The grainy, black-and-white images usually show up late at night on message boards. You've probably seen them if you've spent any time down the rabbit hole of California’s most infamous cold case. Zodiac crime scene photos are eerie. They aren't just evidence; they are frozen moments of a terror that paralyzed the Bay Area in the late 1960s.
People look at them for different reasons. Some want to play detective. Others are just morbidly curious. But if you look closely at the police archives from Vallejo, Napa, and San Francisco, the photos tell a story that the sensationalized movies often skip over. They show the mundane reality of 1960s police work mixed with the visceral brutality of a killer who wanted to be a celebrity.
The Lake Herman Road Photos and the Reality of 1968
December 20, 1968. It was freezing. David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were just kids, really. When you look at the crime scene photos from that night on Lake Herman Road, the first thing that hits you isn't the gore—it’s the isolation.
The police shots show a gravel turnout that looks like a void. In the flash of the forensic cameras, David’s Rambler station wagon looks lonely. There are photos of the chalk outlines and the positioning of the shells. One specific image shows the rear window of the Rambler shattered. It’s a chilling detail because it confirms the Zodiac began his attack by shooting out the glass to force the couple out of the car.
Forensic photography back then was different. No digital sensors. No instant previews.
The detectives, like Les Lundblad from the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, had to rely on 35mm film that wouldn't be developed until hours later. This meant some of the original Zodiac crime scene photos are blurry or poorly lit, which only adds to the haunting, lo-fi aesthetic that true crime buffs obsess over today.
It’s worth noting that the photos of Betty Lou Jensen’s position on the ground helped ballistics experts realize the killer was a marksman—or at least someone very calm under pressure. She was found several feet from the car. She had tried to run. The photos show the tragic distance she almost made it.
Blue Rock Springs: The Scars Left Behind
July 4, 1969. Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau.
The photos from Blue Rock Springs Park are arguably some of the most analyzed in criminal history. Because Michael survived, the photos of the car—a brown Corvair—became a map of his survival.
You can see the bullet holes in the door and the seats.
If you examine the interior shots, you see the cramped space where Michael tried to retreat into the back seat to escape the flashlight's glare and the 9mm rounds.
It’s messy.
It’s real.
It’s not a movie set.
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The lighting in these photos is harsh. The flashbulbs of the era created deep, ink-black shadows. Forensic photographers at the time were trained to capture "the four corners" of a scene, but at Blue Rock Springs, the "scene" was mostly the inside of that Corvair.
The Lake Berryessa Evidence and the Hooded Figure
This is the one everyone remembers. September 27, 1969.
Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were relaxing by the water.
The Zodiac crime scene photos from Lake Berryessa are unique because the primary piece of evidence wasn't a body—it was a car door.
The killer used a black felt-tip pen to write a message on the door of Hartnell’s Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
He listed the dates of his previous attacks and then drew his crosshairs symbol.
Photos of that door are essential for handwriting analysts.
The way the "7" is crossed, the spacing of the numbers—it’s all there.
There are also photos of the plastic clothesline used to bind the victims.
Looking at the knots in those pictures, investigators tried to determine if the Zodiac had naval training.
The photos show the impressions in the dry grass where the struggle happened.
It’s a stark contrast: the beautiful, sunny landscape of Napa Valley captured in the same frame as evidence of a calculated stabbing.
Kinda weird how a sunny day can look so dark in a police file.
Paul Stine and the Presidio Heights Mistake
October 11, 1969. San Francisco.
The murder of taxi driver Paul Stine changed everything because it happened in a wealthy neighborhood, and for the first time, the Zodiac was nearly caught.
The Zodiac crime scene photos from Cherry Street are different because they are "urban."
Instead of dark roads or lakeside parks, you see streetlights, parked cars, and the yellow cab.
The most famous photo is of the interior of the cab.
You can see where a piece of Paul Stine’s shirt was carefully cut away.
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The killer sent pieces of that bloody shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle to prove he was the one who did it.
When you look at the forensic photos of the shirt remnant later recovered by police, the jagged edges match the "missing" section in the crime scene photos perfectly.
This was the Zodiac’s way of taunting the "blue pigs," as he called them.
Wait, did the police miss him?
Yeah. They did.
The photos of the intersections near the Presidio show just how close the patrol cars were to the man who was likely the Zodiac walking away from the scene.
Why We Keep Looking at These Images
Honestly, these photos are a Rorschach test.
If you think Arthur Leigh Allen was the killer, you look at the photos of the boots prints from Lake Berryessa (Wing Walkers, size 10.5) and try to match them to his shoes.
If you think it was Gary Poste or Ross Sullivan, you look for different clues.
But there’s a danger in getting too lost in the imagery.
The photos are snapshots of human beings whose lives were ended or shattered.
It’s easy to forget that while staring at a 60-year-old crime scene report.
The graininess of the film acts as a buffer, making it feel like fiction.
It isn't.
The Limits of Forensic Photography in the 60s
Basically, we have to remember that 1969 forensics were primitive.
- No DNA. The concept of "touch DNA" on a car door or a piece of clothing didn't exist.
- Luminol was rarely used. Blood spatter analysis was in its infancy.
- Chain of custody was loose. Sometimes, people walked through the scenes before the photographer arrived.
Because of these limitations, the Zodiac crime scene photos are the primary "source of truth" we have left.
We can't go back and swab the Rambler for DNA now. It’s gone.
The photos are all that remain of the physical context of the murders.
Misconceptions About the Photos Online
You’ll see a lot of "leaked" photos on social media that aren't actually from the Zodiac cases.
People often post photos from the Texarkana Phantom Killer or even the Black Dahlia case and mislabel them.
Authentic Zodiac photos are mostly held by the Department of Justice or the specific police departments (SFPD, VPD).
Most of what is publicly available comes from the FBI’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) releases.
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If a photo looks too "clean" or "modern," it's probably a recreation from the 2007 David Fincher movie.
Fincher was obsessive about accuracy—he actually had his team study the original police photos to recreate the lighting and the angles exactly.
That’s why the movie feels so authentic.
But the real photos? They are much grittier. They are sadder.
What to Do if You’re Researching the Case
If you are actually looking into this, don't just look at the pictures.
Read the witness statements that go with them.
A photo of a shell casing means nothing without the ballistics report that tells you it came from a .22 caliber semi-automatic.
Actionable Steps for Researchers:
- Check the FBI Vault: The FBI has hundreds of pages of Zodiac files available for free online. They contain many of the original diagrams and some photos.
- Verify the Source: Websites like ZodiacKiller.com or ZodiacKillerFacts.com have spent decades cataloging which photos are verified and which are fakes.
- Study the Diagrams: Often, the hand-drawn police diagrams of the crime scenes are more informative than the photos because they provide measurements that 2D photos lack.
- Compare Jurisdictions: Look at how the Vallejo PD photos differ from the SFPD photos. You can see the difference in resources and training between the departments.
The mystery of the Zodiac persists because the killer was never caught.
He faded into the fog of San Francisco.
All we are left with are the letters, the ciphers, and those stark Zodiac crime scene photos that remind us that the "Boogeyman" was very much a real person who left real footprints in the California dirt.
The case remains open.
The SFPD still considers it an active investigation, even if the leads have gone cold.
Until a DNA profile can be fully extracted and matched via forensic genealogy—which is the modern hope—these photos are the closest we can get to the truth of what happened on those dark nights.
To really understand the scope, you've got to look past the symbols and see the scenes for what they were: tragedy caught on film.
Study the evidence, but respect the history.
The answers might still be hidden in the shadows of those old frames.
Next Steps for Deep Research:
Navigate to the FBI's official Records Vault and search for "Zodiac Killer." Focus on the 1969-1970 San Francisco field office reports, as these contain the most detailed descriptions of the photographic evidence taken during the Paul Stine investigation. Compare these descriptions to the public archives on dedicated research sites to ensure you are viewing authentic, non-digitally altered historical records.