From Wikisource
[edit] November 29th 1966
| Titled "The Confession", the byline was reported followed by 12 or 19 underscores. Printed on a Royal Typewriter, a fingerprint was lifted from the envelope. It is still disputed by some to not be a work of the killer. |
Possibly a reproduction of the letter
THE CONFESSION
-
-
-
-
-
-
- BY____________
- SHE WAS YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL BUT NOW SHE IS BATTERED AND DEAD. SHE IS NOT THE FIRST AND SHE WILL NOT BE THE LAST I LAY AWAKE NIGHTS THINKING ABOUT MY NEXT VICTIM. MAYBE SHE WILL BE THE BEAUTIFUL BLOND THAT BABYSITS NEAR THE LITTLE STORE AND WALKS DOWN THE DARK ALLEY EACH EVENING ABOUT SEVEN. OR MAYBE SHE WILL BE THE SHAPELY BRUNETT THAT SAID NO WHEN I ASKED HER FOR A DATE IN HIGH SCHOOL. BUT MAYBE IT WILL NOT BE EITHER. BUT I SHALL CUT OFF HER FEMALE PARTS AND DEPOSIT THEM FOR THE WHOLE CITY TO SEE. SO DON'T MAKE IT TO EASY FOR ME. KEEP YOUR SISTERS, DAUGHTERS, AND WIVES OFF THE STREETS AND ALLEYS. MISS BATES WAS STUPID. SHE WENT TO THE SLAUGHTER LIKE A LAMB. SHE DID NOT PUT UP A STRUGGLE. BUT I DID. IT WAS A BALL. I FIRST CUT THE MIDDLE WIRE FROM THE DISTRIBUTOR. THEN I WAITED FOR HER IN THE LIBRARY AND FOLLOWED HER OUT AFTER ABOUT TWO MINUTES. THE BATTERY MUST HAVE BEEN ABOUT DEAD BY THEN. I THEN OFFERED TO HELP. SHE WAS THEN VERY WILLING TO TALK TO ME. I TOLD HER THAT MY CAR WAS DOWN THE STREET AND THAT I WOULD GIVE HER A LIFT HOME. WHEN WE WERE AWAY FROM THE LIBRARY WALKING, I SAID IT WAS ABOUT TIME. SHE ASKED ME, "ABOUT TIME FOR WHAT?" I SAID IT WAS ABOUT TIME FOR HER TO DIE. I GRABBED HER AROUND THE NECK WITH MY HAND OVER HER MOUTH AND MY OTHER HAND WITH A SMALL KNIFE AT HER THROAT. SHE WENT VERY WILLINGLY. HER BREAST FELT WARM AND VERY FIRM UNDER MY HANDS, BUT ONLY ONE THING WAS ON MY MIND. MAKING HER PAY FOR ALL THE BRUSH OFFS THAT SHE HAD GIVEN ME DURING THE YEARS PRIOR. SHE DIED HARD. SHE SQUIRMED AND SHOOK AS I CHOCKED HER, AND HER LIPS TWICHED. SHE LET OUT A SCREAM ONCE AND I KICKED HER IN THE HEAD TO SHUT HER UP. I PLUNGED THE KNIFE INTO HER AND IT BROKE. I THEN FINISHED THE JOB BY CUTTING HER THROAT. I AM NOT SICK. I AM INSANE. BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP THE GAME. THIS LETTER SHOULD BE PUBLISHED FOR ALL TO READ IT. IT JUST MIGHT SAVE THAT GIRL IN THE ALLEY. BUT THAT'S UP TO YOU. IT WILL BE ON YOUR CONSCIENCE. NOT MINE. YES, I DID MAKE THAT CALL TO YOU ALSO. IT WAS JUST A WARNING. BEWARE...I AM STALKING YOUR GIRLS NOW.
- CC. CHIEF OF POLICE
- ENTERPRISE
[edit] December 1966
| Found carved into a desk at the Riverside City College Library, not known to be the work of the killer, though it is largely assumed to be. |
- Sick of living/unwilling to die
- cut.
- clean.
- if red I
- clean.
- blood spurting,
-
- dripping,
- spilling;
- all over her new
- dress
- oh well
- it was red
- anyway.
- life draining into an
- uncertain death.
- she won't (smudge)
- die.
- this time
- someone ll find her.
- just wait till
- next time.
-
-
- rh
[edit] April 30th 1967
- BATES HAD
- TO DIE
- THERE WILL
- BE MORE
- Z
[edit] July 31st 1969
| Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Fransisco Examiner and Vallejo Times, the cipher was eventually cracked by a highschool teacher who read it in the papers. Although his next letter said this cipher contained his name, it actually included the phrase "I will not give you my name". |
Written on the obverse, proving his identity
- Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner.
- I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity.(sic)
- If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend.
Cipher translation
I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most dangeroue anamal of all to kill something gave eryetheyo a thrilling experence it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it I athae when I die I will be reborn in paradise and all the I have killed will become my slaves I will not give you my name because you will try to sloi down or atop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife ebeo riet emeth hpiti
[edit] August 4th 1969
| Sent to the San Francisco Examiner, the FBI later determined these were written on Woolworth's "Fifth Avenue" brand paper, and contained fingerprints on the latter two pages |
- This is the Zodiac speaking.
- In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material. By the way, are the police having a good time with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up; when they do crack it, they will have me.
- On the 4th of July I did not open the car door. The window was rolled down all ready. The boy was origionaly sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee. I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealing tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car. The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car.
- Last Christmass In that epasode the police were wondering how I could shoot + hit my victims in the dark. They did not openly state this, but implied this by saying it was a well lit night + I could see silowets on the horizon. Bullshit that area is srounded by high hills + trees. What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights. I was not happy to see that I did not get front page coverage.
No address
[edit] October 13th 1969
| Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle following the killing of cabdriver Paul Stine, the letter included a piece of Stine's bloodstained shirt |
This is the Zodiac speaking.
I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt. I am the same man who did in the people in the north bay area.
The S.F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly instead of holding road races with their motorcicles seeing who could make the most noise. The car drivers should have just parked their cars and sat there quietly waiting for me to come out of cover.
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.
[edit] December 20th 1969
| (claims 8 victims) Sent to celebrity attorney Melvin Belli, the card included a bloody piece of a murdered cabdriver's shirt as evidence it was not a hoax |
The inside of the Christmas card
- Dear Melvin
- This is the Zodiac speaking I wish you a happy Christmass. The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out because of this thing in me won't let me. I am finding it extreamly dificult to keep in check I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth + posibly tenth victom. Please help me I am drownding. At the moment the children are safe from the bomb because it is so massive to dig in & the triger mech requires so much work to get it adjusted just right. But if I hold back too long from no nine I will loose
complet all controol of my self + set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer.
[edit] April 20th 1970
| (claims 10 victims) Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, it claimed to contain a cipher containing the murderer's name, though it was never solved. It is notable to mention that 'blue meanies' are the antagonist from the Beatles' animated theatrical film Yellow Submarine, which was released the year before. |
- This is the Zodiac speaking
- By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you?
- My name is --
- (cipher)
- I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now. I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station. Even though I talked about killing school children with one. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory. But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back. I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud. I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back.
(Text on the diagram)
- A + B are photoelectric
- swiches when sun beam
- is broken A closes circut
- " " B opens "
- which makes B the
- cloudy day discon-
- -ect so the bomb
- won't go off by accid.
- PS I hope you have fun trying
- to figgure out who I killed
- =10 SFPD=0
[edit] April 28th 1970
| Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, the greeting card was printed by "Jolly Roger Cards", and was a pun on the inability to catch him |
- I hope you enjoy your selves when I have my Blast.
- P.S. on back
On back
- If you don't want me to have this blast you must do two things. 1 Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. 2 I would like to see some nice Zodiac butons wandering about town. Every one else has these buttons like,
, black power, Melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like Melvin's
Thank you
[edit] June 26th 1970
- This is the Zodiac speaking.
- I have become very upset with the people of San fran Bay Area. They have not complied with my wishes for them to wear some nice buttons. I promised to punish them if they did not comply, by anilating a full School Buss. But now school is out for the summer, so I punished them in another way. I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38.
- -12 SFPD-0
- The map coupled with this code will tell you where the bomb is set. You have untill next Fall to dig it up.
- (cipher)
[edit] July 24th 1970
| Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle. |
- This is the Zodiac speaking.
- I am rather unhappy because you people will not wear some nice buttons. So I now have a little list, starting with the woeman + her baby that I gave a rather intersting ride for a couple howers one evening a few months back that ended in my burning her car where I found them.
[edit] July 26th 1970
| (claims 13 victims) Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle. |
- This is the Zodiac speaking
- Being that you will not wear some nice buttons, how about wearing some nasty buttons. Or any kind of buttons that you can think up. If you do not wear any type of buttons, I shall (on top of everything else) torture all 13 of my slaves that I have waiting for me in Paradice. Some I shall tie over ant hills and watch them scream + twich and squirm. Others shall have pine splinters driven under their nails + then burned. Others shall be placed in cages + fed salt beef untill they are gorged then I shall listen to their pleass for water and I shall laugh at them. Others will hang by their thumbs + burn in the sun then I will rub them down with deep heat to warm them up. Others I shall skin them alive + let them run around screaming. And all billiard players I shall have them play in a darkened dungen cell with crooked cues + Twisted Shoes. Yes I shall have great fun inflicting the most delicious of pain to my slaves
- SFPD=0 =13
[edit] October 5th 1970
| (13 holepunches thought to represent victims) Initially dismissed as a hoax, was decided to be real after the "Fk" was discovered in earlier ciphers, and "crackproof" reappeared in a later letter. |
- Dear Editor,
- You'll hate me, but I've got to tell you.
- The pace isn't any slower! In fact it's just one big thirteenth
-
-
-
- 13
- 'Some of them fought it was horrible'
P.S. THERE ARE REPORTS city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof, What is the price tag now?
Zodiac
[edit] October 27th 1970
| (claims 14 victims)Mailed to Paul Avery of the San Francisco Chronicle, the name was misspelled Averly. The killer signed with the Zodiac, the Z he used in his first letters and a sign of Taurus that he only used one other time. While he lists four ways to kill somebody, he was never known to have used a rope or fire. |
- PARADICE
- SLAVES
- By Fire
- By Gun
- By Knife
- By Rope
- 4-Teen
[edit] March 13th 1971
| (claims 17 victims) Sent to the Los Angeles Times, this was the first letter postmarked outside SF, in nearby Pleasanton |
- This is the Zodiac speaking
- Like I have allways said, I am crack proof. If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses + do something. Because the longer they fiddle + fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my after life. I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there. The reason I'm writing to the Times is this, They don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others.
- SFPD-0-17+
