Zodiac Cases

This discussion assumes a basic knowledge of the 1968-69 crimes of "The Zodiac Killer." The following documentary viewable on YouTube is a good overview of those cases:

Link to "This Is The Zodiac Speaking"  2007 Documentary:

https://youtu.be/1t7qpDNU4RM?si=8mBsucdRXERpdblb

•California DOJ "profiler," Sharon Pagaling Hagan appeared in the finished documentary reviewing evidence with Bryan Hartnell, but her extended thoughts on the identity of Zodiac were only included on the DVD as an extra:

•Sharon Pagaling Hagan had also "profiled" the East Area Rapist, and then later assisted a FBI work group trying to identify DeAngelo (with no success). 

•For decades, Pagaling Hagan testified as an expert witness in court. She claimed that "profiling" was a real science, and that her training allowed her to describe offenders, and determine if suspects were guilty or not based upon what she knew about who commits crimes. Her junk science testimony directly led to a California conviction being reversed in State v. Robbie. 

•There is nothing about "profiling" that can be replicated or objectively tested.  Profiles have proven to be so inaccurate that investigators have been directed away from the correct suspect, or have wrongly pursued innocent men. Unfortunately, police often believe that they are relying upon objective science, and give too much weight to the "profiler's" opinion. 

•From 1977-1987 Pagaling Hagan worked as a Placer County Juvenile Probation Officer, and until Sharon Huddle became an attorney in 1982, the two women worked together at Placer County Juvenile Hall. From 1977-79 Pagaling Hagen also worked with Joseph James Deangelo, Jr.-- an Auburn PD officer taking arrestees to Juvenile Hall, and then testifying about those cases in juvenile court. 

•California's top criminal "profiler" failed to identify that the East Area Rapist was the husband of a co-worker, and a police officer she  knew while he was most actively offending.

•In her public statement after DeAngelo's arrest, Sharon Huddle made a point of saying that she had worked at Juvenile Hall during his crime spree. Even if it wasn't an intentional dig at Pagaling Hagan, it pointed out an embarrassing fact--"profilers" are no better than the average person at guessing the identity of serial killers. 

CONCLUSION

The circumstantial evidence that Joseph James DeAngelo, Jr. was the Zodiac Killer is overwhelming, and no currently developed physical evidence or alibi eliminates him for the known 1968-69 homicides.

Evidence considered, and to be investigated further includes:

1. Between 1956-1959, DeAngelo’s father was stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, Marin County. The family lived near the later Zodiac attacks at Lake Hermann, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco. 

2. DeAngelo attacked and killed couples.

3. DeAngelo’s MO matched the Lake Berryessa Zodiac attack - he always approached with a gun, wearing a mask—usually some type of hood with only eye holes; he brought pre-cutting bindings and ordered the female to tie the male, and then he retied the male; he always said he just needed money so that the couple stayed calm thinking it was just a robbery; he told stories about being on the run, needing a car, needing food, or having a van at the river; he never took anything of value and the motive was not really robbery.

4. DeAngelo wore gloves during all of his crimes. Zodiac was wearing gloves during the Lake Berryessa attack. 

5. Zodiac was wearing Navy chukka or "boondocker" boots in at Lake Berryessa. The exact boots were narrowed down to a military order from 1966 that were made with unique soles from the Avon Company in Massachusetts. The boot imprint was captured walking from the stabbing scene, to Bryan Hartnell's car where the Zodiac message was found:

•Bryan Hartnell was sitting on a blanket on the ground when Zodiac approached him, and Hartnell got a good, close-up view of his boots. Since Zodiac's pants were tucked into the top of his socks, Hartnell clearly saw that they were ankle high, and he included several specific details in his composite drawing:

•Navy firemen (FN) wore the exact same chukka boots with their pant legs tucked into their socks for safety. This can be seen in 1960s Damage Control (DC) training videos:

•DeAngelo enlisted in the Navy to become an Airman Recruit, but agreed to a general assignment if he failed to qualify:

•DeAngelo did not qualify as an airman, and was trained as a Fireman (FN) specializing in Damage Control (DC):

•CalDOJ investigated, and identified the boots that made the Zodiac footprints. They developed a handout for law enforcement with the information they had found:

•Investigators did not fully research the boots, largely because they were focused on the Air Base near the attacks, and a few maintenance people there wore them. In fact, the same boots were issued to every new Navy recruit on the day they arrived at boot camp.

•Additionally, some of the 1966 manufactured chukka boots using the Avon soles had leather uppers made by Richland Shoe Co, and these seem to have been more prevalent on the west coast than the Weinbrenner batch:

•DeAngelo was issued the same type of chukka boots at the San Diego Navy Training Center in September, 1964. They were steel-toed safety boots to protect from electrical shock, and DeAngelo's assignment as a Fireman/Damage Controlman required him to wear them during all of his work shifts. He was entitled to a new pair for free every 6 months, or he could purchase additional pairs from the base exchange.

•It is unknown if CalDOJ determined how many pairs of the specific Weinbrenner and Richland boots with the Avon soles were distributed to the Navy Base in San Diego in 1966; the names of the sailors who were issued those boots; and, how many were sold at the PX. 

•What is known is that DeAngelo wore those same boots every day he was on the Canberra and Piedmont from September 1964 to August 1968. 

6. DeAngelo carried a knife in all of his EAR attacks, and cut several of his victims during attacks from 1975-1979. Zodiac stabbed Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa in 1969.

7. During the Lake Berryessa attack, Hartnell said that Zodiac was wearing a belt with a gun holster and knife sheath on the sides:

•Hartnell also included this detail in his composite drawing:

•Multiple DeAngelo EAR victims and witnesses described him wearing a police type belt with a gun holster and knife sheath on opposite sides of his body, and  a composite was created showing that specific detail:

8. Hartnell and Shepard described the Zodiac as being in his 20s, having dark brown hair, 5’10”-6’, 200 lbs. DeAngelo had dark brown hair, was 5’11” about 200 lbs and 24 years old. The Zodiac composite done by Hartnell lists the height as 5’11” - DeAngelo’s actual height, and a comparison with DeAngelo’s 1973 wedding photo shows an identical shape and stance.

9.  The training films and manual for DeAngelo's position as Fireman/Damage Controlman show distinct elements of Zodiac's outfit including:

--The hood with a bib, and glass covering the eyes;

--A cross symbol in the center of the chest;

--Pants tucked into socks; and

--The utility belt.

10.  DeAngelo was responsible for guarding, opening, and closing the most critical "Z" doors on the ship:

•The door fitting for which DeAngelo was responsible were marked with a plain "Z" or a "Z" within a red circle:

•Zodiac used a matching "Z" for his signature

11. In 1968-69, DeAngelo was attending college, while living and working in Auburn, CA. He was single, free on all evenings and weekends, and spent his off hours riding his motorcycles (dirt and street), hunting, fishing, and SCUBA diving. He lived 90 miles from Lake Hermann, and 87 miles from Blue Rock Springs Park, 98 miles from Lake Berryessa, and 128 miles from the Zodiac Stine location in San Francisco—all straight down Hwy 80 directly from DeAngelo’s home.

12. DeAngelo shot to death couples Brian and Katie Maggiore on a dog walk in 1978; Drs. Offerman and Manning in their home in 1979; and Sheri Domingo and Greg Sanchez in their home in 1981. Zodiac shot couples Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday in their car in 1968, and Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau in their car in 1969.

13. DeAngelo shot single men: Claude Snelling in 1975, Bill McGowan in 1975, and Rodney Miller in 1977. Zodiac shot Paul Stine in 1969.

14. Zodiac wrote that all of his firearms were older, purchased out-of-state, and lacked registration numbers. DeAngelo stole older guns that did not have registration numbers, and specifically left behind guns that were identifiable.

15. Despite claims that Zodiac left fingerprints on the Stine cab, Zodiac denied doing so, and stated that his prints were covered with airplane glue, and the wiping down he did was to “leave false clews” for the police. The FBI determined that there were no unidentified fingerprints common to all of the Zodiac scenes, and there are no Zodiac fingerprints available for suspect elimination purposes. DeAngelo never left a fingerprint at any burglary, kidnapping, rape, or homicide scene, and was documented stealing tubes of epoxy glue from at least one scene.

16. Although some internet sleuths claim that DNA has been recovered from Zodiac correspondence, that is only skin cell DNA from the outside of the envelopes. No saliva DNA from the flaps of the envelopes or back of the stamps has been found, and no Zodiac DNA profile exists for suspect elimination purposes.

17. The name “Zodiac” and symbol appear to have come from the popular SCUBA diving watch company. DeAngelo would have been familiar with those watches because he was a commercial SCUBA diver, and certified dive instructor in 1969.

18. The coded messages sent by Zodiac contained both SCUBA and Navy symbols. DeAngelo was discharged at Treasure Island, San Francisco in August, 1968—four months before the first Zodiac homicides at nearby Lake Hermann.

19. On two occasions, Zodiac drove from the scene directly to a pay phone and called police to report the crime he had just committed, appearing to brag. As the EAR and VR, DeAngelo called the police prior to several of his attacks to taunt the police. He told them he had picked a victim, was going to strike, and they couldn’t stop or catch him. Both Zodiac and DeAngelo used backline, non-emergency phone numbers to reach the police, apparently knowing that those phone lines would not be recorded.

20. After the attack at Lake Berryessa, Zodiac left a note written on the victims’ car taking credit for the crime. In Visalia in 1975, DeAngelo kidnapped 16 year old Beth Snelling from her bedroom, then killed her father Claude when he came to her rescue. Later that same morning, DeAngelo wrote on the mirror of a truck parked next to Beth’s friends taking credit for the crime, and saying “Beth, I’ll get the rest.” 

21. Although Zodiac sent three coded messages to the press and police, most of his communications were simply letters that took credit for his crimes, criticized the police efforts to catch him, and taunted that there would be future murders. Some of the writings contained verses that appeared to be an attempt at poetry.  Zodiac also sent greeting cards hand altered with ink to change the words and add his own. As the EAR, DeAngelo sent many writings to the police and press, none of which were made public at the time. Some of the writings offered the police advice on how to catch him. One letter sent to Sacramento police and press was a poem called Excitement Crave, it taunted the police and threatened more attacks:

22. On November 8, 1969, Zodiac mailed a card with a portion of Paul Stine’s bloody shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle taunting the press and police. This card was mailed from San Francisco on DeAngelo’s 24th birthday.

23. On June 26, 1970, Zodiac mailed a map centered on Mt. Diablo, which is located in Contra Costa County, California. The map was supposed to lead to the location of bus bomb he had set. The card was mailed to the Chronicle from San Francisco on the birthday of DeAngelo’s mother, and DeAngelo committed about a dozen EAR attacks in the area surrounding the symbol at Mt. Diablo.

24. Zodiac sent a long letter on July 26, 1970. It complained about the lack of citizens wearing zodiac symbol buttons, and announced his future plans. It was mailed to the Chronicle from San Francisco on the birthday of DeAngelo’s step-father.

25. Both Zodiac and DeAngelo constantly read and responded to all of the press about their crimes, and got overly upset by small things. For instance, Zodiac got angry that it was reported that he drove away from a scene quickly, seeming like he was afraid. DeAngelo got upset when an expert called him “careful,” which made him seem safe rather than fearless and clever. They both taunted the police through communications and actions, pointed out their mistakes, and dared the police to catch them.

26. Zodiac conveyed messages to authorities through his very deliberate placement of stamps and stickers on his communications:

•On the front of the Halloween card, the eyes were altered, and a giant pumpkin sticker was placed over the crotch area.

--Peek-A-Boo You Are Doomed!

--An articulated skeleton with added mask

--Twelve added eyes with lashes looking towards the skeleton

--4-Teen (claimed body count)

--BOO!

--Zodiac "Z"

--Zodiac "sight" symbol

--Zodiac pictogram

•In Visalia, the police had an anti-burglary program that encouraged residents to provide the serial numbers of valuable items, and have others engraved with the owner's license number to deter theft. •Citizens who participated in the program were given window stickers so that potential burglars would skip the house believing that the items inside would be too hard to sell.

•Visalia PD noticed that the Ransacker seemed to be mocking them by targeting homes with the window stickers, and at one house sent them a very clear message with one of their own stickers:

27. Both Zodiac and DeAngelo were known to hide for hours near crime scenes, and patiently wait until all search efforts had ceased, and the police had left the area before re-emerging and leaving the area.

28. Both Zodiac and DeAngelo were confident with a handgun, shot with accuracy under pressure, and easily hit moving targets in the dark. DeAngelo shot Claude Snelling, Bill McGowen, Rodney Miller, Brian Maggiore, and Katie Maggorie at night, while they were moving.

29.  One of the "tips" DeAngelo supplied to Stockton PD to implicate Tommy Myers claimed that the EAR was also Zodiac:

30.  In addition to an handwriting analysis that  has found consistencies between Zodiac and DeAngelo's writing, and a determination that he can not be elimiated as the author of the Zodiac letters, both have the same unique way of writing icLe at the end of their words:

•The original Zodiac handwriting expert, Sherwood Morrill, created upper and lower case grids of examplars of Zodiac's most distinct letter formations to use for comparison to the writing of potential suspects:

•In January of 2024, an ABFDE certified document examiner compared the known handwriting of DeAngelo to the "Peek Through The Pines" postcard. The examiner concluded that DeAngelo could not be eliminated as the author of the postcard, and found two strong points of similarity--the formation of the lower case "y" with an angled descender, and the unique formation of the lower case letter "r."