ZODIAC KILLER

Zodiac Killer

Abstract

The Zodiac Killer until today remains one of the most famous and puzzling unsolved serial murder cases in the American history. The Zodiac Killer was never caught, nor was his true motives behind his killing spree could be discovered down. Despite the huge amount of information given by the Zodiac Killer the police failed to catch him ever.

Zodiac Killer

Introduction

Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer active in the late 1960s in the Bay Area of the Northern California. To this date his identity remains unknown. His victims were murdered in Vallejo, Benicia, San Francisco, and Lake Berryessa in the time span of December 1968 and October 1969. He killed a total of four men and three women belonging to the age bracket of 16 to 29. The serial killer himself came up with the name 'Zodiac Killer' when he sent a series of acerbic letters sent to the local press. These letters comprised of four cryptograms, out of which only one has been decoded until now (Farmer, 2007).

There have been several suspects put forward by the law enforcement agencies and private detectives. However, even after so many years no decisive evidence has been found. The San Francisco Police Department gave the Zodiac Killer's case the inactive in 2004, although it was re-opened at some time in 2007. Today the case is still open in the city of Vallejo, along with the Napa and Solano counties. The California Department of Justice has been maintaining an open case file on the Zodiac Killer ever since the year 1969 (Farmer, 2007).

Discussion

Starting from 1968, the Zodiac Killer brutally murdered five victims. However, he later claimed responsibility for a total of thirty seven murders in the San Francisco area. The Zodiac Killer was sadomasochistic, as he only achieved sexual fulfillment by torturing and killing people (Haugen, 2010).

Why the Zodiac Killer Was Never Captured?

The only prime suspect of the Zodiac Killer was Arthur Leigh Allen, he was served a search warrant, but that did not lead to collection of any incriminating evidence. Therefore, he was not charged with criminal penalties of being the serial killer Zodiac. The main reason behind his eviction from suspicion was the fact that his fingerprints did not match with the ones supposed to be left behind by the Zodiac Killer in the case of murder of Paul Stine, a taxi cab driver (Haugen, 2010).

After 22 years, in the year ...