Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for
Best Article in the Category of “Crime”
Best Article in the Category of “Political History”
Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist working for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969, developed an obsession to discover who the Zodiac Killer was. On a rainy night he received an image of a driver’s license of a man named Arthur Leigh Allen. On this license was Allen’s date of birth, December 18, 1933. This information became the final clue in Graysmith’s investigation, allowing him to put all the pieces together to discover the identity of the Zodiac Killer.
On August 1, 1969, the first letter written by the Zodiac Killer was delivered to the San Francisco Chronicle. The letter was a confession to the murder of two teenagers, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau, on July 4, 1969, at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California.1 A cypher was attached to the letter and the killer demanded that his cypher and letter be published in the newspaper, threatening to kill more if the paper did not do so. This letter and the cypher that came along with it was the initial spark that led Graysmith into his obsession with finding out who this Zodiac Killer was. He himself tried to decode the cypher by reading different books involving code breaking, but was beaten to solving it by Donald and Bettye Harden, who solved the code themselves. Within the cypher, it talks about “man [being the most] dangerous animal of all.”2 Graysmith discovered that this line was from the movie The Most Dangerous Game, which is about a man who hunts people for sport. Nonetheless, this became Graysmith’s first piece of evidence to be discovered from the Zodiac Killer’s letter; yet, it wasn’t until seven years later, in 1977, when Graysmith started adding up the evidence that would pointhim to Arthur Leigh Allen as the Zodiac Killer.
Arthur Leigh Allen had a friend named Don Cheney, who provided information that pointed to Allen as the prime suspect in the investigation. Cheney had mentioned that on “September 27, 1969 in Napa, California, Allen [had told his family] he’d be leaving for the afternoon to go scuba diving at Lake Berryessa.”3 However, later that day Allen returned home covered in blood with a bloody knife found in his car. That same day a police report was filed for one murder that involved the killing of Cecelia Shepard, age 22, and although Bryan Hartnell was a victim in the attack that killed Shepard, he was able to survive.
Allen’s same friend, Don Cheney, also confessed that Allen referring to himself as the “Zodiac” before the publication of the letters, and even before the murders had taken place. Allen not only referred to himself as “Zodiac,” but also wore a Zodiac brand watch. The police further investigated him by searching his trailer, but “only [found] small dissected animals, bloody knives and sexual devices.” 4 None of this, however, was direct evidence linking Allen to the murders. Although he was not convicted for murder, he was separately convicted of child molestation resulting in a three year sentence in prison. Coincidentally, no Zodiac letters were sent during this time to the San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, during his time in prison, one of Allen’s inmates reported to the police a confession Allen had told him. Allen reportedly took responsibility for the murder of Paul Stine, a taxi driver who was shot in the head by his passenger. This murder was also mentioned in one of the Zodiac’s letters. Right after this incident, an interview on national television by Melvin Belli had tried to elicit a confession from Allen for the murders, but unsuccessfully. Afterward, the Zodiac Killer tried to reach out to Belli by calling his house on December 18, 1969. Belli was unable to answer, but his maid did. She stated that all the Zodiac Killer said was, “It’s my birthday, I must kill.”5 A chilling, yet important fact in the investigation.
One piece of evidence that seemed to sealed the deal for Graysmith that Allen was the Zodiac Killer was Graymith’s interview with Linda Ferrein. Graysmith sought to question Darlene Ferrin’s sister, Linda Ferrin, to find out whether there was any correlation with her sister and the Zodiac Killer, due to a piece of information referencing Darlene’s painting parties in one of his letters. As Graysmith interviewed Linda, she described Darlene as always being surrounded by boys. But there was one in particular who stood out to her. Linda described this boy as antisocial when he attended one of Darlene’s painting parties. Darlene also warned Linda to stay away from him because she said he scared her, and also mentioned to her sister that this was the same man who confessed to her he had killed someone. Not only that, but he had a nickname for himself, which was Leigh, which was also Allen’s middle name. During that same time, Graysmith received an image of Allen’s driver’s license confirming Allen’s date of birth, December 19, 1933, the same date on which he made a phone call to Melvin Belli stating, “It’s my birthday, I must kill.”6 All of this piled up evidenced convinced Graysmith that Allen was the Zodiac Killer, because this was the only time that the Zodiac Killer gave out a piece of personal information. Unfortunately, authorities planned to have a meeting charging him with all these murders, but Allen suffered from a heart attack before the meeting could take place.
Convincing enough? This is one of the most popular theories from Robert Graysmith who believed the serial murderer was Arthur Leigh Allen. Although there is supporting evidence that points towards him as the killer, many question Graysmith’s judgment and overall investigation. Regardless, the case still remains unsolved and we may never know who the real Zodiac Killer was. Was it Arthur Leigh Allen or was Graysmith’s theory further off than we thought?
- William Booth, “The Zodiac Writer,” The Washington Post, Mar. 09, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/03/09/DI2007030900522.html (accessed September 5, 2018). ↵
- Robert Graysmith, Zodiac (Penguin Publishing Group, 2007), 78. ↵
- William Booth, “A Killer Obsession,” The Washington Post, Mar. 1, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022801979.html (accessed September 5, 2018). ↵
- Justin Moyer, “And the Zodiac Killer is…,” The Washington Post, May 14, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/14/and-the-zodiac-killer-is/?utm_term=.28c06c343598 (accessed September 7, 2018). ↵
- Robert Graysmith, Zodiac unmasked (New York: Berkley Books, 2003), 180. ↵
- Robert Graysmith, Zodiac unmasked (New York: Berkley Books, 2003), 180. ↵
125 comments
Madison Downing
Reading about the zodiac killer always gives me the chills and you did such a great good explaining how it could possibly be like Allen. Someone like him should never exist but they do and learning from the experiences that people went through can help future police prevent criminals from not being caught. I am also interested in what would have happened during the interview with Allen but now this mystery will most likely live forever.
Kaitlyn Killebrew
I found it highly disturbing when they talked about Melvin Belli receiving a phone call from Allen one his birthday saying that “I must kill” and admitting that he had already killed. The Zodiac Killer is a topic that most people have already heard about in someway shape or form. I always found it interesting that the letters he wrote were in some sort of code and even if they were deciphered, if they even did it correctly, they were still unable to attain him.
Greyson Addicott
Personally, I believe that the “Zodiac killer” may have been trying to frame Allen. Why would a murderer, especially one who went to such great lengths to hide his identity and throw the police off of his trail, give away such a crucial clue to his identity for no reason whatsoever? Regardless, the theory is, for the most part, logically sound. The author did a great job comparing and delving into the personality of both the Zodiac killer and Allen.
Angel Torres
The story of the Zodiac Killer will continue to instill fear in the lives of many that were able to witness the work of the Zodiac Killer. After all, he did gain a lot of publicity due to the encrypted letters he would send to the Chronicle. I always wonder how everything would’ve of played out if Cheney wouldn’t have given information about Allen that led to his 3 year imprisonment. The article was well written and was able to evoke that sense of mystery in the reader.
Arieana Martinez
I really enjoyed reading this article. The Zodiac Killer seems like one of legends to my generation, but continues to be timeless to this day. Everyone is stills scared of him, but does not know much about him, since he was never “technically” found. I do wonder how the interview would have gone if Arthur Leigh Allen didn’t have his heart attack. Would he have confessed? Would he lead the police in circles? One may never know. This article was very eerie, but left me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I do wish the author would have payed attention and put “December 18th” as the date of birth at the end rather than the 19th, but other than that, I loved this article.
Marina Castro
Congratulations Nathalie for your nomination! Your article is probably the shortest article to be nominated, but this is only due to how great it is. The topic of crime and serial killers is always so interesting to everyone, which is why I can tell it has so many comments and a nomination. You were able to convey fear, mystery, and so much more with your writing and use of images.
Daniela Cardona
The zodiac killer has always been such an interesting topic to me. His murderous plans were always so thought out and particular you know he had to have had a brilliant mind. This is also what makes him terrifying, to have gone for so long and be strategic enough to never get caught is no joke. He had to have been of a different breed than most to explain his demented ways, but that’s what will make his story live on forever. This article was written very well, definitely a ‘page-turner.’
Sienna Guerra
This image of being depicted as a killer is creepy. It is disgusting how he did this for pleasure and seeing that the human mind is capable since being a child. Despite all of this, it is impressive on how he had his rage and killing was never caught. Congrats on being nominated for an award this semester and I hope you win!
Harashang Gajjar
At least six letters and greeting cards were sent by The Zodiac to the press during 1970. Each one contained tantalizing hints about the killer’s past accomplishments and future plans but none had enough information to provide the police with a firm lead or even a potential suspect. The Zodiac continued writing until 1978 and investigators also found evidence that suggested that he could have been responsible for unsolved killings in Riverside, Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara.
William Rittenhouse
This is such a weird crime story because he was never caught! I had always heard of this story but I never knew what he did. Sometimes I wonder what the heck is going on in peoples minds to make them make those types of decisions. The article did a great job of being descriptive yet also entertaining. I’m curious to see if they actually find him or if he is still alive. I hope we get better at catching these type of people.