“I like killing people because it’s so
much fun.” Those were the words embedded in a coded message
sent by The Zodiac in July of 1969. The letter was sent to the newspaper editors
at The San Francisco Examiner. This would not be the last encoded message
with gruesome thoughts and details hidden within. The Zodiac is the most mysterious and elusive
serial killer in United States history. You and I are about to gather clues, look
at crime scenes, and analyze hidden messages to try and discover who The Zodiac really
was. Let’s delve deeper into the psyche of one
of the most terrifying killers of all time. Over the years more than 2,500 suspects have
been put forth as The Zodiac Killer. They range from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski to
members of the Charles Manson family. In the 1990’s suspect number one was Arthur
Leigh Allen. Allen was a Vallejo, California school teacher. It is clear that The Zodiac could be anyone
from an already known killer to a school teacher. Our mission is to figure out where on this
spectrum the real Zodiac Killer might lie. There are two suspects who have not been completely
ruled out thus far, and a third that has been recently accused of being The Zodiac. As investigators we will look at the evidence
and try to come to our own conclusions. The first suspect we will analyze is Lawrence
Kane. The Zodiac clearly had an understanding of
coding. He also had an affinity for Naval gear, such
as combat boots and firearms. Kane served in the Naval reserves where he
would have learned coding and access to the basic Naval gear that The Zodiac used. In 1962 Lawrence Kane was in a car accident
that resulted in a serious brain injury. This injury may have altered his ability to
control urges. It could have led to a personality disorder
through unbalanced chemicals and hormones in the brain. We know that The Zodiac struggled with internal
conflict. He reached out for help in several of his
letters, even stating that he could not control his urges to kill. It has been claimed by some including a retired
police detective that Kane’s name appears in one of The Zodiac’s ciphers. The Zodiac did write that he had embedded
his name in his ciphers. He taunted the authorities saying that if
his code was cracked they would know who he was. Could Kane have put his name in one of the
cipher’s because he was The Zodiac? Or was it a coincidence? Perhaps it was just a mistake by the retired
detective when trying to break the code. This evidence does not seem to hold up for
our investigation. Another connection between Kane and The Zodiac
is through the murder of Darlene Ferrin. Let’s take a closer look into this connection
and the crime scene left behind. On July 4, 1969 in Vallejo California a 22
year old mother named Darlene Ferrin and her friend Michael Mageau were murdered by The
Zodiac. They stopped at Blue Rock Springs Park to
enjoy Independence Day. When interviewed after the attack Michael
said that a vehicle pulled into the lot they were parked in around midnight. The driver got out and fired a 9mm handgun
at the car. Michael was shot in the jaw, shoulder, and
leg, but lived to tell the story. Darlene was hit several times and passed away
on the ride to the hospital. At 12:40 the police received a call from a
gas station pay phone. The voice on the other line took responsibility
for the shooting. The voice of the monster on the other line
said, “I want to report a murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway,
you will find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.” The bluntness of the call was the most unsettling
part. It was after this confession that the first
of The Zodiac letters were received by newspapers in California. The first set of letters were postmarked on
July 31,1969. Three different envelopes were sent to three
different newspapers. The writer claimed responsibility for two
shootings and provided grotesque details about the victims, weapons, and number of shots
fired. The writer also included one-third of a cipher
in the letters and demanded publication. The Zodiac threatened to kill again if newspapers
did not publish the cipher. It included the words, “I like killing people
because it’s so much fun.” This was the first cipher The Zodiac created
and it was his longest. The cipher was 408 characters long. It was laid out in a 24 by 17 grid. When police investigated the death of Darlene
Ferrin her sister identified Kane as a man who would bother Darlene at the restaurant
where she worked. Darlene’s sister only identified Kane from
a photograph, but if there was a connection between one of The Zodiac’s victims and
Kane that would be something we should take into consideration. Lawrence Kane was also identified as having
the ‘closest likeness’ to The Zodiac by a San Francisco police officer who unknowingly
saw The Zodiac moments after the murder of a cab driver named Paul Stine. Paul Stine was murdered by The Zodiac on October
11, 1969. Stine picked up a man thinking it would be
a routine cab ride, but he was dead wrong. On the way to his destination The Zodiac shot
him in the head and cut off a piece of his shirt. The Zodiac walked away from the scene of the
crime just as police arrived. The cops were mistakenly looking for a black
man as the suspect. They ignored the white man resembling the
correct description. Racial profiling was common at this time in
U.S. history. This murder was where the most famous sketch
of the Zodiac Killer came from. The case was considered just a routine robbery
until The San Francisco Chronicle received another letter from The Zodiac. The letter began, “I am the murderer of
the taxi driver.” The envelope contained a blood-stained piece
of Paul Stine’s shirt. There could be no denying The Zodiac was responsible. In the letter The Zodiac mocked the police
for failing to catch him and threatened to shoot children on a school bus. On November 8th and 9th The Zodiac sent two
more letters. The latter being the longest message he wrote
and claiming that police had stopped him near the crime scene, but let him go. This letter also included a recipe to make
a bomb and a detailed diagram of the explosive. It was clear that The Zodiac had the technical
knowhow to make the device and was not afraid to use it. Perhaps Lawrence Kane learned basic engineering
skills in the Navy to allow him to construct the bomb The Zodiac described. The following month a letter addressed to
famous attorney Melvin Belli was received. In it we get a look into the psyche of The
Zodiac. Its writer stated he was afraid that he would
kill again. The Zodiac asked Belli to help, as if he were
fighting a battle within himself. One side of his personality wanted to stop
the mayhem, the other personality, the one clearly in control, only wanted to kill more. The Zodiac ended the note with, “Please
help me I can not remain in control for much longer”. These personality shifts could be due to brain
trauma similar to what Lawrence Kane succumbed to in his car crash. For right now though the connections between
Kane and The Zodiac are superficial and more evidence is needed. It is time to turn our investigation to another
man who was suspected of being The Zodiac Killer. His name was Ross Sullivan. Several physical features of Sullivan are
reminiscent of The Zodiac. He sported a crew cut and glasses similar
to the man in the police sketch from the Stine murder. He also wore Army jackets and military-style
boots like those that left footprints at the Lake Berryessa stabbing. Lets delve further into The Zodiac murder
of September 27, 1969 to see if we can uncover more clues. Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were relaxing
on the sandy shore of Lake Berryessa, just north of Napa, California. A hooded man with a white crossed-circle stitched
over his chest snuck up and held them at gunpoint. He bound their wrists and once they were secured
plunged a hunting knife into Hartnell’s back six times. The Zodiac then stabbed Shepard ten times. To complete the crime The Zodiac walked over
to Bryan Hartnell’s car and used a pen to draw a crossed-circle on the door. He then wrote the dates and locations of previous
attacks. He called the Napa police and reported his
horrific double murder. Among the evidence that was uncovered at the
scene were military boot prints, however, there is no direct link to Sullivan in this
case except his similar attire. But, Ross Sullivan is connected to a different
Zodiac murder in a much more concrete way. On October 30, 1966 Cheri Josephine Bates
left a note for her father saying she had gone to the library at City College in Riverside. The next morning her Volkswagen Beetle was
found abandoned in the library parking lot. Her body lay in an alley nearby, between two
unoccupied houses. She had been stabbed numerous times and her
throat was slashed. It was a bloody scene. Police found a Timex watch and prints of military
boots at the crime scene. Nothing had been stolen and no sexual assault
had been conducted. The next month a local newspaper received
a typed letter titled “The Confession.” The murder wrote, “Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb. I am not sick. I am insane.” These words made the authorities shudder. They were dealing with a man who had lost
touch with reality. At first it was unclear if this was a Zodiac
killing. In April of that year the police received
another letter stating that “Bates had to die. There will be more.” The letter was signed with a symbol resembling
the letter “Z.” Could the Z stand for Zodiac? Detectives later determined that The Zodiac
was to blame for the murder due to similarities between the Bates’ murder and his other
killings. Then the smoking gun arrived in a letter to
The San Francisco Chronicle. The Zodiac confirmed the authority’s theory
that he had murdered Bates. The letter stated, “I do have to give them
credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there
are a hell of a lot more down there.” A scary notion for the police to grapple with. But what does Sullivan have to do with this
murder? Well, Ross Sullivan worked at the Riverside
City College library where Bates had gone to study and near where her body was found. Coworkers said that Ross Sullivan had ‘made
them uncomfortable and disappeared for several days after the murder.’ Again this is not conclusive evidence, but
it does link Sullivan to one of the earlier Zodiac Killings. Ross Sullivan also had mental health problems. Although we are now more aware of the role
mental health plays in someone’s actions, in the 1960’s less research on the topic
was available. In 1967 Sullivan was hospitalized several
times for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. These mental health diseases may have caused
the dark personality of The Zodiac to manifest itself, with, or without, the knowledge of
Ross Sullivan. It would seem that Sullivan has a clearer
connection to a Zodiac murder than Lawrence Kane. Again there is no conclusive evidence at this
time, but Sullivan’s actions do seem suspicious. A more recent claim for who The Zodiac Killer
was comes from a man named Gary Stewart. Stewart believes that his father was The Zodiac. It isn’t every day that a son convicts his
father of being a notorious serial killer. In 2014 Gary Stewart published his book The
Most Dangerous Animal of All. In his book he outlined evidence as to why
he believes his father was the notorious Zodiac. Stewart grew up without knowing his father. His mother, Jude Gilford, was a fourteen year
old fugitive married to her twenty-seven year old husband Earl Van Best Jr. After Stewart was born his father decided
he had no interest in parental responsibility. He left his newborn son in a Louisiana apartment
complex stairwell. If nothing else Van Best was a terrible father. Upon being arrested for multiple crimes and
negligence, Van Best ended up in a California State mental hospital. Jude Gilford put Stewart up for adoption at
the time. It wasn’t until Gary Stewart was a grown
man that he connected his father to The Zodiac. He first started making the connections when
he was watching late night TV. On the screen was the police sketch of The
Zodiac. Stewart instantly realized the close resemblance
to a picture of his father and The Zodiac drawing. Gary Stewart claims that not only were his
father and The Zodiac similar in their looks, but in their interests as well. He states that his father was interested in
ciphers. He also mentions that Van Best had a deep
connection to The Mikado. The Zodiac quoted the Arthur Sullivan opera
in his letters. Maybe Van Best and The Zodiac shared the same
love for this opera because they were the same person. Gary Stewart also claims that his father was
in the right place at the right time. Van Best lived right around the corner from
where The Zodiac hailed Paul Stine’s cab and murdered him in 1969. These connections are circumstantial at best
and no definitive evidence connects Van Best to being The Zodiac. Later in his research Stewart begins to become
more conspiracy oriented. He claims that since his mother eventually
married a San Francisco detective named Rotea Gilford, that the police are covering up Van
Best’s identity. This seems far fetched, but Stewart says it
may have been to protect Rotea Gilford from being associated with The Zodiac’s first
wife. Stewart believes that there is one piece of
evidence that proves without a doubt his father was The Zodiac. In one of The Zodiac’s most intricate ciphers
the word Best appears. This could be a coincidence, or the cipher
being read wrong. But to Stewart it is the smoking gun that
his father, Earl Van Best Jr. was The Zodiac. Something that keeps detectives and us at
The Infographics Show up at night is did The Zodiac ever stop? Or did he just take a break and change his
M.O.? After his last letter on March 22, 1971 there
was radio silence from The Zodiac for almost three years. It wasn’t until 1974 that he resurfaced
again. The San Francisco Chronicle received a letter
on January 29, 1974 from The Zodiac. In it was a nightmare come to life. The Zodiac alluded to more murders in his
note which read, “Me – 37, SFPD – 0.” This has been interpreted as The Zodiac taking
responsibility for 37 deaths and the San Francisco Police Department arresting him zero times. Since 1974 no one has heard from The Zodiac. But this does not mean he was not, or is not,
still out there. What happened? Where did The Zodiac go? Why did he stop killing, or at least stop
claiming his murders? According to the FBI's National Center for
the Analysis of Violent Crime, serial killers may stop murdering others if something significant
changes in their life. One theory as to why The Zodiac stopped is
that the police were coming too close to catching him. This may have scared him into changing his
ways. However, this does not seem likely as he constantly
mocked the police for not catching him. Another possibility is that the attention
he was receiving from his letters and ciphers was a substitute for killing. Or it could have been something as simple
as growing older and less able to carry out his murderous desires. Some psychologists have hypothesized that
The Zodiac may have recovered from an identity disorder or multiple personality disorder. As he recovered he could have lost the urge
to kill. Or perhaps he was institutionalized and we
just don’t know about it. Yet, the scariest theory of all is that he
just kept killing and never took responsibility for it. He even said in a letter postmarked November
12, 1969, "I shall no longer announce to anyone when I commit my murders, they shall look
like routine robberies, killings of anger, few fake accidents, etc." It is impossible to tell if he kept good on
this promise unless we find out who The Zodiac was. If nothing else, The Zodiac is still the stuff
nightmares are made of. We know of at least five confirmed murders
he committed, but it is possible he had 37 or more victims. Some of his ciphers still have not been cracked
and may hold clues to his identity. The Zodiac Killer case is still an open and
ongoing investigation. As of yet, there is no definitive answer to
who The Zodiac was or if he is still out there. Now it’s time to check out “The Zodiac
Serial Killer - How Did He Evade The Police?” Or “Could This Be The Deadliest Serial Killer
In History of Mankind?” We can’t promise you’ll still want to
leave your house after watching these videos though.
No.
Already watched it earlier. Seemed to be a much sloppier and lazier video than what they usually make. They left off the obvious circumstantial evidence suspect ALA and a few others but put in the awful “my dad was the Zodiac” theory? Not impressed
I think his name was Arthur Kane and his nickname was Honcho.
Shitty clickbait title, just like the one in this video.
There is just something disturbing about such a trite treatment of a serious matter like the Zodiac case. Does portraying the case in this manner really do justice to the families of the victims?
No, we don’t know and we never will
"Racial profiling was common in the US at this time in history" - hmmm