The Zodiac Killer
What did the Zodiac Killer do?
In the late 1960's and the early 1970's an unknown aggressor, that named himself The Zodiac Killer, bludgeoned the San Francisco area, ambushing couples in deserted areas. The Zodiac Killer is believed to have murdered at least five people between 1968 and 1969, during this time he sent letters about the murders to local newsletters, police and a news reporter.
First Murder
The Zodiac Killer's first murder was believed to be a college student named high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road. The two were on a first date, which was sadly interrupted by a man who came and parked next to them. Zodiac then must have ordered them out, Jensen appeared to have exited first and as Faraday was moving Zodiac shot him in the head. Fleeing from the killer, Jensen was gunned down twenty-eight feet from the car with five shots through her back. The killer then drove off
Confirmed Murders
Although the Zodiac claimed 37 murders in letters to the newspapers, investigators agree on only seven confirmed victims, two of whom survived. They are:
- David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benica.
- Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: shot on July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. While Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital.
- Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: stabbed on September 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived eight stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died as a result of her injuries on September 29, 1969.
- Paul Lee Stine, 29: shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood in San Francisco.
What did the Zodiac Killer 'look like'?
The Zodiac Killer was described to police sketch artists as a heavyset, white male in his late twenties or thirties with short brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses and during the attacks, he wore a large hood, like those worn by executioners. His sketches were provided by the only survivors Mike Mageau and Bryan Hartnell.
Suspects
This case has had an extraordinary amount of interviews and interrogations, over 2500. the main suspects in the case are Ted Kaczynski, Arthur Leigh Allen, Jack Tarrance and Don Cheney.
In 2007, Dennis Kaufman came to the police saying that his stepfather, Jack Tarrance, was the Zodiac Killer. Kaufman handed people several pieces of evidence including a hood similar to the one worn by the Zodiac Killer and also a bloody knife.
In 2007, Dennis Kaufman came to the police saying that his stepfather, Jack Tarrance, was the Zodiac Killer. Kaufman handed people several pieces of evidence including a hood similar to the one worn by the Zodiac Killer and also a bloody knife.
The Letters Sent
On August 1, 1969, three letters written by the killer were received at the Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The San Francisco Examiner. The nearly identical letters took credit for the shootings at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. Each letter also included one-third of a 408-symbol cryptogram which the killer claimed contained his identity. The killer demanded they be printed on each paper's front page or he would "go around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend."
The Chronicle published its third of the cryptogram on page four of the next day's edition. An article printed alongside the code said by Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz saying "We're not satisfied that the letter was written by the murderer" and requested the writer send a second letter with more facts to prove his identity.The threatened murders did not occur, and all three parts of the cryptogram were eventually published.
On August 7, 1969, another letter was received at The San Francisco Examiner with the address “Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking." This was the first time the killer had used this name for identification. The letter was a response to Chief Stiltz's request for more details that would prove he had killed Faraday, Jensen and Ferrin. In it, the Zodiac included details about the murders which had not yet been released to the public, as well as a message to the police that when they cracked his code "they will have me."
The Chronicle published its third of the cryptogram on page four of the next day's edition. An article printed alongside the code said by Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz saying "We're not satisfied that the letter was written by the murderer" and requested the writer send a second letter with more facts to prove his identity.The threatened murders did not occur, and all three parts of the cryptogram were eventually published.
On August 7, 1969, another letter was received at The San Francisco Examiner with the address “Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking." This was the first time the killer had used this name for identification. The letter was a response to Chief Stiltz's request for more details that would prove he had killed Faraday, Jensen and Ferrin. In it, the Zodiac included details about the murders which had not yet been released to the public, as well as a message to the police that when they cracked his code "they will have me."
On August 8, 1969, Donald and Bettye Harden of Salinas, California, cracked the 408-symbol cryptogram. It contained a misspelled message in which the killer claimed to be collecting slaves for the afterlife. No name appears in the decoded text, and the killer said that he would not give away his identity because it would slow down or stop his slave collection.
Police finally made the case inactive in 2004 but then reopened it in 2007 due to new evidence.
