​In the winter of 1974 and 1975, downtown Los Angeles became a slaughterhouse.

A quiet, methodical predator known as the "Skid Row Slasher" hunted vulnerable unhoused men in the flophouses and alleys of Skid Row leaving behind a chilling signature: ear-to-ear throat slashings, unlaced shoes pointing at the dead, circles of white salt, and cups filled with victims' blood.

​While the press panicked over Satanic cults and the LAPD wasted weeks hunting a fictional, bigoted profile of a "tall, blond, deformed, and sexually impotent" white boogeyman, the real killer was a 30-year-old Black man named Vaughn Greenwood.

When the heat downtown got too intense, Greenwood slipped six miles northwest into Hollywood, murdering men behind closed doors.

​In this episode of Homocidal Tendency, Matt dives deep into the true crime history of the case, exploring how racism, classism, and homophobia blinded law enforcement, humanizing the eleven men whose lives were lost, and examining the dark intersections of queer survival and true crime in 1970s Los Angeles.

​Key Landmarks & Locations Mentioned

• ​L.A. Central Library (Flower Street): The recurring dumping ground where three victims—David Russell (1964), Charles Jackson (Dec 1974), and David Perez (Dec 1974)—were found.
• ​St. George Hotel (East 3rd Street): Where 67-year-old retired meat salesman Benjamin Hornberg was found murdered in November 1964.
• ​Pickwick Hotel (833 S. Grand Ave): Where 58-year-old Casimir Strawinski, gravely ill with cancer, rented a room to stay safe before being slain in January 1975.
• ​Golden West Hotel (East 5th Street): Where tough local regular Robert "Tex" Shannahan was found butchered in January 1975.
• ​Hotel Barclay (103 W. 4th Street): Where 49-year-old Samuel Suarez was discovered in Room 528 on January 25, 1975.
• ​North Kingsley Drive & North Vista Street (Hollywood): The residences of catering secretary George Frias and mechanic Clyde Hay, murdered in late January 1975.
• ​Laurel Canyon Boulevard: The site of the February 2, 1975 hatchet attack on William Graham and Kenneth Richer, leading directly to Greenwood's arrest near Burt Reynolds' estate.

​Sources & Archival References

• ​Primary Court & Police Records: California Court of Appeal record (People v. Greenwood, 71 Cal.App.3d 953); Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Central Division homicide logs and task force reports (1974–1975).
• ​Illinois Appellate Court Records: People v. Greenwood, 115 Ill. App. 2d 167 (pertaining to his 1966 Chicago conviction for the attack on Mance Porter).
• ​Newspaper & Periodical Archives: Los Angeles Times trial and investigative coverage (1975–1977); Rolling Stone magazine dispatch on Skid Row policing and unhoused vulnerability (1975); Drummer magazine contemporary queer investigative reporting.
• ​Criminological Databases: Radford University and Florida State University Serial Killer Database (Vaughn Greenwood case profile).

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