Here we will take one final look at the October 30th 1966 Cheri Jo Bates murder in Riverside, utilizing the 3D graphics of Google maps to give an overview of the crime scene that evening or night. Cheri Jo Bates lime green Volkswagen Beetle was discovered on October 31st 1966 parked 30 yards past the library entrance, and 75 yards east of the ill-fated alleyway. Whether it remained in this position from the moment she arrived at the library just before opening time, until being discovered by investigators the following day, is open to question. Below is a representation of the Volkswagen Beetle, library annex, the alleyway (drawn into its approximate position), and the movements of Cheri Jo Bates (1 to 5) from the perspective of the November 29th 'Confession' letter.        

A Mexican-American student noticed Cheri Jo Bates close to opening time and shortly after: who 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". 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.

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".
​
If we believe the 'Confession' letter and tie it alongside these statements, a picture unravels of a woman who likely discharged her books and left the library within a very short time - leaving prior to 6:30 pm. However, according to the author of the 'Confession' letter, he would have effectively disabled her vehicle extremely close to the library entrance sometime between 6:00 pm and when she exited the library. She would then have discovered her disabled Volkswagen and taken up the offer of assistance by this unknown person, walking back past the library entrance, completely dismissing the option of assistance from anybody inside the library, including making a phone call, and traveling into a dark alleyway (despite being afraid of the dark), while simultaneously leaving her car keys in the ignition, windows rolled down and car doors unlocked. Not withstanding the fact, a female eyewitness saw no body in the alleyway circa 9:30 pm, and screams were heard from that location by two earwitnesses around 10:30 pm. One could argue, that if these observations make no sense, then the story depicted by the 'Confession' letter is fiction regarding the timeline it suggests.       

There is no guarantee that the Volkswagen Beetle remained in this position upwards of 12 hours until its discovery on the morning of the 31st. Since detectives seemingly operated upon the assumption it did, one could infer that eyewitnesses leaving the library on the evening and night of the murder, saw the Volkswagen Beetle in exactly the same position it was ultimately discovered on the Monday. If this were the case, and with screams heard around 10:30 pm - then other than abduction - she must have left willingly on foot after departing the library to a secondary destination, either on her own or with an unknown person or party. The problems began four hours later just before the screams were heard.

The 'Confession' letter gives the impression of a good Samaritan "offering to help" when Cheri Jo Bates failed to start her vehicle, and she blissfully wandered off with him into a dark alleyway. The added suggestion of "brush offs" in the letter may have wanted to infer that the killer and victim were known to one another and hence her willingness to walk alongside him. Yet this seems too obvious a conclusion to be drawn, focusing the investigation inward to friends and relations, and thereby would not have been wholly relied upon as the truth by investigators - who could easily have formed an opposite stance.
 
But if Cheri Jo Bates willingly left the library with somebody she knew or had arranged to meet shortly after opening time, and had returned to her vehicle circa 10:30 pm with this person, then it is conceivable the confrontation or disagreement began by her vehicle, and the disabling of her vehicle was integral to it. The condition of her vehicle the following morning may suggest she was preparing to leave for home that night when things took a turn. The sabotaging of her distributor not distinct and separate to her discovering her disabled vehicle, but part of one continuous sequence. Left with little option but to seek help, she headed off to ring for assistance, leaving her vehicle in a condition she otherwise would never have done. She is dragged or forced into the alleyway and the rest is history. 

The 'Inside Detective' magazine stated "Two young girls who said they knew Cheri Jo, gave a taped interview to a crew from a Los Angeles television station. The girls in the interview, said that Cheri Jo had told them Sunday that she was "going to the library to meet her boyfriend. However, Sgt Gren said that while Cheri Jo had met her boyfriend in San Francisco the weekend prior to her murder, the boy was still in the Bay Area at the time of her death. The statements of the two girls were based on hearsay and not on fact Captain Cross told newsmen". However, were the two young girls referring to Dennis Highland or somebody else. If Cheri Jo Bates had made alternative plans to meet somebody that evening, could this be our murderer? He may certainly have been known to the young girl and more crucially to the friends of Cheri Jo Bates.   

I have magnified the photographed version from the Argosy magazine (sent to the Press-Enterprise and shown at the foot of this article) and retyped it below. The photographed version definitely states minutes not minuts, brunett as opposed to brownett, and victom (or victon) as opposed to victim. There are many other differences. Is it possible the author of the Confession letter sent two different versions of the same message to the press and police, or did law enforcement personnel retype the original Confession letter incorrectly and made public this version.   ​

This correspondence, dated December 15th 1971, was mailed from Scottsville, New York and addressed to Mr J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ​In respect to the Zodiac timeline, it was sent 15 months after the disappearance of Donna Lass from Stateline, Nevada on September 6th 1970.

The communication claims to have evidence that with "the proper investigation would disclose the name and identity of the infamous Zodiac Killer of California". The author of this letter would receive a reply dated December 23rd 1971, informing him that the matter was not within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI and he should advise the San Francisco, California Police Department of any information which pertains to the Zodiac Killer. Signed by Director, John Edgar Hoover. 

The identity or signature of this individual is redacted, with a return address of some description, and therefore, determining its sincerity or otherwise is difficult to ascertain. One would like to think this was an extremely concerned citizen or somebody from an official agency, frustrated enough to mail a letter to the FBI offices (handwritten letter below). 

Tracers wrote this on the Zodiac Killer Tapatalk forum: "I did find this old reference to a letter: In a letter from J..Edgar Hoover dated 11/30/70 to Senator Karl E. Mundt concerning his interest in finding Donna A. Lass, he says, "In an effort to be of assistance, a search of our Identification Division files was conducted but I regret to tell you no indication of the whereabouts was disclosed. A missing person notice was previously placed in file in behalf of Senator George McGovern. In view of your interest I am having a notification added to the effect that any information we may receive will also be forwarded to you. We do not, of course, have the authority to conduct an active investigation in the absence of a violation of a federal statute within our jurisdiction".
​
Senator George Stanley McGovern was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator born in Avon, South Dakota, approximately 100 miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which may reflect his interest in the case. 
 
Another communication in the form of a Christmas card was mailed to the sister of Donna Lass, Mary Pilker, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on December 27th 1974. The Christmas card read "Holiday Greetings and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year", followed by the handwriting "Best Wishes, St Donna & Guardian of the Pines". It is unknown whether this card had sinister connotations in respect to where Donna Lass may be buried (somewhere in between the pines), or whether it is just misguided support. There are, however, some similarities in the handwriting of the John Edgar Hoover letter and the Christmas card mailed to Mary Pilker (shown below). Handwriting comparisons in the Zodiac case are the topic of much debate as they are extremely subjective - and as such - should always be used in conjunction with other evidence. 

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American detective and the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. He was appointed as the director of the Bureau of Investigation — the FBI's predecessor — in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at the age of 77. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
Wikipedia.

April 22nd 2018
Today is the 32nd anniversary of the callous double murder of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee  just north of Sacramento. 
 
This is a follow up, looking in greater detail at a potential Zodiac letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle and postmarked San Francisco on May 6th 1986. The author of this letter may not be the murderer of the two unfortunate victims described within it, but without doubt this letter is detailing the murders of Laotian couple Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40).

The couple had left their residence in Dorman Avenue, Yuba City (approximately 39 miles north of Sacramento) for the 195 mile (3 hour) journey to Merced County to visit their son in hospital. Later that day, on April 22nd 1986, they would make the exhausting three hour journey back home - or so they thought. Somebody would change these plans as they approached the interchange of Highway 99 and Interstate 5 in Sacramento, just north of the city. For whatever reason, the pair decided to pull over onto the hard shoulder of the freeway - a decision that would ultimately prove deadly. A merciless killer approached their vehicle and unloaded 15 bullets into the driver side window of the car, blowing out both front side windows in a relentless barrage of gunfire. Small caliber shell casings were strewn beside the vehicle. ​Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were left with no chance of survival at the hands of a brutal killer or killers.    

The couple were only 45-50 minutes away from their home location during their 3 hour 10 minute journey from Merced - which may indicate that they decided to take a rest momentarily - or were possibly signaled to the side of the freeway by a trailing motorist, not dissimilar to the tactic employed in the abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970. The killer/s may have approached from the rear of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee's vehicle in similar fashion to the Modesto attack, or in the case of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969, where the killer approached the passenger side of the vehicle and unleashed a deadly attack on the defenseless young couple, firing off nine shots from a 9mm Luger. The double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968 was also perpetrated by a killer approaching the victims vehicle.

A short time after the murders, a 'hitchhiker' flagged down an East Nicolaus Highway Patrol Officer and informed him of an accident at the said location.
If the killer was the 'hitchhiker', then this 'mystery man' likely drove his vehicle north to East Nicolaus and informed the Highway Patrol Officer of this crash in absence of his vehicle. Relaying this information to the officer with his vehicle in tow may not have been the wisest choice. The claim of being a hitchhiker separates him from his vehicle and distances himself from the yet to be discovered double murder, which he described as an accident to likely avoid being dragged in deeper. 

This was not unlike the phone call, possibly received after the Lake Herman Road double murder: "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene".

Was the Zodiac Killer employing a similar tactic on April 22nd 1986, especially considering this time he was face-to-face with a Highway Patrol Officer and didn't want to be detained? Whether this officer took any details from the hitchhiker, or gave a description is unknown, but the author of the 1986 letter may have referenced this encounter "two weeks" later.

The Zodiac Killer was certainly keen on informing the police of his murders, as demonstrated by his payphone calls after both the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa attacks, when on both occasions he directed the police to the scene of the crime. 
On April 24th 1986, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on these crimes, stating "The man and woman found shot to death in a parked car just north of Sacramento have been identified as a refugee from Laos and a friend who lived in Yuba City. They were identified Wednesday as Choy Fow Saelee, 40, and Koy Ien Saechao, 48. Their bodies were found Tuesday at the junction of Interstate 5 and California Route 99 after a hitchhiker tipped a California Highway Patrol officer to what he called an accident. The victims' four children and 10-month-old grandchild have been placed with the Sutter County Children's Protective Services. They also had three grown children". Sacramento Police spokesman Bob Burns added "there is still no known motive for the slayings. They may have been the victims of a random killer. The hitchhiker is still being sought".

A letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, postmarked May 6th 1986. It stated:​
"This is the Zodiac speaking. I am still out here an crackproof. I want you to know about my latest slaves that I have collected about two weeks ago up by Sacramento Ca. I will give you clue to help you with the mystry. They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me. The body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Na". 

The murders occurred on April 22nd 1986, corroborating the claim in the letter of a murder "about two weeks ago". In fact, from the date of the postmark on this letter, the double murder of the couple was perpetrated exactly two weeks ago. The author's reference to "they" and "slaves" certainly indicated more than one victim in this brutal attack. The author's reference to a "freeway up by Sacramento" is more than adequate, to finally confirm that this letter was claiming responsibility for the murders of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee alongside Highway 99. No other murders in this timeframe or location even remotely parallel this communication. But whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the murders or the letter will no doubt rage on.​       

Kathleen Johns was traveling along Highway 99 before turning west on Highway 132, shortly before she was abducted and returned close to Interstate 5. This is where her burnt out vehicle was located, just east of Bird Road. Did the assailant exit north on Interstate 5, heading toward Sacramento, before turning west and heading toward the Bay Area? Was this a tactic employed by the Zodiac Killer on Highway 99? 

The 1986 letter stated "the blue meannies almost caught me".
​The police confirmed that a Highway Patrol Officer was directed to the scene of the crime under the pretense of an accident by a hitchhiker. This letter may very well have been inferring as much, mocking the police once again for letting him on his way, not dissimilar to the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter and subsequent 'Bus Bomb' letter, in which the killer stated "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again. The S.F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly".

The quality of collection and storage of evidence in 1986 should have moved on from the late 1960s, with less degraded biological material hopefully still available in this case. With advancements in the retrieval of DNA from ever smaller samples - such as bullet casings - all hope is not necessarily lost. If this crime was committed by the Zodiac Killer, then there is an outside chance that the identity of the Bay Area murder may still be resting in fifteen crucial places. ​

Devon Stuart Olson confessed to the murder of the Yuba couple, apparently providing investigators with details of the crime, however, little connected him to the crime and he was never charged..Sergeant James Lewis in 2001 reiterated that none of Olson's statements matched to any of the crimes he claimed and he wasn't charged in these murders.

The Zodiac Killer quoted a portion from one of the three stanzas of The Mikado's Tit-Willow, when he mailed the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. This may possibly have been the third correspondence, including the Halloween card, where The Mikado was referenced. The Zodiac Killer began with the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, in which he paraphrased As Some Day It May Happen featuring Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. In this letter he was effectively outlining his search for future victims by paralleling his agenda throughout the state of California with The Mikado. If we break down the Exorcist letter into its constituent parts, it becomes apparent the correspondence is a further threat towards the citizens of California rather than a declaration of his impending suicide.

If we take a look at the October 27th 1970 Halloween card and compare it to his confirmed attacks, only one stands out. On September 27th 1969, Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were relaxing by the shores of Lake Berryessa when a man spotted by Cecelia ducked behind a tree to don an executioner's mask and waistline bib. This theatrical entrance in the form of Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner has long been suggested as an influence on the Zodiac's actions and writings. Here is an extract from the San Francisco Chronicle on October 12th 1970, just 15 days prior to the mailing of the Halloween card: "It was immediately apparent that Zodiac had plagiarized several stanzas from an aria in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta 'The Mikado'. It is the entrance aria of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. A quiet search of onetime Ko-Ko's has turned up none that could be Zodiac. Obvious differences in physical description and handwriting comparisons have cleared all Ko-Ko's tracked down since the arrival of the July 27 letters".

The Halloween card depicted an eye peering from the knothole of a tree, accompanied by the words "peek-a-boo you are doomed", possibly implying the impending threat of the Zodiac Killer hiding behind the tree at Lake Berryessa and his ultimate arrival bedecked in an executioner's outfit. If you look up the definition of peek-a-boo in Wikipedia, it quotes Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) as a form of play primarily played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says Peekaboo!, sometimes followed by I see you!  There are many variations: for example, where trees are involved, "Hiding behind that tree!" is sometimes added.

However, Peek-A-Boo was also a character in another version of The Mikado at around the same time as the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. In 1888, Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel district of London. In the same year of somewhat less significance Ed J. Smith wrote a stage parody called The Capitalist; or, The City of Fort Worth. Designed to encourage capital investment in Fort Worth, Texas, and underwritten by local banks and railroad lines, the two act piece features characters named Yankee-Doo, Kokonut, By-Gum and Peek-A-Boo. Here is an image depicting this reference.     

Peep-bo is the English version of peek-a-boo, and has a curious, albeit likely unintentional connection to the Lake Berryessa murder of Cecelia Shepard, in the nursery rhyme Little Bo-Peep.

​"The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called "bo-peep", from the 16th century, including one in Shakespeare's King Lear (Act I Scene iv), for which "bo-peep" is thought to refer to the children's game of peek-a-boo, but no evidence that the rhyme existed earlier than the 18th century. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed version in a version of Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus in 1810. Wikipedia.

Peep-bo was one of the three little maids from The Mikado: "Three little maids from school are we, pert as a school-girl well can be, filled to the brim with girlish glee, three little maids from school". Three young girls from Pacific Union College would feature in the Zodiac story of Lake Berryessa that day, when describing a suspicious individual roaming the hillside bordering the lake - later providing a sketch of the individual. Little Bo-Peep was a shepherdess, so its significance to the name of Cecelia Shepard could not be ignored, although likely accidental. "She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye, and over the hillocks went rambling, and tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, to tack each again to its lambkin".

The Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 and the subsequent Confession letter held an odd precursor to the events of Lake Berryessa, when it stated "Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb", along with the widely referenced "She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched" connection to the Little List letter.  

​The Zodiac Killer, after mailing his response to the unearthed Riverside connection, would then go into hibernation from March 13th 1971 until the arrival of the Exorcist letter nearly three years later on January 29th 1974, leading many to believe the Zodiac Killer was likely incarcerated during this period. 

"Taken from the county jail
By a set of curious chances;
Liberated then on bail,
On my own recognizances;
Wafted by a favouring gale
As one sometimes is in trances,
To a height that few can scale." 
Behold the Lord High Executioner Youtube
The Mikado/Act I/Part V

The Lord High Executioner was to return, ridiculin the 1973 film, The Exorcist, yet curiously comparing it to Gilbert and Sullivan's satirical operatic comedy, The Mikado, calling it "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen".  He then signed his name using the verse of Tit-Willow by Ko-Ko: "He plunged himself into the billowy wave and an echo arose from the suicides grave, titwillo, titwillo, titwillo". The whole letter appeared to be announcing the return of the Lord High Executioner after nearly three years. Here is the Exorcist letter broken down into its constituent parts to reveal its likely meaning.

"I saw and think "The Exorcist" was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen, even better than The Mikado. Signed, yours truley: The Lord High Executioner. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing- To Kill". Kevin Robert Brooks came up with possibly the best interpretation of the Japanese/Asian symbols at the foot of the letter, befitting of Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. The "This is the Zodiac speaking" introduction was apparent by its absence, as well as the Zodiac crosshairs - but the Lord High Executioner was alive and well, and still making threats.  

For those of you who dislike using measurements and timelines in the Zodiac case, look away now. The following will be a detailed analysis of the Lake Berryessa sighting of Dr Rayfield & Son and the three young girls - the latter of whom provided a possible sketch of the Zodiac Killer to police. This article will argue that the sketch created from the three girls recollection of a suspicious individual was most likely the murderer of Cecelia Shepard and four others in the Bay Area.

Using only the police report, there are enough details contained within it to place Dr Rayfield & Son and the three girls at virtually the identical location alongside the Knoxville Road that day. The "The three girls left the area about 4:30 pm and the subjects vehicle was gone." Dr Rayfield & Son, it was argued in a previous article, noticed a "white male adult subject walking in the area, described as about 5'10", heavy build, wearing dark trousers, a dark shirt with red in it, long sleeves" at about 6.50 pm that evening. Lake Berryessa-A Killer's timeline. If the shirt with "red in it" was blood, this may likely have been the killer returning to his vehicle after the double stabbing by the lake, negating the idea it was parked behind Bryan Hartnell's Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. If Dr Rayfield & Son were at the same location as the three girls, who saw the suspect vehicle no more at 4:30 pm, this may suggest that after he had 'eyed' up the young girls for a potential attack, he ultimately decided to move his vehicle away from any potential crime scene- possibly slightly north - but not too far.

​The Zodiac Killer was therefore likely trawling Lake Berryessa along the hillside for victims, and after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard (signing the car door at approximately 6:30 pm or marginally earlier), he returned to the approximate location of where the three girls were earlier, and was spotted by Dr Rayfield & Son returning to his vehicle for the 28 mile journey to the 1231 Main St, Napa payphone. Two different sets of eyewitnesses, spotting a suspicious character before and after the Lake Berryessa attack, one could argue, has a high probability of being the Zodiac Killer, and more importantly the subsequent sketch created thereafter has greater significance.   

But the first thing we have to do is place Dr Rayfield & Son at the approximate location alongside the Knoxville Road as the three girls. We will use these details from the police report: The three young women who potentially saw Zodiac, "parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road". The Sugar Loaf Park A & W was situated at 5100 Knoxville Road.

A second set of eyewitnesses saw the Zodiac later that day: "Dr Rayfield and his son stated that they did not notice a vehicle in the area of their vehicle and only this subject at a distance of about 100 yards. This location was approximately 8/10ths of a mile from the scene of the victim's vehicle. There are four coves of water between the scene of the crime and the area where the doctor saw the subject". ​So it's time for some calculations.
​
The three girls were 2 miles north of 5100 Knoxville Road. The Rayfield's were 0.8 miles from Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. If the premise above is correct, the two sets of eyewitnesses may have seen the same suspicious individual at two different times of the day, before and after the brutal stabbing of the young couple. Below details these findings.

You will notice that the white horizontal line above passes through the identical features on both images of Lake Berryessa, indicating that Dr Rayfield & Son and the three girls were visiting the near identical location that day, adding weight to the idea, that the suspicious character observed by both had good reason to be in that area. Firstly, to contemplate an attack on the three girls, and secondly, to return to his vehicle that evening. It suggested that once he had moved it slightly before 4:30 pm, it remained in that position until he returned later that day- after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard with a "red color" on his shirt. 

The payphone call he made to police dispatcher Dave Slaight at 7:40 pm from 1231 Main Street, may be further evidence, suggesting the Zodiac Killer traveled from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, 0.8 miles on foot back to his vehicle. Somewhere just past the location of Dr Rayfield & Son. The distance from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to the payphone (had Zodiac parked here) is 27 miles. The time estimated for this journey on Google maps is 46 minutes. I shall apply some leeway and say 50 minutes. This would have Zodiac reaching the Napa payphone at 7:20 pm, traveling the journey at an average speed of just 32.4 mph.- arriving at the payphone 20 minutes too early. If he took the 70 minutes available to him (6:30 to 7:40 pm) his speed would be reduced to a sluggish 23.1 mph. So dispelling the latter speed, we are seemingly missing 20 minutes.

The distance of 0.8 miles, to walk from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to his vehicle, parked somewhere by Dr Rayfield & Son, would take at a sedentary walking pace of 3 mph (1 mile every 20 minutes) approximately 16 minutes. Allowing for a slightly slower pace, changing any clothes and preparing to leave, 20 minutes is a reasonable estimate. This accounts for the missing 20 minutes above. It has the Zodiac Killer entering his vehicle (now approx 28 miles away) at 6:50 pm, for the 50 minute journey back to the payphone traveling at an average speed of 33.6 mph. This now makes far better reading than 23.1 mph using California State Route 128 and California State Route 121 for the majority of the journey.

The two sets of eyewitnesses, both detailing a suspicious character on the same section of hillside alongside the Knoxville Road, in combination with the distance and timeline presented, hopefully presents a case that the Zodiac Killer had his vehicle parked approximately 0.8 miles north of the ​Volkswagen Karmann Ghia - the tire tracks examined by police were not the Zodiac's car, and the sketch compiled from the recollections of the three girls was very likely the Bay Area murderer.  

Michael Morford wrote an excellent article on the June 8th 1967 murders of Enedine Molina (35) and boyfriend Fermin Rodriguez (36) near Pleasanton, California. This was covered on this site and discussed on Zodiac Killer Site forum.
​Below I shall detail this double murder using a visual from Google Maps and only the newspaper reports that covered the story, to sequence the order of events that night. Here is a layout of where the victims were found in relation to the March 22nd 1970 abduction of Kathleen Johns on Highway 132, west of Modesto, and the city of Pleasanton where Zodiac mailed the Los Angeles letter on March 13th 1971.    

"According to detectives Regional Park Naturalist Richard Angel called the Santa Rita sheriff's substation last night (Thursday June 8th 1967) and reported hearing two shots in the park area at 10:05 pm. The woman's body was discovered about 11:00 pm just outside the remote Sunol Regional Park. The body was found by Deputy George Robinson, the first man to arrive at the park. Mrs Molina had been shot in the back (and possibly left wrist). It appeared she had been running when she was shot, deputies reported.
On his way back to the substation about 2:30 am (Deputy George Robinson) spotted a station wagon parked along Vallecitos Road about six miles from the park, stopped to check it and found Rodriguez's body. He had been shot in the left breast and shoulder bone. The bullets entered his body from the front deputies said. The murder weapon was believed to be a .22 caliber revolver. No gun was found". 

Detectives ordered weekend roadblocks to canvass individuals. "The weekend roadblocks were in the areas of Geary Road and Calaveras Road. Captain Tom Houchins said officers questioned persons between 10:00 pm and midnight, believed to be the timespan when the two were killed. Houchins said there is the possibility that another car was involved.

A Mountain View man, Joe Martinez of 1819 Birch Street (ex-husband of Enedine Molina), turned himself in at the Sunnyvale Police Station this morning after hearing he was wanted for questioning. He was later released by Sunnyvale Police and Alameda County sheriff's officers. Captain Tom Houchins, in charge of the investigation said "as of now we have no suspects".

Detectives investigated suspicious events in the run-up to the double murder: "Investigation of the two June 8 murders in Sunol has disclosed that each of the victims had been followed several times by an unidentified driver. Each also received mysterious phone calls over a period of many months, according to reports from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies." The daughter of Molina "told detectives the family had been receiving disturbing telephone calls at her mother's residence since July. She said that whoever called didn't speak and that all that could be heard over the phone was heavy breathing (reminiscent of the 01:30 am calls on July 5th 1969, after the BRS attack). The daughter said the calls usually were made between 10 and 11 am, or between 7 and 8 pm, and that her mother was usually not home when they were received. Detectives also reported that the daughter told them she had overheard her mother say that a car followed her when she was out. Substantially, the same story was given detectives by Mrs Lydia Rodriguez, widow of Fermin Rodriguez, who was found murdered in his car parked along Vallecitos Road. Mrs Rodriguez said her husband had also complained about a car following him. On another occasion, she said, her husband had told her he had seen the strange car parked in front of his house, but could not describe the driver".

This was a couple attacked while parked up in their vehicle, not dissimilar to the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attack. The obvious connection is apparent with respect to the abduction of Kathleen Johns just 28 miles east of where the vehicle of Molina and Rodriguez was discovered. These murders were one and a half years prior to the double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, who were also killed using .22 small caliber ammunition. Then there is the menacing silent phone calls to the 1300 Virginia Street residence of Darlene Ferrin. Yet, these murders also have the trait of jealousy, in the form of a previous partner or husband unable to move forward. What evidence was given to discount Joe Martinez or fail to implicate him we may never know. ​Detectives stated that "officers questioned persons between 10:00 pm and midnight, believed to be the timespan when the two were killed." They also believed "another vehicle was involved".

The indications from the newspaper reports seem to suggest the murder occurred at approximately 10:05 pm when Enedine Molina was attempting to flee from her assailant after leaving his vehicle. Fermin Rodriguez had likely already been murdered at this point in time - when the killer approached in his vehicle, murdered him and abducted the woman. His body was discovered in his vehicle 6 miles north on Vallecitos Road. The time of his murder was likely 10 minutes earlier at 9:55 pm, assuming the two murders were one continuous sequence of events. Another alternative, could be the killer approached the couple on foot as they were in their vehicle on a dirt turn off, just alongside Calaveras Road (by Geary Road), proceeded to shoot the woman, before forcing the male victim to drive north to Vallecitos Road, murdering him and then fleeing on foot. However, this seems the less likely scenarios of the two. 

Whether these murders have any connection to Zodiac is likely never to be proved or disproved half a century on, but being only 38 miles south of Vallejo (as the crow flies) it is worthy of consideration. 
Thanks to Michael Morford.   

Many have toyed with the idea of a Zodiac Killer in Riverside, California, responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 or at the very least the author of the Confession and Bates letters. There are tantalizing threads in regards to the three Bates letters allying with his 'trinity' of communications mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner on July 31st 1969, just over two years later. The double postage was evident, and the threat of "more victims" was apparent in both. The April 30th 1967 Bates letters stated "Bates had to die, there will be more". The Vallejo Times-Herald communication carried a similar threat: "I will cruse around and pick of all stray people or coupples that are alone then move on to kill some more untill I have killed over a dozen people". It is also pointed out that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the Bates letters because he signed off two of the letters with a Z-like alphabetical character - the Z representing Zodiac. The following will cast some doubt on this supposition and hopefully give us the exact date the Zodiac Killer first thought up his pseudonym Zodiac. In other words, the pseudonym Zodiac didn't exist for this individual in 1967 and therefore the alphabetical Z wasn't representative of Zodiac, or the precursor to it.​ 

On the right is an excerpt from the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle dated August 3rd 1969. The Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz "urged the writer yesterday to send more letters with more facts to prove his connections with the crimes". The Bay Area murderer duly obliged with the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, received by the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969. It was called the "Debut" letter for good reason - it was the day the Bay Area murderer revealed his pseudonym to the world, opening with the now infamous line "This is the Zodiac speaking". But if Chief Jack E. Stiltz had not requested more details, it is extremely unlikely this correspondence would have been mailed at all. We would have had to wait over two months until the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter for Zodiac to introduce his pseudonym into the public domain, if ever at all. 

The 'Debut of Zodiac' letter only existed because of Chief Jack E. Stiltz - and this communication is the only reason our knowledge of the killer as Zodiac existed at this point in time. The choice of the pseudonym being revealed in this letter was not a choice made by the killer, because he wouldn't have written it, if not pressed into action by reading this newspaper column. In fact, the Zodiac Killer may never have existed under this name, if it wasn't for this publication by the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle on August 3rd 1969. There is further evidence that the American public played a key role in igniting the killer's choice of pseudonym.

If the Z on the Bates letters really stood for Zodiac, then the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates, David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen and Darlene Ferrin had almost three years to create an appropriate pseudonym before the July 31st 1969 'trinity' of communications proclaiming his collection of slaves for the afterlife. He had six and a half months from the December 20th 1968 double murder until the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park. He had 27 days from the July 4th 1969 attack until the mailing of the July 31st 1969 'trinity.'.  This was his arrival to the world, yet he didn't sign off any of these letters with 'Zodiac' or even a 'Z'.

If he was surreptitiously operating under the name of Zodiac at this point, he clearly didn't give this impression when he opened up two of his communications with the rather unoriginal opening line of "I am the killer of the 2 teen-agers last Christmass at Lake Herman and the Girl last 4th of July" to the Vallejo Times-Herald and San Francisco Examiner. The San Francisco Chronicle was equally devoid of any pseudonym or initial, beginning with "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 reason behind this, being that he hadn't formulated the pseudonym Zodiac at this juncture. The prompt was to come just three days later on Sunday August 3rd 1969- the day the 'Zodiac Killer' was born in the mind of the killer. 

The San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle opened with the lines "A self-accused killer failed to keep a threat of mass murder here, but there was no slackening of tension or mystery caused by the warning. The police department telephone system was clogged at times by anxious callers asking if the "cipher killer" had been caught". The killer likely read this publication and was probably dismayed at the pseudonym of "cipher killer" attributed to him. He sat back in his armchair and was likely sparked into action to create his own pseudonym. He thumbed through the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle of August 3rd 1969 during the day, until he arrived at the Zodiac horoscope page, and a light went on. This was the day the 'Zodiac Killer' was born.    

Below I have placed a visual timeline of the final 90 minutes of Darlene Ferrin's life, to understand her movements in the critical period running up to the brutal attack at Blue Rock Springs Park close to midnight on July 4th and 5th of 1969. To the best of my knowledge these are the correct addresses of the key locations she visited that night, but if anybody knows better please inform me and I can correct the timeline. We cannot be sure if the Zodiac Killer knew Darlene Ferrin, but as Phillips 66 (a contributor to this site) stated "Of course I think it is possible that she did not know her killer but that requires writing off a lot of things as coincidence and writing off a lot of people as liars or dramatists. It seems far more likely to me that she did actually know her killer. To me this is the best lead in an attempt to solve the case." 
​ 
When the killer is known to the victim, it certainly provides a greater opportunity to apprehend the responsible, as opposed to a completely random assailant. We will use the visual below, in conjunction with the estimated times in the police report, to pinpoint Darlene Ferrin's movements and what time she and Michael Mageau arrived at the Blue Rock Springs parking lot that night, and possibly explore where her murderer tagged onto her that night, if at all.  

Following the numbers in red above we will follow her movements:
1.Page 19 of the police report "Stated that Darlene and her sister Christina Suennen WFJ 15 years. had been at Mr Ferrin's (Dean) place of employment Caesar's in the 300 Block of Tennessee Street at approximately 10.30 pm and at this time Darlene left, stating that she was going to take Christina home, then go home herself to 1300 Virginia Street. Take her babysitter home, and return home herself." Christina stated "she collaborated the above story, but stated she and her sister had gone from Caesar's to Terry's on Magazine St, before going home." Therefore she left Caesar's at approximately 10.30 pm, arriving at Terry's Waffle Shop nearly 3 miles away, approximately 6 minutes later at 10.36 pm. 

2. We cannot be sure how long she stayed at the Waffle Shop, but according to Robert Graysmith she talked to her friend for around 10 minutes, before briefly chatting to a man. This can only be estimated at 15 minutes, which would have Darlene and Christina heading off to their parents home on 130 Jordan Street at 10.51 pm. This is a small journey time of approximately 3 minutes, arriving at the Suennen family home at 10.54 pm. We know from the police report that Darlene arrived home shortly before 11.30 pm, as can be seen on page 21. This can be corroborated by page 19 of the police report, because "at approximately 11.30 pm Bill Lee (Dean's employer at Caesar's) called Darlene to ask her if she would try to find a fireworks booth open. She stated she would try to find one and hung up." The journey from the Suennen family home to Darlene's residence of around 2.6 miles is estimated at 7 minutes. 

3. Therefore, Darlene Ferrin likely stayed at the 130 Jordan Street residence for about 25 minutes, leaving at 11.18-11.20 pm for her 7 minute journey, having Darlene back at the 1300 Virginia Street residence shortly before 11.30 pm.

4. On page 21 of the police report the two girls stated "that Darlene didn't return until about 11.30 pm or shortly before that. Darlene then told them that she had changed her mind about going to San Francisco and was going to have a small party when her husband got home. Darlene then spent a few minutes cleaning up the house and then she said she was going to go out and buy some fireworks and other things for the party and that she would be back by 12.30 am. Darlene left the house around 11.40 pm and they didn't see her again." Darlene Ferrin left her residence and traveled to Michael Mageau's house at 864 Beechwood Avenue. On page 8 of the police report he stated "that Dea came over at approximately 11.30 pm or shortly thereafter and picked him up in her car." We know it wasn't 11.30 pm, because Bill Lee and the two girls stated otherwise- plus she still had the 2 mile journey to 864 Beechwood Avenue to negotiate. This journey time is 5 minutes, placing Darlene Ferrin at Michael Mageau's residence at 11.45 pm or thereabouts (11.40 pm plus 5 minutes).

5. Michael stated in the police report "they were both hungry as they had not had supper and were going to get something to eat. Stated that she was driving her vehicle, the Corvair they were found in. Stated 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 at 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 where they could talk. They went directly to this location." The journey from 864 Beechwood Avenue to approaching Mr Ed's Drive-In is about 2 minutes allowing for turning around. They would be turning around, heading back east at approximately 11.47 pm. 

6 and 7. The journey from Mr Ed's to the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs Park of 3 miles takes approximately 6-7 minutes, placing Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau arriving at the parking lot in their brown Corvair at 11.53-11.54 pm.  

This makes perfect sense if we pick up the police report on page 8. Michael stated "they were there just a very short time, a few minutes, and three cars pulled into the parking lot where they were. They were apparently young kids, and they heard some laughing and carrying on and a few firecrackers were set off, then the three vehicles left within a short time. This was just a very short space of time, a few minutes. Shortly after this and about 5 minutes before the shooting occurred, a vehicle pulled into the lot." 
 
We know from Michael's statement approximately 5 minutes elapsed between the first vehicle parking alongside them and supposedly returning to begin the attack. We know Michael allocated "a few minutes" from their arrival to the three cars arriving. He also allocated "a few minutes" to the duration the three vehicles remained in the parking lot. Taking this "few minutes" as about 3 minutes, we have a total of 6 minutes. Adding this to the 5 minutes the 'Zodiac' vehicle spent leaving and returning, we have a total of 11 minutes from their arrival at the parking lot to the commencement of the attack. This places the shooting of Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin at 12.04-12.05 am on July 5th 1969. Even if we take the "few minutes" as two, the earliest the attack could have began was 12.02-12.04 am- the earlier time of 12.02 am the most likely. It was extremely unlikely to have taken place before midnight.    

There are several unusual statements in the police report, notably on page 21, where the two girls stated "about 01.30 am Darlene's husband and friends came home and they told her husband what she had said and he didn't seem worried, said she's always late. Husband then took the girls home shortly before 02.00 am." Dean Ferrin and Bill Lee were apparently under the impression she was nipping out to buy fireworks at 11.30 pm, when Bill Lee rang the 1300 Virginia Street residence from Caesar's restaurant, yet they, according to the police report didn't arrive at the residence until 1.30 am. Apparently they stopped en route to pick up some drinks, but two hours had elapsed from the request to pick up fireworks to the time they arrived. This was apparently the exact time the suspicious calls came into the residence. Had somebody seen them arrive and made the phone calls shortly thereafter. 

This contradicts what Carmela Piccolo-Coakley, then co-owner of Caesar's restaurant, said to the Vallejo Times-Herald in 2007: "We were surprised when we all arrived at the house to find a babysitter. Darlene hadn't gotten home yet. It was midnight and we were a little worried. An hour or so later the phone rang but there was only breathing on the other end." This version of events, albeit in 2007, makes more sense than arriving at 1.30 am in the morning, when you have arranged for fireworks to be collected at 11.30 pm, and are expecting a party.

Darlene Ferrin traveling to Michael Mageau's residence and finally to Blue Rock Springs, suggested she had seemingly abandoned the party and chosen to do something completely different- but this may not necessarily be the case. Although earlier arranging to meet Michael Mageau at some point that evening, she may very well have recruited Michael Mageau in her quest to buy some fireworks, along with getting something to eat. She stated to the two girls "she would be back by 12.30 am." Therefore, she was allocating herself 60 minutes to pick up Michael, head off for a bite to eat, pick up some fireworks and then head home. There may have been something else on her shopping list that night, as revealed by the two girls on page 21 of the police report when they stated "she was going to go out and buy some fireworks and other things for the party." What were these "other things?" However, something changed abruptly on their approach to Mr Ed's Drive-In, that facilitated a change of heart. She stated "that she wanted to talk to Michael about something."
​
She picked Michael Mageau up at 11.45 pm and had ample time before reaching Mr Ed's to have relayed to Michael what was on her mind. They both apparently had wanted something to eat, and Darlene required fireworks, yet the "something" on her mind seemingly only occurred two minutes into their journey while approaching Mr Ed's. Had she spotted something or somebody that forced this change of plan- somebody unpleasant enough that she had now abandoned her wanting to eat, her search for fireworks and possibly the party. On the other hand, Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin had arrived at the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs at approximately 11.53-11.54 pm, so still had at least 36 minutes to have their chat and for Darlene to arrive back at the 1300 Virginia Street residence at 12.30 am, with or without the fireworks she said she would try to find, and more importantly the time she told the two girls she would arrive back earlier that night. Unfortunately though, she never did.

There are no images of the Paul Stine trip sheet from Presidio Heights, so we have to take on word that the destination chosen by the Zodiac Killer was the intersection of Washington and Maple. However, the taxicab was discovered one block further at the intersection of Washington and Cherry. What was the reason for this discrepancy?
#1. Paul Stine was murdered at Washington and Maple and the Zodiac Killer drove the taxicab one block further.
#2. Paul Stine was murdered before Washington and Maple and the Zodiac Killer drove the taxicab to Washington and Cherry.
#3. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Maple, but the presence of people on the sidewalk or in vehicles at this location forced him to change his plans.
#4. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry, he simply stated Washington and Maple to throw investigators off the mark.
#5. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry, he simply made a mistake in giving the destination as Washington and Maple, and realized this on his approach to the area or somewhere en route.
#6. The Zodiac intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Maple, but had second thoughts (or exhibited hesitation) before ultimately settling on murder one block later.
​#7. Another scenario.

Many have questioned whether or not Darlene Ferrin was stalked by an unwanted admirer in the run up to her murder during the late night hours of July 4th 1969 or early minutes of July 5th 1969, with little, if any verifiable evidence to support such a claim. This however, doesn't rule out the contention that she may have been murdered by somebody who knew her. Much has been discussed regarding the mysterious phone calls received at the 1300 Virginia Street residence of Darlene Ferrin, and the 930 Monterey Street residence of Mr Arthur J Ferrin and Mrs Mildred Ferrin at approximately 01:30 am on the morning of July 5th 1969, just one-and-a-half hours after the murder of Darlene Ferrin and attempted murder of Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs. It must be stressed that Darlene Ferrin had been alternatively listed as living at 930 Monterey, Vallejo on page 5 of the police report.

​But how much of this makes sense and is it totally accurate. Here are the extracts regarding the phone calls that morning: Page 19 of the police report "Stated that Darlene and her sister Christina Suennen WFJ 15 years. had been at Mr Ferrin's (Dean) place of employment Caesar's in the 300 Block of Tennessee Street at approximately 10:30 pm and at this time Darlene left, stating that she was going to take Christina home, then go home herself to 1300 Virginia Street. Take her babysitter home, and return home herself. Stated that at approximately 11:30 pm Bill Lee (Dean's employer at Caesar's) called Darlene to ask her if she would try to find a fireworks booth open, and to purchase some as they were going to have a party at 1300 Virginia Street after they closed Caesar's and had decided to have some fireworks at that time. She stated she would try to find one and hung up. Stated that this was the last any of them heard from her. Stated that after they arrived at 1300 Virginia Street and waiting for Darlene that there was two phone calls where there was no answer on the other end". 

There is no reference here to the time these two phone calls were received. These statements were given in the immediate aftermath of the murder, in the early hours of July 5th 1969: Page 23 of the police report " Mr Arthur J Ferrin and Mrs Mildred Ferrin 930 Monterey Street came to the station and reported that shortly after 01:30 am on 07/05/69 their telephone rang and the party on the other end of the line said nothing but they could hear deep breathing and they were sure someone was there".  There are two things to note about this statement. The statement was given at 3:35 pm on July 7th 1969, two-and-a-half days after they had received the mysterious phone call, and it appears as if the time of the phone call on the police report has been amended. So, were all the phone calls delivered at approximately 01:30 am, or were they all made at a completely different time during the morning hours.

It was considered in this article that the Zodiac Killer drove home after the Blue Rock Springs attack, to somewhere around the location of the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street payphone and walked to the intersection to make the 12:40 am phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover. If the attack culminated shortly after midnight, the killer's journey has him entering his residence at approximately 12:15 am. He parks his vehicle, changes his clothes, ditches his weapon and prepares himself for the short walk to the payphone at around 12:25-12:30 am. This gives him a walking time of approximately 10-15 minutes to the payphone and a reasonable 'buffer zone'.

If the Zodiac Killer lived on the south side of the payphone, knew or lived close to Darlene Ferrin on Virginia Street, then his walking time to the payphone would be exactly 10 minutes. Once he had finished his call with Nancy Slover he would then likely have returned home at approximately 12:50-12:55 am. We don't know if the mysterious phone calls to the Ferrin family were from the Zodiac Killer, but had he returned from the public payphone at just before 01:00 am, he now has the opportunity to make these calls from the comfort of his own home. Did the Zodiac Killer make the phone call to police from a payphone fearing he could have been traced, but made the calls to the Ferrin family with no such reservations. It would seem rather foolhardy even by Zodiac's standards to reel off multiple calls that evening from payphones, with the police now in full investigative mode. If he did call the Ferrin family, one could argue he placed these additional calls shortly after arriving back at his residence, sometime between 12:50-01:00 am.  

Here is an extract from the Vallejo Times-Herald interview with Carmela Piccolo-Coakley, who part owned Caesar's Italian Restaurant with her husband in 1969. She described arriving at 1300 Virginia Street on July 4th/5th 1969 "We were surprised when we all arrived at the house to find a babysitter. Darlene hadn't gotten home yet. It was midnight and we were a little worried. An hour or so later the phone rang but there was only breathing on the other end. Later we heard a knock on the door. It was two police officers informing us that Darlene had been shot, and someone calling himself the Zodiac had called the Vallejo Police Department informing them of the killings. We told the officers it was that same time that we had received the call at Darlene's house. Whoever it was would not respond to our questions. They just breathed into the phone. The officer warned us not to open the door for anyone while my husband and Dean went down to the station. They warned that the person calling himself the Zodiac may be watching the house. It was a warm night and all the windows were open. We locked the door and windows and pulled the blinds closed". full article. 

She stated they arrived at 1300 Virginia Street at around midnight and the mysterious calls came in "an hour or so later." This is an approximation, so a reasonable estimate could be anywhere from 12:50 am to 01:10 am (with a 10 minute leeway either side), tying in with the Zodiac Killer after returning from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone, sometime around 12:55 am. More telling is the assertion that they "told the officers it was that same time (that of Zodiac's call) that we had received the call at Darlene's house." Does this actually open up the possibility that the Zodiac Killer made the call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover and the Ferrin family from the same payphone at around 12:40 am, and "an hour or so later" was really 40 minutes. Or did they arrive at 1300 Virginia Street shortly before midnight, bringing this statement somewhat back into line.

The only argument in favor of the 01:30 am phone calls in the above two pages of the police report, are the recollections of ​Mr Arthur J. Ferrin and Mrs Mildred Ferrin, two-and-a-half days after the fact. Did they really clock the time correctly when the call came in, or was it just another estimation that may be slightly incorrect?

Footnote: In the interest of fairness, although the origin of Robert Graysmith's information is unknown, in his book Zodiac Unmasked he stated "Fifty minutes later, four phone calls were placed through the operator from a booth at Broadway and Nebraska." Arthur Leigh Allen had worked at a gas station at Tuolumne and Nebraska 3 months before Blue Rock Springs attack. Broadway and Nebraska is an approximate walking distance of 20-25 minutes from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. A murderer living somewhere between or equidistant to these locations has the opportunity to make the phone calls to police dispatcher Nancy Slover and the Ferrin family. However, verifying the Broadway and Nebraska site as the origin of the calls to the Ferrin family, or that the Zodiac Killer made any of them on July 5th 1969, is an altogether more difficult task. 

The following will be explaining in more detail the subconscious wording of the Zodiac Killer in his first three communications with the Bay Area newspapers, putting forward a compelling argument that the confirmed murderer of five was a resident of the Vallejo area. The Zodiac Killer would never willingly have given us his name or the locality of his residence, however, one could argue that had he revealed his home location without realizing it, then it is likely true. To do this, we have to examine closely the wording he chose on his July 31st 1969 letters using the present and past tense. Here is what the Zodiac stated on each communication:
Vallejo Times-Herald: "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle."
San Francisco Examiner: "Here is a cipher or that is part of one. The other 2 parts are being mailed to the Vallejo Times + S.F. Chronicle." 
San Francisco Chronicle: "Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner." 

You will notice the two San Francisco newspapers are being addressed in the present tense regarding the other two mailings, using the word ARE. While the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper is being addressed in the past tense regarding the other two mailings, using the word HAVE. There is every indication that this has been written subconsciously by the Zodiac Killer and therefore he has inadvertently given us his home location of Vallejo. The word "are" immediately precedes Vallejo Times on both occasions. 

If the Zodiac Killer lived in Vallejo when he composed these three communications, he would associate Vallejo with the present (everything that is happening in or around him). If the Zodiac Killer had traveled to San Francisco for a day out and then had returned to Vallejo, he would be referring to San Francisco in the past tense: "I have been to San Francisco and have mailed three letters." In the Vallejo Times-Herald communication text above, he is doing just that, when referring to his mailing of letters to the Chronicle and Examiner, which are approximately 40 miles away: "the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle."  Because now he is back home. ​  

When he is at home in Vallejo writing these communications, his mind is actually projecting forward to their future postings in San Francisco, which is where they were ultimately mailed. 
In two of the communications to the Chronicle and Examiner in San Francisco, he is referring back to his hometown Vallejo in conjunction with another mailing. Therefore he uses the plural form of the present tense, in the word "are". That is because at this moment in time (the time of writing), he is present here in Vallejo, so is effectively forced to abandon the past tense of "have". The Zodiac Killer cannot refer to Vallejo in the past tense in this instance, because the Vallejo Times-Herald office is in his locality, and therefore he is referring to it in the present of "are". 

Anything in the Zodiac Killer's locality is the 'here and now.'  Anyplace one has to travel and return, whether in the mind or reality, will be referred to in the past tense. Traveling to San Francisco physically and returning to Vallejo will now be referred to as "I have mailed", because of the distance you associate with the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner from Vallejo. Even if you do it in your mind. But the Vallejo Times-Herald office is effectively on your doorstep and will therefore be seen as in the "here and now" to somebody living in Vallejo, without any real distance associated with it. Therefore, it doesn't need to be referred to in the past tense, which is exactly what Zodiac does in two of his communications regarding the mailing to Vallejo- he uses the word "are". 

The Zodiac Killer is associating the Vallejo Times-Herald as his home location, so let us use this analogy with a fictitious friend.

Zodiac is in his house opposite the Vallejo Times-Herald office and he has just finished preparing his three July 31st 1969 letters for delivery. He bids farewell to his housemate and travels to San Francisco to post his letters. Upon his return two hours later he says to his friend "I have posted two letters to the San Francisco newspapers".  Looking out of his window and pointing he states "One letter is being posted to the Vallejo Times-Herald." He would be using the present tense regarding something in the "here and now". But because he is referring to the Vallejo Times-Herald mailing in two communications he uses the present tense "are". It clearly indicates that on a subconscious level the Zodiac Killer is referring to Vallejo in the present tense, because that is where he was when he penned the three July 31st 1969 letters.

The old Vallejo Times-Herald office was at 440 Curtola Parkway, just 0.96 miles (as the crow flies) from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone.

The Zodiac Killer's first three attacks were on couples, before switching to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, San Francisco on October 11th 1969. It was considered that he may have 'changed his way of collecting slaves' in the fourth attack, due to the newspaper coverage, insinuating or suggesting he targeted the females primarily and likely feared the males, or the crimes themselves had a sexual component. However, an attack on a lone person in San Francisco was probably cemented in his mind, at least as early as July 31st 1969. Two of the three letters postmarked July 31st were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner, and both failed to mention couples: The Chronicle letter stated "I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend". The Examiner letter stated "I will cruse around killing people who are alone at night untill Sun Night or un till I kill a dozen people". The Vallejo Times-Herald letter was the only letter that mentioned couples: "I will cruse around and pick of all stray people or coupples that are alone then move on to kill some more untill I have killed over a dozen people". This tends to indicate the Zodiac Killer was well aware of his locations of opportunity and the 'availability' of courting couples in Vallejo as opposed to San Francisco. 

The following observation may be reading a little too much into the Zodiac's wording, but the Vallejo Times-Herald communication is the only one of the three letters he used the past tense regarding his mailing of the letters. He used the phrase "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle",  whereas in the San Francisco communications used the present tense: "The other 2 parts are being mailed to the Vallejo Times + S.F. Chronicle" and "Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner". If he was a resident of Vallejo, and was going to post all three communications somewhere in or near the Richmond District of San Francisco, which he did, then subconsciously on his future return to his residence in Vallejo, he would have posted the other two communications (to the Examiner and Chronicle). That is because he is associating the Vallejo Times-Herald with his home location. The letter he is sending to the Vallejo Times-Herald is close to his residence, so he labels the two San Francisco communications containing the word Vallejo, as are being mailed, because he is projecting further ahead. This subconscious use of words may very early on have told us exactly where the Zodiac Killer lived - somewhere he knew that couples were readily available over the weekend, before he returned to work in San Francisco on Monday morning.    

One always has to question why the killer after the Blue Rock Springs attack on Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau, who apparently lived in San Francisco, wouldn't just make the phone call somewhere equidistant between Vallejo and San Francisco, rather than from a payphone relatively close to the crime scene and extremely close to the police station. Why was he apparently constrained in choosing a payphone 10 minutes from the crime scene, yet 40 minutes after the double shooting, if it wasn't for the fact he lived in the Vallejo area, or extremely close to the payphone?

If the killer lived in Vallejo and traveled to San Francisco weekly for his occupation, then where did he work?. There are plenty of reasons to believe the Zodiac Killer knew the Presidio Heights area fairly well. If you are going to murder a taxicab driver in an affluent, built-up area, in the heart of San Francisco, it would have been advisable to know everything about the area and your likely escape route in advance. There are two ways to enter San Francisco by vehicle from Vallejo - either by the Golden Gate Bridge or Oakland Bay Bridge. Either journey from Vallejo to the Richmond District is approximately the same distance. But if you entered via the Golden Gate Bridge every day, you would certainly have every opportunity to become accustomed to the roadways in and around the Presidio Park area. This is the area the Zodiac Killer may have left his vehicle - somewhere on the fringes of the park, by West Pacific Avenue or Lyon Street, towards the east. 

A man fitting the description of Zodiac was seen running into the Julius Khan playground minutes after the murder of Paul Stine - a description that virtually matched that of the three teenagers and Officer Donald Fouke. If we contend this wasn't the killer, then we have to conveniently dismiss this independent eyewitness testimony as erroneous. Even Dave Toschi believed this was a viable sighting, as search dogs and police vehicles were stationed alongside the Julius Khan playground. A passage in Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac appears to corroborate the premise that eyewitnesses at, or near Spruce Street, observed a man running into Julius Khan playground, which tallies with the October 12th 1969 San Francisco Chronicle article. Here is the excerpt: "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Khan playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County". Richardson Avenue leads onto Highway 101 and the Golden Gate Bridge - a route the killer would be completely familiar with, had he traveled this way to and from work each day. Even if he didn't travel this exact route, and he worked in the Richmond District area, he would surely be familiar with the surrounding area and his best escape route from the intersection of Washington and Cherry.  

The website (now not available online) crackproof.com examined the Zodiac communications and their associated postmarks. This indicated that the July 31st 1969 '408' letters were franked in the Central Richmond District, and the Paul Stine letter, mailed two days after the murder, was franked in the Inner Richmond District. This doesn't mean they were necessarily posted here, but processed at this location (these letters were franked 1A and 1B). However, they were very likely posted by the killer somewhere in the northwest region of San Francisco, with Richmond being a strong possibility. This area and vicinity is an extremely significant area when it comes to the exploits of the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco. This can be seen in the Google map diagram below.     

The only claimed Zodiac victim outside of the canonical five and Bay Area, known to have once lived in San Francisco was Donna Lass, who disappeared on September 6th 1970 from South Lake Tahoe. She worked at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presido and resided at 4122 Balboa Street in the Outer Richmond District. Did she ever cross paths with the Zodiac Killer while she worked here?

On April 20th 1970, the 13-Symbol cipher arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now.  I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station.  Even though I talked about killing school children with one. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory.  But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back.  I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud.  I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back". In the letter, the Zodiac Killer was referring to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell on February 16th 1970, two months earlier, when a bomb packed with fence staples exploded on an outside ledge of the 1899 Waller Street, Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood. This location, bordering Golden Gate Park and the Richmond District areas, is only 1.45 miles south of the Paul Stine crime scene.  

The next Zodiac communication was the Dragon card mailed on April 28th 1970, depicting what appears to be characters from a novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in which Don Quixote, on his horse Rocinante, and Sancho Panza his squire, perched on a donkey called El rucio, embark on a mission to restore chivalry. The Zodiac Killer wrote on the face of the card "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my Blast". Was this a case of Zodiac rubbing salt into the wounds of the San Francisco Police Department, choosing this card for a specific reason. The 1899 Waller Street Police Station is situated on the boundary of the San Francisco Golden Gate Park, in which the memorial statue of Miguel de Cervantes, featuring Don Quixote and Sancho Panza sits. So was this card really just a random choice, or was Zodiac simply "needling the blue pigs"?

In the following correspondence, the Button letter, on June 26th 1970, the Zodiac Killer suggested he may have been responsible for the murder of Sgt Richard Radetich a week earlier. Officer Radetich was gunned down by three shots from a .38 caliber revolver at point blank range through the driver side window of his vehicle while in the process of serving a parking ticket. He was sat in his police car near 643 Waller Street, San Francisco, in the Lower Haight District, where he sustained life threatening injuries and subsequently died 15 hours later. 643 Waller Street is only just over a mile from the Golden Gate Park and the Richmond District of San Francisco. One can see the clustering of these Zodiac 'events' within the northwest corner of San Francisco, and around the Richmond District area. Even the Dripping Pen card mailed on November 8th 1969, was supposedly mailed just south of this area.

Nobody can definitively pin down the likely profession of the Zodiac Killer, but did it reside somewhere in this region, and somewhere he could mail his communications to and from work. The question is always asked: Why would the Zodiac Killer mail a noticeable amount of his correspondence from the vicinity of where he worked? - that would be stupid. The answer probably lies within the geographical profiling term the least effort principle. That, when a human can exert the least effort in accomplishing a given task (with little risk), they probably will. Obviously, he realized that the ability to trace a letter or card back to a particular mailing point is practically impossible. Only to the area the letter was franked. 

The final observation on the map above, is the locality and proximity of the three golf courses to the Richmond District - bearing in mind the golf course adjacent to the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. Could the Zodiac Killer have worked at one of these locations, or did he play golf on a regular basis, taking his scorecard from the clubhouse into the very communications he mailed? 

Here we will take another look at the timeline of Presidio Heights from the perspective of Armond Pelissetti, to show how incredibly tight the whole affair is. We will use the police report from the following morning and the claims of Armond Pelissetti in the 2007 Zodiac documentary to create the only viable timeline based on what has been stated. These are their words, not mine.

Armond Pelissetti received the police dispatch at approximately 9:58 pm and likely exited his police car at around 9:59 pm - at which point one of the Robbins kids, who had spotted Zodiac in and around the taxicab that night - pointed out to Armond Pelissetti that Zodiac was approaching the intersection of Jackson and Cherry Street. This being the case, then Zodiac is at this intersection at 9:59 pm. Armond Pelissetti then ushered the children across the street to their residence. He then proceeded back to the taxicab and checked the status of Paul Stine, stating in the documentary he was 99.9% sure the taxicab driver was deceased. He then retook the description from the children and was now aware it was a white male adult, so "couldn't get to the radio fast enough" to inform the other officers of the amended description. He then likely set off up Cherry.

These were his exact words in the 2007 documentary:"it was then I was told it was a white male, I couldn't get to the radio fast enough at that point to let everybody else know. The kids had told me whoever had done this crime had left the cab, went out the door and seemed to be wiping the cab down and reaching into the cab and ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kind of towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars, so I went down following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". Nobody knows for sure how long all these actions took, but a bare minimum of 2 minutes spent at the crime scene seems a reasonable estimate. This would have Armond Pelissetti beginning his journey north on Cherry Street at 10:01 pm.

Now we shall flip the timeline backwards using two points of reference. The first is from the police report countersigned by Armond Pelissetti on October 12th 1969. It stated "P.E.H. ambulance #82 responded, steward Dousette, victim was examined and pronounced dead at 10:10 pm. Inspector Krake responded and summoned dog units and a fire department 'spotlight' vehicle to assist in the search. R/Os called for the Crime Lab, Coroner, Yellow cab officials, and a tow". This section of the police report tallies perfectly with Armond Pelissetti's recollection in the 2007 Zodiac documentary as he approached Maple Street  "I turned to the right and saw a man walking his dog. He was somewhat older than the description I had, a whole lot thinner and he had absolutely no blood on his clothes". After a brief discussion with the man, Armond Pelissetti continued "I got back to the scene, and it was sometime shortly thereafter that the ambulance crew, the coroner, a firetruck, Inspector Walt Krake of the homicide detail, and then about three or four or five minutes thereafter Inspector Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong, two of the best, arrived". 

It can be seen that by marrying these two statements that ​Armond Pelissetti arrived back at the crime scene "sometime shortly" before the ambulance crew arrived, who "pronounced Paul Stine dead at 10:10 pm." This would place Armond Pelissetti arriving back at the crime scene at a reasonable estimate of 10:08 pm. Therefore, Armond Pelissetti left the crime scene at 10:01 pm and arrived back at approximately 10:08 pm.

According to the widely held consensus and the storyline of the 2007 Zodiac documentary, Armond Pelissetti traveled up Cherry Street (which is a 1 minute journey at normal walking pace) extremely cautiously, checking the alcoves and parked cars "following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". He then supposedly bumped into Officer Donald Fouke (whether it was on his outbound or inbound journey is irrelevant on this occasion). He then presumably applied the same caution down Jackson Street (a 2 minute journey at normal walking pace), checking the alcoves and vehicles, before bumping into a man walking his dog on Maple Street. He had a brief conversation with the dog-walker, before heading back on the 3 minute journey to the crime scene, now presumably at normal walking speed. This whole sequence of events taking just 7 minutes.

The journey from the crime scene to the intersection of Jackson and Maple is approximately 3 minutes, a fact even confirmed by Zodiac: "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab". But if Armond Pelissetti was using every police technique he knew, checking the innumerable alcoves and parked vehicles, this journey must have taken at least 5 minutes. This would have placed Armond Pelissetti arriving to the dog-walker at about 10:06 pm. He then had just 2 minutes to talk to the dog-walker and arrive back at the crime scene at 10:08 pm, sometime before the ambulance arrived and eventually pronounced Paul Stine dead at 10:10 pm. We can throw in some leeway here and have Armond Pelissetti arriving back at 10:09 pm, giving him three minutes to converse with the man on Maple Street and return back to the intersection of Washington and Cherry. Nevertheless, it is an extremely rushed affair, considering Armond Pelissetti's outbound journey of 5 minutes or inbound journey of 3 minutes, also included talking to the dog-walker and Officer Donald Fouke.        

After some grueling and labor intensive detective work on my part, I was able to track down Fido, the dog from that night, and you can tell by his expression on the right, he wasn't impressed with the timeline I presented to him either. Or the suggestion his owner was a cold-blooded killer. I stroked his furrowed brow, made my excuses and left the kennel with my tail between my legs. But in all seriousness, this drives to the heart of the question posed by some - was the dog-walker somehow the killer? Without debating the legitimacy of suspects - if Kjell Qvale was the owner of Fido, then he had to depart the intersection of Jackson and Cherry Street at 9:59 pm (going on the sighting of the three teenagers with Pelissetti), and travel approximately 3 minutes to be firmly ensconced in his 3636 Jackson Street residence. He then needs about 1 minute to return to the area of Maple to be spotted by Armond Pelissetti. This allocation of 4 minutes shifts the time to 10:03 pm, leaving Kjell Qvale three minutes to enter his home, change clothes, put Fido on his leash and leave the residence. He would then arrive to the meeting with Armond Pelissetti at approximately 10:06 pm. The timelines of Armond Pelissetti and Kjell Qvale are possible, albeit extremely rushed. However, this is nothing new for the Zodiac case. 

Having reached a bit of an impasse in the Zodiac case recently, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and put together my favorite 10 articles from the 6 years this site has been in existence. They may not be the choice of everybody, but I thought I would place them together for reference purposes. Cheers for all your support down the years- your valued feedback is greatly received. 

SACRAMENTO COLD CASE-CONTACT​
Linking the 1986 'Zodiac' letter to the April 22nd 1986 double murder of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Salee in Sacramento. The Laotian couple were brutally gunned down through the front side window of their vehicle while parked up alongside a Sacramento freeway.
This double murder exhibited all the hallmarks of the attack on Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969.
The letter may or may not have been authored by the Zodiac Killer, but it was almost certainly referencing this crime.  

CHERI JO BATES-THE ANATOMY OF A CRIME 
Examining the brutal stabbing of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966 from the standpoint of the autopsy findings. 
Could the order of events that evening/night be unfolded by studying the wounds inflicted upon the young woman in the Riverside alleyway. 
The killer or killers of Cheri Jo Bates were never caught, yet by closely scrutinizing the findings of pathologist Rene Modglin, we can formulate a possible scenario that ended the life of a beautiful and amiable young woman.   

I WANT TO TELL YOU A STORY 
Where did the Zodiac Killer go after the murder and attempted murder of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau on July 4th 1969.
Using a liberal sprinkling of geographic profiling, the timeline of the payphone call, and the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter received on August 4th 1969, we presented a case for the murderer living but a short walking distance from the payphone at the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street. ​

ONE MILE EAST ON COLUMBUS PARKWAY 
Attempting, but probably failing in an attempt to convince, that the Zodiac phone call directions forty minutes after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack were in fact correct from a directional standpoint.
It has long been perceived that police dispatcher Nancy Slover, while attempting to talk over the killer, actually heard and recollected the entire message verbatim, with not one single error. The contrary is perceived of the Zodiac Killer- his message was error strewn from the standpoint of directing police from the station to the crime scene. This doesn't have to be the case.
In the aftermath of the Presidio Heights shooting, observers seem unsure where the negro male description error seemed to have originated from. At Blue Rock Springs many are totally convinced- it was Zodiac.    

PRESIDIO HEIGHTS-MINUTE BY MINUTE 
Following the movements of the Zodiac Killer, and police officers Armond Pelissetti and Donald Fouke in the aftermath of the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969.
Attempting to weave the conflicting stories into one coherent timeline, to unearth the movements of the Zodiac Killer once he headed north on Cherry Street and towards the Presidio Park.
This was the last of the Zodiac Killer's canonical five, yet he continued his sustained assault on the newspapers of the day for many years to come.  

CHERI JO BATES-REEVALUATING THE CRIME SCENE 
Placing Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle back in its rightful position just yards from the library annex.
This positioning was eventually reinforced by police in the December 2017 History Channel docudrama 'The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer.'  
Robert Graysmith, author of Zodiac, had placed Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle 75 yards west of the alleyway, which would dramatically have altered the sequence of events that night. This has hopefully corrected that premise. 
Part Two.