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The Zodiac Killer was connected to several murders in Northern California during the 1960s, earning his cryptic name by sending taunting letters to local newspapers that threatened killing sprees if they weren’t published. True crime enthusiasts remain obsessed with the case, as the identity of the murderer remains unknown.
Arthur Leigh Allen remains the only suspect to have been publicly identified, but there was never enough evidence to charge him for the crimes.
The new Netflix documentary This Is the Zodiac Speaking, premiering in October 2024, provides not only a fresh perspective on the case but also new evidence.
What Did the Zodiac Killer Do?
The Zodiac Killer terrorized the Bay Area in the late 1960s and murdered at least five victims between December 1968 and October 1969. The killer wrote several handwritten messages in code to local San Francisco newspapers, alluding to more killings if they weren’t published and going as far as to threatening to blow up a school bus filled with children. The author claimed to be the killer, simply referring to himself as the “Zodiac.”
“Dear Editor, This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmas at Lake Herman & the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo,” he wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle, according to Zodiackiller.com. “To prove I killed them I shall state some facts which only I & the police would know.”
The author went on to provide specific details about the murder, including the type of ammo, the total number of shots fired and the orientation of the bodies.
Who Is Zodiac Killer Suspect Arthur Leigh Allen?
Arthur Leigh Allen was a former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender. Allen served three years in prison after being arrested for child molestation in 1974, coincidentally around the same time the Zodiac murdexrs came to an end, according to Time. He died in 1992 but has remained the primary suspect in the killing spree.
What New Evidence Does ‘This Is the Zodiac Speaking’ Present?
Allen’s former students were interviewed in This Is the Zodiac Speaking, with a focus on the three Seawater children, David, Connie and Don, who said the educator “molded” their lives. Allen bonded with their mother Phyllis, while their father was in a mental institution, and became a regular visitor to their home.
“We realized we had been to all the murder sites before the murders,” David Seawater said in the trailer. “We were determined to find out the truth.”
Allen frequently took the three children on outings, and the now-adults believed that he may have committed murders while they were close by. David and Connie recalled that a beach outing in 1963 was cut short when Allen rushed over to them with what looked like blood on his hands, forcing them to abruptly leave the beach.
The children grew suspicious upon discovering that Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards had been murdered during that period. Their deaths were never officially connected to the Zodiac Killer.
Connie also revealed that during a 1991 sailing trip, she directly asked Allen if he was the Zodiac Killer. His eery response was that if he told her the truth, he’d have to kill her.
“I thought it was a big joke,” Connie said in the docuseries.
When Does ‘This Is the Zodiac Speaking’ Premiere?
This Is the Zodiac Speaking premieres on Netflix on October 23, 2024.
English (US) ·