The Zodiac Killer

          Serial killers are a very interesting kind of people. They do crazy things for a variety of reasons. Often times, no one knows the killer's motive.
           In many cases, documentaries can be made on the study of the killers brain... if they have been caught. However, many other times, the killer is never caught, and the public never has a chance to truly know about them.
          One of these killers is The Zodiac Killer. His case remains unsolved.

          Zodiac victims tended to be young couples in secluded areas. The first murder was two teens on a romantic night in December of 1968. Betty Lou Jensen, age 16, and David Arthur Faraday, age 17, were brutally murdered. This murder was in Vallejo, California. David was shot point blank in the head while Betty's murder was more brutal.
          July 4th of the next year, another murder. Parked at a golf course, at some time around midnight, a car blocked them in. Shots were fired first at Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, age 22 and then at Michael Renault Mageau, age 19. Michael survived, but he left a very vague description of the killer. A white, stocky, middle aged man.
          Many victims followed these. The killer's weapons and methods varied. He used both guns and knives, but often he brought fatal shots to the head for a quick death. Because of all of this, the search for Zodiac was massive.

          After everything, the Zodiac killer was never caught. The case still, to this day, remains unsolved. There were some 37 possible and believed victims, but the SFPD only counts about 5 as definite Zodiac victims. Zodiac himself claims to have taken 32 victims.
          The Zodiac gave himself the name in his handwritten letters to the police.
          No recordings were ever made of his calls to authoritative figures although that wouldn't have been a very good help to the search. However, even if they had recorded him, the Zodiac was smart, and he probably used some form of voice alteration to trick the police.

          Zodiac enjoyed attention from the public and playing childish games with authorities. The police received more letters to decode that would eventually lead to a confession to the murders with details only the killer would know.
          Messages continued for the entire 10 year span of the Zodiac killing spree. Many times, parts would decode to equal something as simple as, "Me=10 SFPD=0" in order to show that he had ten victims and the police had still not even picked up his trail.
          The Zodiac threatened large scale crimes like blowing up a school bus full of kids. A picture of this letter is down below. Zodiac would many times threaten more violent crimes if his writings were not published in the paper or other media services.
          One particular message begged the police to find him and put an end to his spree because he could not handle holding back from more violent crimes. Though these are simply the facts. There are an endless amount of theories.

This is the letter threatening to blow up a school bus.

          A cab driver is killed. The Zodiac claims the victim as his in a letter with a piece of torn bloody clothing, belonging to the victim's shirt. Fingerprints are found in the car. They belong to Earl Van Best.  The fingerprints found in the cab show that the killer had a scar on his right index finger. A photo of that fingerprint is down below.