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Serial Killer Index Short List
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Serial Killer Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
   
serial killers by name [c] amazon

     
  CALIFORNIA ASTROLOGY Murders     USA ... ... 9+
aka 1969 1970 CA
... : ... ... ... ...
Verdict/Urteil: Unsolved
 

Between December 1969 and November 1970, police in Northern California linked nine unsolved murders with a single perpetrator, still at large. A common bond is found in the disposal of the bodies, cast off in ravines, and in the killer's hypothetical obsession with astrology. Of nine acknowledged victims , seven died in fair proximity to a seasonal solstice or equinox, while two were slain on Friday the thirteenth. Additionally, it is possible the murders may have lasted through December 1973, with six more victims added to the body count. The list begins, officially, with one Leona Roberts, found ten days before the winter solstice, in December 1969. Her death was treated as a homicide, although the cause is listed as "exposure" by the medical examiner. The killer had a busy month in March of 1970, beginning with Cosette Ellison, found nude in a ravine seventeen days before the vernal equinox, the cause of death undetermined. Two days later, on March 5, Patricia King was strangled and discarded, naked, in a rural gully. Nurse Judith Hikari vanished on March 7, thirteen days before the equinox; she was discovered, nude and bludgeoned in an overgrown ravine, on April 26. On Friday, March 13, Marie Anstey was kidnapped in Vallejo, stunned by a blow to the head, and then drowned; her body was recovered in rural Lake County, on March 21, and an autopsy revealed traces of mescaline in her bloodstream. Celebrating the equinox itself, on March 20, the slayer clubbed Eva Blau to death and dumped her body in a roadside gully; once again, the medical examiner found drugs in the victim's system. The seventh victim on official rosters is a nurse named Donna Lass, abducted from Lake Tahoe prior to the autumnal equinox, on September 26, 1970. Her body has never been found. Nancy Bennallack appeared to break the killer's pattern, dying with her throat cut in a Sacramento flat October 26, but she remains on the official roster. Number nine was Carol Hilburn, a Sacramento X-ray technician, found beaten to death in a ravine on Friday, November 13. She had been stripped except for one boot and the panties that her killer left around her knees. The tally might end there, but author Robert Graysmith, ever seeking victims in his search for the elusive "Zodiac," reports at least six other homicides that seem to fit the general pattern. Betty Cloer, 21, was shot and beaten by her killer during June 1971, her body discovered two days before the summer solstice. Linda Ohlig, age 19, was found beaten to death at Half Moon Bay on March 28, 1972 -- six days after the vernal equinox. Eighteen days before the autumnal equinox, in September 1972, Alexandra Clery was beaten to death in Oakland, her nude body discarded like a broken rag doll. Susan McLaughlin, 19, was stabbed to death and left without a stitch of clothing in March 1973, eighteen days before the vernal equinox. And finally, nineteen days before the winter solstice, in December 1973, Michael Shane and Cathy Fechtel were shot and dumped beside a road in Livermore. Coincidence? Police are confident of a connection in at least the first nine cases, hedging on the other six described by Graysmith. Is the "Zodiac" responsible for these and more than twenty other unsolved murders, in addition to his six known homicides? The answer to that question, like the killer's true identity, remains a mystery.

Between December 1969 and November 1970, police in Northern California linked nine unsolved murders with a single perpetrator, still at large. A common bond is found in the disposal of the bodies, cast off in ravines, and in the killer's hypothetical obsession with astrology. Of nine acknowledged victims , seven died in fair proximity to a seasonal solstice or equinox, while two were slain on Friday the thirteenth. Additionally, it is possible the murders may have lasted through December 1973, with six more victims added to the body count. The list begins, officially, with one Leona Roberts, found ten days before the winter solstice, in December 1969. Her death was treated as a homicide, although the cause is listed as "exposure" by the medical examiner. The killer had a busy month in March of 1970, beginning with Cosette Ellison, found nude in a ravine seventeen days before the vernal equinox, the cause of death undetermined. Two days later, on March 5, Patricia King was strangled and discarded, naked, in a rural gully. Nurse Judith Hikari vanished on March 7, thirteen days before the equinox; she was discovered, nude and bludgeoned in an overgrown ravine, on April 26. On Friday, March 13, Marie Anstey was kidnapped in Vallejo, stunned by a blow to the head, and then drowned; her body was recovered in rural Lake County, on March 21, and an autopsy revealed traces of mescaline in her bloodstream. Celebrating the equinox itself, on March 20, the slayer clubbed Eva Blau to death and dumped her body in a roadside gully; once again, the medical examiner found drugs in the victim's system. The seventh victim on official rosters is a nurse named Donna Lass, abducted from Lake Tahoe prior to the autumnal equinox, on September 26, 1970. Her body has never been found. Nancy Bennallack appeared to break the killer's pattern, dying with her throat cut in a Sacramento flat October 26, but she remains on the official roster. Number nine was Carol Hilburn, a Sacramento X-ray technician, found beaten to death in a ravine on Friday, November 13. She had been stripped except for one boot and the panties that her killer left around her knees. The tally might end there, but author Robert Graysmith, ever seeking victims in his search for the elusive "Zodiac," reports at least six other homicides that seem to fit the general pattern. Betty Cloer, 21, was shot and beaten by her killer during June 1971, her body discovered two days before the summer solstice. Linda Ohlig, age 19, was found beaten to death at Half Moon Bay on March 28, 1972 -- six days after the vernal equinox. Eighteen days before the autumnal equinox, in September 1972, Alexandra Clery was beaten to death in Oakland, her nude body discarded like a broken rag doll. Susan McLaughlin, 19, was stabbed to death and left without a stitch of clothing in March 1973, eighteen days before the vernal equinox. And finally, nineteen days before the winter solstice, in December 1973, Michael Shane and Cathy Fechtel were shot and dumped beside a road in Livermore. Coincidence? Police are confident of a connection in at least the first nine cases, hedging on the other six described by Graysmith. Is the "Zodiac" responsible for these and more than twenty other unsolved murders, in addition to his six known homicides? The answer to that question, like the killer's true identity, remains a mystery.
Copyright 1995-2005 by Elisabeth Wetsch
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