The new Netflix documentary This is The Zodiac Speaking examines the history behind the Zodiac Killer, one of the most infamous serial killers in US history. The Zodiac Killer is suspected of over twenty deaths, with the killer himself claiming 37 at one point. Police, however, could only ever tie 5 confirmed deaths to the serial killer, with two people managing to escape him.
Part of what made the Zodiac Killer such a notorious name was that he craved attention and took pleasure in taunting law enforcement. For years, the killer sent notes with messages to reporters in code or ciphers promising more violence. The letters included a cross inside a circle as his signature. That very same logo was also found scrawled on one victim’s car.
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Netflix’s new true crime documentary, This Is the Zodiac Speaking focuses on the Seawater family and their quest to uncover the truth behind their association with Arthur Leigh Allen, who police believed was the Zodiac Killer. In the documentary, the two Seawater children, who spent considerable time with Allen when they were young, and even went on trips with him, discuss what they know about him and what it all means in the context of what Allen was accused of.
But was Arthur Leigh Allen truly the Zodiac Killer? Who else could it have been? Was the Zodiac Killer ever caught? And could they still be alive?
Was the Zodiac Killer ever caught and are they still alive?
The Zodiac Killer was never caught, and his identity remains a mystery to this day. Arthur Leigh Allen was the only suspect identified by police, and though others have popped up during the year – including a man who even confessed – he has remained at the center of the case since the investigation started.
That’s what This is the Zodiac Speaking is all about – Arthur Leigh Allen, and whether he was really the Zodiac Killer. Police could never charge Allen despite the fact that one witness picked him out of a police lineup and he was seen near the scene of one of the crimes. The other suspects that have been considered, though none of them were ever named by the police, are Gary Francis Poste, Earl Van Best Jr., Ross Sullivan, and Louis Joseph Myers.
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Gary Francis Poste was named the Zodiac Killer by a group called The Case Breakers, who in 2021 claimed they had tied Poste to the 5 murders and even another one never connected with the Zodiac Killer. Earl Van Best Jr. and Ross Sullivan were only suspected because they looked similar to the police sketch of the murderer. Louis Joseph Myers, meanwhile, confessed to the murderers but police never found any evidence to tie him to the Zodiac Killer. All these men have since passed away.
Allen was a convicted sex offender who was fired from his job as a primary school teacher over allegations of sexual misconduct. Moreover, a friend of Allen claimed at one point that he spoke of his desire to kill people and used the name Zodiac. Despite all of this police never had enough evidence to charge Allen and he went on to die in 1992 due to a heart attack.
Police searched Allen’s house after his death and discovered even more evidence that he might have been the Zodiac Killer, but nothing conclusive enough to prove it without a shadow of a doubt. Among what police found was his watch, a Zodiac Sea Wolf wristwatch, which had the same logo seen on the killer’s letters.
