April 18,2005

Forensic Files
The Sign Of The Zodiac
The
Investigators
The First Attack
On March 19, 1990 a 49-year-old
man named Mario Orozco was shot
in the back on his way home
after working at a local
restaurant in Brooklyn. The 49-
year-old did not know that on
his way home, he was about to
become the first victim of the
New York Zodiac killer.

Mario was severely injured.

However, he did not die.
The Zodiac Strikes Again!
Three weeks later, a similar shooting
would occur a few blocks from where
Mario Orozco was shot. This time a 34-
year-old factory worker named Germaine
Montenesdro was shot in the back,
similar to how Mario Orozco was shot.
Furthermore, Germaine Montenesdro
survived but was not able to identify
his assailant.

At the crime scene, the police

recovered the 9mm bullet used in the
attempted murder.
 The Bullet
The police retrieved the bullet found at
the shooting, and they examined the 9mm
bullet. However, the bullet did not have
grooves. No grooves on a bullet means the
firearm used to shoot the bullet was a
zip or homemade gun. Zip guns typically
do not have lines on the inside of the
barrel to help the bullet travel in a
straight line because they are often made
of generic pipes. No grooves could be
found on the bullet to identify it to a
firearm.
Another Victim
Two months after the first
shooting, a 78-year-old man
named Joe Proce was shot and
killed while trying to open his
apartment door. The New York
Zodiac killer shot him with a
9mm bullet fired from a zip gun.
At the crime scene,
investigators found a note
written by the Zodiac
 The Letter
In this letter
In the letter, thethe
New Yorkzodiac killer
Zodiac
confessed toto killing
killer confessed
killing Mario
Orozco (Scorpio),
Germaine
Montenesdro
(Gemini) and Joe
Proce (Taurus). To
add, the zodiac
indicated his
desire to kill 12
people of 12
different
astrological signs.
 The Warning
Three months prior to the shooting, the
New York Police Department received a
threatening letter from the New York
Zodiac Killer. This letter mentioned how
the homicidal maniac intended to kill
twelve individuals of twelve different
astrological signs. However, the New York
Police Department dismissed this letter
and did not consider the Zodiac a real
threat.
 The Zodiacs Weakness

In a letter sent to the New York Police Department, the Zodiac Killer stated that
only Orion and the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades could stop him. The Zodiac implied
that he would only strike when these celestial bodies were not in the sky
Predicting The Zodiac
The police utilized forensic astronomy
to determine whether the Seven Sisters
of the Pleiades and Orion were in the
sky during the previous three attacks.
The police determined that the Seven
Sisters of the Pleiades and Orion were
not in the sky when the attacks
happened. Therefore, the police
consulted star charts and used forensic
astronomy to determine the next time
when the seven sisters and Orion were
not in the sky. The police determined
that the zodiac would strike on June 21
during the summer solstice.
 Two Zodiacs?
During the 1960s, another
serial killer went by the
name of the Zodiac Killer
and terrorized San
Francisco, California. This
earlier Zodiac killer was
never caught. Therefore,
the NYPD suspected the two
Zodiacs could be the same
person.
However, the police
utilized forensic
handwriting analysis to
compare the writing of the
San Francisco Zodiac killer
to the New York Zodiac
killer. The police found
that they were two
different people and that
their Zodiac was merely a
good copycat
The Prediction
The NYPD was prepared for the Zodiac Killer’s
attack on June 21. The police sent many
officers out in civilian clothing to patrol
for the Zodiac killer in Brooklyn. There was
no sign of the killer. However, the Zodiac
shot a homeless man named Larry Parham, who
was sleeping on a park bench in Manhattan.
Parham Survives the attack. The police did
not expect the Zodiac to attack in Manhattan
because the previous attacks were in
Brooklyn. Therefore, they missed him. Larry
Parham was a cancer. Moreover, a note written
by the zodiac in which he claims to kill
Parham was found next to him. The note had
the Zodiacs fingerprints
The Finger Prints
The police retrieved the letter that
was found next to Larry Parham. The
police seized the letter to find
fingerprints of the Zodiac killer on
the note. Forensic technology allowed
the police to reveal the fingerprints
of the zodiac. However, they tried to
match the prints to the prints of
offenders in their database. The
police could not find a match. The
reveal of the fingerprints was
published in the newspaper and scared
the Zodiac, causing him to go on an
almost two-year hiatus.
Return From the Hiatus
In 1994 the Zodiac announced his return in
a new letter he sent. In this letter, the
Zodiac would claim responsibility for
murdering several people. The Zodiac said
he was responsible for the stabbing death
of a 39-year-old woman named Patricia Fonti
in Highland Park. She died of her injuries.
Patricia Fonti was a Leo. To add, the
Zodiac claimed to have killed a 40-year-old
man named Joseph Diacone. The bullet
severed Joseph’s Carotid artery, which
caused him to bleed to death. He was a
Virgo.
Return From the Hiatus
Continued
In addition, the Zodiac claimed to have
killed a 40-year-old man named James
Webber. Webber survived the Attack, and he
was a Libra. Webber was shot in the exact
location as Diacone. Furthermore, the
Zodiac claimed to have killed a 40-year-old
woman named Diane Ballard. Ballard survived
the attack. However, Diane Ballard was a
Taurus. Until now, all of the Zodiac
victims had different signs except for
Diane Ballard and Joe Proce, who had the
sign of Taurus. The Zodiac claimed to have
killed a ninth person but this could not be
verified by the police
Fatal Mistake
The Zodiac often bragged how the
police would not be able to
catch him. However, when the
Zodiac sent the letter claiming
to have murdered the individuals
mentioned earlier, the Zodiac
licked the envelope shut.
Therefore, The NYPD utilized
forensic DNA technology to
retrieve the DNA of the Zodiac
Killer. The NYPD now had the
fingerprints and DNA of the
Zodiac.
Cryptic Threats
In the same letter that the Zodiac licked
shut, he included an encrypted message. The
message was nine towers made up of bizarre
symbols. Each tower represented one of the
Zodiac’s Victims. Investigators concluded the
symbols were based on old naval flag and
banner markings. The police used forensic code
breaking to figure out the zodiac’s message.
The police used a frequency count. For
example, E is the most commonly used letter in
the alphabet. Therefore, the code breakers
substituted the symbol that showed up the must
in the letter with the letter E, trying to
estimate which letters of the alphabet could
replace symbols allowed the police to crack
the code
Abusive Sibling
On June 18, 1996 a young 28
year old man named Eddie Seda
threatened to shoot his half
sister named Gladys Reyes and
her boyfriend in their mothers
Brooklyn apartment. Seda was
upset because he did not like
how the both of them were
together and alone in their
room. Gladys tried to run out
of the front door of the
apartment and was shot on her
way out, yet Gladys was still
able to call the police from
the neighbours apartment.
Hostage Situation
Gladys boyfriend tried to hide
in the apartment. However, Seda
found him and kept him hostage
in the apartment. Hostage
negotiators were sent to Eddie
Seda’s apartment complex to
convince him to turn himself
into the police. After several
hours of hostage negotiation,
Eddie Seda surrendered to the
police. Seda turned himself in
and surrendered 15 homemade zip
guns to the police.
The Slip Up!
When Eddie Seda was brought into
the police station, he was
required to provide a written
statement about his actions.
Once the investigators received
his written statement, they
noticed that next to his
signature, he made a peculiar
Zodiac-like symbol. This raised
a major red flag, and the letter
was handed over to the chief of
the NYPD
The Evidence
The NYPD had the letter sent for forensic
handwriting analysis to compare it to the
Zodiac’s previous letters. The
handwriting was a match. To continue, the
NYPD took Eddie Seda’s fingerprints, and
it was a complete match for the Zodiac
killer. Moreover, the NYPD requested Seda
to do a blood test, which he consented,
and it was revealed that the zodiac and
Eddie Seda were the same people.
 Tool Mark Analysis
The police examined the 15 zip guns that
Eddie Seda surrendered to the police. The
Zodiac thought that no grooves meant no
identification. However, he was wrong. The
police used forensic tool mark analysis.
Tool mark analysis examines the marks left
on a metal object after being in contact
with another metal object. Barrels in
general, will have minor imperfections,
which can lead to microscopic markings and
scratches that can be found on the bullet.
The Police used forensic tool mark
analysis to compare the bullets that left
Eddie Seda’s zip guns to the ones found on
the crime scene. The forensic evidence
proved that the bullets from the crime
scene and the ones used for testing Seda's
zip guns were the same
Fighting For Justice
With all the evidence the NYPD had
against Eddie Seda, he was sent to court.
After a six-week trial on June 24, 1998,
Eddie Seda was proven to be the Zodiac
Killer and was convicted by the jury for
a series of murders and attempted
murders. Eddie Seda was sentenced to 232
years in prison. He was charged with
shooting six people and killing three.
The prosecution had an immense amount of
forensic evidence against Seda. They had
so much that the prosecution left some
out not to overwhelm the jury.
Forensic Technology –
Fingerprint Analysis
 Latent fingerprints can be retrieved on materials such as paper using a chemical
agent known as ninhydrin. This chemical agent reacts with the amino acids that are
naturally found in the oils produced by human fingers. An object that contains
latent fingerprints, such as paper, must be submerged in ninhydrin. The reaction
between ninhydrin and amino acids often takes several days for it to happen.
Therefore, to speed up the process, the ninhydrin-soaked object is placed in a
humidified incubator. The incubator can provide valuable heat and relative
humidity which will speed up the reaction to occur within hours. Once the reaction
between ninhydrin and the amino acids is complete, a bright shade of purple, known
as Ruhemann’s purple, is shown, and the fingerprint becomes visible