



Th e Zodiac Killer

He went on to the crime story due to a series of homicides that he bragged about through calls to the police and letters to the press. A serial killer that swells the list of unresolved crimes.Although not all serial killers crave their public moment of glory, the California Zodiac Killer certainly did. He took advantage of the publicity because he knew that homicides were the culminating point of the human drama and they supposed an excellent sale in the media.

In fact, there are key parallels between the short reign of the Zodiac Assassin and his distant Victorian blood brother, Jack the Ripper. Both cases have remained unsolved and are two of the serial killers most repeated in the annals of the crime history. They have given rise to numerous conspiracy theories and many suspects, and both maniacs sought the press to make their voices heard. When the Zodiac spoke, everyone listened. Such was his power and dominion. He got what he wanted and laughed in the face of the policemen in charge of following his trail. "The Zodiac speaks to them" became a headline as chilling as the address given by Jack in red ink in the letter sent to the head of the Surveillance Committee, George Lusk: "From Hell".

Letters from a murderer

The Zodiac was famous for sending letters to the press and to the police. On August 1, 1969, three missives written by the same hand were sent to the Vallejo Times-Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner. The author demanded that these newspapers print a three part cryptogram on their covers. Combined and resolved, they would reveal the murderer's identity and allow the police to catch him. The killer told the editors that if they did not do what they asked for, the consequences would be terrible: more people would die. Although the editorial teams debated whether the cryptogram and the letters were a cheat, they consented and published it. Despite the initial hesitation, the killing did not occur. The Chronicle included quotes from Vallejo Police Chief Jack Stilitz asking for more information. It was a way to provoke the author or to establish the validity of correspondence. Of course: the editors had offered the killer a platform and the game started in earnest. On August 7, 1969, the name by which it would finally be known (the Zodiac Killer) began to be used because of a letter, whose opening line would be equally iconic. The Zodiac wrote to the San Francisco Examiner, referring directly to Stilitz's quotations and revealing that he was avidly following the news. The stained letter of three pages began: "Dear editor, it is the Zodiac who speaks ...". On August 8, an eager high school teacher from Salinas, California, Donald Harden, along with his wife Bettye, solved the three-part cryptogram and informed the authorities of his chilling discovery. The message was only partially deciphered, since the last eighteen letters remained in mystery. Maybe it was just a gibberish petulantly included by the Zodiac to leave people disoriented. Above all, what the murderer had promised-his identity-was not revealed at all. Instead, he boasted about how much fun it was to kill and that he was recruiting slaves for his future life. The letters and postcards continued during the following years until, like the murders, they suddenly ceased. Some were identi fi ed as authentic and others discarded because they seemed attempts at copying. The peculiar modus operandi of the Assassin of the Zodiac was designed to confuse the police and enhance the superiority of their intellect 12 issues Marie Claire with facial set The Ritual of Namasté The last letter sent to the press under the name of Zodiac was received in 1974, and to its four official assassinations five other cases could perhaps be added. The peculiar modus operandi of the Assassin of the Zodiac was designed to confuse the police and enhance the superiority of their intellect. Sadly, no suspect has been convicted and the investigation continues and baffles to this day.