121Spring Zodiac
CLJ 12
The Beginning
December 20, 1968
David Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen,
16
First date- lovers lane Vallejo, CA
Car pulled next to the couple, individual
opened fire with a .22 caliber pistol
Both victims were killed
Faraday and Jensen
Crime Scene #1
Crime Scene Photos
Crime Scene Photos
No witnesses, no motive, no suspect
Second Shooting
July 5, 1969 (midnight)
Darlene Ferrin (22)
Along with Mike Mageau, attacked in a
golf course parking lot with a 9mm
semi-automatic pistol
Darlene was killed; Mike survived
Crime Scene #2
The Call
12:40 a.m.- July 5
Call to the Vallejo PD
I want to report a double murder. If you
will go one mile east on Columbia
Parkway to the public park, you will find
kids in a brown car. They were shot was a
9-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids
last year. Good bye.
The First Letter(s)
August 1, 1969
Letter arrived at the offices of the San
Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Examiner and the Vallejo
Times-Herald received similar letters
Postmarked in San Francisco
Contents
Dear Editor
I am the killer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman and the Girl last 4th
of July. To Prove this I shall state some facts which only I+ the police know.
Christmass
1 Brand name of ammo Super X
2 10 shots fired
3 Boy was on back feet to car
4 Girl was lyeing on right side feet to west
4th of July
1 Girl was wearing patterned pants
2 Boy was also shot in knee
3 Brand name of ammo was Western
Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. The other 2 parts of this cipher have been
mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle.
I want you to print this cipher on your frunt page by Fry Afternoon Aug 1-69. In this
cipher is my identity. If you do not do this I will go on a kill rampage Fry night that will
last the whole week end. I will cruse around and pick off all stray people or coupples
that are alone then move on to kill some more untill I have killed over a dozen people
Actual Letter
See PDF
The Cipher
Each of the 3 newspapers received a
different part of the cipher (code)
Each third consisted of eight lines of
seventeen symbols each
The Cipher (cont.)
See PDF
The Cipher (cont.)
Cracked Cipher
Follow up Letter
August 7, 1969
First time the name Zodiac was used
Overall, this was the 4th letter
Follow up Letter Text
Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking. In answer to your asking for more
details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to
supply even more material. By the way, are the police having a good time
with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up; when they do crack it, they will
have me.
On the 4th of July: I did not open the car door. The window was rolled down all
ready. The boy was origionaly sitting in the frunt seat when I began fireing.
When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same
time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in
back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the
knee. I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealing tires + raceing
engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as
not to draw attention to my car. The man who told police that my car was
brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone
booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When
I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention
to me + my car.
Follow Up Letter Text (cont.)
Last Christmass In that epasode the police were
wondering how I could shoot + hit my victims in the
dark. They did not openly state this, but implied this by
saying it was a well lit night + I could see silowets on
the horizon. that Bullshit area is srounded by high hills
+ trees. What I did was tape a small pencel flash light
to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of
the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you
will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle
of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a
gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the
black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as
if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the
gun sights. I was not happy to see that I did not get
front page coverage.
Fourth Letter
See PDF
Killings Continue
September 27, 1969
Cecelia Ann Shepard
Ambushed and stabbed with Bryan
Hartnell while having a picnic next to Lake
Berryessa (north of Napa)
Ceceilia was killed; Bryan survived
Zodiac Masked
Crime Scene #3
Lake Berryessa Crime Scene 1
Zodiac's Message On Hartnell's Karmann Ghia
Footprint
Another Call
7:40 p.m. (over an hour after the attack) to
the Napa PD
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. Im the one
who did it.
Call was placed near the police station
and 27 miles away from the attack
Incident #4
Oct. 11, 1969- San Francisco
Paul Stine was shot by a passenger in his
cab
Zodiac took a large portion of Stines shirt
and mailed pieces to authenticate his
letters
Crime Scene (Warning)
Location
Location of Crime
Composite
Zodiac composite
Stine's shirt
Letter #5
Letter #5
Arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle on
Oct. 14, 1969
Return Address:
Letter also contained a 3x5 piece of
Stines shirt
Letter #5
This is the Zodiac speaking.
I am the murderer of the taxi driver
over by Washington St + Maple St
last night, to prove this here is a
blood stained piece of his shirt. I
am the same man who did in the
people in the north bay area.
The S.F. Police could have caught
me last night if they had searched
the park properly instead of
holding road races with their
motorcicles seeing who could
make the most noise. The car
drivers should have just parked
their cars and sat there quietly
waiting for me to come out of
cover.
School children make nice targets,
I think I shall wipe out a school
bus some morning. Just shoot out
the front tire + then pick off the
kiddies as they come bouncing
out.
Panic
Oct. 17, 1969
Publication of Zodiacs threat was allowed
Was it a good move to inform the public
about the threat???
Advice to School Bus Drivers
1) Continue driving the bus on a flat tire. Do
not stop.
2) Tell the children to get below the level of the
window and lie on the floor
3) The driver will continue driving and turn on
all lights and sound the horn
4) The school bus shall not be stopped until
arriving in a well-populated area
5) Upon arrival at this location a local law
enforcement agency should be notified
immediately
More Letters (#6)
#6
Mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on Nov. 8, 1969
Cipher
This is the Zodiac speaking. I thought you would need a good
laugh before you get the bad news, [though] you won't get the
news for a while yet.
P.S. Could you print this new cipher on your front page? I get
awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my
Thing!!
Des July Aug Sept Oct = 7
Myths
1) Zodiac was driven to commit crimes near
bodies of water
2) Zodiac was in the military
3) Zodiac was a master cryptographer
SEE READING
Suspects
1)
Arthur Leigh Allen
Made incriminating statements to friends
Died in 1992
DNA not found to be a match in 2002
Suspects
2) Richard Gaikowski
Police dispatcher in Vallejo apparently
identified his voice as being similar to the
voice on the call placed after the Ferrin
murder
Suspects
3) Jack Tarrance
Suspect?