Billy Gohl
Encyclopedia
William "Billy" Gohl was an American
serial killer
who, while working as a union
official, would murder
sailor
s passing through Aberdeen, Washington
. He murdered for an unknown period of time and was a suspect in dozens of murders until his capture in 1910. Spared from the death penalty by a request for leniency by the jury, he was sentenced to life in prison at Walla Walla State Penitentiary
where he died in 1927 from lobar pneumonia
and erysipelas
complicated by dementia paralytic caused by syphilis
.
. Before this he had been employed as a bartender after returning broke from the Yukon
. Already an accomplished criminal, Gohl was suspected of being responsible for many of the large numbers of deceased migrant worker
s that would be found washed up on shore during his tenure as a bartender, as well as a number of other crimes. In 1905 during the great waterfront Strike Gohl was charged with "assembling men under arms" and is also alleged to to have forcibly abducted non-union crewmen from the Schooner "Fearless" for which he was fined $1250 in the Superior Court.As a union official, Gohl would use his reputation and intimidating size to discourage strikes and "recruit" new union members. The Union building proved to be a location that was ideal for his crimes, both in providing victims, and in concealing the evidence of their murders. Sailors arriving in the port of Aberdeen would usually visit the Sailor's Union building soon after disembarking. The union office, in those days, functioned as a combination mail drop, bank, and general employment office for its members. Sailors new in port might check for letters, scan the list of vessels needing crewmen, or deposit valuables before they made the rounds at local bars and, if they wished, set aside some money in savings.. In many cases, sailors just returned from months at sea had large amounts of cash in hand. An honest union delegate would hold the money in a safe until it was reclaimed. In Aberdeen, the spoils belonged to Billy Gohl. Gohl would usually be on duty, alone. Typically Gohl would ask if the sailors had any family or friends in the area. Then he would turn the conversation to the topic of money and valuables. If the sailor was just passing through, and would not be missed by anyone in the area, and had more than a trivial amount of cash or valuables on hand, Gohl would choose him as his next victim. His method was simplicity itself. When sailors turned up individually, Gohl checked the street for witnesses. If it was clear,and if something of substantial value was entrusted to his care, he drew a pistol from his desk and shot his victim in the head. That done, he paused to clean the weapon, then stripped his prey of any extra cash and all identifying documents. He would dispose of them in the Wishkah River
, which ran behind the building and into the harbor. According to some reports, there was a chute which descended from a trap door
in the building directly into the river. and the sea beyond. Other reports state that Gohl would use a small launch
to murder his victims and dump the bodies directly in the harbor.
Within a few years after Gohl's arrival, Aberdeen acquired a reputation as a "port of missing men." No records exist for his first six years of operation, but authorities pulled 41 "floaters" out of the water between 1909 and 1912, suggesting a prodigious body count. Most of the dead were presumed to be merchant seamen, and Billy Gohl was among the most vocal critics of Aberdeen law enforcement, demanding apprehension of the killers and more protection for his men. Gohl's downfall was precipitated by a timepiece and his own attempt at cleverness. While rifling the pockets of his latest victim, Billy came upon a watch bearing the engraved name of August Schleuter from Hamburg, Germany. Alert to the potential for incrimination, he replaced the watch and dumped the corpse as usual. When the "floater" came ashore, Gohl was on hand to identify Schleuter as one of his sailors, renewing demands for thorough investigation of the murders.
This time, Billy got his wish. It took some time, but homicide investigators learned the victim was, in fact, a Danish sailor named Fred Nielssen who had bought the watch in Hamburg from a craftsman who identified each piece he made with an engraving of his name. Gohl's effort to identify
the corpse of August Schleuter smacked of guilty knowledge, and detectives finally built a case that brought him into court in 1913 on a double
murder charge. Though suspected of being responsible for the large numbers of sailors who would disembark in Aberdeen and disappear, nothing was done to stop him until an accomplice, John Klingenberg, was brought back to Aberdeen after trying to jump ship in Mexico
to escape prosecution, or possibly to escape Gohl.
. and taken to the State Prison June 13, 1910 The second count was for the murder of John Hoffman, a witness to the Hatberg murder who was shot and injured by Gohl on the night of the murder, and killed the next day by Klingenberg, for which he was sentenced to 20 years. Gohl was rescued from the gallows by Washington's repeal of the death penalty in 1912. Convicted and sentenced to life for two slayings. he rebuffed all efforts to compile a comprehensive list of victims. Even so, publicity surrounding Billy's case was adequate to prompt restoration of Capital Punishment in 1914. Safe in his prison cell, with no evidence to support further trials and possible execution, Gohl counted the years until he was later transferred to an asylum
for the criminally insane
, where he died in 1927.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who, while working as a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
official, would murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s passing through Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...
. He murdered for an unknown period of time and was a suspect in dozens of murders until his capture in 1910. Spared from the death penalty by a request for leniency by the jury, he was sentenced to life in prison at Walla Walla State Penitentiary
Washington State Penitentiary
Washington State Penitentiary is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Walla Walla, Washington...
where he died in 1927 from lobar pneumonia
Lobar pneumonia
Lobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung.It is one of the two anatomic classifications of pneumonia .- Symptoms :...
and erysipelas
Erysipelas
Erysipelas is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the deep epidermis with lymphatic spread.-Risk factors:...
complicated by dementia paralytic caused by syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
.
Occupation and Murders
Nothing of substance is known about Billy Gohl's first 40 years, and the stories he told in response to occasional questions were riddled with holes, contradictions, and some outright lies. By his own reckoning, Gohl was born around 1860, spending most of the next four decades as a laborer and sailor. In 1903 he surfaced in Aberdeen, Washington, as a delegate and employed as a union official at the Sailor's Union of the PacificSailors' Union of the Pacific
The Sailors' Union of the Pacific founded on March 6, 1885 in San Francisco, California is an American labor union of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard U.S. flag vessels....
. Before this he had been employed as a bartender after returning broke from the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
. Already an accomplished criminal, Gohl was suspected of being responsible for many of the large numbers of deceased migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s that would be found washed up on shore during his tenure as a bartender, as well as a number of other crimes. In 1905 during the great waterfront Strike Gohl was charged with "assembling men under arms" and is also alleged to to have forcibly abducted non-union crewmen from the Schooner "Fearless" for which he was fined $1250 in the Superior Court.As a union official, Gohl would use his reputation and intimidating size to discourage strikes and "recruit" new union members. The Union building proved to be a location that was ideal for his crimes, both in providing victims, and in concealing the evidence of their murders. Sailors arriving in the port of Aberdeen would usually visit the Sailor's Union building soon after disembarking. The union office, in those days, functioned as a combination mail drop, bank, and general employment office for its members. Sailors new in port might check for letters, scan the list of vessels needing crewmen, or deposit valuables before they made the rounds at local bars and, if they wished, set aside some money in savings.. In many cases, sailors just returned from months at sea had large amounts of cash in hand. An honest union delegate would hold the money in a safe until it was reclaimed. In Aberdeen, the spoils belonged to Billy Gohl. Gohl would usually be on duty, alone. Typically Gohl would ask if the sailors had any family or friends in the area. Then he would turn the conversation to the topic of money and valuables. If the sailor was just passing through, and would not be missed by anyone in the area, and had more than a trivial amount of cash or valuables on hand, Gohl would choose him as his next victim. His method was simplicity itself. When sailors turned up individually, Gohl checked the street for witnesses. If it was clear,and if something of substantial value was entrusted to his care, he drew a pistol from his desk and shot his victim in the head. That done, he paused to clean the weapon, then stripped his prey of any extra cash and all identifying documents. He would dispose of them in the Wishkah River
Wishkah River
The Wishkah River is a tributary of the Chehalis River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Washington. The river drains a remote rural area of approximately in Grays Harbor County along the Washington coast north of Aberdeen...
, which ran behind the building and into the harbor. According to some reports, there was a chute which descended from a trap door
Trapdoor
A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling .Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position....
in the building directly into the river. and the sea beyond. Other reports state that Gohl would use a small launch
Launch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
to murder his victims and dump the bodies directly in the harbor.
Within a few years after Gohl's arrival, Aberdeen acquired a reputation as a "port of missing men." No records exist for his first six years of operation, but authorities pulled 41 "floaters" out of the water between 1909 and 1912, suggesting a prodigious body count. Most of the dead were presumed to be merchant seamen, and Billy Gohl was among the most vocal critics of Aberdeen law enforcement, demanding apprehension of the killers and more protection for his men. Gohl's downfall was precipitated by a timepiece and his own attempt at cleverness. While rifling the pockets of his latest victim, Billy came upon a watch bearing the engraved name of August Schleuter from Hamburg, Germany. Alert to the potential for incrimination, he replaced the watch and dumped the corpse as usual. When the "floater" came ashore, Gohl was on hand to identify Schleuter as one of his sailors, renewing demands for thorough investigation of the murders.
This time, Billy got his wish. It took some time, but homicide investigators learned the victim was, in fact, a Danish sailor named Fred Nielssen who had bought the watch in Hamburg from a craftsman who identified each piece he made with an engraving of his name. Gohl's effort to identify
the corpse of August Schleuter smacked of guilty knowledge, and detectives finally built a case that brought him into court in 1913 on a double
murder charge. Though suspected of being responsible for the large numbers of sailors who would disembark in Aberdeen and disappear, nothing was done to stop him until an accomplice, John Klingenberg, was brought back to Aberdeen after trying to jump ship in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to escape prosecution, or possibly to escape Gohl.
Arrest
Klingenberg was able to testify to seeing Gohl alone with a sailor, Charles Hatberg, whose body had recently been found in the harbor, soon before his disappearance. Gohl had already been arrested in February 1910 for the Hatberg murder and was convicted of two counts of murder, though suspected of 41 or more, found guilty May 12, 1910 and sentenced to life imprisonmentLife imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. and taken to the State Prison June 13, 1910 The second count was for the murder of John Hoffman, a witness to the Hatberg murder who was shot and injured by Gohl on the night of the murder, and killed the next day by Klingenberg, for which he was sentenced to 20 years. Gohl was rescued from the gallows by Washington's repeal of the death penalty in 1912. Convicted and sentenced to life for two slayings. he rebuffed all efforts to compile a comprehensive list of victims. Even so, publicity surrounding Billy's case was adequate to prompt restoration of Capital Punishment in 1914. Safe in his prison cell, with no evidence to support further trials and possible execution, Gohl counted the years until he was later transferred to an asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for the criminally insane
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
, where he died in 1927.