Zodiac Killer: The Murders

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While several other killings across California have been thought to possibly have been committed by the Zodiac, these are the only crimes definitively committed by the same man:

DATE: December 20, 1968
LOCATION: Lake Herman Road, Vallejo, Calif.
KILLED: Betty Lou Jensen, 16; David Faraday, 17

A young couple on their first date, Jensen and Faraday had planned to go to a Christmas concert that Friday evening. But they ended up in Faraday's car in a secluded place on the outskirts of Vallejo, where -- at 11:15pm -- a man fired a .22 caliber handgun into the car; the victims were trying to escape when they were shot. Faraday was struck in the head at close range, and Jensen was shot repeatedly while attempting to run away from the shooter. While there were many cars nearby, there were no witnesses to the crime.

DATE: July 4, 1969
LOCATION: Blue Rock Springs Golf Course, Vallejo, Calif.
KILLED: Darlene Ferrin, 22
WOUNDED: Mike Mageau, 19

According to Mageau, he and Ferrin were parked when a man they believed to be a police officer approached the car carrying a flashlight. Without warning, the stranger fired nine rounds into the car, striking each of the victims twice. A short time later, the Vallejo police department received an anonymous telephone call: "I want to report a double murder," the voice said. "If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, you'll find a brown car with two kids in it. They were shot with a 9mm Luger. I also killed those two kiddies last year. Goodbye."  While Ferrin died on the way to the hospital, Mageau survived despite serious injuries.

DATE: September 27, 1969
LOCATION: Lake Berryessa, Napa, Calif.
KILLED: Cecile Shepard, 22
WOUNDED: Bryan Hartnell, 20

Enjoying the late summer sun on a Saturday afternoon, Shepard and Hartnell were on the shores of Napa County's Lake Berryessa when a strange man wearing a dark jacket and a mask over his face approached them carrying a gun. He claimed to be an escaped prisoner who had just killed a guard, and he demanded cash and a car so he could flee to Mexico. The stranger held the two at gunpoint and forced them to lie on their stomachs; he then stabbed Hartnell eight times and Shepard ten times. The killer walked away from the crime scene, and it was an hour before help could arrive. The Napa County Sheriff's Department recieved an anonymous telephone call claiming responsibility for the attacks, similar to the previous one in Vallejo. Investigators determined that the killing was the work of the Zodiac and found distinctive Wing Walker boot prints near the crime scene.

DATE: October 11, 1969
LOCATION: Presidio Heights, San Francisco, Calif.
KILLED: Paul Stine, 29

Cab driver Paul Stine picked up a passenger and drove him to the corner of Washington and Cherry Streets. Moments later, nearby residents heard a gunshot and saw a man with a thick build, glasses, brown hair, and dark clothing wiping the inside of the cab with a cloth; they called the police and described the man.  Officers were dispatched to the scene, but the radio reports erroneously told police that the suspect was black, and by the time the report was corrected, the killer was gone. Cops got a good look at the killer, and they were able to create a composite sketch based on what they saw.

Stine was shot once in the head, his body lying on his back. The killer took Stine's wallet, keys and a bloody shirt (a piece of which was later sent to the media); cops found bloody fingerprints that may belong to the Zodiac.

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