In the pursuit of Scary Stories, Jake examines the mystery of the 1960s Zodiac Killer and how the killer ended people’s chances at young love.–Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman
By Jake Sonderman
On December 20, 1968, 17-year-old David Faraday and 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen drove to lovers lane in Vallejo, California, for their first date. They were greeted by two bullets.
On July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Mike Mageau, 19, were also in the car at a California Golf Club. They were also greeted by bullets. The Vallejo Police got a call that same day that said, “I also killed those kids last year.”
The Zodiac Killer was confessing to the murder of both couples.
The Zodiac Killer struck again on September 27, 1969. 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard and 20-year-old Bryan Hartnell were having a picnic when they were approached by a hooded figure. The hood had a circle with two lines through it. The figure tied up and stabbed the couple. This time, there was a survivor–Bryan Hartnell.
On October 11, 1969, Zodiac got in Paul Stine’s San Francisco cab. Zodiac shot Stine in broad daylight, and this time there were more witnesses. Witnesses described Zodiac as a 25 or 30-year-old white male with glasses. The police knew that the suspect had to be close. The police nabbed a man. Unfortunately, the dispatcher had mistakenly told the cops that the suspect was black, and Zodiac escaped.
These are all of the known murders of the Zodiac Killer, but these might not even scratch the surface of the evil of the Zodiac Killer.
After Zodiac’s July 1969 murder of Ferrin and Mageau, he sent a message to local newspapers, but in encrypted language. He provided details only the murderer would know. He also made calls to the police department confessing to the murder of Paul Stine. In August of that year, the serial killer sent another encrypted letter and began it with “This is Zodiac speaking.” This is the first time the killer referred to himself as Zodiac, a self given name. He would continue to call himself “Zodiac” in future letters.
These letters were a combination of requests and threats. In one letter, Zodiac confessed to the murders of 37 people.
In another letter, Zodiac threatened to destroy a school bus if the people of San Francisco didn’t start wearing his circle with two lines through it. Zodiac never said what was significant about the symbol, but some have thought it was a rifle sight. It is more likely that he chose this because of its significance in ancient religion and witchcraft teachings. The circle with two lines through it is a symbol for the sun, and the symbol is called the sun cross.
This symbol has shown up multiple times in history, importantly during the reign of Nazi Germany. Certain Nazi groups in Norway and other countries adopted the circle cross as their logo. The website “Stormfront,” a neo-nazi site, adopted the logo in the 90s. Investigators never figured out why Zodiac adopted that symbol.
It is likely that Zodiac explained the symbol and said much more in his letters, but many of them remain undeciphered.
No other murder from Zodiac was ever discovered. Zodiac continued to make threats through 1971, and then went silent.
Other letters have come in but are thought to be copy cats. The real Zodiac never spoke or struck again.
Sources:
Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman