People accused of being the Zodiac KillerThe number of people accused of being the Zodiac Killer is simply mind boggling. In the interest of exploring the subject, I’m creating this post where we, as a community, can maintain a collection of accusers and/or accused. Note that I’m purposefully avoiding the label “Zodiac Killer Suspects” because a large number of them are not suspects in any real sense of the word.

In my estimation, everyone on this list honestly believes (or believed) in his or her respective accusation. One of the key takeaways, however, is that only one of these people can possibly be correct. A more likely situation, in my humble assessment, is that none of these accusations are correct. Any way you slice it, the result is a large collection of people who are simply wrong about the Zodiac Killer’s identity…

So, if you are aware of an accuser or an accused person who is missing from our little list, or if you have suggestions in terms of updating an existing entry, please provide your input through a comment or by way of the contact page. If I agree, I will update the list.

Guiding Principles

  • Entries are limited to people who have made non-trivial, public accusations. Your neighbor Joe who told you that his strange uncle is the Zodiac Killer one time after overindulging in his vice of choice does not qualify.
  • The actual name of the accused does not necessarily have to have been made public.
  • When multiple people advocate for the guilt of a particular person – as is often the case – I will select one person as the representative accuser.
  • If I have a question mark below, I would appreciate additional information from anyone who has knowledge of the accusation.

The List

30 and counting…

Accused Representative Accuser Earliest Known Date Link
Arthur Leigh Allen Robert Graysmith 1986 zodiackiller.com
Michael O'Hare Gareth Penn 1987 wikipedia.org
Rick Marshall Robert Graysmith 1986 zodiackiller.com
Berta Margoulies [1] Ray Grant 1990 internet archive
Michael O'Hare [1] Ray Grant 1990 internet archive
Gareth Penn [1] Ray Grant 1990 internet archive
Hugh Penn [1] Ray Grant 1991 internet archive
Jack Beeman William Beeman 1991 zodiackiller.com
Bruce Davis Howard Davis 1997 zodiackiller.com
Ted Kaczynski Douglas Oswell 1998 zodiackiller.com
Lawrence Kane Harvey Hines 1999 zodiackiller.com
Mr. X Mike Rodelli 2000 internet archive
Ross Sullivan Howard Davis? 2001 zodidackillersite.com
Albert Guy Hollingsworth Terri Williams 2004 blogspot.ca
Jack Tarrance Dennis Kaufman 2006? internet archive
Richard Gaikowski Tom Voigt 2008 zodiackiller.com
Guy Ward Hendrickson Deborah Perez 2009 ocregister.com
[unnamed] Robert Tarbox 2009 sfgate.com
George Hill Hodel Steve Hodel 2009 stevehodel.com
William Grant Lyndon E. Lafferty 2012 zodiacrevisited.com
[nobody/hoax] Thomas Horan 2012 zodiacrevisited.com
Donald Lee Bujok Kevin Robert Brooks 2012 youtube.com
Warren Earl Estes Marianne Koerfer 2012 zodiackiller.com forum
Peter Stephen Plante Judith Chapman 2012 zodiacrevisited.com
Donald & Bettye Harden Zeppelin196818? 2013 youtube.com
Louis Myers Randy Kenney 2014 abc7news.com
Earl Van Best Jr. Gary L. Stewart 2014 latimes.com
Edward Wayne Edwards John A. Cameron 2014 coldcasecameron.com
[unnamed] Katherin B. FitzPatrick 2014 zodiackiller.com
Dennis Rader Kimberly McGath 2015 zodiackillersite.com
Gary Francis Poste The Case Breakers 2021 tmz.com

Notes

[1] This accusation involved a collaboration of multiple accused people.