Zodiac

The Zodiac Killer was a notorious serial killer in the late 60s and early 70s who terrorized Northern California. He committed gruesome murders, sent taunting letters and ciphers to the police, and evaded capture. Despite having a partial DNA profile, no suspects were identified due to lack of evidence. The killer's first confirmed murder was in 1968, and he continued to kill until 1969. He targeted couples, often shooting or stabbing them. The Zodiac sent letters to newspapers, threatening more killings if his ciphers were not published. Some ciphers remain unsolved. The last confirmed murder was in 1969, but speculation suggests he may have killed again. The case remains unsolved and continues to haunt people. So, today we are going to talk about the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer in the late 60s, early 70s. He terrorized Northern California by committing gruesome murders and taunting the police with letters and ciphers. There have been a few suspects, but they were all cleared of charges due to lack of evidence. They also had traces of saliva from Zodiac letters. They created a partial DNA profile, but they couldn't find out who it was, they could just throw people out. So, every suspect was cleared. The Zodiac was infamous for evading and taunting the police because he sent letters with ciphers in them. His first cipher said, I like killing people because it's so much fun and seems even more fun than killing a wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all. He continues to say that when he will die he will be reborn in paradise and that all of the people he has killed will become his slaves. We can assume that he was not entirely sane because of the ciphers and, well, the killing. His first confirmed murder was that of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th, 1968. David was shot in the head and died within minutes and Betty Lou was shot five times in the back and she was killed instantly. His second murder was that of Darlene Ferrin and Mike McGough on July 5th, 1969. Darlene was shot nine times and Mike four times. They had parked their car in an isolated location when another car came in front of them. A man with a flashlight exited the vehicle and approached them. They thought it was the police so they began taking their identification out. Without warning, the man began firing at them. After five shots, the man walked slowly to his car then returned and shot each victim two times. Approximately 45 minutes later, the Vallejo Police Department received a call from a man claiming responsibility for the attack. He also claimed responsibility for the previous murder but only details the attacker was known. Then, on July 31st, 1969, letters were sent to the Vallejo Time Herald, San Francisco Examiner, and San Francisco Chronicles, all newspapers. The letters stated that if they did not publish his cipher, other people would die. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Mike McGough survived the attack but Darlene Ferrin did not. His next attack was that of Cecilia Shepard and Brian Hartnell on September 27th, 1969. The couple was having a picnic when a guy in a weird costume came in holding a gun. The man claimed he was a prison escapee and needed money and a car to flee to Mexico. Brian offered his wallet and key cards, which weren't taken. After several minutes of conversation, the man tied the couple with plastic clotheslines and began stabbing them. Cecilia was stabbed ten times, five times in the front and five in the back. Brian was stabbed six times in the back. The attacker then walked away. A fisherman found them a few minutes later and called the police. They arrived one hour later. During this time, well a bit afterwards, someone called the police informing them of this action and the police tracked down the phone call to phone booth. When the police arrived at the crime scene, they found Brian's car door engraved with the previous murder dates with the Zodiac symbol on it. Cecilia died two days later but Brian survived. The last of the Zodiac's attack was that of Paul Stein, a New York cab driver, on October 11th, 1969. Paul was shot once in the back of his head at point blank range. There are actually three witnesses to this crime, but they were all kids. When they called the police, the message somehow got across that the attacker was a black male and not a white male. So when the police went to the crime scene and saw a white male walk by, they didn't question him. But that might have been the real killer. Two days later, a piece of the cab driver's bloody shirt was sent to the police department with a letter saying that the police could have caught him if they had done their job properly. This was the last of his confirmed murders, but people speculate that he might have killed after that. His last letter was sent on July 8th, 1974, but the case still haunts people to this day. The Zodiacs have a total of four ciphers, which one was deciphered recently, in 2020. The cipher started with, I hope you're having lots of fun trying to catch me, and that was with me on the TV show. This mentions the time an imposter called a TV show claiming that he was the Zodiac killer and he needed help, and he was afraid of going to the gas chamber, and he heard voices and all that. But this letter confirms that it wasn't him, or maybe he had a split personality and it actually was him. There are also two ciphers who, one person says that you have decoded them, but it has not been confirmed by the FBI or police that this is actually the message. So, we're going to say that two ciphers are still to be decoded after all these years.