Biography for
Arthur Leigh Allen (Character)
from Zodiac (2007/I)

Arthur Leigh Allen a.k.a "Lee" (December 18, 1933 August 26, 1992) was a prime suspect in the Zodiac murders. Although he was never charged in the case, many believed him to have been the infamous Zodiac serial killer.

He was described as being very bright, with an IQ of 147, and skipped three grades. Allen graduated from Vallejo High School in 1949 and attended Vallejo University, majoring in art. He graduated from Vallejo University in 1957 and shortly after joined the navy. He was dishonorably discharged on December 27, 1957 after serving for less than a year. In early 1958, Allen attended Cal Poly and received an undergraduate degree in teaching in 1960.

On June 15, 1958, Allen was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct after an altercation with an acquaintance, but the charges were later dropped.

While being investigated, Allen passed a polygraph test, had his fingerprints compared to those at the murder scene of known Zodiac victim Paul Stine (they did not match), and had his handwriting examined (it did not match those of the letters claiming to be from the Zodiac). In 2002, a DNA comparison to a sample found on one of the stamps of the Zodiac letters was also not a match.

Most of the evidence supporting Allen to be the Zodiac killer is almost entirely circumstantial except one positive photo identification by one of Zodiac's earliest victims, Michael Mageau. Allen died in 1992 of a fatal heart attack days before he was due to be questioned by investigators about this new evidence.