Randy Kraft | |
|---|---|
 1983 mugshot of Kraft | |
| Born | Randy Steven Kraft March 19, 1945 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Other names | The Freeway Killer, Southern California Strangler, The Scorecard Killer[3] |
| Alma mater | Claremont Men's College |
| Conviction(s) | Capital murder Sodomy Mutilation[1] |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 16–67 |
Span of crimes | 1971–1983 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | California Oregon Michigan[2] |
Date apprehended | May 14, 1983 |
| Imprisoned at | San Quentin State Prison |
Randy Steven Kraft (born March 19, 1945) is an American serial killer and rapist known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler, and the Freeway Killer,[4] who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of sixteen young men between 1972 and 1983, the majority of whom he killed in California. Kraft is also believed to have committed the rape and murder of up to fifty-one other young men and boys. He was convicted in May 1989[5] and is currently incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California.[6]
Kraft became known as the "Scorecard Killer" because upon his arrest, investigators discovered a coded list with sixty-one entries on a scorecard containing cryptic references to his victims;[7] he is also sometimes referred to as the "Freeway Killer" because many of his victims' bodies were discovered beside or near freeways.[8]
- ^ Newton 2011, p. 9.
- ^ Hicks 1988c, p. 4.
- ^ "'Scorecard Killer' Facing Execution". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 14, 1989. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- ^ Newton 2011, p. 1.
- ^ "Randy Kraft Convicted of 16 Murders" (Google news), The Union Democrat, Sonora; Santa Ana: Associated press, p. 10A, May 11, 1989.
- ^ "Why isn't Randy Kraft Dead?". The Orange County Register. April 22, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ McDougal 1992, p. 264.
- ^ McDougal 1992, p. 174.