Billy Gohl American serial killer Date of Birth: 06.02.1873 Country: USA

1. Biography of Billy Gohl
2. A Life of Crime
3. The Union Hall of Horrors
4. The Grisly Methods
5. The Capture and Conviction

Biography of Billy Gohl

William "Billy" Gohl was an American serial killer. Born on February 6, 1873, Gohl started his murderous spree while working as a union official in Aberdeen, Washington. The exact duration of his crimes is unknown, but he was suspected of multiple murders before being caught in 1910.

A Life of Crime

Prior to his career as a union official, Gohl worked as a bartender after returning from the Yukon. He had a criminal history and was already a suspect in the deaths of numerous migrant workers whose bodies washed up on the shore. In 1905, during a major strike at the port, Gohl was charged with "inciting people to take up arms" and allegedly forcibly abducted non-union crew members from the schooner 'Fearless'. He was fined $1,250 by the Supreme Court for these charges.

The Union Hall of Horrors

Using his reputation, Gohl carried out his crimes in the union hall building, which served as the perfect place for him to prey on unsuspecting sailors. As the sole person responsible for mail distribution and money transfers, Gohl would strike up conversations with sailors about their family and friends in the area before shifting the conversation to money and valuables. If a sailor was passing through Aberdeen and had enough money to make it worth Gohl's while, they would become his next victim.

The Grisly Methods

Gohl would shoot most of his victims and then steal their money and valuables. He disposed of the bodies by dumping them into the nearby Wishkah River and harbor. Some reports suggest that he used a chute in the union hall building to slide the bodies into the river, while others claim he used a small motorboat to transport the bodies to a dumping site in the harbor.

The Capture and Conviction

Suspicions about the numerous disappearances of sailors landing in Aberdeen remained fruitless until Gohl's accomplice, John Klingenberg, was brought back to town after attempting to desert the ship in Mexico. Klingenberg may have been trying to evade prosecution or escape Gohl himself. While giving his testimony, Klingenberg claimed to have seen Gohl alone with a missing sailor named Charles Hatberg, whose body had recently been found in the harbor.

Gohl was arrested in February 1910 on charges of murdering Hatberg and was found guilty of two counts of murder. He was suspected of at least 41 murders or possibly more. On May 12, 1910, Gohl was sentenced to life imprisonment and on June 13, he was taken to the state prison. The second count of the indictment was related to the murder of John Hoffman, who witnessed Hatberg's murder. Gohl wounded Hoffman on the night of the sailor's murder, and the next day, Klingenberg finished what his accomplice had started by killing Hoffman. Klingenberg received a 20-year prison sentence for Hoffman's murder.

Gohl was eventually transferred to a charitable institution for mentally ill criminals, where he died in 1927 from pneumonia and syphilis-related complications, including paralytic dementia.