In the world of serial killers, one might consider the Zodiac Killer to be a step above the rest. The Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer active in Northern California in the 1960’s and 1970’s, was notable not only for his killing spree and mysterious ciphers sent to news outlets and police, but also for the fact that he got away with the murders, as his identity was never discovered. The police’s prime suspect as the Zodiac Killer was Arthur Leigh Allen, but his DNA, fingerprints, and handwriting did not match that left behind by the Zodiac Killer.

After several of his murders, the Zodiac Killer sent ciphers – encoded messages – to newspapers and police, prompting them by saying the cipher would reveal his identity. This was false, and usually the ciphers revealed nothing but cryptic rants and threats against further victims. The Zodiac Killer’s activity began with the shooting of David Farraday and Betty Lou Jensen in 1968, but police suspect his killing spree may have begun five years earlier. The link between the Zodiac and the 1963 murders of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards has not been confirmed, however.

Both Farraday and Jensen were killed. The next attack from the Zodiac Killer, however, produced one survivor: Michael Mageau is only one of a handful of people who have seen the killer’s face. He and Darlene Ferrin were parked at a well known lover’s lane when the Zodiac Killer parked them in. He blinded them with a flashlight, then shot and killed Ferrin. Mageau had been seriously injured but lived.

While the Zodiac Killer claimed credit for 37 victims, only seven have been confirmed. All had been young couples except for cab driver Paul Stine, who was shot in the back of the head after driving the Zodiac Killer to the corner of Washington and Maple Streets in San Francisco. One other victim survived: Bryan Hartnell, who was stabbed several times by a man wearing a black hood with the symbol of the Zodiac Killer on his chest. Cecilia Shepard was killed in the attack.

The prime suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen, was linked by an abundance of circumstantial evidence to the Zodiac killings, though police could not pin him as the Zodiac Killer; his fingerprints and handwriting did not match that of the Zodiac Killer and he was therefore never charged for the killings. He died in 1992 of a heart attack. The most recent Zodiac Killer suspect is Jack Tarrance, whose stepson found a black hood resembling that of the Zodiac Killer, as well as undeveloped rolls of film that Tarrance’s stepson says contain gruesome photos of the murders. None of the evidence has been substantiated, though the case is still open and active.