Zodiac Killer: The Infamous, Yet Unknown Serial Killer.
The Zodiac Killer: America’s Most Infamous Serial Killer
Ted Bundy. Jeffrey Dahmer. Richard Ramirez. All serial killers identified and captured by authorities after local and nationwide manhunts. But the Zodiac killer, one of the most famous serial killers of all time, remains unnamed nearly 55 years after his first confirmed kills.
The Lake Herman Road Murders
On December 20, 1968, high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday were on their first date. Around 10:15 p.m., they pulled over to a lovers’ lane within the city limits of Benicia, California, to be alone. Investigators believe that just before 11 p.m., another car parked beside the couple and a man stepped out, possibly ordering the couple out of their own vehicle. It is suspected that Faraday exited the vehicle first and was shot in the head when he was halfway out. Jensen took off running, and the killer shot her five times in the back. Her body was found 28 feet from the car. Their deaths became known as the Lake Herman Road murders.
Bettmann / Contributor. Getty Images. San Francisco murder victims; Betty Lou Jensen, David Faraday, and Darlene Ferrin, alleged to be victims of the Zodiac Killer.
The Blue Springs Park Murders
The next murder attributed to the Zodiac came on July 4, 1969, at Blue Springs Park in Vallejo. Just before midnight, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau parked and sat in the car until a second car parked next to them. The second car almost immediately pulled away, but about 10 minutes later, it returned and parked behind them. The driver got out with a flashlight and a handgun, shined the flashlight in the couple’s eyes and then shot at them five times. Ferrin and Mageau were both hit, and several bullets went through Mageau into Ferrin. The killer then walked away from the couple but returned to shoot each victim twice more before leaving.
Ferrin was pronounced dead following the incident, but Mageau survived and told police his attacker was a 26-to-30-year-old white male, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, around 195 to 200 pounds, which short, curly light brown hair.
Around 12:40 a.m. on July 5, a man called the Vallejo Police Department from a phone booth at a gas station three miles away to report the murders and take credit for them. He also claimed to have killed Faraday and Jensen the previous year.
The Cryptograms
About a month after the attack, someone claiming to be the killer sent letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Examiner, and the Vallejo Times Herald. The letters were nearly identical, except each one contained one third of a cryptogram the author said contained his identity. In the letters, he also claimed credit for the Lake Herman and Blue Rock killings while demanding they be printed on the paper’s front page. If they weren’t, the author threatened to drive around on the weekend and kill “a dozen people.”
Bettmann / Contributor. (Original Caption) San Francisco, California: The “Zodiac” killer broke his silence to boast in letters and cryptograms that he has now murdered seven persons.
The Chronicle published its portion of the cryptogram on page four alone with a quote from the Vallejo Police Chief saying he didn’t think the letter was written by the actual killer and asked the writer to send in more facts to prove who he was.
Twelve people did not die over the weekend as threatened, and all three portions of the cryptogram were eventually published.
About a week after the first letters were sent, the Examiner received a second letter where the author identified himself as “the Zodiac.” This letter provided details of the killings that hadn’t been released yet to the public, and the author again said that if they solved the cryptogram they would have their murderer.
The day after the second letter was sent, Donald and Bettye Harden of California seemingly solved the cryptogram. It contained numerous spelling errors and referenced the fictional story “The Most Dangerous Game,” but did not name the killer.
Bettmann / Contributor. Donald G. Harden, school teacher at Alisal High in Salinas, is the man who broke the code of the psychotic killer who calls himself “Zodiac.”
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 dangeroue 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 thae 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 atop my collectiog of slaves for my afterlife ebeorietemethhpiti.
The Lake Berryessa Attack
On September 27, 1969, Pacific Union College students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard decided to have a picnic on a small island on Lake Berryessa. At some point, a white man about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing more than 170 pounds approached the couple wearing a black hood with sunglasses and a symbol on his chest of a circle with a cross through it. The man raised a gun at the couple and told them he was an escaped convict from another state and had already killed a guard and stolen a car. He demanded the couple give him their car so he could flee to Mexico.
The man then gave Shepard precut lengths of clothesline and told her to tie up Hartnell. The man then tied up Shepard and checked her work, tightening the line around Hartnell’s hands. Instead of simply stealing the car and leaving, the man then stabbed Hartnell and Shepard repeatedly, killing Shepard and severely wounding Hartnell.
The killer then drew the circle with a cross symbol on the car door along with other notes:
Vallejo
12-20-68
7-4-69
Sept 27–69–6:30
by knife
Bettmann / Contributor. Getty Images. Captain Don Townsend displays door of auto belonging to stabbing victim Bryan Hartnell, 20, of Troutdale, Oregon.
The killer allegedly called the Napa County Sheriff’s office from a payphone to take credit for the killings, say he wanted to “report a murder – no, a double murder,” before saying he was the killer. Police were able to get to the payphone, which was near the sheriff’s office, and lift a palm print, but have never been able to match it to anyone.
The Infamous Zodiac Killer: A Timeline of Terror
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California, killing at least five people and taunting police with cryptic letters and ciphers. Here is a timeline of the events:
The Attacks
- December 20, 1968: David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16, are shot and killed in a parked car on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California.
- July 4, 1969: Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Michael Mageau, 19, are shot in a parked car at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California. Ferrin dies, but Mageau survives.
- September 27, 1969: Bryan Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Shepard, 22, are stabbed at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California. Shepard dies two days later.
- October 11, 1969: Paul Stine, 29, is shot and killed while driving his cab in San Francisco.
The Letters and Ciphers
The Zodiac Killer sent a series of letters and ciphers to the media and police, taunting them and taking credit for the murders. Here are some notable examples:
“I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me.”
“I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice all the sooner.”
“Because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice so they are afraid of death.”
The Zodiac also sent a cipher known as the “340 cipher,” which remained unsolved for 51 years until three amateur code breakers claimed to have cracked it in December 2020.
The Suspects
Numerous suspects have been accused of being the Zodiac Killer, but none have been definitively proven. Two of the most notorious suspects are:
- Arthur Leigh Allen: accused of the killings, but no solid evidence ever pointed to his involvement.
- Gary Francis Poste: identified by a volunteer group of investigators in 2021, but the identification has been questioned by police and Zodiac experts.
The case remains open and active, and the FBI maintains that the killer has not been definitively identified.
The Zodiac Killer: A Decades-Long Mystery
The Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving a trail of death and fear in his wake. Despite numerous suspects and investigations, the killer has never been identified or caught.
Recently, a group claimed to have found DNA on a hiking mat owned by the killer and confirmed it using a living relative. They have asked the FBI to compare this DNA to hairs found on Cheri Jo Bates, believed to be one of the Zodiac’s victims.
False Leads and Copycats
Over the years, numerous people have claimed to be related to the killer, but none have been definitively proven. Other serial killers, such as Ted Bundy and the Manson family, were also posited as suspects but eliminated for various reasons.
There have also been several Zodiac copycats, including Heriberto Seda in New York City and a 14-year-old boy in Japan who used the alias Seito Sakakibara.
The Final Letter
The Zodiac continued to write letters to law enforcement and news outlets until his final confirmed letter in 1974, in which he claimed to have killed 37 people. Additional letters, suspected of being hoaxes, were also sent for decades after the killings.
Despite all the information available, the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains a mystery. Advances in forensic technology may one day provide the answers we seek and finally bring closure to this decades-long trail of death.
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