Zodiac Killer

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Zodiac's first confirmed murders were the shootings of high school students David Arthur Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16) on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia. Between 11:05 and 11:10 p.m., the killer fired several shots, hitting Faraday in the head with a .22-caliber pistol and firing six shots at Jensen's back as she fled; only one missed. Both died. On July 4–5, 1969, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin (22) and Michael Renault Mageau (19) were shot in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. The killer used a 9mm pistol, firing multiple times. Ferrin died at Kaiser Foundation Hospital; Mageau survived. The killer phoned Vallejo police from a payphone two blocks from headquarters at 12:40 a.m., saying, 'I want to report a double murder... I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.' On September 27, 1969, Bryan Calvin Hartnell (20) and Cecelia Ann Shepard (22) were stabbed at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Hartnell survived; Shepard died from her injuries on September 29 at Queen of the Valley Hospital. On October 11, 1969, Paul Lee Stine (29) was shot and killed in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

Reader's Guide

The Zodiac Killer's significance lies in the enduring mystery of his identity and the cultural impact of his correspondence. From 1969 to 1974, the Zodiac sent over twenty letters to newspapers, police, Chronicle writer Paul Avery, and attorney Melvin Belli. In the first sentence of the third letter, the writer identified himself as 'This is The Zodiac speaking,' and signed all his letters with a symbol resembling the crosshairs of a gunsight. Four of the mailings included cryptograms; only two have been solved—one in 1969 and one in 2020. The letters threatened bombings and more murders if the newspapers did not print his letters, and the Zodiac claimed to have killed 37 people in his last letter. The case became one of the most famous unsolved cases in American history, inspiring amateur detectives worldwide. The only suspect police named was Arthur Leigh Allen, a former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender who died in 1992. In 2004, the San Francisco Police Department marked the case 'inactive,' but subsequently re-opened the case in 2006. The California Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the city of Vallejo, and the Napa and Solano county sheriffs maintain the case status as 'open.'

Did You Know?

• The Zodiac's first confirmed murders were the shootings of high school students David Arthur Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16) on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia.
• Two of the Zodiac's four cryptograms were decrypted—one in 1969 and one in 2020; the other two remain unsolved.
• The Zodiac's last letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle in 1974, in which he claimed to have killed 37 people.
• The only suspect police named was Arthur Leigh Allen, a former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender who died in 1992.
• The San Francisco Police Department marked the case inactive in 2004 but re-opened it in 2006; other agencies still list it as open.