Lake Berryessa: The Zodiac Killer strikes again (Part 3/4) | Forensic Files

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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
the afternoon of saturday september 27 1969 almost three months after the murder of
darlene ferran in napa california 21 year old joanne and her two friends made their way into california's vacca
mountains they drove into a parking lot south of their destination and pulled their car
into park after gathering their belongings they prepared to make their way down to lake
berryessa the 23-mile long human-made reservoir was a popular recreational spot for
swimming fishing and water sports it was a warm afternoon and the three young women were planning to do some
sunbathing as they exited the vehicle another car caught their attention a late model two-door blue chevrolet
sedan with california plates drove into the parking lot from the southern side it passed the trio but then began
backing up to the empty spot behind their car the driver continued reversing until the
chevrolet's rear bumper was almost grazing the bumper of the women's car then he stopped and switched the
engine off he didn't get out as joanne and her friends walked past the chevrolet they caught a glimpse of
the lone driver inside sitting silently behind the wheel was a well-built white male who looked
to be about 40 years old with black hair parted to the left the women continued onwards to the lake
and settled by the shore they stripped down to their bikinis and began soaking in the sun
about half an hour later they looked up and noticed a man standing approximately
40 feet away amongst the trees the women recognized him it was the driver of the chevrolet
now that he was standing outside he looked tall perhaps between six foot and six foot two
he was dressed in dark trousers and a matching shirt an odd choice for the sunny waterfront
setting the enormous size of the lake meant there was more than enough room for visitors to spread out
this alone made the man's proximity unusual but it was the way he stared at the women that was most unnerving
deciding it was best to ignore him the young women didn't speak to the man but they glanced up intermittently to check
if he was still there every time they cast their gaze in his direction he averted his eyes
after about 30 minutes he finally stepped out of the shadows of the trees and dangled down to the lakefront
he got within about 20 feet of the women before traipsing up a hill and disappearing into the distance
when the trio returned to their car 15 minutes later both the man and his vehicle had vanished
[Music] a short while later clifford rayfield and his 16 year old son were further
along the shoreline when they noticed the man in dark-coloured clothing watching them
he stood on the incline of a hill halfway between the nearby road and the lake that's odd clifford thought
the man wasn't carrying a fishing pole camping equipment or a firearm for hunting
what's he doing out here then clifford wondered the man moved closer he was somewhat stocky and not very
nimble but he walked with purpose when he was within 100 yards of the father and son he stopped abruptly and
stared at them six uncomfortable seconds passed then just as suddenly he turned around and headed back up the
hill towards the road it seemed as though he'd been agonizing over something but then changed his mind
confused by the encounter clifford looked to his son the teenager happened to be holding his
rifle [Music] [Music] oblivious to the strange man disturbing other lake berryessa visitors
22 year old cecilia shepard and 20 year old brian hartnell took in their peaceful surroundings
they had arrived at the lake earlier in the afternoon the two students were good friends who'd
previously dated cecilia had recently transferred to another university and had stopped in at
her old college for a visit when she bumped into brian there the pair decided to spend the afternoon
together a last minute change of plans led them to the lake brian parked his white volkswagen karman
gear by the side of knoxville road he and cecilia gathered up a blanket and a deck of cards then ambled along a
narrow dirt trail towards the water after walking for about a quarter of a mile they saw a sandbar that provided
access to a small grassy island they walked across and spread their blanket under the shade of a large oak
tree near the shoreline from this idyllic spot they had the perfect vintage point to admire the lake
cecilia lay with her head on brian's shoulder and they reminisced about old times
two hours passed with nothing to disturb their privacy except for an occasional boat sailing across the lake's calm
waters it was nearing 6 30 pm when all of a sudden they heard a rustling sound from
some nearby bushes brian asked cecilia if she could see what was making the noise
she looked over a heavyset man was standing a short distance away watching them he was white
approximately 200 to 225 pounds and between five foot eight and six feet tall as cecilia watched
the man stepped behind a tree and disappeared she told brian who assumed the stranger
was merely looking for an isolated spot to urinate nonetheless he told cecilia to keep an
eye on him suddenly she squeezed brian's arm and cried out oh my god he's got a gun
cecilia and brian stared in shock as the man strode towards them pointing a handgun in their direction
dressed in dark trousers and a windbreaker the man's face was concealed by a dark hood that covered his entire
head shoulders and part of his torso holes for his eyes had been cut into the hood and he wore a pair of clip-on
sunglasses over the top neat white crosshair symbol was carefully painted across his chest and
hanging from the right side of his belt was a large sheathed knife [Music] i'm on my way to mexico he revealed
i escaped from dear lodge prison in montana brian peered through the exposed eye
holes in the man's mask and noticed sweaty brown hair stuck to his forehead he thought the man sounded young as
though he was between 20 and 30 years of age and he didn't come across as well educated
he also spoke with a slight drawl that was strangely familiar brian explained that he didn't have any
money but would help in any way he could he offered to hand over his wallet and car keys but the man didn't take them
in an attempt to defuse the situation brian nervously tried to engage the hooded man in conversation
at one point the man reholsted his weapon but he wasn't interested in being reasoned with
it was clear he had a specific purpose in mind lie face down on the ground i'm going to have to tie you up he said
he removed several lengths of plastic washing line that were hitched to the left side of his belt and handed them to
cecilia you tie the boy up he demanded cecilia did as she was told the man hog tired cecilia himself before
checking brian's restraints to make sure they were tight enough he then bound their ankles together
noticing the man shaking brian asked if he was nervous yes i guess so he replied
[Music] since the beginning of the ambush brian had suspected that the man's gun wasn't
loaded now that he and cecilia were both restrained he wasn't so sure he asked the man who pulled out the clip
in response confirming there were bullets inside he then reached into his belt and pulled
out a bayonet style knife with a long sturdy blade brian felt terror surge through his body
upon realizing this wasn't going to end well he begged the man to stab him first so
he wouldn't have to watch cecilia being heard he began stabbing brian over and over in
the back six times in total brian was flooded with shock he lay prone in a total days
unable to react cecilia started screaming frantically the man turned to her and launched a
frenzied assault he stabbed her in the back before rolling her over and repeatedly stabbing
her in the torso he launched his knife into her chest breasts groin and abdomen grunting and breathing heavily as the
attack intensified when cecilia stopped moving the man calmly walked away from the scene
he headed back towards the road where his victim's white volkswagen kamen gear was parked and took out a black marker
on the driver's side door he drew a large crosshair then scribbled a series of words and
numbers set out in several separate rows he concluded his note with two final chilling words
by knife ronald fong was fishing in lake berryessa with his nine-year-old son when he heard two voices screaming for
help the cries sounded as though they were coming from a small island nearby ronald circled his boat approximately
100 yards from the island and switched off the motor he could faintly make out a young man
and woman on the shore but it was too far away for ronald to tell whether their plays were serious
he ultimately dismissed it as a gag but 15 minutes later he could still hear the screams
ronald decided to approach the island and cautiously called out to ask what was wrong
as he drew closer he saw brian hartnell leaning his head against cecilia shepherd and swaying from side to side
both were soaked in blood the pair had merely been playing dead in the desperate hope their attacker would
leave brian explained that they had been stabbed and robbed horrified by the shocking scene
ronald immediately piloted his boat to the nearby resort where he was staying to alert the authorities
with help now on the way cecilia and brian managed to wriggle loose from their restraints
both struggled to remain awake as blood continued to seep from their wounds brian's hands and feet were completely
numb but he was able to gather enough strength to stand up he kissed cecilia telling her
i'm going to get help on the verge of unconsciousness brian started walking towards the road
instead of focusing on the realization that he could die he told himself not to give up and focused on pushing on
i'm not satisfied with my personal life brian thought this is no way to end it slowly pain started to slip through the
shark his vision soon went black and he had to lie down he made several more attempts to move
but eventually collapsed not far from the road all he could see were the trees around
him blurred into an indistinguishable haze then he heard a sound it was the engine of a truck drawing
closer park ranger dennis land was driving on route to the location where fisherman
ronald fong and his son had witnessed the young couple in terrible distress approximately 300 yards from the road
ranger land found brian hartnell lying in the grass his torso covered with blood ranger land helped brian to his
truck and brian directed him to the scene of the attack by the time ranger land reached cecilia
shepard she was in an immense amount of pain she had six stab wounds in her back and
five to her front the largest of which was ten inches long she was rocking back and forth on all
fours moaning he was a man with a hood his face was covered it hurts it hurts at 7 40 pm the switchboard at the napa
police department lit up as a call came through seventy minutes had passed since the
attack at lake berryessa i want to report a murder no a double murder the mail caller said calmly
they are two miles north of park headquarters they were in a white volkswagen kamen
gia the caller continued ignoring questions i'm the one that did it he then placed the receiver down instead
of hanging it up so the call remained connected officer david slate kept speaking into
his phone asking whether anyone was there but there was no reply passing traffic could be heard in the
background along with what sounded like female voices officer slate contacted the phone
operator to see if the call could be traced he was informed that the caller had used
a pay phone the operator would keep the line open as she attempted to find out where the call
had originated from meanwhile radio news reporter pat stanley was listening to his police
scanner for possible stories he overheard officer slate saying that a suspicious call had been made from a pay
phone somewhere in napa and that the caller hadn't hung up properly pat decided to drive around town looking
for the phone in question near a car wash on the corner of main street 27 miles from the crime scene at
lake berryessa he spotted a phone booth inside the payphone's receiver was dangling down
pat approached the phone and began shouting into the mouthpiece asking if officer slate could hear him
when officer slate responded that he could pat provided the location two officers were dispatched to the area
they didn't notice anyone suspicious nor were there any footprints or tire marks
nearby they photographed the phone booth and processed it as a crime scene finding
seven latent fingerprints three latent palm prints and one indistinct print at lake barry assa officers had found
brian's volkswagen parked on the side of the road a short walk from where the couple were attacked
its doors were locked and it didn't look as though anyone had attempted to break
in however someone had used a black marker to write a message on the driver's side door
it began with the crosshair symbol followed by the city name vallejo and a vertical rows of numbers
the discovering officer immediately recognized these as significant dates first was december 20 1968
the date that the zodiac murdered david faraday and betty lou jensen was july 4 1969 when the zodiac attacked darlene
ferran and michael mojo the third and final date was the current one september 27 1969
followed by the time of 6 30 and the words by knife upon seeing this final date the police
officer felt a wave of horror wash over him it seemed that cecilia shepherd and brian hartnett were the latest victims
of the zodiac killer his instincts were confirmed when the handwriting on the car was compared to
the known zodiac letters it was a match several witnesses who'd been at lake berry assad that afternoon spoke of
seeing a man lingering around the shoreline prior to the attack on brian and cecilia
police believed this was the zodiac when collated these reports depicted a heavyset white man of average height
wearing dark coloured clothing he had spent hours traversing the hills around knoxville road
it appeared that the zodiac was on the hunt for solitary vehicles parked in the area
he would pull up behind them then go searching for the vehicle's owners he'd first done it to the three young
women who went sunbathing but left without confronting them for reasons unknown he then came across clifford rayfield
and his son it was possible he'd left them alone after being spooked by the side of their
rifle or because he preferred his victims to be male female couples about 20 feet to the rear of brian's
volkswagen were some tyre prints believed to have been left by the zodiac's vehicle
at least two of the wheels had an exceptionally worn tread indicating an older poorly maintained vehicle that
spent a lot of time on the road latent fingerprints lifted from the exterior of the volkswagen didn't match
anyone in police records several distinct footprints were spotted leading to and from brian's car
they were approximately 13 inches long with a parallel bar tread design on both the heel and sole
plaster casts of matching footprints were taken throughout the area including one in the sand 100 feet from the point
of attack this one also showed a circular design in the instep area of the print
the pattern was from a wing walker shoe wing walkers were government-issued footwear worn by air force and civilian
personnel their design allowed the wearer to walk on airplane wings without causing damage
it was determined that the lake berryessa print had been made by a military-sized 10 and a half r boot
wing walkers were manufactured in philadelphia before being shipped to utah military bases throughout the country
would then place orders for the boots and sell them on site the closest base to the crime scene was
the travis air force base located 25 miles east of napa purchase records indicated that the base
had ordered and sold roughly 100 pairs of size 10 and a half boots to personnel over the past 13 months
unfortunately buyer's details weren't available for these sales another 500 to 1 000 pairs had also been
sold at the base's separate surplus store of those customers able to be traced and
tracked down none were arrested for crimes associated with the zodiac brian hartnell and cecilia shepard were
both rushed to the hospital in critical condition cecilia lapsed into a coma on the way
she died two days later without ever regaining consciousness but like michael majo before him
brian miraculously survived as he recovered detectives stood vigil outside his hospital room
worried that the zodiac might learn of the young man's survival and attempt to pay him a visit
once brian was well enough he provided a detailed account of his terrifying encounter with the zodiac killer
the lake berryessa stabbing was in stark contrast to his previous attacks at blue
rock springs park and lake hermann road which appeared to have been more opportunistic
michael majo said that when he and darlene were approached the killer fired into their car without saying a word
in the lake berryessa attack the killer had spoken openly the difficulty lay in knowing whether or
not to trust what he'd said the killers claimed that he'd escaped from dear lodge prison seemed like a
cover but police still considered whether montana could be significant to him he had also admitted to being nervous
was the zodiac not the confident killer he portrayed himself to be the answer to that question and many
others remained a mystery what was known was that he was becoming increasingly cruel and violent
his arsenal had increased to include a knife and robe he had made himself a striking uniform
which brian hartnell described as carefully sewn and meticulously placed [Music]
but what was the point if he didn't plan to leave survivors who could describe it
perhaps his motivation was to instill fear in his victims ensuring that the last thing they ever saw was a dark
hooded figure with a crosshair emblazoned across his chest or perhaps the outfit was linked to his
self-aggrandizing fantasies whatever the reason the zodiac was receiving the notoriety he craved
his crimes were making headlines as police chased a killer whose pattern of behavior was as unclear as his motive
investigators were flooded with tip-offs and struggled to keep up with leads one suspect was investigated after
speaking about dear lodge prison another was interviewed for having a crosshair tattoo
a man who was shot by police during a hostage crisis used his dying breaths to gasp
i'm zodiac that's me but it was later determined that he was a troubled individual struggling with
substance abuse psychics muddied efforts with dubious visions while the police were flooded
with calls from pranksters purporting to be the zodiac detectives travelled interstate examined
other murders for links compared handwriting samples and checked alibis as september gave way to october
newspapers ran frightening headlines warning of the danger this type of person could strike today
or tomorrow one article cautioned he's not run of the mill he's a real psychopathic killer
citizens were advised to steer clear of remote areas and told to travel in groups
couples in particular were warned to be careful meanwhile on a street corner in san
francisco the zodiac killer raised his arm and flagged down an approaching taxi case file will be back shortly thank you
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the night of saturday october 11 1969 two weeks after the murder of cecilia shepard
in san francisco california 29 year old paul stein said goodbye to his wife claudia
by 8 45 pm he was behind the wheel of the taxi he drove for the yellow cab company
it was a relatively new gig paul was completing his phd in english and had turned to cab driving to make
ends meet studying during the day and working at night was exhausting but paul was no
stranger to hard work a conscientious man with a sharp intellect that had earned him the
nickname of einstein paul was determined to make the arrangement work his first customer was waiting near pier
64 at bayfront park paul drove them to the san francisco airport where he then received another
job from his dispatcher there was a customer waiting to be picked up at an apartment downtown on
9th street paul accepted the fair and began the 12-mile drive north back into the city
by this point it was just after 9 45 pm as he neared the intersection of mason and the giri streets in the tenderloin
neighborhood paul caught sight of someone waving him down he pulled over the man asked if paul could take him to
the intersection of washington and maple street in the affluent neighborhood of presidio heights
paul thought about it for a second it was approximately a three-mile trip in the same direction as 9th street
he figured he could drop this man off on the way and still make it to collect his
next passenger in time paul accepted the fair making note of it in his logbook the passenger hopped in and closed the
door behind him paul put his indicator on and pulled back into the street he weaved his cab through the tree-lined
streets of presidio heights past the stately homes the area was known for as he neared the corner of washington
and cherry street a block further than his passenger's original destination his cab suddenly rolled to a stop
the engine idled paul stein slumped down in his seat flopping towards the passenger side
blood snaked down his face and onto his torso the single bullet fired at close range
to the right side of his head had killed him instantly he didn't even have time to turn the
meter off sitting in the passenger seat with the body of paul stein draped across his lap
the zodiac killer rifled through his victim's pockets then he pulled out a piece of fabric and
methodically wiped down the car's interior stepping out of the vehicle he turned
his attention to the outside rubbing the cloth carefully across the exterior paintwork
satisfied with his clean up the zodiac straightened up and casually walked away down cherry street
what he didn't know was that he was being watched by three teenage siblings who had gathered at the upstairs window
of their nearby home while they didn't witness the shooting they saw what the killer did after
they quickly phoned police describing the perpetrator as between 35 and 45 years old about 5 foot 10 and 190 pounds
with a paunchy stomach and a reddish blonde crew card he was wearing horn rim dye glasses and
a dress done remarkably in trousers and a jacket officers donald falck and eric zelms
were on patrol east of presidio when they received a word of the attack and a description of the perpetrator
they raced towards the scene at washington and cherry keeping their eyes peeled for a suspect as described
they soon spotted someone a stocky middle-aged white male with a light-colored crew card
standing at about five foot tan the man walked slowly with his head bent down not appearing to be in any hurry
curiously he matched the suspect's description to a t except that he was white the dispatcher had specifically said the
offender was a black male as the man didn't fit the profile officers falc and his arms continued on
upon arriving at the crime scene officers found paul stein lying in a semi-supine position across the front
seat with his head resting on the floor both he and the front compartment of the
cab were soaked in blood the three teenage siblings who had witnessed the aftermath of the shooting
were interviewed at the scene when they described the attacker as a white male the questioning officer was
confused weren't they on the lookout for a black suspect realising the dispatcher had made a
grave error the officer immediately radioed in to have the broadcast corrected he then walked north along cherry street
eyes peeled for anyone who looked like the shooter but the streets were quiet not only was there no one who matched
the suspect's description there weren't even any witnesses around to question continuing east along jackson street the
officer passed a man out walking his dog but didn't see anyone else noteworthy when word raged officers donald fark and
eric zelms that the shooter was actually a white male they were stunned they had just passed by a man who
matched the perpetrator's description in every way other than the colour of his skin
realising they might have inadvertently driven right by the killer officer fauc sped off towards the presidio war
playground believing the man probably headed there after turning onto maple street
the area was surrounded by dense foliage officer falc couldn't see anything through the dark
a large-scale search commenced a spotlight scan to the darkened streets alleyways and parklands as police swarm
to the area in patrol cars and on motorbikes some paced the streets with sniffer dogs
in tow but the killer was long gone paul stein's logbook indicated that the killer's destination had been the corner
of washington and maple street the intersection was guarded by high trees that obstructed the views from
residential windows making it a safe place to pull off the murder without witnesses
it was also only one block from the presidio war playground which would have provided a quick escape route
however the location where paul's cab was found was one block further west in a more exposed spot further from the
park police wondered if paul had perhaps overshot the intersection and the killer
asked him to pull over at the next corner or maybe the shooter saw an unexpected
witness at the original destination and changed his mind at the last moment another possibility was that paul had
still been driving when he was shot forcing the gunman to take control of the vehicle as it careened out of
control there was very little evidence to help identify the suspect yet police had a couple of clues to go
on despite the killer's attempts to wipe the cab clean of evidence several latent
bloody fingerprints were lifted from the exterior of the vehicle a pair of men's size 7 black leather
gloves were also found inside the cab these didn't belong to paul examination of a spent winchester
western bullet casing found on the passenger seat confirmed that had been shot from a nine millimeter
semi-automatic pistol the killer had also taken paul's wallet and car keys before fleeing the scene
this indicated to police that the shooting was nothing more than a violent robbery and there was no reason to
believe otherwise the three teenagers who'd seen the killer worked with a police artist to
create a suspect sketch officer falck later helped complete a second composite based on the man he'd
passed near the crime scene the two faces were remarkably similar soon both were on display in police
stations across the state printed side by side on wanted posters [Music] two days after paul's murder carol
fisher kotz was sitting at her desk at the san francisco chronicle newspaper she worked as the letters editor and it
was her job to sort through correspondence sent by readers as she flicked through the mail that had
arrived that day she spotted an unusual envelope in the top left hand corner where a
return address was usually printed someone had drawn a small crosshair symbol carol opened the envelope and to
her alarm a strip of bloodied cloth fell out onto the desk she looked inside the envelope and saw a
single sheet of paper it was a brief handwritten letter that read this is the zodiac speaking
i am the murderer of the taxi driver over by washington and maple street last night to prove this here is a
blood-stained piece of his shirt i am the same man who did in the people in the north bay area
the san francisco police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly instead of
holding road races with their motorcycles seeing who could make the most noise the car drivers should have just parked
their cars and sat there quietly waiting for me to come out of cover school children make nice targets
i think i shall wipe out a school bus some morning just shoot out the front tire and then
pick off the kitties as they come bouncing out the letter was signed off with the same
crosshair symbol that appeared on the envelope law enforcement officials were notified
about the zodiac's latest confession and took possession of the letter given that paul stein's murder had been
classed as a violent robbery detectives hadn't considered any links to the zodiac
killer so far he'd only confessed to murders involving young couples in isolated locales
because the zodiac had been particularly brutal towards his female victims criminal analysts theorized that he had
a particular hatred for young women a male cab driver killed at work didn't fit with his mo
additionally detectives weren't even aware that a piece of paul stein's shirt was missing
no one had noticed this detail when bagging his clothing as evidence they recovered paul's shirt from the
morgue and compared it to the strip of bloodied cloth sent to the chronicle it was a perfect match
however it appeared the killer had taken more fabric that was still unaccounted for
a handwriting expert for the fbi compared this letter with the others sent by the zodiac killer
and deemed that all had likely been written by the same person [Music] with another zodiac murder confirmed
criminal analysts now had more information to work with they noticed how the killer's letters
were peppered with misspelled words and grammatical errors he seemed intelligent so these mistakes
suggested he lacked a formal education though it was also possible he was deliberately making mistakes just to
throw authorities off track another common thread was the fact that all of his crimes seemed to occur by
bodies of water or in places with water themed names none of his crimes appeared personally
motivated it seemed that all victims had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong
time this was extremely concerning given that the window between his attacks was
narrowing after shooting david faraday and betty lou jensen almost seven months passed
before the zodiac killer struck again then there were only three months between his attacks against michael majo
and darlene ferran and brian hartnell and cecilia shepard paul stein's attack came exactly two
weeks later if he continued following this pattern it seemed likely that another murder was
imminent when newspapers reported on the zodiac's latest letter they strategically
declined to mention the threat he'd made about killing school children california's residents were panicked
enough and they didn't want the zodiac to get any more satisfaction that all changed on october 16 five days
after paul stein's murder when the los angeles times decided to make the detail public
as expected the result was widespread panic on the afternoon of october 20 a couple
was out walking with their eight-year-old daughter in the northern california town of ukya
as the trio strolled along the quiet back road of lake mendocino drive a light-colored car drove by
the driver threw a twig out the window towards them attached was a piece of paper
written on it in crude handwriting were the words you're next zee the following day a san francisco bay
area newspaper received a phone call from someone claiming to be the zodiac he issued a harrowing warning
he was planning to shoot children as they traveled on school buses both incidents were reported and law
enforcement agencies were immediately on high alert the police and california's highway
patrol began surveilling all school buses in the area some even had officers on board ready to
respond if necessary but there were no attacks it was becoming abundantly clear that
the media obsession had spurred hoaxes and attention seekers into action prompting false confessions and copycats
some individuals developed an unhealthy fixation with the case including one man from montana who was
convinced he was going to be a victim i left california because it got too hot for me an individual claiming to be the
zodiac told an oklahoma radio program the zodiac was a title many were willing to adopt for their own reasons
while the actual killer remained silent to coax the zodiac killer out of hiding california's attorney general appealed
for him to come forward by promising to provide help and protection editors at the san francisco examiner
also ran a direct message to the zodiac on the paper's front page it read in part
[Music] five people are dead let there be no more killings you are being hunted everywhere in the
state and nation you are alone in this world you can share your secrets with no one
we ask that you give yourself up to the examiner we offer you no protection and no
sympathy but we do offer you fair treatment the assurance of medical help and the full
benefits of your legal rights and we offer to tell your story there was no response
paul stein's brother joe also directly addressed the zodiac when he offered himself up as bait
joe was sure that he could take the killer down explaining that he was an army and air force veteran capable of
overpowering a coward like the zodiac even without a weapon giving specific details as to where the
killer could find him joe said i work at the ritchfield service station at 706 sutter street in modesto
i start at 7 am i go to lunch at the walk-in chicken in a shopping center two blocks away
riding a bicycle along sutter street and leaving the station at noon each day i go back to the service station and
work until five let him come and get me other residents and business owners in the neighborhood were less than thrilled
about joe's challenge they feared it would draw the serial killer to their community and place them
in danger however their concern was unwarranted the zodiac didn't take joe up on his
offer on the night of saturday october 18 a lone car sat in the parking lot of vallejo's blue rock springs park
close by to where darlene ferran and michael mojo had been shot it was nearing 2am when a second vehicle
approached in 1964 greenish grey chevrolet station wagon pulled into the parking lot and
drove towards the other car the chevrolet stopped and its engine switched off a middle-aged man of average height and
build exited the vehicle he walked right up to the neighboring car just then two undercover officers sprang into
action they had planted the first car there as bait hoping to lure the zodiac into
attempting another attack their plan appeared to have worked but the driver of the chevrolet
explained that he was a navy employee stationed on treasure island in san francisco
he was on his way to lake berryassar but had gotten lost upon seeing the car at blue rock springs
park he'd decided to ask for directions with no reason to doubt him the officers
let the man go and resumed their covert positions they stayed there for the rest of the
night but nobody else approached the bait car the zodiac clearly wasn't falling for it
despite their initial hope the tactic was unsuccessful and no further stakeouts were planned
investigators turned their focus to the guns used during the attacks in total the killer had used three
different firearms a 22-caliber weapon had been used on david and betty lou while two different nine millimeter
weapons were used during the attacks on michael and darlene and paul stein the one used to kill paul was a
semi-automatic that required ammunition only available from specialized gun dealers
[Music] only 143 nine millimeter firearms similar to those used in the zodiac attacks had been sold in san francisco
over the last three years investigators hunted down the buyer's gun applications and compared their
handwriting to that on the zodiac letters no matches were found it was close to midnight on tuesday
october 21 1969 when a phone rang at oakland police department 12 and a half miles east of san francisco
an officer answered and was greeted by a male on the other line who introduced himself as the zodiac killer
he then made a strange request he wanted one of two specific defense attorneys to appear on san francisco
talk show the jim dunbar show the following morning if this request was granted the caller
said he would be open to negotiating live on air to prove he was genuine he provided
knowledge about the zodiac case that police deemed to be legitimate [Music] investigators agreed to the caller's
demands one of the attorneys he wanted to speak to was melvin bellaire he was famous for defending jack ruby an
american nightclub owner who killed presidential assassin lee harvey oswald bellai agreed to appear on the show
the next morning the jim dunbar show went live to air at seven o'clock all the other guests on the show were
cancelled as dunbar and bellai made small talk after 49 minutes the phone finally rang
the caller identified himself as the zodiac but bellai asked for another name they
could use he told them to call him sam talk to us just tell us what's going on in inside you right now sam
i have a headache all right how long did he have those headaches of sam in a long time
if i killed a kid if it all boils down to the question of you're giving yourself up if you could
be sure that you wouldn't get capital punishment for myself so when i kill those kids
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deliver quality content in an effort to avoid having the call traced sam kept hanging up and calling
back minutes later in total he phoned 15 times over the course of two hours before ending one call sam said i'm
getting one of my headaches now i've got to kill i've got to kill at one point he threatened to jump off
the roof of a hotel unless bellai agreed to meet him there while off air bellaire convinced sam to
meet him elsewhere they arranged to meet at 10 30 that morning at the saint vincent de paul's
office building on mission street bellai and dunbar went to the location with high hopes
word about the meeting got out and camera crews and curious onlookers flocked to the area hoping to witness
some action the police arrived half an hour later but the zodiac never showed up
recordings of the calls were played to three people who had heard the zodiac's voice
these were lake berryessa survivor brian hartnell and the two police dispatchers
nancy slova and david slade none of them thought sam sounded like the zodiac with no evidence to convince them
otherwise police suspected that the calls had been a hoax on saturday november 8 another envelope
arrived at the san francisco chronicle with the words please rush to the editor written on both sides
it had been almost four weeks since the zodiac had made contact he was now attempting to be funny by
submitting a greeting card that parodied a popular television commercial of the time
on the front was an illustration of a fountain pen dripping in blood and inside was a cipher with 340 different
characters accompanying the card was a handwritten letter that read this is the zodiac speaking
i thought you would need a good laugh before you hear the bad news you won't get the news for a while yet
p.s could you print this new cipher on your front page i get awfully lonely when i am ignored
so lonely i could do my thing it was signed with the zodiac's crosshair symbol followed by the words
december july august september october equals seven this final line was explained the very
next day when the san francisco chronicle received another letter that began this is the zodiac speaking
up to the end of october i have killed seven people i have grown rather angry with the
police for their telling lies about me so i shall change the way the collecting of slaves
i shall no longer announce to anyone when i commit my murders they shall look like routine robberies killings of anger
and a few fake accidents etc the police shall never catch me because i have been too clever for them
[Music] the zodiac's claim that he'd killed seven people was confusing as he was
only known to have taken the lives of five victims he went on to boast that he avoided
detection by wearing a disguise and coating his fingertips with aeroplane cement while committing his crimes
he also claimed to have wiped paul stein's cab down to leave the police with false clues
then detailed a supposed encounter he'd had with two officers near the scene quote cops pulled a goof about three
minutes after i left the cab i was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up and one of
them called me over and asked if i saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last five to ten minutes
and i said yes there was this man who was running by waving a gun and the cops peeled rubber and went
around the corner as i directed them and i disappeared into the park a block and a half away never to be seen again
[Music] hey pig doesn't it roll you up to have your nose rubbed in your boo-boos
[Music] the letter droned on for six pages towards the end the zodiac provided accurate bomb making instructions along
with an illustration of a homemade incendiary device he warned he was going to use this
contraption to blow up a bus adding that he could be storing it in his basement or at the site where he
intended to detonate on his trademark crosshair symbol the zodiac had added small x's at various
points of the circle which were believed to indicate various times of day editors for the san francisco chronicle
published excerpts from the two most recent letters but decided to omit the bomb threat for fear it would lead to
panic they also published the new cipher included with the greeting card which was named the 340 cipher
it was a different code altogether from the original 408 cipher and the editors hoped that amateur code breakers would
be able to crack this one too it was also forwarded to professional cryptologists at the fbi headquarters
the national security agency and the central intelligence agency but no one was able to break the code
in december 1969 defense lawyer melvin bellaire traveled to the german city of munich to attend a conference
while he was away his housekeeper back in san francisco forwarded all correspondents to his office so his
employees could check for important documents when they returned to work after the
christmas break they discovered an envelope postmarked december 20. scribbled on the back in poor spelling
was the message merry christmas and new year one of bellai's colleagues opened the
envelope inside was a blood-stained scrap of fabric along with a neatly handwritten
letter that read dear melvin this is the zodiac speaking i wish you a happy christmas
the one thing i ask of you is this please help me i cannot reach out for help because this
thing in me won't let me i am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check
i am afraid i will lose control again and take my ninth and possibly tenth victim
please help me i am drowning at the moment the children are safe from the bomb because it is so massive to dig
in and the trigger mechanism required much work to get it adjusted just right but if i hold back too long from number
nine i will lose all control of myself and set the bomb up please help me i cannot remain in control for much
longer the envelope and its contents were passed along to authorities who determined that the bloody fabric was
another piece of paul stein's shirt this along with the fact that the zodiac's bomb threat hadn't been
released to the public convinced them that the letter was genuine although it was significantly neater
than the others leading some to believe that the zodiac wanted to impress bellai
it was difficult to tell whether the zodiac was being sincere or sarcastic in his cries for help
up until this point he'd portrayed himself as a dangerous man not to be messed with
but now he was coming across as vulnerable and desperate it was also unclear what he wanted
belair to do with this information as he hadn't specifically requested psychiatric or legal help
but the letter raised an even bigger question at this point the zodiac had been linked
to five murders those of betty lou jensen david faraday darlene farren cecilia shepherd and paul
stein so who were the three other victims he was referring to were there more victims investigators
hadn't yet linked him to or was he simply taunting them bellai appealed for the zodiac to make
further contact via an article in the san francisco chronicle he offered to meet anywhere the zodiac
wanted and agreed to any demands on january 14 1970 the phone rang at bellai's home in san francisco
he was still overseas so his housekeeper took the call [Music] it was sam the same man who had called
the jim dunbar show claiming to be the zodiac when he was told the lawyer wasn't
available sam replied i can't wait it's my birthday he then hung up the phone almost a month later on february 5 sam
called jim dunbar again police were alerted and jim tried to keep sam talking while detectives raced
to the studios to listen in by the time they arrived sam had hung up the call hadn't been long enough to be
traced the calls from sam also continued at melvin bellaire's residence so the fbi
set up a trace on the line one call was eventually traced back to a mental health facility in oakland
it had been made by an in-patient named eric wheel who was an amateur photographer from the san francisco bay
area recordings of wheels voice were played to those who had heard the real zodiac
speak including lake berryessa survivor brian hartnell and none thought they were the same
person regardless weir was interviewed extensively and also provided fingerprints and handwriting samples
investigators confirmed he was responsible for the hoax phone calls to the police department the jim dunbar
show and marvin beller's residents but he was ultimately ruled out as a suspect in the zodiac killings
the real zodiac never responded to bellaire's public offer of assistance [Music]
as news of the zodiac continued to dominate headlines in california los angeles resident donald chaney
couldn't shake an uneasy feeling he'd recently been plagued by the memory of something that happened a couple of
years earlier and it was eating at his every thought in january of 1968 donald had been on a
hunting trip with a friend the two were chatting about a science fiction story when all of a sudden
donald's friend turned to him and asked have you ever thought of hunting people [Music]
as donald tried to process this disturbing question his friend began describing the way he would carry out
such an attack he would go to a lover's lane armed with a revolver or pistol that was fitted
with an aiming device and flashlight he would then approach anyone in the vicinity and start shooting
alternatively he would shoot the tyres of a school bus and then shoot each child as they came bouncing out of the
bus the crimes would have no motive making it difficult for investigators to catch
him to amuse himself he would then taunt detectives by sending them letters filled with the red herrings
while this information alone was enough to haunt donald there was one detail in particular that had his head spinning
his friend had said he would sign the letters with a name he'd taken a particular liking to
the zodiac [Music] to be continued next week [Music] the australian federal police is
australia's national policing agency their work includes counter-terrorism serious organized crime cyber crime
fraud child exploitation and human trafficking within human trafficking it's a tight rope to walk between
prosecuting someone for a human trafficking offence and looking after the victim her nose was bleeding
profusely they couldn't call ambulance or police because they knew what's going to happen the money that she had made
during that week was 82 and a half thousand dollars and that was her worst week in 10 years the case file team has
been given exclusive access to the afp case vault to bring you stories of some of their most challenging operations
narrated by me you'll hear in-depth interviews with afp federal agents and learn how they investigated and
interrupted the most serious of crimes her level of criminality and just the level of smartness that people didn't
actually attribute to her what our job is in cyber crime is to make it we do know about it gain an
insight into how the afp disrupted a major human trafficking syndicate and arrested a sex offender who targeted
children online by the number of victims that he targeted it wasn't just one child or two children it was hundreds of
children the threat was always there always present like a dark cloud hanging over their heads he kind of mocks one of
the boys where he says you think i'll be caught from investigating counter-terrorism and disrupting major
drug importation chains to international kidnappings we take an inside look at some of the
biggest investigations and learn how the afp stayed a step ahead i was led into the house and i was met
with another two guys one with a handmade pistol another one with a machete des sounds as though he's really
in trouble he doesn't stand himself if you give the money they could kill you or if you don't give them money they can
still kill you when you're talking about a 21 year old offender who still lives at home it's a fair shock to your dad
when the police aren't only knocking at your door they're breaking it down crime interrupted is the latest release
from case file presents the first episode is out now with new episodes dropping weekly
listen for free wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to hit the follow button so you don't miss an episode
you

Case 200: The Zodiac (Part 3)

[Part 3 of 4] On September 27 1969, friends Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were relaxing at Lake Berryessa, California, when their afternoon was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a menacing figure. His face was concealed by a black hood, painted with a crosshair symbol. The man unleashed a brutal attack on the pair before fleeing the scene.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Jess Forsayeth and Milly Raso Writing – Elsha McGill, Erin Munro, Milly Raso and Jess Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-200-the-zodiac-part-3

Brief Summary

The episode discusses organized crime and human trafficking in Australia through AFP officer interviews.

Key points

Crime Interrupted: A Deep Dive. This six-episode series features exclusive interviews with officers solving crimes in Australia.
The Zodiac Killer Strikes Again. Cecilia and Brian are attacked by a man who reveals his identity as an escaped convict.
The Zodiac's Confession. A letter arrives at the Chronicle, revealing Zodiac's involvement in Paul Stein's murder.
A Disturbing Threat. Zodiac threatens to attack school children in a letter, causing panic.
The Bait Car Plan. Undercover officers set a bait car to lure the Zodiac, but he doesn't take the bait.
The Zodiac's Phone Calls. The Zodiac makes multiple calls, threatening to jump off a hotel roof if not met.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I'm on my way to Mexico. I escaped from Dear Lodge prison in Montana.

The attacker reveals his escape while threatening Brian and Cecilia.

11:28WatchFeb 19, 2022

Tension

45/ 100Some tension

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