Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed

by Robert Graysmith

  “I give Mageau the lineup admonishment, ‘Just because I’m showing you pictures, you don’t have to identify anyone as the responsible, he may not be in here—blah, blah, blah.’ So I hand him them.

  “He looks at them for twenty, thirty seconds. Points to Arthur Leigh Allen and says, ‘That’s the man! That’s the man who shot me at Blue Rock Springs!’

  “I was absolutely flabbergasted that he picked out Arthur Leigh Allen. I didn’t expect him to pick out anybody at all!”

  epilogue

  Dave Toschi is now with North Star Security Services as a vice-president and member of the board. Retired detective lieutenant Mike Ciravolo, a chief investigator on New York’s Zodiac case, now runs a private investigation company in suburban New York City. He left the department when Zodiac II first vanished, arguing that the Zodiac Task Force should not be abandoned. He helped train Detective Sergeant Joe Herbert who recognized the hand of Zodiac II in Seda’s handwriting. Bryan Hartnell, married and the father of two sons, is a probate lawyer in Southern California.

  “The Santa Rosa murders were never solved,” Sergeant Steve Brown, Sonoma Sheriff’s Department, told me. “In fact, we’re working them pretty hard right now. One was never found, but of the six that were found I only have evidence on one of the girls, Kim Wendy Allen. What I’m still trying to do is find the rest of the evidence. We’re clearing out the archival evidence that’s out at our Juvenile Hall facility. These old cases are tough because who knows where the evidence goes. Hopefully, I’m going to find some more. I especially want to find the rope used to strangle Kim Wendy that they submitted to the FBI. They tested this rope in every possible way and there was nothing special about it. It was a nylon regular rope that you could buy anywhere.”

  On the Presidio, where Zodiac was last seen and nurse Donna Lass once worked, ten-story Letterman Hospital and its five-story annex remain only as desolate hulks. The hollowed-out concrete buildings will be demolished and replaced by a digital movie production campus, Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic. Sandy Panzarella sold Science Dynamics. With that money he purchased the RKO-Radio Pictures film library which he later sold to Ted Turner. “It was a tough decision,” Panzarella told me, “to give up a library which not only included Citizen Kane, and other beloved films, but The Most Dangerous Game.” The movie-obsessed Zodiac would have appreciated the irony.

  appendices

  Return to Search Warrant Served on Arthur Leigh Allen, February 14, 1991. The following personal property was taken from 32 Fresno Street, City of Vallejo, Solano County, California.1. Four pipe bombs.

  2. One primer Cord.

  3. Seven Impact devices Railway Torpedo.

  4. Two Safety fuses, green, two rolls ea. 98½’.

  5. Two rolls of safety fuses (orange).

  6. One cardboard box w/Mrs. E. W. Allen on label.

  7. Two Vallejo Times-Heralds dated 060382.

  8. Two San Francisco Chronicles dated 060182.

  9. Two glass bottles of black material.

  10. Nine Non-electric blasting caps.

  11. Two 1"galvanized pipes with one end cap.

  12. Five pipe thread compounds.

  13. Six pipe vises.

  14. One cardboard box with fireworks, safety fuse (green), bottles of potassium nitrate, two bottles of sulfur, miscellaneous fireworks.

  15. Brown plastic bag covering Item #6.

  16. One can of black powder partially full.

  17. Euroarms .44-caliber black powder #13357.

  18. Ruger .22 revolver #85655 and six live rounds.

  19. .22 Revolver #N31025.

  20. Ruger .44 Blackhawk #8155788 and five rounds.

  21. Colt .32 auto #216374 and seven rounds.

  22. Winchester, Super and miscellaneous ammo for .32, .22, .44, and .30-caliber.

  23. .22 automatic clip with three rounds.

  24. Zodiac Sea Wolf Watch #26894.

  25. Miscellaneous papers and news clips “Zodiac.”

  26. Marlin .22 rifle with scope #24373783.

  27. Inland .30-caliber rifle #5044680.

  28. Sears electric typewriter.

  29. Royal manual typewriter.

  30. Cut letter from DOJ and miscellaneous news clips.

  31. Zippo lighter engraved “D. E. Brandon.”

  32. Small flashlight.

  33. Hunting knife with sheath and rivets.

  34. Four boxes of videotapes, one box audio reel tapes, one cassette recorder.

  35. Remington .22 short caliber rifle.

  36. Stevens Model 835 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun.

  37. Winchester Model 50 20-gauge automatic shotgun.

  Arthur Leigh Allen’s Trailers, Cars, and Boats

  Universal trailer (off wheels), license, AP 6354, parked at the Sunset Trailer Park, 2963 Santa Rosa Avenue. Slot A-7. Owned since 1970.

  Trailer ME8636, special construction. Registered 10/31/79.

  Trailer GS8803, special construction camper, 12/31/75.

  A Trailer in Bodega Bay.

  A Trailer rumored to be parked in a neighbor’s tract of deep woods.

  Car #1. DXW 186, 1962 VW Karmann Ghia, registered 7/18/80. An exact duplicate of Bryan Hartnell’s car at Lake Berryessa 9/69.

  Car #2. MLZ 057, 1965 Buick sedan, Gray Skylark, registered 4/20/80.

  Car #3. XAM 469 tan station wagon.

  Car #4. 1964 dark Ford. On the night of the July Fourth murder, a deputy had seen a blue 1967 Ford Sedan in the Blue Rock Springs parking lot earlier in the evening.

  A two-seat Austin Healey.

  A white Buick.

  A white 1965 Mercedes, 220SB.

  LDH 974, 1958 Ford sedan.

  Allen had use of Tucker’s 1965-66 brown Corvair. Whether or not he used it without permission on July 4, 1969 is not known.

  Small blue and white Sailboat: a twenty-two-foot-long sailboat on a trailer, partially draped by a blue tarp. California license number, NE3725.

  Open sailboat ten feet long. CF 9127 FD license. Sticker #HI07782. Fuel Unknown.

  The Bawart Report

  Vallejo Detective George Bawart’s confidential 1992 thirty-point report was prepared, not as part of the official Zodiac case file, but as an introductory outline for Vallejo District Attorney Mike Nail to facilitate his decision whether or not to arrest the prime suspect. Cheney had used Allen’s dismissal from teaching and his subsequent move home as a date to place the conversation in his room. He knew that he moved from the Bay Area to his new Southern California job on New Year’s Day. That was in fact, January 1, 1969. In later conversations Cheney corrected this. I have left the inaccurate date, 1968, in Bawart’s report. Leigh’s conversation with Cheney still predated the creation of the Zodiac persona and his M.O. by eight months. The report read as follows:

  Circumstances Which Indicate Arthur Leigh Allen is, in Fact, the Zodiac Killer. 1. In 1966, Riverside, California, Cheri Jo BATES, WF, is stabbed to death. The Riverside Police Department received a typed letter from the killer. On this letter, the killer identified himself as “Enterprise” [actually, this was to direct the letter to a Riverside newspaper of that name]. The brand of typewriter used in this letter has been identified as Royal with an elite type. An older Royal typewriter with elite type was found during the service of the search warrant at ALLEN’s residence on 02/91.

  2. In December of 1967, ALLEN was given a Zodiac brand watch as a Christmas present from his mother. The company symbol for their Zodiac watches is exactly the same symbol as later adapted by the Zodiac Killer. This watch was taken during the service of a search warrant in February of 1991.

  3. In January 1968, ALLEN had a conversation with Donald CHENEY, a friend of his. ALLEN guised this conversation as though he was going to write a novel. ALLEN indicated to CHENEY that he would call himself “Zodiac” and use the Zodiac watch symbol as his symbol. That he would kill people in lovers’ lanes by using a weapon with a flashlight attached to it for sighting at night. That he wou
ld write letters to the police to confuse them and taunt them and sign them as the Zodiac using the Zodiac watch symbol. ALLEN stated he would get women to stop on the freeway indicating they had some problems with their tires, and that he would loosen the lug nuts so their tire would later fall off, and he could take them captive. ALLEN told CHENEY that he would shoot children as they got off school buses.

  4. On July 4, 1969, Darlene FERRIN was killed, and Michael MAGEAU shot numerous times at Blue Rock Springs, Vallejo. On July 31, 1969, a letter was received by the Vallejo Times-Herald describing the killing and shooting incident at Blue Rock Springs, signed only with the symbol of the Zodiac watch. August 7, 1969, a letter was received, wherein, an individual identified himself as Zodiac indicating many facts about the shooting in Vallejo. He indicated he sighted with a flashlight attached to his gun. The letter was signed with the Zodiac watch company’s symbol.

  5. In early October 1969, Sergeant Lynch of the Vallejo Police Department interviewed ALLEN as to his whereabouts on 092769 (the date of the Napa County Sheriff’s Department killing at Lake Berryessa). ALLEN said that he had planned to go to Berryessa on that date but had changed his mind and had gone to the ocean instead. This same conversation was confirmed by Captain [Roy] CONWAY and myself during the service of the search warrant on 02/91.

  6. In 1969, a Philip TUCKER of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District indicated that ALLEN, who was a close friend of his, often talked about the Zodiac case. TUCKER indicated that ALLEN had previously talked about shooting with special sights for shooting in the dark. TUCKER indicated that he saw the Zodiac symbol at ALLEN’s house and also some type of cryptograms.

  7. A Zodiac letter received by newspapers dated 101369 alluded to “shoot the little darlings as they came bouncing off the bus.” Almost the same verbiage given to CHENEY in 1968.

  8. A Zodiac letter dated 110969 described making his bomb for blowing up buses by using ammonia nitrate, stove oil, and gravel. A formula in ALLEN’s handwriting was found during the service of the search warrant at Allen’s residence on 02/91, as well as completed pipe bombs.

  9. A Zodiac letter dated 110969 stated, “You don’t know if the bomb is at the site or stored in my basement for future use.” During the service of the search warrant of ALLEN’s residence on 02/91, pipe bombs were found in ALLEN’s basement, as well as formulas for ammonia nitrate and stove oil bombs.

  10. A Zodiac letter dated 110969. It indicated that the killing tools were bought through mail order. During the service of the search warrant at ALLEN’s residence on 02/91, mail order catalog pages were found regarding bombs, booby traps, and guns.

  11. On 032370, Kathleen JOHNS was stopped by an individual flashing his headlights. This individual indicated that her tire was loose. He, in fact, loosened the lug nuts on her tire causing her tire to fall off, and then took her in his vehicle for quite some time. A letter sent to the news media on 072770 by the Zodiac claimed he was responsible for this incident. This is almost exactly the same as told to CHENEY in 1969.

  12. During this conversation with CHENEY in 1968, ALLEN asked CHENEY how to disguise his handwriting, and he would wear makeup to change his appearance. Note—The Zodiac handprinting has never been matched to that [of] ALLEN. This could explain this match not being made. This premise has been discussed at length with Terry Pascoe, Questioned Document Examiner, DOJ retired. He originally worked on some of the Zodiac letters. He agrees that a person with high intelligence could study the methods used to examine handwriting and fool a document examiner.

  13. During the conversation with CHENEY, ALLEN indicated he would have fun hunting people.

  14. ALLEN told CHENEY that he would send letters to the police to confuse and antagonize them.

  15. ALLEN told CHENEY that he would attach a flashlight to a weapon for sighting in the dark. This is referred [to] by the Zodiac in a letter he sent to the news media on 080769.

  16. Shoe prints found at Lake Berryessa by the Napa County Sheriff’s Department belonging to the killer are size 10½. ALLEN wears shoes size 10½.

  17. The description of the killer in Vallejo at Blue Rock Springs and in Napa County Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction at Lake Berryessa is a heavyset white male with a potbelly. ALLEN is a white male, heavyset with a potbelly.

  18. Letters received from the Zodiac by the media had what appeared to be intentionally misspelled words. ALLEN intentionally misspells words. One example would be in documents found during the search warrant of 02/91, ALLEN spelled the word eggs “aigs.” This intentional misspelling of words was confirmed by his brother Ron ALLEN who says that Leigh ALLEN did that to be funny.

  19. ALLEN denied any knowledge about making bombs and denied ever making any formulas for making bombs. ALLEN’s handwriting has been matched to the formulas found for making bombs during the search warrant of 02/91.

  20. ALLEN was reported to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department on 092374 as having molested a boy in that city. He was arrested in late September or early October 1974. The last letter received from the Zodiac in this time frame was 070874. ALLEN was released from Atascadero State Prison in September 1977. No Zodiac letters were received while ALLEN was in Atascadero Prison.

  21. In 1969, Ralph SPINELLI had a conversation with ALLEN. ALLEN admitted he was the Zodiac. ALLEN claimed he would do a killing in San Francisco to prove that he was the Zodiac killer. On October 11, 1969, Paul STINE, a cabdriver in the City of San Francisco, was shot to death. This shooting differs from the July 4, 1969, killing in Vallejo, and the September 27, 1969, killing in Napa County inasmuch as those were both men and women in secluded areas. On 101469, a letter from the Zodiac took credit for the STINE killing and sent part of STINE’s shirt to the newspaper.

  22. In May of 1991, ALLEN gave an interview to the Vallejo Times-Herald . In that interview he indicated a “Man from Lake Tahoe” had recently given Vallejo Police Department information regarding him (ALLEN). It should be noted that SPINELLI owned a restaurant in the Lake Tahoe Area in the early 1980s. It is apparent that ALLEN must have kept track of SPINELLI as he was never told by us that SPINELLI had any connection with Lake Tahoe.

  23. Reference Item #6 in this list of circumstances—On 061191, Captain Conway and I re-interviewed Phil TUCKER. The excerpts from Item #6 were from a 1971 interview by Detective Dave TOSCHI of the San Francisco Police Department. During our interview Phil TUCKER was unable to remember that Arthur Leigh ALLEN had told him that he had special sights for shooting in the dark. He did, however, indicate that Arthur Leigh ALLEN told him he was proficient in shooting and proficient in shooting in the dark.Most significant new information revealed by Phil TUCKER was the following: The book [Allen had mentioned] was about hunting people with a bow and arrow. ALLEN was fascinated with this. He indicated a number of times that it would be more sport to hunt people as they had intelligence. This conversation took place while ALLEN and TUCKER were discussing hunting trips while [en route] to the ocean to go diving. ALLEN was fascinated with the concept of stalking people rather than game. TUCKER indicated that he felt that ALLEN wanted TUCKER’s reaction to these statements. TUCKER told ALLEN that he would never consider hunting people. TUCKER indicated he thinks ALLEN told him the name of the book he had read. After some time I asked TUCKER if the name of the story was “The Most Dangerous Game,” and TUCKER said he did not think that was the name of the book. TUCKER indicated that this conversation took place prior to September of 1966 as that is the month and year he married his first wife, and he did not see ALLEN to any great degree, nor go out on hunting and fishing trips with him after his marriage.

  It should be noted this is almost exactly the same as part of the conversation he had with Donald CHENEY on January of 1968 and almost exactly the same as alluded to by the Zodiac in his letters to the press, as well as in his cryptogram. TUCKER was asked if he knew Donald CHENEY, and he advised he did not.

  TUCKER was asked why he did not give this information to TOSCHI and MULANAX in 1
971. He indicated he only answered their questions and was not asked about any fantasies ALLEN may have related to him.

  TUCKER also indicated that during the span of this conversation, Arthur Leigh ALLEN had a Zodiac brand watch with a Zodiac symbol which consisted of a circle with lines horizontally and vertically through it.

  TUCKER also indicated that he has seen Arthur Leigh ALLEN write with both hands, and that he uses both hands equally well when handwriting. TUCKER describes his handwriting as not real good.

  TUCKER also indicated that ALLEN had an interest in codes, and that he had seen a handwritten Zodiac-type cryptogram at ALLEN’s house prior to any cryptograms being published in the newspaper. TUCKER also indicated that ALLEN loved to try and outsmart the other guy.

  TUCKER indicates that in 1969, he owned an older brown Corvair that was beat up, and that ALLEN had driven this Corvair. He could not specifically indicate whether ALLEN drove this Corvair on July 4, 1969. It should be noted that witnesses at the killing at Blue Rock Springs on July 4, 1969, described an older brown vehicle, possibly a Corvair, as being the responsible vehicle.

  24. In the mid-1970s D.O.J. Investigator SILVER accompanied by Bryan HARTNELL, the victim in the Napa Sheriff’s Department Zodiac Case, went to a hardware store where ALLEN was working. HARTNELL was directed to make a purchase from ALLEN. HARTNELL then informed SILVER that ALLEN’s physical size and voice were the same as the person who had killed his girlfriend and badly wounded him, HARTNELL, in Napa. HARTNELL did not see the face of the responsible [assailant] in this incident as he was wearing a hood.