The Zodiac Murders are one of Americas great unsolved crimes.
Between December 1968 and October 1969 The Zodiac murdered five victims in the San Francisco area, but is believed by many to be responsible for many more killings. The Zodiac however has never been caught or identified, and could still be at large today killing indiscriminately.
On the 20th December 1968 the bodies of two teenagers were dicovered on a quite "lovers lane". David Faraday(17) was shot twice in the head at point blank range, dying instantly. Betty Lou Jensen(16) ran from the scene but was cut down by five well aimed shots in the back. The police report states that shots were fired into the car the couple were sat in, forcing them to exit the vehicle.
Faraday was shot as he climbed out, the gunman then turned his attention to Jensen as she ran for her life. The victims were neither robbed or sexually assualted, killing for the sake of it seemed the only motive.
On 4th July 1969, when most of America were busy celebrating Independence Day with fireworks, our boy The Zodiac was celebrating in a far more macabre way.
Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau were sat in their car in a secluded parking lot, around midnight when another car pulled in and a man with a flashlight climbed out and approached the couple. Thinking he was a police officer the couple hurried to find their ID, but the lone gunman simply fired five shots into the car with a 9mm handgun and walked slowly back to his own vehicle. Mageau who had been hit twice with bullets cried out in pain, so the gunman returned and fired two more bullets into each victim. Mageau survived all four of his bullet wounds but Ferrin died after being shot five times.
Within an hour of the shooting the Vallejo Police Department received a phone call from a man claiming to have carried out the attack. He correctly identified facts which only the killer would've known, and he also claimed to be responsible for the Jensen/Faraday slaying, again citing facts only the killer would've known.
At the end of that month letters were sent to three seperate San Francisco newspapers, giving details of the two attacks and also including a code which if broken would reveal the killers true identity!
Then on the 27th of September that year two more victims were brutally attacked by The Zodiac.
Cecelia Ann Shepard and Bryan Calvin Hartnell were relaxing lakeside at a local secluded beauty spot, when they were approached by a man wearing a strange costume and holding a gun (see figure left). The man told the couple he was an escaped prisoner and needed their car and money to escape to Mexico, he then restrained the couple with clothes line. The attacker didn't take the car keys or wallet offered to him though, instead he began stabbing the couple with a 12 inch knife. Shepard was stabbed 10 times, five in the front five in the back, and later died of her wounds. Hartnell was stabbed six times in the back and managed to survive the ordeal.
When the police attended the scene of the attack they found the attacker had left them this message on the victim's car door:
The crosshair sign was to become The Zodiac's calling card.
October 11th 1969 saw the final confirmed kill for The Zodiac.
Paul Stine's cab was hailed by the killer and driven a block away where Stine was then shot once in the head at point blank range. Stine's wallet and keys were taken, along with a carefully removed section of Stine's blood soaked shirt.
The murder was at first believed to be a robbery gone wrong, but later that month the San Francisco Chronicle recieved a letter from The Zodiac which contained the blood stained piece of Stine's shirt.
The police have never been able to find the killer known as The Zodiac, despite cracking the code said to reveal his identity, and the case was closed in 2004.
The code didn't give the identity of the killer, instead it was this rather creepy message:
I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAT WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADICE AND ALL THE I HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOI DOWN OR STOP MY COLLECTING OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI
The Zodiac is still out there for all anyone knows, and could strike again at any moment.
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