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The late 1960s and early 1970s represented a great deal of things to a great deal of people. To the San Francisco Bay area, as well as the rest of California, the late Ð60s and early Ð70s represented terror, fear, and death. What started out as a seemingly random, but brutal murder on the night of October 30th, 1966, turned out to be the start of a series of horrific murders that would span 2,500 suspects, 56 possible victims, and over 400 miles. On the calm, cool night of December 20th, 1968, a young seventeen year-old named David Arthur Faraday was getting ready to take a young sixteen year-old named Betty Lou Jensen on her first date. David arrived at Bettys house, picked her up, and promptly proceeded to Lake Herman Road, a well known “lovers lane” of the local teenagers.
After a while, a car, possibly a blue Valiant, pulled up next to Davids 1961 brown and beige four-door station wagon, and a man got out. “Framed only in silhouette, the man appeared to be stocky in build and slightly heavy, with an eerie sense about him” (Tina 3). The man requested that the teens get out of their car, but they refused. Upon hearing David and Bettys refusal, the man pulled out a gun, and fired a round into the right rear window, shattering it with incredible force. He then moved to the front of the car and fired another round into the left tire. Stricken with panic, David and Betty rushed out of the car, but the man was there to meet them. Betty was able to scramble out, but David wasnt so lucky, as he was met with the cold, hard barrel of a gun pressing behind his left ear. “The shot made a deafening blast, as the bullet entered Davids head at a horizontal angle, blowing it apart” (Tina 3).
With David out of his way, the killer turned his attention back to Betty. “He pursued her through the woods, his gun drawn, and shot her five times in the back from less than ten feet away.” (Tina 3). The killer then got back into his car, and drove away as quickly as he had appeared. David, amazingly, was still alive, and bleeding profusely from his wounds, but Betty was dead. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, David was able to give the police an account of the events that had taken place that night, but he died shortly after from his wounds. Upon investigation, the police came up with nothing, and ruled the murder a random homicide.
Darlene Ferrin, a close friend of both Betty and David, was the next victim on the Zodiacs list. On Friday, July 4th, 1969, Darlene made arrangements with her close friend Michael Mageau to goto the movies. Darlene picked Michael up from his apartment that evening, and from the beginning it was apparent that they were being followed. Darlene took many country backroads and traveled at very high speeds to try to lose the pursuing vehicle, but with no success. The vehicle forced Darlenes car off of the road and into the parking lot of the Blue Rock Springs Golf course. Once the pursuer had sufficiently blocked them from any further movement in the car, he stepped out of his vehicle with a lantern in his hand, and his headlights shining blindingly into Darlene and Michaels faces. “Mike could feel intense heat throughout his body. He had been shot. The bullets were still being fired as Darlene slumped over the steering wheel. She had been hit several times. Some of the bullets passed through Mikes body into hers.” (Tina 5). The attacker then fired off two more shots before getting into his car and driving off.
Mike crawled out of the car and into the road, hoping someone would see him and stop to help. “One bullet had gone through his jawbone and tongue, making it almost impossible for him to speak or yell.” (Tina 5). Three teenagers driving by, looking for a friend, saw Mike, injured and bleeding, on the ground. They immediately called the police.
Darlene was pronounced dead on arrival, but Mike managed to survive the attack, and once he healed from his facial injuries, describe the crime in detail to the police. This once again looked like a random homicide to the police, until they received a call later that night from a man claiming responsibility for the double murder, and also for David and Betty. The man described both crimes in detail, providing information that was only known to the police, and not to the public. The man then said “goodbye”, and hung up the phone. The police realized that they now had a serial killer on their hands. A few days later, a letter, in the form of a cryptogram, was delivered to the San Francisco Chronicle. Once deciphered, the letter took responsibility for the murders of David, Betty, and Darlene, and was signed with a crossed-circle symbol. The letter also claimed that the identity of the killer could be found within the symbols. “He demanded that the letter be published on Friday, August 1st, 1969, and if not, that he would go on a weekend killing spree of incredible proportions.” (Tina 12).
From then on, after each new killing, the Zodiac mailed a letter to one of the local area papers, or the police, taunting and playing with them, as well as claiming responsibility for the murders. In all, the Zodiac killer claimed responsibility for thirty-seven murders, but the police could only identify seven as positively being Zodiac victims. After many years of research on the subject though, it has been found that the Zodiac may have been responsible for as many as fifty-six homicides.
One of the most interesting of the Zodiac killings took place on September 27th, 1969, at Lake Berryessa, near the San Francisco Bay area. Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were picnicking along the lakes shore that day, when they noticed a man ducking in and out of cover amongst the trees of nearby woods. When the figure finally emerged from the woods, it was cloaked in a medieval executioners uniform, with a square topped hood and the symbol of the zodiac emblazoned in the center of the all black clothing. He approached the couple with his gun in one hand and knife in the other, and requested Bryans car keys and money. He also insisted that Cecelia tie Bryan up with some rope he gave her, and once that was done, he tied her up as well. “He then threatened the couple, telling them he would have to Ðstab them. After Bryans pleading, the man knelt down, raised the knife, and plunged it into Bryans back. He then turned to Cecelia and repeatedly stabbed her in the back as well. That wasnt enough though, as he plunged the knife into her chest, once into each breast, her abdomen, and her groin.” (Tina 6). He then left the scene without taking the keys or money that he requested