The Zodiac Killer Murdered 5 People – But Claimed to Have Killed Dozens More. Here's What to Know About the Serial Killer's Victims and Survivors

Mar. 15, 2025

San Francisco murder victims David Faraday and Darlene Ferrin, alleged to be victims of the Zodiac Killer.Photo:Getty

Getty

TheZodiac Killeris one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

Known not only for the gruesome murders he committed in northern California in the late 1960s, but for the cryptic letters he sent to the media extolling their own crimes, the killer and their unsolvable ciphers are still puzzling sleuths more than 60 years later.

Teenagers Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday, wife and mother Darlene Ferrin, college student Cecila Shepard and taxi driver Paul Stine tragically lost their lives at the hands of the Zodiac, while Michael Renault Mageau and Bryan Hartnell narrowly escaped death.

And while investigators have only confirmed five killings associated with the Zodiac, the murderer claimed to have taken the lives of as many as 37 people through his various letters, per theSan Francisco Chronicle.

Keep reading to find out more about the Zodiac Killer’s victims and what happened to them.

Who is the Zodiac Killer?

Zodiac Killer composite sketch.Getty

The outlet reported thatArthur Leigh Allen, a convicted child molester who lived in the Vallejo area, owned boots that matched the killer’s footprints and had referenced a short story in a police interview that the Zodiac had mentioned in one of their letters.

Zodiac survivor Mageau also positively identified Allen from a photo lineup as the man that had shot him years earlier. According to theChronicle, Allen died of a heart attack in 1992 and was never charged in relation to the Zodiac murders.

In May 2014, business owner Gary Stewart claimed his father Earl Van Best Jr.was responsible for the murdersin his bookThe Most Dangerous Animal Of All,and in October 2021, a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators known as The Case Breakers claimed that they had identified another man as the Zodiac: Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018 perFox News.

The FBI confirmed toNewsweekin May 2023, however, that the killer’s identity was not yet known.

As of October 2024, no one has been charged with the Zodiac’s crimes.

Who were the Zodiac Killer’s victims?

Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday

San Francisco murder victims Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday, alleged to be victims of the Zodiac Killer.Getty

16-year-old honor roll student Jensen and 17-year-old wrestler Faraday were the Zodiac Killer’s first known victims. According toThis Is the Zodiac Speaking,the high school students had been out for their first date before David drove them to a secluded area on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, Calif. to be alone.

Darlene Ferrin

The killer’s next victim was 22-year-old Ferrin, a waitress who was both a wife and a new mother. Ferrin, along with 19-year-old Mageau, was shot while sitting in Ferrin’s car in a remote parking lot in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, Calif., roughly 15 minutes away from where the previous victims had been found, on July 4, 1969.

After entering and leaving the parking lot abruptly, the Zodiac reportedly pulled up behind Ferrin’s car, then approached the passenger side with a flashlight before opening fire. Mageau survived the attack while Ferrin did not.

Ferrin’s sister opened up about her oldest sibling to theVallejo Times-Herald, saying, “She was a great sister. There were 10 of us — eight girls, two boys. She was the oldest and my idol.”

According toTimes-Herald, the Zodiac Killer called 911 following the July 4 attack on their third and fourth victims to take credit for the incident. “I want to report a double murder,” they said. “If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 MM luger.”

Cecila Shepard

Cecilia Shepard.AP

AP

On Sept. 27, 1969, 22-year-old Shepard became the fourth known victim to die at the hands of the Zodiac while picnicking in Lake Berryessa in Benicia, Calif., with her boyfriend Hartnell.

According to reports, the Zodiac held the couple at gunpoint and tied them up before fatally stabbing Shepard 10 to 20 times and wounding Hartnell, who survived the attack. Hartnelltold authoritiesthat he initially thought the man, who was wielding a pistol and wearing a hood, was a robber, but that he refused money when it was offered, stating, “I don’t want the money, all I want to do is kill [you].”

After attacking Hartnell and Shepard, the Zodiac marked the vehicle’s passenger side door with the dates of two of their previous shootings, perThis Is the Zodiac Speaking.

Paul Stine

Cab driver Paul Stine.AP

The Zodiac’s final confirmed victim was 29-year-old Paul Stine. Stine was killed on Oct. 11, 1969, after giving the Zodiac a taxi ride. Radio stationKFGOreported that Stine was a San Francisco State doctorate candidate who was working as a cabbie while pursuing his degree.

The Zodiac took ownership for his last victim’s life in a letter to theSan Francisco Chroniclein which he included a bloodied piece of the victim’s clothing. The letter was printed in an Oct. 15, 1969 issue of the paper.

Have the Zodiac Killer’s crimes been solved?

Zodiac Killer.Eric Risberg/AP/Shutterstock

While elements of the zodiac killer’s crimes have been solved, including several of the ciphers he sent to the media, others remain a mystery.

The Desert Sunreported on Aug. 13, 1969, that Donald and Bettye Harden had cracked the killer’s first cipher after it was sent to local newspapers. Known as the 408 cipher, it read in part, “I like killing because it is so much fun.”

In December 2020, web designer David Oranchakcracked another of the killer’s ciphers51 years after being sent to theChroniclewith the help of Australian mathematician Sam Blake, and Belgium warehouse operator Jarl Van Eykcke.

In the note, the Zodiac Killer said that he hoped the authorities were having “lots of fun” trying to catch him and seemingly gave them a clue regarding a 1969 broadcast of Jim Dunbar’sAM San Franciscoduring which an anonymous caller claimed to be the Zodiac and said they didn’t want to go to the gas chamber.

As the FBI toldNewsweekin 2023, “The FBI’s investigation into the Zodiac Killer remains open and unsolved.”

source: people.com