7 Things We Learned From The New Zodiac Documentary

Netflix’s This Is The Zodiac Speaking landed on the streaming platform ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

And unlike many other true crime docu-series that tend to grace our screens, the film presents new evidence in the decades-old case, and gets incredibly close to confirming who the Zodiac actually was.

The Zodiac killer murdered at least five people in Northern California in the late 1960s.

He is one of America’s most prolific serial killers due to his consistent evasion of police, and the cryptic codes he repeatedly sent to media, often taunting authorities for being unable to catch him.

The documentary focuses on the new evidence brought forward by the Seawater family, while documenting the timeline of murders that terrified San Francisco Bay residents during this period.

Here’s 7 things we learned from the series.

1. There was only one prime suspect

Despite there being over 2,500 suspects in the ’60s, there was one man that authorities repeatedly returned to.

Former teacher and chemist Arthur Leigh Allen has long been thought to be the killer, though there had previously been little concrete evidence to support this theory.

Allen became a pseudo-father to Seawater children Connie, David, and Don in the ’60s, and travelled to key Zodiac crime scenes on “field trips” with them.

The siblings recalled seeing Allen with blood on his hands during one trip to Tajiguas Point, and suspect that they were drugged by Allen multiple times.

“We realised we had been to all the murder sites before the murders,” said David.

2. Allen was interested in codes and ciphers

While working as a school teacher, Allen reportedly spent entire days encouraging his students to decipher codes he had created.

One former student recalled that he would give the children ciphers every week, and that these codes were suspiciously similar to those later sent to the San Francisco Chronicle by the Zodiac.

3. Arthur Leigh Allen was a convicted child molester

As well as being the only named Zodiac suspect, Allen was also a child molester.

He was imprisoned for three years in the ’70s and was regularly visited by the Seawater family during this time.

The siblings said that neither they nor their mother knew why Allen was in prison.

David Seawater also later said that Allen told him he molested his sister Connie during their trips away.

4. Allen was incarcerated after the murders stopped

The Zodiac’s known killings stopped in 1969, though he continued to send messages to press until 1974.

That year, Allen was incarcerated in Atascadero State Hospital following his arrest for child molestation. He was later given a suspended sentence and released in 1977.

5. The 2007 film renewed the siblings’ interest

David Fincher’s Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jnr was released in 2007 and renewed interest in the unsolved case.

It was during this time that the Seawater siblings reconnected after years of silence, and began to discuss Allen’s potential suspect status for the first time.

Connie called John Carroll Lynch’s portrayal of Allen as “scary familiar.”

6. Allen ‘confessed’ before his death

In the series, David Seawater said that he called Allen prior to his passing in 1992 and asked him if he was the Zodiac killer.

David said that Allen broke down and told him that he was.

Connie also asked Allen if he was Zodiac the year previous. She said he told her he would have to kill her if she knew the truth. “I thought it was a big joke,” she said.

However, in letters written to their mother later uncovered by the siblings, Allen denied being the Zodiac. Many of these letters were written during Allen’s incarceration.

7.  DNA testing could confirm the Zodiac’s identity

An old knife gifted to the family may hold the key to the case.

The documentary confirms that blood matter was present on the knife (that was initially in Allen’s car) and that it belonged to a male.

The complete results were not available at the time of the film’s release.

This Is The Zodiac Speaking is now streaming on Netflix. 

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• Zodiac