serial killers

TheZodiacKiller

About The Serial Killers CollectionThe blood-curling, terrifying atrocities of the mad, bad, wicked and wretched leap from this gripping 25-title multimedia collection about the serial killers who have shocked and horrified the world through three victim-littered centuries. It is a library every true crime enthusiast will want on their bookshelves.

Read the stories penned by David Leslie, master of intrigue, crime journalist and author of several true crime books. Then watch the investigative documentary DVD packed with rare footage and interviews.

It was the first date for teenagers Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday. In a lovers lane by a beauty spot not far from San Francisco, California they kissed and hugged. Then out of the darkness crept an assassin who blasted the youngsters into eternity. The Zodiac Killer had struck. But were these his first slayings, or had he already murdered previously? In the months that followed, America would be shocked and California terrorised. More would die; others would survive to tell stories so bloody and sickening that even experienced police were appalled. One stabbing victim had to watch helplessly as the Zodiac turned his frenzied bloodlust on his pretty girlfriend. With the attacks came letters containing threats to bomb and kill children and claiming to contain a cipher clue to his identity. Who was he? How many died at his hands? This is the intriguing story of one of the greatest American murder mysteries.

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©2003 A&E Television Networks. All Rights Reserved. HISTORY and the ‘‘H’’ logo are trademarks of A&E

Television Networks. All Rights Reserved.

FRED AND ROSEMARY WEST

HAROLD SHIPMAN

ALBERT DESALVO

DAVID BERKOWITZ

DENNIS NILSEN

THE ZODIAC KILLER

STEVE WRIGHT

AILEEN WUORNOS

CHARLES MANSON

JEFFREY DAHMER

PETER SUTCLIFFE

JACK UNTERWEGER

ED GEIN

TED BUNDY

ANATOLY ONOPRIENKO

RICHARD RAMIREZ

MURDEROUS WOMEN

PAUL BERNARDO AND KARLA HOMOLKA

JOHN WAYNE GACY

MARC DUTROUX

IVAN MILAT

THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE

DENNIS RADER

JACK THE RIPPER

COLD-BLOODED KILLERS

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 21 22 23 24 25

1. Fred and Rosemary West 2. Harold Shipman 3. Albert deSalvo 4. David Berkowitz 5. Dennis Nilsen 6. The Zodiac Killer 7. Steve Wright 8. Aileen Carol Wuornos 9. Charles Manson 10. Jeffrey Dahmer 11. Peter Sutcliffe 12. Jack Unterweger 13. Ed Gein

14. Ted Bundy 15. Anatoly Onoprienko 16. Richard Ramirez 17. Murderous Women 18. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka 19. John Wayne Gacy20. Marc Dutroux 21. Ivan Milat 22. The Monster of Florence 23. Dennis Rader 24. Jack the Ripper 25. Cold-Blooded Killers

666666666£ 3.49

V6_Cover Zodiac killer.indd 1 27/08/10 11:19

© Paperview Europe Ltd. All Rights reserved

All photographs are copyright © News Group NewspapersOther images © Shutterstock

ISSN 2044-0367

Author : David LeslieIconography : George WrightEditor : John JanssensProject Manager : Delphine PrinselaarGraphic Design : Marie-Françoise GobletLayout by Paperview Europe

Printed in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd.

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the zodiac

killer


How the Zodiac appeared to Cecelia Ann Shepard and Bryan Hartnell before his murderous attack.


PROFILE of

the zodiac killer

NameZodiacKill

er

AKATheCipher

Man

DOBUnknown

DODUnknown

FamilyUnknown

ResidenceNorthernCa

lifornia

MurderType SerialKill

er.Enjoyedtauntingp

olice

PracticesShooting,s

tabbing,rifle,handgun

s,handcuffs,knives,

mask,clothes-line

Organization Oftenfollo

wedvictimsincar

VictimSanFrancis

coarea

Vicinity

NumberUncertain.

5knownkilled

ofVictims

MurderTime 1968to196

9butpossibly1963to

1972

Span

VictimType Young,both

sexes

VictimsDavidArthu

rFaradayandBettyLo

uJensen

(bothDecember20,196

8),DarleneElizabeth

Ferrin

(July4,1969),Ceceli

aAnnShepard

(September27,1969),

PaulLeeStine

(October11,1969)


The Pacific Coast of the United States of America is one of the most

spectacularly beautiful areas of the world. From the dramatic Californian beaches of the south to a glimpse of history in the north, at the Quinault Indian reservation, it shows off a massive variety of natural wonders. The vast stretch also hides dark secrets. It has been the hunting ground of some of the country’s worst and most prolific killers. Gary Ridgway churned out bodies as though they fell from a conveyor belt before his capture. But even today, possibly forty years since he last murdered, police have not given up hope of identifying the mystery man who was known as the Zodiac Killer.

The Zodiac first came to the notice of police on December 20, 1968. It was a happy time as families decorated Christmas trees, hung holly at their doors and looked forward to opening presents. David Faraday, 17, had even more reason than most to be feeling good. Intellectually bright and athletic, he was happily anticipating his first date with 16-year old Betty Lou Jenson, whose dark hair and good looks had attracted many a teenage boy. Both lived in Vallejo on San Pablo Bay, and that night the couple told school friends they were going to a Christmas carol concert.

But instead, after picking up Betty Lou in his mother’s station wagon, they headed east to a remote spot often frequented by courting couples.

The route took them into rolling hills with spectacular views over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Shortly after 10pm, David parked, locked the doors, tilted the front seat back and turned on the heater. It was time to start some serious courting because Betty Lou had promised her parents she would be home by 11pm. About half an hour later, another car parked alongside, the driver rolled down his window and ordered the youngsters to get out. When they refused, he produced a gun. Betty Lou frantically scrambled out of the passenger door seeking safety. David tried to follow but the stocky stranger shot him in the head from point blank range, blowing his skull apart, before firing five shots into the back of the girl, killing her. Then the gunman drove off.

Minutes later, a passing woman motorist saw the helpless youngsters and stopped a police patrol car. From the outset of their investigation, detectives knew they were up against it. There were no witnesses and no suspects and the trail almost immediately went cold.

On July 4, Independence Day,

The spot where David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were murdered.

6 THE ZODIAC KILLER THE ZODIAC KILLER 7


the following year, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, aged 22, and married with an infant daughter, went off for a ride with tall, slim, long-time admirer Michael Renault Mageau, aged 19. Friends often remarked how alike Darlene was to Betty Lou. Pretty and outgoing, but prone to fantasies, Darlene had frequently complained that a stocky man was stalking her. That evening, she had said she and Michael were going to the cinema in San Francisco. Instead, as midnight approached, she drove them to a lovers’ lane next to a golf course at Blue Rock Springs about two miles from

the spot where Betty Lou and David had been shot.

WHISPER

They were convinced they had been followed by a car, which parked

close to them, but their worries eased when it then drove off. However, five minutes later it returned, the driver got out carrying a strong torch, which he shone into the faces of Darlene and Michael, temporarily blinding them, and then began shooting. The gunfire was heard by a local resident who called

The spot where David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were murdered.

THE ZODIAC KILLER 7


8 THE ZODIAC KILLER THE ZODIAC KILLER 9

the police. One of the first on the scene was Detective Sergeant Ed Rust. Police discovered Darlene still behind the wheel of her car which had the ignition switched on and was in gear. She opened her eyes and tried to speak. Rust and his partner Detective Sergeant John Lynch thought she was trying to tell them about her killer but they could only make out, ‘‘I’’ or ‘‘My’’ before she lapsed into unconsciousness, never to recover. She had been hit nine times and was dead by the time she reached a hospital.

“A white man droveup In a car, gotout, walked up toour car, shone

fLashlight inside,started shooting.”

Michael suffered severe wounds to his right arm, neck and leg. The police thought it odd that he was wearing three pairs of pants, three sweaters and a long sleeved shirt. He was desperate to tell the officers something. Blood poured out of his mouth when his lips parted and he managed to whisper, ‘‘A white man drove up in a car, got out, walked up to our car, shone flashlight inside, started shooting.’’ When Rust and Lynch asked him if the gunman had said anything, Michael slowly turned his head from side to side and croaked, ‘‘No. He just started shooting and kept on shooting.’’ Michael eventually recovered and was able to tell police he thought the murderer was aged between 26 and 30 and ‘‘beefy.’’

Forty minutes after the attack, a man rang Vallejo police office from a pay phone. ‘‘I want to report a double murder of two people,’’ he said, ‘‘I also killed those kids last year.’’ When the caller hung up, the police operator immediately

Only the feet of Betty Lou Jensen can be seen beneath a blanket covering her body after her

murder in December 1968.


THE ZODIAC KILLER 9

rang the number back and wordlessly the receiver was lifted from the hook and left hanging. All police in the area were ordered to immediately check for a telephone kiosk with a dangling phone and when officers discovered the spot from where the killer had made his call a stranger, who happened to be passing, said he had watched a stocky man take the phone from the hook and leave it dangling before driving away in a brown coloured motor.

On August 1, 1969, while police were still hunting the murderer, newspapers in the area including the San Francisco Chronicle, received an intriguing letter

written with a blue, felt-tip pen. It read, ‘‘Dear Editor, This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmas and the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo. To prove I killed them I shall state some facts, which only I and the police know. Christmas. 1. Brand name of ammo Super X. 2. 10 shots were fired. 3. The boy was on his back with his feet to the car. 4. The girl was on her right side feet to the west. 4th July. The girl was wearing patterned slacks. 2. The boy was also shot in the knee. 3. Brand name of ammo was western.’’ The information was accurate.

The letters included a series of

The entrance to Blue Rock Springs Park where Darlene Ferrin was murdered in July 1969 and her companion Michael Mageau badly injured.


THE ZODIAC KILLER 1110 THE ZODIAC KILLER

ciphers made up of lines of Greek symbols, morse code, weather symbols, capital letters, navy semaphore and astrological symbols which, the writer claimed, were the code which, when cracked, would lead to his identity. The major symbol was a circle with a cross through it. The author of the letters also warned that if his cipher was not published, he would go on a killing spree. When naval intelligence specialists failed to crack his code, police asked for help from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. But where they failed, schoolteacher Donald Harden and his wife Bettye succeeded.

APPEALED

The amateur code breakers said the message read, ‘‘I like killing people

because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest, because man is the most dangerous anamal of all to kill. Something gives me the most thrilling experence - it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it is that when i die i will be reborn in paradice and all the girls i have killed will become my slaves i will not give you my name because you will

try to sloi down or stop my collecting of slaves for afterlife ebeorietemethhpiti.’’

Police, hoping the writer might make a slip and give himself away, publicly appealed for the killer to write again. He did, unaware of the Hardens’ success, and this time called himself Zodiac. His letter, including spelling errors, read, ‘‘Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking.

In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material. By the way, are the police having a good time with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up, when they do crack it they will have me. On the 4th of July I did not open the car door. The window was rolled down already. The boy was originally sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leapt backwards at the same time thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor, thrashing out very violently with his legs. That’s how I shot him in the knee.

“He ended up onthe back seat thenthe fLoor thrashingout very violentlywith his legs.”


THE ZODIAC KILLER 11

This 340 symbol cipher was sent by the Zodiac to police in November 1969 and included at the foot the image that would attract worldwide attention.


12 THE ZODIAC KILLER

I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires and raceing engine as described in the Vallejo papers. I drove away slowly so as not to draw attention to my car. The man who told the police my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the dam thing began to ring and that drew his attention to me and my car.’’

Police were convinced the Zodiac was the triple killer, because the letter

contained details only he and they could know. There was more. ‘‘Last Christmas. In that epasode the police were wondering as to how I could shoot and hit my victims in the dark. They did not openly state this but implied this by saying it was a well lit night and I could see silwets on the horizon. Bullshit that area is srounded by high hills and trees. What I did was tape a small pencel flashlight to the barrel of my gun. If you notice in the centre of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6in across. When taped to a gun barrel the bullet will strike exactly in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them.’’ The Zodiac was boasting about his knowledge of the practice of killing, but he was about to give another deadly demonstration of his capabilities.

CUDDLE

On Saturday September 27, 1969 Bryan Calvin Hartnell, aged 20, and

his friend Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, went for a drive into the country, stopping at Lake Berryessa, about 50 miles to the north of Vallejo, to sit on a blanket, cuddle and picnic. Both had been


A wanted poster showing an artist’s impression of the Zodiac.



students, close friends, at Pacific Union College in Angwin to the north of San Francisco and like most other students knew the Lake well because it was close to their seat of learning. It was a sad day in many ways, because Cecelia had earlier been packing up her belongings before heading to complete her studies in Southern California. Just how sadly the day would end for the families of both, no one could have known, except for one man.

As they drove towards the Lake, three other young women were already there, but were uncomfortable about a stranger who had parked just a few inches from where they sat in their own motor. He appeared to be ignoring them, but all three had the feeling that the newspaper he held before him was simply camouflage hiding his surveillance of them. Their chain-smoking, unwanted companion in the car park was aged between 25 and 35, tall, dark haired and stocky. All three were so perturbed by his presence that they drove to another parking lot and began sunbathing, but when they looked up, after a few minutes, discovered the stranger had followed and was watching them. He waited for a few minutes, as if determined to unsettle them and then drove off.

Bryan and Cecelia arrived in another car park, took out a blanket and began cuddling on the west shore of the lake, believing they were alone. But, as they relaxed, Cecelia became aware of a stocky, dark haired, stranger who seemed to be watching them. He vanished into trees before emerging into the clearing where they lay,

Sketch of the Zodiac Killer’s appearance as described by Bryan Hartnell.



evidently heading towards them before disappearing again. She was disturbed and frightened and wondered if they were targets for a stalker. Suddenly, the stranger reappeared but this time there was no doubting they were in the presence of evil.

He was so close they could see the detail on a bizarre, waist length black hood that covered his face. There were slits for his eyes and mouth. On the front had been stitched a three-inch square cross over a circle. What made the effect all the more scary, were the sunglasses he wore over the eye slits. It was as though he had appeared from the pages of a terror story by Edgar Allen Poe. But what froze Cecelia was a foot long knife dangling from his belt, while in his hand was a semi automatic pistol pointed at them. The stranger stood over them and demanded their money and car keys telling them he was an escaped convict who had killed a prison guard and needed to get to Mexico. ‘‘I’m flat broke and have nothing to lose,’’ he said.

Terrified, Bryan handed over his car keys and his small change. When he began talking to the gunman to calm him, their attacker warned, ‘‘Just don’t start playing hero on me. Don’t try to grab the gun.’’ He produced a length of clothesline, ordered Cecelia to tie her friend up, and then tied her himself. Then he told them, ‘‘I’m going to have to stab you people.’’ Bryan begged, ‘‘Please stab me first. I’m chicken. I couldn’t stand to see her stabbed.’’ He felt a series of blows to his back. The killer then set about the helpless girl, thrusting the knife into her back, chest, groin and stomach. Then he walked off.

PLEADED

Despite being in horrific pain, and with blood pumping from her

wounds, Cecelia managed to untie Bryan and he began crawling off to seek help. They were found by Rangers who called an ambulance to rush the victims to hospital. While they waited for paramedics to arrive, their helpers were appalled by the cowardliness of the outrage. They were moved to tears by the whimpering of brave Cecelia who pleaded with them, ‘‘Please give me something to kill my pain or put me to

“Please stab mefIrst. I’m chicken.I couldn’t stand tosee her stabbed.”



sleep. ’’ She was writhing in agony, blood continuing to shower from her terrible injuries and as each minute passed by her pulse grew weaker. She had been stabbed twenty-four times.

An hour after the murderous attack, a caller rang the police and said, ‘‘I want to report a murder, no a double murder. I’m the one that did it.’’ The mystery voice described the spot where he had stabbed Bryan and Cecelia. Checks later

showed the call had come from a kiosk 25 miles from what would become the murder scene. But more important was the fact that experts were able to lift a palm print from the receiver. At the place where the Zodiac had struck, a detective saw, written with a felt tip pen on the side of Bryan’s car, ‘‘Vallejo 12-20-68. 7-4-69 Sept 27-69-6-30 by knife.’’ They were the dates when the Zodiac had killed. Two days later, Cecelia died

The chilling details of Zodiac attacks discovered on Bryan Hartnell’s car door after the murder of Cecelia Ann Shepard.



in hospital. Police meanwhile suspected the murderer had a fascination with water because the attacks had taken place near a river or lake.

Bryan went on to recover. In hospital, the nightmares over watching his friend writhe in agony as the knife plunged into her back and chest, rupturing her aorta and dooming her to eternity, continued and left him sleepless. He spent days and weeks recounting every second of the horror and told journalist Robert Graysmith about his ordeal as the stabbing began. ‘‘I’m laying on my stomach. Put yourself in my shoes. Someone hits you in the back. What’s the first thing you do? You stiffen. You just wait for it to stop. There’s not a helluva lot you can do. You’re in the most vulnerable position you can be in. I was just waiting for it to stop. She’s watching all this stuff coming down and screaming for him to stop. She turns on her side so by the time he comes to her she knows precisely what’s going to happen and what’s the reaction? Try to get away. Try to move out of the way. You have these few seconds to recognise what’s happening. You’re gonna be in a lot different position. She was a fairly frail bone person. She wasn’t skinny but she wasn’t heavy boned. When he hit her, he

broke her ribs.’’On Saturday October 11, 1969, Paul

Lee Stine, a 29-year-old taxi driver was in his cab in crowded San Francisco when a stranger climbed into the back seat and asked for an address in the city. Minutes later, Paul was shot in the head, the muzzle of the gun actually pressed into his right cheek with the result that his brain exploded. The murderer took the dead man’s wallet and ripped off a part of his shirt before vanishing. The theft was watched by three teenagers, from the window of their home 15 yards away, who saw what appeared to be a struggle between a cab driver and a passenger. They saw a stocky man climb from the cab, rip something from the driver, wipe

The hand of murdered Paul Stine hangs over a pool of blood after he was shot in October 1969.



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David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensenwho were murdered while on a date inDecember 1968.

Cecelia Ann Shepard murdered by theZodiac Killer in September 1969.

Bryan Hartnell arrives at hospitalminutes after the September 1969 stabbing attack in which Cecelia AnnShepard died.

Darlene Ferrin was murdered by theZodiac in July 1969.

Taxi driver Paul Stine murdered inOctober 1969.

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