The Zodiac Killer is one of the most infamous serial killers in history.

Known not only for the gruesome murders he committed in Northern California in the late 1960s, but also for the cryptic letters he sent to the media glorifying their own crimes, the killer and his unsolvable figures remain alive more than sixty years later a riddle for sleuths.

According to the San Francisco Chroniclewho was the recipient of 17 of the 22 letters the Zodiac is known to have sent, the unknown perpetrator, whose crimes have served as the subject of multiple film and TV projects, including that of Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry2007 Zodiac (Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr.) and 2024 This is the zodiac speakingwas responsible for the deaths of at least five people.

Teenagers Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday, wife and mother Darlene Ferrin, student Cecila Shepard and taxi driver Paul Stine tragically died at the hands of the Zodiac, while Michael Renault Mageau and Bryan Hartnell narrowly escaped death.

Ferrin’s sister Pam Huckaby opened up to the Vallejo Times Herald about her late sibling in July 2019, noting that Ferrin’s daughter Deena is now a mother herself. “Darlene would have been a great mother to her,” she said. “Darlene loved her family and was very family oriented.”

Huckaby added, “If that hadn’t happened, Darlene would be with me. With us. With the family.”

And while investigators have only confirmed five murders linked to the Zodiac, the killer claimed to have taken the lives of as many as 37 people through his various letters. San Francisco Chronicle.

Keep reading to learn more about the Zodiac Killer’s victims and what happened to them.

Who is the Zodiac Killer?

The Zodiac Killer is a mass murderer who terrorized the city of San Francisco from 1968 to 1970. Although many theories have emerged over the years regarding the identity of the killer, only one suspect has been named by investigators in connection with the crimes. San Francisco Chronicle.

The outlet reported that Arthur Leigh Allen, a convicted child molester who lived in the Vallejo area, owned boots that matched the killer’s footprints and had referenced in a police interview a short story the Zodiac had in one of their letters named.

Zodiac survivor Mageau also positively identified Allen from a photo lineup as the man who shot him years earlier. According to the ChronicleAllen died of a heart attack in 1992 and was never charged in connection with the Zodiac murders.

In May 2014, business owner Gary Stewart claimed that his father Earl Van Best Jr. was responsible for the murders in his book The most dangerous animal of all, and in October 2021, a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators known as The Case Breakers claimed they had identified another man as the Zodiac: Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018 according to Fox News.

The FBI confirmed this Newsweek in May 2023, however, that the identity of the killer was not yet known.

As of October 2024, no one has been charged with the Zodiac’s crimes.

Who were the victims of the Zodiac Killer?

Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday

16-year-old honor roll student Jensen and 17-year-old wrestler Faraday were the first known victims of the Zodiac Killer. According to This is the zodiac speaking, The high schoolers were out for their first date before David drove them to a remote area on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California to be alone.

The couple was shot and killed by the Zodiac on December 20, 1968, and their bodies were later discovered outside their vehicle by a passerby.

Darlene Ferrin

The killer’s next victim was 22-year-old Ferrin, a waitress who was both a wife and a new mother. Ferrin was shot along with 19-year-old Mageau on July 4 while sitting in Ferrin’s car in a remote parking lot at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California, about 15 minutes away from where the previous victims were found. , 1969.

After abruptly entering and exiting the parking lot, the Zodiac reportedly stopped behind Ferrin’s car and then approached the passenger side with a flashlight before opening fire. Mageau survived the attack, Ferrin did not.

Ferrin’s sister told the newspaper about her eldest sibling Vallejo Times Heraldsaying, “She was a wonderful sister. There were ten of us: eight girls, two boys. She was the oldest and my idol.”

According to Times Heraldthe Zodiac Killer called 911 after the July 4 attack on their third and fourth victims to take credit for the incident. “I want to report a double murder,” they said. “If you go a mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the children in a brown car. They were shot with a 9MM luger.”

During the conversation, the Zodiac also confessed to the murder of the two high school students that had occurred a year earlier. “I killed those kids last year too,” they said. “Goodbye.”

Cecilia Shepard

On September 27, 1969, 22-year-old Shepard became the fourth known victim to die at the hands of the Zodiac while at a picnic at Lake Berryessa in Benicia, California, with her boyfriend Hartnell.

According to reports, Zodiac held the pair at gunpoint and tied them up before fatally stabbing Shepard 10 to 20 times and wounding Hartnell, who survived the attack. Hartnell told authorities that he initially thought the man, who was wielding a gun and wearing a hood, was a robber, but that he refused money when it was offered, saying, “I don’t want the money, all I want to do is to kill (you).”

After the attack on Hartnell and Shepard, the Zodiac marked the vehicle’s passenger door with the dates of two of their previous shootings, per This is the zodiac speaking.

Shepard’s obituary in the Napa Valley Registry revealed that she had been a student at Pacific Union College, where she studied music. Her funeral services were attended by more than 1,000 friends and family members, who remembered her love for her profession.

Paul Stijn

The last confirmed victim of the Zodiac was 29-year-old Paul Stine. Stine was killed on October 11, 1969 after giving the Zodiac a taxi ride. Radio station KFGO reported that Stine was a doctoral candidate at San Francisco State who worked as a taxi driver while in college.

The Zodiac took responsibility for the life of its last victim in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle in which he placed a bloody article of clothing belonging to the victim. The letter was printed in the October 15, 1969 edition of the newspaper.

“This is the Zodiac speaking. I am the killer of the taxi driver last night at Washington St. and Maple St., to prove that this right here is a blood stained piece of his shirt,” the killer wrote, adding, “I am the same man who did that among the people of the North Bay Area.

Have the Zodiac Killer’s crimes been solved?

While elements of the zodiac killer’s crimes have been solved, including some of the figures he sent to the media, others remain a mystery.

The desert sun reported on August 13, 1969 that Donald and Bettye Harden had cracked the first cipher of the killer after it was sent to local newspapers. Known as the 408 number, it read in part: “I like killing because it’s so much fun.”

In December 2020, web designer David Oranchak cracked another code of the killer, 51 years after he was sent to the police. Chronicle with the help of Australian mathematician Sam Blake and Belgian warehouse manager Jarl Van Eykcke.

In the note, the Zodiac Killer said he hoped authorities had “a lot of fun” trying to capture him, apparently giving them a clue about a 1969 broadcast of Jim Dunbar’s film. AM San Francisco with an anonymous caller claiming to be the Zodiac and saying they didn’t want to go to the gas chamber.

“That wasn’t me on the TV show,” the Zodiac wrote. “I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADISE (sic) FASTER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME.”

As the FBI said Newsweek in 2023: “The FBI’s investigation into the Zodiac Killer remains open and unsolved.”