Full Transcript for Zodiac Killer: Serial Killer Documentary

34 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:02.599 investigating the cases, along with complicated codes and ciphers that 35 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.640 are still being decoded to this day. 36 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:10.560 Homicide that took place out on a county road about 37 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:16.199 sometime after eleven o'clock last night, a devil homicide. 38 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.520 After his first murder, the Zodiac stayed quiet for about 39 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.719 half a year before he struck again, this murder being 40 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:26.199 much more bizarre than the last. On July fourth, nineteen 41 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.560 sixty nine, eighteen year old Darlene Ferren and sixteen year 42 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:32.159 old Michael Mageaux were going to get fireworks for the 43 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.719 Independence Day celebrations, but as they pulled out of their driveway, 44 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:39.919 they immediately noticed that they were being followed by another car. Panicked, 45 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.560 Darlene made a series of twists and turns to try 46 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:45.280 to lose the other vehicle, but eventually ended up pulling 47 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:48.520 into the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park, only 48 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.199 four miles from downtown Ballejo. As the couple parked their car, 49 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.240 their pursuer also pulled into the parking lot and parked 50 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:58.479 to the left of Darling's vehicle before immediately leaving the 51 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.159 parking lot. But the couple was only relieved for a 52 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.680 few moments, because around five minutes later, the same car 53 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.599 pulled back into the parking lot, and this time parked 54 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:11.599 directly behind Darlene's car. A man exited the vehicle with 55 00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:15.159 a flashlight. Michael, thinking it was the police, reached into 56 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:18.280 his pocket to grab his identification and asked Darlene to 57 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.319 do the same, but before he could get it out, 58 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.080 the man directed the flashlight into the couple's eyes, distracting 59 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.039 them for a moment before shooting both Michael and Darlene. 60 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:29.840 More than seven shots were fired before the man started 61 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.680 walking back to his car. The bullets had pierced Darlene's 62 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:36.680 lungs and heart, killing her, but Michael still retained consciousness. 63 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:39.560 While the man was walking back to his car, Michael 64 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.960 let out a painful moan. Hearing this, the man paused, 65 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.520 and for a split second, Michael could see the face 66 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.240 of his attacker, which he later

described to the police 67 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.639 in detail. Nevertheless, the man heard that Michael was still 68 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:54.719 alive and returned to Darlene's car to finish the job. 69 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.039 As a last resort, Michael tried jumping into the back 70 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.479 seat of the car before the man fired two more 71 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.199 shots at both of them. At this point, the man 72 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.560 had gotten back into his vehicle and drove off. Luckily, 73 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.520 three teenagers celebrating Independence Day stumbled across the couple in 74 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:15.919 alerted police immediately. Although the strangest part of this whole 75 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.000 ordeal is that after the murder, at twelve forty a m. 76 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.839 On the same day, an anonymous man called the Vallejo 77 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.519 Police Department with a payphone. 78 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:27.680 I want to report a double murder. 79 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:29.480 Had one mile. 80 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.480 Park way public park bill, my kid and a brown 81 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:36.639 car and they were shot. 82 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:37.759 With by a milliter. 83 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.519 My help kill both kid last year. 84 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.199 He then abruptly hung up, making this the first time 85 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.720 the Zodiac contacted the police. Later, on August first, nineteen 86 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.360 sixty nine, the Zodiac wrote his first three infamous letters 87 00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:00.959 to the Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and 88 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.839 the San Francisco Examiner. All three letters were nearly identical 89 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:09.439 in crude handwriting. The letter read, Dear editor, this is 90 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.240 the murder of the two teenagers last Christmas at Lake 91 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:14.439 Herman and the girl on the fourth of July near 92 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.040 the Gulf Course in Vallejo. To prove I killed them, 93 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:19.279 I shall state some facts which only I and the 94 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.879 police know. He proceeded to state details about the brand 95 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.360 of Ammo he used, how many shots were fired in 96 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.920 the victim's clothing. He continued with, here is a part 97 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.439 of a cipher. The other two parts of this cipher 98 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.040 are being mailed to the editors of Vallejo Times and 99 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:37.240 San Francisco Examiner. I want you to print the cipher 100 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.800 by the afternoon of Fry first of August nineteen sixty nine. 101 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.160 I will go on a kill rampage Friday night. I 102 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.199 will cruise around all weekend, killing lone people in the night, 103 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:48.600 then move on to kill again until I end up 104 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.240 with a dozen people over the weekend. At the end 105 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.879 of the letter was an eight line series of characters, 106 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.519 including Greek symbols, Morse code, weather symbols, alphabet letters, and 107 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:02.279 astrological symbols, complying with the demands of the zodiac. The 108 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:05.160 Times Herald in the Chronicle both printed their parts of 109 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:08.399 the cipher in their next editions, while The Examiner waited 110 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.199 until Sunday to publish their part because of doubts that 111 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:14.800 the letter was real. The cipher was quickly passed onto 112 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.360 Naval Intelligence for deciphering, while the NSSA and the CIA 113 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.959 also joined the effort. Although a police chief at Vallejo, 114 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:25.439 Jackie Stilts, wasn't convinced that the letter was real, he 115 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:28.439 publicly requested that the killer send a second letter with 116 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:32.439 more information to prove it was real. Meanwhile, Donald and 117 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:35.240 Betty Harden, a couple living a few miles south of 118 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.399 San Francisco saw the cipher in their morning paper, and 119 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:41.319 having been avidly interested in puzzles since they were young, 120 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:43.920 Donald and Betty decided to try and see if they 121 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.759 could solve it. The couple reasoned that the killer most 122 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.560 likely started the cipher with the letter I, or by 123 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.240 saying I like killing. They also used common letter pairings, 124 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.319 like the double L that appears in the word kill, 125 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:58.040 and with these assumptions, the rest of the message could 126 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.399 be decoded. It read I like killing because it is 127 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:03.879 so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild 128 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.600 game in the forest, because man is the most dangerous 129 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:08.959 animal of all to kill. The message goes on to 130 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.079 describe the thrill of murder. The letter also says that 131 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:14.519 when he dies, the people whom he has killed will 132 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.800 become his slaves in paradise. He explains that he won't 133 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:20.720 release his identity because the police will stop his collection 134 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.399 of slaves. But towards the end of the cipher, the 135 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:25.959 letters seem to be jumbled

up. This led some to 136 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.839 believe that this was an anagram. We'll talk more on 137 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:31.560 that later. While the cipher had been solved but not 138 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.560 released to the public, the letters didn't stop and only 139 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.480 Three days after Donald and Betty solved the first cipher, 140 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:40.720 the Zodiac sent a second letter. This time he was 141 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:44.079 responding to Chief Stillt's request for more information to prove 142 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.600 he was the killer. The letter read, this is the 143 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:50.040 Zodiac speaking in answer to your request for more details 144 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:52.560 about the good times I had in Vallejo. I shall 145 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.720 be very happy in supplying more material. By the way, 146 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.079 are the police having a good time with the code? 147 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.560 If not, tell them to cheer up. When they do 148 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.439 crack it, they will have me. This was followed by 149 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:06.360 more details about how he murdered his victims and other 150 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.000 details that had not yet been released to the public, 151 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:12.000 which confirmed that the letters were indeed from the real 152 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.839 killer responsible for the murders, and not the work of 153 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:19.959 a fraud. At this point, the decoded cipher was published 154 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.000 all over the Bay Area in amateur code breakers across 155 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:26.720 the country started analyzing the letters thoroughly. They first turned 156 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.120 their attention to the jumble of letters at the last 157 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.159 line of the cipher. It was unanimously agreed upon that 158 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.639 it could be an anagram for the killer's real name. 159 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.720 Some suggestions were emit O Wright, Robert Hemphill, Van M. Blackman, 160 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.759 I Am O. Wright and Kenneth O. Wright. Some dismissed 161 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:46.320 this theory and suggested that the jumble of letters were 162 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.120 only there to throw them off. After all, the killer 163 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.879 did say I will not give you my name. After 164 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:54.360 this first string of letters, it wouldn't take long for 165 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:55.679 the zodiac to kill again. 166 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:04.440 But he told me at that time that he had 167 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:07.000 killed a guard getting out of a prison, and so 168 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:11.960 I did take him as a killer. To me, a 169 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:14.519 killer isn't a normal person, so I assumed at the 170 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.840 time that something was wrong, but as far as. 171 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.440 A psychopath or On September twenty seventh, nineteen sixty nine, 172 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.120 college students Brian Hartnell and Cecilia Shepherd were having a 173 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.799 picnic at Lake Barriessa when Cecilia noticed a man walking 174 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.240 towards them. Cecilia mentioned it to Brian, but Brian dismissed 175 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:33.879 it as nothing. 176 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.120 And when she says, I see a man over there, 177 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:41.440 what I'm thinking is if you look to the left 178 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.879 of her, you can see those trees on that hill. 179 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:49.799 That would be another picnic area. So seeing someone on 180 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.919 that hill, you know, would be of interest, but not 181 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.919 of any great urgency. But seeing someone as close as 182 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:59.360 her would obviously be some cause for concern, and so 183 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.720 I'm continuing to talk, and then she says he went 184 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.639 behind a tree. So he goes behind the tree where 185 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.600 she is, and again I'm thinking behind those trees Vos. 186 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.919 Minutes later, the man was within twenty feet from the 187 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.399 couple when he drew a gun. He was wearing a 188 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:19.080 black executioner type hood with the Zodiac symbol on his chest. 189 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.919 As the man pointed the gun, he demanded the couple's 190 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.320 money in car keys so he could drive to Mexico. 191 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.480 Brian pulled his car keys and only fifty cents out 192 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.919 of his pockets and handed them to the cloaked man. 193 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.120 Brian later told police that the man pocketed the fifty 194 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.639 cents and then tossed the car keys back to the couple, 195 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:37.879 at which point the man put his gun back in 196 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.559 the holster on his waist. The man told the couple 197 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.440 that he was an escaped convict from Dear Lodge, Montana, 198 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:45.759 and that he had killed a prison guard to escape. 199 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.440 This came out since then, but he told me at 200 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:51.279 that time that he had killed the guard getting out 201 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:54.559 of a prison, and so I did take him as 202 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:59.120 a killer to me, a killer isn't a normal person, 203 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:01.639 so I assumed at the time that something was wrong. 204 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:05.200 He wanted dur money, and I actually laughed at the 205 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.600 moment because I

told him. I says, I've only got 206 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:10.080 seventy five cents in my pocket, and I says, you're 207 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:12.399 welcome to have it, but if you need help. 208 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.200 He claimed that he had already stolen a car, but 209 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.960 it was quote too hot. After explaining himself, the man 210 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.080 pulled out a three foot clothes line and instructed Cecilia 211 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.399 to tie Brian's hands. After Brian was tied up, the 212 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.840 man proceeded to tie up Cecilia's hands. At this point, 213 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:31.279 Brian recalls the man saying, I'm going to have to 214 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:34.840 stab you people. He proceeded to stab Cecilia ten times 215 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:39.639 in Brian six times. After believing he had finished the job, 216 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.519 the man left the scene and hiked five hundred yards 217 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.320 to the couple's car, and with a black felt tip pen, 218 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:49.360 he wrote on the car door Ballejo twelve, twenty sixty 219 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:53.919 eight September twenty seventh, sixty nine, six point thirty by knife. 220 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:57.000 The couple, who were both still conscious, were found by 221 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.799 a fisherman and his son and were taken to the hospital, 222 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.080 and at seven forty p m. On the same day, 223 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.960 much like the last murder, the Zodiac called in to 224 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:14.559 the Napa County Sheriff's office to report his crime double murder. 225 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.120 The quarters. 226 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:31.279 Polka Cecilia later died from her wounds, but Brian survived 227 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:35.559 to explain the ordeal to the police and press. By now, 228 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.039 the police were starting to see similarities in the Zodiac's murders. 229 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.960 One the Zodiac targeted young students, mostly couples. Two the 230 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:48.080 attacks all occurred on weekends, two near holidays. Three the 231 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.039 murders would usually take place at either dusk or night. 232 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.320 Four the killer would often brag about his murders in 233 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:57.720 letters or calls. Five most of the murders took place 234 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:01.360 in well known lovers lanes. Six the murders all took 235 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:05.519 place in or around cars, and finally, seven the murders 236 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.679 all took place near a body of water. These patterns, 237 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.519 picked up by police, suggested a number of reasons for 238 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.720 his strange killings. Because most of the victims were couples, 239 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.919 the Zodiac was maybe frustrated with couples or love, and 240 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.960 potentially could hold a specific hate for women. Because in 241 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.399 the last two murders, the focus for most of the 242 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:25.919 damage was on the woman, causing them to die in 243 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.919 both cases but leaving the men to survive. But with 244 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.519 his next and final confirmed murder, the Zodiac would break 245 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:33.600 his pattern. 246 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.759 Guns take the threat seriously. The psychotic killer has already 247 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.279 murdered five one at a lover's lane near a lake 248 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.679 just north of San Francisco, three others in nearby Ballejo, 249 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.960 the latest a taxi driver in San Francisco. The Zodiac 250 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.039 Killer seems to crave publicity. 251 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:59.960 On October eleventh, nineteen sixty nine, only two weeks after 252 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.080 after his last murder, the Zodiac entered a cab driven 253 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.440 by Paul Stein at around nine thirty pm. He requested 254 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.799 to be taken to Washington and Maple Streets in Pasidio Heights, 255 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.960 but for some reason, the cab driver drove one block 256 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.559 past their destination, maybe at the instruction of the passenger. 257 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:19.120 The Zodiac waited for the car to come to a 258 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.639 full stop on the side of the road before grabbing 259 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:24.639 Pallstein's collar and shooting him point blank in the right 260 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:28.000 side of the skull. At this point, the Zodiac exited 261 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:30.440 the vehicle from their rear doors and re entered the 262 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.320 vehicle through the passenger side door. While sitting in the 263 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.279 front seat, the Zodiac grabbed the cab driver's wallet and 264 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.600 tore off a piece of his shirt before exiting the 265 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:42.159 vehicle once again. While all this was taking place, two 266 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.120 teenagers who lived across the street saw the cab from 267 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.120 their second floor window and called the police. But while 268 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:50.399 the kids were giving the police a description of the 269 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.879 man they saw, the Zodiac was mistakenly described as a 270 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.080 black male. This one mistake proved to be massively detrimental, 271 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.279 as it allowed the Zodiac to evade capture once again. 272 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.000 This was because, in the dead of night, a police 273 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.840 patrol unit

reached the scene and saw a man quote 274 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:10.399 lumbering along in the fog. This was later determined to 275 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:13.600 most likely have been the Zodiac, but since this man 276 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.360 was white, the police didn't stop him and only asked 277 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:18.720 him if he had seen anything unusual in the area, 278 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.279 to which the man responded that he had seen someone 279 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.759 waving a gun around a couple blocks to the east, 280 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.159 at which point the patrol unit sped off in that direction. 281 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:30.480 If the police had stopped the man or come any closer, 282 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.240 they would have seen that the man's jacket was drenched 283 00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.759 in Paulstein's blood, but police did find evidence in the 284 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:39.879 cab driver's vehicle. A partial print was found in blood 285 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:43.279 that was later confirmed to be that of the Zodiacs. Also, 286 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.320 the kids who had seen the Zodiac quickly collaborated with 287 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.559 a police sketch artist to try and come up with 288 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:52.240 a preliminary sketch of the Zodiac. By now, the kid's 289 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.480 mistake had already been corrected, and so the first sketch 290 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.440 of the Zodiac was drawn and circulated to every cab 291 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:03.240 company in the area. After another failed attempt at catching 292 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.480 the killer, the Zodiac saw this as a perfect opportunity 293 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:10.440 to taunt the police department once more. On October fourteenth, 294 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.080 only three days after the murder, the Chronicle received another 295 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:16.919 letter from the Zodiac, but this one was different from 296 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:19.879 his previous letters in that the Zodiac had included a 297 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:22.639 piece of paul Stein's blood silk shirt. In the letter, 298 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:26.320 it read, this is the Zodiac speaking. I am the 299 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.399 murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington Street in 300 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.440 Maple Street last night. To prove this, here is a 301 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.840 blood stained piece of his shirt. I am the same 302 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:37.200 man who did in the people in the North Bay area. 303 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.000 The SF police could have caught me last night if 304 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.679 they had searched the park properly instead of holding road 305 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.159 races with their motorcycles seeing who could make the most noise. 306 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.360 The letter continues ridiculing the SFPD before ending with a 307 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:55.039 chilling threat. It reads, school children make nice targets. I 308 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:57.240 think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. 309 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.679 Just shoot out the front tire and then pick off 310 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.240 the cab as they come bouncing out. The Chronicle published 311 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:05.880 the letter in their next edition, but excluded the school 312 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:09.319 bus threat at the request of authorities. Despite the advice, 313 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.599 the threat was released a mere two days later. 314 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.880 School children make fine targets. I think I shall wipe 315 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.279 out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the 316 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.839 front tire and then pick off the kiddies as they 317 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:25.079 come bouncing out. 318 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:27.359 Well, what are you doing here for. 319 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:32.160 The Texas school buses, particularly in San Francisco brings in. 320 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:35.079 San Francisco we have been since the first day, since 321 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:39.640 the reception of this note, and up to now and continuing, 322 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:44.960 we have a number of plane clothes officers following buses 323 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:46.920 in the morning and in the evening. 324 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:50.079 I shall wipe out a school bus some morning, shoot 325 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:52.640 out the tires, and then pick off the kiddies as 326 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:55.559 they come bounding out. That was the threat of the 327 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:59.680 Zodiac killer. Now every day police cars follow the buses, 328 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:03.880 which likely targets. Officers armed with shotguns take the threat. 329 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:04.319 Period. 330 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:07.279 While the world was informed of the school bus threat, 331 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:11.079 panic swept over the Napa Valley Unified School District who 332 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:14.000 were in charge of the school buses. School Bus drivers 333 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:16.640 across the district were given a set of instructions on 334 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:20.440 how to handle an attack from the Zodiac. One. Continue 335 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:23.640 driving with the flat tire, do not stop. Two, tell 336 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.759 the children to get below the windows and lie on 337 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.240 the floor. Three the driver will continue driving and turn 338 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:32.400 on all lights while sounding his horn. Four the bus 339 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:34.799 driver should not stop until he has arrived in a 340 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:36.039 well populated area. 341 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:36.720 Five. 342 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:40.440 Upon arrival at this location, a local law enforcement

agency 343 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:44.319 should be notified immediately. Despite the claim from the Zodiac, 344 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.279 no such attack ever occurred. Later, after working with the 345 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.559 police officers that mistakenly allowed the Zodiac to walk free, 346 00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:54.519 a second sketch of the man was made, making him 347 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.839 older in his jaw thicker. This sketch was then circulated 348 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:01.079 to the public, replacing the original with his letters in 349 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:03.839 full swing. In the San Francisco area in the palm 350 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.920 of his hand, the Zodiac did something that shocked everyone 351 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.960 throughout the country. At the end of the month. On 352 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:13.319 October twenty second, the Zodiac called the Oakland PD and 353 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.319 asked to speak to Melvin Belli, a prominent lawyer at 354 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.920 the time. He said he wanted the lawyer to appear 355 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.440 on a TV talk show so that the Zodiac could 356 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:23.640 call in and talk to him on the air. The 357 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.279 talk show the Zodiac was referring to was the Channel 358 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.519 seven Talk Show, which usually started at seven am, but 359 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.519 began half an hour early that day. After waiting for 360 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:35.160 forty minutes on the air for the Zodiac to call in, 361 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:39.400 the telephone finally rang, but hung up almost immediately. The 362 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:42.200 next call came in at seven to twenty. This time, 363 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:44.920 he stayed on the call for longer, and after being 364 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.440 asked if he had any other name other than Zodiac, 365 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:51.359 the man said, Sam, time till. 366 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:53.920 Just tell us what's going on inside you right now? 367 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:54.200 Sir? 368 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:54.720 Please? 369 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:00.440 I have a headache right he had those headaches, Sam, 370 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:05.000 in a long time, I killed a kid? 371 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:09.440 Well, was it before December that you have the headaches. 372 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.160 It were you in service, that you might have had 373 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.799 an injury in service? Or did you ever fall out 374 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:18.359 of a tree or downstairs? 375 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:19.519 We ever unconscious? 376 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:22.640 I don't know, you don't remember. 377 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:24.559 Does Aspen do you any good? 378 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.359 No, it doesn't do any good. Sam, long stuff never 379 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:29.119 did me any good. 380 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:31.079 Fight of what I had at Sam, let. 381 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:31.599 Me ask you this. 382 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.160 There's some reason why you go to a particular doctor 383 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:36.440 or a particular. 384 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.000 Priest, and some reason. 385 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.759 Why apparently you wanted to talk to me or Lee. 386 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:43.759 Is it that you feel that we. 387 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:47.079 Have compassion for people who get in trouble, or. 388 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.240 Is it you feel that if we can do something 389 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:50.680 for you, or is. 390 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.640 It you feel that we have enough integrity if we 391 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:57.519 promise you something that we're going to stick to it. 392 00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:59.680 Well, let's find out why he wanted to talk to you. 393 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:01.039 Why do you want to talk to mister bell Is. 394 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:06.079 Sam, I don't want to be heard if if it 395 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:09.319 all bears down to the question that you're giving yourself at. 396 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:11.440 If you could be assured, if you wouldn't get count 397 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:15.920 for the punishment, So I want to kill a kid. 398 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.519 The Zodiac called the show a total of thirty five times, 399 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.160 but only twelve of them were heard on air, but 400 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.039 people were still hesitant on whether this caller was really 401 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:31.519 the Zodiac. To confirm, the only three people who had 402 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:35.160 ever heard the Zodiac's real voice, Nancy Slover, who was 403 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.599 the telephone operator on duty when the Zodiac claimed responsibility 404 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.720 for the murders, David Slat, who was the police officer 405 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:43.599 who had seen the Zodiac the Knight of the cab 406 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:46.519 driver murder, and Brian Hartnell, the survivor of the Lake 407 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.480 Barriessa stabbing, were all brought in to verify the voice 408 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:51.880 and the calls. All of them agreed that the voice 409 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:54.160 they had heard was much deeper and older than the 410 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.039 one in the calls. We try to give it to 411 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.559 him so well, Sam convinced that this is the main 412 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:01.200 I could. I'm not convinced. 413 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:04.160 I'm convinced this is a koup. Well, I'm I mean 414 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:04.640 a second man. 415 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.039 Yeah, act in the sense that he was perpetrating our hopes. 416 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:12.079 Not necessarily. I listened to the program. My opinion for 417 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:17.079 what it's worth. My opinion is that this is no

hoaxer, 418 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.599 no prankster. The man on that show I sincerely believe 419 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.400 has a problem as a mental problem, but he may 420 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.759 or may not have been the so called Zodiac person. 421 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.599 Further investigation discovered that the calls were actually made from 422 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:34.039 the Napa State Hospital by a mental patient, effectively proving 423 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.519 that the Zodiac was not the one making the calls. 424 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.759 In the following weeks, the Zodiac would send two more letters, 425 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.079 boasting about two more murders. In the first letter, there's 426 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:47.640 a card that reads, sorry, I haven't written, but I 427 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:50.640 just washed my pen. On the inside it reads, this 428 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:53.079 is the Zodiac speaking. I thought you would need a 429 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.799 good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't 430 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.440 get the news for a while yet. PS could you 431 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:00.960 print this news cipher in your friend page? I did 432 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.920 awfully lonely when I'm ignored, so lonely I could do 433 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:08.160 my thing. This letter also contained another cipher, and since 434 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:10.240 his last one had been cracked in a day, the 435 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:14.359 Zodiac decided to make this one considerably more challenging. Now 436 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.640 known as the Z three forty cipher, this cipher remained 437 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.799 unsolved for over fifty years until a few weeks ago 438 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.279 an international group of three amateur code breakers used computer 439 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:27.720 software to finally crack the Z three forty cipher. This 440 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:31.519 cipher requires the letters to be substituted, read diagonally, re 441 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.039 arranged and flipped, while also skipping certain words. It was 442 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.319 due to the complex nature of this cipher that it 443 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.079 remained unsolved for so long, but once it is finally decoded, 444 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:43.680 it reads, I hope you were having lots of fun 445 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.000 in trying to catch me. That wasn't me on the 446 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:48.119 TV show, which brings up a good point about me. 447 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.240 I am not afraid of the gas chamber. The letter 448 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:53.920 continues and says that he will have his slaves work 449 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.799 for him in the afterlife, a belief that he expressed 450 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.799 in his first letter back in nineteen sixty nine. Although 451 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:01.920 the letter doesn't give

us any clues as to who 452 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:04.519 the Zodiac was, it does confirm that it was not 453 00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:07.440 the Zodiac who called into Melvin's show. Not only that, 454 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:10.240 but it also confirms that the Zodiac keeps up with 455 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.000 his own publicity and was in fact watching the show. 456 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.599 The second letter the Zodiac sent in nineteen sixty nine 457 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:19.839 read this is the Zodiac speaking up until the end 458 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:22.640 of October. I have killed seven people. I have grown 459 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.359 rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me, 460 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:28.079 so I shall change the way of collecting my slaves. 461 00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:30.799 I shall no longer announce to anyone when I commit 462 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.119 my murders. They shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, 463 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:37.200 a few fake accidents, et cetera. The police shall never 464 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:39.359 catch me, because I have been too clever for them. 465 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:41.839 The letter goes on to list some facts that the 466 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:45.279 police departments got right and wrong. In a seven page rant, 467 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:48.240 the Zodiac states that the police sketch that was circulated 468 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:50.880 is correct, but quote the rest of the time, I 469 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:54.200 look entirely different. He also states that, contrary to what 470 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.279 the police say, he never left fingerprints at his murders. 471 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:59.720 He says that he'd been leaving fake clues at his 472 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.480 mine keep the cops happy. He then goes on to 473 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:06.240 describe the moment where he got stopped by police after 474 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.759 the cab murder. Ps. Two cops pulled a goof about 475 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:12.359 three minutes after I left the cab, I was walking 476 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.240 down the hill to the park when this cop car 477 00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:16.240 pulled up and one of them called me over and 478 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.039 asked me if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange 479 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.720 in the last five to ten minutes, and I said yes, 480 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.759 there was a man waving a gun and the cops 481 00:25:23.799 --> 00:25:27.640 peeled rubber and went around the corner. After he recapped 482 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.319 his encounter with the police, the Zodiac wrote step by 483 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:33.680 step instructions on how to create a bomb with household items, 484 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:37.839 but the following sentence caught investigator's attention. The Zodiac writes, 485 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:40.599 what you do not know is whether the death machine 486 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:42.720 is at the site or whether it is being stored 487 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.839 in my basement for future use. If the Zodiac was 488 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.119 telling the truth that he had a basement, it would 489 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.559 drastically reduce the list of possible locations where the Zodiac lived. First, 490 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:55.200 the Zodiac having a basement means that he lives in 491 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.480 a house and not an apartment building, and second, basements 492 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:00.759 aren't that common in the Bay Area, So either the 493 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:03.680 Zodiac didn't live in the Bay Area, or in revealing 494 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:05.880 that he had a basement, he had made a possibly 495 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:06.880 fatal mistake. 496 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:12.559 And I believed him when he said and I was 497 00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:13.960 going to die. He was going to kill me, and 498 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:17.440 your don't panic, got scream, don't yell, just wait and 499 00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.440 see what happens. You know, he could have stopped at 500 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:23.559 any time and physically been stronger than I was. I 501 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.000 was like seven months pregnant, and I had a little 502 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:26.759 kid on my nap. 503 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:31.440 On March twenty second, nineteen seventy, Kathleen Johns was on 504 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:33.920 her way to visit her sick mother in Pataluma with 505 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:36.880 her ten month old baby. She was driving on Highway 506 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:39.400 one point thirty two, a rarely used road, when a 507 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:42.759 car seemed to be following her in the near midnight darkness. 508 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:45.799 Kathleen decided to slow down and let the car pass her, 509 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.400 but before she could do so, the car started honking 510 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:50.960 its horn and blinking its lights at her. Knowing how 511 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.240 dangerous it was to pull her car over with a 512 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:56.599 stranger behind her on such deserted road, she kept driving. 513 00:26:57.079 --> 00:26:59.680 The car behind her noticed this and accelerated into the 514 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:03.640 lane right beside Kathleen. From his passenger side window, a 515 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.480 man shouted that Kathleen's rear tire was wobbling. Still skeptical 516 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:09.839 of the man, Kathleen waited until she had made it 517 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.400 to the freeway to pull over. The man pulled over 518 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:14.720 behind her and told her again that her rear tire 519 00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:17.640 was wobbling. He then offered to fix it, explaining that 520 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:20.680 he had the appropriate tools in

his car. Kathleen agreed, 521 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.000 and so the man retrieved his tools and tightened the 522 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:26.119 lugs on the woman's vehicle. Once the man finished fixing 523 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.920 her tire, he notified Kathleen and returned to his car. 524 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:32.119 After merging back on to the freeway and driving for 525 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.039 a few seconds, Kathleen's whole rear tire spun off. She 526 00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:38.680 attempted to pull over once again when the same man 527 00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:42.799 came back. Seeing her tire completely detached, the man offered 528 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:46.599 to take her to the nearest gas station. Eventually Kathleen agreed. 529 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:49.920 They started driving down the freeway, but to Kathleen's surprise, 530 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.200 he completely passed the gas station before passing a number 531 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:56.720 of exits as well. At this point, Kathleen knew something 532 00:27:56.839 --> 00:27:59.400 was wrong, but didn't say anything. The man took her 533 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.880 to various rocky, deserted roads before breaking the silence and 534 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:04.519 saying I'm. 535 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:05.920 Gonna throw your baby out the window. 536 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:13.839 Terrified, Kathleen began frantically thinking of ways to escape and 537 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:16.839 the panic and chaos. Her best and only option was 538 00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:19.720 jumping out of the passenger side door. The next time 539 00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:22.200 the man pulled up to a stop sign, she executed 540 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:25.720 her plan, finally escaping the car and rolling into a ditch. 541 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:28.640 After the Zodiac had tried and failed to find her. 542 00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:30.960 In the ditch, Kathleen waited on the side of the 543 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:33.640 road until a female driver saw her and offered to 544 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.440 take her to a police station. When she arrived at 545 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.480 the station, she talked to a police officer about her situation, 546 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.319 and after being shown a police sketch of the Zodiac, 547 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:45.079 Kathleen strongly believed that he was the one who had 548 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:45.720 abducted her. 549 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:48.920 I looked up on the wall and there was one 550 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.559 of those composite drawings out the first and I to 551 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.640 spend this time. When I turned down, it was the Zodiac. 552 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.400 And I didn't know that was a dimetnutting to me. 553 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:03.440 After police units went back to retrieve Kathleen's car, they 554 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.240 discovered that it had been set on fire, most likely 555 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:10.279 by the Zodiac to destroy any incriminating evidence. Around a 556 00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:14.279 month later, on April nineteenth, nineteen seventy, the Zodiac sent 557 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:17.240 another letter in cipher. The letter read, this is the 558 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:20.200 Zodiac speaking. By the way, have you cracked the last 559 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:23.000 cipher I sent you? My name is followed by a 560 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.799 thirteen character cipher, which, when decoded, is supposed to contain 561 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:30.079 the Zodiac's name, but because the cipher is only thirteen 562 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:33.640 characters long, it is nearly unsolvable. There have been thousands 563 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.279 of possible solutions to the cipher, but no way of 564 00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:39.720 knowing whether any of them are correct. The letter continues 565 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:42.400 with the Zodiac claiming he's killed ten people to date 566 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:44.680 and that he would have killed more except the bomb 567 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:47.000 he was going to use was a dud. The second 568 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:49.319 page of the letter shows a diagram of his new 569 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:52.640 and improved bomb in how it works. Of course, the 570 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:55.720 newspaper and the authorities kept any mention of a bomb 571 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:58.880 thread hidden from public knowledge in order to prevent panic. 572 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:02.559 For the next four years, around eight Zodiac letters were 573 00:30:02.599 --> 00:30:05.720 sent to the Chronicle, containing much of the same information 574 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:09.119 and please for attention as his previous letters. One more 575 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:12.480 cipher was sent, and when deciphered, it apparently contained the 576 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:14.839 location of a bomb that would go off in the 577 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:18.720 fall of nineteen seventy. No bomb was ever found or detonated. 578 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:22.519 In one of these letters, the Zodiac claimed responsibility for 579 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.960 Kathleen John's abduction, confessing that he lit Kathleen's car on 580 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.359 fire after failing to kill her. His final letter was 581 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:32.960 sent on January thirtieth, nineteen seventy four, and seemed to 582 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:37.279 review the movie The Exorcist before once again demanding publicity. 583 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.200 At the end of the letter, the Zodiac's final score 584 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:45.759 was written me thirty seven s FPD zero. Police had 585 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:49.559 only confirmed five murders and two attempted murders from the Zodiac, 586 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:52.519 so his claim of thirty seven murders could very well 587 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:56.039 just be an exaggeration. The Zodiac did

previously say in 588 00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:58.640 a letter, though, that he would not continue announcing his 589 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:00.960 murders and he would make them lak look like accidents, 590 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:04.680 meaning the final murder count could technically range anywhere from 591 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:12.400 five to thirty seven. Because of the magnitude and popularity 592 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.759 of this case, many people have claimed to be the 593 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:18.240 Zodiac for attention or given false tips to police, making 594 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:20.920 it very hard to identify who's telling the truth and 595 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.200 who's not. That being said, one of the most likely 596 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:27.039 suspects of the case, in one that the police identified 597 00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:29.279 very early on, was Arthur Lee Allen. 598 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:31.920 I'm not the Zodiac killer. 599 00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:34.119 I know that. 600 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:36.480 I know that deep in mice. 601 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:39.799 Suspicion first arose about Allan when a friend of his, 602 00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:43.480 Donald Cheney voice concerns he had that Allan was connected 603 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:46.759 to the Zodiac killings. Donald Cheney explained that Alan and 604 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:49.200 him used to go hunting together and at one point 605 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:52.440 Alan had asked him, have you ever thought about hunting people? 606 00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:54.440 He said he. 607 00:31:54.440 --> 00:31:59.880 Would give himself an identity and write letters to the editor, 608 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.680 and he'd have a name and. 609 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:08.119 It would be Zodiac. Allegedly, Alan had started explaining how 610 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.559 he would murder people and how it would be impossible 611 00:32:10.599 --> 00:32:13.279 to track him down because he had no motive. Donald 612 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:15.920 Cheney also claimed that Alan had said he would sign 613 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.240 letters to the police as the Zodiac Killer. Alan later 614 00:32:19.319 --> 00:32:23.680 denied any recollection of this conversation. After this tip, police 615 00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:26.799 went to question Alan. In the interview, Alan had said 616 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:29.279 he had an interest in guns, but only owned twenty 617 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:33.160 two calibers. A witness would later state otherwise. Alan was 618 00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:36.559 also dishonorably discharged from the Navy, which was a critical 619 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:39.799 clue because the character profile of the Zodiac indicated that 620 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:43.720 he most likely had military experience. The terminology used in 621 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:47.920 the Zodiac letters indicate military, specifically Air force language, in 622 00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:51.039 terms like unflappable, which is an adjective that means calm 623 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.039 and clear thinking. There were also footprints that were found 624 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:56.720 at a few crime scenes that indicated that the Zodiac 625 00:32:56.839 --> 00:32:59.680 most likely wore Wingwalkers, a brand of boot that his 626 00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:03.079 own sold at military outlets. His knowledge of guns and 627 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:06.599 cryptology is also likely learned in the Navy. When asked 628 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:09.519 where he was during the Lake Barriessa stabbing, Allan had 629 00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:11.480 said he spent most of his day at his house, 630 00:33:11.640 --> 00:33:14.559 but he had no witness to support his alibi. Allan 631 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:17.440 also owned a watch from the company named Zodiac, whose 632 00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:21.039 brand logo was the infamous Zodiac's signature. Because this was 633 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:23.839 the only time that the signature and the name Zodiac 634 00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:26.799 ever appeared together before the letters, it is assumed that 635 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:29.559 the Zodiac took his name and sign from the watch brand, 636 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:33.480 which Arthur Lee Allen owned. In nineteen ninety one, Michael Mijeaux, 637 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:36.279 the man who survived one of the Zodiac's shootings, had 638 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:39.400 later identified Arthur Lee Allen as the person who appeared 639 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.440 most similar to the man who shot him, therefore making 640 00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:45.839 him the most likely Zodiac suspect at the time. But 641 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:50.039 despite the circumstantial evidence, fingerprint and handwriting analyzes did not 642 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:53.079 match between the Zodiac and Allan, and the police sketch 643 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:56.880 of the Zodiac didn't resemble Allan at all, although police 644 00:33:56.960 --> 00:33:59.000 kept him as a person of interest because they had 645 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.759 speculated that the fingerprint found in Paulstein's cab wasn't from 646 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:07.079 the Zodiac, But before any concrete incriminating evidence surfaced, Alan 647 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:09.760 died of a heart attack on August twenty sixth, nineteen 648 00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:14.119 ninety two. He remains the sole and top suspect. Another 649 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:18.360 possible suspect is Richard Gaikowski. Gaikowski was the editor of 650 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:21.760 a counterculture newspaper based in San Francisco, where most of 651 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:24.440 the Zodiac's killings took place. There are a number of 652 00:34:24.519 --> 00:34:27.039 clues that connect him to the Zodiac, such as his 653 00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:30.000 army service as a medic in the nineteen fifties, meaning 654 00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:33.400 he fit the military

assumption for the Zodiac, But unfortunately, 655 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:36.760 eighty percent of Rich's army records were destroyed in a fire, 656 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:39.039 so not much more is known about his time in 657 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:42.920 the army. Although the main reason Gaikowski became a prominent 658 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:46.039 suspect was the long and frequent letters the police would 659 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:49.599 receive from a coworker of his, who nicknamed himself Goldketcher. 660 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:54.199 In these letters, Goldketcher claimed that Gaikowski had frequently talked 661 00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.239 about committing violent acts similar to that of the Zodiac. 662 00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:01.079 In two thousand and nine, Goldketcher provides voice recordings of 663 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:05.199 Gaikowski's voice in Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher who took 664 00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:07.480 the Zodiac's nine to one one calls when he reported 665 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:10.039 the murders. In one of the only four people who 666 00:35:10.119 --> 00:35:13.119 have ever heard the Zodiac's real voice, confirmed that the 667 00:35:13.239 --> 00:35:16.719 voice recordings of Richard Gaikowski match the voice she heard 668 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:17.599 on the phone that night. 669 00:35:18.599 --> 00:35:23.599 The teleicode is broken. You never know, never any way 670 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:26.480 of knowing whether it's a real code or whether it's 671 00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:27.480 just a fake code. 672 00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:34.559 The last part of that was even more like. 673 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:41.719 What I heard in the first part. Lastly, in the 674 00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:45.599 cipher that supposedly contained the Zodiac's identity, the word geik 675 00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:50.440 appears in Some speculate this might be a nickname for Gaikowski. Unfortunately, 676 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:53.599 most of the evidence against the suspect are claims made 677 00:35:53.639 --> 00:35:57.039 by the anonymous gold Catcher, who has very little credibility, 678 00:35:57.440 --> 00:35:59.960 so none of these claims can be considered conclusive. 679 00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:05.199 The mystery has never been solved, and now one man 680 00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:09.280 claims to have indisputable evidence he knows who the killer is. 681 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:12.840 Gary Stewart, author of a new memoir The Most Dangerous 682 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:16.320 Animal of All, says the serial killer is his father, 683 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:18.559 Earl Van Best Junior. 684 00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:21.960 The final and one of the most popular suspects in 685 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:25.280 the Zodiac case is Earl Van Best Junior. The basis 686 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:27.960 for suspecting Van Best comes from the book The Most 687 00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:31.519 Dangerous Animal of All, authored by Gary Stewart, who claims 688 00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:34.599 that his biological father, Earl Van Best Junior, was the 689 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:37.960 Zodiac killer. When this book was published, it became very 690 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:41.119 popular among the general public. The author claims that his 691 00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:43.840 father lived in California at the time of the killings 692 00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:47.119 and was very interested in cipher's and codes. He also 693 00:36:47.239 --> 00:36:49.880 matched the composite sketch of the Zodiac and had many 694 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:53.400 strange friends, including a Satanist and a Manson family member. 695 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:56.440 Some of the more concrete evidence was the fact that 696 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.639 a handwriting expert found that the handwriting on Best's marriage 697 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:03.559 matched the handwriting in the Zodiac's letters, making this one 698 00:37:03.559 --> 00:37:06.159 of the few times and experts certified a match to 699 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:11.239 the Zodiac's handwriting. Unfortunately, critics quickly dismissed the suspect because 700 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:14.320 there was not enough evidence against him. The facial match 701 00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:16.880 to the composite sketch was a very loose one, and 702 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:20.000 it was also later determined that the handwriting on Best's 703 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:23.440 marriage certificate actually belonged to the minister who officiated the 704 00:37:23.519 --> 00:37:27.159 marriage and not to Best himself, therefore effectively ruling out 705 00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:31.920 Best as a suspect. Throughout the late nineteen sixties and seventies, 706 00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:34.840 the fear of the Zodiac Killer gripped the San Francisco 707 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:38.360 area and sent the whole nation into a frenzy. Although 708 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.480 even decades after the last letter, there are still many 709 00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:44.800 aspects of this case that remain unsolved. Not only is 710 00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:47.800 the identity of the Zodiac Killer unclear, but the number 711 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:50.880 of victims could range from five to nearly fifty, and 712 00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:54.199 the translations to his cryptic ciphers are still being decoded 713 00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:57.199 fifty years later. Despite all of the publicity that this 714 00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:00.639 case received, the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains one 715 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:04.000 of the most popular unsolved mysteries in true crime history.