Hello fellow posters. I’m BugsMoran and it’s great to reconnect with some of my old friends from the past. I was about 14 when the Zodiac started his reign of terror in the San Francisco area about 48 years ago. Although I grew-up in a small town in Wisconsin, we were alarmed by this mad man’s spree, and we followed the case closely. In 1974 my parents, two of my brothers and I visited San Francisco, and a fear of the Zodiac was still planted in our minds. People in Wisconsin were still talking about whatever happened to the Zodiac years after he had disappeared from the public’s view.

I was living in Japan in the early 90’s when I read an interview with Arthur Leigh Allen reprinted in "The Japan Times." I remember not thinking their was much of a likeness between ALA’s photograph and the two police sketches of the Zodiac. In 1997 I was on vacation in San Diego and I happened to start-up a conversation with a guy inside of a bar in Mission Beach. He was a local private investigator whose hobby was ‘Zodiac hunting.’ I was amazed that anybody was still interested in the heavyset man behind the black mask so many years later.

I had just relocated to Greenville, South Carolina (where I still reside and teach) about a decade ago when the Zodiac movie was released. I recently re-watched the movie on television, and it got me interested in the case once more. I guess I’m mostly interested in the ‘Zodiac hunters’ and their personal POI. I don’t really have a strong opinion on the identity of the Zodiac, however, if it were announced today that the Vallejo police (or San Francisco, Berryessa or any of the police departments involved) were going to release new evidence tomorrow pointing the finger once at this mysterious phantom we’re interested in, my short list would be:

1) Arthur Leigh Allen
2) Richard Gaikowski
3) Rick Marshall
4) A combination of these three men.

ALA was investigated several times by several police department over a period extending from 1969 to 1992. At least 4 people stepped forward with information about him. He was a beefy man who probably knew Darlene. I do believe he is somehow is involved in all of this mess, including the direct murder of Darlene and the wounding of Michael. Richard is the spitting image of the police sketch of the Zodiac with a flat top and glasses. Some of Tom Voigt’s arguments for Richard being the Zodiac hold water with me. I only include Marshall because he was the perfect size for the Zodiac, he can be seen in both police sketches, and he had a theatrical flare about him that I think the Zodiac also shared.

If the Zodiac some how was under the radar of the police and the public, I’d say he died back around 1975. By the way I teach Public Speaking at a college and I have had a few speeches on the Zodiac over the years. I always re-direct them to this site or Tom’s site.