ZODIAC CIPHERS
Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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S.L.A LETTER NOT ZODIAC KILLER
THE SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY LETTER
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This letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles County, but according to the FBI files was only received by the San Francisco Chronicle on February 14th 1974. This mailing followed the Exorcist letter, widely believed to be the final confirmed correspondence of the Zodiac Killer, mailed on January 29th 1974. There remains little doubt that the SLA letter was not mailed by the Zodiac Killer, and was almost certainly authored by a Symbionese Liberation Army member, somebody loosely affiliated with them, or a sympathizer or friend of the group.

The Exorcist letter symbols at the foot of that communication were decoded by Kevin Robert Brooks to spell the words "To Kill", which although not proven, seems to be a better solution than most when you consider the paragraph that preceded the symbols. Recent discoveries on this website have shown the Exorcist letter to be a genuine Zodiac communication. The SLA or Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) were thrust into the spotlight after the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, a media heiress, on February 4th 1974. They were a short-lived urban militant group, operating from 1973 to 1975, and infamous for their bank robberies and murders during this period. This letter was mailed (postmarked) the day before Patty Hearst was kidnapped. It read:

"Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend".

Sla in Old Norse can be inferred as "kill", to which the author of this communication claimed. Sla in Old Norse means "to strike" or "to smite". The archaic use of the word "smite" as shown by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, defines "smite" as to kill or severely injure. In Wiktionary it is shown as the ability to strike down or kill with deadly force. So (in archaic usage like Old Norse) "sla" means "smite", and "smite" is used as "kill". Here is a PDF of Old Norse from York University, compiled by Ross G. Arthur. 

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The FBI files state :
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the....."  
 

​
According to the FBI files above, the SLA letter was mailed on or before February 3rd 1974 (postmarked 3 FEB 1974) from the 913 zip code of Los Angeles. 
Therefore, it was likely mailed one day before the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping of Patty Hearst. This means one of four things:
[1] The Zodiac Killer was a member of the SLA and was involved in the kidnapping plot. 
[2] 
The Zodiac Killer didn't belong to the SLA, but somehow knew of their plans to kidnap Patty Hearst.​
[3] The Zodiac Killer just got extremely lucky, writing "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLA spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend", then mailing the letter on February 3rd 1974, just one day before Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army​. In other words, it was sheer coincidence. Or,
[4] The letter was written by the Symbionese Liberation Army and had nothing to do with Zodiac. This is the most likely conclusion (especially when you read the article below, which shows beyond any reasonable doubt that the Zodiac Killer had nothing to do with the SLA letter).

Below is the FBI document that has led to the confusion regarding the date the SLA letter was postmarked. It explicitly states that the letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle on February 14th 1974, but the date it was received is not the date it was postmarked. Later lists were compiled by a person unknown, including all the Zodiac communications, mistakenly using February 14th as the postmark date. But it is apparent on these later lists, that the May 8th 1974 Badlands correspondence is also attributed the wrong postmark date. These lists were compiled in error, in part, based on the document below.
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Here is part of the list highlighting the errors attributed to both the SLA and Badlands communications.
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The delay between the postmark date of the SLA letter (February 3rd) and its arrival at the San Francisco Chronicle offices on February 14th was not unprecedented. The following Badlands communication, thought to have been mailed by the Zodiac Killer on May 8th 1974, didn't arrive at the San Francisco Chronicle until June 4th 1974. 
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On April 15, 1974, Patty Hearst was recorded on surveillance video wielding an M1 carbine while robbing the Sunset District branch of the Hibernia Bank at 1450 Noriega Street in San Francisco
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The Exorcist letter was without doubt a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article entitled 'Weird Goings on at the Movies,'  published on January 11th 1974, detailing the audience reaction to the recently released Exorcist movie in 1973. Eighteen days later, it is believed the Zodiac Killer responded in letter form stating it was "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen". Then the SLA letter arrived.
Paul Avery became embroiled in the Patty Hearst case, continuing to cover the major stories of the day, before eventually collaborating with another Chronicle reporter Tim Findley to cover the unfolding Patty Hearst kidnapping and the exploits of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Paul Avery would later go on to author a book alongside Vin McLellan  called 'The Voices of Guns' regarding these events. 
Zodiac Ciphers News-The SLA letter.

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SLA ENVELOPE
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SLA LETTER NOT ZODIAC - AND HERE IS THE FBI FILE TO PROVE IT
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The SLA letter supposedly received at the San Francisco Chronicle from the Zodiac Killer on February 14th 1974, was actually mailed on or slightly before February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles County, one day before the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst. The whole letter was exclusively geared towards the Symbionese Liberation Army, with no mention whatsoever towards the Zodiac Killer. In a previous article entitled 'The Symbionese Liberation Army and the Zodiac Killer', an SLA member was considered as the possible author of the February 3rd 1974 SLA letter because of the "Old Norse" reference. Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) was closely aligned with the  Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents.

The SLA letter was postmarked  "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974" - the letter began with the word "Dear" and signed off with the rather tame "a friend". Zodiac researchers, understandably don't want to believe the letter was mailed on February 3rd 1974, because they have a vested interest going back decades, including printed material based on a 'Zodiac Killer' responding on February 14th 1974 to the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst, despite the fact nothing in the SLA letter refers to the kidnapping. So, just for arguments sake, let us assume the Zodiac Killer mailed the letter on February 14th 1974, signing off the letter with "a friend".

​This would mean that on February 10th 1974, just 4 days prior to the SLA letter, a typewritten letter in a white envelope was mailed to the Hearst family, postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 940 PM 10 FEB 1974", bearing the typewritten address "R.A Hearst Family, 233 W. Santa Inez Ave, Hillsborough, Cal, 9401077". It was intercepted at the Burlingame, California, U.S. Postal Annex on February 10th 1974 and read [corrected for spelling] : 

Dear Hearst Family, I am white, and I am sorry I joined the people who have your daughter. I saw her Wednesday and she was alright. She is brave and beautiful and innocent. Don't let her marry that Weed man. He talked to our brass last month and said how to set it up. He said if he marries her, he must have enough money to hold up his head. He got his idea from Miss Angela Davis, who gives orders and ideas to our brass. I am so ashamed to belong  I am trying to get out easy, but God help me if they find out I write this. They are animals, but I don't think they will hurt her. God bless you, and God forgive me.

                                                                 A friend 
 ​ 

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For those still believing the SLA letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer on February 14th 1974 - here we have a Symbionese Liberation Army member mailing a typewritten letter to the Hearst family on February 10th 1974, four days prior, beginning the letter with "Dear" and signing off with "A friend". Then, a matter of days later, the Zodiac Killer has returned after a near 3-year hiatus and just happens to accidentally mimic the Hearst letter (which wasn't published), beginning the letter with "Dear"and signing off with "a friend", while writing exclusively about the Symbionese Liberation Army. Even the die-hard proponents of a February 14th 1974 mailing cannot believe this to be the case.

The 'Hearst Family' letter may have been authored by Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah), who could also be responsible for the SLA letter mailed from Los Angeles (913) just a week earlier, on February 3rd 1974. The "Old Norse" element of the letter drawn from her Norwegian-American ancestry.​ Both communications began with "Dear"and ended with "a friend". 

A friend of the Symbionese Liberation Army, associate of the group or a member themselves, had they authored the SLA letter and envelope, were with little doubt also responsible for authorship of the Red Phantom letter and envelope. The problem being, that the Red Phantom letter was mailed on July 8th 1974, nearly two months after the deadly shootout with Los Angeles police on May 17th 1974 at the 1466 East 54th Street SLA hideout. Six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army died that day, including Nancy Ling Perry, Angela Atwood, Camilla Hall, Willie Wolfe, Donald DeFreeze and Patricia Soltysik. Therefore, it is patently obvious that none of these individuals were responsible for the Red Phantom letter, and by extension, the SLA letter. That reduces the pool drastically and could open the door to an associate or friend of the Symbionese Liberation Army. View comparison between the SLA and Red Phantom envelopes.

The 'Hearst Family' typewritten letter and envelope can be seen below, postmarked February 10th 1974, accompanied by a notation of "For FBI or Family" [corrected].

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The Citizen postcard was postmarked Alameda County and mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on May 8th 1974.

The author of this card was referring to the 1973 Badlands film directed by Terrence Malick and starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, released in New York and Los Angeles on March 24th and 29th respectively. The movie was based upon the real life events of Charles Raymond Starkweather (20) and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate (14). They were a pair of spree killers who embarked on a two month rampage, killing 10 people in total, including her entire family in the area of Nebraska and Wyoming back in 1958, before they were finally captured.

​Charles Raymond Starkweather was sentenced to death and executed in the electric chair at Nebraska State Penitentiary on June 25th 1959, while Caril Ann Fugate received a life sentence but was ultimately paroled after seventeen years.in the June of 1976. Incidentally, 'Kit and Holly' mentioned in the correspondence are the names of the characters played by Sheen and Spacek in the movie. The wording on the letter read:

"Sirs -- I would like to expression my consternt (crossed out) consternation concerning your poor taste + lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands", featuring the blurb: "In 1959 most people were killing time. Kit + Holly were killing people." In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable) why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad?  A citizen".

This card marked a deviation for the Zodiac Killer in the way he signed off the communication. Instead of the ominous crosshairs and running victim count, he would sign off with "A citizen", which either marked a shift of personality within the murderer, or this correspondence was simply not mailed by the Zodiac Killer. This correspondence remains in question to this day.
 
This correspondence and the Exorcist letter, both mailed in 1974, seemingly showed the author's interest in these 1973 movies, dedicating both communications to the subject of films and mailing both to the San Francisco Chronicle. Therefore, even more curious that the two movies released in 1971 received absolutely no attention whatsoever from the Bay Area killer. One month after the Los Angeles letter of March 13th 1971, a Zodiac film was released on April 7th directed by Tom Hansen, and later that year the blockbuster 'Dirty Harry' movie, based on the Zodiac Killer, was released on December 23rd 1971 directed by Don Siegel.
It would seem unimaginable that a killer who so craved attention and publicity would fail to capitalize on such a veritable banquet in his name. In fact, the Zodiac Killer remained quiet for nearly three years if you believe the widely held consensus in the Zodiac community (which is almost certainly wrong). It is extremely likely that only one of the 1974 communications was mailed by the Zodiac Killer (the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974).
​
A Symbionese Liberation Army connection to the 'Badlands' card and Red Phantom letter has been explored here: The Hearst Family Connection [PT1]    
The Hearst Family Connection [PT2] 

Here is a small extract from the above two articles: 
In the Telegraph under the title 'Citizen Kane 'feud' between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst thaws after 70 years' it states "When Welles' masterpiece was released in 1941 Hearst, who was the partial inspiration for the movie, was incensed and banned his newspapers from reviewing or even mentioning it". Therefore, it must be an amazing coincidence that the Citizen card called for "cutting the ads" before signing off with "A citizen". Not to mention that the release date in Los Angeles, California for the movie Citizen Kane was May 8th 1941 - the exact date this correspondence was postmarked, on May 8th 1974.   

Two months later, the Red Phantom letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, postmarked July 8th 1974, targeting the 'male chauvinistic' Count Marco column of Marc H. Spinelli. This letter continued the theme, demanding that the Chronicle "cancel the Count Marco column", before signing off with the rather curious "Red Phantom (red with rage)". But what did this pseudonym have to do with the Hearst family?

Entitled 'The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dallies Volume One 1936-1937' by Lee Falk, it states "Leon Harrison Gross was born on April 28, 1911, in St. Louis. By the time he sold his first comic strip, Mandrake the Magician, he had changed his name to Lee Falk. His tendency was to shave a few years off his age and he often told interviewers he was a 19-year-old junior at the University of Illinois when he started Mandrake. Actually he was 23, still an impressively young age to sell a comic strip to the largest syndicate in America, William Randolph Hearst's King Features. Two years later he came up with 'The Phantom' and King bought that one as well". See here.

​
Founded in 1914, King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles, and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate is a unit of Hearst Holdings, Inc., which combines the Hearst Corporation's cable-network partnerships, television programming and distribution activities, and syndication companies. King Features' affiliate syndicates are North America Syndicate and Cowles Syndicate. Each week, Reed Brennan Media Associates, a unit of Hearst, edits and distributes more than 200 features for King Features. Wikipedia.

On March 31st 2020, an almost undeniable link was made between the handwriting on the SLA envelope to the handwriting on the Red Phantom envelope. There is now little doubt remaining that the same author was responsible for both of these communications, which was not the Zodiac Killer. If a Symbionese Liberation Army member (or a friend of the Symbionese Liberation Army) wrote the February 3rd 1974 SLA letter, then they wrote the Red Phantom letter too. Here is an explanation.   

Zodiac Ciphers News-The Citizen Card.

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Citizen card front
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Patty Hearst. Click image to read on Wikipedia.
THE HEARST CONNECTION
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Click image for October 31st 1970 interview with Paul Avery
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1963 June 4th-The Domingos/Edwards Murders
1966 October 30th-The Cheri Jo Bates Murder
1966 November 29th -The Confession Letter 
1966 December- The Riverside Desktop Poem 
1967 April 30th- Bates Had to Die Letter
1968 December 20th-The Lake Herman Murders
1969 July 4th-The Blue Rock Springs Attack

1969 July 31st- Vallejo Times-Herald Letter and
408 Cipher Page1 (solved)

1969 July 31st- Examiner Letter and 
408 Cipher Page 2 (solved)

1969 July 31st - Chronicle Letter and
408 Cipher Page 3 (87% solved) 

1969 July 31st-The Complete 408 Cipher
1969 August 4th- Debut of Zodiac Letter
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1969 August 10th- Concerned Citizen Card
1969 September 27th- Lake Berryessa Attack
1969 October 7th- The Good Citizen Letter
1969 October 11th-The Presidio Heights Murder
1969 October 13th-The Paul Stine Letters
1969 October 22nd-Call to Chat Show
1969 November 8th-The Dripping Pen Card and 
340 Cipher (solved in 2020)

1969 November 9th-The Bus Bomb Letter
1969 November 19th- The Riddler Notes
​1969 November 21st-The San Jose Code Letter
1969 November 28th-The Betsy Aardsma Murder
​
1969 December 7th-The Fairfield Letter
1969 December 10th- Forecast for Cancer
1969 December 11th- Forecast for Leo
1969 December 16th-The Fairfield Letter 
1969 December 20th-The Melvin Belli Letter
1970 Feb 21st- The Hood and Garcia Murders
1970 March 22nd-The Modesto Attack
1970 April 15th-The Robert Salem Murder
1970 April 20th-"My Name is" Letter,
Cipher 3 and Bus Bomb Diagram

1970 April 28th-The Dragon Card
1970 June 26th-The Button Letter
Cipher 4 (solved in 2019) and Map

1970 July 4th-The Sleeping Bag Murders
1970 July 24th-The Kathleen Johns Letter
1970 July 26th-The Little List Letter
1970 Sept 6th-The Donna Lass Disappearance
1970 October 5th-13 Hole Postcard
1970 October 17th- "You Are Next" Postcard
1970 October 27th-The Halloween Card
1971 March 13th-The Los Angeles Letter
1971 March 22nd-The Pines Card
1971 Unknown- The 148 Character Cipher
​1971 July 13th-The Monticello Card
​1973 August 1st- The Albany Letter
1974 January 29th-The Exorcist Letter
1974 February 3rd-The SLA Letter
1974 May 8th-The Citizen Card 
1974 July 8th-The Red Phantom Letter
1974 December 27th- Christmas Card
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1975 November 3rd- The Belmont Letter
1978 April 24th-The 1978 Letter
1978 May 2nd- The Channel Nine Letter
1978 July 19th- The Scotch Tape Letter
1981 March 8th- The Peachtree Letter
1986 May 6th- The Freeway Letter
1987 October 28th- The 1987 Letter
1988 February 1st- The McDonald's Letter
1988 February 8th- The McDonald's Letter [2]
1990 September 25th- The Celebrity Cypher
1990 December-American Greetings Card
2001 January 10th- Happy New Year Card
​Unknown DMV Letter (possibly November 1971)

SLA LETTER - OLD NORSE FOR KILL
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Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry
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Click to enlarge
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William Randolph Hearst Sr
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All
13 Hole Postcard
148 Character Cipher
1978 Letter
1986 Letter
1987 Letter
2001 Happy New Year Card
Albany Letter
Allan/Peyton Murders
Arthur Leigh Allen
Atlanta Letter
Betsy Aardsma
Blue Rock Springs Attack
Bus Bomb Letter
Button Letter
Call To Chat Show
Carol Beth Hilburn
Channel 9 Letter
Cheri Jo Bates
Cipher Theories
Citizen Card
Concerned Citizen Card
Confession Letter
Debut Of Zodiac Letter
Deep Real Estate Ad
DMV Letter
Domingos/Edwards Murders
Donald Lee Bujok
Donna Lass
Dragon Card
Earl Van Best Jr
Eureka Card
Exorcist Letter
Fairfield Letter
Fingerprint Evidence
Forecast For Cancer
Forecast For Leo
Gareth Penn
General News Articles
Gilbert And Sullivan
Halloween Card
Hood/Garcia Murders
Internet Articles
Joan Webster
Judith Hakari
Kevin Robert Brooks
Lake Berryessa Attack
Lake Herman Road Murders
Lake Tahoe Disappearance
Larry Kane
Los Angeles Letter
Melvin Belli Letter
Mike Morford (Morf13)
Modesto Attack
Molina/Rodriguez Murders
Monticello Card
My Name Is Letter
New Canaan Letters
Pines Card
Possible Zodiac Attacks
Possible Zodiac Letters
Post An Article Here
Presidio Heights Murder
Radians
Red Phantom Letter
Richard Gaikowski
Riverside Desktop Poem
Robert Salem Murder
Ross Sullivan
Saechao/Saelee Murders
San Jose Code Letter
Santa Claus Card
Scotch Tape Letter
Sla Letter
Tamalpais Valley Attack
Ted Kaczynski
Telegraph Avenue Incident
The 340 Cipher
The 408 Cipher
The Celebrity Cypher
The Little List
The Mikado
Thomas Horan
You Are Next Letter
Zodiac Letters Poll
Zodiac Postage
Zodiac Theories
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