A twenty-four minute film containing original news footage on the Zodiac murders of the late 1960's in the San Francisco bay area. The film features an interview with victim Bryan Hartnell from his hospital bed after he and his girlfriend, Cecelia Shepard, were attacked at Lake Berryessa. Also featured are interviews with the detectives and police working on the case, scenes from one of the Zodiac's victim's funeral, and an interview with celebrity lawyer Melvin Belli. The well known lawyer and actor was involved in the case after the Zodiac demanded he appear on the local program
where someone claiming to be the Zodiac called several times and said his name was "Sam". Belli agreed to meet with him in Daly City, but the suspect never showed up.
The Zodiac Killer or Zodiac was a
serial killer who operated in
Northern California from at least the late 1960s to the early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in
Benicia,
Vallejo,
Lake Berryessa, and
San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. The killer originated the name "Zodiac" in a series of taunting letters sent to the local
Bay Area press. These letters included four
cryptograms (or
ciphers). Of the four cryptograms sent, only two have been definitively solved, one as recently as 2020.
Source: original 16mm film elements
Accession number: 1983/131; VAM 118
Copyright: Rights are owned by the Center for
Sacramento History (CSH). CSH has given the Internet Archive permission to
provide access to the digitized work online. Transmission or reproduction of
materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
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be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
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public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the
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