Zodiac Killer suspects

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A composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer made in 1969 Zodiac-Killer.jpg
A composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer made in 1969

Thousands of men have been named as a possible suspect for the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active 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.

Contents

In 2012, The Guardian wrote that over 2,500 people have been brought up as a possible Zodiac suspect, and at least a half-dozen names were credible. [1] The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) had investigated an estimated 2,500 suspects by 2009. [2] Richard Grinell, who runs the website Zodiac Ciphers, said in 2022 that "there are probably 50 or 100 suspects named every year". [3]

While many theories regarding the identity of the Zodiac have been suggested, the only suspect authorities ever publicly named was Arthur Leigh Allen, a former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender who died in 1992. Other suspects seen as viable include Earl Van Best Jr., Gary Francis Poste, Giuseppe Bevilacqua, Lawrence Kane, Paul Doerr, Richard Gaikowski, and Richard Marshall.

Background

The Zodiac Killer claimed in messages to newspapers to have committed thirty-seven murders. Investigators agree on seven confirmed assault victims, all in Northern California, of whom five died and two survived:

The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting messages that he mailed to regional newspapers, threatening killing sprees and bombings if they were not printed. He also said that he was collecting his victims as slaves for the afterlife. Some letters included cryptograms or ciphers; of the four codes he produced, two remain unsolved while the others were cracked in 1969 and 2020. The last confirmed Zodiac letter was sent in 1974, in which he claimed to have killed thirty-seven victims. He had said earlier that many of them were in Southern California, including Cheri Jo Bates, who was murdered in Riverside in 1966; a connection between the two has not been proven. [4]

Arthur Leigh Allen

Arthur Leigh Allen was a teacher and convicted child molester. He remains the only publicly-named suspect by the police. Several of his friends have claimed that he had called himself The Zodiac, that he liked to shoot young couples in Lover's Lanes, and that he had aspirations to write a book about a serial killer named The Zodiac. Additionally, the timing of his imprisonment and the Zodiac's known correspondence with the police aligns perfectly. By far the lead most pursued by the police, he was the subject of several searches, but was never arrested. In the early 2000s, DNA and fingerprints believed to belong to the Zodiac were compared to Allen, but the results were inconclusive. True crime author Robert Graysmith wrote two books in 1986 and 2002, in which Allen's culpability was strongly suggested. Zodiac , a 2007 film based on Graysmith's books, portrayed Allen as the likely killer. [5] [6]

Earl Van Best Jr.

In 2014, Gary Stewart and Susan Mustafa published a book, The most-mangerous Animal of all: Searching for my Father... and finding the Zodiac Killer, in which Stewart claimed his search for his biological father, Earl Van Best Jr., led him to conclude Van Best was the Zodiac. [7] Stewart based his theory on circumstantial evidence, including a composite sketch resembling Van Best, partial fingerprint and handwriting matches, encrypted messages in Zodiac letters, and partial DNA connections. [8]

In 2020, the book was adapted for FX Network as a documentary series. [9] To validate Stewart's claims, the producers enlisted private investigator Zach Fechheimer, who uncovered that Stewart had manipulated a police report and traced Van Best to being present in Europe during the Zodiac's known activities. Additionally, experts discredited the DNA analysis and the handwriting and fingerprint matches. The producers chose to withhold their findings until near the end of the documentary's production to minimize their impact on both the series and Stewart. Six months after production, director Kief Davidson stated that he thought Stewart's father was not the Zodiac, while executive producer Ross Dinerstein remained uncertain about Van Best's potential involvement. [8]

Gary Francis Poste

Poste in a 2016 mugshot Gary Francis Poste.jpg
Poste in a 2016 mugshot

In 2021, the Case-Breakers, an independent group made up of around forty "former law enforcement officials, academics, journalists, and former military intelligence workers", [10] claimed they had identified Gary Francis Poste, a man who died in 2018, as both the Zodiac and the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates. [11] [12] The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that the case remained open and that there were "no new information to report". [12] Local law enforcement expressed skepticism regarding the team's findings. [12] Riverside investigator Ryan Railsback said the Case-Breakers' claims largely relied on circumstantial evidence. [11] [13] Rumors about Poste as a suspect had been investigated by the SFPD in 2017. They visited his jail, but declined to say if they interviewed him. [14] In 2023, the Case-Breakers claimed an FBI whistleblower told them the bureau had considered Poste a suspect since 2016. [15]

Poste was a veteran of the United States Air Force. [15] He had a history of violence; he pushed his wife into a wall, breaking her pelvis, and a male relative claimed Poste tried to attack him with a hammer. Poste allegedly had a group of young male followers whom he trained to be "killing-machines", and who often attacked animals. [16] One piece of evidence used by the Case-Breakers involved forehead-scars that were supposedly present on both Poste and the Zodiac. [10] Tom Voigt called the claims "bullshit", noting that no witnesses in the case described the Zodiac as having forehead-scars. [17] The Case-Breakers also said that the Zodiac and Poste had the same shoe-size, and claimed that DNA from the Bates murder would match Poste's. [10] [16]

Poste had been investigated as a suspect in the Zodiac case since at least 2014 by television news anchor Dale Julin. [18] Julin filed affidavits in court that stated he interviewed Poste in 2017, and Poste admitted to being the Zodiac. The Union Democrat newspaper found the information in the affidavits to be unverifiable. [14] Julin also claimed he used supposed anagrams found in the Zodiac's letters to find a tree where Poste, as the Zodiac, hanged alleged victim Donna Lass. Julin's solution for the codes contained Poste's name and gave the co-ordinates of a specific pine tree in a section of a campground in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. The tree in question had been gouged at the base. The Case-Breakers partially based their research on Julin's book on the subject, Catching Zodiac, which was released in 2024. [19] [20]

Giuseppe Bevilacqua

In 2017, Italian journalist Francesco Amicone conducted an investigation that implicated Giuseppe "Joe" Bevilacqua, a retired U.S. Army sergeant and former superintendent of the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, as a suspect in both the Zodiac and Monster of Florence (Il Mostro di Firenze) cases. [21] [22] [23] Bevilacqua had previously testified at the trial of suspect Pietro Pacciani in 1994. [24] [25] Starting in May 2017, Bevilacqua and Amicone began having multiple meetings; according to Amicone, Bevilacqua implied his responsibility for both cases in phone correspondence. Bevilacqua agreed with Amicone's request to turn himself in but later changed his mind. Citing professional ethics reasons, Amicone did not record the conversation. [25] [23] Amicone's inquiry was published in multiple Italian newspapers, [21] [22] [25] and has been continued since then on his blog. [23] Italian authorities dismissed their investigation into Bevilacqua in 2021. [26] He died on December 23, 2022. [27] Amicone claimed a DNA profile was sent to U.S. authorities investigating the Zodiac case in November 2023. [28] [29]

Lawrence Kane

In a photo lineup, Kathleen Johns identified Lawrence Kane (also spelled "Lawrence Kaye") as the man who abducted her in 1970. [30] Ferrin's sister Linda identified a photo of Kane as showing a man who had once harassed Ferrin in a restaurant. [31] Fouke said that Kane resembled the man he and Zelms had observed near the Stine murder scene more than any other person. [30] Kane had lived in South Lake Tahoe, California, and worked at the Sahara Tahoe casino when alleged victim Donna Less worked there. [30] [32] He had previously been arrested for voyeurism in 1961 and prowling in 1968, and had been diagnosed with impulse-control disorder after suffering brain injuries in a 1962 accident. [30] Kane died in 2010. [33]

In 2021, Fayçal Ziraoui, a French-Moroccan business consultant and engineer, claimed that he had solved the "Z13" and "Z32" ciphers. According to Ziraoui, the Z13 cipher reads "Kayr", in theory a typo of "Kaye", and the Z32 cipher gives a set of co-ordinates: "LABOR DAY FIND 45.069 NORT 58.719 WEST." If the co-ordinate system used is "based on the earth's magnetic field [and] not the more-familiar geographic coordinates", it gives the location of a school in South Lake Tahoe, lining up with the cipher's intention of being the location of a bomb in a school. Many Zodiac sleuths disputed Ziraoui's findings, while the FBI and SFPD declined to comment on his theory. [32] [34] Anonymous law enforcement officers investigating the Zodiac told the San Francisco Chronicle they did not believe the solutions were correct. [35]

Paul Doerr

Jarrett Kobek's 2022 book How to find Zodiac (the second of two books by Kobek on the topic of the killer) named Paul Doerr as a suspect. Doerr was a North Bay resident with a post office box in Vallejo, where the first murders took place. Born in 1927, Doerr's age in 1969 (42) as well as his height (5'9") would have been consistent with witness estimates. Doerr was an avid fanzine publisher and letter-writer throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and many of his writings exhibit circumstantial parallels with the Zodiac. [3] Paul Haynes, a researcher for the true crime book I'll Be Gone in the Dark , called Doerr "the best Zodiac suspect that's ever surfaced." [36] Doerr's daughter read Kobek's book with the intent of suing the author for libel, but came away impressed with his research, adding in interviews that her father had at times been violent and abusive. [3] [37] Kobek sent a nineteen-page document to the SFPD's Major Crimes Division regarding the similarities; he did not receive a response. [3]

Doerr was a member of the Minutemen, a right-wing militant group that sent out threatening letters to supposed communists using a symbol that resembled the Zodiac's. Some of the Zodiac attacks took place at hangout spots of Doerr's daughter. [3] [36] In his fanzine Pioneer, Doerr references the same formula for an ANFO bomb later given by the Zodiac, which Kobek argues was not widely known before the Internet and the publication of The Anarchist Cookbook in 1971. Doerr hinted in a 1974 letter to the neopagan magazine Green Egg that he had previously killed people; Kobek writes that that part of the letter was not intended for publication, but Green Egg had a policy of publishing every letter in full. [3]

Doerr was interested in cryptography; in issue #1 of his J. R. R. Tolkien fanzine Hobbitalia, he published a cipher in Cirth. This came three days after Zodiac sent the "Z13" cipher, and Kobek argues that the solution to the Hobbitalia cipher is one of only three possible solutions to Z13. In Hobbitalia #2, Doerr praised the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of medieval cosplayers, which could explain the executioner-style costume used at Lake Berryessa. A Renaissance Faire took place nearby on the day of the attack, and there is an undated photo that shows Doerr carrying a knife similar to the one described in the Lake Berryessa attack. Doerr also made a list of books he wanted to sell, including E. Royston Pike's The Strange Ways of Man, which in one passage describes headhunters killing victims so they could have slaves in the afterlife. In a letter to a different fanzine in 1970, Doerr advocated using solely 1¢ stamps to spite the United States Postal Service, a practice the Zodiac employed on some of his letters. [3]

Doerr is the featured subject of The Doerr Files by John Bowman. The book contains a collection of Doerr's military records and gives a window into the nature and character of the subject's military service. [38]

Richard Gaikowski

Gaikowski in a 1965 mugshot Richard Gaikowski.gif
Gaikowski in a 1965 mugshot

At the time of the Zodiac murders, Richard Gaikowski was a reporter and editor for the counterculture tabloids Good Times and the Martinez Morning News Gazette. [39] [30] [40] Gaikowski had moved to the Bay Area in 1963. In 1971, he was involuntarily committed to Napa State Mental Hospital and diagnosed with a mental illness. [39] He was later released in late 1973, operated a movie theater, and died in 2004. [39] [30] Gaikowski is Tom Voigt's top suspect. [39]

Gaikowski's appearance resembled the Stine composite sketch, [40] and the word "Gyke" also appears in the Zodiac cipher that claimed to contain his identity. [30] When he was working for the Gazette, Gaikowski was minutes away from two Zodiac murder scenes. Stine's sister told Voigt she recognized Gaikowski at Stine's funeral. This would also match with the claim that Ferrin's attacker and boyfriend were named Richard. [39] Gaikowski himself told Napa County detective Ken Narlow that he was not in the United States at the time of the Lake Herman Road murders, but was unable to prove this as he had lost his passport. [30] According to Voigt, the FBI investigated Gaikowski but dismissed him as a suspect upon hearing the claim he had been out of the country, despite allegedly losing the passport. [39] San Francisco and Napa police have declined to compare DNA samples of Gaikowski and the Zodiac. [30]

A former co-worker of Gaikowski, nicknamed "Goldcatcher", also known as Blaine Blaine, wrote long letters to law enforcement accusing him of being the Zodiac. [30] In 2009, an episode of the History Channel television series MysteryQuest investigated Gaikowski, [40] and Goldcatcher made an appearance in disguise. [30] On the episode, he provided recordings of Gaikowski's voice. [30] Nancy Slover, the Vallejo police dispatcher who was contacted by the Zodiac shortly after the Blue Rock Springs attack, identified a recording of Gaikowski's voice as being the same as the Zodiac's. [30] [40] However, the History Channel referred to Goldcatcher as a "conspiracy theorist with low credibility", and a San Francisco police dispatcher referred to him as "one of the top three Zodiac kooks." [30]

Richard Marshall

Richard Marshall was a ham radio operator and movie projectionist who lived in Riverside at the time of the Bates murder and in San Francisco close to the scene of the Stine murder. Visitors to his home found him "peculiar", and he often mentioned finding "something much more exciting than sex". Marshall liked the movie The red Phantom, which is the phrase a possible Zodiac letter used. Marshall also lived in a basement apartment, which the Zodiac mentioned. Like the Zodiac, he owned felt-tip pens and "odd-sized" paper, and the two used a similar typewriter and teletype. In 1989, Marshall acknowledged that similarities existed but denied being the Zodiac. Narlow said that "Marshall makes good reading but [is] not a very good suspect in my estimation". Marshall died in 2008. [30]

Ross Sullivan

Ross Sullivan became a person of interest through the possible link between the Zodiac and the Bates murder. Sullivan, a library assistant at Riverside City College, was suspected by co-workers after he engaged in disturbing behavior and went missing for several days following the murder. Sullivan resembled sketches of the Zodiac, as he sported a crew cut and wore glasses and military-style boots with footprints like those found at the Lake Berryessa murder scene. Sullivan had moved to Northern California in 1967 and was hospitalized multiple times for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. [30] He died in 1977. [41]

Unlikely alternative suspects

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tunzelmann, Alex von (2012-02-23). "Zodiac shows all the vital signs of historical accuracy". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  2. ↑ "Zodiac Killer: Meet The Prime Suspects". America's Most Wanted. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Has the Zodiac Killer Mystery Been Solved (Again)?". Los Angeles Magazine. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Zodiac Killer: A Timeline". HISTORY. 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  5. ↑ Williams, Lance (November 30, 2010). "A thank-you note from a Zodiac suspect". California Watch. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ Nucleus (2022-05-28). "Arthur Leigh Allen - The True Crime Database Arthur Leigh Allen". The True Crime Database. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
  7. ↑ "A Netflix Docuseries Offers New Clues About the Zodiac Killer's Identity". Biography. 2024-10-22. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  8. 1 2 Fernandez, Maria Elena (2020-03-10). "How The Most Dangerous Animal of All Unraveled a Zodiac Killer Theory". Vulture. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  9. ↑ "The Latest News on the Zodiac Killer - Biography". 2019-07-22. Archived from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  10. 1 2 3 "The Zodiac killer's identity remains a mystery. Decades later, why are we so fascinated?". USA Today. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  11. 1 2 Fagan, Kevin (October 6, 2021). "Zodiac Killer case solved? Case Breakers group makes an ID, but police say it doesn't hold up". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 Blankstein, Andrew; Wong, Wilson (October 7, 2021). "'The case remains open': FBI rebuts claim Zodiac Killer case is solved". NBC News . Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  13. ↑ Pitofsky, Marina (October 6, 2021). "FBI says Zodiac Killer case is still open as new theory on suspect's identity gains attention". USA Today . Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  14. 1 2 MacLean, Alex (2021-10-08). "Authorities cast doubt on claims that Groveland man was Zodiac Killer". The Union Democrat. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  15. 1 2 "Investigators claim FBI 'secretly listed' Zodiac Killer suspect since 2016". The Independent. 2023-05-18. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  16. 1 2 "Who was the Zodiac Killer? Gary Francis Poste 'found' to be serial killer - other identity theories explained". Yahoo News. 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  17. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (October 6, 2021). "'Hot Garbage': Zodiac Expert Calls 'Bullshit' on Possible ID of Infamous Serial Killer". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  18. ↑ Fagan, Kevin (December 26, 2014). "Zodiac killer theories still rolling in after 45 years". SFgate. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Yet to be published memoir possibly IDs Zodiac killer: Says he killed Tahoe woman, hung remains in tree". The Union. October 8, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  20. ↑ Fagan, Kevin. "A skull was found in the High Sierra. Is there a Zodiac Killer connection?". San Francisco Chronicle.
  21. 1 2 Amicone, Francesco (May 23, 2018). "Il Mostro di Firenze è Zodiac". Tempi (in Italian). Archived from the original on March 3, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Amicone, Francesco (May 29, 2018). "Il killer Zodiac mi ha confessato: 'Sono io il Mostro di Firenze'". Il Giornale (in Italian). Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 Amicone, Francesco (August 14, 2023). "The investigation into Joe Bevilacqua to the DNA. Timeline of the Zodiac-Monster journalistic inquiry". Ostello Volante. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Joe Bevilacqua's testimony in the Monster of Florence trial". Ostello Volante. August 7, 2020. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  25. 1 2 3 Amicone, Francesco (April 23, 2021). "Mostro di Firenze, la nuova pista che porta al cimitero USA". Libero Quotidiano (in Italian). Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  26. ↑ Brogioni, Stefano (February 23, 2022). "'Il mostro di Firenze è Zodiac': la pista sotto accusa". La Nazione (in Italian). Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  27. ↑ Falchi, Lorenzo (December 23, 2022). "Certificato di morte di Giuseppe Bevilacqua" [Giuseppe Bevilacqua's death certificate](PDF) (in Italian). Comune di Sesto Fiorentino. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 13, 2024 – via Ostello Volante.
  28. ↑ Amicone, Francesco (January 16, 2024). "Joe Bevilacqua's DNA profile sent to the US authorities". Ostello Volante. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  29. ↑ De Vita, Alessandra (March 14, 2025). "'Il mostro di Firenze e Zodiac sono la stessa persona? Lo dirà il test del Dna': la suggestiva ipotesi nel Pulp Podcast di Fedez". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Beck, Malinda (August 27, 2018). "Could Any of These Men Have Been the Zodiac Killer?" Archived July 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine History.com . Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Could Any of These Men Have Been the Zodiac Killer?". History. 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  32. 1 2 Méheut, Constant (June 22, 2021). "I've Cracked Zodiac, a French Engineer Says. Online Sleuths Are Skeptical". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-12-28.
  33. ↑ "Zodiac Killer Suspects: What Were Their Names & Did They Face Any Charges?". Yahoo Entertainment. 2023-12-27. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  34. ↑ "Did a French engineer crack the last two Zodiac ciphers?". San Francisco Chronicle. 23 June 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  35. ↑ "Zodiac killer code cracked? The S.F. Chronicle gets tips like this almost every day". San Francisco Chronicle. 5 July 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  36. 1 2 Anguiano, Dani (2022-10-01). "'It's not an unsolvable case': has the Zodiac killer finally been found?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  37. ↑ Johnson, John (2022-10-01). "A Daughter Changes Her Mind About Zodiac Killer's Identity". Newser. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  38. ↑ Bowman, John (August 13, 2025). The Doerr Files. pp. 2–36. ISBN   9798297864061.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Zodiac Killer Theories in Based on a True Story, Explained". Oxygen Official Site. 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  40. 1 2 3 4 "This is the Zodiac speaking: Will the Zodiac murder cases ever be solved?". Martinez News-Gazette . May 6, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  41. ↑ https://screenrant.com/zodiac-killer-suspect-list-explained/
  42. 1 2 Newton, Michael (2006). The encyclopedia of serial killers (2nd ed.). New York: Facts On File. p. 304. ISBN   0-8160-6987-5.
  43. ↑ Indy Staff (2011-06-02). "Murdered but Not Forgotten". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  44. ↑ Voigt, Tom. "Definite Zodiac Victims Cecilia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell". ZodiacKiller.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  45. ↑ Police Reject Suspect As 'The Zodiac'. The Sacramento Bee . May 17, 1981. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  46. ↑ Fagan, Kevin; Wallace, Bill (May 14, 1996). "Kaczynski, Zodiac Killer – the Same Guy?". San Francisco Chronicle . Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
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