The Horrifying Murders Of The Zodiac Killer — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00- This week on BuzzFeed Unsolved we're covering
2. 0:01the Zodiac Killer.
3. 0:02Right now we are at the scene of his first crime which,
4. 0:04at the time, seemed like a good idea,
5. 0:06but now that we're here, it's fucking pitch black.
6. 0:07This is a horrible idea so let's just get this over with.
7. 0:10- Sounds good, let's do it.
8. 0:11- [Voiceover] So, in the late 60s and early 70s,
9. 0:14the Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California.
10. 0:16Killing at least five people and claiming to have killed
11. 0:1937 people in total.
12. 0:21- [Voiceover] 37?
13. 0:22- [Voiceover] He claims to have killed 37 people.
14. 0:24- [Voiceover] Like, he wrote a note?
15. 0:25- Yeah, he was a, he was a douche bag.
16. 0:28On December 20, 1968 around 11 PM near Vallejo, California
17. 0:3217 year old David Faraday and 16 year old Betty Lou Jensen
18. 0:36were shot and killed while sitting in a parked car
19. 0:38in a gravel parking area off of Lake Herman Road.
20. 0:40In the exact spot we are sitting right now.
21. 0:43- The exact spot, like right here?
22. 0:44- Like right here.
23. 0:47- Its' just the wind.
24. 0:48- Yes, right here.
25. 0:50(yells) - It's the wind!
26. 0:52- You're not freaked out a little right now?
27. 0:54- What the fuck, dude?
28. 0:55- It's the wind.
29. 0:57You don't want me, we can close the windows.
30. 0:58- Yeah, let's close the windows, fuck this shit.
31. 1:01- If anything, though, it would make it somewhat easier
32. 1:03to hear footsteps that sneak up on us.
33. 1:05- Fuck, you're right, let's open the windows.
34. 1:06(laughing)
35. 1:07By the time police arrived, Betty was found dead
36. 1:09on the ground 30 feet away from the car,
37. 1:11but David was still alive.
38. 1:12However, David would die on the way to the hospital.
39. 1:15At this time, nobody knew that this was the work
40. 1:17of a serial killer.
41. 1:19- [Voiceover] Oh, 'cause it was the first murder?
42. 1:20- 'Cause it was the first time.
43. 1:21Can we leave now?
44. 1:22- Should I grab the camera?
45. 1:23- What is wrong with you?
46. 1:24Are you really not scared right now?
47. 1:26- Why? Why on earth?
48. 1:27- [Voiceover] 'Cause look where the fuck we are, dude.
49. 1:29Look where the fuck we are.
50. 1:31There's nothing around!
51. 1:32- Have you never been in the middle of nowhere before?
52. 1:34- [Voiceover] No, I am freaking out!
53. 1:36Look at this shit, where the fuck are we right now?
54. 1:38There's two of us out here and who knows what the fuck
55. 1:40is out in that darkness.
56. 1:42Not down to find out.
57. 1:43Call me a wiener, whatever, I don't care.
58. 1:46The Zodiac's next crime would occur on July 4, 1969
59. 1:49at around midnight near Blue Rock Springs Park,
60. 1:52only a few minutes away from the previous crime.
61. 1:54The Zodiac approached a parked car with a flashlight,
62. 1:57shooting 22 year old Darlene Ferrin and 19 year old
63. 2:00Michael Mageau before walking away and coming back
64. 2:03to shoot them both again.
65. 2:04Both were still alive when found,
66. 2:06but only Mageau would survive.
67. 2:08Mageau was able to make out the face of the man who shot him
68. 2:11and described him as a young white man, approximately 26
69. 2:14to 30 years old, stocky, 200 pounds or larger,
70. 2:18about five foot eight with light brown curly hair,
71. 2:21and a large face.
72. 2:22Within an hour, the police received a phone call from
73. 2:24somebody claiming to be the shooter.
74. 2:27He also claimed to be the shooter in the Lake Herman Road
75. 2:29murders.
76. 2:30Happened right around here.
77. 2:32The parking lot was probably empty just like this.
78. 2:34I don't like the way this feels either.
79. 2:36- I mean, it's eerie 'cause it's night time,
80. 2:37but if I was here during the day,
81. 2:39it wouldn't feel weird at all.
82. 2:41Right behind you is a freaking kiosk that says,
83. 2:43"Parking fees are free today."
84. 2:45Like, that's not a scary sight.
85. 2:47- I guess.
86. 2:49On August 1, 1969 the San Francisco Chronicle,
87. 2:52the San Francisco Examiner and the Vallejo Times Harold
88. 2:55all received identical hand written letters from someone
89. 2:57claiming to be the killer.
90. 2:59The letters revealed specific details about the murders
91. 3:01to prove that the writer was in fact the killer.
92. 3:04The letters were signed with a distinct mark,
93. 3:06a circle with a cross through it, the mark that would
94. 3:08eventually become known as the mark of the Zodiac Killer.
95. 3:11Also included in the letters were three different codes
96. 3:14that the Zodiac demanded be printed in newspapers
97. 3:16or else he would kill again.
98. 3:18- [Voiceover] Why did they print them?
99. 3:19- [Voiceover] Because he said if they didn't print them,
100. 3:20he would kill more.
101. 3:21- [Voiceover] That just creates fear and gives the killer
102. 3:23what they want.
103. 3:24- [Voiceover] But at the same time, I wouldn't want death
104. 3:25on my hands either.
105. 3:26- [Voiceover] It's not your hand, you're not killing anybody
106. 3:28that guy is killing someone.
107. 3:29- [Voiceover] True.
108. 3:30- [Voiceover] You not printing something has nothing to do
109. 3:32with whether or not someone is going to kill someone.
110. 3:35- [Voiceover] The Zodiac claimed that the cracked codes
111. 3:36would reveal his identity.
112. 3:38On August 4, another letter was received that started with
113. 3:40the phrase, "This is the Zodiac speaking."
114. 3:43Marking the first time the killer referred to himself
115. 3:45as the Zodiac.
116. 3:46On August 8, 1969 the code was cracked by a couple
117. 3:49in Salinas, CA.
118. 3:51It reads, "I like killing because it is so much fun,
119. 3:54"it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest
120. 3:56"because man is the most dangerous animal of all to kill.
121. 3:59"Something gives me the most thrilling experience,
122. 4:01"it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl.
123. 4:04"The best part of it is that when I die,
124. 4:06"I will be reborn in paradise and those I have killed will
125. 4:09"become my slaves.
126. 4:10"I will not give you my name because you will try to
127. 4:12"slow down or stop my collecting off slaves for afterlife."
128. 4:15- [Voiceover] Since when do you get to keep slaves
129. 4:17in the afterlife when you kill someone?
130. 4:19- [Voiceover] Well, apparently that's common knowledge
131. 4:20in crazy town.
132. 4:21Also, this dude must've skipped class the day they taught
133. 4:23run on sentences because that shit was ridiculous.
134. 4:25- [Voiceover] Also this guy sounds like, just the biggest
135. 4:28bro douche ever, right?
136. 4:30Killing is better than getting my nuts off with a girl?
137. 4:33Like, shut up.
138. 4:34- [Voiceover] On September 27, 1969 in Napa, California
139. 4:3822 year old Cecelia Shepard and 20 year old Bryan Hartnell
140. 4:42were picnicking on the shore of Lake Berryessa when Cecelia
141. 4:45saw a man hiding behind a nearby tree and staring at her.
142. 4:48After some time, the man came out from behind the tree
143. 4:50wearing an executioner style hood over his head
144. 4:52with the Zodiac Killer symbol on his chest.
145. 4:55He had a gun and a long knife and used pre-cut rope
146. 4:57to tie up Cecelia and Bryan before stabbing them repeatedly.
147. 5:00Cecelia died at the hospital, but Bryan Hartnell would
148. 5:03survive, despite being stabbed six times in the back.
149. 5:07Bryan Hartnell described the man as being five foot eight
150. 5:09to six feet tall, heavy set, weighing about 225 to 250
151. 5:13pounds with dark brown hair that he saw through the
152. 5:16eye holes in the mask.
153. 5:17A message was found on the side of Bryan's car
154. 5:20with the Zodiac sign, the dates of all three killings,
155. 5:22and the words, "by knife" written below the September
156. 5:2527th date.
157. 5:27- [Voiceover] What did he use to write on the car?
158. 5:28- [Voiceover] Just a little black paint, you know?
159. 5:30Maybe he went to Joan's Crafts and supplies.
160. 5:32- [Voiceover] Right, Michaels.
161. 5:33- [Voiceover] Michaels, he went to Michaels.
162. 5:35On October 11, 1969 just before 10 PM in San Francisco,
163. 5:40California at the intersection of Washington and Cherry
164. 5:43a cab driver Paul Stine was shot in the head by his
165. 5:46passenger.
166. 5:47A teenage girl from her home across the street heard
167. 5:49the shot along with two other witnesses in her home
168. 5:52and got a good look at the man as he wiped down the car
169. 5:55and walked away.
170. 5:55They called the police and described the man as a white
171. 5:58male between 25 to 30 years old.
172. 6:00Five foot eight to five foot nine tall,
173. 6:02stocky, with a reddish-brown crew cut and heavy rimmed
174. 6:05glasses.
175. 6:06A police car that was nearby came quickly to the scene,
176. 6:09but the chaos of the situation would strangely result
177. 6:11in the police dispatcher incorrectly identifying
178. 6:14the suspect as an African American male.
179. 6:17(laughter)
180. 6:18- [Voiceover] Classic!
181. 6:19Way to go, fucking San Francisco police.
182. 6:22- [Voiceover] Yeah.
183. 6:23- [Voiceover] Are you kidding me?
184. 6:24- [Voiceover] Yeah, when I saw that I was like,
185. 6:25"God damn it."
186. 6:26- [Voiceover] Oh my lord.
187. 6:27- [Voiceover] That incorrect identification would prove
188. 6:30to have disastrous consequences.
189. 6:32The police car driven by officer Don Fouke and
190. 6:34Eric Zelms would come upon a white male walking on the
191. 6:37sidewalk described by officer Fouke as five foot 10,
192. 6:40170 pounds, about 40 years old, wearing glasses with
193. 6:44reddish hair and a crew cut.
194. 6:45Very similar to the description offered by the teenage girl.
195. 6:49However, because they were looking for an African-American
196. 6:52male, Fouke and Zelms left the man alone.
197. 6:55Watching him disappear into (mumbles) park.
198. 7:00Brutal right?
199. 7:01Right now we're coming up to where the two officers
200. 7:03allegedly saw the Zodiac.
201. 7:05They turned left onto Jackson right here.
202. 7:08And they saw a white guy walking right here.
203. 7:12So the officers think he walked down to the park,
204. 7:15entered through here, and that's where they lost him.
205. 7:18The Zodiac would later comment on this interaction in
206. 7:20a later letter in detail.
207. 7:22Making it very likely that Fouke and Zelms came into
208. 7:24contact with that nation's most notorious serial killer
209. 7:27at the time without even knowing it.
210. 7:29A composite sketch would be drawn based on the two
211. 7:31descriptions that would later become part of a famous
212. 7:33wanted poster.
213. 7:34- [Voiceover] Is this the Ted Cruz wanted poster?
214. 7:36- [Voiceover] Yeah, it is.
215. 7:38- [Voiceover] It is the one that everyone looks like
216. 7:39Ted Cruz.
217. 7:40- [Voiceover] Regardless, the theory is ridiculous because
218. 7:41Ted Cruz wasn't even alive when the Zodiac was killing
219. 7:43people.
220. 7:44Case closed, it wasn't Ted Cruz unless he's a fucking
221. 7:46time traveler.
222. 7:47- [Voiceover] Unless he changed his birth certificate, man.
223. 7:50Remember how obsessed about Obama's birth certificate
224. 7:52they were?
225. 7:53I want to see Ted Cruz's real birth certificate
226. 7:54is all I'm saying.
227. 7:56- [Voiceover] Another crucial piece of evidence was a
228. 7:57bloody finger print discovered in the cab.
229. 7:59However, the Zodiac also claims in a letter that it was
230. 8:02planted by him to throw the cops off his trail.
231. 8:05Two days later the San Francisco Chronicle gets another
232. 8:07letter that claims responsibility for the cab driver,
233. 8:09Paul Stine's murder, and includes a piece of Stine's
234. 8:12blood stained shirt.
235. 8:13Even more horrifying, the letter also included quote,
236. 8:16"School children make nice targets,
237. 8:19"I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning.
238. 8:21"Just shoot out the front tire and then pick off the kiddies
239. 8:23"as they come bouncing out."
240. 8:25End quote.
241. 8:26He also later included diagrams of bombs that could
242. 8:28be used on buses.
243. 8:30- [Voiceover] Where is he dropping these letters off?
244. 8:31How does he get these letters to the press?
245. 8:33- [Voiceover] I don't know.
246. 8:34Also, like the image of the Zodiac sitting down in his
247. 8:36little desk getting his, like, pen ready--
248. 8:38- [Voiceover] I mean he does seem like he'd be into
249. 8:40calligraphy.
250. 8:41- [Voiceover] Maybe.
251. 8:42- [Voiceover] This guy seems crazy enough that he's
252. 8:44got a fucking quill pen.
253. 8:46- [Voiceover] He has a letter-writing desk.
254. 8:47- [Voiceover] What's the name they call letter-writing
255. 8:50desks?
256. 8:51- [Voiceover] Oh fuck, I don't--
257. 8:52- [Voiceover] There's a specific name.
258. 8:54- [Voiceover] After this, a Zodiac task force was
259. 8:56created so that multiple departments could share info.
260. 8:59On April 20, 1970 a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle
261. 9:01included a cipher with the sentence "my name is" blank.
262. 9:05Which would later become a point of contention in
263. 9:07potential suspects.
264. 9:08The Zodiac would continue to send letters before
265. 9:10stopping in 1971.
266. 9:12Only to send his last letter in 1974 where he claims to
267. 9:16have killed 37 people and bizarrely reviews his viewing
268. 9:19of The Exorcist, which he called, quote,
269. 9:22the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen, end quote.
270. 9:26- [Voiceover] What? This guy.
271. 9:28- [Voiceover] I can't imagine why he felt the need to write
272. 9:29a Rotten Tomatoes review in his last letter, but--
273. 9:31- [Voiceover] Because he had no friends,
274. 9:33the only people he could talk to were the press and
275. 9:35the police.
276. 9:36- [Voiceover] Do you think he would be a frequency Yelper
277. 9:38today if he were still alive?
278. 9:39- [Voiceover] Oh, he'd definitely be a fucking one star
279. 9:41Yelper.
280. 9:43- [Voiceover] Skipping forward, in 2002 the San Francisco
281. 9:45police department was able to extract a partial genetic
282. 9:48profile from a Zodiac letter from the saliva on the stamp.
283. 9:51The profile was not enough to conclusively identify
284. 9:53a single person, but enough to eliminate potential
285. 9:56suspects.
286. 9:57And with that, let's take a look at the suspects with
287. 9:59the most circumstantial evidence against them.
288. 10:02The first theory is from Gary Steward who believes that
289. 10:04his father, Earl Van Best Jr. was the Zodiac killer.
290. 10:07Gary Steward published a book called the Most Dangerous
291. 10:10Animal of All that presents this theory.
292. 10:12Earl Van Best Jr bares and uncanny resemblance
293. 10:15to the composite sketch from the Paul Stine killing.
294. 10:17His name also matches the number of characters in the
295. 10:20my name is cipher.
296. 10:21Finally, Stewart says a handwriting expert is virtually
297. 10:24certain that Best's handwriting on his marriage license
298. 10:27matches the writing of the Zodiac killer.
299. 10:30Now, here are reasons why Best may not be the Zodiac.
300. 10:33According to an administrator at the church where Best's
301. 10:35marriage certificate came from, the handwriting is that
302. 10:38of the priest and not Best himself, making the match
303. 10:41that was virtually certain implicate the priest
304. 10:44rather than Best.
305. 10:46- [Voiceover] Where do you even go to get handwriting,
306. 10:47like, certification skills?
307. 10:50Probably from the fucking University of Phoenix.
308. 10:51- [Voiceover] Oh shit!
309. 10:54What did the University of Phoenix do to you?
310. 10:56- [Voiceover] They're like a for-profit college.
311. 10:57- [Voiceover] Are they?
312. 10:58Furthermore, Best only matches the description of the
313. 11:00Zodiac at the Paul Stine killing, but not the heavy set
314. 11:03large-faced description of the Zodiac in the previous
315. 11:06three killings.
316. 11:07Gary Steward also tried to test his father's DNA against
317. 11:10the recovered 2002 Zodiac DNA, but investigators never
318. 11:14complied with their reason being not enough evidence
319. 11:16to make a case.
320. 11:18Gary Stewart has maintained this is a police cover up.
321. 11:21- [Voiceover] Number, why did they say there was not enough
322. 11:23evidence to comply?
323. 11:24- [Voiceover] Yeah, why not just test against the DNA
324. 11:25though?
325. 11:26- [Voiceover] Yeah, does it like cost money or like,
326. 11:27what's the reason not--
327. 11:28- [Voiceover] Maybe that DNA lab is super popping, like,
328. 11:30they just had no time for theoretical tests.
329. 11:32The second and most famous theory is from Robert Graysmith
330. 11:35who believes that Arthur Leigh Allen is the Zodiac Killer.
331. 11:38This theory is the basis for the 2007 film, The Zodiac,
332. 11:42starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith.
333. 11:45- [Voiceover] Who is that?
334. 11:46Internet sleuth? Like us?
335. 11:48- [Voiceover] He's definitely more credentialed than us.
336. 11:49- [Voiceover] Okay.
337. 11:51He has a card.
338. 11:52(laughter)
339. 11:53- [Voiceover] Actually, Robert Graysmith was a political
340. 11:55cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle that became
341. 11:57obsessed with finding the Zodiac.
342. 11:59After a decade of personal research, Graysmith wrote two
343. 12:02books entitled Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked that heavily
344. 12:05implicate Arthur Leigh Allen as the Zodiac.
345. 12:08Here's Graysmith's case for Arthur Leigh Allen.
346. 12:11The day of the third Zodiac attack at Lake Berryessa
347. 12:13in 1969, Allen told his family he was going scuba diving
348. 12:16at Lake Berryessa.
349. 12:18Later that evening, he would come home covered in blood
350. 12:21with a bloody knife in his car.
351. 12:22And if you'll recall, the Zodiac murdered Cecilia Shepard
352. 12:26that day with a knife.
353. 12:28Two years later in 1971 one of Allen's friends,
354. 12:31Don Cheney said that Allen called himself the Zodiac
355. 12:34before the killer publicly referred to himself
356. 12:36as the Zodiac.
357. 12:38- [Voiceover] Wait, wait, wait, wait.
358. 12:39So, he literally called himself "the Zodiac"?
359. 12:42- [Voiceover] I guess, that's true.
360. 12:43- [Voiceover] Hey Ryan, call me the Zodiac from now on,
361. 12:45that's my nickname.
362. 12:46- [Voiceover] How do you even work that into a conversation?
363. 12:47- [Voiceover] I know, right?
364. 12:48- [Voiceover] The only time I can think of is when you go
365. 12:49bowling and you write your name on like the frames.
366. 12:51Write your name as the Zodiac.
367. 12:53- [Voiceover] Right.
368. 12:54- [Voiceover] And then your friends will be like,
369. 12:55"Who the fuck wrote their name as the Zodiac?"
370. 12:56Could you imagine if he's like super douchey about it too?
371. 12:59Like, he won't respond unless you call him Zodiac.
372. 13:00They're like, "Arthur you wanna go out?"
373. 13:02He'd be like, "That's not my name."
374. 13:04(heavy sigh)
375. 13:05- [Voiceover] Ugh!
376. 13:06- [Voiceover] "Okay, Zodiac do you want to go out?"
377. 13:07Okay.
378. 13:08Cheney also said Allen told him he was planning to hunt
379. 13:11people with a gun and a flashlight tied to it.
380. 13:14- [Voiceover] What?
381. 13:15You tell your friend that.
382. 13:17- [Voiceover] I know.
383. 13:18- [Voiceover] He just laughs, says, "Oh, Zodiac,
384. 13:21"You're such a funny guy."
385. 13:23- [Voiceover] You're such a trickster!
386. 13:25As a result of this information, the police would interview
387. 13:27Allen a second time where Allen would say his favorite
388. 13:30book is The Most Dangerous Game.
389. 13:32A book about a man who hunted humans.
390. 13:35And a book referenced by the Zodiac in his first letter
391. 13:38to the press.
392. 13:39To add insult to injury, Allen was also wearing a Zodiac
393. 13:42brand watch which contained the same symbol
394. 13:45the killer used.
395. 13:46The police searched Allen's trailer home where they found
396. 13:49small dissected animals in a freezer, bloody knives,
397. 13:52and sexual devices, but no direct evidence of the murders.
398. 13:55- [Voiceover] That's a weird thing to keep in your freezer.
399. 13:58Cut up animals and sexual devices?
400. 14:00- [Voiceover] Oh no, the sexual devices weren't in the
401. 14:02freezer, that would be weird.
402. 14:04No one wants a frosty dildo inserted into them.
403. 14:06In 1974 Allen was convicted of child molestation,
404. 14:09a crime for which he spent three years in jail.
405. 14:12Coincidentally, during this time no Zodiac letters
406. 14:15were received.
407. 14:16In 1987 a San Jose jail inmate named Ralph Spinelli
408. 14:19told police that Allen admitted to him that he murdered
409. 14:23Paul Stine.
410. 14:24In August 1991, Vallejo detective George Bawart
411. 14:27interviews Mike Mageau, the man who survived the
412. 14:31second Zodiac attack and saw the Zodiac without his
413. 14:33mask on.
414. 14:35When shown a lineup of photographs Mageau picked out the
415. 14:37man who shot him, it was Arthur Leigh Allen.
416. 14:40- [Voiceover] What?
417. 14:41- [Voiceover] With this info, the police search Allen's
418. 14:43home again and this time they find formulas for bombs,
419. 14:46constructed bombs, and tapes about the Zodiac killer.
420. 14:49They interview Allen again and he says he knows nothing.
421. 14:52- [Voiceover] Wait, wait, wait, they found bombs and/or
422. 14:56plans for bombs in his house and they don't,
423. 14:58they're not able to detain him?
424. 15:00- [Voiceover] The Zodiac put diagrams of bombs in his
425. 15:02fucking letters.
426. 15:02- [Voiceover] Right, and he talked about putting bombs on
427. 15:04children's school bus and this guy molested a kid.
428. 15:09- [Voiceover] And there was fucking tapes about the Zodiac
429. 15:11killer, this guy's reliving his greatest hits at home
430. 15:13via audio book? What the fuck?
431. 15:15- [Voiceover] He just a said what? "Plead the fifth"
432. 15:16at this point?
433. 15:17- [Voiceover] One year later in August 1992,
434. 15:20Allen is found at home dead from a suspected heart attack.
435. 15:23And with that, let's transition into reasons why Allen may
436. 15:27not be the Zodiac killer.
437. 15:28Allen's DNA was compared against the 2002 DNA extracted
438. 15:32from stamp saliva on a Zodiac letter,
439. 15:35it was not a match.
440. 15:36However, it's also believed that Allen had a habit for
441. 15:39letting others lick his stamps instead of him,
442. 15:41which would explain why the profile didn't match him.
443. 15:44- [Voiceover] But I don't even like thinking that this
444. 15:45guy was smart enough to think that.
445. 15:48- [Voiceover] In my opinion, that's an Olympic level
446. 15:49stretch.
447. 15:50Additionally, in 1971 the police took Allen's
448. 15:52finger prints, but the prints did not match the bloody
449. 15:55prints recovered from the Paul Stine crime scene.
450. 15:58They also had Allen undergo handwriting analysis,
451. 16:01but the handwriting did not match the Zodiac either.
452. 16:04Allen also does not look like the sketch from the
453. 16:06Paul Stine killing in the slightest, but it's worth
454. 16:09mentioning that Arthur Leigh Allen was considered
455. 16:11the prime suspect for the Zodiac for most involved
456. 16:13police departments and is widely believed to be
457. 16:16the Zodiac.
458. 16:17The third theory is from retired Escalon, California
459. 16:20police officer, Harvey Hines who believes Lawrence Kaye,
460. 16:23more commonly known by the surname Kane was the
461. 16:25Zodiac killer.
462. 16:26Kane was involved in a car accident in 1962 which resulted
463. 16:30in brain damage influencing his behavior.
464. 16:32One psychologist claimed Kane was quote,
465. 16:35"Losing the ability to control self-gratification,"
466. 16:38end quote.
467. 16:39Additionally, Kane can be see in the Zodiac's
468. 16:41"my name is" cipher.
469. 16:43And in that cipher there are three eights with
470. 16:45circles around them, three times eight is 24
471. 16:48and Kane was born in 1924.
472. 16:51- [Voiceover] Okay, that means nothing to me.
473. 16:53- [Voiceover] Yeah, I didn't think you would like that one.
474. 16:55- [Voiceover] Well, I mean, it's just like reaching at
475. 16:57straws at that point.
476. 16:58- [Voiceover] Additionally, the Zodiac's second victim,
477. 17:00Darlene Ferrin had a sister who said Kane was the man
478. 17:03who followed and harassed Darlene in the weeks leading
479. 17:06up to Darlene's murder.
480. 17:07In the 1969 Paul Stine murder, the man suspected to be
481. 17:10the Zodiac seen by officer Don Fouke was described
482. 17:13as 35 to 45 years old.
483. 17:15Kane was 45 in 1969.
484. 17:18Officer Don Fouke said in 1987 that of the hundreds of
485. 17:21pictures over the past 20 years he had been shown,
486. 17:24Kane was quote, "The closest of them as he remembered
487. 17:27"the killer." End quote.
488. 17:29Kane also lived a six minutes walk away from Mason and
489. 17:32Geary, the location where cab driver, Paul Stine was thought
490. 17:34to have picked up his killer.
491. 17:36In fact, an excerpt from Vallejo PD states, quote,
492. 17:39"Investigation has placed Kaye in the locales where
493. 17:42"several of the Zodiac's victims either lived or were
494. 17:45"killed," end quote.
495. 17:47To piggy back on that sentiment, in 1970 Kane moved to
496. 17:50South Lake Tahoe and that year a possible Zodiac victim
497. 17:54that I didn't discuss earlier named Donna Lass
498. 17:56disappears in South Lake Tahoe.
499. 17:58Donna Lass also coincidentally worked at the same
500. 18:01South Lake Tahoe hotel as Kane.
501. 18:04- [Voiceover] That's crazy.
502. 18:05- [Voiceover] But the last and arguably most damning
503. 18:07evidence Kane is about another Zodiac interaction
504. 18:11I haven't discussed yet.
505. 18:12On the night of March 22, 1970 on highway 132
506. 18:15near Patterson, California, Kathleen Johns and her
507. 18:19baby were tricked into riding in the Zodiac's car.
508. 18:21After entering the car, the Zodiac told Johns that he
509. 18:24was going to kill her and throw her baby out after her.
510. 18:27As the Zodiac was about to make a turn, Johns jumped out of
511. 18:30the car and ran into a nearby field with her baby and
512. 18:32escaped.
513. 18:33Despite some believing this is an unconfirmed Zodiac
514. 18:36encounter, others believe a letter confirms this incident.
515. 18:39Quote, "So I now have a little list, starting with the
516. 18:42"woman plus her baby that I gave a rather interesting ride."
517. 18:46End quote.
518. 18:47The reason I bring this encounter up is because
519. 18:49Kathleen Johns, unlike most surviving Zodiac victims,
520. 18:52had extended face time with the Zodiac.
521. 18:55This is important because when shown a line up
522. 18:57of photographs, Kathleen Johns was reportedly able to
523. 19:00pick out the man who tried to kill her.
524. 19:02It was Lawrence Kane.
525. 19:04- [Voiceover] I mean, that's some pretty strong evidence.
526. 19:05- [Voiceover] But now let's look at some evidence that
527. 19:07proves Kane isn't the Zodiac.
528. 19:08I couldn't find an instance of a DNA test against the
529. 19:11recovered 2002 sample, nor could I find a record of
530. 19:15Kane's fingerprint being tested against the fingerprint
531. 19:17found at the Paul Stine crime scene.
532. 19:19Furthermore, Kane's handwriting was not a match
533. 19:22to the Zodiac's, but also could not be ruled out.
534. 19:24Additionally, Kane, much like Earl Van Best Jr.,
535. 19:27matches the description of the killer at the Paul Stine
536. 19:30murder scene, but does not match the large heavyset
537. 19:32description of the Zodiac in the first three crime scenes.
538. 19:35Now that you've heard all the stories,
539. 19:37who do you think did it?
540. 19:38- I think those two at the end are the most plausible.
541. 19:42But I think the real answer would have to be there was
542. 19:46one person and then a copycat, as well.
543. 19:50- It's possible, in my mind, Arthur Leigh Allen was the
544. 19:53killer for the first three, stopped,
545. 19:54and then Lawrence Kane took over as a copycat.
546. 19:57- Oh, well then yeah.
547. 19:59- It seems like to me he wanted to get caught,
548. 20:01he was like asking to get caught almost.
549. 20:03- He was playing that line.
550. 20:04He was tired with like, "Oh, I've killed someone and
551. 20:07"gotten away with it," he's like, "How far can I push it,
552. 20:09"that line?"
553. 20:10- That's true, yeah.
554. 20:12Regardless, the case remains unsolved.
555. 20:15And probably will stay unsolved, unfortunately.
556. 20:21- Trying to find this crime scene.
557. 20:24No idea where the hell we're going right now.
558. 20:27Do you keep getting hit by spiky things in your socks?
559. 20:30- No.
560. 20:33- Calling all people right to us.
561. 20:34- Seriously, dude, let's fucking just clap a little
562. 20:36bit louder.
563. 20:36This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, did you see that
564. 20:38fucking shadow?
565. 20:39- No, there's no shadow.
566. 20:42- That, for sure you heard that.
567. 20:43Fuck you, you heard that for sure, right?
568. 20:45(laughing)
569. 20:47You fucking for sure heard that shit, right?
570. 20:48- There's nothing, Ryan!
571. 20:50- Is the back door open?
572. 20:51- Our headlights are on.
573. 20:53- We're on the side of a gravel road in the middle
574. 20:55of the fucking night.
575. 20:56- I heard crickets chirping and frogs.
576. 20:58- Let's just fucking skedaddle on home.
577. 21:00- Statistically speaking, though, we're probably super
578. 21:02safe right now.
579. 21:03Did the killer live around here?
580. 21:04We're right in the middle of this farm.
581. 21:06Is this like his farm?
582. 21:07Is he like no trespassers.
583. 21:08- We're not doing this right now, we're going home.
584. 21:09We'll be safe, I'm not died.
585. 21:11- Alright, Buzzfeed Unsolved, I'm cutting.
586. 21:14(mysterious music)