Zodiac Killer Research Paper

POW, POW, SLICE, JAB! The Zodiac killer snuck up behind a couple, all of a sudden there were bullets in a brain, blood oozing out of a heart, and two people laying in the dirt. One late night the Zodiac Killer murdered a couple by shooting one and stabbing the other. This serial killer tormented northern California for up to thirty years, and has still not been caught. He may have even killed a person from South Lake Tahoe in 1970. The Zodiac Killer, an assassin known for gruesome murders, mysterious letters, and threatening phone calls, was never caught because he usually murdered in dark secluded places, late at night. The Zodiac Killer terrorized northern California for almost thirty years; to this day he has not been found, and the police

After most of his killings, he would contact the police, newspaper companies, and the victim’s parents just to taunt them. The Zodiac’s first murder was a college student in 1966, her name was Cheri Jo Bates, and she was a freshman at Riverside city college. “Bates was studying at the college library before the attack, and at around 10:30 pm she walked through an alley to her car” (Voigt). She was stabbed by a small knife multiple times in the front and back. After the scene, “a watch, blood, and skin tissue were found in the victim's hands and beneath her fingernails”(Wark) . About three months later, letters, poems, and phone calls were sent to the police station, the newspapers, and Cheri Jo’s father. All of the letters said the same exact thing; “Bates had to die. There will be more.” The letters also contained information about how beautiful she was, details of how he murdered her, how he thinks about his next victim, and that he is stalking their girls. The Zodiac’s second assassination was in 1969; it was a couple parked at lover’s lane in Vallejo, California. Their names

The Zodiac was a sick person. He sent in a coded message to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and the Vallejo Chronicle. He said “I like killing people because it’s so much fun” (Wark). He threatened saying he would go on a killing rampage, killing young couples, isolated at night if there wasn’t an article about him. In his article he wanted the code, a picture of it, and his threats. He kept sending coded messages to the editors of major newspapers, but someone finally figured out his code. “The Zodiac's code was cracked by a high school teacher from Salinas, California” (“Zodiac”). The code said nothing about his name or who he was, but did contain those bone chilling messages, and threats. After he sent in the code he killed another couple near Napa, California. Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were relaxing by a lake around 7:00 in the afternoon. The Zodiac walked up slowly, with a gun in his hand, and told the couple he escaped from prison and needed a car. Hartnell offered his wallet to Zodiac, instead he tied them up and began to kill. “Hartnell was attacked first, then Shepard. After the assault, the man walked casually away from the scene. After several minutes, a nearby fisherman heard the couple screaming and alerted park rangers”(Voigt). Shepard died in the hospital, and Hartnell survived