Zodiac Killer Research Paper

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s were a time of great change in America. The Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the sexual revolution were just some of the issues on the evening news in American households. For citizens of the San Francisco Bay area, as well as the rest of California, the late 60’s early 70’represented terror, fear and death. “The bizarre and theatrical and still unresolved serial murders by real-life ghoul who called himself Zodiac, who claimed in letters to have killed 37 people (though police have focused on five homicides and two attempted murders in the greater Bay Area in 1968 and 1969” (Booth,2) have intrigued people for nearly four decades. How has Zodiac remained so elusive? What

     In October, Zodiac murdered a man named Paul Stine and within moments of Stine's murder, Zodiac found himself face to face with two San Francisco Police officers. The killer actually talked his way out of the most risky situation he had ever faced. I think that's pretty amazing considering he was confronted with all that male power, which he always seemed to avoid. By luck, Zodiac got out of being arrested that night, and later bragged about what happened to the authorities, frustrating them in a way that was obviously hard to deal with.

The Zodiac Killer was an infamous murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. He killed with zero remorse and even stated in one of his letters that “I like killing people because it’s so much fun” (“Zodiac Killer”). Between December 1968 and October 1969 had killed a total of five people and severely injured two others. He made his first appearance on December 20, 1968, when he shot and killed 17-year-old David Faraday and his 16-year-old girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen. The police were unable to determine the motive for the crime or a suspect. However, on August 1, 1969, the zodiac sent letters to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vallejo Times Herald. Each letter started the same “Dear Editor:

The Zodiac’s first known victim is Cheri Jo Bates. His first letter, Confession, mentioned Cheri and said, “ she is not the first and she will not be the last”. Six months after Cheri’s death, the killer sent copies of the letters to the Riverside Press, the police, and her dad. Since the killer knew her dad, the police thought that Cheri knew her killer or he knew her. One of the suspects for her murder was her ex-boyfriend. Cheri’s murder was controversial and there is no evidence that the Zodiac was her killer( Wark,1).

The Victims are murdered in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. There were seven people targeted and two of them survived. There were other possible victims but can be determined is killed by Zodiac. The first two victims was found in A gravel parking area along remote Lake Herman Road on the eastern outskirts of Vallejo, California. On Dec. 20, 1968, 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen and 17-year-old David

Throughout time mysteries have been going unresolved and puzzling minds of those who wish to understand the killers thinking and motive of committing the crimes. Cold cases give the most controversial mysteries since the killers have never been truly identified. One of those is the Zodiac, he’s been fascinating but terrifying investigators since the first victim was discovered. The killer himself originated his name "Zodiac" in a numerous of taunting letters which he himself sent to the local Bay Area press demanding for them to publish the letters. The Zodiac letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), of all of the four cryptograms sent, only one has been definitively solved, the rest remain a mystery to the public. On August 1, 1969,

The Zodiac Killer caused horror in San Francisco during the 1960s. The Zodiac Killer was responsible for several murders in San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s (Zodiac Killer Biography). The Zodiac Killer first attacked on December 20, 1968. His victims were 17 year old David Faraday and his girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen

The Zodiac killer was first discovered in July 1960. The Zodiac killer has to have killed 37 people.The killings were all in Northern California in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The killer has remained unknown still to this day. There is a sketch that people think maybe him but still do not know who he is or why he killed so many people.

There have been a lot of theory’s on who the Zodiac Killer was. Many people have been accused of being the Zodiac Killer however his identity is still a mystery. One of the main suspects is Arthur Leigh Allen. He is the main suspect because there is a lot of evidence the police have linking him to the crimes. His former friend Don Cheney was the first person the alert the police that Allen could be the Zodiac Killer because Allen would tell Cheney that he wanted to kill couples at random and he want to be called Zodiac. Cheney also told them that he would go hunting and with a flashlight attached to his gun. This would make him look like a major suspect because a Zodiac

The Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active in northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, can now be identified as Rafael Edward Cruz (also known as Ted Cruz). It has almost been 44 years since the Zodiac Killer’s last murder, 44 years that Ted Cruz had to possibly commit more murders. Some facts that can support Ted Cruz is responsible for 5 confirmed killings is that police sketches closely resemble Cruz, he had the knowledge to create the complicated and unsolvable cryptograms, his handwriting style matched that of the Zodiac Killer’s, and his campaign logo resembles the symbol used by the killer. It is quite suspicious that Cruz has not yet commented nor denied that he is the killer.

“This is the true story of a pursuit that spans almost two decades and still goes on” (Graysmith x). In 1969, three newspapers received letters from a killer called Zodiac with ciphers attached to reveal his identity. One of these papers was The San Francisco Chronicle where cartoonist Robert Graysmith worked. The Zodiac continued to send letters to the Chronicle describing his murders and leaving clues to be published in the newspaper. Graysmith wrote two books, Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of the Hunt for the Nation's Most Elusive Serial Killer and Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed, which the 2007 film Zodiac is based upon. The film captures the essence of these books through a contrast of blue

Two lovers lie on the crimson sand of a Californian lake as a man, clad in a strange costume, slams the door of his car with a clang. Forensic technology was awful not long ago. This allowed many heinous acts to take place, like those of Jack The Ripper, Ted Bundy, and especially the Zodiac Killer. It is clear that Richard Gaikowski was the culprit behind many of, if not all of the Zodiac attacks, specifically the murder of Cecilia Shepard and wounding of Bryan Hartnell because he physically resembles the famous composite sketch of the killer, he has shown to have shaky public relations, and he shares many other miscellaneous traits with the Zodiac Killer

4, 1969: In a letter to The San Francisco Examiner, the killer first uses the famous greeting: "This is the Zodiac speaking," thus coining the name by which he would be known ever after. Aug. 8, 1969: Donald and Bettye Harden crack the cipher codes and produce a statement from the Zodiac describing his enjoyment of killing. July 4, 1969: Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Mike Mageau, 19, are each shot several times with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol while parked in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. Ferrin dies, but Mageau lived to provide a description of their assailant. That same night, a man called the Vallejo Police Department, identifying the murder weapon and claiming responsibility for the killing and the Lake Herman Road murders. Sept. 27, 1969: On the shores of Lake Berryessa in Napa, Cecilia Shephard, 22, and Bryan Hartnell, 20, are approached by a man in a hooded costume with the Zodiac’s symbol. Both are stabbed several times, but Hartnell survives. He, like Mageau, would later identify the late Arthur Leigh Allen of Vallejo as his attacker. The symbol and the message "Vallejo 12-20-68, 7-4-69, Sept. 27-69-6:30 by knife," that identifies the previous murders, was found written on Hartnell’s car door. Oct. 11, 1969: Yellow Cab driver Paul Stine, 29, was shot and killed just before 10 p.m. at the intersection of Washington and Cherry streets in San Francisco. Officers may have contacted the killer, but did not suspect it was him because the dispatcher had incorrectly

The mystery of the Zodiac Killer was never solved; it was one of the greatest serial killer mysteries of all time. He was called the Zodiac killer

Zodiac written by Graysmith had several parallels with the motion picture directed by David Fincher, but the main similarity was the accusation of Arthur Leigh Allen being Zodiac. Both the novel and the film focused on Lee being the main suspect considering all signs pointed to him, even though law enforcement officers did not have sufficient evidence to validate it. Zodiac allegedly murdered 37 civilians, although only 7 were substantiated to be Zodiac with 2 survivors: Mike Mageau and Bryan Hartnell. However, the cinema and publication both prompted scrutiny to the deaths of David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Ferrin, Cecelia Shepard, and Paul Stine. Each of their unfortunate demises all corresponded to Lee’s whereabouts (Zodiac). The timeline made an impeccable match, but the evidence was not substantial for conviction. Lee was the only suspect served with a search warrant, after searching Lee’s trailer they uncovered incriminating evidence, but his handwriting did not match Zodiac’s (Collins). Lee went through handwriting tests that the police arranged for him and much to their dismay the handwriting expert determined there was no correlation from Zodiac’s letters to the handwriting submissions Lee presented (Grinell). The only known sign of the Zodiac logo was on a watch and