Free Essay

Zodiac Killer

In: English and Literature

Submitted By deannabeth
Words 907
Pages 4
Deanna Brooks
Mr. Ogletree
English 1101-10142
March 22, 2012

The Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is as unknown today as he was in the 1970's. It is said that the Zodiac killer is Arthur Allan, though we cannot in any way prove this theory. The zodiac killer was a murderer that seemed to have a serious mental condition, which needed treating, but appears as if he could not control it. The Zodiac killer is a man that committed a series of murders during 1930’s to about the 1970’s. To plainly put it he was a serial killer. Many have wondered if he was locked up in jail somewhere or sitting back waiting to strike again, he would be very old if this was the case. There are many accounts of the murders. Though some people ended up changing their story, or too much happened and they are still in shock so they have trouble remembering, or they could be trying to block the memory. In most of his killings it seems to be the same, a young couple, kills the girl completely, but leaves the guy just, enough to talk to the police then he dies. I think this means he wants someone to still be able to talk about him. There was one account I read about where he did not kill anyone, Butterfield stated that, He writes letters to the police and the have to unscramble it. He seems to put a lot of time into his letters and his killings, in other words a “psycho-path”. The zodiac killer a time seems to have a moment of sanity and some letters had asked for help, but those moments did not last long, it was clear though that he could not handle himself anymore. For some reason with these murders he would call in to report the murder, and sometimes would give the police enough time to track the phone but would be gone before they arrived. I think he loved the attention these murders brought him, because he would allow one of the victims to be able to give an account of what happened, he called the murders in, and sent letters to the press. Mr. Butterfield does not appear to take sides; he gives the facts about the zodiac killer because he also wants to find out who he is. Charles Montaldo also just gives the facts to the case. Chris Yarbrough said that Arthur Allen is the most suspected of the murders because his timeline is close to the zodiac killer. There is of course a lot of evidence that strangely lines up very closely to Arthur’s life. No one really knows who the zodiac killer is though many have said Arthur Allen must be him we cannot prove this in anyway. They made reference to Arthur Allen but did not say it was him, because they do not know for sure.
The zodiac killer was said to be Arthur Allen, but we cannot prove this. They picked this name because they unscrambled some letters in one of the letters he sent to the police. We cannot go on this alone; the letters could have ended up being anyone’s name. The zodiac killer could be anyone. The zodiac killer gave us only just enough information to want to know more about him but did not give himself away. Chris Yarbrough stated, “Allen's fingerprints, DNA, and handwriting did not match to any evidence recovered from the Zodiac crimes” (9). Although the zodiac killer and Arthur’s live goes very closely in the same direction including, that they were both in the same area at the same time of murders, so there is plenty of circumstantial evidence. Chris also said,” Allen was later questioned. Allen stated that bloody knives found in his car the night of the Lake Berryessa attacks had been used to kill chickens. He volunteered this information even though the investigators had not even asked him about the knives at that point” (4). Even though we have all of this it is not enough to say it was him, as I said before the fingerprints did not match the evidence.
By what I have read from this I can say that for sure no one knows who the Zodiac Killer is and we cannot base who it is by who we think it quite possible could be. It could very much be Arthur Allen but we do not have enough evidence to back it up. I am sure one day we will find out who the Zodiac Killer is. Michael Butterfield is continuing his research on him. Michael stated in his closing that, “The Zodiac remains the most elusive and terrifying ghost in the history of American serial murder. While some believe that the killer died long ago or is locked away somewhere in a prison cell, others believe that he is still out there, watching the world keep his story alive, enjoying his infamy, and waiting to write an ending as shocking as his unforgettable crimes” (73).

Word 879
Work Cited

Montaldo, Charles. "The Zodiac Killer-The Unsolved Mystery of the Zodiac Killer".
About.com Web. March 22, 2012. http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/zodiackiller.htm. Butterfield, Michael. “The Zodiac Killer”. Zodiackillerfacts.com. March 22, 2012. http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/Enter.htm.
Yarbrough, Chris. “Arthur Leigh Allen”. ZodiacKillerTruths.com. March 22,2012. http://zodiackillertruth.com/leigh.htm.

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