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"Zodiac" (2005)

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“The killing spree initiated by a man known only as The Zodiac, has to be one of the most intriguing criminal mysteries the United States has ever experienced. No one is sure exactly when it began; nor do we know when it will end. All we do know is that for over 22 years, someone has managed to outwit the authorities all the while taunting, goading, and ridiculing the police while he maintained his cycle of vicious killings, often within sight of the authorities that sought him.”

Based on Actual Evidence; All Excerpts are Authentic.

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I.

A student of Riverside’s College, found dead in the parking lot
Chen Jo Bates, 18 years old, the only evidence; a Timex watch
At 12:23 AM the time stopped; police found a partial palm print
Then they received a letter, as did the papers, this is how it went:

...I AM NOT SICK. I AM INSANE. BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP THE GAME. THIS LETTER SHOULD BE PUBLISHED FOR ALL TO READ IT. IT JUST MIGHT SAVE THAT GIRL IN THE ALLEY. BUT THAT'S UP TO YOU. IT WILL BE ON YOUR CONSCIENCE. NOT MINE. YES, I DID MAKE THAT CALL TO YOU ALSO. IT WAS JUST A WARNING. BEWARE...I AM STALKING YOUR GIRLS NOW.

6 months later, a message sent; “Bates had to die” the note said
The only signature at the end contained the letter Z, in gold pen
December 20, 1968; police puzzled over the riddle of the note
While a woman discovers two bodies in the middle of the road
By Lake Herman in Vallejo, 20 miles north-east of San Francisco
David Faraday & Betty Lou Jenson, shot close-range with a pistol
Amidst this ridicule, there was little evidence around to scour
Yet some saw a mysterious man driving around for about an hour.

II.

July, 1969; Darlene Ferrin & Michael Mageau stopped in their car
Their last sight was a flashlight accompanied by shots from afar
Darlene died instantly, but Michael lived to tell the night’s tale
And who he saw; a pudgy man, 5’8, 25 - 30 years, a white male
Who left calmly, climbing into his vehicle, he started the engine
This detached behavior began his relentless pursuit of recognition
Taunting Vallejo authorities with calls & letters, almost unusually
A call came just minutes after the Ferrin & Mageau shooting spree:

“I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a nine-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.”

Police then traced the number, they couldn’t believe the location
It came via payphone at the corner of the Vallejo police station
A passer-by picked up the ringing phone, it might all sound odd
He saw a pudgy man drop the phone & drive off in a brown car.

III.

The newspapers received three letters, each with 1/3 of a code
If solved, it could identify the killer who wrote them the note
The many stamps on the envelopes held the encryption method
Baffling police; it would take a high school teacher to detect it
Working with his wife at home, a break from teaching lessons
They saw a pattern, broke the code, revealing the eerie message:

I like to kill people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest, because man is the most dangeroue anamal of all. To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience. It is even better than sex. The best part will be when I die. I will be reborn in Paradice, and then all I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife.

All letters contained a Zodiac sign, surely with concentration
It’s a celestial belt in space that encompasses 13 constellations
2 months later, September, 1969; the fake leads had grown tall
When the Napa Police Department received a strange phone call:

“I want to report a murder -- no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia.”

IV.

The operator on the line asked for the location of the witness
But to her surprise, the voice replied, “I’m the one that did it”
The police arrived to discover what they had indeed expected
Two bloodied victims; Bryan Harrnell and Cecilia Shepherd
Cecilia died from stab wounds, yet Bryan survived the attack
Describing a “pudgy man with a big hood and clip-on glasses”
The hood fell to the man’s waste; on it was the Zodiac symbol
Police found the sign carved in Cecilia’s chest, and both nipples.

V.

October 11, 1969: Paul Stine, a cab driver, was found dead
Slumped over in his seat, a single gun shot wound to the head
A witness said that he saw a black man, as he sprinted away
Two police men were at the scene seconds later to give chase
They asked a pudgy man, who said the criminal ran up the street
They followed the lead, but it was misinformation they received
They headed back, yet the pudgy man was nowhere to be seen
The next note from Zodiac proved that they had been deceived
The police, having trouble matching evidence in their database
With only partial palm and fingerprints, nothing to have a case
The calls and letters would indicate a man of low intelligence
Yet some believe his I.Q. was higher than most expected it.

VI.

Schoolchildren make good targets. I think I shall wipe out a school bus one morning some time. Just shoot out the tyres, then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out.

October, 1969; police received this disturbing note from Zodiac
With many bloody fragments of Paul Stine’s clothes attached
Fortunately it was never carried out; he wanted to be a star, so
Zodiac phoned police to get air time on the Jim Dunbar show
7:41 the next day, Zodiac talked live with lawyer Melvin Belli
The Oakland police tapped the lines, of course they were ready
Yet during the show, they struggled pinpointing his placement
Zodiac would hang up & call back from 15 different locations
In November, when it was clear the police were a bit unfocused
The San Francisco Chronicle received a note with extra postage:

This is the Zodiac speaking I though you would need a good laugh before you get the bad news you won't get the news for a while yet PS could you print this new cipher on your frunt page? I get awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing!!!!!!

Then in December 1969, with the elusive killer still at large
Attorney Melvin Belli received this unusual Christmas card…

This is the Zodiac speaking I wish you a happy Christmass. The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out because of this thing in me won't let me. I am finding it extreamly dificult to keep in check I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth + posibly tenth victom. Please help me I am drownding...

VII.

From ’70 to ‘74, 10 notes were sent, proving words are weapons
The Zodiac indicated his body count had risen to thirty seven
Zodiac – 37, SFPD – 0, the note read; fear had struck again
Then the letters abruptly stopped, the terror had come to an end
That is until 16 years later, leaving authorities confused more
When the New York Post got a letter postmarked in New York
It described the four recent unsolved murders as good as gold
Supplying graphic detail only the true killer could have known
It should have shown police clues intertwined from the last line
The letter ended with the chilling words; NYPD – 0, Zodiac – 9.

……

The Zodiac killer claimed he chose his victims by their astrological signs.

Nobody knows if the Zodiac is still alive. The original investigators have all retired.

"Everyone remembers the Zodiac," says Mike Rustigan, a San Francisco State University criminology professor. "He was the embryonic precursor of what was to come, from Son of Sam and Ted Bundy to the Night Stalker. Until Zodiac, most victims knew their killers. But he made people ask, 'Why would someone systematically kill strangers, people he didn't even know?' That was the question that kept people awake at night. It still does."