December 20th 1968 was like any other day for the residents of Benicia, gearing up for the Christmas festivities like every other year, but this time things would be different, very different, the quiet calm on borrowed time as a pair of headlights swept onto the secluded Lake Herman Road in the late evening hours. We were now just minutes away from a reign of terror that has haunted the Bay Area of Northern California for fast approaching fifty years and it remains as compelling a mystery as the Jack the Ripper case that gripped the area of Whitechapel over a century ago. The quiet areas of Benicia and Vallejo were about to receive the recognition that most towns could only wish for, but for all the wrong reasons. That reason being evil.
Two young high school students David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, out on a date, were parked up in a quiet, unlit and secluded turnout, somewhere close to the jurisdictional line between Benicia and Vallejo when an unknown assailant drew up alongside their Rambler at approximately 11.15 pm with murder on his mind.
Two young high school students David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, out on a date, were parked up in a quiet, unlit and secluded turnout, somewhere close to the jurisdictional line between Benicia and Vallejo when an unknown assailant drew up alongside their Rambler at approximately 11.15 pm with murder on his mind.
David Arthur Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16). Murdered at Lake Herman Road, Benicia, Northern California on December 20th 1968. This is where facts end and speculation begins, but it is believed the assailant pulled into the turnout alongside the couple's car, he then exited his car and fired off three warning shots to force the couple from their car via the passenger side. Betty Lou Jensen is thought to have exited the Rambler first, closely followed by David Faraday. Only seconds later the young man was felled by a single gunshot, just behind his left ear and collapsed on the gravel turnout. Betty Lou Jensen, clearly terrified, either fled or was ordered to run and made a desperate bid for freedom. She was just sixteen years of age and just five days away from Christmas, but her assailant was not about to afford any 'goodwill to all men' and callously executed her in a hail of bullets, striking her in the back five times. Christmas for many people was now over, but this, unbeknownst to the residents of the Bay Area at the time, was just the beginning.
Hundreds of people were interviewed, including high school students, family and friends of the victims, with police following various lines of inquiry such as jealousy or revenge, but nothing could have prepared them for what was about to come just four miles away.
Nearly seven months had elapsed and police could have been forgiven for believing this was an isolated event, but the fireworks were about to begin again, fireworks that would turn deadly. Only this time the killer had crossed into Vallejo.
The date was July 4th 1969 and the Independence Day celebrations were in full swing, a day the people of America could rejoice with family get-together's and such like, however for some families one man was determined to shatter those dreams forever and he was not in the mood to be forgotten.
Hundreds of people were interviewed, including high school students, family and friends of the victims, with police following various lines of inquiry such as jealousy or revenge, but nothing could have prepared them for what was about to come just four miles away.
Nearly seven months had elapsed and police could have been forgiven for believing this was an isolated event, but the fireworks were about to begin again, fireworks that would turn deadly. Only this time the killer had crossed into Vallejo.
The date was July 4th 1969 and the Independence Day celebrations were in full swing, a day the people of America could rejoice with family get-together's and such like, however for some families one man was determined to shatter those dreams forever and he was not in the mood to be forgotten.
Darlene Ferrin (22) and Michael Mageau (19) attacked at Blue Rock Springs Park, Vallejo, Northern California on July 4th 1969. Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau were parked up in the Blue Rock Springs parking lot fast approaching midnight on July 4th 1969, when a mystery car pulled up to the rear of their vehicle. It remained for a brief moment before pulling off, however a short time later it returned, but this time would be different. The couple were totally oblivious to the fact a ruthless killer was just yards away.
A man exited the vehicle and calmly approached the couple's car carrying a flashlight and 9 mm Luger and without uttering a word fired a volley of gunfire through the open passenger side window, striking the couple several times. He then retreated only to return, in what could only be described from his standpoint as a coup de grace, unleashing four more bullets into the defenseless couple, before driving away. Sadly Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon her arrival at hospital, but miraculously Michael Mageau was able to survive the merciless onslaught, despite receiving horrific injuries. The City of Vallejo and surrounding Bay Area were now just forty minutes away from the realization that the events of Lake Herman Road were about to be resurrected, the second coming had just arrived, but this time it was bearing a prophecy of death. The time was 12.40 am on July 5th 1969 when police dispatcher Nancy Slover took the call she was never to forget.
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".
The dawn of a serial killer had arrived, one that would cast fear into the local community and beyond, a beginning that had started at Lake Herman Road some seven months earlier, but this was to be no end.
The words psychopath and madman were banded about by police, and although this ruthless killer was devoid of compassion and empathy, he was to prove more complex than anyone could ever have imagined, when twenty seven days later, on July 31st 1969 three newspapers were to receive three letters, bearing cryptograms and details of both crimes, and the stark realization that indeed the Lake Herman Road double murder, the Blue Rock Springs Park attack and the sinister phone call were the work of one man, a man playing a dangerous game in the very real world of Northern California.
A man exited the vehicle and calmly approached the couple's car carrying a flashlight and 9 mm Luger and without uttering a word fired a volley of gunfire through the open passenger side window, striking the couple several times. He then retreated only to return, in what could only be described from his standpoint as a coup de grace, unleashing four more bullets into the defenseless couple, before driving away. Sadly Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon her arrival at hospital, but miraculously Michael Mageau was able to survive the merciless onslaught, despite receiving horrific injuries. The City of Vallejo and surrounding Bay Area were now just forty minutes away from the realization that the events of Lake Herman Road were about to be resurrected, the second coming had just arrived, but this time it was bearing a prophecy of death. The time was 12.40 am on July 5th 1969 when police dispatcher Nancy Slover took the call she was never to forget.
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".
The dawn of a serial killer had arrived, one that would cast fear into the local community and beyond, a beginning that had started at Lake Herman Road some seven months earlier, but this was to be no end.
The words psychopath and madman were banded about by police, and although this ruthless killer was devoid of compassion and empathy, he was to prove more complex than anyone could ever have imagined, when twenty seven days later, on July 31st 1969 three newspapers were to receive three letters, bearing cryptograms and details of both crimes, and the stark realization that indeed the Lake Herman Road double murder, the Blue Rock Springs Park attack and the sinister phone call were the work of one man, a man playing a dangerous game in the very real world of Northern California.
Bryan Calvin Hartnell (20) and Cecelia Ann Shepard (22) attacked at Lake Berryessa, Napa County on September 27th 1969. The sleepy tranquil shores of Lake Berryessa lie approximately fifty miles north of Blue Rock Springs in Napa County and it was on September 27th 1969, a little over two and a half months later that Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were enjoying a picnic along the picturesque scenery near Twin Oak Ridge, close to the dusk hours, when the darkness descended, enveloped in an executioners hood and tunic. This was the Zodiac Killer, his crosshair symbol emblazoned on his chest, however the couple were clearly unaware what this meant and it usually meant just one thing. Bryan Hartnell conversed with the man to form some sort of rapport, but the assailant undaunted forced Cecelia Shepard under gunpoint to tie up Bryan Hartnell with clothesline, before he eventually hogtied her. The couple thought this may have been a routine robbery, but when the assailant holstered his gun and drew out a long bladed knife, the terrible realization was just about to dawn. The couple suffered multiple stab wounds to their back and torso in what can only be described as a frenzied attack. The assailant then left.
Bryan Hartnell was able to free his bonds, crawl up the hill and seek help, with both victims being rushed to the Queen of the Valley Hospital. Cecelia Shepard unfortunately succumbed to her injuries two days later, but Bryan Hartnell survived and was able to recount his terrifying ordeal at the hands of a killer, who had now claimed four lives, a fact that the Zodiac Killer was not going to let us forget and one that would come sharply into focus when police approached the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia. Written on the car door underneath the infamous crossed circle were the dates of his now three attacks thus far, chillingly signing off with the words 'by knife'.
But there was to be no respite.
Bryan Hartnell was able to free his bonds, crawl up the hill and seek help, with both victims being rushed to the Queen of the Valley Hospital. Cecelia Shepard unfortunately succumbed to her injuries two days later, but Bryan Hartnell survived and was able to recount his terrifying ordeal at the hands of a killer, who had now claimed four lives, a fact that the Zodiac Killer was not going to let us forget and one that would come sharply into focus when police approached the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia. Written on the car door underneath the infamous crossed circle were the dates of his now three attacks thus far, chillingly signing off with the words 'by knife'.
But there was to be no respite.
Paul Stine (29) murdered at Presidio Heights, San Francisco on October 11th 1969. Two weeks later the hand of death would be raised in the theater district of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco, when a lone male flagged down unsuspecting taxicab driver Paul Stine. The unfortunate hand of fate would deal a crushing blow just thirteen minutes later, that would leave Paul Stine dead from a single gunshot wound to the right side of his head, callously executed at the corner of the Washington and Cherry Street intersection in the wealthy district of Presidio Heights. The Zodiac Killer had now dealt his reign of death across the Bay Area into the streets of San Francisco, but this time he would leave with a grisly souvenir. The murder was first considered to be a routine taxicab robbery, but this preconception was to be emphatically torn apart when two days later a letter landed at the doorstep of the San Francisco Chronicle from the Zodiac Killer, leaving the police in no doubt that the killer of four young people across the bay had claimed his fifth victim. The murderer had included a piece of Paul Stine's blooded shirt, but there was more, a lot more. The last paragraph sent chills through even the most hardened of detectives, 'School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out'.
San Francisco would be placed on high alert.
To be continued......
San Francisco would be placed on high alert.
To be continued......
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