Investigators Reopen Infamous Zodiac Killer Case: Report

VALLEJO, CA — Investigators have submitted evidence in the decades-old Zodiac Killer case to a private DNA lab in the hopes new technology will help them track down the long-elusive suspect, it was reported this week. The news that Vallejo police submitted two envelopes that contained letters from the Zodiac Killer for advanced DNA analysis comes after suspected Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo was tracked down by DNA.

The self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer is believed responsible for seven Bay Area murders in 1968 and 1969: David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16, shot and killed Dec. 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia; Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22, fatally shot July 4, 1969, in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo; Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, fatally stabbed on Sept. 27, 1969, at Lake Berryessa in Napa County; and Paul Lee Stine, 29, shot and killed Oct. 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

Although the killer's motive was revealed in coded letters sent to local newspapers, his identity remains a mystery.

Vallejo police Capt. Lee Horton addressed the recent news coverage in a statement Thursday, saying that Vallejo police "detectives still follow up on new leads and continually work to identify a suspect."

"Over the course of this investigation, Vallejo police detectives have always taken advantage of emerging technologies and new advances in forensic science to assist in the identification of a suspect," Horton said.

"Currently, we are not close to identifying a suspect, nor do we anticipate developing that information at any time in the near future. We have no new information to provide at this time."

Read the full report at Sacramento Bee.

Image via FBI Zodiac Killer Files