Hunting Down Privileged Men: The Smiley Face Killings
Did countless men accidentally drown — or were they murdered?
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In 1997, 23-year old Patrick McNeill — a Fordham College senior — stumbled out of a New York bar and disappeared. A month later, his body was found floating in the river. The death was declared an “undetermined drowning.”
Twelve years later, in Boston, 24-year-old Navy veteran William Hurley called his girlfriend Claire after a long day of work. He was tired and asked Claire to pick him up. She arrived in minutes but he was gone. Six days later, his body was found floating in the Charles River.
The death was declared an “undetermined drowning.”
Two deaths. Twelve years apart. Was there a connection between them?
Two detectives and a criminal justice professor say “yes.” Everyone else seems to be saying “no.”
The Detectives
It all started with Patrick McNeill’s death, all the way back in 1997. One of the detectives on the case, Kevin Gannon, didn’t believe that he was looking at an accidental drowning.
He was so sure in his instincts that he even promised McNeill’s parents that he’ll keep looking for the real answers.
Together with Anthony Duarte, a fellow New York City Detective, and Dr. Lee Gilbertson, a criminal justice professor, Gannon led a relentless investigation for decades.
And came up with a compelling theory.
The Theory
After going through dozens of accidental drowning cases across 11 states, the trio saw a pattern.
The victims were predominately white, male, athletic (“3.5 and above star athletes,” according to Gannon), and young — from 17 to early 20s. They were “privileged,” with promising futures ahead of them.
When comparing the timings between the disappearances, the drownings, and the discoveries of the bodies, the detectives became even more suspicious. Some men were missing for a while, and yet the level of decomposition of the bodies was minimal. This now became a question not only of murder but possible kidnappings.
The trio discovered another pattern.
Smiley faces were drawn in the proximity of the bodies — on trees, fences, and walls.
After years of investigation, the theory crystalized. An organized group was operating across states, targeting “privileged” men (white, young, athletic), kidnapping them, murdering them, and then staging their death as an accidental drowning. The signature of this group was a smiley face graffiti.
As recently as 2019, Gannon claimed the group is not only operating but branching out. He said, “I consider this the most dangerous domestic terrorist group in the United States today.”
Is it real?
After two decades of relentless and tireless work, Gannon, Gilbertson, and Duarte remain the only supporters of the Smiley Face Killings Theory.
Their claims have been criticized and “debunked” by the FBI, the Center for Homicide Research in Minneapolis, and many representatives of police and detective forces.
Relatives of some of the deceased men have also spoken up against Gannon. While the theory gave them hope for closure initially, now it feels to them that Gannon is seeking notoriety more than objective truth.
So why are all these people and institutions so adamantly against the Smiley Face Killings Theory?
Put simply: there’s no hard evidence. Even if some of these drownings were not accidental, connecting all drownings of young, white men as serial murders has so far been seen as “a stretch.”
The signature of the mysterious organized serial killer group — the Smiley Face graffiti — becomes less convincing the closer you look. Critics say that these drawings were discovered anywhere from 5 to 10 miles away from the bodies. How certain can we be that they are in any way related to the drownings if they were not so close after all?
The drawings themselves also don’t do much to support Gannon’s theory. They’re all different from each other — different styles, colors, positioning.
If this was the work of an organized group, the resemblance between the graffiti would have been bigger than just “they are all a variation of a smiley face.”
Critics also say this is a case of confirmation bias. Gannon, Gilbertson, and Duarte have been adding only drownings of young, white, athletic men to their list, making the pattern look bigger and bigger.
What happened to these men?
The majority of the men on Gannon’s list were at least slightly intoxicated when they disappeared — leaving a party or a pub. The most widely accepted theory was that they did in fact drown accidentally by stumbling into the nearby rivers.
Were some of them murdered? Maybe. Were all of them murdered?
Gannon is convinced now more than ever that he’s dealing with a well-organized domestic terrorist group that is growing stronger. In his 2019 interview with Fox, he said that he even discovered a new graffiti that the killers added to their repertoire.
He said, “The best way to describe it is it gives away — it betrays their primary or overarching philosophy about life” but did not share what the new signature is.
He also claimed that he’s close to identifying the branch of the group that is operating in Chicago.
While Gannon doesn’t get much love from fellow detectives, many outside of law enforcement find the theory compelling. A documentary series about the Smiley Face Killings was released recently. And the beginning of 2021, “The Smiley Face Killers” movie was released with the tagline “They Only Have Eyes For You” and an evocative synopsis.
“Handsome young soccer player Jake Graham believes he is going insane- unable to shake the feeling of being stalked by something, by someone. His friends and everyone around him believe he’s just anxious and prone to paranoia, questioning his mental state. But Jake is actually being followed by a small group of serial killers that track, drug, torture and drown beautiful young men leaving only a graffiti Smiley Face as their signature.”
Is there a domestic terrorist group in the US targeting young, white, privileged men — running on, presumably, pure jealousy? Kevin Gannon keeps working hard to prove that there is.
