Wilmington John Doe (February 1973)

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Wilmington John Doe
Discovered	February 6, 1973
Unidentified for	51 years
Sex	Male
Location	Wilmington, California
Age	17-25
Race	White
Height	5'8
Weight	138 - 143 pounds
Body condition	Recognizable face
Postmortem interval	Hours
Cause of death	Strangulation

Wilmington John Doe was a young man found strangled in 1973. He is believed to be one of Randy Steven Kraft's victims.

Case

The victim was discovered by Long Beach police at around 11:30 AM on February 6, 1973. He was found naked in a ditch off the Terminal Island Freeway in Wilmington, California with a ligature mark around his neck. Police believe the victim had likely been garroted with a piano wire. A brown sock was also found stuffed up his rectum, and Kraft often sodomized his victim's with socks.

A few of the gay people in the area came forward and said they had seen the victim soliciting tricks along Belmont Shore, but did not recall his name.

The victim was believed to have been entered on Randy Kraft's scorecard as "WILMINGTON". Kraft was never formally charged with the decedent's murder, and has not confessed to the crime or given any information that may lead to the decedent's identification.

Characteristics

• Brown hair.
• Brown eyes.
• Several long, thin scars on his lower right leg.
• Type A blood.

Gallery

Reconstruction by Natalie Murry

Morgue photograph

Crime scene

Exclusions

The following people have been ruled out has being this male:

• John Corbett (1972)
• Glen Walls (1972)
• Robert Newborg (1969)
• Alan Bourque (1970)
• Melvin Murphy (1971)
• Ralph Miller (1970)

Sources

• Wilmington John Doe at NamUs ^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}
• Wilmington John Doe at NCMEC
• Wilmington John Doe at the Doe Network
• Randy Kraft on Wikipedia
• Angel of Darkness: The True Story of Randy Kraft and the Most Heinous Murder Spree