Murder, Mystery & Makeup - The Chilling Code That Was Never Cracked... Or Was It? - The Zodiac Killer

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday!! Today I dive into one of my most requested episodes EVER... a story many of you have been patiently waiting for: the Zodiac Killer. For over 50 years, the Zodiac has terrified Americans. From isolated lover's lanes to busy city streets, this menacing, hooded murderer unleashed a terrifying spree, targeting young couples, a cab driver, and even threatening a busload of schoolchildren. His taunting letters, cryptic clues, unsolvable ciphers, and bone chilling phone calls kept the public in a frenzy. Even with DNA collected from the crime scenes and relentless investigations (some to this very day), the question remains... who was he? Despite countless theories and compelling arguments for several suspects, one thing is true... Zodiac seems to have gotten away with it. But how?! Why does this case still capture our attention? Why can't we solve it? Why did he do it?! Why why why?! So many questions. Dive in with me, share your theories, and let's explore the enduring mystery of the Zodiac Killer. Also, let me know who you want me to talk about next time. Hope you have a great rest of your week, make good choices and I'll be seeing you very soon. xo Bailey Sarian ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Goodreads: https://bit.ly/44P51lp Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 _________ As an exclusive offer, our listeners can get free turkey or ham in their first box, or choose ground beef for life - PLUS $20 off your first order. Go to ButcherBox.com/MAKEUP to choose your offer and get this limited-time deal, with free shipping always. That’s ButcherBox.com/MAKEUP. Don’t forget to use our link so they know we sent you. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at SHOPIFY.com/makeup. Go to SHOPIFY.com/makeup. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for YOU, for LESS, and save more than fifty percent at SelectQuote.com/MAKEUP. Save more than fifty percent on term life insurance at SelectQuote.com/MAKEUP TODAY to get started.

Hi, friends. How are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian, and today is Monday, which means it's murder, mystery, and makeup Monday. If you are new here, hi, my name is Bailey Sarian, and on Mondays, I like to sit down and talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin, and I do my makeup at the same time. You guys, today, listen, you have been recommending this story since day one, and I've been avoiding it because it's a behemoth of a story, okay? It's just, like one of those cases that we have all heard about and has had people in a chokeholds for years. A killer, sometimes hooded or in a costume, who appears out of nowhere, sometimes on like an isolated lover's lane, a busy city street. Young women and couples seem to be his

preferred target, but then he guns down a cap driver. And then even like targeting a busload of schoolchildren. So there seemed to be a pattern, but then again, like no pattern at all. Just more bloodshed. According to the killer, quote, because it is so much fun, end quote. Then came the taunting letters, the unsolvable ciphers, and the creepy phone calls. This is Zodiac speaking. Today, more than 50 years after the notorious Zodiac killer claimed his last victim, he's still holds our attention hostage. Who was he? Why'd he do it? Is he still out there watching, listening, giggling? Or maybe he's dead. Either way, police to this day still get tips about his identity and the case after all these years still remains open. Investigators, they have his DNA,

still no matches. There have been suspects, but no arrests. Questions, lots of them. But no answers. What really makes the Zodiac unique, though, is like how deeply involved ordinary citizens were in trying to catch him. Even to this day. So, let's talk about the Zodiac killer. So I will start with one case that is believed to be linked to the Zodiac. It may be even, like, his first killing. It was back in June in 1963 at Tujua's Point.

which is like 25 miles west of Santa Barbara, California. At Lompoc High School, I guess it was like the official senior ditch day. So Linda Edwards and her boyfriend, I read it was like her boyfriend, and some said it was her fiancé, Bobby Domingos. They decided to head out to Tahigua's Beach. So the two of them go out there and they set up like in a secluded area where they're just like sunbathing enjoying the day. when Linda and Bobby didn't come home that evening, you know, their parents were calling friends asking like, hey, have you seen Linda or Bobby? Like, we can't figure out where they are. The next day, Bobby's car was found by the beach and nearby. The couple was found bound and tied with like a pre-cut nylon rope. Their bodies were dragged to like a little DIY shack that was built and like set up by the water and rocks. Both of them.

were shot numerous times, and it was just horrifying. The weapon that was used was a 22-caliber semi-automatic, probably a rifle. It appeared that the killer attempted to set fire to the shack, but I guess, like, had no luck and gave up on it. So the murderers received lots of media attention, but unfortunately went unsolved. I mean, there were no witnesses, there were no suspects. Many years later, the police would link the same. crime to the zodiac killer saying that this most likely was like his rehearsal. So three years after

Linda and Bobby's tragic murder, another attack takes place. This time in Riverside, California. Near Riverside Community College. I know. I went there, bitch. It's like when you hear your name in a movie or something, you're like, oh shit. Close to home. Oh, fuck. Anyways, so 18 year old college freshman. Her name was Sherry Bates. She decided to spend her Sunday at the college library to work on a research paper. Witnesses at the library said they saw her there all day up until like 9 p.m. Now, while she was in the library, what she didn't know was that the killer had like followed her there, found her Volkswagen Beetle and disabled the ignition wiring and the distributor. Now, disabling both of these essentially kills the spark system, making the engine dead.

So we got a little mechanic here. When Sherry didn't come home that night, her father called the police and reported her missing. I should have added a disclaimer. I apologize. Today's story is pretty brutal. Sherry had been repeatedly stabbed in the chest and left shoulder and had deep slash wounds to her face and neck. Now, about 10 feet from Sherry's body, investigators discovered a timetect.

Timex? Timex? Yeah. A watch, a wrist watch, along with a footprint of like a military-type boot. The wristwatch found nearby made investigators believe that Sherry, like, fought back. She fought her attacker. And then they also found DNA under her fingernails and scratches. But investigators had no leads.

Remember, this took place before, you know, the DNA technology came into play. so they were like we found DNA take a picture of it like that's really all they could do they had a scooby-do the mysteries back then then on november 29 after sherry's murder two typed letters were sent to the riverside police and the local press now whoever wrote these letters described how sherry was quote most likely lured from her vehicle and then murdered. In the letter, the killer described in detail how he had first disabled her car, then watched her repeatedly attempt to switch on the ignition until her car battery died. Then he said that he went up to her, like knocked on the window when everyone was like, hey, can I help you out, and was able to lure her away from her car. In the letter, he stated that after walking like a short distance from her car, he told her, quote, it's about time, end quote. And then she replied, like, about time for what? To which he said about time for you to die. It was when he said

in the letter, I don't like it. Listen, there was press coverage and media attention, but again, like investigators really had no leads. Then in April of 1967, the Riverside Police Department and Sherry's father. Both of them received handwritten letters. And on a single sheet of paper, it said Bates had to die, there will be more. Now, at the bottom of the letter, each letter, there was a number or a letter, which was either a two or a Z. Could be either one. They weren't sure.

Now, police at the time, they considered this just to be like a really distasteful hoax and didn't think it was much of anything, sadly. Maybe they should have taken it seriously, but I don't know. But Sherry Bates, her tragic death was never solved. Now, similar to Linda and Bobby's case, again, many years later, many believe that these awful murders were linked to the Zodiac before he became, you know, the official zodiac. They think like, you know, that Z or the two at the bottom of the letter was like him trying to figure out what his signature was going to be. or something. So then two years later, on December 20th, 1968, in Benicia, California, there would be another tragic scene.

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best kept secrets is Lake Herman. It's like a big reservoir where, nature lovers go to spot bald eagles, swans, and even river otters. I know. Teenagers really liked this area at the time because of how, like, secluded it was. So they would drive out there, park their car, and make out, you know. It was a little lover's lane situation. So on the night of December 20th, 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen and 17-year-old David Faraday, they took a cruise up to the lover's lane area.

And it was said that they were on their first date. David was said to be like a popular, pretty popular student. He was an Eagle Scout and on the high school wrestling team. Betty Lou was a well-loved honor student. Everyone loved her. That night, David met Betty Lou's parents and promised to have her home by 11 p.m. Then the two of them hopped into David's Rambler Station Wagon and took off for the night. According to witnesses, the station wagon pulled into the Lake Herman Road area.

around 10.15 p.m. It's believed sometime after 11 p.m., David and Betty, were parked at, you know, at the little location, the two of them, when the Zodiac killer pulled up beside their station wagon. A man got out of the vehicle and ordered both of them to get out of the car while holding a 22 handgun. First, he's like firing off at least two warning shots. We know this because one of the the shots shattered the right rear window, while the second shot struck the interior ceiling of the car. Betty Lou and David both got out of the car, you know, doing what this man's telling them to do, and then within seconds, shots were fired. David was shot beneath the lower portion of his left ear, causing a fatal brain injury. He fell to the ground next to the right

rear wheel of his car. It's believed that Betty, Lou, she actually tried to make a run for it because she was further out from the car, but sadly, she was shot numerous times in her back, falling to the ground, again, about like 33 feet from the car. Around 11.20 p.m., someone who was, like, driving by the location, spotted the car and the victims laying out and called police. Sadly, both David and Betty would not make it. Investigators found 10 bullet casings at the scene, and unfortunately, it was like a really cold night that evening, it was 22 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 5 degrees Celsius, so the ground was pretty frozen. And because of this, like investigators, they couldn't find any fresh tire tracks or

like footprints that were, hopefully, may have been left behind. But police concluded that the attack took place during a six-minute window. So it was quick. They believe it happened between 11 and 11.06 p.m. Whoever did it came in, attacked, and then got out. There seemed to be just no motive. The couple, you know, they had no cash or valuables on them, so robbery was ruled out, and autopsies revealed that there were no signs of sexual assault. At first, detectives they homed in on a classmate of Betty Lou's. His name was Ricky. Fellow classmates told police that Ricky, like he was talking about how he wanted to beat up David, how Betty Lou was like his girl, you know, it was beef. Plus, Betty Lou had mentioned that she,

did not like Ricky and just was creeped out by him. According to her, this rookie guy would like drive by her house at night so she would make sure to keep her curtains closed because she was worried that Ricky was outside looking in her window, just being a freaking creep. So police are like, okay, we got to look into this guy. So Ricky was questioned and looked into, but nothing came of it. Police, they wrote him off as like a creep, but he was not the killer. The Lake Herman double murder was believed to be the work of a complete stranger, and Betty and David were just targeted at random. Again, I mean, the media and everyone was reporting on it, but like there were no answers, and police really didn't know where to go from here. But then, seven months later, and less than four miles away, this case took a sharp turn.

It was the 4th of July, 1969 in Vallejo, California. not far from Benicia, 22-year-old Darlene Farron and her friend, 19-year-old Michael Mago, were sitting in her brown Corvair in the Blue Rock Springs Park parking lot. I guess it was like a golf course or something, but they're in the parking lot. So, Darlene, she was young, right, 22. She's married, she was a new mom. She just had a baby. And she was pretty popular at the local diner that she worked at.

Like, everyone loved her. Everyone loved her. It was said that she met Michael at her work and the two were friends. I guess her husband was working that night. So Darlene asked Michael if he wanted to go to the movies or, like, grab a bite to eat once she got off of work. And he agreed. So after work, Darlene picked him up and she told Michael that she wanted to talk to him about something. So they headed to Blue Rock Springs to park, park the car, and just talk.

Now, when they first pulled up, there were, like, other people in the area, but at some point, it was getting late and the other cars left. So, you know, later, it was just the two of them in this parking lot. It was like almost midnight, okay? Another car, another car pulls up, pulls into the lot, I guess about like six or eight feet away from their car on the left side of her vehicle. So Michael said he, like, turned to Darlene and asked her if she knew who the person was. He was like, do you know who that is? Darlene responded by saying, oh, never mind, Michael said he wasn't sure what she meant by that. He's like, what?

But before he could ask, the car that was parked reversed out and then sped off. It was like, okay, weird, but whatever, you know. So not even like five minutes later, that same car returned, pulled into the parking lot right up to the right of Garleen's car about 10 feet back. But this time, the driver got out of the car and was holding a bright light or flashlight and like shining it, shining the light directly at them. Now, this person was just walking silently up to the passenger side door. Michael, he said he assumed it was like a cop, just wondering what they were doing out so late. So he started to like reach in his pocket for his wallet and his ID. But then suddenly he heard this muffled sound and felt,

a burning pain in his neck and his back. He realized like he'd been shot. So now he said he tried to scramble over the back seat to get away from the gunman. And when doing so, he got shot like in his left knee. The killer then turned his attention to Darlene, shooting her in each arm and in her back as she like tried to turn away. Finally, after like just this freaking chaos, the gunman stopped and just started. walking back to his car. So Michael, obviously in pain, he started to, like, cry out or yell or something,

but he was making noises. And the killer, I guess, hears him. So he comes back. And he puts two more bullets into Michael and Darlene before casually walking away and driving off. Like, he didn't even speak a word. Okay. Michael was still alive. Okay. He managed to climb over the seat, open the car door, and like just tumbled out. He was unable to like wave down a passing car who then went on to get help. A 911 call came in at around 12, 10 a.m. About, you know, two people getting shot at Blue Rock Springs. But then a second call came in about 40 minutes later.

This time, it was from the killer. During the 911 call, it was said that the man, the killer, was speaking in like a low, monotone voice and seemed to be reading from a script. Because like when the dispatcher was like asking questions, the caller was just like, again, following his little script, just talking over her. But he was calling to report a murder. He then gave directions and said police would find kids in a brown car that they had been shot with a nine millimeter luger. And he said he was responsible for the attack. But then he also told the dispatcher, quote, I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye.

and then hung up. No, he was referring to the Lake Herman Road murders. So they were able to trace the call, and they traced it back to like a pay phone outside of gas station, just a few blocks away from the Vallejo Police Department. Now, when they went there, the phone booth had been wiped down, and like no fingerprints were retrieved. Meanwhile, police went out to the scene where they determined nine shots were fired.

Seven casings were retrieved. Sadly, Darlene would pass a warrant. way, Michael, he was taken to the hospital and he would, he would survive. So while he's at the hospital, he was able to give a description, um, about the man that he kind of, he kind of saw, you know, he described the attacker as five foot eight extremely heavy set, but not in a quote, blubbery fat way, saying that he had to be about like a hundred and ninety five pounds and had a very large face. So police realized they were dealing with a real psycho.

You know, the local papers were reporting about the attacks in hopes to find the killers, killer. There were leads and rumors, but again, like, it just led investigators nowhere. One month after the attack, the killer resurfaced. This time, though, it was by mail. Oh, yes. Three Bay Area newspapers each received a handwritten letter with a separate message written in like some kind of code. It went into great detail about the July 4th attack.

In the letter, you know, he's just, the writer was describing how the couple, how they were sitting in the car, how Michael had like jumped into the back seat and mentioned how he, quote, did not leave the scene of the killing with squealing tires as described in the Vallejo paper. that he actually drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to his car. So he's like, you guys got it wrong. I drove away like actually really slow. Oh my God, you guys are so dramatic. But in the letters, he had described details that were like not public information. So they knew that whoever wrote these letters was most likely the one that did it.

Now again, along with the letters were ciphers and codes. which consisted of tiny handwritten symbols, little squares, little doodabs, shapes, funky-looking letters. It was a little, like, little puzzle, you know? Then there was a single circle with a cross through it, like the crosshairs of a rifle. This seemed to be like his signature symbol. The writer teased that the code, that he, the cipher, would reveal his identity, only if they could solve it. Now, the letter ended with a warning. If the newspapers failed to print and share his cipher by the following afternoon,

the killer vowed to spend the weekend shooting random people and couples until he reached a dozen victims. So, well, you know, all three newspapers were like, fucking print the cipher, okay? So the threats of like, you know, rampage, ignited public fear and everyone who saw this was trying to help and decode the message. And again, like when you think about it, people love a puzzle. So everyone was just trying to like figure out what this was. Now within a week, a schoolteacher and his wife felt like they had deciphered the message and sent their solution to the San Francisco Chronicle. Now, this little lion son of a bitch, it did not reveal his identity.

Okay. But it did give like a glimpse into this person's booked up head. Okay. In the letter, it said, quote, I like killing people because it is so much fun. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife, end quote. So he's a liar. No name. Okay. Now the letters from this killer would just like keep coming. There's a but a jillion of them. So I apologize. I won't be reading you all of them. Plus I had a really hard time reading this person's handwriting. But the one thing that was like, consistent. with the letters was that it always started with this is the zodiac speaking well after this it went quiet for more than a month but the zodiac wasn't done just on the move you know when you have like a really

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Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash makeup. go to shopify.com slash makeup shopify.com slash makeup so then 1969 september lake bariessa 20 year old brian hartnell and 22 year old cecilia shepherd they were old friends attending separate colleges cecilia she was visiting napa valley for the weekend so she and brian decided to get together hang out and have a picnic at Lake Beriasa on September 27th, 1969. It was a Saturday. So they grabbed a picnic blanket and a pack of cards and drove to the lake that afternoon to hang out and just enjoy the day.

They ended up like settling, you know, beneath a large tree and were just enjoying the scenery. The area that they were at where they set up was like pretty secluded. So they're sitting down, they're like, la, la, la. And Cecilia, she noticed that, like, a man seemed to be watching them from a distance. She thought he was acted a bit strange. He was kind of like hiding behind a tree, just looking in their direction. And, you know, you get that feeling. You're like, something ain't right.

Something ain't right here. I don't like this. Or maybe he was just like a tree hugger. Either way. I don't like that. Then the man came out wearing a large black cloth hood that covered his entire head like an executioner or like a medieval style mask situation. It's giving KKK kind of, okay, honestly. On the chest of the outfit was a white three-inch circle with a cross drawn over it.

you know like the cross hair thing situation he seemed to be wearing clip on sunglasses over the eye cut holes eye cut out holes hole cut eyes you know the holes clip on glasses were over those holes not only that he was holding a gun and head in in their direction oh fuck no hell hell nope what do you do i don't know i don't know i don't know oh shit i don't like this one the whole The outfit? Uh-uh. Uh-uh. So then this man approaches him, and he tells them that he was an escaped convict from Montana and that he just killed a prison guard. He told Brian to give him his car keys and money so he could flee to Mexico.

Quite the story, huh? I'd be like, why the outfit, though? What's that about? So Brian, he tried to talk with the man, trying to build some kind of, like, rapport in hopes to keep the situation calm. Brian told him, look, I don't have any cash. I don't have anything but, like, here, like, here's my car keys. He's like, I'll do whatever to help. So then the man pulled out a long, pre-cut plastic clothesline and told Cecilia to tie Brian's hand, his hands behind his back.

So she did it, but she did it like as loosely as she could, okay? But the killer, the man, went and like tightened Brian's bonds and then proceeded to tie Cecilia's hands behind her back. Brian said that he noticed that like he could see the man, the killer's, like hands shaking while he was doing it. So it was it, was it nerves? I don't know, but he was shaking a little bit. But then with no warning, the man pulled out a long serrated knife and plunged it into Brian's back six times. Now Brian, he said that he essentially just kind of played dead. okay just you know he he just played dead but then the attacker did the same thing to cecilia only worse like going into a frenzy

stabbing her in the back in the stomach as she rolled around attempting to minimize the impact of the blade and then as like as soon as he appeared he was done and then the hooded man just walked away the killer then walked over to brian's car where he took a marker and drew the cross cross hair symbol the cross circle symbol on the car door now beneath the symbol he wrote out the dates of his previous attacks then the current date and time with the words by knife brian was still alive okay wow so he untied himself and then he freed cecilia a local fisherman and his son heard their screams and went to help they both were rushed to the hospital Sadly, Cecilia would die, but Brian would survive the attack.

Could you imagine? God, and then afterwards, like, oh my God, you'd be so thankful that you survived, but also the guilt of it all and just all like, oh, the whole thing. Just awful. Almost an hour after the attack, a man called the Napa Sheriff's Department from a payphone. It was like 27 miles from the crime scene. The caller said, I want to report a murder. No, a double murder.

Then went on to describe where the victims were located and what vehicle they were driving. He ended the call with, I'm the one that did it. Click. Get a hobby, my God. Why you got to kill people? It's so lame. I don't like a killer in a costume. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.

That's some of them, nightmares right there. Yeah. Brian was able to give a description of the attack. and also like what happened. I considered him a robber. I had absolutely no thought that he was anything but that. And when we're at this robbery stage, I didn't consider any real threat to my life or to or to the girl or anything.

I really didn't consider this. I really wanted to help him. Did he seem as though he would like your help at all? No, he didn't. And he didn't even end up taking the money. Even though he was wearing like the hood and whatnot, he could see like brown hair kind of coming through the eye hole things. That the attacker was like, chewed.

25 to 250 in weight, that he had a large belly that hung over his pleaded pants and was around 5.8 to 5.10. Brian also explained that the band had like a unique way of talking. Some sources say that Brian mentioned he had some kind of drawl or accent. And then some sources say that that's not what he said, that actually he had like a slow, soft, monotone voice. So this time detectives, they were able to get like some good evidence at the scene. The attacker left visible footprints to and from the crime scene. Later, believed to be a 10 and a half in size style military boot called wing walkers. Based off the victim's injuries, they believe the blade was similar to a bayonet type weapon, about nine to 11 inches in length and one inch in width.

Now, of course, there was like a lot of police and press coverage following the attack. The evidence was helpful, but again, there were like no solid leads. So then two weeks after the Lake Beriesa attack, on Saturday, October 11th, 1969, 29-year-old cab driver Paul Stein gets a call to pick up a passenger and drop them off at a wealthy San Francisco neighborhood, Presidio Heights. So Paul accepts the ride, whatever, you know? Now, it said that Paul picked up the man standing in front of a, like, smoke shop, and there was like a movie theater right next to it. Now, the movie theater was showing the film, The Macado. Some sources say this part isn't true, and then the other sources say this part is true.

But here's the thing. If it is true, what is interesting is that in one of the letters sent by the Zodiac in 1974, actually quoted a line from the movie slash musical, The Macado. Now, the Macado is like a 1967 British musical film adaptation of Gilbert. and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera. The line from the letter was, he plunged himself into the billowy wave and an echo arose from the suicides grave.

Twitwillow, twitwillow, twitwillow, now this is like a paraphrased version from the song on a tree by a river, also known as Willow Twitwillow from the Mikado. It's believed that the Zodiac used this line or whatever to add, like mocking theatrical flare to his letters, you know? The lines below we wave and suicides grave don't appear verbatim in the song. So, like, he got a little creative with the lyrics, possibly to sound more poetic or haunting.

But there was a correlate, like, the person that wrote the letters seemed to like this little musical, this little musical, yeah. Anyway, so going back to Paul Stein, cab driver. So a few minutes before 10 p.m. Paul Stein pulled his cab to a stop in the Presidio Heights neighborhood, the man that he picked up, the passenger, then pulled out a 9mm gun and shot Paul in the right side of his head, killing him instantly. Now, what the killer didn't know was that directly across the street, there were some teenagers in their home looking out the window. watching all of this go down. So after killing Paul,

they saw the man, like, remove a section of Paul's shirt. Like, he cut it off. He cut off a piece of pole's shirt. Then used a shirt to, like, wipe down different parts of the, of inside, like the taxi. Then got out of the car and wiped down the outside of the front passenger door. Then went and, like, wiped down the driver's side door handle. The killer then just, like, strolled away.

Up the street. So the witnesses, obviously, call police. They described the man as like 5-8, heavy build, having a reddish blonde, like, crew-cut hair. The man was wearing glasses, dark brown trousers. He was wearing, like, a parker jacket that was either black or navy blue, and then dark shoes. Now, unfortunately, the police dispatcher fucked up. Okay, listen. They got the description wrong.

So they put out over police radio to be on the lookout for a black male suspect. Freaking joke. Don't know how they got that wrong, right? Okay. So police are driving in the area looking for a black male suspect. And it was said that like police, you know, came into the neighborhood, looking like where the killer was believed to be walking. It said that a police officer even like pulled over and talked to a man.

asked a man if he saw anyone leaving the scene. It's believed that this police officer literally stopped and talked to the killer. It was the killer. Yeah, they fucked up. They fucked up big time. Paul's body would be discovered, you know, just bloody, lifeless and slumped across the front passenger seat. They looked at the taxi meter and it read $6.25 at 10.46 p.m. So this, like, gave investigators essentially a time stamp of when the crime took place.

Fingerprints were taken from the cap door handles, and they were able to get bloody prints from the doorpost between the driver's side door and the left rear passenger door. Now, investigators, they saw that a portion of Paul's shirt was cut off. Most likely it was done, like, with a knife. It sucks because the killer got away and, p. part of all they talked to him. So a few days later, a letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle leading with that familiar greeting. This is the Zodiac speaking. So the writer of the letter claimed credit for Paul Stein's murder. And to prove it, he provided evidence. It was a bloodstained piece of Paul Stein's shirt. In the letter, the Zodiac mocked police saying,

They could have caught him if they had searched the park properly, along with a threat to kill school children, saying, quote, school children make nice targets. I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire, then pick off the kitties as they come bouncing out. So, again, this was like put out there. The public was in a frenzy. Kids are now involved. So parents were like holding them back from going to school or taking the book. bus. Police started following school buses to and from schools, not just in San Francisco,

but like all the way down to Southern California. Luckily, there were no incidents reported, but it definitely had everyone on edge. And honestly, I feel like a lot of people just frustrated, like, how have you not caught the guy, you know? Along with it was another cipher consisting of 340 symbols. And it's also known as the Z-340 cipher. So, the letter, again, was released to the public, a mathematician, computer programmer, warehouse operator, put their heads together, and believed to have decoded the cipher. In summary, it said, I hope you are having lots of fun trying to catch me. I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise. I now will have enough slaves to work for me and that he was not afraid of

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slash makeup today to get started. That's select quote.com slash makeup. So mind you, like there were a lot, a lot of letters coming in, okay? But another one had came in because this man had a lot of free time. And it was one of the longest letters Zodiac had sent. In it, it said that police, they had actually stopped him near Paul Stein's murder, but they let him go. In this letter, it also included a bomb recipe and a diagram of the explosive that he was working on. So the witnesses from Paul Stein's murder, they linked up. with a police sketch artist to draw up a composite picture of the man they saw that night.

That was then released to the public, 1971. A man named Don Cheney saw in the newspaper the Zodiac letter about attacking school children. And this sounded all too familiar to him. So Don, he went to police and told them that he had lived with a man named, named Arthur Lee Allen's brother and that they would all go like fishing together. So he told police, I remember like Arthur having 22 pistols and rifles and he had like a lot of weapons. But there was this one time when they were fishing together where Arthur talked about hunting

people and how it would take a certain type of skill to do so. He was like, okay, odd, but okay, whatever, you know. And what really stood out to him was that Arthur talked about shooting the tires off a school bus and, quote, picking the little darlings off as they come bouncing out of the bus. End quote. Now, this is what made Don go to police because it was very similar to what was said in the Zodiac letter. Don said, like, originally when this was mentioned to him, he just like didn't say, because he loki thought Arthur was just like a weirdo, you know, and that he never hung out

with him again. But the letter, he was like, I have to say something. Well, now police, you know, they had this name, Arthur Lee Allen. So they locate him. Okay, they pay him a visit at his place of work in Vallejo, California. Police noted that Arthur did match the height and weight description that he was wearing the type of like boot that would match the print in evidence and they even took notice of his watch a zodiac diving watch now it was said that arthur was an avid swimmer and that the watch was a gift coincidences you know so police got a search warrant for arthur's uh he was living in a trailer in santa rosa california so you know they get the warrant they take a look inside.

It was said they opened up his freezer. And inside his freezer, they found frozen hamsters, squirrels, frozen birds, as well as, like, the insides of animals in jars. They shut the freezer. They were like, okay, noted. From his home, they took handwriting samples, hunting knives, a wooden dildo from under his bed, boots that would match those prints found out the crime scene. But unfortunately, they found no hard evidence linking Arthur to the crimes. Having dead squirrels in your freezer and a wooden

dildo isn't illegal. Was having dead squirrels in your fridge? Well, I don't think so. Yeah, you know, yeah. Plus the military style boots that they took, very common in the military world. So it's like it wasn't, again, it's like it wasn't, you know, it wasn't enough to make an arrest. But when all this happened, Arthur's name was not like publicly released. Still throughout the years, a lot of letters were coming in with ciphers and codes, just taunting police. They had tons and tons of suspects. People were calling in with their theories and, you know, everyone was like just trying to help. But it led them nowhere.

Then the letters stopped, the cipher stopped, and everything went silent in 1974. Years passed, no letters, no brutal murders, no mysteries. I mean, was he finally done? Maybe he died. Was the killer arrested? I mean, nobody knew. Maybe, yeah. Police didn't hear anything from so-called Zodiac, from 1974 to 1977.

It was like, okay, maybe we, maybe it's over, you know? Well, in April of 1978, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter claiming to be from the Zodiac. So all these years later, I mean, was it finally him? Was it really him? Was he back? This letter is often called the Zodiac hoax letter. It's like one of the more controversial Zodiac letters because many experts, including being original investigators believe it was not written by the real Zodiac.

But the letter was essentially saying he was back, he was like calling people pigs, and that he was now in control of all things. The FBI and the San Francisco police believed that the letter was possibly written by someone trying to revive interest in the case. They believed it wasn't him because the handwriting just didn't match previous letters. People who had been studying and following the Zodiac case closely thought, again, it was a fake. But then there were many who thought, like, it was legit.

It was probably from him. I mean, years had passed, yes, like maybe the writer was older, you know, handwriting can change over time. Maybe he changed his handwriting on purpose. I don't know, very mixed feelings on that letter. Many, many years go by. Then in late 1990, a man named Ralph Suss. Spinelli was facing multiple armed robbery charges and he had something to say. Ralph said that he could identify the zodiac killer only if they would give him some kind of deal

to reduce his own sentence. He told investigators that this man he met a while back, his name was Arthur Lee Allen, had once confided in him about plans to go to San Francisco and kill a cab driver. Now, shortly after that conversation, that's when Paul Stein's murder happened. Now, this was interesting to investigators because, again, Arthur's name wasn't put out there publicly. And now this was the second time his name was mentioned as the Zodiac. I mean, it was quite the coincidence. So just one month after Ralph, you know, came forward, police once again got a search warrant for Arthur Lee Allen's home in February of 1991. Now at this point, Arthur was living with his mom, but like in the basement.

They get the search warrant, they go in. And this time, they find some very interesting items. Okay. Listen. Listen. Listen. during their search, they found four pipe bombs, explosives, one primer cord, seven railroad torpedoes. I was like, what in the cartoon villain is this? They found newspaper clippings of all the

zodiac-related media. They found drawings and designs on how to make bombs similar to the ones drawn in the Zodiac letters. They also found a royal brand manual typewriter, tongue-tied there, which was said to be consistent with the typed Zodiac letters. So Arthur was brought into the station for further questioning. You know, I'm thinking, okay, you got the guy. That's him, right? You know, he's got bombs. Yeah. But after being brought into questioning, no arrest was made. He didn't confess to anything. He's like, I just like fucking drawn bombs and stuff, you know? Despite all the red flags they found, investigators did not have concrete evidence linking him again to the crimes. Everything they had was circumstantial. They took Arthur's fingerprints. They did not match the prince lifted from Paul Stein's murder.

Arthur's handwriting did not match the zodiac letters. Arthur's DNA was taken and it did not match the saliva that was lifted from stamps on the zodiac letters until they were like shit man Arthur seemed to have like an obsession with codes and ciphers he lived near the crime scenes he matched some of the descriptions he owned a zodiac brand watch he had a criminal past yeah Arthur was arrested for child molestation and was put in a mental institution during 1974 to 1977 the same time

the Zodiac went silent he was making bombs and collecting odd weapons but police were like that doesn't mean he was the Zodiac I'm like okay alright I mean okay

in my mind I'm like if the dude's making homemade bombs isn't that enough just to arrest him not even for like Zodiac whatever he's making bombs like Arthur sir what are you planning to do with all these bombs What? You know, that part happened, you're like really confused, right? Like, what? You could just make bombs and like, just nothing happens? Well, I got to Google in. And under federal law, for someone to be charged with possessing bomb making materials, there needs to be either a completed device in possession or a clear evidence of intent to use those materials for an unlawful purpose. Apparently, the bombs they found were not.

fully completed, I guess. Suspicious, yes. Illegal? Not quite. Without a finished bomb or, like, documented plans to use it, police couldn't justify an arrest strictly on what they found. Kind of concerning. I'm like, all right, so, okay, I mean, he found all these bombs and, okay, all right, okay, all right. Arthur was questioned. He denied any involvement, and then he was released. He definitely remained a prime suspect but was never charged. Throughout the years the Zodiac cases had a grip on people. I mean, there are tons and tons of dedicated websites, internet threads, books, movies, anything and everything is out there all dedicated to figuring out who this killer really was. The thing is, for every suspect put forth, like you can find information with very convincing

arguments as to like who he is and you're like yeah but then you can find like great arguments debunking those claims it's so confusing i'm lost in my mind because it's so much time i was just like what yeah it's just wait what what what it's just there's so much out there and like to this day there are two zodiac ciphers that remain unsolved. One is the Z-13 cipher. It was sent on or sent in April of 1970. It contained 13 characters. And the other one is the Z-32 cipher,

which was sent in June of 1970, which has 32 characters. I mean, will these give further answers? Personally, I think not. Many believe that they most likely were intentionally short to mislead or mock rather than actually like be solvable. Or maybe, maybe they will give a name. So, name them. Name them.

It's like the only housewife, me, I know. Look, people, investigators, internet slews have named suspects that they believe to be the zodiac. I'll list the top suspects out there that I came across. Sorry if I missed some. There is a lot. First and foremost is Arthur Lee Allen, who we talked about. He had a military background, was an elementary school teacher where he taught his students how to communicate with codes or ciphers. His students later said that he would play music from the Macado. I mean, people are allowed to like it, but you know, okay. He's the most widely believed suspect. Arthur passed away in 1992. two at the age of 58, and I must say, if you haven't watched the show on Netflix called This Is a Zodiac speaking, it's three episodes. And at first I was like, I don't want to watch that. Like, it's just, you know, whatever, but it was actually really good. I know those of you

who are close to the case, you might be rolling your eyes, because a lot of people think it wasn't Arthur. But damn, in that show, they made a very compelling case. After watching it, I was like, yep, Arthur, it was him. I don't know why we're questioning it. It was. was in. But then again, I personally get convinced with every suspect mentioned because people have put together some very compelling evidence. The internet sleuths are so good. I should do my brows. I haven't done my brows. Who am I? In 2021, a group of independent investigators known as the case breakers believed that a man named Gary Francis Post, an Air Force veteran who died in 2018 was a zodiac killer. Now, they cited circumstantial evidence such as facial scars matching the police sketches.

It was said that Gary had boasted about killing people, was obsessed with guns, violence, and was also obsessed with the Zodiac case. Someone said, I don't know who. Someone had come forward and said that he, this scary guy, had hinted at being the killer. When Gary was in the Air Force, he had skills in mechanics and cryptoccurts. and cryptography. He lived in California and had connections to Vallejo. He also moved around often mirroring Zodiac's movement pattern. However, the FBI and local authorities said that Gary's DNA has never matched to the Zodiacs

and that most of the claims have been just pure speculation and lacked physical proof. But I was like, okay, okay, maybe, I don't know. Another suspect was a man named Richard Gikowski. He seems to be a popular one. People really think it was this guy. Richard was working for an underground newspaper at the time. And his writing kind of echoed the zodiac's tone. It was said that Richard would disappear for like periods of time around key zodiac attacks and murders and then would like magically resurface one day.

Never explaining where he was. He was just gone and then would be like, oh, I'm back now. Some say that Richard's voice matched the voice of the zodiac almost exactly. Richard was said to be very intelligent. He was eccentric and into wordplay. Allegedly he had like military co-training. He resembled, you know, the police sketch that was put out there. He was known to change his name and use pseudonyms,

something that the zodiac also liked to do. But again, there was no physical. evidence linking him to the case. Then there was Lawrence Kane. Lawrence lived in the area and matched victim descriptions. He was diagnosed with brain damage, which affected impulse control. Allegedly, it was said that he stalked Darlene Farron before her murder. But there was no direct evidence linking him to the crimes. Many of the claims were speculative. Speculative. Speculative. Speculative? Speculative. Then, another suspect, Ross Sullivan. Now Ross, he worked at the Riverside College library where Sherry Bates was killed. After her murder, Ross, I guess just had like vanished,

disappeared, goodbye. It was said that he looked like the Zodiac sketch. He had a history of mental illness, but there was no evidence linking him to the Bay Area killings. But it's possible, like, some believe that he may be responsible for the Sherry Bates murder since that case itself has been debated whether it was linked to Zodiac or not. Like maybe, maybe he was responsible for Sherry. Her murder still remains unsolved. They all do, to be clear. Next on the list, Earl Van Best Jr. So Earl was actually accused by his estranged son in the 2014. book titled The Most Dangerous Animal of All. Yeah, his son wrote a book and was like, I think my dad's a zodiac.

Earl was said to match the police sketch and his handwriting was similar to the letters. Earl had a criminal past, including marrying a 14-year-old. But the book was discredited by experts. This is what they said, not me. They said that the son who wrote the book was just like working out his own person. trauma. Earl's DNA was not a match, as far as we know, and Earl had no connection to the Bay Area crimes. Now, these were the names that I kept coming across the most, but to be fair, there are so many other theories out there. There's so many. And I could totally understand

why people, again, are so involved with this case, because it's a real mystery. For some reason, Like Zodiac, I never really got too much into it. And then when I was working on this, oh, bitch, I was like, oh, fuck, I get it. It goes so deep. There's so many layers, so many theories, so many, so many things. You're just like, what the? I get it. I get it now.

I'm sorry. I get it. Look, at the end of the day, the Zodiac case still remains open. Still, all those murders unsolved. With all the new tools, science, and developments when it comes to like solving crimes, maybe one day we will get like a solid answer. People are invested and determined to figure out who the Zodiac killer was. And I think what makes the Zodiac different from all the other killers, well, he actually got away with it. Right?

Right. Right. Yep. I'm just going to tell you. I gave you, like, just a little TLDR version. If you want, there's just so much out there if you want to just learn more. There's a lot. There's a lot.

It was a lot. I don't know. I just, I wonder if it will ever be truly solved. I hope so, right? I think people really found this interesting because of the codes and ciphers. I think us as humans, we like trying to figure. it out like that, yeah? I mean, you play wordle, don't you? I do. Do you think in these unsolved ciphers, it will give any further information, do we think? Or do you think it's like, I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know what to think. Well, okay, here's what I really do think. I do think it was Arthur, but at the same time, how come they didn't find, like, any concrete evidence? But what would be concrete, Bailey? He could have used someone else to lick the stamps, right? Like, they keep saying like no one's DNA matches the stamps, but it's like maybe he wasn't licking the stamps. What if he got like a dog or someone to lick the stamps? Plus, when it comes to this Arthur guy, what was up with his mom and his brother and stuff like his family? Did they know anything? The fingerprints? Whose prints were those? I don't know. Were these murders all the same guy? Because there's a lot of theories out there that believe actually none of these murders

were the same guy. That's why this is such a wild mystery. At the end of the day, I just, it's like, who, who is responsible for these tragic murders, you know? Fucking scary. Maybe we'll never know. But we don't like that. We don't like that answer. Um, if you haven't watched that Netflix docu series thing, this is the Zodiac speaking, highly recommend. Oh, wow.

I was like, it was Arthur. Deep breath. Okay. Wow, this was a journey. All right. It really was. When I get home, I'm still going to further. I am not done.

This could be 18 parts. I get it. I get it now. Thank you for hanging out with me today. I hope we have a wonderful rest of your day. Be safe out there. Listen, this is kind of morbid and dark, but it's the truth. If you ever get attacked, and I pray it never happens to you, but if it does, make sure to

scratch the shit out of the attacker and get all the DNA under your fingernails, okay? that's one thing okay we have the technology now mystery should not go and solved thank you have a good day make a choices be safe out there okay i appreciate you um so much and i will be seeing you guys later goodbye