A Man Who Hasn’t Been Caught Since The 1960’s, The Zodiac Killer

Introduction:

Name: Unknown, goes by Zodiac Killer or Zodiac
Age: Unknown, probably in his 30’s-60’s
Victims: 5 dead, 2 injured, 37 claimed murders (there’s not enough evidence to confirm if this is true or not)                    Time Active: 1963-1969
States: California, Nevada (possible)

Summary:

The Zodiac Killer aka Zodiac has been striking couples since 1963. He is one of the most famous killers even though we barely know anything about him. Some small things we know about him are:

-He targets couples
-He’s middle aged
-He’s fast and good at not being caught
He also likes to tease the cops, something he has in common with other killers. We do not know why his killing pattern is couples. We know he is old because of inferences, most killers start in their 20’s which would have made him 20 around 1966. We believe that he is dead, but this was his recent message:

“In 2020, after more than 50 years, amateur codebreakers solved the Zodiac Killer’s cipher. The decoded message read:

“I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. That wasn’t me on the TV show which brings up a point about me, I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradise so they are afraid of death. I am not afraid because I know that my new life is life will be an easy one in paradise death.”

From a different source we cited this quote. “In October 2021, a team of 40 former law enforcement investigators called the Case Breakers, claimed to have identified the Zodiac Killer. However, the FBI stated that the case was still open.” -BIOGRAPHY

Victims and Cases:

Case One:

-David Faraday, 17 years old, killed on December 20th, 1968, relations; boyfriend to Betty

-Betty Lou Jensen, 16 years old, killed on December 20th, 1968, relations; girlfriend to David

Both murders occurred at night in a car, both victims shot to death.

Case Two:

-Cecelia Shepard, age unknown, on September 27th, 1969, relations; girlfriend to Bryan

-Bryan Hartnell, age unknown, on September 27, 1969, relations; boyfriend to Cecelia 

Both murders occurred at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Both victims were stabbed, Cecelia passed away. Bryan was in critical condition but survived the attack.

Case Three:

-Paul Stine, 29 years old, on October 11th, 1969, no relations to other murders

Murder occurred in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood. This is an out of pattern murder, as it does not fit Zodiac’s previous murders. The crime was originally stated as a robbery, until the San Francisco Chronicle received an anonymous tip about the murder.

Other Related Crimes:
-Robert Domingos, 1963, shot
-Linda Edwards, 1963, shot
-Cheri Jo Bates, 1966, stab wound 

Works Cited: 

Levenson, Michael. “51 Years Later, Coded Message Attributed to Zodiac Killer Has Been Solved, F.B.I. Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/zodiac-killer-code-broken.html.

Moon, Sarah, and Cheri Mossburg. “Group Claims It Has Solved the Identity of the Zodiac Killer as Law Enforcement Investigates.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Oct. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/us/zodiac-killer-identity-law-enforcement-investigation/index.html.

“Zodiac Killer.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 8 Oct. 2021, https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/zodiac-killer.