The Notebook of 61 Murders No One Deciphered in Time

Officer Wakes Passenger and Realizes Hands Are Tied and Neck Strangled: The Serial Murders of Terry Gambrell and 60 Other Victims by Randy Craft

It is 1:10 a.m. on May 14, 1983, when a California Highway Patrol officer stops a Toyota Celica on Interstate 5 near Mission Viejo. The driver smells of alcohol, and the passenger appears to be sleeping. But when the officer tries to wake him, he discovers something impossible: the young man's hands are bound, his genitals mutilated, and he has been dead for hours. The driver, Randy Craft, simply smiles.

In this episode, we explore how a stable, six-figure earning computer programmer operated as a serial killer for over twelve years without detection, the notebook of sixty-one coded entries found under his seat that unlocked decades of unsolved murders, and the institutional failures that allowed him to evade detection across multiple counties and states. Why did forensic investigators find Polaroid photographs of unconscious and deceased victims in his trunk, and how did a pencil from a Michigan hotel become the crucial link connecting murders two thousand kilometers apart?

Victim: Terry Gambrell
Date: May 14, 1983
Location: Interstate 5, Mission Viejo, California
Status: Arrested and charged

- Officer discovers passenger with bound hands and mutilated genitals dead in moving vehicle on interstate highway
- Trunk contains forty-seven Polaroid photographs of abused young men, several already deceased when photographed
- Notebook with sixty-one coded entries found under driver's seat, each code corresponding to a different victim across twelve years
- Crimes nearly stopped during Craft's twenty-month stable relationship with Jeffrey Silig, resuming immediately after breakup

Terry Gambrell, Randy Craft, serial killer California, Mission Viejo 1983, highway murders, organized violence, homicide investigation, unsolved crimes, forensic evidence, true crime English

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

To listen ad-free and access premium episodes, start your 30-day free trial at obomedia.com

OBOMEDIA presents true crime storiesa true crime podcast built on real cases.

Every true crime story in our crime files follows the crime investigation from the missing person report to the trial: investigators and police building a murder case, a police investigation gone cold, justice for the victim and those who survived.

We open the unsolved murder, the cold case reopened decades later, the mysterious death, the disappearance, the serial killer, the family murder, the murder mystery; the missing persons a missing woman, a missing girl, a missing man found dead and the missing and murdered.

From the infamous case to the unsolved case, from classic true crime to dark true crime and disturbing true crime: true crime reports, real crime stories, real murder cases, true murder stories and unsolved mysteries one true crime case at a time, from the OBOMEDIA true crime vault.

© 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text and related materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing and business inquirie