ZODIAC TV – Original News Broadcasts & Documentaries

Click on the links below to view Zodiac videos at the ZodiacKillerFACTS channel on YouTube.

  • ZODIAC: CBS News Story – October 22, 1969 – CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite introduces this story about the televised conversation between famed attorney Melvin Belli and the Zodiac impostor known as “Sam.”
  • ZODIAC: Sign of Death – Perhaps the first film “documentary” about the unsolved “Zodiac” murders, this program features a summary of the crimes and a brief look at the scandal surrounding San Francisco Police Inspector David Toschi and the dubious “Zodiac” letter of 1978. 
  • CRIMES OF THE CENTURY: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – This 1989 television documentary includes the first on-camera interview with SFPD Officer Don Fouke on his sighting of the Zodiac near the Stine murder scene, as well as the first and only on-camera interview with suspect Richard Marshall. Hosted by actor Mike Connors (MANNIX), this program also features interviews with author Robert Graysmith, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, Det. Ken Narlow (NCSO), and Det. George Bawart (VPD).
  • News Report on The Zodiac and the New York copycat, ZODIAC II – This television news broadcast focuses on New York’s copycat ZODIAC and the California case. Highlights: An appearance by the famous attorney Melvin Belli, and a brief interview with retired detective Jack Mulanax (Vallejo Police Dept.), and his comment that the only suspect who ever “turned” him “on” was — at that time — working in a hardware store in Northern California. Shortly after this broadcast, convicted-felon Ralph Spinelli approached police and offered to name the Zodiac killer if authorities would drop the charges he faced for armed robbery that could lead to decades in prison. The man Spinelli named was infamous suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, who — at the time — worked in a hardware store in Northern California.
  • Still At Large: LA Ch.4 News – Harvey Hines and Larry Kane – This broadcast, aired on Los Angeles television channel 4, focused on retired police officer and Zodiac theorist Harvey Hines. Convinced he had identified the Zodiac, Hines accused “Larry Kane” of the infamous unsolved murders.
  • A CURRENT AFFAIR: Branded A Butcher (with Arthur Leigh Allen) – Arthur Leigh Allen, the “prime suspect” in the unsolved “Zodiac” murders, was interviewed on the popular tabloid television program “A Current Affair.” Appearing in silhouette, Allen denied the accusation that he was California’s most notorious serial killer. Highlights included appearances by Pam Huckaby (sister of Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin), Captain Roy Conway (Vallejo Police Department), William Beeman (author of Jack the Zodiac), and Harry Martin (publisher of The Napa Sentinel).
  • Arthur Leigh Allen: Local News + Fact vs. Fiction – This local news broadcast features the first public appearance by the “prime suspect” in the unsolved “Zodiac” murders – Arthur Leigh Allen. Filmed before his death in 1992, this segment also features clips from the so-called “Zodiac Conference” and comments from the “expert” panel – author Robert Graysmith (Zodiac), Captain Roy Conway and retired detective George Bawart (Vallejo Police Department). – Also included: A brief “Fact vs. Fiction” examination of the broadcast.
  • NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 – Celebrity reporter Geraldo Rivera and his team of investigative journalists examined the Zodiac mystery in two episodes of the tabloid television show NOW IT CAN BE TOLD. The program focused on the life and death of victim Darlene Ferrin and featured reporter Dave Peterson, former Vallejo police officer Steve Baldino, and detectives Ed Rust and John Lynch of the Vallejo Police Department. Others appearing in the show include Darlene’s sister Pam, satanic conspiracy theorist and author Maury Terry (The Ultimate Evil), and suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. The episode claimed that evidence indicated that Darlene Ferrin had known her killer and that a satanic cult may have been responsible for the Zodiac crimes. Two years before the NOW segments aired, Geraldo Rivera produced the now-infamous television special titled DEVIL WORSHIP: EXPOSING SATAN’S UNDERGROUND, which suggested that satanic cult activity was behind many violent crimes in America.

Watch the video documentary DEVIL WORSHIP: EXPOSING SATAN’S UNDERGROUND:

Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4 * Part 5 * Part 6 * Part 7 * Part 8 * Part 9 * Part 10 * Part 11

  • The SALLY JESSY RAPHAEL SHOW: Part 1 – Part 2 – In the late 1980s, the Zodiac case became hot news again after the publication of the best-selling book Zodiac, and the subsequent emergence of a copy-cat serial shooter in New York City who claimed to be the original California Zodiac. This segment of the then-popular syndicated talk show The Sally Jessy Raphael Show featured Robert Graysmith, author of Zodiac, and Pam, the sister of Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin. During the broadcast, Pam describes her “ordeal” as she endured ongoing harassment from a mysterious stalker. Note: Despite the fact that Graysmith based much of his book on the stories told by Pam, viewers will clearly notice as he attempts to distance himself from the sensational stories she tells during the show
  • HARD COPY: Tracking the Zodiac Killer – This segment of the popular tabloid television program focused on the unsolved “Zodiac” murders. Retired police officer Harvery Hines became convinced that the had identified the notorious killer as “Larry Kane.” Hines’ suspect was identified by possible Zodiac victim Kathleen Johns. In 1970, Johns claimed that she had escaped from the killer during a failed abduction attempt yet many investigators and researchers question whether she had, in fact, encountered the Zodiac, and some even suggested that she had invented the story. [Johns tale was featured in the 2007 film ZODIAC.] Police briefly investigated and cleared Larry Kane as a suspect, but Hines remained convinced “with every fiber” of his being that his suspect was the Zodiac.
  • UNSOLVED MYSTERIES with Robert Stack: This episode of the classic mystery series examines the theory that the Zodiac was Ted Kaczynski aka The Unabomber. Includes interviews with theorists Doug Oswell and Michael Rusconi, Dr. Michael Rustigan, and others. Originally broadcast on NBC in 1998.
  • AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: Zodiac – Behind the Scenes – This news report features a behind the scenes look at the production of a “Zodiac killer” segment for the TV show America’s Most Wanted. Highlights include: Comments from Dean Ferrin (husband of Zodiac victim Darlene Ferrin) and (then) Lt. Joann West of the Vallejo Police Department
  • ULTIMATE 10 UNSOLVED CRIME MYSTERIES: The Zodiac – Originally broadcast on cable television on The Learning Channel, this program examined ten of America’s most enduring unsolved mysteries. This segment focuses on the #1 mystery – the still-unsolved case of “The Zodiac” killer
  • ROBERT GRAYSMITH: Ashley Banfield – On Location – Author Robert Graysmith (Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked) appears on the MSNBC program “Ashley Banfield: On Location” to discuss the “D.C. Sniper” and Zodiac cases. Graysmith offers his usual blend of fact and fiction.
  • ROBERT GRAYSMITH: The Abrams Report – Author Robert Graysmith appears on the MSNBC program “The ABRAMS Report” to discuss the “D.C. Sniper” case and the unsolved Zodiac murders. Graysmith offers his usual blend of fact and fiction when discussing the Zodiac’s methods and motives and bends the truth regarding his suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen.