The Zodiac Killer Research Paper | Teen Ink

The Zodiac Killer Research Paper

May 18, 2023
By Anonymous

David Ramon Toschi, yep that’s me. If my name sounds familiar it is probably because you’ve heard it when the Zodiac killer is the topic. I was the lead investigator in this case back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. 

This began on December 28, 1968, when teenagers Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday were on a date. They were sitting in David’s car on the road/park called ‘lovers lane’. A man had approached the car and shot David through the window. Betty was scared so she got out and tried running, but the man was able to shoot her too. Unfortunately, neither of the two survived, and we had very little information, so the man was never identified.

A similar killing occurred just a few minutes away on July 4, 1969. Darlene Farron and Michael Magu were hanging out in their car when a man approached the vehicle and told them to step out. Both refused so this man shot Darlene and Michael. When we got to the scene Michael was alive, and was able to describe this man to a sketch artist. He was said to be 26-30 y/o, white, over 200 lbs, and around 5’8 with dirty blonde curls and glasses. 

Less than an hour later a payphone called the station. A man was confessing to the murders on December 28, and July 4. We asked how we were sure it was him who committed these crimes. He started giving us very specific details that only the killer, or people in the investigation would know. He even stated which gun was used, but we were never able to find this man.

In August, three different newspapers received letters. They began with ‘Hello, it's the Zodiac speaking’. The odd thing about these letters was that they were written in a very specific code, ciphers, and cryptograms. This cipher contains sub-letters meaning that one character could mean multiple different letters. Some sentences were also in English. Not even the best code crackers around could solve these, so the letters were released to the press. It was later realized these letters were meant to be one single letter instead of three. The students who figured that out actually went on to solve the cipher. This cipher scared us, this was when we began to understand just how smart this man really was. Fifty years later a team got together, figured out which characters were used, and the cipher was put through Van Eycke’s computer system..The letter was solved and read…

“Dear Editor This is the Zodiac Speaking…

I like killing people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the 

forest, because man is the most dangerous animal of all to kill. Something gives me the 

the most thrilling experience. It’s even better than getting your rocks off with a girl. The best 

part of it is that when I die, I will be reborn in paradise.’’

This is the only portion of the letter that is available to the public. We didn’t know who had written this letter, but it showed us that whoever did had many mental illnesses, and maybe this was his way of reaching out. 

On September 22, 1969, Cecila and Brian were at Lake Barannesse picnicking. A man approached them wearing an executioner hood with glasses over it, and a bib with a cross inside a circle. He had a gun in his hand. He told the couple that he was a fugitive and was on the run. He handed Brian rope and told him to tie up Cecilia, after which he tied up Brian, and the man pulled out a knife and began stabbing them. He left the couple and walked to a car and wrote out 

“Vallejo - 12-20-68 - 7-4-69 - Sep 27-69 -6.30 - By knife” in red paint. We received a call from a payphone telling us about this murder. Brian survived and told his story. 

On October 11,1969, a cab driver Paul Stein was working and pulled over for a man. The man got in and shot Paul. This was in a neighborhood so people saw through their windows and called the police. These people gave the same description as Michael Magu.  A few months later is when the San Francisco Chronicle got the cipher that wasn't solved until now.

On October 30, 1969, Sherry Bates told her father she was going to the Library and would be back later. In the morning her father woke up and noticed Sherry wasn’t home and called the police. We found her body in a nearby alleyway. All we found were military boot prints, and a timex watch. We received another letter saying that he has killed seven people, and he would no longer be confessing to the murders because the police put out false information. November 8th, 1969, we received another letter from the Zodiac killer, in this letter he was gloating about himself. This letter was different though, instead of it being handwritten, it is a typed out letter. This letter says…

The Confession

BY_____________

She was young and beautiful. But now she is battered and dead. She is not the first and she will not be the last. I lay awake nights thinking about my next victim. Maybe she will be the beautiful blonde that babysits neat the little store and walks down the dark alley each evening about seven. Or maybe she will be the sharply blue eyed brunette that said no when I asked her for a date in highschool. But maybe it will not be either. But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see. So don;t make it easy for me. Keep your sister, daughters, and wives off the streets and alleys. Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb. She did not put up a struggle. But I did. It was a ball. I first pulled the middle wire from the distributor, then I waited for her in the library and followed her out after about two minutes. The battery must have been about dead by then. I offered to help. She was then very willing to talk with me. I told her that my car was down the street and that I would give her a lift home. When we were away from the Library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me “about time for what”. I said it was about time for her to die, I grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth and my other hand with a small knife at her throat. She went very willingly, her breast felt very warm, and firm under my hands. But only one thing was on my mind. Making her pay for the brush offs that she had given me during the years prior. She died hard. She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched, she let out a scream once and I kicked her head to shut her up. I plunged a knife into her and broke, I then finished the job by cutting her throat. I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game. The letter should be published for all to read it. It just might save that girl in the alley. But that’s up to you. It will be on your conscience. Not mine. Yes, I did make that call to you also. It was just a warning, beware…I am stalking your girls now.

This was very odd to us, we had no idea whether or not it was the real Zodiac, or if it was a copycat killer. 

January 29, 1974, we get his final letter from the Zodiac. This letter is very confusing, he states that he thought the exorcist movie was funny. In the next part he described someone being plunged into a dark hole as a suicide. He finished the letter by saying if the letter wasn't in the paper he'd do something nasty. 

No one could ever figure out the letters, and no one could ever figure out why he stopped killing. Some people think he got the help he needed, and some people think he died, but whatever it is we are glad it’s over, even though the identity of this man will forever be a mystery.

 

 

Works Cited

Kraus, Daniel. "The Zodiac Killer: Terror and Mystery." Booklist, vol. 107, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2010, p. 56. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A239266732/STOM?u=alliancehs&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=1dd4c17a. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.

Ornes, Stephen. "MATHEMATICIANS CRACK THE ZODIAC KILLER'S CIPHER: After more than 50 years, a trio of codebreakers solves the puzzle and earns a nod from the FBI." Discover, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2022, pp. 71+. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A693733943/STOM?u=alliancehs&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=36b4af71. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.

Ansen, David. "The Rage of Aquarius; The Zodiac killer has never been caught, but David Fincher still made a riveting film about him." Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2007, p. 65. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A159826153/STOM?u=alliancehs&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=d4f2f1b1. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.

Claringbole, Ryan. "Stewart, Gary L. with Susan Mustafa. The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father ... and Finding the Zodiac Killer." Library Journal, vol. 139, no. 13, 1 Aug. 2014, p. 109. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A377408415/STOM?u=alliancehs&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=088b843a. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.

Sawyer, Michael. "Encyclopedia of Serial Killers: A Study of the Chilling Criminal Phenomenon from the 'Angels of Death' to the 'Zodiac' Killer." Library Journal, vol. 125, no. 3, 15 Feb. 2000, p. 152. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A60029387/STOM?u=alliancehs&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=9624839c. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.


The author's comments:

I wrote this paper when I was a Freshman in Highschool.


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