Skittish Bod

Relax, you will be okay.

Unsolved: The Zodiac Killer Murders

Beginning in the late 60’s and leading into the early 70’s, the ‘Zodiac Killer’ terrorized the areas of Benicia, California, Vallejo, California, and San Francisco, California with execution style murders of young adults and taunting letters and phone calls directed towards grieving families, media, and authorities. Four men and three women were brutally attacked by an unknown killer that referred to himself as the ‘Zodiac Killer,’ and two of these victims survived to tell their tale. These attacks and correspondences lasted for years until one day, they stopped altogether. Numerous suspects and leads have been investigated, but no concrete evidence ever connected anyone to the crimes. The identity of the infamous ‘Zodiac Killer’ still remain unknown.

On August 11, 1969 an unknown psychiatrist from California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California contacted authorities when he saw a copy of the cryptogram the Zodiac Killer sent to authorities after his first known murders. In the interview, he creates a ‘killer profile’ in order to help locate the killer.

“He is probably a guy who broods about feelings of being cut off from his fellow man. Comparing the thrill of killing to the satisfaction of sex is usually an expression of inadequacy. He probably feels his fellow man looks down on him for some reason. The belief that his victims would be slaves in an afterlife reflects a feeling of omnipotence, indicating a paranoid delusion of grandeur expressed through a belief common among primitive peoples throughout history. And the taunting notes and phone calls may be a plea to be found out, exposed, perhaps cornered- in which event, a grandiose paranoid quite likely might take his own life, as a grand gesture to punish the world for its neglect of him in life.”

The Zodiac Killer had poor handwriting and grammar despite his level of intelligence which possibly indicated a lack of formal schooling. He referred to himself as the ‘Zodiac,’ used astrological symbols in his famous crypted alphabet and his signature, is composed of a circle with a cross through the center. In ancient primitive culture a circle often represented all four elements: Earth, air, fire, and water. The cross, or “X” represented water in the Endary Alphabet of Mu. It has been hypothesized by investigators and amateur sleuths that he killed based on his horoscope and Zodiac sign. Nearly all of his murders took place near a body of water.

The Zodiac was described as a young white male between the ages of 25-35 and around the height of 5’8” to 5’11”. He was over 200 pounds and hinted at the fact that he might be sexually inadequate.

Timeline of Events from first murders-end of all correspondences

December 20, 1969 (First Attributed Attack): A young high school couple, Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday, were on their first date when they drove to a known ‘lovers lane’ located on Lake Herman Road. At around 10:50 p.m. a second vehicle pulled into a spot beside their vehicle and ordered them out. It is hypothesized that Betty exited the vehicle first and when David Faraday was half way out, the killer shot him in the head and killed him. Betty then ran around twenty feet and was shot five times in her back; the killer then drove off.

July 4, 1969 (Blue Springs): Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau parked their vehicle on a rocky lot in Blue Rock Springs Park located in Vallejo, California and only four miles from the murder of Betty Jensen and David Faraday. While parked, a car drove up and parked beside them but immediately drove away. When it returned ten minutes later, shortly before midnight it parked directly behind their vehicle and a man carrying a nine millimeter Luger pistol approached the car, shined a bright light in their eyes then immediately shot five rounds into the vehicle, successfully hitting both occupants. When the killer walked away and heard Mageau moaning, he returned to the car and shot them two more times then drove off. Despite being shot in the face, neck, and chest, Mageau survived the encounter and was able to give the first description of the Zodiac Killer. He described him as being 5’8”-5’9” and 200 pounds, between 26 and 30 years old with light brown, greasy and curly hair.

July 5, 1969: At 12:40 a.m. a phone call was placed from a pay phone to Vallejo police claiming responsibility for both attacks. This call was traced back to a pay phone located at a gas station three tenths of a mile from his last victim, Darlene Ferrin’s home.

August 1, 1969: Three nearly identical letters taking responsibility for the prior attacks were sent to Vallejo Times Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner. In these letters, a 408 symbol cryptogram containing the killers identity was included; he demanded these be published on the front page of the paper or he would “cruise 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.” Despite the anonymous sender confessing to the murders, authorities had doubts that it was the actual killer sending them and asked for further proof from the sender.

August 7, 1969: A second letter was sent to the San Francisco Examiner with the first hand written note again claiming responsibility for the crimes and included provided details of the crimes that were not released to public on how the Vallejo murders were carried out.

August 8, 1969: Donald and Bettye Harden from Salinas, California cracked the first cryptogram sent to newspapers and it contained a misspelled letter claiming the killer was taking victims to bring with him to the afterlife.

September 27, 1969: Pacific Union college students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepherd were picnicking at Lake Berryessa when a white man wearing an executioner style hood and carrying what seemed to be a .45 caliber pistol ordered them to tie each other up. He claimed that he was an escaped convict that needed a car and money. He forced Cecelia to tie up Bryan with precut plastic clothesline and then once they were both restrained, he began repeatedly stabbing them before walking 500 yards to Hartnell’s car and drew his Zodiac Symbol, and wrote “Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sep 27-69-6:30/by knife,” with a felt tipped marker. At 7:40 p.m. the killer called Napa County Sheriff’s Office to “Report a murder. No, a double murder.” Detectives were able to pull a full palm print from the pay phone used but could not match it to any known suspects. Bryan Hartnell survived this attack.

October 11, 1969: A passenger entered the cab of Paul Stine and requested to be taken to Presidio Heights. Paul, for unknown reasons drove a mile past the road and was then shot in the head two times with a nine millimeter pistol. The killer then took his keys and wallet and ripped off a portion of his shirt tail. This attack was observed by three teenagers that were on the phone with police while it was occurring around 9:55 p.m. They claimed that he wiped off the cab then walked away. A patrol officer spotted a white male walking up the front yard of a house matching the description give from past survivors but did not stop due to dispatch telling him the suspect was an African American male.

October 14, 1969: The ‘Chronicle’ received a letter that contained a torn piece of Paul’s shirt to prove his identity. In this letter he made a threat to shoot out the tire of a school bus and shoot the children who came running off.

October 20, 1969: At 2:00 p.m. the Zodiac Killer called Oakland P.D. demanding that either F. Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli, both prominent lawyers, appear on the T.V. show ‘A.M. San Francisco’ in order to make contact with them. Bailey was unavailable but Melvin Belli did appear and while the lines were open the supposed killer called multiple times and agreed to meet Belli in Daly city but he never showed.

November 8, 1969: A seven page letter is received stating that two policeman stopped and spoke with him just three minutes after he murdered Paul Stine.

December 20, 1969: On the one year anniversary of Faraday and Jensen’s murders, the Zodiac Killer sent another piece of Stine’s shirt and requested the help of Melvin Belli.

March 22, 1970: Seven month pregnant Kathleen Jones and her ten month old daughter were driving on an interstate near Modesto, California when a car behind them began honking and flashing their lights. Assuming something was wrong, Kathleen pulled over and a man approached the vehicle claiming her back right tire was wobbling and offered to fix it. After he finished and she drove off, her tire almost immediately fell off and he offered her a ride. The man drove around for nearly 90 minutes and refused to answer why he wouldn’t let them out. When the opportunity presented itself, Kathleen jumped from the vehicle with her daughter and hid in a field. Reports vary, but there are rumors that the man got out of the vehicle and searched the field using a flashlight, promising he wouldn’t hurt them but eventually gave up and left. When Kathleen saw a composite sketch of Paul Stine’s killer, she was able to identify the man as her kidnapper. Her car was found completely gutted and torched.

The killer continued to send taunting letters to police with continued threats of harming school children on a bus unless newspapers and authorities published the full details of his letters to papers; he also demanded that people start wearing buttons adorning his moniker.

June 19, 1970: Sergeant Richard Radetich was shot in his head while writing a parking ticket; the gun used was a .38 caliber pistol.

June 26, 1970: The Zodiac Killer sent a letter claiming responsibility for the police officer’s death and claimed that he wasn’t happy with the San Francisco area for not wearing the buttons he demanded. Included in this letter was a road map of San Francisco Bay area with the image of Mount Diablo. At the top of the image was a 0 followed by a 3, then 6, then a 9. At the bottom of the image the killer stated: “The 0 was to be set a Mag. N,” and was allegedly the placement of a bomb due to be detonated the upcoming fall.

After investigators failed to solve this clue, the Zodiac sent another letter stating that the Mount Diablo picture has connections with a Radian Angle. In 1981, after the study of the Mount Diablo clue, a Radian Angle was placed over the image and it pointed out the location of two Zodiac attacks.

October 27, 1970: The Zodiac Killer sent a Halloween card to reporter Paul Avery: “Peek-a-Boo! You are doomed.”

October 30, 1966 (First Possible Zodiac Victim): After Cheri Jo Bates left Riverside Community College’s library at 9:00 p.m., she disappeared. Her body wasn’t found until the following day between two houses set for demolition. The wires in her Volkswagon’s distributor cap had been cut and she was brutally beaten and stabbed.

November 29, 1966: Two typed letters were sent to Riverside Press Enterprise claiming responsibility for Bates’ murder, provided details not yet released to public and stated: “She’s not the first and she won’t be the last.”

April 30, 1967: Bates’ father, the Press Enterprise and the Riverside Police received nearly identical copies of a handwritten note that said: “Bates had to die and there will be more,” signed “Z”; Bates’ letter had no signature on it which set it apart from the other two.

March 22, 1971: A letter was sent claiming responsibility for the disappearance of Donna Lass on September 6, 1970. It was made from magazine lettering and featured a scene from Forest Pines Condominiums with the words “Sierra Club,” “sought victim twelve,” “Peek through the pines,” “Pass Lake Tahoe areas,” and “Around in the snow.” This letter and disappearance was not definitively linked to the Zodiac.

June 4, 1963(Potential Zodiac Victims): High school seniors Robert Domingos and his fiancee Linda Edwards were shot and killed while on a beach; they were participating in a senior skip day. When the two managed to escape their bindings and run away they were shot multiple times with a .22 caliber pistol. The killer then put their bodies in a small shack and set it alight; the fire did not burn the bodies.

January 29, 1974 (Final Authentic Letter): After the “Pines” letter was sent the Zodiac went quiet for nearly three years. He then sent a letter in strongly praising the film ‘The Exorcist’ as the “best satirical comedy that I have ever seen,” signed, “Zodiac=37, SFPD=0.”

Arthur Leigh Allen was the main suspect that authorities looked into for nearly twenty years. There was never any concrete evidence connecting him to the crimes but enough circumstantial evidence to continue their efforts in arresting him. When investigators dug into his past, they found that Allen was arrested in March of 1968 when he was a school teacher after there were allegations of sexual abuse against his students. He never had a girlfriend, wore a wrist watch by the brand ‘Zodiac’ and lived just minutes from where one of his first victims lived. In 2002 a partial DNA sample was collected from the postage stamps taken off of the Zodiac’s letters and compared it to the DNA of Allen and his good friend Don Cheney; neither DNA profiles seemed to be a match.

Along with DNA evidence not matching Allen’s, the handwriting located on the Zodiac’s letters did not match his writing either. Could he have had a possible accomplice?

Following this letter, multiple letters were received claiming to be the work of the Zodiac, yet after thorough testing most of these were deemed hoaxes and unauthentic.

In May of 2018 police announced their intentions of collecting potential DNA from the saliva found on the back of the stamps used to sent the series of letters; this is a similar technique to how to Golden State Killer was caught.

The identity of the Zodiac Killer remain unknown.