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Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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1978 LETTER-ZODIAC OR COPYCAT?

4/23/2020

 
PictureInspector David Toschi
With the handwriting of the Zodiac Killer so freely available in the newspapers throughout 1969 and 1970, the best way to authenticate later communications such as the 1978, 1986 and 1987 letters is through the design and composition of the address on the envelopes. Had all the confirmed envelopes of the Zodiac Killer been withheld from the newspapers, this would have gone a long way to helping authenticate later material sent by the Zodiac or potential copycats.

Unfortunately, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article on November 16th 1970, using the Dripping Pen card envelope mailed on November 8th 1969. This gave any future hoaxer to the San Francisco Chronicle the perfect opportunity, to mimic not only the handwriting, but the structure and layout of the address. Had this not been done, any significant deviation to known envelope styles could then be challenged, if the content within them contained nothing of any substance regarding the Zodiac Killer. However, the publication of the Dripping Pen card envelope in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970, when compared to the questioned April 24th 1978 envelope and letter, may still give us some clues.

Despite being separated by eight years, the 1978 envelope shows extreme similarity to the envelope published in the San Francisco Chronicle. One could be forgiven for believing the author of the 1978 envelope copied the envelope from the November 16th 1970 San Francisco Chronicle. The Zodiac Killer addressed his envelopes to the Chronicle many different ways, using only S.F. Chronicle and San Fran. Chronicle for the name of the newspaper between 1969 and 1974, but used San Fran. Calif., San Francisco Calif, San Fran Calif, San Francisco, Calif., San Fran. Calif, and San Fran. Claif in the remainder of the address. The author of the 1978 letter used the exact wording on the publicized Dripping Pen card envelope (including the not always used "Please Rush To Editor" phrase), which could lead to the assumption that a copycat was mimicking the newspaper publication of this envelope.      

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It was considered that Inspector David Toschi had forged this communication to drive publicity back to the ever dwindling Zodiac case. But why would Inspector David Toschi of Homicide Detail attempt to convince authorities of the authenticity of the 1978 letter, by using the exact same handwriting and format of the envelope published in the November 16th 1970 Chronicle newspaper. He likely had many Zodiac envelopes at his disposal, so why not use an unpublicized envelope to appear more convincing? After all, a copycat couldn't have mimicked an envelope not released to the public, from which was known to have been penned by the Zodiac Killer. By mimicking the November 16th 1970 envelope released in the newspapers, you are in effect negating the premise of the 1978 letter being from the genuine Zodiac Killer. I just don't believe a seasoned detective would be that naive.
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But there is another thing to consider when determining the authenticity of this letter. The November 16th 1970 reproduction of the envelope in the San Francisco Chronicle did not contain noticeable dotted i's in Francisco, Calif or Editor, but the 1978 envelope dotted all three (just like the original Dripping Pen card envelope). Additionally, the author of the 1978 letter wrote Calif. , placing a dot after the abbreviation. This was a known trait in five confirmed Zodiac communications.

It is unfortunate that the 1978 letter used the address style of the publicized envelope, but while this may lead some to the inevitable conclusion it was designed by a hoaxer, it by the same token appears to exonerate David Toschi, who surely wouldn't have been so stupid to mimic a widely publicized envelope in order to pass off the 1978 letter as being penned by the real killer.

Much is made of the 1978 letter being ruled out by DNA in the San Francisco Police Department report of "suspected Zodiac correspondence." The report states next to the 1978 letter: "DNA sample obtained. Not authentic Zodiac letter". However, it does not explicitly state that the letter was ruled out as being from Zodiac by use of DNA. It had long been determined by many handwriting experts that the 1978 letter wasn't penned by the Zodiac Killer - so incorporating the letter in a list of "suspected Zodiac correspondence" with that determination already in place, is not confirmation it was ruled out specifically by way of DNA analysis. Only that DNA was obtained from a doubted Zodiac correspondence. To have ruled out the 1978 letter through DNA, would imply one of three things. The DNA was determined to have come from a female donor, the DNA was matched to David Toschi, or the DNA didn't match known Zodiac DNA (which by all accounts we don't have). There is every chance that the 1978 letter was never ruled out through DNA, only that it was attributed the title of "not authentic Zodiac letter" through previous determination of its handwriting and the spurious claims of Armistead Maupin. The analysis above, along with investigations exonerating David Toschi as being the author of the 1978 letter, opens up the possibility once again, that the 1978 letter originated from the real killer of five in the Bay Area.    

~Bill
4/23/2020 06:46:20 am

Richard,
At first glance, the "envelope" that you show here is VERY CLOSE. Who ever constructed this envelope was extremely perceptive of Zodiac handwriting mannerisms, and copied letter for letter, each of these mannerisms. Or, the writing on the letter envelope is Zodiac. It is whichever probability that you choose, however, this is where I put the greatest weight:

Upon first looking at the body and tone/"cerebral message" of the letter, I can immediately distinguish an overwhelming dissimilarity. Even down to the "workings of the hand" in the letter construction, Zodiac is much more "rounded and soft" in artistic style. In my opinion, he much prefers soft corners and 3D, and would hate the sharp jagged way the letter is constructed. The writer of this "letter" I don't believe "understood" that concept. From this resolution, this is just what I see. I can do a much more thorough comparison for better "illustrative" purposes if you would like, but I believe the body of the letter not to be written by the person who wrote the proven correspondence. Taking this, and knowing the "environment" of the case politics at that time, would lead me to believe that this not authentic Zodiac correspondence. It is only my opinion.

Regards,

~Bill

Richard
4/23/2020 07:48:49 am

What I do know Bill, is that the 1978 letter is obviously Zodiac or a copycat with only access to this envelope, hence my dismissal of David Toschi as the author. I remember watching the 3 hour JonBenet Ramsey documentary, along with other material covering her case - and saw multiple different interpretations of the sex of the author, or whether the mother, Patsy, was the author of the ransom note. As usual nobody agreed. The problem with handwriting analysis, is that it is subjective not scientific. We also have the problem of viewing nth degree reproductions or copies, hence the importance of viewing the original envelope and letter. What I do know, is if I were attempting to pass myself off as Zodiac in 1978, it isn't that difficult to create a copy of the Dripping Pen card with an added degree of variance. Change S.F. Chronicle to San Fran. Chronicle, and San Francisco Calif to San Francisco, California, because all the letters are available to copy. Slightly alter a letter or two, and it doesn't look like a perfect copy. Then, of course, you run the risk of somebody saying it looks nothing like known Zodiac letters. You actually can't win - testified to by both December 1969 Fairfield letters. The thing with Zodiac is, he probably didn't care to try and look the same every time he wrote, because he knew he was the Zodiac. We also have to factor in how quick he wrote each letter, how long each letter was, what surface he was writing on, how tired he was and what writing implement he used. All will alter the end result to some degree. A competent 1978 copycat should have known that by imitating the only widely available envelope to the Chronicle, he was effectively laying himself open to being tarred with the copycat label, but did it anyway. A copycat should have therefore made subtle changes to the address style. The real Zodiac should have had no such concerns, and wouldn't have needed the Chronicle article at all to create the perfect match between the two communications. Regardless, this is why we have to go beyond handwriting.

~Bill
4/23/2020 06:49:55 am

Sorry Richard, disregard the assertion that the construct of this letter does not represent the correct "dimensional softness". I am working on several things at the same time and got mixed up on which one i was looking at. Sorry for the confusion.

~Bill
4/23/2020 06:57:07 am

To reiterate: I do not believe this letter to NOT have a favorable weight as being authentic, and disregard all observation as to the "mannerisms of writing", spatial observation, and shape association. Instead pay MUCH attention to the message. The "voice" of the Zodiac, as we see in his other correspondence, in my opinion, does not appear hear. It is very "blank" in tone. Zodiac is colorfully "descriptive". Sorry if i sound confusing, posting in the "public" is just not what i usually do.

Regards,

~Bill

~Bill
4/23/2020 07:02:05 am

I will start completely start over, from scratch, with a better description of this observation if you need me to Richard. I am so sorry! I know i can be confusing.

~Bill

Richard
4/23/2020 08:04:49 am

Duffy Jennings stated that "Toschi did write letters praising himself, signed fictitious names to them and sent them to former Chronicle writer Armistead Maupin in 1976". Armistead Maupin, who was a friend of Toschi, could easily have approached Toschi about the recent 1978 letter if he had any reservations or inklings about its authenticity. Yet he chose to go public, effectively getting David Toschi sent to pawn shop detail. Quite strange then, that Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series began in 1978. Could it be a case of Maupin looking to promote his series through the free publicity the scandal regarding Toschi generated.

~Bill
4/23/2020 08:28:21 am

Yes Richard, I too agree that there definitely open "possibilities" as to who wrote it. I also believe that the author of the envelope more than likely had either "intricate knowledge, i.e. some sort of insider political angle" or other motive. It is just from my viewpoint to correlate what i believe to be the highest probability of authenticity, and i don't see it here. Even when the writing is disguised "physically", the writer of the Zodiac letters maintains a "flow" of complex ideas. I do not see that complexity in this letter. I don't see the same "color" in the speech usage and personality that i observe in "authenticated" correspondence. In my opinion, this is another, "possible" but not at all very probable, just from looking at it quickly, there are many other "flags" in the individual character construction that i could write up if you need me to. Bottom Line in my opinion:

Envelope: VERY WELL COPIED.
Letter Body: Freelance copycat who did not understand the intricate communication "style" of the authenticated letters.

Regards,
.

~Bill

~Bill
4/23/2020 08:55:32 am

The appearance of this letter could indicate "inter departmental" feuding or "prank" gone way too far (endless speculation i could insert here), but i do not consider it "authentic" for the purposes of case advancement. Just my opinion.

~Bill

~Bill
4/28/2020 07:19:45 pm

Richard and co., there is one angle that the killer could have played with the '78 letters. If he picked up on this "Herb Caen "hoax", in the media in '78, he very well could have "propagated" this dead-end in the letters your are referencing further into obscurity. This would be effective to a certain degree, even if it just caused general disagreement as to the authenticity. I have not reviewed all of this material. It is possible, after reviewing all these letters in one "batch" comparison would better help me determine this. Sorry, I just wanted to drop by and look at what you guys have.

~Bill
4/23/2020 11:54:32 am

Richard, I wrote an addendum to commentary on the '87 letter but it vanished into the "digital abyss". My thoughts were that with the striking similarities in both the '78 letter and the '87 letter, containing what i perceive to be the same general message of the author, along with "extending" the Herb Caen association (which I believe is an incorrect assumption based on "incorrect information". It doesn't take long to extract the "Herb Caen" message origination point. Is it real? If it is, it leads us to another dead end. What i believe is that the '78 letter, and the '87 letter correlate so closely, have very similar character construction, and "extend" the Herb Caen angle. The '78 letter, is "not authentic" in my opinion, (or more correctly shouldn't be categorized as "concrete"), and should be set aside. As such, I would also have to align this letter to the "possible, but not probable" as well.

Regards,

~Bill

~Bill
4/23/2020 12:33:56 pm

(as well as having reversed years for publication. Sorry i couldn't resist, lol.

~Bill

Mike Rodelli
6/21/2020 11:30:45 pm

Bill,

Don't know who you are but you sound like you have expertise in the analysis of these letters. I was told that DNA links the 1978 letter to one of the letters from 1974, both of which are considered forgeries. Have you reviewed the four canonical 1974 letters for content and if so, do you feel one is a forgery?

My source did not tell me which 1974 letter was the forgery. He was ex-SFPD and my guess is that it is a hold back

Thanks for your insights.

Mike


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