The Chilling Code That Was Never Cracked... Or Was It? - The Zodiac Killer

Summary

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Murder, Mystery & Makeup

Episode: "The Chilling Code That Was Never Cracked... Or Was It? - The Zodiac Killer"

Host: Bailey Sarian
Date: November 18, 2025

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Episode Overview

Bailey Sarian tackles the infamous case of the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s and whose identity remains one of America’s most enduring mysteries. Known for his cryptic ciphers, taunting letters, and brutal, seemingly random attacks, the Zodiac’s story highlights public fear, media frenzy, failed investigations, and the enduring obsession of amateurs and professionals alike. Bailey navigates the labyrinth of victims, suspects, unsolved codes, and conspiracy theories, all with her signature blend of dark humor and empathy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Who Was the Zodiac Killer? (04:56–06:00)

• Zodiac’s Modus Operandi: Targeted couples, sometimes in secluded areas (“lover’s lanes”), other times on busy city streets. Victims ranged from young couples to a lone cab driver, with even schoolchildren threatened.
• Psychological Warfare: Sent taunting letters, ciphers, and creepy phone calls to the media and police, creating a chilling public spectacle.
• Unsolved Mysteries: Despite DNA analysis and decades of investigation, Zodiac remains unidentified. Public engagement in code-breaking and online sleuthing keeps the case alive.

Early Suspected Zodiac Crimes

The 1963 "Rehearsal" at Tahigua’s Point (06:35–08:00)

• Victims: Linda Edwards and her boyfriend/fiancé Bobby Domingos, both found bound, shot, and their bodies dragged to a DIY shack. The killer tried (and failed) to burn the scene.
• Weapon: .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle.
• Link to Zodiac: Police later theorized this was the killer’s early “practice.” No suspect identified.

The Murder of Sherry Bates (08:12–10:20)

• Victim: Sherry Bates, an 18-year-old college student from Riverside, CA.
• Circumstances: Sherry’s car was sabotaged (ignition and distributor disabled), her body found stabbed and slashed, with DNA evidence under her nails (pre-dating DNA profiling).
• Cryptic Letters: Detailed confessions sent to police and press, ending with “Bates had to die. There will be more,” signed with a mysterious “2” or “Z”. These letters were dismissed as hoaxes—possibly a missed warning.

Confirmed Zodiac Murders

Lake Herman Road Murders (16:26–19:05)

• Victims: Betty Lou Jensen (16) and David Faraday (17) on their first date, December 20, 1968.
• Scenario: Both shot after being ordered from their car; no sign of robbery or sexual assault. Murder weapon: .22 handgun.
• Randomness: No motive, chilling efficiency. Brief timeline (six minutes) limited physical evidence.

Blue Rock Springs Attack (20:10–24:45)

• Victims: Darlene Farren (22) and friend Michael Mageau (19), July 4, 1969. Michael survived; Darlene did not.
• Details: Killer fired multiple shots, left, then returned to shoot again after hearing Michael’s cries.
• First Zodiac Claim: The killer called 911 (22:32), claimed the attack, and referenced the previous year’s murders.
• Description: 5'8”, heavy set, large-faced man (per Michael).

The First Letters & Ciphers (24:45–26:10)

• August 1969: Three Bay Area newspapers receive letters/ciphers with details only the killer would know, threatening more violence unless printed.
• Public Mania: Amateur and professional codebreakers race to solve the ciphers.
• First Cipher Solution: (25:24) Reveals Zodiac’s twisted motive:

  “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.”
  — Bailey Sarian quoting the cipher ([25:24])

• Signature: The circle+cross symbol becomes Zodiac’s calling card.

Lake Berryessa Attack (28:25–33:59)

• Victims: Brian Hartnell (20) and Cecilia Shepard (22), September 27, 1969.
• The Attack: Masked, hooded Zodiac approaches with a gun, claims to be a fugitive, binds both, stabs them brutally. Killer signs car door with dates and symbol.
• Survivor Statement:

  “I considered him a robber. I had absolutely no thought that he was anything but that…”
  — Brian Hartnell ([34:05])

• Clues: Military boot prints, unique knife wounds, the Zodiac’s first and only costume attack.
• Aftermath: Killer calls sheriff, confesses, and boasts anonymously.

The Paul Stine Taxi Murder (36:18–42:37)

• Victim: Paul Stine, 29-year-old San Francisco cab driver, October 11, 1969.
• Eyewitnesses: Teens see the murderer cut away a piece of Stine’s shirt as proof, wipe prints, and leave.
• Police Blunder: Dispatcher reports wrong suspect description (Black male); officers likely speak directly to Zodiac and let him go.
• Zodiac’s Letter: Taunts police, threatens schoolchildren specifically:

  “Schoolchildren make nice targets... [I’ll] wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire, then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out.”
  — Zodiac letter via Bailey Sarian ([39:55])

• Evidence: Bloody fingerprints; cipher known as “Z340” included.

Investigation & Suspects

Arthur Leigh Allen (44:27–53:08)

• Don Chaney’s Tip: Allen allegedly talked about “hunting people” and shooting at school buses ([47:23]).
• Police Search: Found weapons, military boots, a Zodiac watch, dead animals in fridge, no hard evidence.
• Later Search: Pipe bombs, bomb diagrams, Royal manual typewriter (matching Zodiac), but fingerprints, handwriting, and DNA do not match.
• Bailey’s Conundrum:

  “Arthur seemed to have like, an obsession with codes and ciphers...he matched some descriptions, owned a Zodiac brand watch... But police were like, that doesn’t mean he was the Zodiac. Okay.”
  — Bailey Sarian ([53:08])

• Incarceration: Allen jailed for unrelated child molestation during a Zodiac communication gap.
• Bailey’s Frustration:

  “If the dude’s making homemade bombs, isn’t that enough just to arrest him? … I got to Googling...apparently the bombs were not fully completed, so it wasn’t quite illegal.”
  ([53:45])

Other Suspects (58:09–63:54)

• Gary Francis Poste: Match in facial scars, cryptography skills, but DNA and evidence don’t support.
• Richard Gaikowski: Underground writer, military code training, writing style matches, but circumstantial.
• Lawrence Kane: Brain injury, impulse issues, local presence, but no evidence.
• Ross Sullivan: Worked at Riverside College Library during Bates's murder, disappeared after, but never linked by evidence.
• Earl Van Best Jr.: Named by son in a book; discredited, no DNA match.

“For every suspect put forth, you can find information with very convincing arguments as to who he is – and then you can find great arguments debunking those claims.”
— Bailey Sarian ([57:35])

The Ciphers & Public Fascination

• Unsolved Ciphers: Two ciphers ("Z13", "Z32") remain unsolved; many believe they were meant to taunt, not reveal Zodiac’s name.
• Amateur Sleuths:

  “People, investigators, Internet sleuths, have named suspects that they believe to be the Zodiac… There’s so many out there. It's so confusing. I'm lost in my mind...”
  ([57:23])

• Bailey’s Theory:

  “I do think it was Arthur [Leigh Allen]. But at the same time, how come they didn’t find like, any concrete evidence?”
  ([65:10])

• On the enduring obsession:

  “I think people really found this interesting because of the codes and ciphers. I think us as humans, we like trying to figure shit out like that… You play Wordle, don’t you?”
  ([65:43])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the case’s infamy:

  “What really makes the Zodiac unique, though, is, like, how deeply involved ordinary citizens were in trying to catch him, even to this day.”
  — Bailey Sarian ([05:28])

• On Arthur Leigh Allen’s bomb-making and oddities:

  “From his home, they took handwriting samples, hunting knives, a wooden dildo from under his bed, boots that would match those prints... 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.”
  ([51:06])

• On surviving attack advice:

  “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. Mysteries should not go unsolved.”
  ([65:54])

• On the enduring mystery:

  “I wonder if it will ever be truly solved. I hope so, right? ...What makes the Zodiac different from all the other killers? Well, he actually got away with it. Right, right, right.”
  ([65:50])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Introduction & Zodiac’s impact | 04:56–06:00 | | Early suspected Zodiac killing: Tahigua’s Point | 06:35–08:00 | | Sherry Bates murder, ciphers, first taunting letters | 08:12–10:20 | | The Lake Herman Road murders | 16:26–19:05 | | The Blue Rock Springs attack, first Zodiac claim | 20:10–24:45 | | First Zodiac ciphers, public involvement | 24:45–26:10 | | Lake Berryessa masked attack – Brian Hartnell’s account | 28:25–34:23 | | Paul Stine murder, police mishandling, “school bus” threat | 36:18–42:37 | | The Arthur Leigh Allen investigation | 44:27–53:08 | | Rundown of alternative suspects | 58:09–63:54 | | Enduring mysteries and Bailey’s reflections | 65:10–65:54 | | Survivor advice & closing thoughts | 65:54–66:39 |

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Final Thoughts

Bailey deftly captures the endless intrigue of the Zodiac mystery: the cold precision of the attacks, the mocking theatrics of the letters, and the blizzard of suspects, speculation, and near-misses that have confounded generations. She blends true crime analysis with personal asides, acknowledging both the horror of the crimes and the very human drive to make sense of chaos.

“It goes so deep. There’s so many layers, so many theories, so many things… I get it now. I’m sorry. I get it.” ([62:43])

Despite new technologies, fresh suspects, and waves of documentary coverage, Zodiac’s identity—like his final ciphers—remains a code yet to be cracked.

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Recommendation: Bailey suggests watching This Is the Zodiac Speaking on Netflix for more in-depth theories, especially regarding Arthur Leigh Allen.

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Closing Note:
“Be safe out there… If you ever get attacked... get all the DNA under your fingernails. Mysteries should not go unsolved.”

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Transcript

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Young women and couples seem to be his preferred target. But then he guns down a cab driver and then even, like, targeting a busload of school children. 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 a Zodiac speaking Today, more than 50 years after the notorious Zodiac Killer claimed his last victim, he 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 arrest 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 Tahigua's Point, which is like 25 miles west of Santa Barbara and 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 fiance, 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 the 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 murders 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 this 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. 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 9pm now, while she was in the library, well, 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 through her, her face and neck. Now, about 10ft from Sherry's body, investigators discovered a Timex. Timex? Yeah, a watch, a wristwatch, 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? 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 Doo the mysteries back then. Then on November 29, after Sherry's murder, two typed letters were sent to the Riverside police and the local police 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, like, switch on the ignition until her car battery died. Then he said that he went up to her, like, knocked on the window, whatever, and 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 what 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 2 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 Sherri 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 gonna be or something. So then, two years later, on December 20, 1968, in Benicia, California, there would be another tragic scene.

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Now, Benicia is not far from San Francisco and is actually like one of California's oldest cities. And it's got like lots of historic charm. One of its 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 lovers 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 11pm Then the two of them hopped into David's Rambler station wagon wagon and took off for the night. According to witnesses, the station wagon pulled into the Lake Herman road area around 10:15pm it's believed sometime after 11pm 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 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 33ft from the car. Around 11:20pm 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, 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 11:06pm 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, just Ricky 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 gotta 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, 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 Farren 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, 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's 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 Darlene's car, about 10ft 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 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 12:10am 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 9 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. Now, 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 a 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 away. 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 about the man that he kind of. He kind of saw. You know, he described the attacker as 5 foot 8, extremely heavyset, but not in a, quote, blubbery fat way, saying that he had to be about, like, 195 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 killer 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 doodads, she 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 decipher 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, foggy and print the cipher.

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[Bailey Sarian]

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 line. Son of a bitch. It did not reveal his identity, okay? But it did give, like, a glimpse into this person's fucked up head.

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[Bailey Sarian]

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 bajillion 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.

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[Bailey Sarian]

Yeah, that was a good dream.

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[Bailey Sarian]

You're like, darn, it. What was that dream?

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[Bailey Sarian]

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[Bailey Sarian]

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[Bailey Sarian]

So then 1969, September, Lake Berryessa, 20 year old Brian Hartnell and 22 year old Cecilia Shepard, 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 Berryessa on September 27, 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. And Cecilia, she noticed that like a man seemed to be watching them from a distance. She thought he was acting 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 3 inch circle with a.

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[Bailey Sarian]

You know, like the cross circle hair thing, situation. He seemed to be wearing clip on sunglasses over the cut, I cut holes, eye cut out holes, whole cut eyes, you know the holes. Clip on glasses were over those holes. Not only that, he was holding a gun and heading in their direction. Oh 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 outfit. So then this man approaches them 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, 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's like, was it adrenaline, 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 plunge it into Brian's back six times. Now Brian, he said that he essentially just kind of played dead, okay? Just, you know, 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 crosshair 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 like went to help. They both were rushed to the hospital. Sadly, Cecilia would. 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. The guilt of it all and just all like, ugh, 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 don't kill people. It's so lame. I don't like a killer in a costume. That's some of them nightmares right there.

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[Bailey Sarian]

Brian was able to give a description of the attacker and also like, what happened?

[Brian Hartnell]

I considered him a robber. I had absolutely no thought that he was anything but that. And when we were 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.

[Bailey Sarian]

Did he seem as though he would like your help at all?

[Brian Hartnell]

No, he didn't. And he didn't even end up taking the money.

[Bailey Sarian]

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 225 to 250 in weight, that he had a large belly that hung over his pleated pants and was around 58 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 believed the blade was similar to a bayonet type weapon, about 9 to 11 inches in length and 1 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 Berryessa attack on Saturday, October 11, 1969, 29 year old cab driver Paul Stine 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's 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 Mikado. 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 Mikado. Now the Mikado 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. And an echo arose from the suicide's 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 flair to his letters. You know, the lines billowy wave and suicide's 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, this little musical. This little musical, yeah. Anyway, so going back to Paul Stine, cab driver. So a few minutes before 10pm, Paul Stine pulled his cab to a stop in the Procedure Heights neighborhood. The man that he picked up the passenger then pulled out a 9 millimeter 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 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 Paul's shirt, then used the 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, five, eight, heavy build, having a reddish blonde, like, crew cut hair. The man was wearing glasses, dark brown trousers. He was wearing, like, a parka 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 10:46pm so this, like, gave investigators essentially a timestamp of when the crime took place. Fingerprints were taken from the cab door handles, and they were able to get bloody prints from the door post 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 worst 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 Stine's murder. And to prove it, he provided evidence it was a bloodstained piece of Paul Stine'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, schoolchildren make nice targets. I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire, then pick off the kiddies 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 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 Z340 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 death.

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[Bailey Sarian]

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 Stine'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 Stine'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 Chaney 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 Arthur Lee Allens brother and that they would all go, like, fishing together. So he told police, I remember like, Arthur having 20, 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. 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 anything. Cause he low key 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 Leigh 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. 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're 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 at 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. Is having dead squirrels in your free. Well, I don't think so. Yeah, you know, 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, huh? 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 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, 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, on that letter. Many, many years go by. Then, in late 1990, a man named Ralph Spinelli was facing multiple armed robbery charges. And he had something to say. Ralph said that he could identify the Zodiac killer, who 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 Leigh 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 Stine's murder happened. Now, this was interesting to investigators because, again, Arthur's name was. 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 Leigh Allen's home in February of 1991. Now, at this point, Arthur was. 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. You got the guy. That's him, right? You know that 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 prints lifted from Paul Stine'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. So they're 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 1974-1977, 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. Okay, all right. I mean, okay, all right. In my mind, I'm like, if the dudes 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? Well, you know, that part had me, like, really confused. Right? Like, what, you could just make bombs and, like, just nothing happens? Well, I got to Googling. 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 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 I 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 Z13 cipher. It was sent on or sent in April of 1970. It contained 13 characters. And the other one is the Z32 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 em. Name em. It's like the only housewife meme I know. Look, people, investigators, Internet sleuths 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 Leigh 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 Mikado. I mean, people are allowed to like it, but, you know, okay. He's the most, like, widely believed suspect. Arthur passed away in 1992 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, ugh, I don't wanna 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.

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[Bailey Sarian]

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, the scary guy, had hinted at being the killer. When Gary was in the Air Force, he had skills in mechanics 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 Zodiac's 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 Gaikowski. 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 code 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. 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 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 personal 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, though, all those murders unsolved, with all the new, like, 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.

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[Bailey Sarian]

I'm just gonna 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. There 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. We like trying to figure shit 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 that? 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?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

You know?

[Bailey Sarian]

Fucking scary. Maybe we'll never know. But we don't like that. We don't like that answer. 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.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Wow.

[Bailey Sarian]

This was a journey, all right. It really was. When I get home, I'm still gonna 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 you 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. Mysteries should not go unsolved. Thank you. Have a good day. Make a choices. Be safe out there, okay? I appreciate you so much and I will be seeing you guys later.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Goodbye.

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