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The Unsolved case of The Zodiac killer.
The Zodiac Killer was a serial murderer who stalked parts of Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s.Through a series of letters he sent to the media and others, the killer disclosed his motivation for the slayings, offered clues to future murders, and adopted the nickname Zodiac.He took responsibility for murdering as many as 37 people, but police investigators confirmed only five deaths and seven total attacks. The zodiac killer has NOT been caught till this day.
FIRST ATTACK
On December 20, 1968, Betty Lou Jensen, 16, and David Arthur Faraday, 17 ,became his first victims.The couple was discovered lying on the ground outside the bullet-riddled car.Sadly both could not survive this attack. Not many clues were found but Two hunters reported seeing a white Chevy parked at a gravel turn-around on Lake Herman Road.
SECOND ATTACK
On July 4, 1969, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22, and Michael Renault Mageau, 19, became his third and forth victims.They were attacked four miles from where Jensen and Faraday were shot.Ferrin died before reaching the hospital but Mageau survived and gave authorities a description of the shooter: a short, heavyset white man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and around 195 pounds.
At 12:40 a.m. an anonymous male caller contacted the Vallejo Police Department, And said
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye."
THE ZODIAC LETTERS
On Friday, August 1, the first known Zodiac letters were received by three newspapers.Each received almost identical letters written by a person taking credit for the attacks on the four teens.The self-proclaimed killer demanded that the letters be published on the newspapers' front pages by the next Friday or he would randomly kill a dozen people over the weekend. The letters were signed with a crossed-circle symbol.On August 4, investigators said they doubted the authenticity of the letter,in order to make the killer to contact them again. The plan worked. On August 4, another letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner.
The letter began with the words that have since haunted many involved in the case:
"Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking..."
It was the first time the killer had used the name Zodiac.On August 8, a high school teacher and his wife cracked the 408-symbol cipher. The last 18 letters could not be decoded. The message, written in all capital letters, read (with typos unchanged):
I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUE ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAE WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADICE AND THEI HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOI DOWN OR ATOP MY COLLECTIOG OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI.
THIRD ATTACK
On September 27, Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, and Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, became his 5 and 6 victims. Shepard died two days later; Hartnell survived and gave police a detailed account of the events and a description of the attacker.
At 7:40 p.m. an anonymous caller contacted the Police Department and spoke in a low monotone to officer:
"I want to report a murder—no, a double murder. They are two miles north of park headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia..." He ended the call: "I'm the one who did it."
FORTH ATTACK
On October 11, San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine, 29, picked up a passenger in Union Square and drove to the wealthy area of Cherry Street and Nob Hill. There, the passenger shot Stine in the temple, killing him, then removed his wallet and car keys and carefully tore off a large portion of his shirt.
Three youngsters witnessed the event from a second-floor window. They contacted police and described the shooter as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, with a stocky build and a crew cut.On October 14, the Chronicle received another letter from the Zodiac.
On October 22, a caller identifying himself as the Zodiac contacted the Oakland Police Department and demanded on-air time on the Jim Dunbar television talk show with Melvin Belli, famous defense lawyers. Belli appeared on the show, and a call purportedly from the Zodiac came in. He said his real name was Sam and asked that Belli meet him in Daly City. Belli agreed but the caller never showed. It was later determined that the call came from an impostor, a mental patient at Napa State Hospital. On December 20, Belli received a Christmas card from the Zodiac at his home that included a piece of Stine's shirt and the claim that he wanted help from Belli, ending with:
"Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer."
On the evening of March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns, who was eight months pregnant, was said to be his victim but she saved herself and her children on time. she saw a wanted poster with a composite sketch of the Zodiac and said the image was of the man who had kidnapped her.
Over the years Johns' account of the night's events changed from her original statement, leading some to question her story. It was the last time anyone reported seeing the Zodiac.
After this incident many letters were received which included zodiac confeasing about several crimes including school bus bombing, abduction, killings etc
Early killings
On October 30, 1966, Bates, 18, had studied at the Riverside City College library until it closed at 9 p.m. Investigators suspect that her Volkswagen parked outside the library was tampered with before she left. When she tried to start the car, the person police believed had disabled it approached her and offered his help. she was attacked several times with a knife.
The next month, identical letters were sent to Riverside police and The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise by someone claiming to have killed Bates. The letters included a poem titled "The Cofession" that offered details of the murder that only the police and the killer could know. The letters warned that Bates was not the first or last victim. Many interpreted the tone of the letter as similar to that of the Zodiac letters.
Six months after Bates' murder, three nearly identical letters were received by The Press-Enterprise, Riverside police, and Bates' father. The letters received by the newspaper and the police read:
BATES HAD
TO DIE
THERE WILL
BE MORE
Sadly Bates' murder was never solved.
Yet another murder
On March 22 the Chronicle's Avery received a postcard thought to be from the Zodiac in which he took credit for the case of a missing nurse, Donna Lass, from the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lass was never seen after treating her last patient at 1:40 a.m that day. The Lass case was never solved, nor was her body ever located.
If The Pines postcard was from the Zodiac, it was his last communication for three years. In 1974 he resurfaced, although this time he dropped his opening line, "This is the Zodiac speaking," and the cross-circle symbol signature.
On January 29, 1974, the Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac describing the movie "The Exorcist" as "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen.After this many more letters were received which described some movies or poems of that time. but after some investigation, it was proved that the fan letters were a hoax and were written by an investigator of the case named Toschi.
The Toschi incident is just one of the many bizarre twists the Zodiac investigation has taken over the years. More than 2,500 suspects have been investigated without anyone ever being charged. Detectives continue to receive telephone calls weekly with tips, theories, and speculation.
The case got a renewed burst of attention in 2018 when a suspect was arrested in the long-dormant Golden State Killer case after DNA evidence was compared with material gathered by a genealogical website. Investigators are hoping to have the same luck with the Zodiac case, but as of now, no arrest had been made.
As per this information the zodiac killer was a person with some mental issues. After reading this, The zodiac killer was an attention seeker. His calls right after the murders were the proof that he wanted attention from the people. His letters in some or the other way Chalenged the abilities of the police which showed us his confidence on himself,also he demanded that his cases should be printed on the front page which clearly proves that he wanted proof to know about him. The fact that he was never caught is just scary.
FIRST ATTACK
On December 20, 1968, Betty Lou Jensen, 16, and David Arthur Faraday, 17 ,became his first victims.The couple was discovered lying on the ground outside the bullet-riddled car.Sadly both could not survive this attack. Not many clues were found but Two hunters reported seeing a white Chevy parked at a gravel turn-around on Lake Herman Road.
SECOND ATTACK
On July 4, 1969, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22, and Michael Renault Mageau, 19, became his third and forth victims.They were attacked four miles from where Jensen and Faraday were shot.Ferrin died before reaching the hospital but Mageau survived and gave authorities a description of the shooter: a short, heavyset white man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and around 195 pounds.
At 12:40 a.m. an anonymous male caller contacted the Vallejo Police Department, And said
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye."
THE ZODIAC LETTERS
On Friday, August 1, the first known Zodiac letters were received by three newspapers.Each received almost identical letters written by a person taking credit for the attacks on the four teens.The self-proclaimed killer demanded that the letters be published on the newspapers' front pages by the next Friday or he would randomly kill a dozen people over the weekend. The letters were signed with a crossed-circle symbol.On August 4, investigators said they doubted the authenticity of the letter,in order to make the killer to contact them again. The plan worked. On August 4, another letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner.
The letter began with the words that have since haunted many involved in the case:
"Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking..."
It was the first time the killer had used the name Zodiac.On August 8, a high school teacher and his wife cracked the 408-symbol cipher. The last 18 letters could not be decoded. The message, written in all capital letters, read (with typos unchanged):
I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUE ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAE WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADICE AND THEI HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOI DOWN OR ATOP MY COLLECTIOG OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI.
THIRD ATTACK
On September 27, Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, and Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, became his 5 and 6 victims. Shepard died two days later; Hartnell survived and gave police a detailed account of the events and a description of the attacker.
At 7:40 p.m. an anonymous caller contacted the Police Department and spoke in a low monotone to officer:
"I want to report a murder—no, a double murder. They are two miles north of park headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia..." He ended the call: "I'm the one who did it."
FORTH ATTACK
On October 11, San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine, 29, picked up a passenger in Union Square and drove to the wealthy area of Cherry Street and Nob Hill. There, the passenger shot Stine in the temple, killing him, then removed his wallet and car keys and carefully tore off a large portion of his shirt.
Three youngsters witnessed the event from a second-floor window. They contacted police and described the shooter as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, with a stocky build and a crew cut.On October 14, the Chronicle received another letter from the Zodiac.
On October 22, a caller identifying himself as the Zodiac contacted the Oakland Police Department and demanded on-air time on the Jim Dunbar television talk show with Melvin Belli, famous defense lawyers. Belli appeared on the show, and a call purportedly from the Zodiac came in. He said his real name was Sam and asked that Belli meet him in Daly City. Belli agreed but the caller never showed. It was later determined that the call came from an impostor, a mental patient at Napa State Hospital. On December 20, Belli received a Christmas card from the Zodiac at his home that included a piece of Stine's shirt and the claim that he wanted help from Belli, ending with:
"Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer."
On the evening of March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns, who was eight months pregnant, was said to be his victim but she saved herself and her children on time. she saw a wanted poster with a composite sketch of the Zodiac and said the image was of the man who had kidnapped her.
Over the years Johns' account of the night's events changed from her original statement, leading some to question her story. It was the last time anyone reported seeing the Zodiac.
After this incident many letters were received which included zodiac confeasing about several crimes including school bus bombing, abduction, killings etc
Early killings
On October 30, 1966, Bates, 18, had studied at the Riverside City College library until it closed at 9 p.m. Investigators suspect that her Volkswagen parked outside the library was tampered with before she left. When she tried to start the car, the person police believed had disabled it approached her and offered his help. she was attacked several times with a knife.
The next month, identical letters were sent to Riverside police and The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise by someone claiming to have killed Bates. The letters included a poem titled "The Cofession" that offered details of the murder that only the police and the killer could know. The letters warned that Bates was not the first or last victim. Many interpreted the tone of the letter as similar to that of the Zodiac letters.
Six months after Bates' murder, three nearly identical letters were received by The Press-Enterprise, Riverside police, and Bates' father. The letters received by the newspaper and the police read:
BATES HAD
TO DIE
THERE WILL
BE MORE
Sadly Bates' murder was never solved.
Yet another murder
On March 22 the Chronicle's Avery received a postcard thought to be from the Zodiac in which he took credit for the case of a missing nurse, Donna Lass, from the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lass was never seen after treating her last patient at 1:40 a.m that day. The Lass case was never solved, nor was her body ever located.
If The Pines postcard was from the Zodiac, it was his last communication for three years. In 1974 he resurfaced, although this time he dropped his opening line, "This is the Zodiac speaking," and the cross-circle symbol signature.
On January 29, 1974, the Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac describing the movie "The Exorcist" as "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen.After this many more letters were received which described some movies or poems of that time. but after some investigation, it was proved that the fan letters were a hoax and were written by an investigator of the case named Toschi.
The Toschi incident is just one of the many bizarre twists the Zodiac investigation has taken over the years. More than 2,500 suspects have been investigated without anyone ever being charged. Detectives continue to receive telephone calls weekly with tips, theories, and speculation.
The case got a renewed burst of attention in 2018 when a suspect was arrested in the long-dormant Golden State Killer case after DNA evidence was compared with material gathered by a genealogical website. Investigators are hoping to have the same luck with the Zodiac case, but as of now, no arrest had been made.
As per this information the zodiac killer was a person with some mental issues. After reading this, The zodiac killer was an attention seeker. His calls right after the murders were the proof that he wanted attention from the people. His letters in some or the other way Chalenged the abilities of the police which showed us his confidence on himself,also he demanded that his cases should be printed on the front page which clearly proves that he wanted proof to know about him. The fact that he was never caught is just scary.
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