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The Killing Spree Begins
The murder spree initiated by a man known only as The Zodiac, has to be one of the most intriguing criminal mysteries the United State has ever experienced. No one is sure exactly when it began nor do we know when it will end. All we do know is that for over 22 years, someone has managed to outwit the California authorities all the while taunting, goading, and ridiculing the police while he maintained his cycle of viscous killings, often within sight of the authorities that sought him.
The first victim of the Zodiac may have been Chen Jo Bates (18), a student at Riverside City's College. Her body was found near the college library's parking lot. The only evidence left at the scene were a Timex watch (with the time stopped at 12:23AM) and a partial palm print. Other evidence soon arrived - delivered by the US Postal service. A letter to the Riverside Police and the Riverside Enterprise newspaper arrived soon after the incident with no postage.
...I AM NOT SICK. I AM INSANE. BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP THE GAME. THIS LETTER SHOULD BE PUBLISHED FOR ALL TO READ IT. IT JUST MIGHT SAVE THAT GIRL IN THE ALLEY. BUT THAT'S UP TO YOU. IT WILL BE ON YOUR CONSCIENCE. NOT MINE. YES, I DID MAKE THAT CALL TO YOU ALSO. IT WAS JUST A WARNING. BEWARE...I AM STALKING YOUR GIRLS NOW.
Six months later a second letter arrived bearing the simple text "Bates had to die. There will be more". The only signature it contained was a single letter 'Z'...
On December 20, 1968, what some consider to be the first true Zodiac attack, occurred at Lake Herman Road in Vallejo (20 miles northeast of San Francisco). A woman passer-by discovered two bodies lying in the middle of the road near a parked car. Later identified as David Arthur Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16), both were shot at close range, David while sitting in the car and Betty Lou as she tried to run away. Witnesses recalled seeing a blue Valiant driving suspiciously up and down Lake Herman Road for about an hour...
Vallejo, California
About 7 months later, on July 5, 1969, the second attack occurred in Vallejo, California. Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin (24) a local waitress, and Michael Renault Mageau were parked in their car when a blinding flashlight was shone in their faces. A white male, 25-30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a round face and brown wavy hair stealthily approached their vehicle and began firing. Darelene was killed instantly but Michael survived and told of the callousness in which Zodiac calmly walked back to his car, heard Michael moaning, then promptly returned to fire 5 more shots at his victims. This impassive behavior was further exhibited when the Zodiac began his relentless pursuit of recognition while tantalizing local Vallejo authorities with calls and letters. The first phone call arrived minutes after the Ferrin and mageau shooting spree...
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 nine-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Good-bye
Police quickly tracked the originating number and promptly called it back. The call came from a phone booth right around the corner from the Vallejo police station and practically across the street from Darlene Ferrin's home. A passerby answered the ringing phone and informed the police that he had seen the man calmly lay the receiver down and drove off in a brown car.
This incident bore many bizarre characteristics that for some time, puzzled the local police. They felt that Ferrin may have been stalked some time prior to her demise and some speculate she may have known her killer (was it a coincidence that the killer phoned from a booth across the street from Darlene's home). Darlene was married, and not to Michael Mageau and close friends told of Darlene receiving a private phone call earlier that night.
Michael's behavior was quite perplexing too. At the scene, police were puzzled to find that Michael wore 3 pairs of pants, a long sleeved shirt, and 3 sweaters on a warm July night. They also discovered that he had left his home in a hurry - the door was wide open and the TV left playing.
Police pondered whether she was having an affair with Michael or if she simply brought him along as protection in order to meet her perceived stalker in a hastily arranged rendezvous. These questions may never be answered since Michael Mageau, the sole survivor, has since left the area and is living under an assumed name.
The Letter Campaign
On July 31, 1969 (possibly 08/01/1969), three of the area newspapers received mystifying letters. The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vallejo Times-Herald received letters stating:
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, 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 over the weekend.
Each of the three letters were slightly different (the Vallejo version is shown above) but all stated precisely the same information. Each of the letters included 1/3 of a cipher, indicating if all three were solved then the identity of the killer would be revealed. The first letter (and first part of the cipher) was sent to the Vallejo Times-Herald and was marked with 4 stamps. The second letter was sent to the San Francisco Examiner and had 3 stamps. The 3rd letter was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle and had 2 stamps. The number of stamps used on each envelope was apparently a clue to the encryption method used in the cipher. Police did not discover this at first but it did not matter - a Alisal High School Teacher in Salinas broke the code and revealed the eerie message.
I like to kill people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest, because man is the most dangerous animal of all. To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience. It is even better than sex. The best part will be when I die. I will be reborn in Paradise, and then all I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife.
All three letters were signed with a Zodiac sign, a symbol representing the Zodiac, a celestial belt in space which encompasses 13 constellations. Because of this, the police dubbed him the Zodiac, a name which the killer quickly took accustom to and began using in all subsequent communications.
Police questioned the authenticity of the first letter or at least they publicly stated that they had their doubts in order to pry more information out of the killer. Either way, it worked. 3 days later another letter arrived from the killer, the first letter in which he actually addressed himself as the Zodiac. This letter certainly convinced the police that they were dealing with the actual culprit and that they had a major problem on their hands.
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.
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. Bullshit that 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.
3 months later, on September 27, 1969, the Napa, California police department received a unsuspecting call.
I want to report a murder -- no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia.
The Second Incident
When the operator asked the caller for his location he simply replied, "I'm the one that did it".
 Police arrived on the scene to discover Cecilia Ann Shepherd and Bryan Harrnell, 2 students from Pacific Union College. They were picnicking near Lake Verriesa (60 miles northeast of San Francisco) on a secluded shore of the lake. Both were found in the parked car. Cecillia died 2 days later of 24 stab wounds. Bryan survived and was able to describe a "pudgy looking man wearing hood with slits for eyes and clip-on sunglasses." The hood fell almost to his waste and had a Zodiac symbol stitched on the front of it. Bryan stated that the man approached the vehicle claiming he was an escaped convict from Montana and that he desperately needed cash. They talked for a while when the Zodiac suddenly stopped and exclaimed, "I'm going to have to stab you people". The selflessness of the attack was apparent went police discovered that the wounds on Cecilia formed a definitive cross shape and that the Zodiac had calmly painted his 'symbol' on their car with a felt tip pen.
Less than 3 months later the third and final attack occurred. Although this would be the last known attack, the relentless taunting continued for years after.
The Terror Ends?
On October 11, 1969, Robert Stine (29), a San Francisco cab driver, picked up a fare at the corner of Mason and Geary Streets in Union Square. His logged destination was Washington and Maple Streets in Presido Heights. For some unknown reason, the cab did not stop at it's intended destination but rather stopped short at 3898 Washington Street where it joins with Cherry Street in the Nob Hill section of San Francisco. Robert Stine was found dead, of a single gun shot wound to the head. Witnesses told of a man wiping the cab clean and then walking calmly away.
In a bizarre and unfortunate twist, the first description the police received was of a black man. As they sped towards the scene, they stopped a man walking up Cherry street to ask if he'd seen the suspect. The man replied that he had indeed seen the black man running east up the road. Police turned and gave chase and would later find out that the misinformation they'd just received came from Zodiac himself.
When police realized they had been duped, they turned back in an attempt to apprehend the elusive Zodiac who had just slipped through their grasp. It is most likely that Zodiac escaped through the nearby park (a witness saw a man running through there). The San Francisco PD publicly denied the incident but it was later collaborated individually by both of the officers. The fact was also verified by Zodiac himself who would later reference the Paul Stine incident in many of his subsequent letters.
Up to this point, police only had partial palm and fingerprints, none of which matched anyone in their database. There only clues were the letters and phone calls that seemed to indicate a man of sub-average intelligence. At the beginning, police believed Zodiac to be an illiterate, a fact that they later countered when it became apparent that Zodiac had an extensive knowledge of math and chemistry. Gleemed from some of the references he made in his letters, some even suggest that Zodiac had a much higher degree of education than anyone suspected.
The Letter Campaign Continues
The next day, October 12, 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle received another letter from Zodiac with a shocking piece of evidence attached. The letter began "Schoolchildren make good targets. I think I shall wipe out a school bus one morning some time. Just shoot out the tyres, then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out.". A bloody fragment of Paul Stine's shirt was attached to the note.
Nine days later, on October 21, 1969, Zodiac phoned the Oakland police and stated that he would turn himself in if he could be represented by Melvin Belli and F. Lee Bailey (two famous lawyers). He also insisted on obtaining on-air time on the Jim Dunbar show. Police agreed and at 7:41AM the next day, Zodiac phoned the show and talked live with Melvin Belli. Of course, the police traced the call but the elusive Zodiac had thought of everything. During the course of the show, Zodiac would hang up and quickly call back from a total of 15 different locations.
In early November, another shorter letter was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle with double the necessary postage.
This is the Zodiac speaking I though you would need a good laugh before you get the bad news you won't get the news for a while yet PS could you print this new cipher on your frunt page? I get awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing!!!!!!
 Still another letter was received on November 10, 1969 and in December of 1969, the attorney Melvin Belli received a Christmas card from Zodiac.
This is the Zodiac speaking I wish you a happy Christmass. The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out because of this thing in me won't let me. I am finding it extreamly dificult to keep in check I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth + posibly tenth victom. Please help me I am drownding...
The Finale
Five additional letters were sent during 1970. Another letter was sent in 1971 (signed with the Zodiac symbol and the number 17 followed by a plus sign). Three letters were received in 1974 in which Zodiac indicated his body count had risen to 37. Finally, on July 08, 1974, the last letter was sent postmarked in San Rafael, California.
All remained quiet until 16 years later when the New York Post received an odd letter that was postmarked in New York. The letter described 4 recent unsolved murders supplying such graphic detail that only the true murderer would have known. The letter ended with the chilling words: "NYPD 0, Zodiac 9"...
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