Zodiac Killer

Zodiac Killer

A sketch of the Zodiac killer based on witness testimonies
Background information
Birth name: Unknown
Also known as: Unknown
Born: Unknown
Died: Unknown
Cause of death: Unknown
Conviction: N/A
Sentence: N/A
Killings
Number of victims: 5 killed, 2 injured (claimed to have killed 37)
Span of killings: December 20, 1968 (possibly June 4, 1966), (letters 1969)–October 11, 1969 (possibly 1972), (letters 1974)
Country:  United States
State(s): California, possibly also Nevada
Date apprehended: N/A
The symbol used by the Zodiac Killer to sign his correspondence

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. The Zodiac killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac killer coined the name "Zodiac" in a series of taunting letters sent to the local Bay Area press. These letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved. The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women, between the ages of 16 and 29, were targeted. Numerous suspects have been named by law enforcement and amateur investigators, but no conclusive evidence has surfaced.

In April 2004, the San Francisco Police Department marked the case "inactive", yet re-opened the case at some point prior to March 2007.[1] The case also remains open in the city of Vallejo as well as in Napa Counties and Solano Counties.[2] The California Department of Justice has maintained an open case file on the Zodiac murders since 1969.[3]

Contents

Victims

Confirmed victims

Although the Zodiac claimed 37 murders in letters to newspapers, investigators agree on only seven confirmed victims, two of whom survived.[4] They are:

Suspected victims

The following murder victims are suspected to be victims of Zodiac, though none have been confirmed:

There is also a suspected third escapee from the Zodiac Killer:

Timeline

Lake Herman Road attack

The first murders widely attributed to the Zodiac Killer were the shootings of high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road, just inside Benicia city limits.

The couple were on their first date and planned to attend a Christmas concert at Hogan High about three blocks from Jensen's home. The couple, instead, visited a friend before stopping at a local restaurant, and then driving out on Lake Herman Road. At about 10:15 p.m., Faraday parked his mother's Rambler in a gravel turnout, which was a well-known lovers' lane.

Shortly after 11:00 p.m., their bodies were found by Stella Borges, who lived nearby. The Solano County Sheriff's Department investigated the crime but no leads developed.[9]

Utilizing available forensic data, Robert Graysmith postulated that another car pulled into the turnout, just prior to 11:00 and parked beside the couple. The killer apparently exited the second car and walked toward the Rambler, possibly ordering the couple out of the Rambler. Jensen appeared to have exited the car first, yet when Faraday was halfway out, the killer apparently shot Faraday 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.[10]

Blue Rock Springs attack

Just before midnight on July 4, 1969, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove into the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, four miles from the Lake Herman Road murder site, and parked. While the couple sat in Ferrin's car, a second car drove into the lot and parked alongside them, almost immediately driving away. Returning about 10 minutes later, this second car parked behind them. The driver of the second car then exited the vehicle, approaching the passenger side door of Ferrin's car, carrying a flashlight and a 9 mm Luger. First, the killer directed the flashlight into Mageau's and Ferrin's eyes, before shooting each of the victims 3 times. When Mageau moaned in pain, the killer returned and shot each victim 2 more times before driving off.[11]

On July 5, 1969, at 12:40 a.m., a man phoned the Vallejo Police Department to report and claim responsibility for the attack. He also took credit for the murders of Jensen and Faraday six-and-a-half months earlier. The police traced the call to a phone booth at a gas station at Springs Road and Tuolumne, about three-tenths of a mile from Ferrin's home and only a few blocks from the Vallejo Police Department.[12]

Ferrin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mageau survived the attack despite being shot in the face, neck, and chest.[13]

The Zodiac letters begin

The solution to Zodiac's 408-symbol cipher. The meaning, if any, of the final eighteen letters has not been determined.[14]

On August 1, 1969, three letters prepared 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 "cruse [sic] 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."[15] The Chronicle published its third of the cryptogram on page four of the next day's edition. An article printed alongside the code quoted Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz as 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.[16] The threatened murders did not happen, and all three parts were eventually published.

On August 7, 1969, another letter was received at the San Francisco Examiner with the salutation "Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking". It was the first time the killer had referred to himself with this name. The letter was in response to Chief Stiltz asking him to provide more details to prove he killed Faraday, Jensen and Ferrin. In it, the Zodiac included details about the murders which had not been released to the public as well as a message to the police that when they cracked his code "they will have me".[17]

On August 8, 1969, Donald and Bettye Harden of Salinas, California, cracked the 408-symbol cryptogram. No name appears in the decoded text.[14]

Lake Berryessa Attack

On September 27, 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were picnicking at Lake Berryessa on a small island connected by a sand spit to Twin Oak Ridge. A man approached them wearing a black executioner's-type hood with clip-on sunglasses over the eye-holes and a bib-like device on his chest that had a white 3"x3" cross-circle symbol on it. He approached them with a gun which Hartnell believed to be a .45. The hooded man claimed to be an escaped convict from Deer Lodge, Montana; where he killed a guard and stole a car, explaining that he needed their car and money to go to Mexico. He had brought precut lengths of plastic clothesline and told Shepard to tie up Hartnell, before he tied her up. The killer checked, and tightened, Hartnell's bonds after discovering Shepard had bound Hartnell's hands loosely. Hartnell initially believed it to be a weird robbery, but the man drew a knife and stabbed them both repeatedly. The killer then hiked 500 yards back up to Knoxville Road, drew the cross-circle symbol on Hartnell's car door with a black felt-tip pen, and wrote beneath it: "Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27-69-6:30/by knife."[18][19]

At 7:40 p.m., the killer called the Napa County Sheriff's office from a pay telephone to report his crime. The phone was found, still off the hook, minutes later at the Napa Car Wash on Main Street in Napa by KVON radio reporter Pat Stanley, only a few blocks from the sheriff's office, yet 27 miles from the crime scene. Detectives were able to lift a still-wet palm print from the telephone but were never able to match it to any suspect.[20]

After hearing their screams for help, a man and his son who were fishing in a nearby cove discovered the victims and summoned help by contacting park rangers. Napa County Sheriff's deputies Dave Collins and Ray Land were the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the crime scene.[21] Cecelia Shepard was conscious when Collins arrived, providing him with a detailed description of the attacker. Hartnell and Shepard were taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa by ambulance. Shepard lapsed into a coma during transport to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died two days later, but Hartnell survived to recount his tale to the press.[22][23] Napa County Sheriff Detective Ken Narlow, who was assigned to the case from the outset, worked on solving the crime until his retirement from the department in 1987.[24]

Presidio Heights attack

On October 11, 1969, a man entered the cab driven by Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco requesting to be taken to Washington and Maple Streets in Presidio Heights. For reasons unknown, Stine drove one block past Maple to Cherry Street; this passenger then shot Stine once in the head with a 9 mm, took Stine's wallet, car keys, and tore away a section of Stine's bloodstained shirt tail. He was observed by three teenagers across the street at 9:55 p.m., who called the police while the crime was in progress. They observed the man wiping the cab down before walking away towards the Presidio, one block to the north.[25]

Two blocks from the crime scene, Officer Don Fouke, responding to the call, observed a white man walking along the sidewalk stepping onto a stairway leading up to the front yard of one of the homes on the north side of the street; the encounter lasted only five to ten seconds.[26] The radio dispatcher had alerted to be on the lookout for a black suspect, so they drove past him without stopping; the mix-up in descriptions remains unexplained to this day. A search ensued, but no possible suspects were found. The three teen witnesses worked with a police artist to prepare a composite sketch of Stine's killer; then, a few days later, this police artist returned, working with the witnesses to prepare a second composite sketch of the killer.

Detectives Bill Armstrong and Dave Toschi were assigned to the case.

The San Francisco Police Department investigated an estimated 2,500 suspects over a period of years.[27]

More Zodiac letters

On October 14, 1969, the Chronicle received another letter from the Zodiac, this time containing a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt tail as proof he was the killer; it also included a threat about shooting school children.

At 2:00 p.m. on October 20, 1969, someone claiming to be the Zodiac called Oakland PD demanding that one of two prominent lawyers, F. Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli, appear on Jim Dunbar's television talk show in the morning. Bailey was not available, but Belli did appear on the show. Dunbar appealed to the viewers to keep the lines open, and eventually, someone claiming to be the Zodiac called several times and said his name was "Sam." Belli agreed to meet with him in Daly City, but the suspect never showed up.

On November 8, 1969, the Zodiac mailed a card with another cryptogram consisting of 340 characters.

On November 9, 1969, the Zodiac mailed a seven-page letter in which he claimed that two policemen stopped and actually spoke with him three minutes after he shot Stine. Excerpts from the letter were published in the Chronicle on November 12 including the Zodiac's claim;[28][29] that same day, Don Fouke wrote a memo explaining what had happened that night. The 340-character cipher has never been decoded.[30] Numerous possible "solutions" have been suggested, but none can be claimed as definitive.

On December 20, 1969, exactly one year after the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, the Zodiac mailed a letter to Belli, including another swatch of Stine's shirt; the Zodiac claimed he wanted Belli to help him.

Modesto attack

On the night of March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns was driving from San Bernardino to Petaluma to visit her mother. She was seven months pregnant and had her 10-month-old daughter beside her.[31] While heading west on Highway 132 near Modesto, a car behind her began honking and flashing its lights. She pulled off the road and stopped. The man in the car parked behind her stated her right rear tire was wobbling, and offered to tighten the lugs. After finishing his work, the man drove off; yet when Johns pulled forward to reenter the highway the wheel almost immediately came off of the car. The man returned, offering to drive her to the nearest gas station for help. She and her daughter climbed into his car. During the ride the car passed several service stations but the man did not stop. For about 90 minutes he drove back and forth around the backroads near Tracy. When Johns asked why he was not stopping, he would change the subject. When the driver finally stopped at an intersection, the man told Johns that he was going to kill her and then throw the baby out after her. Johns jumped out with her daughter and hid in a field. The driver then closed the car door and drove off. Johns hitched a ride to the police station in Patterson.[8]

When Johns gave her statement to the sergeant on duty, she noticed the police composite sketch of Paul Stine's killer and recognized him as the man who abducted her and her child.[32] Fearing the Zodiac might come back and kill them all, the sergeant had Johns wait, in the dark, at the nearby Mil's Restaurant. When her car was found, it had been gutted and torched.[32]

There are numerous conflicting accounts of the Johns abduction. Most accounts claiming he threatened to kill her and her daughter while driving them around,[33] but at least one police report disputes that.[8] Johns' account to Paul Avery of the Chronicle indicates her abductor left his car and searched for her in the dark with a flashlight;[34] however, in one report she made to the police, she stated he did not leave the vehicle.[8]

More Zodiac communications

The Zodiac continued to communicate with authorities for the remainder of 1970 via letters and greeting cards to the press. In a letter postmarked April 20, 1970, the Zodiac wrote, "My name is _____", followed by a 13-character cipher.[35] The Zodiac went on to state that he was not responsible for the recent bombing of a police station in San Francisco (referring to the February 18, 1970, death of Sgt. Brian McDonnell two days after the bombing at Park Station in Golden Gate Park)[36] but added "there is more glory to killing a cop than a cid [sic] because a cop can shoot back." The letter included a diagram of a bomb the Zodiac claimed he would use to blow up a school bus. At the bottom of the diagram, he wrote: "Zodiac-logo crop.jpg = 10, SFPD = 0".[35]

Zodiac sent a greeting card postmarked 28 April 1970, to the Chronicle. Written on the card was, "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my BLAST", followed by the Zodiac's cross circle signature. On the back of the card, the Zodiac threatened to use his bus bomb soon unless the newspaper published the full details he wrote. He also wanted to start seeing people wearing "some nice Zodiac butons [sic]".[37]

In a letter postmarked June 26, 1970, the Zodiac stated he was upset that he did not see people wearing Zodiac buttons. He wrote, "I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38."[38] The Zodiac was possibly referring to the murder of Sgt. Richard Radetich, a week earlier, on 19 June. At 05:25, Radetich was writing a parking ticket in his squad car when an assailant shot him in the head with a .38-caliber pistol. Radetich died 15 hours later. SFPD denies the Zodiac was involved in this murder; it remains unsolved.[36]

Included with the letter was a Phillips 66 map of the San Francisco Bay Area. On the image of Mount Diablo, the Zodiac had drawn a crossed-circle similar to the ones he had included in previous correspondence. At the top of the crossed circle, he placed a zero, and then a three, six, and a nine, so the annotation resembled a clock face. The accompanying instructions stated that the zero was "to be set to Mag. N."[39] The letter also included a 32-letter cipher that the killer claimed would, in conjunction with the code, lead to the location of a bomb he had buried and set to go off in the autumn. The bomb was never located. The killer had signed the note with "Zodiac-logo crop.jpg = 12, SFPD = 0."

In a letter to the Chronicle postmarked July 24, 1970, the Zodiac took credit for Kathleen Johns' abduction, four months after the incident.[40]

In a July 26, 1970 letter, the Zodiac paraphrased a song from The Mikado, adding his own lyrics about making a "little list" of the ways he planned to torture his "slaves" in "paradice." The letter was signed with a large, exaggerated cross circle symbol and a new score: "Zodiac-logo crop.jpg = 13, SFPD = 0."[41] A final note at the bottom of the letter stated, "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians."[42] In 1981, a close examination of the radian hint by Zodiac researcher Gareth Penn led to the discovery that a radian angle, when placed over the map per Zodiac's instructions, pointed to the locations of two Zodiac attacks.[43]

On October 7, 1970, the Chronicle received a three-by-five inch card signed by the Zodiac with the Zodiac-logo crop.jpg drawn with blood. The card's message was formed by pasting words and letters from an edition of the Chronicle, and thirteen holes were punched across the card. Inspectors Armstrong and Toschi agreed it was "highly probable" the card came from the Zodiac.[44]

Zodiac letter to Chronicle reporter Paul Avery

On October 27, 1970, Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (who had been covering the Zodiac case) received a Halloween card signed with a letter 'Z' and the Zodiac's cross circle symbol. Handwritten on the card was the note "Peek-a-boo, you are doomed". The threat was taken seriously and received a front-page story on the Chronicle.[6] Soon after receiving this letter, Avery received an anonymous letter alerting him to the similarities between the Zodiac's activities and the unsolved murder of Cheri Jo Bates, which had occurred four years earlier at the city college in Riverside in the Greater Los Angeles Area, more than 400 miles south of San Francisco.[45] He reported his findings in the Chronicle on 16 November 1970.

Riverside attack

On October 30, 1966, 18-year-old Bates spent the evening at the campus library annex until it closed at 21:00. Neighbors reported hearing a scream around 22:30. Bates was found dead the next morning, a short distance from the library, between two abandoned houses slated to be demolished for campus renovations. The wires in her Volkswagen's distributor cap had been pulled out. She was brutally beaten and stabbed to death. A man's Timex watch with a torn wristband was found nearby.[46] The watch had stopped at 12:24,[47] but police believe the attack occurred much earlier.[46]

The Confession

A month later, on November 29, 1966, nearly identical typewritten letters were mailed to the Riverside police and the Riverside Press-Enterprise, titled "The Confession". The author claimed responsibility for the Bates murder, providing details of the crime not released to the public. The author warned that Bates "is not the first and she will not be the last".[48]

In December 1966, a poem was discovered carved into the bottom side of a desktop in the Riverside City College library. Titled "Sick of living/unwilling to die", the poem's language and handwriting resembled those of the Zodiac's letters. It was signed with what were assumed to be the initials, "rh". Sherwood Morrill, California's top "Questioned Documents" examiner, expressed his opinion that the poem was written by the Zodiac.[49]

On April 30, 1967, the six-month anniversary of Bates' murder, Bates' father Joseph, the Press-Enterprise, and the Riverside police all received nearly identical letters. In handwritten scrawl, the Press-Enterprise and police copies read, "Bates had to die there will be more", with a small scribble at the bottom that resembled the letter 'Z'. Joseph Bates' copy read "She had to die there will be more" without a "Z" signature.

On March 13, 1971, nearly four months after Paul Avery's first article on Bates, the Zodiac mailed a letter to the Los Angeles Times. In the letter he credited the police, instead of Avery, for discovering his "Riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there".[50]

The connection between Cheri Jo Bates, Riverside, and the Zodiac remains uncertain. Paul Avery and the Riverside Police Department maintain that the Bates homicide was not committed by the Zodiac, but did concede some of the Bates letters may have been his work to falsely claim credit.[51]

Lake Tahoe disappearance

On March 22, 1971 a postcard to the Chronicle, addressed to "Paul Averly", and believed to be from the Zodiac, appeared to take credit for the disappearance of Donna Lass on September 6, 1970.[7] Made from a collage of advertisements and magazine lettering, it featured a scene from an advertisement for Forest Pines condominiums and the text "Sierra Club," "Sought Victim 12," "peek through the pines," "pass Lake Tahoe areas," and "around in the snow." Zodiac's cross circle symbol was in the place of the usual return address.[52]

Lass was a nurse at the Sierra Tahoe hotel and casino. She worked until about 2:00 a.m. on September 6, 1970, treating her last patient at 1:40. Later that same day, both Lass's employer and her landlord received phone calls from an unknown male falsely claiming Lass had left town due to a family emergency.[53] Lass was never found. What appeared to be a grave site was discovered near the Claire Tappan Lodge in Norden, California, on Sierra Club property, but an excavation yielded only a pair of sunglasses.[54]

No evidence has been uncovered to definitively connect Donna Lass' disappearance with the Zodiac Killer.[55]

Santa Barbara attack

In a Vallejo Times-Herald story appearing on 13 November 1972, Santa Barbara Sheriff's Detective Bill Baker (ret.) postulated that the murders of a young couple in Santa Barbara County might have been the work of the Zodiac killer.

On June 4, 1963, high-school senior Robert Domingos and fiancée Linda Edwards were shot to death on a beach near Lompoc, having skipped school that day for "Senior Ditch Day". Police believed that the assailant attempted to bind the victims, but when they freed themselves and attempted to flee, the killer shot them repeatedly in the back and chest with a .22-caliber weapon. The killer then placed their bodies in a small shack and tried, unsuccessfully, to burn it down.[56]

Final Zodiac letters

After the "Pines" card, the Zodiac remained silent for nearly three years. The Chronicle then received a letter from the Zodiac, postmarked January 29, 1974, praising The Exorcist as "the best saterical comidy [sic]" that he had ever seen. The letter included a snippet of verse from The Mikado and an unusual symbol at the bottom that has remained unexplained by researchers. Zodiac concluded the letter with a new score, "Me = 37, SFPD = 0".[57]

The Chronicle received another letter postmarked February 14, 1974, informing the editor that the initials for the Symbionese Liberation Army spelled out an Old Norse word meaning "kill".[58][59] However, the handwriting was not authenticated as the Zodiac's.

A letter to the Chronicle, postmarked May 8, 1974, featured a complaint that the movie Badlands was "murder-glorification" and asked the paper to cut its advertisements. Signed only "A citizen", the handwriting, tone, and surface irony were all similar to earlier Zodiac communications.[60]

The Chronicle subsequently received an anonymous letter postmarked July 8, 1974, complaining about one of its columnists, Marco Spinelli. The letter was signed "the Red Phantom (red with rage)". The Zodiac's authorship of this letter is debated.[61]

A letter, dated April 24, 1978, was initially deemed authentic, but was declared a hoax less than three months later by three experts. In recent years, however, this letter has been deemed authentic. Dave Toschi, the SFPD homicide detective who had worked the case since the Stine murder, was thought to have forged the letter, because author Armistead Maupin believed the letter to be similar to "fan mail" he received in 1976 which he believed was authoured by Toschi. While he admitted to writing the fan mail, Toschi denied forging the Zodiac letter and was eventually cleared of any charges. The authenticity of this letter remains unverified.

On March 3, 2007, an American Greetings Christmas card sent to the Chronicle, postmarked 1990 in Eureka had recently been discovered in their photo files by editorial assistant Daniel King.[62] Inside the envelope, with the card, was a photocopy of two U.S. Postal keys on a magnet keychain. The handwriting on the envelope resembles Zodiac's print, but was declared inauthentic by forensic document examiner Lloyd Cunningham. Not all Zodiac experts, however, agree with Cunningham's analysis.[63] There is no return address on the envelope nor is his crossed-circle signature to be found. The card itself is unmarked.[64] The Chronicle turned over all the material to the Vallejo Police Department for further analysis.

Prime suspect

Arthur Leigh Allen

Arthur Leigh Allen was the prime suspect in the Zodiac murders and the only suspect served search warrants by police.[65] He was never charged with any Zodiac-related crime, and his fingerprints did not match those left by the killer of taxi cab driver Paul Stine.[66][67] In 1992, 23 years after the shootings, survivor Michael Mageau identified Allen as the man who shot him, from a photo lineup of 1968 driver's licenses. Allen, who suffered from diabetes, died in 1992 from kidney failure.[68] In 2002, DNA samples taken from saliva on the Zodiac's stamps and envelopes were compared with the DNA of Arthur Leigh Allen, and the DNA of a former close friend of Allen named Don Cheney, who first identified Allen as the Zodiac Killer. Allen and Cheney were ruled out as the contributors of the DNA, though it cannot be stated definitively that it is DNA from the Zodiac on the envelopes.[69]

Current status of Zodiac Killer investigations

In 2002, SFPD submitted DNA evidence from Zodiac's letters for analysis, which resulted in a partial genetic profile. The test seems to have conclusively ruled out their lead suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen.[70] However, a considerable amount of circumstantial evidence still points to Allen as the Zodiac. Allen lived in the basement across the street from Darlene Ferrin. On the night Ferrin was killed, witnesses report that she was followed to the spot where she and Mike Mageau were shot. It is believed that this same person is the man Darlene was known to fear. The reasons for her fear are not clear. Friends say she was caught up with a bad crowd. One night, during a painting party, a man showed up uninvited and Darlene was obviously uncomfortable. No one knew who the man was but he matched Arthur Leigh Allen's description and one witness remembered his name being "Lee"—the name by which Allen went—without having known who any of the suspects were. About 10 minutes after the Ferrin/Mageau killings took place, four phone calls where heavy breathing was the only thing heard were placed to various members of Ferrin's family. This indicates that the killer knew Darlene Ferrin. Arthur Leigh Allen also wore a Zodiac brand watch, wore the same size shoe and owned a pair of Wing Walkers, the same type of boot from which prints were made at the crime scenes. While Allen was in jail for a separate crime, all communication from the Zodiac stopped and soon after Allen was released, they started again.[71] During a photo line up twenty or so years after Mike Mageau—one of only two survivors of the Zodiac murders—was shot, Mageau identified Allen as the man who shot him on July 4, 1969. Mageau stated he had never been shown a photo line up prior to that appointment in 1991. Following Mageau's identification, a warrant was issued for Allen's arrest in connection with the murders. He died in 1992 before a trial could take place. Even though DNA samples taken from the letters sent by the Zodiac ruled out Allen as the person who handled them, neither the Vallejo nor the San Francisco Police Departments have ruled out Allen as a suspect.[72]

In April 2004, the SFPD marked the case "inactive", citing caseload pressure and resource demands.[73]

In 2007, Jack Tarrance's stepson, Dennis Kaufman, claimed that his stepfather was the Zodiac. Kaufman turned several items over to the FBI including a hood similar to the one worn by the Zodiac. According to news sources, the FBI are currently conducting DNA analysis on the items.[74] The results were deemed inconclusive in 2010.[75]

In 2009, Deborah Perez claimed that her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, was the Zodiac.[76] However, Perez also later claimed that she was the illegitimate daughter of John F. Kennedy, so her claim that her father was the Zodiac is no longer considered to be very credible.[77]

In 2009, DNA of Richard Joseph Gaikowski (aka Dick Gyke) was sent to the SFPD.

The Vallejo Police Department website maintains a link for providing Zodiac crime tips.[78] The case is also open in Napa County and also in the city of Riverside.

Retired police detective Steve Hodel makes a case in his book The Black Dahlia Avenger[79] that his father, George Hill Hodel, was the Black Dahlia suspect whose victims include Elizabeth Short. The book caused the release of previously suppressed files and wire recordings by the LA district attorney's office of his father which showed that he was a prime suspect in Short's murder. The LA District Attorney subsequently wrote a letter which is published in the revised edition stating that if he were still alive he would be prosecuted for the crimes. In a follow up book, Hodel makes a circumstantial case that his father was also the Zodiac Killer based upon a police sketch, the similarity of the style of the Zodiac letters to the Black Dahlia Avenger letters and questioned document examination.[80]

Popular culture

The Zodiac Killer's crimes, letters, and cryptograms to police and newspapers inspired many movies, novels, television productions, and other serial killers.

References

  1. ↑ SFPD New Release, March 2007
  2. ↑ Napa PD Website, Vallejo PD Website and "Tipline", Solano County Sheriff's Office
  3. ↑ California Department of Justice Website
  4. ↑ "The Zodiac Killer - Famous Criminal - The Crimes - Page 1 of 9 - Crime And Investigation Network". Crimeandinvestigation.co.za. http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.za/famous_criminal/86/the_crimes/1/The_Zodiac_Killer.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  5. ↑ "www.zodiackiller.com/
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Graysmith, p. 160.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Adams, p. 274
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Police report". Zodiackiller.com. http://www.zodiackiller.com/JohnsReport.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  9. ↑ "Dec. 20, 1968 - Lake Herman Road". http://www.clint.ca/zodiac/lakeherman.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-16. 
  10. ↑ Graysmith, Robert (1976). Zodiac. Berkley. pp. 4–7. ISBN 0425098087. 
  11. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 26–28.
  12. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 32–33.
  13. ↑ Graysmith, p. 29.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Graysmith, pp. 54–55.
  15. ↑ Graysmith, p. 49.
  16. ↑ Coded Clues in Murders. San Francisco Chronicle, 2 August 1969. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  17. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 55–57.
  18. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 62–77
  19. ↑ "Message written on Hartnell's car door". Zodiackiller.com. http://www.zodiackiller.com/KarmannGhia.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  20. ↑ Stanley, Pat (2007-02-18). "Zodiac on the line ...". Napa Valley Register. http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/02/18/news/local/iq_3812957.txt. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  21. ↑ Dorgan, Marsha (2007-02-18). "Online exclusive: In the wake, of the Zodiac". Napa Valley Register. http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/02/18/news/local/iq_3823497.txt. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  22. ↑ Carson, L. Pierce (2007-02-18). "Zodiac victim: 'I refused to die'". Napa Valley Register. http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/02/18/news/local/iq_3823540.txt. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  23. ↑ "Girl Dies of Stabbing at Berryessa". San Francisco Chronicle. 1969-09-30. http://cdn.sfgate.com/chronicle/acrobat/2007/02/25/zodiac_1969_09_30_1.pdf. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  24. ↑ Dorgan, Marsha (2007-02-18). "Tracking the mark of the Zodiac for decades". Napa Valley Register. http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/02/18/news/local/iq_3821597.txt. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  25. ↑ "Definite Zodiac Victim Paul Stine". Zodiackiller.com. http://www.zodiackiller.com/Stine.html. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  26. ↑ Rodelli, Mike (2005). "4th Interview with Don Fouke - Thoughts on the Zodiac Killer". Mike Rodelli. http://www.mikerodelli.com/4interview.html. 
  27. ↑ "Zodiac Killer: Meet The Prime Suspects". America's Most Wanted. September 2, 2008. http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=1542. 
  28. ↑ "I've Killed Seven" The Zodiac Claims. San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1969.
  29. ↑ New Letters From Zodiac -- Boast of More Killings. San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1969.
  30. ↑ McCarthy, Chris. "Alphabet of the 340 Character Zodiac Cypher". Archived from the original on 2008-02-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20080206131017/http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/chris/z/340explain.html. 
  31. ↑ Smith, Dave (November 16, 1970). "Evidence Links Zodiac Killer to '66 Death of Riverside Coed". Los Angeles Times. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Montaldo, Charles. "The Zodiac Killer Continued - The Zodiac Letters". About.com. http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/zodiackiller_2.htm. 
  33. ↑ Adams, p. 268.
  34. ↑ Graysmith, p. 139.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "My Name Is" letter. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Zamorra, Jim Herron. 1967-71 -- a bloody period for S.F. police. San Francisco Chronicle; 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  37. ↑ "Dragon card letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1970-04-28. http://www.zodiackiller.com/DragonCard.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  38. ↑ "Button letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1970-06-26. http://www.zodiackiller.com/ZButtonLetter.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  39. ↑ "Zodiac map letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1970-06-26. http://www.zodiackiller.com/ZMap.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  40. ↑ "Zodiac Johns letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1970-07-24. http://www.zodiackiller.com/JohnsLetter.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  41. ↑ "Zodiac Mikado letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1970-07-26. http://www.zodiackiller.com/Mikado1.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  42. ↑ "Zodiac Mikado letter, cont". Zodiackiller.com. http://www.zodiackiller.com/Mikado5.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  43. ↑ Rowlett, Curt, Labyrinth13: True Tales of the Occult, Crime & Conspiracy, Chapter 9, The Z Files: Labyrinth13 Examines the Zodiac Murders, The Rhyme of the Radian, pp. 64–68. (Lulu Press, 2006). ISBN 1-4116-6083-8.
  44. ↑ Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac. San Francisco Chronicle, October 12, 1970.
  45. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 161–162.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Graysmith, pp. 165–166.
  47. ↑ Photo of watch found near Bates' body.. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  48. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 168–169.
  49. ↑ Graysmith, pp. 170–172.
  50. ↑ L.A. Times 1971 Zodiac letter. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  51. ↑ Zimmerman, Janet. New movie 'Zodiac' includes Redlands resident's attack Riverside Press-Enterprise, March 1, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  52. ↑ "Zodiac postcard". Zodiackiller.com. 1971-03-22. http://www.zodiackiller.com/PinesCard.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  53. ↑ Graysmith, p. 178.
  54. ↑ "Lass profile". Zodiacmurders.com. http://www.zodiacmurders.com/victim_lass.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  55. ↑ "Possible Zodiac Victim Donna Lass". Zodiackiller.com. http://www.zodiackiller.com/Lass.html. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  56. ↑ Santa Barbara Sheriff Detective Bill Baker explains the case on a message board.. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  57. ↑ "Zodiac Exorcist letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1974-01-29. http://www.zodiackiller.com/ExorcistLetter.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  58. ↑ Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer. San Francisco Chronicle, August 26, 1976.
  59. ↑ Kelly Wilson (2008-11-06). "SLA Letter". Members.aol.com. http://members.aol.com/Jakewark/SLA.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  60. ↑ "Citizen Letter". Archived from the original on 2007-06-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070615151031/http://www.zodiackiller.com/CitizenLetter.html. 
  61. ↑ "Red Phantom letter". Zodiackiller.com. 1974-07-08. http://www.zodiackiller.com/RedPhantomLetter.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  62. ↑ Williams, Lance. "Zodiac's written clues fascinate document expert", San Francisco Chronicle, 3 March 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
  63. ↑ Freedman, Rich. Zodiac: Did killer send card in 1990?; The Vallejo Times Herald, March 3, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  64. ↑ Christmas card envelope; Christmas card front; Christmas card interior; Photocopy of Christmas card keys and pencil. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
  65. ↑ Voight, Tom, The Arthur Leigh Allen File; 2003. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  66. ↑ Zodiac case overview by Clint Vander Klok. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  67. ↑ Suspect profile of Arthur Leigh Allen. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  68. ↑ "Zodiac Movie vs. Zodiac Killer True Story - Robert Graysmith". Chasingthefrog.com. http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/zodiac.php. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  69. ↑ "The Arthur Leigh Allen File | Zodiac Killer | Zodiac Murders | The Zodiac Movie". Zodiac Killer. http://www.zodiackiller.com/AllenFile.html. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  70. ↑ Weiss, Mike; DNA seems to clear only Zodiac suspect; San Francisco Chronicle; 2002-10-12. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  71. ↑ Graysmith, Robert. Zodiac. Berkley; Rei edition (April 2, 2002)
  72. ↑ Definite Zodiac Victims: Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau
  73. ↑ Goodyear, Charlie. Files shut on Zodiac's deadly trail; San Francisco Chronicle; 2004-04-07. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  74. ↑ Zodiac Killer's Identity and Weapon Uncovered? (CBS13 News) CBS13 News Sacramento; 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  75. ↑ Pickel, Kris (Feb 10, 2010), FBI: Test Results Back For Zodiac Killer Suspect, CBS13 News Sacramento, http://cbs13.com/local/zodiac.jack.tarrance.2.1486853.html, retrieved May 31, 2010 
  76. ↑ The Associated Press (2009-04-30). "Ca. woman Deborah Perez says Zodiac killer was her father; police to investigate claim (New York Daily News)". Nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/04/30/2009-04-30_woman_claims_father_was_the_zodiac_killer_.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  77. ↑ Zodiac Killer's Daughter, Deborah Perez, Also JFK's Daughter. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  78. ↑ City of Vallejo - Police. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  79. ↑ Hodel, Steve (2006). Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0061139610. 
  80. ↑ Hodel, Steve (2009). Most Evil: Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders of Dr. George Hill Hodel. Dutton Adult. ISBN 0525951326. 

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