Zodiac Killer Research Paper

The Zodiac Killer is one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century. From the late 1960s and 70s, he terrorized most of the larger San Francisco area with his brutalistic attacks. What set him apart from others is that he sent letters filled with ciphers, codes, etc. mocking anyone who said they could try to do it. Even stranger, these were sent to police stations and newspaper agents, who still, around 55 years later, are still unable to figure it out.

Lake Herman Murders. The Zodiac Killer’s story begins on the evening of December 20, 1968. 16 year old Betty L. Jensen and David Faraday were on a date. They stopped at a restaurant before driving later to Herman Road in Benicia, California, around 20 miles or 40 kilometers from

Cecilia noticed a man walking towards them. She mentioned it to Brian, but he brushed it off and dismissed the man. When the Zodiac Killer was within 20 feet of the couple, they could identify his key features. He had a black executioner type hood and a zodiac symbol on his chest. He pointed the gun at them and demanded they give him the money and car keys so he could apparently ‘drive to Mexico’. The killer told the couple that he was an escaped convict from Montana, and that he killed a guard to run away. He then pulled out a three foot clothesline and instructed Cecilia to tie Brian’s hands together. He then tied Cecilia to the ring. After that, he told the both of them saying ‘I’m going to have to stab you people.’ Before stabbing Cecilia 10 times and Brian 6 times. He believed he had finished the job and hiked away. He wrote on the couple’s car with felt-tip pen, about 450 meters away from the crime scene, ‘Vallejo, 12-20-68/ 7-4-69/ 9-27-69 6:30 by knife”. The couple were found by a fisherman and his son around an hour and ten minutes later on the same day. The Zodiac, yet again, reported a double murder to the Vallejo Police Department, stating the location and car they were in. Cecilia would later succumb to her wounds, but Brian would live. One thing that the police and newspapers noticed was that the

On October 11, 1969, only two weeks after his last murder, the Zodiac entered a taxi driven by Paul Stine at around 9:30. The Zodiac requested to be taken to Washington and Maple Street in Presidio Heights, but the driver drove one block past the destination for an unknown reason. Zodiac waited for the car to come to a halt when he suddenly grabbed Paul’s collar and shot him in the skull point blank. The Zodiac exited the vehicle from the backseat and re-entered the passenger seat, tore off a piece of Paul’s clothing and drove off. Two teenagers across the street saw the cab from their second floor window and called the police. The only problem was that they mistakenly described the Zodiac as a black male. It caused the Zodiac to luckily evade being caught once again, however this would be a terrible mistake as a police officer asked a man walking by, who was ‘lumbering along in the fog’ if he had seen anyone who had matched the description. This was later determined to have most likely been the Zodiac. Since the man was white, he wasn’t accused as he wouldn’t have matched the description the teens gave. When asked if anything unusual was happening in the area, he responded saying that he had seen someone waving a gun around a couple streets off, which led the police officer to go into the street, he said. A partial ink print was found which matched that of the Zodiacs, examined from previous murders in case it is necessary. On October 14, 1969,