How did the Zodiac Killer kill his victims?

Answer 1

since the zodiac killer's identity is unknown, we might never learn the reasons that moved him to do such things. He had to suffer some mental illness clinically speaking.

But if he is dead he did not leave a bragging note confessin after death so everyone knew who fooled the police until the end which makes me believe he had a violent death that not necesarily had to to with his serial killings.

Answer 2

there might some level of sexual dysfunction present in the Zodiac phenomena that compelled the killer more than a desire for publicity. Certainly he wanted to be notorious, but so do most young men and they manage to get through it without killing anyone. I don't have a particular theory about whether Zodiac was abused as a child or anything, but I think it would be naive to believe that Z was motivated only by a drive for publicity. So many other -- in fact, almost all -- known serial killers have recognizable sexual dysfunctions that I figure Zodiac will follow that pattern.

Answer 3

no ........Absolutely he did target a specific victim category. Where did his name come from after-all. His aim was to kill at least one person for each sign of the zodiac, but not necessarily in any particular order. Each victim was a different star sign.

//While it is true that the Zodiac Killer did target certain people it had nothing to do with the victim's astrological signs. With the exception of Darlene Ferrin, they were all strangers to the killer. What the Zodiac was looking for were couples (male/female heterosexual), usually in 'lover's lane' type situations. The murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco was just a ploy to confuse and/or confound the 'Blue Meanies' (cops) by breaking his pattern. As smart as he appeared to be, the Stine murder could have been his undoing. Unlike the smaller towns or counties to the north or south of the city, San Francisco had more resourses, top notch homicide detectives, more money to sustain an expensive investigation.

Answer 4

Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday were shot to death on Lake Herman Road near Gate #10 of the Benicia Water Pumping Station on December 20, 1968.

Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau were shot in the parking lot of the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course in Vallejo on July 4-5, 1969. Darlene died but Mike recovered.

Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were stabbed repeatedly at what is now known as Zodiac Island at Lake Berryessa on September 27, 1969 in Zodiac's only known attack during daylight hours. He wore an executioner-like costume to conceal his identity. Cecelia died but Bryan survived.

San Francisco Yellow Cab driver Paul Stine was shot in the head at point blank range in his cab in the Presidio Heights area of San Francisco on October 11, 1969.

Answer 5

It is always much easier to establish motive by talking to the killer. Unfortuneately, the Zodiac was never caught so it is guesswork at best. The original Zodiac* generally attacked couples in secluded areas, or what some call 'lover's lane' situations. Although both sexes were attacked the Zodiac's anger seemed to be mostly directed toward the young women. It's not a big leap from that to know this man had problems with women. It's possible he had a love/hate relationship with his own mother. Zodiac killed by gun and by knife, two opposites in the game of murder. Guns relate distance, the killer did not have to get close in order to carry out the murders. But he was equally adept with a knife, which is a very personal type of attack. He had to get up close and literally had to make physical contact with these victims in order to kill them. This method definately makes a statement about his mindset at the time of the murders.

It also should be pointed out that the Zodiac loved to play out his crimes through local newspapers. Nearly 100 years before Zodiac a London fiend calling himself Jack The Ripper was doing the same thing. Taunting the police who could not seem to catch him. This type of killer gets almost as much pleasure misleading and mocking police as he does in the actual killing. In the killer's mind he is the superior intellegence, far above those that seek to catch him.

*The 'original Zodiac' is used to differentiate between the first Zodiac who killed in California during the 1960's and 1970's. There have been at least three additional killers using the Zodiac name.

Answer 6

This was a strange case, because the last murder was in 1970 and the killer was never caught. There were letters proved to have been from the real killer in the mid 1970s, but no more murders. Some people theorise that he may have killed others that were not linked to him. But he was a publicity seeker, and although in the 1970s he claimed to have killed many more, he never gave any details, whereas with his confirmed kills he revelled in reporting the details.

So the mystery is why did he stop killing? He was obviously still psychotic, as his 1970s threat letters indicate. Maybe he did some jail time, maybe he died, or maybe he was scared off by his near capture on the night of the last murder. He was seen by a patrolman responding to the call, but he wasn't stopped. It's a really strange case, but the BTK case shows that these killers can choose to stop killing. Raeder didn't kill anyone after 1990, despite his psychosis remaining. Maybe this killer was the same; he decided killing was too risky and decided to rely on his memories of the slayings to get off.

//There are several reasons a serial killer stops killing. Obviously, death and/or declining health is one reason. The second is they are incarcerated for other unrelated crimes or have changed locations. The last reason is age. If not dead, arrested or relocated, age will lessen the sexual urgency and physical strength, and the killer will just run out of steam. Examples of this is evident in the cases of Jack The Ripper and Zodiac. The Ripper's last victim was not Mary Kelly, as Paul Stine was most likely not Zodiac's last victim. Zodiac has been linked to many other murders, at least eight in Sonoma county, located west of Vallejo, and north of San Francisco. There are also several unsolved murders in Southern California that are thought to be Zodiac's.

Answer 7

There is no proof of what traumas the zodiac killer has been through in his life that might have caused his serial killings since he was never aprehended. The letters and ciphers don't give a real clue to that either. Those had some mistakes on them and include inaccuracies and errors. The root cause for the cipher errors may have been the thickness of the Zodiac Killer's writing tool. Anyway, maybe he was not so smart as we thought but he was never caught.

In my opinion, the sexual nature of his crimes is very clear. I don't think a person has to engage in sex in order to be a sexual sadist. And a sure thing we could point out is that the zodiac killer wanted to cause the most pain and terror in the shortest amount of time possible.

Answer 8

With the alarming increase in serial murder in post-WWII America, much effort and resources have gone into the study of what makes a serial killer. It's a complex problem with no simple answers. That fact that the Zodiac was never caught makes it that much more difficult to understand why he did what he did.

From other killers of this type, we know there are certain commonalities these killers share. Childhood abuse or trauma is prevailent in the lives of many killers. These childhood experiences come in many forms and levels of severity. From Charles Manson's and Aileen Wuornos's nightmarish beginings to Jeffrey Dahmer's and Ted Bundy's mildly disfunctional family lives. What is known is that it seems to be a combination of 'nature and nurture', genes and parenting gone wrong. And of course the indefinable that is each human's individual personality and their personal 'take' on the outside world.

In the Zodiac's particular case it is probably true that he had a domineering parent, most likely a mother. A higher than average IQ, which makes it harder to catch him. He is from the 'organized' group of killer, they plan every detail and make few mistakes. But for whatever factors that intersected to form this evil person, we can all be grateful that although these killers get more than their share of press, they are still a rare type of criminal. So the studies continue with the hope of a solution and possibly a prevention, making stranger murder a thing of the past.