by Mark Hewitt
The cautious warned that he may have been hastily and mistakenly cleared on the faulty basis of fingerprint or handwriting evidence, or something else that led to the change of his status as a worthy suspect. Others doubt that his name ever made it into the hands of the police.
Even if the villain’s name did not reside in the case files, everyone agreed that he could not have escaped history. If he was never a suspect, merely a common man living a common life who failed to raise suspicions, his name cannot have been lost forever, as perhaps Jack the Ripper’s given name may have been. In 1888, records were not well kept, and someone in the impoverished underclass could easily have escaped notice and eluded the meager records available to us today. This wasn’t likely in 1969. The Zodiac’s true name must be written down somewhere: on a birth certificate, above a grave, or within a list of gun club memberships.
Regardless of his current location, he has not been forgotten. The pursuit continues through the efforts of some. Many still hold out the hope that someday an attic will cough up a few vital scraps of paper, a telling artifact or, if the quest is exceedingly lucky, even a diary with a bold confession. And there remain additional investigative avenues that have not yet been traversed.
The relevant information about each attack has been gathered as carefully as possible for the era, the collection of the strange letters has been compiled and organized as much as is feasible under the circumstances, and the list of perplexing, unanswered questions about the case has been assembled. Work remains in the areas of victimology, behavioral analysis, textual criticism, and the study of any patterns that may present themselves. At any point, a recently devised technology or brand new process may aid in the search.
Skilled detectives caution that a murder investigation proceeds methodically and sometimes very slowly. If a good suspect is not immediately found—and even if one is—evidence must be carefully gathered, closely examined, and humbly evaluated. Conclusions must not be achieved with haste or hunch alone, lest a killer be overlooked or the name of an innocent person besmirched. An investigator’s well-trained intuition may point towards him like the unsteady needle of a compass toward a general direction, but should never be relied upon to the exclusion of all of the other information.
The optimists are consoled by the fact that even very cold cases can be—and sometimes are—solved. Occasionally, a solution has presented itself very suddenly. Denis Rader, the serial killer known as the BTK, attests to this from the cold, bare confines of his prison cell. He was on the loose for decades before being collared for his crimes, the murders of 10 innocent victims. Sometimes when little hope remains, a detective’s drilling may strike investigative oil, though optimism has been shown to be an effective fuel in the hunt.
More than 40 years have elapsed since the perpetrator last claimed an attack; four decades have ticked by without the arrival of a new, authenticatable Zodiac letter. Nevertheless, there is hope. With historical precedent as an encouraging guide, despite any lack of overt progress into the investigation of the Zodiac serial killer has not ended.
In fact, for many, it has just begun.
Appendix A
Zodiac Attacks
Sunday, October 30, 1966. Cheri Jo Bates (killed). In Riverside, Southern California, after checking out books from the library of Riverside City College, Bates was attacked outside the library, probably under the guise of the assailant assisting with a disabled car (the distributor wire had been disconnected). Stabbed and slashed with a small knife, her body was found in a nearby vacant lot. Signs of a violent struggle were evident. Some researchers do not accept this as a Zodiac attack.
Saturday, December 20, 1968. David Faraday & Betty Lou Jensen (both killed). While parked in a lover’s lane area, outside of Vallejo in Solano County, Northern California, the perpetrator approached, probably parking parallel to their vehicle, and caused the couple to leave their car. The couple was shot with .22 caliber bullets outside the car: David, once in the left ear; Betty, five times in the back as she fled.
Friday, July 4 (or Saturday, July 5), 1969. Michael Mageau (survived) & Darlene Ferrin (killed). The couple was shot in her car with a 9mm handgun, close to midnight in a deserted parking lot on the outskirts of Vallejo, Northern California. Their assailant walked up to the car carrying a large flashlight and fired at both victims. Before returning to his vehicle, he fired additional shots. The perpetrator telephoned the Vallejo Police Department 40 minutes after the attack from a pay phone a few blocks from the station.
Saturday, September 27, 1969. Bryan Hartnell (survived) & Cecelia Shepard (died two days later). The couple was stabbed while on the shore of Lake Berryessa, north of Napa, Northern California. The assailant hogtied the couple with pre-cut lengths of plastic clothesline. He stabbed them in the back (Shepard also in the front) with a foot-long knife withdrawn from a sheath in his belt. He wrote on Hartnell’s car in felt marker. More than an hour after the attack, the perpetrator telephoned the Napa Police Department from a pay phone located in downtown Napa.
Saturday, October 11, 1969. Paul Stine (killed). The cab driver was shot in the right ear with a .22 caliber handgun (not identical to the one used in December) while parked in the Presidio Heights district of San Francisco, Northern California (at the corner of Washington Street and Cherry Street). The ride originated in the Mason Street and Geary Street area of downtown San Francisco. Stine’s assailant was observed after the attack by youths as he wiped the inside and outside of the cab, and likely also by two police officers as he fled to the Presidio grounds.
Sunday, March 22, 1970. (Possible Zodiac attack.) Pregnant Kathleen Johns and her infant daughter (both survived). The perpetrator caused Johns to pull her car over on Highway 132, near Interstate 5, outside of Modesto in the Central Valley of California, under the guise of car problems. After disabling the vehicle, he offered her a ride to a gas station, and proceeded to drive Johns and her daughter around for an estimated two hours. Johns escaped by jumping with her daughter from the car as it slowed. No weapons were observed or referenced.
Appendix B
Zodiac Victims
Cheri Josephine Bates (18) (2/4/1948 - 10/30/1966). Bates was stabbed and slashed to death by the Zodiac with a small blade in a vacant lot outside of Riverside City College library. After the violent struggle, Bates likely died very quickly.
David Arthur Faraday (17) (10/2/1951 - 12/20/1968). Faraday was shot once in the left ear with a .22. He had exited his car in a Lover’s Lane spot on Lake Herman Road, outside of Vallejo, in Solano County. Faraday was breathing shallowly when he was found, but was pronounced dead on arrival (DOA), at Vallejo General Hospital.
Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin (22) (3/17/1947 - 7/5/1969). Darlene was shot at least four times as she sat in the driver’s seat of her 1953 Corvair, on July 4 or 5, 1969. She died at the scene from massive blood loss, though she may have lived long enough to flash her headlights to summon help. She was survived by her second husband, Dean, and her young daughter, Deena.
Bryan Calvin Hartnell. (9/1/1949 - ). Hartnell survived six stab wounds from a twelve inch bayonet-style knife while hogtied at Lake Berryessa, September 27, 1969. He sustained major injuries, and underwent extensive surgery. He was back in school within weeks.
Betty Lou Jensen (16) (7/21/1952 - 12/20/1968). Jensen was shot five times in the back as she fled the vehicle parked in a Lover’s Lane spot on Lake Herman Road. She died at the scene outside of Vallejo, in Solano County.
Kathleen Johns (5/30/1947 - 6/1/2002). Johns survived a possible kidnapping on March 22 to 23, 1970. Seven-months pregnant while traveling from San Bernardino to Petaluma with her ten-month-old daughter, Jennyfer, she was coerced into stopping at the side of the road near Highway 132 and Interstate 5. Under the guise of fixing her car, the assailant disabled Johns’s vehicle and offered to drive her to a service station. It may not have been a Zodiac attack.
Michael Renault Mageau (10/29/1949 - ). Mageau survived the shooting (at least 4
shots), while seated in the passenger seat of Ferrin’s car at Blue Rock Springs Park, on July 4 or 5, 1969, just outside of Vallejo. He was hospitalized and underwent extensive surgery before moving to his mother’s home in Southern California.
Cecelia Ann Shepard (22) (1/1/1947 - 9/29/1969). After sustaining 10 stab wounds from a twelve inch bayonet-style knife while tied up at Lake Berryessa on September 27, 1969, Shepard died two days later at the Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa from a severe loss of blood.
Paul Lee Stine (29) (12/18/1939 - 11/13/1969). Shot in right ear with a .22 by his passenger after driving his cab to the directed destination in the tony Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. Stine died instantly at the scene. He was survived by his wife, Claudia.
Appendix C
Zodiac Letters
Confession letter A. Received November 30, 1966 by the Riverside Police Department. The single page letter, typed in all capital letters, claimed credit for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, described events, and threatened additional killings.
Confession letter B. Received November 30, 1966 by the Riverside Daily Enterprise. The single page, typed in all capital letters, claimed credit for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, described events, and threatened additional killings. Identical wording to (A).
The Bates letter A. Postmarked in Riverside, April 30, 1967, and sent to the Riverside Police Department. A single, pencil-written page of loose leaf binder paper stated, “BATES HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE.” A small Z was centered at the bottom of the page.
The Bates letter B. Postmarked in Riverside, April 30, 1967, and sent to the Press Enterprise. A single, pencil-written page of loose leaf binder paper stated, “BATES HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE.” A small Z was centered at the bottom of the page.
The Bates letter C. Postmarked in Riverside, April 30, 1967, and sent to Joseph Bates, father of the victim, at his home. Single, pencil-written page of loose leaf binder paper stated, “She Had To Die There will Be More.” No Z was present on this page.
The 3-Part letter (A). Received by The San Francisco Chronicle on August 1, 1969, postmarked in San Francisco, a two-page letter, plus one-third of the three-part 408 cipher. Written with a felt-tipped pen, it documented the author’s proof of committing the December 20, 1968 and July 4, 1969 murders, and demanded that the cipher part be published on threat of a killing rampage.
The 3-Part letter (B). Received by The San Francisco Examiner on August 1, 1969, postmarked in San Francisco, a two-page letter, plus one-third of the three-part 408 cipher. Written with a felt-tipped pen, it documented the author’s proof of committing the December 20, 1968 and July 4, 1969 murders, and demanded that the cipher part be published on threat of a killing rampage. It was written less neatly than (A), probably a copy, with slight wording differences.
The 3-Part letter (C). Received by the Vallejo Times Herald on August 1, 1969, postmarked in San Francisco, a two-page letter, plus one-third of the three-part 408 cipher. Written with a felt-tipped pen, it documented the author’s proof of committing the December 20, 1968 and July 4, 1969 murders, and demanded that the cipher part be published on threat of a killing rampage. Written less neatly than (A) and (B), with slight wording differences from both, it appeared to be copied from (B).
The More Material letter. Postmarked in San Francisco and received August 4, 1969 by The San Francisco Examiner. In response to a challenge in the press, the 3-page letter, written in felt-tipped pen, provided additional details of the two Vallejo-area murder scenes. The letter was the first of many to begin with the iconic phrase “This is the Zodiac speaking.”
The Stine letter. Postmarked in San Francisco and received by The San Francisco Chronicle on October 13, 1969, the one-page note claimed credit for the murder of cab driver Paul Stine, taunted that the police could have captured him that night, and threatened the shooting of school children as they disembarked a school bus. A bloodied piece of Paul Stine’s shirt was included in the envelope.
The Pen card. Greeting card, “Sorry I haven’t written…” postmarked in San Francisco November 8 (possibly November 9), 1969, and received two days later by The San Francisco Chronicle. Written within the card were a vague threat, a demand that a new cipher be printed, and a claim of loneliness. Inside on a single sheet was a 340-character cipher.
The 6-Page letter. Postmarked in San Francisco November 9 (possibly November 8), 1969, and received with the Pen card on November 10 by The San Francisco Chronicle. The 6-page letter, written in felt-tipped pen, contained taunts, boasts of cleverness, a bomb diagram with a list of ingredients, and a threat to detonate the bomb to kill school children. The longest of all Zodiac letters, it had writing on the back of page 6.
The Belli letter. Postmarked in San Francisco December 20, 1969, and sent to celebrity trial lawyer Melvin Belli, the one-page, felt-tip-penned letter requested “please help me” three times, spoke of an inner force that controlled, and claimed an attempt to prevent the killings. A second piece of Stine’s bloody shirt accompanied the letter.
The Name letter. Postmarked in San Francisco April 20, 1970 and received the next day by The San Francisco Chronicle. The two-page letter included a 13-character cipher within its text, and denied that its author committed the bombing of a police station. The second page was a revised bomb diagram.
The Dragon card. Greeting card, “Sorry to hear your ass is dragon…” postmarked April 28, 1970 in San Francisco and received by The San Francisco Chronicle. The writing within the card provided two demands that claimed, if enacted, would prevent the bomb detonation: publicize the bomb diagram with all the details and have citizens wear [Zodiac] buttons around town.
The Map letter. Postmarked in San Francisco June 26, 1970 and received by The San Francisco Chronicle, a one-page letter, plus a piece of a San Francisco Bay Area map (containing a circle, numbers and letters, centered over Mount Diablo). A 32-character cipher within its text when combined with the Map promised to reveal the location of a pre-set bomb.
The Johns letter. Postmarked in San Francisco July 24, 1970 and received by The San Francisco Chronicle. The two-sentence letter (following the iconic title) referred to the Johns attack, and alluded to The Mikado, “I now have a little list…” The Zodiac’s shortest missive.
The Torture letter. Postmarked in San Francisco July 26, 1970 and received by The San Francisco Chronicle, it was five pages in length. The first two pages detailed tortures that the killer promised to enact on his “slaves.” The final three pages were a quote, with errors, of The Mikado song, “I Have a Little List.”
The Crack Proof card. (Disputed authenticity for a lack of handwriting and an unclear message.) Postmarked in San Francisco October 5, 1970 and received by The San Francisco Chronicle, it contained only cut-out words from The Chronicle of that date, including, “I’m crackproof.”
The Halloween card. Preprinted greeting card stated, “I feel it in my bones…” It was postmarked in San Francisco October 27, 1970 and received two days later by Paul Avery of The San Francisco Chronicle. It contained drawn material, symbols, intersected words (on the card and within the envelope), and added Halloween material. The writing was drawn in white artist’s ink.
The L.A. Times letter. Postmarked in Alameda County on March 13, 1971 and received by The L.A. Times in Los Angeles, California two days later. The one-page missive advised the police to work harder, noted that they had discovered his “riverside activity,” and bragged of “more down there.” He claimed to have written to the Southern California paper because he was not receiving “front page coverage.” It was the last communication to use the iconic phrase and symbol.
The Pines card. (Disputed authenticity for a lack of handwriting and an unclear message.) Postmarked in San Francisco, received March 22, 1971, and addressed to Paul Avery of The San Francisco Chronicle. With a picture of a Lake Tahoe condominium project under construction on its front, it may have alluded to the disappearance of nurse Donna Lass.
The Exo
rcist letter. Postmarked January 29, 1974 in San Mateo County or Santa Clara County and received by The San Francisco Chronicle the next day, the one-page note written in blue felt-tipped pen contained a review of the movie the Exorcist, a quote from The Mikado, a demand that it be printed, and a strange collection of shapes at the bottom of the page.
The SLA letter. (Authenticity disputed for a lack of any reference to the Zodiac and its lack of Zodiac-like tone or handwriting.) Postmarked February 4, 1974 and sent to The San Francisco Chronicle, the short note explained that “SLA” was an Old Norse word meaning “to kill.” It was signed, “a friend.”
The Badlands card. (Authenticity disputed for a lack of any reference to the Zodiac and its lack of Zodiac-like tone or handwriting.) Postmarked May 6, 1974 and sent to The San Francisco Chronicle, it decried the violence in a movie ad for the motion picture “Badlands” and requested the ad be stopped. It was signed, “A citizen.”
The Count Marco letter. (Authenticity disputed for a lack of any reference to the Zodiac and its lack of any Zodiac-like tone or handwriting.) Postmarked July 8, 1974 and addressed to The San Francisco Chronicle, this letter was critical of a columnist and requested that his column be canceled. It was signed, “The Red Phantom (red with rage).”
