The Trailside Killer

David Carpenter, also known as the Trailside Killer, stalked, sexually assaulted, and murdered mostly women on hiking trails near San Francisco, California, with a few victims in Santa Cruz, California. Most of his victims were shot in the head, execution-style, while a couple of them were stabbed to death. Carpenter’s reign of terror lasted from 1979 into 1981 when he was subsequently arrested, tried, and convicted of death.