Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer is the nickname of a serial killer thought to be responsible for at least five murders in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s. While some circumstantial evidence pointed to suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, no one was ever charged for the crimes.Court TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders

On April 29, 2009, California resident Deborah Perez came forward with the allegation that her late father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, was in fact the Zodiac Killer. According to Perez, she lived with her father in his Orange County home when he committed the murders, and helped him to write a series of bizarre letters to the San Francisco Chronicle that became a hallmark of the case.FOX News: California Woman: My Father Was the Zodiac Killer (April 29, 2009) Perez's statement was not the first such report: In August 2008, Dennis Kaufman alleged that his stepfather, Jack Tarrance, who died in 2006, was responsible for the murders.CBS13.com: Zodiac Killer's Identity And Weapon Uncovered? (August 28, 2008)

1. Gender: MaleCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
2. Race: CaucasianCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
3. Murder Toll: 5 or more victimsCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
4. Claimed: 37 victimsCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
5. Active: 1968-1969Court TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
6. Location of murders: San Francisco Bay Area; Napa CountyCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders
7. Preferred Victims: Young Caucasian male/female couplesCourt TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders

Between 1968 and 1969, the Zodiac Killer repeatedly wrote coded letters to police departments in the San Francisco area claiming responsibility for a series of similar murders and attacks. In at least three of the attacks, a man approached a young male and female couple and, without warning, shot or stabbed them. Afterwards, the police department in the area would receive a message with a circle and cross symbol, and information or evidence that only the killer could be privy to. Five murders during the period have been definitively attributed to the Zodiac Killer, although several other attacks have been theorized as having been the killer's work. In his messages, the Zodiac Killer taunted police and repeatedly claimed that he was going to kill schoolchildren. No suspect was ever charged with the crimes.Court TV Crime Library: Zodiac Murders

• {{youtube|tGIU2iCDJuE|2:04|CBS News: Zodiac Killer Report}}

• YouTube and Google Video: Zodiac Killer

• Flickr: Zodiac Killer search

• Coast to Coast with George Noory: Podcast: Zodiac Killer Roundtable

• ZodiacKiller.com: San Francisco Police Department Composite Sketch

• ZodiacKiller.com: Podcast: Zodiac A to Z

• Google Images: Zodiac Killer

• Official Site: 2007 Zodiac Movie

• {{youtube|qJHgV-FQMj4|2:30|Zodiac movie trailer}}

• ChasingTheFrog.com: Zodiac Movie vs. Zodiac Killer

• NPR: Obsession Drives Fincher's Look at 'Zodiac' Killer (2007)

• Suite 101: Jack the Ripper vs. the Zodiac

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• 2007: Zodiac

• 2005: Zodiac Killer

• 1996: The Limbic Region TV movie

• 1971: Dirty Harry

• 1971: The Zodiac Killer

• June 4, 1963: Possible victims Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards killed

• June 30, 1966: Another suspected victim, Cheri Jo Bates, stabbed

• November 29, 1966: Letters sent to Riverside Press Enterprise and Riverside Police

• December 20, 1968: David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen murdered

• July 4, 1969: Shooting of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau

• August 4, 1969: Letter to the Examiner begins: "Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking"

• September 27, 1969: Cecilia Shepard and Brian Hartnell stabbed

• October 6, 1969: Never-solved cryptogram mailed

• October 11, 1969: Paul Stine shot and killed

• October 14, 1969: San Francisco Chronicle receives a part of Stine's bloody shirt

• March 22, 1970: Kathleen Johns abducted and escapes

• Septeber 5, 1970: Donna Lass disappears

• January 29, 1974: Letter to Los Angeles Times claims 37 victims

• 1990: Christmas Card to Chronicle received