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Trailside Killer

David Carpenter
DJCarpenter1.jpg
Born David Joseph Carpenter
(1930-05-06) May 6, 1930 (age 87)
San Francisco, California
Other names The Trailside Killer
Criminal penalty Death
Conviction(s) Attempted murder, attempted rape, kidnapping, murder, rape, robbery
Killings
Victims 7–10+
Span of killings
August 19, 1979–May 2, 1981
Country United States
State(s) California
Date apprehended
May 14, 1981

David Joseph Carpenter (born May 6, 1930), a.k.a. the Trailside Killer, is an American serial killer known for stalking and murdering his victims in State Parks in California. Carpenter killed several people on hiking trails near San Francisco, California. Carpenter killed at least 10 people, with one attempted victim, Steven Haertle, surviving. Carpenter used a .38 caliber handgun in all but one of the killings, with a .44 caliber handgun being used in the killing of Edna Kane on Mount Tamalpais.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Carpenter was physically abused as a child by his alcoholic father and domineering mother. As a boy, he suffered a severe stutter and a bed-wetting problem, and he tortured animals. At 13, he was incarcerated for molesting two of his cousins.

He married in 1955, a union that produced three children.

Carpenter attempted murder in 1960, for which he spent seven years in prison. In 1970, he was arrested for kidnapping and spent a further seven years behind bars. After his release, he was a suspect in the notorious Zodiac murders, although he was eventually cleared.

From 1979–1981, Carpenter raped and murdered five women in Santa Cruz and Marin Counties. On May 10, 1988, a San Diego jury convicted Carpenter of five counts of first degree murder in the slayings of Richard Stowers, Cynthia Moreland, Shauna May, Diane O'Connell and Anne Alderson. Carpenter was also pronounced guilty of raping two of the women and attempting to rape a third. He was sentenced to die in the gas chamber, and remains on San Quentin's death row.


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