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Post by carolinem on Mar 8, 2007 6:55:45 GMT -5
Zodiac Killer: The Murders
2/22/2007
While several other killings across California have been thought to possibly have been committed by the Zodiac, these are the only crimes definitively committed by the same man:
DATE: December 20, 1968
LOCATION: Lake Herman Road, Vallejo, Calif.
KILLED: Betty Lou Jensen, 16; David Faraday, 17
A young couple on their first date, Jensen and Faraday had planned to go to a Christmas concert that Friday evening. But they ended up in Faraday's car in a secluded place on the outskirts of Vallejo, where -- at 11:15pm -- a man fired a .22 caliber handgun into the car; the victims were trying to escape when they were shot. Faraday was struck in the head at close range, and Jensen was shot repeatedly while attempting to run away from the shooter. While there were many cars nearby, there were no witnesses to the crime.
DATE: July 4, 1969
LOCATION: Blue Rock Springs Golf Course, Vallejo, Calif.
KILLED: Darlene Ferrin, 22
WOUNDED: Mike Mageau, 19
According to Mageau, he and Ferrin were parked when a man they believed to be a police officer approached the car carrying a flashlight. Without warning, the stranger fired nine rounds into the car, striking each of the victims twice. A short time later, the Vallejo police department received an anonymous telephone call: "I want to report a double murder," the voice said. "If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, you'll find a brown car with two kids in it. They were shot with a 9mm Luger. I also killed those two kiddies last year. Goodbye." While Ferrin died on the way to the hospital, Mageau survived despite serious injuries.
DATE: September 27, 1969
LOCATION: Lake Berryessa, Napa, Calif.
KILLED: Cecile Shepard, 22
WOUNDED: Bryan Hartnell, 20
Enjoying the late summer sun on a Saturday afternoon, Shepard and Hartnell were on the shores of Napa County's Lake Berryessa when a strange man wearing a dark jacket and a mask over his face approached them carrying a gun. He claimed to be an escaped prisoner who had just killed a guard, and he demanded cash and a car so he could flee to Mexico. The stranger held the two at gunpoint and forced them to lie on their stomachs; he then stabbed Hartnell eight times and Shepard ten times. The killer walked away from the crime scene, and it was an hour before help could arrive. The Napa County Sheriff's Department recieved an anonymous telephone call claiming responsibility for the attacks, similar to the previous one in Vallejo. Investigators determined that the killing was the work of the Zodiac and found distinctive Wing Walker boot prints near the crime scene.
DATE: October 11, 1969
LOCATION: Presidio Heights, San Francisco, Calif.
KILLED: Paul Stine, 29
Cab driver Paul Stine picked up a passenger and drove him to the corner of Washington and Cherry Streets. Moments later, nearby residents heard a gunshot and saw a man with a thick build, glasses, brown hair, and dark clothing wiping the inside of the cab with a cloth; they called the police and described the man. Officers were dispatched to the scene, but the radio reports erroneously told police that the suspect was black, and by the time the report was corrected, the killer was gone. Cops got a good look at the killer, and they were able to create a composite sketch based on what they saw.
Stine was shot once in the head, his body lying on his back. The killer took Stine's wallet, keys and a bloody shirt (a piece of which was later sent to the media); cops found bloody fingerprints that may belong to the Zodiac.
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Post by carolinem on Mar 8, 2007 7:00:13 GMT -5
Zodiac Killer: Communications - Cryptograms, Ciphers, And Letters
2/23/2007
The Zodiac Symbol
The murders began in 1968. The killer then boldly communicated to the police and media on more than two dozen occasions through phone calls and taunting letters. Every letter was signed with the astrological symbol of the Zodiac. His signature chillingly mimics the circle with crosshairs seen when looking through a high-powered rifle's scope.
Cryptographs
On July 4, 1969, seven months after his first slaying, the Zodiac struck a second time. Following the attack, the killer called Vallejo Police Department from a payphone, just blocks away from the station, to inform them of the crime.
He then sent a letter to three local newspapers. Included in the letters were secret messages that were coded in a cipher. Each newspaper received only a third of the cryptogram.
One week later, a high school history teacher solved the puzzle. It stated: "I like killing people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal. To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience. It is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl. The best part is that when I die, I will be reborn in paradise and all that I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife."
Hard Evidence
On September 27, 1969, a young couple drove their car to Lake Berryessa, and relaxed on a blanket near the shore. A man wearing a dark navy jacket and a dark mask over his face approached the couple. The symbol of a circle with a cross in the middle of it was stitched at the bottom of the mask. The killer stabbed both victims, killing the female and critically wounding the male. When the police investigated the scene, they discovered an inscription on the side of the victims' car door. It revealed the dates of the past three attacks that he had committed. Police also found a size 10 ½ Wing Walker shoe print.
On October 11, 1969, police found a Paul Stine, cab driver, who had been shot and killed, lying on the seat of his car with the passenger door open. The murderer had torn off a portion of the victim's bloody shirt. Two days later, a newspaper received a letter from the Zodiac, in which he claimed responsibility for the murder, and enclosed a scrap of Paul Stine's blood-stained shirt. This was the Zodiac's last confirmed murder.
Keeping Score
On April 20, 1970, the Zodiac sent the police a diagram of a bomb he said he would use to kill people. At the bottom of the diagram, he taunted the police for not catching him, creating a "scoreboard" between himself and the San Francisco Police Department
Greeting Cards
The postcard below was sent to The San Francisco Chronicle on April 28, 1970. A Dragon is illustrated on the front, warning of a "big blast". Zodiac tells the paper that the blast will not occur so long as they print a story telling the details about his plan to blow up a school bus full of children. The paper did not comply.
On October 27, 1970, San Francisco Chronicle journalist, Paul Avery, received a Halloween card, shown below. The Zodiac illustrated and described methods by which he supposedly killed his victims. He claims that his number of victims was now 14, referring to his victims as "slaves".
Never Really Gone
The last proven authentic letter from the Zodiac arrived at The Chronicle on April 24, 1978. The killer wrote to inform the Bay Area that he was back and that he was never really gone. He said that he was waiting for a good movie to come out about him and he wondered who will be lucky enough to play the part of Zodiac. His note finished with this line: "I am now in control over all things." He signed the letter with the Zodiac symbol and a score that read: SFPD = 0, Zodiac = guess. No picture of the letter has been released.
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Post by carolinem on Mar 8, 2007 7:07:38 GMT -5
Zodiac Killer: Meet The Prime Suspects
"This is the Zodiac speaking..." For five long years, Bay Area newspapers received letters from the infamous serial killer with this terrifying starting line. But who was the Zodiac?
Throughout the past four decades, police have investigated the murder cases and the extensive collection of communications from the self-named Zodiac. But 2,500 suspects later, the Zodiac's identity remains an intriguing mystery.
Here are profiles of four primary suspects. Most of the suspects are now deceased, and the evidence is all circumstantial. But could one of the men below be the notorious serial killer who stalked the Bay Area during the 1960s and 1970s?
THE SUSPECTS
Name: Arthur Leigh Allen
1933-1992
Occupations:Dishonorably discharged from US Navy; Elementary School Teacher; Lifeguard
Arthur Leigh Allen is the man most widely mentioned as the suspected Zodiac Killer. He can be placed near the scene of nearly all of Zodiac's murders
Oct. 30, 1966 - Riverside, CA - Cheri Jo Bates Murder
At the time of the murder Allen was a school teacher in Calaveras County, Cal. -- about 400 miles away. But nearly every weekend he traveled to Riverside where he was a car club member. On the Monday following Bates' murder, Allen did not go to work. If Allen did commit the murder, he might have needed to allow time for scratches on his face to heal.
About a month after the murder, typewritten confession letters were mailed to a local paper and to police. Analysis revealed that typewriter was a Royal model with either Elite or Pica type. In 1991, police seized a Royal typewriter with Elite type from the home of Arthur Leigh Allen.
Dec. 20, 1968 - Lake Herman Road, Vallejo, CA - Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday
Shortly after Bates' murder, Allen was fired as a school teacher after he molested a student. He moved in with his parents in Vallejo, Cal. Friends and neighbors report that Allen spent a lot of time alone, driving in nearby rural areas -- such as Lake Herman Road
July 4, 1969 - Blue Rock Springs - Vallejo, CA -- Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau
Allen was still living in Vallejo -- in fact just minutes from the murder scene. Mike Mageau survived the attack and described the killer's escape in a brown Corvair. Allen reportedly had access to a friend's brown Corvair.
July 4, 1969 - Blue Rock Springs - Vallejo, CA -- Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau
Allen was still living in Vallejo -- in fact just minutes from the murder scene. Mike Mageau survived the attack and described the killer's escape in a brown Corvair. Allen reportedly had access to a friend's brown Corvair.
Sept. 27, 1969 - Lake Berryessa - Napa, CA - Cecile Shepard and Bryan Hartnell
Lake Berryessa is a recreational are about 40 miles north of Vallejo. It's an area the avid outdoorsman would have frequented for SCUBA diving and camping.
Bryan Hartnell survived the attack and described the weapon as a 12-inch long knife in a sheath with rivets. During the 1991 search of Allen's home, police found a a 12-inch long knife with a sheath and rivets.
Arthur Leigh Allen died in his home in Vallejo, California on August 26, 1992 of coronary heart disease. He went to his grave proclaiming his innocence.
Name: Jack Tarrance
1928 - 2006
Occupations: Honorable discharge from US Air Force; Navy; Ham Radio operator; Steele company worker; General Electric test foreman; Laundry attendant.
Jack Tarrance is not a name that is often associated with the Zodiac murders. In fact, he was not even considered a suspect until the summer of 2000, when his stepson, Dennis Kaufman, watched a Zodiac Killer documentary. Dennis became convinced that Jack Tarrance is the Zodiac. His research has produced some intriguing and complex clues.
Sept. 27, 1969 - Lake Berryessa - Napa, CA - Cecile Shepard and Bryan Hartnell
The killer left footprints with a size 10 ½ Wing Walker -- a fairly obscure military boot. While employed as an Aircraft Supply Sergeant in the US Airforce, Jack would have had access to the Wing Walkers.
Ciphers
During Tarrance's time as a ham radio operator he would have to have been very familiar and skilled with different types of codes and coding schemes.
Mt. Diablo
Jack Tarrance was an avid camper and geographer who liked to pinpoint exact locations. Zodiac's June 26, 1970 letter to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery included a map with Mount Diablo marked off. The letter also included a cipher that has never been solved.
Many years later a Zodiac enthusiast drew a line connecting the murder of cabbie Paul Stine and the Vallejo murders to the tip of Mt. Diablo. The connection displayed an angle that measured 57.3 degrees - a precise radian angle. Dennis took the radian concept a step further and mapped the locations of Zodiac victims' bodies, and discovered that numerous body locations fell along the radian line. In 2001, Dennis found many letters and other documents that Jack was keeping in storage. Among the items found were formulas relating to radians and measurements.
Zodiac's Last Verified Letter
In what seems to be another coincidence, Zodiac sent his last letter on July 8, 1974. Two days later, Jack appeared in a California court and was sentenced for poaching. He was taken directly into custody and spent the next 30 days in jail; it was his first time behind bars.
All of the documents and evidence Dennis collected was given to the FBI and then forwarded to the San Francisco Police Department. Jack Tarrance has been officially eliminated as a suspect.
Name: Lawrence "Larry" Kane
1923 -Present
Occupations:Navy; various blue collar jobs
Retired detective Harvey Hines has repeatedly and publicly stated that he has proof that Larry Kane is the Zodiac killer and has spent years building a case against Kane. In 1962 Kane was in a car accident that left him with severe brain injury. In 1965, he was reportedly diagnosed with a mental disorder in which he was "losing control of his self-gratification."
July 4, 1969 - Blue Rock Springs - Vallejo, CA -- Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau
Hines believes that he has found evidence that links Kane to Darlene Ferrin. Her sisters identified Kane as the man who was stalking her shortly before her murder.
Oct. 11, 1969- San Francisco, CA -- Paul Stine
Larry Kane was living at the Clark Hotel -- just 2 1/2 blocks from where Stine picked up the Zodiac.
Sept. 6, 1970 - South Lake Tahoe, Nev - Donna Lass (possible victim)
Donna Lass disappeared on September 6, 1970 and her body has never been found. She was a nurse in San Francisco who lived just blocks from the Stine murder scene. In June 1970 she moved to South Lake Tahoe, Cal where she began work as a nurse for the Sahara Tahoe Hotel Casino. Larry Kane also moved from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe in June 1970. He worked in a real estate office located in the same hotel.
There is no confirmed connection between the Lass case and Zodiac. A postcard was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22, 1971, and implied that Lass was a murder victim. The postcard has never been verified as a communication from Zodiac and it did not include any of the "proof" that marked Zodiac's letters.
Kane can only be linked to one of Zodiac's confirmed victims -- Darlene Ferrin. Possible links to other victims or locations are tenuous. The first confirmed Zodiac murder was the Faraday and Jensen attack, and so far, Hines has not found a link to this murder.
Name: Bruce Davis
1942 - Present
Occupations: Former Manson Family Member
Bruce Davis is most commonly known for his participation in the serial killings of the Manson Family. For a short time he was considered a prime suspect. At the time of the Zodiac murders he was living in the San Francisco Bay Area and he is indeed a convicted killer. However, there is not a lot of evidence that supports the theories that he is the Zodiac.
In the later parts of the 1960s, Davis had long hair – not a crew-cut style like Zodiac eyewitnesses have reported. His handwriting has been compared to that of the Zodiac and a definite match cannot be made. Also, a 1970 police report stated that all members of the Manson Family had been investigated and none were considered Zodiac suspects.
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