Approach: Many investigators and researchers, especially in law enforcement, take a minimal view of the Zodiac crimes. This view assumes a single white male perpetrator, fewer than 10 victims killed, and a span of less than 10 years. Bizarre behaviors, such as wearing a costume, are only accepted with strong proof. In contrast, this website describes the crimes as committed by multiple individuals, with a high body count, and spanning at least 1962-1999. The crimes are considered to be theatrical and sometimes unusually complex.

Summary of the Sandy Betts Story:

• A small group of people began harassing and attacking Betts in the 1960's.
• Betts initially could not recognize or differentiate the people involved.
• The individuals indicated that they were responsible for the Zodiac crimes, and Betts eventually came to believe this.
• Eventually Betts' statements to friends, researchers, and law enforcement caused Zodiac to switch from attacks on her to attacks on her friends and acquaintances.
• As the years progressed, law enforcement gave less and less support to Betts.
• The main culprits were three men, but they had help from both criminal and naive associates.
• Two of the three main men had Latin American ancestry, though some witnesses may have classified all of these men as Caucasian, especially when these men were younger.
• Betts has the identity of one of the main perpetrators as well as some identities of associates.

The Zodiac Perpetrators: According to Sandy Betts, the main people behind the crimes are:

• Tony: Known only by his first name, he worked in construction and had many distinguishing features:
  • A "lazy" and enlarged right eye.
  • Paralysis around his mouth.
  • Scars on his chin and jaws.
  • A white streak in his hair above his left eye (poliosis).
  This man probably has European, Latin American, and Native American ancestry. Sandy Betts believes that this man was the main killer.  She has not seen him since 2019.
• RH: This man is fully identified and does have the initials RH, as in the Bates desktop poem. As Robert Graysmith speculated, this is a person who worked in printing most of his working life. He has blue eyes, but at least some Latin American ancestry. He still lives in the SF Bay Area.
• "Imitator", Fake RH: Sandy has rarely seen this man, but he made an effort to imitate RH.

Tony, circa 1990

CGI of about 1990

A hypothetical associate, with Zodiac like convictions and connections to the family of a Zodiac victim, also has the initials RH. (Sometimes this man is identified as RH2.) As Sandy Betts does not believe that this man ever harassed or attacked her, he may not have any intentional involvement. It may have been that Zodiac tried to frame RH2 by killing a member of a family he knew.

For a description in Sandy Betts's own words, see summary.

Links to Sandy Betts Materials:Here are samples of material from Betts.

• Tapatalk Sandy Betts thread
• Hunting the Zodiac documentary.
• The Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith, page 315.

Zodiac Goals: The perpetrators probably desired the following.

• Create a criminal legend, similar to that of Jack the Ripper.
• Terrorize or at least scare people in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Feel a strong degree of criminal power.
• Disgrace law enforcement.
• Commit complex crimes, often inspired by crime and horror dramas.

Zodiac Themes: Over the years, many themes have been ascribed to the Zodiac crimes. This website emphasizes:

• The framing of different people, including the man who became the source for the "Zodiac" alias.
• An emphasis in the first two decades on acting out dramas, especially by Hitchcock.

Evaluating the Likelihood of Zodiac Responsibility for Attacks: The attacks were numerous and Zodiac intentionally used different MO's. Still, the following are common to most Zodiac killings:

• Bodies left in plain sight or where they were likely to be found.
• Females not usually raped, but sometimes their bodies were left fully or partially undressed.

• Killing individual women after stalking and harassing them.
• Killing couples, the Zodiac signature in the public mind.
• Women who worked with the public, such as waitresses.
• Opportunistic kills, such as hitchhikers and street sex workers.
• Disabling the vehicles of victims.
• Hitting pedestrians with a vehicle and then offering "help."
• Abducting victims by car.
• Driving victims' vehicles off the road.
• Some victims were probably killed in their homes.
• Zodiac apparently tortured some victims.
• Methods of killing include shooting, stabbing, bludgeoning to stun and then stabbing, poisoning with strychnine or arsenic, and strangling with a ligature.
• Bodies probably burned in a few cases.
• Races of likely and confirmed victims are Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic.
• The killer or associate left or sent messages.
• The crimes referenced dramas, especially crime and horror.
• Clothes and jewelry taken as trophies.
• Sometimes trophies or other items related to crimes left.
• Zodiac members used disguises, as claimed.

People Possibly Framed: Online, there have been many scenarios in which Zodiac appeared to frame people. Not all of the following may be correct; there is no simple way to determine if Zodiac engineered law enforcement interest in a suspect. It is also possible that the core Zodiac members manipulated people like Arthur Leigh Allen and Larry Kane to become suspects. A common view is that Allen wanted to be treated as a Zodiac suspect. Still, the persecution of an innocent man was important in Hitchcock dramas, and it seems that Zodiac did frame people intentionally.

Individual	Possible Clues Planted by Zodiac
Michael Lee Zlaket	MLZ logo in the Cheri Jo Bates case, fake Patricia Hautz letter, use of Zodiac alias.
Larry Kane	Abduction of Donna Lass, Citizen [Kane] movie reference, Herb Caen
Arthur Leigh Allen	Tit willow (Mikado) quotation in the January 1974.
Fred Manalli	Incriminating drawings found after death.
Walter Williams AKA Willy the Woodcutter	Items tied to Williams found with body.

The framing of Zlaket is the best documented. Repeatedly investigations have cleared him of any intentional involvement in the Zodiac crimes.

Both Zlaket and Kane resemble the man who Sandy Betts believes to be the primary Zodiac killer. Betts actually thought that a black and white photo of Kane showed the primary man harassing and attacking her. Zlaket even had a right lazy eye when young.

Around the time of the 1969 Lake Barryessa attacks, Sandy Betts' family had harassment from the Zodiac. She considers it possible that Zodiac's intent was to implicate her husband in killings.

Drama Inspirations: Zodiac both referenced and acted out dramas, especially those by Hitchcock. Although films have been openly referenced in Zodiac's letters, not much attention has been paid to the significance. The following are possible drama references intended by Zodiac. Perhaps Zodiac did not mean for all of the following to be film and director references, but most probably were intended. The productions are by Hitchcock, unless otherwise noted.

Zodiac Element	Drama reference
Victim name Cheri "Jo" Bates (1966)	Characters in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Psycho (1960)
Debut of Zodiac letter: Episode... gun explanation (August 1969)	Hitchcock Presents Episode: Museum Piece (1960)
Z340 cipher (1960) solution: "...gas chamber..."	The Trouble with Harry (1955)
Reflector in the Bus Bomb Letter (November 1969)	Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell)
My Name Is Letter (April 1970)	Z13 Solution: AHITCHCOCKIA[ON]
Halloween card (October 1970): Rope	Rope (1948)
A Citizen Card (May 1974) "In light of recent events..."	Echoes dialog in Rope (1948)
Stamps of three of the Mt. Rushmore presidents, "Rush"	North by North-West (1959)
Statue of Liberty Stamps	Saboteur (1942)
Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders	The director's nickname was "Hitch."

The most commonly accepted Zodiac messages are on ZODIACKILLER.com. (Many communications likely to be authentic are not on this page, however.) The stamps on Zodiac mailed messages are detailed here.

No confirmed or suspected Zodiac attacks seem to have occurred at Hitchcock story locations, but general areas of filming in California have had Zodiac killings.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)	Santa Rosa
Vertigo (1958)	San Francisco, Mission San Juan Bautista in San Benito County

Interestingly, the male lead in Saboteur is chased as a likely suspect in a fire at a military factory. The character's first name is Kane.

The Wikipedia definition of Hitchcockian is of interest.

Other:

• A difficult claim to consider is that the Zodiac killed JonBenet Ramsey. The film references in the "ransom note," as well as Sandy Betts' initials at the end of it, do strongly support this. Zodiac inspired the fictional film Dirty Harry, one of the films referenced. Betts believes that Zodiac taunted her by using S.B.T.C.
• A simple approach to the Z32 cipher is to assume that it was meant to be solved, at least partially: DIOABLOUSEMAGNORTH...CWI [clockwise]
• It is possible that Zodiac may yet release a "documentary." If it gives a long and accurate list of victims, it will certainly disgrace law enforcement.

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