Adam Gray posted a question on Facebook a while back, stating "I'm doing some research about Mr. Ed's drive in and its connections to Zodiac. Graysmith alleges that both Dee Ferrin/Mageau and Faraday/Jensen went there right before they were murdered. This has been repeated over and over again, but I don't believe is mentioned in a any police reports in regards to Faraday/Jensen. I was wondering if you happen to know if David and Betty Lou planned on going there that night?" So I thought I would take a look at the approximate two-hour period before the murders. The crime was committed nearly half a century ago, so David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen's movements on December 20th 1968 is wholly reliant on eyewitness testimony. Without knowing the mindset of the individuals involved, I will not discredit any of the reported sightings of the couple that evening, but will err on the side of statements, police reports, newspaper or magazine articles that corroborate the same narrative.

The police report stated that 'Betty Lou brought David home to her parents at 8:00 pm on the 20th. There he met her parents and they left with their permission to go to Hogan High School and then to a party afterwards. They were to be home sometime around 11:00 pm'. A magazine article, whether accurate or not, added a little more: 'At the Jensen house Betty Lou invited David in to meet her parents. The four of them chatted for about 20 minutes, then David nervously looked at his watch and announced that they would miss the 8:30 pm concert if they did not leave soon'.    

The police report from a friend of Betty Lou follows on nicely. Sharon Henslin recalled that 'Betty Lou and David came to her house at approximately 8:20 pm on Friday. They remained there until 9:00 pm. She stated she walked to the car with them. They did not state to her where they were going'. David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were clearly not in a rush to get to the concert by 8:30 pm, as they had gone to Sharon's. But where did they go after leaving 926 Brentwood Avenue at 9:00 pm?

It is here we will go with the preponderance of evidence, as opposed to the Robert Graysmith account in his first Zodiac book. In it he described the couple 'having a Coke at Mr Ed's, a local drive-in', before immediately heading off towards the Lake Herman Road turnout. In 'Zodiac Unmasked' Robert Graysmith wrote 'Betty Lou and David had stopped at Mr Ed's too (referring to Mageau/Ferrin) just before being shot. The teenagers had visited their friend Sharon on Brentwood Avenue at 8:20 pm, and remained until 9:00 pm. At 10:30 pm their Christmas concert was over and they went from there to Mr Ed's, then Lake Herman Road.'  Well, if they had left the concert at 10:30 pm, traveled to Mr Ed's, bought a couple of drinks, then traveled to the Lake Herman Road turnout, which took approximately 15 minutes, the couple couldn't have been spotted by Helen Axe and her boyfriend in the turnout at 10:15 pm. In Robert Graysmith's original book he contradicts himself saying 'just before 10:15 pm, David pulled off the road to the right, and parked 15 feet off it, facing south, in the graveled area outside gate #10. At 10:15 pm a woman and her boyfriend, a sailor, drove by. When they reached the end of the road and came back past fifteen minutes later, the car (Faraday Rambler) was still there'. ​You cannot have it both ways. Robert Graysmith additionally inferred it was a coincidence that Mageau and Ferrin had stopped at Mr Ed's also, which they didn't.  

Unfortunately, there is no corroborating evidence from any reports or eyewitnesses that place the couple at the Mr Ed's diner that evening, however, there are many other alleged sightings and reports that place them at the Hogan High School concert. One such sighting would indicate that they left Hogan High School and traveled directly to Lake Herman Road, a journey that took approximately 15 minutes by car. Here is one such magazine article. 
 
#1 'During his many hours of investigation (Les Lunblad), the graying veteran detective sergeant learned the terrible murders on Lake Herman were the tragic end of a first date for the young couple. They had attended a pre-Christmas concert and chorale at Vallejo's Hogan High School, where pretty Betty Lou had been a student. The couple had left the school auditorium at 10:00 pm, bidding goodnight to their school chums.' The next sighting of the couple was at approximately 10.15 pm by Helen Axe and her boyfriend in the Lake Herman Road turnout, which is a 13-15 minute car drive from Hogan High. The time given when they left the auditorium indicates that they headed straight to the lovers' lane turnout. This being the case, they couldn't have left Mr Ed's and headed straight to the turnout, as stated in Robert Graysmith's book.   

They may have gone to Mr Ed's diner, then Hogan High School, but the concert was at 8:30 pm, so it's likely they traveled directly there from Sharon Henslin's house at 9:00 pm, arrived circa 9:10 pm and spent 50 minutes at the school before leaving for some extra privacy. Doing both is not impossible but would seem a little rushed. In addition, it was reported that they were spotted by several people at Hogan High School, yet seen by nobody at Mr Ed's.

#2 'At the concert, classmates of Betty Lou noticed the couple sitting side by side in the gymnasium bleachers (retractable seats), holding hands. Nobody remembers seeing them after they left the concert'.

#3 Les Lunblad in the December 22nd 1968 Sunday Examiner and Chronicle: 'Detective Sgt Les Lunblad, the graying, husky officer in charge of the investigation said there was a distinct possibility the young couple had been trailed to the murder scene from the pre-Christmas concert in Vallejo'.

#4 Sunday Times Herald: 'Authorities said the couple, David Faraday (17) and Miss Betty Lou Jensen (16), had driven to the reservoir after attending a Friday night concert at Hogan High School here, where Miss Jensen was a junior'.
​
It is therefore extremely likely that Les Lunblad would have checked on their whereabouts prior to the murder, discovering they had attended the concert that evening, and somewhere the couple had expressly said they were going to while at Betty Lou's parents house. In the police report we have William Crow in and around the Lake Herman Road turnout between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm and no mention of the Faraday Rambler, but by 10:15 pm it is spotted by Helen Axe and her boyfriend. This ties in perfectly with David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen leaving the school auditorium at 10:00 pm in pursuit of a romantic trip to the scenic Lake Herman Road setting.     

When David Faraday left his house that evening at 7:30 pm, his mother gave him 1 dollar 55 cents. At the hospital later, it was discovered David Faraday had 85 cents remaining. He had therefore spent 70 cents from 7:30 pm to 10:15 pm. This is important to consider when we postulate his movements during the relevant time period. Did he buy any food or drink at Mr Ed's or Hogan High School, or en route to either? There are two viable alternatives.

This was David Faraday's first date with Betty Lou Jensen and no doubt was keen to impress. He had borrowed his parents vehicle, so he may have filled up with gas out of courtesy or instruction, or he may have popped into a local store to make a purchase prior to his meeting with Betty Lou. The police report on page 2 details that a bottle of Binaca breath drops were found on David Faraday. Something you may buy especially for such an occasion. A cursory search of 1968/69 advertisements shows Binaca breath drops came in varying sizes, with the price in general varying from 60 cents to 1 dollar. These two options may account for the 'missing' 70 cents, as opposed to a trip to Mr Ed's diner, for which we have no corroborating eyewitness testimony.

However, it is extremely likely through several eyewitnesses of 'classmates of Betty Lou noticing the couple sitting side by side in the gymnasium bleachers' and 'leaving the school auditorium at 10:00 pm', that indeed the couple had attended the concert and had driven directly to the Lake Herman Road turnout, where they were spotted by Helen Axe at 10:15 pm. But being trailed there, as Les Lunblad had initially conjectured remains unlikely, as the murders were still an hour in the making.
In the aftermath of the second Zodiac attack Michael Mageau stated in the police report 'they drove west on Springs Road and as they were driving down Springs Road to go get something to eat, Dea stated to him that she wanted to talk to him about something. Michael stated that approximately at the location of Mr Ed's on Springs Road they turned around and headed east at his suggestion to go to Blue Rock Springs Park'. It appears that neither couple, on December 20th 1968 or July 4th 1969, went to Mr Ed's. Had they done so, things may have turned out very differently.

On December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Melvin Belli letter containing a third piece of Paul Stine's shirt, taken from the murdered taxicab driver in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. The Dripping Pen card and Bus Bomb letter were postmarked within a day of each other, so this was effectively the third confirmed mailing in a row harboring a sinister trophy. The Melvin Belli letter, whether a ruse or not, painted the picture of a Zodiac Killer going off the rails. In the correspondence he stated "I cannot reach out for help because this thing inside me wont let me. I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check. I am afraid I will loose all control again and take my nineth and posibly tenth victom. Please help me I am drownding," Later he continues "But if I hold back too long from no nine, I will loose all controol of my self and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer".

This letter had very similar overtones to the murders attributed to William Heirens, known as the Lipstick Killer, who was convicted of three murders over a seven month period. Josephine Ross had been stabbed numerous times in her apartment at 4108 North Kenmore Avenue on June 5th 1945. Frances Brown was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, again in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds. In fact, a knife was found present in the victim's neck, along with a bullet wound to her head. But on this occasion the killer had left a calling card in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. It read: "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more I cannot control myself".

On January 7th 1946, six-year-old Suzanne Degnan disappeared from her 5943 North Kenmore residence. A ladder was discovered outside the girl's window, and a ransom note was also found by police. The misspelled note read: "GeI $20,000 Reddy & wAITe foR WoRd, do NoT NoTify FBI oR Police. Bills IN 5's & 10's". Later, an anonymous phone call was received instructing police to check the sewers, from which they found several dismembered body parts of Suzanne Degnan at various locations. Considering the Zodiac Killer's apparent fragile state of mind in the Melvin Belli letter and its mimicry of the William Heirens murders, was there a possibility the Zodiac Killer's next murder would carry any of these traits and be referenced in his following communication, such as the writing on the wall, the use of a knife in the murder, possible dismemberment and a San Francisco connection.

On April 19th 1970, the mutilated body of Robert Salem was discovered in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment. In an article by Paul Avery, entitled The Bloody Satan Murder, it reported that they didn't believe it to be a Zodiac murder, stating "The 40 year old designer of lamps had been repeatedly stabbed with a long-bladed knife. The killer had apparently tried to decapitate his victim and when that failed he cut off Salem's left ear, carrying it away with him when he fled. There was also this bizarre touch: scrawled on the wall in Salem's blood, were the words "Satan Saves."  The killer then in larger letters wrote "Zodiac" and drew a strange symbol resembling a crucified man. The same symbol had been drawn on Salem's stomach".  

Remember, we stated that based on the Melvin Belli and William Heirens murders, the next crime may contain components of these, such as ​writing on the wall, the use of a knife in the murder, possible dismemberment and a San Francisco connection. The murder of Robert Salem had them all, along with the Zodiac signature in blood. One curious feature in the crime scene, is the killer, had he wrote "Zodiac" similar in size to "Satan Saves", there would have been no need to write Zodiac in such fashion, split into two parts, so he could fit it onto the wall - unless it was intentional. In the article it stated "An autopsy yesterday morning showed Salem was slain sometime last Wednesday". This puts the murder on April 15th 1970, five days before the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'My Name is....' letter and 13-Symbol cipher, postmarked April 20th 1970.     

In a previous article, an avenue was explored that may connect the 340 character cipher and 13-Symbol cipher using the Zodiac's name. It is well recognized that the Zodiac Killer was an egotist who just may have given us his pseudonym at the foot of the 340 cipher as a form of signature. It is written slightly differently, but nevertheless, it is thought that this may have some significance by design.

When the correct spelling of Zodiac was placed under it and a numerical value was obtained, by alphabetically counting the difference between the six columns, it generated 0, 0, 0, 8, 8, 8. The three circled 8's he carried forward to his following 13- Symbol cipher. This effectively splits the pseudonym of Zodiac into two halves (shown by the pink line in the diagram on the right), in extremely similar fashion to that exhibited by the killer's writing in blood on the wall of Robert Salem's 745 Stevenson Street apartment. The murder site is situated a mile drive from Union Square, where it is believed Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer shortly before his murder on October 11th 1969.

The number 888 in Christian numerology represents Jesus, or sometimes more specifically, Christ the Redeemer. In view of the killer writing "Satan Saves" rather than "Jesus Saves", is there any connection? In the April 20th 1970 'My Name is...' letter, the Zodiac signed off with  "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed". Was that person Robert Michael Salem?​​​

The crucified image on the wall of Robert Salem's wall is the Egyptian ankh. The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy; this is thought to symbolize the act of conception. Wikipedia.

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

In the Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated he was afraid of "losing control again and taking his ninth or possibly tenth victim". Bearing in mind that three of his four attacks thus far were on couples, and his threat of claiming two victims in one letter, it is hardly surprising his next correspondence on April 20th 1970 had a total of ten proclaimed victims. But had he actually killed anybody, or was it again a case of idle bragging? The 'My Name is..'.letter contained a 13 symbol code, where the central focus was seemingly three circled eights positioned symmetrically in its design. These have been interpreted as Taurus symbols, due to the fact the Zodiac Killer had also apparently added an Aries symbol within the code (albeit upside down). The Zodiac Killer may have circled the characters so they could be interpreted as both Taurus symbols or a number eight. Since the Zodiac horoscope is prominent in astrology, the use of these symbols by the Zodiac Killer cannot be regarded as unusual.    

The author of the correspondence would sign off with the words "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".​​​ Was this a subtle clue using the misspelled 'figgure' to shunt us in the right direction? He gave us three circled figure of eights and an extra 'g' in figgure. In addition, the symbol for a full moon is a circle​

The 13 Symbol cipher was mailed on April 20th 1970 - and a quick look at the entire moon cycle for San Francisco in April shows a full moon on April 21st. A Waxing Gibbous denotes 95% illumination approaching a full moon and a Waning Gibbous denotes 95% illumination as we leave the full moon, while everything in between can be regarded as varying degrees of a full moon. These are the four key phases in April. Considering the Zodiac used the Taurus symbol in his code, it is therefore not surprising that the date of this letter, April 20th, is the exact date that Taurus takes over from Aries in the Zodiac horoscope, with the varying degrees of the full moon (from waxing to waning) in exactly the same 3:1 ratio as the 13-Symbol cipher code. This is displayed below, placing the dates from the calendar above onto the cipher. 

                                       The center of the cipher is where we shall focus. It is the 21st and a full moon. 

The Zodiac Killer stated ​ "I have killed ten people to date" - so was the date of the 21st on a full moon? Considering the Melvin Belli letter was mailed on December 20th 1969, any double murder would have to fall on December 21st 1969, January 21st 1970, February 21st 1970 or March 21st 1970. The attack on Kathleen Johns on March 22nd fell on a full moon, but does not fit the criteria  There is only one month that follows the exact four lunar phases as above, waxing and waning from the 19th to the 22nd, where the full moon falls on the 21st - and that is February 1970.

​Let us return to the phrase "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".​​​ We have the figure 21 for the date, but what about the circled eight and the letter 'g' from figgure. The 13-Symbol cipher begins with an A and ends with an M, which is half the alphabet. The cipher showed perfect symmetry when the alphabet was placed alongside it here. When the identical technique is used here, the letter G falls over the central 8 (and the 21st). Even the three 8's total 21 if we take their numerical position on the cipher. 

Putting everything together, we are possibly looking for a double murder, perpetrated on a young couple (similar to other Zodiac attacks), on February 21st 1970, during a full moon, where the two letters G and H may feature.  

On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armored Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, where unfortunately they fell victim to a knife wielding assassin. John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia were shortly to be married and were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when a man armed with a bone-handled 4" blade approached them and shattered their dreams. Despite apparently fighting back against their attacker, both unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on the remote Santa Barbara beach. John Hood suffered eleven knife wounds, the majority inflicted to the face and back, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack, leaving her almost unrecognizable, in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. There appeared to be no sexual interference and robbery was ruled out.

The couple were discovered the following day, Sunday 22nd February, lying face down on their blanket. The bone-handled fish knife used in their murder was retrieved from beneath the blanket, partially buried in the sand. ​These murders came five months after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 - and the similarities have not gone unnoticed - with the use of a knife, the age of the couple, the apparent lack of motive and the waterfront location. 

A Mexican-American student: stated 'he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her in the library the night in question. He said he saw the girl "writing something with a ball point pen in her blue spiral school notebook". The boy told us he was outside about 5:30 pm, waiting for the library to open at 6, and it was then he saw the girl'.

The library opened at 6:00 pm - and it was only then he noticed Cheri Jo Bates, indicating that Cheri Jo entered the library close to opening time, or several minutes after. His attention to detail mentioning the 'blue spiral notebook' could easily have been verified by police, to corroborate that he wasn't mistaken. In addition to the Mexican-American student, a male librarian at the college said he "thought he saw" Cheri Jo in the library that Sunday evening.

Detective Sergeant David Bonine stated that a close friend of Cheri Jo Bates saw her drive past in her lime green Volkswagen Beetle at approximately 6:10 pm, heading toward the Riverside City College on Magnolia Avenue. The friend waved at her, but apparently she failed to notice and did not reciprocate the gesture. A second report from about the same time period was relayed to police from an Air Force man who lived close to Riverside City College library. He was passed by a lime green Volkswagen Beetle, driven by a blond female up an alley parallel to Magnolia, east of the Shelly-Lynn Apartments. Her vehicle was being followed by a 1965-66 bronze Oldsmobile. This must have been slightly after 6:10 pm, indicating that Cheri Jo Bates was heading to the library to park up.

Her vehicle was ultimately found on Terracina Drive, right next to Magnolia Avenue. If we assume she discharged her own three library books, then she must have entered the library at approximately 6:15 pm. The above two eyewitnesses times are approximated, so if the Mexican-American student saw Cheri Jo Bates "in the library the night in question," shortly after it opened, it was likely closer to 6:15 pm.       

Shortly after 6:10 pm, four young men, under police interrogation stated "they had seen Cheri Jo near her car the previous night". They didn't recall any suspicious activity around the Volkswagen Beetle that evening, so the claim she was abducted as she arrived on Terracina Drive, or had returned to a disabled Volkswagen Beetle could not have happened during the time they were sitting on the fence opposite her vehicle. They were later spotted by other eyewitnesses in exactly the same location. The time the four young men spotted Cheri Jo Bates has been approximated at 6:13 pm, likely when she had exited her vehicle to take the short walk to the library. It couldn't have been on her return, because if somebody had tampered with her vehicle during her absence and she had failed to start the Volkswagen Beetle, this would have been relayed to police by the four young men - which they apparently did not.  

Cheri Jo Bates entered the Riverside City College library and took out three library books. The Mexican-American student noticed her in the library. The male librarian thought he saw her in the library.

Extract from the November 29th 1966 'Confession' letter "I first cut the middle wire from the distributor. Then I waited for her in the library and followed her out after about two minutes. The battery must have been about dead by then. I then offered to help. She was then very willing to talk to me. I told her that my car was down the street and that I would give her a lift home. When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time she asked me, "about time for what?". I said it was about time for her to die".

The four young men sitting opposite Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle never saw anybody tamper with the engine. The four young men were still sitting on this fence at 7:15 pm, one hour after seeing Cheri Jo Bates park up. Therefore, the only way the author of the 'Confession' letter may be proved correct, is if the four young men left that location shortly after spotting Cheri Jo Bates leave her vehicle, only to return to the same spot some time later. The four men notice the young woman leave her vehicle, they walk away from the near vicinity, at which point the assailant disables the Volkswagen, tracks Cheri Jo Bates, offers her assistance, then murders her in the alleyway, likely before 6:30 pm. The four young men then return to the original location after 6:30 pm, and before 7:15 pm, hence see or hear nothing untoward. However, this is not possible, because a later eyewitness present in the alleyway at 9:30 pm saw no signs of murder. 

'Other students who were acquainted with Cheri Jo said they were in the library between 6:30 pm and 6:40 pm, and did not see the girl during that time'. This suggests that Cheri Jo Bates had entered the library at approximately 6:15 pm, then had discharged her reading material and exited the vicinity of the library annex by 6:29 pm at the latest. Had she traveled back to her Volkswagen Beetle at this point, it is likely her friends would have spotted her by the stricken vehicle. Had she left the library slightly earlier at 6:20 pm, finding her car unresponsive, it is likely she would have returned to the library for assistance or to make a phone call. She could not have immediately been lured away and murdered in the alleyway, as her body was apparently not lying in the alleyway up to 9:30 pm, and corroborated by a female eyewitness.

Walter Siebert stated that 'he and a few friends were in the library from 7:15 pm until 9, but did not see Miss Bates, whom they all knew. They said they saw four men dressed in work clothes sitting on a fence across from the spot where Miss Bates' car was found, but they did not know them'.
This indicated that four young men were present from 6.15 pm through to 7:15 pm opposite Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle, or had left and returned by 7:15 pm. Walter Siebert and friends recall the four men, but not Cheri Jo Bates, further indicating that the four men must have spotted Cheri Jo at approximately 6:13 pm, when she arrived at Terracina Drive to enter the library. The vehicle had still yet to be disabled at this point. 

The library shuts and the remaining patrons leave the building. There is still no sign of Cheri Jo Bates.

Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith: 'Cheri Jo checked out three books from the local college library. Though her friends were at the small, cramped library between 7:15 pm and 8:57 pm, none recalled seeing her there. At 9:00 pm when the archives closed, she returned to her car to discover the engine would not catch. And here she had been working part-time at the Riverside National Bank. Parked behind her car was a Tucker Torpedo that was not there before'.

Some of this is clearly not true, because if nobody saw her, how could she have been seen returning to her vehicle at 9:00 pm. The mention of the Tucker Torpedo is interesting however, since only 51 vehicles were ever made before the company folded in 1949. The eyewitnesses may have mistaken the make of the vehicle, but if not, the screams heard later in the alleyway, closely followed by the sound of an old vehicle pulling away, may have a bearing.

The Daily Enterprise, Riverside 1966: 'Detectives investigating the murder of Cheri Bates are looking for a car almost identical to this one. Police say a 1947-52 model Studebaker with light-colored, oxidized paint was parked on Riverside Avenue just south of Terracina Drive about 7 p.m. on the night that the Riverside City College freshman was stabbed to death. Detectives said a recent re-enactment of the murder at the college campus provided this information. They ask anyone who knows of a car similar to this one, used by police to stage this photograph, to contact the Police Department'.  

Since the Tucker Torpedo was supposedly spotted behind Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle when people were leaving the library, with both vehicles facing the library, it could be argued that the witnesses to the Tucker Torpedo only saw its front end. Both the Tucker Torpedo and Studebaker have similar aeroplane front end characteristics. Could these vehicles have been mistaken as one?

At approximately 9:30 pm, a female student purportedly noticed a man standing in the fateful alleyway smoking a cigarette and exchanged brief greetings with him. She later failed to identify anybody from a photographic line-up, including 'Bob Barnett', the prime suspect in the Riverside Police Department investigation. He would later be excluded using mitochondrial DNA retrieved from blood-clotted hair found at the base of Cheri Jo Bates' right thumb. The female student eyewitness was certainly credible enough to police, because they later retrieved a cigarette butt from the alleyway close to where the man was last seen standing. It was listed in the Riverside DNA evidence analysis report. The cigarette butt had a DNA concentration of 0.003 nanograms per microliter. The question is, could the cigarette DNA be ruled out from the DNA recovered from the base of Cheri Jo Bates' thumb? Was this man waiting in the alleyway for Cheri Jo Bates to return to her vehicle? Was he expecting her to have been in the library, but when she didn't exit the library at 9:00 pm he hung around the shadows of the alleyway with one eye on her vehicle?      

​Screams were heard coming from the vicinity of the alleyway sometime between 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm. Zodiac by Robert Graysmith: 'A neighbor heard an awful scream between 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm, and then about two minutes of silence, and finally the sound of an old car starting up. A man returning to the area at 10:30 pm told us he heard two screams then'. If the details are accurate, then was the killer returning to his old 1948 Tucker Torpedo parked just behind Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle? This would have been parked approximately 250 feet from the alleyway if Robert Graysmith is to be believed. So why the two minutes of silence? Was he frantically searching in the darkness for the Timex watch yanked from his wrist?

Magazine dated January 1969: "At the murder scene, drops of dried blood leading from the body to Terracina Drive were discovered indicated to the detective that the murderer had walked to the street following the slaying". This would certainly be the right direction to his vehicle, had he parked it behind the Volkswagen Beetle.
A female earwitness described "an awful scream between 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm, and then about two minutes of silence, and finally the sound of an old car starting up". 

​'Mr. Sweet further stated the last dispatch given the victim was at 9:45 pm to 500 9th Ave. apt. #1. Victim allegedly never arrived at the above location as the dispatch was reassigned to another cab at 9:58 pm. R/Os noted that the meter of the cab was running, indicating that the victim possibly picked up another fare (suspect) en route to his original assignment. (The meter read $ 6.25 at exactly 10:46 pm) A check with the Yellow Cab Co. revealed the victim arrived at work at approximately 8:45 pm and had only one fare prior, that being from Pier 64 to the Air Terminal.'

The above is listed in the police report concerning the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, but something isn't quite right with these statements. The last dispatch given to Paul Stine was supposedly in the area of Union Square, San Francisco at 9:45 pm. Leroy Sweet, fully aware it was a busy Saturday night, deployed Paul Stine to a regular pick up at 500 9th Avenue. This is a minimum journey time of 15 minutes from Union Square, to which Paul Stine should have arrived at around 10:00 pm, yet Leroy Sweet had already reassigned another taxicab to 500 9th Avenue at 9:58 pm, after only 13 minutes. So why the impatience to send another taxicab to this destination?

​There are several reasons to dispel the idea that Paul Stine had picked up the Zodiac Killer en route to 500 9th Avenue. The time of the attack was recorded as approximately 9:55 pm, with the radio dispatch to police officers issued at around 9:58 pm. This ties perfectly with the statement of Zodiac, who stated in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter that "2 cops pulled a goof about 3 min after I left the cab". Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms received the dispatch at 9:58 pm traveling northbound on Presidio Avenue, having just passed Washington Street. Their journey time to the intersection of Jackson and Maple where they spotted the 'lumbering man', is just shy of one minute, placing them there circa 9:59 pm. We know the journey time from the taxicab to the intersection of Jackson and Maple is 3 minutes walking time, validating that the Zodiac Killer left the taxicab at 9:56 pm. The attack on Paul Stine was observed by the three teenagers at 9:55 pm, with the Zodiac leaving one minute later.

We do not know exactly how long the taxicab was sitting at the Washington and Cherry intersection before the teenagers set eyes on it, however, we know that the Zodiac had already exited the rear of the taxicab to enter the front passenger seat. The taxicab may have arrived slightly earlier than 9:55 pm, but for the sake of argument we will leave the time at 9:55 pm. This would mean that had Paul Stine received a dispatch from Leroy Sweet at 9:45 pm, the journey time took 10 minutes from Union Square (possibly as low as 9 minutes). However, if Paul Stine had departed Union Square at 9.45 pm, a journey time of 15 minutes to 500 9th Avenue would be approximately 10:00 pm, at which point Leroy Sweet would have already allocated another taxicab for the fare at least 2 minutes earlier. His impatience in removing Paul Stine from the scheduled pick up seems unwarranted, unless of course the time delay was somehow considerably longer.

Paul Stine arrived at the Yellow Cab Company depot that evening at 8:45 pm. He is immediately dispatched to Pier 64, which is a journey time of 8 minutes. But taking into consideration the fare was for San Francisco International Airport, we will factor in a couple of minutes for the loading of any suitcases. This now is 8:55 pm. The distance to the airport via Highway 101 is approximately 12 miles, a journey time of approximately 15 minutes. This would now give us a time of 9:10 pm. As Michael Cole pointed out on Zodiac Revisited "he has two options: 1) to wait for a return fare to take him back to San Francisco, or 2) to return directly to San Francisco to take advantage of the busy evening demands for a taxi in the downtown area. Stine likely noticed that the queue for available taxis was long and that he would be sitting idle for some time, waiting for a fare. He would have decided to return to San Francisco alone and head for the Theater District/Downtown to maximize his chance of fares". zodiacrevisited.com/paul-stine-a-victim-of-opportunity/

The return journey to Union Square is approximately 21 minutes, bringing Paul Stine back to the theater district at 9:31 pm, fourteen minutes earlier than the final dispatch by Leroy Sweet of 9:45 pm. It is unlikely he arrived back quite this early, but 9:45 pm, allowing for Paul Stine to pick up Zodiac in an unscheduled stop, fill out his trip sheet and arrive at Washington and Cherry in 9-10 minutes is borderline.

The Harvey Hines report, secured by Alex Lewis, seems to suggest that the Zodiac Killer ordered a taxicab from a public payphone at Union Square, near to the St. Francis Hotel on the night of October 11th 1969. It stated ​"In looking at an area map of San Francisco, I found 217 Eddy Street appeared to only be two to three blocks from where Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac on October 11, 1969. I then called Inspector Dave Toschi at the SFPD and got more details on the Stine Killing. Toschi said that they had determined that the killer had called for a cab using the public payphone located at Union Square. Toschi said the cab then picked the killer up and drove to the corner of Washington and Cherry Streets".  If the killer had entered the taxicab at say 9:42 pm, then Paul Stine would be three minutes into his journey with the Zodiac Killer already in tow, heading toward Washington and Cherry when he received the dispatch from Leroy Sweet at 9:45 pm. This now gives Paul Stine enough time to reach Washington and Cherry by 9.54-9.55 pm. In other words, the dispatch by Leroy Sweet may have been issued to Paul Stine close to the theater district, but not in it.

Even discounting these claims by Harvey Hines, it is likely Paul Stine arrived earlier than 9:45 pm from the airport, headed to Union Square and waited for a customer. He could have picked up Zodiac at around 9.40-9.42 pm, now leaving him ample time to reach the Washington and Cherry intersection by 9.54-9.55 pm, but again, the killer would already be present in the taxicab when Leroy Sweet offered Paul Stine the fare at 500 9th Avenue (and considering he was already heading in that direction, he accepted). What are the chances that Paul Stine would head off to a scheduled fare at 500 9th Avenue and just randomly stop for somebody flagging him down at the intersection of Mason and Geary on the off chance the person was requiring a lift westwards.

There appeared only one reason for Leroy Sweet to reallocate a second taxicab at 9:58 pm to 500 9th Avenue, after just 13 minutes, for a 15 minute journey. Using the 9:45 pm dispatch time by Leroy Sweet, allied with the taxicab meter reading, it is highly likely the Zodiac Killer entered the taxicab of Paul Stine in the theater district of San Francisco, but not after 9:45 pm, and not en route. The Zodiac Killer was already firmly seated in the back of Paul Stine's taxicab, away from Union Square, when the dispatch gave him the 500 9th Avenue fare.