-Arthur Leigh Allen Timeline- This timeline is based on official police reports, Social Security records, employment applications, motor vehicle records and testimony from friends and law-enforcement officials. (Most of the information about this suspect found elsewhere is grossly inaccurate): Dec. 18, 1933: Arthur Leigh Allen was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Allen was reared in Vallejo, Calif. and was graduated from Vallejo High in 1950. (It is suspected that Zodiac had very close ties to Vallejo, most likely as a resident.) 1948-57: Allen attended Vallejo College, majoring in liberal arts. He received his associate of arts degree in 1957. 1951-52: Allen worked as a lifeguard at the Plunge in Vallejo. 1953: Allen worked as a sail maker at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Calif. 1954-1960: Allen attended Cal Poly State College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., majoring in elementary education. He received his bachelor's degree in 1960. 1957: Allen enlisted in the U.S. Navy. (Zodiac was thought to have an affiliation with the military, most likely the Navy.) June 15, 1958: Allen was arrested by the Vallejo Police Department for disturbing the peace as the result of an altercation with acquaintance Ralph Spinelli. The charges were dismissed on July 8, 1958. (Zodiac demonstrated an animosity toward the police. It could have stemmed from a perceived mistreatment.) December 1958: Allen was discharged from the Navy. 1959-1962: Allen, attempting to gain his teaching credential, was hired by Santa Rosa Elementary in Atascadero, Calif. 1961-1962: Allen worked two summers as a psychiatric technician at Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero, Calif. 1962-1963: Allen taught at Travis Elementary, Travis Air Force Base, Calif. He was eventually fired for having a loaded weapon in his car on school grounds. 1964-1965: Allen was incapacitated with a "severely lacerated leg," allegedly the result of a motorcycle accident. 1966-1968: Allen taught at Valley Springs Elementary in Valley Springs, Calif. His teaching career ended when he was fired for molesting a student. December 1968: Allen's mother, Bernice, gave him a Zodiac watch as a gift. (According to Allen's brother, Ron, the watch was received in December 1967.) January 1969: Allen allegedly confided in Don Cheney that he intended to kill couples at random, threaten school children in taunting letters to the police and call himself "Zodiac." April 4, 1969: Living back at home with his parents, Allen was terminated from his part-time job at a gas station in Vallejo where he had worked for approximately six months. In August 1971, Allen was described by this former employer as being "undependable with a drinking problem." In addition, Allen was said to be "too interested in small girls." July 1969: Shortly after the murder of Darlene Ferrin, a relative of the victim informed investigators that Darlene had a relationship of some sort with a man named "Lee". During the 1969-70 school year, Allen was employed part-time as a janitor at Elmer Cave Elementary School in Vallejo. (During Allen's stint at Cave, Zodiac wrote letters threatening school children.) Oct. 6, 1969: Allen was questioned by Detective John Lynch of VPD regarding the murder of Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa. It is unknown who turned Allen in as a suspect or why. (Allen later admitted that when asked by Lynch where he was on Sept. 27, 1969, Allen had said "I was going to go to Lake Berryessa, but I went up the coast instead.") Oct. 10, 1969: Allen supposedly told Ralph Spinelli he would soon be "going to San Francisco to kill a cabbie." (Zodiac would later taunt San Francisco Chronicle columnist Marco Spinelli in a letter postmarked July 8, 1974.) 1970-74: Allen attended Sonoma State College, majoring in biological sciences with a minor in chemistry. He completed all academic requirements in 1974, but did not receive his bachelor's of science degree until after July 1981. (During Allen's stint at Sonoma State, the Zodiac murders apparently ceased. However, the Sonoma coed killings began. According to retired special agent Jim Silver of the California Department of Justice, if you mapped where the coeds were last seen and where they were later found dead, Allen's trailer would be directly in the center. Eventually, many other murders were suspected of being the work of Zodiac. One investigator theorized that Zodiac was choosing crime scenes to form a giant Z.) March 17, 1971: Allen's father, Ethan, died at age 67. Ethan was a retired, highly decorated naval commander. (Ethan Allen died on what would have been Darlene Ferrin's 24th birthday. When Allen became a suspect, this was looked at with suspicion.) Summer 1971: Allen was employed as a junior chemist at an oil refinery in Pinole, Calif. July 15, 1971: The Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Police Department (MBPD) was contacted by Allen's former friend, to whom Allen allegedly made the incriminating statements in January 1968. (See above.) July 19, 1971: A report was prepared by MBPD for Inspector Toschi of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). July 27, 1971: SFPD inspectors Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong, along with Special Agent Mel Nicolai from CII, traveled to Vallejo to meet with Sgt. Jack Mulanax of VPD regarding Allen. It was decided that more background information on Allen would be obtained before any contact would be made with him. Mulanax immediately began investigating Allen. Aug. 4, 1971: Mulanax, Toschi, and Armstrong interviewed Allen at his place of employment in Pinole, Calif. (The last authenticated Zodiac letter had been mailed in March 1971, just a few months earlier. However, after Allen's interview by police, it would be two-and-a-half years before Zodiac would write again.) Sept. 14, 1972: SFPD obtained a search warrant against Allen and made him submit handwriting samples. Detectives found several bizarre items during the search, but nothing that would incriminate Allen in the Zodiac crimes. Sept. 27, 1974: Allen was arrested by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department on a charge of child molesting. (Zodiac had written several times in 1974, breaking a two-and-a-half year silence. However, no authenticated Zodiac letter was ever received again after Allen's arrest.) March 14, 1975: After pleading guilty, Allen began serving his sentence at Atascadero (Calif.) State Hospital. Aug. 31, 1977: Allen completed his sentence and was released from Atascadero. Jan. 3, 1978: Allen was hired as a fleet mechanic by Benicia Import Auto Service in Benicia, Calif. This employment ended on Mar. 3, 1978, apparently due to a slowdown in business. June 25, 1978 through 1987: Allen found sporadic employment in Vallejo, including a stint as an aide to senior citizens. Allen also worked at Ace Hardware on Tennessee Street for several years, as a buyer for the tool and garden departments. Jan. 10, 1989: Bernice Allen died at age 83. Feb. 14, 1991: VPD executed a search warrant against Allen and found a huge cache of weapons. Amazingly, even though Allen was a felon, no charges were filed. Enraged at the search, Allen began granting interviews with the news media to proclaim his innocence and blast the police. (There was a huge amount of circumstantial evidence against Allen, including Ralph Spinelli coming forward with Allen's incriminating statements of Oct. 10, 1969.) Aug. 1, 1991: Allen gave an interview to the Fairfield (Calif.) Daily Republic in which he claimed to have consulted with attorney Melvin Belli. (Zodiac had written a letter to Belli in December 1969. NOTE: The letter can be found at the Zodiac Letters page.) July 1992: Definite Zodiac victim Mike Mageau picked Allen out of a police photo lineup, saying "That's him! He's the man who shot me!" Aug. 26, 1992: Arthur Leigh Allen died of natural causes at age 58. He had been suffering from diabetes and heart problems. Aug. 28, 1992: VPD obtained a search warrant against Allen and found many interesting items. (VPD has been extremely secretive about the results of this search. The objective was to seize a videotape Allen had in his possession that was labeled with a "Z." The exact contents of the video have never been revealed, although VPD has said there was no confession.) UPDATE: In October 2002, Allen's DNA was compared to DNA obtained from a confirmed Zodiac letter. There was no match. In 2003, due to Allen's alleged habit of having others lick his stamps and envelopes (he claimed the taste of glue made him sick), SFPD obtained a voluntary DNA sample from Don Cheney. The results were negative.