How do you catch a serial killer who picks his victims at random, and whose only motive is to taunt the police? In Part 1 of this 2-part investigation into California’s Zodiac Killer, I’ll present the story of one of the most bizarre yet compelling unsolved cases in criminal history. Coincidences, letters, ciphers, phone calls and costumes – they’re all here. Join me again next time for Part 2 where we’ll do some more analysis and a review of the suspects.

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

Twitter: @PrashsMurderMap

Email: [email protected]

Credits:

Research, writing, narration and audio arrangement by Prash

With the amazing voice acting talents of Ben (The Zodiac, Brian Hartnell and police officer), Mariah (Nancy Slover), lunamist (Cecilia Shepard and disclaimer) and Steven (Mike Mageau)



Sources

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/



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/



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



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



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



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



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