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David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen are shot and killed on Lake Herman Road in Benicia.
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Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin are shot in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. Mageau survives, Ferrin dies.
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The Chronicle runs the cipher that came with the first confirmed letter from the Zodiac, though he is not yet calling himself that. The letter writer claims responsibility for the Benicia and Vallejo killings. The San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald received similar letters, with additions to The Chronicle’s cipher. The combined ciphers are decoded to essentially reveal the writer’s pleasure in killing, and this becomes the only Zodiac cryptogram officially deciphered.
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Bryan Hartnell and Cecilia Shepard are stabbed repeatedly at Lake Berryessa. Shepard dies, Hartnell survives.
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Cab driver Paul Stine is shot to death in Presidio Heights in San Francisco. Police at first report it as a robbery attempt.
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The Chronicle runs a letter from the Zodiac claiming credit for Stine’s killing. The letter includes a bloody piece of Stine’s shirt as proof of his boast. It’s the first letter to The Chronicle in which the writer uses the name “Zodiac;” the name debuted in an earlier letter, in August 1969, to the Examiner.
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The Chronicle publishes a new cryptogram included with a letter from the Zodiac. He claims credit for two more murders, bringing the total to seven — but despite this and later boasts, police will officially attribute only five killings to the Zodiac.
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The Chronicle reports receiving another letter from the Zodiac. He claims to have now killed 10 people. The letter ends with, “PS I hope you have fun trying to figure out who I killed.”
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The Chronicle reports receiving a postcard from the Zodiac with 13 holes punched out. He claims that his death toll is up to 13.
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The Chronicle reports that the Los Angeles Times has received a letter from the Zodiac, who has been silent for five months. He now claims 17 victims and says the Bates murder was his doing.
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The Chronicle reports it has received a letter from the Zodiac, the first in nearly three years. He claims 37 victims.
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The Chronicle reports it has received its first letter from the Zodiac since January 1974. The Zodiac writes that San Francisco Police Inspector David Toschi “is good but I am smarter,” and he says to tell Chronicle columnist Herb Caen “I am here.” Some experts say the letter is a fake, others say it is genuine.
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San Francisco police put aside the Zodiac killer case. “The case is being placed inactive,” said San Francisco Police Lt. John Hennessey, who heads the department’s homicide unit. “Given the pressure of our existing caseload and the amount of cases that remain open at this time, we need to be most efficient at using our resources.” The case is later reactivated.