There are stories that I want to tell someone else, I want to shed light on the events that took place for a sufficient amount of time to use the word "long ago" in relation to them and at the same time occurred no later than 30-40 years ago, so that nothing would have time forget. This will be an unusual story, it will touch on a serial killer who committed his atrocities in the United States in the 60s and 70s and went down in the history of forensic science around the world under the name “Zodiac”. A maniac who could not be found, on whose trail it was not even possible to get out, but at the same time a maniac who conducted regular correspondence with the police and the media of San Francisco, as one of the largest cities in the state of California, which became for him the main field for his criminal experiments. The article is inspired by the 2007 film "Zodiac", which has become another masterpiece in the piggy bank of director David Fincher,filmed in due time "Fight Club".
First appearance of the assassin of the zodiac
This is the story of the most mysterious and unique killer, which began in 1969 with a series of attacks and murders on young people in a deserted place. The scenario of events was similar to one another, as if it had been copied. A couple of lovers came to a quiet place on a date. Without keeping yourself waiting long, a suspicious car appeared, which parked directly behind unsuspecting young guys. Silently and coolly, the stranger approached the driver's door first and opened fire on the guy, and then on the girl, discharging the entire clip to the characteristic sound of an empty store. With the same calm gait with which he approached his victims, he returned to his car and drove away. The killer's calmness is not as surprising as his further behavior. After the second such murder,the difference between which was almost a year, the offender calls the police and reports a murder committed by his own hands, and then hangs up with a light heart. Both times, these calls were tracked, they were made in the immediate vicinity of the police station where the call was received. This was the first gesture of a provocative game that dragged on for many years to come.
The crimes described took place in a small town near San Francisco called Vallejo. The local police couldn't figure out what to do in such a situation. Small towns differ from megalopolises and large cities in that big crimes are not committed here, and this cruel act of manic manifestation was out of the ordinary. The commotion continued exactly until it grew into general hysteria. The reason for this was anonymous letters to the publishing houses of three newspapers at once - Vallejo Times-Herald, San-Francisco Cronicle, San Francisco Examinor. The messages contained the same text, demanding to place on the front pages of each newspaper one cipher-cryptogram attached to the letter, in which the essence of the killer was hidden. And yes, this message was sent to the editorial office by the killer,in order to confirm what the maniac indicates the characteristic features of his murders, about which only the police and, of course, he could know. In essence, this was not a demand or a request, it was an ultimatum, violation of which would lead to the deaths of 12 more people. The police and the media had less than a day to think.
Mysterious letters from a maniac
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The messages were posted, but no one could understand the code. A week later, another letter arrives, which begins with the words “This is the Zodiak speaking”. For the first time, he felt so much his omnipotence and impunity that he was not afraid to give his name, at least the alter ego that calls him to murder. In a new message, he once again confirms his involvement in the murders with new details and leaves another cryptogram. Several special services puzzled over the solution of these messages, and in the end it was the simple Garden family, whose head was an ordinary school teacher, and his and his wife's main hobby was solving puzzles. As a result, the message said about the pleasure that the Zodiac receives from killing, that for him it is a matter of life. He's going to kill people until he gets enoughthe more he believes with all his soul in the righteousness of his deeds and is sure that he is collecting slaves for his future afterlife. And he won't stop collecting slaves.
New assassin attack
A certain silence, during which the police frantically tried to track the killer, was broken by another attack on the couple on the shores of Lake Berriessa. This time, the victims were able to describe their executioner, since at first the girl survived after 24 stabs, and the young man eventually survived due to the fact that he received only 8 knife wounds in a chaotic manner, which avoided damage to vital organs. The lovers described the picture of their meeting with the Zodiac as follows: they sat on the shore and talked, then a silhouette in black clothes appeared in the distance, which was rapidly approaching them, trying to be unnoticed, which in the end he did not really succeed. True, the young people had no idea what kind of threat was moving in their direction, so they were absolutely indifferent to the appearance of the unknown on the horizon. The maniac was armed with a pistol and a knife. Approaching the victims, he forced the girl to bind his companion, and then he bound her. Then he began to randomly stab the tied victims with a knife. On the car of its victims, the Zodiac left an inscription with a felt-tip pen “Vallejo 12-20-68 7-4-69 Sept 27-69 6:30 by knife”. Dates of his previous attacks and assassinations + knife event of that day. The girl who survived the first hours claimed that in front of them was a man in a black mask and sunglasses. He was wearing black clothes, on which a light image of the "sight", "the belt of the zodiac signs", the "Celtic cross" was applied - he had many names and interpretations. Then he began to randomly stab the tied victims with a knife. On the car of its victims, the Zodiac left an inscription with a felt-tip pen “Vallejo 12-20-68 7-4-69 Sept 27-69 6:30 by knife”. Dates of his previous attacks and assassinations + knife event of that day. The girl who survived the first hours claimed that in front of them was a man in a black mask and sunglasses. He was wearing black clothes, on which a light image of the "sight", "the belt of the zodiac signs", the "Celtic cross" was applied - he had many names and interpretations. Then he began to randomly stab the tied victims with a knife. On the car of its victims, the Zodiac left an inscription with a felt-tip pen “Vallejo 12-20-68 7-4-69 Sept 27-69 6:30 by knife”. Dates of his previous attacks and assassinations + knife event of that day. The girl who survived the first hours claimed that in front of them was a man in a black mask and sunglasses. He was wearing black clothes, on which a light image of the "sight", "the belt of the zodiac signs", "the Celtic cross" was applied - he had many names and interpretations.that in front of them was a man wearing a black mask and sunglasses. He was wearing black clothes, on which a light image of the "sight", "the belt of the zodiac signs", "the Celtic cross" was applied - he had many names and interpretations.that in front of them was a man wearing a black mask and sunglasses. He was wearing black clothes, on which a light image of the "sight", "the belt of the zodiac signs", "the Celtic cross" was applied - he had many names and interpretations.
Sign of the zodiac
It was with this sign that the eminent killer ended each of his messages. This is his trademark, brand. There are many versions where the desire to use this particular drawing appeared in the maniac's head. One of the versions is the adherence to the “Zodiac” brand watches, which were popular in those years in the USA. At the same time, some experts tended to follow the killer of his astrological fetish, which was expressed not only in the name, but also in the strict dependence of the approximately close location of the dates of their murders with the days of the equinox. But each of the versions collapsed and crashed due to the unpredictability of each subsequent action of an extraordinary and elusive maniac.
By the way, it's worth noting that the guy who survived after 8 stabs was not the only one who survived the Zodiac attack. The second official case of the Zodiac attack was marked by the rescue of Michael Majo, who survived at least 5 direct hits from almost point-blank firearms. One got the impression that the killer does not seek to kill 100%, this is for him a game with human lives at stake.
Murder of a taxi driver
The next murder was not long in coming, and it was knocked out of the general rut, out of the general handwriting. The zodiac changed style, broke stereotypes, the mental clouding in his actions was not traced. Frightening brilliant prudence betrayed in him a very capable and clever criminal. This time, the victim of the Zodiac was an ordinary taxi driver Paul Stein, who was shot in the back of the head from the passenger seat. The killer took the keys, money and tore off a piece of his shirt. The moment of the attack was seen by small children from a neighboring house. This time the Zodiac did not have to call about the murder, he was handed over by the guys, in whose eyes he wiped the traces of his stay in the car and tore off a piece of cloth from his shirt. Leaving the crime scene, the maniac stumbled upon a patrol car, but they did not detain him, but only asked about the person to whom the orientation came. He would fit 100% for it, if not for one BUT. The orientation included a black man. For some reason, the children decided that he was black, apparently the night time made itself felt.
Three days later, a letter arrives at the editorial office of the San-Francisco Cronicle, which is accompanied by a bloody shred of shirt, as well as a new message from the Zodiac confirming the murder of a taxi driver and promising to shoot the school bus next time. This news spread such panic in the city that parents besieged police stations with a request to immediately find the killer, as they were afraid to let their kids go to school. A little later, the Zodiac calls one of the police stations and demands a conversation during the TV broadcast with one of the famous lawyers. The role of the negotiator was entrusted to lawyer Melvin Beline. The communication was very strange, the criminal even called himself by his name - Sam, and at the end he abruptly hung up the phone. The police tracked down the place where the call came from - it was a mental hospital. The call was made by her patient named Sam. At the same time, it was stated that the voices of the caller to the police station and on the air of the TV program were excellent. Two different people called.
Escape from the hands of the zodiac
On March 22, 1970, a remarkable event took place. The victim of the Zodiac managed not only to survive, but also to escape from his tormentor. Kathleen Jones with her 10-month-old daughter was heading from the city of San Bernardino to her mother. On the road, an outside car started honking her. She stopped and waited for the driver of the vehicle that had disturbed her to clarify. He went to the driver's seat and said that the woman had loose one of the wheels, but he was ready to help with the repair. As soon as he finished the work, he immediately left. The girl, not suspecting anything, decided to continue on her way, but as soon as she drove off, her wheel fell off. In the blink of an eye, her new acquaintance, who was fixing a wheel, drove up and offered to take her to the nearest gas station or repair shop. After taking the girl around for a long time, he missed several gas stations,to which the girl asked the logical question why they did not stop there. The driver did not answer, continuing to move in an unknown direction. Then he stopped and said that he would first kill her and then throw her out the child's window. What the Zodiac did not expect were the reactions of the woman and her maternal instinct. Kathleen rushed out of the car straight into the thicket of the forest and hid there with her baby. The taken aback maniac did not even begin to pursue the young mother, but nevertheless took out his anger on her car, burning that right on the roadway. Kathleen rushed out of the car straight into the thicket of the forest and hid there with her baby. The taken aback maniac did not even begin to pursue the young mother, but nevertheless took out his anger on her car, burning that right on the roadway. Kathleen rushed out of the car straight into the thicket of the forest and hid there with her baby. The taken aback maniac did not even begin to pursue the young mother, but nevertheless took out his anger on her car, burning that right on the roadway.
During the entire 70th year, the Zodiac sent messages to the editorial office of the San-Francisco Cronicle, where he constantly sneered at the helplessness of the police, leaving at the end of each postscript message, the last of which, dated that year, looked like this: 13, SFPD (San Francisco Police) = 0 . He mocked society, kept score in his game of collecting slave souls for his afterlife, and no one knew how to find and stop him. He was a ghost.
Paul Avery
Paul Avery, one of the Cronicle employees, who wrote all the articles about the Zodiac for his editorial staff, conducted a parallel investigation using his sources and channels, which the police could not connect. As a result of his research, he came across a similar handwriting of the murder that took place in 1966, then a young girl was killed near the library, and after a while three letters were sent to her parents, police and local media, in which the killer claims that the girl should have died. The killer said that she was not the last or the first victim. There was only a signature. Many believe that these are the first steps in the criminal field of the Zodiac, but there are quite a large number of skeptics of this version. True,this did not stop the Zodiac from taking over the 1966 murder in one of his letters and at the same time sending a threatening letter to Paul Avery.
On March 22, 1971, the game resumed. In a letter to the editors, Zodiac indicates the place where the police can find the trail of a nurse who disappeared a year ago. The letter consisted of clippings of various newspapers, magazines and advertising booklets with a map on which a certain place was marked with the maniac's brand name. At this very place, the police found the missing girl's sunglasses, but this search reached a dead end.
Silence of the Zodiac
There was a sudden pause for the police. The zodiac disappeared or hid for 3 long years, although he had already hinted that he would soon begin to kill without advertising, and the game had just begun. Three years later, a letter from a maniac came to the editorial office of Cronicle, in which he hinted that he was depressed by the behavior of the police and the stupidity of all those who could not find him in any way. This disappointed him greatly, and he saw no point in continuing to play in the open. The letter was accompanied by the signature “Me = 37, SFPD = 0”. From this figure, many of the hair on their heads began to move. If this was a true figure, then an elusive maniac was walking free, who takes pleasure in killing those he wants. And nothing can stop him.
This was the last letter officially confirmed by the experts of the proven authorship of the Zodiac. The editorial office regularly received suspicious letters from anonymous authors, but the handwriting gave out imitators in the authors. But there were also examples very similar to the handwriting of the Zodiac. Especially memorable is the letter in which he was waiting for a film to be shot about him, he wondered who would play the main villain.
The main suspects
During the entire period of investigations, there were about 2,500 people under suspicion. The most suspicious one was Arthur Lee Allen. In favor of his involvement in the case, strange behavior spoke, weapons at home, wardrobe items similar to the Zodiac, testimonies of his acquaintances, as if he was talking about murder and hunting not for animals, but for people, and most importantly, Michael Majo, a former long time under the witness protection program. It was only in 1991 that Majo was able to see the faces of potential suspects, among whom was a photograph of Arthur Lee Allen. In him, the victim recognized her executioner. But there was no direct evidence for Allen. The fingerprints did not match, the voice and handwriting did not match, even the DNA analysis did not give any results.
Robert Graysmith
It was Arthur Lee Allen who was suspected by the Cronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who was fascinated by the history of the zodiac so much that he sacrificed his work, his family and, in fact, his life for this. For almost 15 years, Robert has been conducting his independent investigation, the fruit of which has become a bestseller dedicated to the most mysterious maniac of our time. In his book, Graysmith gave out his interpretations of translations of the Zodiac cryptograms and led his investigation to the personality of Arthur Lee Allen, considering him the very maniac who terrified California in the late 60s and early 70s. Once the author of the book even met with Allen at his workplace, and this meeting was enough to confirm his opinion. But again, there was no direct evidence.
The history of the Zodiac forever changed the fate of Arthur Graysmith, he quit his main job, although he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and became the author of a crime story of real events. His books are incredibly popular, but they will never reach the level of the "Zodiac". His theory has received incredible criticism, his findings raise many questions, but he is one of the few who conducted such a thorough investigation and came to any conclusion.
How the Zodiac killer was hidden
Just a few years ago, another high-profile book was published, dedicated to the next independent investigation of the former police officer Lindo Lafferty, called "How the killer of the Zodiac was hidden." In it, he cites convincing evidence of the guilt of one person (name has been changed), who was in fact hidden from punishment. The author cannot give all the details of the case, because, as it turned out, the killer is still alive and well. He is now 93 years old and lives in California. All these years he, most likely, continued his murders, although he finally stopped communicating with the police and newspaper publishers, as the disappointments of previous years discouraged him from such a dangerous occupation for himself. Lafferty accuses a man who went crazy after his wife went to a local judge who, in order to make amends,and covered the legendary assassin. I wonder how comfortable all Californians now feel living near their 93-year-old grandfathers who fit the description.
Many books have been written based on the adventures of the Zodiac and a decent number of films have been shot. The very first logical desire after getting acquainted with the case of an uncaught maniac is reading the books by Robert Graysmith "The Zodiac" and Lindo Lafferty "How the killer of the Zodiac was hidden. What we will do ourselves, as well as offer you to do as well. How many of you have a desire to get to the bottom of the truth?