Basic case info

On Tuesday June 4, 1963, Robert Domingos and his girlfriend, Linda Edwards, decided to go sunbathing at a remote beach south of Gaviota in Santa Barbara County, Calif. That evening, the couple were murdered.

Domingos (age 18) was shot 11 times. Edwards (age 17) was shot nine times. The weapon was a .22 caliber semi-automatic, probably a rifle. The ammunition was Winchester Western Super X copper-coated long rifle. There were no witnesses. Due to the remote location of the crime scene, the bodies weren't found until the following evening.

The victims were students at nearby Lompoc High School and were participating in "Senior Ditch Day," a local tradition among students close to graduation. Instead of celebrating with classmates at another location, however, Domingos and Edwards chose to be alone at an isolated stretch of beach. Apparently the killer approached while they were sunbathing. As Edwards was forced to bind Domingos at gunpoint with lengths of narrow rope (probably pre-cut), both victims attempted to flee and were shot numerous times. The circumstances of the shooting suggested the killer had some level of expertise with firearms. The bodies were dragged approximately 30 feet to an empty shack occasionally occupied by transients. Edwards was placed face up on top of Domingos and the top of her bathing suit was cut open with a sharp instrument (probably a knife), exposing her breasts. The killer then attempted to set fire to the shack with wooden matches, to no avail.

The similarities between this attack and Zodiac's Lake Berryessa attack of 1969 are striking. Additionally, the ammunition used to kill Domingos and Edwards was the same kind Zodiac used at his Lake Herman Road attack of 1968. In 1972, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Dept. issued a press release in an attempt to conclusively link Zodiac to the Domingos-Edwards killings. The potential involvement of the Zodiac received extensive coverage in the news media.

Information from www.zodiackiller.com