A still-unidentified serial killer active in Northern California in the late 1960s, the Zodiac Killer murdered Betty Lou Jensen, David Arthur Faraday, Darlene Ferrin, Cecelia Shepard, and Paul Stine. But some believe that he didn't stop there.
Over the past half-century, investigators and amateur sleuths alike have pored over evidence to try and determine the identity of the Zodiac Killer, a California serial killer who was active in the late 1960s. Not only was the Zodiac vicious, but he also left behind puzzling ciphers hinting at his motives and identity. Many people have attempted to unmask him, but the stories of the Zodiac’s victims are sometimes relegated to the sidelines.
Though the Zodiac Killer claimed to have murdered as many as 37 people, investigators are certain that he killed at least five victims between 1968 and 1969: David Arthur Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, Cecelia Ann Shepard, and Paul Lee Stine. He also left two survivors: Michael Renault Mageau and Bryan Calvin Hartnell. And it’s very possible that he killed many more, as some unsolved murders, like that of Cheri Jo Bates, have sometimes been tenuously linked to the Zodiac Killer as well.
So who were the Zodiac’s victims? This is the full story of the people who he killed — or tried to kill — as well as some of his potential victims.
David Arthur Faraday And Betty Lou Jensen
Public DomainDavid Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, the first confirmed victims of the Zodiac Killer.
The story of the Zodiac Killer began on Dec. 20, 1968. That night, Stella Medeiros was driving down a road in Benicia, California (about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco) after 11 p.m. when she spotted two bodies lying on the road. Medeiros sped off to notify the police, who returned to the scene and found the bodies of 17-year-old David Arthur Faraday and 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen, the first confirmed victims of the Zodiac Killer.
According to SF Weekly, Faraday and Jensen had only known each other for two weeks, and December 20th was the night of their first date.
Faraday was a wrestler and an Eagle Scout; Jensen was an honor roll student. Their night had started around 8 p.m., when Jensen brought Faraday to her home to meet her parents. Afterward, they’d gone to visit a friend, and then had attended a holiday concert. As their night came to a close, Faraday drove them to a secluded area known as a “lovers’ lane.”
There, at some point, they encountered the Zodiac Killer.
Tom Voigt of ZodiacKiller.comThe scene where the Zodiac Killer’s first known victims, David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, were murdered.
Investigators suspect that the Zodiac had scared them out of the car by firing his gun at the vehicle — there was a bullet hole in the back of the car — before opening fire on the victims themselves, who had apparently attempted to flee. Faraday had been shot in the head, and Jensen had been shot seven times. Five of her bullet wounds were in her back — “in close pattern on the right side” — which suggested that she’d tried to run away.
Investigators had a double homicide on their hands, but it wasn’t until another young couple was attacked that they realized there was a serial killer on the loose. Indeed, the Zodiac Killer’s victims would soon increase.
