Anyone with more than a passing interest in true crime will be familiar with the Zodiac Killer and his notorious 'crosshair' symbol. Well, according to Randy Kenney, even the symbolism was not all it seemed.
The crosshair symbol was one of the biggest leads in the Zodiac case -- drawn on his letters, the side of a car and his outfit, a black mask that he wore over his head. Randy Kenney, however, believes the symbol was not a crosshair at all. His friend, Louie Myers, confessed to being the Zodiac and what the symbol really means. "It's a Celtic Cross, not a cross with sights," said Kenney. "He was obsessed with his Scottish heritage. He told me 'I killed some people. I'm the guy they're looking for. They've been looking for me for over 30 years. I'm the Zodiac Killer." Myers told Kenney this just after he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 2001. Myers died in 2002.
Kenney said Myers asked him to wait until after he was dead to tell the police and that he wanted Kenney to write a book, with the money from it going to victims' families.
According to Kenney, Myers became the Zodiac at age 17, after a girl broke up with him. "That's the deal with the whole couples thing," he said.
Myers went to school with the murdered kids, both Hogan and Vallejo. He also worked in a restaurant with the murdered waitress, Darlene Ferrin. Myers even briefly worked at Victory Military Surplus in Vallejo; a military-style boot print was found at the Lake Barryessa scene -- military records show that Myers was stationed in Germany between June 1971 and January 1973 (the Zodiac had no communication with the police or press during this time).
Myers confessed to Kenney in 1976, but he didn't believe him. "I've changed my mind, now," said Kenney.
The Zodiac Killer left a gruesome but complex trail when he committed his alleged murders in the 60s and 70s, and Kenney said that one of the letters he sent to the press could hold a clue about how remarkably young he was. "The Halloween Card said 'look for teen', alright? And at that time, they thought it meant 14 victims, but it was actually 'look for a teen'." Myers would have been in his late teens at the time. However, police who responded to the crime are sceptical. "He doesn't look anything like what the surviving witness described," said one. "Still, we're curious. We'd be interested to know if he still had the knife, gun and hood."
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