"From mid-November to mid-December of 2017, well over a million U.S. viewers tuned in for each of the five episodes of The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer. It’s likely that many more will see it before the inevitable second season is announced." 
These are the opening lines of a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the Zodiac Killer docudrama, that aired on the History Channel from November 14th 2017 to December 12th 2017, authored by Bill Briere. It is an extremely well written body of work, encompassing all aspects of the chase to breathe new life into the Zodiac case, including the dogged groundwork of investigators Sal LaBarbera and Kenneth Mains, and the rather more sedentary pursuit of a team of codebreakers, working in harmony with their software sidekick Carmel. 
There are plenty of fresh insights into the Karga Seven Pictures production, exploring the balance between fact and fiction in the near half a century cold case, that has left the audience somewhat divided in anticipation for the inevitable second series. Bill would like to receive your feedback on his thought provoking Linkedin article, so follow the link provided or click the image above. This is not the Zodiac speaking.   

The Zodiac Killer changed his approach from Lake Herman Road to Blue Rock Springs when he decided to open fire on Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin on July 4th 1969 while they remained seated in their vehicle. Did his plans at Lake Herman Road backfire to some extent, that forced such a change? He may have wanted more control over the victims by keeping them boxed in their vehicle. But did the weather and the actions of Michael Mageau ultimately force the Zodiac Killer into a critical mistake when he decided to return to the 1963 brown Corvair of Darlene Ferrin to fire off his final four shots? A choice that would inadvertently reveal the likely home location of the Zodiac Killer.
​
We have previously examined the possibility of a payphone call being placed after the Lake Herman Road double murder at the exact same payphone located at Springs and Tuolumne, described as a 'crank call' by Pierre Bidou. It was determined that if this was the Zodiac Killer, it had the possibility of shifting the timeline of the Lake Herman Road murders approximately 5-6 minutes earlier than previously thought, allowing the killer to head in the direction of Vallejo before Stella Borges left her ranch and explaining why she had passed no vehicles en route to Benicia (that included the Zodiac Killer}. This being the case, it would mean that the Zodiac Killer would be heading toward Springs Road after both the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park attacks, turning west and heading for the payphone at Springs and Tuolumne to place his call, before taking refuge at his residence. The formative murders of a serial killer are more likely to be closer to home, before they gain in confidence and venture further afield, thereby increasing the significance of this particular payphone.      

Despite the understandable sketchy recollections of Michael Mageau, he may very well be the unlikely savior here, because his description of the assailant's clothing and his reflex decision to seek refuge in the back seat of the Corvair when the Zodiac Killer began firing, could have drastically changed the plans of the killer.
 
Michael stated two things in the police report. Firstly: That the "Subject appeared to be short, possibly 5'8", was real heavy set, beefy build. States subject was not blubbery fat, but real beefy, possibly 195 to 200, or maybe even larger. Stated he had short curly hair, light brown, almost blond. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, blue in color. Cannot remember if it was light or dark blue".  Secondly: "States that he tried to climb over the back seat to get away from the shooting and subject kept shooting him again and again. States subject finally quit shooting him and apparently turned the gun on Dea and started shooting her again and again. States subject then turned around and started to walk back to his vehicle which still had the headlights on. Michael stated he could not tell if he meant to yell at the subject or if he just yelled from pain, but he let out some kind of yell. At this time, the subject apparently hearing him, came back to the car and shot Michael two more times, once in the back and once in the left leg. States the subject then turned the gun on Dea and shot her twice more". This final action by the killer may unwittingly have changed the course of the next 40 minutes.
​
The time of the year couldn't have been more different from the Lake Herman Road attack - as the murders at Lake Herman Road were committed in sub-zero temperatures of 22 degrees Fahrenheit, and conversely, Blue Rock Springs in very agreeable temperatures that averaged above 80 degrees Fahrenheit for much of the day. This is why the killer was described as "wearing a short-sleeved shirt, blue in color" by Michael Mageau - something he was unlikely to have been wearing the night of December 20th 1968. It is my guess that the assailant's shirt was relatively light in color - and when Michael Mageau "let out some kind of yell" - it forced the killer into something he hadn't planned to do. He would return to the Corvair and fire off four more shots into the victims, causing him to interact closely with the crime scene. 

At Lake Herman Road the killer shot David Faraday once in the head, and Betty Lou Jensen while she was running for her life. His contact or interaction with the Rambler and victims was kept to a minimum. This was likely his intention at Blue Rock Springs when firing through the open window of the Corvair, however, the fact that Michael Mageau refused to die and yelled out in pain, would inadvertently change the course of events in the early hours of July 5th 1969.
​
The first shots at Michael Mageau struck him in the neck (facial area) and once in the shoulder, before he clambered over the front passenger seat to the rear of the vehicle in an attempt to escape the initial barrage. The killer also fired three direct shots at Darlene Ferrin, but struck her far more, as the bullets exited Michael Mageau and entered her right side.

Michael Mageau would have been bleeding heavily at this point, more than likely coating the passenger seat in blood as he clambered over it to seek refuge in the rear of the vehicle. The killer after firing the first five shots, headed back to his vehicle, but upon hearing Michael Mageau cry out in pain, he returned to the Corvair, leaned into the open passenger window and over the front seat, in all likelihood smearing blood on his "light blue short-sleeved shirt" and arms, that had been transferred from Michael Mageau thrusting himself across the top of the seat. To angle the gun, striking Michael Mageau in the lower regions, and leaving two spent casings on the rear floorboard of the Corvair, he likely had to lean a reasonable distance into the vehicle. He then switched focus and delivered the final two shots into Darlene Ferrin, who was clinging to life at this point. This final action by the killer may very well have created blood transfer to his shirt and body, and ultimately to his vehicle a few moments later. The wise choice now, is not to make his planned phone call immediately after departing the scene of the crime, by exiting his vehicle and entering the payphone covered in blood, but to travel home and get cleaned up, thereby minimizing the obvious risk when placing the call.   

Investigators must have considered the possibility of the Zodiac Killer living in the proximity of the payphone because of the time disparity of a payphone only 10 minutes from the crime scene, yet a phone call being placed 40 minutes subsequent to the attack. They must have toyed with the idea that the killer may have remained in the vicinity. They certainly must have searched for eyewitnesses to the phone call by canvassing the surrounding area. It is certainly plausible that investigators may have knocked on the door of the Zodiac Killer and chatted with him briefly. Although Michael Mageau's description of the killer and his vehicle were sketchy, the police would probably have combed the area around the payphone for a brown Corvair - or a vehicle resembling it.
​
Nearly one month later, the Zodiac sent three coded segments in three letters on July 31st 1969 to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle and Vallejo Times-Herald, giving details of the first two crimes to prove he was the actual killer. However, the Zodiac Killer was doubted as to whether the letter writer and killer were one and the same, with the Vallejo Police Chief, Jack E Stiltz, asking the killer through the newspapers for more proof he was the responsible. This was detailed in the Saturday, August 2nd 1969 San Francisco Chronicle - and the following day - on Sunday, August 3rd 1969 in the San Francisco Examiner.. He requested that the writer send another letter "with more facts to prove it." This may have proved the perfect opportunity for the killer to switch the emphasis away from his home locality.
​
He created the perfect phantom witness of a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed," who he would not only describe in unnecessary detail, but describe a witness that would conveniently verify twice that the Zodiac Killer was in his car - and it was brown in color. The Zodiac Killer has never been so forthcoming. By placing himself in his vehicle, he gives the impression he could have lived anywhere, as opposed to a killer who probably walked to the payphone. The unaccounted time between the Blue Rock Springs Park attack on July 4th/5th and the placement of the phone call at 12:40 am, may be indicative of a killer who returned home and removed his bloodstained clothing, that resulted from his return to Darlene Ferrin's Corvair for the final four shots. And Michael Mageau yelling out was the trigger.   

Kim Rossmo talked about the possible home locations for the Zodiac Killer using Rigel: "There's a number of possibilities. But remember, Rancho Vallejo was possibly 26,000 people at that time, of which only 13,000 will be male, and only a certain proportion of those are of the correct age, and a certain portion of those are only going to be white. Then we start looking at the neighborhoods involved, we have a pretty small subset. Then we start combining that with some of the personal and behavioral descriptors, and then we work in the vehicle information. If this case was active today, it would not be too difficult to find this person". Apply this to a 10-20 minute walking radius around the payphone and the possibility of locating the Zodiac Killer increases exponentially. 

See also: A Stone's Throw Away.    

We certainly cannot take the early victim count of the Zodiac Killer as gospel, but bearing in mind the confidence of many regarding the murders of Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) on June 4th 1963 as possibly the precursor to the Lake Berryessa attack, the murders of John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) on February 21st 1970 appear a little under-reported. The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 indicated the Zodiac Killer may have been looking for a ninth and possibly tenth victim - so bearing in mind his propensity of searching for a couple, this double murder is certainly in the correct timeframe, exactly bisecting the Melvin Belli and 13 Symbol cipher letter on April 20th 1970. In addition, this letter would claim ten victims.

The young couple had traveled to East Beach, Santa Barbara, near East Cabrillo Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, with John telling his parents he was to spend the day with his fiancee. Sandra had informed her parents that they "wouldn't be gone long." When they didn't return home that night the families were understandably concerned. Their bodies were discovered early Sunday morning by beachgoers, fully clothed underneath a blanket. They had been brutally beaten and stabbed, predominantly in the back and face. John Hood had been stabbed eleven times, but it appears Sandra Garcia suffered far worse, not dissimilar to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Had the Zodiac Killer returned to a familiar method of execution after his venture into the heart of San Francisco, and was the Melvin Belli letter the foreboding of a man who had lost control once again. 

The Oxnard Press Courier of John Franklin's home town reported the murders on February 23rd 1970: "Oxnard Man, Fiancee Murdered Victims. Bodies Found on Beach; Man was decorated veteran John F. Hood found slain with fiancee. The brutally stabbed and beaten bodies of a highly decorated Vietnam veteran from Oxnard and his attractive fiancee were discovered Sunday on an east side Santa Barbara beach just below a cemetery. Police identified the victims as John Franklin Hood, 24. who was discharged from the Army last month with the rank of staff sergeant after a combat-filled year in Vietnam, and Sandra Garcia, 20. of Santa Barbara. Early-morning beachgoers discovered the fully-clothed bodies under a blanket and hailed a passing patrolman. Police immediately closed off the area and later gave some brief details. However, they did not release some information for what they termed was a “good reason.” Detectives have questioned relatives and friends of the victims in an effort to trace the steps that led them to that beach".

Continued - Page 2 of above article: "by Oxnard police. After the bodies were moved police found a 9 inch bone-handled fish knife in the sand. Santa Barbara authorities said the knife, possibly the murder weapon, had a 4 inch blade. Hood was stabbed 11 times in the face and back. The girl had multiple stab wounds, and authorities said she was not sexually molested.
Both bodies were discovered face-down, apparently left that way to give the appearance that the victims were sleeping, authorities said. 

The Hood family drove to Santa Barbara last night to be with Sandra's parents, Mr and Mrs Cruz Garcia, 3088 Calle Pinon, who were reported under heavy sedation. The families said "they had no idea" as to what happened at the beach. There were no difficulties and neither of the victims had any enemies as far as the families knew. Police said their investigation would continue. 

The eldest of six children, Hood was born in Seattle. He came to California with his family in 1950. He attended El Rio Elementary School and graduated from Camarillo High School in June, 1965. After graduation, he worked at Wimpy's Drive-In in Oxnard and then joined the Army in January 1966. He spent two years in Germany with the 64th Armored Division after boot training in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then returned home for leave before being sent to Vietnam. While on leave, Hood met Sandra while they were both vacationing in Tijuana, Mexico. An expert marksman, Hood was sent to Vietnam on January 6, 1969 with the 64th Armored Division. Hood was closed-mouthed about the combat-filled year he spent there and about the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other medals he had received for valor. After returning to Oxnard, he went back to work for the drive-in eatery. Although Hood and Sandra were planning to be married, they had not set a wedding date.

Besides his parents, Hood is survived by his sisters, Mrs Linda Jean Ortiz, 19, Lauretta Ann Hood, 16, and Virginia Sue, 13; and two brothers Jerry Allen, 18, and Joseph William, 10. The elder Hood is employed with the Associated Concrete Co, Saticoy, and Mrs Hood drives a small school bus. Hood's fiancee had been an employee of the State Motor Vehicle Department in Santa Barbara. Her father is the owner of the Garcia Auto Wrecking Co, Besides her parents, she is survived by three brothers".  Oxnard Press Courier, February 23, 1970.  

​February 24th 1970: "Police Hunt Pair In Twin Murders Santa Barbara. Detectives today were combing their city for two young men wanted for questioning in the vicious knife-slaying of an Oxnard Vietnam war veteran and his pretty Santa Barbara fiancee. Detectives said the pair, both in their early 20s, were seen “washing cut wounds” at an east beach area service station near where the bodies of the couple, John Franklin Hood, 23, of 460 Helsam Ave, and Sandra Garcia, 20, of 3088 Calle Pinon, Santa Barbara, were found. Witnesses told detectives the two men walked into the station about I a.m. with cut wounds they said they had received as the result of a fight in the east beach area. Detectives said one of the men had a vertical cut across the center of his forehead, extending from his hairline to an eyebrow. The other man had a wound on the back of his right hand. They were seen driving an early 1950 vintage light blue sedan with primer spots on the right side and trunk deck. Pathological tests revealed Hood and Miss Garcia were killed sometime between IO p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday. The tests were conducted by Dr. John P. Blanchard, pathologist there".
Oxnard Press Courier, February 24, 1970. 

Early details of crimes are usually withheld, though it later became apparent that the killer had murdered the young couple with a 4-inch bone-handled knife, partially buried in the sand underneath their blanket. Why the killer failed to take the knife with him can only be speculated upon. Whether this was the Zodiac Killer venturing south to commit this double murder may never be known, but bearing in mind the murders were in the correct Zodiac timeline the only reasonable approach with such limited information available is to examine his following correspondence - the April 20th '13 Symbol' cipher.

This correspondence and cipher has been analyzed with a view to the code giving us a name. However, the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is ------," leaves us with the possibility we are not looking for a name within the code, but were in fact supposed to fill in the blank. Later in the communication he states "I have killed ten people to date" and "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed",​​​ Was this a subtle clue - that we were supposed to be figuring out a date in order to unlock who his ninth and tenth victims were. By the sheer law of averages of his known victims, he attacked a couple 75% of the time. He also never claimed a ninth victim independently between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970. 

The Zodiac Killer used symbols in his ciphers, so we will strip the 13 Symbol cipher back to basics in an attempt to uncover his intentions. He gave us three Taurus symbols and an Aries symbol reversed. He also gave us three circles. The 13 Symbol  cipher was mailed on April 20th, which is the exact date the star sign switches from Aries to Taurus. The blank or white circle is the symbol for a full moon. See 1970 calendar. The astrological signs and full moon symbol are both relevant to the calendar. The Zodiac Killer has placed the Taurus symbols within the circles - so by simple wordplay we have 'full moon in Taurus'. The only 1970 full moon in Taurus is April 21st. If we are trying to figure out who he killed,  the figure 21 isn't a bad place to start. The next thing to tackle is the reasoning behind the Zodiac Killer giving us three full moon symbols. Because he is challenging us to discover who he killed, it isn't unreasonable to assume the three full moons play a significant part in this game. The 13 Symbol cipher gave us the first full moon, so we will look back at the last two Zodiac events.

One month prior, Kathleen Johns, accompanied by her 10-month-old daughter Jennifer, were traveling along Highway 132, west of Modesto, en route to Petaluma, California, when her routine journey turned upside down. She was to make the near fatal mistake of stopping on a deserted highway at approximately 11:15 pm at night, ushered to the side of the road by a passing motorist who was flashing his headlights and gesturing towards her 1957 Chevrolet. Believing he was indicating a fault with her vehicle, Kathleen Johns drew over to the side of the road. The man explained that her wheel appeared loose, offering to tighten it up for her, and she duly obliged.

This innocent error was to begin a chain of events that are still not fully understood to this day, and have initiated countless years of debate on whether the man who approached Kathleen Johns car that fateful night was actually the Zodiac Killer, and the 'proposed madman' responsible for unleashing terror in the Bay Area of Northern California, and bringing the 'Summer of Love' into the summer of fear just two short years later.

Kathleen Johns was abducted in the last hour before before midnight on March 22nd 1970 and escaped at approximately 1:50 to 2:00 am on March 23rd 1970. The date of March 22nd would become our second full moon. The third, with the figure 21 in mind, must be the date that Zodiac was asking us to "figure out". Therefore, we will travel back to the previous full moon. John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on February 21st 1970, to give us our third full moon as depicted in the 13 Symbol cipher. 
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/1970 

We will take a look at the 'Confession' letter - and with the consideration of one murderer in mind - examine its contents in relation to the autopsy findings by pathologist Rene Modglin, in respect to the brutal murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966. This may go someway to determining whether or not the 'Confession' letter was authored by the killer. 

On the right is a representation of the wound pattern inflicted upon Cheri Jo Bates. One can see that all the lacerations noted in the post-mortem findings were effectively delivered by the killer from the breasts upwards, with the ferocity of the attack centered around the neck and face (the hands and arms raised to protect these vital areas). Some may say, that with six injuries to the face and seven lacerations to the neck, the killer's intention was to wipe away the identity of the pretty young student in a distinctly personal attack, but I will leave that to the observer to consider.

The lacerations and their directions have a story to tell - one that doesn't indicate an overhand knife attack from the front in a downwards motion or an underhand grip from the front in a straight, or upwards motion - an argument  strengthened somewhat by the evident lack of injuries to the area of the abdomen. The 'Confession' letter stated "I said it was about time for her to die. I grabbed her round the neck with my hand over her mouth and my other hand with a small knife at her throat". The killer was effectively gaining control from the beginning of the attack rather than performing an uncontrolled full frontal assault, stabbing wildly. If we base this analysis on one assailant as the letter implies, it is reasonable to deduce the assailant had grabbed Cheri Jo Bates around the neck and mouth with his left arm in a form of choke-hold.

Cheri Jo Bates' autopsy findings showed numerous petechiae in the forehead (broken capillary blood vessels). Petechiae are commonly present in the eyes or eyelids as a result of manual compression of the neck area, but not always, and can also be present on the face, especially the forehead. The manual force compressing the neck increases the vascular pressure causing the blood vessels to rupture. The assailant can now use his right hand to stab and slash the young girl, in effect, reaching over her right shoulder and directing the knife back towards himself (possibly an underhand grip), causing the three injuries to her breast region and several to her face. Clearly, at this point, Cheri Jo Bates is using her hands and arms in a defensive motion to protect her upper torso and face (eleven injuries noted to her hands and fingers, including lacerations and abrasions), as noted in the diagram. The small knife is being deflected as it's delivered, resulting in lacerations running laterally across her body. There must have been a violent struggle at this point with Cheri Jo Bates trying desperately to secure her release, and the attacker resisting her escape, resulting in the alleyway floor being disturbed by their footwear as described in the 'Inside Detective' magazine by law enforcement: "The driveway adjacent to 3680 Terracina Street was so churned up it looked like a tractor had been over the ground. The girl, who was very athletic, put up a terrific struggle".     

The 'Confession' letter continued: "Her breast felt very warm and firm under my hands, but only one thing was on my mind. Making her pay for all the brush off's that she had given me during the years prior. She died hard. She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched". The squirming being her attempt to break free from his clutches. The sheer terror and exertion, coupled with the compression applied to her neck, resulted in the petechial hemorrhaging to her forehead. It may have been at this point (or quite possibly later) that the assailant, in an attempt to gain control, shifted his grip from around her neck and started to slash (or stab) her throat.

One must also note the correlation between the wounds inflicted to her breasts, his reference in the letter to "her breast felt very warm and firm" and his promise to "cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see". In addition, if her breast felt very warm, was this indicative of an assailant who was not wearing gloves and who had earlier deposited fingerprints on her lime green Volkswagen Beetle. The 'Confession' letter then stated: "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". If this were true, then clearly, he cannot kick her in the head standing upright behind her, while she is upright too. Bearing in mind the position she was found in the alleyway the following day - face down - she may likely have been thrust forward at this point, onto the alleyway floor, thus causing abrasions to her hands (noted at autopsy). Free from the choke-hold she is able to let out a scream, which resulted in the assailant kicking her in the face. Whether this action ever took place is debatable - but here are three excerpts from the autopsy to consider: [1] "A 2 cm oblique ragged edge gaping laceration of the upper lip on the left side that angles laterally from above and extends completely through the thickness of the lip. The teeth behind are not loose or broken". [2] "A dark blue-gray, slightly swollen discoloration of mainly the mucocutaneous portions of the upper and lower lips on the right side involving a 2 cm greatest diameter". [3] "An area of dark blue-gray discoloration of the skin of the left cheek angling from above in front slightly downward and posteriorly. The overall length is 3 cm".

None of the injuries thus far, despite being extensive, are necessarily terminal at this juncture. With Cheri Jo Bates having been forced, face-down into the alleyway floor, the 'Confession' letter kicks in again: "I plunged the knife into her and it broke". The assailant likely atop and astride the young woman, plunges the knife into her left upper back (shown in blue in the diagram above). The back region being very firm, coupled with an extensive attack using a small pocket knife, may well have caused the hinge mechanism to fail, resulting in the blade closing and quite possibly injuring the hand or fingers of the assailant. The History Channel documentary 'The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer' alluded to the fact the killer's blood may have dripped onto the attire of Cheri Jo Bates. This is a very real possibility and likely resulted in the end of the attack on the young woman - but for the final coup de grace: "I finished the job by cutting her throat".

The cause of death listed in the autopsy was laceration of the right carotid artery. There was in fact extensive marking to the neck, all of which may have played a factor. The full description in the report was as follows: "The anterior neck skin extensively and irregularly lacerated with marked gaping. A deep cut is in the thyroid cartilage on both sides and the right common carotid is completely transected as well as the right superficial jugular vein". ​If this cut (shown on the right) originated on the left side of the thyroid cartilage near the midline and extended in one motion to the right side of the neck, this would be indicative of a right-handed assailant kneeling above Cheri Jo Bates (who is lying face down) and drawing the blade from left to right. This ultimately, is where her valiant fight for life abruptly ended.

However, she could before this happened, have reached back with her right hand and grabbed the hair of her attacker. The autopsy stated "Considerable partially dried blood over the hand and especially about the fingers and under the unpainted moderately long but not carefully manicured fingernails".  When Cheri Jo Bates grabbed her assailant's hair, the extensive blood on her dominant hand trapped the hair at the base of her right thumb, resulting in crucial evidence that would later be used to extract mitochondrial DNA from her murderer.  
 
There is one more important thing to consider, other than finding foreign DNA on the clothes of Cheri Jo Bates - and that is blood tying. In the 'Inside Detective' magazine it stated "At the murder scene, drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying".
This may have been the blood of the victim dripping from the knife or assailant. But, there surely must have been consideration from investigators that this may have been blood from the murderer's cut right hand, which is common during attacks with bladed instruments. This blood was either collected and stored, or completely disregarded as originating from the victim, which could have been a big mistake.

Cheri Jo Bates' blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3.4% of the American population. Even with the limited forensic capabilities in 1966, this testing was a simple affair, and could have determined whether the blood trail extending towards Terracina Drive was that of the killer's, and subsequently stored appropriately for future testing. Different samples could also have been retrieved from the clothing of Cheri Jo Bates and stored separately. What are the chances the killer also possessed this very rare blood group? Whether or not this trail of blood was tested and stored in controlled conditions, and ruled out, we may never know. But if it wasn't, then this story could possibly have had a very different ending from the one it's likely to have.

Robert Graysmith has been accused of many factual inaccuracies down the years, of which many are well-founded. One of these we shall revisit and explore whether it has any basis in truth. ​Michael Butterfield highlighted this 'inaccuracy' under the title Robert Graysmith-Separating Fact and Fiction, where Robert Graysmith notes the sighting of the Zodiac Killer incorrectly on two occasions, firstly on the TLC show The Ultimate Ten, by 3758 Jackson Street, and secondly, on Cherry Street 'lumbering along in the fog toward the Presidio'.
 
However, the reality is, we only have the word of Officer Donald Fouke on where he last saw the Zodiac Killer on October 11th 1969, and he also placed the murderer of Paul Stine in two locations. firstly, walking up a flight of stairs and approaching the residence of 3712 Jackson Street, and secondly, he last saw the Zodiac Killer turning north on Maple Street as he drove past.

If you are going to question the statements of Robert Graysmith, then you have to equally challenge the conflicting statements of Officer Donald Fouke in the November 12th 1969 interdepartmental police memorandum and the 2007 Zodiac documentary.  
But there may be a possibility that Robert Graysmith and Donald Fouke are both correct, and the Zodiac Killer was spotted at both locations. The three teenagers gave a second, more comprehensive account of the events that night, recalling their meeting with Armond Pelissetti at the intersection of Washington and Cherry, and the Zodiac Killer attempting to haul Paul Stine into an upright position behind the steering wheel of the taxicab. These recollections tally with Armond Pelissetti's statements in the 2007 documentary, along with the bloody right-handed fingerprint retrieved from the dividing panel between the driver side door and left rear passenger door. The statement of Lindsey that  "He ran to the corner of Cherry and watched as Zodiac continued his casual pace right up to the corner of Jackson & Cherry. At this exact point, the first SFPD car arrives with two officers. One, Pelissetti, approached Lindsey and tried to extract what was happening. The other officer went to the cab and found the bloody victim. While Pelissetti was asking questions, Lindsey was trying to explain that the suspect was in sight on Cherry St. By the time Pelissetti got the point, they both looked and the Zodiac was gone", does not tally with the timeline of Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple and being spotted by Donald Fouke.      

If Armond Pelissetti and Lindsey were both watching Zodiac as he approached the corner of Jackson and Cherry, then the Zodiac Killer still had 128 meters of traveling distance to reach 3712 Jackson Street, close to the intersection of Jackson and Maple. At an average walking speed of 1.4 m/s, this would take 91 seconds.
​If Armond Pelissetti only took 30 seconds to arrive en scene, and he got the initial radio broadcast at 9:58 pm, the time is now 9:58:30 pm.

Zodiac would therefore arrive at 3712 Jackson Street at approximately 10:00 pm, where he is spotted by Donald Fouke. But Donald Fouke's journey at approximately 30 mph from the intersection of Presidio Avenue and Washington Street, where he received the initial 9:58 pm broadcast, is just 60 seconds. He arrived at Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm, so couldn't possibly have seen Zodiac here, who wouldn't have arrived until 10:00 pm. Zodiac cannot travel from the upper reaches of Cherry to the near intersection of Jackson and Maple in 30 seconds.

If Armond Pelissetti took 1 minute to arrive en scene and met with Lindsey, then they are both viewing Zodiac approach the intersection of Jackson and Cherry at 9:59 pm. Donald Fouke is also viewing Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm - and Zodiac cannot be in two places at once. But the Robert Graysmith statement of Zodiac being spotted somewhere near the intersection of Jackson and Cherry is certainly plausible. In the Zodiac book by Robert Graysmith it stated "The patrol reached Jackson and Cherry by 10:00 and saw a stocky man "lumbering" along in the fog toward the Presidio. The radio unit, Patrolmen Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, looking for a black man, shouted to the stranger and asked if he had seen anything unusual in the last minute or so. The stocky man called out he'd seen a man waving a gun running east on Washington, and the patrol car sped off in that direction".
 
It would take Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms approximately 1 minute 15/20 seconds from the initial broadcast, to be somewhere between the 3758 Jackson Street residence and the Jackson/Cherry intersection, and would take Zodiac a similar time from the taxicab. Zodiac cannot reach the Jackson/Maple intersection at normal walking speed to be spotted by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, but their patrol car can reach Zodiac at the beginning of his journey east along Jackson Street. This would tally with the claims of Robert Graysmith, along with the sighting of Lindsey and Armond Pelissetti.    

According to Graysmith "Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, looking for a black man, shouted to the stranger and asked if he had seen anything unusual in the last minute or so". This sounds perfectly feasible, because Donald Fouke had received the initial broadcast just over a minute previous.
Graysmith also stated "The stocky man called out he'd seen a man waving a gun running east on Washington, and the patrol car sped off in that direction". ​This would have resulted in Donald Fouke turning southbound on Cherry, and turning left (east) on Washington Street, past Armond Pelissetti and the crime scene - likely while Pelissetti was ushering the teenagers back to their residence. Noticing another officer was dealing with the crime scene, he proceeded east along Washington looking for the assailant. But does this make sense?

Zodiac stated in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter: "I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again". If the Zodiac saw them go around the corner, then that corner may have been the Jackson/Cherry intersection. But why would he state the man waving the gun was heading east on Washington Street? Was there purpose behind this?

The Zodiac had murdered Paul Stine at the intersection of Washington and Cherry, but the trip sheet had recorded Washington and Maple, so had the Zodiac Killer subconsciously or deliberately directed the patrol car east to the area of Washington and Maple, in order to throw the police a false lead, so they would focus their search near that intersection. 

Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 documentary "He was putting his head down when he spotted the police car and turned into the entrance way of a house. By entrance way, I mean stairs, leading up that are concrete, to a path, that leads to a front door. Never saw him get to the top of the stairs. You want the address of that residence- 3712 Jackson Street".  But was Donald Fouke mistaken? The residence at 3758 Jackson Street conforms to his description of a flight of concrete stairs, leading to a path, that leads to a front door - and is closer to Cherry Street than 3712 Jackson Street. It is also exactly a "block and half away" from the thoroughfare of Spruce Street into the park - the last place eyewitnesses saw Zodiac that night. There is a reasonable argument to be had, that Donald Fouke passed Zodiac twice that night, leading to his two separate and distinct recollections, in the police memorandum and the 2007 documentary. Both of which have become muddled in time.    

The Zodiac Killer turns out of view from Lindsey Robbins and Armond Pelissetti, and heads down the hill towards 3758 Jackson Street, where he observes the patrol car of Donald Fouke approaching. He makes a snap decision to turn into the stairs of a residence and is spotted by the patrol car. Because he is white (and police are searching for a NMA), they ask him has he seen anything suspicious. He gratefully directs them south on Cherry and east on Washington Street, before continuing his journey down the hill. Donald Fouke travels two blocks on Washington Street to Spruce Street, searching for a black male, but finds nobody. Believing the assailant may have headed for the Presidio, he turns north on Spruce Street towards the thoroughfare entering Julius Khan playground, but fails to spot his charge. He turns west on Jackson Street and heads toward the Jackson and Maple intersection, where he spots the white male again - this time turning north on Maple. This would explain the timeline and the two different stories given by Donald Fouke in the police memorandum and 2007 Zodiac documentary. The journey time for Donald Fouke traveling at 30 mph, following the yellow directional markers above is approximately 1 minute, as is the time for Zodiac to walk from 3758 Jackson Street to the intersection of Jackson and Maple. Both journey times are comparable. 

The police memorandum on the right states "Sir: I respectfully wish to report the following, that while responding to the area of Cherry and Washington Streets a suspect fitting the description of the Zodiac Killer was observed by officer Donald Fouke walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turn north on Maple Street. The subject was not stopped as the description received from communication was that of a negro male". The detail is particularly cautious and guarded. 

The question arises - did Donald Fouke pass the Zodiac twice? Firstly, walking up stairs to a residence, and then later, heading north on Maple. From his accounts in 1969 and 2007, we would have to believe he just plucked the second story out of thin air, or that both events did occur, but have been viewed as contradictory to one another, when this doesn't necessarily need to be the case, had he viewed the WMA on two distinct and separate occasions.

Donald Fouke passed the Zodiac on the second occasion, but still hadn't received the amended update after approximately two minutes 15 seconds. He doesn't need to attend the crime scene, because he has already seen this being taken care of, so heads towards Arguello Boulevard to search the park area. He now receives the second broadcast updating the description to a WMA. Realizing he may have just passed the suspect, last seen heading north on Maple, he turns east on West Pacific Avenue. He fails to find the suspect, so returns to Cherry Street where he meets up with Armond Pelissetti. The above is just a suggestion, hopefully incorporating both the accounts of Donald Fouke and Robert Graysmith, without pitting one against the other - and more importantly, blending all the recollections together in a plausible, if unlikely course of events   

We will take another look at the claim that both Armond Pelissetti and Donald Fouke received an initial radio broadcast of a negro male adult suspect, and question whether in fact this ever took place. There is a distinct possibility this was a later addition, boldly underlined in the November 12th 1969 Donald Fouke memorandum, to explain away why Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms supposedly bypassed a viable suspect walking along Jackson Street only three minutes after a reported assault and robbery on a taxicab driver. Later determined to be a murder, this 'oversight' had to be addressed. It is clear that this sighting was known within the police department, alluded to by Armond Pelissetti in the 2007 Zodiac documentary, when he stated "I spoke to Officer Fouke later that evening and I was unaware he'd stopped anybody, black, white or any other color, however, in subsequent conversations with him, he told me that he did stop somebody".

This visual of a potential suspect by two officers along Jackson Street was never reported in any newspapers up to November 9th 1969, so for the Zodiac Killer to be aware of these police officers in a patrol car near the intersection of Jackson and Maple, belatedly corroborated three days later in the Donald Fouke interdepartmental memorandum, confirmed the Zodiac claim of the 'meeting' on Jackson Street. This would prove unequivocally the letter writer had first hand information not known to the general public - and bearing in mind the Paul Stine blooded shirt piece, would place the Zodiac Killer in the location he claimed. If Donald Fouke stopped the suspect, then he stopped the Zodiac. The time Zodiac left the taxicab, and the time Donald Fouke received the first radio broadcast at Washington and Presidio Avenue, match up perfectly for a collision course near the intersection of Jackson and Maple.

We have heard plenty from two police dispatchers over the years, namely Dave Slaight and Nancy Slover, who both took calls from Zodiac, yet the police dispatcher who received the call from the three teenagers at Presidio Heights we have a noticeable silence in any documented material. The same can be said of the three teenagers. Therefore the widely reported notion of the radio dispatcher either receiving or hearing incorrect information, and incorrectly informing responding officers of a negro male adult suspect has gone widely unchallenged. The idea of a black male adult supposedly involved in the taxicab 'assault and robbery' could certainly be used as a reasonable excuse for bypassing a white man walking on Jackson Street only minutes after the attack. But there is every reason to believe this 'mistake' never happened.

The description given by the three teenagers was "A white male, 25-30 years old, 5'8" to 5'9", stocky build, reddish-brown hair worn in a crew cut, heavy rimmed glasses and dark clothing". Are we to believe the description given to the police dispatcher was heavily redacted to "be on the lookout for a black male adult," when passed to responding officers, with no accompanying detail. The idea of a negro male adult in 1969 with a crew-cut and reddish-brown hair should have at least raised a question to its validity with both dispatcher and officers alike. Unless the dispatcher decided to ignore the full description and pass on the bare minimum.

Donald Fouke described his approach to the intersection of Jackson and Maple in the 2007 Zodiac documentary "I would like to say the Zodiac made eye contact with us, but I can't picture it. I remember seeing his eyes, but I couldn't tell you what color they were, it was dark enough that his eyes were concealed, but you could sort of say he looked down, perhaps this lumbering gait, stumbling along, like a semi-limp may have come up in my mind, because he was putting his head down when he spotted the police car". This was only three minutes after a perceived assault and robbery on a taxicab driver - so one would assume an officer spotting a man so soon after the attack, walking with a limp or lumbering gait, and avoiding eye contact by putting his head down, was certainly suspicion enough for a stop. If for nothing else, but to question the white male on whether he had spotted a black man in the area. Just simply bypassing him doesn't make sense, especially when you consider Donald Fouke described the white male in alarming detail, such as tan engineering boots, low-cut shoes, a jacket with elasticated waist and cuffs, pleated trousers and graying hair at the rear. All of which would have been unnecessary details to focus upon as you approached from say 50 feet away - because the man was white and therefore presumably not the suspect.

The fact that Donald Fouke claimed in a 1989 documentary, that he got a second radio broadcast approaching Arguello Boulevard, goes a long way to proving he stopped the Zodiac Killer. He stated "We proceeded on Jackson Street towards Arguello continuing our search, as we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult, believing this suspect was possibly the one involved in the shooting we entered the Presidio of San Francisco and conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect". Why would he be heading away from the taxicab crime scene, when he should have been heading towards it. The answer is self explanatory - the Zodiac Killer directed him there after they stopped him. This proves Armond Pelissetti correct, when he claimed that Donald Fouke admitted to him, that he had indeed stopped the white male adult. This was backed up by Zodiac in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter.              

"2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".

When Donald Fouke stopped the white male subject, his next logical question would have been "have you seen a black male adult in the area". But the Zodiac Killer in his communication makes no mention of this fact. 

Many observers have noted how the Zodiac Killer liked to taunt the police, as he did numerous times in the November 9th 1969 correspondence. Had he been stopped by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms on Jackson Street, and asked if he had seen a black male in the area, this certainly would have been of great amusement to Zodiac, realizing the police were searching for a suspect with the wrong ethnicity or color, and without doubt would have been capitalized upon in his forthcoming correspondence - yet he mentions nothing. Only referring to the instruction as "I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber". The fact he doesn't mention this "booboo," is a strong indication that the police were not looking for a black male​ at any point in the night's proceedings, particularly one with a reddish-brown crewcut. 

In the 2007 documentary Donald Fouke stated "The initial radio description of the suspect was that of a black male, 5'10" or something like that. Seeing that it was a white male in an affluent neighborhood walking along the street, we didn't think it was the suspect".  Not withstanding the racial overtones in this statement - apparently the white male was evading eye contact, stumbling along, supposedly turning into a residence (omitted, and contradictory to the memorandum), as well as matching every indicator in the initial radio description of the suspect apart from color, yet the police car simply rolled on past, not even asking the man if he had seen anybody in the area. This is very difficult to believe. 

BLACK MALE ADULT [PART ONE]