December 20, 1968: The Zodiac Killings Begin

December 20, 1968: The Zodiac killings begin in the San Francisco Bay Area. Murders claimed over the next year: 37. Confirmed by the San Francisco Police Department: 5. The killer: Officially, still unknown.

The Zodiac's known attacks took place in the City and County of San Francisco proper (the City and the County are contiguous); Benicia and Vallejo, in the East Bay region; and unincorporated Napa County, to the north of the city. He attacked three young couples and a lone male cab driver. Two of these victims survived.

The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting messages that he mailed to regional newspapers, in which he threatened killing sprees and bombings if they were not printed. He also said that he was collecting his victims as slaves for the afterlife. He included four cryptograms or ciphers in his correspondence. Two were solved in 1969 and 2020, and two remain unsolved.

In 1974, the Zodiac claimed 37 victims in his last confirmed letter. This tally included victims in Southern California, such as Cheri Jo Bates, who was murdered in Riverside in 1966. Despite many theories about the Zodiac's identity, the only suspect authorities ever named was Arthur Leigh Allen, a former elementary school teacher and convicted sex offender, who died in 1992.

Detective Dave Toschi, the lead investigator on the case, told Mark Ruffalo, who played him in the 2007 film Zodiac, about Allen, "As soon as that guy walked in the door, I knew it was him." Ruffalo told an interviewer, "He was sure he had him, but he never had a solid piece of evidence. So he had to keep investigating every other lead." And the evidence against Allen was only circumstantial. But the letters did stop after Allen was convicted and sent to prison on a separate charge.

Toschi served as the model for 2 fictional San Francisco lawmen: Steve McQueen as Lieutenant Frank Bullitt in the 1968 film Bullitt; and Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan, starting in the 1971 film Dirty Harry. In that film, Callahan faces a serial killer who calls himself "Scorpio," one of the signs of the zodiac. The real Toschi died in 2018.

The unusual nature of the case led to international interest that has been sustained throughout the years. The SFPD marked the case "inactive" in 2004 but re-opened it prior to 2007. The case also remains open in the California Department of Justice, the FBI, the City of Vallejo, as well as in Napa County and Solano County.

The last message the killer sent to the police and the newspapers was in 1974. He may even still be alive.

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December 20, 1968 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 135-87 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Chicago Bulls, 125-102 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 100-92 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Diego Rockets, 116-109 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 133-101 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Minnesota Pipers beat the Houston Mavericks, 123-103 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston. Connie Hawkins of the Pipers led all scorers in both leagues on the day, with 35 points.

There was 1 game in the NHL: The St. Louis Blues beat the Oakland Seals, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Tim Ecclestone scored the only goal, with 2:43 left in the 2nd period.