Robert Connelly (27), one of the eyewitnesses at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968, traveled from his home in Napa along California State Route 12, through Jameson Canyon, before turning south approaching  Cordelia and heading to the Gasser Ranch on Highway 21. He arrived at the Gasser Ranch, just north of the Goodyear Station, at 6pm. Robert Connelly stated that he and Frank Gasser (69) left the residence and headed to the Marshall Ranch along Lake Herman Road, passing the gate #10 turnout at approximately 9pm, when they spotted Bingo George Wesner (33) exiting the gate.

Admittedly, the police report is poorly written, and can be interpreted as 10pm if we rely solely on the "time testimony" given by Bingo Wesner. He was quoted by police as saying "last night he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00pm (east of the Benicia Pumping Station) and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan, parked by the south fence of the entrance to the pumping station. He also observed a red Ford pick-up with wood side boards in the area (the pick-up was later identified as the one Frank Gasser and Robert Connelly were riding in)". Bingo Wesner was also quoted as saying "that when he came out of the gate he saw the same Impala and also saw the red pick-up truck go by". It is whether his sighting of the red pick-up truck "go by" and "in the area" is one event or two. Zodiac researcher, Ray Grant, staunchly argues that Robert Connelly's timing was off by one hour, and he passed the gate #10 turnout at 10pm. It's fair to say that sizeable portions of the Lake Herman Road section of his book, "Zodiac Killer Solved", relies on Connelly & Gasser heading to the Marshall Ranch and passing the turnout at approximately 10pm. The Marshall Ranch entrance was 960 feet west of gate #10. So let us examine the validity of Ray Grant's assertions. 

Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser, after passing the turnout and parking 25 yards into the Marshall Ranch, would have secured their guns, leashed the dogs and began their journey to the area around the Benicia Pumping Station and Dotta Ranch at about 10:03pm. They had to cross Lake Herman Road to do so. They were partaking in a spot of raccoon hunting.

​Let us now jump forward to the time when they had concluded their night's hunting and were heading back to the driveway of the Marshall Ranch. Robert Connelly stated in the police report that after they had finished hunting that night "it took them about 10 minutes to walk back to the truck". Bearing in mind it was a cold dark night, Frank Gasser was 69 years old, with two dogs in tow, walking on uneven terrain and carrying weapons, a generous estimate of their walking speed would be 3 feet per second. Therefore, we can approximate their position on the hillside to 1800 feet from the Marshall Ranch entrance (a 10 minute walk back}. From this we can calculate the distance to this point from the gate #10 turnout of 1022 feet (see below). They were hunting raccoons by the trees in that area.     

Ray Grant has stated in his book that "Frank Gasser, on his way up through the brush of the hillside, would then step through Gate #10 and walk over to the white Chevy Impala circa 10:20pm, and shine his flashlight into it, wondering what the car was doing there with no one inside it". Attributing zero minutes to his inspection of the Chevy (maybe 20 seconds), it would now take approximately 6 minutes for him and Connelly to reach the arbitrary point of 1800 feet from the Marshall Ranch entrance (which was 10 minutes away). This would have been a total walking time of 16 minutes subsequent to Frank Gasser shining his flashlight at the Chevy on the outward bound journey. Their raccoon hunting would have been by the treeline shown on the maps above  They arrived back at their red pick-up truck at approximately 10:50pm according to Ray Grant. If we add 16 minutes to 10:20pm, we get 10:36pm. This would leave only 14 minutes available hunting time for Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser that night, if they were to make it back to their truck at 10:50pm. It was likely significantly less than 14 minutes, due to my generous estimation of their walking speed in less than ideal circumstances. .

Therefore, Robert Connelly traveled 20 miles to the Gasser Ranch on Highway 21, arriving there at 6pm, and spending about 3 hours and 45 minutes with Frank Gasser, before they both headed towards the gate #10 turnout, passing this location at 10pm. Once they had arrived at the Marshall Ranch and walked to the area of the Benicia Pumping Station, they decided that they would hunt raccoons for only 14 minutes (or less) and then head back home. Had Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser passed the gate #10 turnout earlier that night at 9pm, this would have given them a maximum of 74 minutes for their raccoon hunting. Which is more realistic?

RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA

On October 31st 1966, the day Cheri Jo Bates was found by 3692 Terracina Drive, detectives conducted a thorough search of the driveway where her body was found, using metal detectors to locate the possible murder weapon. They came up empty handed. The morning after the highly publicized library reconstruction, on November 14th 1966, a hunting knife was discovered by a Riverside City College gardener while raking the ground, just 50 feet from the location where the body of Cheri was found. It was unearthed at the other end of the house at 3692 Terracina Drive. Assuming a competent and thorough search of this area was undertaken on October 31st 1966 (including the use of metal detectors), one must assume that this knife was buried in shallow dirt at this location subsequent to the search, and up to the early morning hours of October 14th 1966. The timing of this discovery hours after the library reconstruction is unusual to say the least. I have shown the approximate location of the knife below (it may have been slightly out of shot).  

Investigators stated that preliminary reports suggested it wasn't the knife that killed Cheri Jo Bates. Either they missed it on October 31st 1966, having searched the driveway and the shrubbery only yards from the hunting knife, or it was deliberately placed there sometime in the following two weeks by a mischievous individual or the killer (who used a different knife). The knife was covered with rust, so it may have been there all along and simply missed. A slight oversight one could argue.

The five knife wounds to the front torso and right arm of Cheri Jo Bates were almost certainly delivered while the young woman was standing upright (likely restrained by the killer from behind). The initial part of the attack to this region was probably over in as little as five seconds. She was then likely thrust forward, face down, into the position her body was eventually found on the driveway floor. It is in this position the sixth knife wound was "plunged into her". When the Confession letter author mailed their two typed letters on November 29th 1966, this strike was described as the one prior to "cutting her throat". The sequence of the attack described in the letters matches with the findings in the autopsy report. But crucially, the author stated "I plunged the knife into her and it broke".    

During the initial part of the attack Cheri suffered a "1.7 cm mainly transverse fresh laceration of the skin of the left chest over the 5th rib and centered about 2 cm medial to the left vertical nipple line". This produced a "1.5 cm oblique cut in the bony portion of the 5th rib anteriorly on the left corresponding somewhat to the skin lacerations over it". This is the only damage noted at autopsy to the hard skeletal structures of her body. It is at this point the lock mechanism of the knife was most likely compromised. The knife may still have appeared functioning, but it's possible that the blade was not fixed in position (see here).

​If this bone injury was the fifth knife wound administered to the front of her body before she was thrust forward to the ground, a faulty lock mechanism, weakened during this strike, would have meant that the sixth and final stab wound glancing the transverse process of her spine "2 cm lateral to the midline and opposite the spinous process of the 7th thoracic vertebrae", would have alerted the stabber to the malfunctioning knife blade - which was described by the Confession letter author as a knife that "broke". However, a knife in this condition can still function perfectly well as a slicing tool. A right or left-handed person drawing the knife across their victim's neck would effectively keep the blade open. The author describing the cutting of her throat immediately after they "plunged the knife into her and it broke", is a possible consequence of the prior strike and the rib injury detailed at autopsy. It also shouldn't be forgotten that the Confession letter author mentioned "her breast felt very warm and firm under [his] hands". when we consider that all three wounds to her front torso were to her breasts.

​Andrew Gray, an excellent Zodiac researcher, speculated why a hoaxer would need to add the phrase about the broken knife into the typed Confession letter, because this appears like an unnecessary addition to a letter if you are a hoaxer. This statement seems like an admission only relevant to somebody who was present in the moment. Somebody who needed to explain why the knife attack was brought to a premature end.

It is clear that the author of the three Bates' letters on April 30th 1967 parroted the words used by Jack Matthews, the Staff Writer of the Press-Enterprise newspaper. On the same day the three threatening letters arrived (one to the Press-Enterprise), he wrote an extensive article about the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and the content in the confession letter, stating "The letter told of how Cheri struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". The author of the Bates' letters mimicked this wording by writing "Bates had to die, there will be more" (see foot of article).

​The author of the confession letter used the same mimicry on November 29th 1966 by taking phrases and inspiration from the Press-Enterprise newspaper on November 24th 1966 (see below). This newspaper article was about a 19-year-old woman who was offered a ride in a man's car and then attacked, just like the claims in the confession letter five days later. The newspaper article stated that the man "grabbed her around the neck". The confession letter author typed "I grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth". The newspaper article stated "I could just hit you in the head with this piece of wood". The confession letter author typed "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". The assailant mentioned in the newspaper stated "I'm not Jack the Ripper". The confession letter author typed "But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see". At one point the assailant offered to "take her home", with the confession letter author typing he "would give her a lift home". The author of both the Bates' letters and confession letters borrowed phrases from a recently published newspaper article in the Press-Enterprise, and summarily addressed two of these offerings to the same newspaper..The menacing letters came in duplicate on November 29th 1966 and in triplicate on April 30th 1967. The methodology of both authors was extremely similar. The strange signature on two of the Bates' letters followed the wording "There will be more". The author was implying more victims?

​The murder of Cheri Jo Bates (18) and the attack on the 19-year-old woman happened 2 1/2 miles from each other. The man who picked up the woman on Linden Street on November 22nd 1966, had initially given her a lift in his car three weeks earlier. This would have been approximately November 1st 1966, one day after the body of Cheri Jo Bates was found murdered in the driveway alongside Terracina Drive. He was described as 35 years old, 5-foot 9-inches, with a "chunky protruding stomach". I wonder what he looked like on October 11th 1969?

​It is difficult not to see a connection between the Riverside Desktop Poem, Confession letter and Bates' letters when they have the common language of "to die" running through all three, along with the numerous similarities between the poem and the Confession letter, explored here in great detail. A further comprehensive examination of the Confession letter with the then unreleased autopsy report of Cheri Jo Bates, strongly points to an author who knew too much. If the Confession letter author on November 29th 1966 was the murderer of the young college student, then he was very likely responsible for the desktop poem also. 

Only three days after the discovery of Cheri Jo Bates' body on Halloween morning (October 31st 1966), the Riverside Daily Press newspaper published an article on November 3rd 1966 entitled "Key Clue Goes to C11 Unit", comparing the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood (19) on April 13th 1965 with the murder of Cheri Jo Bates.(18) on the same campus (see below). It was soon discovered that Rolland Taft (19), responsible for the attack on Atwood, was still in jail when Cheri was murdered and therefore was not responsible for her murder and any of the subsequent communications. I suspect that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates read this newspaper article and composed a desktop poem mentioning how Roslyn Atwood was "unwilling to die" and had escaped to a nearby house after her stabbing. with "blood spurting, dripping and spilling over her new red dress". The author concluded that she wouldn't "die this time," but Cheri Jo Bates wouldn't be so lucky, stating "just wait till next time", The addition of "rh" likely dating her demise as happening in Riverside on Halloween, because that is when her body was discovered.

The poem was predominately structured around the Roslyn Atwood attack, and was possibly written in blue ballpoint pen a matter of days after the November 3rd 1966 newspaper article. The Confession letter on November 29th 1966 likely continued where the desktop poem finished off, by describing that "next time". The Confession letter would contrast the fact that Roslyn Atwood was "unwilling to die" by remarking how Cheri Jo Bates "went to the slaughter like a lamb" and "went very willingly". The Confession letter also used the phrase "to die" again, stating "I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die". It must also be noted how the word "time" appeared 5 times in these two communications.   

It is hard to believe that when the desktop poem was discovered in December 1966, a connection wasn't made between the Roslyn Atwood story and the contents of the desktop poem. I have trawled through approximately a dozen newspaper articles about the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood and found no mention of a "new red dress" in any. All police really had to do was reinterview Roslyn Atwood and discover if she had bought a new red dress shortly before she was stabbed. If she had been able to confirm this fact, it would have placed the desktop poem author and likely murderer of Cheri Jo Bates in her proximity the day she was stabbed. How else could he have reasonably acquired the knowledge she had recently purchased a new red dress and had worn it that night, other than her telling him directly, by somebody who knew Roslyn telling him, or through him overhearing a conversation of her telling someone else?

Roslyn Atwood attended night classes at the Riverside City College and had been attacked traveling home at 9:30pm that night, so it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that the desktop poem author attended the same night class as Roslyn, or had been at the Riverside college for other classes on April 13th 1965. Either way, if police could have confirmed she had bought such a dress and was wearing it when she was stabbed, it would have placed the author of the desktop poem extremely close to Roslyn Atwood at the Riverside City College. A college he would have been writing a desktop poem about 19 months later. For those who believe Zodiac to be responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, Roslyn Atwood could be the key.

There may finally be a credible answer to the meaning of the 1966 Riverside Desktop Poem and the "rh" signature at its base. The first part of the poem, reminiscing in the present tense, is referring to the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood (19), who was stabbed once in the lower abdomen by Rolland Taft while she was walking through a Riverside City College parking lot on April 13th 1965 at 9:30pm. Asking the college student if she needed a ride several times, she refused and started walking up the stairs on the north side of the lot east of Cutter Pool. After leaving his vehicle and approaching her, she resisted his attempts to grab her and was stabbed once. After he fled, she made her way to 4531 Lemon, across the street from her home at 4510 Lemon. A hunting knife with a 4 1/2 inch blade was found by officers on the steps. Miss Atwood was released from hospital on April 22nd 1965 after nine days. While there she helped create a photo-fit of her attacker. She attended night classes at the college. 

The poem's author probably read the retelling of the Roslyn Atwood story only four days after the Cheri Jo Bates murder on October 30th 1966, when the Riverside Daily Press newspaper on November 3rd 1966 compared the murder of Cheri Jo Bates to the Roslyn Atwood stabbing on the same campus (see below). But was the desktop author the murderer? Investigators realised Rolland Taft was still behind bars on October 30th 1966, so couldn't have been responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates or the poem.

The Riverside Desktop author must have been inspired to search for details regarding this attempted murder in 1965, that would ultimately form the first part of the desktop poem, which borrowed from the Riverside Daily Press newspaper headline on April 17th 1965 entitled "Clean-cut youth sought in stabbing".(Credit: MK Zodiac). The Riverside Desktop Poem began with "cut, clean, if red/clean. blood spurting, dripping, spilling; all over her new dress". The second section of the poem moved from Roslyn Atwood to Cheri Jo Bates, stating "Someone'll find her. Just wait till next time. rh." The "rh" abbreviation can be found in a newspaper article about Roslyn Atwood from the Riverside Daily Press newspaper on April 29th 1965. It is not a signature.    

It appears like the author of the desktop poem trawled through old articles from the local newspaper (the Riverside Daily Press), and created the beginning and ending of the poem from "Clean-cut youth sought in stabbing" and an educational footnote from a second article on April 29th 1965, entitled "Accused youth sent to Juvenile Court" (see below)..Two further communications would have relevance to The Press-Enterprise on November 29th 1966 and April 30th 1967 regarding Cheri Jo Bates. 

The author, by adding of the "rh" footnote in a poem shortly after the killing of Cheri Jo Bates, about the attempted murder of a woman with a knife, whose blood was "spurting, dripping, spilling; all over her new dress", may have been attempting to clue us in to the Roslyn Atwood story on the same campus. If the above newspaper article published by the Riverside Daily Press had been found, the "RH" abbreviation concerning blood may have peaked some interest - but does the RH factor have any bearing on the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, when the author declared "just wait till next time"?

The Rh blood group system is a human blood group system. It contains proteins on the surface of red blood cells. After the ABO blood group system, it is the most likely to be involved in transfusion reactions. The Rh blood group system consisted of 49 defined blood group antigens in 2005. As of 2023, there are over 50 antigens among which the five antigens D, C, c, E, and e are the most important. There is no d antigen. Rh(D) status of an individual is normally described with a positive (+) or negative (−) suffix after the ​ABO type (e.g., someone who is A+ has the A antigen and Rh(D) antigen, whereas someone who is A− has the A antigen but lacks the Rh(D) antigen). The terms Rh factor, Rh positive, and Rh negative refer to the Rh(D) antigen only. Antibodies to Rh antigens can be involved in hemolytic transfusion reactions and antibodies to the Rh(D) and Rh antigens confer significant risk of hemolytic disease of the newborn.

Cheri Jo Bates' blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3% of the American population. Did the author of the poem use the "rh" footnote in the Roslyn Atwood newspaper article on April 29th 1965 because they knew the rarity of Cheri Jo Bates' blood grouping? Disregarding this last observation, we still have a November 3rd 1966 newspaper article from the Riverside Daily Press comparing the Atwood and Bates cases only four days after the Riverside murder, and another article from the same newspaper on April 29th 1965 about the stabbing of Roslyn Atwood with an attached educational footnote, reading "The RH factor in blood was identified in 1940". So did the author create the desktop poem shortly after the November 3rd 1966 article, that would ultimately shape the linguistics of the Confession letter on November 29th 1966? 

If we look at the desktop poem alongside the Confession letter, we need go no further than the title of the desktop poem, which reads "Sick of living/unwilling to die". The desktop poem begins with "Sick of living", and the Confession letter states "I am not sick. I am insane". The desktop poem title uses the word "unwilling", to which the Confession letter states "She was then very willing to talk to me" and "She went very willingly". One referenced an unwillingness to die, whereas one claimed Cheri Jo Bates went "willingly" to her death. In other words, Miss Atwood resisted her death and didn't die "that time", but Cheri Jo Bates died hard and willingly. The desktop poem title uses the phrase "to die", with the Confession letter stating "I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die". This brings forth another connection between both communications with the word "time" central to both. The desktop poem uses the word "time" twice, when stating "She won't die, this time someone'll find her. Just wait till next time", whereas the Confession letter uses the word "time" three times by stating "I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die". We have the words "sick", "unwilling" (in root form) and "time" from the desktop poem, used 6 times in the Confession letter by way of "sick", "willing", "willingly", "time", "time" and "time". In fact, the words "die" and "time" are used in the same context in both communications by the sentences "she won't die, this time someone'll find her" and "I said it was about time for her to die". If you add in the three Bates letters of "Bates had to die", "She had to die" and "She had to die" into the equation, we have the phrase "to die" used 5 times in all three communications.

Miss Atwood escaped the clutches of Rolland Lin Taft in 1965, expressed by the desktop author when they stated "she won't die, this time someone'll find her", but reminded everybody that the next time Cheri Jo Bates wouldn't be so lucky by finishing the poem with "Just wait till next time. rh".

Thanks to Jibberjabber for giving me access to a new newspaper database 

The Lake Herman Road presence on December 20th 1968 of Robert Connelly (27), Frank Gasser (69) and Bingo George Wesner (33) can be confirmed by the testimony of each. Raccoon hunters, Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser saw Bingo Wesner at the Lake Herman Road turnout and vice versa. Robert Connelly stated that "when they arrived there at 9:00pm a white 4-door hardtop, a 1959 or 1960 Impala, was parked there, and also, a truck coming out of the gate". Bingo Wesner stated "that when he came out of the gate he saw the same Impala and also saw the red pick-up truck go by". 

However, Bingo Wesner was also quoted as saying that "last night he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00pm (east of the Benicia Pumping Station) and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan, parked by the south fence of the entrance to the pumping station. He also observed a red Ford pick-up with wood side boards in the area (the pick-up was later identified as the one Frank Gasser and Robert Connelly were riding in)".

The question has always been, did Robert Connelly or Bingo Wesner get their time wrong by a whole hour, and the two statements of "saw the red pick-up truck go by" and "observed a red Ford pick-up with wood side boards in the area", had been the same sighting by the turnout?. Or had Bingo Wesner seen the red pick-up truck pass the turnout, and later saw it parked "in the area" by the entrance of the Marshall Ranch? It would be important to qualify these ambiguous statements, because it would mean we either have a Chevrolet Impala seen at the turnout only once at either 9pm or 10pm, or twice at both 9pm and 10pm.

​The testimony of William Crow, who stated he was in the turnout with his girlfriend between 9:30pm and 10pm, was unable to be confirmed by an impartial eyewitness, so we cannot be certain whether his version of events are correct. Regardless, in a much later statement he claimed "I never told the sheriff who interviewed me that the car I encountered was a Valiant. As I recall, as I was attempting to describe the car and the sheriff came up with a “Valiant”. In the years that have passed, when I have shared the events of that night, I have described the car as a four-door light-colored Chevy.  I could not see the passenger seat, but the driver was a man with short hair and glasses. I did not see his specific facial features". His earlier statement on December 22nd 1968 described two subjects "who were both Caucasians".

Ray Grant, long-time Zodiac researcher, points out that the Helen Axe statement may be erroneous. Miss Axe claimed that the Faraday Rambler was facing south towards the gate when she passed the turnout at 10:15pm, but when she returned 15 minutes later it had turned around. However, she only reported this after reading the newspaper reports, so may have convinced herself that the light-colored Chevrolet Impala she saw facing gate #10 was actually the Rambler.

​If Ray Grant is correct that Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and Bingo Wesner saw the empty white Chevrolet Impala facing south towards the gate at 10pm, then it is extremely noteworthy that Helen Axe saw a tan-colored vehicle also facing the gate only 15 minutes later (that she believed to be the Rambler). The 1959/1960 Chevrolet Impala was made in "ermine white", which when viewed in the headlights of Bingo Wesner exiting gate #10, would have looked off white, but when viewed in darkness, such as by Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs, it would have appeared tan-colored or light to medium brown (which is how he described the vehicle). Therefore, if Helen Axe saw an "ermine white" Chevrolet in the turnout in darkness, she could have easily mistaken it for tan-colored or light brown, just like the Rambler. The 1961 Faraday Rambler was two tone, dark tan over light tan. Ray Grant has stated that Frank Gasser had approached the Chevrolet Impala in the turnout and illuminated it with a flashlight (so would have moticed its white color). He and Robert Connelly, after they parked up at the Marshall Ranch about 10pm, had walked by Sulphur Springs Creek and the turnout on their way towards Benicia Pumping Station and the Dotta Ranch for a spot of raccoon hunting..

At approximately 10:30pm, a 14-year-old male called "Stan" and his friend spotted what they described as a 1963 blue Chevrolet Impala with two occupants exiting Lake Herman Road and entering Columbus Parkway. The front end characteristics of a 1963 Chevrolet Impala can be compared to a 1960 Chevrolet Impala below. The approximate time of 10:30pm given by Helen Axe when she last saw a vehicle in the Lake Herman Road turnout and "Stan" at Columbus Parkway, could be shifted 5 minutes either way to allow the same vehicle to make this journey. But how does an "ermine white" Chevrolet Impala become blue in 5 minutes? 

By the mid-20th century, increasing motorization necessitated better illumination, particularly in business districts where there was more mixing of cars and pedestrians, as well as along commercial thoroughfares. Streets needed to be illuminated more evenly, and a minimum level of lighting needed to be maintained throughout the night. Street lighting became a major expense for US cities, which sought to control costs in various ways. From the point of view of a municipal lighting department, the fact that incandescent lamps "radiate with very low efficiency, producing relatively little light at visible wavelengths", made them less and less attractive for public street lighting. Mercury vapor streetlights started to be used more widely in the United States after 1950, mainly due to their cost efficiency. By then, the lifespan of mercury vapor lamps had been extended to 16,000 hours, and they could provide up to 40 lumens per watt, whereas incandescent lamps could only deliver 16 to 21 lumens. I must confess, I don't know if Columbus Parkway was illuminated by Mercury Vapor streetlights in 1968, but "ermine white" under these conditions takes on a blue tinge. Wikipedia. 

​So was the Zodiac Killer (or Zodiac Killers) driving an "ermine white" Chevrolet Impala around on December 20th 1968, cruising between Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park looking for victims, the latter which he would murder for a third time just over 6 months later?

RAY GRANT'S ROBERT CONNELLY TIMELINE

In the last three articles entitled "When The Black Man Was Walking By" [1], [2], [3], I examined the possibility that the Zodiac Killer lived near the payphone at Springs & Tuolumne and walked there (absent of his vehicle), which I will examine further here.

One reason often given why it was unlikely that the Zodiac Killer lived close to the payphone, is he would not want to draw attention to the neighborhood in which he lived. Many people argue they would opt for a payphone distant to where they lived. If the Zodiac Killer thought the police had the same mindset, then choosing a payphone close to his residence is the perfect bluff. However, when I am claiming there is a strong possibility that Zodiac lived close to the payphone, I am talking about a considerable area approximating 4 square miles. That would be one mile north, east, south and west of the payphone, and anywhere in between. The Zodiac could live one mile, or as little as 160 feet from the payphone. The image below uses a residence at the intersection of Tuolumne Street and Valle Vista Avenue as an example, which is nearly one mile from the payphone.    

A journey from the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs to this address would be 9 minutes, so if the Zodiac Killer lived here and left the crime scene at the estimated time of 12:02am, he would arrive home at about 12:11am. If he took 10 minutes to conceal/park his vehicle, change his clothes, wash his hands/arms, and hide the smoking gun, it would now be 12:21am and leave him 19 minutes to walk to the payphone and make the call to Nancy Slover (which is the journey time on foot shown by Google maps).

Obviously, a car journey from Blue Rock Springs to different addresses within the red square will marginally affect the available time somebody has remaining to spend at home and walk to the payphone, so the area highlighted above must be viewed as a rough guide, representing an approximate area of 4 square miles. We are not talking about a small area to search, but it's a lot better than placing a dragnet over the entire Bay Area or northern California to identify the Zodiac Killer. All I am suggesting, is that there is good reason to prioritize this location - and if the search for potential suspects doesn't unearth any likely candidates, we can move on to alternative locations. For reference, Arthur Leigh Allen's residence at 32 Fresno Street was 9 minutes walking distance to the payphone. 

​If the Zodiac Killer did live in this area, one other thing we have to consider, that we can only ponder, is how far was the Zodiac Killer prepared to walk from his residence to the payphone and back? The Tuolumne Street and Valle Vista Avenue address would take 38 minutes walking time, whereas an address such as Arthur Leigh Allen's would take 18 minutes. Did the slayer of three factor in a buffer zone from his residence to the chosen payphone, or did he play the bluffing game, that nobody would ever believe he would be so daft to make an admission of murder so close to home? The insertion of his "brown car" into the letter on August 4th 1969, described by the negro male walking by the payphone, may have been an attempt to shift the focus away from the area surrounding the payphone. A killer still in his vehicle while making the phone call can literally travel anywhere.

At the Lake Herman Road turnout Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser stated "that when they arrived there at 9:00 pm a white 4-door hardtop, a '59 or '60 Impala, was parked there, and also, a truck coming out of the gate. This coincides with information from Bingo Wesner that when he came out of the gate he saw the same Impala and also saw the red pick-up truck go by". This make of Chevrolet Impala was manufactured in "ermine white", often described as cream colored, sometimes with a tinge of very mild browm. Many vehicles online described as "ermine white" just look white, while some have this slight hint of brown. Illuminated by the vehicle headlights driven by Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and Bingo Wesner, could this 1959/1960 Chevrolet Impala (in ermine white) at Lake Herman Road have appeared white, but not illuminated by the headlights of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair at Blue Rock Springs, appeared light brown in color when in the dark parking lot? The below images show how an "ermine white" Chevrolet Impala changes to light brown in dark conditions. On page one of the police report Michael Mageau describes the assailant's vehicle as medium light brown, but It was clear by his further statements that he wasn't sure what type of vehicle was driven by the Zodiac Killer, who was perfectly happy to confirm his vehicle was brown when he sent his August 4th 1969 letter. The question being, was he in an "ermine white" Chevrolet Impala at Blue Rock Springs. The vehicle parked in the Lake Herman Road turnout as early as 9pm or 10pm (or both). The police report is ambiguous. 

Shortly before midnight on July 4th 1969, Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin pulled into the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs and sat there talking for a while. A vehicle, that most people believe was Zodiac, came from the direction of Springs Road according to Michael Mageau, entered the parking lot and parked alongside the left side of their Corvair for about one minute, about 6 to 8 feet away. The vehicle, that Michael thought was driven by a single male, then left the parking lot and headed back towards Springs Road. He estimated that 5 minutes later the vehicle returned from that direction, once again pulled into the parking lot, but this time positioned itself to the rear of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair.

After exiting his vehicle the Zodiac Killer approached the Corvair and began shooting the couple. Subsequent to the attack (at about 12:02am on July 5th 1969) he got back in his vehicle and then drove away towards Springs Road for a second time. Michael Mageau was able to recall the assailant's vehcle had a California license plate. The Zodiac Killer, without knowing the automobile proficiency of the couple in the Corvair, especially after parking his vehicle alongside theirs for about one minute - and entering and exiting the parking lot twice - must have been aware that there was a reasonable possibility the couple had recognised the make and color of his vehicle. He even drove away from the crime scene slowly according to his story.

The Zodiac Killer, if he was familiar with Blue Rock Springs, also knew that there was a reasonable possibility that the nine shots he fired that morning may have been heard by the caretaker and/or residents of the house approximately 800 feet from the parking lot. George Bryant stated that "he could hear laughing and a few firecrackers being set off. And at approximately midnight he heard what appeared to be a gunshot. This was much louder than any of the firecrackers. A short time later he heard what appeared to be another gunshot. After another short pause he heard rapid fire of what appeared to be gunshots. He then heard a car take off".

The Zodiac Killer's vehicle had been viewed by Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin for at least 2 minutes that night/ morning, and he had fired off 9 shots in total. If he had planned to make a phone call that morning, the obvious choice was to do this immediately before police were alerted and his vehicle description was sent out over the airwaves throughout Vallejo. But wait I hear you say; Zodiac probably thought the couple were dead. After all, his phone call to Nancy Slover stated ​"I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... On Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car". This gives the impression that he thought he had killed two people - but this claim was bullshit - and he knew there was a distinct possibility he had only killed one person that morning.​  

​He knew this because he gave himself away on August 4th 1969 when he sent a letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. In it he wrote "The boy was origionaly sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee. I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car". 

Michael Mageau was last described by Zodiac as thrashing around violently in the back seat when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer must have known that a knee shot was not a terminal injury, knew that there was a strong possibility that Michael Mageau was still alive when he left the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs, knew that Michael Mageau had the ability to have seen his vehicle for at least two minutes, knew there was a possibility his 9 shots were heard in the vicinity of Blue Rock Springs, and understood that the crime scene may have been discovered fairly quickly,

​Understanding all this and knowing the make and color of his vehicle could be all over the Vallejo airwaves fairly quickly, is it reasonable to conclude he drove around Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes, before parking his vehicle adjacent to a payphone, only 830 meters from the Vallejo Police Department? He also leaned into the Corvair to target Michael Mageau in the back seat, leaving two spent casings on the rear floorboard of the vehicle, which had the potential to transfer blood to his shirt from the passenger seat.

Taking all these circumstances into account, it is far more reasonable to conclude he drove home, concealed his vehicle, ditched the smoking gun, changed his clothes, and then headed to the payphone on foot to make the call. This would explain why the phone call to Nancy Slover was logged at 12:40am, when the journey time to the payphone from the murder scene was only 9 minutes. If the Zodiac Killer had made these obvious assumptions described above, it would have been reckless to have been driving around or parked up on the streets of Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes after the attack. He would have been right to conclude this, because a limited description of him and his vehicle was given to officers by Michael Mageau at the crime scene, who broadcasted this information over the airwaves. But the Zodiac Killer couldn't have been sure how limited this description would be. He knew his face was shielded by the glare of the flashlight, but his vehicle was afforded no such protection.          

In his August 4th 1969 letter the Zodiac was giving police details about the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to prove he was the killer. He immediately jumped into a detailed description of a "man who told police that my car was brown (and) was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". This description could have easily been verified by police had the Zodiac been telling the truth, so it would have been pretty pointless the Zodiac Killer giving this information had it not been true. But if the Zodiac Killer saw police talking to a negro male, then it was likely by the payphone that Zodiac had earlier claimed he was walking by. Which Zodiac described by stating "I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn X@ thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". 

We know that after the payphone call was traced, a responding officer was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone to secure it for fingerprint testing, so it is logical to conclude that this is where the Zodiac saw police talking to the black man. If so, then the Zodiac Killer stil had eyes on that payphone at least 10 minutes after his call to Nancy Slover. Because if the payphone call was traced as early as 12:41am, it would have taken the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs about 9 minutes to reach that payphone, at approximately 12:50am. The longer the trace took, the longer the Zodiac Killer was hanging around the vicinity of that payphone. If the phone call was traced at 12:47am, the responding officer would arrive at the payphone at about 12:56am.

​The police may have suspected that a payphone call at 12:40am from Sptings & Tuolumne, when its journey time from the crime scene was only 9 minutes, opened up the possibility the Zodiac Killer could have lived nearby. The Zodiac Killer must also have realized this possibility, so he attributed the presence of his vehicle to the negro male, who Zodiac claimed saw it while walking by the payphone at 12:40am, and who at 12:50am (or later), Zodiac claimed he believed, had given the color of his vehicle to the police. Even if the police were not told by the negro male he had noticed the vehicle of the man in the payphone, the accuracy of the negro male's description by Zodiac (if true), would have added validity to the Zodiac Killer's claims his vehicle was present. Another reason why the Zodiac had to ensure his description of the black male was accurate, was because if this information couldn't be verified, the rest of his story loses validity. The Zodiac Killer, in his August 4th 1969 letter, was effectively telling police he was still present near that payphone when they responded to it. He was nearby, and had hung around the area after ending the call with Nancy Slover. By claiming he was still in his vehicle during and after the payphone call, he was suggesting to the police that he had the capability to travel anywhere. But everything described in the first part of this article, should tell you that this may very well have been a lie. His vehicle was never at that payphone - and the real negro male was the conduit for this deception   

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]

The earliest estimates of the payphone trace in Vallejo fall between 12:41am and 12:47am, meaning that the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs arrived at the Springs & Tuolumne payphone at approximately 12:50am to 12:56am. If the police officer was talking to a scruffily dressed black man around 40 to 45 years old, then the Zodiac Killer was still in the area observing this interaction. If the Zodiac Killer had earlier experienced this black man while talking to Nancy Slover, why was this individual still in the area of the payphone at least 10 minutes later?

​Had he passed the Zodiac Killer in the payphone to go somewhere and was returning home along the same sidewalk when police arrived? Did he live in the area and approached police to offer assistance when they pulled up at the payphone? Had he noticed the dangling receiver and spoken to the operator, who asked him to remain at the scene? Was he just hanging around the area, or was he homeless? There could be innumerable possibilities, but if the police arrived at the payphone and saw a black male in the area (or anyone else for that matter), it would have been correct police procedure to question the person to find out if they had seen a white male using the payphone in the recent past. If police did talk to the black male as Zodiac contended, then the obvious conclusion is that it was in the vicinity of the payphone. Only the police know for certain if they spoke to this black man, and only the police know if he matches the description given by the Zodiac Killer - and they have never openly confirmed or denied this interaction. 

The attack at Blue Rock Springs culminated shortly after midnight, on July 5th 1969, yet the phone call to Nancy Slover was placed at 12:40am, despite the journey time from the park being only 9 minutes. This opened up the possibility that the Zodiac Killer went home, changed his clothes and stashed his gun, before walking to the payphone absent of any incriminating evidence. This would mean that the August 4th 1969 letter which stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" and "When I hung the phone up the damn X@ thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". was designed to misdirect police into believing the Zodiac Killer was still in his vehicle - and as such - he was not giving away the fact he was now on foot and thereby lived nearby.

​If the police encountered a black man by the payphone who matched the later description given by Zodiac in the August 4th 1969 letter, then adding his absent vehicle into the equation wouldn't detract from the verifiable characteristics of the man described by the Zodiac Killer, if the black male simply couldn't recollect a vehicle near the payphone. When reading "The man who told police that my car was brown", the police, if they knew that Zodiac's description of the black male was extremely accurate, may have assumed the Zodiac in his letter had just believed that the eyewitness saw and described his vehicle, when in fact he had not. If this was the case, this wouldn't harm his claims, it would further benefit the Zodiac story.

The Zodiac Killer hiding nearby on foot, observing the police talking to the black male by the payphone, would have been the far safer option for somebody now separated from their vehicle, the smoking gun, and their clothes, which could potentially have received blood transfer from leaning into the open window of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair. Conversely, absent of a residence (or accessible workplace nearby), the Zodiac Killer remaining in the area after the phone call for upwards of 10 minutes, with the car, gun and clothing he committed the crime with, would have presented far more risk for the Zodiac Killer. If he really did spot the black male talking to police by the payphone, it can be argued that he likely arrived at the payphone on foot to place the call to Nancy Slover.

​The million dollar question is, did the Zodiac Killer describe the man as "a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" because he was selling us a fictional character who spotted the vehicle of Zodiac, or did he give this overly detailed description of the man to taunt law enforcement or give them proof of his presence, because he was watching the responding officer talk to this individual when he arrived at the payphone? I doubt he inserted this black man into his letter for no reason whatsoever, but honesty. This "negro male" made an appearance in his August 4th 1969 letter because it benefited the Zodiac Killer in some way. I doubt we will ever get the true answer.

After the challenge by Vallejo police chirf Jack Stiltz in questioning whether the recent letter writer was the killer, the purpose of the following  August 4th 1969 letter was to provide law enforcement with details they could verify. The Zodiac Killer was correct that he did not open the car door, and was telling the truth that the window was already rolled down and Michael Mageau leapt into the back seat of the Corvair. Although he was incorrect about the exact point of entry of one of his bullets, he knew that Mageau was shot in the leg while in the backseat. This can be shown to be true because two firearm casings were found on the floorboard of the back seat.

​The Zodiac Killer then moved the clock forward by describing a shabbily dressed negro male about 40 to 45 years of age, who investigators could easily have verified existed by speaking to the police officers designated to the payphone in the aftermath of the double shooting. All of the above details were able to be checked by investigators. The one thing they couldn't verify for certain was whether the Zodiac Killer was still in his vehicle when the "negro male" spotted him. For that the police would have been reliant on the black man, who the Zodiac may have known could never have seen and described his vehicle, because he wasn't in one. But by adding into the equation that the negro male told police that his car was brown, he was selling the story a little more. The August 4th 1969 letter after confirming details at the crime scene, immediately jumped to "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". This suggested one continuous sequence of verification regarding the events on July 5th 1969 - and something the Zodiac Killer knew police would be able to corroborate by interviewing the responding officer to the payphone. Why follow up the truth about the crime scene with an immediate lie and negate your credibility with something that was easily falsifiable?    

The potential presence of Zodiac near the payphone 10 or more minutes after speaking to Nancy Slover is probably one of the most, if not, the most important questions in the Zodiac case. A murderer still present near that payphone approximately 50 minutes (or more) after the Blue Rock Springs attack would be extremely important to know with regards to where he lived. If he was there, he was far safer without his vehicle and the smoking gun. The search parameters for the Zodiac Killer would narrow demonstrably.

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]​

There were multiple newspaper articles between July 4th 1969 and August 4th 1969 that mentioned Michael Mageau's description of the Zodiac Killer's vehicle, including its brown color, so what was the purpose of the August 4th 1969 letter when it stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed", rather than just attributing this observation to Mageau? The obvious answer is that the Zodiac Killer was conjuring up an imaginary eyewitness to back up the earlier description by Mageau and misdirect us to the true color of his vehicle, which was anything but brown. To make this "negro male" more believable the Zodiac Killer may have added the "40-45 rather shabbly dressed" description to bring this fictional character to life. 

​However, if the police hadn't spoken to anybody other than Mageau regarding the color of Zodiac's car, then this attempt to misdirect the police would have been less than convincing and immediately disregarded. His efforts at misdirection would have been a complete waste of time and ink. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer placed the negro male eyewitness observing him at the payphone as he was "walking by", the logical inference when he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro", was that the Zodiac Killer saw the negro male chatting to police somewhere in the vicinity of the payphone at a later time. We know that a responding officer left the Blue Rock Springs crime scene after the location of the payphone was traced in order to secure the location until an I.D. technician could dust it for potential fingerprints. 

It can be argued that the over-descriptive nature of "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed", highlighting his approximate age and attire, and selecting a minority demographic, was designed to bring this person to life. But what if the Zodiac Killer described the man in detail to prove to police he was actually observing their interaction with him by the payphone, meaning that Zodiac still had eyes on that payphone at 12:50am, or even later. Even if the payphone call (at 12:40am) was traced almost immediately, a police officer traveling from Blue Rock Springs to that payphone, couldn't have arrived much earlier than 12:50am. Did the Zodiac Killer live nearby, and/or did he just hide in the area to observe police activity around the payphone, hitting upon gold when he saw the black male, who was still in the area, conversing with the responding officer. As stated earlier, if no such interaction took place between police and a negro male by the payphone, then his claims in the August 4th 1969 letter would have had little impact with law enforcement. On the other hand, the Zodiac Killer taunting police in a letter by providing evidence he was still near the payphone at least 10 minutes after the call to Nancy Slover, may have been a little jarring. A negro male that police wouldn't want to confirm to the newspapers, just like they concealed the police sighting of a potential Zodiac on Jackson Street two months later.   

There may be other circumstantial evidence to support an eyewitness being present at the payphone that morning. How realistic is it that operators at PT&T called back that payphone immediately, as opposed to a delay of 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds. Although Robert Graysmith was much maligned, he did offer something interesting regarding this matter. In his 1986 book "Zodiac" he wrote "When he said "good-bye", the man's voice deepened and became taunting  Nancy heard the sound of the receiver being replaced. She was left listening to the empty hum of the line. After he hung up, the killer must have stood for a minute in a lighted phone booth. Suddenly the phone began to ring; a middle-aged black man in shabby clothes who was passing by looked over and saw the stocky man in the booth. Turning his head away, the killer opened the door of the phone booth, plunging it into darkness. To stop the phone from ringing he unhooked it and let it hang. After a moment, he briskly walked off into the night".

Robert Graysmith may have had some knowledge of the operators actions that morning when he stated "After he hung up, the killer must have stood for a minute in a lighted phone booth". One would have expected the Zodiac Killer after declaring he was responsible for four murders from a payphone close to the police station, to have left the payphone immediately and headed back to his vehicle, which he claimed was alongside him in his August 4th 1969 letter. Yet according to Graysmith he waited in the payphone for at least one minute before it began to ring. The only logical reason why the Zodiac Killer was still in the payphone after a minute to hear it ring and subsequently remove the receiver, was if he saw the black man heading in his direction and used the payphone sides as a shield to his identity. He had just made a phone call to police claiming murder, so it would have been human nature upon seeing an approaching black man to remain concealed in the payphone, head down, and open its door to extinguish the payphone lights, rather than head out onto the sidewalk and risk being observed in close quarters by the black male. This would explain his reluctance to leave the payphone immediately and why he was still in it up to one minute after replacing the receiver. The fact he was still in the payphone after 10 seconds or more, rather than back at his vehicle and/or driving away, can be explained by the unwanted presence of an eyewitness "walking by" the payphone. An eyewitness he described in detail in his letter, who he later claimed he saw talking to police (probably by the payphone). When the PT&T operator rang the payphone back it briefly drew the attention of the black male to him and his car, irritating the Zodiac Killer and shaping his actions when he completed the payphone call to David Slaight from Napa after the Lake Berryessa attack.

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]  
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]

Ten injuries were noted at autopsy on the right hand of Cheri Jo Bates and only two on her left hand, along with brown Caucasian hairs found in blood at the base of her right thumb (microscopically different to her hair). Just like her killer, there was a 90% chance she was right-handed, which appeared to be her dominant hand during the attack. As was her right arm, which received two knife wounds to the axillay fold (armpit) and mid upper arm. A killer thrusting a knife forward while facing her is not born out by the autopsy report, as demonstrated in these three articles. She was close enough to her killer to grab his hair and scratch either his head, hands, arms or face (because of foreign skin under her fingernails), and likely tear the Timex wristwatch from his left wrist. If Cheri Jo Bates was being held by an assailant from behind with his non-dominant arm and hand around her neck and mouth, his hair, face, arms and wrists would all be in close proximity and make this possible.

Close quarter restraint was also evidenced by the narrow vertical grouping of wounds to her breasts and right axillary fold, and the close mirroring of the knife wound widths on her upper torso (1,4cm, 1.5cm, 1.7cm, 1.9cm) to the estimated width of the blade (0.5 inches/1.27cm), along with what seemed to be compression or strangulation petechiae noted on her forehead at autopsy. If the killer had been forcibly restraining or choking Cheri Jo Bates around the neck from behind, then this compression could increase intra-capilliary pressure by restricting the venous return of blood, thereby creating the petechial haemorrhaging evident on the forehead of the young woman..But why would our killer be using his left hand to choke her? - or as he put it - "grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth and my other hand with a small knife at her throat".

​If we go by statistics, the killer would be right-handed, restraining her from behind with his left arm, while using his right hand to stab backwards into her upper torso. Because a right-handed person usually wears their watch on the non-dominant left side, it would mean that his watch would be over her mouth or neck during the initial part of the attack - and the area she would naturally grab to remove this restriction. This could explain why she pulled the watch from his wrist (and why skin was found under her fingernails). If the killer was facing Cheri Jo Bates and thrusting the knife forward with his right hand in an unrestrained attack, the chance of her being able to grab his left wrist and watch with enough purchase to remove it from his person would diminish in likelihood. It could be argued that there was a higher probability of the watch being yanked from his wrist before the stabbing began (or early part of the attack), because there appeared to be no blood found on the watch, which would be much more likely as the attack unfolded.  

This would explain why the watch was discovered 10 feet distant from her right foot, pulled from the assailant's wrist the moment his left arm was placed around her mouth/neck area. A brief struggle ensued, before she was thrust forward into the ground, detaching the straw bag from her shoulder.  A kick to her head and one knife wound to her back, probably culminated with the seven slice wounds to her neck. A brief, but undeniably horrible and brutal murder of a gregarious, intelligent young woman. 

Zodiac researcher Andrew Gray noted that the author of the Confession letter on November 29th 1966 typed "I plunged the knife into her and it broke", despite this never being featured in the newspapers or detailed at autopsy. It seemed strange to consider a hoaxer just inventing this unnecessary inadequacy regarding the attack if it didn't actually happen. Bearing in mind the sequence of events described above, the plunging of the knife into her appears to be describing the wound to her back, opposite the spinous process of her 7th thoracic vertebrae. This would explain why the small knife could have broken as it struck the bony processes of the spinal column. A broken hinge mechanism would now only be good for the final action of drawing the knife across her neck region, which the author described. Despite volunteering this unnecessary admission of a malfunctioning knife, the author of the Confession letter doesn't address the elephant in the room, notably the Timex watch found by the body of Cheri Jo Bates and mentioned heavily in the newspapers. The inclusion of the broken knife, but omission of the watch, forces one to conclude it was probably his timepiece.

The author of the Confession letter stated "Her breast felt very warm and firm under my hands" and "I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see". This focus on "female parts"and "her breast", allied with the claim of "brush offs" in the very next sentence, gives rise to the notion of a sexually motivated attack when one considers there were only three knife wounds to her torso and all three were to her breasts (four attempted wounds to her breasts if you include the axillary fold injury slightly above the right breast). An individual who had focused his unhealthy attention towards the attractive young woman beyond his reach and unattainable, may have driven him to target the very objects of his desire - an attack on her sexuality. The knife wounds to this region was another detail that was absent from the newspapers. The author also claimed that "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". The scream was noted in the newspapers, but the "2 cm oblique ragged edge fresh non gaping laceration of the upper lip on the left side, that angles laterally from above and extends completely through the thickness of the lip" was exclusive to the autopsy. A severe kick to the head is perfectly capable of lacerating the lip from back to front without damaging the teeth, if delivered as an angular blow. 

The entire attack, short in duration, with "only" 5 stab wounds to her front upper torso and right arm (clustered in an area measuring 20cm horizontally and 10cm vertically), all above the breast line, taking place in a small section of the driveway, with petechiae on her forehead and the straw bag alongside and partially under her body, suggests an attack of close contact and restraint. The hair from the assailant at the base of her right thumb, the skin under her fingernails and the Timex watch found just 10 feel from her body, confirms this hypothesis and is commensurate with the details provided by the author of the Confession letter, who was probably the killer of Cheri Jo Bates.        

It has now been established that when Betty Main (or another) rang back the payphone at the intersection of Springs & Tuolumne, the Zodiac Killer pulled the receiver from the hook and left it dangling when he left the scene, which kept the line open and allowed Betty Main to trace the "silent" call. However, did she (or somebody else) speak to the shabbily dressed negro male, who the Zodiac Killer claimed saw him and his vehicle when he initially hung up the phone? Despite Betty Main being identified as the female who traced the payphone call, why would her supervisor "not allow her to give a statement to police at this time"? After all, somebody had just rang Nancy Slover and claimed four murders - and all Betty Main had seemingly done was keep the line open to effect the trace. Did Betty Main have some extra information that her supervisor wanted to first discuss with police? 

When the Zodiac Killer rang Nancy Slover at 12:40am he stated "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... On Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". His phone call would have ended at approximately 12:41am  The details behind this call were then relayed by Mrs Johnson PT&T operator to police at 12:47am, while we assume the trace by Betty Main on the open line was still ongoing. When the trace was effected (estimated at 12:56am in the previous article), police at Blue Rock Springs were informed of the payphone location. This is assuming a trace took 15 minutes in 1969.     

But why would police initially be informed as late as 12:47am about something so important, some six minutes after the call ended? Once the Zodiac Killer ended the call, it appears that Betty Main rang back the payphone, while Mrs Johnson was sought and informed of the details given by the Zodiac Killer. This may explain why several minutes elapsed between the end of the Zodiac call and police being informed. If the police report is to be read a different way and the phone call location was traced at 12:47am (and didn't require 15 minutes from the time the Zodiac unhooked the receiver), then there is another possibility.

When Betty Main (or another) rang back the payphone, Zodiac removed the receiver and left the scene. However, where was the negro male at this juncture? If he was hanging around the area at the time, he may have belatedly noticed the hanging receiver and heard Betty Main on the other end, resulting in him picking up the receiver and talking to her. She may have immediately asked him to provide the location of the payphone, which he did at 12:47am. This could explain how Betty Main "traced" the payphone call in only six minutes and why the Zodiac Killer stated on August 4th 1969 "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". If the Zodiac Killer saw the negro male picking up the receiver at 12:47am and providing Betty Main the payphone location, it would mean that the Zodiac Killer still had eyes on that payphone six minutes after he unhooked the receiver. 

But remember, the Zodiac Killer stated in his letter that "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro", not "The man who told operators that my car was brown was a negro". If the payphone was traced via the negro male, Betty Main may well have told this individual to secure the payphone and wait until police arrived. If the call was traced at 12:47am, then the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs would have arrived at the payphone at approximately 12:56am. If the Zodiac Killer saw this policeman talking to the black man by the payphone, it is easy to understand why the Zodiac Killer believed the negro male who saw his vehicle relayed this information to police. But this would place the Zodiac Killer at a location where he still had eyes on the payphone 15 minutes after he ended the menacing call to Nancy Slover. So did the Zodiac Killer live nearby, or did he simply fabricate the story of the negro male?

​This question hinges on how long it took to trace a payphone in 1969. If it was traced at 12:47am, yet this process took at least 15 minutes in 1969, then the negro male becomes far more important to this story, bearing in mind he was placed at the payphone by the killer himself. Did the negro male request anonymity and why Betty Main's supervisor didn't immediately allow her to give a statement to police? The supervisor freely told police that Betty Main had traced the call, so what else happened on that open line that made her reluctant to allow Betty Main to be interviewed. Was it her conversation with the negro male? 

If the payphone location was traced before 12:47am (by the operator being given its phone number) and this time was only relevant to when Mrs Johnson called the police, then the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs could have been informed of the payphone location shortly after the Zodiac Killer initially hung up the phone. This would have placed a police officer at the payphone several minutes earlier (approximately 12:50am). But was the Zodiac Killer still in the area, observing the negro male converse with the officer?

THE PAYPHONE TRACE IN VALLEJO [PART ONE]

With the invaluable assistance of Zodiac researcher Jibberjabber who contacted various agencies on the specifics of tracing calls back in 1969, including the Connections Museum, we can now establish that when police first arrived at the payphone at Springs & Tuolumne the receiver was off the hook, just like at Napa. The Connections Museum wrote "If the caller hung up before the trace was complete, then no, the operator could not keep the line open from their end (and thereby trace it). It could be that he (the Zodiac) left the phone off the hook in the booth after making the call, so then the operator just had to stay on the line as well until the trace was complete".

​After the Zodiac Killer had finished speaking with Nancy Slover at approximately 12:40am, the Zodiac Killer hung up the phone, effectively ending the call. However, they could ring the payphone back, which Zodiac claimed alerted the negro male to him and his car. His response was to yank the payphone receiver off the hook and leave it dangling. But this effectively kept the line open as Zodiac walked away, such that the operator only had to wait a period of time to effect the trace. Robert Graysmith wrote in his book Zodiac "After he hung up, the killer must have stood for a minute in a lighted phone booth. Suddenly the phone began to ring. To stop the phone from ringing he unhooked it and let it hang". 

The Blue Rock Springs police report stated that at 12:47am Mrs Johnson PT&T operator called, not that the phone call was traced at 12:47am. According to the 2007 Zodiac movie a caller had to be kept on the line for 15 minutes to establish a trace according to Pacific Telephone. So if the Zodiac Killer yanked the receiver off the hook at approximately 12:41am and walked away, it would mean that Betty Main, who rang back the Springs & Tuolumne payphone, had to sit on this open line for 15 minutes subsequent to 12:41am to achieve a trace and discover the location of the payphone. If the movie was correct in claiming 15 minutes was required, then the payphone was identified at 12:56am. According to the police report, this was relayed to the Blue Rock Springs crime scene and a responding officer headed to the payphone. He would have arrived at the intersection of Springs & Tuolumne at approximately 01:05am to secure the payphone for fingerprint testing. The action of the Zodiac Killer yanking the ringing receiver from the hook in Vallejo likely shaped his actions at Main Street in Napa, where he pre-empted this possibility. Thanks to the work of Jibberjabber, I was able to revise the timeline of events surrounding the payphone trace.. 

THE PAYPHONE TRACE IN VALLEJO [PART TWO]

There is a case to be made that the Zodiac Killer placed five X's around his crosshairs on the Bus Bomb letter that aligned his attacks to the numbers on a clock face, tilted clockwise using magnetic north. This may have been the rudimentary precursor to his use of radians on June 26th 1970 and July 26th 1970 using Mount Diablo as the origin point. All of the canonical Zodiac attacks could have been deliberately chosen because of their location to satisfy this template, but only the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 was particularly fluid, in that the Zodiac Killer could engineer a precise location by directions issued to the taxicab driver. Paul Stine was murdered alongside 3898 Washington Street in San Francisco, although his original destination according to the trip sheet was the intersection of Washington & Maple streets. This is essentially insignificant when calculating the angle from Mount Diablo, which was 257 degrees in both instances. The 8 o' clock position is situated at 240 degrees, but tilted to magnetic north of 17 degrees in 1969, lands exactly at 257 degrees.     

Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs are both encompassed by the 10 o' clock line tilted to magnetic north to make 317 degrees (30 by 10 plus 17). The Lake Herman Road murder site actually sits at 319 degrees and Blue Rock Springs at 318 degrees. Any error must be calculated over 30 degree increments, meaning that the 10 o' clock line (set to Mag. N) is 97% accurate for Blue Rock Springs and 93% accurate for Lake Herman Road. The latter would form the beginning of any predetermined template, because this was the first canonical crime. 

While the above three attacks conform largely to the "clock face" theory, Lake Berryessa deviates more significantly by landing at 340 degrees from Mount Diablo (approx 10:54 am/pm). If it conformed to the 11 o' clock position plus magnetic north, the attack should have fell at 347 degrees, so it shows an accuracy of only 77%. The red line below is where the attack should have occurred for 100% accuracy (exaggerated by greater distance). It doesn't fully negate the premise, but it challenges it somewhat. It could suggest that the Zodiac Killer formulated this presentation in the Bus Bomb letter after the fact, because he noticed the rough correlation of his attacks to a clock face. Three other possible explanations could be that the clock face theory is wrong, a daylight attack with a costume and knife created a greater challenge in selecting a suitable location, or the Zodiac Killer originally intended to kill on the eastern side of Lake Berryessa (which is less likely).     

The 9 o' clock position, which was the only unidentified line in the Bus Bomb configuration, I believed to be Daniel Williams, who worked at Salesian High School and was targeted by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer in the weeks before the Bus Bomb letter. Salesian High School sat at 283 degrees, whereas the 9 o' clock position plus magnetic north was 287 degrees, an accuracy of 87%. This means we had Lake Herman Road (93%), Blue Rock Springs (97%), Lake Berryessa (77%), Presidio Heights (100%) and Salesian High School (87%). An overall accuracy for the "clock face" theory of 91%..The only attack that allowed him to comfortably take a victim to a specific murder location, rather than being governed by victims needing to be found at a desired location, was Presidio Heights. In this instance, the Zodiac Killer was 100% accurate. Although the Lake Berryessa accuracy was 77%, it only amounted to a 6 mile deviation clockwise from the murder location over 77 miles from Mount Diablo. As a rule (removing the mobile murder of Paul Stine), we would expect the closer the murder site to Mount Diablo, the more accurate the clock face theory conforms in respect to mileage error or fractions of it. Removing Lake Berryessa (and the only knife and daylight crime) from his canonical crimes, we find that the overall accuracy of the clock face theory rises to 97%.