The Zodiac Killer is one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

Known not only for the gruesome murders he committed in northern California in the late 1960s, but for the cryptic letters he sent to the media extolling their own crimes, the killer and their unsolvable ciphers are still puzzling sleuths more than 60 years later.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was the recipient of 17 of the 22 letters the Zodiac is known to have sent, the unidentified perpetrator, whose crimes have served as the subject for multiple film and TV projects, including Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, 2007’s Zodiac (Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr.) and 2024’s This Is the Zodiac Speaking, was responsible for the deaths of at least five individuals.

Teenagers Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday, wife and mother Darlene Ferrin, college student Cecila Shepard and taxi driver Paul Stine tragically lost their lives at the hands of the Zodiac, while Michael Renault Mageau and Bryan Hartnell narrowly escaped death.

Ferrin’s sister Pam Huckaby opened up to the Vallejo Times-Herald about her late sibling in July 2019, noting that Ferrin’s daughter Deena is now a mother herself. “Darlene would have been a great mom to her,” she said. “Darlene loved her family and was very family oriented.”

Huckaby added: “If that hadn’t happened, Darlene would be with me. With us. With the family.”

And while investigators have only confirmed five killings associated with the Zodiac, the murderer claimed to have taken the lives of as many as 37 people through his various letters, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

Keep reading to find out more about the Zodiac Killer’s victims and what happened to them.

The Zodiac Killer is a mass murderer who terrorized the city of San Francisco from 1968 to 1970. While many theories have emerged regarding the killer’s identity over the years, only one suspect has ever been named in connection to the crimes by investigators, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

The outlet reported that Arthur Leigh Allen, a convicted child molester who lived in the Vallejo area, owned boots that matched the killer’s footprints and had referenced a short story in a police interview that the Zodiac had mentioned in one of their letters.

Zodiac survivor Mageau also positively identified Allen from a photo lineup as the man that had shot him years earlier. According to the Chronicle, Allen died of a heart attack in 1992 and was never charged in relation to the Zodiac murders.

In May 2014, business owner Gary Stewart claimed his father Earl Van Best Jr. was responsible for the murders in his book The Most Dangerous Animal Of All, and in October 2021, a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators known as The Case Breakers claimed that they had identified another man as the Zodiac: Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018 per Fox News.

The FBI confirmed to Newsweek in May 2023, however, that the killer’s identity was not yet known.

As of October 2024, no one has been charged with the Zodiac’s crimes

Who were the Zodiac Killer’s victims? 

Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Farada

16-year-old honor roll student Jensen and 17-year-old wrestler Faraday were the Zodiac Killer’s first known victims. According to This Is the Zodiac Speaking, the high school students had been out for their first date before David drove them to a secluded area on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, Calif. to be alone.

The couple were shot and killed by the Zodiac on Dec. 20, 1968, and their bodies were later discovered outside of their vehicle by a passerby.

Darlene Ferrin

The killer’s next victim was 22-year-old Ferrin, a waitress who was both a wife and a new mother. Ferrin, along with 19-year-old Mageau, was shot while sitting in Ferrin’s car in a remote parking lot in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, Calif., roughly 15 minutes away from where the previous victims had been found, on July 4, 1969.

After entering and leaving the parking lot abruptly, the Zodiac reportedly pulled up behind Ferrin’s car, then approached the passenger side with a flashlight before opening fire. Mageau survived the attack while Ferrin did not.

Ferrin’s sister opened up about her oldest sibling to the Vallejo Times-Herald, saying, “She was a great sister. There were 10 of us — eight girls, two boys. She was the oldest and my idol.”

According to Times-Herald, the Zodiac Killer called 911 following the July 4 attack on their third and fourth victims to take credit for the incident. “I want to report a double murder,” they said. “If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 MM luger.”

During the call, the Zodiac also confessed to the killings of the two high school students that had taken place one year prior. “I also killed those kids last year,” they said. “Goodbye.”

Cecila Shepard

On Sept. 27, 1969, 22-year-old Shepard became the fourth known victim to die at the hands of the Zodiac while picnicking in Lake Berryessa in Benicia, Calif., with her boyfriend Hartnell.

According to reports, the Zodiac held the couple at gunpoint and tied them up before fatally stabbing Shepard 10 to 20 times and wounding Hartnell, who survived the attack. Hartnell told authorities that he initially thought the man, who was wielding a pistol and wearing a hood, was a robber, but that he refused money when it was offered, stating, “I don’t want the money, all I want to do is kill [you].”

After attacking Hartnell and Shepard, the Zodiac marked the vehicle’s passenger side door with the dates of two of their previous shootings, per This Is the Zodiac Speaking.

Shepard’s obituary in the Napa Valley Register revealed that she had been a student at Pacific Union College, where she was studying music. Her funeral services were attended by more than 1,000 friends and family members, who recalled her love for her craft.

Paul Stine

The Zodiac’s final confirmed victim was 29-year-old Paul Stine. Stine was killed on Oct. 11, 1969, after giving the Zodiac a taxi ride. Radio station KFGO reported that Stine was a San Francisco State doctorate candidate who was working as a cabbie while pursuing his degree.

The Zodiac took ownership for his last victim’s life in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle in which he included a bloodied piece of the victim’s clothing. The letter was printed in an Oct. 15, 1969 issue of the paper.

“This is the Zodiac speaking. I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St. and Maple St. last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt,” the killer wrote, adding, “I am the same man who did in the people in the North Bay Area.”

Have the Zodiac Killer’s crimes been solved? 

While elements of the zodiac killer’s crimes have been solved, including several of the ciphers he sent to the media, others remain a mystery.

The Desert Sun reported on Aug. 13, 1969, that Donald and Bettye Harden had cracked the killer’s first cipher after it was sent to local newspapers. Known as the 408 cipher, it read in part, “I like killing because it is so much fun.”

In December 2020, web designer David Oranchak cracked another of the killer’s ciphers 51 years after being sent to the Chronicle with the help of Australian mathematician Sam Blake, and Belgium warehouse operator Jarl Van Eykcke.

In the note, the Zodiac Killer said that he hoped the authorities were having “lots of fun” trying to catch him and seemingly gave them a clue regarding a 1969 broadcast of Jim Dunbar’s AM San Francisco during which an anonymous caller claimed to be the Zodiac and said they didn’t want to go to the gas chamber.

“THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW,” the Zodiac wrote. “I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE [sic] ALL THE SOONER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME.”

Accused murderer Luigi Mangione’s grandmother reportedly left tens of millions of dollars to her children and grandchildren after she died, but did so on one condition: that any grandchild receiving inheritance money not be “charged, indicted, convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony.”

That’s according to Mangione’s grandmother’s will, Fox News reported last Friday, noting that Mary Mangione left roughly $30 million to her living children and grandchildren after she died in 2023. The outlet reports that Mangione’s grandmother had 10 children and 37 grandchildren.

“It is my precatory desire that the Trustees particularly consider invoking their discretion to implement this Section if the felony is a common law felony, a statutory felony if it is the codification of a common law felony, a heinous felony, any felony involving a physically violent act against another person or property or any drug related felony involving distribution or intent to distribute any type of drug or illegal substance,” the Mangione matriarch’s will reads, according to Fox News. “The decision of the Trustees is conclusive, final and binding on everyone. It is my precatory wish that the benefit of the doubt is not given to the individual.”

The charges against Mangione stem from the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside of a Manhattan hotel, which prompted a five-day manhunt for Mangione after he fled the scene on a bicycle and investigators lost track of him in Central Park.

Mangione was arrested after an employee at an Altoona, Pa., McDonald’s restaurant called local police. According to authorities, PEOPLE learned that Mangione had a “manifesto” on him at the time of his arrest in which he railed against the U.S. healthcare system, allegedly writing, “these parasites had it coming.”

Investigators also found bullet casings at the scene of Thompson’s death that reportedly had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” engraved on them — a possible reference to “deny, delay, defend,” a phrase used to describe insurance industry tactics for dodging claims.

One friend recently told the Honolulu Civil Beat that Mangione had been dealing with “debilitating” chronic back pain for years and that he recently became estranged from many of his friends and family, having gone largely unheard from since the summer. His mother, Kathleen Mangione, had reported her son missing in mid-November, roughly two weeks before Thompson was murdered.

Who said “Nobody Wants This”? The SAG Awards certainly do.

Kristen Bell, fresh off a Golden Globe best comedy actress nomination for her Netflix series “Nobody Wants This,” will host the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23. For a second time, Netflix will stream the ceremony live (8 p.m. ET/ 5 PT) from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

“Thrilled to be hosting the SAG Awards again this year,” said Bell, who is married to actor and podcaster Dax Shepard, in a statement issued by the guild. “I’m honored to be asked back and can’t wait to share the evening with my fellow actors, doing what we do best … celebrating ourselves.”

Bell ended the statement with a smiley face emoji.

When are the SAG Award nominations announced?

Bell, who last hosted the awards in 2018, follows 2024’s de facto host Idris Elba. Nominees for this year’s awards for top movies and TV shows, which are voted on by members of the screen actors’ union, will be announced Jan. 8.

Last week’s Golden Globe nominations raise SAG hopes for top Globe nominees such as “Emilia Pérez” (10 nominations), “The Brutalist” (seven) and “Conclave” (six). In TV, the FX series “The Bear” leads the Globe field (five nominations) followed by “Only Murders in the Building” and “Shōgun” (four each).

Bell and “Nobody Wants This” co-star Adam Brody also have reasons to be optimistic. Their show, which chronicles the love affair between a rabbi and his gentile girlfriend, scored three Globe nominations: best musical or comedy TV series, and best acting nods for Brody and Bell. (Not that the competition won’t be stiff. At last year’s SAG Awards, “The Bear” cleaned up all three of those categories.)

Three people are dead after a student opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., the local police chief said on Monday, Dec. 16.

The shooter, a teenage student at the school, was found deceased after officers responded to the scene, Chief Shon Barnes said at an early afternoon press conference.

He did not say how the shooter died, but indicated that officers had not fired their weapons inside the building.

Barnes said at a press conference later on Monday that authorities are not yet publicly announcing the student’s age or gender.

The fatal victims were one student and one teacher, Barnes said. The victims have not been publicly named. Police had previously said erroneously that five people were deceased.

Six students remain hospitalized. Of those two are in critical condition with “life-threatening injuries,” said Barnes.

Police responded to an active shooter call reported at Abundant Life at about 10:57 a.m., Barnes said. The shooting is believed to have entirely taken place in one room, though it’s unclear if that was a classroom or in a hallway.

A handgun believed to be the shooter’s weapon was recovered from the scene; police have since executed a search warrant on the suspect’s home, but are as of yet withholding their name or any other identifiers. Barnes said the suspect’s family is cooperating in the investigation.

“Today truly is a sad day for Madison and for our country,” said Barnes. “It is a day that I believe will live in our collective minds for a very, very long time.

Students in Madison public schools were on lockdown following the incident, but police dod not believe there are any further threats to students’ safety. Meanwhile, a reunification center was established at the nearby Dean Clinic so parents can find their kids.

Abundant Life requested on social media that people “please pray for our Challenger Family” following the shooting.

According to the school’s website, Abundant Life Christian School was founded in 1978 and serves grades K-12.

The juvenile shooter who opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis. on Monday, killing a teacher and another student, was a 17-year-old female student, according to the Associated Press.

The detail was shared with the AP by a law enforcement official who was not authorized to divulge any identifying information, which the police were withholding from the press as of 5 p.m. Monday. CNN also reported that the shooter was a female student.

No further details were immediately available and the Madison Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

Just before 11 a.m. on Dec. 16, police in Madison, Wis., responded to an active shooter call reported at the school, Chief Shon Barnes said at a press conference.

Three people including the shooter died and six others were hospitalized, with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, Barnes said.

The shooter was found dead inside the school after officers responded to the scene.

The circumstances of the shooter’s death weren’t immediately clear, though Barnes noted that police did not fire their weapons.

Police, however, know the suspect’s identity and have executed a search warrant on the person’s residence; Barnes said the family is cooperating in the investigation.

Jill Jacobson, a star of film and TV known for her work in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the soap operas Falcon Crest and Days of Our Lives, has died. She was 70 years old.

Jacobson’s friend and publicist Daniel Harary confirmed the news to Variety on Sunday, Dec. 15. Harary said that she died on Dec. 8 in Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Culver Health Center after a “long illness.”

The actress, who served as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, revealed during an episode of the Jim Masters Show in September that she struggled with esophageal cancer that “kind of took me out of the game for a while.”

“What I went through was pretty intense. You can’t function, you just can’t function,” she said at the time. “And now I’m so grateful, I just want to keep going, I want to help people. It makes you want to help people.”

Jacobson’s manager Ben Padua also confirmed the news of her death to Entertainment Weekly, telling the outlet: “We are incredibly sad to say goodbye to our beautiful, soulful, hysterically funny, elegantly raunchy client, Jill Jacobson.”

“Jill was a total spitfire of an actress with comedic timing straight out of a Marx Brothers’ flick and Hollywood glamour right from its golden age. Jill took us on so many adventures and she was an absolute blast,” he added. “Thank you, Jill. We’ll see you in our dreams.”

Originally from Texas, Jacobson studied radio, TV and film performance at the University of Texas at Austin before moving to L.A. to launch her acting career, per Deadline. In her earliest days of acting, she starred in films including 1977’s Nurse Sherri and Bad Georgia Road.

Jacobson appeared in several other indie comedy movies over the course of her career, including 1982’s Forbidden Love, 1983’s Baby Sister and 1984’s Splash.

She also starred in a number of TV roles from the 1980s to the 2000s, including a 22-episode stint as character Erin Jones on Falcon Crest, five episodes of Days of Our Lives, two episodes of Newhart, an episode of Quantum Leap and many more.

Notably, Jacobson appeared in two different Star Trek series — Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — in two different guest roles.

Most recently, Jacobson appeared in the horror anthology series Etheria in 2020. She was also known for her theater roles and stand-up comedy, performing at the iconic L.A. venues Improv and The Comedy Store.

Caryn Richman, who starred in The New Gidget alongside Jacobson, told Deadline that she remembered the actress as a “brilliant” comedic actress as well as a friend.

“Jill’s comic timing was brilliant. And her enthusiasm and love of life made our time together on set joyful,” Richman said.

Jacobson’s family said in a statement, per Deadline: “Beautiful, energetic, and positive to the end, she will be deeply missed by numerous relatives, friends and her beloved dogs Benny and Kowalski.”

Bronny James will play in his first G League road game Thursday when the South Bay Lakers play at the Valley Suns in Tempe, Arizona, a person familiar with the decision told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the team’s plans for the rookie guard.

It had been reported earlier this season that James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, didn’t plan to play in G League road games. However, the Lakers and Bronny kept options open and have since decided that he will play in select G League road games.

Bronny has played in three G League games this season, averaging 8.7 points on 29.4% shooting, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks for South Bay. He scored 16 points in his most recent G League game Saturday. He has also appeared in seven games for the Lakers as he shuttles back and forth between the NBA and G League and develops.

Bronny was the No. 55 pick in the second round of the 2024 draft. He was moving up draft boards before he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest just before the start of his freshman season at Southern California in July 2023.

All things Lakers: Latest Los Angeles Lakers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Earlier this season, LeBron and Bronny became the first father-son combo to play in the NBA at the same time.

ESPN was the first to report that Bronny will play in a G League road game.

A shooting at a “pop-up party” in Houston late Saturday left two teenagers dead and three others injured, including a 13-year-old girl, authorities said.

Officers responded to a shooting-in-progress call at around 11:20 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to Houston Police Assistant Chief Luis Menendez-Sierra. After they arrived, Menendez-Sierra said officers discovered a “very hectic scene” with a large crowd of people running out of a makeshift club.

“It’s kind of one of these last-minute parties, pop-up parties that have been popping up lately,” Menendez-Sierra said during a news conference.

The crowd appeared to consist of “mostly juveniles” and people were “running all over the place,” trying to flee the scene as officers tended to several people who sustained gunshot wounds, according to Menendez-Sierra.

Responders found a 16-year-old boy who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A 16-year-old girl was transported to the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where she was pronounced dead.

At least three others were injured, including a 13-year-old girl who was in critical condition at the Texas Children’s Hospital and a 19-year-old woman who transported herself to the hospital, according to police.

Menendez-Sierra said no suspects have been identified and asked people with information about the shooting to contact authorities.

“We don’t have suspect information or any vehicle or anything at this point, our homicide team is working on that,” Menendez-Sierra said. “We’ll try to get as much information out to the public as we can.”

Police: Shooting occurred at a non-sanctioned party

The shooting happened at an empty business on the city’s north side that was “kind of just leased out” and turned into a makeshift club, according to Menendez-Sierra. Authorities said the party was part of a recent social media trend, in which people organize unauthorized and last-minute events.

Menendez-Sierra noted that non-sanctioned parties have no regulations with “nothing guarding it,” which can cause serious problems.

“These makeshift, unsanctioned pop-up parties can quickly lead to chaos and violence,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonalez said in a statement on X. “These parties quickly come together via social media. Pop-up parties raise public safety concerns and teens need to stay away for their own safety.”

Latest shooting in the U.S.

Saturday’s shooting is the latest incident of gun violence in the U.S. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that documents gun violence incidents across the country, there have been nearly 16,000 incidents so far this year.

Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called gun violence an “urgent public health crisis” and urged for initiatives similar to those used against smoking and motor vehicle crashes to stop it. Murthy said an estimated 50,000 people are killed every year due to gun violence.

The rate of firearm-related deaths “reached a near three-decade high in 2021,” according to the surgeon general’s 39-page advisory. A rise in firearm‑related homicides since 2012 and firearm‑related suicides over the last two decades are also driving the crisis.

A September report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that firearms were the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the U.S. for the third consecutive year and that homicides accounted for the majority of gun deaths in the age group.

“In the U.S., gun death rates in this age group have increased by 106 percent since 2013 and have been the leading cause of death among this group since 2020,” according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

A video captured a tornado ripping through a shopping center parking lot near Santa Cruz in California over the weekend.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the tornado in Scotts Valley on Saturday caused several flipped vehicles, fallen trees, and multiple injuries due to the heavy winds and rain. It hit the city, which is about 6 miles from Santa Cruz and 96 miles southwest of Stockton, just before 2 p.m.

According to the National Weather Service Bay Area, the EF-1 tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph. The agency said that power poles were included in the damage.

“Everything was being blown that way. Cars were suddenly moving,” witness Ben Hughes told KGO. “You could see the traffic lights leave the poles.”

No deaths have been reported, officials say

According to the Scotts Valley Police Department, during road closures, crews with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company worked to restore power.

“We thank our community for their patience while repairs were being made,” the department said.

Officials said that no one was killed due to the tornado, KGO reported.

“It was a miracle no one was killed in this event,” Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm said to the news station on Sunday. “I feel like we dodged a bullet on this one, in terms of injuries and no fatalities.”

Queen and Adam Lambert are currently on a European tour, having already wowed the UK in May and June with a string of massive arena shows.

They rocked up to the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno in Bologna, Italy, last night (July 10) where they decided to play something extra special.

Given they were in the birthplace of opera, it was especially appropriate for the band to give a stunning rendition of ‘Nessun dorma’, the beautiful aria from the last act of Puccini’s Turandot.

One of the most well-known melodies from the world of opera, ‘Nessun dorma’ enjoyed major mainstream recognition when a 1972 recording by Luciano Pavarotti was used during television coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

The moment was captured and shared by an Adam Lambert Twitter fan account:

After Freddie Mercury’s tragic death in 1991, Queen have continued to perform live under the “Queen + ….” banner, with Free’s Paul Rodgers fronting the group from 2004 to 2009 and former American Idol runner-up Lambert on the mic since 2011.

The Queen + Paul Rodgers lineup released a single studio album The Cosmos Rocks in 2008, but while they have spent time in the studio, Queen + Adam Lambert have yet to release any newly-recorded material.