Zodiac Killer Research Paper

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In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s things began to change for areas in California. For what use to be quite small town, where little to no crime activity was, became areas of brutal murder crimes. The man was known as the “Zodiac Killer”, named after the way he communicated in letters with the police. There were seven definite victims and five possible victims. The first definite murder happened Friday December 20th 1968 in Vallejo, California. The victim’s names were David Faraday, age 17, and Betty Jensen, age 16. It was their first real date and he took her to a remote gravel parking area along Lake Herman Road. According to police shots were fired at the car in what they thought were efforts to force them out of the car. Jensen exited…show more content…
The victim’s names were Cecelia Shepard, age 22 and Bryan Hartnell, age 20. According to the police report the couple was relaxing at a picnic in a remote location by Lake Berryessa. Shepard noticed a man wearing an unusual costume approaching them with a gun. The man explained he escaped from prison and needed money and a car to flee to Mexico, Hartnell offered his wallet and car keys but neither of them were taken. After small conversation the man tied the couple up with a plastic clothesline and began stabbing them. After the attack the man began to nonchalantly walk away from the crime scene. A fisherman nearby heard the couple screaming and alerted park officials. It took ambulance over an hour to get to the crime scene and both victims were in critical condition, Shepard died 48 hours later and Hartnell survived. The Napa Police Department received a call from a man claiming he was responsible for the stabbing. The call was traced to a pay phone downtown and finger prints were later…show more content…
In the letters the writer took credit for the crimes that took place at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, each letter also included one-third of a 408-symbol cryptogram, which the killer claimed had his identity. The killer demanded that the editors put the letter on the front page of the paper or he would cruise around the town killing people at night. The Police Chief of Vallejo was not happy with the letter that was written claiming it did not give enough information and demanded the editor to request more information about the killings. It was at the point when the killer called himself by the name of “Zodiac” and told the police information that was not release to the public. It also included a code at which he said if they could figure it out then they had his

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