Zodiac Killer Research Paper

A serial killer is defined as a person who murders three or more people. This is usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification. The Zodiac Killer may be one of the most well-known serial killers in the United States, partly because of the unusual events surrounding the investigation. This serial killer is famous for many reasons. These include his the murders he committed, the killer’s relationship with the media, and the still mysterious unsolved case. During the 1960s and 1970s, The Zodiac Killer became renowned for his numerous murders. The Zodiac’s first murder was of David Faraday, age 17, and Betty Lou Jenson, age 16, at Lake Herman on December 20, 1968. He had shot them both to death. The same day, a call was made to the

Those newspapers were the San Francisco Examiner, the Vallejo Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. In his first letter he, explains, “Dear Editor: I am the Killer of the 2 teenagers last Christmas at the Lake Herman…” Along with the letters, there were often cryptograms. A cryptogram is a series of letters and symbols to be decoded. The twenty-six letters of the alphabet were represented by fifty different shapes and symbols. Within the letters to the media he often taunted citizen and police for not being able to decipher his cryptograms. Some even were said to entail his name, but such codes have yet to be cracked. In 1974, the letters from the Zodiac Killer stopped coming and the identity still has yet to be discovered. (Biography.com; Bonn, Scott; The Zodiac

No suspects have been officially confirmed as the killer. The only defining evidence that is held to identify the killer is handwriting sample, DNA samples from saliva on the envelopes, and a fingerprint. One of the most famous suspects was Arthur Leigh Allen. Though he was proven not to be the zodiac killer, because neither his handwriting nor his fingerprint matched those of the killer, many still believe it was him. Allen was believed to be ambidextrous. To be ambidextrous means to be able to use both your right and left hands equally well. This, to some, may explain why his handwriting didn’t match. Handwriting can differ from left and to right hand. Fingerprinting and DNA analysis technology was not as advanced as they are today. This, again, could explain the finger print not matching. Receiving a false fingerprint is a simple mistake for that time period. The most recent suspect is that of Earl Van Best Jr. His accusation comes from his son, Gary L. Stewart, in the book titled The Most Dangerous Animal, published in 2015. These accusations arose because of the strong resemblance between his father and a sketch of The Zodiac. Stewart had done an extent of his own research and found his father’s name and initials, EV, Best, and Jr. in a cryptogram that had claimed to contain the killer’s name. Van Bests name comes up again on another cryptogram, only this time it is backwards. The author and potential son of the killer claims