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The Myth of the Zodiac Killer was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 21 February 2021 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Zodiac Killer. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.
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The text here "They were linked by the fact that they were dumped in ravines and killed in conjunction with astrological events, such as the winter solstice, equinox, and Friday the 13th.[124]" Implies that Friday the 13th is an astrological event which it is not. I'd recommend either removing Friday the 13th or put that in a different sentence — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.59.33.96 (talk) 18:20, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The short citations should probably use a template like {{sfn}} or {{harvnb}}. Also, the Nuys in "Kelleher, Nuys 2002" should be Van Nuys. I'm sure there's a way to automate adding the "Van," but I'm not clever enough to figure that one out. Snowman304|talk00:41, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The article is nearly 200k with 266 footnotes. It's a bit of a slog. It sure seems like it would make sense to break it out into separate pages.Trumpetrep (talk) 04:49, 8 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Great. That seems like the right move. It does seem like a few suspects should not be listed in an encyclopedic article, especially given that most of the citations rely on what is essentially fan fiction. For example, if John A. Cameron's allegation is met with "universally disdain", why are we including it on Wikipedia?Trumpetrep (talk) 02:24, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with you on those two suspects. "Highly-criticized suspects" was a temporary categorizing by me, they were already on the article prior to my work. I've removed them. Atubofsilverware (talk) 02:40, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It seems like a 3rd page about the Zodiac letters that also presents the ciphers in their entirety would be warranted. The dizzying amount of communication and the fact that people are still trying to solve the ciphers today strikes me as notable enough for an article.
It would also ease the pressure on this article, which is still far too bloated. I've incorporated the Works Cited books into the reflist as single, named citations. There are still a great deal of bizarre reference names and citations. Will plod on. Trumpetrep (talk) 04:52, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Someone did an extreme amount of research to list these victims and find citations. However, the only reason this victim list was in the article is because of a "tentative connection" seen by police at the time between them and the Zodiac murders. The only cited source for that is Graysmith's book. Given the tenuous connection, and the bulk of the article, it seemed best to remove the list of victims. I'm including it here in case someone wants to restore it. There is already so much information in this article that it doesn't seem wise to weigh it down with extensive detail about murders that aren't definitively committed by the Zodiac. It certainly seems that there is enough material here for a separate article:
* Elaine Louise Davis, 17, who disappeared on December 1, 1969, from her home in Walnut Creek, California. On December 19, the body of a young woman – eventually identified as Davis after an exhumation in 2000 – was discovered floating off Light House Point near Santa Cruz.[1][2]
Leona LaRell Roberts, 16, whose nude body was found ten days before the winter solstice on the beach at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County, on December 28, 1969. She had been kidnapped from her boyfriend's home on December 10. Her death was treated as a homicide, although the official cause was listed as "exposure" by the medical examiner.[3][4]
Cosette Ann Ellison, 15, whose nude body was found in a ravine seventeen days before the vernal equinox. The cause of her death was undetermined. She had been abducted on March 3, 1970, from her residence in Moraga, California, as she got off the school bus at 3:20 p.m.[5]
Patricia Ann King, 20, who was found strangled and discarded in a rural gully at Diablo Valley College. She was nude from the waist down but had not been raped.[6]
Judith Ann Hakari, 23, who was last seen leaving work at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento at 11:30 p.m. on March 7, 1970,[7] thirteen days before the equinox. She was discovered, nude and bludgeoned, in an overgrown ravine off Ponderosa Way, near Weimar on April 26.[8]
Marie Antoinette Anstey, 23, who was kidnapped in Vallejo after being stunned by a blow to the head, and then drowned. Her body was recovered in rural Lake County on March 21, and an autopsy revealed traces of mescaline in her bloodstream.[9]
Eva Lucienne Blau, 17, who was found clubbed to death and dumped in a roadside gully near Santa Rosa during the equinox on March 20, 1970. The medical examiner discovered drugs in her circulatory system. She was last seen on March 12, leaving Jack London Hall after telling friends that she was heading home.[10]
Carol Beth Hilburn, 22, who was found beaten to death in a ravine on November 13, 1970. She was last seen at Lloyd Hickey’s Forty Grand Club in Sacramento on November 14 at approximately 5:00 a.m.[11] Hilburn had been stripped of her clothing except for her underwear, which was found around her knees. She had been beaten about the face, and had a deep cut to her throat.
Denise Kathleen Anderson, 22, who disappeared on April 13, 1971, having been last seen by one of her roommates at 5:30 a.m. at their residence in Sacramento. She has not been seen since.[12][13]
Susan Marie Lynch, 22, who was discovered murdered on July 31, 1971, having been buried alive near East Levee Road in Sacramento, one-half mile north of Del Paso Road and 0.6 miles southwest of the Hilburn dump site.[14]
Linda Diane Uhlig, 19, who was found in a ditch alongside a rural road beaten to death at Half Moon Bay on March 28, 1972, six days after the vernal equinox. Her skull had been smashed and it appeared that her attacker had tried to decapitate her.[15]
Lynn Derrick, 24, who was discovered in Noe Valley, San Francisco, on July 26, 1972, at 4:15 a.m. She had been strangled and a sock had been forced into her mouth, but no sexual molestation had taken place. Derrick had been abducted from her home approximately two hours earlier, at around 2:00 a.m., when a female neighbour reported hearing a disturbance, a dragging sound, and a car speeding away.[16]