The tragic truth of a real-life crime is reflected in David Fincher’s Zodiac conclusion. The evidence just does not support the identification of Arthur Leigh Allen as the Zodiac killer. On a truly perplexing case, Allen was the most likely suspect. He died of a heart attack before he could be charged, strangely enough. As the ending of Zodiac reveals, it was widely assumed that Allen was the culprit based on circumstantial evidence, so the case was closed following his death. Let’s look at why Allen wasn’t the murderer.
Zodiac is based on Robert Greysmith’s book of the same name, and Greysmith plays a key role in the film. His book told the story of a mystery serial killer terrorizing Northern California. A cop (Mark Ruffalo) and two reporters (Robert Downey, Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal) get fascinated with figuring out who he is in the film. While the killer claims his victims and taunts the authorities with letters, their fixation grows.
In This Article...
What is the real name of the Zodiac killer?
How did the Zodiac Killer get his name? According to the Case Breakers, a group of more than 40 former police investigators, journalists, and military intelligence personnel, Gary Francis Poste is the Zodiac Killer.
Richard Gaikowski is the Zodiac, right?
Gaikowski, a cinema lover, later became affiliated with the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.
The voice of Gaikowski matches that of the Zodiac, according to Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher who spoke with him in July 1969.
Today, how old would the Zodiac killer be?
Although the serial murderer claimed to have murdered 37 people in California in the late 1960s, only seven victims have been officially confirmed.
Gary Francis Poste, according to the Case Breakers, was a man who died in 2018. In any event, this isn’t the first time that various detectives claim to have discovered the serial killer’s identity.
Arthur Leigh Allen, a paedophile who was expelled from the military and from school, was one of the people singled out in the past, but authorities eventually found no link in his case.
Whether it was Gary Francis Poste or not, one thing is certain: the Zodiac killer would now be around 90 years old, according to officials.
Has the identity of the Zodiac Killer been revealed?
Police believe the Zodiac Killer was responsible for at least five deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1968 and 1969, and they are still looking for him. In their letters, the killer claimed to have killed up to 37 people. The Zodiac Killer’s most current solved code was decoded in 2020.
Is it possible that Arthur Leigh Allen met Robert Graysmith?
The film describes an encounter between Robert Graysmith and Arthur Leigh Allen, whom he thinks to be the Zodiac Killer. Graysmith enters the hardware store where Allen works and the two stare each other down, which is quite close to what happened in real life.
Graysmith alleges he went to Allen’s hardware store, where Allen pulled up alongside him in the parking lot, blocking the driver’s car door, and the two locked eyes.
Who do you think is the most likely Zodiac suspect?
Allen is possibly the most well-known of the Zodiac Killer suspects, having been implicated in David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac and Robert Graysmith’s 1986 book of the same name. Allen was a troubled boy who, according to family, enjoyed killing animals and grew up to be a convicted child molester. In 1958, he was dishonorably dismissed from the Navy. Allen was not only positively recognized by Mike Mageau, a survivor of a Zodiac attack, but he also had a voice and appearance that Bryan Hartnell, another witness, believed were similar to the killer. Allen and the murderer had the same glove and shoe sizes.
Why isn’t Richard Gaikowski the Zodiac?
- Despite the fact that he lacks a widow’s peak and has a larger nose, some claim that he looks like the sketch.
- His voice, according to Nancy Slover, is identical to that of the Zodiac.
- Richard served in the military, but documents were destroyed in a fire, so we don’t know how long he was in the service or any other facts.
- He was trained as a medic to tear the garments off injured soldiers, which the Zodiac did to Paul Stine after he was killed.
- Gaikowski didn’t write for nearly three years after being sent to a psychiatric institution.
- The word “GYKE” appears among the letters of one of the Zodiac’s cryptograms. Gyke, according to some, was Gaikowski’s nickname.
- He allegedly attended one of the victims’ funerals despite having no knowledge of who they were.
- After a survivor remarried and worked in the same building as her husband for a while, he followed her to New York.
- He was fortunate enough to have a basement, which not many people do. In one of his letters, Zodiac referenced having a basement.
Why is Richard Gaikowski referred to as the Zodiac?
JULY 15, 2020 UPDATED: Unfortunately, a specific person has been spreading incorrect information about Richard Gaikowski for years, including the bogus allegation that Gaikowski was overseas during the Zodiac killer’s first attack on December 20, 1968…and so couldn’t be the Zodiac. Fortunately, Gaikowski’s passport information has now been secured, putting the lie to rest for good.
*Gaikowski was born on March 14, 1936, in Watertown, South Dakota. He went to Webster High School in Webster, South Dakota, and then Northern State Teachers College in Aberdeen, South Dakota. On April 30, 2004, he died of cancer in San Francisco.
*During the 1950s, Gaikowski served in the Army. Gaikowski was a medic, according to reports. If they didn’t have access to the right equipment, medics were taught to shred a bleeding victim’s clothing to use as bandages. If required, start with the undershirt, then the shirt, and finally the pants. This is the order of cleanliness, with the shirttail tucked in being desired. (A part of a victim’s shirttail was ripped off by Zodiac.) Unfortunately, since a fire in 1973 destroyed 80 percent of such records, little is known about Gaikowski’s military career.
*In 1963, Gaikowski relocated from South Dakota to San Francisco, California, where he lived on Parnassus Avenue and worked as a financial reporter for the Daily Commercial News.
*By December 1964, Gaikowski had relocated to Martinez, California, roughly 45 minutes north of San Francisco. His home location was 1250 Escobar St., which was fewer than five miles south of the Zodiac’s initial assassinations.
*At the time, Gaikowski was managing editor of the News-Gazette, a local newspaper in Martinez. The Vallejo Times-Herald, which was headquartered less than 10 miles from Martinez, was owned by the same business that controlled the News-Gazette. The Times-Herald building in Vallejo hosted weekly editorial meetings for both the Martinez and Vallejo newspapers.
*After a routine traffic stop in Contra Costa County in October 1965, Gaikowski was arrested for refusing to sign a traffic citation (Calif.). Gaikowski’s purpose as an investigative writer for the local newspaper was to produce a piece from the perspective of an inmate about the circumstances in the county jail. Gaikowski’s mugshot was released alongside his story after his brief time in jail. However, by the time Gaikowski was identified as a Zodiac suspect more than 20 years later, his fingerprint records had vanished, making a comparison to Zodiac’s fingerprints impossible without Gaikowski’s cooperation or a court order. There is no proof that one of these things occurred. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
*Future victim of the Zodiac Darlene Ferrin of Vallejo, California, married and moved to Albany, New York, on January 1, 1966. Gaikowski swiftly followed, driving from Martinez, California, across the country (near Vallejo). Ferrin’s spouse worked for the Albany Times-Union, while Gaikowski worked for the Albany Knickerbocker News, which was located in the same building. The Times-Union received a letter from someone claiming to be the Zodiac in August 1973, four years after Ferrin was murdered by the Zodiac. The cipher included with the letter, when deciphered, makes reference to the Albany Medical Center.
*In 1969, 1970, and 1971, Gaikowski was a member of Good Times, a San Francisco-based anti-police, pro-violence counterculture publication and commune with a long history of radical philosophy. Gaikowski was known to often consume marijuana and utilize harder drugs like speed and LSD at this time.
*As early as January 1969, the New York Times published horrific works of fiction that were almost a roadmap for Zodiac’s future crimes.
*Wednesday was one of the busiest days of the week “The staffers of the weekly Good Times newspaper worked from early in the morning until late at night to create the new issue on this production day. The Zodiac mailed 15 letters from its launch in July 1969 until the Good Times’ closure in 1973. He never mailed a letter on Wednesday, despite doing it every other day of the week.
*At the time of his death, the Good Times were in full swing “On Fell Street in San Francisco, a switchboard was just yards from the home of Zodiac victim Paul Stine.
*Paul Stine’s sister, Carol, recognized Gaikowski as someone who had attended Paul’s burial.
*Stine was assassinated on Washington Street in San Francisco. Richard’s cousin was the only Gaikowski listed in a city directory at the time, and she lived on Washington Street. Stine’s birthday was October 11th, the same day the Zodiac assassinated her. The only victim for whom the Zodiac had control over when and where he was killed was Stinea cab driver.
*Zodiac made their debut by shipping three letters on the same day “The Good Times (edited by Gaikowski) just occurred to run a cover that was split into thirds due to a rush to editor letter to three different newspapers in the San Francisco area (each letter carrying one third of a code). It was the last time Zodiac sent a letter on a Thursday, which happened after the Good Times dissolved in 1973. The Good Times published its own three-part code five months later. The Good Times had a tendency to be sensationalistic at times “Headlines about the Zodiac Killer that were out of place.
Gaikowski had a penchant of condensing his last name to four letters and using multiple spellings, such as “Gike” or “Gaik,” in essays he wrote in 1969. Interestingly enough, “In Zodiac’s three-part encryption mailed on July 31, 1969, GYKE is readily visible. Furthermore, the way Zodiac coded the cipher phonetically reveals Gaikowski’s complete surname.
*Gaikowski’s best friend, Bob, worked for the Vallejo Times-Herald at the time the Zodiac submitted his single letter to the newspaper.
*Despite the fact that the Good Times was a counterculture/hippie publication prior to Gaikowski’s arrival, it began to run free advertisements for events as unexpected as performances of The Mikado, a Zodiac favorite. (In his letters, Zodiac occasionally quoted from The Mikado.)
*The Zodiac wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times on March 13, 1971. Gaikowski was involuntarily confined to the Napa State Hospital shortly after the mailing “I’m going insane. He was diagnosed with a mental condition and began therapy at San Francisco’s Mount Zion Hospital. The Zodiac didn’t write for over three years after that.
*Gaikowski was running a storefront theater in San Francisco’s Mission District when the Zodiac reappeared in 1974 with letters referencing to recent movie releases. Gaikowski, a cinema lover, later became affiliated with the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.
*Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher who spoke with the Zodiac in July 1969, recognized Gaikowski’s voice as that of the Zodiac.
Listen to Richard talking about Zodiac’s codes.
*The Napa County Sheriff’s Department conducted a brief investigation into Gaikowski in 1986. Detective Ken Narlow conducted a background check on Gaikowski and placed him under observation for a few nights after being urged by Goldcatcher and Pam Huckaby (Darlene Ferrin’s sister). MORE INFONarlow found no evidence that the case should be pursued further, and the case was closed. Meanwhile, the California Department of Justice decided that Gaikowski’s handwriting matched Zodiac’s handwriting and requested further examples of Gaikowski’s printing. Goldcatcher discovered printing that he thought might have belonged to Gaikowski, but the samples were proven to be unrelated. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The investigation was terminated because there was insufficient probable cause for an arrest or search warrant.
