Where can you find information about the Zodiac Killer?

Answer 1

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California. The first murders were on December 20, 1968. He coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press until 1974. His letters included four cryptograms, three of which have yet to be solved.

The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa (near Napa), and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted, and no connections between them have ever been discovered; they appear to have been victims of opportunity, nothing more. In his letters Zodiac claimed 37 kills.

While it is often claimed that the Zodiac knew his victims, there has never been any credible evidence to suggest this was true. Numerous others have been thought to be Zodiac victims, although the evidence is scant at best. The killer's identity remains unknown. The San Francisco Police Department marked its investigation "inactive" in April 2004 but reopened the case in 2007. The case remains open in other jurisdictions.

The link with the letters he wrote is posted on the related links box below.

List of definite victims and some that are possible victims:

Definite Victims:

David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen

Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau

Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell

Paul Stine

Possible Victims:

Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards

Cheri Jo Bates

Kathleen Johns

Donna Lass

Answer 2

There is no shortage of information on the Zodiac. There are numerous websites devoted to serial killers and some on the Zodiac specifically. But a 'must have' is Robert Graysmith's Zodiac:Unmasked.* Graysmith worked at the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of the Zodiac's most active period. After 30 years of research, Graysmith's book is the Zodiac bible for those curious about this most famous serial killer.

*Make sure you get the second edition of Graysmith's book. It has the most up-to-date info and was the basis of the movie of the same name.

Answer 3

The Zodiac Killer case, which occurred in the late 1960s-early 1970s, remains open and unsolved. Police had a serious suspect, a Vallejo man named Arthur Leigh Allen. He was the only suspect, out of more than 2,500 suspects, who was ever served with a search warrent. He was never arrested. No one has ever been arrested in this case. Allen died in 1992.

Answer 4

The evidence collected by law enforcement for the Zodiac case spans four decades, involves multiple jurisdictions, and is far too vast for this format. It includes ballistics on the firearms used, measurments for type and size of knives used, bootprints, FBI criminal profile, bloodtyping, fingerprints, handwriting samples and analysis, letters and notes sent from the killer, clothing, eyewitness testimonies, thousands of statements from individuals, confessions by the dozens of 'wanna-be's' and this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Very recently, a Massachusetts man named Corey Starliper claims to have solved one of Zodiac's ciphers. Zodiac signed his real name in that cipher. It was signed Leigh Allen. Arthur Leigh Allen was a long-time suspect for the Zodiac crimes and was in fact under surveillance by law enforcement before his death in August of 1992. With Allen's untimely death, the investigators and the world was denied the closure that an arrest and conviction would have made possible. For the entire (or close to it) story of the Zodiac Killer I recommend 'Zodiac:Unmasked' by Robert Graysmith. Graysmith named Allen as Zodiac almost 10 years ago and his bestseller was made into a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Graysmith), Mark Ruffalo (Dave Tosci), Anthony Edwards (Bill Armstrong) and Robert Downey, Jr. (Paul Avery).

Answer 5

The Zodiac Killer operated in Northern California in the late 1960's.