ipl-logo

Zodiac Killer Research Paper

873 Words4 Pages

On a planet that has given us haunting criminals, this one unsolved case still has the eyes of hundreds of people. There were several victims, according to the Zodiac Killer, even though only a few were connected to him. There are several people suspected of being the Zodiac Killer. Many people have claimed to have seen or known the identity of the killer but only a few had actual evidence. Although witness descriptions all point towards one suspect, it’s likely more than one person may have taken part in the Zodiac Killings. The Zodiac Killer claimed to have many victims but only a few were connected to him. While police have only connected 17 victims of the killer, he stated in letters that he’s killed thirty-seven people. From 1963 to …show more content…

Sal LaBarbera, a former LAPD homicide detective, and Ken Mains, a cold case expert, believe a man named Ross Sullivan to be the Zodiac Killer, who was originally a suspect in one of the murders. Experts suspect him of at least one of the murders because there was an army boot footprint at the scene and Sullivan often wore military clothing. Descriptions matched Sullivan closely and he was a student who studied cryptology before the killings took place (McAteer 2017). Another person suspected of being the killer due to evidence connecting him to the letters is Richard Gaikowski, also known as Gike or Gaik, who worked with Good Times Newspaper. Evidence pointing towards him includes the word “GYKE”, like his shortened name, in one of the Zodiac’s ciphers. At the time a doctor diagnosed him with a mental illness the Zodiac’s letters had stopped for three years until he went to work at a storefront theatre. Lawrence Kane was another suspect. The name Kane was found in one of the Zodiac’s ciphers. A sister of one of the Zodiac’s victims reported that Kane followed her months before her sister’s murder and another Zodiac victim identified him as her abductor. The Zodiac Killers attacks became more violent in 1969 right around the time Kane was diagnosed with brain damage which caused him to lose the ability to control self-gratification. Another man, Earl Van Best Jr., was also suspected because

Show More
Related
857 Words | 4 Pages

He made sure to leave neither witnesses nor evidence of his murder. His motive is still questionable to this day. As I read more of Zodiac’s saga, I cannot help feeling disturbed and disgusted. His perfectionism and calculating nature depicted in his crimes is unsettling. This shows how humans are unpredictable and savage.

Read More
1123 Words | 5 Pages

On the basis of his confessions, hundreds of unsolved murders  connected to him were officially classified as clear. With all said and done, the actual number of murders that he committed is still unknown

Read More
284 Words | 2 Pages

The serial killer I chose to write about is Charles Manson. He was the leader of the Manson Family Cult. He was born in 1934 and he died in November 2017 from natural causes. The brutal attacks started in 1969, when he and his followers broke into the home of Sharon Tate. Sharon Tate was an actress and she was eight months pregnant when she killed by the Manson family.

Read More
1564 Words | 7 Pages

Who Was He? There are many theories as to who the self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer was. Some say he was the news editor Richard Gaikowski or the teacher Arthur Leigh Allen. A ton of suspects have been looked into for the murders of many in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1968 to 1974 and possibly longer. They have confirmed from many witnesses that the killer was male but they still could not find him.

Read More
1018 Words | 5 Pages

He signed his letters with his symbol, which was a circle with a plus sign over it. Although several suspects have been identified, the cases involving the zodiac killer have never been solved. The Zodiac killer claims to have murdered more than 37 victims, but only seven have been identified two of who survived the attacks. Five murders have been directly linked to the zodiac killer.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

In 1968, a killing streak began that would become one of the biggest mysteries in U.S. History. In the late 60s, there was a serial killer that was located in San Francisco, he was wanted for killing 37 people his goals were to collect slaves for his afterlife he had played with the police by sending scripted messages to the newspaper and sending ciphers and graphic descriptions to the police, it took 51 years to crack what the messages had said, but by the time it was cracked it can be assumed the zodiac killer was already dead, and the police still have yet to find who the zodiac killer is. There is substantial evidence to prove that the Zodiac killer may never be found due to the confusing ciphers he sent to the police, the many different suspects, and the alleged second round of killings. The first sign of the zodiac killer was the numerous letters that he had sent to the news reporters about the killings he had done, as well as the scripted messages he had sent to the police about his identity as in his name and his depiction of what he looks like. In the article “he cracked the Code” talks about the scripted messages that were sent to the police, one of them being z13 and z32.

Read More
1364 Words | 6 Pages

In the annals of American crime, few cases have captivated the public attention quite like that of the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac Killer began his series of murders, cryptic letters, and tantalizing clues during the late 1960s and the early 1970s, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The complexity of the Zodiac crimes continues to baffle investigators to this day. While the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains unknown, various theories have surfaced about potential suspects; Arthur Leigh Allen stands out as a primary suspect due to his behavioral characteristics associated with the perpetrator and compelling circumstantial evidence suggesting his involvement with the series of murders. The Zodiac killing spree and series of attacks began in December

Read More
434 Words | 2 Pages

Many years have gone by, yet still no one knows the identity of the Zodiac Killer. His identity has bewildered investigators, and others alike for decades. His list is possible to have consisted of more than twenty deaths. The fact that he has yet to have been identified is what makes him part of one of the biggest unsolved mysteries. He was different than most serial killers, he craved attention.

Read More
77 Words | 1 Pages

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer that terrorized the northern parts of California between 1966 and 1969. The goal is to delve into and learn about who the Zodiac Killer was. This is done by researching through several websites that has been written about the Zodiac Killer. It is known that the Zodiac Killer has never been caught but by researching about the Zodiac Killer we may possibly learn more about who the Zodiac killer

Read More
1578 Words | 7 Pages

The Rise and Fall of The Zodiac Killer “I like killing people because it is more fun than killing wild game…” is what the famous Zodiac Killer told authorities in one of his letters (Montaldo). What goes through a serial killer's mind? The Zodiac gave insight into his mind through letters, anonymous phone calls and clues that he left along the way. The killings all started with Cheri Jo Bates, eighteen years old and a freshman at Riverside city College.

Read More
1096 Words | 5 Pages

All his victims were women with the youngest being 12 years old. The purpose of this research is to understand why Ted Bundy was executed at the time he was since not all the victims’ bodies had been found and he hadn’t confessed to all the murders. By his time of execution, he confessed to about

Read More
388 Words | 2 Pages

The Zodiac Killer is one of the most notorious and mysterious serial killers in American history. The killer was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was responsible for at least five murders, although some believe the number could be higher. The killer was known for taunting police and the public with cryptic letters and codes, and he was never caught or identified. Despite decades of investigation and numerous suspects, the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains a mystery.

Read More
1204 Words | 5 Pages

The teenage girls said that he was wearing glasses that night. Whereas, in his other killings the witnesses said he did not have glasses. There are at least 8 descriptions of the zodiac out there but no

Read More
1681 Words | 7 Pages

He promised tantalizing details about his identity to anyone who could decipher his cryptic message. This prompts investigators and reporters to become obsessed with uncovering the identity of the Zodiac Killer. The most prominent characters involved with the case are Robert Graysmith, a political cartoonist from the San Francisco Chronicle; Paul Avery, a crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle; and David Toschi, a police inspector who was assigned the Zodiac case. Graysmith steadily becomes obsessed with the case and entrenches himself in investigations, which puts his marriage and family life in jeopardy. Compiling information from Avery and Toschi, Graysmith identifies Arthur Leigh Allen, who was previously the leading suspect in the case, as the Zodiac.

Read More
931 Words | 4 Pages

This representation of the serial killer has evolved substantially since its introduction into fiction. Now, they are regarded as three-dimensional characters, with reasons behind their action, instead of monstrous beings whose only plan is to cause havoc for the thrill of it. Studies made to understand serial killers better have also helped us in establishing patterns to build tropes and personalities for fictional serial killers. Their shared many traits have thus been used to create archetypes and tropes that would translate easily for entertainment purposes.

Read More

More about Zodiac Killer Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document