Notorious serial killer—one who was never caught—the Zodiac Killer committed a string of murders that began in the late 1960s. According to CNN, he chose his victims randomly and had no apparent motive for the murders. Other sources claim that the killer also sent taunting letters to the police and claimed to have murdered at least 37 people.
The Zodiac Killer reportedly cornered and killed couples in secluded areas and used guns and knives on the unsuspecting victims. San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine was his last known confirmed victim and died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head in his cab in 1969. Although police reported that the letters kept coming until 1974, they believe that the slayings had stopped long before.
Authorities have even considered more than 2,500 people as suspects, however, the Zodiac Killer remains at large.
Who were the Zodiac Killer’s victims and what did the serial killer do to them?
According to the U.S. Sun, in his letters to the police, the Zodiac Killer claimed to have murdered 37 people during a five-year span. However, investigators have only linked the notorious killer to seven victims over the years. Out of these seven, he murdered five while the remaining two survived.
Oxygen reported that the killer fatally shot high school students David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, who were out on a date on December 20, 1968. A motorist found their bodies on a gravel turnout on Lake Herman Road in Benicia – an isolated area known for being a Lover’s Lane.
The outlet reported that six months later, Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Ferrin, 22, became the victims of a similar assault. The attacker ambushed and shot the duo in an isolated area at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo on July 4, 1969. Mageau survived the incident and later recounted the events from that tragic night to detectives.
Pacific Union College student Bryan Hartnell, 20, and his ex-girlfriend Cecelia Shepard, 22, were the next victims of the killer. The duo was on a picnic at Lake Berryessa when an armed individual approached them. The man then tied Hartnell and Shepard before stabbing the former eight times and Shepard 10 to 20 times. Hartnell survived to tell the tale of the deadly attack.
The final murder victim was 29-year-old yellow cab driver Paul Stine. He died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head on October 11, 1969. The incident occurred after the cabbie picked up a passenger from San Francisco and drove the individual to Presidio Heights. Detectives linked Stine’s murder to the other killings using a bloody patch of the victim’s shirt the suspected killer sent to the San Francisco Chronicle.
As per the U.S. Sun’s report, the notorious serial killer‘s other possible victims were 27-year-old Ray Davis and 18-ear-old Cheri Jo Bates. Davis reportedly also died of a gunshot wound to the back in his own cab. The killing was eerily similar to Stine’s murder. Meanwhile, Bates was beaten and stabbed several times with a short-bladed knife.
Reportedly, the individual behind these killings started referring to himself as the Zodiac Killer in his fourth letter. He addressed this letter, which was sent on August 7, 1969, to the police, writing, “This is the Zodiac speaking.”
CNN reported that there has been a long list of suspects over the past five decades. However, police have never successfully identified the real Zodiac Killer. To date, they have only been able to link Arthur Leigh Allen to the murders based on circumstantial evidence. However, Allen never faced any charges and also maintained his innocence in the crimes until his death in 1992.
The answer to the age-old question “Who was the Zodiac Killer?” remains unanswered as detectives continue to investigate the case.
