Netflix’s new documentary delved into the infamous Zodiac Killer from a different perspective.
Netflix’s new three-part documentary This is the Zodiac Speaking centres around the unsolved mystery of the identity of the Zodiac Killer.
The infamous serial killer killed at least five victims and claimed to have killed 37 in the Bay Area in the late 1960s.
The killer targeted young couples in lover’s lanes and has been described as “arguably the most famous unsolved murder case in American history.”
The new Netflix series focuses on the Seawater family, specifically the eldest children, Connie, David and Don, who believe someone in their life was the Zodiac Killer.
The Seawaters developed a special relationship with schoolteacher Arthur Leigh Allen, who became the children’s father figure.
David Seawater, who along with his siblings believes Arthur was the Zodiac Killer, confessed in the trailer: “We realised we had been to all the murder sites before the murders.”
The documentary features interviews with several people in Arthur’s life, including former students, surviving friends of the Zodiac’s victims, and a local TV reporter who conducted Arthur’s final on-camera interview.
In the series, Connie Seawater admitted she believes Arthur alluded to him being the Zodiac.
She recalled a time when she asked Arthur if he was the killer, to which he allegedly responded: “If I told you, I would have to kill you.”
David Seawater, Connie’s brother, also recalled a phone call in which Arthur confessed to a multitude of crimes shortly before his death.
David claims Arthur confessed to drugging and assaulting David and his siblings.
When David asked if he was the Zodiac killer, Arthur tearfully confessed.
However, the documentary did not do much to further the case for Arthur’s identity as the Zodiac Killer.
The documentary makes the case that the Zodiac Killer’s correspondence ceased while Arthur was being held for sexual offences.
The series also cites the Zodiac Letters’ resumption in 1978, following Allen’s release, as evidence that he was the letter writer.
The documentary leaves out the FBI’s classification of that 1978 letter as a fraud.
The police, however, never ruled Arthur out, but the suspect passed away from a heart attack in 1992.
Arthur’s property was searched several times, but no evidence was found.
Samples from crime scenes that were on file did not match his handwriting or fingerprints.
Additionally, a DNA sample extracted from beneath the stamp on one of Zodiac’s letters did not match Allen.
