The Zodiac Murders

By Conor Stellman

The zodiac

The Case

• Killed from December 1968 through October 1969

• A man who went by the name of the Zodiac Killer was terrifying the city of San Francisco • 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 her car up• 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 • Bruce Davis • Lawrence Kane • Michael O'Hare • Richard Marshall • Ted Kaczynski

Letter from zodiac to an attorney looking for help with his violent tendencies

Zodiac footprint

• The following slides will tell you more about some of the victims of the Zodiac Murderer.

Victims

David Faraday• 1st Zodiac Killer victim• David Faraday, age 17, was shot once in the

head at point-blank range and died within minutes

David Faraday crime scene

Blood stains

Betty Lou Jensen

• 2nd Zodiac Victim• 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.

Betty Lou Jenson crime scene

Betty Lou's body

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

• 3rd Zodiac Victim• 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.

Crime scene

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.

Case Details

Detail continued

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.

Message on Hartnel door

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.

Paul Stine crime scene

Blood stains

The cab in color

Portion of stines shirt stolen by zodiac

Picture of fare book in blood puddle

details

Bibliography • Voigt, Ted. "Zodiac Killer | Zodiac Killer Police

Reports | Zodiac Murders | California Serial Murder." Zodiac Killer | Zodiac Killer Police Reports | Zodiac Murders | California Serial Murder. Tom Voight, 15 May 2012. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. <http://www.zodiackiller.com/index.htm>.

• Wark, Jake. "The Zodiac Killer." / Zodiac Murders. Tru Tv, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2012. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/zodiac/river_1.html.

Bibliography 2

• "The Zodiac Killer." About.com Crime / Punishment. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/zodiackiller.htm

• "The Zodiac Killer - Zodiac Killer FACTS - Reporting the Facts / Debunking the Myths." The Zodiac Killer - Zodiac Killer FACTS - Reporting the Facts / Debunking the Myths. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://www.zodiackillerfacts.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• I think that the best suspect would have to be Arthur Leigh Allen because

of these things that he claims he would do if he was a killer:• He would like to kill couples at random.

• He would taunt the police with letters detailing his crimes.

• He would sign the letters with the cross-circle symbol from his watch.

• He would call himself "Zodiac."

• He would wear make-up to change his appearance.

• He would attach a flashlight to the barrel of his gun in order to shoot at night.

• He would fool women into stopping their cars in rural areas by claiming they had problems with their tires, then loosen their lug nuts and eventually take them captive.

How Were the Crime Scenes Processed in These Cases

Crime Scene From One Case

• Use a poster board to show where evidence is placed.

• Use Triangulation and Baseline measurements to show how math is used to recreate crimes

• Use polar coordinates to show where evidence is placed.

X/Y Grid Example

Baseline Coordinates

Triangulation

Polar Coordinates

Cross Projection