DIY VIRAL
The author Robert Scucci
| Published
As a fan of all things true crime, I spent my senior year in high school reading Robert Graysmith's Zodiac and Zodiac exposed book, unaware that a film adaptation starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the Zodiac-obsessed author was just a couple of years away from going into production. Every few years, I revisit this case because there is something so appealing about a serial killer case so widely publicized, especially one that is still open more than 50 years after the elusive killer's alleged first crime in 1968. Acts as an additional piece of true crime content, So speaks the Zodiac veers away from the media sensationalism surrounding the Zodiac murders and focuses on those close to Arthur Leigh Allen, who remains the prime suspect in the investigation.
Was Arthur Leigh Allen the Zodiac Killer?
Arthur Leigh Allen, who died in 1992, was either a victim of mistaken identity, pursued by the police until the day he was buried, or the real Zodiac killer. So speaks the Zodiac revisits the case from the perspective of the Seawater family. Siblings David, Connie and Don welcomed Allen into their lives when the Navy vet-turned-school teacher began dating their mother, Phyllis.
The Seawater siblings look back fondly on their time with Allen, back when the Zodiac killer was still regularly publishing his crime headlines, threatening letters to police and cryptic encryption codes. Using their own personal stories of growing up with Allen, they want to tell their story as they remember it decades down the line, because there are too many coincidences linking Allen to the murders that only decades of foresight could help piece together.
A series of coincidences and circumstantial evidence
So speaks the Zodiac there's a compelling case for why Arthur Leigh Allen—the man who was such a positive father figure to David, Connie, and Don during their childhood—remains the main person of interest. Connie recalls the events and reveals how Allen took her and her brothers on a road trip through Tajigua Beach in 1963 to leave them in the car while he looked around. After returning to the car he had blood on his hands and they immediately left the beach.
Years later, the siblings learned that the timeline of their trip with Allen coincided with the murders of Robert Domingos and his fiancée, Linda Edwards, who were killed in the same area. Forensic evidence suggests the killings were consistent with Zodiac's modus operandi, including pre-cut rope to tie up the subjects and execute them with a rifle at close range. Although this murder was never “officially” connected to Zodiac's rampage, which canonically began in 1968, the Seawater siblings claim he was in the area when the crime was committed.
In 1966, there was another incident in which Allen allegedly drugged his siblings while driving to Riverside Racecourse. During this two-day ordeal, which they only later realized was a mess, the siblings learned that Cherie Josephine Bates had allegedly been stabbed to death while they were unconscious.
The most damning evidence inside So speaks the Zodiachowever, there is a period of time when elusive a serial killer stopped contacting the police. Ironically, Arthur Leigh Allen served time for child molestation and was incarcerated at Atascadero State Hospital from 1974 to 1977. Shortly after Allen's release, the letters to the police resumed.
A compelling case has been made
This is Zodiac Speaking is a frustrating watch, not because of the creative failure of directors Ari Mark and Phil Lott, but because SeaWater the siblings are serious about telling the story of their connection to Allen to close the case, they are very convincing that he is our guy. Unfortunately, this “evidence” is circumstantial, anecdotal, and speculative at best.
Allen was subject to multiple search warrants that failed to turn up enough physical evidence to properly prosecute him for his alleged crimes, but as Connie reveals in this three-part docu-series, you'd be hard-pressed to imagine anyone else checking it out. from all the same boxes as a viable suspect.
If you're already familiar with the work of Robert Graysmith, the cartoonist-turned-cipher who devoted most of his adult life to the Zodiac cause, then This is Zodiac Speaking is an extraordinary additional true crime content that you will want to dive into. If you're just getting your feet wet, you might want to familiarize yourself with the cold case on a more fundamental level, as it's a personal and subjective memory of events that doesn't always cover all the physical evidence as presented in other documentaries on the subject.
You can stream So speaks the Zodiac with a Netflix subscription.
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DIY VIRAL
