Kathy Bilek, murdered April 11th 1971 The Zodiac Killer would employ various tactics to prove that the letters he mailed were actually authored by the murderer himself, such as removing a section of Paul Stine's shirt at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 and sending part of it to the San Francisco Chronicle two days later. He repeated this grisly tactic on November 9th 1969, and in a letter to Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969. However, this wasn't the only sinister tactic the Zodiac Killer employed when mailing a letter to Melvin Belli at 1228 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. He seemingly either photographed or recorded on paper the font style of the numbers from the residence, or made a mental note of their design, because the numbers 1228 on his envelope mailed to Melvin Belli, matched those on the front of the house. Was this a message from the Zodiac Killer to show he had visited the residence of Melvin Belli, and that nobody was beyond his reach?
To prove he was the knife attacker at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, he took his writing to the crime scene. The Zodiac would, in the attacks at Presidio Heights and Lake Berryessa, take the scene to his writing, or take his writing to the scene.
On July 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer would mail the Monticello card to the San Francisco Chronicle insinuating his involvement in the murder of Kathy Bilek (18) in the Villa Montalvo woods of Saratoga on April 11th 1971 - and paste the message "Near Monticello Shought Victims 21 .... In The Woods Dies April" onto the communication. The Zodiac Killer had long claimed the murders of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14), murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969, by initially adding them to his victim total on November 8th 1969. These three murders had recently been attributed to Karl Francis Werner, a resident youth from San Jose. The Zodiac Killer now had the option of relinquishing his grip on the murders of Snoozy & Furlong, or choose to claim all three. He took the latter option by mailing the Monticello card and informing the police that Kathy Bilek was murdered "Near Monticello". The Monticello neighborhood of San Jose housed the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery, where Kathie Snoozy was buried in 1969.
To prove he was the knife attacker at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, he took his writing to the crime scene. The Zodiac would, in the attacks at Presidio Heights and Lake Berryessa, take the scene to his writing, or take his writing to the scene.
On July 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer would mail the Monticello card to the San Francisco Chronicle insinuating his involvement in the murder of Kathy Bilek (18) in the Villa Montalvo woods of Saratoga on April 11th 1971 - and paste the message "Near Monticello Shought Victims 21 .... In The Woods Dies April" onto the communication. The Zodiac Killer had long claimed the murders of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14), murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969, by initially adding them to his victim total on November 8th 1969. These three murders had recently been attributed to Karl Francis Werner, a resident youth from San Jose. The Zodiac Killer now had the option of relinquishing his grip on the murders of Snoozy & Furlong, or choose to claim all three. He took the latter option by mailing the Monticello card and informing the police that Kathy Bilek was murdered "Near Monticello". The Monticello neighborhood of San Jose housed the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery, where Kathie Snoozy was buried in 1969.
Two years after the Monticello card was mailed, on September 18th 1973, somebody entered the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery and removed a tombstone from a grave, and deposited it at the front gate of the cemetery for all to see. On the tombstone, written in crayon, was the pseudonym "Zodiac". Bearing in mind that the Monticello card was not currently in the public domain, it doesn't require Sherlock Holmes to work out that the Zodiac Killer had visited this cemetery and removed the tombstone of Kathie Snoozy, a victim he once claimed as his own. It seemed that after two years he still couldn't relinquish the young girl from his running murder count.
But one thing stands out in this newspaper cutting: The pseudonym "Zodiac" was written in crayon, not in his usual blue marker pen, or possibly chalk. The decision to use crayon as a writing implement appeared like an unusual first choice to leave a message in a cemetery (unless he expected rain in the short time the tombstone would lay undiscovered. See foot of article). This may indicate that the Zodiac Killer, although leaving the tombstone at the front cemetery gate to send a message to law enforcement, he may have taken something else away with him. Crayon (a stick of pigmented wax) is commonly used in gravestone rubbing, a technique used to create an impression of a gravestone's inscription by rubbing either a crayon, charcoal, or wax against a sheet of paper placed on the stone. Maybe he left a message, and took a message away.
Just like the mimicry of the font numbers from Melvin Belli's residence, had the Zodiac Killer taken a gravestone rubbing from the once tombstone font of Kathie Reyne Snoozy, to mail to the San Francisco Chronicle at a later date? Was the Zodiac Killer once again taking something from a crime victim to mail to the newspapers, as he had done with the body of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969? If the Zodiac Killer had taken a crayon to the tombstone of Kathie Reyne Snoozy on September 18th 1973, did he have second thoughts about mailing it inside a letter? Or did he mail it to the San Francisco Chronicle, but out of respect for the family and public decency, they decided not to release it into the public domain? Just like they may have opted to do with the Monticello card two years earlier. This begs the question as to what imagery did the Monticello card contain, when its predecessor, the March 22nd 1971 "Pines Card", was widely publicized.
# The weather in San Jose in September 1973 was consistently above 70 degress Fahrenheit. Only one day fell below, and there was no rain from September 1st 1973 to September 22nd 1973.
A FOUR YEAR JOURNEY TO TOMBSTONE
But one thing stands out in this newspaper cutting: The pseudonym "Zodiac" was written in crayon, not in his usual blue marker pen, or possibly chalk. The decision to use crayon as a writing implement appeared like an unusual first choice to leave a message in a cemetery (unless he expected rain in the short time the tombstone would lay undiscovered. See foot of article). This may indicate that the Zodiac Killer, although leaving the tombstone at the front cemetery gate to send a message to law enforcement, he may have taken something else away with him. Crayon (a stick of pigmented wax) is commonly used in gravestone rubbing, a technique used to create an impression of a gravestone's inscription by rubbing either a crayon, charcoal, or wax against a sheet of paper placed on the stone. Maybe he left a message, and took a message away.
Just like the mimicry of the font numbers from Melvin Belli's residence, had the Zodiac Killer taken a gravestone rubbing from the once tombstone font of Kathie Reyne Snoozy, to mail to the San Francisco Chronicle at a later date? Was the Zodiac Killer once again taking something from a crime victim to mail to the newspapers, as he had done with the body of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969? If the Zodiac Killer had taken a crayon to the tombstone of Kathie Reyne Snoozy on September 18th 1973, did he have second thoughts about mailing it inside a letter? Or did he mail it to the San Francisco Chronicle, but out of respect for the family and public decency, they decided not to release it into the public domain? Just like they may have opted to do with the Monticello card two years earlier. This begs the question as to what imagery did the Monticello card contain, when its predecessor, the March 22nd 1971 "Pines Card", was widely publicized.
# The weather in San Jose in September 1973 was consistently above 70 degress Fahrenheit. Only one day fell below, and there was no rain from September 1st 1973 to September 22nd 1973.
A FOUR YEAR JOURNEY TO TOMBSTONE
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