R.J. Parker - The Serial Killer Compendium

On May 5, 1990, Leonard Christopher was apprehended and convicted in the murder of one of the nine murders, but the others remain unsolved. As Christopher was awaiting trial, another murder took place and police verified that the killings were not connected to Christopher, as the MO was not the same. Christopher did not even match the description that witnesses gave.

Were there two serial killers working in the same region during this five-year span? Public opinion differs. Some think that Christopher did all the killings; more think the killer has not been caught; some believe he died; and others think he is in jail for another crime. Will the residents of Frankfort ever know? Will there ever be closure for the families of the victims?

The Servant Girl Killer

Austin, Texas (8 + Victims)

In Austin, Texas in 1884 and 1885, a serial killer preyed upon citizens, raping and killing women. On December 26, 1885, the New York Times reported that the "murders were committed by some cunning madman, who is insane on the subject of killing women."

On December 31, 1884, a killer entered a little cabin and killed a servant girl, Mollie Smith, twenty-five, and seriously injured a man named Walter Spencer. Each time he killed, he would use a different weapon. He used a knife to stab eleven-year-old Mary Ramey in the ears. Other times he used an iron rod, and even a brick. Many of his victims were raped before being killed, and the people of Austin were fearful of this maniac.

The people suspected the killer had an affinity for negro serving girls, but on December 24, 1885, he struck twice, both times killing a white woman in the same brutal manner as previous. The killings, however, stopped after that night.

In total, he killed one man and seven women, and assaulted another eight victims who managed to survive. Some believe the Servant Girl Killer went on to become Jack the Ripper; we will never know. The period, however, was right, as was the atrocious nature of the killings. The Ripper, though, never raped his victims, as the Servant Girl Killer did.

The Zodiac Killer

San Francisco, California (39+ Victims)

The identity of the Zodiac killer is unknown and probably will always be, but FBI has not stopped looking, and updates are made to the file regularly. In the 1960s and 1970s, the serial killer operated in the North of California. Normally, the media or police dub a serial killer. This arrogant killer, however, made up his own, calling himself Zodiac in a series of letters he sent to the media.

The Zodiac claims, by way of letters, to have killed thirty-seven people. Authorities only know of seven confirmed victims. It all started on December 20, 1968, when David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were on their first date together, and planned to go to a Christmas concert, but first drove out to Lake Herman Road, which was a “lover’s lane.” About a half hour later, their bodies were discovered, and the Sheriff’s office was notified. Both had been shot dead.

Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau went for a drive on July 4, 1969 and parked just four miles from the first murder site. Another car drove up and immediately drove away. Ten minutes later, the car returned and parked behind them. The killer shot both of them with a 9mm Luger, firing seven shots. Darlene Ferrin, although shot in the chest, neck, and face, survived, and was able to give details to the police. The Vallejo Police received a call from a man the next day reporting himself to be the killer, claiming he killed the couple back in December. The police traced the call to a phone booth, but no evidence was left, and police had no suspect.

The Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner, each received a letter on August 1, 1969, supposedly from the killer, taking credit for the murders. The catch was that each newspaper only received 1/3 each of the 408 symbol cryptic letter that the killer claimed would identify him. He demanded the letters be printed on the front pages of their papers or he would kill a dozen people over the weekend. This turned out to be a bluff as the Chief of Police Jack Stiltz said in the Chronicle “We’re not satisfied that he letter was written by the murderer.” The Chronicle, however, did publish their part on page four, but no murder took place over the weekend. The other newspapers also published their pieces, but not on the front page, and not the next day.

The cryptic code was cracked by civilians, Bettye and Donald Harden, of Salinas, California, on August 8, 1969. What it contained was not the identity of the killer, as the killer had claimed, but a message claiming the killer to be collecting slaves for the afterlife.

Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were college students at Pacific Union and on September 27, 1969, they were having a picnic at Lake Berryessa when a man approached them wearing a hoodie and sunglasses. On his chest hung a 3”x3” circular cross-like symbol. He had a gun but never used it. Instead, he tied both of them up and stabbed them. He proceeded to draw a circular cross symbol on Bryan’s car with a pen, and then wrote beneath it, "Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27-69-6:30/by knife." The killer then made a call to the Sheriff’s office from a payphone to report the crime. The police got a wet print off the phone, but it did not match any criminal in their system.

Cecelia Shepard went into a coma and passed away two days later. Bryan Hartnell, however, survived, and gave a good recount to the police and media about what happened, and what the perp looked like.

It’s interesting to make a note that Detective Ken Narlow of the Napa County Sheriff’s office was assigned to the investigation at the start, and continued working the case until his retirement in 1987, and even then, investigated on his own until he passed away at eighty years old on December 2 nd, 2010. Talk about dedication.

In San Francisco on October 11, 1969, a cab driver by the name of Paul Stine stopped for a passenger when he was instantly shot in the head with a 9mm gun, Three teenagers witnessed the killer take the cabbie’s money, tear of a piece off the driver’s shirt, and wipe down the cab. They each gave a description of the killer and more composite sketches were drawn up. Over the years following, detectives investigated over 2500 suspects under the tutelage of Detectives Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong. The killings were all happening in Northern California; thus each county would have to investigate the murders in their own backyards.

The Zodiac killer prepared another letter and just three days later on October 14, the Chronicle received it along with a swatch of the cab driver’s shirttail to prove he was the killer. In addition, the Zodiac Killer threatened to kill school children on a bus and wrote, “just shoot out the front tire & then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."

On June 19, 1970, Police Sgt. Richard Radetich was shot in the head with a .38 caliber handgun while sitting in his patrol car, writing a parking ticket. In another letter to a newspaper, the killer said, “I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38.” The killer continued writing to the media with letters and greeting cards taunting the police and public.

Donna Lass worked as a Nurse at the Sierra Tahoe Casino. On September 6 , 1970, she finished her shift at 2am and was never seen again. In one of his notorious letters to the media, on March 22, 1971, the Zodiac took credit for killing Donna Lass and hiding her body. Things were quiet for about three years, until January 29, 1974, when the Zodiac once again sent a letter to the Chronicle praising the movie, “The Exorcist,” as the best comedy that he had ever seen.