The prime suspect in the Zodiac case (Part 4/4) | Forensic Files

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the evening of sunday march 22 1970 five months after the murder of paul stein in san bernardino california
[Music] kathleen jones was preparing for a long road trip the 22 year old was visiting her sick
mother in petaluma a seven hour drive away kathleen who was seven months pregnant
preferred to make this familiar journey at night there were fewer people on the roads and
the car's engine would allow her ten-month-old daughter to sleep kathleen got into her 1957 chevrolet and
set off with her daughter strapped into the back seat by 11 45 pm kathleen was driving along
the interstate 132 highway in patterson she glanced up at her rear view mirror a
late-model light tan-colored car was trailing close behind her it was being driven by a white male
wearing black framed eyeglasses he flashed his headlights trying to get kathleen's attention
kathleen ignored the man and he soon sped up and overtook her nervous that something might be wrong
with her vehicle she decided to pull over and check just in case noticing this the man promptly breaks
then backed up to meet her by the side of the highway speaking in a slow monotonous voice he
explained that her left rear wheel had been wobbling he offered to fix it and kathleen
accepted the man fetched a wrench and knelt by kathleen's wheel for a couple of minutes
tightening the lug bolts he then stood up and told her she was all set to continue
he strolled back to his car and drove away without saying another word kathleen started her engine and pulled
away from the roadside but within moments her car came to a grinding hold she got out to see what was wrong
the left rear tyre had almost completely fallen off with only one bolt still holding it in place
the man who'd made the repairs was still close enough to see that kathleen had a
problem he promptly returned to the scene and offered to drive her to the nearest
service station for professional assistance kathleen agreed and gathered up her infant daughter leaving her keys in the
ignition and the headlights on she then climbed into the front passenger seat of the man's vehicle
holding her daughter on her lap the car's interior was a mess with clothing rubbish and children's toys
scattered about after continuing along the highway for some time the men eventually took an
exit that led down some quiet country roads kathleen was relieved to see a service
station in the distance but the man drove straight past it without so much as pausing
they soon passed more service stations and the same thing happened again and again
confused kathleen finally asked the man why he wasn't stopping he simply explained that none of the
service stations were right then changed the subject by this point they'd been driving around
for about an hour and a half but the man showed no signs of finding help as promised
hoping she was just being paranoid kathleen continued making small talk the man told her that he worked for two
months of the year then spent the rest of his time driving around mostly at night
kathleen asked if he spent his long drives helping many people who found themselves in trouble
the man simply replied when i get through with them they don't need any help [Music]
[Music] kathleen was now terrified certain that the man planned to harm her in some way
when he pulled up at a stop sign she saw an opportunity gripping her daughter in her arms
kathleen flung open the door and jumped from the vehicle she raced into a nearby field as fast as
she could the man made no attempt to stop her instead he simply reached over closed
the passenger door and turned his lights off he sat stationary in the dark for approximately five minutes before
flicking his lights back on and driving away into the night kathleen lay down flat on the ground
it was pitch black and she had no idea where she was it appeared she had run into a vineyard
and was in an irrigation ditch surrounded by tall grass after the man left the area kathleen's
first instinct was to return to the road she clambered up an embankment and stood
near the bottom of a hill by the roadside waiting for a car to come by a semi-trailer approached and kathleen
frantically flagged it to stop the driver hit the brakes kathleen's relief was soon overcome with
anxiety she eyed the semi-trailer's male driver with apprehension and begged him not to
come any closer despite being her only means of escape she didn't want to get into another car
with another male stranger and put herself her daughter and her unborn baby in potential danger
eventually a female driver arrived on the scene and offered to help the woman drove kathleen and her
daughter back to paterson and dropped them outside the town's police station it was around 2 30 am
almost three hours had passed since kathleen's ordeal began she was visibly distraught and it
took officers some time to calm her down eventually she was able to provide a statement about the night's events
just as she concluded her story kathleen noticed a nearby bulletin board she began screaming
the attending officer asked what was wrong kathleen pointed at a piece of paper pinned to the bulletin board and said
that's the man my god that's the man who picked us up the officer looked to see what she was
pointing at it was a wanted poster featuring two composite sketches of the zodiac killer
kathleen couldn't remember exactly where she'd left her vehicle but a deputy was
dispatched to the general area on the lookout for the 1957 chevrolet as he traveled two miles east of
interstate five he noticed the grey smoke emanating from a spot up ahead it was coming from kathleen's vehicle
someone had set it on fire and the car was still smoldering all that remained was an empty
burned-out shell although kathleen had said her left rear wheel was tampered with an examination
of the wreckage showed it was actually the right side back at the patterson police station
interviewing officers began to wonder about kathleen's story it had been five months since the
zodiac's last known attack and they had been waiting with nervous anticipation for him to make his next move
kathleen's ordeal didn't fit with his typical lemo as he had never abducted a victim for a considerable length of time
but it was possible he had changed his approach once again yet with each retelling kathleen added
small details and new claims that varied from the original she said the man took her car keys but
they were still in the ignition and returned to kathleen after her car was towed
initially she also said the man refused to stop then later clarified that he had stopped
at one service station but it was closed complicating matters further was the fact that kathleen never actually asked
the man to stop or let her go because of this police wondered whether the incident could technically be
qualified as a kidnapping over time kathleen's story became more embellished as she added that the man
had repeatedly threatened to kill her after her opportunistic escape he stepped out of the car to look for her
with a flashlight police hoped to verify kathleen's story with the woman who had driven her to
patterson that kathleen hadn't asked for her contact information a few weeks after kathleen's encounter a
group of friends in san francisco were chatting when they realized none of them had seen or heard from their friend
robert salem in several days on april 19 they decided to check in on him they let themselves into the apartment
in the mid market district where 40 year old robert lived alone to their shock his lavishly furnished
home was in total disarray drawers had been upended and robert's belongings were strewn
everywhere the place had been thoroughly ransacked in the middle of the chaos was robert
sprawled on a couch the white jumpsuit he was wearing was covered in blood he had been stabbed five times in the
back once in the chest and his throat had been slashed robert's left ear was also missing
as his friends cast their eyes upwards the sight before them grew even more shocking
scrawled on a wall in robert's own blood were the words satan save zodiac followed by a crosshair symbol
despite the message tying the murder to the zodiac detectives were quick to rule
out any connection nothing about the crime matched the zodiac's mo investigators theorised that the
culprit's motive was robbery and they staged the scene in an attempt to throw police off their path
they were right months later a 22 year old man named stanley dean confessed to the crime
while under investigation for another unrelated murder detective david tosky lived and breathed
the zodiac case the homicide inspector for san francisco's police department had
originally fronted the investigation into paul stein's murder once the zodiac took responsibility for
the cabbies death tosky and his partner william armstrong went in hard to identify the notorious serial killer
toski was a notable character at san francisco's pd in contrast to the dark plain-coloured
clothing worn by his colleagues toski stood out in colorful suits and bow ties he embraced his position as the public
face of the zodiac case a softly spoken friendly man toski worked tirelessly with police
departments in other jurisdictions to collate all the zodiac information and to begin the mammoth task of piecing it
together they focused on the suspect's known features his physical appearance the fact that he committed crimes in
locations named after bodies of water his mention of having a basement which very few homes in california possessed
the possibility that he had a military background several details alluded to this
firstly the zodiac was known to wear winged walker boots associated with the air force
in one of his letters he'd talked about coating his fingertips with aeroplane cement which indicated another possible
air force link he'd also used a bayonet style knife in one of his killings a weapon commonly
linked to the us military after fleeing the scene of paul stein's attack the zodiac had fled into the
presidio park area which was a former united states army post tuskegee familiarized himself with all
the zodiac correspondence then on april 20 1970 he received an unopened letter that had originally been
sent to the san francisco chronicle addressed to the editor the newspaper staff recognized the handwriting on the
envelope immediately and forwarded it to police without opening it inside was a letter that began
this is the zodiac speaking a question followed by the way have you cracked the last cipher i sent
you the answer was no no one had yet cracked the zodiac killer's previous cipher known as the
340. his letter continued my name is the sentence ended abruptly a 13 character line of symbols followed
it was another cipher then switching back to plain english again the zodiac pondered
i am mildly curious as to how much money you have on my head now he denied responsibility for a pipe bomb
blast that occurred months earlier at the golden gate park police station while simultaneously claiming that he'd
recently tried to detonate a bomb on a bus his plans had been thwarted by heavy rain
if he'd succeeded he said his death toll would be even higher than the ten lives he said he'd taken thus
far included with the latter was a hand-drawn diagram of this supposed bomb along with the words
p.s i hope you have fun trying to figure out who i killed the letter was signed with a crosshair
along with the letters sfpd for san francisco police department an equals sign and the number zero
[Music] in his previous letter the zodiac had mentioned seven victims now he was claiming he'd killed ten
investigators only knew of five david faraday betty lou jensen darlene farren cecilia shepherd and paul stein
either he had killed more people than the police were aware of which would be unusual given his desire to take credit
for his crimes or he was inflating his kill count to either confuse police or increase his notoriety
the 13 symbol cipher was sent to cryptologists but ciphers shorter than 30 characters are generally considered
unsolvable as numerous solutions can be derived from them without further input from the killer
the code was deemed too difficult to decipher and the zodiac's identity remained a mystery
despite his apparent desire to be identified the zodiac went to great lengths to avoid this happening
his handwriting while distinct and recognizable often varied in minut detail the letter d was always in cursive and
his arse appeared like check marks police believed he was disguising his genuine handwriting so as not to give
himself away given the zodiac's claim that his bomb attempt was swamped out by the rain
an investigation was launched into lower lying regions of the san francisco bay area
if police could find the spots where the rainwater pulled they might be one step
closer to locating the killer when denying responsibility for the police station bombing the zodiac had
written it just wouldn't do to move in on someone else's territory did this indicate the zodiac had a
specific area that he considered his turf whatever the case the my name is letter was well examined
and its points thoroughly explored but detectives failed to achieve any major breakthroughs
reports on the matter ended with the bleak remark the investigation continues a little over a week later on april 28
the zodiac's threats escalated when he sent a cartoon greeting card to the chronicle
it featured an image of a small man riding a donkey alongside another small man riding a dragon
printed above the image was the caption sorry to hear your ass is a dragon this pre-printed message appeared
to be a play on words which the zodiac was employing to mock the police's slow investigation
in the zodiac's handwriting was a more personalized note warning of how he was finally intending to carry out his bomb
threat it read i hope you enjoy yourselves when i have my blast there were two ways that the blast could
be avoided the zodiac added one the chronicle was to publish details about his plans to blow up a bus
2. he wanted to see the people of san francisco wearing zodiac themed badges the san francisco police department
instructed the chronicle to run a brief article about the card in order to placate the zodiac
they were certain this latest note was genuinely from him due to the bomb threats which had also been made in
previous zodiac letters the case detectives had always been careful to keep those references under
wraps out of fear they may cause unnecessary panic on may 31 law enforcement made the difficult
decision to publicize the bomb threat suddenly the risk felt too great [Music] it was 5 28 am on june 19 1970 when the
sound of gunshots rang out over wallace street in san francisco's lower hate neighborhood
there were three shots in total fired in quick succession officers were dispatched to the area
after receiving a call from a concerned citizen [Music] they pulled up to the block between
scott and pierce streets where they found a stationary patrol car the car's interior was soaked with blood
and its sole occupant twenty-five-year-old traffic patrolman richard radatic was slumped over towards
the passenger seat barely clinging to life raditic had been preparing to run a check on a parked car when a bullet
fired from a 38 caliber pistol hit him in the head as he was still gripping his police microphone
just as one of the attending officers exited the vehicle to take a closer look a neighbor leaned out of a nearby window
and shouted get down they might still be around the officer quickly ducked down and
waited for backup to arrive soon the area was swarming with police although no one had seen the shooting
witnesses reported seeing a white cadillac speeding away from the area seconds after the shots were fired
officer ratatic was rushed to the hospital but later died of his injuries his colleagues had no idea who could
have killed him and urged anyone who knew anything about the crime to come forward
as the days ticked by the people of san francisco remained on edge wondering when or where the zodiac would strike
next despite their fears they ignored his request to wear badges that acknowledged
his demands as schools closed for summer vacation there was a sense of relief throughout
the city at least there would be no school buses on the roads for the killer to target
almost two weeks passed with no reported attacks then on monday june 29 another suspicious envelope arrived at the
offices of the chronicle it had all the hallmarks of a zodiac letter except that unlike those before it this
one wasn't specifically addressed to the editor inside was a map of san francisco with
the location marked in the mount diablo area the isolated peak sat to the east of the
bay area and was one of california's most iconic landmarks attracting hikers bird watchers and nature lovers
the map was accompanied by a letter that read this is the zodiac speaking i have become very upset with the people
of san fran bay area they have not complied with my wishes i promised to punish them if they did
not comply by annihilating a full school bus but now school is out for the summer
so i punished them in another way i shot a man sitting in a parked car with a 38.
the map coupled with this code will tell you where the bomb is set you have until next fall to dig it up
at the end of the letter were 32 coded characters alongside the zodiac's crosshair symbol
was the number 12 next to the letters sfpd equals zero the killer was now claiming he'd
murdered 12 people while investigators were no closer to catching him the latest cipher was sent to the fbi
but experts were unable to crack the code nor were any fingerprints detected on either the letter map or envelope
however the handwriting was a match to the previous letters confirming it to be genuine zodiac correspondence
[Music] investigators reflected on the zodiac's claim of having shot a man in a car with
a 38-caliber weapon the only recent crime that matched this description was the fatal shooting of
patrolman richard ratatic the scene of the shooting was just two and a half miles from where the zodiac
had killed cabbie paul stein and the zodiac had recently boasted of killing police members in a letter
writing there is more glory in killing a cop than a kid because a cop can shoot back
however several days after officer ratatic was shot a witness reported seeing an ex-convict named joe johnson
driving away from the scene and police thought he was a likely suspect they'd already issued an apb for
johnson's arrest and didn't believe that the zodiac was involved in any way charges against johnson were later
dropped due to a lack of evidence although the authorities remained dubious about the zodiac's confession
they couldn't confirm or deny whether he was responsible for the young officer's
murder one month passed with no further word or action from the zodiac then on july 27
another letter arrived at the chronicle in which the zodiac again complained that people weren't wearing zodiac
themed badges angered he said he now had a little list of people he planned to kill
starting with a woman and a baby whom he'd given a rather interesting ride a few months prior
he claimed that the encounter had ended with him torching their car case detectives believed the woman he
was referring to was kathleen johns and the reference appeared to confirm her suspicion that the man who tampered with
her vehicle and set it alight was the zodiac killer but they also had to consider the
possibility that the zodiac had simply read kathleen's account in the news and decided to take credit
a second much longer letter also arrived at the chronicle that same day in it the zodiac threatened to torment
the souls of his victims if his requests continued to be ignored outlining various torture methods in
graphic detail once again he alluded to having a little list of intended victims
the zodiac's repeated use of this phrase was a reference to a song from a gilbert
and sullivan opera called the mercado the character who sang this song was known as coco the lord high executioner
and he wore a hood very similar to the one the zodiac had donned for the lake berryessa attack
to ensure this connection wasn't missed the zodiac had written a parody of the song describing the types of people he
planned to target next his lyrics concluded with the chilling words but it really doesn't matter whom you
place upon the list for none of them be missed none of them be missed detectives believed this second more
detailed illusion indicated he was worried his earlier reference may have been misinterpreted
convinced this must be significant they wondered whether he may have performed in the mikado either during school or in
an amateur production they looked into drama troops that were staging the mercado during the time of
the zodiac attacks but these inquiries led nowhere [Music] while this letter featured the zodiac's
usual spelling errors its tone was more bizarre than the others some investigators speculated
that his mental state was deteriorating while others wondered if this was just a
ruse to trick them into believing he was insane in any case his threats felt increasingly empty
it appeared to detectives that the zodiac was now more interested in seeking attention through words than
actions [Music] editors at the chronicle felt that the zodiac had been too encouraged by all of
the media attention consequently they decided not to publish any excerpts from these last two letters
the zodiac no longer appeared to be committing any attacks and the emptier his threat sounded the less interested
readers were in his letters the evening of sunday september 6 1970 11 months after the murder of paul stein
in south lake tahoe california 25 year old donna lass settled in for her night shift at the sahara hotel
casino in south lake tahoe she was employed as the on-site nurse and it was her duty to tend to any
patrons who required basic medical assistance it was a relatively new job as donna had
only recently moved to south lake tahoe from the presidio area of san francisco her shift that night was fairly ordinary
and ended without incident donna eventually clocked off and disappeared into the night
the following day the phone rang at the sahara hotel casino one of donna's co-workers answered
a man on the other line said he was a relative of donna's and explained there had been an illness in the family
consequently donna wouldn't be able to make it to work her employer made note of her absence
and assumed she'd soon return but donna didn't show up for her next shift either and had made no further
contact now concerned her employer notified the police they paid a visit to donna's apartment
finding her 1968 convertible parked out the front inside her apartment was spotless
donna's clothes and credit cards were still there and a check of her bank account revealed it hadn't been touched
officers reached out to donna's family who revealed something alarming there had been no illness in the family
and they had no idea who could have called the casino on donna's behalf donna's unexplained absence now took a
sinister turn given that she wasn't the type to simply leave without an explanation police
suspected foul play intensive searches were conducted throughout the lake tahoe area but to no
avail a witness reported having seen donna walking near her apartment with a blonde-haired man on september 7
but this was never verified detective speculated that donna's disappearance could be connected to the
case of another young nurse judith hikari who had been abducted and murdered six months earlier
judith's savagely beaten body had been found in a shallow grave near tahoe national forest
but with little to go on any connection to donna's disappearance was purely speculative
meanwhile in san francisco two months had gone by with no further contact from the zodiac killer
then on wednesday october 7th a postcard arrived at the office of the chronicle claiming to be from the zodiac
typed on a filing card a message on the back had been crafted from newspaper clippings
it read dear editor you'll hate me but i've got to tell you the pace isn't any slower
p.s there are reports city police pig cops are closing in on me [ __ ] i'm crack proof
what is the price tag now it also featured a crosshair symbol crafted from red paper
given this card was significantly different from the zodiac's previous correspondence
detectives were unsure if it was genuine or a hoax whoever had sent it had also increased
the zodiac's death toll including a number 13 to allude to his number of victims
by this time one year had passed since the last confirmed to zodiac attack the murder of cab driver paul stein
there had been no breakthroughs and both the media and the public were losing interest in the case
it wasn't long before the zodiac made contact again on october 26 an envelope arrived at the
chronicle with the strange symbol drawn in the top left corner it was a letter z underneath a sharp
zigzagging line bordered by four darts on the back of the envelope written diagonally to form a cross were the
words sorry no cypher this letter was addressed to paul avery the journalist who had covered the vast
majority of the newspaper's zodiac stories inside the envelope was a black and white halloween card depicting a dancing
skeleton the front of the card red from your secret power i can feel it in my bones you wake to know my name
and so i'll clue you in inside of the card the message concluded with the words but then
why spoil the game happy halloween the zodiac had handwritten his own message that read
boo you are doomed peek-a-boo on the back of the card written in all capitals to form a cross were the words
paradise and the slaves paradise had been spelled incorrectly with a letter c instead of an ass
intercepting this cross were the words by gun by knife and by rope as this was the first time the zodiac
had targeted a particular individual in his correspondence investigators couldn't help but wonder
would paul avery be targeted next [Music] case file will be back shortly thank you
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shaken but undeterred by the looming threat paul avery embarked on a 430 mile trip to southern
california after word spread that he'd received a card from the zodiac killer harita had contacted him with a theory
too compelling to ignore they'd been following the zodiac case closely and recognised some similarities
to an unsolved murder that had occurred in the city of riverside four years earlier
was it possible this had been the early work of the zodiac intrigued by the theory paul avery flew
to riverside to examine the case file for himself on october 30 1966 18 year old sherry jo bates had been
stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant after leaving her college library a broken watch and heel print from a
military shoe were found at the scene her killer later sent anonymous letters confessing to the crime and like the
zodiac his writing was peppered with spelling and grammatical errors paul avery read through the typed
confession letter that had arrived at the riverside daily enterprise newspaper following sherry joe's murder
it read in part she was young and beautiful but now she is battered and dead she is not the first and she will not be
the last beware i am stalking your girls now paul then examined the handwritten letters that had been sent to sherry joe
bates's father the riverside police department and the riverside daily enterprise newspaper
all three read bates had to die there will be more paul reached the bottom of the letter he
felt a jolt of surprise two of the letters sent by sherry joe's killer were signed with a squiggle
it looked like the letter z it didn't escape paul's attention that the city of riverside was named for a
body of water just like the zodiac's other murder sites [Music] sherry joe's car had also been disabled
before her attack similar to the experience reported by kathleen johns perhaps the zodiac had inadvertently
left evidence at the bates crime scene that could be traced back to him and had never taken credit for the murder
because he knew it would be his undoing if the zodiac was indeed responsible for
sherry joe's death it would provide some compelling new clues to his identity sherry joe's killer had written in his
confession that he'd made her pay for the brush-offs she had given him in the past
this indicated he may have been of similar age to sherry joe in 1966 meaning the zodiac would now be in his
early to mid twenties perhaps he'd previously lived in riverside and made the move to san
francisco in recent years handwriting expert sherwood morill examined letters on the three notes sent
to sherry joe's father riverside pd and the local newspaper he concluded there was a high
probability that it matched the handwriting of the zodiac killer following sherry joe's murder a
disturbing poem had been found scratched into a desk at her college library which
was believed to have been written by her killer morill analyzed this too and concluded
quote it is unquestionably the work of the zodiac police in riverside weren't convinced
they'd recently been looking into a local man who they considered a prime suspect in sherry joe's murder
however the san francisco police department and the fbi found the theory compelling and an investigator was
assigned to re-examine sherry joe's case full time on november 16 1970 the los angeles
times published an article exploring the possible connections four months later a letter arrived at
the newspaper's offices it read in part this is the zodiac speaking like i have always said i am crack proof
if the blue meanies are ever going to catch me they had best get off their fat asses and do something
[Music] i do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity
but they are only finding the easy ones there are a hell of a lot more down there
riverside police dismissed this final claim they had no other unsolved homicides
that could possibly fit with the zodiac crimes sierra club around in the snow sought victim 12
peak through the pines past lake tahoe areas these were the cryptic words that arrived on a postcard addressed to paul
avery at the chronicle one week later the front featured an artist's impression of the new forest pines
housing development in lake tahoe nevada right on the border with california the promotional image which depicted a
snowy neighborhood framed by pine trees had been widely circulated in many northern california newspapers the
weekend prior in the bottom right hand corner the zodiac crosshair was scrawled in thick
ink although the rest of the card was notably different to other zodiac correspondences
when detectives saw the postcard they guessed which case the message was referring to
it had now been six months since 25 year old casino nurse donna lass disappeared
without a trace from the south lake tahoe area nothing about her case fit the zodiac's
mo but investigators were intrigued enough to dig deeper they looked into donna's history and
discovered that she shared a loose connection with one of the zodiac's victims at the time of cabbie paul stein's
murder donna was living just six blocks from where his body was found she had also worked at a hospital in the
presidio the park where the zodiac was believed to have hidden after killing paul
in the top right corner of the zodiac's postcard a single hole had been punched out to emit a section of land in the
forest pines development believing that this could be where donna lassa's body was buried police waited
until recent heavy snowfall had thawed before launching a thorough excavation of the site
however they found nothing of significance the zodiac's attempt to draw attention
to the area remained a mystery rumors began circulating that a detective may have sent the lag tahoe
postcard in an attempt to further their career or that a family member of donnas
had sent it out of desperation for her case to be solved torment nagged at donald chaney
for years he'd been stewing over a disturbing conversation he'd had with a friend during a hunting trip in 1968
it had all started with the words have you ever thought of hunting people not only had the friend described in
haunting detail the way he'd carry out a murder but he'd even figured out exactly
who his victims would be it seemed as though his friend was thrilled not only by the notion of
killing people but the thought of toying with the detectives tasked with solving
his crimes donald's friend had mentioned how he would send the police confusing letters
which he would sign off with the moniker the zodiac while the conversation itself had been
enough to make donald feel uneasy it wasn't until the zodiac killer began making headlines that he realised his
friend might have been serious when donald read about the zodiac's threats to shoot children as they came
off the school bus he remembered that his friend had made a similar comment he'd said he would shoot the tyres off
the bus and then quote pick off the little darlings as they bounced out when donald saw a sketch of the suspect
his heart skipped a beat it looked remarkably similar to his friend donald couldn't keep this information to
himself any longer he confided in a work colleague who summoned the los angeles county police
two detectives visited the man's workplace to take donald's statement after holding it in for years he finally
gave them the name of his friend arthur lee allen on august 4 1971 lead detectives david
tosky and william armstrong pulled up at the panel oil refinery 10 miles south of
vallejo they were joined by detective john mullinax from the vallejo police department
the trio approached arthur lee allen's employer who'd been made aware of their impending visit
he took the officers to allen who had just started working as a junior chemist alan looked confused as he realized the
three detectives were there to interview him when told that an anonymous source had
linked him to the zodiac attacks allen was taken aback however this wasn't the first time that he'd been
questioned in relation to one of the zodiac murders police had spoken to him after the
attack against cecilia shepard and brian hartnell at lake berryessa however allen said he couldn't even
follow the zodiac story in the news because he found it too morbid for some unknown reason a member of the
public had tipped police off to allen after the lake berryessa attack he claimed he was nowhere near the lake
on the day in question but 100 miles away diving at salt point state park he returned to the home he shared
with his mother in vallejo at around 4 pm and stayed there for the remainder of the evening
police had asked if there was anyone who could verify this alibi alan said he'd met a couple at salt
point but couldn't remember their names he had also chatted with a neighbor after pulling into his driveway but they
had passed away one week later and couldn't confirm this interaction curiously this was a detail he'd
neglected to mention during his first police interview thirty-seven-year-old allen had admitted
to having an interest in firearms and said he owned some 22 caliber handguns before detectives could ask him about
any other possible weapons he suddenly blurted out the two knives i had in my car with
blood on them the blood came from a chicken i killed the investigators were stunned
perhaps alan was under the impression that they had more information about him than they actually did
later again without being asked alan mentioned that he'd been in southern california at the time of
sherry joe bates's murder he denied having any incriminating conversations like the one donald chaney
had described but admitted that he'd read a short story named the most dangerous game
which had left a lasting impression on him the tale featured descriptions of a bored hunter who decided to start
targeting humans instead of animals and it had been speculatively linked to the first confirmed zodiac cipher
as detectives chatted with alan they happened to notice he was wearing a distinctive looking watch
he claimed it had been a gift from his mother two years earlier detective toski asked if they could take
a closer look allen obliged and leaned his arm closer to the detectives the face of the watch was imprinted with
a crosshair symbol written across the watch was the brand name zodiac [Music] detective john mullinax finished typing
up his report of the interview with alan concluding with the line after interviewing alan
it is the opinion of all three investigators that further investigation should be conducted
ted kidder who had previously employed allen as a lifeguard and trampoline instructor told the inspectors that alan
was fired after numerous people complained about his inappropriate behavior towards children
it was no surprise to kidder that alan was now considered a suspect in the zodiac killings
the thought of allen's possible involvement had crossed his mind before and he'd recently discussed the matter
with another co-worker as far as they were concerned alan was a sexual deviant a loner and a
likely suspect the other former co-worker a man named philip was also pulled aside and
questioned by investigators he remembered discussing the zodiac case with alan who'd mentioned he was
questioned about the lake berryessa attack in another conversation alan told philip
about a great idea he had if a person were to attach a special light to the barrel of their gun they
would be able to see their target in the dark of night and shoot them down notably this is one of the tactics the
zodiac claimed to have used when gunning down david faraday and betty lou jensen
philip owned a brown corvair similar to the one driven by the perpetrator who had shot darlene ferran and michael mojo
in blue lake springs around the time of this attack philip was trying to sell his vehicle
he left it parked on display at a service station for two weeks with the keys inside the station for anyone who
might like to test drive it one of the employees who worked there at that time was arthur lee allen
but that wasn't all philip and his wife had visited alan at his mother's house when he suddenly
announced he had something to show them alan went to his basement bedroom and produced a grey metal box
inside was a piece of paper regarding a person who alan claimed had been committed to a tuscadero state hospital
in san luis obispo county for sexually abusing a child riddled throughout the paragraphs were
symbols they were meticulously neat and resembled the zodiac ciphers to a tea phillips wife was fascinated by the
symbols and asked if she could take the paper home to study it but alan refused and shoved it back into
the box [Music] allen's sister-in-law karen told detectives that alan openly detested his
mother hated women and had never had a relationship with anyone his own age instead he had a disturbing fixation
with children karen admitted that alan needed psychiatric help but she did not believe
he was the zodiac however when looking through the numerous letters sent by the zodiac over
the years one caught karen's attention on the christmas letter sent to melvin bellaire the zodiac had incorrectly
spelled merry christmas with two s's karen had received a christmas card from alan in which he had misspelled
christmas the same way detectives followed up alan's old employer at the service station who put
one concern to rest alan had been fired months before phillips brian corvair was left
unattended at the station due to his habit of arriving at work intoxicated missing shifts altogether
and being quote too interested in small girls allen hadn't always been an unreliable
employee when he worked at valley springs elementary school in 1966 he had only ever taken one sick day
on november 1 the day after sherry jo bates's body was discovered in riverside despite the 400-mile distance between
valley springs and riverside allen had mentioned to detectives that he'd been in southern california at the
time of sherry joe's murder detectives searched a trailer that arthur lee allen owned in santa rosa 45
miles from his mother's house in vallejo but didn't find any concrete evidence linking him to any of the zodiac crimes
regardless he had started to emerge as the most promising suspect so far a background check confirmed allen had
been in the navy in the late 1950s but was dishonorably discharged he also wore a size 10 and a half shoe
the same as the prince that had been found in the lake berryessa attack [Music] the evening of friday april 7 1972
almost two and a half years since the murder of paul stein in tamil pius valley california
it was just before 9 p.m when 33 year old legal secretary isabel watson strolled through the neighborhood where
she lived as isabelle made her way along pine hill road she suddenly felt a shocking blow
a car had knocked her to the ground the male driver leapt from the vehicle a late model ford or chevrolet sedan
he looked to be in his early forties and was about five foot nine with the stocky
build brown hair and black framed glasses he apologized profusely to isabelle and
offered to drive her home isabelle was unharmed and felt fine to continue on alone so she politely
declined the offer her refusal enraged the man he began to pummel her in the neck and
upper back isabelle screamed in pain prompting her attacker to flee the scene it was then that isabelle noticed the
blood the man hadn't been hitting her at all he had been stabbing her repeatedly
isabelle was taken to a hospital for treatment when law enforcement officers learnt of
the senseless attack they couldn't help but notice the culprit's striking similarities to the zodiac
napa county sheriff's captain ken narlow was particularly intrigued by this point he'd been chasing the
zodiac for two and a half years and isabel watson's attacker perfectly matched the description of the man he
was hunting speaking to the media nalo said i think it's a good chance it was him
you get a certain feeling about things i got a feeling about this one in september of 1972 detective david
tosky arrived at the sunset trailer park in santa rosa and made his way to the pink and white trailer owned by arthur
lee allen he knocked on the door but there was no response when alan finally showed up toski waved
a search warrant in his face and made his way inside there was a singular reason for toski's
visit he wanted a fresh handwriting sample even though allen's handwriting had previously been compared to the zodiacs
and dismissed rumors had been circulating that he was ambidextrous according to one of alan's relatives he
was naturally left-handed but as a child his teachers had forced him to write with his right hand
knowing the previous sample had been written with his left hand toski asked alan to write a sentence using his
non-dominant hand instead alan picked up a pen with his right hand and began to write
after a few words he complained it was too difficult toski had to coax him to complete a
small sample with alan insisting it was near impossible tosky wasn't convinced it seemed as though alan was trying too
hard to pretend this was a challenging task after investigators set their sights on
arthur lee allen years passed with no further word or action from the zodiac some speculated he had died or been
incarcerated or perhaps he was feeling the heat from the investigation life for californians returned to normal
as the killer faded from the headlines then three years later on january 30 1974
an envelope arrived at the san francisco chronicle the printing of the line please rush to
editor was unmistakable the zodiac suddenly and inexplicably resurfaced inside was a single piece of unlined
paper on which was scrawled i saw and think the exorcist was the best satirical comedy that i have ever
seen below that the zodiac had written he plunged himself into the billowy wave and an echo arose from the suicide's
grave this was yet another reference to a line performed by the lord high executioner
in the mikado the opera the zodiac had alluded to in previous letters this letter concluded with the words
ps if i do not see this note in your paper i will do something nasty which you know
i'm capable of doing a strange symbol followed consisting of dots and thick lines
what it meant was anyone's guess the letter finished with a final tally that read
me 37 sfpd zero the chronicle granted his request by publishing the letter after years of silence news that the
zodiac had emerged once again captured the public's attention some readers wondered if the reference
to suicide meant he planned to take his own life or stop killing once and for all
investigators were just as uncertain as to how they should interpret this unexpected and oblique communication
over the next few months three similar letters followed one was signed from a friend
another from a citizen and the third was sent by someone in the city of san rafael who called themselves
the red phantom all of these shared similarities to the zodiac's correspondence but the
handwriting differed slightly to account for these differences some theorised that the zodiac might be
ambidextrous but investigators were unable to determine whether any were authentic or
the work of a copycat detectives were still digging into the man many considered the prime zodiac
suspect arthur lee allen in the mid 70s an investigator took lake berryessa survivor brian hartnell to a
hardware store where alan was working at the time brian browsed the shelves pretending to
be an ordinary customer before taking an item to the till while alan rang up the purchase brian
subtly observed him taking in every physical feature brian hadn't seen the face of his
attacker as the man had been wearing a hood but he noted that alan's size build and
voice was a match investigators were intrigued by brian's observations [Music] on september 27
1974 detectives arrived at arthur lee allen's trailer in santa rosa desperate to apprehend him
when their persistent knocking went unanswered they picked the lock to get inside allen wasn't home but
incriminating evidence was seized then detectives headed to the lumber yard where alan was now working and
arrested him on the spot at the county jail allen sat with detectives without a lawyer present
he asked if he would be given a lighter sentence if he simply pleaded guilty his arrest was the result of a statement
provided by one of alan's friends but she wasn't naming him as the zodiac this arrest was for an entirely
different allen had sexually assaulted her eight-year-old son on multiple occasions
investigators still didn't have any real evidence to pin the zodiac crimes on alan despite survivor brian hartnell's
statements on march 14 1975 after pleading guilty to the child molestation charges
alan was sentenced to two and a half years at the atascadero state hospital a mental health facility for individuals
who had committed a criminal offence later that same year a small group of ham radio enthusiasts in the bay area
began speaking to one another over the airwaves one of the men richard marshall invited
the others over to his basement apartment in san rafael a city approximately 18 miles north of
san francisco marshall was in his late 40s and was a film buff who worked as an operator in a
silent theater although marshall had made several comments over the radio that the others
considered strange they accepted his invitation upon entering his home they were
immediately struck by the troubling artwork on his walls he had on display a large number of
explicit images featuring young boys and possessed a large collection of pornographic literature
throughout the evening marshall's behavior was extremely odd at one stage he remarked that he'd
discovered something much more exciting than sex but refused to elaborate he also mentioned that he needed to lay
low for a while but didn't explain why one of marshall's visitors was ted not his real name
ted had been following the zodiac case closely over the years and began to wonder if marshall could be the culprit
ted thought marshall bore an uncanny resemblance to the suspect's sketches right down to his thick framed glasses
furthermore marshall had lived in the bay area during all of the confirmed zodiac attacks
and was residing in riverside at the time sherry joe bates was murdered ted also found marshall's remark about
finding something better than sex was eerily reminiscent of the zodiac's decoded cipher about killing being the
greatest thrill quote better than getting your rocks off with a girl marshall invited his guests to watch one
of his favorite films ls pectoral rojo which translates in english to the red phantom
this was of interest to ted due to the possible zodiac letter the chronicle had received from someone using the same
name moreover that particular letter had been posted from san rafael the city where
marshall lived on june 16 1976 ted sent a letter to the napa county sheriff's department detailing
his suspicions investigators were intrigued enough to set up a meeting with ted when they showed him some of the
confirmed zodiac letters even more similarities emerged ted recognized the oddly shaped pieces
of paper used by the zodiac as matching some he'd seen in marshall's apartment according to ted
marshall had a friend who worked in printing and supplied him with scrap paper ted also thought the zodiac's
handwriting looked similar to that of marshall who was ambidextrous he often wrote with a black marker which
the zodiac was sometimes known to do additionally he owned a royal typewriter the same model sherry joe bates's killer
was believed to have used when composing his confession ladder marshall had served in the navy and was
skilled at drawing electric circuit diagrams like the image of the bomb the zodiac had drawn
he also spoke with the distinct draw which fit the zodiac's voice as described by survivor brian hartnell
marshall was interviewed by detectives they found him compelling but ultimately concluded that he wasn't
a strong suspect due to his fingerprints not matching any of those on file for the zodiac
marshall later spoke publicly about the case during a tv interview he acknowledged that he and the zodiac
seemed to have a number of things in common remarking my innocence notwithstanding
the details do feared by this point detectives david tosky and william armstrong had been leading the
zodiac investigation for close to seven years in september 1976 armstrong requested to be reassigned
elsewhere while toski remained committed to the case in an interview with the examiner toski
explained what drove him to pursue the case so doggedly quote i'll get to him one day and i'll bring
him to justice that's my motivation justice i'm not a vengeful type but when a life
is taken there must be justice toski acquired a celebrity status within san francisco's police department
earning ongoing praise from the public and becoming the inspiration for police characters in the popular films dirty
harry and bullet the public revered the hard-working inspector with one girl writing him a
letter that read i imagine you see a lot of terrible sad things but i want you to know that in
this crazy world of crooked people you are a very special policeman [Music] by late 1976 detective tosky had just
seven years to go until he could retire from the police force his mission was to solve the zodiac case
before then as his seventh year on the case approached he told the san francisco
examiner he was watching his mailbox to see if he received an anniversary card from the zodiac
but the anniversary came and went without a word and another year passed with no
breakthroughs [Music] by april of 1978 it had been more than four years since the last confirmed
letter from the zodiac had arrived and some had started to wonder if perhaps the killer had died without ever being
identified all that changed on april 25 when an envelope appeared at the san francisco
chronicle addressed to the editor inside was a short note written in familiar handwriting that concluded with
the zodiac's crosshair signature it read dear editor this is the zodiac speaking
i am back with you i have always been here that city pig tosky is good but i am smarter and better
he will get tired then leave me alone i am waiting for a good movie about me who will play me
i am now in control of things the return of the zodiac excited detective tosky and nerves kicked in
he held a press conference stating i have always felt he was alive and out there somewhere
i still don't know where he is but at least now i know that all our work all these years definitely has not
been in vain case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this
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when san francisco chronicle columnist armistead maupin read the latest the zodiac letter
he paused there was something odd about it the zodiac had never singled out an individual police officer before
and now he'd mentioned detective toski by name this stood out to armistead because of
something he was keeping secret armistead had been writing a murder mystery series for the paper and toski
had been kind enough to provide him with valuable insights into homicide investigations to give his story a more
authentic feel armistead was so inspired that he created a character based on toski
his readers were so impressed that three of them wrote flattering letters of praise about toski and thanked armistead
for writing about him however there was something about the letters that armistead couldn't ignore
all three had been typed on the same typewriter he was certain that the letters had
actually been written by detective toski himself armistead felt so embarrassed for toski
that he kept this belief to himself but now he had a more troubling concern could toski have also written the latest
zodiac letter to bring the case back into the spotlight armistead reported his suspicions and
toski was confronted by his superiors he admitted to sending the fan mail to armistead but steadfastly denied having
anything to do with the most recent zodiac letter an investigation confirmed he was
telling the truth although they couldn't be certain authorities were convinced the latest
letter was genuinely written by the zodiac killer however the damage to toski's reputation
had been done on july 10 1978 detective toski was officially removed from the zodiac case
and demoted it was a mortifying fall from grace for the celebrity detective over the next few years the case
continued to lag as the zodiac's murders were committed across four separate jurisdictions there
were multiple agencies involved this had led to a messy and unwieldy investigation which was further hindered
by competitiveness as each department strived to be the one that cracked the case
in 1981 california's department of justice was given all relevant files and asked to coordinate the investigation
one vallejo detective publicly regretted that this hadn't happened sooner stating
if the justice department had controlled the case from the beginning the zodiac would be behind bars now
by december 1990 the investigation had entered its fourth decade the vallejo police department received
word that an inmate in santa clara county jail wanted to come clean with some information he'd been holding onto
he claimed to know the identity of the zodiac killer and agreed to hand it over in exchange for a reduction of his
sentence although skeptical two vallejo detectives traveled to santa clara to visit the man
he was fifty-year-old career criminal robert spinelli who was facing charges for armed robbery
spinelli agreed to divulge what he knew but only if the charges against him were
dropped the detectives flat out refused asking spinelli how he could be so certain he
had the right person spinelli said that several days before taxi driver paul stein was murdered a
man he knew told him he was going to san francisco to kill a cab driver spinelli refused to share the man's name
but was eventually convinced to do so by his lawyer the man's name was arthur lee allen
investigators had never stopped considering alan as a zodiac suspect this was despite the fact that his
fingerprints did not match any of the possible zodiac prints on record and alan had never been known to wear black
framed glasses like the zodiac did in 1977 alan was released from atascadero state
hospital after serving a two-year sentence for child molestation charges now with the statement from robert
spinelli he'd been named in the zodiac case again more than a decade later detectives weren't sure whether spinelli
was telling the truth or just had a former score to settle with alan but there were certain factors that sparked
their interest firstly alan had never been publicly named as a suspect in the case
and secondly during the period allen was incarcerated the zodiac hadn't sent any new letters
it was only in the months following his release that the chronicle received the final letter that began
i'm back on february 14 1991 police executed a search warrant at alan's home in vallejo
and found a number of suspicious items there were several mail order catalogs featuring guns and booby traps and an
older royal typewriter with elite type this was believed to be the same model typewriter that sherry joe bates's
killer had used to compose his confession handwritten formulas and supplies for bomb making were also discovered
and in the property's basement police found several completed pipe bombs this startled them as one of the
zodiac's letters had mentioned storing a bomb in his basement police also found a letter from
investigator james silva of the department of justice which stated that alan had passed a polygraph examination
and should no longer be considered a suspect in the zodiac police thought this was odd and
questioned alan about it he admitted he'd printed the letter during his time working in the
atascadero hospital print shop but maintained that it was authentic james silva denied this saying he would
never write such a letter nothing was found that tied alan to any of the zodiac victims but police
confiscated this ladder and his zodiac branded watch as evidence alan was furious
he decided it was finally time to break his silence in july 1991 alan gave his side
of the story to news reporters insisting he had passed polygraph tests that confirmed he was not the zodiac
he'd told the san francisco examiner this damned thing has been haunting me for 22 years
no way in hell could i go out and kill innocent teeny bobbers no way but with the police i'm guilty until i'm
proven innocent and i figure the case will be around until i die retired vallejo detective george bowit
was one of the investigators convinced that alan was the zodiac and persisted in his hunt for evidence
bower tracked down zodiac survivor michael mojo and took him a photo lineup of possible suspects
michael scanned his eyes over the images looking for familiar features he singled out a photo of an overweight
balding man and said that's him that's the man who shot me it was arthur lee allen
investigators continued to focus on alan prompting a review into all previous correspondence from the zodiac
the first cipher sent to the san francisco chronicle in 1969 dubbed the 408 cipher ended with a final
line that had never been officially decoded at the time one citizen who was interested in the case said he'd found a
solution that translated into the words robert emmett the hippie investigators had searched for a robert
emmett with no success in august of 1992 detectives made a breakthrough they discovered that alan had gone to
high school with a boy named robert emmett rodifer robert had gone on to study at the
university of california berkeley during which time he became a hippie he and alan had never gotten along
investigators managed to track robert down in germany he confirmed that he knew alan as a
teenager and suspected that alan held a grudge against him out of jealousy over the years detectives had a master
case file of circumstantial evidence pointing to alan as the prime suspect of the zodiac killings
on august 26 1992 they received some unexpected news 58 year old alan had passed away
initial speculation was that he had taken his own life unable to cope with being labeled the zodiac anymore
though authorities were disappointed that their suspect had died before any charges could be laid allen's death did
present one opportunity it meant they could search his vallejo home again the next morning detectives descended on
alan's modest spanish mission style house inside they found strips of paper containing mathematical calculations and
another set of instructions for bomb building however it was during a search of a book
case that detectives discovered what they were searching for crammed in amongst the books was a vhs
tape written on the tape was a single letter z detectives inserted the tape into a vcr
and pressed play alan appeared on screen holding his pet dog as the tape progressed allen began
ranting about the vallejo police department any hope that alan would confess to being the zodiac killer dissipated when
instead of confessing alan pulled down his pants and mooned the camera dejected captain ron conway fronted the
media but refused to discuss the search or the findings he did put one rumor to rest
alan had not taken his own life an autopsy confirmed he'd died of natural causes
still the captain was steadfast in his resolve that detectives would not give up
stating it is still an ongoing criminal investigation alan's death has not changed to that
[Music] in late 2000 an important package arrived at the san francisco police dna
crime lab inside the parcel were several stamped envelopes scientists assigned to the case
carefully removed the stamps from the envelopes which all read please rush to edita
improvements in dna testing meant it was now possible that the saliva used to affix the stamps to the zodiac envelopes
could undoubtedly prove whether arthur lee allen was the killer the first step was to establish whether
a dna profile could be made from the stamps in the first place scientists were in
a partial profile was extracted from one of the stamps a dna profile for alan was also
extracted from brain tissue taken during his autopsy it was a long and painstaking process
held up by other active investigations which required urgent results two years later the results were finally
made public allen's genetic profile was not a match to the zodiac stamp by early 2004 the san francisco police
department had been investigating the zodiac case for nearly 35 years it had become one of the longest running
and most frustrating unsolved cases in the city's history on april 8 2004 the department announced
that due to their overwhelming caseload the zodiac file was being declared inactive
although they had more dna on file that was yet to be tested the crime lab was overloaded and more recent cases were
given priority all evidence relating to the zodiac was locked away in a filing cabinet in the
homicide office with no intention of it being unlocked anytime soon detectives in napa valley and vallejo
kept their zodiac files open but for the first time since taxi driver paul stein was murdered there would be
no one in san francisco actively investigating the serial killings three years later it was reopened after
the release of director david fincher's film zodiac sparked renewed interest in the case
the movie was based on a book by robert greysmith a political cartoonist who'd worked for the san francisco chronicle
during the period that the zodiac sent letters to the newspaper he'd become fascinated by the case and
spent more than a decade trying to solve it greysmith was so convinced that arthur
lee allen was the zodiac that he came under fire for twisting facts in order to make alan look more suspicious
he withheld alan's name in the book instead naming him bob hall star detective david tosky was portrayed by
actor mark ruffalo who prepared for the role by spending time with the aging former detective
like robert greysmith tosky remained convinced that arthur lee allen was the killer despite his dna not matching the
profile taken from the zodiac stamp on january 6 2018 tosky passed away from pneumonia in his san francisco home
greysmith penned his obituary for the new york times in which he noted dave tosky cared about the victims far
more than catching the zodiac and in this he never failed on march 3 2007 almost 38 years after
the first letter from the zodiac killer arrived at the san francisco chronicle editorial assistant daniel king was
sorting through old photo files as he flicked through them a bright red envelope caught his eye
it was addressed to the editor in a familiar print the envelope was postmarked from eureka
california and dated december 1990 its seal was still intact meaning it had sat unopened for 16 years
inside was a christmas card depicting a cartoon snowman wearing a groucho marx inspired mask and a pre-printed message
that read from your secret power can't guess who i am yet well look inside and you'll find out
that i'm gonna keep you guessing happy holidays anyway the card wasn't silent and there was no
personalized message but a slip of folded paper was enclosed within it contained a black and white photocopy
of two united states postal service keys on a metal key chain there was no explanation accompanying
the image document examiners studied the writing on the envelope and debated whether it
was an authentic zodiac correspondence or a hoax researcher tom voigt who operates the
website zodiac killer.com eventually traced the identification numbers on the keys to a man who owned a
post office box in eureka the man was looked into by police but ruled out of the zodiac investigation
the significance of the keys remains unknown over the decades the mystery of the
zodiac killer has created as much speculation amongst armchair detectives as it has for the case investigators
amateur sleuths have formed their own task forces and met at the crime scenes to discuss their theories
websites and online forums dedicated to dissecting every detail of the case have
many devoted followers meanwhile law enforcement agencies haven't given up hope that the killer
will one day be identified although arthur lee allen's dna ruled him out as a suspect in 2018 a startling
new revelation came to light the dna sample tested against allen's had actually been obtained from the
outside of one of the zodiac stamps this meant the sample could have come from any number of individuals who had
handled the mail in addition to the real zodiac killer even if alan was responsible for the
zodiac letters it's possible that he didn't lick the stamps himself several of alan's acquaintances have
since reported that he often asked them to lick stamps for him as he couldn't stand the taste
one of these was his former friend donald chaney who was responsible for naming alan as a suspect
in response to these allegations donald's dna was tested against the sample taken from the zodiac stamp
it wasn't a match either to this day a range of individuals have been accused of being the zodiac with
varying levels of evidence and acceptance infamous murderers have been considered
including killer cult the manson family the unabomber ted kaczynski and the btk serial killer dennis rader
other suspects have had connections to confirmed or assumed victims including a riverside city college library assistant
a staff member at the casino where donna lass worked a british automobile in porter and someone who went to the same
schools as david faraday and betty lou jensen a repeat offender named lawrence kane
was scrutinized for his possible ties to both confirmed and unconfirmed to zodiac
victims [Music] darlene ferran's sisters claimed kane was the man who had worked in a white
car outside darlene's home after she claimed to have seen him kill someone kane also moved to south lake tahoe one
month after donna lass and worked a very close by to her [Music] a popular suspect amongst internet
sleuths today is richard garkowski a former u.s army medic gykowski had several circumstantial ties to zodiac
victims and crime scenes and occasionally went by the nickname gerk a word that can be seen clearly at the
center of the zodiac's 408 cipher though the spelling is slightly off ultimately no concrete evidence has ever
been found to incriminate either of these men one person made a deathbed confession to
being the zodiac another did the same but to an attorney ensuring attorney-client privilege would
secure his secret until he passed away a merchant mariner a newspaper editor and an identity thief have also been
considered as the zodiac various people have come forward to accuse their friends and even family
members of being the zodiac despite years of ongoing investigations the suspect list is as long as ever
given the zodiac was only ever known in broad strokes many people could have fit
the bill then there is the zodiac hoax theory in which some believe the killer never
existed those who actually saw or spoke to the killer have identified different people
as being responsible [Music] in 2021 an independent team of 40 former law enforcement investigators military
intelligence officers and journalists named the case breakers claimed they had identified the zodiac
killer as a deceased u.s air force veteran named gary francis post this conclusion like all the others is
based on circumstantial evidence and has not yet been proven [Music] complicating matters are the litany of
pranksters and hoaxes that donned the zodiac identity throughout the years there is a distinct difference between
the zodiac who seems to encompass these types and more and the actual zodiac killer
the individual responsible for the crimes as the lines have been blurred between
these two identities over the years it can be impossible to determine what correspondence or incidence is
attributed to either in 1967 the father of stabbing victim sherry jo bates riverside police and the
press enterprise editorial officers received anonymous handwritten letters a warning of more victims to come
all three letters were signed with a symbol that resembled the letter z for years it was hotly speculated and at
some points firmly believed that these letters were penned by the zodiac long before he adopted the title
these letters led to the belief that sherry joe was the first zodiac victim and while he later made vague reference
to her murder the killer never fully took credit for it handwriting experts had compared his
handwriting to the sherry joe bates letters and concluded they were a match in 2021 detectives fronting the sherry
joe bates case came forward with information they had kept to themselves since 2016.
that year the riverside police received an anonymous letter printed from a computer and postmarked from san
bernardino california the author claimed to be the person who sent the original handwritten letters
following sherry joe's murder warning of more deaths to come in the newest letter the author revealed
that he was a troubled teen in 1967 and the letters were nothing more than a sick joke
he denied killing sherry joe or being the zodiac killer investigators confirmed his link to the
handwritten notes via dna recovered from a stamp and were able to definitively rule him out as being responsible for
sherry joe's murder although the handwritten letters were deemed a hoax the prankster didn't claim
responsibility for the separate typed confession this typed letter is still considered
authentic given that it contained information that only her killer would know riverside investigators have never
supported the theory that sherry joe bates was killed by the zodiac they had another prime suspect in mind a
former high school acquaintance of sherry jones who came to their attention in 1981
he'd been spotted near the library around the time of sherry joe's murder wore a similar sized shoe to the prince
found at the crime scene and owned a wristwatch like the one recovered there by mid-1982 detectives were hopeful of
arresting this man imminently but they failed to gather enough evidence and the suspect's name was
never released years later detective certainty about this person's involvement was quashed
when advancements in dna technology confirmed that he wasn't the perpetrator the only two people known to have
directly interacted with the zodiac no longer talk publicly about the crimes shooting survivor michael majo struggled
with substance abuse and homelessness in the years following his ordeal while brian hartnell who was stabbed by the
zodiac at lake berryessa has chosen not to speak in recent years in march 2008 brian spoke to inland
empire magazine about his decision to cease talking saying there were two reasons why i quit giving
interviews one everything that could be said had been said and the second reason was the zodiac was
a publicity hound if i'm out there giving interviews talking keeping my face in the news i'm
taking the attention away from him he may view that as a threat to him and decide to eliminate the competition
in 2018 a genealogy website was used to identify a prolific serial rapist and killer known as the golden state killer
whose crimes were covered in episode 53 of case file after the perpetrators arrest an
increasing number of law enforcement agencies began turning to genealogy databases to help with criminal
investigations investigators have confirmed that the potential dna samples collected from
zodiac crime scenes and documents have been sent to a private lab in the hopes a full genetic profile can be created
if successful they will be able to run it through genealogy databases in the hopes of linking the zodiac to a
relative even if the killer is deceased a match could still be made and the case could
finally be closed the database grows bigger every year and technology continues to improve
increasing the possibility that the zodiac will one day be identified despite the lack of answers one of the
smaller remaining mysteries surrounding the zodiac killer was unexpectedly solved in december 2020
two computer programmers and a mathematician decided to try their hand at cracking the zodiac's 340 cipher from
1969 it had been sent just weeks after a man identified only as sam called into the
jim dunbar television show claiming to be the zodiac using code breaking software that one of
the men had created they tested 650 000 possible solutions through a system of trial and error
finally after months of attempts some interesting words emerged hope you were trying to catch me was the
first phrase or the gas chamber was the second soon the men had solved the entire
message it read i hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me that wasn't me on the tv show
which brings up a point about me i am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all
the sooner because i now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when
they reach paradise so they are afraid of death i am not afraid because i know that my
new life is life will be an easy one in paradise death like previous zodiac correspondence the
word paradise had been misspelled with a c instead of an ass overall the code breaking trio were
disheartened by the message they had managed to crack 51 years after it was sent
it contained no revelation about the killer's identity one of the code breakers david aranczak
told the new york times that he didn't see how the solution would be helpful to the victim's loved ones
quote the message in that cipher i don't see it as being helpful to them it's more of the same junk that the
killer liked to write about it's just intended to hurt people and to make them afraid
an enduring mystery about the zodiac is his number of victims by the time he stopped taunting people
the killer had claimed to have killed 37 people police have only attributed five murders
to the zodiac david faraday 17. betty lou jensen 16 darlene farren 22 cecilia shepherd 22 and paul stein 29
to this day the murder of sherry joe bates remains unsolved other unsolved cases throughout
california have since been examined for possible zodiac links [Music] the 1962 shooting murder of cab driver
ray davis in oceanside bears striking similarities to paul stein's murder and featured a killer who made taunting
phone calls to police before and after the fact the 1963 shooting murders of robert
dominguez and linda edwards in gavioda were also highlighted as a possible zodiac crime due to it involving a young
couple at a beach robert and linda were restrained with pre-cut robe much like cecilia shepard
and brian hartnell at lake berryessa but unlike the latter robert and linda managed to escape and were gunned down
while fleeing their assailant is believed to have also been armed with a knife in both crimes the perpetrator ordered
the female to tie up her male companion at gunpoint brian hartnell recalled the zodiac had
tested and tightened his restraints which could be interpreted as a precautionary measure he might have
learnt from a previous failed attempt eight months later newlyweds johnny and joyce swindle were gunned down by the
sea in ocean beach all of these crimes share remarkable similarities including the fact that
they were seemingly random and motiveless more recently law enforcement has considered whether these crimes detailed
in episode 1 of this series could have been committed by the zodiac before he adopted the title
while there is enough to hint that these crimes might be where the serial killer's origin story begins
opinions remain divided of the many people suspected for several of these crimes is an unidentified man
known only as sandy sandy is a fake name used by a transient young man and petty criminal who came to
the attention of police in 1963 after stabbing a man to death during a robbery he was known to wear military clothing
and a pair of black thick rim dye eyeglasses sandy desired above all else to obtain a
gun he has never been located composite sketches of sandy bear a striking similarity to sketches of the
zodiac some have speculated that sandy may have been responsible for killing robert
dominguez and linda edwards and that their deaths marked the beginning of the zodiac attacks
[Music] on june 26 1963 an open letter to the unidentified killer known as sandy was published in
the lompoc record while sandy may have no connection at all to the zodiac case the words
delivered a powerful message that could have been written especially for the unidentified serial killer as well
the latter rad if you are guilty you will pay even if you remain free and continue to
run for many years guilt has a way of weighing heavily upon a man often more heavily than all the
retribution a court can exact so if you continue to run you must forever move with this shadow lurking
behind you blocking all your attempts to gain peace and happiness i am sure you have heard the old saying
let your conscience be your guide well it is just as true that your conscience can be your hell
unless you find a way to make peace with it all of these troubles you will find within yourself in that place known as
your soul but you face other problems too every place you turn for food work money
in sickness or in need of any sort will mean a fight you will have to fight the fear within
you for you will be afraid that they know and will tell one day somewhere along the road you will stop
and think and then you will know that for all of the time you have been running you have
been in a prison of your own making one likely far worse than any devised by modern justice
and one built by you because you did not find the courage to clear your name or to face the
responsibilities of your own actions [Music] [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 humor trafficking offence and looking after the victim her nausea 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 the 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 4)

[Part 4 of 4] On March 22 1970, 22-year-old Kathleen Johns suffered a terrifying encounter when her car broke down on a California highway. Was it possible she’d encountered the Zodiac Killer?

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

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-200-the-zodiac-part-4

Brief Summary

Kathleen Johns escapes the Zodiac Killer, leading to a complex investigation into his identity and other murders.

Key points

Kathleen's Terrifying Encounter. Kathleen Jones, seven months pregnant, encounters a man who offers to help but has sinister intentions.
Zodiac Killer Connection. Kathleen identifies her abductor as the Zodiac Killer after a terrifying ordeal.
The Zodiac's Threats. The Zodiac threatens to punish those who don't comply with his wishes, claiming he shot a man.
The Zodiac's Letter to Paul Avery. A postcard arrives at the Chronicle with a chilling message and a new symbol.
Connection to Sherry Jo Bates. Paul Avery investigates a possible link between the Zodiac and a past murder case.
Detectives Interview Arthur Lee Allen. Detectives question Allen about his possible connection to the Zodiac murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

That's the man! My god, that's the man who picked us up!

Kathleen identifies the man from a wanted poster.

9:41WatchFeb 26, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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