Why Was The Zodiac Killer Never Caught?

Netflix’s This Is The Zodiac Speaking revisits the enigmatic serial murderer who was prolific in the late 1960s, adopting the self-styled moniker of “the Zodiac.” 65 years after the gruesome killings, the perpetrator remains unidentified, making the Zodiac case, as suggested by The Guardian, one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the history of American crime. The fact that the killer taunted the police, the media, and the public with a series of letters and cryptic ciphers, challenging the authorities to identify him, only added to his image.

To this day, no one knows the full extent of the Zodiac’s crimes — in his letters, he claimed 37 murders, but only seven have been confirmed (via San Francisco Chronicle). However, the failure to catch the Zodiac was less mystery than dumb luck, institutional incompetence, a plethora of unlikely suspects, and a chain of events surrounding each murder that did more to muddy the official investigation than move it forward. Detection was further compromised by fake claimants and copycat letter-writers seeking to capitalize on the notoriety offered by a connection to the nationwide manhunt.

Witnesses Never Had A Good Description Of The Zodiac Killer

No One Could Agree On What The Zodiac Killer Looked Like

The Zodiac’s description was, to say the least, haphazard. Two of his seven confirmed victims survived the attacks and were able to give police a description, and the shootings took place out in the open, either in motel parking lots or popular meeting spots. His final murder happened in downtown San Francisco, at 9:55 pm on October 11, 1969, on a busy street where he shot cab driver Paul Stine in the back of the head — the entire event was witnessed by three teenagers, who alerted the SFPD while the attack was still in progress.

Unfortunately, these witnesses could not all agree on a congruent description (via lamag.com). Michael Magou, who survived an attack in July 1969, described him as a heavyset, pot-bellied white man with a round face, about 5 feet 8 inches tall. According to This Is the Zodiac Speaking, the three teenagers who witnessed the Stine murder described a “husky” man wearing a black jacket. Dispatchers assumed they referred to a Black man, and when police stopped a white man wearing a black jacket heading north minutes after the murder, they let him go free. Investigators assumed this man was the Zodiac killer, and released a composite sketch from the officer’s description, which contradicted Magou’s.

The Zodiac Killer’s Letters Complicated The Investigation

The Zodiac Killer’s Letters & Ciphers Were New And Complex

It is tempting to suggest that the Zodiac’s use of letters and ciphers to taunt and confuse the police was the work of some criminal mastermind. The first letter was sent in 1969, and gave away the killer’s pathological need for control: “This is the Zodiac speaking.” Ranging from bizarre to menacing and even, at times, playful, the letters baffled criminologists, professional and amateur. They also suggested a surreal motive: “When I die I will be reborn in paradise and all I have killed will become my slaves.”

But the Zodiac’s use of astronomical symbols and ciphers intrigued the authorities. The first, now known as Z408, was sent in July 1969 and was quickly unraveled by amateur sleuths. It taunted the police: “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me.” A more complex cipher, Z340, sent later that year, took 51 years and modern technology to solve — and read, in part: “I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner.” This discovery in 2020 prompted renewed interest in the Zodiac killer’s case and the murderer’s identity and directly leads into Netflix’s This Is the Zodiac Speaking.

The Police Weren’t Equipped To Handle The Zodiac Killer’s “Games”

Policing Techniques Were Not Sophisticated Enough At The Time Of The Zodiac Killer

A significant element of the Zodiac’s evasion of justice was 1960s policing. The Zodiac killer’s crimes spanned multiple jurisdictions, from San Francisco to Vallejo to Napa County. Each police force in each jurisdiction operated under its own procedures and investigative protocols, and rarely would they compare notes. This led to a piecemeal approach to tracking and detecting the murderer. At times, crime scenes were improperly explored and important evidence was either overlooked or mishandled. The “husky” report after the Stine shooting appears to typify the police’s lack of capability.

Furthermore, the authorities’ lack of sophistication in the face of the Zodiac’s unique (for the time) use of letters and ciphers, and his manipulation of a media hungry for copy, often sent investigators down blind alleys. While the Zodiac Killer indulged in his games and obfuscations, the police tried to make sense of this new reality, rather than sticking to tried and tested methods of policing. It’s perhaps indicative of police abilities that the Zodiac’s ciphers were solved not by law enforcement, but by amateur sleuths using primitive cryptology tools.

The Biggest Zodiac Killer Suspect Died In 1992

Arthur Leigh Allen Was Likely Not The Zodiac Killer

Throughout the 1970s, the police’s only named suspect was convicted child molester Arthur Leigh Allen, whom they connected to the killings through largely circumstantial evidence and a tenuous link to the first victim, Darlene Ferrin. This Is the Zodiac Speaking’s principal thesis is that Allen was probably responsible.Allen was picked out of a photo lineup in 1992 by Michael Magou as the man who had shot him but was immediately contradicted by Donald Fouke, the police officer who had stopped the man fleeing the Stine murder, insisting that Allen was about 100 pounds heavier.

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Over the years, various experts have found reasons to support Allen as the killer. Allen’s typewriter was found to be the same model upon which the Zodiac’s letters were typed; he wore a Zodiac Sea Wolf wristwatch; their shoes were both sized 10 and a half. Letters written by Allen appeared to contain grammatical and spelling errors similar to those in the Zodiac’s letters sent to the police and the media. However, in 2002, with advances in DNA technology, Allen was largely exonerated as the Zodiac Killer when his DNA failed to match that extracted from the stamps and envelopes on the murderer’s letters.

Are There Still Other Zodiac Killer Suspects?

Innumerable Possible Zodiac Killer Suspects Have Been Discounted

65 years after the Zodiac’s killing spree ended, there have been countless suspects (via History.com), offered by innumerable parties, both amateur and professional. None have proved conclusive. The heightened degree of intrigue brought about by the killer’s cat-and-mouse game with the public and with law enforcement has, perhaps, attracted such feverish attention as to overwhelm any concerted attempt to identify the killer. It appears unlikely that the murderer’s true identity will ever be determined, despite This Is the Zodiac Speaking’s persuasive evidence to the contrary.

Regardless, the Zodiac case, re-opened in Napa County in 2007, remains ongoing, and sleuths from all over the world continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the murders. Some hope was provided in 2018 by police who declared that further enhancements in DNA profiling, which had brought about the arrest of serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo years after his offenses, would be brought to bear in the Zodiac case (via The Sacramento Bee). To date, no results have been forthcoming, despite numerous studies like Netflix’s This Is The Zodiac Speaking, and the murders remain stubbornly unsolved.

SOURCES: The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, lamag.com, History.com, The Sacramento Bee

After decades of mystery, the Seawater family presents new evidence about the Zodiac Killer, sharing their story and naming the only suspect agreed upon by detectives.

Release Date

October 23, 2024

Seasons

1