Murder spree ended Nov. 8, 1992
It has been 15 years since Richmonders were shocked to read in the newspaper that Lynwood Drake III, who went to Thomas Jefferson High in the 1960s, had committed suicide, and that he being called a “serial killer.” The news came from California. Drake, who hung out on the W. Grace St. strip adjacent to VCU […]
It has been 15 years since Richmonders were shocked to read in the newspaper that Lynwood Drake III, who went to Thomas Jefferson High in the 1960s, had committed suicide, and that he being called a “serial killer.”
The news came from California. Drake, who hung out on the W. Grace St. strip adjacent to VCU in the early-70s, was said to have murdered six people and injured two others, before shooting himself in the head. Revenge was said to have been the motive behind how he selected his victims. He apparently fancied himself an actor, he wore theatrical greasepaint while he was committing the murders.
My memory of Woody Drake is vivid. In 1972 he threatened to kill me the day after I had thrown him out of the cinema I then managed, the Biograph Theatre. He burst into the lobby shortly before the theater opened, ran around waving his arms and issuing threats, then left just as suddenly. Never saw him again.
But 20 years later I recognized his picture in the newspaper immediately; it gave me a chill. To read more about the bizarre story of “Drake the Flake,” click here to visit SLANTBlog.
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