Netflix’s brand new documentary about the infamous Zodiac Killer debuted on the streaming site on Wednesday and gave viewers a brand new insight into the most infamous serial killer in all of the history of the US. While the true identity of the killer has eluded San Francisco police for almost 50 years, there have been several suspects.
One such suspect was former schoolteacher Arthur Leigh Allen who was named as detectives’ prime suspect during the killer’s reign of terror from 1969 to 1969. The murders began in 1966 when an 18-year-old college student in Riverside, California was found stabbed to death. A couple of years later, another couple was found shot to death near their car in a remote area north of San Francisco.
In 1969, the killer allegedly similarly attacked another couple; however, this time, the male victim was able to escape with his life.
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According to police, Allen, a former school teacher with a history of child molestation, reportedly owned the same caliber of gun that was believed to have been used in the attacks. The man also reportedly had a Zodiac watch and made several eyebrow-raising comments about wanting to kill people.
Unfortunately for police, there was one massive problem with their theory: Allen and the killed did not share the same fingerprints. “Allen seems like a good suspect as long as you only get information from people who think hes guilty,” said Michael Butterfield, a writer who has spent 20 years looking into the Zodiac killer. Allen later died in 1992 of a heart attack. Below, find several other pieces of evidence that seem to point to Allen as the killer.
In the documentary, which features an interview with siblings David and Connie Seawater, the duo talk about how Allen allegedly confessed his crimes to the pair. According to the siblings, Allen used to drug them as kids and would allegedly bring them to his crime scenes. The pair who looked up to Allen like a kid would their father would take them on trips over the weekend to the movie theater or even a clam dig.
It was there, the siblings allege, that Allen would commit the unspeakable acts. According to the siblings, Allen would sometimes commit murders that were never linked to the Zodiac Killer. A year prior to his death, Connie Seawater stated that she once asked Allen if he was the killer to which he responded that he would “kill her if he told her.” David, however, said that he got a full confession. In the documentary, David admits that in addition to the confession, Allen also admitted to drugging the kids and even molesting his sister.
As if killing several people was not enough, the Seawater kids stated that they were present when the gruesome killings were happening. “So much in that movie that was scary familiar, Connie speaking of the 2007 film “Zodiac” starring Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Connie further states that Allen allegedly took her and her brother to the site of his first kill in Riverside on October 28, 1966. According to the girl, both she and her brother were drugged on the way there. Connie says that the only thing she clearly remembers about the trip was being led back to the car by Allen on October 31.
After being identified in a photo lineup by Michael Mageau, one of the survivors of the Zodiac Killer’s rampage, Allen was hauled in for questioning by local authorities. However, due to conflicting testimony from other witnesses, police were forced to cut Allen loose and he was never charged with the crime.
When police searched his home, they found several incriminating items such as a Zodiac Sea Wolf wristwatch which sported the same logo as the that was found on the Killers’ infamous letters that were sent to San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Vallejo Times-Herald and detailed all the crimes that he had committed.
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