part three of six:
the letters
IMPORTANT NOTE: Direct quotes will include minor edits and corrections to allow for message clarity despite numerous spelling mistakes by the original author of the letters.
Direct quotes will be marked in bold text.
Direct quotes will be marked in bold text.
The first letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald was sent by an anonymous person claiming to be responsible for several shootings, including detailed information regarding the weapons, the victims, and even the brand of ammunition.
The letter (one of three that were nearly identical) also included one piece of a cypher, stating that if it were not published on the first page, that there would be a "kill rampage [Friday] night that will last the whole weekend. I will cruise around killing lone people in the night then move on to kill some more until I have killed over a dozen people."
The letter (one of three that were nearly identical) also included one piece of a cypher, stating that if it were not published on the first page, that there would be a "kill rampage [Friday] night that will last the whole weekend. I will cruise around killing lone people in the night then move on to kill some more until I have killed over a dozen people."
The second letter to The San Francisco Chronicle provided one-third of a cipher along with the demand of the cipher being published. This was the second of three nearly identical letters, the only changes being small differences in phrasing.
The third letter, addressed to The San Francisco Examiner, was by far the strangest. Again, the anonymous writer of the letters threatened a murder spree if the demand for the cipher's publication was not met. It also included a message written in the same code that had been provided.
Its chilling message would stay with Americans for years to come:
"I like killing people because it's so much fun."
Its chilling message would stay with Americans for years to come:
"I like killing people because it's so much fun."
The fourth letter (addressed to the San Francisco Examiner) was the letter that first gave the killer notoriety, beginning with "This is the Zodiac speaking" and stating that if the police wanted more details on the crimes that the killer called "good times" then the Zodiac would be "very happy to supply even more material." The letter's author teases the police, calling their logic "bullshit" and saying that they had inaccurate information, then proceeding to explain the strategy of taping a flashlight to the barrel of a gun to improve aim at night. The letter ended with a very clear message referencing the previous letters:
"I was not happy to see that I did not get front page coverage."
"I was not happy to see that I did not get front page coverage."
The fifth message was not a letter, but rather a note written on a car door at the crime scene in Lake Berryessa.
"Vallejo
12-20-68
7-4-69
Sept 27-69 6:30
by knife"
"Vallejo
12-20-68
7-4-69
Sept 27-69 6:30
by knife"
The sixth letter was sent following the murder of a cab driver named Paul Stine. Not only did the letter describe the killing, but the killer had also included a piece of Stine's bloody shirt as proof. He then mocked the police for not being able to find him, stating, "The S.F Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly."
After claiming responsibility for the murder, the Zodiac Killer wrote a new, chilling threat in addition to the morbid contents of the letter. "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire & then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."
After claiming responsibility for the murder, the Zodiac Killer wrote a new, chilling threat in addition to the morbid contents of the letter. "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire & then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."
The seventh letter was odd and cryptic, leaving police with not only a strange unsettled feeling, but also the urge to catch the killer as soon as possible. It included a new cipher and a message:
"This is the Zodiac speaking
I thought you would need a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet.
PS could you print this new cipher on your front page? I get awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing!!!!!!"
"This is the Zodiac speaking
I thought you would need a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet.
PS could you print this new cipher on your front page? I get awfully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing!!!!!!"
The eighth letter, often known as the "Death Machine" letter, explained a detailed plan for an explosive device. The killer stated that though he would like to send pictures, "you would be nasty enough to trace them back to developer & then to me" and then said that the machine was already built, proceeding once more to mock the police, saying that he had spoken to police and threw them off his trail. "Hey pig doesn't it rile you up to have your nose rubbed in your boo-boos?"
The ninth letter was sent to attorney Melvin Belli.
"Dear Melvin
This is the Zodiac speaking I wish you a happy Christmas. The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out for help because of this thing in me won't let me. I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check I am afraid I will lose control again and take my ninth & possibly tenth victim. Please help me I am drowning. At the moment the children are safe from the bomb because it is so massive and the trigger mech requires much work to get it adjusted just right. But if I hold back too long from no nine I will lose all control of myself & set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer."
"Dear Melvin
This is the Zodiac speaking I wish you a happy Christmas. The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out for help because of this thing in me won't let me. I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check I am afraid I will lose control again and take my ninth & possibly tenth victim. Please help me I am drowning. At the moment the children are safe from the bomb because it is so massive and the trigger mech requires much work to get it adjusted just right. But if I hold back too long from no nine I will lose all control of myself & set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer."
[Letters ten through thirteen contained information that was deemed not relevant to this section]
The fourteenth letter was sent shortly after the Zodiac claimed his thirteenth victim. Upon discussing his plan for the future, the killer said, "I've got a little list, of society offenders who might well be underground who would never be missed ... the task of filling up the blanks I rather leave up to you. But it doesn't really matter whom you place upon the list, for none of them be missed." It explained various types of people the Zodiac considered unfit for society.
The fifteenth letter was marked with thirteen black dots, one for each victim, and the message
"Some of Them Fought. It Was Horrible"
"Some of Them Fought. It Was Horrible"
Through the Zodiac's ciphers, a message was decoded proclaiming that the killer took the lives of others because he was convinced that in the afterlife, everyone he killed would become his slaves in paradise for all of eternity.
The sixteenth letter reminded the public of the aforementioned idea of gathering slaves for the afterlife. Sent to the San Francisco Times after claiming seventeen victims, the letter said, "The longer [the police] fiddle & fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my afterlife."
The eighteenth letter was one that baffled police. Written in 1974, five years after the whole ordeal began, the Zodiac claimed to have now taken the lives of 37 people.
"I saw and think 'The Exorcist' was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen.
Signed, yours truly:
He plunged himself into the billowy wave
and an echo arose from the suicide's grave
titwillo titwillo titwillo
PS. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing."
"I saw and think 'The Exorcist' was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen.
Signed, yours truly:
He plunged himself into the billowy wave
and an echo arose from the suicide's grave
titwillo titwillo titwillo
PS. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing."
In the twenty-first letter, the Zodiac references himself as the Red Phantom, the explanation of which was 'red with rage'.
All letters following the Red Phantom letter were forgeries, including one letter in 1978 where someone pretending to be the Zodiac Killer declared a plan to begin killing again.