Who was the Zodiac (serial killer)?

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Lawrence Kane

Although a photograph of Kane does somewhat resemble the composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer at Berryessa, but other suspect more closely resemble to more famous composite given by SFPD officers Foukes and Zelms, who spoke with a suspect directly after the Paul Stine killing on October 11, 1969. A sample of Kane's handwriting was voluntarily submitted to the SFPD in the late 1990's, which does show some similarity to the Zodiac's handwriting style, but not enough to definitively link him as the author of the letters.

Kane should however be considered a strong suspect in both the disappearance of Donna Lass and the abduction and murder of Dana Lull. Although the Zodiac postcard alludes to Donna Lass as a victim, there is nothing to indicate that communication was sent by the Zodiac, and if it was, he may have been claiming credit for a crime he did not commit.

Kane's identification by Kathleen Johns as the man who abducted her would seem to indicate he was the Zodiac, as the killer alluded to this incident in one of his letters, but John's identification came roughly 22 years after the event, and cannot be considered reliable.

https://www.thetruecrimedatabase.com/case_file/lawrence-kane/

Arthur Leigh Allen

Zodiac's Blue Rock Springs attack of July 4, 1969 was the second within seven months to occur on the eastern outskirts of Vallejo. This time, Zodiac was only about four minutes from Allen's home. Major holidays can bring out ugly behavior in people and Allen was already dealing with unemployment and alcohol abuse. The male victim, Mike Mageau, survived the attack and gave police a description of Zodiac's car: brown in color, possibly a Corvair. At the time, Allen had a friend, Philip, who was trying to sell his brown Corvair. According to a police statement, Philip's Corvair was parked in front of a service station in Vallejo where Allen had recently been employed and the key was inside the office. Philip had occasionally allowed Allen to drive the Corvair. The possibility exists that Allen either had a key to the car or to the service station where it was parked.

Additionally, there are potential connections between Blue Rock Springs victim Darlene Ferrin and Allen. In 1966-67, Ferrin worked as a waitress at the International House of Pancakes on Tennessee Street in Vallejo, less than 1/10 of a mile from Allen's home at 32 Fresno St. About that time, Allen is alleged to have told Don Cheney that he was fond of a waitress from that restaurant. Also, according to a police report, an unidentified male named "Lee" was known to associate occasionally with Darlene. (Allen was known by his middle name, spelling it "Lee.") Until "Lee" is identified, the possibility exists that victim Ferrin might have known Allen. Finally, in 1971 Allen's father, Ethan, died.

According to a police report, in mid-1992 surviving Blue Rock Springs victim Mageau picked Allen out of a VPD police lineup, saying "That's him! He's the man that shot me!"

https://zodiackiller.com/zodiac-killer-suspect-arthur-leigh-allen/

While the husky Allen does not resemble the famous police sketch depicting a thin-faced Zodiac, Allen is the only publicly-known suspect with ties to so many of the sites where the Zodiac murders took place. He was a longtime resident of Vallejo, where the murders started. Allen also lived around the corner from the restaurant where Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin worked and was said to have stalked her.

In addition, he often went to Lake Berryessa in Napa County, where Zodiac showed up on Sept. 29, 1969 and stabbed college student Cecilia Shepard to death, nearly killing her boyfriend Bryan Hartnell. Allen even told police investigators that he planned on going to Lake Berryessa on the day of the stabbings but went up the coast instead. He also dismissed the bloody knives that he was seen with at the time as being used to slaughter chickens.

Allen may have even been in Riverside, Calif. the same weekend that 18-year-old Cheri Jo Bates was stabbed to death at Riverside Community College on Oct. 30, 1966. As with the later Zodiac murders, taunting letters were sent to local newspapers leading Riverside police to consider that this slaying could have been carried out by the same killer who called himself Zodiac two years later.

https://www.sfweekly.com/archives/yesterday-s-crimes-the-zodiac-killer-dna-profile-that-never-was/article_119899a4-3748-5209-9c6f-4bebde7c734b.html

Richard Gaikowski

Darlene Ferrin of Vallejo, Calif. got married on Jan. 1, 1966 and moved to Albany, NY. Gaikowski quickly followed, moving cross country from Martinez, Calif. (near Vallejo). Ferrin's husband worked at the Albany Times-Union newspaper; Gaikowski worked in the same building at the rival Albany Knickerbocker News. In August 1973, four years after Ferrin was killed by the Zodiac, the Times-Union received a letter from someone claiming to be the Zodiac. When solved, the cipher that was included with the letter made reference to the Albany Medical Center.

On the very day Zodiac debuted by mailing three "rush to editor" letters to three separate newspapers in the San Francisco area (with each letter containing one third of a code), the Good Times (edited by Gaikowski) just happened to run a cover that was split into thirds. It was the only instance of Zodiac mailing a letter on a Thursday until after the Good Times folded in 1973. Five months later, the Good Times published a three-part code of its own. The Good Times also occasionally ran sensationalistic "Zodiac Killer" headlines that were out of place.

On March 13, 1971 the Zodiac sent a letter to the Los Angeles Times. Coinciding closely with the mailing, Gaikowski was involuntarily committed to the Napa State Hospital after "going berzerk." He was then diagnosed with a mental illness and began treatment at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco. The Zodiac didn't write again for almost three years.

When the Zodiac reemerged in 1974 with letters referring to recent movie releases, Gaikowski was operating a storefront theater in the Mission District of San Francisco. A film buff, Gaikowski eventually became involved with San Francisco's Roxie Theater.

Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher who spoke with the Zodiac in July 1969, has identified Gaikowski's voice as being the same as the Zodiac's voice.

https://zodiackiller.com/zodiac-killer-suspect-richard-gaikowski/