The zodiac murders

By conor stellman

The case

• A man who went by the name of the zodiac killer was terrifying the city of San Diego riverside township

• The Zodiac claimed 37 victims, although police agencies only consider seven to be definite Zodiac victims.

facts• The notorious and very bizarre serial killer who called himself The Zodiac

remains one of the world's great unsolved cases. In Oct., 1966, a girl was viciously murdered in Riverside, California when she permitted a man to help start the car that he had intentionally disabled when she was in her school library.

This homicide began a ghoulish series of murders that panicked the people of the San Francisco area. For years the Zodiac taunted the police with weird ciphers, phone calls, insulting and cryptic messages.

Even though police investigated over 2,500 potential suspects, the case was never solved. There were a few suspects that stood out, but the forensic technology of the times was not advanced enough to nail any one of them conclusively.

letters• The zodiac sent the police and newspapers

letters about his killings and of what how he did them.

• The Zodiac sent at least 18 letters, usually to newspapers but occasionally to private citizens. The first letter was sent July 31, 1969 and the last on July 8, 1974. In 1966, 1967 and 1978, communications were received that might have been from the Zodiac. However it's not known for sure if he was the author.

cryptographs• The zodiac killer also used cryptographs to

send coded messages to the police.• The cryptographs were full of symbols and

shapes that made up a message

Possible suspects• Many different suspects were interviewed about the case and if they were involved• Suspects: • Arthur Leigh Allen:• Found dead inside his house killed by the zodiac • Bruce Davis • Lawrence Kane • Michael O'Hare • Richard Marshall • Ted Kaczynski (main suspect)

Zodiac letterZodiac killer

cryptogram

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The zodiac killer

• The following slides will tell you more about some of the victims of the zodiac murder.

victims

David Faraday• Zodiac killer victim• David Faraday, age 17, was shot once in the

head at point-blank range and died within minutes

Betty Lou Jensen

• Age 16, was shot five times in the back and killed instantly. The weapon was a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

• The ammunition was Winchester Western Super X copper-coated long rifle.

Details on the two murders

• According to the police report, the victims were apparently approached while

occupying Faraday's station wagon. Shots were fired into the vehicle in an

apparent effort to force them out. Jensen exited the front passenger door first,

followed by Faraday. Faraday was shot as he emerged from the car, Jensen was

then shot as she fled on foot. It was the first date Jensen had ever been allowed

on and the crime shocked the community. The shooting could not be explained by

Faraday's family. Jensen's family was equally dumbfounded.

Darlene Ferrin

• Zodiac victim• age 22• was shot five times• The weapon was a 9mm semi-automatic

pistol. There was no indication of robbery or sexual molestation. There were no witnesses.

details

• Ferrin was married and worked as a waitress at Terry's Restaurant. Mageau was

single and worked as a laborer. Ferrin's husband, Dean, was initially a suspect in

the murder, however was ruled out once it was established he was working as a

cook at Caesar's Restaurant at the time of the murder. Ferrin's first husband,

James Phillips Crabtree, was also briefly a suspect. According to surviving victim

Mageau, he and Ferrin had parked at the isolated location to talk. A car, possibly a

light-brown Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Corvair, pulled into the lot just a few feet

away.

Mike Mageau

• age 19, was shot four times• The weapon was a 9mm semi-automatic

pistol. There was no indication of robbery or sexual molestation. There were no witnesses.

Cecelia Sheppard

• age 22• was stabbed 10 times• five in the front • and five in the back.

Detail continued

• According to the police report, the couple was relaxing on a blanket at a very remote location by the lake. Shepard

noticed a man approaching them wearing an unusual costume and holding a gun. He appeared to be more than

6'0" tall with a heavy build. The man claimed he was a prison escapee from Colorado and needed money and a car

to flee to Mexico. Hartnell offered his wallet and car keys, which weren't taken. After several minutes of

conversation, the man tied the couple with plastic clothesline and began stabbing them. Hartnell was attacked

first, then Shepard. After the assault, the man walked casually away from the scene. After several minutes, a

nearby fisherman heard the couple screaming and alerted park rangers. By the time help arrived, Shepard and

Hartnell had managed to untie their restraints. It took nearly an hour for an ambulance to arrive, at which time

both victims were in critical condition

Brian Hartnel

• age 20• was stabbed six times in the back. • The knife had a wooden handle and a blade

approximately 10 to 12 inches long.

Paul Stine

• Cab driver Paul Stine, age 29, was shot once in the head at point-blank range.

• The weapon was a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, not the same 9mm used in the Ferrin murder.

• There were three witnesses from a house on the southeast corner of the intersection.

details

• Stine's cab was hailed at Mason and Geary Streets, with the intended destination being Washington and Maple

Streets near the Presidio. For reasons unknown, the cab ended up at Washington and Cherry Streets, a block away

from the original destination. Stine's wallet and keys were taken and a large portion of his shirt was carefully torn

off. Bloody fingerprints, potentially of the suspect, were recovered from the vehicle. According to a police

document, a pair of men's Size Seven black-leather gloves was also found. The three witnesses watched the

suspect from approximately 60 feet away as he wiped down the cab with a cloth after killing Stine. They called the

police and described a white male, 25 to 30 years old, 5'8" to 5'9", stocky build, reddish-brown hair worn in a crew

cut, heavy-rimmed glasses and dark clothing.

Zodiac videos• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOJmoyn

NZmQ&feature=related• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzXXO49

2Gas&feature=relmfu• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoP1TlgP-

E0&feature=relmfu• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=xlWc8v5Pb1Y&feature=relmfu

Bibliography

• http://zodiackiller.com/• Trutv.com • http://www.unsolvedrealm.com/

2011/02/04/zodiac-killer-identity-solved/• Videos• Youtube.com

The end

• The zodiac killer is still at large today even though there has been no incidents currently

• I think that the zodiac is either dead or old and not capable of doing anything else