![Digital illustration of huge old ships at a port, with a hint of mountains around them. The docks have lumber piles ready to be loaded.](https://thisiscriminal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ghoul_art-1024x1024.png)
The Ghoul of Grays Harbor
Episode #163
2021-04-23 15:44:23
The Pacific Northwest was said to be terrorized by a serial killer in the early 20th century. Bodies were floating to the surface of the Chehalis and Wishkah Rivers. 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. It’s about myth-making and working conditions, The Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, and a man named William Gohl (often called Billy Gohl) who angered the wealthiest and influential people in town: “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.