Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hate-based serial homicides that took place in san francisco”. Today it says “string of racially-motivated murders and attacks committed by a group of four african-american serial killers i”. They were dubbed the Zebra Killings because of the radio channel used by the San Francisco Police (" Z ") exclusively for this case.. Today: the act is described with no actor named.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Zebra murders were hate-based serial homicides that took place in San Francisco , California in 1973 and 1974 . They were dubbed the Zebra Killings because of the radio channel used by the San Francisco Police (" Z ") exclusively for this case.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17965743.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The "Zebra" murders were a string of murders that took place in San Francisco, California , from October 1973 to April 1974.None of the murderers outside of the city of San Francisco, representing the vast majority of the related killings state wide, were ever caught or convicted.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369654523.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders that took place in San Francisco, California , from October 1973 to April 1974.A group of male Black Muslims who called themselves the "Death Angels" committed at least 16 murders and 8 attempted murders.However, some authorities believe they may have killed as many as 80 or more victims.Police named the case "Zebra" after the special police radio band they assigned for the investigation.Four black men were convicted of the crimes, mostly against white victims.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663667393.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a small group of Black Muslim serial killers in San Francisco , California , United States from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least fifteen people and wounded eight others.All of the victims were white.Police gave the case the name "Zebra" after the special police radio band they assigned to the investigation.Some authorities believe that the "Death Angels," as the perpetrators called themselves, may have killed as many as 73 or more victims since 1970.Criminology professor Anthony Walsh wrote in a 2005 article that the "San Francisco–based Death Angels may have killed more people in the early- to mid-1970s than all the other serial killers operating during that period combined." In 1974 a worker at the warehouse where the Death Angels were based testified to police for a reward, providing private details about the murders.Based on his evidence, four men were arrested in connection with the case.They were convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment .The informant received immunity from prosecution for his testimony and was admitted to a witness protection program for him and his family.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958755955.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Series of racially motivated murders in San Francisco, California "Death Angels" redirects here.The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a group of four black serial killers in San Francisco , California , United States , from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least 15 White people and wounded eight others. Police gave the case the name "Zebra" after the special police radio band they assigned to the investigation. Some authorities believe that the Death Angels , as the perpetrators called themselves, may have killed as many as 73 or more victims since 1970. Criminology professor Anthony Walsh wrote in a 2005 article that the "San Francisco–based Death Angels may have killed more people in the early- to mid-1970s than all the other serial killers operating during that period combined." In 1974, a worker at the warehouse where the Death Angels were based testified to police for a reward, providing private details about the murders. Based on his evidence, four men were arrested in connection with the case. They were convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment . The informant received immunity from prosecution for his testimony and was admitted to a witness protection program for him and his family.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176917732.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Series of racially motivated murders in San Francisco, California "Death Angels" redirects here. The "Zebra" murders were a string of racially motivated murders and related attacks committed by a group of four black serial killers in San Francisco , California , United States , from October 1973 to April 1974; they killed at least 15 white people and wounded eight others. Police gave the case the name "Zebra" after the special police radio band they assigned to the investigation. Some authorities believe that the Death Angels , as the perpetrators called themselves, may have killed as many as 73 or more victims since 1970. Criminology professor Anthony Walsh wrote in a 2005 article that the "San Francisco–based Death Angels may have killed more people in the early- to mid-1970s than all the other serial killers operating during that period combined." In 1974, a worker at the warehouse where the Death Angels were based testified to police for a reward, providing private details about the murders. Based on his evidence, four men were arrested in connection with the case. They were convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment . The informant received immunity from prosecution for his testimony, and he, along with his family, was admitted to a witness protection program .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1291056337. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hate-based serial homicides that took place in san francisco”. Today it says “string of racially-motivated murders and attacks committed by a group of four african-american serial killers i”. They were dubbed the Zebra Killings because of the radio channel used by the San Francisco Police (" Z ") exclusively for this case.. Today: the act is described with no actor named. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
hate-based serial homicides that took place in san francisco
Now
string of racially-motivated murders and attacks committed by a group of four african-american serial killers i
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.