Graysmith - Zodiac Unmasked

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 - zodiac

Chapter 3 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 4 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 5 - robert domingos and linda edwards

Chapter 6 - avery and the dark al ey

Chapter 7 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 8 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 9 - policeman and sailor

Chapter 10 - the devil

Chapter 11 - atascadero

Chapter 13 - the voice of zodiac

Chapter 15 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 16 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 18 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 19 - zodiacs dangerous game

Chapter 20 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 21 - zodiac at treasure island

Chapter 22 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 23 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 25 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 26 - zodiac I returns

Chapter 27 - the big tip

Chapter 28 - the search

Chapter 29 - bel i

Chapter 30 - media starr

Chapter 31 - jack zodiac

Chapter 32 - the german hippie

Chapter 33 - zodiac

Chapter 34 - zodiac

Chapter 35 - the conference

Chapter 37 - arthur leigh allen

Chapter 38 - the city at the bottom of the lake

Chapter 39 - unmasked

sources

selected references

index

A Berkley Book

Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

A division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

Copyright 2002 by Robert Graysmith.

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

BERKLEY and the B design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Graysmith, Robert.

Zodiac unmasked : the identity of Americas most elusive serial killer revealed /

Robert Graysmith.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-1-440-67746-5

1. Starr, Robert Hall. 2. Serial murdersCaliforniaSan Francisco Bay Area.

3. Serial murderersCaliforniaSan Francisco Bay Area. 4. Serial murder

investigationCaliforniaSan Francisco Bay Area. I. Title.

HV6534.S3 G73 2002

364.15230979461dc21

2001058968

Most Berkley Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs.

For details, write: Special Markets, The Berkley Publishing Group, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

http://us.penguingroup.com

to JANE

acknowledgments

Al the material in this book is derived from official records or interviews Ive conducted over a thirty year period in my search for Zodiac. My

heartfelt thanks to Inspector Dave Toschi, Detective George Bawart, and the editorial, legal, and production staff of this book: Gary Mailman, Liz

Perl, Hil ary Schupf, Heather Conner, Jil Boltin, Pauline Neuwirth, Esther Strauss, and especial y, Natalee Rosenstein, my editor.

Zodiac in Costume by Robert Graysmith.

Authors line-cut il ustration of Zodiac in costume at Lake Berryessa.

Zodiacs unmasked features first came into focus one blazing summer day upon the crystal face of a watch. The detectives inside the cramped

office studied the large, expensive timepiece on the wrist of their prime suspect with dread. Such a commonplace object should not arouse fear

yet it did. It had taken them almost three years to winnow 2500 suspects down to a handful, among them a man named Starr. Now they saw Starrs

broad, smiling face reflected in that watch and they knew. The watch had been a catalyst for murder. Its stark black and white markings had inspired

an unprecedented reign of terror. Its logo had given the killer his symbol, a crossed circle, like a gun sight, and his nameZodiac.

After Jack the Ripper and before Son of Sam there is only one name their equal in terror: the deadly, elusive, and mysterious Zodiac. Since 1968

the hooded murderer had terrified San Francisco and the Bay Area with a string of cold-blooded killings. He hid his true features beneath a black

homemade executioners hood, emblazoned in white with his symbol. Zodiac, in taunting letters sent to newspapers, provided hidden clues to his

identity with cunning codes. This is the Zodiac speaking, he began as always. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name

is His cryptograms defied the greatest code-breaking minds of the FBI, the CIA, and NSA.

To terrify the public, Zodiac employed arcane terminology and purposely misspelled words. Sometimes he forgot himself and spelled a word

correctly within the same letter. He used mispunctuation and un-grammatical language in his letters, yet understood subtle grammatical usages

such as shall and will. I shall no longer announce to anyone when I comitt my murders, Zodiac printed in blue felt-tip pen in November 1969.

They shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, & a few fake accidents, etc. The police shall never catch me, because I have been too

clever for them. And Zodiac was clever, wearing glue on his fingertips to keep from leaving prints, and changing bizarre weapons with each attack.

Among his weapons were a gun that projected a beam of light so he could hunt people at night, electronic bombs in his basement (targeted for

school children), a homemade knife in a decorated scabbard, and guns of every caliber. We were al afraid. Single-winged planes trailed school

buses manned by armed guards, a reaction to Zodiacs threat to pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out. With each whispered phone cal

and cryptic message, each bloody scrap of victims clothing mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, where I worked as a political cartoonist, a

resolve grew within me to uncover his true face.

What made Zodiac so irresistible to the human imagination was not only that he offered so many hints to his true identity, but that he was always

just out of reach. Who could forget the phone receiver, still damp with sweat and swinging from its cord, that Zodiac had used only moments

before? He had brazenly cal ed police from a booth four blocks from their headquarters. Directly after an attack, he was compel ed to gloat,

heartlessly calling his victims families, breathing silently into the phoneas if he were about to speak his name.

We knew Zodiac, whoever he was, as a man of many partscryptographer, criminologist, chemist, artist, engineer, bomb-builder, poet,

weapons master, and above all a practioneer of the rope, the gun, and the knife. The tension grew as Zodiac, unquenchable in his blood lust, hinted