The Zodiac Killer Mocked The Public For Years
It is no wonder that, even decades after the last of his known activity in Northern California, the Zodiac Killer case still haunts not only the people of Northern California but people all over the country. His threatening letters and taunting ciphers are still examined to this day in hopes that his identity may, at last, be revealed.
What Was The First Zodiac Killer Letter?
Given that the earliest officially recognized victims of the Zodiac Killer are David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen (both killed December 20th, 1968), the first letter sent by the Zodiac would actually be the set of three basically identical letters he sent to three different papers in the Northern California area.
On July 31st, 1969, the Zodiac sent letters to The Vallejo Times-Herald, The San Francisco Examiner, and The San Francisco Chronicle. In these letters, he admits not only to killing David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen the previous December, but also Darlene Ferrin earlier in the same month the letters were sent, just after the 4th of July.
In the letters, he is eager to prove he is the killer and lists facts about each case he claims only himself and the police investigating these cases would know. He goes on to demand that each paper print his first cipher, sent in 3 parts, on their front page. He threatens that a failure to comply would send him on a murderous rampage.
These first letters alone allow us to know quite a bit about the mindset of the man who would later dub himself the Zodiac. He’s prideful. He’s vain. He wants attention for the things he’s done. Yet, for what we might glean of his character from his letters, his identity remains a mystery.
You can read more Zodiac letters in Tom Voigt’s Zodiac Killer: Just the Facts. Letters, ciphers, and police reports are chronologically ordered and the easily searchable index allows you to pinpoint any particular information you are looking for.
Information Gathered From the #1 Zodiac Killer Website
Tom Voigt is responsible for the creation, curation, and editing of the #1 Zodiac Killer website, Zodiackiller.com. Launched in 1998, Zodiackiller.com remains the ONLY Zodiac Killer website recognized by law enforcement. To learn more about the release of Zodiac Killer: Just the Facts, as well as other information about the Zodiac Killer case, visit Zodiackiller.com today.
