Cases Old and Cold

[HairOfTheDog]

Can new technology and investigative techniques FINALLY lead to the identity of the Zodiac Killer?



I've been interested in the Zodiac case since childhood. It's a sad, strange and fascinating case. It would be great to see the killer identified after all these years.

If anyone is interested in the case and hasn't seen it yet, the movie "Zodiac" with Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. is a really good watch and fairly accurate depiction of the California detectives' failed attempts to positively identify the serial killer.

The Zodiac Killer fatally stabbed or shot to death five people in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, then sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers. The Vallejo police are the lead investigators because the first two victims were killed there.

The suspect was dubbed the Zodiac Killer because some of the cryptograms included astrological symbols and references. Experts and armchair sleuths alike have been trying to fully decipher them for 50 years.

Now, Northern California detectives say they hope to try the same DNA tracing technology recently used to arrest a suspect in another string of cold-case serial slayings — those blamed on the Golden State Killer.

But first they have to get a better DNA profile of the Zodiac Killer. To that end, the Vallejo Police Department sent two letters written by the Zodiac Killer to a private lab several months back. They hope to find the killer's DNA on the back of the stamps or envelope flaps that may have been licked. They are expecting results soon.

Story: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/...story.html