The Zodiac ZODIAC

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DATE: JUNE 10, 1977
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During late 1960s to the early 1970s, the Zodiac Killer
used codes to taunt the police and the communities
of the Southern California Region, USA. His codes are
so obscure that cryptologist cannot form a clear
message from them as there is no difinitive cypher
key. Many speculate the key to finding the Zodiac Killer
is hidden within these symbols.



THE ZODIAC
KILLER MYSTERY

The Zodiac Killer, one of history’s most famous unknown
serial murderers, terrorized America in a spree of
heinous attacks, sending taunting letters and codes filled
with bizarre and ancient symbols. The serial killer who
murdered at least five people taunted police and terrorized
Bay Area residents in the 1960s and 1970s apparently
vanished without a trace. Yet he left behind a mystery
that still grips the public imagination, spawning books,
movies, TV crime shows, websites and a trail of tangled
theories. For nearly five decades, police and amateur
sleuths have searched far and wide to find Zodiac killer
and never come close to making an arrest. It may seem the
zodiac killer has been lost forever but maybe we can find
him by solving his codes. His unsolved codes have baffled
some of the greatest minds in cryptology for over 50 years. 

THE UNSOLVED 340 CODE, 8 NOVEMBER 1969.

LAKE BERRYESSA

VELLAEJO
BENICA

SAN FRANCISCO

MAP OF SANTA ROSA AREA, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA.

ZODIAC
KILLINGS

Although the Zodiac claimed 37 murders in letters to the
newspapers, investigators agree on only seven confirmed
victims, two of whom survived.

DARLENE FERRIN MICHAEL MAGEAU BRYAN HARTNELL CECILIA SHEPARD

JULY 4,1969 SEPTEMBER 27,1969
VALLEJO LAKE BERRYESSA

Twenty-two-year-old Darlene Ferrin College students Bryan Hartnell and
died during a point blank shoting, Cecelia Shepard were relaxing along
Michael Mageau survived. The killer the shore of Lake Berryessa before the
reports the crime and claims to have two were attacked. Cecelia was stabbed
killed several others while providing to death Bryan severely injured but
detailed information of the victims survived the traumatic event.
that only the police knew at the time.
DAVID FARADAY BETTY LOU JENSON
DARLENE FERRIN

OCTOBER 11, 1969 DECEMBER 20, 1968
SAN FRANCISCO BANICA

Paul Stine unknowingly picked up the Five nights before Christmas, high
Zodiac killer in his cab and drove him school students Betty Lou Jensen
to his destination. At the intersection and David Faraday were murdered
of Washington and Cherry Streets, on their first official date together.
Stine was shot dead in his drivers seat.

AALLLL

ITAHLOL SE

MURDER
TIMELINE

JUNE 4, 1963 OCTOBER 30, 1966
SANTA BARBARA RIVERSIDE

Robert Domingos and his fiancé Linda Cheri Josephine Bates was murdered
Edwards were murdered on a beach at Riverside City College in Riverside.
near Gaviota State Park. Robert’s She had been stabbed several times
father discovered their bodies inside and her throat was slashed open.
the remains of a crumbling shack. Her body was discovered lying
between two houses near her vehicle.

II KKIILLLL

DECEMBER 20, 1968 JULY 4, 1969 JULY 31, 1969
BENICA VALLEJO THE FIRST CODES

Five nights before Christmas, high Twenty-two-year-old Darlene Ferrin First codes were sent and demanded
school students Betty Lou Jensen died during a point-blank shooting, to be printed on the front pages of
and David Faraday were murdered Michael Mageau survived. The killer news outlets and publications.
on their first official date together. reports the crime and claims to
Jensen was shot dead while parked have killed Betty Lou Jensen and Letters sent to:
out on lake Herman, Faraday survived David Faraday, the year before. •  Vallejo Times Herald
the initial shooting but died in a few •  San Francisco Examiner
days later in his hospital bed. •  San francisco Chronical

MOST OF
PEOPLE W
TO AS SU
AREN’T R
SUSPECT
ZODIAC Over the years, Zodiac buffs and letters have suggested
SUSPECTS dozens of possible suspects based on speculation and
precise evidence. Conspiracy theorists have fingered
Richard Gaikowski, Arthur Leigh Allen, Ross Sullivan,
and Lawrance Kane. A handful of publicity-seekers
claim their fathers were the Zodiac. In recent years,
absurd allegations have spread on social media
including that Texas Senator Ted Cruz was the Zodiac,
even though he was born after the first confirmed killings.

F THE
WE REFER
USPECTS
REALLY
TS AT ALL
‘The level of crackpottery in the Zodiac case is stunning’,
says Michael Butterfield, a writer who has spent 20
years researching the case and runs the website ‘zodiac-
killerfacts.com’. He goes on to say ‘Most of the people we
refer to as suspects aren’t really suspected at all, just
somebody that someone accused whose name got repeated
online; even though there was never anything there’.

REASON FOR SUSPICION

Gaikowski was an editor for Counter-Culture newspaper in
San Francisco. A former co-worker sent long, rambling
letters to law-enforcement agencies accusing him of
being the Zodiac and said Gaikowski invited him to engage
in violent acts together such as randomly attacking
strangers for no apparent reason. The accuser, nicknamed
“Goldcatcher,” appeared in disguise on an episode of the
History Channel’s “MysteryQuest” in 2009 and provided
recordings of Gaikowski’s voice during a conversation.

RICHARD TO
GAIKOWSKI

VIOLENT PERSONALITY TRAITS
SIMILAR TO ZODIAC CRIMES

REASON FOR DISMISSAL

‘Goldcatcher’ was a known conspiracy theorist with little
credibility, described by a San Francisco police inspector
as ‘one of the three top Zodiac kooks’. When Ken Narlow,
the Napa detective, interviewed Gaikowski, the journalist
claimed he was out of the country at the time of the
1968 murders on Lake Herman Road.

O

DAN
GE
ARTHUR
LEIGH ALLEN 

MULTIPLE SIMILARITIES
TO ZODIAC PROFILE

REASON FOR SUSPICION

Police investigated Allen in 1991 after an informant facing
armed-robbery charges said Allen had boasted to him about
killing a cab driver. At that point, Michael Mageau, who
survived the Vallejo attack, identified a photo of Allen as the
shooter. In the 2007 movie, victim Darlene Ferrin’s sister
Linda also identified a photo of Allen as the man she
said had stalked her sister. According to the film, police
were closing in when Allen died.  

N REASON FOR DISMISSAL

‘Allen seems like a good suspect as long as you only get
information from people who think he’s guilty’, says
Butterfield. Allen didn’t match witness descriptions of
the Zodiac. His fingerprints didn’t match those found in

Paul Stine’s cab and believed to be the Zodiac’s. His palm

print didn’t match one found on a Zodiac letter and his
DNA didn’t match the partial DNA profile created in 2002
from saliva on an envelope believed to be the Zodiacs.
Two searches of Allen’s home found no incriminating
evidence. Police had samples of his right and left

EOR UShandwritingandneithermatchedtheZodiacs.

ROSS OCTOBER 30, 1966
SULLIVAN RIVERSIDE

CONNECTED TO THE MURDER Cheri Josephine Bates was murdered
OF CHERI JOSPHINE BATES at Riverside City College in Riverside.
She had been stabbed several times
and her throat was slashed open.
Her body was discovered lying
between two houses near her vehicle.

REASON FOR SUSPICION

The murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside, bore many
similarities to the Zodiac killings. Staff of the Riverside
City College library, near where Bates’s body was
found, said a co-worker, Ross Sullivan, had made them
uncomfortable and disappeared for several days after
the murder. Sullivan also sported a crew cut and glasses
similar to the composite sketch of the Zodiac. He moved to
northern California in 1967 and was hospitalized several
times for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

LAWRANCE
KANE

CONNECTED TO DONNA LASS
WHO WENT MISSING

SEP 6, 1970
LAKE TAHOE

A postcard attributed to the Zodiac
featured an advertisement for a
condominium project in Lake Tahoe,
Nevada, with the phrases “pass Lake
Tahoe areas” and “Sought Victim 12”.
Some interpreted the cryptic message
as a clue to the disappearance of
25-year-old Donna Lass.

REASON FOR SUSPICION

Kane worked in the same Lake Tahoe hotel as Donna Lass,
who disappeared in 1970 and may have been another
Zodiac victim. He served in the Naval Reserves, where he
might have studied cryptology, and a 1962 car accident
left him with a brain injury that could have compromised
his ability to control urges. He was arrested for peeping
in 1961 and for prowling in 1968.

IT’S A
DEAD
END

At this point it may seem like a dead end, it could be any one
of the suspects, and Although it may seem the police have lost
the zodiac killer forever, hope sitll lies within the unsolved
codes he has left behind. Codes that to this day rank among
the famous unsolvable codes such as the Nazi’s Enigma code.



SO IF WE CAN FIND
NEW CLUES HIDDEN

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