The Blue Rock Springs Attack: Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin & Michael Renault Mageau, July 1969

At about 12:05am on Saturday, July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, 22, and Michael Mageau, 19, parked at the parking lot of secluded Blue Rock Springs Park on the eastern outskirts of Vallejo, Solano County, CA — a popular area for couples — to talk.

Darlene parked 70 ft from the lot entrance. Soon, another car parked about 80 ft to her left. The driver turned the headlights off and sat motionless at the steering wheel before leaving the parking lot at a high speed.

Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin.

Five minutes later, the other driver returned and parked a few feet next to Darlene's vehicle at the passenger side. He exited his car and shined a flashlight into Darlene's car; the couple assumed he was a police officer and rolled down the passenger side window.

The man wordlessly fired a gun into the car. One bullet hit Michael in the right arm, and the other Darlene in the neck, causing her to slump towards the steering wheel and become motionless.

After five shots were fired, the man slowly walked back to his own car: Michael had been shot twice, and Darlene had been shot at three times. The first two bullets to be directed at Darlene hit her right arm (as her hands were on the steering wheel), shattering her bones, then passed through her right arm before entering then exiting her left arm, which was positioned directly behind her right arm.

Michael tried to leave the car, but the door handle on the passenger's side was missing or removed. The attacker did not immediately leave, instead opening his car door and doing something Michael couldn't see. Michael screamed in pain and struggled to get out of Darlene's car. The killer noticed and moved quickly back to the vehicle. The killer fired four more shots, two at each person.

Of the four bullets that hit Michael in total, two of them passed through his skin then struck Darlene. Other than the two bullets that created the four entry and four exit wounds in Darlene's arms, the remaining seven bullets that hit her struck her in the back.

A golf course caretaker heard the shots at around 12:10am. Very soon afterward, three teenagers drove into the parking lot upon seeing Darlene and Michael, the trio left to get help and call the police. The police arrived at 12:20am. 

Darlene was pronounced dead on arrival in the hospital at approximately 12:38am on Sunday, July 6, 1969. Michael was seriously wounded, but ultimately survived. He described the man who attacked them as being white, in his late 20s to early 30s, 5'8 to 5'9, with a stocky build, brown hair, and round face. The man was wearing dark clothes and no glasses.

At 12:40am, the Vallejo Police Department (PD) received a call from a man who did not identify himself. The call was traced back to a payphone located two blocks from police headquarters. The man stated the following:

"I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbia Parkway to the public park you will find two kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye." 

Darlene Ferrin had a stalker who used to follow her, and was seen parked in front of her house. Her family also reported heavy breathing calls to their homes on the night of her murder.

This is the second confirmed attack perpetrated by the serial killer known as the Zodiac. The case is being investigated by the Vallejo PD, case number 243146.

Note: The Blue Rock Springs (BRS) attack occurred less than an hour after the Fourth of July. See the Holiday & Events Reference Page for an explanation as to why this is being mentioned.

Sources

Wikipedia

Darlene Ferrin FindAGrave 

BRS attack, ZK Site

BRS attack police reports ***

Diagram of scene, from police report 

Darlene Ferrin autopsy report ***

Zodiac Timeline, The San Francisco Chronicle

*** Also available in the Files section of this blog 

Note: While this write-up is, to my knowledge, completely accurate, and contains all of the details that are most immediately pertinent to the attack itself, there are many, many sources for, references to, and online discussions revolving around the BRS attack, which I cannot even begin to compile in totality. So instead, I have only included the most relevant and comprehensive sources, as well as ones used in other posts of mine that also summarize this case. I would defer to ZodiacKiller.com, which I refer to on this blog as "ZK Site" when used as a source. It is a very thorough compilation of everything Zodiac related, and I'd like to thank Tom Voigt for creating it!