Why is he called the Zodiac Killer?
THE Zodiac Killer is one of the most intriguing murderers of Northern California during the 1960s.
The cold case of his brutal killings still remains active, according to the FBI and some recent clues may help to finally reveal his identity.
Who is the Zodiac Killer?
The Zodiac Killer is believed to be a California man who gave himself that nickname to conceal his identity from authorities.
He is known to have targeted at least seven victims – three couples and a lone taxi driver. Two of them survived gun and knife ambushes.
The same killer has been linked to as many as 28 murders — claiming to have killed 37 people in letters to newspapers.
Some researchers have claimed the Zodiac Killer was an alleged pedophile named Arthur Leigh Allen.
He had been discharged without honor from the US Navy and was fired as a primary school teacher after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Allen was first interviewed as a suspect in 1969 after he was seen near the scene of one attack.
He came to police attention again in 1971 when his friend told officers he had spoken of his desire to kill people and used the name Zodiac.
San Francisco police searched his home the following year but found no evidence linking him to the murders.
Nearly 50 years after the first known slaying, the Zodiac Killer’s identity still remains unknown.
Why is the Zodiac Killer called the Zodiac Killer?
He called himself ‘Zodiac’ in his fourth letter to the press on August 7, 1969.
In it, he wrote: “Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking.”
From then on the press called him the ‘Zodiac Killer’ – but it is not known why the killer gave himself that name.
He would also sign his letters with a circle and a cross over it, seemingly appearing as a target or a coordinate symbol.
Authorities believe that the signature symbols were meant to represent coordinates possibly indicating future killing locations.
However, authorities have never fully decoded the symbols.
What are the latest updates on the Zodiac Killer?
The Zodiac Killer’s case was inactive since 2004 but the San Francisco Police Department reopened it in March of 2007.
Recently, an international team of sleuths claim to have gotten close to decoding the Zodiac’s identity.
Australian software engineer Sam Blake, American cryptographer David Oranchak and Belgian software engineer Jarl Van said they finally got the symbols, numbers and letters to decipher a message left by the Zodiac.
The message read: “I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE,” killer allegedly wrote.
“ALL THE SOONER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH,” the killer said.
It is unknown what television show the Zodiac was alluding to.
In a statement to NBC from FBI headquarters on Friday, the bureau said its own Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) acknowledged and confirmed the code breakers’ work.
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They said: “Over the past 51 years CRRU has reviewed numerous proposed solutions from the public — none of which had merit. The cipher was recently solved by a team of three private citizens.”
“The FBI is aware that a cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by private citizens,” the FBI’s San Francisco office said in a statement on Friday.
“The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco and our local law enforcement partners,” the statement concluded.