Serial Killer Spotlight - The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer
With the recent news that seems to pop up every few years when it comes to unsolved murder cases and serial killers. I have decided to spotlight the infamous Zodiac Killer. Many know of the Zodiac Killer as he became a popular serial killer in pop culture with movies etc.
Recently there is a claim from a group of private
investigators that they have finally solved the identity behind the infamous
Zodiac Killer as Gary Francis Poste who died in 2018. Maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t, and sadly
we will never know the truth.
For those who don’t know about the Zodiac Killer, growing up this was a
favorite of mine as I am the type of girl who loves ciphers and puzzles and
coded messages which were this killer’s MO when it came to communicating with
the police and the outside world.
For this killer, we are going to travel back to the decade of 1960s in Northern
California. Between the years 1968 – 1969, the Zodiac Killer murdered five
people and two were attempted that we know of. Even though as the years went
by, it was said he killed up to approx. 37 people throughout Northern and
Southern California but this has not been proven yet links to cold cases have
been made.
The nickname was originated by himself when he
messaged the local newspapers and news stations several messages and ciphers,
with the taunt that if they weren’t published – he would keep on killing. Of
the four ciphers he sent, one was solved, two remain unsolved and one took 51
years to crack. He was a clever bastard.
Despite the Zodiac Killer ceasing all communication in 1974, as he was
never caught or had viable suspects – the case to this date remains a cold
case.
The Zodiac Killer’s first stop on his journey of killing was Lake Herman Road on December 20th, 1968 which was a widely known spot nicknamed Lover’s Lane when he shot two high school students who were on a date – David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. As the killer came up to the car, the students tried to flee and David was halfway out when he was shot in the head and Betty managed to try and run but was still shot five times in the back.
Four miles away from Lake Herman Road lay Blue Rock
Springs Park in Vallejo another couple was out on a date, not realizing that
their lives would change on July 4th/ 5th 1969 when just
before midnight, the pair were shot. Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead at the
hospital whereas the Zodiac had his first attempted murder as despite being
shot in the face, neck, and torso Michael Mageau managed to survive but could
not accurately identify his attacker.
The first set of ciphers and letters arrived between 1
– 7th August 1969 where the Zodiac claimed credit for the two sets
of shootings. On August 8th,
1969, a couple is known as Donald and Bettye Harden of Salinas, California
managed to solve his first cipher which was a 408- symbol cryptogram. It
contained a misspelled message which referred to “The Most Dangerous Game”
which was a short story also known as “The Hounds of Zaroff” written by Richard
Connell in 1924.
The next set of murders again had one dead and one survive as on September 27th, 1969, the Zodiac Killer decided to switch it up with weapons and chose a knife. He stabbed Bryan Calvin Hartnell and Cecelia Ann Shepard. Cecelia ended up dying as a result of her injuries on September 29th, 1969, whereas her date Bryan Hartwell survived eight stab wounds to the back. The police connected this to the Zodiac Killer as after the stabbing, he walked back to Bryan’s car, and on the car door in black marker, he left another cipher for the cops to find.
Vallejo
12-20-68
7-4-69
Sept 27–69–6:30
by knife
The last known murder that can be connected to the Zodiac Killer was committed two weeks later on October 11th, 1969 when a white male entered the taxi driven by Paul Stine. Paul Stine was shot once in the head with a 9mm gun. Police originally believed that Paul Stine’s murder was a robbery as his wallet etc was gone. However, on October 13th, 1969 the newspaper received another cipher along with a piece of Paul Stine’s bloodied shirt which was torn off during the shooting.
As I said at the beginning of the article that over the years since the
killings there have been several suspects ranging from a handful of nobodies to
even other famous serial killers/ murderers including Charles Manson. The most recent was Gary Francis Poste and
unfortunately seeing as he died in 2018, we may never know whether this is
wishful thinking or actual proof. One thing we all know is that The Zodiac
Killer will always remain as one of the world’s most famous unsolved killers.
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