The Zodiac Killer

It’s December 20, 1968, and you’ve finally convinced your parents to let you go out on a date. Your dashing date picks you up in his station wagon. As the night goes on, you find yourself parked in a remote spot, thoroughly enjoying each others company. Nothing could go wrong, right?

David Faraday, 17, and his girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen, 16, were parked in a remote spot on Lake Herman Road near Vallejo, California. Without notice, a gun was fired into the car. Jensen exited the passenger door, followed by her boyfriend. He was shot in the head as he emerged and died instantly. Jensen took off on foot, only to be gunned down, shot five times in the back. It was the first date her parents had ever let her go on, and the last she would ever have.

There was no robbery, no witnesses, no apparent motive, and no viable evidence. Police and family alike, were dumbfounded.

Zodiac — David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen Crime Scene

Just after midnight, the morning of July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Mike Mageau, 19, were parked in the parking lot of secluded Blue Rock Springs Park on the eastern outskirts of Vallejo, California. A car, identified as possibly a light brown Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Corvair parked in the lot, just a few feet away. A man exited the car, and with his flashlight out, approached them. Thinking it was a police officer, the couple got their identification out.

Without warning, the man began firing into the car with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. After five shots, he slowly walked back to his car. Darlene was dead, but Mageau was still alive. He screamed out in pain, which brought the man back to the car. He fired two more shots into both Mageau and Ferrin.

At this point, Mike Mageau got a look at the shooter. He was white, 5’8″ to 5’9″, late 20s to early 30s, stocky build, round face and brown hair. Approximately 45 minutes later, the Vallejo Police Department received a call from a man claiming responsibility for the attack. He was able to positively identify the weapon as a 9mm, and also took credit for the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20, 1968.

But again, there was no robbery, no apparent motive, no viable evidence, and the only witness was Mike Mageau. After a few weeks, the investigation went cold. That is until July 31, 1969, when letters were received by the Vallejo Times-Herald, San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. The letters claimed to be from the killer of Faraday, Jensen and Ferrin.

The letters could have been easily dismissed, except they included details that only the killer could have known. Each letter also contained one-third of a cipher. This cipher supposedly contained the killers identity.

The cipher was cracked by a history teacher and his wife. This is what it said:

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 ALL 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

The afternoon of September 27, 1969, Cecelia Shepard, 22, and her boyfriend Bryan Hartnell, 20, were relaxing on a blanket at a very remote location by Lake Berryessa, near Napa California. Shepard noticed a tall man with a heavy build approaching them wearing an unusual costume and holding a gun. The man claimed to be a prison escapee from either Montana or Colorado and needed money and a car to flee to Mexico.

Hartnell offered his wallet and keys, but they weren’t taken. Instead, after several minutes of conversation, the man tied the couple up, using plastic clothesline, then began stabbing them with a 10-12 inch blade. Hartnell was attacked first, stabbed six times in the back. Then Shepard was stabbed five times in the front, and another five times in the back. Afterward, the man walked casually away.

A nearby fisherman heard the couple screaming and was able to alert park rangers. It took nearly an hour for an ambulance to arrive, by which time the couple had managed to untie themselves.

Just over an hour after the attack, the Napa Police Department received a phone call from a man claiming responsibility for the stabbing. They were able to trace the call to a phone booth in downtown Napa, and fingerprints were later recovered. At the crime scene, deputies found that the attacker had written a message on the victims’ car door. The message included the dates of the Faraday-Jensen and Ferrin-Mageau attacks, was signed with a cross-circle symbol.

Tire tracks indicated that the killer had parked behind the victims’ car, and left behind size 10-½ Wing Walker shoe prints, indicating the suspect weighed no more than 210 pounds.

While Hartnell recovered from his wounds, Shepard ultimately succumbed to her injuries and died on September 29, 1969. Many suspects were considered, including serial killer, Ted Bundy, however he was later cleared, thanks to a fingerprint comparison in February 1989.

Saturday, October 11, 1969, the next victim was taken. Cab driver, Paul Stine, 29, was shot once in the head at point blank range with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and not the same 9mm used in the Ferrin murder. This time there were witnesses, three of them, from a house on the southeast corner of the intersection where the cab had stopped, at Washington and Maple Streets, in San Francisco, California.

This time, the killer took the keys, wallet, and even a torn off portion of Stine’s shirt. Bloody fingerprints were also recovered from the vehicle, and a pair of mens size 7 black leather gloves were found.

The three witnesses reportedly watched the suspect wipe down the cab with a cloth after killing Stine. They called the police and described the suspect as a white male, 25-30 years old, 5’8” – 5’9”, stocky build, with reddish brown hair worn in a crew cut. He wore heavy rimmed glasses and dark clothing. They reported him walking north on Cherry Street, however the police dispatcher mistakenly described the suspect as being a black male, and when patrol officers later observed a white man walking east on Jackson Street, he was never stopped and questioned – though they believe now, he may have been the killer.

October 13, 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac killer containing a portion of the bloody shirt, taking credit for the killing. Inspectors Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong, who were assigned to the case, were shocked when they discovered the shirt belonged to Stine. Later the Zodiac claimed he spoke with the patrolmen the night of the murder, leading them astray. More than a month later, Officer Fouke came forward about his possible encounter with the killer.

Was this the Zodiac’s last killing? It is hard to say for sure. Another case, on March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns, 22, and her infant daughter were traveling to Petaluma, California to visit a sick relative. A man had indicated to her that one of her wheels was wobbling, so she pulled over. He pulled over as well, and offered to fix the problem, instead, he loosened the lug nuts even further, causing her wheel to come off once she was back on the highway.

The man convinced her to accept a ride to a service station, however, according to Johns, the man drove her and her baby around the backroads near Tracy, California, for close to two hours, all the while threatening to kill them.

Johns was able to escape, holding onto her daughter for dear life. She made it to the police station, and spotted a Zodiac wanted poster and frantically identified him as being the responsible party. Her kidnapper was approximately 30 years old, about 5’9” and 160 pounds. He had short dark hair, heavy rimmed glasses and wore dark clothing. Her vehicle was later found approximately 2 miles from where she claimed to have left it, and it had been burned.

The story was ran in the major newspapers, the Chronicle and Examiner, and then on July 24, 1970, Zodiac mailed a letter to the Chronicle, taking credit for the crime. Police are unsure th is was actually a Zodiac crime though, as his letter failed to provide pertinent details that would have clearly established his involvement – as he had done in all his other letters.

While the Zodiac killer was never caught, investigators had a handful of viable suspects. This list includes: