A fanatical off-shoot of the Black Muslim movement, the Death Angels cult was apparently founded in California around late 1969 or early 1970. Members adhere to the standard Black Muslim philosophy -- that whites are "beasts" and "grafted devils" spawned from an ancient genetic experiment -- but members of the cult carried their beliefs into action, actively striving to exterminate Caucasians. On joining the Death Angels, recruits were normally photographed, earning their "wings" -- drawn on the snapshot with a ballpoint pen -- after killing a specified number of whites. Based on a point system geared to emotional difficulty, candidates were required to kill four white children, five women, or nine men. Murders were verified through media reports, eyewitness accounts by fellow Angels, or the collection of Polaroid snapshots.

(As reported by author Clark Howard, in Zebra, one Death Angel candidate flew to Chicago -- "New Mecca" in Muslim parlance -- with a collection of photographs, seeking promotion to the non-existent rank of lieutenant in the cult. His unexpected visit puzzled members of the headquarters staff and might have been disastrous, if he had not been intercepted by a leader of the secret group, who "counseled" him and sent him home.)

By October 1973, the killer cult had at least fifteen accredited members, their winged photographs displayed on an easel at covert gatherings. Together, these fifteen were theoretically responsible for killing 135 men, 75 women, 60 children, or some combination of victims sufficient to earn their "wings." The California State Attorney General's office had compiled a list of 45 similar murders, committed at random with cleavers, machetes, or close-range gunshots, involving white victims and black assailants, with known suspects invariably linked to the Muslim church. Attacks had been recorded in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Long Beach, Signal Hill, Santa Barbara, Palo Alto, Pacifica, Los Angeles, and San Diego, plus rural areas in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Ventura.

By January 28, 1974, when California law enforcement personnel convened a secret conference on the problem, 64 persons were known to have died in ritualistic racial attacks, and three more deaths were recorded by late March. A rare survivor, Thomas Bates, was thumbing rides near the Bay Bridge at Emeryville, north of Oakland, when two black men pulled up in an old model Cadillac. Rolling down his window, the passenger grinned at Bates, said, "Hello, devil," and then opened fire with a pistol at point-blank range, wounding Bates in the hip, stomach, and arm. Bleeding profusely, Bates managed to reach a nearby motel, where employees phoned for police and an ambulance.

By early 1974, San Francisco was paralyzed with fear at the sudden rash of "Zebra" murders, committed on random white targets by black assailants, claiming fifteen dead and eight wounded over a six-month period. Four Death Angel candidates were sentenced to life imprisonment in that case, but the cult's present status remains uncertain, the question of continuing murders side-stepped by law enforcement and Muslim leaders alike. (See also: "Zebra Murders" )