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conradscrime · 3 years

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The Infamous Case of The Zodiac Killer

January 29, 2021

This has to be one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the history of true crime. Right up there with the Jack the Ripper and The Black Dahlia cases, the identity of the Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized California in the late 1960’s remains unknown, though there are some very likely suspects that do fit the description of the killer and his MO.

Like with all the unsolved mysteries I cover on here I want you guys to tell me who you think is the most likely suspect, who do you think the identity of the Zodiac is?

On the night of December 20th, 1968 two high school students named Betty Lou Jensen who was 16 and David Arthur Faraday, 17, went on their first date. The couple visited a friend first, before going to a local restaurant and then decided to drive down Lake Herman Road instead of the city limits of Benicia. Around 10:15 pm David parked his car in what was known as being a “lover’s lane.”

After 11 pm the bodies of Betty Lou and David were found by a woman named Stella Borges, who lived nearby. The Solano County Sheriff’s Department was called to the case and conducted an investigation but there was nothing to go off of, there were no leads. A man named Robert Graysmith using the forensic data that was available from the scene suspected that another car had parked next to the couple’s that night. Whoever was driving that car exited out of their car, walked towards the couples car and ordered Betty Lou and David out of the car. Betty Lou appeared to have exited the car first, and when David was halfway out the person shot him in the head. The killer shot Betty Lou 5 times in the back as she tried to run away. Her body was found 28 feet away from the car.

Before midnight on the night of July 4, 1969 Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove four miles away from Lake Herman Road, where the first murders took place. They drove to the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo to park. At one point a second car drove up to the couple and parked beside them but then quickly drove away. This is very suspicious to me because what would be the reasoning for this? Did the Zodiac contemplate whether or not to kill this couple? Very suspicious.

About 10 minutes later the car pulled up again, this time parking behind the couple. The driver exited the car, approaching the passenger side door of the couples car. The killer was holding a flashlight and a 9 mm Luger. The killer flashed the light into the eyes of Darlene and Michael and then proceeded to shoot them, firing his gun 5 times. The killer then walked away but heard Michael moaning in pain and returned to shoot each victim twice more. The killer then drove off. Miraculously, Michael Mageau survived the shooting, however Darlene passed away.

The craziest part of this shooting is that around 12:40 am on July 5, 1969, so very shortly after the attack a man called the Vallejo Police Department to report the shooting and confess to being the killer. The killer also confessed to the Lake Herman Road killings that happened 6 months prior. The police did trace this phone call to a phone booth at a gas station at the Springs Road and Tuolumne, which was only a few blocks from the Vallejo Police Department. Because Michael survived he was actually able to give the police a good description of his attacker. The killer was described as a white male with short, light brown curly hair, about 26-30 years old, 195-200 pounds, possibly more, 5 ft 8 inches tall.

So you would think great, the police now have a good description of the man responsible for the murders so it will be easier to solve. Super wrong.

If you know anything about serial killers you know that most of them are extremely egotistical, and love to take credit for their work. In doing so, a lot of these killers like to taunt the police, and intrigue the media, make it a fun game to catch them and one of the main ways to do this is to send letters.

Three letters were sent to the Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner on August 1, 1969. All of the letters were pretty much identical, with a psychiatrist describing the letters as written by someone who you would expect to be “brooding and isolated.” Each letter talked about the two murders and included one third of a 408 cipher which the killer claimed if it could be deciphered his identity would be known. The killer wanted each letter to be printed on the front of these newspapers, threatening to kill more people if they did not obey.

The San Francisco Chronicle published the cryptogram on page 4 of the next day’s paper. However, the police weren’t exactly sure if the letter was written by the murderer and wanted him to write a second letter with more facts to prove he was the killer.

On August 7, 1969 another letter was received and started with, “Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking” which was the first time the killer used a name for himself. The letter was responding to the police asking for a second letter with the Zodiac including details that were not released to the public yet.

The next day, August 8, 1969 a couple living in Salinas, California named Donald and Bettye Harden cracked the cryptogram that the Zodiac sent. In the message the Zodiac referred to “The Most Dangerous Game.” The Zodiac also discussed how his reasoning for killing people was to “collect slaves for the afterlife.” However, there was no name given to identify the Zodiac’s true identity, as was promised because the killer said if he gave away his identity it would slow down or stop him from collecting slaves.

The murder took place on September 27, 1969 college students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were on a picnic date at Lake Berryessa when suddenly a man approached them. He was white, about 5 feet 11 inches, weighing over 170 pounds with combed greasy brown hair. He was wearing a black executioner’s-type hood with clip on sunglasses over the eye holds and a bib that had what was later known to be the zodiac’s symbol in white. Can I just point out that I love that they used the word bib? Like this motherfucker was really walking around with a bib on.

The man came up to the couple and was holding what appeared to be a .45 caliber. The man spoke to the students telling them that he had escaped from jail in either Colorado or Montana (which I don’t understand why he didn’t know especially since he was probably lying). A police officer later believed that the man was talking about a jail in Deer Lodge Montana. The man told the students he needed their car and money to go to Mexico.

The man then demanded Cecilia to tie up Bryan with a plastic clothesline before he planned to tie her up as well. The man then checked and had to tighten Bryan’s bonds because Cecilia had tied them too loose. The man then stabbed both of them repeatedly, with Bryan suffering 6 wounds and Cecilia 10. The man then left the scene, walked back to the couple’s car, drew the zodiac symbol on the car door and then proceeded to write the dates of the other Zodiac murders.

In the evening the killer called the Napa County Sheriff’s office from a pay phone to report the crime and admit that he was the one responsible for it. The pay phone the killer used was found with it off the hook minutes later at the Napa Car Wash on Main Street by radio reporter Pat Stanley which was fairly close to the sheriff’s office. The detectives were able to get a still wet palm print from the phone but could never match it to anyone.

A man and son who were fishing found Bryan and Cecilia and contacted the park rangers for help. When police arrived Cecilia was still conscious and able to provide them with a description of her attacker. The couple was taken to the Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa, but sadly Cecilia went into a coma during the ride to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died two days later on September 29, 1969, however Bryan fortunately survived and was able to tell his story to the public.

On October 11, 1969, a white male passenger entered a cab driven by Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco asking to be taken to Washington and Maple Streets in Presidio Heights. As they were driving the passenger shot Stine once in the head with a 9mm, took Stine's wallet and car keys, and tore a section of Stine's bloodstained shirt. Three teenagers saw this passenger and called the police. The teenagers claimed to have seen a man wiping down the cab before walking away.

Two blocks from the crime scene two patrol officers saw a white man walking along the sidewalk, and this was believed to be the Zodiac killer though they did not realize at the time. The man was around 35-45 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a crew cut, and slightly older looking than the description the three teenagers gave. For some reason, which I still don’t understand to this day is that the police got a call that they should be on the look-out for a black suspect, so when they saw this white man they were not immediately suspicious. The Wikipedia source says the police just drove by the man walking but other sources I’ve seen have claimed the police officers actually stopped and talked to the man.

There’s still no suspects at this point and this is technically the last confirmed murder done by the Zodiac. On October 13, 1969, two days after the murder of Paul Stine, the San Francisco Chronicle got another letter from the Zodiac talking credit for killing Stine as well as sending them the torn piece of Stine’s shirt. After this the teenagers who witnessed this man helped the police come up with a composite sketch.

The next day, October 14 the newspaper received another letter from the Zodiac threatening to kill school children getting off of a school bus. On October 20 a person who claimed to be the Zodiac called the police wanting two lawyers to go on the talk show A.M. San Francisco. During the show someone claiming to be the Zodiac called several times and told them his name was Sam. One of the lawyers scheduled a meeting with the Zodiac but he never showed.

Another cryptogram came in the mail on November 8, 1969 called the Z-340 cryptogram. This cryptogram went unsolved for 51 years until just recently in December of 2020 it was solved by a team of private citizens such as Sam Blake a mathematician, Jarl Van Eycke, a Belgian programmers and American software engineer David Oranchak. They sent what they found to the FBI who verified their discovery. However, this cryptogram was basically bullshit and didn’t give any clues or leads about who the Zodiac was.

On November 9, 1969 the Zodiac mailed a letter discussing how two policemen stopped and spoke with him a few minutes after he shot Paul Stine. Some of this letter was published to the paper on November 12.

So clearly this guy just loves to taunt the police and send letters which I don’t really have any doubt that a random person was sending these letters, I think it was the real Zodiac and he clearly was an attention seeking asshole.

On December 20, 1969 exactly one year after the supposed first murder the Zodiac committed, he sent a letter asking one the lawyers from the AM show to help him.

Things seemed to be pretty quiet on the Zodiac’s end for a couple of months which seems kind of weird. Until one night a woman named Kathleen Johns was driving to go visit her mother. It was March 22, 1970 and she had her 10 month old daughter in tow. She was also 7 months pregnant. While she was driving a car behind her kept honking and flashing their lights so she pulled over on the side of the road. The man also pulled over and parked behind her telling her that he noticed her right rear wheel was wobbling. He offered to tighten it for her. Kathleen agreed and when the man finished he drove off.

When Kathleen went to get back on the road her wheel fell off and she realized that this man had actually loosened the wheel instead of tightening it. The man who “fixed” the wheel came back and offered to drive Kathleen and her daughter to a gas station. While driving they drove past a bunch of gas station yet the man did not stop. When the man stopped at an intersection about 90 minutes later Kathleen actually jumped out of the vehicle with her daughter and hid in a field. The driver searched for her using his flashlight and kept telling her he wouldn’t hurt her, but he eventually gave up and left. Kathleen hitched a ride to a police station to report the man.

Which ok a couple of things here. First, how the fuck did this woman and her small child stay so quiet as this guy was looking for them in the field with his flashlight? Like the fact that the child did not make A SOUND is amazing. Also after getting in this car with a stranger who most definitely was going to kill her and probably her child, it’s crazy she got in ANOTHER car with a stranger to hitch a ride to the police station but I get that it was the 1970’s and everyone was whack.

Ok and this part is fucking insane. While Kathleen was reporting this to the police she noticed the composite sketch they had made of the Zodiac and identified that man as the one who she had to jump out of his car.

Some accounts say this man threatened to kill Kathleen and her daughter though one police report disputes this. There’s also some confusion over whether the Zodiac actually left his car to look for her in the field or not. One report said he did and another says he did not leave his car.

The Zodiac like we’ve already established was an egotistical maniac who wanted everyone to pay attention to him. He kept sending letters throughout 1970 and at one point actually demanded that people wear “Zodiac buttons” basically like he wanted his own fan club.

On July 24, 1970 the Zodiac sent a letter claiming responsibility for the incident with Kathleen and her daughter. There was also other letters sent from supposedly the Zodiac claiming other killings though none of these have ever been confirmed to be done by the Zodiac.

Since this is already a super long story when discussing potential suspects I am only going to talk about one even though there are a few, mostly because this one suspect is the one that is most widely believed to be the Zodiac.

Arthur Leigh Allen had been interviewed by the police very early on in the investigation and also had a lot of search warrants over 20 years. On October 6, 1969 Allen was interviewed by Vallejo police. He had apparently been around the area of Lake Berryessa the day that Bryan and Cecila were attacked and killed (Bryan survived) on September 27, 1969. Allen told the police he had actually been scuba diving at Salt Point that same day.

In 1971 one of Arthur’s friends, Donald Cheney had reported to police that Arthur often talked about his desire to kill other people and he even referred to himself as “the Zodiac” either before or during the time when the killings took place. Arthur was also known to keep a flashlight secured on his gun so he could see at night according to this friend.

Arthur Leigh Allen had been honourably discharged from the US Navy in 1958, as well as having been fired from his job being an elementary school teacher in March 1968 after sexual assault allegations with his students came forth. Which if that is true then Arthur was only fired for around 9 months before the Zodiac killings took place. Maybe he began killing due to possible anger from getting fired from this job earlier in that year.

Arthur Leigh Allen also apparently had never had a girlfriend or a wife, and was described as being quite angry towards women probably due to this reason. Perhaps he targeted mostly couples due to his embarrassment or shame of never having a relationship, or perhaps he struggled with talking to women.

In September of 1972 the San Francisco police got a search warrant for Arthur’s house. Arthur was also described as being “fixated on children” and in 1974 he was arrested for sexually assaulting a 12 year old boy and got 2 years imprisonment. Apparently during this time he was in prison no Zodiac letters were sent. Also classic fucking 70’s punishment, 2 years for sexual assault on a child?! Smh.

Arthur’s house was searched again in February of 1991. He died in 1992 and the Vallejo police got another warrant and seized property from his place. It does not appear that anything crazy was found to tie him to the Zodiac killings.

A letter that was sent to the Riverside Police Department from Bate’s killer was typed with a Royal typewriter which was the same brand of typewriter that was found in Arthur’s house in 1991. Arthur also wore a Zodiac brand wristwatch and lived in Vallejo. He also worked a few minutes away from where one of the Zodiac killings took place and he lived close to one of the victims (Ferrin).

In 2002 the San Francisco police got a partial DNA profile from salvia that was found on stamps and envelopes of the Zodiac’s letters. Remember back in the late 1960’s there was no such thing as being able to link DNA (at least easily) to a person. However, Arthur Leigh Allen’s DNA did not match the DNA found. Don Cheney, the friend who claimed Arthur could have been the Zodiac was also tested but the DNA did not match him either.

A former police handwriting expert Lloyd Cunningham who worked on the Zodiac case for a long time claimed that Arthur Leigh Allen’s handwriting was nowhere close to that of whoever wrote the Zodiac letters. However, it could be possible that someone else wrote the letters, an accomplice perhaps, and also that an accomplice or someone working closely to the real Zodiac provided salvia for the stamps and envelopes.

This is a really long case and there’s a lot more details and suspects that are available to research into so I highly suggest you do your own research on this case, it is fascinating. To this day, in 2021, no one has been convicted of the Zodiac killings. To me personally I feel as though the real Zodiac either moved away from the California area, randomly stopped killing (though that seems unlikely), or died or went to prison himself and that is why the Zodiac has never been found.

I think it is most likely believed that he died because this dude was an egomaniac that wanted credit for his killings. If he continued to kill even if he moved out of the California area he would’ve most likely kept leaving clues and sending letters. If he went to prison I feel like he would’ve confessed at some point since he’s already in there.

It could be possible that the Zodiac is still alive today but he would be extremely old, at least in his 80’s I’d say, and unless a deathbed confession comes in the next few years I’d say we can pretty much without a doubt say he died in a sudden way and was never able to confess or take credit publicly. I’d say the Zodiac killer’s identity will remain unsolved.

Let me know who you think the Zodiac is, other theories you have, and if there’s any other cases you want me to cover in the future! Stay safe & I’ll have a new true crime story posted soon!

#1968 #1969 #zodiac #thezodiac #thezodiackiller #truecrime #murder

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