If you believe Robert Tarbox, the Zodiac killer was a merchant marine. According to Tarbox, now 82, in the early 1970s a man came into his office stating that he was a merchant marine and that he was responsible for the Zodiac killings. He asked what the consequences would be if he turned himself in. Tarbox told him the outcome would not be good, that he could receive the death penalty or at best life imprisonment. The man left the office and was never seen again. Tarbox never told anyone about this until now, client privilege and all that being in play.
Over the years many names have cropped up as the possible Zodiac killer but none have panned out. The most recent, Arthur Leigh Allen, went all the way to DNA testing before his involvement in the killings was ruled out. The zodiac remains one of the great mysteries in criminal history.
Sheila Lowe
July 20, 2009 at 10:16 am
I’ve examined the handwritings of the Zodiac in great detail and compared them to the handwritings of various suspects. From the point of view of a court-qualified handwriting expert, it’s my opinion that none of the identified suspects matched the Zodiac letters. I wonder whether Tarbox got anything in writing from this merchant marine.
D.P. Lyle, MD
July 20, 2009 at 10:20 am
Sheila—Apparently he didn’t–at least the article mentions nothing like that and I suspect it would have if such evidence existed. Too bad.
Callaghan
November 8, 2012 at 3:23 am
I leave here my personal opinion on the case. Zodiac killer was indeed connected with Marine. It’s silly how many wrong profiles have been made. There is nothing complicated about his profile…
I mean, he used the Zodiac brand and name of a watch company! He used a Luger (military fanatism), he used cyphers… it’s not like Jack the ripper case! He left lot of elements behind him, and he still fooled people. It’s of course related to the Marine military service (maybe he was even the son of some Marine officer, I bet is been covered for years and now the case is simply impossible to solve).