The most interesting crimes are the unsolved ones...since I'm all about the "what if?" scenario.  Why did the killer get away with the crime(s)?  Were they more or less clever or careless than the ones who were caught, or did the right (or wrong?) Detectives get the case?  Did they want to get caught?  There's a myriad of questions...and the most interesting crime in my opinion is THE ZODIAC KILLER.    After 41 years, the case remains unsolved.  At the height of the investigation there were nearly 2500 suspects--even the likes of Unabomber Ted Kaczynsky and Manson Family members Bruce Davis and Charles Manson himself.  (All three were eventually eliminated by investigators.)   The case still remains open in the counties of Napa, and Solano, the City of Vallejo, and by the California Dept. of Justice.  In 2004, The San Francisco Police Department  flagged the case "INACTIVE",  and was reopened in March 2007.  New evidence?  No one knows why.



Between December 1968 and October 1969, there were 7 victims, between the ages of 16-29.  Four Men and 3 women were targeted, 5 died; 2 men lived.   (why did the men live and the women didn't?)  All were in Northern Calfornia.  All the crimes except one were committed in secluded areas.  2 different guns (22 caliber/9mm) were used--and one crime was a stabbing...why the change of weapon--gun to knife, then back to a different gun?  Was the first gun and knife discarded? 



Zodiac sent 18 letters to Area Newspapers;  4 letters contained cyrptograms, 3 of the 4 are still unsolved.  Some contained physical evidence, including a piece of a blood-covered shirt.  No conclusive evidence was found.

Here's some pretty interesting tidbits about a couple of the main suspects, which is continued in PART 2. 

 

The main Suspects were Arthur Leigh Allen (12/18/33--8/26/92) and Richard Gaikowski (3/14/36--4/30/04).  These tidbits were, at the time, dismissed by Police...REALLY?

--BOTH MEN were 'involved' with Darlene Ferrin, who was killed on 7/4/69.  Her date (Mike Mageau), lived.  In 1992, Mageau picked Arthur Leigh Allen out of a police lineup.
ALLEN:
--Allen got a Zodiac Watch for Christmas in 1967.  The Logo of the watch was what ZODIAC would use as his own.
--1970-'74, Allen went to Sonoma State Colege.  The ZODIAC Killings stopped--but the SONOMA COED KILLINGS began.  The CA Dept of Justice said if every victim's last known place alive and location of the bodies were mapped out; Allen's home was DIRECTLY IN THE CENTER of EVERY ONE.
--1992:  Vallejo Police got a Warrant, and the goal a VHS Tape with a "Z".  No confession; and the contents of the tape have never been released.
GAIKOWSKI:
--He followed Ferrin to NY when she married--he and her Husband worked at rival Newspapers.
--Ferrin moved back to CA after a divorce--so did he.
--He got  another Paper job--which began to run "fiction articles" written by him--that were "BLUEPRINTS" of future Zodiac Killings, and "free ads" for theatre shows--the most prominent was THE MIKADO, which Zodiac quoted in his letters.
--Wednesday was a 12-hour day at the paper.  ZODIAC sent 18 letters--NONE were ever postmarked on a Wednesday.
--1974:  When ZODIAC was writing about recent movies--he was employed at a movie theatre.

INTERESTING...?  Methinks so...
Read More HERE:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,414022,00.html

At 5’2, Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro was the 300lb gorilla in the room. And chances are if he was in the same room as you, you were in the presence of a stone-cold killer. It was estimated that by the time of his death in 1986, Anthony murdered over 22 people; one with an industrial strength vise-grip.  But he who lives by the sword often dies by the sword and this fate was not spared on The Ant. He was found dead along with his brother Michael Spilotro buried in a cornfield in Enos, Indiana savagely beaten.  The autopsy would later show that sand was found in the brothers lungs indicating that they were both buried alive.

But what makes this story interesting to this deputy and his crew is that we knew Anthony Spilotro.  As a kid, I worked for him in the Food Factory on Twain and Swenson in Las Vegas Nevada. He was a family friend and to stand before him – knowing full well of his reputation, you would not suspect that this father, this uncle and husband was a killer of 20 plus souls.  He was a funny individual with a crocked smile and quick Italian wit as he berated me for not following through on a food delivery the right way or for not having a girl around.  Like most Italian fathers, he was heavy handed and full of love.  His insults were not meant to sting but to educate – quickly.  And educate they did.

As an employee of his at the Food Factory, I recall him once shutting down the store – patrons and all just to find out which employee was inhaling whippets from the cans in the back.  I knew which kid it was of course but my personal code wouldn’t allow me to rat the kid out.  It was the kids own urine that give him away as he pissed himself when Anthony walked by.  I never saw that kid again but I heard he’s still breathing.

As for my team mate Zachary the Bull, he hung out with Spilotro’s son. Both a few years older than me, Zachary talked about as follows:

I spent many nights as a kid sleeping over at Vince’s house as his father sat in the kitchen wearing a button up short-sleeve shirt – always with the shirt wide open, as he proudly displayed his scar from open heart surgery.  Even with the scar, he often let it be known to us young bucks that he would still “fuck us up” 9 ways from Sunday.  A cigarette hanging from his lip and a plate full of artery destroying Italian goods, he was not a man to consumed with death.

From the 3 years I hung around with Vince, I never saw this destroyer of flesh and bone that the media portrayed him as and I remember waking up one morning to the pale white faces of my parents; both of which are black, as they said, “Zachary, Anthony Spilotro is on the phone.”  I think I saw my father look down at me as if to say, “you stupid fucker! What have you done now?”

It of course was a harmless phone call. You see, Vince and I were pulled over by Metro’s finest one night and the police happened to rough Vince up a bit and place him in thumb cuffs. Thumb cuffs. I later became a police officer myself and still never had the privilege to see or use thumb cuffs, but they sure did have them on Vince.  I always felt that the police had his number  and whenever you went out with Vince Spilotro, two things went down: one, his Dad usually dropped a few hundred dollar bills in our pockets just for pizza and two, you always got pulled over and then had to get debriefed by Anthony Spilotro the morning after. As I recall, I was in basic training the morning I found out about Mr. Spilotro.  We were shining boots and there on the news was an over-head shot of the crime scene – both bodies of Mr. Spilotro and Uncle Mike as he liked to be called – covered in sheets.  I actually wept for a moment. Yes, I wept for a murderer, a butcher of men – but most importantly, I wept for Vince and his family.  I wept for his mother Nancy, and I wept for the memory of a kind Italian father - of which all I knew.

Of course, we are all much older and more cynical as we turn on the television only to see a child missing and instantly accuse the family. But back then, we could look upon the face of a killer and see love. How strange and dark we have become. Or have we finally come to realize that there is a killer in us all – whether it be for profit, revenge, or rage. We are all capable; given the right circumstance

                         
Anastasia Romanov was born in 1901, the fourth daughter to Nicholas Romanov II and Alexandra Romanov, the last Czar and Czarina of Russia.  During Czar Nicholas II reign, the war with Germany led to a revolution and the rise of the Bolshevik party, which finally resulted in Czar Nicholas II’s abdication of the throne in 1916. 

The entire Romanov family including Czar Nicolas II, Czarina Alexandra, Anastasia, her three sisters, young brother, and four servants were taken as prisoners and guarded by Bolsheviks for  1 ½ years.  They were harbored between Russia and Siberia, but their final destination was a “House of Purpose,” the Ipatiev House, in Ekaterinburg.

                

A group of devout Russians were attempting to rescue the Romanovs, and on the fateful night of July 17, 1918, the Romanovs and their servants were gathered into the cellar of the Ipatiev House, under the pretense of protecting them from war and gunfire outside, only to be executed by their Bolshevik guards.   The bodies were buried in a mass grave in the middle of the woods.  

                   
Eventually news passed of the mass execution in the cellar of the Ipatiev , however there was speculation that some of the royal family may have survived since there were no bodies.  Many imposters appeared claiming to be members of the missing royal family, mainly the two youngest children, Duchess Anastasia and the Czar’s only son Alexei.  Only nine of the eleven victims were discovered in the mass grave over sixty years later.

                               

In 1920, a woman was pulled from a Berlin canal and was sent to a mental hospital because she had no identification and either could not or would not identify herself.  After two years, another patient made a claim that she resembled one of the missing Romanov children.  “Miss Unknown” broke her silence and stated she was indeed the Duchess Anastasia Romanov.   She claimed that she was rescued by one of the Bolshevik soldiers, named Alexander Tchaikovsky, who killed her family and took her for a wife.  After two years, he was killed, causing her to spiral into depression so she left their newborn child at an orphanage and tried to kill herself by drowning in the canal.  She went by the name Anastasia Tchaikovsky then changed her name later to Anna Anderson in hopes of escaping the constant press. 

Take a close look at the pictures below.  Based on physical appearance, do you think these are all pictures of the same person?






Physical Resemblances:  
-same eye and hair color
-being of same height and shoe size
-identical hallux valgus deformation in her feet
-Matching scars on finger same as where  Anastasia
 slammed her finger in a carriage door
-Scar on back same as where Anastasia had a
 mole removed
-identical ears


-Scars on body resembling shape of rifle bayonet like
 the ones used to murder the Romanov family

-She answered all questions correctly from a list created by
 Czar Nicholas II’s nephew, questions that were believed only
 Anastasia Romanov would know the answers to

-Knowledge of private jokes among Anastasia’s childhood friends

-It was believed the extended Romanov family did not want to
 relinquish any royalty money, thus giving reason to deny her identity

-Franziska Schanzkowska’s siblings refused to claim her as their sister

-Identical Handwriting:





-A woman named Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish factory worker, was reported missing on the same day that Anna Anderson was pulled from the Berlin canal



-Anna Anderson could not speak Russian, which was considered odd of a Russian Duchess, though she claimed she was simply refusing to speak the language of her family’s murderers

-It was believed she was deliberately posed in certain ways to resemble known pictures of Anastasia Romanov, biting her lips to make them appear smaller and more like Anastasia’s

-Authorities were unable to locate anyone named Alexander Tchaikovsky whom she claimed to be her deceased husband

-No child was reported as being abandoned at any orphanages during time frame surrounding the disappearance of Franziska and appearance of Anna in the Berlin canal

Her identity was questioned for over 60 years and even several court cases in which Anderson attempted to claim Romanov inheritances could not agree or disagree as to her identity, stating her identity has neither been proven nor disproven as Anastasia Romanov.  Anna Anderson died in 1984 and was cremated.

                              

The mass grave of the Romanov family was discovered in 1979 but the remains were re-buried due to the political unrest in Russia and were not exhumed again until 1991. There were 11 people who were murdered that night with the Romanov family, yet only 9 bodies were found in the grave in 1979.  The son, Alexei was among the missing but there was dissent among the scientists, one believing the missing daughter to be Maria, and the other believing the missing daughter to be Anastasia.  

The DNA of Czarina Alexandra’s great nephew Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburg, and the DNA of Karl Maucher, the great nephew of the missing woman, Franziska Schanzkowska proved that Anna Anderson’s DNA did not match the Romanov's and in fact matched that of Karl Maucher, identifying her as Franziska.  Yet there was still speculation despite the test results because as years passed and DNA testing improved, it was found that prior DNA testing was often inaccurate when these DNA tests were conducted.  For almost 20 more years the DNA test were still doubted among believers in her likeness in physical appearances, scars,  and 'memories' that only a Duchess would know of her family. 

However, in 2008, another small unmarked grave of two was unearthed several yards away from the original, and DNA tests have confirmed in April 2009 that the two remains found match the Romanovs and these two were without a doubt siblings, Alexei and Duchess Maria, not Anastasia.  It is unclear how the determination was made of which Duchess it was.

(To watch the video, click the picture!)


                   

This final evidence confirmed once and for all, after 91 years, that the entire Romanov family and four servants were executed and no one survived, thus putting to rest any remaining doubt in the minds of Anna Anderson believers that she was Anastasia.

What makes this tale—which has inspired many books, articles, studies, and movies such as Ingrid Bergman’s 1956 film Anastasia and Disney’s animated version Anastasia — a fascinating crime is that this sole woman was able to convince so many people including some from her own family as well as the Romanov family for over 60 years that she was the Duchess Anastasia Romanov. 

            
Another interesting thing is the fact that the Bolsheviks responsible for the Romanov family executions allowed Anna Anderson to carry on her facade knowing full well that none of the family survived that brutal night.  Why did no one give away the location of the remains in order to settle the matter?  It makes one wonder whether the Bolsheviks were killed so that they could not give the information out, or if their patriotism to their government was so strong that they all but wiped their memory of it to preserve the political ambitions. 

In the midst of those questions, unless someone comes forth and admits to conspiring with Anna Anderson/ Franziska Schanzkowska, no one will truly be able to explain how she knew the private things of the royal family that she did, or why her handwriting was practically an exact match, or any of the other similarities she shared with Anastasia. 

TUNE IN TO “FINDING ANASTASIA” ON THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, NOV. 14, 3pm EST.

(For more information about this show, click the logo!)



                           Credits: Articles & Videos
         

Helter Skelter

 

Charles Manson’s personal philosophy. An Armageddon in which “the black man would rise up and start killing all the white, turning the cities into an inferno of racial revenge” The mad man, behind several murders including the Tate/LaBianca slayings which took place in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969, never actually killed anyone. He was however sentenced to death based on the joint responsibility rule. Charles Manson is a perfect example of how people can be manipulated by a charismatic leader. His ability to lure people who wanted to rebel and instill such fierce loyalty in his followers so that they would not only carry out his wishes, but also would rather implicate themselves than risk anything happening to him was extraordinary.  His “Family”, made up of misfits and rebels was the first of its kind to make headlines, and it’s still making headlines today. The brutal, callous nature of the crimes, as well as the nonchalance and complete lack of remorse displayed by the perpetrators - in particular Susan Atkins, who admitted killing Sharon Tate and described it in sickening detail to authorities - is just as chilling today as it was 40 years ago.  Upon learning of Susan Atkins parole hearing and her recent death this “Family” began to intrigue me.  It still is beyond my comprehension how he managed to manipulate so many people, and continues to get letters to this day as he serves his life sentence in California's Corcoran Prison, from young white supremacists who want to join “The Family”. In interviews, Manson appears to be everything from a silver tongued authority to an incoherent asylum patient.  His displays of bipolar-esque behavior, in particular inflated self esteem or grandiosity and increased psychomotor agitation appear to suggest that he possesses a severely disturbed mind. Thankfully that disturbed mind has been in prison for almost 40 years and has been denied parole approximately fourteen times. The man who once thought that he was Jesus, the fifth angel to The Beatles John, Paul, George and Ringo will most likely die in his cell. Prisoner #B33920 still has influence though, and has made his permanent black mark on society. 

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/manson/manson.html