Zodiac Killer
Also known as: Zodiac
- Active
- 1968–1969
- Region
- San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
- State
- CA
- Kind
- Serial
- Status
- Unsolved
- Victims
- 5
Between December 1968 and October 1969, an unidentified gunman attacked seven people in the San Francisco Bay Area, killing five: two teenagers on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, a young couple at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, two college students at Lake Berryessa, and a San Francisco cab driver. The killer called himself "the Zodiac" in letters and ciphers mailed to Bay Area newspapers. Vallejo police, the Napa County Sheriff, the San Francisco Police Department and the FBI investigated for decades. One cipher, the "Z340", was solved by private citizens in 2020 and verified by the FBI, but it does not identify the writer. The case remains open and unsolved.
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Victims
We remember the people whose lives were taken.
- David Arthur Faraday, 17 · December 20, 1968
An Eagle Scout and wrestler at Vallejo High School.
- Betty Lou Jensen, 16 · December 20, 1968
An honor-roll junior at Hogan High School in Vallejo.
- Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22 · July 4, 1969
A Vallejo waitress and young mother.
- Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22 · September 27, 1969
Born in India; a former student at Pacific Union College. She died of her injuries two days later.
- Paul Lee Stine, 29 · October 11, 1969
A Yellow Cab driver and graduate student in San Francisco.
Timeline of locations
- December 20, 1968Lake Herman Road turnout, Benicia (Crime scene, approximate area)
David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were shot and killed at a gravel turnout on Lake Herman Road, just inside the Benicia city limits, on their first date.
- July 4, 1969Blue Rock Springs Park, Vallejo (Crime scene, approximate area)
Shortly before midnight on July 4, 1969, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau were shot in a car in the park's parking lot. Ferrin died; Mageau survived. Less than an hour later, a man phoned Vallejo police to claim the attack.
- September 27, 1969Lake Berryessa, Napa County (Crime scene, approximate area)
Pacific Union College students Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were picnicking on the lake's west shore when a hooded man tied them up and stabbed them. Hartnell survived; Shepard died two days later. The attacker wrote on the door of Hartnell's car before leaving.
- October 11, 1969Near Union Square, San Francisco (Abduction, approximate area)
Cab driver Paul Stine picked up a passenger near Union Square on the night of October 11, 1969.
- October 11, 1969Washington and Cherry Streets, Presidio Heights (Crime scene, approximate area)
Paul Stine was shot in his cab at Washington and Cherry Streets. Teenagers across the street saw the gunman, and SFPD composite sketches were drawn from their descriptions.
- November 8, 1969San Francisco Chronicle (Other, approximate area)
The writer mailed letters and ciphers to the Chronicle and other Bay Area papers. The 340-character cipher mailed on November 8, 1969, went unsolved for 51 years; private citizens cracked it in December 2020 and the FBI verified it, but it gives no clue to the writer's identity.
Sources
- Zodiac Killer (Wikipedia)
- Here's What We Know About the Victims of the Still-Unidentified Zodiac Killer (Oxygen)
- FBI confirms 1969 Zodiac Killer's 340 cipher solved (Scripps / WTKR)
- Zodiac Killer cipher solved by private citizens (The Register)
Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.