Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Cracking the Code: The Zodiac Pt. 2

Episode Date: June 12, 2023

Following a string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the Zodiac Killer continues to write letters taunting the press and police. This episode originally aired in February 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of violence and murder that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Brian Hartnell barely suppressed a giggle as a strange man approached him and 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard on the shore of California's Lake Beriesa. Cecilia gripped his arm tightly as the man moved closer, but Brian almost could The man was wearing a ridiculous black hood that looked like it came straight from a costume shop. It draped unevenly over his blue windbreaker. Perhaps the oddest part of all was the prominent

symbol near the bottom of the hood, which looked like the crosshairs of the gun. Then Brian realized why Cecilia was so frightened. The man had a shining black pistol in his hand. In a remarkably calm voice, Cecilia asked the stranger, what he wanted. The hooded man told them he only wanted their money. But he was lying. The stranger was the Zodiac Killer, and he was out for blood. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is serial killers. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're continuing our exploration into the mysterious and terrifying Zodiac Killer, a brutal murderer who remains unidentified to this day. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers for free on Spotify. Last week, we examined the first two confirmed zodiac attacks, which resulted in the deaths of three people near Vallejo, California. We also discussed some of the taunting ciphers the Zodiac sent to the press, revealing his desire to incite public terror. This week will follow the investigation into the Zodiac, his continuing cryptic correspondence with the media and the sudden end to his killing spree. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection only at the On July 31st, 1969, the Zodiac Killer contacted the California press for the first time. In letters to three Bay Area papers, he claimed he'd already murdered three people and threatened to kill more. He also included a bizarre, coded message, which he demanded the papers publish. The papers did what the Zodiac asked, and a little more than a week later, the cipher was cracked by a couple from Salinas. They revealed a chilling, taunting message from the Zodiac about how much he loved to kill. At the time, the term serial killer was not widely understood, but it was nonetheless clear that the Zodiac was a unique and dangerous kind of criminal. He craved publicity and

infamy, and he would go to any length to get it. It was a frightening proposition, but knowing the Zodiac's hunger for fame also gave authorities some valuable insight into the killer's mind. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. Many people yearn for fame, though not everyone actively seeks it. According to Dr. Robert Fuller, former president of Oberlin College, this is because power is unevenly distributed in society between somebody's and nobodies. He writes,

Nobody's are marginalized to the point of invisibility. Since humans are social creatures, banishment carries a threat of being deprived of social and material resources critical to health and happiness, and sometimes to survival itself. Fame promises an escape. This suggests that the Zodiac felt that becoming infamous would grant him power over others

and would turn him from a nobody to a somebody. Precisely. The Zodiac was likely someone who felt marginalized in his everyday life. Seeking publicity and spreading panic might have made him feel more in control. For a moment, it looked like the Zodiac had gotten everything he desired. His crimes were big news, the talk of the nation, but he was soon beaten at his own game. On August 8, 1969, the same day his first cipher was cracked, his limelight was stolen by Charles Manson and his family. family. After the brutal murder of five people, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate,

the Manson's were all the press could talk about. The celebrity of their victims granted the Manson family the edge over the Zodiac, and this undoubtedly antagonized him. To regain his notoriety, the Zodiac knew he'd have to do something dramatic. Nearly two months later, on September 27th, he made his move. That afternoon, 20-year-old Brian Hartnell and 22-year-old Cecilia Shepherd lay on a blanket by the shore of Lake Beriasa. Brian and Cecilia had made the trip on a whim. They had previously dated, but weren't together at the time. Under the shade of a large oak tree, they enjoyed each other's company and spoke quietly together. Around 6 p.m., Cecilia noticed some movement in the trees nearby.

Brian dismissed her worries. He initially assumed that another lakegoer was released. leaving themselves in the woods, as there were no bathrooms in the vicinity. But he was wrong. Cecilia gasped as a strange man holding a pistol approached them from a few hundred feet away. The gun wasn't the only thing frightening about him. He wore some kind of long black hood over his face, which extended down past his shoulders. On the man's chest, the symbol of a gun's crosshairs had been drawn, the same symbol the zodiac used to sign his left.

letters. Neither Brian nor Cecilia recognized the symbol, and had no idea they were face to face with a serial killer. Even so, the gun and the outfit were more than enough to terrify Cecilia. At around 200 pounds and six feet, he cut an intimidating figure, almost like a medieval executioner. Brian wasn't quite as scared as Cecilia when the man first approached. He assumed the get-up was just a disguise stolen from a costume shop. Both he and Cecilia watched, paralyzed, as the man got within 75 feet of them. When he stopped moving, Cecilia asked him what he wanted. The stranger told them he was there to rob them and warned them against doing anything rash.

Brian and Cecilia approached the man and gave him what money they had. Brian only had 75 cents, but the stranger didn't seem too concerned. In a measured, cold voice, he told Brian, Every little bit helps. Then he was quiet. For a moment, it looked like the hooded man was thinking about what to say next. Without any provocation, he explained that he was an escaped convict from Montana. He claimed to be on the run to Mexico.

Miraculously, Brian was still relatively calm about the situation. He felt sure the man was only looking for their money. He hoped he could diffuse the tension by showing some kindness to the situation. the would-be assailant, and offered to write the man a check for some more money. Somewhat thrown by Brian's offer, the Zodiac clumsily refused his help at first. When pressed, he finally said he wanted Brian's car keys. Brian searched for his keys, not sure of where he'd left them. As he searched, the Zodiac grew impatient and visibly anxious. Brian began to believe the man was bluffing and casually asked if his gun was really loaded. The stranger

promised his gun was loaded and claimed he'd killed before. Then he ordered Cecilia to tie Brian up, tossing her some clothesline from his pocket. While she complied, Brian tried to talk to the stranger a little more, but only received a couple of terse answers. The Zodiac then tied Cecilia's hands and ordered both of them to lay face down so he could bind their legs. Brian couldn't help protesting. It was getting dark around the lake and the temperature was getting lower. In his mind, the stranger had already gotten everything he wanted and couldn't understand why his legs had to be tied up. The Zodiac pressed the gun into Brian's back and ordered him down again. This time, Brian obeyed, and he and Cecilia laid on the ground next to each other. Brian grimaced as the man hog-tied him.

He tried to keep a brave face for Cecilia, but he was completely baffled by the situation. The stranger seemed so nervous and so careful. He didn't sound like the hardened criminal he claimed to be, and yet he hadn't let down his guard throughout the encounter. Once the zodiac had his victims tied up, Brian's words no longer seemed to have much effect. When Brian asked if he was nervous, the zodiac laughed. Brian followed up again, asking if the gun was really loaded. The Zodiac, likely hoping to finally terrify his victim, took the magazine out of the gun to show Brian the bullets.

Then he holstered the weapon. It turned out he really hadn't been planning to shoot them. Instead, he'd brought a knife. Brian and Cecilia watched in horror as the hooded man pulled out a foot-long blade from a sheath on his hip. Then, without another word, he jammed the knife into Brian's back. Up next, the Zodiac claims another victim and makes his next mistake. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigued, ask your doctor about Zepbound, terseptite. The first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and adults with obesity.

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waiting. Watch only on Prime. Now back to the story. Around dusk on September 27th, 1969, 20-year-old Brian Hartnell and 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard were held at gunpoint on the shore of a secluded California Lake. Though the college students didn't know it at the time, their anonymous assailant, covered by a black hood, was none other than the Zodiac killer. After killing three others in the past year, the Zodiac was eager to extend his reign of terror. The Zodiac made both Cecilia and Brian lie face down in the grass and hog-tied them, threatening to rob them. Once they were helpless. He stood over Brian and thrust an enormous blade into his back. Cecilia screamed as the killer stabbed Brian again and again, only stopping after he'd left

Brian with six bloody wounds. The Zodiac then moved to Cecilia, once again stabbing wildly ten times over. Brian, tied up and bleeding profusely, dared not look at Cecilia. He was certain he would die soon and kept his eyes tightly shut, praying it was all some kind of nightmare. Leaving them both bleeding in the grass, the Zodiac suddenly stood up and left. The entire encounter had only taken 15 minutes, but to Brian, it felt like a lifetime. In the end, the killer didn't even take their money. When he was certain the Zodiac had gone, Brian opened his eyes and cautiously turned to Cecilia. He tried not to cry as he saw the light in her eyes flickering. Cecilia and Brian each knew the gravity of the situation, but that didn't mean they were giving up.

For the next few minutes, they struggled to get free of the clothesline around their wrists and ankles. They were interrupted by the sound of a boat passing by on the lake. Brian and Cecilia struggled to scream for help. Over the course of 15 minutes, they called out to four or five by. One even stopped for a moment to see what the commotion was, but eventually they all floated away. After being disappointed several times, Cecilia made one last effort to untie the knots around Brian's wrists. She succeeded. With all of his strength, Brian managed to sit up and untie Cecilia. Unfortunately, by that point, she was too weak to move. Brian stumbled, staggered, and crawled his way up the gravel road near the freeway before collapsing.

His vision was dark, and his chest was on fire, but he was alive. He tried to will himself up one last time. He was determined to make it to the freeway. Then he heard the sound of a pickup pulling over. He watched a blurry figure exit the truck and run to his side. Brian's rescuer was Park Ranger Dennis Land. As it turned out, his arrival wasn't. a coincidence. The passing boat that Brian and Cecilia had thought abandoned them had actually

rushed out to get help. Both Brian and Cecilia were wrapped in blankets until an ambulance and police arrived. Just before the first officers got to the lake, around 7.40 p.m., someone called the police station about the attack. The officer fielding the calls assumed the caller was a park ranger at first. He listened as the man coolly reported a double murder. Then, just before he hung up, the stranger whispered, I'm the one that did it. Authorities managed to trace the call to a public phone booth a few miles from the police station. It was empty by the time the officer arrived.

The call was eerily reminiscent of the Blue Rock Springs murder. Once again, the killer had gotten away clean, leaving two victims to fight for their lives. Cecilia arrived at the hospital in a coma, and Brian could barely speak. but they survived. Around 9.40 p.m., police were allowed into Bryant's room to speak with him. Though clearly in pain, Brian did his best to describe the encounter to a detective. He noted several times that the killer had claimed to be on the run to Mexico from Montana. Back at the lake shore, officers combed the area for evidence.

In short order, they found a chilling message written in felt-tip-pen on the door of Brian's Volkswagen. It began with the crosshair simple. What followed was a series of dates. The Zodiac listed the three dates of his confirmed attacks, December 20th, 1968, July 4th, 1969, and finally, September 27th, 1969. After the last entry, the killer added the time of the attack, 6.30, and then the words, by knife.

As usual, the Zodiac, didn't just seek to murder and maim. He also wanted recognition. To get it, he made sure the police knew the latest attack was connected to the previous murders, but also emphasized the weapon he'd used. Typically, psychologists consider killing a victim by knife more intimate than using a gun. Forensic psychologist Dr. Naftali G. Barrel notes, anytime somebody commits a murder or assault, either by choking, stabbing, or making bodily contact. It always speaks to a level of rage and perhaps a personal connection to the victim that shooting with a gun does not. The Zodiac had changed his method of murder. He had every opportunity

to shoot Brian and Cecilia, but chose to stab them instead. Perhaps the young couple enraged him, or perhaps he thought a more graphic stabbing, like those committed by the Manson family, would earn him more publicity. Either way, police were disturbed by the zodiac symbol on the car and the escalation and violence. They worried it was only a matter of time before the killer struck again. The next day, detectives worked to supplement Brian's testimony with accounts from lakegoers. Several reported seeing a man in dark pants which matched the general proportions of the attacker Brian had described. Using this information, authorities created a compound. sketch of the killer. They released the sketch to the public, and the station was flooded with

tips. Most were unhelpful. Some of them swore that they knew who the killer was because they had ESP or psychic powers. Others claimed to have seen the zodiac's face in a dream. Police followed several leads, taking special note if anyone who seemed to have an unusual interest in astrology or the zodiac signs. Ultimately, they dismissed the potential suspects for a variety of reasons. Some for their alibi, some because their handwriting samples didn't match the zodiac letters, and others because they didn't look like the composite sketch. With few likely suspects, detectives returned to the hard evidence at hand and eventually had a breakthrough. Investigators were able to match a footprint found at the scene to a specific

model of boot they believed was exclusively sold at Air Force bases. Investigators were ecstatic, at first, until they learned that the shoes known as wingwalkers were also sold at Army surplus doors across the country. Over a million pairs were in circulation. What at first looked like a promising lead turned into yet another wild goose chase. Then the investigation took another blow. 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard passed away in the hospital on the evening of September 29th, two days after the attack. She was never able to give her account to police, but her tragic death lit a fire under many of the detectives involved.

The danger of the killer's publicity was now obvious and helping him stay one step ahead of police. At first, they had courted letters from the Zodiac, hoping that he would be baited into revealing some valuable information about himself. Now, much of the information they got was useless. Their days were spent following dead. dead-end tips from paranoid Californians. Police were right to be frustrated.

The clock was ticking. Only two weeks after the murder at Lake Beriesa, the Zodiac struck again. This time in San Francisco. On October 11, 1969, Paul Stein, a 29-year-old PhD student who worked nights as a cabby, started his shift around 9 p.m. Around half an hour later,

he picked up a passenger heading towards Presidio Heights, an affluent area of the city. Stein then drove toward Washington and Maple, which he recorded as the destination on his trip sheet. It's not known why, but instead of stopping at that intersection, Stein passed it by a full block. The cab came to a halt at the corner of Washington and Cherry Street just before 10 p.m. Three teenagers across the street happened to look out the window sometime after the taxi

was parked. They saw a white man with a crew cut in the passenger seat. Lying across his lap was the bloody body of Paul Stein. Coming up, the Zodiac escapes once again, leaving the police investigation in shambles. Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two Activia yogurt today for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the first. one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying Activia twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas,

bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. Now back to the story. On October 11th, 1969, the Zodiac Killer murdered his fifth known victim, PhD student and part-time cab driver, Paul Stein. He shot 29-year-old Stein in his cab in his cab, up on the streets of the Presidio in San Francisco and left the scene on foot. The killer failed to notice three teenagers in the building across the street. They watched him flee the scene and knew exactly what he looked like. The teenagers called the police, an officer's Pellissetti and Pita arrived at the corner of Washington and Cherry at 9.58 p.m.

After clearing the scene and briefly interviewing the teenagers, Pellicetti noticed a problem. The dispatcher had incorrectly reported that the suspect was a black male. Either the teenagers had accidentally misidentified the suspect's race during their initial call to the police station, or the dispatcher misheard them. The mistake was never explained, but it turned out to be a costly one. Pellissetti rushed to his car and put out a call, letting police in the area know the suspect was a white male, but he was already too late.

Only moments before, officers Falk and Zelms had driven past Jackson Street only a block away from the crime scene. They noticed a white man with a crew cut walking down the sidewalk and slowed down to observe him. Falk described the man as wearing rust-colored pants and a three-quarter-length jacket. Since both officers believed they were searching for a black man, they claimed they didn't stop to speak to him. A minute or two later, they arrived at the crime scene, where Pellissetti told them they should be looking for a white suspect. Here, the narratives start to diverge. Fouk claimed that he suddenly realized the suspicious man they'd passed was the killer and turned his patrol car around to search for him. He arrived back at the spot where he'd seen the man, but the street was now deserted.

Pellissetti, on the other hand, claimed that Fouc didn't mention that he'd seen the suspect, at all that night. According to Pellissetti, he was the one who attempted to pursue the suspect, carefully going north on Cherry Street and searching for clues. Years later, Pellissetti still insisted that Falk didn't confess to seeing anyone until days later. He said Falk told him he hadn't just seen someone suspicious, but he'd also stopped briefly to talk to the man before driving on. The timeline discrepancy would remain a mystery for years, but detectives at the time, didn't linger on it. At first, Paulstein's murder looked like a robbery gone wrong. Unfortunately, it wasn't uncommon for cab drivers to be targeted by thieves, and there was

nothing to point to the Zodiac's involvement. But as usual, the killer claimed his handiwork. On October 14th, three days after the attack, the Zodiac sent his third letter to the press. It was possibly his most bizarre to date. The brief message to the San Francisco Chronicle began with the Zodiac claiming responsibility for Paul Stein's murder. To prove it, he included a torn bit of Stein's shirt in the envelope. The Chronicle sent the bloodstained fabric sample onto police, who verified that it was a match. Next, the Zodiac taunted the police, saying that he hid in a park near the scene of the crime after shooting Stein. According to him, the police could have easily caught him, had they systematically

searched. But the final section of the letter was the most disturbing. Unrelated to the previous paragraphs, the Zodiac wrote, school children make nice targets. I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire and then pick off the kitties as they come bouncing out. The threat, which was published on October 15th, caused pandemonium. Police crambled to respond. Unmarked police cars trailed buses, planes surveyed highways to look for snipers, and bus drivers were given instructions on how to respond to an active shooter situation. Ultimately, the Zodiac never carried out his threat. The media coverage continued non-stop for a week,

and then, suddenly, the killer changed his tune. On the night of October 22nd, the Zodiac, or a man claiming to be the Zodiac, called the Oakland Police Station. On the call, he asked that a well-known defense attorney go on the local talk show AM San Francisco the following morning. He named two specific lawyers, EFley Bailey or Melvin Belli, as candidates. He said if one of the two men appeared on the show, he would call in.

Authorities assumed it was a hoax. After threatening to kill schoolchildren, the Zodiac had dominated the news cycle. Any number of pranksters could have. have made the call. Even so, the talk show and Melvin Belli agreed to the supposed Zodiac's terms. After all, if there was a slim chance a lawyer could draw the killer out, then it would be worth it. 49 minutes into the talk show, someone finally called in. Over the course of three hours, the man called around 30 times, explaining that he was paranoid the police would try to trace the call

and thus didn't want to stay in the line for too long. In a written conversation, Belli and the host of the show attempted to gain insight into the Zodiac's motives. The caller explained that he suffered from intense headaches, which he partially blamed for his murders. Eventually, Belli got the caller to agree to meet him at a thrift shop the following day, but no one ever showed. Worse, after the show was recorded, police had the two remaining survivors of the Zodiac, Michael Meijot and Brian Hartnell, listen to the tape. Both agreed that the caller couldn't be the zodiac. Hartnell was particularly sure, swearing that he had a clear memory of the man's tone and cadence.

In all likelihood, the entire thing was a farce. The next authentic Zodiac communication was soon to come, however. On November 10th, a couple of weeks after the talk show incident, two new envelopes arrived at the Chronicle. One, which may have been postmarked a day before the other, was a childish greeting card. In it, the Zodiac joked that he hadn't written in a while because he'd lost his pen.

He also included a new cipher, slightly shorter than his first code, which he once again wanted printed on the front page. The Chronicle did as the Zodiac asked, hoping that another intelligent reader might be able to break the cipher. As it would turn out, they were disappointed. To this day, the second cipher is never, never been cracked. Despite the passage of five decades and exponential advances in technology,

not even a supercomputer has managed to break the code. Part of the difficulty lies in the length of the message and the symbols used. The first cipher was 408 characters long. The second was only 340 characters, yet had 20% more unique symbols. This meant that it was significantly harder to work out which letters the symbols corresponded to, if the code was even written to match the English alphabet at all. Hypothetically, there could be dozens of symbols that don't correspond to any letter and only serve as false flags. It's also possible the cipher is meant to be read in an unorthodox way, or that it's written in a foreign language. Of course, the whole thing could also be meaningless. The Zodiac may have intended to just waste the police

his time by writing down random symbols. All in all, there are too many variables to account for, and neither the NSA nor the CIA's top cryptologists were able to make heads or tails of it. But they had more to worry about than just the second cipher. In addition to the greeting card, the Chronicle also received a six-page letter from the Zodiac. The killer spent most of the note bragging about his own intelligence. He also included a diagram of a bomb and threatened to place one in the road to blow up a passing school bus.

But the part that ended up capturing the most attention were his insults to police. He made some detailed claims about hiding in the park after Stein's murder and said that two officers had stopped to talk to him on the street a couple of minutes afterward. Police soundly refuted his claims about the search of the park.

In fact, they believed the Zodiac probably wasn't in the park at all, as his description of their search pattern was incorrect. The part about talking to police officers was another story. Many came to believe that the Zodiac was telling the truth in this instance, and that he was referring to officers, Falk, and Zelms. The same officers had claimed that they'd slowed down upon seeing a white male on the road in the aftermath of the Stein murder, but hadn't stopped to talk to him. Someone was lying. The Zodiac undoubtedly embellished claims and lied about some details in his letters. But Falk had plenty of motivation to blur the truth too, especially considering the reputation of California police was at an all-time low.

If he really did stop to talk to the Zodiac and ended up letting him go, it would have been a significant blunder that put innocent lives at risk. Everyone involved stuck more or less to their stories for decades. We can only speculate about how close police truly came to the Zodiac that night. The question is especially tantalizing as Stein's murder might have been the last and best chance for authorities to catch the Zodiac. In the rest of his six-page letter, the killer vowed to no longer seek credit for his work. He promised to make his future murders look like accidents, so they couldn't be traced back to him. As it turned out, the Zodiac wouldn't completely follow through on his promise. Over the next three years, he continued to send cryptic, taunting letters to the media.

Though he said he would no longer see credit, the Zodiac did claim he'd killed again in some letters following the Stein attack, but its claims were dubious at best. For example, in June of 1970, the Zodiac wrote a letter claiming to have killed a man with a 38-calibre handgun. At the time, there was a recent murder that matched that description, but police were confident that the Zodiac wasn't the assailant. He also never sent along physical evidence or specifics to corroborate his statements as he had in the previous murders. In another letter, he claimed a responsibility for an attempted kidnapping, nearly four months after the fact. But there's no evidence besides the empty threats in his letters to suggest he really was responsible. And writing such a letter so long after the incident was a departure from his previous habit of sending letters only days after he struck.

In addition, his letters following the Stein murder were markedly less coherent. A couple of them contained new ciphers, but they were both less than 35 characters, too short to be realistically solvable. In one, he reiterated his bomb threat, even sending a map to police that he claimed would lead to a hidden explosive. device. It was just another hoax. This lie calls many of the Zodiac's statements into question, which is why there aren't any more confirmed attacks by the killer after the Stein murder. It is possible the Zodiac went on to kill more victims, but it's equally likely that he only pretended to in his letters to spread further fear. Since his messages following the Stein attack became increasingly erratic, there's no way to know for sure.

As we said last week, he got a significant amount of satisfaction from terrorizing the public. The crimes themselves were just a tool in that terror. In several letters, he even included a score tally, seeming to track his own murders against the San Francisco PD's attempts to catch him. The tally eventually read 37 to zero. Even if he did kill some unknown victims, it's doubtful he killed that many. He certainly wasn't suspected in that many attacks. And if he was trying to remain under the radar, the letters directly undermined that purpose.

Everything we know about the Zodiac suggests he was out to spread fear. There would be little utility for him and killing dozens of people without using them to incite a public panic. Falsely inflating his numbers in the hopes of becoming some kind of shadowy boogeyman, on the other hand, makes perfect sense. Even so, the increasingly incoherent nature of his final few letters could reveal a man undergoing some kind of mental breakdown. He might not have had enough control over himself to stop killing, even if he wanted to. Though serial killers are sometimes portrayed as being unable to resist their violent urges,

there are killers who have stopped murdering voluntarily. A 2008 study conducted by the FBI found that serial killers occasionally stop offending if they can find another outlet for their rage or sexual desires. It's possible the Zodiac found another way to seek attention. At the core of the issue is the Zodiac's motivations and his mental state. No matter how smart he thought he was, it's undeniable he only escaped after killing Stein because he was lucky. Many believe that the incident served as a catalyst for his sudden drop-off. The Zodiac may have realized that if he kept killing, he'd likely be caught and would no longer be able to spread fear.

This epiphany might have led him to try and terrorize the Bay Area solely through his letters, a much less risky proposition. But over time, with no proof to back up his claims, the public started paying less and less attention. After none of his bomb threats panned out, many citizens started to see the Zodiac as an an announcement. annoying nuisance rather than a real danger. His greatest legacy may have been in painting the Bay Area Police as bumbling fools. For years after the Zodiac disappeared, departments continued to search for the killer in a struggle to redeem themselves. The case remains open today, but though there were once a couple of prominent suspects, the evidence against each of them was purely circumstantial. No hard evidence was ever found linking a suspect to any Zodiac murder or letter.

The Zodiac was both too careful and too lucky to be stopped. In the end, the Zodiac left behind a stack of letters and a trail of blood that led nowhere. The last confirmed message from the Zodiac was sent in January of 1974. It's tempting to say that the killer got what he wanted. The Zodiac undoubtedly became one of the most infamous killers in American history. But as his final letters reveal, no level of notoriety was ever enough. And when people stopped paying attention to him, he unraveled. Even as the Zodiac name lives on, the man behind the mask has likely died.

His identity is lost to obscurity, like the nobody he truly was. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back Monday with a new episode. For more information on the Zodiac Killer, amongst the many sources we used, we found the book, Haunted, The Zodiac Murders by Mark Hewitt, extremely helpful to our research. You can find more episodes of serial killers for free on Spotify. Cereal Killers was created by Max Cutler.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Dick Schroeder, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Aaron Larson. This episode of serial killers was written by Terrell Wells with writing assistants by Abigail Cannon and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Want to hear something spooky.

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Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.