April 29th 1971 At the very early stages of the Saratoga murder investigation of Kathy Bilek (18) it was determined that her killer was likely the same individual who murdered Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14) in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. It was highlighted by Santa Clara County Sheriff James Geary and Undersheriff Tom Rosa that the pattern of wounds to all three girls seemingly made a deliberate effort to avoid stabbing the chest and pelvic regions. The Zodiac Killer connection was rightly considered tenuous, despite the Bay Area murderer insinuating his involvement in the murders of Snoozy & Furlong as early as November 8th 1969.
On April 15th 1971, addressed to "homicide inspector", the sheriff's office received an unsigned, somewhat incoherent letter which Rosa says may or may not be connected with the Kathy Bilek slaying (see below). The letter, on ruled paper, mentioned Zodiac and another victim, stating "Gril (sic) works in hospital" could be his next victim. It continued with "Beleaved to be Zodiac, Killer and gril lover writes long poem asking how anyone ever could ever begin to understand our world of pot etc".
Looking at the wording used in the letter it's impossible to determine whether this "Zodiac" correspondence is genuine or otherwise. Observers will obviously point out that the tone of the letter points away from the Zodiac Killer and towards a "drug fueled hoaxer". While this seems like the obvious superficial conclusion based on the wording in the letter, there is simply no way to determine the authorship of this communication. The only mildly interesting thing about this letter is the mention of "girl works in hospital" and "next victim", bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to the Albany Times Union on August 1st 1973, which stated "I am not dead or in the hospital" and warned of a "next victim" from the "Albany Medical Center". This "next victim" believed to be a nurse (girl in hospital) during the "shift change".
On April 15th 1971, addressed to "homicide inspector", the sheriff's office received an unsigned, somewhat incoherent letter which Rosa says may or may not be connected with the Kathy Bilek slaying (see below). The letter, on ruled paper, mentioned Zodiac and another victim, stating "Gril (sic) works in hospital" could be his next victim. It continued with "Beleaved to be Zodiac, Killer and gril lover writes long poem asking how anyone ever could ever begin to understand our world of pot etc".
Looking at the wording used in the letter it's impossible to determine whether this "Zodiac" correspondence is genuine or otherwise. Observers will obviously point out that the tone of the letter points away from the Zodiac Killer and towards a "drug fueled hoaxer". While this seems like the obvious superficial conclusion based on the wording in the letter, there is simply no way to determine the authorship of this communication. The only mildly interesting thing about this letter is the mention of "girl works in hospital" and "next victim", bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to the Albany Times Union on August 1st 1973, which stated "I am not dead or in the hospital" and warned of a "next victim" from the "Albany Medical Center". This "next victim" believed to be a nurse (girl in hospital) during the "shift change".
The 148 character letter and cipher mailed by the Zodiac Killer in (probably) May 1971 about the murders of Snoozy, Furlong and Bilek, with reference to their murderer, Karl Francis Werner, as a "phony", can be linked through its cryptogram to both the 340 cipher and Albany code, see here. The newspaper article above, from the Peninsula Times Tribune in Palo Alto on April 16th 1971, could possibly have inspired the Zodiac Killer in his creation of the Albany letter (or not). The murders of Kathy Snoozy, Debra Furlong and Kathy Bilek straddled the Zodiac case from 1969 and 1971, despite the Zodiac Killer having no involvement in their murders - but would claim so to the bitter end.
RSS Feed
