Jack Tarrance (died 2006) was accused of being the Zodiac Killer by his stepson, Dennis Kaufman, who gained extensive publicity for the claim. Kaufman said Tarrance resembled the composite sketch and claimed to possess incriminating items, including a roll of film he said depicted victims and a hooded costume resembling the one worn at the Lake Berryessa attack. A document examiner on a 2007 Discovery Channel documentary said Tarrance’s handwriting matched the Zodiac’s.
Law enforcement dismissed Kaufman’s evidence as “nonsense”: one photo he said showed Black Dahlia victim Elizabeth Short was merely a blob of color, and the hooded costume was considered far cruder than victims described. Researchers questioned the document examiner’s credibility, noting she also believed Tarrance had written the JonBenét Ramsey ransom note.
Conflicting accounts
Kaufman and the documentary’s examiner asserted the match; law enforcement and researchers rejected the evidence.