2. The case
• A man who went by the name of the zodiac
killer was terrifying the city of San Diego
riverside township
• The Zodiac claimed 37 victims, although
police agencies only consider seven to be
definite Zodiac victims.
3. 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 the car 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.
4. 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.
5. 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
6. Possible suspects
• Many different suspects were interviewed about the case and
if they were involved
• Suspects:
• Arthur Leigh Allen:
• Found dead inside his house killed by the zodiac
• Bruce Davis
• Lawrence Kane
• Michael O'Hare
• Richard Marshall
• Ted Kaczynski (main suspect)
9. victims
• The following slides will tell you more about
some of the victims of the zodiac murder.
10. David Faraday
• Zodiac killer victim
• David Faraday, age 17, was shot once in the
head at point-blank range and died within
minutes
11. Betty Lou Jensen
• 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.
12. 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.
13. Darlene Ferrin
• 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. Cecelia Sheppard
• age 22
• was stabbed 10 times
• five in the front
• and five in the back.
17. Detail continued
• According to the police report, the couple was relaxing on a blanket at a very remote location by the lake. Shepard
noticed a man approaching them wearing an unusual costume and holding a gun. He appeared to be more than
6'0" tall with a heavy build. The man claimed he was a prison escapee from Colorado and needed money and a car
to flee to Mexico. Hartnell offered his wallet and car keys, which weren't taken. After several minutes of
conversation, the man tied the couple with plastic clothesline and began stabbing them. Hartnell was attacked
first, then Shepard. After the assault, the man walked casually away from the scene. After several minutes, a
nearby fisherman heard the couple screaming and alerted park rangers. By the time help arrived, Shepard and
Hartnell had managed to untie their restraints. It took nearly an hour for an ambulance to arrive, at which time
both victims were in critical condition
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. details
• Stine's cab was hailed at Mason and Geary Streets, with the intended destination being Washington and Maple
Streets near the Presidio. For reasons unknown, the cab ended up at Washington and Cherry Streets, a block away
from the original destination. Stine's wallet and keys were taken and a large portion of his shirt was carefully torn
off. Bloody fingerprints, potentially of the suspect, were recovered from the vehicle. According to a police
document, a pair of men's Size Seven black-leather gloves was also found. The three witnesses watched the
suspect from approximately 60 feet away as he wiped down the cab with a cloth after killing Stine. They called the
police and described a white male, 25 to 30 years old, 5'8" to 5'9", stocky build, reddish-brown hair worn in a crew
cut, heavy-rimmed glasses and dark clothing.
23. 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