Zodiac Killer Research Paper

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

David was shot close to his head, but he was still breathing and died on the way to the hospital”. On July 4,1969 “Darlene Ferrin 22, and Michael Mageau 19. A car pulled up behind the couple, so they couldn’t drive away.” On August 4,1969 a letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner. It was the very first letter that the Zodiac killer used the name Zodiac. “The letter began with the words: Dear Editor, this is the Zodiac speaking”. “On September 27, 1969 Cecelia Ann Shepard 22, and Bryan Calvin 20, were picnicking when a man carrying a semi-automatic pistol and wearing a hoodie approached the couple. He told them he escaped from the Montana prison and killed a guard and stole a car and he wanted money and their car to drive to Mexico. The Zodiac told the couple he was going to stab them, and he did and left them for dead and walked back to the couple’s car and drew a crossed-circle symbol”. “On October 11,1969 Paul Stine 29, picked up a passenger in Union Square. The passenger shot and killed Stine in the temple, removed his wallet, keys, and tore his shirt. Three youngsters witnessed the event from a second-floor window. They contacted the police and described the shooter as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, stocky build and a crew cut.” “On the

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)

     Two days after Paul Stine's murder, Zodiac began a new era in his criminal career. For about 8 years, he would write to the San Francisco Chronicle-and occasionally others- off and on. From October 1969 until March 1971, the majority of Zodiac letters were filled with angry threats and bragging. At first he worked hard to prove his murders with information

The Zodiac usually targeted young couples in secluded areas. He used both guns and knives as weapons. On at least one occasion he wore an unusual costume. On two occasions he telephoned the police afterward to report his murders. After killing, the Zodiac would write letters to local newspapers and demand they be published. The letters would sometimes include physical evidence from a crime scene. Occasionally the Zodiac would send the newspapers cryptograms which he claimed included his identity. The Zodiac sent at least 18 letters, usually to newspapers. The first confirmed incident took place on the night of December 20, 1968, when 17-year-old David Faraday and his 16-year-old girlfriend Betty Lou Jensen were shot to death near their car at a remote spot on Lake Herman Road, on the outskirts of Vallejo, California. Then, on the early morning of July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, age 22, and her boyfriend, Mike Mageau, age 19, were sitting in parked car in a similarly remote Vallejo location when they were approached by a man with a flashlight who fired multiple shots at them, killing Ferrin and seriously wounding Mageau. Within an hour of the incident, a man called the Vallejo Police

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:

The Zodiac’s first known victim is Cheri Jo Bates. His first letter, Confession, mentioned Cheri and said, “ she is not the first and she will not be the last”. Six months after Cheri’s death, the killer sent copies of the letters to the Riverside Press, the police, and her dad. Since the killer knew her dad, the police thought that Cheri knew her killer or he knew her. One of the suspects for her murder was her ex-boyfriend. Cheri’s murder was controversial and there is no evidence that the Zodiac was her killer( Wark,1).

Ted Bundy was born on November 24, 1946. He was known as a rapist and murderer to young women in different states. He was incarcerated in Utah in 1975 for aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault. Bundy became a suspect in unsolved homicides in multiple states. Facing murder charges in Colorado, he escaped and committed further assaults. Three of them were murders in Florida in 1978. He was finally captured in February of that year. The physical evidence in the case led to his conviction. Incriminating physical evidence included the bite impressions that Bundy left in a females left buttock. The jury deliberated for almost seven hours before convicting Bundy on July 24, 1979. The trial judge imposed death sentences for the murder

The Victims are murdered in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. There were seven people targeted and two of them survived. There were other possible victims but can be determined is killed by Zodiac. The first two victims was found in A gravel parking area along remote Lake Herman Road on the eastern outskirts of Vallejo, California. On Dec. 20, 1968, 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen and 17-year-old David

The Zodiac Killings are some of the most gruesome and cerebral murders in American history. Between 1966 and 1968, at least five people in the bay area were confirmed slain by the assailant known only as, The Zodiac Killer. His criminology was unlike any seen before or since. Often after his murders, he would send cryptographic messages to various media outlets some even to the victims' families. Throughout the years, there have been many a copycat or emulation , One thing is for certain,all have come up short in terms of exactness. The Zodiac has been on the run for nearly fifty years. The question then becomes, when will he be caught or will he ever be? The answer is probable, but, Imitation is always the highest form of flattery.

Back in 1968 a couple of teens were murdered by the Zodiac Killer, they were on their first date. David was shot once in the head and died hours later, Betty was shot five times in the back and died instantly. This is the first case the Zodiac Killer was suspected for. The Zodiac killer’s motive & identity is unknown. I think his motive was He killed so it would be a wakeup call to San Francisco that he’s mad and wants them to solve his problems.San Francisco was terrified by the Zodiac Killer. His eerie murders, taunting letters and baffling codes.The Zodiac Killer killed a confirmed number of 7 people, though he claims to have killed 37. He sent letters mostly to the newspaper and demanded them to be in the paper. He claims his codes with

Throughout time mysteries have been going unresolved and puzzling minds of those who wish to understand the killers thinking and motive of committing the crimes. Cold cases give the most controversial mysteries since the killers have never been truly identified. One of those is the Zodiac, he’s been fascinating but terrifying investigators since the first victim was discovered. The killer himself originated his name "Zodiac" in a numerous of taunting letters which he himself sent to the local Bay Area press demanding for them to publish the letters. The Zodiac letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), of all of the four cryptograms sent, only one has been definitively solved, the rest remain a mystery to the public. On August 1, 1969,

On the night of December 20, 1968, a couple was sitting in their car on a date underneath the stars. The car was parked on the side of the road and the couple was enjoying their evening together. Sounds like a normal evening, right? Then something horrible happened. A masked person came up to them and began to shoot at them. The man, David Faraday, and the woman, Betty Lou Jensen, were shot and killed. Two of the many victims of the Zodiac Killer. But who is the killer? No one has been able to figure it out until now. The Zodiac Killer is two men, Aurthur Lee Allen and Lawrence “Kane” Kaye, working together to commit many murders.

The Zodiac killer was responsible for murdering at least five people in 1968 and 1969 in the San Francisco area, and writing cryptic letters to police boasting of the crimes. The unknown masked murderer remains the "the most infamous uncaught killer in American crime lore," The San Francisco Chronicle reported. More than

The two were parked on the outskirts of Vallejo, California having a romantic evening. The man again fired shots into the car hitting each person multiple times, making the mysterious man think he killed the both of them. The man was starting to walk back to his car, except Mageau screamed out in agony giving the Zodiac notice that he had not finished the job. To finish the job the man shot Mageau and Ferrin two times each, killing Ferrin but only severing injuring Mageau. Mageau surviving gave police a glance at what the perpetrator looked like. 26 days later a letter made its way to the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, written by a man claiming to be the killer of the 3 people. To prove that he was the so called killer, the man gave details that only the murderer would know. On August the newspapers received a letter from a man who called himself the “Zodiac”. On September 29, 1969, there were another set of murders on the shoreline of Lake Berryessa in California. 22 year old Cecilia Shepard and 20 year old Brian Hartnell were enjoying an evening on Lake Berryessa. Shepard though noticed a figure in a black hood holding a gun, standing behind a tree. The man claimed to be an escapee from Colorado looking for money and a car to get away from the police. Hartnell offered his wallet and car keys, but the man declined and instead tied up Hartnell and Shepard with some rope. He then decided to brutally stab Hartnell