Colegiul Național Militar "Dimitrie Cantemir" Breaza

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

- THE ZODIAC MURDERER -

PROFESOR COORDONATOR: ELEV:

ZIEGLER ANDREEA UDREA

CHAPTER I: SHORT PRESENTATION……………………………………..1

CHAPTER II: MURDERS…………………………………………………….2

CHAPTER III: LETTERS……………………………………………………..4

CHAPTER IV: SUSPECTS….………………………………………………...5

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………...6
 THE ZODIAC

- Short Presentation -

In the late 1960s, a serial killer known as the Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California.
The true identity of this individual remains a mystery, making it the most famous unsolved
murder case in American history. The case captured the public's imagination, inspiring
amateur detectives to find answers.

The Zodiac Killer targeted and killed five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area
between December 1968 and October 1969. His victims included young couples and a lone
taxi driver. The attacks occurred in Benicia, Vallejo, Napa County and the city of San
Francisco itself. Remarkably, two of his victims managed to survive their encounters with the
killer. The Zodiac Killer, in his letters and books sent to local newspapers, claimed
responsibility for 37 murders. He has also been linked to several other unsolved cases, some
of which took place in Southern California or out of state.

The Zodiac Killer adopted his moniker and taunted the public with a series of letters and
greeting cards, which he mailed to regional newspapers. In these correspondences, he
threatened further killings and bombings if his messages were not published. Some of his
letters included encrypted messages or ciphers, suggesting that he was gathering victims as
slaves for the afterlife. Of the four ciphers he provided, two remain unsolved, with one only
being deciphered in 2020. Numerous theories have been proposed as to the killer's identity,
but authorities have publicly identified only one suspect at the time—Arthur Leigh Allen, the
former primary school. teacher and convicted sex offender who died in 1992.

Despite the cessation of written communications of the Zodiac Killer around 1974, the
peculiar nature of the case has sustained international interest over the years. The San
Francisco Police Department classified the case as "inactive" in April 2004, but it was later
reopened prior to March 2007. The case also remains open in the city of Vallejo, as well
Napa and Solano counties. Since 1969, the California Department of Justice has maintained
an active case file on the Zodiac murders.

MURDERS
Although the Zodiac claimed in letters to newspapers to have committed 37 murders,
investigators agree on seven confirmed assault victims, five of whom died and two survived.
They are:

David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16, were shot and killed on December 20,
1968, on Lake Herman Road, within the city limits of Benicia.

Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22, were shot on July 4, 1969,
in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. Mageau survived the attack; Ferrin
was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital.

Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, were stabbed on September 27,
1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived, but Shepard died as a result of
her injuries a couple days later on September 29.

Paul Lee Stine, 29, was shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights
neighborhood of San Francisco"

Lake Herman Roan murders

The initial murders of the Zodiac Killer took place on December 20, 1968, near Benicia on
Lake Herman Road. The victims were away on their first date. They parked on Lake
Herman Road, a popular spot for young couples around 10:15 p.m. The killer ordered Jensen
and Faraday out of the car. Faraday was shot in the head, and Jensen was shot several times
in the back. Around 23:00, the bodies were discovered lifeless. Despite the investigation, no
significant leads emerged..

Blue Rock Springs murder

Just before midnight on July 4, 1969, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove into
Vallejo's Blue Rock Springs Park and parked. A second car parked next to them. The driver
of the second car got out and approached the passenger side door of Ferrin's car, carrying a
flashlight and a gun. The killer pointed the flashlight into the teenagers' eyes, firing five
times. Both victims were hit. Ferrin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mageau survived
the attack, despite being shot in the face, neck and chest. Mageau described her attacker as a
white male, 26 to 30 years old, with light brown curly hair.

Lake Berryessa murder

On September 27, 1969, Pacific Union College students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard
were picnicking at Lake Berryessa. A hooded man, approximately 5'11" tall and weighing
over 170 pounds, approached them. He wore a black hood with sunglasses. Armed with a
gun, he claimed to be an escaped convict who had killed a guard and needed their car and
money to flee to Mexico. After forcing Shepard to tie up Hartnell, the attacker stabbed them
multiple times. He later called the sheriff's office to report the crime. Shepard died two days
later, but Hartnell survived. The case remained unsolved even after detectives found a palm
print at the crime scene.

Presidio Heights murder

On October 11, 1969, two weeks after the previous incident, a white male passenger hailed a
cab driven by Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco. He
requested to be taken to Washington and Maple streets in Presidio Heights but instead, Stine
drove past Maple to Cherry Street. It was there that the passenger shot Stine in the head with
a handgun, stole his wallet and car keys, and tore off a piece of his bloodstained shirt.
Witnesses, three teenagers across the street, immediately called the police as they saw the
crime unfold at 9:55 p.m. They observed the perpetrator wiping down the cab before
walking towards the nearby Presidio.

Responding to the call, officers Don Fouke and Eric Zelms spotted a white man walking
along Jackson Street, a couple of blocks away from the crime scene. However, due to a mix-
up in descriptions, as the police radio dispatcher had mentioned a black suspect, they drove
past the individual without stopping. A search was conducted, but no suspects were found.
This marked the last officially confirmed murder by the Zodiac Killer.

The murder of Stine was initially viewed as a robbery turned violent. However, on October
13, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac claiming responsibility for
the killing. The letter included a torn section of Stine's bloodied shirt as proof. The three
teenage witnesses collaborated with a police artist to create a composite sketch of the killer,
and a second sketch was later prepared. Detectives Bill Armstrong and Dave Toschi were
assigned to the case, and the San Francisco Police Department investigated around 2,500
suspects over several years.

LETTERS

First letters from the Zodiac

On August 1, 1969, the Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The San
Francisco Examiner received three letters supposedly written by the killer. A psychiatrist
described the letters as the work of someone brooding and isolated. They claimed
responsibility for the shootings at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. Each letter
contained a third of a 408-symbol cryptogram that the killer said revealed his identity. He
threatened to kill lone individuals throughout the weekend unless the newspapers published
the cryptogram on their front pages. The Chronicle published its portion of the cryptogram on
page four, with Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz expressing doubts about the letter's
authenticity and requesting more evidence from the writer.
The promised murders did not occur, and eventually, all three parts of the cryptogram were
published. On August 7, 1969, The San Francisco Examiner received a letter starting with
"Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking." It was the first time the killer used this name. The
letter contained undisclosed details about the murders, known only to the authorities. The
killer also mentioned that cracking his code would lead to his capture.
On August 8, 1969, Donald and Bettye Harden from Salinas, California deciphered the 408-
symbol cryptogram. It contained a misspelled message referencing "The Most Dangerous
Game" and the killer's collection of slaves for the afterlife. However, the decoded text did not
provide the killer's name, as he believed revealing it would hinder his slave collection.

1969 mailings

On October 14, 1969, the Zodiac sent another letter to the Chronicle, enclosing a piece of Paul
Stine's shirt as evidence of his identity and threatening to kill schoolchildren on a bus. To do
this, Zodiac wrote, "just shoot out the front tire & then pick off the kiddies as they come
bouncing out". On October 20, someone claiming to be the Zodiac called the Oakland Police
Department, demanding that either F. Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli appear on a talk show. Belli
agreed to go on the show, but the caller, using the name "Sam," failed to show up at the
agreed meeting place. A card with a new cipher, "Z-340," was sent on November 8, 1969,
remaining unsolved for over 51 years until a group of private citizens deciphered it in 2020.
The decrypted message denied being the "Sam" from the show explaining that he was not
afraid of the gas chamber "because it will send me to paradice all the sooner" and provided no
further clues to the Zodiac's identity. On November 9, the Zodiac sent a seven-page letter
claiming that he spoke with two policemen moments after shooting Stine. The Zodiac mailed
a letter to Belli that included another swatch of Stine's shirt; the Zodiac said that he wanted
Belli to help him.

SUSPECTS

Arthur Leigh Allen

Arthur Leigh Allen, a potential suspect in the Zodiac case, was put forward by Robert
Graysmith's book. Allen had been extensively interviewed by the police and subjected to
multiple search warrants over a 20-year period. Several police detectives considered Allen the
most likely suspect, but in 2010, Dave Toschi stated that all evidence against Allen turned out
to be negative. Toschi's daughter confirmed her father's belief in Allen's guilt but
acknowledged the lack of evidence. Mark Ruffalo, who portrayed Toschi in the film
"Zodiac," highlighted the detectives' need to separate personal beliefs from the investigation.
In October 1969, Allen was questioned by Detective John Lynch regarding his presence near
the Lake Berryessa attack. He claimed to have been scuba diving at Salt Point on that day. In
1971, Allen drew attention again when his friend Donald Cheney reported his suspicious
statements about killing people, using the name Zodiac, and attaching a flashlight to a firearm.
Jack Mulanax of the Vallejo Police Department revealed Allen's dishonorable discharge from
the Navy in 1958 and his termination as an elementary school teacher in 1968 due to
allegations of sexual misconduct.
Allen was interviewed by the police in 1971, and the Zodiac's correspondence ceased until
1974. In September 1972, the San Francisco police obtained a search warrant for Allen's
residence. In 1974, Allen was arrested for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy. Vallejo
police served search warrants at Allen's residence in 1991 and shortly after his death in 1992.
Mike Mageau identified Allen as the man who shot him in 1969, but officer Donald Fouke,
who saw the Zodiac fleeing, noted physical discrepancies. Nancy Slover, who received a call
from the Zodiac, stated that Allen did not sound like the caller.
Additional circumstantial evidence included the typewriter used in a letter sent to the
Riverside Police Department, which matched the one found at Allen's residence in 1991.
Allen owned a Zodiac brand wristwatch and lived near one of the Zodiac's victims. DNA
comparisons between Zodiac's letters and Allen's DNA, as well as that of Don Cheney, did
not provide a match. Handwriting expert Lloyd Cunningham concluded that Allen's writing
and the DNA from the Zodiac letters did not match.

Gary Francis Poste

In October 2021, the Case Breakers, a team of over 40 investigators including former law
enforcement officers, claimed to have identified the Zodiac Killer as Gary Francis Poste, who
died in 2018. They cited forensic evidence, photos, and matching scars on Poste's forehead.
The FBI kept the case open, expressing no new information, while local law enforcement and
investigator Tom Voigt dismissed the claims, citing circumstantial evidence and the lack of
witness descriptions of forehead scars.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zodiac-killer

https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/the-
zodiac-killer/