Zodiac Killer Research Paper

Improved Essays
Who Was the Zodiac Killer?

Although the Zodiac Killer was a real man, he remains a myth in American history. He is one of the few serial killers who remains at large. The police were never able to identify him, therefore, he was never caught. His crime spree began back in the 1960’s in the San Francisco Bay area and continued into the 1970’s. There have been many speculations as to his identity, but it has never been confirmed. The Zodiac Killer began his killing spree on December 20, 1968. He shot and killed a young couple, ages 16 and 17 while they sat in their car at a local teenage lookout. Many people tend to think his first killing was actually of a young college student back in 1966, but this could never be linked to him.
…show more content…
In it, were details of both shootings that only the killer himself would know. He signed the letter with a strange symbol; a circle with a cross going through it. Several days later, another letter was received, this time, calling himself the Zodiac Killer. He seemed to have great interest in astrological symbolism. He was taunting police because they had not been able to catch him. On September 27, 1969, two more people were attacked. This time, they were at the beach. They were not shot however, but stabbed. Both were alive when the police first arrived, but later, the woman died because of her injuries. There was a message left on the couple’s car door so that police would know who was responsible. It was October 11, 1969, that a 29 year old taxi driver was shot to death. At first, no one knew it was the Zodiac Killer nor suspected him. The MO was totally different than all the other killings and attacks. However, a letter did arrive with him claiming responsibility. The letter also had a piece of the cab driver’s shirt in it and it threatened that a school bus full of children would be killed next. From this attack, there was an eye witness. This was the first time someone had seen the killer and a sketch of what he looked like was done and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the story “The Jefferson County Egan Murders” by David Shampine and Daniel T. Boyer there were three people murder on an interstate rest stop. It took the police a long time to figure out who murder the three people. Three people were murdered on the night of New Year’s Eve in the year of 1964. The three people are Barbara Ann Egan (wife of Peter Egan), Peter Egan (Husband of Barbara), and Gerald Egan (Brother of Barbara).…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Brenton Butler Case

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages

    After careful review of the assigned film titled “Murder on A Sunday” The viewer is introduced to the events that take place in Jacksonville, Florida on 7 May 2000 at approximately 0730. Mrs. Mary Ann Stevens was shot and killed in the breeze way of the Ramada. Stevens was accompanied by her husband Mr. Stevens, who was the only was the only eye witness in the case. Mr. Stevens identified 15 year old Brenton Butler as the shooter.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    R V Mulvihill Case Study

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages

    • Causation- The conclusion of the autopsy of Ms Yeo’s death determined that the cause of death was a direct result of either one or a combination of the two penetrating stab wounds. CIRCUMSTANCES- Paul Mulvihill and Rachelle Yeo had been in a relationship, which Yeo had ended. However, in the proceeding months, Yeo’s family, and her employer, became progressively perturbed for her safety from Mulvihill and…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    John Wayne Gacy is one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. During a seven-year span of the 1970s, Gacy murdered 33 men. As is the case with many high profile murderers, to the average person, one would have to be insane to commit such acts, which is what Gacy 's defense claimed. The jury did not buy it though, and Gacy would be executed by lethal injection in 1994. Criminologists study why people commit crime, and assemble theories.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the morning of July 4th, 1954, the Sheppard’s lives changed forever. Marilyn Sheppard was found dead in her house in the suburbs of Bay Village, Ohio. The case has been talked about ever since the community of Bay Village awoke to a tragic death of one of the members of a very wealthy and of high prestige family. As mentioned earlier, Marilyn was found dead in her bedroom, her pajama top was pulled up, and her pajama bottoms were pulled down with multiple blows on her head and no signs of possible rape. The savagery of the crime led to Marilyn drown in her own blood, due to the 35 bludgeoning blows that the serial killer produced.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    TWENTY YEARS LATER: THE DIRTY TRUTH ON JOHN WAYNE GACY, THE SERIAL KILLER By: Vaithiegaa Mathanarajan Even twenty years after the death if the notorious serial killer, John Wayne Michael Gacy, people still tremble when they hear his name. Gacy, an American serial killer was found guilty of killing thirty-three boys and young men (Berry-Dee, 2007). Biographical Information Gacy was born on March 17th, 1942, and died on May 10th, 1994 by lethal injection (Greig, 2010).…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The killing occurred on October 31 at 11:59 PM. 38 persons were at the event, one survived. The interview with the one remaining witness did not go as planned. I asked if she saw the killer and she gave me one of those no-you-imbecilic-bagel looks. I asked if she suspected anyone of being the killer.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Serial Killer Logos

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Reading the article “The Traits and Thrill of a Serial Killer” by Urmosne Gabriella Simon was very eye catching and thought out. The author describes how killers develop, how they act, and ways they kill. The reason the article was eye catching was because of its great use of logos, ethos, and pathos. The author was able to use logos by using real serial killers, ethos by providing sources, and pathos by putting information that made readers feel bad and understand killers.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Editing In Zodiac

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The slow motion of the killings suggest the element of pleasure and beauty in what the Zodiac feels over his murders. In the second murder scene there is no punctuation of the moment of violence, no musical soundtrack and no slow motion. Unlike the first murder scene, this one displays less realistic aestheticised violence but more of an uncut classical and story based take. There is more dialogue and anticipation, and the vicious and gory murder definitely suggests a more emphatic…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He replied he had seen a man running with a gun. Unfortunately, the man they spoke with may have been the Zodiac, as no other suspect was ever located. Three days later the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter, and inside was a piece of Paul Stine’s bloody shirt. In less than a year, the man known as the Zodiac had killed five people and severely injured two. The hunt was on!The Zodiac is also thought to have been responsible for the March 22, 1970 abduction of Kathy Johns, and her 10-month-old daughter, who lived in Modesto, California.…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ted Bundy, born November 24, 1946, was a famous serial killer and rapist in the 1970s. He raped and murdered young women across several different states. He was connected to at least 36 murders, however people thought he committed hundred or more. He became somewhat of a “celebrity” during the trail with his charm and intelligence. But the court still gave him the death penalty and he was executed in 1989 by way of the electric chair.…

    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Elizabeth Williams Ms. Blair English 4 2 April 2015 What causes serial killers to become what they are: Nature or nurture? There are many speculations of what makes a person do and be the things they are but it is not only nature or nurture it’s a combination of both. For a long time people have wondered what makes people act the way they do. People especially wonder about the people of the outcast of the society, the killers. People are fascinated of how these people can do the things they do.…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Paul Stine was a taxi driver in San Francisco who was murdered in his taxi at 9:55 p.m. on October 11, 1969. During the killer’s escape, three teenagers watched him tear off a section of the driver’s bloody shirt. The killer then sent that shirt piece in another letter to the police in order to claim his kill, in which the letter stated, “This is the Zodiac speaking. I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt. I am the same man who did in the people in the north bay area.”…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Serial Killer Deviance

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cold Blooded Killers? Deviance is defined as a behavior, trait or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group. What one culture perceives as deviant might be different from another culture. Cultural norms in society dictate what might be perceived as deviant. The spectrum of deviance in our culture ranges from something small like chewing with your mouth open to incest.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction In 1974, Ted Bundy embarked on a series of grisly murders that began in Seattle, Washington and in a period of over five years spread through Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Florida. His rampage took the lives of at least thirty five women, but there is a lot of controversy over this number. The exact number of women Bundy killed will never be known as experts predict that he killed at least 100 or more. He was known to be a serial killer who went on a killing spree after a devastating break up with his college girlfriend, Stephanie Brooks.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics