Long after the stopped-killings of the late 1960s and the taunting of law enforcement by the famous Zodiac Killer, the unsolved mystery haunts and fascinates the public still today. Although the motive is unclear, the serial murderer seemed to target couples in remote areas, such as a lover’s lane in Northern California. Surprisingly, he managed to elude unsuspecting police, even though several eye-witnesses, including two victims who survived, relayed precise descriptions (heavy-set white males of average height). The killer himself demanded that the newspapers publish his clever ciphers (pages of symbols) and cryptic messages that revealed his state of mind. He often drew a cross-circle symbol that is similar to crosshairs on a sniper’s weapon.
He also appeared to crave public attention by mocking the police and threatening to strike again. Besides young couples, he targeted bus drivers and a taxi driver. He initially used 22-caliber firearms then subsequently resorted to tying up the victims and stabbing them with a knife. His last confirmed murder victim was a taxi driver in San Francisco, shot in the head with a handgun. The police patrol officers responded to an eye-witness call but failed to arrest a man walking away because the dispatcher mistakenly warned of a black suspect. Since the killings, multiple similar murders have been suspected as linked to the Zodiac killer but have not been confirmed.
He continued to correspond to the press but the final Zodiac Letter appeared in 1974. There are at least 10 suspects that fit the profile of having criminal tendencies with either the ability to use weapons such as ex-military servicemen, having physical characteristics that match eye-witness descriptions, and even having the Zodiac killer’s penmanship or use of cryptography. Several suspects were ruled out by fingerprint and/or handwriting comparisons. There are multitudes of theories about the killer’s motive (e.g. superiority, desire to intimidate) and his sudden halt in the killings. Some speculate that he was incarcerated, incapacitated, had somehow stabilized his psychosis, or even died of natural causes. The legacy continues as other copycat murders have been committed, and the Zodiac killer has inspired multiple recent movies including Dirty Harry, Seven, and The Batman.
Sources:
Jenkins, John Philip. "Zodiac killer". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zodiac-killer. Accessed 1 November 2024.
Piccotti, Tyler. “A Netflix Docuseries Offers New Clues about the Zodiac Killer’s Identity.” Biography , 22 Oct. 2024, www.biography.com/crime/zodiac-killer.
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