The Ghoul of Grays Harbor

The Pacific Northwest was said to be terrorized by a serial killer in the early 20th century. A local police chief told reporters that he believed that they were dealing with “the greatest murderer of the age.” But the real story was a lot more complex, and the wealthiest and most influential people in town were interested in keeping it quiet.

“They saw him as a thorn in their side and as a person who needed to be removed.”

Aaron Goings’ book is The Port of Missing Men: Billy Gohl, Labor, and Brutal Times in the Pacific Northwest.

Check out our online shop.

Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

If you haven’t already, please review us on Apple Podcasts! It’s an important way to help new listeners discover the show: iTunes.com/CriminalShow.

Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our newsletter, The Accomplice.

If you’d like to introduce friends or family members to podcasts, we created a How to Listen guide based on frequently asked questions.

For a transcript of this episode, send an email to transcripts@thisiscriminal.com with the episode name and number.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander.

Sponsors:

• Article Article is offering our listeners $50 off their first purchase of $100 or more.  to claim, visit article.com/criminal and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

• Better Help Get 10% off your first month with discount code criminal at BetterHelp.com/criminal

• Nutrafol going to Nutrafol.com and entering the promo code CRIMINAL to save 20% off your first month’s subscription, plus free shipping on every order.

• Progressive Get your quote online at Progressive.com and see how much you could be saving

• Rothy’s check out all the amazing shoes, bags and masks available right now at rothys.com/criminal.

• Simplisafe Visit SimpliSafe.com/criminal to get a free camera plus SimpliSafe’s holiday savings.

• Squarespace Try Squarespace.com/criminal for a free trial and when you’re ready to launch, use the offer code CRIMINAL to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

• Ziprecruiter See for yourself how ZipRecruiter makes hiring faster and easier. Try it now for free at ZipRecruiter.com/criminal.