Last week, I mentioned that the Zodiac Killer might have been influenced by Jack the Ripper. Today, we’re examining another serial killer from 1946 who established a chilling blueprint for the Zodiac’s methods.
The Phantom of Texarkana
In the spring of 1946, twenty-three years before the Zodiac Killer began terrorising the San Francisco Bay Area, a small town on the border of Texas and Arkansas was gripped by an almost identical nightmare.
The killer was dubbed “The Phantom of Texarkana.” Over ten weeks, he stalked quiet country roads and isolated lovers’ lanes, targeting young couples in parked cars. He moved like a ghost, struck without warning, and vanished into the night, leaving five people dead, three severely injured, and a community scared.
The Phantom can be described as the blueprint for the modern serial killer. The parallels between his operating style and the Zodiac’s methods are almost as striking as those between the Zodiac and Jack the Ripper.
I wonder if the Zodiac studied true crime and drew inspiration from these two killers, and possibly others.
