On October 12th 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac, featuring the recently mailed 13-Hole postcard with a PM postmark on October 5th 1970. It also brought to our attention the withheld Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970, stating "Zodiac is still at large today. And he is now claiming he has murdered 13 persons". This was referring to Zodiac's claim in the Little List letter in which he threatened "Being that you will not wear some nice buttons, how about wearing some nasty buttons. Or any kind of buttons that you can think up. If you do not wear any type of buttons, I shall (on top of everything else) torture all 13 of my slaves that I have waiting for me in Paradice". However, this information of a withheld letter and 13 kills was reported by Reuters and published in newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel on October 5th 1970, the day the 13-Hole postcard was postmarked. Therefore, as Jarett Kobek pointed out to me, this information was probably available the day before the postcard was mailed (on October 4th 1970).

The Orlando Sentinel carried the headline "Zodiac, Killer Of 5 or 13, Silent As Police Wait". This was the headline the same day the Bay Area murderer mailed a postcard with the pasted newspaper text of "Zodiac" and "13", with a reference to "police" in the inverted text (present in the accompanying story). After 71 days of silence from the Zodiac Killer, he featured the prominent number "13" within his postcard and mimicked the headline from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper (or another derived from Reuters) within a 24-hour period. The newspaper asked the question 5 or 13? The Zodiac may have replied with "13" almost immediately. Although the Zodiac Killer sourced his pasted text from several newspaper articles in September, it appears the postcard may have been designed and created as late as the 4th or 5th October 1970. However, the Zodiac Killer chose to use multiple cut-out letters to create the pseudonym "Zodiac" on the 13-Hole postcard, when he had the identical font spelling "Zodiac" in the headline of the newspaper article. This could indicate the inspiration for the postcard lay within another newspaper publication carrying a different headline, but similar messaging regarding the questioned victim total.  

Did the Zodiac Killer have a collection of old newspapers, or did he work as as news vendor or newsagent, giving him ready access to dated material from across the USA? 

Thanks to author Jarett Kobek for his assistance in this matter, who also supplied the newspaper cutting used in this article. 

Seemingly inspired by the Confession letter mailed on November 29th 1966 and published in the Inside Detective magazine in January 1969, the Zodiac Killer used the words "twich", "sqwirm" and "victom" in his Little List letter on July 26th 1970, followed by the Halloween card on October 27th 1970, in which he used the words "by" and called himself "Z" for the first time. Cheri Jo Bates was found murdered on Halloween morning. with three letters arriving five months later on April 30th 1967, of which, two were described in the newspapers as carrying the signature "Z". Phil Sins and Paul Avery would explore the notion that the Zodiac Killer may have dropped some clues to investigators and deliberately fashioned these communications to force a conclusion that he was the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 in Riverside. Some investigators concluded that the Halloween card was a direct threat towards journalist Paul Avery, who he addressed on the envelope of the correspondence. In fact, it would only be five months before the Zodiac Killer again addressed the journalist, when he wrote "att. paul averly = chronicle" on the Pines postcard on March 22nd 1971.

​An exclusive report by Paul Avery, sandwiched between the Halloween card and Pines card, was released by the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970 (and covered by the Riverside Press-Enterprise) detailing the forged connection between the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates and the Zodiac Killer case in Northern California. It's without doubt that the Zodiac Killer was heavily focused on the San Francisco Chronicle and Paul Avery at this moment in time, because in addition to the November 16th 1970 Chronicle article, a column authored by Herb Caen on November 25th 1970, described how Paul Avery had communicated with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requesting the "personalized" license plates reading "ZODIAC". As Zodiac researcher Jibberjabber pointed out, this is one of the rare occurrences where "Paul Avery", "Zodiac", "Herb Caen" and a request to the "DMV" would arise in one newspaper publication. If there was ever a time when the Zodiac Killer would have written to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, this was it. There has been much speculation on what may have inspired the yet to be seen DMV letter, allegedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer on an undetermined date during his reign of terror. Paul Avery requesting a "personalized" license plate from the DMV using the pseudonym "ZODIAC" during the height of his activity, would have been the perfect time. Had the Zodiac Killer's response been prompt, then we have the possibility of the mysterious DMV letter being mailed by the Bay Area murderer in late November or early December 1970.  

Unless there has been crossed wires, and the communication by Paul Avery requesting "ZODIAC" license plates from the Department of Motor Vehicles is the mysterious DMV letter, then a yet to be unearthed letter mailed by the Zodiac Killer in late 1970 is a distinct possibility.

A big thanks to Zodiac researcher Jibberjabber, who suggested this as a realistic inspiration for the elusive DMV letter. Also, I would like to thank Jarett Kobek for his assistance in allowing me to use a screenshot from his book, Motor Spirit: The Long Hunt for the Zodiac, and for sending me the newspaper cutting from Herb Caen's column on November 25th 1970. Jarett Kobek's book, How to Find Zodiac, can be found by clicking the link provided. The personalized license plate article provided is courtesy of Cragle.

For many years, people in the Zodiac community have puzzled over the identity of the author and meaning behind the "deep real estate" advertisements placed in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner newspapers for one week beginning on August 26th 1976. The message in the advertisements read "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A." Zodiac Killer sleuths have considered whether this advertisement was placed by the Zodiac Killer himself, composed by somebody who knew the Zodiac Killer, or was manufactured by law enforcement as a form of correspondence with the Bay Area murderer. Some individuals have suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have had a partner, notably Fred Manalli, who died in a car crash on August 24th 1976, just two days before this advertisement was placed in the newspapers. His name is synonymous with the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders. 

Recently I produced an article from information mailed to me by Zodiac researcher Cragle, who unearthed an advertisement placed in the San Francisco Examiner on January 14th 1975 (but from advertisements beginning on January 13th 1975) with the message "ZODIAC it is time: your capture is approaching soon. r.a." I finished that article by writing "This may require a reassessment of the later message and the author's identity". The information provided to me by Cragle advanced our knowledge with respect to the "deep real estate" author, but today, some further information has been given to me that should finally close down any speculation regarding these advertisements from 1975 and 1976.  

Thanks to Jibberjabber, another tireless Zodiac researcher, the mystery of the "deep real estate" author is now probably over - and like much of the Zodiac case - it's not as fantastical as many would like to believe. The identity of the 1975 author (who very likely created the 1976 advertisement as well) was found by Jibberjabber in the San Francisco Examiner on January 14th 1975. The advertisements beginning on January 13th 1975 were created and placed in the newspaper by a City College student, attempting to flush out the Zodiac Killer by provocation. This should realistically end any interest in the "deep real estate" author, and close another long-running chapter of the Zodiac Killer case

On August 26th 1976, an article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer, chronicling the relentless pursuit of the Zodiac Killer by Inspector David Toschi, who stated "I feel he's out there. I feel he's going to surface". The third paragraph of the newspaper article continued: "With the transfer of his long time partner, William Armstrong, to the fraud detail, Toschi is the only San Francisco detective on the case now, one of the most baffling in the history of American crime". A personal advertisement appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner on the same day, seemingly connected to the now extremely rare coverage of the Zodiac Killer story. The fact that the story and personal advertisement coincided is confusing to say the least. The advertisement (under 30 PERSONALS) read "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A."

Mailed to me by the excellent Zodiac researcher, Cragle, below is an advertisement placed in the newspapers on January 14th 1975 under the same "30 PERSONALS" column, signed with the same initials as the August 26th 1976 advertisement. The message read "ZODIAC it is time: your capture is approaching soon. r.a." Therefore, we have the same individual placing  an advertisement 19 months prior to the "deep real estate" message. The language of "your capture is approaching" used in the earlier 1975 communication, could be argued with confidence, that both of these advertisements were referring to the infamous Zodiac Killer rather than an innocuous message delivered in 1976 that has been misinterpreted. This may require a reassessment of the later message and the author's identity.