Did you know? The USA has 76% of the worlds known serial killers, and California alone has hosted more serial killers than any other state. Some of the most notorious and lethal California killers include Charles Ng, who killed and raped 11 people, Richard Chase, who not only killed six people, but also drank their blood and cannibalized their remains, and the infamous Charles Manson, who was head to a conspiracy known as the “Manson Family”, known for gruesomely murdering five people, including the famous actress Sharon Tate. Not all of the world’s most notorious killers have been caught- Jack the Ripper, The Grim Sleeper, and Charlie Chop-off are some of which still remain unidentified. One solitary individual, however, remains at the top of the sinister list: he is the subject to dozens of scary stories; he even has his own movie. He is the mysterious killer who has yet to be caught: he is the Zodiac Killer.
Arguably the most covert and spotlight-loving serial killer, The Zodiac Killer is a serial killer who operated chiefly in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Zodiac Killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area when he killed five confirmed victims, and later claimed 32 unconfirmed victims. He would routinely send top newspapers letters and cryptograms that revealed his motives, and were so complicated that some still have not been solved to this day.
On the night of Sunday, October 30, 1966, long before anyone was to hear of the Zodiac, an 18-year-old student named Cheri Jo Bates was brutally murdered near the parking lot of Riverside City College’s library annex. Her clothes were undisturbed and her purse was present and intact, so what was the motive? Riverside Police and Riverside Enterprise would later find out, it was simply for pleasure. Riverside Press-Enterprise received a complicated cryptogram that supposedly contained the killer’s identity; the killer demanded they be printed on the paper’s front page, or he would “cruise around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again.” The letter read, SHE IS NOT THE FIRST VICTIM AND SHE WILL NOT BE THE LAST I LAY AWAKE NIGHTS THINKING ABOUT MY NEXT VICTIM.
In following letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, the killer revealed details about ulterior murders that were withheld from the public, leaving police to realize that his information was valid. The killer began signing off his resilient letters with a symbol later to be associated with him: the Zodiac also included a final tally, as if recording the score to a sports game. In the Zodiac’s final letter to the Chronicle, he concluded with a new and final score, “Me=37, SFPD=0”.
The killer’s identity still remains unknown to this day. The killer didn’t have a signature style of killing; he experimented with guns, knives, and was creative about how he steered his victims to their death. The Zodiac Killer is one of the greatest unsolved serial killer mysteries of all time, taking only second place to Jack the Ripper. In a recently released book, ”The Zodiac Killer Cover Up”, childhood friend of the police’s main suspect and former California Highway Patrol officer, Lyndon Lafferty, created the theory that the killer is now a 91-year-old man living in Solano County. What do you think?
Arguably the most covert and spotlight-loving serial killer, The Zodiac Killer is a serial killer who operated chiefly in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Zodiac Killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area when he killed five confirmed victims, and later claimed 32 unconfirmed victims. He would routinely send top newspapers letters and cryptograms that revealed his motives, and were so complicated that some still have not been solved to this day.
On the night of Sunday, October 30, 1966, long before anyone was to hear of the Zodiac, an 18-year-old student named Cheri Jo Bates was brutally murdered near the parking lot of Riverside City College’s library annex. Her clothes were undisturbed and her purse was present and intact, so what was the motive? Riverside Police and Riverside Enterprise would later find out, it was simply for pleasure. Riverside Press-Enterprise received a complicated cryptogram that supposedly contained the killer’s identity; the killer demanded they be printed on the paper’s front page, or he would “cruise around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again.” The letter read, SHE IS NOT THE FIRST VICTIM AND SHE WILL NOT BE THE LAST I LAY AWAKE NIGHTS THINKING ABOUT MY NEXT VICTIM.
In following letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, the killer revealed details about ulterior murders that were withheld from the public, leaving police to realize that his information was valid. The killer began signing off his resilient letters with a symbol later to be associated with him: the Zodiac also included a final tally, as if recording the score to a sports game. In the Zodiac’s final letter to the Chronicle, he concluded with a new and final score, “Me=37, SFPD=0”.
The killer’s identity still remains unknown to this day. The killer didn’t have a signature style of killing; he experimented with guns, knives, and was creative about how he steered his victims to their death. The Zodiac Killer is one of the greatest unsolved serial killer mysteries of all time, taking only second place to Jack the Ripper. In a recently released book, ”The Zodiac Killer Cover Up”, childhood friend of the police’s main suspect and former California Highway Patrol officer, Lyndon Lafferty, created the theory that the killer is now a 91-year-old man living in Solano County. What do you think?