Zodiac Killer Analysis

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s were a time of great change in America. The Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the sexual revolution were just some of the issues on the evening news in American households. For citizens of the San Francisco Bay area, as well as the rest of California, the late 60’s early 70’represented terror, fear and death. “The bizarre and theatrical and still unresolved serial murders by real-life ghoul who called himself Zodiac, who claimed in letters to have killed 37 people (though police have focused on five homicides and two attempted murders in the greater Bay Area in 1968 and 1969” (Booth,2) have intrigued people for nearly four decades. How has Zodiac remained so elusive? What

Throughout history, criminal investigators have encountered different forms of serial killers. One of the many famous serial killers in the twentieth century was Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted Bundy). Ted Bundy was responsible for the Chi Omega killings and many more. When people think of serial killers, they visualize some dirty, crazy, looking individual that would stand out from everybody else. In Ted's case this was different. Ted Bundy was a very smart individual who had attended college at various colleges, studying law and finally receiving his degree in psychology from the University of Washington. He had volunteered for the Republican Party in California for a Governor campaign. His family and friends considered Bundy as

“Ask a psychopath what love is and he’ll go on and on, but he has never felt it himself…If you catch him lying, he’ll just shift gears and go on as though nothing had happened” (Goleman). Ted Bundy was one of the most famous psychopaths in the history of the country (Nordheimer). People say he was the perfect killer- handsome, intelligent, witty, and charming (Boynton 25). Bundy was the complete opposite of what people thought a serial killer looked like, so his victims did not fear him (“Ted Bundy”). Robert Keppel, an expert on serial killers, stated, “He taught us that a serial killer can appear to be absolutely normal, the guy next door (“Serial Killers and Mass Murderers”). At one point he was working for a suicide hotline; a friend

In the late sixties and early seventies, California was haunted by dozens of unsolved murders. The offender remains unknown to this day. The murderer, who referred to himself as "the Zodiac," made contact with the police and area newspapers throughout his reign of terror through a series of menacing notes. Although the police were never able to apprehend Zodiac, they were able to gather information about him via the letters. Zodiac boasted of killing up to forty victims, however, police estimated he may have killed over 50.

Out of all the Infamous killers in the U.S the two well-known killers that I will be researching are Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. These two murderers share many similarities such as their backgrounds, Crimes, and Motives. Both Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy are serial killers who’ve killed over a dozen people each. They’ve committed crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping. In this research paper I will be comparing and contrasting the two serial killers.

     In October, Zodiac murdered a man named Paul Stine and within moments of Stine's murder, Zodiac found himself face to face with two San Francisco Police officers. The killer actually talked his way out of the most risky situation he had ever faced. I think that's pretty amazing considering he was confronted with all that male power, which he always seemed to avoid. By luck, Zodiac got out of being arrested that night, and later bragged about what happened to the authorities, frustrating them in a way that was obviously hard to deal with.

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

Every serial killer has their own twisted ways to doing their crimes. Richard Kuklinski is no different from other killers in this way. He started young, killing cats and other animals for the fun of it and to feel “empowered”. Different from other killers, he committed his first murder in middle school. Kuklinski beat a bully death and then disposed of it. A lot of their character traits relate back to their young family life. A common pattern in several serial killers is that their parents abused them in some way or the other. Richard Kuklinski, or the “Iceman”, is like these serial killers in the way that he was abused as a young boy. Although there are an uncertain amount of things that led Kuklinski to his brutal, senseless killings, some of the factors stand as: The abuse from his parents, his emotionless personality, and the money he earned from these killings.

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

Zodiac’s career, which would become the most cerebral murder case of all time, began in Riverside California on the night of October 30, 1966. The first victim, Cheri Jo Bates, a young student at the university was brutally murdered outside the college library. She was stabbed 42 times with a knife with a small

The Zodiac Killer was an infamous murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. He killed with zero remorse and even stated in one of his letters that “I like killing people because it’s so much fun” (“Zodiac Killer”). Between December 1968 and October 1969 had killed a total of five people and severely injured two others. He made his first appearance on December 20, 1968, when he shot and killed 17-year-old David Faraday and his 16-year-old girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen. The police were unable to determine the motive for the crime or a suspect. However, on August 1, 1969, the zodiac sent letters to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vallejo Times Herald. Each letter started the same “Dear Editor:

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.

Theodore Robert Cowell, also known as Ted Bundy, was a murderer, rapist and necrophilia of many young women between 1974 and 1978. Bundy murdered young women all over the United States, including Washington, Utah, Oregon, Colorado and Florida. He was a suspect in over thirty-six murders and allegedly murdered many more. (2015, www.twistedminds.com). Fortunately, forensic science played a key role in the conviction of several murders.

There were no solid proof on the crime scene which link the murder to Bundy, Because the room has been washed away to overcome the chances of being caught. Accuracy was a great weapon of Ted Bundy, & the detectives supposed that Lisa Levy and Martha Bowman were one of recent Bundy’s victims. Though their assumptions were not a solid indication for a