Lesson 8: Jack the Ripper: A Comparison to Contemporary Serial Killers and Course Wrapup
A Comparison Between Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac killer stalked victims in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He claimed responsibility for seventeen deaths in the San Francisco area and five deaths in Northern California. He chose his victims based on their astrological or zodiac signs, which he often left scribbled around the bodies of his victims. He was never apprehended and it is unknown whether or not he is still alive. The Zodiac killer targeted both male and female victims. He used both knives and guns in his crimes. Most of his victims were shot. One victim, Cheri Jo Bates, was nearly decapitated.
The Zodiac killer liked to taunt the police and during the course of his crime spree sent 21 letters to the local press. Many of his letters were in code and when deciphered by experts made such statements as "hunting humans was the most exciting of all sports."
In 1969, he mailed a piece of his last victim Paul Stine's bloody shirt to a newspaper with a letter. Though the killings stopped in 1969, letters kept coming to the media until 1974. Over 2500 suspects were investigated.
The prime suspect was Arthur Allen, who died in 1992. He was never charged and denied that he was the Zodiac killer to the end. DNA evidence recovered under a stamp on the Stine letter did not match Allen's DNA. Like his historical counterpart, it is believed the Zodiac killer gained some kind of perverse sexual satisfaction from killing. He was unlike Jack the Ripper in that he varied the method of his crimes, and he targeted both male and female victims. But his threats to the police bear an uncanny similarity, as well as the fact that the crimes stopped abruptly and the Zodiac killer, like Jack the Ripper, was never caught.
Food for Thought: How is the Ripper case similar to the case of the Zodiac Killer?
For Further reading about the Zodiac Killer: Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, Berkley Publishing Group (reissue), 2002.
Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith, Berkley, 2002.
