Capricorn Research feels fairly safe to assume that the majority of people reading these articles have had the dubious benefit of reaching their second Saturn Return never mind their first.

But if there are any youngsters out there who haven’t yet fallen asleep, I feel the need to point out the bleeding obvious, that ” fings ain’t what they used to be “.

This kind of statement is usually followed by some John Major like eulogy to a lost past, but I, for one, am more tempted to say ” thank God for that “.

For one thing there would be no internet so whilst people like me would probably still be whining on about the past, noone would be listening.

And if the computer game Football Manager had been around half a century ago, I would never have emerged from the 12th house to discover astrology anyway.

What we did have then was board games, so called because we were all so ” board ” that we had no choice but to play them.

Just as any other self respecting 11 year old boy, Capricorn Research was an expert. This was possibly down to being the oldest of five siblings, so the opposition wasn’t up to much.

With Monopoly my sisters were so smitten with the idea of owning the Mayfair and Park Lane set, they never questioned the fact that the couldn’t even buy a homeless bus shelter there. Meanwhile their typically calculating Capricorn brother had worked out the odds and snaffled up Marlborough St and the rest of the orange set. So while any of my naive opponents sauntered out of jail, with a large grin on their face, the first throw of their dice pretty much guaranteed a handsome pay check for me.

All these games had astrological themes of course, this is why they were so popular. Monopoly had to be Jupiter in Taurus in the 4th house and given the old school morality of a lot of the cards it was probably trine Saturn in Capricorn.

” Risk ” with a map covered by brightly coloured little cubes would probably be Mars conjunct Pluto in Aries.

The travel game ” Go ” with it’s obsession with buying souvenirs, perhaps Venus in Sagittarius in the 9th.

My favourite one was ” Cluedo ” where the players had to work out who killed Dr Black in a classic English country house scene. This game was strictly Mercury in Scorpio in the 4th house.

In fact the characters in Cluedo were astrological archetypes themselves including Colonel Mustard ( Mars in Leo ). Professor Plum always suggests Mercury in Cancer to me and Reverend Green could well be Saturn in Taurus.

If we were to use astrology to help us play this game, we have a definite advantage. My research into 545 Murderers shows a strong showing for the Moon in Aries at 126 % of expected. Both Sun and Moon score highest in the 4th house with 131 and 126 % respectively and one of the highest scoring aspects is the Moon conjunct Saturn with 134 %.

So put your money on Miss ( Moon ) Scarlett ( Aries ) with the Lead Piping ( conjunct Saturn ) in the Kitchen ( in the 4th house ).

My love of Cluedo must have been down to my Venus conjunct Saturn in Scorpio in the 10th house bringing out the inner detective in me. Fifty years later I like nothing better than to apply the same forensic skills to real life whodunnits.

Some examples are Who Was Jack the Ripper and Whodunnit, Lizzie or Emma Borden

There’s one though that was tailor made for my methods, the still unsolved case of the Zodiac Killer.

Although the name gives the impression of some kind of Ophiuchus nut ranting on about 13 signs, it was actually self coined by an American serial killer who taunted the press with letters celebrating his many murders.

Synchronicity works in such a wonderful way. I have been meaning to write an article on Zodiac for a couple of years but the moment I decided to and googled it, I discovered that the culprit had been found.

Millions of people on Twitter have fingered Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz as the Zodiac killer himself.

And since Capricorn Research likes nothing better than to use astrological analysis to help an extreme right wing politician take the relatively short step to become a mass murderer, here goes.

Cruz has the Sun in Capricorn conjunct the 4th house cusp exactly square Pluto with Mars in Scorpio opposite Saturn in the 8th house.

So it’s a fair cop, bang to rights, case solved and onto the next one, with the added bonus of making my 40/1 bet on Donald Trump for the White House even safer.

There’s only one problem with this analysis.

Capricorn Research is always preaching about sticking with the basics in astrology and the first and most basic thing we know about Ted Cruz’s chart is his birthdate. And December 22nd 1970 would make him minus 2 years old when the Zodiac Killer began his spree.

So back to the chart drawing board then. This astro detecting lark is not as easy as it seems.

Why did he call himself the Zodiac Killer ? Disappointingly no one seems to know. The letters he sent contained ramblings about how much he loved the act of killing and pieces of code, the meaning of which people are still arguing about.

They also featured his calling card symbol which was a circle with a cross drawn haphazardly across it. This is a reasonable representation of the astrological symbol for the Earth.

He claimed to have killed 37 victims, although investigators have only been able to confirm 7 of them. One scary point is that since the Zodiac symbolises the totality of all experience, perhaps his aim was to eliminate everyone.

Over the years many people have claimed that they knew who the Zodiac was. Some suggested it was Charles Manson, presumably on the basis that he was a bad person, but this can be discounted since he was locked away when Zodiac was still sending his letters.

Many people have claimed to know the killer but unfortunately they neglected to provide any birthdata for either themselves or their accused so we will have to leave them to one side.

Of the rest, Capricorn Research has managed to track down 5 with actual birth dates.

In 2007, a man named Dennis Kaufman claimed that his stepfather Jack Tarrance was the Zodiac, mainly on the grounds that he wore a hood similar to the one worn by the serial killer.

Granted Jack Tarrance does have Moon in Aries in square aspect to both Mars and Pluto, but at 6 degrees these orbs are a bit on the wide side.

The Sun in Pisces opposite Neptune suggests he was completely innocent of these accusations although the Moon’s placing may give some insight into why his own son was prepared to denounce him.

Another avenging son, retired police detective Steve Hodel argued that his father, George Hill Hodel, Jr., was both the Black Dahlia killer and the Zodiac.

Hodel’s Moon was in Scorpio, the most common placing for Capricorn Research’s 545 Murderers but its a bit extreme to go round shopping people for that. For one thing we’d have a twelfth of the population behind bars.

Granted the Moon is in close aspect to Mars but it is a sextile.

The Sun is also conjunct Venus in Libra. This on is own is not quite a get out of jail free card, particularly when its at the apex of a T Square. But this pattern is based on an opposition between Uranus and Neptune.

So the astrological analysis might say perhaps not the easiest of fathers but not an obvious mass murderer.

In 2001, a man named Louie Myers confessed to a friend in 2001 that he was the Zodiac Killer, after learning that he was dying from cirrhosis of the liver. Myers attended the same high schools as David Farraday and Betty Lou Jensen, two of the Zodiac’s victims and allegedly worked in the same restaurant as another, Darlene Ferrin. Myers also had access to the same sort of military boot whose print was found at one of the crime scenes. Also, during the 1971–1973 period when no Zodiac letters were received, Myers was stationed overseas with the military.

Unfortunately there are two proposed birthdates for Louie Myers, but since there are enough links, Capricorn Research being thoroughness personified, is happy to investigate both of them.

Chart 1 has the Sun in Capricorn but its only aspect is a square to Neptune. The Moon is in Taurus but as the apex of a T square between Venus and Pluto, so there are possibilities, but not enough to convict.

Chart 2 has the Sun conjunct Mars and square Saturn which is quite interesting but again the orbs are fairly wide.

In 2009, A TV series looked at newspaper editor Richard Gaikowski and one possible witness has identified a recording of Gaikowski’s voice as being the same as the Zodiac’s.

Another Piscean with the Sun opposite Neptune but this one has a very wide conjunction with Saturn.

Mars is in Aries square to Pluto but again we’re talking about very wide orbs and its hard to make a case for this particular journalist.

But given that Rupert Murdoch has the same Sun / Moon combination, I can see it was an easy mistake to have made.

One thing that all of these charts have in common is aspects between the Sun and Neptune which could easily be interpreted as innocence but being under suspicion, much like the other inhabitants of Tudor House in Cluedo.

Robert Graysmith’s book ” Zodiac ” suggested Arthur Leigh Allen as a suspect based on circumstantial evidence. A letter sent to the Riverside Police Department from the killer was typed with a Royal typewriter with an elite type, the same brand found during a search of Allen’s home in Vallejo where one of the killings took place.

He also wore a Zodiac brand wristwatch, so that would surely be enough on its own for the Californian police, leaving a lot of local astrologers feeling more than little uneasy.

A DNA comparison was made with that found on the envelopes sent by the killer. But since Allen’s did not match, no charges were brought.

However no one can be certain that the DNA on the envelopes actually belonged to the Zodiac. And someone who was cunning enough to evade capture for so many crimes might also be smart enough to send some misleading clues along with the letters claiming responsibility for the murders.

And this one is a bit more interesting. Having the Sun in Sagittarius is not a hanging offence ( not yet, anyway ).

Venus conjunct Saturn can sometimes show how someone regards other people, but the real pointer lies in the Grand Cross between the Moon / Mars conjunction, Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter.

All Moon / Mars aspects score very highly in my sample of 545 Murderers and the Moon opposite Pluto is one of the highest scoring of all aspects with 127 % of the expected figure.

And the orbs between the Moon / Mars / Uranus and Pluto are extremely tight with all four contained within 2 degrees.

So this is easily the most suspicious of the 6 charts seen.

But what about the timing. We already have Allen somewhere in the vicinity but can we place him at the time as well.

Most of the confirmed crimes linked to the Zodiac occurred between 1968 and 71.

Allen’s transits for this period were –

Saturn square the Moon

Uranus square the Sun

Jupiter square the Sun

Pluto trine the Moon / Mars

and the one that brooks no argument

Pluto square the Sun.

So after all these years astrology points a knowing finger at the Zodiac killer.

But where does that leave Ted Cruz ?

Most of my readers, however many Saturn Returns they’ve survived would desperately want to avoid a Donald Trump Presidency. Its a very fair point, does the world really need a motormouth Sun Gemini opposite Moon Sagittarius just when its at such a delicately balanced stage.

But have we considered the alternatives from an astrological point of view ? Anyone with a chart like Cruz’s should be automatically disbarred from running, in fact probably locked up just to be on the safe side.

And do we really want Hillary Clinton with a stellium in Scorpio including the Sun and Ascendant, most of which is square to a Mars / Saturn / Pluto conjunction in Leo in the 9th ?

We have to be careful what we wish for. But given that the apocalyptic sounding Jupiter / Saturn / Pluto conjunction in Capricorn is going to occur on the next President’s watch, perhaps its no wonder this is the choice available.

The Doors classic ” Riders on the Storm ” referenced the Zodiac Killer with the lines

” There’s a killer on the road, His brain is squirming like a toad ”

Sounds like the a good description of the road to the White House.

The Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison once famously declared ” I don’t know what’s gonna happen, man, but I wanna get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. ”

Perhaps he knew more than he thought.