Puzzling the minds of reporters, police, and the citizens of Northern California, the Zodiac Killer remains one of America’s most mysteriously unsolvable string of cases. From 1968-1969 Northern California’s cities (San Francisco, Benicia, Vallejo, and Napa County) were riddled with fear as the newest local killer ran loose. Acting first on December 20 of 1968 the Zodiac Killer supposedly began their unstoppable bout of death until ultimately disappearing after their “last attack” in 1969. With a blurry timeline and many “plot holes,” the true story of this serial killer is extremely convoluted.
The Zodiac Killer was a person who, from 1968-1969, terrorized Northern California with their attacks on helpless citizens. Writing into local papers after their first crime, this method of killing and then writing in about it was born. After the first couple of letters, murders, and riddles, they revealed themself to the world as the Zodiac Killer. Taking the news by storm, journalists went after the opportunity to be the person to break the code-riddled letters the “killer” was sending out; no one did. Although some could make out phrases or what symbols may mean, the “Zodiac 340 Cipher” was not cracked until 2020 by a group of codebreakers led by David Oranchak. His videos are published on YouTube and are extensions of his research. Aside from sending out riddles, the Zodiac haunted the cities. Everyone crawled with fear after the first murder.
Parked on the side of Lake Herman Road, couple David Arthur Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16) were shot and killed on December 20, 1968, becoming the official first victims of the Zodiac Killer. Around 6 months later handwritten letters were turned in to local newspaper companies and police stations. Marking the first of many…
Three more murders occurred, that today, are “connected” to the Zodiac. The second murder was the attack on Darlene Ferrin (22) and Michael Mageau (20), July 4, 1969. Pulled over in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park, a car pulled in shining its light on the two young adults around midnight. The driver then walked up and shot Mageau in the jaw, shoulder, and leg but survived the attack. Whereas Ferrin took the brunt of the killer’s attack, hit several times over her body; she died in the midst of arriving at the hospital. Most riveting about this case was a call that came soon after. At 12:40 a.m., police dispatchers answered a call. “The caller spoke in a low, monotonous voice, saying: ‘I want to report a murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, you will find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye’” (History). Not only was the call actuate, but it shifted the energy surrounding the killer. The stations and papers now would receive special information from the Zodiac to publish.
Once they established their ability to get away with murder and still taunt the neighboring cities, Northern California (and its publishing companies) became the property of the Zodiac Killer as citizens and officials were fueled to obey the monster’s wrongdoings with fear. Around two months would go by when the Zodiac struck for the third time. On a sunny day, at Lake Berryessa, college students Cecelia Shepard (22) and Bryan Hartnell (20) would take a trip down to the lake and never return to their car. Spotted by a group of three female college students not even 1000 feet away, the soon-to-be killer was dressed in an all-black costume with a white printed circle around the face and chest. They would then go on to slowly approach Shepard and Hartnell around 6 p.m. and without warning or cause stabbed Hartnell six times before moving on to Shepard who they stabbed ten times. Hartnell played dead before a passer-byer called the local police. Hartnell survived, but Shepard died two days later in a comatose state from the time of the stabbing. “The Zodiac” left a note on the actual car. They etched “Sep 27 69,” with the time “6:30,” and lastly leaving “by knife.” They called into Napa police and confessed yet again, detailing the incident and the evidence on the car.
The final murder that is considered connected to the Zodiac is the Pescadero Heights, San Francisco murder. A cab driver, Paul Stine (28) drove a passenger to what he did not know would be his death. The passenger—the Zodiac—shot Stine in the head, killing him on October 11, 1969, late in the night. When Sitne was discovered, the original ruling of his murder was a “normal” “cabbie-killing” when the cab driver was killed after driving criminals to their destination. But, only a couple of days later on the 13, a letter arrives to the San Francisco Chronicles (Zodiac’s new solo publishing company “go-to”) confessing the murder of Stine, along with a piece of Stine’s clothing that he was wearing the night of his murder. Police matched the piece to the victim’s clothing, and sure enough it was it. Stine’s death is marked as the Zodiac’s last murder due to the fact that from that point on, letters and clues began to become convoluted. The marker color changed, the handwriting improved, the writing style/grammar changed, as did the purpose of the letter.
Hardly ever advertised in the media are the possible additional murders from before the 1968 Lake Herman attack. Killed with a .22 caliber, Robert Domingos and his fiancé Linda Edwards were killed during “senior ditch day” in the city of Santa Barbara, in June of ‘63. Secondly, eighteen-year-old Cheri Josephine Bates from Riverside was stabbed seven times and slashed in the throat in ‘66. Most important about her case was the confession note that followed. Turned in to the Riverside local paper and police department was a note titled ‘The Confession’ from someone who claimed to be the killer. The author wrote, ‘Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb,’ and added, ‘I am not sick. I am insane.’ In April 1967, the newspaper, the police, and Joseph Bates received virtually identical handwritten letters which read, ‘Bates had to die. There will be more.’ The notes were signed with a symbol that resembled the letter ‘Z’” (History.com). In this case, the connection of the “Z” connects to the “Z” in Zodiac. The connection between the ‘63, ‘66, and ‘68 murders are the one with the strongest correlation.
Is the Zodiac Killer real? I do not believe so. Although the first handful of murders sounds convincing when pieced together, segments of the stories do not match up to just one singular person being solely responsible for this malicious killing spree. With similar connecting factors such as location and letters to local papers, the Zodiac Killer has claimed to have killed over 35 people. But more popularly, investigators prefer to connect five victims to the one “Zodiac Killer.” Aside from the letters sent to local papers, these murders bear little connection. So the real question is: are all of these murders the same person, or were they never the same in the first place? The first three murders were teenage couples, and the fourth was an older man (a taxi driver). History crafted a timeline that points out the “Letter to the Chronicle,” postmarked January 29, 1974. “The writer alluded to a possible suicide in another quote from the Gilbert and Sullivan musical ‘The Mikado.’ The notation ‘Me – 37, SFPD – 0’ was interpreted as a ‘box score’ indicating 37 victims [that the Zodiac Killer took the lives of].” Personal hesitation to pin these murders on one single person arose when watching Peacock’s Myth of the Zodiac Killer where professor Thomas Henry Horan uses the short series to explain why he believes the Zodiac was not alone, or not even real to begin with.
It is easy to cower, hidden away with a secret identity, but what is not easy is getting away with murder. We may never know just who the Zodiac Killer was or how many murders they were connected to. This alias should, however, encourage deeper investigation, and work to improve a field that protects the public.