Darlene Ferrin And Michael Renault Mageau
Public DomainDarlene Ferrin was the third victim murdered by the Zodiac. Her friend, Michael Renault Mageau, survived the attack.
The next pair of Zodiac Killer victims were 22-year-old Darlene Ferrin and 19-year-old Michael Renault Mageau. But this time, the Zodiac would accidentally leave a witness, Mageau, who survived the brutal attack.
On July 4, 1969 — more than six months after Faraday and Jensen’s murder — Ferrin and Mageau made their way to Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California. They had met up at a local restaurant earlier that day. Though Ferrin was married and a new mother, they were spending the evening together at a parking lot at the park, another local “lovers’ lane.”
The pair noticed that a car had driven into the parking lot, briefly left, and then returned soon afterward. The driver then parked near Ferrin and Mageau, got out of his vehicle, and approached the two with a flashlight. Mageau said he initially thought the driver was a police officer. But before either Ferrin or Mageau could react, the person opened fire.
Mageau, who was shot four times, recalled that the gunman “kept shooting” him “again and again,” according to ZodiacKillerFacts. The killer also shot Ferrin “again and again.” Though he left, the killer then returned to shoot at both Mageau and Ferrin once more before leaving them for dead.
But while Ferrin, who was shot nine times, died just moments later, Mageau survived. He described the killer as young, white, around 5’8″, with a round face and brown hair. Later, he’d identify Zodiac Killer suspect Arthur Leigh Allen as the assailant. Despite this, Allen was never confirmed to be the attacker, and it’s still unclear whether he was actually the Zodiac.
Public DomainArthur Leigh Allen’s driver’s license.
The attack on Mageau and Ferrin certainly bore some resemblance to the murder of Faraday and Jensen, but if the police had any doubt that the two were connected, it was cleared up early on July 5th. At around 12:40 a.m., an unknown man called the Vallejo Police Department and stated:
“I want to report a double murder. 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-millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year… Goodbye.”
