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There are multiple serial killers and merciless murderers throughout the history of the United states. Yet the most intelligent and intriguing of them was the Zodiac Killer. The mystery of his personality has been supported by the fact the killer was never caught by law enforcement agents. Despite joined efforts between the police and the FBI, the Zodiac killer managed to foil their efforts for a very long time. Nevertheless, the personality and image of the killer became the nominal cast that caught huge public attention and transcended into the influence of movie villeins. Given the relevance of the topic, John Doe, a former detective of the case who wishes to remain anonymous, describes in detail the mystery that surrounds the Zodiac Killer’s …show more content…
The first victims were officially killed December 20, 1968, names were “David Faraday and Betty Jensen, a couple of teenagers found, thought to have been kissing in the car parked somewhere located at lovers lane, a name they called the outskirts of Vallejo City” (Haugen 15). They were shot sometime after the killer banged on the car, as indicated by the unrecognizable—by the parents of David—dent left on the …show more content…
“The victims were enjoying the scenery, Doe explains, “the night was warm and beautiful with their dreams ahead of them as big as the stars of that night until the flashlight quickly approached them.” Mike Mageau was attacked in a similar fashion as the first murder: shot once they responded to the killer’s demands of leaving the car; in fact Doe states, “Mageau was certain the man was a police officer, which was the reason he opened the window...to show his ID.” After the shooting an anonymous person contacted the police department, and “He,” Doe explains, “identified himself as being responsible for killing the previous victims, Faraday and Jensen.” However, this one was different since Mageau was alive, though left in critical condition, progress to the investigation could have been substantial enough to identify the killer. Nonetheless, as claimed by Doe, “Progress really was not made” due to the amount of blurred and ambiguous information the police received, which ended up wasting five weeks without making any
It happened on a rainy night on February 17, 1970 at the base of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Military police were responding to a call from Green Beret surgeon Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, which they thought was a routine call. When the military police arrived they discovered the slaughtered bodies of MacDonald’s wife, Colette, who was twenty six, and his two daughters Kimberley, five, and Kristen, two.
This morning October 8th 1965 at about 5:13 am the body of Bob Sheldon was found lying next to the park fountain he was seen to be in a pool of blood. His body had a single stab wound in his back which had pierced his heart, killing him instantly. Supposed eye witnesses say that a small boy who was a member of the "Greaser Gang" attacked and killed Bob and intended to kill the rest of them. Cherry Valance claims that she was walking with Johnny and Ponyboy after the movies when Bob approached them in his car and threatened the two them. Be on the lookout for the two boys with the description of one that has long light-brown hair, green eyes, and is about five feet tall and another has long jet-black hair, large black eyes, and is about four feet six inches. The first one is considered to be Ponyboy and the second one is considered to be Johnny. The two are now on the run they were last seen at a party with Dally. Investigators report that Dally says he has no idea where these two are but he thinks that they are going to Mexico. A woman was taking a walk through the park and discovered the bloody corpse she said “I was hesitant at first because I thought they were watching me, but I gained some courage and called 911” the friends that were their helping Bob bully the 2 said they were there during the homicide, but decided not to call the police because they were drunk and they were scared after seeing him dead. They said, the murderer was a 16 year old boy named Johnny Cade.
When one thinks of serial killers, the first thoughts that come to that person are usually of cold blooded adults. Two young, carefree teenagers almost never come to mind, and most would never even consider the idea. Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate may just change the way people think of serial killers. The young couple rampaged across the state of Nebraska in early 1958, murdering ten people along the way. Most wonder what could cause such young people to turn into murderers with what seemed to be no conscience at all. Did Starkweather have a bad childhood? Bullying could have played a part in causing Charles to turn out the way he was. Caril Fugate became involved with Starkweather at the age of 13 and many questioned if it was possible for someone so young to have played a part in something as awful as murder. As the duo traveled, fear was struck into the public. No one knew why the victims were chosen. Did Starkweather or Fugate have a grudge against them? Were they trying to stop the two, or was it just sheer bad luck? Like most criminals, the pair was caught. They each had very different verdicts. Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate changed the history of Nebraska drastically in just a short amount of time.
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
The Zodiac Killer is an unidentified man who is presumed to be a serial killer that operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Murdering at least five people, but the Zodiac claims to have killed upwards of 37 people in total. In 1969 the Zodiac Killer began sending letters to the Bay Area newspapers, taking credit for the five killings and threatening further violence. The Zodiac Killer would call and send cryptic letters to the law enforcement agencies in Northern California, taunting them since they were unable to bring him to justice. The police had suspects but none that they could ever charge for the murders, due to lack of evidence, so this mystery still remains unsolved. The cultural impact that the Zodiac Killer has had on tv, movies and the media is still around today and has had many shows and movies remade after what this killer did. The cultural impact as well as for the families of the victims still remains today with still no closure, for those families who live in Northern California still there is the fear that crosses the minds on how such an awful criminal was once a part of their society, someone they may
Now this man killed allot of people so this paragraph isn’t for the faint of heart. The first victim will be Paul Lee Stein. He worked as a cab driver in the late 1960s 1968 to be exact. The zodiac hopped in the car of steins cab… A normal customer is all steins must have thought but boy was he wrong…. He asked to get taken across town. About a block before arrival he shot stein in the head with a 9mm. pistol. After he took his wallet keys and a piece of his shirt for proof. Now onto Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin the next victim on the list. She sat in her car with her boyfriend who survived the attack… he must have been devastated by the fact that he couldn’t help what is possibly the love of his life…. When the zodiacs car parked behind them. He got out and shot both multiple times with a 9mm. luger pistol. Later, Ferrin, had a medical professional pronounce her dead. The final victim will be Cecelia Ann Shepard. The zodiac pulled up his car by a couple having a picnic he then said he had just escaped from prison he held tied them up while holding a 45. He stabbed both of them but only Shepard died. As it can see he could be known as a very evil man and killed at weird times as the saying goes expect it when it’s least expect
The mysterious person did not have a real name because no one was able to identify him. The murder gave his a name which was the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac Killer was responsible for five murders in California during the late 1960s. The Zodiac Killers first two murders was on December of 1968 in Benicia, California. David Farraday, who was 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, who was 16, were the first two of a series of murders by the Zodiac Killer. The two of them were inside a parked, when the Zodiac Killer came up behind them and shot them. A similar case happened to the next victim of the mysterious killer. The following year, on July 4, 1969, another couple were shot dead in their car, in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California. 22 year old Darlene Ferrin was shot dead, but Michael Mageau, who was 19 years old survived the shots. The strange thing after these murders is that the police received a phone call from an unidentified person that confessed to murdering those people. The next killings occurred two months later, on September 27, 1969. Two couples were also in a parked car in Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Cecelia Shepard and Brian Hartnell were shot at by the killer, but Brian Hartnell, who was 20 years old survived the mu...
Introduction: On the spectrum of criminal activity, serial killers are rather rare. Rarer still is a serial killer like Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to killing 28 women in the 1970s in ghastly fashion and some believe he may have killed far more. It is hard to imagine what could cause any person to cross the mental boundary into such macabre behavior as Bundy perpetrated. Nevertheless, it is important to try to understand that behavior because only though such an understanding would society be able to identify and deter mass murderers in order to save lives.
Much is unknown about the Zodiac killer, but given what is known about serial killers in general, this man was probably born between 1938 and 1943. That would make his age between 25 and 30 years old at the time of his first murder in Vallejo, California, in 1968. Also, that age estimate works with witness statements and it's supported by Zodiac's references to his victims in younger terms in his letters of 1969. Zodiac wasn't an attractive character from what we know. He may have had to wear glasses throughout his youth and his facial features weren't all that pleasing. So overall he may have been unpopular as a young boy and spent a good deal of time alone. It seems as though rejection is a big issue for Zodiac. No one knows anything about the Zodiac's parents but it wouldn't be ridiculous to say that there was domestic violence, broken relationships with parents or guardians, and maybe even a physical or sexual abuse in the household. Considering the adult outcome, Zodiac would have turned out to be an angry, withdrawn, loner, whose adolescence just could have been filled with fantasies and irrationality.
Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile; a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed of having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated as an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting at a more secluded area where he left them dead (Rule, 2009).
June of 1963 two seniors skipping school went to the nearby beach to sunbathe. This supposed day off turned out to be forever; they were found in a burning shack tied up and shot many times by a “.22 caliber weapon”(Butterfield). Robert was shot times 11, Linda 9 times, because they tried to escape. Robert’s father, a worried parent, went to look for them at the beach when
The Zodiac killer wanted the police, news media, and everyone else to know about all of the murders he had committed. Most serial killers have a motive behind their actions, but the Zodiac Killer had no motive. The Zodiac killer committed these crimes to get pleasure. The Zodiac killer did not have a particular way of killing his victims, whereas, a serial killer follow a certain pattern, us a particular weapon.
Continuing in the tradition of Jack the Ripper and Dusseldorf Vampire Peter Kurten, while foreshadowing BTK, The Zodiac Killer was factually a world-wide, unknown murderer for five or numerous more murders in the northern region of California. The Zodiac Killer, whom is a strange, semi-secretive, smart killer has gotten away with all of his sneaky activities. The Zodiac Killer gave himself the unique name, and no one knows the meaning behind it. His target were young couples in the area. Was it a single, psychotic individual who did all of the killing, or was it a group of killers involved? The world is still blind to the fact of knowing exactly who is it to hold the culpability for these brutal murders.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s there were many unsolved murder cases. A handful of deaths were attributed to a single killer. He only killed in the San Francisco Bay area of California. The menace wreaked havoc was no other than the self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer. Due to the evidence found against him in his house, previous criminal records and accusations, and his fascination with Zodiac, the obvious guilty party is Arthur Leigh Allen.
A serial killer is defined as “a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern” (Dictionary.com). This definition perfectly describes the Zodiac killer who wreaked havoc on Northern California for years. The killers identity has never been revealed, but some have their suspicions on who this mysterious killer could be. Some of the most popular suspects include Arthur Leigh Allen, Earl Van Best Jr., and Lawrence Kane “Kaye”. He named himself through his letters to the police and most of his letters included his signature which was a circle with a line through it.