Who Was The Zodiac Killer? Inside His Mysterious Identity

By Kaleena Fraga | Edited By Jaclyn Anglis

Published December 13, 2022

Updated October 23, 2024

Paul Alfred Doerr: One Of The Most Recent Zodiac Killer Suspects

Gloria DoerrPaul Alfred Doerr was known to have been intelligent, but he also had a violent background.

One of the newest Zodiac Killer suspects to emerge is Paul Alfred Doerr, who was floated by Jarett Kobek in his 2022 book How to Find Zodiac.

Kobek found Doerr a compelling suspect for a number of reasons. Highly intelligent and violent, Doerr’s writing mirrors some of the Zodiac’s letters. He was part of a militant right-wing group called the Minutemen, who used a symbol that was similar to the Zodiac’s. And Doerr had a military background, which some suspect that the Zodiac shared.

Kobek’s research was allegedly so extensive that Doerr’s own daughter, Gloria, eventually admitted that she was impressed with the work Kobek had done. SF Gate called Doerr the “most compelling Zodiac Killer suspect in decades” and Paul Haynes, who co-wrote the Golden State Killer book I’ll Be Gone in the Dark called Doerr the “best Zodiac suspect that’s ever surfaced.”

Gloria DoerrPaul Doerr’s daughter, Gloria, has said, “I don’t want to believe it was him. I really hope it wasn’t.”

But not everyone is convinced. Slate called Kobek’s argument against Doerr “an argument rife with confirmation bias” and Kobek admitted that, though he’d turned over all his evidence to the police, they never contacted him.

“I think [Doerr is] a pretty good shot at it,” Kobek told The Guardian. “I can’t blame law enforcement if they ignore it. These guys get, like, 10 tips a day about how someone’s cousin or whatever is Zodiac.”

So who was the Zodiac Killer? Other suspects have been suggested over the years, including Guy Ward Hendrickson and Donald Lee Bujok. But none — so far — have convinced the FBI that the Zodiac Killer’s true identity has been discovered. According to them, the case remains “open and unsolved.”

After looking through this list of Zodiac Killer suspects, discover the chilling stories of nine Black Dahlia killer suspects. Then, learn about the solution to the Zodiac cipher Z340.

author

A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.

editor

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.

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Fraga, Kaleena. "Nine Zodiac Killer Suspects And The Disturbing Stories Behind Them." AllThatsInteresting.com, December 13, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/who-was-the-zodiac-killer. Accessed August 2, 2025.