The Zodiac Killer claimed that when he was making the phone call from the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo to Nancy Slover at 12:40am, he was spotted by a "negro male" walking along the street. In his August 4th 1969 letter he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". Therefore, the only possible place the Zodiac Killer could have reasonably seen this black male talking to the police, was by the payphone after he had finished his call to Nancy Slover.

​One officer was sent from the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to secure the payphone after it was traced. If it was traced almost immediately (at 12:41am), this would mean that the Zodiac Killer was watching the interaction between the black man and the police officer at 12:50am, because the journey time from the crime scene to the payphone is approximately 9 minutes. The Zodiac Killer would have been at the payphone nearly 10 minutes after he finished his call to the Vallejo Police Department. If the phone call took 5 mintes to trace, then Zodiac would have been watching the payphone from 12:41am to 12:55am subsequent to finishing his call to the police dispatcher. But how do we know he saw a "negro male"? What is the first thing law enforcement should have done after receiving the August 4th 1969 letter, stating "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed"?

They should have worked out that if Zodiac was claiming he saw "police" talking to a "negro male", then it had to be their officer who was instructed to head to the payphone to secure it for fingerprints, who must have bumped into the same "negro male" that Zodiac claimed he saw earlier. All law enforcement had to do was interview the officer initially sent to the payphone and ask him whether he spoke to a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". If he had said yes, then they would have known Zodiac was telling the truth - and much more importantly - was at the payphone a bare minimum of 10 minutes after he finished the call to Nancy Slover. If they had interviewed this officer and he had confirmed Zodiac's claim in the letter, then the obvious thing to have done was to make an appeal in the newspaper asking for the negro male to come forward. Just like they did in the attached cutting. This goes a long way in showing that Zodiac was telling the truth all along.   

The Zodiac Killer wrote "To prove I killed them I shall state some facts which only I + the police know" in his July 31st 1969 letters to convince law enforcement of his involvement in the crimes. Vallejo Police Chief Jack Stiltz asked for more proof in a follow up letter, so the Zodiac Killer gave additional information about his escapades in his August 4th 1969 letter, stating "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". So why would the Zodiac Killer ruin all his good work attempting to convince police he was the killer of three people, by completely inventing an interaction between a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" and a police officer by the payphone, which could have been easily checked by simply interviewing that member of law enforcement? If that officer had denied speaking to a "negro male", then why bother making a newspaper appeal.

​The fact that this "negro male" was described as a "local" in the newspapers, may suggest there was a previous interaction between him and the police officer sent from Blue Rock Springs on July 5th 1969, but he had possibly been let on his way because he claimed he saw little to nothing at the time. After the statement by Zodiac in August, the police probably wanted to double-check his recollections that morning by instigating the appeal for him to come forward. If law enforcement didn't interview the officer sent to the payphone, then that would beggar belief. I can now confidently state that this "negro male" wasn't as fictitious as I once believed  If the Zodiac Killer saw an officer talking to a "negro male" by the payphone, ten or more minutes longer than absolutely necessary to deliver his message, then the odds his residence was close by would increase exponentially. Waiting around with your vehicle and weapon still in your possession (near to the payphone) for that length of time would be extremely risky. However, if the Zodiac Killer had immediately returned home after committing the crime, changed his clothes and ditched the car and gun, that risk would vastly reduce.
​
EXTRA READING: 
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 
​OUR KILLER LIVES HERE

In the previous article it was considered whether the Zodiac Killer traveled through the park in a north-easterly direction to a home (or business) in the Marina District of San Francisco. I took a closer look at the statement of Zodiac in the November 9th 1969 letter, when he claimed that while in the park "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west". Bearing in mind he was likely walking east, there was only one satisfactory location that matched this description. It was Presidio Boulevard which began in the south by Pacific Avenue and headed north for 333 meters, before turning to the northwest for approximately 275 meters. in other words, any vehicle coming from Pacific Avenue into Presidio Boulevard was traveling from the south before turning to the northwest.

If the Zodiac Killer had parked a vehicle on the eastern side of the park along Lyon Street, the quickest route with complete cover from trees and shrubbery the entire distance, is path A shown in the map diagram below. The distance from Spruce Street to the intersection of Lyon Street & Broadway taking this route is 766 meters. Path B, also affording cover the entire route, from Spruce Street to Union Street is 871 meters..Both routes avoid residential areas. If the Zodiac Killer wanted to escape the park to the eastern edge and enter a vehicle, path A appears the quickest and most obvious choice. Lyon Street also seems like the perfect place to park, with its western side largely absent of houses. However, the Zodiac Killer may not have had a vehicle parked anywhere that night. It all depends on whether the Zodiac Killer was recalling his details in the November 9th 1969 letter purely from memory, or he aided his recollections by using a map.

If he was physically watching the motorcycles go by from about 150 feet away and recalling from his memory of that night, stating "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", then the Zodiac Killer is describing the motorcycles passing him as he is watching from a close distance. Therefore, this may rule out the Zodiac Killer taking path A to Presidio Boulevard, because the motorcycles wouldn't have been going from south to northwest at this point (as they passed by). But if he had taken path B, he could have been on either side of Presidio Boulevard, watching "first hand" the motorcycles turn from the south side of the road and head in a north-westerly direction (shown by the orange circle on the map). If we look at this section of Presidio Boulevard on its eastern edge, we see a distinct clearing through the trees. If you switch between 2D and 3D on the map it becomes more apparent. This clearing, with adequate coverage from the road, would allow the Zodiac Killer to see the motorcycles turning from the south to the northwest. This clearing is about 150 feet from Presidio Boulevard. 

The phrase by the Zodiac Killer is difficult to interpret. If we alter the phrase of "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west" to "the motor cicles went by me going from south to north west, about 150 ft away", does it become any clearer? Could the Zodiac Killer have been on path A, 150 feet from Presidio Boulevard, watching the motorcycles enter the south end from Pacific Avenue and pass by him, knowing the layout of the road and reasoning that they would eventually have to turn northwest after traveling a short distance? Or was the Zodiac Killer physically watching the motorcycles turn from the south to the northwest in real time? This ambiguous phrase would be important to clarify.

If the Zodiac Killer had chosen Lyon Street to park his getaway vehicle, then path A is the logical choice (being the shortest distance). If the Zodiac Killer had taken path B and physically saw the motorcycles change course from the south to northwest, then it is unlikely he had a vehicle parked anywhere that night. Why would you park a vehicle further than necessary from your entry point by Julius Kahn playground? If path B was the route he took, it's probably because this was the most direct route to his residence (or business) in the Marina District on foot, just beyond the eastern edge of Presidio Park. Why not use the concealment that the park offered as you headed home?

​To get to the bottom of the phrase "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", we can remove "about 150 feet away". We now have "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north west". If the Zodiac Killer had taken path A to Presidio Boulevard, isn't it more likely he would have written "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north", because he would have seen the motorcycles passing by his location and heading north into the distance (unable to see the northwest turn). But he didn't. He wrote "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north west", which suggests that from memory he last saw the motorcycles heading south to northwest. The phrase used by Zodiac appears moment oriented and could indicate his likely route of travel was path B that night.

​This being the case, a vehicle positioned here (somewhere by Union Street), seems an extremely distant location to facilitate a hasty retreat, when the Zodiac Killer had the better option of path A with cover, or other much closer alternatives such as Pacific Avenue or Jackson Street to park his getaway vehicle, In fact, the Zodiac Killer had innumerable locations to park a vehicle closer to the crime scene (or intended crime scene) that night. If he really had taken path B and was watching from 150 feet away in the trees at motorcycles heading from the south to the northwest, then I highly doubt any vehicle was involved in proceedings on October 11th 1969. He was simply walking home using the shortest route possible. 

EXTRA READING: WALKING TOWARDS THE MARINA DISTRICT?  

Recently I have been re-examining the likelihood that the Zodiac Killer lived in close proximity to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo at the time he committed the Blue Rock Springs shooting on July 5th 1969, but this doesn't necessarily mean he resided at this location for the remainder of his attacks. Is there any evidence that he may have moved from Vallejo to San Francisco after the Blue Rock Springs or Lake Berryessa attacks, or possibly had a residence and/or business at both locations simultaneously?

​Michael Morford, a dedicated and long time Zodiac researcher, has put forward an interesting case for William "Mac" Andrew, who had access to a residence at 623 Tuolumne Street in Vallejo, only 420 feet from the Springs & Tuolumne payphone where Zodiac made the call to Nancy Slover, a dispatcher at the Vallejo Police Department. This suspect and Arthur Leigh Allen are the only two individuals that align with my thoughts of a killer living within a 0.5 mile radius of that payphone. Although Michael Morford has put together a reasonable case for his suspect - and has definitely taken, in my opinion, the correct approach by implementing a search for the Zodiac Killer in proximity to the payphone - I believe he has focused in on the wrong person.

The Zodiac Killer's first three attacks were likely selected because of the remoteness of the locations, but his fourth attack at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 was a significant uptick in risk. The chances of being apprehended after the murder of Paul Stine was significantly greater. One of the most widely pushed narratives about this crime, is the notion of a killer who parked his vehicle somewhere in the proximity of Presidio Park for his later escape, before making his way to Union Square (or thereabouts) by either walking, using public transport, or summoning a taxicab - and after an indeterminate period of time - hailed the taxicab of Paul Stine to bring him back to Presidio Heights, commit the murder, and then make inroads to his waiting vehicle and facilitate a quick departure from the area. While this is perfectly feasible, it can also be argued as an unnecessary sequence of events with little corroborating evidence any such thing happened. Let us examine the possibility of a killer who made his escape to a nearby residence or business. Somewhere close to Presidio Park, requiring limited walking time.

The trip sheet of Paul Stine gave a destination of Washington & Maple, but for whatever reason the deceased taxicab driver was found pulled up at the intersection of Washington & Cherry, one block further west. It is clear that the Zodiac Killer intended to exit the taxicab at Washington & Maple because he backtracked east along Jackson Street in the compass direction he had just come from. This likely tells us that the Zodiac Killer's original plan that night was to leave the taxicab at Washington & Maple, head north up Maple, and turn east along Jackson Street, before traveling north up Spruce Street into the Julius Kahn playground, where he was ultimately spotted by an eyewitness running into the park (as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper). This route makes logical sense, because turning east on Jackson after heading up Maple from your intended murder site, would remove you from the eyeline of the crime. His immediate requirement to evade capture was to access the cover of the park and the next available point of entry would have been Spruce Street.

​The directional movement of the Zodiac Killer thus far virtually eliminates the notion he would travel in any other direction than east. Police motorcycles would ultimately circle Presidio Park, attempting to find a killer who had possibly sought refuge and needed to escape the attention of the resulting search. If the Zodiac Killer lived in Cow Hollow or the Marina District of San Francisco (on the north-eastern edge of Presidio Park), it would make sense for him to take the shortest route through the park and use cover as much as possible, while heading in a north-easterly direction. This tallies with what the Zodiac Killer stated in his November 9th 1969 letter, when he claimed that "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west". Presidio Boulevard on the eastern edge of the park and skirted by a wooded area, would have provided the perfect cover for a killer about to escape the park. There is a section of Presidio Boulevard that shifts from south to northwest, exactly as described by the Zodiac Killer. As shown below, if we draw a straight line from Julius Kahn playground through Presidio Boulevard where it switches from south to northwest - and continue that trajectory onwards - we arrive at 225 Mallorca Way, the once home of Jo Anne Goettsche, who previously shared a residence with Donna Lass at 4122 Balboa Street in San Francisco.   

At the time of the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969 Donna Lass worked at the Letterman General Hospital in Presidio Park and lived at 4122 Balboa Street, San Francisco. However, according to Robert Graysmith she moved from this address a few months later and relocated to 225 Mallorca Way in the Marina District. If a few months was three or four, Donna Lass could have moved to 225 Mallorca Way in January or February 1970  Either way, it is possible she moved into an area where the Zodiac Killer was currently living (in 1970), and living when he murdered Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 - and why he may have latched onto the young nurse (who he probably referred to in the March 22nd 1971 "Pines Card").

In an interview with Michael Morford on the Zodiac Speaking podcast, Jo Anne Goettsche gave the impression she moved to 225 Mallorca Way without Donna Lass. If this was the case, it was still evident that the two young women remained friends during their time in San Francisco, and likely visited each others homes before Donna eventually moved to South Lake Tahoe in early June 1970. She would go missing from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Nevada just three months later, on September 6th 1970. The Zodiac Killer may have become aware of Donna Lass through Jo Anne Goettsche. 

​If the Zodiac Killer had walked through the park to the area of Presidio Boulevard where "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", he would likely exit the park by the intersection of Lyon and Union streets. This location would leave 15 to 20 minutes (just under a mile) to reach 225 Mallorca Way. That is if the Zodiac Killer lived somewhere in the vicinity of this address, which afforded him the opportunity to have crossed paths with Jo Anne Goettsche and Donna Lass.  

Interestingly, on October 7th 1969, just four days before the Paul murder, somebody mailed a letter to Sergeant John Lynch of the Vallejo Police Department, mentioning Beach Street in the correspondence and claiming to be the Zodiac Killer (this was the same person who mailed the Concerned Citizen card on August 10th 1969). In San Francisco, Beach Street is joined to Malloca Way, with the once residence of Jo Anne Goettsche only 450 feet away.

Of course, I have no way of knowing for certain that the Zodiac Killer lived within a 0.5 mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone, before moving to San Francisco prior to the Paul Stine murder. But he may have remained on foot after leaving both the payphone and Paul Stine crime scene. However, if the Zodiac Killer was walking towards a home or business in the Marina District on October 11th 1969, and walking towards a home or business by the Springs & Tuolumne payphone on July 5th 1969, then by checking a city directory such as the one published by R.L. Polk & Company, it may be possible to find a common name or business to both locations. If we find such a person or place, then we may be in business. It would be great if the members of the Zodiac Discord forum could find a directory that covers both the Marina District from 1969 to 1972 and the 0.5 mile radius around the Vallejo payphone in 1969. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

EXTRA READING: OUR KILLER LIVES HERE

In the image of Vallejo below I have placed 10 random locations for payphones in 1969 (shown by the red dots). I don't know the exact location of each payphone in Vallejo in 1969, but there would have been plenty scattered around the city. There is little doubt that the Zodiac Killer planned his crimes in advance, knowing where potential victims would be found and his likely exit strategies. This planning was increasingly evident at Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights for which he created an elaborate executioner's costume, probably carried a knife and gun to both crime locations (or scissors at Presidio Heights) to secure a shirt piece from Paul Stine to validate his involvement, and took a marker pen to Lake Berryessa to write on the car door of Bryan Hartnell. At Presidio Heights there is a strong possibility he decided upon a location for murder with a reasonably wooded park nearby, so as to mitigate any unforeseen circumstances. This being the case, there is a good argument for the Zodiac Killer knowing in advance which payphone he was going to make a call from after the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa attacks. 

By crow, the distance from Blue Rock Springs parking lot to the payphone at Springs & Tuolumne is approximately 3 miles. So if you are a resident of Vallejo and likely knowledgeable to the location of your local police station (Vallejo Police Department at 111 Armador Street), why would you drive across the city to make a phone call admitting to the attacks at Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Road, from a payphone only 840 meters from the police station? This action seems counterintuitive to giving the police a wide berth. You might expect the assailant at Blue Rock Springs to not only make the phone call away from his residence, but to also make the phone call away from the police station. If the Zodiac Killer lived somewhere by the Springs & Tuolumne payphone (such as the blue cross on the map), as I have speculated, then making a phone call in your vehicle from any of these "red dot" locations appears to be the safer option, before heading home. These locations would have been a reasonable distance from your home and the police station.

However, there is one logical reason why a killer wouldn't make the phone call from any of these "red dot" locations if he lived by the "blue cross". And that is if his vehicle wasn't used, making it too far to walk to these payphones by a Zodiac Killer employing the "least effort principle". If he wanted to remove his vehicle, clothes and gun from the equation before making the phone call on foot, then the round trip from his "blue cross" residence to the any of these "red dot" payphones and back, would take far too long. The reason the Zodiac Killer may have made the phone call so close to where he lived is because the disposal of evidence, such as the car and gun, before making an admission to multiple murders, outweighed the importance of having a residence nearby. In fact, living nearby would have enabled the Zodiac Killer to distance himself from the evidence before the crime was discovered (in his mind), make the phone call and return to the safety of home fairly promptly.​

​Walking from his residence to any of these "red dot" payphones not only negates the "least effort principle", it places him in the public gaze for far longer than necessary. If he had planned to murder somebody on the eastern fringes of Vallejo that night, he very likely chose the Springs & Tuolumne payphone for the express purpose of getting home fairly quickly in case anything went wrong, so he could part with (and conceal) the evidence, while still achieving the phone call with limited foot travel and exposure. The choice of a payphone reasonably close to his home appears contradictory to common sense but it has major benefits as well. The least time you are driving on public streets in possession of the vehicle and gun, instrumental to the crime you have just committed, the better. 

​But wait a minute I hear you ask. If the Zodiac Killer lived by the "blue cross", why didn't he just drive from Blue Rock Springs to the "red dot" payphone 1.3  miles north of his residence (or the payphone to the east of his residence), make the call and head home? This would have required no deviation in travel. The answer may probably be found in his August 4th 1969 letter, where he stated "When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".

​The Zodiac Killer knew only too well that Michael Mageau was very much alive and "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he left the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. Therefore, it was imperative that he headed straight home to get rid of his car and gun, with no time to waste making a phone call as he traveled toward his residence. This was probably the Zodiac Killer's contingency plan. He always knew that if the crime didn't transpire as he expected, he could still get home fairly quickly and also achieve his goal of making the phone call to the Vallejo Police Department without his car and gun placing him in greater danger. He mitigated the proximity risk of his residence to the payphone by adding his "brown car" back into the equation in his August 4th 1969 letter, selling the notion to police that he still had the capability to travel anywhere. 

EXTRA READING: "THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY"    

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who specializes in the investigative methodology of geographic profiling, which can be used to narrow down the likely home residence or "anchor point" of an offender. He used this technique to identify Vallejo as one of the areas of high priority in the search for the Zodiac Killer, while concluding that San Francisco should be given a lower probability score. It is true that the vast bulk of Zodiac communications were mailed from San Francisco, but dropping off letters into mailboxes in the 1960s and 1970s carried little to no risk, so this would have been the perfect way to lead investigators toward the conclusion that the Zodiac Killer may have lived in San Francisco, when your mailings are at least six times that of your kill sites. These letters could have been mailed from anywhere, yet almost all carried the postmark of San Francisco, which appears counterintuitive to somebody residing in that location. 

The software was created to determine the likeliest anchor points of the Zodiac Killer by using key locations, such as the four attack sites at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, and the two payphones at Vallejo and Napa - but the software was not designed to include the mechanics of the crime and the contents of the letters. We know for a fact that the journey time by car to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone from the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs is approximately 9 to 10 minutes in duration. And we know for a fact that the Zodiac Killer made the phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at 12:40am. If the Zodiac Killer left the parking lot at about midnight, we absolutely have 30 minutes of unaccounted time. The question has always been, what did the Zodiac Killer do with these 40 minutes? 

Some people have suggested that the Zodiac Killer, having been exhilarated by his attack at Blue Rock Springs, parked up his vehicle and pleasured himself. Other suggestions offered, include a Zodiac Killer who went to a drive-in and purchased some food. The biggest problem with ideas such as these is that they do not take into account the known facts and what was written in the August 4th 1969 Zodiac letter. Sure, the Zodiac Killer could have penned some falsehoods, but when his written text matches the known facts, we have to re-evaluate the notion of a killer who just drives around Vallejo, masturbating or eating burgers, or both, for just shy of 40 minutes. Although it has been offered previously on this site that the Zodiac Killer may have received blood transfer to his shirt when leaning over the front passenger seat to fire the final two shots at Michael Mageau (because two bullet casings were found on the rear passenger floorboard), it cannot be proven beyond doubt that this was the case. Therefore, we are unable to use this as incontrovertible proof of a killer needing to immediately return home to change his clothes before making the payphone call to Nancy Slover. However, it is important to remember as a probability or possibility.

The one thing we do know to be true from the Zodiac Killer's August 4th 1969 letter, is that the last three descriptors he gave of Michael Mageau, was a boy who "leaped backwards" into the rear of the Corvair and was "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer's last recollection of Michael Mageau was that of a boy very much alive when he struck the 19-year-old victim in the knee. We had a young man who had "leaped" over the front seat, before "thrashing" about very "violently" as he tried to avoid the final two shots (that entered his hip and thigh). Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival at about 12:10am, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the airwaves to all police units as early as 12:15am to 12:20am. Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at Kaiser Hospital at about 12:45am, where he ultimately underwent surgery for his injuries and survived. Michael Mageau's injuries bled profusely but none of his injuries were immediately life threatening. This is why he was able to survive for upwards of 45 minutes after being shot four times.​

​Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer would have factored in the condition of Michael Mageau when he left the crime scene, and contemplated the possibility his description and vehicle had the potential to be over the airwaves in the next few minutes, can a reasonable argument be made that the Zodiac Killer just parked up his vehicle on the street and began masturbating, or visited a local eatery and ordered a burger and fries? This would have required a Zodiac Killer performing totally unnecessary activities for close to 40 minutes, after delivering nine shots to a young couple in a parking lot, while possibly still in possession of the weapon, covered in gun shot residue, and driving a vehicle that Michael Mageau could reasonably have identified. What makes far more sense, is a killer who mitigated this risk and headed straight home to dispose of his vehicle, clothes and weapon, before heading to the payphone on foot and delivering his murderous message. Let us look at some other options.

Our killer lived in Richmond, Berkeley, El Sobrante, Santa Rosa, Napa or San Francisco - and instead of heading directly home and making the phone call somewhere along the way in relative safety - he decided to hang around Vallejo or Benicia in his vehicle for the purpose of whatever story we can make up, with no supporting evidence to show why he would choose this option. Leaving the crime scene at Blue Rock Springs with Michael Mageau very much alive appears to contradict the notion of a killer living in Richmond or San Francisco, yet choosing to wilfully remain in the area of Vallejo when the airwaves could conceivably have been filled with "be on the lookout" for this particular man, driving this particular car, who if randomly stopped is sitting on a goldmine of evidence. The Zodiac Killer may have been many things, but was he a killer who totally disregarded the fact he could see Michael Mageau still kicking and screaming when he fired his ninth and final shot shortly after midnight on July 5th 1969, just before he re-entered his vehicle and drove away from the parking lot?

We also know that after the payphone call was traced a policeman was sent from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot to secure the Springs & Tuolumne payphone at approximately 12:50am (or slightly later), so it could be dusted for fingerprints. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer told of an encounter with a black male by the payphone while he was talking to Nancy Slover, what possible other locatiions could the Zodiac Killer have ever meant, when he stated on August 4th 1969 that "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". The Zodiac Killer could only have seen the policeman who was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone at about 12:50am. This being the case, would the Zodiac Killer really have sat in his vehicle close to the payphone for at least 9 minutes after ending the call with Nancy Slover, with the chance his vehicle description was floating across the airwaves?  Or was it more likely he arrived to the payphone on foot, absent of his vehicle and other incriminating evidence? There is more than enough reason to believe that the Zodiac Killer lived within a half mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone 
​
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 

Only six weeks away from claiming the August 3rd 1969 San Jose murders of Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14) in the "Dripping Pen" card on November 8th 1969, the Zodiac Killer attempted to augment the perception he was involved in their murders, by reinforcing newspaper stories of his possible connection to this crime and adding "by knife" on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. The obviousness of the double stabbing by the lake, a clear indication that the wording on the car door had greater purpose. This became clear when the Zodiac Killer drew us a "bleeding knife" on December 16th 1969, when he mailed the second Fairfield letter. This letter was the product of a Los Angeles Times newspaper article earlier that morning, which told of the Zodiac Killer's "hint" on November 8th 1969 that he was responsible for the slayings of Snoozy and Furlong. There is no way to prove the following concept, but it's eminently possible that his two phrases of "bleeding knife" and "by knife" were deliberately taken from the newspapers which detailed the murder of Debra Furlong and her resulting autopsy. 

In the San Jose Mercury on August 6th 1969, Dr. John Hauser, who performed the two autopsies on the teenage girls, stated that he couldn't attribute a specific cause of death, but concluded that it may have been from "bleeding" or lacerations of internal organs or both. On the same day, August 6th 1969, the Los Angeles Herald & Examiner ran an article entitled "The Victims: 16 Young Girls", featuring pictures of Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong. The picture of Debra Furlong had the wording "killed by knife" written under it. The phrase "by knife" that was written on the car door at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. One year later, on October 27th 1970, "by knife" was added to the Halloween card, which appeared to incorporate "4-TEEN" or "4 teenagers" into the running victim total of fourteen. The Zodiac Killer was only claiming the murders of four teenagers by October 27th 1970. They were David Faraday (17), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14). 

Also, on August 6th 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled "The Frenzy of San Jose Girls' Slayer". The newspaper gave the proposed burial site of Kathie Snoozy at the Oak Hill Memorial Park in the Monticello neighborhood of San Jose (which formed part of the 07/13/1971 Monticello card), and released details of the five remaining family members of the Furlong family, that the Zodiac Killer may have threatened on December 19th 1969, three days after the "bleeding knife" of Zodiac offering.

It appeared as though August 6th 1969 was integral to at least three "communications" (car door, Fairfield letter, Monticello card), and one phone call to the San Jose Highway Patrol on December 19th 1969, in which the Zodiac Killer spoke to dispatcher Shirley Searey and claimed he would "kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday".

​In 1971, two communications were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle (the 148 character cipher in probably May and Monticello card on July 13th), which both indirectly referenced the Snoozy & Furlong murders and the recent murder of Kathy Bilek (18) in Saratoga on April 11th 1971. The 148 character cryptogram contained the ciphertext symbol of a "mirrored N", just like the Halloween card on October 27th 1970.. The phrase "by knife" was written on the Halloween card, not only reminiscent of the car door and picture of Debra Furlong, but the Halloween card very possibly also referenced Debra Furlong amongst the four teenagers he was claiming as victims at this juncture. The "mirrored N" would therefore have appeared in two communications from the Zodiac Killer, both of which suggested his involvement in the murders of Kathie Snoozy & Debra Furlong. The plaintext character for the "mirrored N" in the decrypted 148 character cryptogram was "K" for "Knife".  

Another message would appear on September 18th 1973:
WHAT INSPIRED THE TOMBSTONE WRITING? 

On September 18th 1973 the Zodiac Killer, either deliberately or inadvertently, revealed the location of "Monticello" in the July 13th 1971 Monticello card by (probably) removing the tombstone of Kathie Snoozy from the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery in the Monticello neighborhood of San Jose. The tombstone had "Zodiac" written on it in crayon. This was almost certainly the Zodiac Killer, because a hoaxer in 1973 would have had no way of knowing that this cemetery had been featured in an unreleased communication nearly two years previously. But what triggered the Zodiac Killer to perform such an act in the third quarter of 1973? Had something about the Zodiac Killer appeared in a San Jose newspaper in the last week or so?

On September 13th 1973, the San Jose Mercury reported on the September 10th 1973 murder of Yellow Cab driver Roland J. Canfield (41) of 551 Manor Drive, Pacifica, who was shot behind his right ear at 4:00pm while parked at the intersection of 27th and Noe streets in San Francisco. The wallet of Roland J. Canfield, still in his back pocket, was empty of money. The taxicab strongbox was described as undisturbed. Homicide inspectors David Toschi and William Armstrong, investigatng the case, indicated a lack of evidence to form a Zodiac Killer connection to that of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. 

In the middle of the afternoon Roland J. Canfield received a dispatch to an address at 27th and Noe streets, but when he arrived at the intersection he would have discovered that the address he was given didn't exist. Reports from police, who interviewed the dispatcher, stated that upon discovering the non-existent address the taxicab driver was hailed by a man walking on the opposite side of the street. The fact that this man shot Roland J. Canfield and escaped to a nearby automobile, strongly suggests that the taxicab driver was lured to this location for the purpose of murder (and maybe robbery). A fictitious address followed shortly by murder could be argued as related. The Zodiac Killer has long been believed to have parked his vehicle close to the crime scene at Presidio Heights - although this comparison - would be rightly described as clutching at straws when attempting to forge a link from this crime to the murder at Washington and Cherry in 1969, just over 3 miles north.

Three days after the murder of Roland J. Canfield, on Thursday, September 13th 1973, homicide inspectors David Toschi arrested James A. Montano (20) at his 380 Tompkins Street home. No weapon was retrieved from the crime scene or suspect. The arrest was detailed in the accompanying newspaper article from the San Jose Mercury on September 14th 1973. Four days later, on September 18th 1973, the Zodiac Killer wrote on the tombstone removed from the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery in San Jose. Had the connection between the murder of Roland J. Canfield and Paul Stine to Zodiac, reported in the San Jose newspaper only days earlier, stirred the Zodiac Killer into visiting the San Jose cemetery and placing his pseudonym firmly in the public gaze once again? Clearly telling us he was still around. 

On January 12th 1974, after two court proceedings, the second jury in the trial of James A. Montano again failed to reach a verdict, with Superior Judge S. Lee Vavuris declaring a mistrial. The murder of Roland J. Canfield remains unsolved to this day. This Yellow Cab shooting is extremely unlikely to have any connection to the 1969 murder of Paul Stine and the Zodiac Killer, but the mere mention of his pseudonym in the newspapers often created an immediate response from the Bay Area murderer in the form of a letter. On September 18th 1973, it seems he deviated from this pattern and left his message on a tombstone. 

The murder of Paul Stine occurred at the intersection of Washington and Cherry streets on October 11th 1969, despite the trip sheet indicating that the Zodiac Killer had given a destination one block earlier at Washington and Maple. Many people have speculated that the Zodiac Killer may have intended to kill Paul Stine at this less residential location, but his plans were thwarted because of possible pedestrian traffic. Therefore he chose to instruct the driver to proceed one block further.

However, what if an incident took place at Washington and Maple that necessitated this change of plan? We assume the widely portrayed version of events of a killer who simply pulled a gun on an unsuspecting Paul Stine as he parked up outside 3898 Washington Street and then shot him dead. This version has two problems, in that it doesn't explain the intraparenchymal tissue hemorrhages in both lungs of Paul Stine noted at autopsy, and it doesn't reconcile the conflict between the trip sheet destination and the eventual murder site. Unless of course, the Washington and Maple intersection and the autopsy results are inextricably linked. 

We have no way of knowing if and what verbal exchanges took place in the taxicab that night, or when the gun was pulled on Paul Stine, but three things we do know. [1] The autopsy of Paul Stine indicates that the bleeding occurred in the lung tissue itself and not as a result of blood draining from the head to the lung spaces. Parenchymal relates to, or affecting the functional tissue of an organ. Parenchyma is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs. With no pre-existing conditions attributed to Paul Stine in this regard, it strongly suggests his lungs received trauma due to an external injury to his chest on October 11th 1969. These types of injury can be caused by impact with the steering wheel or dashboard, and noted in many car accidents. [2] We know that the interdepartmental memorandum of Officer Donald Fouke on November 12th 1969 described the Zodiac Killer as having a "shuffling lope", which in dictionary form is detailed as "a way of walking or moving using long, relaxed steps" and "a way of walking (dragging feet instead of lifting them)". Either way, Officer Donald Fouke found it necessary to highlight the Zodiac Killer's "unusual" walking style. And [3], We know that the trip sheet destination did not correlate with the location of the murder. Is it possible that all three are connected?  

If the Zodiac Killer had readied his gun on the approach to Washington and Maple, could Paul Stine have noticed this, or was the gun actually presented to the driver on the pretense of a robbery? In a situation such as this, Paul Stine has two options. He can comply and wish for the best, or he can slam on his brakes as he approaches the intersection causing the rapid deceleration of the taxicab and hopefully catapult his passenger forward into the rear seats, giving him a momentary advantage to escape or disarm his assailant.

​If this rapid braking had occurred in the middle of the road (with accompanied screeching of tires), but had failed to achieve the desired result, the Zodiac Killer could still have easily received injuries to his knees and/or upper legs. The action of the driver, although unsuccessful, had the potential to draw unwanted attention to the taxicab. Wanting to mitigate this risk, the Zodiac Killer may have ordered Paul Stine to drive one block further west, where the taxicab was located askew from the kerb. A killer who was described by Officer Donald Fouke three minutes later as a white male with a "shuffling lope". An injury to the quadriceps can affect the ability to raise your legs off the ground, yet the desire of the Zodiac Killer to leave the area quickly and elude capture could have ameliorated this setback through longer strides. Although this is just supposition, the observations of Officer Donald Fouke cannot be ignored.

The injuries to Paul Stine's lungs and the walking style of the Zodiac Killer, in combination with the discrepancy of trip sheet and murder site, can be argued to have had one root cause at the intersection of Washington and Maple. If Paul Stine damaged his lungs by slamming on his brakes and impacting the steering wheel, then it follows that the Zodiac Killer would have been propelled forwards into the rear seat of the taxicab and also potentially sustained injuries. Possibly noted by Officer Donald Fouke a few minutes later on Jackson Street. Of course, none of this is provable, but we shouldn't ignore the autopsy report because it doesn't align with the story we've been fed since 1969.   

We have all seen the relatively crude facial representations manufactured from the genetics of retrieved DNA (created by Parabon NanoLabs), that produces reasonable but extremely limited results. But by identifying more genetic markers and merging it with artificial intelligence, it may soon be possible to create an extremely accurate age-based 3-D image of a murderer from DNA left at the crime scene, or deposited on the stamp or seal of an envelope.

​A recent genetic database of 9,674 Han Chinese individuals has been used by the Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers with the aim to turn crime scene DNA into extremely lifelike 3-D imagery. The model called Difface uses single nucleotide polymorphisms, frequently called SNPs (pronounced “snips”), which are the most common type of genetic variation among people..They can be found in regulatory regions near genes, potentially affecting gene expression. ​

​​Each of the 9,674 Han Chinese individuals provided both genome sequencing data and high-resolution 3D face scans. The results were surprisingly detailed. Even subtle traits like the nasion — the dip at the top of the nose — or cheekbone shape could be recreated with remarkable precision.. By analyzing patterns in the DNA, including the segments called SNPs that influence facial traits, the system learned to match genetic markers with physical features like nose shape, cheekbone structure, and jawline. Thus creating a digital face with a high degree of precision and average measurement inaccuracy of only 3.5 mm. This is extremely accurate when you consider the size of the human face. When age, sex and body mass indes are added into the equation, the error dropped to 2.93 mm.

​The most obvious application of this tool is its use in forensics. An artificial intelligence tool that can perform such tasks could be used by law enforcement to retrieve DNA from a crime scene and then reconstruct a suspect’s face in absence of witnesses or camera footage. Below is an original scan taken from an individual, accompanied by a generated image using their DNA. Bearing in mind that this technique is in early development and has room for scalable improvement, the results are quite astounding.   

When the model is eventually expanded using an increased database of larger populations such as America, the aim is to correlate specific markers in the DNA to particular features of the face with reduced margins of error. Think of the DNA like a 3-D map, that can be recognised and visualised by artificial intelligence and converted into human form. We would have nothing to lose by using the DNA retrieved from the hand of Cheri Jo Bates, the DNA from the 1978 letter, or the hair from the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter, to produce a 3-D facial image from any of the given samples.

​If an image produced in the Zodiac case looked extremely similar to the Presidio Heights sketch or one of the many suspects proposed as the Bay Area murderer, it would be a rather fascinating development. The image formed in respect to the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates could be compared to individuals from the library and any number of suspects connected to the young 18-year-old college freshman. The images created from possible Zodiac Killer DNA by the use of artificial intelligence and then age progressed through the years, may generate an interesting response from the public - particularly from individuals who point the finger towards a person who once lived (or maybe still lives) in Vallejo, San Francisco, or any of the neighboring areas.     

There are many document examiners who had access to the original 3-part ransom note from the 1996 JonBenet Ramsey murder case in Boulder, Colorado, that concluded there was no evidence to suggest Patsy Ramsey wrote the threatening communication. Richard Dusak, a U.S. Secret Service document examiner, found no evidence linking Patsy to the note. Similarly, forensic document examiner Howard Rile believed it was unlikely Patsy wrote the note. Leonard Speckin, a private forensic document examiner, also concluded that differences existed between Patsy's writing and the ransom note.

However, there are other certified document examiners that wholeheartedly disagree, such as Gideon Epstein who stated he was "absolutely certain that she (Patsy) wrote the note, 100 percent certain". David Liebman, a certified document examiner, stated "There are far too many similarities and consistencies revealed in the handwriting of Patsy Ramsey and the ransom note for it to be coincidence. In light of the number of comparisons and similarities between Patsy Ramsey and the ransom note writer, the chances of a third party also sharing the same characteristics is astronomical. In my professional opinion Patsy Ramsey is the ransom note writer". Tom Miller, a court qualified expert witness in questioned documents, stated "Based upon available exemplars compared to the purported "ransom" note in the JonBenét Ramsey murder, the handwriting is probably that of Patsy Ramsey". I can find you dozens of "certified" experts that absolutely believe Patsy Ramsey wrote the ransom note, dozens of "certified" experts that absolutely believe Patsy Ramsey did not write the ransom note, and dozens of "certified" experts that fall somewhere in between, who don't fully commit one way or another.

This clearly demonstrates that handwriting analysis is not objective, it is subjective. It is a matter of opinion. Regardless of this undeniable fact, it doesn't stop misinformed individuals like Tom Voigt directing people to his list of authenticated letters on his website - that have obviously (in absence of DNA and fingerprints) been largely deemed authentic by certified document examiners like the ones above. In other words, this list is meaningless, because it's based, for the most part, on handwriting analysis. If certified document examiners subsequent to December 25th 1996 cannot determine whether a written communication is from Patsy Ramsey or not, despite multiple available exemplars of her handwriting, then it is obviously not possible to determine the authenticity of a Zodiac letter based predominantly on handwriting analysis. For some unknown reason, individuals like Tom Voigt appear not to grasp this simple concept. He seems to be augmenting the suspension of reality when dishing up this list of fiction. 

Unfortunately, Tom Voigt believes that "certified experts" in the Zodiac case are somehow different to the "certified experts" in the JonBenet Ramsey case - they can 100% authenticate letters when nobody else can. The one thing we do know for certain in the Zodiac case, is that Tom Voigt is no "certified expert" when it comes to compiling lists and applying reasoned thought.