In the 1960s and 1970s, the San Francisco Bay area was terrorized by a serial killer who came to be known as the Zodiac. The Zodiac enjoyed taking credit for his work. He sent letters to various local newspapers, some partially encrypted with a code, and appeared to be mentally ill. The killer apparently believed that his victims would become his slaves in afterlife.
The Zodiac also made a point to taunt local police. He sent them a map, with clues regarding the past and future locations of attacks. He personally reported several of the murders to the police department from pay phones just blocks away. He even claimed that police had spoken with him just moments after a murder was reported and taunted police for their shoddy investigative skills.
None of the Zodiac murders were ever solved. The Zodiac ceased all communication with police and newspapers by the late 1970s. Eerily, he tended to leave his running tally at the bottom of his letters to the newspapers, crediting himself with a growing number of murders and always assigning the San Francisco Police Department a zero for their failure to solve the murders or to apprehend him. He would eventually claim responsibility for 37 deaths, although police attribute only seven victims, five of whom died, to him. The Zodiac also enjoyed when his letters, full of misspellings, were published.
The Zodiac did not seem to have a particular goal in mind. He killed a cab driver and attacked several young couples. He may have been responsible for the murder of a young woman who was studying at her college library and he is also suspected in the murder of a nurse, whose body was never located. He often used guns and sometimes knives. Police were never able to solve the mystery, despite composite sketches and fairly good descriptions given of a young man with brown hair and a stocky build. Now, must of the Bay area police departments have closed the Zodiac cases.
The Zodiac also made a point to taunt local police. He sent them a map, with clues regarding the past and future locations of attacks. He personally reported several of the murders to the police department from pay phones just blocks away. He even claimed that police had spoken with him just moments after a murder was reported and taunted police for their shoddy investigative skills.
None of the Zodiac murders were ever solved. The Zodiac ceased all communication with police and newspapers by the late 1970s. Eerily, he tended to leave his running tally at the bottom of his letters to the newspapers, crediting himself with a growing number of murders and always assigning the San Francisco Police Department a zero for their failure to solve the murders or to apprehend him. He would eventually claim responsibility for 37 deaths, although police attribute only seven victims, five of whom died, to him. The Zodiac also enjoyed when his letters, full of misspellings, were published.
The Zodiac did not seem to have a particular goal in mind. He killed a cab driver and attacked several young couples. He may have been responsible for the murder of a young woman who was studying at her college library and he is also suspected in the murder of a nurse, whose body was never located. He often used guns and sometimes knives. Police were never able to solve the mystery, despite composite sketches and fairly good descriptions given of a young man with brown hair and a stocky build. Now, must of the Bay area police departments have closed the Zodiac cases.
