After both the Blue Rock Springs attack on July 4th 1969 and the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969, the Zodiac Killer placed a phone call, firstly to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Streets, and secondly to Officer Dave Slaight from the 1231 Main Street payphone, but on both occasions, the time each call was placed left us with a considerable shortfall. Had the Zodiac Killer left Blue Rock Springs Park at midnight, he should have arrived at the payphone at 12:10 am, not 12:40 am. Similarly, if we use the writing on the car door at Lake Berryessa as our guide, the journey to the Main Street payphone should have placed the Zodiac Killer there at approximately 7:20 pm, not 7:40 pm. The Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa crimes have one distinctive and advantageous feature - in that we can use the phone calls to generate his possible movements, using the two points of contact, and search into reasons for the 'lost time' after his departure from each crime scene.

Obviously, his attacks were fraught with danger, but he would further gamble with his freedom by making further contact at each payphone. Conversely, this risk would be greatly diminished had he disposed of the 'smoking gun' first, in the case of Blue Rock Springs, the 9-mm Luger, with a change of attire a possible consideration. Had the Zodiac Killer lived in Vallejo, as the majority of people contend, a return journey to parts of this region, including American Canyon, with a ten minute turnaround, would take the killer back to the payphone at the Springs Road and Tuolumne intersection at about the correct time of 12:40 am, when the call was logged. His journey back from Lake Berryessa in a southbound direction through downtown Napa, fortunately for us, sets him on a collision course with American Canyon and the heart of Vallejo once again.   

The journey time from Lake Berryessa to 1231 Main Street is approximately 50 minutes, but if he left the crime scene at 6:30 pm, he should have arrived at the payphone at 7:20 pm, leaving 20 minutes unaccounted for. There was of course greater traveling distance - but even allowing for this - the killer could not have taken the most direct route from Lake Berryessa to the payphone and placed the call immediately, to allow it to be logged at 7:40 pm. So which route did he take and why.

The difference between the second and third crime, is that he used a knife in the close contact attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, which undoubtedly would have left him covered in blood. His 'smoking gun' was greater in this case - that being the costume, gloves, knife, blood transfer and the unused handgun - and traveling from the crime scene directly to the payphone was a stretch, if the timeline was to be maintained. He could have simply placed these items in the trunk of his car, but like the Blue Rock Springs Park attack, the unaccounted time suggested he made a deviation off route. Concealing the items in his car or taking these items home, still leaves us with approximately 20 minutes spare time, that needs to be explained. If, like his previous crime, his first intention was to remove any incriminating evidence before placing the phone call, where did he go that fits our timeline - and was there anything we knew about the Zodiac Killer that may give us a clue?

It has been considered that the Zodiac Killer may have been a hunter, hiker or fisherman, or possibly all three, on account of the specific key words he used in his correspondence with police, the locations of his crimes and the weaponry he appeared to have access to. But can we use this line of thought to fill in our missing 20 minutes. Lake Berryessa is 40 miles from Vallejo taking the Interstate Route 29 through Napa. It is a marked change in distance from Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, if he lived in Vallejo, with many locations en route - suggesting that he carefully selected this as his destination, being familiar with, or at the very least had visited previously.

After departing the Knoxville Road - heading westwards takes him directly to Interstate Route 29 and a direct route back through Napa to Vallejo. But it also has the added advantage of passing somewhere he may have been familiar with, if what we think we know of him to be true. Lake Hennessey is a man made 1,234 square mile reservoir serving Napa County, providing boating, fishing and hiking to the general public. If the Zodiac Killer knew this area, he knew Lake Hennessey.
It lies just 17 miles or roughly half an hour drive due west of Lake Berryessa, heading along Sage Canyon Road towards Rutherford, CA. It has all the familiar features, 'lovers lane' style turnouts, hiking trails, rest areas, parking facilities and more importantly seclusion. In fact, the perfect area for a killer to get changed and possibly dispose of any incriminating evidence, before heading off to the Main Street payphone. The journey time to Rutherford, CA, then heading along Interstate Route 29 to 1231 Main Street Napa is 55-60 minutes, but crucially our killer now has that all important 10-15 minute time period, to rid himself of any link to the crime at Lake Berryessa and place himself in the vicinity of the payphone at exactly 7:40 pm. 

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who specializes in geographic profiling to narrow down an offenders likely home location and uses his skills to formulate an extensive analysis of the Zodiac attacks from December 20th 1968 to October 11th 1969. Despite there being only four locations to work with, he coalesced the wording used in the Zodiac letters, crime scene evidence and travel routes to pinpoint hot zones where our killer most likely resided. Using the computer software Rigel, color coded schematics can be generated to visually represent these areas of interest. This, combined with what we already know about the killer, can help to prioritize our search fields before extending outwards - however, as Kim Rossmo alludes, the art of geographical profiling techniques are a complimentary tool to assist the investigator, rather than a point of beginning.
 
His detailing on the Zodiac crimes are second to none and can provide anybody, whether experienced or new to the case, the perfect reading material to form a solid foundation on the decisions the Zodiac Killer may have been confronted with back in the Northern California of 1968 and 1969. To view this comprehensive analysis of the Zodiac crimes click here. When he entered the details of the Zodiac crimes into Rigel, hot zones on a map were revealed, that included the North West of Vallejo, Rancho Vallejo, Mare Island and some areas of Benicia. But here I would like to focus on the travel routes, that may have been instrumental to everything the killer did, when he not only chose his attack locations, but his escape routes and the placement of his phone calls after the Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa attacks.        

One extremely interesting point Kim Rossmo brought up was 'search attempts', in that it was highly likely the Zodiac Killer, being a hunter, had many failed search attempts before he finally secured his eventual victims. We do not know with any certainty that the Zodiac would not have struck at Lake Herman Road for a second time on July 4th 1969, had he been granted the opportunity, or vice versa with Blue Rock Springs being his first crime on December 20th 1968. Without evidence that these couples were followed to these destinations, they appeared opportunistic, with the killer seemingly familiar with these locations as 'lovers lane' areas - both being secluded, with the possibility of escaping the crime scene undetected.

We know that at approximately 9:30 pm on the night of December 20th 1968, William Crow and his girlfriend were parked in the gravel turnout, in which David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were later killed, and claimed he was followed by a car, possibly a blue Valiant, stating  "I gunned our car out of there. The other driver followed me - I couldn't say he was actually chasing us because he never gained on us. I turned off towards Benicia and he turned in the opposite direction. As far as I was concerned he went on, that was the end of it until I read Saturday what had happened in the same spot where we were, and then I started thinking all the more about it".

We also know that Bingo Wesher, a sheepherder, reported seeing a white Chevrolet parked up in the turnout at around 10:00 pm. Of course, these may or may not be related to the Zodiac Killer - one can only speculate - but it seems highly probable that the killer of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen may well have been scouring the area for some time before the opportunity arose. This may have been the case at Lake Berryessa, when three sunbathing girls described a suspicious character in the preceding hours to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969.

But in the Presidio Heights murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969,  Kim Rossmo explains that the killer exhibited target selection, as opposed to his first three crimes, where the location was the overriding consideration. If we believe the Zodiac Killer to be a resident of Vallejo or Benicia and less familiar with the San Francisco area, then control would be the order of the day and his 'search attempts' in alien surroundings are less certain. He could not afford to travel around looking for victims without designated prime locations and expect to escape with any surety, thereby he targeted the victim first, as opposed to the location being the prime requisite. In the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attacks he frequented known locations to find a victim, whereas in San Francisco he searched for a victim and took him to a location. Kim Rossmo states that 'criminals who travel longer distances to offend are less likely to use uncertain target selection techniques'.

Kim Rossmo speculated that the most likely place the Zodiac Killer would have parked his vehicle, was between West Pacific Avenue and Locust Street, or Jackson and Spruce Street. An exit strategy over the Golden Gate Bridge via U.S Route 101 immediately separates the Zodiac Killer from the heart of the action, eventually converging with State Route 37, straight to the northwest region of Vallejo.

Interstate 80 traverses the Carquinez Strait, passes through the Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland areas to San Francisco.
Interstate 780 connects the lower regions of Benicia and Vallejo.
State Route 29 passes through Vallejo to American Canyon, Napa County and close to Lake Berryessa.

Three of these routes converge in close proximity to the southern region of Vallejo, see here, with State Route 37 further north - but still within the Vallejo boundary. All of which provide easy access routes to and from San Francisco, Lake Berryessa, Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Herman Road. This must have been a consideration for the Zodiac Killer to make good his escape from the scenes of crime. The 40 minute difference between the Blue Rock Springs attack and the phone call at Springs Road and Tuolumne, if we assume he traveled home to conceal the weapon, restricts the Zodiac's residency within this region.
 
Based on the eyewitness testimonies of James Owen and Stella Borges after the Lake Herman Road murders, it was believed the Zodiac Killer must have headed east to Benicia, however, if these timelines are out by just a few minutes, the window opens up, to allow the Zodiac Killer to head in the direction of Columbus Parkway in Vallejo. After the Blue Rock Springs Park attack he was also believed to have headed this way - and in both instances, after reaching Tennessee Street and continuing westwards, he would pass very close to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. This familiarity may have played a decisive factor when he decided to place his first phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover.

Tennessee Street continues on and passes by State Route 29 - the route that would have taken him from Lake Berryessa, through Napa, where he placed his second phone call to police dispatcher Dave Slaight, right into the heart of Vallejo. Interstate 80 bisects Tennessee Street, and California State Route 37 from San Francisco is close by. See here. If we assume that the Zodiac Killer applied caution after the Blue Rock Springs attack and went home to ditch his weapon, then it is easy to see why American Canyon and Benicia are highlighted by the Rigel software, as both journeys are roughly 30 minutes traveling time, with a turnaround time of 10 minutes, making the phone call possible in both instances. Any further and the timeline becomes strained. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Zodiac Killer lived in this region, but as Kim Rossmo states "all things being equal, suspects located there should be prioritized". Unfortunately for us, the highest profile suspect, that of Arthur Leigh Allen, did live in Vallejo during the first two attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park, at 32 Fresno Street, and within walking distance of the payphone at the Springs Road and Tuolumne intersection. But he would be later ruled out using DNA and fingerprint analysis - so the search goes on.       

The topic of geographical profiling has been covered many times on this site, but I would like to return to it one more time to examine the possible home base of the infamous Zodiac Killer based on his movements, in particular, after the first two crimes, along with what he revealed either deliberately or inadvertently in many of his subsequent letters to local newspapers. However, what is far more important than what he told us, is what he didn't say. If you were the killer of five people, it would make perfect sense to never draw attention to the area in which you lived and in the contrary, attempt to throw the suspicion elsewhere, not only in the communications you sent, but in the very timing of them also. The only question is, was the Zodiac Killer impulsive when he drew up his communications or did he carefully construct them, with not only the intention to taunt authorities and police, but to mislead them with intent and throw them the ultimate red herring? Some of the following has been covered before, but hopefully this ties it up into one neat bundle.

In the late hours of December 20th 1968, David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen would be gunned down by a merciless killer. Two important eyewitness timelines, that of Stella Borges and James Owen would indicate the murders most probably occurred sometime between 11.14 pm and 11.20 pm, but based on the statement of Stella Borges it was determined that the Zodiac Killer in all likelihood exited the turnout east, in the direction of Benicia. She was heading from Vallejo to Benicia and reported passing no vehicles en route. The crime was late at night, may have been the Zodiac Killer's first murders, he had fired off at least 10 rounds, and as a result of the close contact wound to David Faraday's head, quite possibly had received blood transference to his clothing. Although not wholly conclusive, his logical choice after leaving the turnout would have been to head home and relative safety, not drive in the opposite direction. This is what he appeared to do, heading in the direction of Benicia.                 

A serial killer generally commits his early crimes closer to home before venturing further afield as he gains in confidence. The following attack  at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969 had shifted from Benicia over the jurisdictional line into Vallejo, approximately 4 miles northwest  If the killer had lived somewhere in Benicia (or in its close vicinity), then he was starting to become more confident, before traveling 50 and 40 miles respectively to Lake Berryessa and San Francisco, for his final two crimes. After the Lake Herman Road murders the police were desperate to catch the killer, but at this point were justifiable in their actions to seek out motives such as jealousy or revenge, interviewing friends and possibly rivals of the young couple. The thought that this crime was the inception of a serial killer was understandably the last thing on their mind, especially considering that after the Lake Herman Road double murder, the killer had remained quiet for just over six and a half months. However, this premise would be shattered on Independence Day 1969 at Blue Rock Springs Park with the attack on Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau.
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The Zodiac Killer appeared to show extreme caution and patience between the first two crimes, or was there more to it? Had the extensive investigation that followed the Lake Herman Road double murder, driven the murderer of the young couple into the shadows, with the buffer zone he had created from his home location unnecessarily close? He was seemingly determined never to make the same mistake again, by taking his crimes well away from the Benicia area.

After the midnight attack at Blue Rock Springs Park, the Zodiac Killer made a phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at 12:40 am from the payphone at the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street, stating "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".

However, it was not the phone call, but his first communications by letter that may have revealed the most. A trinity of letters arrived on July 31st 1969 to three newspapers, containing three portions of a cryptogram. In the San Francisco Chronicle letter he wrote "This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman + the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo". The Zodiac Killer mentioned both Lake Herman Road and Vallejo in these communications, but failed to mention Benicia in any. 

On the morning of August 4th 1969 the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner, in which the Zodiac Killer mentions Vallejo a further three times, writing "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material", then "I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper", and finally "I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop". But it was the extension of this line that would spike the interest "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". Not only does the author of the letter instill Vallejo into our minds, he effectively gives up the color of his car, even though there was no mention of a negro eyewitness in the police report or newspapers - unless of course, the word 'negro' is not the important part of the phrase he wants us to notice -  but the claim his 'car was brown'. The author then unnecessarily uses the word car once again when he writes "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". He could easily have wrote "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me", but he doesn't. Twice he mentions the word car and on both occasions it was totally unnecessary, even forfeiting the color of the car for good measure.  

It is certainly conceivable that the police thought this too. His apparent willingness to give up a possible negro eyewitness to police and the color of his car may have been a complete ruse. His over emphasis of the word 'car' in his writings may have been intended to look deliberate, so police would refocus their attention around the payphone (because he walked there), placing the killer's home location somewhere in Vallejo. After all, it would seem perfectly logical for the killer to change his clothes, separate himself from his vehicle and dispose of the gun, before making the payphone call only 40 minutes after the attack. If the Zodiac Killer was a resident of Benicia, what better way to thrust the focus of attention away from where you live by the manufacturing of a carefully worded letter.

In the aftermath of the Lake Herman Road murders there was no need for deception, because the police were pursuing lines of inquiry that focused on family, friends and jealous suitors, which was effectively  taking them further away from the notion of a 'serial killer', and probably the reason why the Zodiac Killer stayed quiet for nearly seven months.
 
We now have to consider the timing of the phone call at 12:40 am on July 5th 1969. If the killer at Blue Rock Springs Park had driven straight to the payphone at Springs Road and Tuolumne Street, he could have made the call as early as 12:10 am, so what did he do during this unaccounted period of time? A journey to Benicia (or slightly beyond), with approximately 10 minutes to get changed, clean up and dispose of the weapon, then head back to the payphone, would take approximately 40 minutes in total. Because of the narrow window of time between the eyewitness testimony of Stella Borges and James Owen as they passed the Lake Herman Road turnout, it would suggest that Benicia was the area he headed toward after the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen - and an area that is never mentioned once in any of his communications, despite committing his first attack there.

Then came the 'Bus Bomb' letter on November 9th 1969, describing his escape after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, going into great detail of how he outwitted the police. However, he couldn't resist dropping us some breadcrumbs one more time: "To prove that I am the Zodiac, Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves". Yes, ask the Vallejo cop about the electric gun sight you used in Benicia, an area you would always fail to mention. 

The timeline of the Lake Herman Road murders is based on the approximation of five statements, that of Peggy and Homer Your, the raccoon hunters Frank Gasser and Robert Connelly, Stella Borges (Medeiros), Captain Daniel Pitta and James Owen. This timeline opened a window of approximately 6 minutes for the Zodiac Killer to commit the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen undetected. But based on James Owen's testimony this window of opportunity may open up. Morf13 (Mike Morford) from the Zodiac Killer Site forum created an excellent timeline of the events that night - in particular the contradictions exhibited by James Owen.

On the morning of December 21st 1968, less than ten hours after the murders, James Owen gave a statement to police  indicating that he saw two cars parked alongside each other in the gravel turnout, approximately 10 feet apart - yet despite the gravity of such a major event, as Mike Morford alluded, "likely with chalk outlines on the ground, he failed to mention hearing any shots 9 hours before, when he passed the scene, yet 3 days later on the 24th, Owen suddenly mentions that he heard a shot after he passed the scene, about a quarter mile up the road. Personally, I find it highly unusual that a witness would leave out a detail like that only 9 hours after the crime when it was fresh in his mind, especially a retired military guy like him who you would expect to be more detail oriented". This omission, only to be added on December 24th 1968, having now possibly read the newspapers and headlines surrounding the high profile murders, could now be perceived as embellishment, increasing his profile as a major eyewitness. The distance between both cars in his second statement had now closed to just 3 to 4 feet. Before passing the Lake Herman Road turnout that night, he had approximated the time he left his house in Vallejo, at about 11:00 pm - however, his clock was six minutes fast, so this was revised to 10:54 pm, placing him at the turnout at around 11:14 pm. He saw two vehicles with nobody in or around them in the turnout. Stella Borges passed the turnout at 11:20 pm and saw only the Rambler and the stricken victims, hence the window of time for the killer to strike of approximately 6 minutes.      

So, given what we have been told about the unfolding events that night, how would James Owen have heard only one isolated shot? One possibility, is that after David Faraday is shot, there is a notable time delay before he shoots Betty Lou Jensen. What he does during this period is speculative, but he may have spoken to Betty Lou Jensen for a brief period.

The Zodiac Killer stated in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". If this was the case, it was likely never his intention to just shoot them in their vehicle - which he didn't. And if he ordered them from the car, it is entirely plausible he entered into some form of dialogue. Had the Zodiac Killer shot the couple immediately after they exited the car, how could James Owen have seen two vehicles with nobody in or around them. They must have still been alive at this point in time, but hidden from view. James Owen made the statement on December 21st 1968, referring to the car parked nearest to the road, as "a 1955 or 1956 station wagon, boxy type, neutral color". Is this possible, without seeing the occupants, especially considering Peggy and Homer Your clearly recollect they saw the couple in their Rambler, even describing what they were doing inside the vehicle.   

The truth of the matter, is that the series of the events that night are just speculation - nobody knows for sure what unfolded and in what order. In the police report it stated that David Faraday "had been shot in the upper portion of the left ear by a small caliber bullet which penetrated the ear and head. There appeared to be powder burns on the left ear where the bullet had entered. There was a large lump on his right cheek and the hair on his left side was matted with blood".  He also "held a class ring by the tips of his ring and middle fingers of his left hand". and was found lying on his back with his left foot almost touching the right rear tire and ninety degrees from it, with his head facing south. Clearly, David Faraday was not shot immediately after he stepped out of the passenger side door. The chalk outline of where he fell is by the left rear tire, not adjacent to the door. In addition, his class ring had become dislodged or partially removed and there is discoloration to his right cheek.

We have come to believe that the Zodiac Killer was right-handed and the detail in the police report appears to back this up.
If we consider the possibility that the Zodiac Killer had hidden the couple from view between the two cars, we can note that the chalk outline of David Faraday is facing south, but his body, the majority of the bullet casings and the final resting place of Betty Lou Jensen are present on the east-west axis, suggesting that once David Faraday was shot, the Zodiac Killer stood still and fired at Betty Lou Jensen as she ran westwards.

One possible order of events based on the police report, is that after James Owen had passed by the turnout, the couple returned to an upright position. It seems highly unlikely that the Zodiac Killer would have chosen to start shooting only 30 seconds, or at the quarter of a mile point that James Owen recalls a gunshot. The time delay appears unnecessarily short, lending to the belief that David Faraday may have made a grab for the gun. He was an Eagle Scout and wrestler at school, and may have seized an opportunity with James Owen close by. 

It also seemed unnecessary for Zodiac to have ever placed himself so close to David Faraday by choice, considering this was apparently Zodiac's first murders and he was supposedly using a pencil flashlight attached to his weapon to aid his sighting from distance. The obvious choice was to remain at a safe distance, that he exhibited at Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and the blind shooting at Presidio Heights, where Paul Stine was oblivious to the attack until it was too late.

Had the Zodiac Killer, being right-handed, grabbed David Faraday from behind and placed the gun to his head, the wound would be on Faraday's right ear, not left. This would suggest they were face to face at the time the gun discharged its deadly contents. David Faraday would then naturally try to grab the gun with his left hand and as the Zodiac forced the gun towards David Faraday's head, the class ring became dislodged from his ring finger. In the brief struggle, Zodiac's free hand strikes the right side of David Faraday's face, accounting for the swelling on his right cheek. Of course, any impact with the ground may also be responsible for the swelling, but either way, this melee was brief - and from the moment the couple stood up after being hidden behind the vehicles, to the shot to David Faraday's head, was as little as 30 seconds - the shot James Owen may have heard. At this point the Zodiac Killer's preconceived plans changed. Betty Lou Jensen having little time to react - maybe frozen by fear - now became the target of the Zodiac Killer. After a brief dialogue or taunt from the killer, Betty Lou Jensen was ordered to run, James Owen was now further along Lake Herman Road and the next five shots were beyond audible range. However, if the second statement of James Owen is incorrect, then the events of the Lake Herman Road double murder would be thrown wide open once again.    

October 27th 1970 was a significant date in the Zodiac calendar, when the Halloween card arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, seven months after the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns and her infant daughter along Highway 132, near Modesto, and just three months after he laid claim to this attack in a letter mailed on July 24th 1970. Five months after the mailing of the Halloween Card, which inferred fourteen victims, a further letter, widely referred to as the Los Angeles letter postmarked Pleasanton, CA, was sent to the Los Angeles Times on March 13th 1971, but this time the author was claiming 17+ victims. In other words, from October 27th 1970 to March 13th 1971, he was indicating a minimum of three more victims during this time period.

Phyllis O'Brien Carson (32). was a young mother of four children, last seen after a night out at the Francis Truck Stop, French Camp, San Joaquin County, California. French Camp is a small community situated approximately a ten minute drive south of the town of Stockton CA and 15 minutes north of Manteca CA. Since the construction of California State Route 120, Manteca had become a popular choice for workers from the main towns and cities, along with the Bay Area, as rising house prices forced people to search for cheaper alternatives. Interstate 5 and State Route 99 are integral commuter routes through California and the I-5 is the main highway on the west coast of America, with links to San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento. San Francisco lies 80 miles and a one-hour twenty minutes drive due west from French Camp.

Phyllis had visited the popular bar, along with her brother and sister on October 27th 1970 and later on during the evening placed a phone call to her home residence to check on her children, stating she was to receive a lift home from a friend. Sadly for Phyllis O'Brien Carson and her family, her journey home was never realized. She had vanished without a trace, that is until family members received the heartbreaking news, just over three weeks later, on November 21st 1970, that her body had been discovered laying down an embankment near to Yettner Road, only five miles from the family residence. The cause of death and perpetrator remains unknown, but foul play was certain, as her body was partially clothed, apparently thrown from a vehicle. However, robbery was likely ruled out, as her belongings were untouched. Nobody from the bar has ever come forward to this day with a name of the mystery friend that Phyllis was supposed to have left with that night.    

There is little in the way of providing a Zodiac Killer connection, other than vague speculation - and although unlikely - it is a possibility that cannot be ruled out entirely. The only relevant timeline and areas of interest appear to be the abduction of Kathleen Johns seven months earlier, the disappearance of Donna Ann Lass from Stateline Nevada on September 6th 1970 and the Los Angeles letter, mailed subsequent to the Halloween Card and the murder of Phyllis O'Brien Carson, on March 13th 1971 from Pleasanton, Alameda County, which is situated approximately 40 miles west of Manteca CA and French Camp. 

The Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns, whether or not this has a Zodiac connection, provides the closest link, in that the perpetrator of this crime chose to subject his victim to what appeared to be an aimless drive around the countryside of Tracy, CA, after which she escaped to a nearby field. Where the abductor was ultimately heading may never be known, but Tracy CA, San Joaquin County is a mere 15 to 20 minute drive from Yettner Road and only 15 miles due west from Manteca CA, so a familiarity with the area remains plausible. Does the possibility exist that the Zodiac Killer relocated from the Vallejo/Benicia area sometime in late 1969 or early 1970, somewhere within this region. 

Modesto, Yettner Road, Pleasanton, Tracy and Mount Diablo (detailed on his June 26th 1970 Button letter and Phillips Road Map}, along with the Little List letter on 26th July 1970 are all encompassed within an approximate 70 mile radius of one another, near Highway 99. If the Modesto abduction was a Zodiac Killer crime, was he cruising Highway 99 for just the right moment. It lies roughly 93 miles from Vallejo, an awfully long distance to travel for a chance encounter, unless he was returning from somewhere. That is unless, he lived closer by. This crime began in the dying hour of March 22nd 1970, not unusual for the Zodiac Killer. However, after he had taken Kathleen Johns on a two-hour mystery tour through the outskirts of Tracy, CA, he would have backtracked to burn out her car, rather than continue straight on to the Vallejo area. Is this because he was not actually backtracking or putting himself out at all - it was nearer home?     

Judith Hakari had been working at the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento on March 7th 1970, where she traveled home from and pulled into the parking lot of the Markston Apartments, the location of her abduction. One-and-a-half months later she was discovered in a shallow grave alongside Ponderosa Way. She had been beaten, strangled and raped in a horrifying attack.

Shortly after the disappearance of Donna Lass and two days prior to the Halloween card, on October 25th 1970, Nancy Bennallack, a court reporter was found murdered, brutally stabbed numerous times in her own apartment. This, if indeed it was the Zodiac Killer, would suggest a marked deviation from his previous crimes. However, she was described as strikingly similar in appearance to Judith Hakari and was murdered just one block away.

Sacramento is just 53 miles north of French Camp, where Phyllis O'Brien Carson was last seen and 78 miles north of Modesto, easily accessible via Highway 99 and Interstate 5. And that leads us on to the brutal double murder of Laotian couple Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40) who were traveling back on the two-and-a-half hour journey to their residence in Dorman Road, Yuba City after visiting their son in a Merced CA hospital, situated in the area of the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. They were only 45 minutes from home when it was believed they had opted to take a rest on the roadside edge, near the interchange of Highway 99 and I-5 Sacramento - and unfortunately for them, a merciless killer was in the vicinity. How the killer approached is open to question, but the assailant unleashed a barrage of gunfire into their car blowing in both front side windows, testimony to which was the 15 small caliber shell casings scattered and retrieved from around the car. The couple suffered multiple shots to the head.  

What is interesting about this crime however, is the disputed 1986 letter supposedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer, with a postmark dated May 6th. The author of this letter uses the word slaves. In other words, more than one victim. The couple were shot multiple times while seated in their car, blowing in both front side windows, very similar to the attack at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969 and not dissimilar to the attack seven months prior to this, when he ambushed David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen at Lake Herman Road, both with small caliber fire. As the attack was on the side of a highway, it is likely the killer parked behind their car before he mounted the surprise attack (although this is unsubstantiated). They were murdered near Sacramento as the letter alludes, by a freeway, but the most interesting aspect of all, is the author stated "I want you to know about my latest slaves I have collected about two weeks ago". The postmark dated May 6th would tie in perfectly, because two weeks ago would have been April 22nd 1986, the precise date that both Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were murdered. In a final twist, the author of the 1986 letter stated "The Blue Meannies almost caught me". Shortly after this crime a 'Mystery Man', thought at the time to be a hitchhiker, flagged down a California Highway Patrol Officer in East Nicolaus and informed him of an automobile accident at the precise location the couple were eventually discovered. He was later sought for questioning in connection to the double murder on Highway 99, but he failed to come forward and his identity remains unknown to this day.

The Los Angeles letter, postmarked Pleasanton, CA and dated March 13th 1971 was the last confirmed letter from the Zodiac Killer until the Exorcist letter arrived nearly three years later on January 29th 1974. Had the Zodiac Killer ever relocated during this period of activity, or did his profession dictate his movements throughout? I doubt we will ever know.

December 20th 1968 was like any other day for the residents of Benicia, gearing up for the Christmas festivities like every other year, but this time things would be different, very different, the quiet calm on borrowed time as a pair of headlights swept onto the secluded Lake Herman Road in the late evening hours. We were now just minutes away from a reign of terror that has haunted the Bay Area of Northern California for fast approaching fifty years and it remains as compelling a mystery as the Jack the Ripper case that gripped the area of Whitechapel over a century ago. The quiet areas of Benicia and Vallejo were about to receive the recognition that most towns could only wish for, but for all the wrong reasons. That reason being evil.
Two young high school students David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, out on a date, were parked up in a quiet, unlit and secluded turnout, somewhere close to the jurisdictional line between Benicia and Vallejo when an unknown assailant drew up alongside their Rambler at approximately 11.15 pm with murder on his mind.   

This is where facts end and speculation begins, but it is believed the assailant pulled into the turnout alongside the couple's car, he then exited his car and fired off three warning shots to force the couple from their car via the passenger side. Betty Lou Jensen is thought to have exited the Rambler first, closely followed by David Faraday. Only seconds later the young man was felled by a single gunshot, just behind his left ear and collapsed on the gravel turnout. Betty Lou Jensen, clearly terrified, either fled or was ordered to run and made a desperate bid for freedom. She was just sixteen years of age and just five days away from Christmas, but her assailant was not about to afford any 'goodwill to all men' and callously executed her in a hail of bullets, striking her in the back five times. Christmas for many people was now over, but this, unbeknownst to the residents of the Bay Area at the time, was just the beginning.
Hundreds of people were interviewed, including high school students, family and friends of the victims, with police following various lines of inquiry such as jealousy or revenge, but nothing could have prepared them for what was about to come just four miles away.
Nearly seven months had elapsed and police could have been forgiven for believing this was an isolated event, but the fireworks were about to begin again, fireworks that would turn deadly. Only this time the killer had crossed into Vallejo. 
The date was July 4th 1969 and the Independence Day celebrations were in full swing, a day the people of America could rejoice with family get-together's and such like, however for some families one man was determined to shatter those dreams forever and he was not in the mood to be forgotten.

Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau were parked up in the Blue Rock Springs parking lot fast approaching midnight on July 4th 1969, when a mystery car pulled up to the rear of their vehicle. It remained for a brief moment before pulling off, however a short time later it returned, but this time would be different. The couple were totally oblivious to the fact a ruthless killer was just yards away.
A man exited the vehicle and calmly approached the couple's car carrying a flashlight and 9 mm Luger and without uttering a word fired a volley of gunfire through the open passenger side window, striking the couple several times. He then retreated only to return, in what could only be described from his standpoint as a coup de grace, unleashing four more bullets into the defenseless couple, before driving away. Sadly Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon her arrival at hospital, but miraculously Michael Mageau was able to survive the merciless onslaught, despite receiving horrific injuries. The City of Vallejo and surrounding Bay Area were now just forty minutes away from the realization that the events of Lake Herman Road were about to be resurrected, the second coming had just arrived, but this time it was bearing a prophecy of death. The time was 12.40 am on July 5th 1969 when police dispatcher Nancy Slover took the call she was never to forget.
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".
The dawn of a serial killer had arrived, one that would cast fear into the local community and beyond, a beginning that had started at Lake Herman Road some seven months earlier, but this was to be no end.
The words psychopath and madman were banded about by police, and although this ruthless killer was devoid of compassion and empathy, he was to prove more complex than anyone could ever have imagined, when twenty seven days later, on July 31st 1969 three newspapers were to receive three letters, bearing cryptograms and details of both crimes, and the stark realization that indeed the Lake Herman Road double murder, the Blue Rock Springs Park attack and the sinister phone call were the work of one man, a man playing a dangerous game in the very real world of Northern California.  

The sleepy tranquil shores of Lake Berryessa lie approximately fifty miles north of Blue Rock Springs in Napa County and it was on September 27th 1969, a little over two and a half months later that Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were enjoying a picnic along the picturesque scenery near Twin Oak Ridge, close to the dusk hours, when the darkness descended, enveloped in an executioners hood and tunic. This was the Zodiac Killer, his crosshair symbol emblazoned on his chest, however the couple were clearly unaware what this meant and it usually meant just one thing. Bryan Hartnell conversed with the man to form some sort of rapport, but the assailant undaunted forced Cecelia Shepard under gunpoint to tie up Bryan Hartnell with clothesline, before he eventually hogtied her. The couple thought this may have been a routine robbery, but when the assailant holstered his gun and drew out a long bladed knife, the terrible realization was just about to dawn. The couple suffered multiple stab wounds to their back and torso in what can only be described as a frenzied attack. The assailant then left.
Bryan Hartnell was able to free his bonds, crawl up the hill and seek help, with both victims being rushed to the Queen of the Valley Hospital. Cecelia Shepard unfortunately succumbed to her injuries two days later, but Bryan Hartnell survived and was able to recount his terrifying ordeal at the hands of a killer, who had now claimed four lives, a fact that the Zodiac Killer was not going to let us forget and one that would come sharply into focus when police approached the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia. Written on the car door underneath the infamous crossed circle were the dates of his now three attacks thus far, chillingly signing off with the words 'by knife'.
But there was to be no respite. 

Two weeks later the hand of death would be raised in the theater district of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco, when a lone male flagged down unsuspecting taxicab driver Paul Stine. The unfortunate hand of fate would deal a crushing blow just thirteen minutes later, that would leave Paul Stine dead from a single gunshot wound to the right side of his head, callously executed at the corner of the Washington and Cherry Street intersection in the wealthy district of Presidio Heights. The Zodiac Killer had now dealt his reign of death across the Bay Area into the streets of San Francisco, but this time he would leave with a grisly souvenir. The murder was first considered to be a routine taxicab robbery, but this preconception was to be emphatically torn apart when two days later a letter landed at the doorstep of the San Francisco Chronicle from the Zodiac Killer, leaving the police in no doubt that the killer of four young people across the bay had claimed his fifth victim. The murderer had included a piece of Paul Stine's blooded shirt, but there was more, a lot more. The last paragraph sent chills through even the most hardened of detectives, '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'.
San Francisco would be placed on high alert.
To be continued......

Previously we have examined the possible home location of Northern California's infamous Zodiac Killer using geographical profiling, along with his movements subsequent to each crime and come to the conclusion that Benicia is a strong candidate for the likely residence of our murderer between December 20th 1968 and October 11th 1969, but on this occasion we shall examine the pattern, of not only the dates of his murders, but the dates he mailed his correspondence, to see if anything tangible emerges. This time we will use the science of mathematics and pattern analysis to discover any statistical significance in the Zodiac Killer's habits and possibly, with your help, find a profession, pastime or notable events that may have rendered the Zodiac Killer inactive for certain periods in his timeline. Many people have suggested America's involvement in the Vietnam War, which ended on 15th August 1973, as one possibility, while others may indicate a naval connection. However,  it may simply be that his profession was seasonally dependent or had family in another state that took him away from California during consecutive years.     

Recently a retired UK murder squad detective, Trevor Marriott, uncovered a strong link that the notorious Jack the Ripper case may have been the work of German sailor Carl Feigenbaum, who was executed in Sing Sing prison on September 1st 1894, having committed at least two murders similar to the Whitechapel murders in New York. Carl Feigenbaum did not live in Whitechapel, but traveled in through the dockside, and like many sailors of the day sought out prostitutes, who would sell their bodies for as little as a loaf of stale bread, in order to survive day by day on the harsh Whitechapel streets. Once Feigenbaum had performed his dastardly deeds he was gone and the trail went cold. Was the Zodiac Killer governed by commitments that meant he was unable to kill during certain time periods, or unwilling to mail correspondence from particular locations that may have unwittingly presented clues to his movements during his timeline, only this time it was the opposite to Feigenbaum? The Zodiac Killer may have lived in Northern California but traveled away at set times, that meant the killings and letter writing ceased. His murders and letter writing display a pattern, so the key is finding the reasons behind it.
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It seems a strange timeline the Zodiac presented us with, in that his first confirmed murders were that of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968, after which nearly seven months would pass before the Blue Rock Springs attack, which started a period of three crimes in a little over three months, then nothing. However, his letter writing went unabated until March 22nd 1971, if you believe the Pines card to be genuine Zodiac correspondence, before he disappeared for nearly three years, until the arrival of the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. However, his murders and correspondence both followed a pattern for three consecutive years.

If we include the Donna Lass disappearance and Pines Card as Zodiac related, then onward from the date of the Blue Rock Springs attack on July 4th 1969, the average duration between Zodiac events (including attacks and communications) is less than a month, apart from three notable periods beginning at the end of each year, during the winter months.
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After the first confirmed murders at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968, the Zodiac Killer reappeared on July 4th 1969, a gap of 197 days. At the end of 1969 he mailed us the Melvin Belli letter on the anniversary of the Lake Herman Road double murder, but would again go into winter hibernation from December 20th 1969 until the arrival of the 'My Name is....Letter' on April 20th 1970, a gap of 122 days. This excludes the disputed Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970 - but even if it was included, the difference would still amount to 93 days. Finally, the end of 1970 would again see the Zodiac Killer disappear beyond the radar, from his mailing of the Halloween card on October 27th 1970 to the Los Angeles letter on March 13th 1971, a gap of 138 days. Three consecutive years with periods of hibernation spanning 197,122 and 138 days, averaging out at 152 days or 5 months of silence - yet on every other occasion the time delay between contact is less than a month. Is this coincidence, and if not, where did he go during these periods of inactivity? Did he take his crimes out of state, did he visit family or did a particular profession negate his ability for contact.
  
Carl Feigenbaum may have taken the opportunity as a visiting sailor to commit crimes beyond his natural habitat - an opportunist who murdered five women on the streets of Whitechapel beginning with Mary Ann Nichols on August 31st 1888 and ending with Mary Jane Kelly on November 9th 1888, all told, in a little over two months and then he vanished.
The Zodiac Killer also committed five confirmed murders in a little under ten months, ending with the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 in Presidio Heights, however, it would be another five years before the last traces of the Zodiac Killer would be heard from again.