In the late sixties and early seventies,

California was haunted by dozens of

unsolved murders. The offender
remains unknown to this day. The
murderer, who referred to himself as
"the Zodiac," made contact with the
police and area newspapers
throughout his reign of terror
through a series of menacing notes.
Although the police were never able
to apprehend Zodiac, they were able
to gather information about him via
the letters. Zodiac boasted of killing
up to forty victims, however, police
estimated he may have killed over 50.
Due to the nature of Zodiac's letters
and from witnesses police have a
good idea of what Zodiac is like even
though he remains at large. Given
what is known about…show more
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It is speculated that a violent
relationship with his mother may
have lead to his apparent hatred of
women. Zodiac's first victim was
Cherri Jo Bates. Although the murder
was not attributed to Zodiac until
1970, she was murdered one day
before Halloween in 1966. Like
Zodiac's other victims Cherri Jo was a
student. She lived with her father in
Riverside, California and attended
Riverside City College. She was a
petite blond with blue eyes, although
she was tan at the time of her death
she had a light complexion.
(Graysmith, 164) On the night of
October 30th, Cherri Jo had gone to
the school library to study.
Authorities estimate that Bates
arrived at the RCC library at about six
o'clock PM. While Cherri Jo was
studying the perpetrator removed the
distributor coil from her engine,
causing it to go dead. Police theorize
when Bates found her battery dead,
Zodiac offered her a ride. He drove
her approximately seventy - five
yards east at her car. He began
choking her but Bates fought back.
She scratched his face and was able
to rip his watch off, which was later
found by authorities. Between 10:15
an 10:30 PM a neighbor reported
hearing a scream. Autopsies revealed
that Bates had been kicked in the
head. She had also been stabbed
twice. She had cuts on her face and
her jugular had been