The Zodiac /// Part 1 /// 470 | Forensic Files

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GameChanger [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as true crime enthusiasts know often
serial offenders carry a moniker or nickname who could forget such terrifying titles like the nightstalker
and the Green River Killer there was the Hillside Strangler and the servant girl
Annihilator these names were bestowed upon these killers by the press and even the law enforcement agencies that
investigated their crimes in some cases the killer simply cannot wait long enough for the press or
law enforcement to come up with a clever or even not so clever name so some killers provide the press
and law enforcement with a name to call them until they are discovered outed and
pulled into the light from the Dark Shadows where they hide Jack the Ripper Pinn letters to the
police authentic or otherwise giving himself what he called the trade name when he signed the famous dear boss
letter Yours Truly Jack the Ripper David burwitz wrote to NYPD captain Joseph burelli telling him I am
deeply hurt by you calling me a woman hater I am not but I am a monster I am the Son of
Sam now in the garage we examine another Infamous serial killer one that provided
the Press with his title when he told the San Francisco Examiner dear editor this is the Zodiac
speaking the Zodiac was laying claim to three solved homicides in the San Francisco Bay area he would go on to
kill again we have five confirmed murders in this series some say the number of those murdered by the Zodiac
should be between 20 and 28 the Zodiac claims to have killed as many as 37 innocent victims still to
this day the series of murders remains unsolved and the one who called himself the zodiac is yet to be identified
this is true crime [Music] garage we're going to start off on a Friday in Vallejo California Vallejo is
a waterfront city located in the San Francisco Bay area of the state of California this is where the Zodiac will
find his first two victims or two of his earliest victims because as we will later see there is much debate on when
and where the Zodiac started killing on the night of Friday December 20th 1968 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen and
17-year-old David Arthur Faraday were out together on what most have reported to be their first date some reports
state that the two dated briefly before the following incident both were very good students in fact later it was said
that the two really had very little time for Teenage romance as both were quite focused on their schooling and
extracurricular activities David Faraday was a top student and a member of The Varsity wrestling team at Vallejo high
school he was an eagle scout as well and the recipient of the god and Country award Betty Lu Jensen was a top student
at Hogan High School the attack on the two teens on this Friday December 20th would leave both shot to death the early
reports state that the two went to a high school Christmas concert at Betty L Jensen's High School just several blocks
away from Betty L's home they were going to attend a party after and at some point the two went for a drive and were
met with gunfire later reports would indicate that maybe the two teens misled their parents David Faraday borrowed his
mother's 1961 Rambler station wagon and drove to Betty L Jensen's house where he
picked her up the two left there about 8:30 p.m. instead of going to the concert the two went to a friend's house
where they hung out for about a half an hour from there they went to Mr Ed's restaurant and Drive-In where they
ordered a Coke and sat and chatted for a while after the stop at Mr Ed's restaurant and drivein the teens went
for a drive and they ended up at Lake Herman Road which is an isolated country road known as a lovers lane they parked
in the lovers lane area just off of the winding dirt road for reference this is about 10 mies away from Betty Lu
Jensen's house and school the slain couple were found just before 11:30 p.m. that night by a passing motorist this is
Mrs Manuel Borges who was in route to the nearby town of benia California benia is considerably smaller than the
City of Vallejo and Lake Herman is basically between the two benia is east of Vallejo the vehicle
was just outside the fence to the lake Herman pumping station Mrs Manuel bourges lived off of Lake Herman Road
and as she is driving she couldn't help but notice the vehicle parked she saw the passenger door open David was lying
on his back blood around him and his feet were toward the rear wheels of the vehicle some reports have Betty Lou's
body found in as close as 10 ft from the rear of the vehicle others say as many as 30 ft away either way it was obvious
to the detectives that Betty Lou was in the process of running away from the scene when she was gunned down there's
an interview with the lead detective and in it he says Betty Lou was 28 ft from the back of the car so that's got to be
right reports state that the girl had been shot five times in the upper right side of her back from a range of no more
than 10 ft Mrs Borges was of course horrified at this discovery she jumped back in her car and sped away when she
got to Bia she flagged down a police car she told them what she had found and the
two Bia officers raced to the scene when they arrived they found David Faraday still breathing they called for police
backup detectives and an ambulance Betty Lou was dead at the scene Faraday was rushed to the nearest hospital let's
talk about what was found at the murder scene according to what was released at the time police will find the Rambler
car hood still warm when they get to the scene the ignition was on and I'm guessing likely to run either the heater
or the radio or both because the two were planning on sitting there for a while this is odd though the front
passenger door was open the other three doors doors and the tailgate to the vehicle were all closed and locked so
some have surmised that maybe the attacker was able to force both youths out the same door the front passenger
door however I found a report that states that there were footprints that detectives say indicate that Faraday got
out of the driver's door and walked to the passenger side and I have to wonder could these be the Killer's Footprints
and not David Faraday's right did he walk up to the driver's door put the gun on Faraday and force the two out the
passenger door and walk around to greet them on the other side David was shot in
the head at close range the bullet traveled forward from behind his left ear detectives found four bullet casings
near the vehicle the only thing they would say about the bullets at the time is that they came from a small caliber
gun one report specifically says small caliber rifle one report says a 22 caliber which of course is a small
caliber investigators said the girl had not been molested and that robbery was not the motive and even at close range
something with such a small shell as like a 22 it's going to take more than one shot to kill most individuals it
will however if you do any Research into Hitmen and things of that nature they often prefer to use a small caliber
specific specifically a 22 because they're doing head shot right and I won't get into that too much but the
bullet tends to bounce around inside quite a bit more than a larger caliber police even threw out some theories to
the newspaper the day after and two days after the homicides and these theories include the following a deep heel print
possibly from a boot was found in what they described as the brush grown area in the rear of a fencing this is running
around the pump house right detectives say that the Brushy growth would be the only concealment offered to a sniper so
that's interesting because of several reasons one this is to suggest the possibility that the killer was there
before the couple even arrived in this theory he would be lying in weight in the brush hidden and then when the two
Park he emerges from that Brushy growth area that they mentioned and takes control of the wouldbe victims well it
makes a lot of sense because they would not see headlights they wouldn't have time to react if the perpetrator showed
up in a vehicle they would have at least some warning that he was coming it's also interesting because I don't know
exactly where this fencing and Brushy growth area is in relationship to the victim's vehicle and I say that this
could be important because it could go against or for the next item cuz deputies said that there was a Bullet
Hole in the rear window of the vehicle leading them to theorize that Faraday stopped the car and was fired on from
behind again you'd have to think that the killer would have to know this area somewhat to even know that this Lovers
Lane existed yes and the thing here too Captain what I'm trying to point out about this sniper hiding in the bushes
scenario right from where the shots would have been fired at the two victims the killer had to have standing beside
the vehicle so a stray shot hitting this rear window from that Vantage Point makes no sense it didn't just happen
this was a shot that was likely intentionally fired into the back of the vehicle right meaning I think that the
killer probably approached the two victims from the rear of the vehicle and then worked his way to the side where he
eventually shot and killed both you have this secluded area again I think the killer would have to know the area it's
almost like they'd have to know the area so well that maybe they fired the shot not intentionally to kill somebody
initially into the back window but to get them to like scram flee the area in the vehicle or flee the vehicle to flee
the vehicle so I lay and wait the car comes in they start talking I creep behind them I shoot the window and by
shooting the window I have it's game on and now they're in full panic mode and that's what I'm interested in as far as
the the kill the other theories are that the couple may have already been parked
and someone pulled in nearby and startled the two or they were trailed and pulled over or trailed to the spot
and then the killer returned to get them whatever happened Captain it happened relatively quickly and probably not too
long before Mrs Borges found them because the car hood was was still warm and David Faraday was still alive we do
know that we have possible bootprints and like you said are those the male victims Footprints or those The
Killers Footprints but it doesn't seem like we have tire marks from some other vehicle that is true there's no mention
of tire marks from another vehicle a faraday died on arrival at the hospital at 12:05 and this is very unfortunate not
just because he passed he he's now a murder victim but for the investigation itself because police at the time
thought okay we have this attack these on these two young teens the female victim did not survive we're rushing the
male victim to the hospital hopefully we can save his life but also we want to talk to this guy so he can tell us and
give us details about this attack so we can find the perpetrator because Faraday
passed away this would not be possible for the detectives now the detectives were on the scene investigating by
midnight that night the seleno County Sheriff's Office was the investigating agency now to fill out the timeline a
little better the teens left Betty L Jensen's place at 8:30 they went to a friend's house for about 30 minutes okay
so now 900 p.m. at the earliest they leave and go get a coke at EDS from there they go driving again about a 10m
distance out to where the vehicle would later be found several witnesses spotted
the vehicle at the park location off of Herman Lake Road this is at 10:15 10:35 and again at 11:00 p.m. this is based
off of witness statements that David Faraday must have turned the vehicle around at some point after it was
initially parked at that spot which again makes you wonder and question the shot to the rear of the vehicle another
witness said that they stopped their vehicle on the side of the road that night this would be near the murder
scene right these two witnesses were young and they were on a date as well they said that they stopped the vehicle
to their vehicle to check something on the vehicle and while stopped they said that another vehicle slowed down and the
driver was just kind of looking at them and then he went past the vehicle then stopped and then backed up toward them
and this spooked the couple so they got into their vehicle and drove off they said that the vehicle Then followed them
for several minutes but eventually they lost this car well first of all I mean I
think we both we disagree on a lot of things but what we can probably agree on is this couple that possibly saw the
killer that night they didn't stop their car to check on a part they're out at a Lover's Lane they're
probably out there to talk flirt a little necking and then they see this creep come upon them and he stares them
down and like you said backs the vehicle up starts to Spook him but I think I think that was the play you know stop
the car back it up stop it again act a little creepy to get them to start moving and then you can follow to see
where they went yes this is under the idea that maybe the Zodiac was just out there driving around trolling looking
for potential victims now they state that the vehicle the suspicious vehicle they
described it as a blue Plymouth Valiant and they said that this incident took place around 9:30 p.m. another witness
said that they saw a white four-door Chevy Impala parked near David Faraday's car keep in mind Faraday is driving his
mother's Rambler it's a station wagon so Faraday's car will be a little more noticeable than the other standard
two-door sedans or four-door standard sedans out there driving around do you know if it's if it was a woody i' I've
looked up the vehicle I I can't recall no woody on Lovers Lane there are pictures of Faraday's vehicle online it
was later reported that 10 shell casings were found so let's examine this number
a bit I guess that number is fairly easy to get to when you really think about it
because Betty Lou is stated to have been shot five times David is shot at least once so now we're at six casings right
and there was that shot that hit the back of the vehicle so now we're at seven later the Zodiac himself would say
10 shots were fired at the scene John Douglas said that not only were bullet casings found near the vehicle but also
on the floorboards of the vehicle M so if this is correct then this would indicate to me that the gun was fired
inside the car at some point or at least close enough to an open door or window that the casings fell inside the vehicle
we did have some early suspects in this case that were looked at one there was a
teen boy that was said to have had a thing for Betty Lou and I don't know if the two had any type of relationship or
if they ever dated but it seems that this teen went so far as to threaten David Faraday at some point this teen
was looked at and cleared the other suspect would be an unknown individual the Jensen family
thought that maybe there was either a Peeping Tom or someone spying on the family or Betty Lou in
particular around the time of her murder right 7 months later the timeline of the next
event in our murder series timeline again will start on a Friday and again will take place in and around Vallejo
California this time it's Friday July 4th Independence Day 1969 22-year-old Darlene Elizabeth faren
was a popular and sociable young woman she was well educated a mother of one child a daughter named Dena
Darlene was married to her second husband Dean and the three lived on Monteray Street both Dean and Darlene
had a lot of friends now Captain out of all of the zodiac victims well at least the confirmed five murders and two
attempted murders I would put Darlene at the top of the list when it comes to the
highest probability that the Killer and victim knew one another this would be because of Darlene and Dean's sociable
Lifestyles and employment they knew a lot of people they had a lot of friends right and they had a lot of people over
to their house very often so it could have been a friend of a friend hosting and attending parties both small and
large now Darlene worked at a place called Terry's restaurant and one thing that is very curious Darlene faren told
a coworker that she knew the two victims David and Betty Lou Jensen or at least knew of them well that makes some sense
because Darlene attended Hogan high school years earlier this is the same high school as Betty Lu Jensen that
night Dean and Darlene were going to have friends over Dean was at work he was a cook at Caesar's restaurant
Darlene had a babysitter she stopped by Dean's work to tell him that she and her
younger sister were off to watch the parade boats there Dean asked if Darlene would pick up some fireworks on her way
home he and some friends wanted to set them off that night for the holiday right Darlene and her sister then went
to Darlene's work again Terry's restaurant this is to tell some co-workers that her and Dean were
hosting a party and they should come by after their shifts the two went off to the boat parade and after they again
went to Dean's work by now it's getting late but of course work shifts run late at restaurants on Friday nights Darlene
then went back to her work very briefly and then went home before letting the babysitter go for the night she went out
again first she took her little sister home and dropped her off right and then she went and picked up her friend this
is 19-year-old Mike maou it sounds like Mike was expecting Darlene at some point
that night but regardless Mike seemed to leave his house in a hurry leaving without turning off the TV and the
lights the two were going to go purchase fireworks for the party later that part
is for sure yeah but whether or not they plan on parking somewhere or not is Up For Debate Darlene was driving her Chevy
Corvair some sources say early in the drive a car seemed to be following them right the car was light in color the
original idea was the two wanted to go get something to eat but at some point it changed to the two were going to look
for a quiet place to talk a neck Mike says that this is why they were heading to the the park right Mike says they
turned around at Mr Ed's restaurant and Drive-In so they could change Directions
They Drove briefly and then they pulled into Blue Rock Springs Park this was known as a good place to park now if
there was in fact a car following them in this version of the night's events the car that was following them then
pulled into the lot as well and then sped off the report is either the same vehicle or one very close to the same
description later returned and pulled in behind them right the vehicles lights shining on Darlene's car then not
knowing what was going on Mike was shot and the shooter just kept firing on him and Darlene Darlene was shot a total of
nine times the shooter then walked back to his vehicle and Mike says he got a good look at the guy he described the as
salent as a white guy late 20s 26 to 30 years old with short curly light brown hair stocky about 5' 8 in tall and about
195 to 200 lb possibly more the man was wearing a blue windbreaker and pleaded pants
unfortunately Mike is in a terrible amount of pain and made some noise some Reports say that he cried out yeah and
this could have tipped off to the killer that they were still alive the shooter walked back back to Darlene's vehicle
and shot both Darlene and Mike two more times after the shooter left Mike opened
the car's passenger door and fell out of the car lying on the ground the couple was found shortly after midnight by
three young people who called the police police received a call about the shooting at 10: after midnight and
quickly officers and a detective arrived on the scene the police report says police arrived at 12:38 a.m.
there they found Darlene barely alive slumped over the steering wheel and Mike in really bad shape lying outside of the
car yeah I think with the Zodiac what's was always missing in in my brain is why
but as you're pointing out we have a couple that does not become a victim but possibly sees the Zodiac and the
Zodiac's kind of toying with them maybe testing the waters a little bit and then
here if these reports are correct he pulls up next to a car that like we said they're sitting there talking maybe
making out and this guy pulls up seeming to be a solo driver what are you some perv that's going to watch and then he
backs away and then comes back and Parks right behind them it's almost like he wants to induce some kind of panic he
wants to induce the reaction first and then it's game on and so do you think in your humble goat opinion is is this cuz
he wants to see them in fear or or or what well one thing we will learn about this killer is that he enjoys watching
the reactions of the masses so why wouldn't he enjoy seeing the terrified reaction of those that he is hunting or
attacking yeah the question I have about the two younger people that say that they saw a suspicious vehicle and
provided a description of such I wanted to find a description of the vehicle they were driving again that goes back
to the idea of David Faraday's vehicle the Rambler is a station wagon would look considerably different than most of
the other vehicles just out on the street that night right if they were driving a station wagon as well well
that tells me a different story that maybe the zodia was actually targeting Faraday's car or
the the two people in the vehicle so that was one thing that I looked for and again yes why will be a huge question
when it comes to the Zodiac because for the five murdered victims it's very very likely that he
did not know any of them of course we see that often with these serial killers but this is a unique situation unlike
any of the others that we've talked about so far now again we have at the second murder scene we have the police
on scene at 12:38 a.m. at that time the buses were in route that's cops speak for ambulance on the way right the cops
pulled Darlene from the vehicle remember she slumped over the steering wheel the
cops all believed that she was trying to tell them something and specifically they said that she was either saying I
or me or something of that nature but they could couldn't make it out and they never really got any words from her but
this is something where I go back to the idea of because of her lifestyle and her
husband's lifestyle and where they worked I put her probability of victim and killer knowing each other
significantly higher than a lot of the other victims and you have to wonder when they're pulling her from the
vehicle did she believe she knew who attacked them and was trying to tell the officers that when they were trying to
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[Music] today all right we're back cheers mates cheers to you Colonel cheers to you Captain
cheers to all of the people out there in listener land and all the people on the
back we have victims Michael maou and Darlene faren they were rushed to Kaiser Hospital Darlene was DOA and Mike was
rushed into surgery and two days later reported to be in quote satisfactory condition
Mike Mao survived the attack despite being shot in the face neck and chest the newspapers at the time reported that
each victim was shot three times so it looks like this would be one piece of holdback
information the number of shots fired because we already said Darlene we would later learn was shot a total of nine
times do you think that the Killer is leaving them on the brink of life or do you think they just don't know well I
think that the killer was successful in his first attack killing both of the victims at the scene and I think that he
absolutely thought that he was successful again at the second attack having killed both victims and we now
know that Mike Mao survived and we'll get into that why there's evidence that the killer believed that both were dead
back to the number of shots we know that Darlene was shot nine times and it does
look like Mike was likely shot three times the newspaper said 7 9mm cartridges were found near the car the
car's windows were open the ignition was on and the car was in gear it appears that the vehicle stalled out the radio
was on now because Mike survived he was able to tell the police quite a bit about the incident right Pur John
Douglas the gun used was thought to be a Browning high power semi-auto aut atic handgun police put this together because
of Mike's description of the attack and that the shooter did not seem to stop to
reload the gun at any point so this compared with the 9mm casings and the total number of shots of course known to
police at the time indicated what type of gun was used this is because similar guns you would have to stop and reload
to get off that number of shots yeah hold on I'm reloading I I'm not saying that they're incorrect they very likely
are correct but one thing I want to point out is in Mike's description of the events the killer shot both he and
Darlene and then returned to his vehicle right and at which time Mike cried out and Mike it's very interesting because
Mike says he does not know why he he cried out if if he was reacting to something or if he was just in a
terrible amount of pain right but then the killer returns shoots Darlene twice and then shoots Mike twice
almost to make sure like okay I'm going to make sure both of them are dead or if
I didn't finish one or both of them off I now have I question if there was an opportunity when the killer went back to
their vehicle if in fact the killer went back to the vehicle for the purpose of reloading do cockroaches want to play
keep in mind Mike's been shot he's in a good deal of pain there are some things some details of
that event that he could be misremembering well it's possible he's also going in and out of Consciousness
well and we also know that Mike Mao would tell more than one version of the story to police when they were
investigating this homicide yeah but I I also think some of that is that you're trying so hard to
remember uh and and and the more they question you or more look you're probably not just getting
questioned by police you're being questioned by your friends also hey what do you remember man and then how many
people told him man if you could just remember something more maybe we could catch the guy that'd be very frustrating
the location of the murder scene is only about 2 miles away from the lake Herman
Road murders so given the short time frame of just 7 months and two miles apart and the similarities to the crimes
it would not have taken long for the police to suspect that the two were connected but they would not have to
figure this out for themselves because at 12:40 a.m. a man phoned the Vallejo Police Department to report and claim
responsibility for the attack the killer also took credit for the murders of Jensen and Faraday 6 and A2 months
earlier here are the details of that call valo police dispatcher 26-year-old Nancy Slover took the call Nancy Slover
described the male caller's voice and tone as though he was mocking and taunting her for shock value and if in
fact he was she said it worked the caller spoke the following words in a monotone rehearsed fashion I want to
report a double murder if you will go one mile East on Columbus Parkway to the public park you will find the kids in a
brown car right they were shot with a 9mm Luger I also killed those kids last year
goodbye yeah now a couple things I mean first of all he he calls them kids so I'm not saying that we should assume but
you can start off by going well he's probably older than the victims he's definitely older in my opinion and by
this time of course he's read all of the details about his first crimes about the
first two murders and he knows whether he knew Faraday and Jensen before shooting them he
definitely knew who they were after he killed them because their names and ages where they went to school their parents'
names and addresses were all found in the local papers for those of you who have seen the David Fincher film
zodiac that is the creepy phone call at the six-minute mark of the movie yeah where the killer reports a double murder
that's again why I think he thought he finished them both off his words before anything gets on the news or anything
gets in the paper for him to learn that someone survived he's calling and not reporting a murder he's or an attack
he's reporting specifically a double murder right but back to the movie The Zodiac if anybody has not seen the movie
Zodiac it's one of the best True Crime dramas it's incredibly good and it was considered to be a box office failure
which does not make a whole lot of sense to me I love the movie I've seen it half
a dozen times anyway this phone call from the Zodiac we need to point out this was not this call was not recorded
repeat not a recorded call it's been widely reported that the call was recorded but listen to the goat it was
not and we know this simply because the police dispatcher says they did not have
the equipment at their disposal to record incoming calls at that time so it's not not that they didn't record
they failed to record just this call they just didn't record any of them because they didn't have the capability
so that is very important for several reasons the first being that Nancy the dispatcher would have to recall the
caller's message after the caller hung up so it's not verbatim which I believe to be important as some have pointed out
the directions provided by the Zodiac were actually incorrect this would likely mean that the zodiac did not know
the area well right however you have to keep in mind that the killer caller would not want to give directions from
the pay phone where he's calling from duh he's going to give them directions from the police department to get the
police to where the kids are located do you understand what I'm saying yeah I've I've spoke English my
whole life okay two things that I believe are fully correct with nany's report of what the caller said are
double murder meaning zodiac intended to and had every reason to believe that he
successfully carried out his mission of killing both victims and I say that I believe that she's recalling this
correctly because she says that she was shocked by his tone number one but she's
going to be shocked by his words as well double murder double murder is something
that you do not forget when you receive a very short quick phone call want a burger get a burger want a free fry get
a free fry one he seems very uh smug yes the other part the second part which I believe to be 100% correct and I find
this to be super interesting at least to me the fact that the Zodiac says to her
if you go one mile East on Columbus Parkway to the public park you will find the kids in a brown car regardless if
people believe that the directions are correct or incorrect again I made an argument that you wouldn't give
directions from your location that you're calling from you would give directions from the police department to
where the kids are but let's scrap that entirely right why the hell is the Zodiac giving directions to what he
calls the public park why wouldn't he just name the park right if you you find the kids at so and so park in a brown
yeah if he knew the area he'd know the name of the park if he doesn't know the name of the area it's just a some park
right he says public park and offers directions to the public park well we have already said it once Blue Rock
Springs Park the park has a name Blue Rock Springs Park he wants them to find the kids we know that he why else call
the police unless you want them to find them so he wants them to find the kids and he wants it to be known that he did
did both of these shootings the double homicide the year before at Christmas and this one on this night right so if
he knew the name of the park why wouldn't he just say the name of the park to make sure that the police got to
the right place and again if you say the name of the park you don't need to give
any directions at all the call should have been I want to report a double murder you will find the kids in a brown
car at Blue Rock Springs Park they were shot with a 9mm Luger I also killed those kids last year
goodbye goodbye also the location of the phone call is strange police traced the call
to a phone booth at a gas station at Springs Road in tuom this is located about 3/10 of a mile from Darlene fen's
home and only a few blocks from the Vallejo Police Department I don't think this location is weird because of the
distance to the victim's home or the police station right it's weird because of the distance from Blue Rock Springs
Park the public park where he shot them and it seems he may not have known the name of the park so based off of
eyewitnesses and ear Witnesses for that fact the latest that Darlene and Mike could have been shot would have been
maybe 1210 a.m. most believe that it was more likely between 12:02 and 12:04 a.m.
uhhuh why is this important well we know the call from the killer came in at 12:40 a.m. so depending on how you shake
it out there is approximately 30 to 38 minutes after the attack before the phone call the fastest
routes from the murder scene to the phone booth is 7 and 1/2 minutes 9 minutes and 11 minutes three different
routes the three fastest routes so what took him so long to get from murder scene to the phone booth where he called
it in so you're saying there's about 20 to 30 minutes of missing time but that doesn't mean he necessarily was
traveling he could have already got to the phone booth and decided Well I don't know what to say yet what am I going to
say I'm going to I I have to prepare this even though his conversation was pretty simple is pretty direct is pretty
kind of demeaning uh smug like I said before but maybe he just sat there well my first
thought was maybe he just hung out around the murder scene to watch what was going on we already speculated that
maybe this killer enjoys seeing the reaction of his actions so maybe he hung out there until he started hearing the
police sirens and then took off and then made the call but the problem with that
is this drive the fastest route would be set 7 to maybe 11 minutes distance the cops were on the scene at 1238 the call
came in at 12:40 so the sirens aren't what scared him from the scene he very likely left shortly after shooting the
victims and we have this based off of eyewitness and ear witness statements so if he left immediately afterward why do
we have that that difference in time and it could be something is silly is he just drove around for a while or didn't
know what pay phone he wanted to use there's also the chance that he's not from the area and that's why he doesn't
know the name of the park and he also doesn't know where a phone booth is right to make this call he went and had
to go looking for a phone booth one piece of speculation that I thought was very interesting was somebody pointed
out the high probability that the killer would have got victim's blood on their clothing or person and that this phone
booth is in a highly residential area meaning if the killer didn't want anybody living witnesses to see his
vehicle right maybe it's as simple as he drove home parked his car changed his clothes so he wouldn't be covered in
blood and walked to a pay phone or then drove across town to another pay phone that makes up for the laps in time I
actually think it's something a little more sadistic I think it's something a little more sick driving around flicking
it the whole time I think and we know how these killers operate they love to return to the scene of the crime they
love to pull the purple headed yogurt Slinger the lake Herman Road murders that took place 6 and A2 months earlier
is only 2 miles distance from the most recent attack right I think there's a good chance that maybe he shot these two
victims and then drove to the old murder scene maybe even to reenact it or live it out or or just kind of look at the
area right admiring his work because if you map out a route from murder scene to
murder scene and then to the pay phone well you're left with a whole lot less of unaccounted for time right but I also
wonder you said this uh pay phone was pretty close to the police department correct I wonder if there's again like
we know that he wants to kind of induce Panic he wants to see this fear in their
eyes I wonder he likes to see the reaction I wonder if he wanted to see if anybody
called the the police and to see if the police were already reacting to it that's a possibility like I'm going to
drive by the police department and see if people are in in route yet so let's go through Mike Mao's statements of what
he says happened that night because we now have a surviving victim a a living witness he says now remember he said at
some point that they might have been followed early but and that's what led them to parking at the Blue Rock Springs
Park in that version of the story he says that it was a light colored car that was following them and this is very
interesting interesting and remember we had mention of a white American car in the first attack on Lake Herman Road so
a white American car again making an appearance in this version of the story right there was also a situation where
Darlene's Sister Christina said that Darlene our newest victim had a heated conversation with a man in a white car
in the parking lot of Terry's restaurant on one of the their trips to the restaurant that night remember they went
to the restaurant a couple times she says on one of those occasions she witnessed her sister arguing with a man
she did not know his name and this man was in a white vehicle MH but then when you dive in and take a look at the
statement Mike gave to Police from his hospital bed in this version of the story he says nothing about being
followed in fact he says they pulled into the lot to talk and shortly after after a few other cars pulled in these
were all believed to be other teens Mike says A car pulled in and just kind of sat running and watching them for maybe
a minute or two then the car sped off the car then came back and pulled up behind them the way that a cop car would
Mike says that though through a very brief conversation the two of them both he and Darlene believed that the person
now parked behind them was in fact the police officer he says that the man got out with a high-powered flashlight like
one used by police he says he couldn't see the man because he was shining the light directly at them this is the old
light blind technique that police will use then the man just started firing Mike's Hospital account also includes
Mike saying the gunfire was not loud that maybe the gunmen used some type of silencer so are you suggesting that Mike
is saying that it's possible it was a cop and possibly some altered weapon so it you like I said like a maybe like a
man-made silencer on the gun he's saying the the manner that the vehicle pulled up behind them would would be the way
that a cop would typically stop someone the way that he felt that the the person
approached the vehicle the energy yeah that he he and Darlene didn't think that they were in any danger because they
thought that it was a cop walking up to inquire as to why they were just sitting
there well then you think as far as the Killer goes background security guard maybe was a patrol officer at some point
maybe had some military background correct and we we should be perfectly clear here he's not saying that it was a
police car right because we have the description of the vehicle that he says that the gunman was driving that night
Mike Mao's description of that vehicle he says that it looked a lot like Darlene's car maybe even the same model
so this would mean it would be a Chevy Corvair and then some have pointed out that back then the Ford Mustang looked a
lot like a Chevy Corvair so the police have always kind of said we believe that it was either a Chevy Corvair or a Ford
Mustang Mike Mao says that the vehicle's color was about the same color as Darlene's car so brown but he also says
maybe a little lighter so I guess a light brown one interesting thing though tan ban the tan sedan Mike said that he
saw California license plates on the vehicle he couldn't make out any of the numbers after he had been shot but he
said he specifically remembers that it was in fact California license plates right this second version of his
story is probably more correct and I say that for several reasons but one mainly
because this version of the story is backed up by Darlene's sister but hold on a second you're not saying cuz we
have multiple people giving we very likely just have Mike mou giving different versions of the no but what
I'm saying this is not the only person to give the police information so far correct but but we're not saying that
any of these victims in any way do we think they're lying to the police or just saying because of the chaotic situ
ation that they were in and just heck just surviving is something there has been some belief over the years that
maybe Mike Mao has purposely left out some details really out of fear okay is is one General thought the
other thought is that he may have altered some of the versions of that story and told different stories because
he was in fact in love with Darlene and didn't want to shame her after she' Fallen victim so that's why the story
goes from we were being followed and the car followed us into that parking spot to then later we went and parked so we
could have somewhere to talk the general thought is and Mike has never confirmed
this so we don't know the thought has been well maybe Mike made up a reason why the two would be parked there other
than they just wanted to go and park there if you know what I mean well yeah the other thing though two is keep in
mind this is a 19-year-old boy who's been shot three times and was probably traumatized in
all kinds of I mean you couldn't even imagine yeah most definitely but again it's just like that that one of the
first couples that think they saw the Killer and then the killer possibly followed them for a while and they're
like well we were just stopped on the side of the road because something broke in the car it's like no you you probably
were making out you just didn't want to tell your parents I mean we have to remember this is 1968 right 69 and
Darlene was married 69 well and keep in mind this version that we just went through he says that when they pulled
into the parking area of the park that there were already some other vehicles there they had reasons to believe that
they were you know younger people just kind of hanging out and that those Vehicles left and then the suspect's
vehicle pulled up just kind of of sat there looking at him for a little bit drove off and then came back and the
reason why I think that this second version is the more likely is a statement based from Darlene's sister's
account of the nights events she says this is Pam Huckabee Darlene's younger sister says she hold hold on we have
Betty Lou Jensen Huckabee these are like the most 1960s names of all time name that you'd think you would hear on like
a 60s sitcom or something so Pam hucke says that she always believed that she missed witnessing the attack just by
seconds she says quote I was there in the parking lot just leaving when the car drove up behind her I relive it
every fourth of July weekend I wonder what I might have done differently the quote police car passed me going in as
we were going out we heard the pop pop but thought it was fireworks again so that we're clear she's not saying she
saw a police car right she's calling it that because Mike Mao said that it behaved in the way that he believed a
cop would pull them over or approach their vehicle in the July 5th 1969 Vallejo times heral it read officers at
the scene broadcast an alert for a young heavys set white male adult riding in a
brown automobile and the July 6th 1969 Vallejo Times Herald it read under the subheading brown car so it's obvious
that police are looking for the man described to them by Mike mou as well as this brown automobile I I'm pointing
this out because we have this question mark of a white American car but to be perfectly clear in the story that makes
the most sense for Mike Mao there is no white American car it's a brown brown or
light brown vehicle if it's brown or light brown flush it down but let's not look past the obvious right mhm we have
a married woman hanging out with I guess you could almost assume they're they're
at least flirtatious I don't know if you would call call him her boyfriend but she's married so number one suspect is
always the husband did it yes this is a unique situation so Mike m show and Darlene faren were described by everyone
including Darlene's husband as good good friends right and so these were not people that were just hanging out for
the first time together in fact Darlene's husband said that Darlene had a lot of male friends and this did not
bother him a lot of that was based off of where they worked they both worked at restaurants and anybody that's worked at
restaurants will know that off often people after their shifts they they tend to go out together whether it be in a
large group or a small group and so of course her husband Dean was looked at regardless of how he felt about her
hanging out with Mike or other men right he was looked at quite well the issue being that he was at work he was still
on his work shift at the time of the murder so he has not only just a good Alibi it's a it's a solid Alibi so Dean
Fen has been cleared as well as two other individuals that were male friends of Darlene faren they were cleared as
well so when we look back on this case in the case before Captain we do have suspects that were looked at that were
not the quote unquote zodiac right that knew the victims and were in fact cleared by the local authorities in
those investigations and but you have to think for law enforcement once you roll
out those stereotypical suspects or suspects that you think are connected directly to the victims now you have to
step back and look at the whole picture and go well maybe we have a serial killer on our hands do you think there's
any possible way that this killer is using like a rental system or maybe even borrowing the cards from different
individuals I think the borrowing Vehicles is quite possible uh especially given
the profile put forward by some people over the years um one profile states that the they would believe that the
Zodiac may have lived with a parent or parents for a considerable amount of their adult life and we know from other
serial cases that we have covered and I'm referencing the one I that comes immediately to mind is the Atlanta child
killer case where they were getting different descriptions of vehicles from connected
victims because sometimes he was driving his car other times he was driving his parents vehicle and we've seen that in
other cases as well where they will borrow someone's vehicle because they know they're going to go out and commit
the murders with it or flee the scene with it and if they're seen they don't want to be seen in the vehicle that
could be traced back to them right so what do we know about this killer we both said that we think he likes to see
the reaction of the victims before he shoots them we know that he possibly has means to have or access to multiple
Vehicles we know he likes to toy with other individuals and we for him to follow around multiple eyewitnesses
there's probably other eyewitnesses that just never came forward because they didn't think much of it he's trying to
put himself in the right place at the right time so he can have an opportunity the things that I would add to my
thoughts about our killer is even though these two attacks took place relatively
close to one another or two mile distance from each other I don't necessarily think that the killer has to
be local again I question why wouldn't he just say the name of the park rather than provide Direction
the other thing that I suspect is going on here too is that the need to have a female victim yeah because in both
situations we see similar Mo now of course we have to piece some of this together ourselves because nobody
survived the first attack to tell us what went down but we can base off of the evidence and off of the the
statements from the second attack it appears that what he was looking to do is to stop the immediately stop the
threat of the male fighting back right and then we see overkill on the female where the female is shot more times than
the male and so I think there is a need for him to have a female present to kill a
female and I think some kind of sexual gratification well and I think that that's the purpose of him pulling up
stop and looking at the people and then deciding if he's going to attack or not but maybe he needs the male victim just
as much as he needs the F male victim cuz it's almost like he's like I think um deep down in my soul or whatever I'm
not good enough for you but I'm going to be better than this individual at this moment by killing them and then and then
but you're going to pay cuz you didn't choose me I've had some people I've heard some people say well well he was
probably making sure that the victims were young that he was looking for a certain age group and I I think that is
the silliest statement I've ever heard because one would not think to find a bunch of old people parked in these
lovers Lanes right right he's not he yes he is looking for young victims that's why he's choosing to attack in this
manner he expects to find younger people parked there together I think it's the sometimes you just have a couple guys
hanging out drinking or you have just team te aers that have nowhere to go that park a car somewhere I think it's
important to him that there be a female victim and as you pointed out likely a male victim as well what we do know for
sure Captain is that this killer wants everyone to know he is responsible for both of these attacks he wants them to
know that these attacks are connected and he is in fact a serial killer he's a killer that's brutal methodical and he's
thinking out these crimes he's also thinking out the communications that he chooses to pass on to police and we will
also learn that this guy will not stop and therefore we will have more crime scenes and victims to
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The Zodiac /// Part 1 /// 470

Part 1 of 5

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In the late 60’s and early 70’s a hooded serial killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area. The killer told the press and police to call him the Zodiac. Few cases in modern True Crime have been discussed and speculated about more, especially on the west coast. In 2018 Law Enforcement in California finally apprehended Joseph Deangelo better known as the Golden State Killer. The Golden State Killer was dormant for 32 years and they still were able to arrest and convict him. The Zodiac, a much different type of killer has been silent for over 45 years. Is there still time to pull off the hood and final identify the one who calls himself the Zodiac? Join us in the Garage as we go through the Zodiac’s confirmed kill timeline and of course we will offer up some speculation and insights along the way.

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the Zodiac Killer's early murders, focusing on the victims and the killer's taunting communication with police.

Key points

Rosetta Stone Holiday Deal. Get 50% off a lifetime membership for unlimited access to 25 languages.
The Zodiac Killer's Claims. The Zodiac claims to have killed as many as 37 victims, but the truth remains unsolved.
Tragic Teen Murder. On December 20, 1968, two teens were shot to death in Vallejo, California.
The Attack at Blue Rock Springs Park. Mike and Darlene are attacked in their car, leading to a tense confrontation with the shooter.
The Killer's Phone Call. The Zodiac calls the police to report the double murder, revealing his taunting nature.
Pam Huckabee's Regret. Darlene's sister recounts her near miss of witnessing the attack, feeling haunted by it.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is true crime!

Introduction to the Zodiac killer segment.

4:00WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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