
An amateur investigator's hunt for the Zodiac killer - prostoalex
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-serial-killer-as-a-marketing-genius/
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stordoff
Looking up the Zodiac Killer (as I only know the _very_ fuzzy details), I
noticed something interesting on Google: "Do you manage the online presence
for Zodiac Killer?". I can't imagine too many people are in a hurry to say yes
to that!

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anonymfus
I imagine his online manager is not very good considering the lack of response
to accusations of him being Ted Cruz.

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cuckcuckspruce
Ted Cruz would not be satisfied with just ruining the lives of 37 people.

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alexkavon
That we know of

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intAligned
As it turns out, the guy behind the Zodiac nick just confessed to be the
Monster of Florence, the author of at least 7 murders of young couples in the
area of Florence, Italy. Nothing official has been released to the public yet,
but it seems he's a dismissed US Army officer. Here's the article in the
Italian press: [http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/killer-zodiac-mi-
ha-c...](http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/killer-zodiac-mi-ha-
confessato-sono-io-mostro-firenze-1533527.html)

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n1231231231234
John Douglas notes in his book 'Mindhunters' that serial killers cannot really
stop. they typically continue until they 1) get locked up (typicall for
something else) or 2) die. So it is super weird that the Zodiac just stopped
in his 'prime'.

so, the hypothesis that _Zodiac =Monster of Florence_ would make a lot of
sense, because it explains Douglas's observation. if that was the case, the
Zodiac would be an absolute exception in the sense that he grew old and
retired.

further, Douglas, from many years of experience of investigating serial
killers, observes that killers have a 'signature'. a handwriting in their
crimes, so to speak. and at first glance, the signature of the Zodiac and the
Monster are very similar indeed, as others have mentioned.

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mrleiter
>In an even broader sense, this frustration captures man’s existential dilemma
in a Platonic universe of unknowable absolutes. Truth exists. Answers exist. A
hard foundation of reality exists underneath a concealing fog. But humans will
not always see it.

That is the reason why we want it so desperately. The unknown absolute - does
it exist? Is there an absolute answer to everything? Is there a God?

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flukus
This is probably from watching way to many profiling style crime dramas, but
do serial killers ever just stop like this? I thought they typically escalated
until they were caught.

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intAligned
If he's the Monster of Florence too, he didn't stop at all. He just moved to
Italy, and kept killing people (the first documented murder there is just some
months after he left the US)

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nickgrosvenor
The theory seems compelling to me. The same guy they found by searching the
newspaper for similar language, happens to be one of the guys police
interviewed near the crime scene walking his dog. Among other coincidences.
Pretty fun to speculate, don't think it'll ever get solved, but it's
interesting.

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wayanon
You’d think these days there would be a way to analyse language in the public
domain for similarities though perhaps the job is just too big.

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pietroglyph
This is an entire field:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_linguistics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_linguistics)

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wayanon
I feel bad for the Norwegian’s friends and family having this accusation
levelled at him. However the idea has appeal because it’s almost like he was
selling each murder as though it was an imported car, something exotic,
rarified, only for a particular discerning audience.

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BicyclRepairMan
Just ask Ted Cruz.

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furgooswft13
Proof:
[https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/920709146789515272?lang=e...](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/920709146789515272?lang=en)

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vermooten
He spoiled The Pledge for me.

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sudouser
a forgettable movie

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lobster_johnson
Wonderful novel, though. The book is by the great Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and is
basically a deconstruction, as well as a subversion, of the detective novel
(in fact, its subtitle is "Requiem for the Detective Novel").

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sudouser
thanks, will look for it

