The Zodiac Killer

Twenty-nine-year-old taxi driver working for Yellow Cab in San Francisco. On October 11, 1969, Stine picked up a passenger in downtown San Francisco who directed him to the Presidio Heights neighborhood. At the intersection of Washington and Cherry Streets, the passenger shot Stine once in the right side of the head with a 9mm handgun. The killer then tore a piece from Stine's shirt, which he later enclosed with letters to the San Francisco Chronicle to prove authorship. Stine was the last confirmed Zodiac victim.

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Twenty-two-year-old waitress from Vallejo, California. On July 4, 1969, Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove to the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. A man pulled up beside them, walked to the car, and opened fire with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Ferrin was shot five times and was pronounced dead on arrival at Kaiser Foundation Hospital. She was the second confirmed fatality attributed to the Zodiac Killer.

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Twenty-year-old pre-law student at Pacific Union College. On September 27, 1969, Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were attacked at Lake Berryessa by a man in a hooded costume with a crosshair symbol. The attacker bound both victims and stabbed Hartnell six times in the back. Hartnell survived his injuries and became a key witness, providing detailed descriptions of the attacker's costume, voice, and behavior. He later became an attorney.

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Former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender from Vallejo, California. Allen was the most investigated suspect in the Zodiac case and the only one publicly named by authorities. He was interviewed by Vallejo PD and SFPD Inspectors Toschi and Armstrong on August 4, 1971. Multiple circumstantial connections were noted, including his ownership of a Zodiac-brand watch and statements to acquaintances. However, Allen's fingerprints did not match those recovered from Zodiac letters, and in 2002 DNA comparison excluded him. Allen died of a heart attack on August 26, 1992, at his home in Vallejo.

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San Francisco Police Department homicide inspector assigned to the Zodiac case after the October 1969 murder of Paul Stine. Toschi and his partner Inspector William Armstrong became the lead SFPD investigators, managing the flood of taunting letters, ciphers, and tips. Toschi filled eight filing cabinets with suspect files over the years. He was removed from the case in 1978 after it was revealed he had sent anonymous letters praising his own investigative work to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was later exonerated of suspicion that he had forged any Zodiac letters. Toschi died on January 6, 2018, at age 86.

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Seventeen-year-old high school student from Vallejo, California. On December 20, 1968, Faraday and his date Betty Lou Jensen drove to a gravel turnout on Lake Herman Road east of Benicia. They were the first confirmed victims of the Zodiac Killer. Faraday was shot once in the head at close range while sitting in or just outside his mother's Rambler station wagon. He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after.

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Twenty-two-year-old college student at Pacific Union College. On September 27, 1969, Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were picnicking on a small island at Lake Berryessa in Napa County when a man approached wearing a hooded executioner-style costume with a crosshair symbol on the chest. After binding both victims with pre-cut lengths of clothesline, the attacker stabbed Shepard ten times. She was airlifted to Queen of the Valley Hospital but died from her injuries two days later on September 29, 1969.

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Sixteen-year-old high school student from Vallejo, California. Jensen and David Faraday were on their first date the night of December 20, 1968. They had planned to attend a Christmas concert at Hogan High School. Jensen was shot five times in the back as she attempted to flee from the attacker on Lake Herman Road. She died at the scene. Her murder and Faraday's were the first confirmed Zodiac killings.

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