The Lake Herman Road double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968 were committed by more than one person, and quite possibly by somebody that they knew. These are some of the claims that have circulated the internet for many years - but what is the truth? The fact of the matter, is that nobody knows, because there are no living eyewitnesses to the crime. What transpired in the hours and days after the murders have shaped our understanding regarding the mechanics of the crime, in which a picture was painted of a Zodiac Killer who pulled into the turnout alongside the courting couple, immediately exited his vehicle and fired warning shots at the Rambler in order to force the young couple from the vehicle. Both David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen exited through the passenger side door and were summarily murdered by a callous and brutal murderer. David Faraday was executed at near point blank range behind his left ear (evident by the powder burns detailed at autopsy), while Betty Lou Jensen was gunned down as she fled westwards across the turnout, eventually collapsing to her knees approximately 33 feet from the rear bumper of the Rambler, before falling backwards. The position of the bodies and ballistics evidence suggests this to be the truth, however, there is nothing to corroborate the notion the couple were ever forced from the vehicle at all. In an interview shortly after the murders, this hypothesis was ruminated upon by Detective Sergeant Les Lunblad and has pretty much stuck for fifty years, despite the fact it is equally possible they could have been attacked while returning to their vehicle. The shots to the rear window and headliner of the Rambler do not tell us whether both victims were in the station wagon during the initial attack. David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen could have been arriving back to their vehicle, and as David courteously opened the passenger side door for Betty, the attack began. The two shots may have been fired at the couple in the turnout but missed their intended target, or fired into the Rambler to show the assailant/s meant business.
If we take the literal statement of James Owen to be the truth, that "He definitely saw two cars, a station wagon and another vehicle, parked approximately three or four feet to the right of the station wagon. He did not see anyone in the cars or around them. He stated as he traveled approximately one quarter of a mile beyond, he thought he heard a shot", then we have to conclude that the occupants of both vehicles were somewhere other than in or around the vehicles. Either concealed in the darkness on the west side of the turnout, or not in the turnout at all.
This is backed up by James Owen's approach to the turnout, in which he saw no vehicle (headlights or taillights) entering the turnout from either the east or west side. See here. Therefore, the vehicle sitting alongside the Faraday Rambler when he passed the turnout had been sitting there for at least 30 seconds without any attack beginning. If James Owen did actually hear a shot 30 seconds after he passed the turnout, this would indicate that the assailant/s in the unknown vehicle didn't begin the attack for at least one minute after arriving at the turnout. This length of time could be even longer if the rogue vehicle arrived shortly after the two raccoon hunters, Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser, had departed the scene. The two vehicles could have been sitting alongside each other for several minutes (possibly unoccupied) before anything transpired. If a strange vehicle pulled into the turnout alongside David Faraday, with headlights on and engine running, why would David Faraday have resolutely sat there for one minute without pulling away, let alone several minutes. Unless of course, he knew the occupants of the second vehicle.
On page 53 of the police report it states "Responding officer talked to Debbie Faraday, WFJ 16 years, sister of David. She relates the following David told her on the afternoon of Friday 12/20/68 that he was going out to Lake Herman Road that night because a bunch of the kids were going out there that night." Was David initially comfortable or unconcerned by the arrival of the vehicle that James Owen observed? Were the couple even in the turnout at this juncture?
This is backed up by James Owen's approach to the turnout, in which he saw no vehicle (headlights or taillights) entering the turnout from either the east or west side. See here. Therefore, the vehicle sitting alongside the Faraday Rambler when he passed the turnout had been sitting there for at least 30 seconds without any attack beginning. If James Owen did actually hear a shot 30 seconds after he passed the turnout, this would indicate that the assailant/s in the unknown vehicle didn't begin the attack for at least one minute after arriving at the turnout. This length of time could be even longer if the rogue vehicle arrived shortly after the two raccoon hunters, Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser, had departed the scene. The two vehicles could have been sitting alongside each other for several minutes (possibly unoccupied) before anything transpired. If a strange vehicle pulled into the turnout alongside David Faraday, with headlights on and engine running, why would David Faraday have resolutely sat there for one minute without pulling away, let alone several minutes. Unless of course, he knew the occupants of the second vehicle.
On page 53 of the police report it states "Responding officer talked to Debbie Faraday, WFJ 16 years, sister of David. She relates the following David told her on the afternoon of Friday 12/20/68 that he was going out to Lake Herman Road that night because a bunch of the kids were going out there that night." Was David initially comfortable or unconcerned by the arrival of the vehicle that James Owen observed? Were the couple even in the turnout at this juncture?
The Zodiac Killer kept his victims at arm's length in his three other confirmed attacks. At Blue Rock Springs he fired immediately upon arriving at the brown Corvair while Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin were effectively trapped in the confines of their vehicle. At Lake Berryessa he kept his distance, handing the bindings to Cecelia Shepard to secure the most likely threat, Bryan Hartnell. At Presidio Heights it was a callous execution, blindsiding Paul Stine with a deadly shot to the right side of his head. Yet, at Lake Herman Road, the 'lone killer' did something completely different.
In his August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter he described his targeting mechanism for killing in the dark: "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". Forming a circle of light 3 to 6 inches across, is suggestive of a killer who wanted to accurately target his victims in the dark turnout at distance, not suggestive of a killer who was going to negate the purpose of the flashlight targeting system, by approaching David Faraday and shooting him in the left side of his head from mere inches away. The caution he displayed in all his other three crimes, not only abandoned here, but totally disregarded, and completely at odds with the apparent preparation of his weapon for sighting purposes. He could easily have shot David Faraday from the front the moment he stepped from the Rambler, keeping a reasonable distance from him. Apparently, his targeting system seemed to work on Betty Lou Jensen, a moving target, as she fled across the darkened turnout, but in the case of a relatively static target in David Faraday, it required him to approach within touching distance to fire off one shot to the left side of David Faraday's head. It has been considered that possibly David Faraday fought with the assailant, but is it likely this would have transpired with a gun and flashlight focused on him at distance when he exited the passenger side door, and charged with a responsibility to safeguarding Betty Lou Jensen at just 17 years of age? There was never any need for the Zodiac Killer to ever get close to David Faraday. There was never any need to allow them to exit the vehicle in the first place, as he successfully demonstrated at Blue Rock Springs Park.
In his August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter he described his targeting mechanism for killing in the dark: "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". Forming a circle of light 3 to 6 inches across, is suggestive of a killer who wanted to accurately target his victims in the dark turnout at distance, not suggestive of a killer who was going to negate the purpose of the flashlight targeting system, by approaching David Faraday and shooting him in the left side of his head from mere inches away. The caution he displayed in all his other three crimes, not only abandoned here, but totally disregarded, and completely at odds with the apparent preparation of his weapon for sighting purposes. He could easily have shot David Faraday from the front the moment he stepped from the Rambler, keeping a reasonable distance from him. Apparently, his targeting system seemed to work on Betty Lou Jensen, a moving target, as she fled across the darkened turnout, but in the case of a relatively static target in David Faraday, it required him to approach within touching distance to fire off one shot to the left side of David Faraday's head. It has been considered that possibly David Faraday fought with the assailant, but is it likely this would have transpired with a gun and flashlight focused on him at distance when he exited the passenger side door, and charged with a responsibility to safeguarding Betty Lou Jensen at just 17 years of age? There was never any need for the Zodiac Killer to ever get close to David Faraday. There was never any need to allow them to exit the vehicle in the first place, as he successfully demonstrated at Blue Rock Springs Park.
The disproportionality of the injuries inflicted to David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, unlike the following two attacks, may indicate that David Faraday was secured by a second shooter, either from the front or rear. A shot fired from a gun pressed to his left ear from this position could feasibly eject a cartridge casing into the open door of the Rambler, either directly, or via the framework of the door. The cartridge casing found on the floorboard of the passenger side was likely the casing not tested at the Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Remaining in the Rambler, it likely got separated from the other 9 casings. See here.
The Department of Justice report stated that the submitted items corresponded with the use of a J C Higgins 80 pistol, "although it must not be assumed that the exhibits must have been fired in such a weapon." However, it does state a crucial piece of information, that the bullet fired into David Faraday did not contain the same class characteristics as the other seven submitted bullets. What it actually said was 'All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle bullets, although some were damaged, it was possible to determine ALL but Item [1] had 6 right hand groove class characteristics.' Item [1] was the bullet recovered from David Faraday. This means that the bullet recovered from David Faraday at autopsy and the casing untested at the Department of Justice could have been fired from a second weapon and second shooter, possibly securing David Faraday by the right rear wheel of the Rambler. This would have been the person arriving from the distant (passenger) side of the second vehicle, and not responsible for the shots into the Rambler, the securing of Betty Lou Jensen (who exited the Rambler first) and the five shots that peppered the right side of her back when she ran across the turnout. In other words, the accomplice had no sighting implement on his gun and was wholly responsible for securing David Faraday as he left the Rambler after Betty Lou Jensen. With Betty Lou Jensen secured first, David Faraday would have had little option but to comply.
The Department of Justice report stated that the submitted items corresponded with the use of a J C Higgins 80 pistol, "although it must not be assumed that the exhibits must have been fired in such a weapon." However, it does state a crucial piece of information, that the bullet fired into David Faraday did not contain the same class characteristics as the other seven submitted bullets. What it actually said was 'All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle bullets, although some were damaged, it was possible to determine ALL but Item [1] had 6 right hand groove class characteristics.' Item [1] was the bullet recovered from David Faraday. This means that the bullet recovered from David Faraday at autopsy and the casing untested at the Department of Justice could have been fired from a second weapon and second shooter, possibly securing David Faraday by the right rear wheel of the Rambler. This would have been the person arriving from the distant (passenger) side of the second vehicle, and not responsible for the shots into the Rambler, the securing of Betty Lou Jensen (who exited the Rambler first) and the five shots that peppered the right side of her back when she ran across the turnout. In other words, the accomplice had no sighting implement on his gun and was wholly responsible for securing David Faraday as he left the Rambler after Betty Lou Jensen. With Betty Lou Jensen secured first, David Faraday would have had little option but to comply.
This appears to have been confirmed by the killer, who incorrectly stated in the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter "All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". What the author of the letter should have said, was "All I had to do was spray her as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". He may have been writing the letter from his perspective, not the perspective of his accomplice. This order of events is perfectly feasible, and can be backed up by the wording contained in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter and by the ballistics evidence (or more accurately, the lack of ballistics evidence). Other than timing of the shots into the Rambler, the premise of two shooters in the Lake Herman Road murders is still applicable. The great big thorn in the pattern, or order of events, is the testimony of James Owen, which suggests that David Faraday hadn't left the turnout for upwards of one minute after the second vehicle arrived, and the assailant or assailants didn't begin the attack in the same timeframe. In fact, James Owen "did not see anyone in the cars or around them." David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen had limited time to walk any significant distance after being spotted by Peggy and Homer Your at approximately 11:00 pm. If they had left their vehicle (or turnout on foot) with the occupant/s of the second vehicle, would this be more likely with people they knew, or the Zodiac Killer, who subsequently never physically extricated the victims from their initial position?
Even if two people were responsible for the murders on December 20th 1968, this doesn't imply there were two killers throughout the four canonical attacks. They may, or may not have continued after this attack. They could have teamed up for the Blue Rock Springs attack, when an unknown vehicle parked alongside Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin minutes before eventual shooting began. They could have individually been responsible for the Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights attacks, in an attempt to create the most daring attack of all, and hence the seemingly conflicting descriptions given. On the other hand, it may simply have been one individual, and we are looking for something that never was.
Even if two people were responsible for the murders on December 20th 1968, this doesn't imply there were two killers throughout the four canonical attacks. They may, or may not have continued after this attack. They could have teamed up for the Blue Rock Springs attack, when an unknown vehicle parked alongside Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin minutes before eventual shooting began. They could have individually been responsible for the Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights attacks, in an attempt to create the most daring attack of all, and hence the seemingly conflicting descriptions given. On the other hand, it may simply have been one individual, and we are looking for something that never was.
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