Tragedy on the outskirts of town
By Tom Voigt | Founder: Zodiackiller.com | tomvoigt@zodiackiller.com
As far as their parents knew, teenagers David Faraday and Betty Jensen were on their first official date, although the two had been seeing each other in secret whenever their schedules allowed. Students at separate Vallejo high schools, each had a spotless reputation.
The Lake Herman Road victims: Betty Jensen and David Faraday (Zodiac case # V-25564)
On the night of Dec. 20, 1968, David (age 17) and Betty (age 16) were found shot to death outside of their parked vehicle in a gravel turnout along rural Lake Herman Road. There were no witnesses and little evidence. After an exhaustive investigation, detectives could not establish a motive for the attack, ruling out revenge, robbery and sexual molestation. Eventually, the young couple’s elusive killer would write anonymous letters claiming responsibility:
The first writings. Shortly thereafter, the author began calling himself “the Zodiac”
Downtown Vallejo in 1968
Years later, Betty’s best friend, Sharon, revealed to me details about what happened the night of the murders:
“David called me and told me that he was going to ask Betty to go steady with him. Then he asked me if I thought she would accept. Of course I said yes; she liked him an awful lot. He was going to give her a ring. He asked me where they could go to be alone. Everybody used to park at St. Catherine’s Hill and get run off by the police. He didn’t want to go there and asked me where else they could go to be alone. I told him to go to Blue Rock Springs Park. That’s something I never told the cops. I just assumed that’s where they were going to go.”
Instead, the pair ended up at Lake Herman Road, a very secluded location quite familiar to local teens. Said Sharon:
“When we had driver’s ed, that’s one of the roads the teachers used to take us on because there wasn’t much traffic.”
David Faraday was shot once behind the ear as he exited the vehicle
Betty Jensen was shot multiple times in the back as she ran for her life
Eventually, several of David’s classmates sent me messages through Zodiackiller.com.
From Rob:
“On the afternoon of December 20th, 1968, I gave Dave a couple of cigarettes. It was lunch time and I was on the other side of the railroad tracks smoking my Marlboros. You had to smoke down there as it was off school property. Anyway, Dave trotted up from the non-school side and asked for a cigarette. I remember looking at him funny and asking him what he was doing smoking. He didn’t say anything, but held up one of his arms. (I recall that Dave was on the wrestling team.) It had a heavy bandage or a light cast on it. I gave him a couple of cigarettes and he said thanks and trotted off. That’s the last time I saw him and of course he was murdered later that night. Dave was a very nice young guy. It was a damn shame he bought it that way. I still take out my battered yearbook on rare occasions and look at his picture.”
From Mike:
“I grew up in Vallejo and remember well the morning I saw Dave Faraday’s picture in the paper as a victim of the Zodiac (although no one called him that yet). I knew him from Boy Scout summer camp where he was a counselor. He was a couple years older than me and had these way cool moccasin/boots with fringe. Why couldn’t my parents buy me cool footwear like that?”
From Tommy:
“I lived in Vallejo in 1968 on Sereno Dr. two doors up from the Faraday’s house. I remember when David was killed we drove by the Faraday’s house and the Rambler was getting towed to their driveway with the window shot out. I’ll never forget that sight.”
The crime scene along Lake Herman Road
Lake Herman Road has a long history of folklore, probably because of its isolated — and overall spooky — setting. Here are a couple of such stories that were submitted by a visitor to Zodiackiller.com:
“A story I’ve heard about Lake Herman Road was that a long time ago, there was a schoolhouse out there. It caught on fire, and people could see the burning children. Several old timers have told me this same story, but exactly when the fire happened, or any details about the school, nobody knows. Recently, a friend of mine said that when he was driving down Lake Herman Road at night, he saw the ghost of a girl standing on the side of the road; he could see through her, and a wet dog was by her side.”
Located at an isolated spot in the hills over Lake Herman Road was yet another piece of folklore. Called “the Zodiac Shack,” it was rumored by locals to be the old hideout of the Zodiac killer
On the 30th anniversary, I’m pictured at Betty’s final resting place. We later added fresh flowers
Still on the 30th anniversary, I visited the crime scene with retired police officer Steve Baldino (pictured). At the time of the Zodiac crimes, Baldino worked for the Vallejo police
While both families were deeply impacted by the murders of Betty and David, Betty’s mother, Virginia, was particularly devastated. Said Sharon:
“I went to see her mother one time and her mother talked about Betty Lou like she was still alive. I couldn’t deal with that because I was only 16. She’d talk as if Betty Lou were in her room, talked of her in the present tense. I never went to see her again.”