Cold Cases · Spotify Studios

The Zodiac Killer Pt. 2

·42 min·2 clips

The Zodiac threatened to attack a school bus and instructed readers to shoot out its front tire.

1. Serial Killers: The Zodiac Killer Pt. 2 follows the Zodiac Killer's attacks, letters, and investigation after the first two confirmed incidents. 2. Greg Polson hosts with Vanessa Richardson, who provides researched psychological context while stating that she is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist. 3. The episode asks whether publicity, rather than murder alone, was the Zodiac's central objective and whether letters could replace physical attacks. 4. On July 31, 1969, the Zodiac sent letters and a coded message to three Bay Area newspapers after claiming three murders. 5. A couple from Salinas cracked the first 408-character cipher slightly more than a week later and revealed a message about the killer's enjoyment of murder. 6. Robert Fuller’s distinction between “somebodies” and “nobodies” is used to explain how infamy might have offered the Zodiac social power. 7. Charles Manson and his family displaced the Zodiac in news coverage on August 8, 1969, after five people including Sharon Tate were murdered. 8. On September 27, 1969, the hooded Zodiac approached 20-year-old Brian Hartnell and 22-year-old Cecilia Shepard at Lake Berryessa. 9. The Zodiac tied the couple, stabbed Brian six times, stabbed Cecilia ten times, and left without taking their money. 10. Park ranger Dennis Land reached Brian after a boat passenger went for help, while Cecilia died in the hospital on September 29, 1969. 11. A caller reported a double murder from a public phone booth, echoing the Zodiac's earlier use of communications to claim attacks. 12. A message on Brian Hartnell's Volkswagen listed the dates of three attacks and added “6.30” and “by knife.” 13. Dr. Naftali G. Beryl connects stabbing or other bodily contact with possible rage or personal connection more strongly than shooting. 14. Investigators matched a footprint to Wingwalker boots before learning that more than one million pairs were available through Army surplus stores. 15. On October 11, 1969, Paul Stein, a 29-year-old Ph.D. student and cab driver, was shot in San Francisco's Presidio Heights. 16. The Zodiac sent the San Francisco Chronicle a piece of Stein's shirt and threatened to shoot children leaving a school bus. 17. Officers Falk and Zelms passed a white man near the crime scene after a dispatcher incorrectly reported a Black suspect, creating a lasting timeline dispute. 18. A caller claiming to be the Zodiac contacted a program involving Melvin Belli, but Michael Maggio and Brian Hartnell rejected the caller's voice as authentic. 19. The format combines narrated crime reconstruction, Greg Polson's transitions, Vanessa Richardson's psychology commentary, and promotional interruptions. 20. True-crime listeners seeking unresolved investigations, coded letters, and police-case chronology may prefer this episode.

As heard by us

A careful look at the Zodiac's violence, symbolism, and search for recognition.

The episode gives a clean, scene-by-scene account of the Lake Berryessa attack and the police work that followed. It handles Brian Hartnell's account, the hooded attacker, and the message left on the Volkswagen with calm control, then folds those details into the Zodiac's push…

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Why you'd press play

If you want the Lake Berryessa attack told like a police file, press play.

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