Writer Robert Greysmith and serial killer nicknamed Zodiac

It so happened that the story forever linked the nameGraysmith with the chilling crimes of a serial killer nicknamed Zodiac. Of course, this is no coincidence: it can be said that the former cartoonist became a writer because of a criminal. For more than twenty years, he processed a lot of material in order to come closer to revealing the identity of this cruel person. And since the Zodiac case is one of the most mysterious of the crimes not disclosed by the US police, Robert Graysmith, who has devoted ten years of his life to studying the facts of this case, decided to write about him.

The first book "Zodiac" was published in 1986 and becamenational bestseller. Inspired by the success of the author has written several detective novels, but not all of them were clearly well received by critics.

In 2007, the book "Zodiac" was filmed. The director of the film of the same name was David Fincher.

Unsolved Crimes

In the late sixties san francisco andCalifornia was stirred up by a series of brutal murders committed by a criminal who used the Zodiac pseudonym. At the time, Robert Graysmith worked as a cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle. A distinctive feature of the killer was the encrypted letters, which he sent to the publishers of local newspapers after the crimes committed. In them, the Zodiac reported information about itself and the motives for the killings, and the best cryptographers worked on these texts. Graysmith also became interested in unraveling the coded crimes of the zodiac, believing that the police were not doing enough.

There was a mass of suspects, but evidence and evidencenever enough to find the true culprit. Hunting for the killer began detectives-amateurs, among whom was a political cartoonist Robert Graysmith. The police claimed five murders and two assassinations committed by a maniac when the Zodiac itself stated in its messages that at least 37 people had died from his hand. In any case, despite the best efforts of the police and private investigators, the identity of the killer was never disclosed. And this criminal case to this day is a painful topic for US law enforcement.

A life-long affair

When the press first appeared in the pressthe maniac terrorizing northern California, a successful cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who was 25 years old at the time, did not think of changing his activities. But when it became clear that the police were stumped by the investigation, Graysmith, like many others, decided to join the case of capturing the killer. He was so immersed in the investigation that he lost interest in his usual life.

Day Robert sat over encryptedmessages, published in newspapers, knocked thresholds of police stations in the hope of getting at least some information, and such an obsession affected the personal life of Graysmith: his marriage cracked at the seams. Later, in an interview with one of the TV channels, the writer said that he was motivated by the slack activity of the police in such a serious investigation of the crimes of the Zodiac. Everything was hushed up even within the departments, not to mention the different jurisdictions. And then Robert decided to start the investigation as a private person: he spoke with the survivors, juxtaposed the facts and collected all the details that the police had missed. Recalling his conversations with the police, Robert Graysmith said: "The zodiac is the criminal who craves for fame, and he will certainly appear as an interested person who wants to help the investigation."

The main suspect

The words of Graysmith were not taken seriouslyHowever, in 1971, one Arthur Lee Allen, a convicted child molester, came to the attention of law enforcement officers. His friend told the police that the intent to commit crimes of Alain is similar to the motives of the Zodiac, moreover, Arthur once admitted that he was annoyed by young people who quit dating. The police knew that the zodiac was basically just attacking and shooting such couples.

During the subsequent investigation, the policeSan Francisco and Vallejo searched for a trailer belonging to Allen, but investigators could not find any evidence linking Allen to the crimes of the zodiac. Despite the fact that the killer’s prints and samples of his sweat from the handset fell into the hands of the police, the DNA examination was not perfect at that time and it wasn’t possible to prove anything.

"Zodiac", Robert Graysmith: a summary of the book

The study of the crimes of the zodiac took ten yearslife of Graysmith. He decided that people have the right to know the truth about this case. So in 1986 the book "Zodiac" appeared. It is submitted in the form of documentary notes and tells about all the difficulties that the police and the author had to face in trying to find the killer. The reader will be interested in the final of the book, and, running ahead, I must say that the author Robert Graysmith expressed his opinion as follows: "The zodiac was still identified, but punished not with earthly, but heavenly justice." The work in the form of a journalistic investigation presents all the facts, including the letters of the Zodiac, and the conclusions reached by the investigation, and also puts forward its own point of view on what is happening. And although critics condemned the author and denied the authenticity of the texts of some of the killer’s letters, the public enthusiastically accepted the book.

Robert Graysmith, "Zodiac": reviews

According to readers, the work of Graysmithcertainly deserves attention with the proviso that this literature is not for the faint of heart. Accuracy, realism and restraint of presenting facts, similar to the dry language of filling in the criminal case, are noted. Readers also express their regret for the lack of a Russian translation of the second book of the author devoted to the Zodiac case, in which the writer expresses his assumptions regarding this matter.