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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Part 5: Suspects
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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Part 4: Other Murders
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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Part 3: Letters & Ciphers
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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Timeline
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🔪 OCT 30, 1966 
Cheri Jo Bates is murdered in Riverside, California.
🔪 DEC. 20, 1968
David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen are shot and killed on Lake Herman Road in Benicia.
🔪 JULY 4, 1969
Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin are shot in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. Mageau survives, Ferrin dies.
✉️ AUG. 2, 1969
The Chronicle runs the cipher that came with the first confirmed letter from the Zodiac, though he is not yet calling himself that. The letter writer claims responsibility for the Benicia and Vallejo killings. The San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald received similar letters, with additions to The Chronicle’s cipher. The combined ciphers are decoded to essentially reveal the writer’s pleasure in killing, and this becomes the only Zodiac cryptogram officially deciphered.
🔪 SEPT. 27, 1969
Bryan Hartnell and Cecilia Shepard are stabbed repeatedly at Lake Berryessa. Shepard dies, Hartnell survives.
🔪 OCT. 11, 1969
Cab driver Paul Stine is shot to death in Presidio Heights in San Francisco. Police at first report it as a robbery attempt.
✉️ OCT. 15, 1969
The Chronicle runs a letter from the Zodiac claiming credit for Stine’s killing. The letter includes a bloody piece of Stine’s shirt as proof of his boast. It’s the first letter to The Chronicle in which the writer uses the name “Zodiac;” the name debuted in an earlier letter, in August 1969, to the Examiner.
📞 OCT. 22, 1969
A man claiming to be the Zodiac calls the Oakland Police Department, saying he wants to talk to prominent San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli on the air on a TV talk show. Belli soon takes the call on the show, and agrees to meet the caller in front of a shop in Daly City. The caller does not show, and police determine he was not the Zodiac.
✉️ NOV. 12, 1969
The Chronicle publishes a new cryptogram included with a letter from the Zodiac. He claims credit for two more murders, bringing the total to seven — but despite this and later boasts, police will officially attribute only five killings to the Zodiac.
✉️ DEC. 27, 1969
Police say a letter received by Belli from the Zodiac on Dec. 20 is authentic. “Please help me I am drownding” the letter says. The letter includes a piece of blood-soaked cloth, identified as belonging to Stine.
🔪 MARCH 22, 1970
Kathleen Johns, 22, is driving with her newborn daughter on Highway 132 near Modesto, when a driver flashes his headlights at them. Thinking something is wrong, Johns pulls over and the other driver offers to tighten the lug nuts on a loose tire. He then drives them around for a couple of hours, but Johns escapes with her infant when the car finally stops. She later identifies her kidnapper as the man depicted in a wanted poster as the Zodiac. Several weeks later, the Zodiac sends a letter to The Chronicle claiming credit for the incident. Police never officially attribute the incident to the Zodiac.
✉️ APRIL 22, 1970
The Chronicle reports receiving another letter from the Zodiac. He claims to have now killed 10 people. The letter ends with, “PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed.”
✉️ OCT. 12, 1970
The Chronicle reports receiving a postcard from the Zodiac with 13 holes punched out. He claims that his death toll is up to 13.
✉️ OCT. 27, 1970
The Zodiac sends Chronicle crime reporter Paul Avery a Halloween card, telling Avery, “you are doomed.”
🗞️ NOV. 16, 1970
The Chronicle runs a story pointing out similarities between the Zodiac killings and the 1966 murder of a UC Riverside student, Cheri Jo Bates. Police never confirm Bates as a Zodiac victim
✉️ MARCH 16, 1971
The Chronicle reports that the Los Angeles Times has received a letter from the Zodiac, who has been silent for five months. He now claims 17 victims and says the Bates murder was his doing.
✉️ MARCH 26, 1971
The Zodiac sends what becomes known as the “peek through the pines” postcard to The Chronicle. Amateur sleuths think the card refers to the killing of Donna Lass, a nurse who went missing in South Lake Tahoe in September 1970. She has never been found and is not officially considered a Zodiac victim.
✉️ JAN. 31, 1974
The Chronicle reports it has received a letter from the Zodiac, the first in nearly three years. He claims 37 victims.
✉️ APRIL 26, 1978
The Chronicle reports it has received its first letter from the Zodiac since January 1974. The Zodiac writes that San Francisco Police Inspector David Toschi “is good but I am smarter,” and he says to tell Chronicle columnist Herb Caen “I am here.” Some experts say the letter is a fake, others say it is genuine.
🧊 APRIL 7, 2004
San Francisco police put aside the Zodiac killer case. “The case is being placed inactive,” said San Francisco Police Lt. John Hennessey, who heads the department’s homicide unit. “Given the pressure of our existing caseload and the amount of cases that remain open at this time, we need to be most efficient at using our resources.” The case is later reactivated.
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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Part 2: Eyewitness Accounts
Next, let’s explore what victims saw and what mental image of the murderer we may be able to develop.
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Lake Herman Road Murders
I haven’t been able to find any witness accounts regarding the assailant’s physical appearance, but if you want to do a real deep dive of the crime scene, you can do that here.
Blue Rock Springs Murder
Mageau (surviving male victim) described his attacker as a 26-to-30-year-old, 195-to-200-pound or possibly even more, 5-foot-8-inch white male with short, light brown curly hair. There is no police composite.
Lake Berryessa Murder
The victims both described what they thought to be a white man, about 5 feet 11 inches weighing more than 170 pounds, with combed greasy brown hair. The perpetrator was 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 three-by-three-inch cross-circle symbol on it.
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At 4.20 pm on September 28th 1969 'Dean' from Pacific Union College contacted the Napa County Sheriff's Office and informed police that three young women from the college had been sunbathing by Lake Berryessa the day of the stabbings, outlining the girls recollections of a suspicious man in the vicinity who appeared to be watching them for a prolonged period. One of the women recalled a man watching them from the edge of the trees for approximately 30 minutes, before the subject came down by the beach and passed within 20 feet. The Napa police drew the following composite from the girls’ description:
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Presidio Heights Murder
Fouke (police officer investigating the call) estimated the white male pedestrian he witnessed walking from the scene to be 35-to-45 years old, 5'10" tall with a crew cut. The teenagers who observed the killer in and out of Stine's cab described him as as a 25-to-30-year-old crewcut white male about 5-foot-8-inch to 5-foot-9-inch tall.
Police Composite Sketch from both sets of witnesses:
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Joe Barros, staff artist for the Denver Post, drew a revised edition based on the witness descriptions, as seen below.
SFPD Homicide Bureau Chief Inspector, Lt. Charles Ellis, commenting on artist Joe Barros’ revision of the original SFPD police artist’s composite, indicated he believed that his department’s police artist rendition was, “more accurate.”
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Neal Adams, a comic book artist, also drew a composite of the Zodiac Killer, which was used as cover art for the book titled “Great Crimes of San Francisco (1974), but it is unclear why this was ever viewed as a legitimate composite. You may be able to find more information here.
“I am 100% certain that the book-cover sketch (Great Crimes of San Francisco) I drew back then [1974] was based on material that was directly related to the crime. ” Neal Adams Comic-Con, San Diego July 23, 2014
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zodiacdemystified · 3 years
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Part 1: The Murders
Although the Zodiac claimed to have committed 37 murders in letters to Bay Area newspapers, investigators agree on only seven confirmed victims, two of whom survived. I’m going to first break down the seven confirmed victims and what happened to each so that we have a basic understanding of what the police and new papers were investigating.
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Lake Herman Road Murders
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Where: Lake Herman Road within the city limits of Benicia, California
When: December 20, 1968
Victims: Betty Lou Jensen (killed) and David Faraday (survived); high school students
Details: The couple were on their first date and planned to attend a Christmas concert at Hogan High School, about three blocks from Jensen's home. The couple instead visited a friend before eating at a local restaurant and then drove 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. However, this area is remote and could have only been known as a lover’s spot by someone who was familiar with the area of Benicia.
It is postulated that another car pulled into the turnout, just prior to 11:00 pm and parked to the right the couple. The killer apparently exited the second car and walked toward the Rambler, possibly ordering the couple out of the Rambler (it is suspected that a warning shot was fired into the right rear window of the vehicle). Jensen appeared to have exited the car first, yet when Faraday was halfway out, the killer apparently shot him in the head. The killer then shot Jensen five times in the back as she fled; her body was found 28 feet from the car. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., their bodies were found by Stella Borges, who lived nearby.
Zodiac Confirmation: On August 1, 1969, about a month after the Zodiac’s next attack, 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. We’ll dive into the details of the letters later on, but the author of these letters was believed to be the murderer and attempted murderer of Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday (respectively) because the letters contained information about the murders that only the murderer could have known.
Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday:
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Crime Scene Photo:
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Crime Scene Diagram:
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Blue Rock Springs Murder
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Where: Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California
When: Just before midnight on July 4, 1969
Victims: Michael Renault Mageau, 19 (survived), and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22 (killed)
Details: Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove into the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, four miles (6.4 km) 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 but almost immediately drove 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. The killer directed the flashlight into Mageau's and Ferrin's eyes before shooting at them, firing five times. Both victims were hit, and several bullets had passed through Mageau and into Ferrin. The killer walked away from the car but upon hearing Mageau's moaning, returned and shot each victim twice more before driving off.
Zodiac: On July 5, 1969, at 12:40 a.m., a man phoned the Vallejo Police Department to report and claim responsibility for the attack. The caller also took credit for the murders of Jensen and Faraday six and a half months earlier. Police traced the call to a phone booth at a gas station at Springs Road and Tuolumne, located about three-tenths of a mile (500 m) from Ferrin's home and only a few blocks from the Vallejo Police Department. Ferrin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mageau survived the attack despite being shot in the face, neck and chest.
As stated, 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. Each letter also included one-third of a cryptogram (a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text) which the killer claimed contained his identity. The killer demanded they be printed on each paper's front page or he would "cruse 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 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. 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." 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."
Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau:
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Crime Scene Diagram:
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Lake Berryessa Murder
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.
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Where: Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California
When: September 27, 1969 (a little over a month after the last Zodiac letter)
Victims: Bryan Calvin Hartnell (survived), 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard (killed), 22; college students
Details: Two Pacific Union College students 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 in a black hood approached them with a gun, which Hartnell believed to be a .45. The hooded man claimed to be an escaped convict from a jail where he had killed a guard and subsequently stolen a car, explaining that he now needed their car and money to go to Mexico, as the vehicle he had been driving was "too hot". The man had brought precut lengths of plastic clothesline and told Shepard to tie up Hartnell. The killer checked the ties, and tightened Hartnell's bonds after discovering Shepard had bound Hartnell's hands loosely. Hartnell initially believed this event to be a bizarre robbery, but the man drew a knife and stabbed them both repeatedly, Hartnell suffering six and Shepard ten wounds in the process. 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. 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. 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.
Zodiac: At 7:40 p.m., the killer called the Napa County Sheriff's office from a pay telephone to report this latest crime. The caller first stated to the operator that he wished to "report a murder - no, a double murder," before stating that he had been the perpetrator of the 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.
Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard:
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Crime Scene Diagrams:
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Note Left by Zodiac on victim’s car door:
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Presidio Heights Murder
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Where: Cross section of Washington and Cherry Streets in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
When: October 11, 1969, around 10pm
Victim: Paul Lee Stine; Cab Driver
Details: On October 11, 1969, a white male passenger entered the cab driven by Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets (one block west from Union Square) 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; the passenger then shot Stine once in the head with a 9mm, took Stine's wallet and car keys, and tore away a section of Stine's bloodstained shirt tail. 
This passenger 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 a man wiping the cab down before walking away towards the Presidio, one block to the north.
Two blocks from the crime scene, patrol officer Don Fouke and Eric Zelms, responding to the call, observed a white man walking along the sidewalk east on Jackson Street and 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. The police radio dispatcher had however initially alerted officers to be on the lookout for a black suspect, so Fouke and Zelms drove past him without stopping. 
This was the last officially confirmed murder by the Zodiac Killer.
Zodiac: On October 13, the San Francisco Chronicle received a new letter from Zodiac containing a piece of bloody shirt and taking credit for the killing.
Paul Lee Stine:
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Crime Scene Photo:
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San Francisco Chronicle:
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