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Image based on composite sketch.
The Zodiac Killer committed several homicides in California during the 1960s and 1970s.
View high resolution scans and text transcriptions of the letters.
The Zodiac (the name he used in his letters) sent ciphers and taunting letters to the police and area newspapers. he often signed his letters with a circle and cross symbol. The Zodiac has been classified as a sexual sadist. He enjoyed causing pain and suffering in his victims. To the Zodiac, violence was a substitute for sex.
Circle/Cross Symbol
San Francisco Police Department officially closed the case in 2004. The Zodiac has never been caught. He could be deceased, in prison, in a mental institution, or retirement home. He could be living the life of a free man right in your neighborhood. Justice needs to be served. This isn't a man who forgot to return a library book. He ruthlessly killed innocent people with sadistic glee. He must not die with an honorable name. He must be held accountable.
Unsolved 340 Cipher
Cheri Jo Bates was murdered October 30, 1966. She was found face down in the dirt early the next morning between two abandoned houses. She had been brutally stabbed with a short-bladed knife. On November 29, typewritten letters were sent to the Riverside Police Department and the Riverside Enterprise. The letters contained an unsigned "confession" to her murder.
Cheri Jo Bates
David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were murdered on December 20, 1968 on Lake Herman road near Vallejo. The killer shot out the rear passenger window with a .22 caliber then forced Jensen and Faraday out on the passenger side. He shot Faraday once in the head and Jensen five times in the back as she was running away. The killer then fled the scene.
Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau were attacked near midnight on July 4, 1969, at the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course parking lot in Vallejo. The Zodiac drove up behind them then shot them with a 9mm while they sat in their car. At 12:40 a.m. on July 5, the Zodiac anonymously called the Vallejo Police Department and reported the crime, also taking credit for the murders of Jensen and Faraday nearly seven months before. Ferrin was pronounced dead at the hospital, but Mike Mageau survived the attack.
Artist Conception of Vehicle
The Zodiac wrote several letters to the police. He taunted them and sent ciphers. He demanded his writings be published or else he would go on a killing rampage.
On September 27, 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were attacked at Lake Berryessa. The Zodiac wore a black hood over his head and an apron on his chest imprinted with the cross and circle symbol. He told his victims he needed their car and money to go to Mexico, as he was an escaped convict. He instructed Shepard to tie up Bryan Hartnell, which she did. The Zodiac then he tied up Shepard. Instead of quickly killing his victims with his gun, the Zodiac stabbed both victims violently. He wrote a message on Hartnell's car: Vallejo 12-20-68, 7-4-69, Sept 27-69-6:30 by knife. The Zodiac called the Napa Police Department from a phone booth. Hartnell and Shepard were taken to the hospital. Cecilia Shepard died two days later. Hartnell survived the attack.
Composite Sketch of Lake Berryessa Suspect
On October 11, 1969, the Zodiac killed cab driver Paul Stine with 9mm handgun. He then stole his wallet and keys then walked away, possibly into the Presidio.
Wanted Poster
On October 14, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac which included a piece of Paul Stine's bloody shirt tail. On December 20, 1969, the Zodiac mailed a letter to attorney Melvin Belli and included another piece of Stine's shirt. The Zodiac claimed he wanted Belli to help him stop killing.
Melvin Belli
On March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns was driving from San Bernardino to Petaluma with her ten month old daughter. A man in another car began flagging her down. He offered to tighten the lug nuts of her vehicle. He drove off and John's wheel came off. He had loosened the nuts instead of tightening them. The man backed up and offered to take her a gas station. The man, with his two passengers, passed the gas station and refused to stop. He drove them into the country and made threats to kill her. When she got the chance, Johns ran from the vehicle with her daughter and hid in a nearby vineyard. The man hunted for them in the field until a truck pulled over and scared him away. After seeing the composite of Paul Stine's killer, Kathleen Johns told police the Zodiac was the man who kidnapped them. Her car was found two miles east of where she left it. It had been set ablaze.
The author of card sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22, 1971 apparently took credit for the disappearance of Donna Lass. She had disappeared from South Lake Tahoe on September 6, 1970.
Donna Lass
On January 29, 1974 the Zodiac sent another letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. In the letter, he stated that "The Exorcist" was "the best saterical comidy" that he had ever seen.
The above described murders may just be a small sample of the Zodiac's activities. This site will cover other events that may be related.
View high resolution scans and text transcriptions of the letters.
View FBI Files Related to the Zodiac Case.
Another series of murders occurred Between 1990 and 1994 in New York City, this time by a copycat. The copycat killer wrote letters to the police in a fashion similar to the San Francisco Zodiac. In 1996 Heriberto Seda was convicted of the murders and sentenced to 236 years in jail.
