Zodiac Killer Research Paper

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

A Serial Killer is often defined as a person who murders more than three people in separate events with a "cooling off period" between the killings. Serial killers will often be overwhelmed with a desire to kill often during a period of stress in their lives. After they

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.

Once again, he killed the female and failed to kill the male. It seems like he was intimidated by another man's power, maybe he was afraid to lose to a struggle. People say that killing women-for him-was the only intimate relationship he could have with one. The error was pointed out in the media that this serial killer seemed unable to kill the males. It was mysterious to people. This angered Zodiac enough for him to prove people wrong. Two weeks after his last attack, he shot a young male cab drive in the back of the head.

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

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

The Zodiac Killer...Who is he? Was he ever caught? How many individuals did he murder? The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He still remains unknown. He has five confirmed deaths, possibly 20-28 total deaths, and two injured. They do not know when he was born, and any criminal penalties. They do not know who he is but some may believe they have an identity.

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:

Ted Bundy, Theodore Kaczynski, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy have something in common. They are all convicted serial killers. Since 1900, there have been 614 known serial killers in the United States. All have been convicted of at least three murders, however, they may be suspected of more (Fox, Levin & Quinet, 2012). John Wayne Gacy, also known as the Killer Clown, was convicted of killing 33 young men and teenage boys, in Chicago, Illinois, from 1972 to 1978.

The Zodiac Killer is one of the greatest unsolved serial killer mysteries, after Jack the Ripper. There were 2,500 suspects, but the case was never solved.

Who The Zodiac Killer killed. Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday were the first to die to the Zodiac Killer's hands. Then Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau who died to the Zodiacs wrath. The third to die to The Zodiac were Cecillia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell. But the last but not least was Paul Stine who was only a cab driver and was a completely random murder. Dec. 20, 1968 David Faraday,17, and Betty Lou Jensen,16, were killed with a 22. Caliber semi automatic pistol. Darlene Ferrin worked as a waitress and Mike Mageau worked as a Laborer. The Zodiac was connected to at least five murders in California in 1968 and 1969. The Zodiac said to kill thirty-seven but we can only find that he killed five. NAPA California is a city in California and

What has the Zodiac done. The Zodiac left his fingerprints in the cab in which paul Stein was murdered in his own taxi. The Zodiac Killer is known for trickery that's why he is on their top ten unsolved murders of all time. The Zodiac was a mysterious killer that was never caught. The Zodiac said “I like killing people because people can fight back.” There's a lot we don’t know about the Zodiac Killer because we don’t know his identity. The Zodiac operated in Northern California. The Zodiac Killer is a killer that killed five people in California. The victims of The Zodiac Killer were killed in Benicia, ValleJo Lake, Berryessa, and San Francisco. He was never caught after forty-five years. Recently Jory Starliper solved one of the 340 ciphers.

Solving the Zodiac mystery has been a long and involved process for many for the past 40 years, but based on the following evidence, there doesn’t seem to be much of a mystery left. “The self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer, although claimed to have killed 37 people, authorities have only attributed 5 victims to the Zodiac in California around 1968 and 1969. After he mocked police and made threats through letters sent to area newspapers from 1969 to 1974, further communication from him abruptly stopped. Despite an comprehensive search for the killer and the investigation into several suspects, no one was ever arrested for the crimes and the case remains open. The mystery surrounding it has been the subject of countless books, theories, and the inspiration for several movies” (Biography.com Editors).

The Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active in northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, can now be identified as Rafael Edward Cruz (also known as Ted Cruz). It has almost been 44 years since the Zodiac Killer’s last murder, 44 years that Ted Cruz had to possibly commit more murders. Some facts that can support Ted Cruz is responsible for 5 confirmed killings is that police sketches closely resemble Cruz, he had the knowledge to create the complicated and unsolvable cryptograms, his handwriting style matched that of the Zodiac Killer’s, and his campaign logo resembles the symbol used by the killer. It is quite suspicious that Cruz has not yet commented nor denied that he is the killer.