officer was coming down the hill,

recognized that a police officer was on their way, he continued attacking Lois with the hammer. Jesus. Yeah. Did she live? Yeah. So Lois was rushed to the hospital and she underwent a five-hour emergency surgery and she survived her vicious attack and Carpenter was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Outside of the prison walls, his life crumbled.

I mean, Ellen divorced him right away. I hope so. Yeah. She divorced him. But inside prison, everything was kind of going well for him. in a way. He was considered a model citizen in prison and was released after only seven and a half years. Despite the nature of his crime, obviously number one, but also he had a psychiatric report written about him during his day and the report said in part, quote, ever since the age of eight,

whenever he was under significant stress, he will commit a sex offense. The only way he can think straight is to rape the nearest female. And we're letting this person out on good behavior. Ew, that's disgusting. That to me is just like a prime example of the law and the court system, especially like in this time, not caring about women. Oh yeah. You know, it's like, oh, he just raped a woman because he was stressed. Like, we'll let him out. He's been really good for a few years now. Like, he's fine. He's reformed. He might rape another person, but it's because, because he's very stressed. And that's the only way that it'll happen.

It's like, no, he's sick. He's disgusting. Throw him out. I said throw him out when he was like 17. Like, throw him away. Yeah, and now he's just getting worse and worse and his crimes are escalating. So wouldn't you know it?

Less than one year after his release, he was rested again for kidnapping, attempted rape, and robbery of two different women. Shock. Shock and awe. Upon his arrest, he was in Calaver County Jail where he was being housed prior to his trial and he escaped.

How? The FBI had to track him down and they're like, all right, get on back here. He goes back to jail. He served nine years and was released again in May of 1979 for good behavior and sent to a halfway house. What was his original sentence? That I do not know. Does it occur to them that maybe he's being well behaved because he's in a prison with men and

his, the people he attacks are women and children. Does that occur to them at all? If it did, it certainly didn't show. It's like maybe he's being good because there's a bunch of guys in here who are bigger, stronger, tougher than he is and because his victims are women and children. And it's very interesting as well that in one of the sources I read made just a small note that was so true, that little escapade he had of escaping jail, that on top of what he was already being held there for would have been enough to keep him there for life. So yeah, he gets out on good behavior once again. And now he's in a halfway house type of situation.

And he may have been a monster before. But in August of 1979, his evil began to show in full force. So he gets out of the halfway house. He's released from the halfway house. And on August 19th, 1979, 44-year-old Etta Kane left her home for a solo hike in Mount Tamilpius State Park. She was a successful banking executive and an avid outdoor lover and enjoyed frequenting the sleeping lady,

which was a nickname for that mountain, especially the route that led to the beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge. As evening approach, and Edda hadn't returned home, her husband began to worry and alerted authorities. Search parties were dispatched and concerned rose as her car was found sitting untouched in the trailhead parking lot. They searched as best they could for the remainder of the day with no success and resumed efforts the following day. That next day, Etta was found.

Her nude body was found near the trail in a kneeling position. She had been shot execution style in the back of the head. While she was nude, her body showed no indication of sexual assault. And while some of her personal belongings were taken, such as some of her credit cards and her identification, her jewelry was left behind. And despite law enforcement's best efforts, her case ran. cold. There was little to no evidence left at that scene. And this is much different than what he's done before. Oh yeah. I mean, obviously with Lois, he was very violent. And who knows where it would have led to if police didn't intervene. But yeah, this seems different. Less than one year later,

23-year-old Barbara Schwartz was hiking with her dog in the same exact park. Carpenter ran into her on the trail and stopped her for a brief conversation and then suddenly pulled out a 10-inch-long hunting knife from inside of his jacket and repeatedly began stabbing Barbara. Another hiker witnessed this entire thing and screamed at him to stop, but he was unrelenting. And fearing for her own safety, the witness ran for help. By the time she retrieved park rangers and brought them back to the scene, Barbara was dead. She had received 12 stab wounds to the chest, was nude, and in a kneeling position. Very similar to the scene of Edith's death,

but unlike it, investigators found a clue. A pair of prison-issued glasses. The glasses, along with the discovery of the knife a few days later, were promising leads. However, investigators began to cross-reference records for the glasses, because they're prison issued, but came up with nothing. And with the lack of DNA technology at this point in time, the trail went cold.

So their only hint at this point was that, that it's someone with a criminal record. They are assuming, yes, because of the prison issued glasses. Imagine coming across that scene, you're out in the middle of nowhere on a trail somewhere and you're coming across someone being attacked and there's literally nothing you can do but run to get help. Yeah. And imagine, I mean, the witness said that she saw them like come to each other in the trail.

Like you're just passing a person like you do a hundred times, you know, when you're on the trail. and they saw a brief interaction. So whatever he said to her is unclear, but probably just getting her attention, making small talk, and then just surprise attacked her in such a vicious way. Yeah, it's probably something very unassuming. Because she stopped and was talking to him.

She didn't seem or appear frightened. Or if she was, it was too late. So all is quiet on the trails for the next seven months until October of 1980, 26-year-old Anne Alderson was out for a walk when she disappeared from the same park, and unlike Edda and Barbara, her body was not found for almost a year. But when it was, it was found within the park, nude, in a kneeling position, with signs of sexual assault. It was determined that she had been shot execution style as well.

The same month that Anne originally went missing, so in October of 1980, 23-year-old Mary Bennett, a Montana native, who had been living in the same month. the San Francisco area and working as an intern at a local accounting firm was out taking in the fresh air of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area when she too went missing. Her body was found on the Legion of Honor Trail at Land's End within the park. The Land's End trail system lies within the National Recreation Area and is known for its rocky and wind-swept shoreline trails that overlook the bay and that offer stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge. She was found wearing a t-shirt, shorts and running shoes, suggesting that she was out for a jog that day on the trail when she was

attacked. Her body painted the picture of some terrible final moments. She had been stabbed over 25 times in the neck, chest, and back, and was buried in a shallow grave covered with branches and debris. I can't believe how personal this is, too. You know, like there's just a whole other level where stabbing someone that much, there's so much anger and so much, it's so personal. Like you're so close to the person. You're looking at the person that you're doing this too. It's just, ugh. Yeah. As someone who really enjoys solo hiking and is a huge advocate for women to go out and solo hike, this makes me want to throw up. Yeah, I know. I know. This is just, uh, the word that comes to mind for me is, is rage or pent up rage. From him. From him.

Yeah. Yeah. There's clearly some anger. There's something going on. This is way too. personal. It's not like he is just shooting women from afar and then taking off. Like he's putting in a lot of time, effort and energy and anger into killing these women. Now we're on to the next month, November of 1980. The fear that was mounting in the forest surrounding the city of San Francisco was about to turn into full-blown terror. Shauna Mae was 25 years old when she decided to hike the sky trail in Pointe Reyes National Seashore. She had plans to meet up with friends on the trail, and when she failed to show up for their meeting, they reported her missing. On high alert, due to the other disappearances and murders within the same area, police, rangers, and volunteers were all very quick to respond.

Searches were dispatched, and for two days, the park was combed. What they found was an unexpected horror. They did find Shauna. Her body was discovered in a shallow grave and showed signs of a brutal rape, ligature marks around her wrists, and she was shot in the head, execution style. And as horrific as that was, it got worse because she was not alone. Next to her lay the body of Diane O'Connell. Diane was 22 at the time of her death and had been reported missing nearly a month earlier. Again, I don't know if I say warning for everything throughout this episode, I would be giving warnings. throughout the entire thing. And it's probably a little late now. But this one, it's just really bad. So

skip forward if you don't want to hear these details. She had bloodied underwear stuffed into her mouth, ligature marks around her neck, indicating that she was strangled before her death. Her body showed signs of another brutal rape, and she was shot in the head. Diane had been in a group of hikers when she disappeared. She was the second in line out of three people, and they were. were separated due to the different rates of speed that they were hiking. So they were kind of separated, but they were in a group together. And she disappeared from their group. Wow, that is ballsy right there. Like there's literally other people around within minutes. Yes, yes. And of course, I'm sure he was watching them. It's not like he was oblivious to the fact that there weren't other people

around. So this other person that was found in the grave site, they were taken at two totally separate times. they weren't friends, they didn't know each other. They did not know each other in life at all. Oh, my God. No connection in life. The only connection they had is the way in which they died, who killed them, and where they were found. It just makes you wonder if he had brought her to the grave site before that happened and she saw this other girl. Yeah.

Well, that's definitely a theory. Or he was around, you know, how sometimes killers will go back to either the scene of the crime or wherever they. have disposed of remains. Like if he was lingering around there and she happened to stumble upon him, I mean, who knows? There's so many things that could have happened. Right. So, yes, okay, that is horrific. But it somehow gets even worse.

Stop. When they found Shauna and Diane O'Connell together, that discovery of Diane wasn't the only other body that they would find. Just down the same exact trail, two more. bodies were found. Several weeks earlier, 19-year-old Richard Stowers and 18-year-old Cynthia Morland went to Point Reyes for a hike. Richard was stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard and Cynthia was a recent high school graduate and they were planning on getting married. Their bodies were discovered, face down, under a patch of brush. They too were shot execution style. Imagine going to

look for one person and you find three more. I, and it's just so crazy to me that so many deaths are happening. A lot. Yep. And these crime scenes, these two crime scenes, provided something to investigators, though, that weren't at the others. So we have a clue? So we have a clue. So the bullets used in these four murders led investigators to their first piece of traceable evidence because it was the same type of bullet that was used in the murder of Edda Kane. So now there's a link happening. When word of these horrific discoveries hit the news and made their way through the media circuit, virtually all the trails in this area were pretty much deserted. Visitation numbers were slashed in half. People were petrified of being outdoors and some were even too afraid to leave their homes for

prolonged periods of time. That's so sad. Yeah, he's ruining every, I mean, like he's taking away, you know, some people go to nature and the outdoors for solitude or just like it's their refuge. And now that's taken away from you because someone is terrorizing women and men, Richard Stowers, you know, it's just, it could be anyone. And like I want to say, like, if this is going on, you don't let something like this deter you. All women deserve to be outside and to do what you want and to be fear free. But if I was in a situation where the same park or surrounding parks were coming up with so many people that were women, especially, like, if I met, the criteria of the women that were going missing and the women that were being found,

I would steer clear of these parks too. Like, there's no way. A thousand percent. And like you said, you deserve that, but that doesn't, that's not always reality. What you deserve isn't always given. Yeah. And I 100% agree. I would never, ever, ever.

I wouldn't even go with Ian. I wouldn't even go with you. I would not go, period. So. He's so scary because I just think of. I always carry bear spray on me, you know? But he's so fast, it seems like, in his attacks, where it's like, you're not, you don't even have time to grab it. Like, he's already attacking you before you even know what's happening on. Yeah. And that's such a scary feeling of it.

And clearly, there's not safety in numbers either because he's going after people who are either with someone or a part of a group. I mean, this guy is off the rails here. He just, like, doesn't care. And he's taking big risks going after people who are in groups. And he just seems like he's very confident in what he's doing because he's done it so much. And he's really just going for whoever he feels like. Crispy chicken sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'm crispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Like, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold. I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me and baby I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just $4.

Quiet. No. Krispy, saucy, and $4? Very. Only at 7-Eleven. Valley through 62326 participating stores only while supplies lastly out for full terms. The trails around the city were monitored closely by foot, air, and on horseback. Hiking club members and Marines joined park rangers and police officers to help patrol the trail system. Although people were worried and many stayed away from the trails, some still ventured there, especially after weeks and weeks passed with no activity. But anyone who did choose to visit the trails were welcomed by plenty of warning signs to not hike alone and urged women to be especially careful. And these people not only were met by these signs and warnings, they were also stopped by these rangers or volunteers to be verbally

warned of the situation as well. Wow. Imagine that, like usually when you go out on the trails, you see lots of warning signs like bear seen in the area, be diligent, be bear aware. Or same thing with like mountain lion signs. You'll see him and it'll be like, there are mountain lions in this area. Be aware. That's normal. That's like, okay, I have my bear spray. I'm in a group.

Things are okay. But if you go there and it's like, there's a predator, he's murdering women, he's stabbing women, he's shooting women. We don't know who he is. We don't know where he is. We have yet to catch him in the act. So good luck on the trail. Yeah, like if you really want to be here, you need to know what's going on.

Yeah, it's like you might be murdered. There's just such a different tune to that than you might be mauled by a bear. It's like, okay, that's very scary, especially after learning the night of the grizzlies. But there's things that you can do to help prevent it. And bears are a natural part of the environment. They're not out to torture and sexually assault you. You know, that's so, so different. Exactly.

So the attack stopped for the moment being. Carpenter had likely shy to. away due to the intense publicity of his crimes following the discovery of the bodies in Point Reyes. So he laid low and he moved back into his parents' home into the basement of his parents' house. He got a new stable job. But as time went on, his low profile didn't last and neither did the lack of visitation to the parks. It's always the creepy men living in their mom's basements. Well, I thought that was also very interesting because it's just kind of like, yeah, I moved back with his parents. But in the beginning, I mentioned that he had a really, really strained relationship with

his parents. I mean, his father was an alcoholic. He abused him. His mother, he had a very strange relationship with his mother. He resented her. Like, this wasn't a first choice type of situation, and it was probably fueling a lot of rage. Okay. Mm-hmm. That's a good point. So the trails started to see heavier foot traffic because there's a lull, you know, and people can't stay away forever. And two of those people who decided to go back outside were 20-year-old Ellen Hanson and 21-year-old Stephen Hardle. They were on their spring break in March of 1981 when they decided on a camping trip to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. They had spent the night camping their first night they camped out there, and then the next day, which was March 29th, they decided to hike the nearby

observation tower. On their hike up to the tower, the couple actually passed Carpenter, but they didn't think anything of him, just another person passing on the trails. On their way back down, Carpenter emerged from the tree line and said, I see we meet again. And he pulled out a gun. He told the couple his plans. He was to rape Ellen, and if Stephen intervened, he would shoot him. He began forcing them off the trail when Stephen protested. He was begging him to let them go, to not do anything to his girlfriend, you know, essentially just trying to get him to.

get him to even pause for a second, but he was unrelenting. He didn't care and he didn't cave. So finally, Ellen stepped forward and she said, Stephen, it's over. He's going to shoot us anyway. Don't listen to him. And he did. He shot her point blank twice in the face. Wait, what about Stephen? So Stephen, obviously just witnessing his girlfriend's murder, tried to escape, but he was shot as well. He was shot twice. And in this whole kind of like hubbub, Carpenter fled as well. But this was his sloppiest crime as of yet because the trails were busy and people noticed Carpenter. He was leaving the park very hastily and people took note of his odd behavior and his appearance because he was like in a rush and being erratic. Did anyone hear the gunshots either? I'm not sure, but I could imagine that, I mean, he shot four times. So did Stephen

die? Sorry. You'll see. I'm just curious. how we know about their interaction, I guess. Right. So many witnesses later set forward to describe what they saw. But interestingly, one witness gathered more info than any other. And she happened to be a 10-year-old girl. And she was watching him as he was scrambling for his keys and being erratic, trying to get into his car and peeling away. And his car was parked just outside of the campground that she was at.

And she had actually taken a piece of cardboard and started sketching what she saw. So him, the car, the scene, every year. thing. Wow. So Stephen was gripping the bullet wound around his neck and started to stumble for help. He was taken to the hospital and survived his attack. Although he was unable to speak directly after his surgery, he gave a lot of testimony, nonverbal testimony to convey what had happened to his girlfriend and to give a description of her murderer. Between Stephen's description and the other two witnesses, the 10-year-old girl and the other witnesses that day, a sketch was created and a was released to the public. A slender man with a shaved face, a balding head covered with a baseball cap,

and dark eyes rimmed with glasses. The sketch was flashed on news stations around San Francisco, San Jose, and beyond. It was printed and hung up throughout the city and posted at trailheads as well, and tips began pouring in, but one was of particular interest to law enforcement. It came from a local woman who stated that she recognized this man and even knew his name. She had met, him 26 years earlier on a cruise. What? Okay. She remembered him so vividly because of their awkward interaction on the cruise. She had a really weird encounter with him when she was on the ship and he was making advances

towards her and her 14-year-old daughter that combined with that stutter, that really severe stutter and the awkward interaction and weird hitting on them. Like, it just really left a lasting mark on her. So that encounter freaked her out so bad that she recognized him from the sketch and even knew his name from 26 years before. And this wasn't the first time that she alerted police to him. When the Zodiac killer had his composite sketch released the public, she called in and named David Carpenter. She was like, that's got this guy is so fucking weird. It's got to be him.

But he was rolled out because he was serving time in prison at the time of the Zodia. Yeah. Okay. But she was like, you know what? Like, this is creepy. This man is certainly capable of it too. And, oh, that gives me chills. Oh, I hate this so much.

Yeah. So David Carpenter, they have a name to work with now. It's not confirmed, but it's something. So law enforcement began making their way through a list of people named David Carpenter in the area, which was more than you would think. And as they did, Carpenter, the real carpenter, was getting really nervous. He had seen his own sketch in the paper and on the news. So he tried his best to kind of camouflage himself and change his appearance the best he could, of course.

He grew out facial hair and he stopped wearing his glasses. So not much he could do about the bald head situation. Maybe he was wearing more hats. But like I said, he was worried. but he was also holding out hope that how he appeared to society would be his saving grace in the end. Because although he had prior run-ins with the law over the recent years, at least on record, again, in the eyes of the record, he had cleaned up his act. Of course he hadn't. He's been being an absolute fucking monster. Also, it's not like he robbed a liquor store and then cleaned up his act.

He was sexually assaulting women and children. Yeah. I don't know. It's not like, oh, he cleaned up his act. He's good now. It's like, no, you're a predator. Once you're a predator like that, you're always a predator. And he's just going, he's getting worse and worse. I mean, you can't get worse than this. You literally can't get worse than this. No. But to him, in his eyes, he had a stable home and work life. And he had been meeting all of the conditions of his parole by doing everything possible to stay in compliance with his parole supervision, which meant a couple things. But some of them included he had. to stay in the Northern California area. But interestingly, the conditions of this parole had no requirements for seeking any psychiatric treatment. That's probably because psychiatric treatment was kind of a joke back then. Joke or not, though, he had psychiatric reports about how dangerous. It's just like what in the world? It's a again, they're like he's reformed. He only rapes women

when he's stressed and he's not stressed anymore. He has a stable life. God, it's just so sickening. In the eyes of the parole board, he's on the up and up. You know, he's living back with his parents. He has a stable job, and he's meeting the conditions of his parole. So his job at a local warehouse was not his top choice for a job, but the conditions of his parole made certain that he was not permitted to work anywhere where women were also employed. So they don't trust him that much. No.

No. So the warehouse he worked in was devoid of women. It was all men. but the print shop owned by the same exact company that was located right next door to the warehouse did have women employees. 20-year-old Heather Skaggs was employed at this print shop where she worked for extra money to get through college. Word got out around the office that Heather was in search of buying a new car and Carpenter left on this opportunity. He told Heather that he knew of a good deal nearby and that he could give her a ride and that he'd even check out the car for her and make sure that she had backup.

on the purchase because God forbid a woman goes, a young woman goes on her own, makes a deal to purchase a car. It reminds me of what the Shannon, in Shenandoah, not in Shannon Doer, but remember that guy who was flagging down women being like, oh, you have something wrong with your car on the highway and then attacking them. Yep. And what's worse, he followed this offer up with some conditions. Don't tell anyone of the location where this car is.

Red flag. And you got to bring cash just in case. want to buy the car right now. It sounds like you're getting robbed and you're not allowed to tell anyone where you're going. Well, she agreed to go, but she was suspicious. She didn't just blind to legal. She told her mom and her boyfriend, Dan, about the offer from her co-worker and stated that she was weirded out by it. And she told them that she thought something was wrong and something felt off about the situation. But she was in need of a good deal and that's what Carpenter was seeming to offer her. So despite talking with both her mom and her boyfriend saying, you know,

I feel a little odd about it, sketching me out a little bit. But if this is true, like I need, this will be really good for me. Follow your gut. Her mom and Dan obviously voiced their own concerns. And they said, you know, we're really reluctant about having you go. But she did insist and they didn't stop her. But Dan did say that he was going to be eagerly awaiting her return. and if she didn't get back by 7 o'clock that night, that he was going to notify police. Because she did say where she was going to. She's like, he told me not to say where I'm going, but this is the local, this is where we're allegedly going. And this is who I'm going with. So she was thinking. Yeah, she's trying to cover her basis. Exactly. So she left their San Jose,

her and Dan, San Jose apartment on the morning of May 2nd, 1981. 7 p.m. came and went and no Heather. Dan immediately notified police and also took matters into his own hands. He and a friend drove to San Francisco themselves that night, immediately sensing that something was very, very wrong because like I said, Heather had given Dan the address and he actually wound up confronting Carpenter on the street. Wow. In a 30-minute conversation on the sidewalk, Dan pressed Carpenter for details, stating that he knew of their plans and he demanded to know where his girlfriend was.

Carpenter conceded that, you know, yes, I did have plans with her, but I ended up oversleeping, and I never met up with her. Like, we never got together today. And then he just so classically had his car fixed and just conveniently had no means of transportation earlier that day. He's like, not only did I oversleep, I had to bring my car to the shop. So I didn't even have transportation to get anywhere until later. Was this true? Or was he just making stuff up? He was making shit up. So Carpenter and Dan kind of go their separate ways, but Dan was obviously very suspicious of this guy. So he hung around the area with his friend. And Carpenter left and was gone for an hour or two and came back the whole time Dan was kind of staking out the situation.

And later on, Carpenter testified that during that time that he was gone, he had been at the ballet. But obviously that's not true. The ballet? He said, remember he had. He was a trained dancer. Yeah, but he hated the ballet. Exactly. So while Dan and his friend were doing their own little mini investigating and stakeout,

police jumped into action. They swooped in, especially after hearing David Carpenter's name. And it's like, oh, my God. That's the guy. This is a lengthy history. Not only that, this is the guy we've been looking. We've been looking through David Carpenter's for all of these murders. Like, holy shit.

And now there's a missing young woman. Like, this is crazy. So they swoop in. Obviously, they have been going down the list of potential. potential suspects. So they pinpointed Heather's last known location by speaking to a convenience store clerk who had seen her the morning of May 2nd looking like she was waiting for someone to pick her up. So that's the last time after Dan saw her leave the apartment that she has been seen. Authorities soon arrived to Carpenter's house and immediately took note of the car sitting in the

driveway because it matched the description given by that 10-year-old girl who had witnessed him climbing into it and speeding off from that campsite. So we have the car. We have a name that matches, and it's only going to get worse. Because as soon as Carpenter opens the door, officers noticed right away the striking resemblance to his sketch. So here they have this man who matched a credible tip, whose car matched the eyewitness account, and resembled the composite sketch of the trailside killer. They're like, this is the guy. Yeah.

Their hairs on the back of their neck probably were standing up. Yeah. So they brought him into the station and questioned him for hours. At times, he was silent. At other times, his stutter was so profound. that investigators couldn't even understand what he was saying. After several hours of elusive storytelling and rigorous interrogation, he wound up giving roughly the same story he did to Dan.

He had overslept, never met up with Heather that day, and he had his car fixed and then went to the ballet. That was his story, essentially in a nutshell for that day. Does he have proof for any of that? No. But again, here we are. What year are we in? 1980.

There's no credit card. Like, you're not using your credit card to, where's the paper trail? You know, I think it's few and far between. So that's why you would come up with a story like that. Yeah, it's like, oh, yeah, I was here. And I went by myself, so no one's going to say, you know. So when the questioning was concluded, authorities let him go with plans on surveying all of his movements throughout the following days in hopes that he would lead them to further incriminating evidence.

They didn't just let him go like, oh, well, he said he was at the ballet. You know, they knew this guy. They had high suspicions. And they're like, we need to really get him. Yep. They pursued him. They put officers on his tail for close to the next week, but nothing happened. Oh my gosh.

And I do have to say something so creepy. So as he was leaving the station, he said to investigators, I hope to God no one finds her body and discover that she's been raped. Like, why would you say that? Why in the world would you say that? Ew. So creepy. Everything about him.

Yeah. So law enforcement trailing him, nothing is really coming up, whether or not. He knew that he was being followed or just truly wasn't doing anything incriminating. I don't know. But nothing came of that time that they were watching him. And while they were trailing him, they started mounting more and more evidence against him in other ways. They didn't need him to lead them anywhere to pin anything down on him. They finally had enough in other ways that they finally arrested him because they didn't want him out on the streets anymore.

Yeah. He was taken quietly. He didn't put up a fuss when he was arrested. and 10 days later, while Carpenter remained in police custody, one last grizzly discovery was made. A pair of hikers had been taking in the scenery of Big Basin Redwood State Park when they smelled something putrid. They followed the scent and discovered Heather's nude body in a shallow grave off the trail. She had been sexually assaulted and shot point blank in the face. Oh, my God.

It's so disgusting and, like, infuriating. And all of these people, all these women he's going after, they're all like their children almost. You know, like, you're 20. You're basically still a teenager. Oh, for sure. You're barely in college. You're barely figuring out life. Stephen Hartle was among the witnesses to positively ID Carpenter in a lineup, which is so brave.

Just so much respect. Obviously, I'm sure he wanted to get the guy that not only killed so many people, but his girlfriend, and then tried to kill him. you know, like, I would love to be like, yeah, that's a piece of shit. But just standing up to someone who the last time you saw them was shooting you and murdering your girlfriend. Right. It's an entirely different thing. It's so easy to say, like, yeah, I would love to do that.

I would love to pin, like, be like, yeah, that's him. But it's a way different thing. And speaking from slight experience of having to be in a situation where testifying against someone in a situation who's trying to harm you. That's trying to harm you. it's very, very different once you're there. Yeah, it's not like the movies where you like suddenly get all of the words and you have some witty thing to say and you put them behind bars. It's like, this is scary.

I'm confronting something that makes me really uncomfortable. Yeah. And like I'm sure this person has like PTSD and trauma from what happened too. Mental, physical, emotional, like all of the above. No, you have to go in front of a bunch of people and talk about it. And yeah, it's a lot. So in July of 1981, Carpenter was charged with five counts of murder, rape, and attempted rape. He was convicted of the murder of Richard Stowers, Cynthia Morland, Shauna Mae, Diane O'Connell, and Anne Alderson,

along with two counts of rape and one count of attempted rape, and he was sentenced to death. But rewinding just a little bit, you may have kind of like a lingering question in the back of your mind. I certainly did when I was going over all of this. Why, if police had his name, would they not come across him early on in their investigation, especially given his previous violent crime record? Like, why would you look at David Carpenter who works at Costco versus David Carpenter who has been in jail twice? Such a good point.

You know, like, why is he not one of the top David Carpenter's that you're looking into? How many criminal David Carpenter's are in the San Francisco area? Exactly. Especially with a rap sheet that closely mirrors the crimes that you. you're investigating. Yeah. Well, when cross-referencing previous searches for his name, his profile was left out of suspect list when investigating the previous murders attributed to the trailside killer. Why? And his name was not listed on California's sex offender registry at all. What? Why? So when he was released from prison that second time around, not when he was a minor, like when the second

time around. Yeah. And he got let out. He was sent to the halfway house. He was turned over to federal custody. So for some reason, he wasn't put onto these lists. He slipped through the cracks somehow. There was like a lapse of something going on. Wires got crossed. He literally slipped through the cracks. There needs to be a higher priority on people like that. Which I'm sure his case and or cases like this have influenced a change in that I'm sure it is wildly different. I'd hope so. Now than it was then in the 80s, especially given this, I mean, if anything's going to influence. policy change or change of the system, it's this, you know? You would hope so, yeah.

Following that first conviction, he was tried again and convicted of the murders of Ellen Hanson and Heather Skaggs. And that same jury also found him guilty of the attempted murder of Stephen Hardle and the attempted rape of Ellen and the rape of Heather. Like all of these things are just piling on. He's just like getting hit on every single one, thank God. And although he was never convicted, he remains the primary suspect. for the murders of Edda Kane and Barbara Schwartz.

Additionally, he remains a primary suspect in the murders of two other women that we did not discuss at all. Good. So Carol Loughlin worked in the Curry Village gift shop within Yosemite National Park in September of 1979. She disappeared and wasn't found for over six months. Her remains were found at the base of a tunnel near Cookie Cliff, which is an area popular with climbers within Yosemite. And where does Carpenter come in in all of this?

Well, first, the time frame is right for when she disappeared. This is when he was very active. The location was right, a national park within Northern California. The M.O. was right, a young woman. And then there's the fact that he was working for a company that supplied items for that gift shop at the time. Oh, it has to be him then. What are the... What are the odds?

What are the odds? Yeah. The second woman, young woman, Anna Mett. her was 17 years old at the time of her disappearance. She had been reported missing by her friends and family in December of 1980. Her skeletal remains were discovered in June of 1981 by hikers in Castle Rock State Park, which is just outside of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, where we know he was active. The location of her body, the time of her disappearance raised suspicion, linking Carpenter,

obviously, as the man responsible. But again, it goes one step deeper and worked at a bank as a part-time teller, which is the same bank that Carpenter went to. And he was even noted chatting with her. And customers took notice of the awkward exchanges and brought it up to bank's management. And this was only just a few days before her disappearance. So he has huge links to these women. Oh, for sure. Yeah. So like I said, although his involvement in their deaths has not been proven,

he remains a primary suspect in them. More recently, in 2009, police re-examined the case of Mary Bennett, the Montana native, whose body was discovered on the land's end portion of Golden Gate Natural Recreation Area. National Recreation Area. National Recreation. So confusing. So I mentioned that her body was found around the time of his spree, but he wasn't initially directly linked to her.

So they re-examined, their reopened her case in 2009 the next year. in 2010, police confirmed Carpenter's DNA matched the DNA evidence collected from that scene. I know there's a lot going on here with a lot of women and men, a lot of different places and murders and all of that. So to summarize, out of all the victims described, aside from those last two in Yosemite and in Castle Rock, he has either been convicted or suspected to be the killer in all but two. So Edda and Barbara Schwartz. although he remains the primary suspect. So what is the number?

Do you know, like, how many people is he confirmed to have killed? At least 10. That's awful. On the trails, the bright orange signs displaying a do not hike alone warning have long since been torn down. And happy hikers hit the trails. The trailside killer is a long distant memory. If you do find yourself in the national or state parks of Northern California, don't think about him. Rather, think of the people who lost their lives at his hands.

and maybe honor them by acknowledging their stories and sending them a positive thought or two when you're on your own journey through those parks. And as of this recording in April of 2022, at 92 years old, he remains the oldest inmate on death row in San Quentin State Prison. Oh my God. Just throw him out already. Like, what is the... He's still alive. He's still fucking alive. He was born in 1930. Okay. It's insane because it's just like, why are we spending our... are tax dollars on this disgusting man, like literally just toss him out, like throw him into the

fucking ocean, leave him that, I don't know, like, you don't even have to go through the death row thing, just like drop him in the middle of the ocean somewhere. He's 92. Maybe prison reform is your calling. I mean? Yeah, it's like fix the justice system and just drop all of the disgusting beings in like the middle of the ocean somewhere where they can't swim. I'm saying like policy change. on how things like this are handled, maybe. It's just insane to me. Like there's, I bet there has been millions of dollars that has gone into him over the years between food and care and probably medical expenses. And this man is still alive. How many years after he murdered so many innocent people? I don't believe in like wishing bad things on other people. And I think there's certainly a karma in that.

But there's some people that just that don't deserve to be here with everybody else. And I think, I think he's one of those people. And wherever he is, I hope he's having really bad day, every day, forever. I hope that if he's living this long, it's because he's living a really horrendous life and he's dealing with it every day. I just can't believe he's still alive. Yeah. Like, it just, it seems so unfair like the whole thing of like the good die young. It's true. Some of the best people and the pure souls die so young and some of the most ugly, dark people live fucking fur. It's like they won't die. It's just they keep going. They're living off of rage. Oh, God. So I feel like there's some chihuahuas that are like that. They just survive off of rage for.

I can't believe. There are some chihuahuas that I'm like, how are you still on this earth? Like, you are so old. I don't even say that in a bad way because I actually like love chihuahuas. But I feel like some of them, we used to joke at my job, there was this one chihuahua that we used to say that she was living off of pure fury. because she would just come in and she didn't have any teeth left, but she would bite every single person. And she was screaming the whole time. And she was like 21 or something. Like, you're just surviving on pure anger right now. But there is one kind of interesting, total side note to this kind of. I mean, it's related, but it's just like, it came up in my research. I'm like, oh, no shit.

So remember Lois, Rina, the first woman that we talked about today, the one that got attacked with the hammer. in the pocket knife but lived in the Presidio. So you might recognize her daughter if you're a pop culture fan. Okay. I don't even watch this and I knew who she was like when I looked up her name. So she is the mother of Lisa Rina who is one of like the OG Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. He lost me. I've seen her like all over E.

She's just like one of those people that I'm like, how the hell do I know who she? I've never watched the Real Housewives of. Beverly Hills, but she's like in other things. If you look up her name and you're like of our generation, you'll probably recognize her. And I'm like, oh, wow. Oh, my God, I do know who she is. I didn't, oh, I did know that she's on there, but she's actually, she's an actor too. Yeah, so that's her mom that survived David Carpenter. To end this off, I did not read this book, but there is a book all about the trailside killer. And it's called The Sleeping Lady, the trailside murders above the Golden Gate Bridge, and it is by Robert Graysmith.

And it goes into significant detail about not only David Carpenter's life, his backstory, but also tons of details about these crimes. If you are interested in learning more or what have you, want to do your dissertation on him or some psychological study, you can certainly look into that. I, for one, have had quite enough of him. Same. So thank you, everyone, for hanging in for that brutal. telling, retelling. It just is so sad not only because of the obvious loss of life and the horrific

ways in which he killed people, but it is. He's like stealing something from people. Like, there is something about nature that, like, it's people's refuge. And it's something that people hold close to their hearts. And you never expect to be brutalized like that in somewhere that's so special. And I just felt like he robbed people of not only the people he. He's, directly affected by taking their lives. He robbed so many people of their joy of being outside for a while. Yeah. He just instilled so much fear. And I think that it's another extension of his evil. The harm he caused, yeah. Exactly. And I would say like any women listening to this, like don't let stories like this deter you from the outdoors. I feel like this is an ice. I won't say

it's isolated because, of course, there are many other circumstances, but this was an extreme case. So if you need a little like a ying and yang, like a balance to this, definitely go listen to Andrea Langford's People of the Parks episode because she'll hype you right back up. Yeah, she'll bring you right back to solo hiking women. Yep. Get out there. You're strong, badass and beautiful. And guys like this are scum and don't let it.

Just be careful. Just be careful. Be aware. know that things like this have happened, but don't let it ruin your life. Yeah. And I'm speaking, I'm like hyping my, that was a little pep talk to myself because I am one of those people that would let it psychologically ruin me. So let's get out of here.

Let's get out of here. All right. Well, we'll see you guys on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. See you later. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week.

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