14 | The Zodiac Killer Part 2

Last time, in the first part of this double episode, I told the story of the disguise-wearing, letter-writing serial killer operating in California’s Bay Area in 1968 and 69, who christened himself Zodiac. His choice of victim changed, as did his MO, so how do you catch a killer whose only motive is achieving infamy and mocking the police? Join me for Part 2, where we’ll analyse the killer’s behaviour and review some of the popular suspects and theories, and we’ll hear from Zodiac expert Michael Butterfield. It’s a case that’s now over 50 years old, so will the killer ever be named?

Thanks for listening! Here’s how you can get in touch with comments and suggestions:

Website: www.prashganendran.com

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: prashsmurdermap@gmail.com

Credits:

Special thanks to Zodiac writer and consultant Michael Butterfield http://zodiackillerfacts.com/ who kindly took time out of his busy schedule to contribute to the making of this episode. Please check out his podcast Zodiac A To Z https://zodiacatoz.podbean.com/

Starring the amazing voice acting talents of Ben (The Zodiac, Brian Hartnell and police officer), Mariah (Nancy Slover, Kirsty Martire and disclaimer), Steven (Mike Mageau) and Alan Smith (Rick Marshall, Richard Gaikowski)



Sources:



Arntfield, Michael, May 2018, “The preferred jobs of serial killers and psychopaths”, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/the-preferred-jobs-of-serial-killers-and-psychopaths-96173



Bauer, Craig P, 2018, “The Zodiac Ciphers: What We Know”, History.com https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-ciphers-what-we-know



Butterfield, Michael,Zodiac Killer Facts website http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/case.htm



Calhoun, Bob, 2018, “Yesterday’s Crimes: The Zodiac Killer’s First Known Victims Died 50 Years Ago”, SF Weekly, https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-news/yesterdays-crimes-the-zodiac-killers-first-known-victim-died-50-years-ago/



Gaikowski/Zodiac Connection/Timeline, TapaTalk forum, https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/zodiackillerfr/gaikowski-zodiac-connection-timeline-t2742.html



Graysmith, Robert, 2007, “Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer”, Titan Books



Grinell, Richard, Zodiac Ciphers website https://www.zodiacciphers.com/



Heidelberg, April 2018, “Can estimates from forensic handwriting experts be trusted in court?”, Springer, https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-news/all-english-research-news/can-estimates-from-forensic-handwriting-experts-be-trusted-in-court-/15635428



Martire, K, Growns, B & Navarro, D, April 2018, “What do the experts know? Calibration, precision and the wisdom of crowds among forensic handwriting experts,” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25, 2346-2355

https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-018-1448-3



Officer Down Memorial Page for Eric A Zelms, https://www.odmp.org/officer/14665-officer-eric-a-zelms



Schillemat, Brandon, 2012, “Has the code of the Zodiac Killer been cracked?”, Neighbor News, Patch, https://patch.com/california/fostercity/has-the-code-of-the-zodiac-killer-been-cracked



“Understanding the Birthday Paradox”, BetterExplained.com

https://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-the-birthday-paradox/



Voigt, Tom, Zodiac Killer website http://www.zodiackiller.com/index2.html



Voigt, Tom, YouTube Channel, “Handwriting Expert Sherwood Morrill discusses The Zodiac Killer”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAPtxcvRQko



Was Donald Gene Harden the Zodiac Killer Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/pg/Was-Donald-Gene-Harden-the-Zodiac-Killer-189393988058502/posts/



Wayback Machine Web Archive, Coroner’s Report of Paul Lee Stine,

https://web.archive.org/web/20070327182656/http://www.thezodiacmansonconnection.com/autop_stine_1.html



Wayback Machine Web Archive, New Realities Video, Richard Gaikowski’s website

https://web.archive.org/web/20010411015131/http:/www.slip.net/~richgaik/index.html



Zodiac film, 2007 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/



Zodiac Killer Fandom page, “Ross Sullivan”, https://zodiackiller.fandom.com/wiki/Ross_Sullivan



ZodiacKillerIdentified YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Zeppelin196818/videos



ZodiacKillerVideos YouTube channel, “Lake Herman Road – The Funeral of David Faraday”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwPMg8XfOck

Zodiac Killer Wiki https://zodiackiller.fandom.com/wiki/Zodiac_Killer_Wiki



Zodiologists.com, 2009, “The Riverside Desktop Poem,”

http://www.zodiologists.com/riverside_desktop_poem_introduction.html