The unsolved mystery of the Zodiac killer is one of the most perplexing and terrifying in history, but things are about to get a whole lot more complicated. Per a new Peacock docuseries called “Myth of the Zodiac Killer,” there may have been more than one murderer that made up the Zodiac killer rather than just one.
The Zodiac killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving cryptic notes behind with his victims’ bodies. What’s worse, there seemed to be no pattern to the killings, with victims being chosen at random and having little in common. Five people were killed and two more attacked within six months, with the Zodiac killer proudly bragging about his crimes in the media.
Throughout his killing spree, he sent confession letters and cryptic drawings to the San Francisco Chronicle and challenged them to try and uncover his code. That didn’t happen until 2021. However, while the murders eventually stopped, the Zodiac killer was never identified or caught.
Authorities always believed that the suspect acted alone, but “Myth of the Zodiac Killer” director Andrew Nock told The New York Post there’s every reason to believe multiple suspects were involved.
“It’s very unusual for cold cases to have this much information. But if you read all the police files, you see that there’s very little linking these crimes together. Different weapons, different M.O., different victim profile, even eyewitness statements, different locations — or a trophy being taken from one, but none of the others,” he explained.
“The letters are really the only thing that anchors these crimes together. There’s strong evidence to suggest that not only were the crimes committed by separate people, but the letters were written by more than one person as well.”
Nock added that given the publicity surrounding the Charles Manson murders at the time, copycats could have worked together to try and drum up their own press.
“The letters are really the only thing that anchors these crimes together. There’s strong evidence to suggest that not only were the crimes committed by separate people, but the letters were written by more than one person as well,” he said.
“So obviously, [the killer or killers] switch to daylight…that’s the way to get more attention. So maybe there was a team, or a couple of people who felt they wanted the publicity. They liked the press. It’s interesting that as the revelations about the Manson family were revealed, the more letters came into the San Francisco Chronicle.”
