The zodiac is the nickname of one of the most elusive killers in the United States. The serial killer committed brutal crimes mainly in the 1960s and early 1970s. Why was the man using a symbol that resembled the logo of the watchmaker "Zodiac"? Whom did the killer choose as his victims? What letters did Zodiak send to the press, and has his investigation been completed? Did the murderer confess to the guilt and the number of people killed? Find out who the Zodiac Serial Killer is.
It is believed that the nickname of one of the most elusive murderers of all time comes from the name of the watch company, "Zodiac." The murderer used a rather specific symbol to mark the crime, and it resembled the logo of that Swiss company. Letters to newspapers, which Zodiak wrote regularly, indicate that the man confessed to committing 37 crimes. The investigation into the murderer revealed by that time that there were certainly seven victims of the Zodiac - but only two of them survived. The list of victims, which the investigators managed to establish, reads:
- David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen - were shot on December 20, 1968.
- Michael Renault Mageau and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin - The Zodiac shot them on July 5, 1969. Michael Mageau survived the attack.
- Bryan Calvin Hartnell and Cecelia Ann Shepard - were stabbed on September 27, 1969. Bryan managed to survive the knife attack.
- Paul Lee Stine - was shot by the Zodiac on October 11, 1969, and was the last known victim of a serial killer.
As the murderer is still elusive, it's hard to tell anything about his past. You can learn much more about famous serial killers such as Countess Elizabeth Bathory or Rostov Butcher - their history is confirmed in many books. In the case of the Zodiac, the only things you can rely on are the descriptions of the crimes committed by the man and the testimonies of the survivors.
The first victims were the above-mentioned David Faraday and Betty Jensen. The seventeen-year-old and the sixteen-year-old girl went on their first date. They wanted to spend it in hiding, in a car parked on Lake Herman Road (near Benicia). Unfortunately, they did not know that imminent death would await them there. Around 10:15 pm the boy parked his mother's Rambler on the gravel road, which was a famous spot for lovers' trysts. Shortly after 23:00, the bodies of the young people were found dead. There was no sign of murder.
The next victims were Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau. The assault took place in Blue Rock Springs Park (Vallejo), about 6 kilometers from the murder on Lake Herman Road. While the couple sat in the car, a second car pulled into the parking lot and parked next to them. He turned back shortly after and drove on from the other side. A couple of young people were sure it was the police. However, it was the Zodiac that killed the girl immediately. Michael survived the attack. The boy described the Zodiac as a 30-year-old, well-built man about 170 cm tall.
Subsequent victims, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were attacked with a knife. The young couple decided to have a picnic at Lake Berryessa. As it was getting dark, suddenly a man with a gun came out - confusingly similar to Michael Mageau's description. He was dressed in a hangman's hood and his famous symbol was sewn on the front of his jacket. The man injured a couple several times with a knife. He later painted the "Zodiac" logo on the door of Bryan's car with a felt-tip pen and the dates of his previous attacks. Cecelia fell into a coma during transport to the hospital and never regained consciousness. Bryan survived and told the story to the press.
The last victim of the Zodiac is Paul Stine. Zodiac entered a taxi driven by Paul (San Francisco). As soon as the opportunity arose, the Zodiac shot the driver in the head. He took his wallet and keys and tore off part of the victim's bloody shirt. The witnesses described the murderer in exactly the same way as Bryan Hartnell and Michael Mageau. Despite the testimony, the killer remained elusive.
On July 31, 1969, three letters were sent to the American newspapers, Times Herald, Chronicle, and Examine. They were written by a murderer. Each of them contained not only a detailed description of the crime but also part of an encrypted message. The Zodiac pushed for the headlines to be published - under threat of more murders. Each letter signed was the famous sign of the Zodiac. The ciphertext has been worked out but still does not indicate the identity of the killer. The ciphertext only spoke about why the Zodiac likes to kill ("... I like killing people because it's fun, more fun than killing wild animals in the forest ... man is the most dangerous creature.").
On August 4, 1969, Examiner received another letter - this time with the greeting: "Dear editor, this is Zodiak." This was the first time a killer murderer had used his pseudonym. The letter contained further details of the murders that had yet to be publicly disclosed. On November 12, the Chronicle received another letter from the Zodiac - this time containing a fragment of Paul Stine's shirt as proof that the letter writer was indeed the killer.
On November 8, 1969, Zodiak mailed another cryptogram, consisting of 340 characters. The cipher was named "Z-340". For over 51 years, no one has been able to decode it. It was not until December 5, 2020, that an international team of private citizens decoded it and read that the Zodiac was not afraid of the death penalty. According to the code, he was completely unconcerned about his position, because death would send him to paradise anyway - and there "slaves will serve me in the afterlife." The team forwarded their findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI said, however, that the decoded message gave no further clues to establishing the Zodiac's identity. Despite the fact that the Zodiac has committed unforgivable and terrifying crimes, it has also managed to become an icon. Several documents and films were made based on his crimes. Nowadays, the zodiac is an equally famous serial killer, like the Butcher of Rostov, Ted Bundy, or Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Contrary to them, the Zodiac still remained elusive.
Nobody can identify the killer. To this day, the identity of the Zodiac has not been known. The case is therefore still open, and the Zodiac case is under investigation.
Bibliography:
- Robert Graysmith: Zodiak, Amber Publishing House, Warsaw 2007
- Michelle Kaminsky: Serial Killers, MUZA S.A. Publishing House, Warsaw 2020
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