Analysis: The Zodiac Killer

Darlene Ferrin, a close friend of the first two victims, was the next victim of the Zodiac. On Friday, July 4th, 1969, Darlene made arrangements with friend Michael Mageau to go to the movies. Darlene picked Michael up from his apartment that evening, and from the beginning it was apparent that they were being followed. Darlene took many country back roads and traveled at very high speeds to try to lose the pursuing vehicle, but with no success. The vehicle forced Darlene’s car off of the road and into the parking lot of the Blue Rock Springs Golf course. Once the pursuer had sufficiently blocked them from any further movement in the car, he stepped out of his vehicle with a lantern in his hand. “Mike could feel intense heat throughout his body. He had been shot. The bullets were still being fired as Darlene slumped over the

Although serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, there is a general profile that criminologists go by when trying to profile a criminal. The typical serial killer is a white male in his late 20s to early 30s, kills within his own race, his targeted victims share specific characteristics, and his method of murder is “hands on” in means of strangulation. The types of serial killers include visionaries, missionaries, lust killers, thrill killers, gain killers, and power seekers. Depending on the type of serial killer, their profile may change; for example, certain clues from missionary-type killers can help decide their religious affiliation. Also, certain types of serial killers may generally have different age groups. Most serial

Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report,

Zodiac's first victim was Cherri Jo Bates. Although the murder was not attributed to Zodiac until 1970, she was murdered one day before Halloween in 1966. Like Zodiac's other victims Cherri Jo was a student. She lived with her father in Riverside, California and attended Riverside City College. She was a petite blond with blue eyes, although she was tan at the time of her death she had a light complexion. (Graysmith, 164)

Ted Bundy was born November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont. Theodore “Ted” Bundy was raised by his grandparents. Eleanor Cowell, Ted’s mom was twenty-two and unmarried when she had Theodore. To hide the fact that Theodore was an illegitimate child, he was raised as the adopted son of his grandparents and was told that his mother was his sister. Bundy’s mom moved to Tacoma, Washington a few years later and married Johnnie Bundy and had several children together. Ted grew an interest on disturbing and horrifying depictions of death or injuries on things. At the age of 3 Bundy mesmerized knives. He was very shy and intellectual at school but very bad with peers. As he got older, as a teenager his darker side became more visible. Years later, Bundy went to college and attended University of Washington. He then met a wealthy, pretty young woman from California and fell in love with her. She had everything that he wanted money, class, and influence. He was flattened by their breakup. Around 1974, Bundy became more seemingly confident in social and political matters. He graduated from University of Washington with a degree in psychology in 1972. and had been accepted to law school in Utah. On 1974 Bundy then moved to Utah to attend law school. Bundy’s breakup caused him to only kill college girls that looked like his ex girlfriend. All the victims were attractive with long black hair. He usually raped his victims before killing them.

Death is the sixth highest fear in the US. The idea of death is very prominent in our society, as around 6,775 people die a day, in the US alone. Serial killers are the monsters of the real world and should be feared the most. Villains in comic books or movies are fake, and can only bring us entertainment or the sense of being afraid. Serial killers bring true fear into people’s lives. The Zodiac uses this knowledge of fear and implements it into his own style of killing mass amounts of people, and not be caught. The Zodiac Killer’s intelligence is used to get away from the police, with killing many people of all statuses, age, and gender, by using ciphers and encrypted messages slowly giving the police hints. These hints are used so that

The National Geographic film, A Portrait of a Killer, examines the types of stress that living beings can endure, and how it can thus affect the rest of their bodies. Severe chronic stress can lead even lead to the destruction of brain cells. Dr. Robert Sapolsky is a neurobiologist of Stanford University who has been researching stress for over thirty years. In order to study stress and its implications upon nonhumans, he went to Africa to study baboons. This species has only three hours of stress caused by eating, and the rest of their daily routine is consumed by about nine hours of free time. Much like Western society, baboons socially stress out one another, as they have social hierarchies to regulate how them interact with one another.

Ever heard of the zodiac killer? He was a serial killer who operated in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in 5 states between December 1968 and October 1969. The general profile for a serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. There are many types of serial killers. There are natural born killers who are born willing to kill someone, insane killers which have mental and physical disorders and criminaloids who do not exhibit specific traits. The childhood of a serial killer would typically be someone who is neglected by their family mainly their mothers. They tend to be antisocial and have anger issues. Poor families often cannot provide what the child always wants so they might commit crimes to get want they want. Abused children have a higher chance of being killers also because they have a lot of built up aggression and anger. All can lead to substance abuse which is never a good thing to mix in with a potential serial killer in the making. General behavioral progression from pre-crime to post-crime are that they use killing as a source of relief. Before committing a serious crime they could have built up anger and hatred. They is a high possibility that they are suffering from depression and anxiety too. After killing someone the killer feels relieved. They also feel

A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break which can also be called a "cooling off period” between them. There are different types of serial killers. Some are mission oriented serial killers; others are visionary killers. There are equally power and control killers and thrill or hedonistic killers. There are many serial killers in the world at large with different motives for killing. Some people are serial killers on their own while others kill as a couple. In this case, we will talk about serial killers as a couple. We have the Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo who have a mix of hedonistic killers and power and control killers. We equally have Ray and Faye Copeland which also falls under power and control killers. The paper will focus on the background, victims, and trail of Ray and Faye Copeland and Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo.

Lucas Kelleher/ Street Law 10/3/08 The Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. His identity to this day still remains unknown. The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press. His letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Others have also been suspected to be Zodiac victims, but they have been ruled inconclusive. The lack of consensus about the number of victims, the inability of law enforcement

What do Adolf Hitler, The Zodiac Killer and, The Misfit all have in common? They are psychopathic murderers. Psychopaths do not feel therefore they cannot have morals in the same way normal people do. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor the character known as the Misfit loses the battle with his conscience and is proven to be immoral.

The man then proceeded to fire multiple shots at them, resulting in the death of Darlene and seriously wounding Mike. Within an hour of the incident, a man called the Vallejo police department, giving them the location of the crime scene as well as claiming responsibility for both that attack and the attack that had occurred in 1968. Despite the evidence including fingerprints, the decoded ciphers, a wave of tips and leads, his confession, and Mageau’s description of him being “A young white male between the age of 26 and 30 having a stocky build with light brown curly hair” the police were unable to track down the zodiac (“The Zodiac Killer”). Then on the evening of September 27, 1969, he struck again, approaching a young couple Cecilia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell. Wearing an executioner styled hood with his symbol on it, he tied them up before brutally stabbing them, he scrawled a message for the police on their car door before leaving the scene. He then called the Napa police department to claim responsibility and provide the location of his victims. Shepard and Hartnell were both alive when emergency services arrived, however Shepard died shortly

The first stranglings took place on took place on January 15th, 1974. Joseph Otero and his wife, Julie Otero were strangled in there living room. There daughter Josephine and housekeeper were found strangled in a bedroom and there son Joseph Otero was found strangled in the basement . The BTK strangler took the blame for it. He sent pictures and things he stole from the Otero family. Police knew it was him because know pictures were taken at the crime scene and the only person who would of had pictures was the murdered. On April 4th, 1974 Kathryn Bright who was 21 years old was stabbed to death in her home, police later concluded that it was a BTK victim. On March 17th, 1977, Shirley Vian was found strangled, and tied up in the basement of her home. On December 8th, 1977 Nancy Fox ,25, was found tied up and strangled in her home. The killer's voice is captured on tape when he calls the police to report the crime. On April 28th, 1979, Rader waits in the basement of a 63 year old ladies home. She decided to stay the night with a friend and Rader leaves. The next day he wrote her a letter telling her about how he was waiting for her. On September 16th, 1986 the final victim Vickie Wegerle was strangled in her home.

Serial killers traumatize entire communities and cause tremendous disturbance to everyone. The Gilgo Beach serial killer is also known as the Long Island serial killer and Craigslist Ripper is said to have been responsible for 10 to 17 murders. The killer is said to target those who work in the sex industry and is believed to have been active for more than 20 years. Although the killer has been active more than 20 years the police are nit anywhere near to catching him. This essay will take a look at the investigation of the serial killer, take a look at who some of the victims were and finally give my opinion on how the case is being handled. It is important to note that the identity of the killer has not been identified therefore there has not been a trial and a sentencing. Also for the purpose of this essay I will be referring to the Unsub as The Gilgo Beach serial killer or simply as the killer.

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public