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Every week, 23 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.879 another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous 24 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:29.920 killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 25 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:32.840 journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 26 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:46.680 Good evening. You probably know part of the Zodiac story. 27 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.400 The guy killed five, wounded two, wrote letters in code, 28 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.840 and drew tremendous press. There was a great movie about 29 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:57.480 the case. But true crime veteran Michael Benson is taking 30 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:01.640 a brand new look at that most interesting cases coming 31 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:06.200 from the mindset that the Zodiac's combination of diverse killing styles, 32 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:09.960 code making, and letter writing means more than one guy 33 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:14.199 was involved. The Zodiac has teamwork written all over it, 34 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:19.759 and so perhaps a Zodiac club. Many Zodiac experts assumed 35 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.479 that in later Zodiac letters, when he wrote the San 36 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:27.120 Francisco Examiner letters claiming a prolific kill count, that the 37 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:31.080 guy responsible for the murders of Betty Loo Jensen, David Faraday, 38 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:36.000 Darlene Farren, Cecilia Sheppard, and Paul Stein and maybe Cherry 39 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.439 Joe Bates was just bragging about the other forty or so. 40 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.800 Benson looks at it another way, all of them could 41 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.080 have been the Zodiac. If the Zodiac was a psycho squad, 42 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:50.840 not alone Nut. Each and every victim gets Benson's full 43 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.960 attention as the body count grows. There is ongoing analysis 44 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:01.840 involving hard and circumstantial evidence commonalities between the murders, geographic profiling, 45 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:07.319 and pertinent connections to known Zodiac suspects. Many murders are examined. 46 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.479 It was the era of serial murder, an epidemic especially 47 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.360 bad in northern California where privacy, seclusion, dusty wilderness, and 48 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.319 hitchhiking were prevalent. Some of these cases were found to 49 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:24.039 not be the Zodiac at all, but perhaps a glimpse 50 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.159 at the early work of a Ted Bundy, at Kemper, 51 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:31.400 Golden State killer, Joseph DiAngelo, and other known killers. The 52 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:35.319 next wave of psycho serial carnage. The book that we're 53 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.719 featuring this evening is The Age of Zodiac, with my 54 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.879 special guests, journalist and author Michael Benson. Welcome back to 55 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:46.560 the program. Thank you so much for this interview. Michael Benson, 56 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.879 Thank you, Dan, thank you for having me. It's always 57 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:56.199 a pleasure. Michael. I'm always looking forward to any new 58 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.360 work of yours, and this is no exception. As you 59 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.439 said before this, just before this interview. Finally we get 60 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:04.080 to talk about Zodiac. 61 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:05.479 That's what it's about. 62 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:10.479 Time let's talk, you know, with the go ahead. 63 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:14.080 I was gonna say, I think we've both always been 64 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:17.560 interested in Zodiac. I'm old enough to remember when the 65 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.199 murders happened and when they published the even in Rochester, 66 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:24.160 New York, they published the codes from the letters in 67 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:26.639 the morning newspaper. I remember sitting there trying to figure 68 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.279 out the code. Of course, nobody ever has. I loved 69 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.759 Robert Graysmith's book, I loved David Fincher's movie. But the 70 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.480 subject came up more recently when I was planning a 71 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:42.120 book called Killers who Taunt about serial killers weren't content 72 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:45.040 to just kill their victims, but they need to brag 73 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:47.519 about it. They're usually in letters. They write to the 74 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.720 press of the police, so the terror becomes part of 75 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:52.720 the package. Jack the Ripper is the prototype of that 76 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.560 kind of killer. He gave himself the name Jack the 77 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.560 Ripper in a letter he wrote. Since then, there's been 78 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:03.959 the Black Dolly Avenge btk Unibomb, son of Sam and Hear. 79 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:07.439 The top of that list is Zodiac, who's credited for 80 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:10.600 five kills, maybe six, but may. 81 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.959 Be responsible for many many more, and he was the most. 82 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:17.959 He wrote the most taunting letters different from the others. 83 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:21.439 In all those other cases I mentioned, the crimes would 84 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:25.000 have been tied together even without the letters. Jeck the 85 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:27.439 Ripper's victims were all in the same neighborhood. He left 86 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:31.639 uniquely messy crime scenes. Son of Sam crimes were all 87 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:36.079 committed with the same gun BTK love knots. But the 88 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:39.759 Zodiac's crimes would have remained separate cases if the letters 89 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:42.920 and phone calls had not tied them together. He killed 90 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:44.959 at night, he killed during the day. He killed rural, 91 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.399 he killed urban. He killed with a knife, He killed 92 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.680 with a variety of guns. 93 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:50.839 So it makes more sense. 94 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:53.240 If he was a day and the letters were written 95 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:57.519 to create an all encompassing umbrella, and the goal was 96 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:02.600 to commit perfect murders. So we go back before the 97 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:06.279 first known Zodiac murders in Valleeno, all the way back 98 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:10.839 to the early sixties in southern California, where crimes like 99 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:15.519 this were starting to happen. There's one which I didn't 100 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:17.759 put in the book, but I'll mention here. April nineteen 101 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:21.519 sixty two, cab driver named Ray Davis was shot in 102 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.199 an upscale section of Oceanside, California, with twenty two super 103 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.680 Rex long twenty two twenty two Suprex long ammunition, and 104 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:36.199 he called the cops. He threatened bus drivers, He acted clever, 105 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.800 but didn't strike again. That anybody knew about. My book 106 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.439 starts a year later in June of nineteen sixty three, 107 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:45.759 and it's senior ditch Day. I don't know if you 108 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:47.720 had senior ditch day where you went to school, but 109 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:54.720 usually somewhere before a few days before graduation, when finals 110 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:59.040 are over, seniors get amongst themselves and on one day 111 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.959 they just don't come to school. They ditch class on 112 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:04.480 moss and what are they going to do about it? 113 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:09.000 So then our two kids, Linda and Robert, Linda Edwards 114 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.959 and Robert Domingos went to the beach in Santa Barbara 115 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:16.560 County and they found a private spot and they were 116 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:22.079 shot with twenty two super Rex long rifle ammunition, and 117 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.040 the killer created a little scene. He dragged their bodies 118 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.519 into a nearby lean to where a beach bum lived, 119 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.079 and he cut Linda's panties and opened them and then 120 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:38.560 placed her body on top of Roberts. Now a year done, 121 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:42.079 not even a year. The seven months later, also on 122 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.959 a beach in Southern California, Ocean Beach in San Diego, 123 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.439 another couple, Johnny Ray and Joyce Swindle, newly read newlyweds, 124 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.519 are taking a stroll along the beach and their shot 125 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.720 with a Remington twenty two rifle. First shots come from 126 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.240 a far sniperlike and then the killer finishes the job 127 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.399 up close. Ray was a navy man radio ban verse 128 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:07.519 first class and that's why he was stationed in San 129 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:12.360 Diego and then in the summer nineteen sixty five. This 130 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.560 is really a very modern crime for nineteen sixty five 131 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:22.600 in the most horrible way. Diane Garish. It's sometimes known 132 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.680 as the black Sapphire murder because she wore a black 133 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.879 sapphire ring which was missing and she could have a 134 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:32.000 book to herself. She was killed August wayne nine, thineteen 135 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.399 sixty five, found nude and strangled with her own bronze 136 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.919 stockings just outside the Presidio Army Post in San Francisco. 137 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.919 She'd been dancing with soldiers at a club there, and 138 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.840 she was last seen as the Fort Scott Presidio Enlisted 139 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:50.960 Men's Club in Presidio Hill, and the killer took the 140 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:55.399 ring and took off. And the one after that is 141 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.879 the one I think a lot of Zodiac fans know about. 142 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.080 Familure is the word fan, but you know what I mean. 143 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.399 We don't like the Zodiac. We're just fascinated by him 144 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.759 or it. But this is Cherry Jobates and she's killed 145 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:15.960 the day before Halloween in nineteen sixty six, founding a 146 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.320 driveway on the campus of Riverside City College. Her car 147 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:22.679 is disabled while she's in the school library, so when 148 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.919 she comes out to go home, car won't start. Man 149 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.919 offers to help her and next thing we know, she's 150 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.720 dead at the end of a driveway, stabbed brutally. And 151 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:36.600 this is the thing that clinches it as a Zodiac 152 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:41.000 crime is that the killer writes a letter or someone 153 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:46.519 writes a letter, certainly to the newspaper, and. 154 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:48.799 Takes credit. 155 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.480 It's called the confession, but not a confession at all. 156 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:52.039 It's a taunt. 157 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.919 And in the letter, which is typed in all capital letters, 158 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.080 there's common frame theology with later Zodiac letters uses the 159 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:07.600 phrase squirmed and twitched and twitched is missing its second 160 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.240 t Now theres a later Zodiac letter that uses the 161 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:14.200 phrase squirmed and twitched and twitch is missing the second 162 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:17.240 team in that word, so it sounds almost like a signature. 163 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.679 So I'm pretty sure Cherry Joe has something to do 164 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:25.440 with the with the known Zodiac crimes. But the first 165 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:31.840 universally universally accepted Zodiac murder murders are David Faride and 166 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:38.840 Betty lou Jensen, who were obviously teenagers and they lived 167 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:42.279 in Vallejo, went to different schools, and were out on 168 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:46.519 their first real date and they were killed. December twentieth, 169 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:51.480 nineteen sixty eight, was the first evening of Christmas vacation, 170 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.720 and about eleven twenty pm they were parked just off 171 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:00.600 Lake Herman Road, which is a desolate road next Falletjo 172 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.000 with Benicia. Two three cars an hour go down it 173 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.399 no street lights, can't see your hand in front of 174 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:14.080 your face, and they're found with David lying on his 175 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.399 back directly beside the front passenger side of the door. 176 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:20.720 The door's open, all other doors are closed and locked, 177 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.480 and cops knew it was a fresh scene because it's 178 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.919 freezing outside. It's twenty eight degrees outside and the engine 179 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:31.039 is still warm. Betty loos dead at the scene. She's 180 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.799 twenty eight feet from the car in the direction of 181 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:35.440 the road, shot five times in the back as she fled, 182 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.279 and David's doa at Vallejo General Hospital, shot point blank 183 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:43.799 in the head. Now there's a bullet hole in the 184 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:47.039 back window of the rambler, perhaps an indication that the 185 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.120 victims were forced off the road. The common thinking is 186 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:53.799 that they were parked to make out, but if you 187 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:56.840 look at the photos, they're only two or three feet 188 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:01.639 off of the road, and it's on a curve, so 189 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.440 every time a car goes by, the inside of their 190 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:08.759 car lights up, so it's not the best place to park. 191 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:11.000 Now, there's a. 192 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:16.279 Nine empty twenty two caliber shell casings are found, eight 193 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.519 of them near the car. Once found inside the car, 194 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.559 the killer put his gun into the car to shoot David, 195 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.840 and the ammunition was twenty two super X long, same 196 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:29.960 as with the cab driver and ocean side and with 197 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:35.159 Linda and Robert in the beach near Gaviota in nineteen 198 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.399 sixty three. Now, the murder weapon here was most likely 199 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.840 a J. C. Higgins Model eighty twenty two automatic pistol. Now, 200 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:46.759 the kids had no dangerous enemies, but witnesses said that 201 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.240 there had been an incident sometime in the recent past 202 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:54.480 in which David Faraday had spotted a guy selling marijuana 203 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:58.120 at the International House of Pancakes I hop on Tennessee 204 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.759 Street in Vallejoe. David's an eagle scout, and he threatened 205 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.519 to turn the guy in, and the popular and response 206 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.200 threatened David. We don't know who the drug dealer was, 207 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:14.279 but that ihop becomes an epicenter of Zodiac activity in. 208 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:18.399 Nineteen sixty sixty nine comes up again and again, which. 209 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.399 Brings us to the following fourth of July and probably 210 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.720 the most famous Zodiac's murders. This is the one that 211 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.720 has Hurdy Gurdy man in playing in the background in 212 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.679 the movie. I'm sure if you've seen the movie, you 213 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:36.600 can never pick at that. David Fincher's a genius. But anyway, 214 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:41.600 from a true crime point of view, no victim in 215 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:46.080 this case is more interesting than one. Darlene Ferret. She's 216 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.320 twenty two years old, but her life has been a 217 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.080 soap opera. She has a baby, and she's already trying 218 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:55.720 the patience of a second husband. And unlike the kids 219 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:02.720 on Lake Kerman Road, Darlene has enemies and I swear 220 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.279 I can't believe nobody's noticed this Darlene bore a strong 221 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:10.360 resemblance to Betty Lou. Now, if you knew them, you 222 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:12.440 may not confuse the two, because they gave off a 223 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:16.720 very different aura. But going buying a car, you could 224 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:22.519 confuse the two. Well scrunch faces cute but not necessarily 225 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.440 glamorously pretty. But it's enough of a resemblance for me 226 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:32.240 anyway to at least consider the possibility that Betty Lou's 227 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:34.759 murder was a case of mistaken identity. 228 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:36.720 With Darlene. 229 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:41.320 On the fourth of July evening is Michael Migeu's nineteen 230 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:46.080 and he survives the attack, which is one of the 231 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:49.039 reasons that it's a blessing and a curse because he 232 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:53.960 tells us everything we know about what happened, but not 233 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:59.080 really in the sturdiest and most trustworthy way. For example, 234 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.639 they're parked in a brown corvet, and when they first 235 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.440 asked the wounded Mike Migielle what kind of car the 236 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:09.000 killer drove, he said it was a brown Corvet, So no, 237 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.639 that was the kind you're in, So well, maybe it 238 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.159 was a Mustang. You know, either he knows more than 239 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:17.120 he sang or less than he sang, But what he 240 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:20.240 says keeps changing. He's still changing his story to this day. 241 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.360 And nine millimeter shells are found at the scene, so 242 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.080 it's a different gun. 243 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:25.679 It's a luger. 244 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:33.279 Michelle mad Joe. We called that parking at that spot, 245 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.039 which was Blue Rock Springs Golf Course parking lot, was 246 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.960 Darlene's idea. I guess is that everything was Darlene's idea. 247 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.440 It was a place where young people didn't just make out, 248 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.440 but they hung out, and you could buy a nickel 249 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:51.679 bag of pot, you could drink beer to socialize, and 250 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:56.159 Darlene had been there many times. They parked at approximately 251 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.600 eleven thirty five pm and for a couple of minutes quietly, 252 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.440 but their solitude was interrupted by a car driving Northeastern 253 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:08.000 Springs Road. The car pulled into the parking lot, up 254 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:10.519 to a spot seven feet from the rear of Darling's 255 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.639 car and turned off its lights. Micheau asked what was up, 256 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.159 and Darling said, oh, never mind, so he didn't and 257 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:20.240 the car sat there for about a minute and then left, 258 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:23.240 and they breathed a common sigh of relief. Alone again, 259 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:26.080 but in a few minutes the car came back and 260 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.480 once again parked behind Darling's car now about ten feet away. 261 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:30.960 This time, the. 262 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.840 Headlights stayed on and the driver got out and shined 263 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:37.559 the bright flashlight into the car. They couldn't make out 264 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.039 his features. No words were exchanged, but the gunman opened 265 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:45.960 fire and shot through Michael's open passenger side window. He left, 266 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.360 Michael gave out a little scream, and the killer came 267 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:54.799 back to the car shot them both again. She's dead, 268 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:59.000 he's wounded, he's been shotting through the tongue. He's having 269 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:04.519 trouble speaking. Darlene dies soon after getting to the hospital, 270 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:08.400 and he survives. And there are weirdnesses about this crime 271 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:12.720 that have nothing to do with the killer. Mijeaux is 272 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.599 wearing three pairs of trousers, one t shirt, three sweaters, 273 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.519 and one long sleeved button shirt. And it's a hot, 274 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:24.839 steamy forth of July night, so this is extremely odd. 275 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.119 You can imagine the people in the emergency room trying 276 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:29.880 to undress them so they can get a look at 277 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:34.279 his wounds, and the clothes just keep coming. He would 278 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:36.599 later claim that he wore the extra clothes even on 279 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:40.039 the steamy night because he was insecure about his skinniness. Well, 280 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:43.359 trouble with that is he's six foot one seventy, which 281 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:48.319 is about normal weight for a teenager, and he seemed 282 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:54.680 confused and unreliable. So there are indications that maybe Darlene 283 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:58.079 and Michael are in the parking lot at the golf 284 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:01.759 course at night for reasons than to get to know 285 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:04.920 each other better. It is a spot known to buy 286 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:10.720 nickel bags, and Darlene's husband was perhaps being euphemistic when 287 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:15.119 he told police he sent Darlene to buy fireworks, even 288 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:16.400 though it was the middle of the night after the 289 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.039 Fourth of Jiant, an unlikely time to set off fireworks. 290 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.519 Darlene only had thirteen cents on her at the time 291 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.240 of her death. Migelle said the car came left and 292 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:31.640 came back, which could be the way it went if 293 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:33.799 you paid the guy and then he came back to 294 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:37.000 give you the drugs. Only something obviously went very bad. 295 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.920 Then there are weirdnesses that have everything to do with 296 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.759 the zoiac. About a half hour also the crime scene 297 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:49.519 was discovered, the Valejoll police switchboard operator received a phone 298 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:53.119 call from a man in a slow monitonne slow but forceful. 299 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.799 I want to report a double murder. If you will 300 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.519 go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park. 301 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:03.799 You will find the kids in a brown car. They 302 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:07.519 were shot with a nine millimeter luger. I also killed 303 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:08.680 those kids last year. 304 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.640 Good Bye. 305 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.400 And the last two words were elongated for effect, and 306 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.880 it worked because Nancy, who took the calls, been haunted 307 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:20.200 by that sound for the rest of our life. 308 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.000 You know. She spoke to the zodiac. 309 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:23.400 Oh my god, how will I ever sleep? 310 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:24.880 Right now? 311 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:27.240 The call was traced to a payphone at a vallet 312 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:31.279 Host service station, Joe's Union on Spring Road, and police 313 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:33.200 went to the phone booth and found the receiver still 314 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.839 hanging down off the hook. There was no sign of 315 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:40.839 anyone any suspicious activity in the vicinity, and although the 316 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:42.799 phone booth was only a ten minute drive from the 317 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:46.640 crime scene, thirty minutes go by before the call was made, 318 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.920 so the killer did something in between the shooting and 319 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:53.160 the phone call. Best bet is that our guy is 320 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:58.759 a local valay Ho guy. And there were several early 321 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:02.440 suspects who most intriguing were a guy named George Waters, 322 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:07.799 a Filipino bartender customer that Darlene wouldn't go out with 323 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.400 and once went to her home and threatened a raper, 324 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.680 and especially interesting because he's Filipino, and a later Zodiac 325 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.640 letter talks about collecting slaves for the afterlife, which is 326 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:23.920 apparently a Filipino thing. And then there was Darlene's first husband, 327 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:28.440 who then their their marriage had been tumultuous and violent, 328 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:35.519 so he would naturally have been the first the first suspect, right, 329 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:37.960 And then after that. 330 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:43.000 We're gonna stop just for one second for these messages. 331 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:46.839 Lucky Land Casino asking people what's the weirdest place you've 332 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:47.559 gotten lucky? 333 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.599 Lucky? In line at the Delhi I guess ah, in 334 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.880 my dentist's office more than once. Actually do I have 335 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:54.319 to say? 336 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:55.000 Yes? You do? 337 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:57.720 In the car before my kid's PTA meeting? 338 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:01.359 Really yes, excuse me? What's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? 339 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:02.640 I never win? 340 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.119 And tell well, there you have it. 341 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.960 You could get lucky anywhere playing at Lucky landslaughts dot 342 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.920 com play for free right now? Are you feeling lucky? No, 343 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:12.039 we're just necessary void for my long eighteen plus terms 344 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:13.400 conditions of pluss every details. 345 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.160 And he talked about complicating the case with George Waters 346 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:26.000 and another suspect, how to police proceed before we talk 347 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:30.240 about August Firth nineteen sixty nine, in San Francisco Examiner, 348 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:35.440 This and the San Francisco Chronicle and the Valeto Times 349 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:37.039 Herald each received the letter. 350 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:46.480 Yes, yes, they each get a nearly identical letter. It's 351 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:50.559 not transcribed perfectly, but it seems to be an attempt 352 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:53.759 at three identical letters, and then each one gets a 353 00:21:53.960 --> 00:22:03.599 third of a cipher. The envelopes were overposted, and the ciphers, 354 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.400 if decoded, the letter promised, would contain a clue as 355 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:12.680 to the killer's identity. The letter also established authenticity by 356 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.240 describing not perfectly, the type of ammunition used, the precise number. 357 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:19.519 Of shots fired, and the positions of the bodies. 358 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:24.640 And it contained details that were not in the newspapers. 359 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:29.519 But he got things a little wrong, which made it 360 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:31.960 may not discredit him as the actual killer at all. 361 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.079 It may just be an imperfect memory, which is the 362 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:39.759 way people are. But again there was It looked like 363 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:43.279 a team work effort. The printing was sloppy and prone 364 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.960 to slant, yet the cipher was printed with precision on 365 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:51.680 a grid with roges that lined up perfectly verbally, vertically 366 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.599 and horizontally. Had the same hand created both the letters 367 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:59.039 and the ciphers. Doesn't look like code from The first 368 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:03.079 letter was broken during the first week in August by 369 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.920 a history professor and his wife, and it started, I 370 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:10.599 like killing people because it is so much fun, which 371 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:16.000 is the theme of psychopaths ever since. It went on 372 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:18.640 to say that hunting people was the ultimate kick, it's 373 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.119 better than sex, and that when he died, he would 374 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.960 be reborn in paradise and those he killed would be 375 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:30.039 his slaves. Right, there was a clue to his identity, 376 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:35.240 and nobody figured it out. And a week later, the 377 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:39.079 Manson murders take place in Los Angeles, and this guy 378 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:42.759 loses the front page of the newspapers. Our Zodiac Club's 379 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:44.839 going to have to up the ante if they want 380 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:47.880 to again become the center of attention. And you know 381 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.279 that's something comes several weeks later at Lake barri Essa. 382 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.400 Right, you talk about Brian Hartnell, a twenty years old 383 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:01.599 and Cecilia Anne Shepherd at Lake Barriessa, seventy miles north 384 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.839 of San Francisco and forty miles north of Vallejo. Tell 385 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.000 us about this incredible incident at Lake Barriessa. 386 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:10.440 Oh, well, this. 387 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:15.920 Is burned into the nightmare of America. I think the 388 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:18.279 victims are on a blanket in the sand, a little 389 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.799 peninsula sticks out into Lake Lake Barriers, which is a 390 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:26.640 large lake in northern California, And because they're on a peninsula, 391 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:31.559 really only one way to and from their location, so 392 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:36.640 when a strange man approaches, they feel a little trapped 393 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:40.519 right away. Cecilia seas him first and the man hides 394 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:44.359 poorly behind a tree. So now it's a weirdo and 395 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:47.400 they're on high alert. But that alertness turns to fear 396 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.440 when the man re emerges from behind the tree, wearing 397 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.279 a black hood over his head that falls to a 398 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:56.759 crust on his chest, and neatly and precisely painted on 399 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:01.440 the hood in white was the circling crosshairs symbol that 400 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:05.559 became Zodiac's logo. He's holding a dark automatic pistol in 401 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:09.400