A former cop has left the internet stunned by accusing his late grandfather of being the notorious Zodiac killer.
In a four-part series of TikTok videos, Jeremy Foy, 35, listed all the reasons he believes his grandad Richard Hoffman may have been behind the killings that rocked the Bay Area in the late 1960s – and remain unsolved to this day.
The videos, which have since received over 11 million views, detail childhood anecdotes, physical similarities, and suspicious ‘evidence’ Foy claims to have uncovered.
Foy explains how internet sleuths have been throwing his grandfather’s name around as a potential suspect for years, fueling his belief in Hoffman’s potential involvement.
The most eerie example of alleged suspicious behavior Foy shared was an interview given by his grandad, also a police officer, for a documentary about the murders where he bizarrely describes one of the victim’s bra ‘fluttering’ as she received CPR.
Jeremy Foy , 35, has garnered over 11 million views with his four-part series alleging that his grandfather, Richard Hoffman, is the notorious Zodiac Killer
Although the Zodiac serial killer claimed in letters to newspapers to have committed 37 murders, investigators believe there were seven confirmed victims – five who were killed and two who survived.
The bodies of high school sweethearts, Betty Lou Jensen, 16, and David Arthur Faraday, 17, were found riddled with bullets on notorious lovers’ lane roughly 40 miles northeast of San Francisco in Solano County on December 20, 1968.
Just over six months later on July 4, 1969, Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and popular Vallejo waitress Darlene Ferrin, 22, were viciously attacked while parked in her car at Blue Rock Springs Park – another ‘Lover’s Lane’ for local teens four miles away from the first murder site. Mageau survived the attack, providing crucial details to cops.
On September 27, 1969, a masked assailant brutally stabbed college students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard picnicking at Lake Berryessa.
Then on October 11 of that same year, taxi driver Paul Lee Stine was fatally shot after picking up a passenger near Union Square in San Francisco. Unlike the previous killings, which occurred in Solano County, this crime took place in the city.
The connection between Stine’s murder and the earlier attacks wasn’t established until the Zodiac Killer sent a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle containing a piece of Stine’s blood-stained shirt.
The case has also been connected, though speculatively, to dozens of other unsolved homicides – including the brutal killing of 18-year-old Cheri Jo Bates, who was found stabbed to death in an alleyway on the Riverside Community College campus on October 30, 1966.
Police have investigated scores of potential suspects over the years but the string of murder cases remain unsolved – sending true crime fanatics into a frenzy.
Now Foy has entered the fray with a new theory of his own.
Betti Lou Jensen (left), David Faraday (center), and Darlene Ferrin (right) are three of the Zodiac killer’s victims
Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, (left) and Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, (right) were relaxing on a blanket at a remote location by Lake Berryessa in Napa County on September 27, 1969 when attacked
MAP: Zodiac murder map and possible new “clues”
The Zodiac’s final known victim was taxi driver Paul Stine (pictured). On October 11, 1969, in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, Stine unknowingly picked the killer up as a passenger
He explained in his TikTok videos that his grandfather worked as a Vallejo police officer in California where the Zodiac killings occurred.
When comparing physical appearances, Foy noted that his grandfather shared physical similarities with the forensic illustrations of the killer created using eye witness accounts.
Foy goes on to describe watching a 2008 documentary, This Is The Zodiac Speaking, which showcases a series of interviews with surviving victims and the original investigators – including his grandfather.
Hoffman was first to arrive at the crime scene where Darlene Ferrin was found murdered. He was wearing plain clothes and patrolling in an unmarked car near where the attack happened.
Foy said he found it suspicious that Hoffman had claimed there were no cars in the area shortly before the shooting.
He also alleged his grandfather had sent other responding officers away while he was tending to the scene.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that Darlene’s family received a call from a payphone outside of Vallejo police station revealing she was shot before cops were even informed of the murder.
Foy then draws attention to his grandfather’s alleged suspicious behavior when he discussed accompanying Darlene in the ambulance in the documentary.
Hoffman said: ‘During the ride to the hospital, and of course, her shirt or sweater, whatever she was wearing, was off. And each time that ambulance attendant blew air into her chest, there was a little piece of material from her bra that I could see – fluttered. With every breath he blew in into that girl, this piece of material would flutter.’
Foy said he watched the 2008 documentary, This Is The Zodiac Speaking, which including interviews with the original investigators, his grandfather, and surviving victims, and found Hoffman’s behavior to be suspicious
San Francisco police circulated this composite of the Bay Area’s “Zodiac” killer. At left is a drawing from witnesses to slaying of a cab driver in San Francisco. The amended drawing on the right was based on further questioning of the witnesses
Foy also claimed Hoffman knew Darlene, who had rumored relationships with multiple Vallejo police officers, and had attended a ‘house painting party’
In the documentary, Hoffman acknowledged the rumors that were swirling around his connection to Darlene.
While he said he knew of her and that she was a well-known waitress in the area, he said he had ‘never laid eyes on her’ prior to finding her body in the car.
Darlene’s sisters, Pam and Linda, told police they both remembered a “painting party” at Darlene’s house months before her murder, during which a mysterious, well-dressed man caused Darlene significant fear.
Foy claimed that Hoffman’s appearance at Darlene’s party coincided with her declaration of being “scared to death” of him.
Meanwhile, survivor Mike Mageau, who accompanied Darlene on the ride to Blue Rocks Spring Park, said the pair had been followed all night by another car.
In an interview, Mike said when he asked Darlene if she knew the driver, he claimed she told him the man’s name was Richard and that if he ever found out she was talking to another man ‘he would kill me.’
In the original crime report, police wrote that the killer’s potential motive was ‘jealousy’ and ‘revenge,’ based on the recollection Mike provided.
Mike also recalled how he originally thought he was being stopped by cops at the time of the shooting as a police-like flashlight was shown into the back window of his vehicle.
Meanwhile, Foy alleged that his grandfather was ‘known to be abusive, controlling, manipulating, and also unfaithful to my grandmother’.
He added that he had not spoken to Hoffman, who was his maternal grandfather, since his father gained full custody of him aged nine. Up until then, he said he spent every Christmas at his house.
The “Zodiac” killer broke his silence Nov. 11 to boast in letters and cryptograms that he has now murdered seven persons. Two letters and a cryptogram were sent to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pictured: A photocopy of the cryptogram sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 by the Zodiac Killer
Foy also suggests his grandfather’s police reports included similarities with the Zodiac killer’s letters – such as similar spelling mistakes.
‘Something else about my grandpa, he was really horrible at spelling,’ Foy said in the third installment of his TikTok videos.
He claimed Hoffman and the killer both spelt the word until with a double L – ‘untill’.
And he suggests that the Zodiac killer’s signature symbol, a crossed circle, corresponds to the letter D when deciphered which he believes could represent the first letter of his grandfather’s nickname – Dick.
He also notes similarities in the poetic language used by both the Zodiac Killer and his grandfather.
The murderer’s letters refer to a song titled ‘Tit Willow’ – which Foy claims includes lyrics that mirror how his grandad described the crime scenes.
‘[The song] states, when describing a man who’s passing away, that he gargled out blood. If you watch this clip here from my grandfather giving a description of the scene, he uses the same type of statement – ‘he was moaning and gargled out blood’,’ said Foy.
In the documentary, Hoffman described Mike’s state at the scene: ‘I look down there. There was a young guy down there. Laying on his back. Obviously had been shot. He was reaching up towards me or the flashlight I was holding, kind of gurgling, obviously in pain.’
Meanwhile Hoffman’s police report he stated: ‘I found [Mike Mageau] outside on the ground on his back…he lifted his arms upward as if imploring me for help…when he opened his mouth the call for aid, blood gurgled out.’
Additionally, Foy points out the use of the word ‘Dicky Bird’ in the song, which he connects to his grandfather’s nickname ‘Dick.’
Foy also notes similarities in the poetic language used by both the Zodiac Killer and his grandfather in the murderer’s letters, his grandfather’s police report, and his grandfather’s interview in the documentary
Foy recognized that there were common misspellings in my Hoffman’s police reports as was in the Zodiac writings, notably, the word ‘until’ was spelled ‘untill’ in both the letter and the police report
Investigators believe that the Zodiac Killer was linked to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in 1966, two years before the killing spree had began
Foy also draws attention to the case of Cheri Jo Bates, who was murdered following a study session at Riverside City College.
A poem was scratched on the underside of a desk in the library that included graphic descriptions of violence against women and was titled ‘Sick of living/unwilling to die’.
It was signed with the lower-case initials ‘rh,’ fueling Foy’s speculation that his grandfather, Richard Hoffman, was responsible.
Meanwhile, a month after Bates’ death, two identical letters were sent to local authorities graphically describing the crime.
The anonymous author claimed to have known Bates beforehand. He wrote: ‘Only one thing was on my mind: Making her pay for the brush-offs that she had given me during the years prior.’
Foy then provides context for his theory that his points to Hoffman, claiming Bates had just moved to Riverside from Nebraska, where his grandfather allegedly lived previously. He added that both his grandfather and Bates’ brother were in the navy.
Since posting his TikTok videos, fans have begged for further updates, claiming they are ‘so invested’ in his tale. However, others are far more skeptical over his theory holding weight, with other more likely suspects previously named by case experts.
