The Zodiac is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five people in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969. The Zodiac attacked three couples and a cab driver in Benicia, Vallejo, unincorporated Napa County, and the city of San Francisco. Despite several theories about the Zodiac's true identity, the case remains one of the most famous unsolved cases in American history.
After so many decades, Bay Area residents would surely welcome closure in this killing spree that terrified the region. In April, Deborah Perez certainly grabbed headlines when she claimed that she was the Zodiac killer's daughter.
Now a Southern California resident, 47-year-old Perez claimed the killer was her late father Guy Hendrickson, who died in 1983. Unfortunately, going directly to the source on this claim won't be possible, considering that Guy Ward Hendrickson died in 1983.
Here's what is known about the Zodiac's victims:
The Claims and the Evidence
A California woman claimed that her father, one Guy Ward Hendrickson, was the Zodiac killer, reports the San Francisco Examiner. Perez, who is involved in an ongoing documentary about the crime spree, says she started researching the Zodiac killer in 2007 after she saw a composite suspect sketch that looked like her father.
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Also, up front, it should be noted that Perez is currently taking part in a documentary about the killings, so perhaps a big grain of salt is called for here. However, Perez did go so far as to say she was at the scene of one of the Zodiac killings and wrote some of the notes that the infamous killer sent to police and media. She explained, "I was a child and just thought I was helping my dad." Perhaps keeping quiet about it for decades might also have turned out to be pretty helpful to her dad?
Well, she explains she didn't even know about the Zodiac killer "until she saw a composite drawing on America's Most Wanted several years ago and, after looking at letters online, determined it was her father. Hendrickson had confessed to his daughter that he had killed people, but never said he was the Zodiac Killer". It all makes sense now right? She kept quiet because she thought they were just regular, uh, non-Zodiac killings ...
At any rate, Perez does claim to have some arguably hard evidence, specifically "[t]he glasses worn by slain San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine, which she said her father took from the crime scene, [and] are still in her possession".
Perez claimed Wednesday she was with her father when he allegedly killed Darlene Ferrin, 22, at Blue Rock Springs Golf Course. She also said that as a young child she accompanied her father on at least two of the incidents, unaware of exactly what he was doing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, and heard gunshots as she sat in the family car nearby.
"He told me he was sick, and all I wanted to do was help my dad," Perez said. "He kept telling me he was sick and he killed many, many people. I had no idea."
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Here is a list of letters sent by the Zodiac to newspapers, police, Chronicle writer Paul Avery, and attorney Melvin Belli from 1969 to 1974:
- July 31st 1969: San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Vallejo Times. One-third of "Z408 cryptogram" enclosed with each letter.
- August 4th 1969: Examiner.
- October 13th 1969: Chronicle. Swatch of Paul Stine's shirt.
- November 8th 1969: Chronicle. "Z340 cryptogram." The "Dripping Pen" card.
- November 9th 1969: Chronicle. Bomb diagram.
- December 20th 1969: Melvin Belli. Swatch of Stine's shirt.
- April 20th 1970: Chronicle.
- April 28th 1970: Chronicle. Greeting card.
- June 26th 1970: Chronicle.
- July 24th 1970: Chronicle.
- July 26th 1970: Chronicle.
- October 5th 1970: Chronicle. Thirteen-hole punch card.
- October 27th 1970: Paul Avery at Chronicle. Halloween card.
- March 13th 1971: Los Angeles Times.
- January 29th 1974: Chronicle.
Skepticism and Doubts
Needless to say, plenty of skeptics abound, particularly considering the regularity with which new claims regarding the Zodiac killer's identity arise in the Bay Area. Her stepsister says it's untrue and that their father went through periods of mental illness and was sometimes violent, but could never have killed anyone.
The N.Y. Times noted that police, for their part, simply said, "We'll listen," per police spokeswoman Sgt. S.F. Now the task of proving any connection will be up to San Francisco homicide investigators when they begin interviews on Wednesday. Police believe the Zodiac killer murdered at least five people, possibly as many as 36, during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Robert Graysmith, the author of “Zodiac,” on which the 2007 movie with Robert Downey Jr. was based, said Mike Mageau was tracked down by producer Brad Fisher. “Some of the best detectives in the world, in Vallejo and in San Francisco, worked this case for decades and I have seen their 1,200 suspects, many in person, over 25 years,” Graysmith said.
“Unless there are things she knew that were never reported that only Zodiac would know that would lead me to think this was actually the person,” Bidou said. “I”m from the old school.
Read also: Criminal Minds: Unmasking the Zodiac Killer's Legacy.
Also, added Voight, “Perez claimed to be the cousin of Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin”s ex-husband, Jim Crabtree, and that is how Perez”s father, the Zodiac, knew Darlene and targeted her. Apparently, Perez was under the impression Crabtree was deceased or somehow unable to be found and asked about his alleged cousin.
Were the Zodiac and Black Dahlia Crimes Committed By The Same Killer?
Crabtree said Wednesday afternoon that until he was approached by Voight, “I had never heard of Debra Perez. Bawart said an El Dorado man claimed six months ago to be the stepson of the Zodiac.
“He claimed he took apart a radio and inside the radio was the Zodiac”s hood,” Bawart said. “All of this has been quite disturbing for me and my family,” he said.
I personally don’t believe her. You can clearly see she that she is trying to repress her smiles, but she is unsuccessful. In the first 35 seconds, before Deborah says anything, she cracks a grin. If anything, one who comes to this conclusion would feel shame, embarrassment, pain, agony, disbelief and perhaps, most logically, they would want to escape it-not garner the world’s attention.
When Deborah says “There are unique facts about those letters that are not publicly known,” you might think she is struggling here because she is truly distraught, but there are hints that she is about to break into a smile, actually. It’s almost comical. She also has some incredible memories for a seven-year old little girl that I find unbelievable.
She says, “I was just a child. I thought I was helping my dad. I didn’t know.” Yet she claims to remember people screaming and seeing blood on her dad, yet he dismissed it as motor oil, and she believed him, but now she knows better?
If she believed she heard shots as she said, but her dad explained them away as firecrackers, most seven year old children would trust and believe dad, and never give it a second thought. And most adults, 40 years later don’t add up the pieces about something that happened when they were seven and suddenly realize those firecrackers were gunshots.
