We shall revisit the crime scene photographs of the Paul Stine murder from every angle and hopefully challenge the widely accepted narrative of the Presidio Heights shooting of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 - namely that the murder took place near the intersection of Washington and Cherry Streets in direct contradiction to all the evidence - using blood pattern analysis. The Zodiac Killer claims of a Washington and Maple murder in his October 13th 1969 letter was in all probability correct, with the following hopefully showing this to be the case. It is then up to you to shoot down every argument you are about to read and make a case to return the murder back to 3898 Washington Street.

In the 2007 Zodiac film it re-enacts one widely held belief, in that after Paul Stine is shot he falls immediately over to the right side of the taxicab. Whether he collapsed onto his right side or onto his back is not the point, because lying across the seat in accordance to the camber of the road, blood cannot run against gravity. Imagine where Paul Stine's head would have been and the blood pattern on the shirt. Blood is not, and never going to run horizontally from a head wound anterior to the right ear, upwards and more importantly against gravity to produce the pattern shown on the front left side of Paul Stine's shirt, never mind the right.

The back of Paul Stine's shirt shown here also shows a distinct separation, with the majority of blood on the right side, with very little blood patterning on the left, in direct contrast to the front of the shirt, which shows equal amounts of blood on both sides down to the first blue line. However, at the first blue line it stops abruptly on the left side, yet continues on the right side despite there being almost equal amounts of blood above this.

Greater blood transference from a right-sided head wound should produce increased staining to the right side of the shirt if the victim is perfectly upright, but if you take a look at the collar of the shirt (marked C on the diagram), the staining is extremely high on the left side as well. This high left-sided staining, along with the majority of the blood being on the right rear side of the shirt as opposed to the left, considering the near equal distribution on the front - and the blood stopping abruptly on the front left side of the shirt, can all be explained in one simple scenario, as well as the two small patches of blood marked A and B on the left and right armpit area of the shirt. Only one sitting position can explain all these blood patterns and point to a Washington and Maple murder. And later, blood marks on the handle of the door will hopefully be the final piece of the jigsaw. The following is a quick refresher to lead us into the final part of the story

Imagine, Paul Stine is now lifeless, being pushed against the driver side door and more importantly the driver side arm rest. He is only ever so slightly tilted to his left side, so the right side of his back marginally lifts away from the seat as Zodiac pushes against him, with both of Paul Stine's arms squeezed into his body.

The journey from Washington and Maple Street to Washington and Cherry Street begins. The blood runs down and outwards around the chest, but because Paul Stine is tilted slightly to the left, blood from the right side runs around the neck to the collar on the left side and down this side of the body, as well as the right. As he is pushed against by the Zodiac, the right side of his back lifts marginally away from the seat allowing blood to stain the right rear section of his shirt, but leaving his back left side virtually untouched, as this is pressed firmly into the seat, thereby preventing the blood from reaching this area. Paul Stine's arms are squeezed in at the armpits, meaning the red circled areas in the upper photograph are blood free. The shirt arms have two distinct patches (A and B), which slightly touch the blood as it rounds the chest.

The blood continues downwards staining the shirt as it goes, but stops almost linearly on the left side, two-thirds of the way down - and exactly where the arm rest of the door is positioned. With Paul Stine's body pressed firmly against this door rest the blood is prevented from reaching the lower portion of the shirt on the left side, where it gets channeled away, however, it pools slightly in this area. You will notice in the above photograph the streaks of vertical blood highlighted on the arm rest.

When the Zodiac Killer brings the taxicab to rest at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection, he shuffles over to the right side of the front seat and pulls Paul Stine's body away from the left door and arm rest into a lying position to secure his trophy. The blood streak across the arm rest now is subject to gravity and forms the patterned blood striations downwards, depicted in the photograph above. This is not blood spatter from the initial shooting, as the rest of the door remains untouched. The Zodiac Killer is spotted by three teenagers from the house opposite in the mid to right of the front passenger seat, in all likelihood removing the rear section of Paul Stine's shirt. He then likely pushes Paul Stine's lifeless body over to the floorboard section of the front passenger seat, where heavy blood pooling is noticed in the crime scene photographs. The final resting position of Paul Stine is partially hanging out of the car door, almost certainly pulled into that position by the attending medical crew. 

The time period between the two intersections allows for the blood pattern to form on the shirt, something that is simply not feasible if Paul Stine had been killed at Washington and Cherry and had slumped over immediately. More importantly, no audible gunshot was ever heard by the three teenagers across the street, with the blooded prints on the external driver side door simply not explainable if the order of events had unfolded as we were led to believe.

Several key witnesses came forward to reconstruct a timeline for the Lake Herman Road double murder on 12.20.68, but here we will refocus on the Chevrolet Impala, observed by Frank Gasser, Robert Connelly, William Crow, Bingo Wesner and Stan (14 years) with a friend. Some of the eyewitnesses may have small details about the vehicle incorrect, but all stated the make as a Chevrolet Impala, spotted in three locations on Lake Herman Road between 9.00 pm and 10.30 pm. It is important to understand that Lake Herman Road had extremely low density traffic back in 1968. It stretches just over five miles, between the areas of Benicia and Vallejo, it is a two lane and extremely dark road with no streetlights, as it meanders through rolling countryside. However, it has many turnouts or gravel pull-off areas, often frequented by courting couples' late at night and it is quite possible the Zodiac Killer knew this. The road also passed very close to Lake Herman Recreational Park. If the Zodiac Killer was a hunter, these were his perfect surroundings, secluded and remote, where he could ambush his 'prey' and slip quietly away into the night.         

The most important sightings were the ones corroborated by the two hunters Frank Gasser and Robert Connelly, and Bingo Wesner, a local sheepherder at 9:00 pm. The two hunters were traveling toward the Marshall Ranch in their red pick-up truck when they spotted a white 4-door hardtop, 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala parked up in the turnout. There were no occupants. At the same time Bingo Wesner noticed the same vehicle while exiting the turnout gate, also spotting the hunters red pick-up truck pass by. The question being, what was the reason for this unoccupied vehicle being there. It was a cold December evening with temperatures hovering around freezing. This may not be important, unless we can tie in a second timeline.

Enter William Crow and his girlfriend cruising the Lake Herman Road, while testing out her sports car. William Crow and his girlfriend stated in the police report they were in the area between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm. They were parked in the turnout, facing the road, when a blue car, possibly a Valiant came from the Benicia area, but just as it passed the turnout its reverse lights engaged. William Crow put the car in gear and took off at a high rate of speed, followed equally fast by the pursuing vehicle. He stated that he thought the car was occupied by two Caucasian  males. However, in later contact with Tom Voigt from Zodiackiller.com, his story would change.
   
"I noticed a car coming down the road from the direction of Benicia. The car passed in front of me, then I noticed that it came to a stop and its taillights told me it was backing up. Common sense suggested to me to put the sports car in gear and leave. I pulled out and started driving toward Benicia. The other car backed into the area where I had been parked, turned around and in a second or two was behind me. The car hit its bright lights and then did a bright off, bright on, bright off, etc. I went through a few young testosterone moments where I was going “to pull over and kick that guy’s ---”. My former girlfriend started getting upset and I sped up. The car behind me also sped up, and at one point as I was looking over my shoulder the car behind me came up on my side with its right front fender near the driver’s rear quarter panel and appeared to be moving toward making contact. I shifted to a lower gear and hit the gas. There is a fork in the road where one continues toward Benicia and the other more towards the freeway toward Vallejo. The other car was clearly chasing me and I waited until the last moment and then turned off. The larger car behind me could not make the turn. “I went down approximately two hundred yards and stopped in the middle of the road. The other car had stopped shortly after the turn-off. Each of us sat there in the road. Again, youthfully stupid, I yelled about kicking his ---. After some moments, the other car turned around in the roadway and went back down the road from which we had come. I kept making macho statements, but not totally without some sense about me, I drove home. I did not see the car again. I could not see the passenger seat, but the driver was a man with short hair and glasses. I never told the sheriff who interviewed me that the car I encountered was a Valiant. As I recall, as I was attempting to describe the car, the sheriff came up with a “Valiant”. In the years that have passed, when I have shared the events of that night, I have described the car as a four-door light-colored Chevy. Until your e-mail I have never known that two hunters came upon a white Chevy or that any reference to a Chevy existed in the investigation. I know this does not support the theory of two cars, but it is important to me that my account be accurate". See here.

Returning back to the unoccupied vehicle described by Gasser, Connelly and Wesner, something Zodiac contributor Gregory Haugevik posted in a comments section opened up a whole new avenue: "If the car was left unattended, the killer may have been out surveying the park area for victims. The scenario is reminiscent of Lake Berryessa wherein several witnesses allegedly saw the killer hanging around the area in the hours prior to the attack".

If the Zodiac Killer was a hunter, then he had at least three options available to him - the Lake Herman Road turnouts, the lake itself and Blue Rock Springs Park, all closely grouped within the vicinity. If he was unsuccessful in his search for victims at one location, he could simply move to another and so forth, until the right opportunity presented itself. It is perfectly feasible that he may have parked up his car in the turnout sometime before 9:00 pm, where it was spotted by Frank Gasser, Robert Connelly and Bingo Wesner. The walking distance to Lake Herman from the turnout is similar to Lake Berryessa from the Knoxville Road, and quite plausible bearing in mind the hunting aspect and the allusion to 'The Most Dangerous Game', partly described in the Zodiac Killer's 408 Cipher.

​But something he stated categorically in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter pricks the interest. This letter was mailed on August 4th 1969, one month after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack. In it he gives the police an earful: "Last Christmass In that epasode the police were wondering how I could shoot + hit my victims in the dark. They did not openly state this, but implied this by saying it was a well lit night + I could see silowets on the horizon. Bullshit that area is srounded by high hills + trees. 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".

The Zodiac Killer was correct, because it was one day after a new moon and 2% illumination, however, parked alongside the Rambler of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen with the headlights on, there was absolutely no need for any type of sighting implement. He could have simply stepped out of his vehicle and fired through the window of the Rambler, exactly like he did at Blue Rock Springs Park. A torch would have sufficed. That is, unless his original plan at Lake Herman Road was to head to the lake to do a spot of hunting, whereby a sighting implement may have come in more useful and indicated his true intentions that night. Having possibly found the lake deserted or an opportunity failed to materialize, he returned to the white Chevrolet and his search continued along Lake Herman Road and nearby Blue Rock Springs Park. Sometime between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm, William Crow is traversing Lake Herman Road. Enter the white Chevrolet Impala with brake lights on.

At least thirty minutes later, somebody described as Stan (14 years) in the police report is traveling with a companion at the junction of Lake Herman Road and Columbus Parkway at around 10:30 pm, where they describe a vehicle as "a blue 1963 Chevrolet Impala, with two persons, turn off Lake Herman Road on to Columbus Parkway, heading in the direction of Blue Rock Springs". This in all likelihood is not the same vehicle as described earlier, but cannot be totally ruled out. Light blue, silver, grey, or white, in darkness, under the glare of headlights can easily be mistaken, although two occupants may be harder to ignore. Incidentally, in William Crow's original statement he did describe a blue car with two occupants, although possibly a Valiant.
​
James Owen was another eyewitness, calculated to have passed the turnout at approximately 11:14 pm on his way to work at Humble Oil in Benicia, describing two cars parked side by side. In his first statement he outlined the murdered couple's car as a "1955 or 1956 station wagon, boxy type, neutral color", but failed to give a description of the second car parked only ten feet to its right, I wonder if it was a white Chevrolet Impala? Six minutes later our final witness, Stella Borges, passes the turnout, where the couple are discovered lying on the turnout floor, shot a total of six times. The Zodiac Killer had begun his reign of terror.

THE WHITE CHEVROLET IMPALA [PT2]
THE WHITE CHEVROLET IMPALA [PT3]

James Owen, in his statement to police on the 24th December 1968 recalled that "just before he approached the scene a vehicle passed him in the opposite direction towards Vallejo. This occurred near the Borges Ranch". It has been widely calculated that he passed the ill-fated turnout at approximately 11:14 pm. The police report detailed the Borges Ranch at 2.7 miles from the turnout, however, this is incorrect, and it is actually sits 1.5 miles from the turnout, which would have taken Stella Borges about 3 minutes to reach the Lake Herman Road turnout from her residence. Therefore, James Owen, on his way from Vallejo to Humble Oil in Benicia, must have passed the Borges Ranch at approximately 11:11 pm. This would have been the time he passed the unknown car heading to Vallejo. The latest point this car could have entered Lake Herman Road, was via Old Lake Herman Road (Reservoir Road), which is 0.6 miles or 1 minute journey time to the turnout, and a further 1.5 miles or 3 minutes to the Borges Ranch. That is a total of 4 minutes it had been traveling on Lake Herman Road when James Owen spotted it. So if it had joined Lake Herman Road at Reservoir Road, it did this at 11:07 pm.

On the morning of December 21st 1968, less than ten hours after the murders James Owen gave a statement, indicating that he saw two vehicles alongside each other in the gravel turnout, 10 feet apart. Yet, despite the gravity of such a major event, "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". His second statement also brought the cars into closer proximity, to only 3 or 4 feet apart.

Peggy Your stated "As they were driving west on Lake Herman Road at the turn off to the Benicia Water Pumping Station, she observed a Rambler station wagon parked with front end heading east, there were two Caucasians in the front seat, male and female, when the lights from the car came upon the station wagon, the male sat up in the seat. Mrs Your said it was a cold night and she noticed no frost on the station wagon". She also stated "the girl was resting her head against his shoulder. When the lights of the car flashed on the Rambler, the subject in the car put his hands on the wheel".

However, despite James Owen describing the murder victims car as a "1955 or 1956 station wagon, boxy type, neutral color", he could not describe the other car at all, not even the color, despite claiming it was only 3-4 feet away in his second statement. What if these were not the only things James Owen failed to notice? In his revised statement, he told the police "He definitely saw two cars, a station wagon and another vehicle", but "he did not see anyone in the cars or around them.". But how definite was he? If he was mistaken, he may very well have already passed the Zodiac Killer by the Borges Ranch, as the murderer headed towards Vallejo. The unknown driver of this car never came forward as a material witness to the crime - one has to ask why?

Lake Herman Road turnout to Borges Ranch on Google Maps.