Randy Steven Kraft is an American serial killer known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler. — Wikipedia

Soak Up The Sun

There is something about the State of California, with its sunny beaches, the coast, and its beautiful people, that can be misleading. There’s a darker side to this beautiful state.

Making California a little darker back in the 1970s were a trio of serial killers hunting California freeways for young men. One of these killers was Randy Kraft.

Background

Randy Kraft was born in 1945 in Long Beach California, but the family eventually settled in Orange County and settled in an ultraconservative area of Orange County.

Described by his teachers as highly intelligent. Randy eventually would join the Air Force. Finally, get discharged when he came out to the military and his right-wing parents. Randy eventually got work as a bartender at a local gay bar. He eventually became a serial killer of military men, by cruising marine bases.

Secret Sexuality

After his discharge, there seemed to be a change in Randy. During the day he was a friendly computer programmer, staunch political activist, with his roommate they frequently cruised local gays bars and not hiding their sexuality.  While the third part of his personality traveled the labyrinth of California highways cruising for men and disposing of their bodies along the freeway.

First known violent sexual assault was with a young boy by the name of Joey Fanch that took place in March of 1970.

Joey was a thirteen-year-old runaway, Randy feed him some narcotic drugs, and once the drugs took effect, Randy savagely attacked Joey, eventually raping him.  Joey did report Randy to the authorities but not the rape. The police searched Randy’s apartment, but without a search warrant so all charges were dropped. If the cops have had a warrant, they may have stopped Randy right there and then from his killing spree.

Dumping Grounds  

Randy’s lust for blood and torture started in 1971 and didn’t stop till 1983. It is believed he killed around 67 people. California with its busy and frenzied highway system, and ease of access to towns and cities all around, the police had an impossible job finding tracks and pin every victim to their killer.

Currently back in the 1970s three known serial killers were hunting the highway system of California, all three were killing and dumping males along the highways.

What set Kraft apart from the other killers, was his love of torture. Kraft enjoyed torturing his victims before killing them. Many of his victims were enlisted in the United States Marines Corps. The bodies had high levels of alcohol and tranquilizers in their system.

These highly trained marines were rendered inebriated as they were sexually assaulted and killed. It is believed randy cruised gay bars and lured his victims with alcohol, drugs, or a ride. Once inside his vehicle, he made sure to render them insentient.

He would then bind his victims, torture, and sexually abuse them. Randy used several methods to kill his victims though most of them were strangled, asphyxiated, or bludgeoned. Some victims ingested fatal doses of drugs, and one victim had been stabbed.

Glory & Gore

The victims all suffered before death, many bore cigarette lighter burns, usually around the genitals, chest, and face. Others were found with massive blunt force trauma to the face and head. Several victims had foreign objects found inserted in the victim’s rectums.

One victim had cocktail swizzle inserted into his penis, stuffed dirt, leaves, and his genitals into his rectum, and shoved dirt and leaves down his throat post-mortem. Randy seemed to like to emasculate his victims by castrating or biting off their genitals.

First suspected murder victim was on October 5th, 1971, police found the nude body of a 30-year-old Long Beach resident named Wayne Dukette discarded close to Ortega Highway. 

Dukette was a bartender at a gay bar called “The Stables” near Sunset Beach. When his body was found he was already at the putrefaction stage. Physical evidence was hard to collect, and his murder was listed as acute alcohol poisoning. Kraft labeled this victim as “Stables,” in his cryptic scorecard.

Twiggie

One of his most gruesome attacks was on a 19-year-old man named James Dale Reeves who lived in the city of Cypress, California. Randy nicknamed this victim as “Twiggie.” His body was found November 27th of 1974 on a freeway outside of Irvine, California, near Cypress in Orange County.

The victim was found stripped practically nude, raped, and murdered. Twiggie was last seen at Ripples bar, one of the clubs that Kraft frequented; this is where Reeves’ car would later be found abandoned. When the victim was discovered, he was posed in a Y-shaped position and a 4 feet long / 1.2 meter long stick shoved up his rectum.

Eventual Capture

Most serial killers share similar characteristics. One is keeping mementos of their victims. Kraft was no different. He held a cryptic coded list. At the time of his arrest, they found over 70  young men, unconscious or dead under the foot of his car and the bare feet of his last victim.

Kraft wouldn’t have been caught if he hadn’t been drinking and driving. The police pulled him over and discovered a dead U.S. Marine in his vehicle spelled the end of Kraft’s reign of terror.

From there the police had the colossal task of piecing together all of Kraft’s victims. Kraft kept a cryptic, evil, and detailed count of every one of his murders on a “scorecard.” They were able to match 14 out of the 16 victims on his scorecard.

Reference of a Deranged Mind

His references towards each victim were something that stood out about the particular person or murder. For instance, “Twiggie,” was named because of the branch stuffed in the victim’s rectum. The 33rd victim was titled, “marine Head,” a 20-year-old Marine, Mark Alan Marsh found decapitated and with his hands cut off.

Other ghoulish nicknames on the list were, “EDM,” which police concluded belonged to Edward Daniel Moore. Another was “2 in 1 HITCH.” All in all, the scorecard contained 61 entries, each life taken. Police believed Kraft may have murdered more.

Kraft was found guilty on all counts as well as some other related charges of sodomy and torture and sentenced to death—in death row he became friends with another notorious highway killer William Bonin. His stay was commuted to life in prison in 2000, where he still resides.

The Scorecard aka Confirmed Murders by Kraft

• March 1970: Joseph Alwyn Fancher, 13, drugged and sodomized, but not killed.
• December 23, 1972: Edward Daniel Moore, 20 (bit his genitals, beaten with a blunt object, and strangled; stuffed a sock into his rectum and redressed post-mortem)
• April 9th 1973: Kevin Clark Bailey, 18, sodomized and castrated.
• July 28th 1973: Ronnie Gene Wiebe, 20 (bit his stomach and penis, beaten, and strangled; a sock was stuffed into his rectum.
• July 30, 1975: Keith Daven Crotwell, 19, accidentally drowned, then decapitated post-mortem.
• January 3rd, 1976: Mark Howard Hall, 22. Sodomized, slashed his legs with a knife, and killed by alcohol poisoning and asphyxiation; mutilated his body with a car cigarette lighter, castrated, inserted a cocktail swizzle into his penis, stuffed dirt, leaves, and his genitals into his rectum, and stuffed dirt and leaves down his throat post-mortem.

Let’s Keep on Going!

• February 12th, 1978: Geoffrey Alan Nelson, 18. Castrated and strangled.
• February 12th, 1978: Roger James DeVaul, 20. Sodomized and strangled.
• April 16th, 1978: Scott Michael Hughes, 18. Castrated and strangled.
• June 11th, 1978: Roland Gerald Young, 23. Castrated, stabbed four times in the heart, and redressed post-mortem.
• June 19th 1978: Richard Allen Keith, 20. Strangled.
• July 6th 1978: Keith Arthur Klingbeil, 23. Burned with a car cigarette lighter; killed by strangulation and drug poisoning.
• November 18th 1978: Michael Joseph Inderbieten, 20. Sodomized, stuffed an unspecified object into his rectum, castrated, burned his eyelids off with a cigarette lighter, and fatally suffocated.
• June 16th, 1979: Donnie Harold Crisel, 20. Burned with a car cigarette lighter and strangled; killed by alcohol and drug poisoning.
• September 3rd, 1980: Robert Wyatt Loggins, 19. Killed by acute intoxication.
• January 27th, 1983: Eric Herbert Church, 21. Sodomized, bludgeoned, and strangled.
• May 14th, 1983: Terry Lee Gambrel, 25. Strangled with his own belt; found in Kraft’s car when he was arrested.

Alleged/Suspected to be Kraft’s victims

• September 24th , 1971: Wayne Joseph Dukette, 30. Killed by acute alcohol poisoning.
• February 6th, 1973: “Wilmington.” Unidentified; sodomized, castrated, and fatally strangled; stuffed a sock into his rectum and redressed post-mortem.
• April 22nd, 1973: “Hawth Off Head.” Unidentified; removed his eyelids, strangled, castrated, and dismembered post-mortem.
• December 23rd, 1973: Vincent Cruz Mestas, 23. Shaved his face and head, ruptured his intestines and fatally strangled; cut off his hands, mutilated his genitals, and inserted an unspecified object into his penis post-mortem.
• June 2nd, 1974: Malcolm Eugene Little, 20. Strangled and castrated; a twig was stuffed into his rectum.
• June 22nd, 1974: Roger E. Dickerson, 18. Sodomized, mutilated, bit his penis and left nipple, and strangled.
• August 3rd, 1974: Thomas Paxton Lee, 25. Strangled and mutilated.
• August 12th, 1974: Gary Wayne Cordova, 23. Killed by a drug overdose and alcohol poisoning.
• November 27th, 1974: James Dale Reeves, 19. Suffocated; a tree limb was forced into his rectum.
• January 4th, 1975: John William Leras, 17. Suffocated; a wooden surveyor’s stake was forced into his rectum.
• January 17th, 1975: Keith Daven Crotwell, 19. Killed by unknown causes and decapitated post-mortem.
• December 12th, 1976: Paul Joseph Fuchs, 19. Killed by unknown causes.
• April 16th, 1978: Scott Michael Hughes, 18. Strangled and castrated.
• September 30th, 1978: Richard A. Crosby, 20. Mutilated with a car cigarette lighter and suffocated.
• August 29th, 1979: “76.” Killed by unknown causes and dismembered post-mortem; a sock was stuffed into a body cavity.
• September 14th, 1979: Gregory Wallace Jolley, 20. Killed by unknown causes; castrated, decapitated, and cut off his hands post-mortem.
• November 24th, 1979: Jeffrey Bryan Sayre, 15. Killed by unknown causes.
• February 18th, 1980: Mark Alan Marsh, 20. Killed by unknown causes; stuffed an unspecified object into his rectum, decapitated, and cut off his hands post-mortem.
• April 10th, 1980: Michael Duane Cluck, 18. Sodomized and bludgeoned 31 times.
• July 17th, 1980: Michael Shawn O’Fallon, 17. Drugged, hogtied with shoelaces, sodomized, and strangled.
• July 18th, 1980: “Portland Eck.” Unidentified; strangled.
• August 20, 1981: Christopher R. Williams, 17. Paper was stuffed into his nostrils; cause of death was pneumonia induced by aspiration.
• July 29th, 1982: Robert Avila, 16. Strangled.
• July 29th, 1982: Raymond Davis, 13. Strangled like the previous victim.
• November 28th, 1982: Brian Harold Witcher, 26. Asphyxiated.
• December 9th, 1982: Lance Trenton Taggs, 19. Suffocated by a sock stuffed down his throat.
• December 9th, 1982: Dennis Patrick Alt, 20. Manually strangled.
• December 9th, 1982: Christopher Alan Schoenborn, 20. Strangled; a pen was inserted into his penis.
• December 18th, 1982: Anthony Jose Silveira, 29. Sodomized and strangled; a sock was stuffed into his rectum.
• February 12th, 1983: Geoffrey Alan Nelson, 18. Castrated, sodomized, and strangled.
• January 19th, 1984: Mikeal Laine, 24. Killed by unknown causes.
• January 17th, 1995: Craig Victor Jonaites, 24. Strangled.

Unknown victims and dates

“Angel,” “Hari Kari,” “Marine Down,” “Van Driveaway,” “In 1 MV TO PL,” “LB Marina,” “Diabetic,” “Portland,” “Navy White,” “User,” “Iowa,” “In 1 Hitch,” “Front of Ripples,” “Carpenter,” “MC Dump HB Short,” “MC Plants,” “England,” “Oil,” “What You Got.”

Dora Esquivel