Daniel Williams (24), a young school teacher from Martinez, California started receiving sadistic calls from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, beginning on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). While this was initially passed off as just another copycat by Daniel Williams, he and the police took it extremely seriously when a lethal dose of arsenic was discovered in a soft drink inside his refrigerator. Many copycats forging communications and phone calls would not be considered unusual in a high profile case such as the Zodiac Killer, but I doubt many would take it to the next level and commit murder in the name of impersonating the murderer of five. The phone calls spanned a period of ten days, culminating in somebody breaking into his house and spiking his drink. Had Daniel Williams not noticed the metallic taste in his drink, the young teacher would have been a "dead duck" as the phone caller had promised.
The Zodiac Killer, would eventually, on November 9th 1969, promise to "change the way the collecting of slaves". Was this the first step in that direction, attempting to kill remotely after his fortunate escape subsequent to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, buoyed by the publicity he received during the Jim Dunbar Show circus?
The Zodiac Killer, would eventually, on November 9th 1969, promise to "change the way the collecting of slaves". Was this the first step in that direction, attempting to kill remotely after his fortunate escape subsequent to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, buoyed by the publicity he received during the Jim Dunbar Show circus?
The Zodiac Killer may not be responsible for the phone calls or attempted murder of Daniel Williams during this period, however, it may be possible he was inspired by the reporting of this story. The case of Daniel Williams was reported in the Zodiac Killer's favorite newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, the day before the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. One notable passage in the San Francisco Chronicle read "The string of sadistic calls began on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). On one occasion, the caller told Williams he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there". Did the Zodiac Killer use this to his advantage? In the previous article, The Promise of Murder on Line 5, it was noted that the Zodiac Killer placed four X's around his Bus Bomb letter crosshairs, possibly denoting the seven victims he was claiming. Only line 5 (the fifth X) was unexplained. This line ran over the city of Richmond.
On October 13th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter with an ominous warning at its base, stating "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". The caller to Daniel Williams had continued this theme by claiming "he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".
Daniel Williams residence was situated at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez, so why would police have visited a Martinez school, when Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond? Wouldn't police more likely have placed protection in and around the Richmond school where he worked? Isn't it more likely the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams may have planned to target the Richmond school, with police pre-empting this eventuality? The newspaper may have made an error, and should have read "he had gone to a Richmond school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".
Daniel Williams residence was situated at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez, so why would police have visited a Martinez school, when Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond? Wouldn't police more likely have placed protection in and around the Richmond school where he worked? Isn't it more likely the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams may have planned to target the Richmond school, with police pre-empting this eventuality? The newspaper may have made an error, and should have read "he had gone to a Richmond school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".
The Zodiac Killer, had he read this newspaper article the day before he mailed the Bus Bomb letter, would have known Daniel Williams taught kids at Salesian High School in Richmond (even if he wasn't the caller or poisoner). Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer's recent fascination with targeting schoolchildren, the notion that line 5 on the Bus Bomb crosshairs runs directly over Salesian High School in Richmond and may have been chosen deliberately by the Zodiac Killer, is not out of the question. The Bay Area murderer may have been insinuating a continued threat towards the school where Daniel Williams taught, thereby attempting to lay credence to his involvement in the phone calls and poisoning. Or maybe he was just taunting the police.
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