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THE ZODIAC KILLER
The Zodiac Killer
Michaelene Donaldson
Purdue university global
Running head: THE ZODIAC KILLER
Running head: THE ZODIAC KILLER
The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac killer was a serial killer who stalked Northern California from December 1968 through October 1969. The killer named himself Zodiac in a series of letters he sent to local newspapers and police but never revealed his actual identity, he would send the letters in code taking credit for murders and giving motives with clues to his next victims, he even made several phone calls to authorities reporting his crimes. One letter he sent even included a piece of bloody clothing from a victim which he sent to a defense attorney as well asking for help.
A high school teacher and his wife were able to decode one of the cyphers from the Zodiac which was a part of his letter. August 8, 1969 this is what was decoded.
I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUE ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAE WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADICE AND THEI HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOI DOWN OR ATOP MY COLLECTIOG OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI. (Montaldo, 2019)
The cypher did not reveal the killers name as authorities had hoped it would, but the last 18 letters have never been unscrambled or decoded, some believe if you unscrambled and added 3 letters it reads “Robert Emmitt the Hippie” (Montaldo, 2019)
The self named Zodiac killer taunted authorities and the public for years, demanding his letters be published or he would go on a mass killing spree. At one point he even sent letters demanding the public wear Zodiac buttons, when nobody did, he made contact expressing his disappointment.
Along with letters believed to be authentic and have the same handwriting there were also letters received that authorities believed to be copycat letters. A call was even made to the police station demanding on air time with the famous defense lawyers F. Lee Bailey and Melvin Belli, Belli. The caller set up a meeting place with Belli but never showed. Investigations revealed the caller was a mental patient at a local hospital. Belli was the defense lawyer who received a letter with a piece of a bloody clothing.
Enjoyment and thrill are all that comes to mind when I look at the Zodiac case, mindless killing of innocent people to instill fear and panic in the community while taunting and playing some cat and mouse game with the local authorities and FBI.
There have been many theories and investigations into the Zodiac case, there have also been many suspects such as Arthur Lee Allen, Richard Marshall, Richard Gaikowski, Earl Van Best JR, Jack Terrance, and Donald Lee Bujok all who were suspected under simple circumstantial evidence and later ruled out. What I found interesting was the name Robert Emmet the Hippie that was speculated to be the last 18 letters in the first cypher that were never unscrambled, it makes sense to me that a name would be harder to unscramble than basic letters and English words. I would have liked to found more information or investigative work about that name but did not come a crossed much, I am left to assume there was never an actual person with that name or nick name who could be even remotely tied to the case as a suspect because the name is not listed as a suspect on any investigative reports I could find.
To this day the Zodiac case remains as an unsolved closed case, some counties consider it still open, even with a sketch, finger prints from letters and multiple experts examining, investigating and viewing the case the serial Killer has never been identified or charged. Zodiac remains one of the most famous documented cases in history, inspiring multiple documentaries, movies and books. I wonder if there will be any type of conclusion for this case in my lifetime. I am not confident we will ever know the face or name of the mysterious infamous Zodiac killer.
References
Beck , M. (2017). Could any of these men be the Zodiac Killer? . Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/could-any-of-these-men-have-been-the-zodiac-killer
Montaldo, C. (2019). The Unsolved Mystery of the Zodiac Killer. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-zodiac-killer-972167
