Resumo de Zodiac - Robert Graysmith

I must admit, I had just about given up on true crime novels. Every one that I have read has been poorly written with little storytelling ability. They all seemed to be hurriedly written with the sole intention of making a fast buck. This is why I was so blown away with Robert Graysmith's novelization of the story of the self-named Zodiac killer. Graysmith was the political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in the late sixties when Zodiacs reign of terror seized the attention of Northern California, the entire country, and ultimately the world.
Unlike many unsolved murder mysteries that are necessarily extremely lacking in detail or at best are comprised mainly of conjecture, this gripping novel had the advantage of eyewitness accounts from survivors, not to mention frequent correspondence from the criminal himself. This is a truly terrifying story of a sexual sadist whose egotism and self-aggrandizement led several California police departments on the largest manhunt since Jack the Ripper. Zodiac first struck on Oct. 30, 1966, murdering college student Cheri Jo Bates. He then laid low for a couple of years before attacking two teenagers, Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on Dec. 20, 1968 on a remote lovers lane where the two had parked for a make-out session, shooting and killing both. He attacked again on July 5th, 1969 fatally shooting Darlene Ferrin and critically wounding Micheal Mageau after what appears to have been a car chase through Vallejo, California.
On August 1st, 1969 the Chronicle recieved a letter from someone claiming to have committed these murders. The author also included a coded message which, when combined with two other portions of the message sent to other San Francisco newspapers, was eventually deciphered to reveal a very dark, twisted, unprecedentedly violent sociopath who killed for sexual pleasure and excitement. The killer always did his work in very public, though usually somewhat isolated locations, and seems to have been seen by many people but never positively identified.
He struck again on Sept. 27, 1969, this time with a knife. The Zodiac boldly walked up to Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepherd as they lay sunbathing on a remote peninsula near Vallejo. Disappearing briefly in a depression not visible to the couple from their vantage point, emerging minutes later wearing an executioner style mask and carrying a knife and plastic laundry cord. The killer handed miss Shepherd the cord and forced her to tie up Hartnell. When this was completed, he then proceeded to bind Shepherd himself, finally checking on Hartnell's bonds and tightening and adjusting those. When he was satisfied the two no longer presented a threat, he then began repeatedly stabbing both victims, first Hartnell then Shepherd.Upon leaving, the killer scrawled a message on the door of Hartnell's vehicle taunting the police. Hartnell survived the attack, but Shepherd died en route to the hospital.
Zodiac's final official murder took place on Oct. 11, 1969. parking his car in a San Francisco neighborhood and taking a bus downtown, the killer hailed a cab which police believe he rode back to the vicinity of his vehicle. Upon arrival, he drew a 9mm handgun and shot the driver, Paul Lee Stein point blank before the man had any idea what was happening.
Many men have been suspects in this case over the years, but the murderer has never been apprehended. His official tally of victims is 7. Zodiac, however, claims to have killed 37. A chilling and terrifying case by today's standards, in the early 1970's it created a wave of panic and suspicion throughout California. The true identity of this sick, sick psychopath may never be discovered, and it is chilling to think that it is entirely possible that he could sit and read this abstract all about him. Heck, for all YOU know, it could even be me.

Resumos Relacionados