The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California from at least the late 1960s to the early 1970s. His identity remains unknown. His crimes, letters and cryptograms to police and newspapers inspired many movies, novels, television and more.
This article's list focuses on entertainment ("popular culture") inspired by the events, with a few references to documentary and true crime media.
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The Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969, operating in rural, urban, and suburban settings. He targeted three young couples and a lone male cab driver. The case has been described as "arguably the most famous unsolved murder case in American history," and has become both a fixture of popular culture and a focus for efforts by amateur detectives.
The zodiac is a coordinate system of twelve "signs", based on twelve constellations used in astronomy and astrology.
Zodiac is a non-fiction book written by Robert Graysmith about the unsolved serial murders committed by the "Zodiac Killer" in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early '70s. Since its initial release in 1986, Zodiac has sold 4 million copies worldwide. Graysmith was a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle and later also wrote Zodiac Unmasked.
Zodiac is a 2007 American epic mystery thriller film that was directed by David Fincher and written by James Vanderbilt, based on the nonfiction books by Robert Graysmith: Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002). It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, and Dermot Mulroney in supporting roles.
Copycat is a 1995 American psychological thriller film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, and Dermot Mulroney. The score was composed by Christopher Young. The film follows a criminal psychologist and a homicide detective who must work together to find a serial killer who is committing copycat crimes modeled after notorious murderers.
Heriberto "Eddie" Seda, often referred to as The New York Zodiac or The Brooklyn Sniper, is an American serial killer who was active in New York City from 1990 through 1993. He fatally shot three people and wounded six others before being caught on June 18, 1996.
David Ramon Toschi was an American law enforcement officer widely known for his efforts in the San Francisco Police Department as an inspector in the Zodiac Killer case. His personal style was the model for Bullitt and Dirty Harry.
Gareth Sewell Penn is an American true crime author and amateur detective known for being among the first non-journalists to write about the Zodiac Killer case. He published a theory about the killer's motives, publicly accused a noted UC Berkeley public policy professor of the crimes, and labeled himself a one-time suspect.
Robert Graysmith is an American true crime author and former cartoonist, known for authoring the 1986 book Zodiac, based on his work on the Zodiac Killer case.
Paul Avery was an American journalist, best known for his reporting on the serial killer known as the Zodiac, and later for his work on the Patty Hearst kidnapping and trial. He worked for decades at the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee.
A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modeled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicting said crimes, and/or a live criminal model.
David Joseph Carpenter, known as The Trailside Killer, is an American serial killer and serial rapist known for stalking and murdering a variety of individuals on hiking trails in state parks near San Francisco, California. He attacked at least ten individuals and was convicted in seven murders and was confirmed to be the killer in an eighth murder; Carpenter is also suspected in two additional killings. Two victims, Steven Haertle and Lois Rinna, mother of television personality Lisa Rinna, survived. Carpenter used a .38 caliber handgun in all but one of the killings. A .44 caliber handgun was used in the killing of Edda Kane on Mount Tamalpais.
Curse of the Zodiac is a 2007 American horror film from Lionsgate, written and directed by Ulli Lommel, inspired by the true story of the hunt for a notorious serial killer known as "Zodiac" who claimed responsibility for the still unsolved murders.
Green River Killer is a 2005 American crime film by Ulli Lommel starring George Kiseleff, Jaquelyn Aurora, Georgina Donovan, Shannon Leade, Naidra Dawn Thomson, and Shawn G. Smith. It is based upon the crimes of serial killer Gary Ridgway.
The murder of Cheri Jo Bates occurred in Riverside, California, on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College. Police determined the assailant had disabled the ignition coil wire and distributor of Bates' Volkswagen Beetle as a method to lure her from her car as she studied in the college library. The murder itself remains one of Riverside's most infamous cold cases, and has been described by some locals as a murder which "stripped Riverside of its innocence".
Karl Francis Werner was an American serial killer who was active in Santa Clara County in Northern California. He was convicted of the murder of three teenage girls during his period of activity from 1969 to 1971.
The Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders were a series of at least seven unsolved homicides involving female hitchhikers that took place in Sonoma County and Santa Rosa of the North Bay area of California in 1972 and 1973. All of the victims were found nude in rural areas near steep embankments or in creek beds near roads. Californian police believe that the perpetrator(s) of the Santa Rosa murders "interviewed" potential victims before killing them. Despite extensive investigations, they remain unidentified.
John Linley Frazier, also known as The Killer Prophet, was an American mass murderer who killed five people in Santa Cruz County, California. He was the first of three men who would go on killing sprees in Santa Cruz County in the 1970s; he was followed by Herbert Mullin and Edmund Kemper.
The Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme is an Internet meme which originated in 2013 and gained popularity in 2015. The meme is a satirical conspiracy theory which posits United States senator Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. Ted Cruz was born in 1970 after the last confirmed Zodiac killing. Proponents of this meme generally do not genuinely believe that Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. The absurdity of the premise is the point. According to NPR, the meme captures an unease with Cruz. People "think he's creepy. And they want to point that out, as clearly as they can."
Thousands of men have been named as a possible suspect for the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who was active in California between December 1968 and October 1969. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area, operating in rural, urban, and suburban settings. He targeted three young couples and a lone male cab driver. The case has been described as "arguably the most famous unsolved murder case in American history," and has become both a fixture of popular culture and a focus for efforts by amateur detectives.
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