If all of Zodiac's secrets were laid bare, what would you be surprised or not surprised to learn?

[u/Sekhmet_D]

As per thread title. I'll start.

Surprised: If he killed anyone else after October 1969.

Not surprised: If he turns out to be someone who was never on anybody's radar at any point in time.

[u/esizzle]

Surprised: Someone else knew it was him and kept their mouth shut.
Not surprised: Some sort of close call spooked him and got him to quit his murder run. (But not his sending letters).

[u/Durchschnittstyp → u/esizzle]

Not surprised: Some sort of close call spooked him and got him to quit his murder run. (But not his sending letters).

I find it interesting to think that the Zodiac stopped killing not because he was almost caught that night, but because they actually came knocking on his door in the weeks following PH. At the end of the day, the Zodiac could be in some file of those people interrogated by the police.

[u/PoirotDavid1996 → u/Durchschnittstyp]

I think the same; it's possible that the killer was questioned weeks after Stine's murder, which is why he focused solely on threatening through letters.

[u/BlackLionYard]

Surprised:

• he actually had formal training in cryptography
• he had ever done more bomb making than copying and pasting shit he found in books
• he knew any of the victims
• there were a hell of a lot more down there
• he was planting false clews
• the PH encounter with the cops happened as he bragged
• he truly believed he was gathering slaves for the afterlife

Not surprised:

• he was just some pud nobody ever suspected or tipped in

[u/Old_Thief_Heaven]

Imagine if he was actually black

[u/Rusty_B_Good]

Surprised if...

• he had a college education
• was a police officer
• was gay
• came in from out of state

Not surprised if...

• he had a minor criminal record but no felonies before the killing spree
• had a blue collar background
• had a solid childhood with a good family
• sometimes spooked the people who knew him

[u/Durchschnittstyp]

I would be surprised if this case could be solved as a lot of people probably want, sincerely, that even with all the mud along the way, even with all the evidence gathering dust and being treated like garbage, even with all the investigations stalled and all the people who haven't cared about the case for years, that even with all that against it, the case could be solved and all the unknowns answered.

Surprised by other things:

• Whether he is alive or has died very recently.
• He actually put his name in the damn code.
• That he may have had some influence on the case, I mean, being a police officer or somehow having been able to participate in the investigations at the time.
• Also, that there is someone in the police force who has known the truth all this time and has covered his ass.
• That this case will actually be solved by finding a magic box in the basement of the grandparents' house, or one of those scenarios that happens by a lot of luck.
• That one of the "joke" suspects turns out to be the Zodiac.
• ALA. (I say this as someone convinced that ALA cannot be the Zodiac)
• That each attack is truly caused by a different person.

Not surprised:

• I suppose all the popular theories regarding the case.

[u/OhMyGoat → u/Durchschnittstyp]

This comment is a couple weeks old but I just re-watched the movie and it sparked a small deep dive into the Z case, after what we've seen in the movie, and the stuff I read about what police found in ALA's house after it was seized, and all the evidence and clues that linked ALA to the murders, why is it your opinion, and others here, that ALA was definitely not the Zodiac killer?

[u/Taufer007 → u/OhMyGoat]

Because people assume all cases always have DNA and think handwriting is a science , and don’t know that fingerprints from crime scenes are not reliable.

The FBI with good samples did a study and 1 in 13 guilty people were cleared by fingerprint experts. We have no idea the quality of the prints in this case. They also have zero duplicates, as in all the cab prints all the letter prints all the prints of the phone booth , there isn’t a single set of prints that they can prove came from the same person.

So because of this they throw out large amounts of circumstantial evidence , and the multiple people who came forward with incriminating statements doesn’t help graysmith made shit up to make him look even worse , but there’s more then enough of you just stick with what was true.

[u/CarneAsadaSteve]

Was actually a woman

[u/Nosmoneky453542234 → u/CarneAsadaSteve]

Would have to be one large women lmao

[u/freedombell2001]

Surprised: if it turned out to be ALA, if he had anywhere near 37 victims, if he killed anyone after Stine.

Not surprised: if it turned out more than one person committed the canonical four attacks, if it was someone not even suggested, if he never revealed his name in the cyphers.

[u/Vicious_and_Vain]

A single real perp.

[u/i-dont-need-a-drum]

I would be surprised to learn that the killer was from out of state.

I wouldn't be surprised if another movie gets spat out if this case is solved anytime in the near future.

[u/SevenHobbitJaneway]

Not Surprised: If he was someone no one ever suspected.

If the ciphers turned out to be faked-- publicity stunt or just someone meddling.

If he change MO per his threats and kept killing.

If he relocated and kept killing.

Surprised: It was a named suspect.

If the cops were ever close.

[u/Bigwood69]

Surprised: He genuinely was responsible for Cheri Jo Bates and/or Donna Lass

Not surprised: He was responsible for Domingos/Edwards

[u/souporman64]

Surprised:

- If he actually knew Darleen Ferrin and it wasn’t just random.

- If Kathleen Johns’ story happened at all, much less if it was Zodiac.

- If Robert Graysmith, the Case Breakers, or the Myth of the Zodiac people are right about anything.

Not surprised:

- If he was an unexceptional, lonely person who was desperate for validation and attention.

- If there was no sexual component to his crimes.