Butte County John Doe was a man found near Oroville, California on November 27, 1950. He was the first victim of Lloyd Gomez.
Case[]
The victim was located a half mile west of the Western Pacific yard by two pheasant hunters. At the time, the county coroner reported that he had been killed by a large, bloodstained rock found nearby.
After his arrest in January 1952, Lloyd Gomez confessed to killing him in the summer of 1950. The victim had a bottle of wine and offered to take Gomez back to his shack. When he went ahead, Gomez stated he picked up the rock and hit him in the head six times (although some reports say he smashed the wine bottle against his head). Gomez then robbed him of the wine bottle and 5 cents. Gomez's confession in this case was surprising to authorities, as they did not consider it a murder case until he confessed.
Gomez confessed to killing nine homeless middle-aged men between 1950 and 1951 in northern California. Robbery was the motive, with Gomez stating he only netted a total of $62.26 from his victims. In June 1952, he was convicted of the November 1950 murder of Warren Hood Cunningham and was executed at San Quentin State Prison on October 16, 1953.
In addition to this victim, Gomez's fifth and eighth remain unidentified.