The murders associated with the Zodiac killer took place between 1968 and 1969 in Northern California's Bay Area.
The first murders widely attributed to the Zodiac Killer were the shootings of high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday on December 20, 1968 on Lake Herman Road, just inside the city limits of Benicia.
Yes, the Zodiac Killer is still among us. Robert Graysmith is currently 80 years old and he lives somewhere in California.
There's no clear-cut DNA evidence
Even decades-old evidence can be re-examined with modern technology for blood or semen. But detectives aren't as lucky with Zodiac. Most of his murders involved him shooting the victim and running away.
Born Lawrence Klein on April 29, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York, the suspected Zodiac Killer went on to adopt many aliases, including Larry Kane.
The true identity of the Zodiac killer has never been confirmed by law enforcement, though several suspects have been identified over the years.
But unlike that case, there is no confirmed DNA from any of the Zodiac killings. Police managed to create a partial profile by testing saliva traces from a stamp on a letter sent by the Zodiac, but that can only be used to rule suspects out.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s the Zodiac killer sent four coded letters. Of the four ciphers, only one has actually been solved. His letters were written in two parts. The first part was usually written in plain text, while the other was in cipher text, in which he claimed contained his identity.
From the letters they had a handwriting sample, fingerprints and DNA; beyond that the Zodiac Killer left very little physical evidence. The FBI never formally opened their own investigation, but they did consult with the San Francisco Police with the forensic evidence.
The last known victim, a taxi driver, was shot in October 1969. The murders were the subject of intense investigation and media coverage, particularly because of the killer's taunting letters to newspapers and phone calls to police.
The "Doodler," a serial killer who is suspected of killing and/or assaulting as many as 14 men in San Francisco from January 1974 to September 1975 and was never caught. The moniker came from the fact that the Doodler would sketch his victims before stabbing them.
Texts from the 2nd century BC list predictions relating to the positions of planets in zodiac signs at the time of the rising of certain decans, particularly Sothis. The earliest Zodiac found in Egypt dates to the 1st century BC, the Dendera Zodiac.
The California Department of Justice has left the case open since 1969. Mike Renault Mageau and Bryan Calvin Hartnell are the only two known survivors of the Zodiac. Mageau was conversing in a car with her co-worker, Darlene Ferrin, when the Zodiac shot and killed Ferrin. Mageau was shot four times and survived.
In astrology, Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, considered as governing the period from about March 21 to about April 19.
He actually gave himself the title “Zodiac” in the cryptic letters he sent to the press during his murder spree. The letters often began with the words “This is the Zodiac speaking,” and contained various cryptograms and taunts alluding to his planned murders.
The deciphered message reads as: "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. That wasn't me on the TV show which brings up a point about me. I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice (paradise misspelled) all the sooner.”
"The case remains open and there is no new information to report," the FBI said of California's notorious Zodiac Killer. An independent group of cold case investigators claimed to have identified California's notorious Zodiac Killer. The FBI now says that claim is inaccurate.
“The Zodiac cipher was almost certainly constructed by pencil and paper, but it was complex enough that it survived attacks for 51 years.” While the Zodiac's message has been decrypted, the identity of the killer remains an unsolved mystery.
The series is focused on the evidence a man named Gary Stewart brought forth that he's the son of the killer — though he never actually met his father.
In the end, the Zodiac Killer got away with it – he's never been identified.
The most prolific modern serial killer is arguably doctor Harold Shipman, with 218 probable murders and possibly as many as 250 (see "Medical professionals", below). However, he was actually convicted of a sample of 15 murders.
Calhoun wanted to shine a light on the Zodiac's first victims, who died near Vallejo — Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday.