This is The Zodiac Speaking

1730 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A paper about the zodiac killer

The Zodiac once said, "I like killing people because it is so much fun." Crime author, Robert Graysmith, stated that the Zodiac ‘committed murders just out of savage rage’ (3). Over 40 years ago, there were numerous, shocking murders committed in California, and to this day, the killer has never been found. The shocking crimes frightened many people, other than just the San Francisco area (Haugen 2). People have formed conspiracies to whom the killer may be, but no one has been able to reveal the mystery man. The main surfacing questions about the Zodiac Killer are who is responsible for the murders, why would someone kill such innocent people, and how has the killer been able to go undetected for so many years. Unlike many serial killers, the Zodiac killer desired to be in the public eye and not in the dark. Tragedies were committed and people were brutally murdered, but these crimes never fell in the hands of federal jurisdiction. Subliminal craft and a prestigious occupation concealed the Zodiac Killer’s identity, or a profile of a monstrous, law enforcer.

To begin, the Zodiac Killer declared to have killed thirty seven people, but only seven were connected to him. Known victims are David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Ferrin, Mike Mageau, Cecelia Shepard, Bryan Hartnell, and Paul Stine. David was seventeen and Betty Lou was sixteen, both were shot in 1968 and died instantly. Darlene Ferrin, eighteen, and Mike Mageau, sixteen, were also shot in 1966 at an isolated parking lot, but Mageau survived. In 1991, Mageau identified Arthur Lee Allen was the killer. The police officer that showed Mageau the lineup asked why he had never identified Allen as the killer in the twenty years he was a suspect. Mageau replied that h...

... middle of paper ...

... Web. 9 February 2014.

"Has the Code of The Zodiac Killer Been Cracked?" Foster City Patch. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014

Haugen, Brenda. The Zodiac Killer: Terror and Mystery. Mankato, MN: Compass Point, 2011.

Graysmith, Robert. Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed. New York: Berkley, 2002.Print.

Guillen, Tomas. SERIAL KILLER COMMUNIQUÉS: HELPFUL OR HURTFUL. Digital image. Www.albany.edu. School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, 2002. Web. 3 March. 2014.

Katz, Helena. Cold Cases : Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, And Disappearances In America. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web.

9 February 2014.

"Odd Theories About The Zodiac Killer." Nuclearchainsaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Valentino, Gino. Fbi: Secret Files - the Untold Story. S.l.: Authorhouse, 2012. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Horrific and Disturbing Murders in Illinois

    1753 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nunes, Bill, Lonnie Tettaton, Dave Gruber, and Jim Cochran. The Big Book of St. Louis & Southern Illinois Crime. Glen Carbon, Ill.?: B. Nunes, 2010. Prin

    Read More

  • The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey

    1811 Words  | 4 Pages

    Buckman, Adam. “Following Footsteps of a Killer.” New York Post (Nov. 2002): 124: Proquest. Web. 28 Feb. 2014

    Read More

  • Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    One well-known serial killer is Gary Ridgway. Ridgway was born in February of 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His early life can be viewed as an indicator to his la...

    Read More

  • Murderers and Serial Killers in the Chicago Area

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    A notorious murderer or serial killer is the typical next door neighbor one would hardly associate with a serious crime: an educated psychopath with little regard for life. Most of them commit murder for some misplaced psychological benefits. Their actions border on insanity as some commit theft by stealing their victims’ belongings and commiting rapes, an indication of a need for financial gain or a craving for distorted sexual desires. It is disheartening that people always associate the city of Chicago with crime, ranging from the prohibition-period gangsters to modern-day criminals; however, it is understandable because these crimes have a history going back several decades, and most received wide media coverage and documentation. Their names and pseudonyms are imbeded in the collective minds of the people. In all cases, these serial killings claim national attention and elicit heated debate, but this infamy sometimes fascinates the public to the extend that it sparks an initial interest in potential criminals. An examination into the characteristics of serial killers who were active in the Chicago area reveals they have varied motivations for their crimes but the overriding factors tend to include financial gains, sexual perversion, racial hatreds, and infamy. Chicago’s infamous reputation as a lawless and corruption riddled city stems from the motives for crimes committed by particular individuals in the Chicago area and the media attention these cases gained.

    Read More

  • So You Want to Be a Federal Agent

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Web. The Web. 8 Dec. 2011. http://criminaljusticeonlineblog.com/> http://criminaljusticeonlineblog.com/>. Kane, Sally. The “FBI Agent.”

    Read More

  • The Patty Hearst Trial

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    Print. The. “The Patty Hearst Kidnapping.” The FBI. US Government, n.d. -.

    Read More

  • The Elusive Zodiac Killer

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...se events formed two rectangles held together by a solid line. This symbol, whose origin is the same as the Zodiac symbol used by the murderer, symbolizes the afterlife, and is placed on graves to hurry the souls to the afterlife. With Zodiac’s obsession with the afterlife, and the need for slaves in the thereafter, it is hypothesized that he is responsible for close to 100 murders across the area. The most resent developments to the Zodiac case have taken place on the East Coast. In 1998, a string of murders occurred in the New York metro area by someone claiming to be the Zodiac. Though police have assumed that this is a copycat case, it has not been ruled out that the Zodiac may once again be on the move.

    Read More

  • The Zodiac Killer

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Mendez Brothers Trial

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Berns, Walter. "Getting Away With Murder." Commentary 97.4 (1994): 25. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 14

    Read More

  • How Serial Killers came to be

    1910 Words  | 4 Pages

    A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.

    Read More

  • Ted Bundy Criminology Theory

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ted Bundy was one of the most vicious serial killers in American history. He confessed to 28 grotesque murders in the 1970’s but the actual number of his victims remains

    Read More

  • The Psychology Behind the Serial Killer

    3236 Words  | 7 Pages

    Typically, when one thinks of serial killers, such images as Son of Sam, John Wayne Gacy, or the Boston Strangler, come to mind. Though these men do indeed fit the description, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the definition of serial killer, first and foremost that serial ...

    Read More

  • Private Investigator

    1904 Words  | 4 Pages

    N/A. (2013). The World of the Private Investigator. Retrieved December 19, 2013, from www.detectivetraining.com: www.detectivetraining.com/lesson1html/

    Read More

  • Social Learning Theory Of Ted Bundy

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ted Bundy is one of the most infamous, sadistic serial killers known to man. During his tenure as a killer, Bundy confessed to the murders of 30 women, though the official number of kills is unknown to this day. Bundy’s sadistic habits began at an early age due to his rough upbringing and abusive parents. His tactical methods of killing left miniscule amounts of evidence, which remained undetectable by the “still rudimentary forensics techniques of the 1970s” (Crime Museum). Bundy also managed to uphold an impressive “clean-cut appearance” and portrayed characteristics of an “upstanding character” (Crime Museum). Ted Bundy, through the course of a troubled childhood and keen wit, managed to successfully become known as one of the most infamous

    Read More

  • Serial Killers

    2361 Words  | 5 Pages

    Serial killers have been around for decades but According To Jack Levin, 'seven of the ten largest mass killings in American history have taken place in the last decade (Douglas, p. 137). One of the most popular and well-known serial killers in history was Ted Bundy. He was convicted of killing three women but is suspected of killing thirty-six other women (Douglas, p. 137).

    Read More

More about This is The Zodiac Speaking

Open Document