The Zodiac Killer made a payphone call near the corner of Main and Clinton Streets approximately seventy minutes after the brutal knife attack on Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell by the shores of Lake Berryessa. He uttered these words to relief police dispatcher David Slaight: "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I'm the one that did it". It always seemed odd that the Zodiac Killer could be so wide of the mark concerning the distance he attributed between the crime scene and Park Headquarters, when it was only 0.7 miles. The Zodiac Killer, a man of maps and codes, surely couldn't have mistaken 0.7 miles for 2 miles driving along Knoxville Road - leading to the notion that the 2 mile attribution was accidentally inserted into his payphone message, but the distance had some significance. That significance being, that the Zodiac Killer didn't enter his vehicle at the crime scene, but further north along Knoxville Road. He may have entered his vehicle at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area which is 1.83 miles (approx 2 miles) north of Park Headquarters. When he made the payphone call he accidentally inserted the distance he traveled in his vehicle to Park Headquarters rather than from the crime scene. There were two sightings of a suspicious man at Smittle Creek to back up this very notion. If we can place the Zodiac Killer at this location twice in one day, described by two sets of eyewitnesses, then we may be in business.  

The white circle on Knoxville Road below (as the crow flies) is exactly 0.8 miles north from the vehicle of Bryan Hartnell and exactly 2 miles north of 5100 Knoxville Road (A&W Root Beer stand). This is extremely important because the police report stated that the three women who spotted a suspicious man observing them from the hillside "parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road". This was followed by a second suspicious sighting of a man by Dr Rayfield & Son just over 2 hours later. They described a "white male adult subject walking in the area, about 5'10", heavy build, wearing dark trousers, a dark shirt with red in it, long sleeves". This sighting likely after the attack on the young couple and described in the police report as a "location approximately 8/10ths of a mile from the scene of the victim's vehicle".  Two sightings in the identical area, alongside Smittle Creek Trailhead.

There is every chance that this was the Zodiac Killer, who had originally targeted the three female students of Pacific Union College, before aborting his attack and later settling on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard only 0.8 miles south. The man stalking the hillside while the girls were sunbathing eventually retreated for whatever reason, and his vehicle had vanished when the girls returned to their vehicle at approximately 4:30 pm. It is perfectly conceivable he entered his vehicle at the Smittle Creek Trailhead (shown by the yellow circle) and drove just 600 meters north to the Smittle Creek Day Use Area. He may have deemed that having his vehicle in such close proximity to a triple murder was probably not the wisest move, and relocated it several hundred meters up the road to provide a cautionary 'buffer zone'. Whether his intention was to return a short while later to complete his mission cannot be ascertained, because the girls had thwarted any intentions by leaving shortly after. 

If the Zodiac Killer had parked at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, left it there, and trawled the hillsides of Lake Berryessa traveling south, while looking for potential victims, then on his return from the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard he would have to pass by Dr Rayfield & Son at Smittle Creek Trailhead to reach his vehicle. That is why they spotted a suspicious man traveling across the upper reaches of the hillside sometime after 6:30 pm, wearing a shirt with red in it. The Zodiac Killer traveled a further 600 meters to the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, got in his vehicle and drove 1.83 miles south along Knoxville Road past the Park Headquarters. When he reached the payphone at Napa he mistakenly described this distance of 1.83 miles as "two miles north of Park Headquarters", accidentally giving away the location of where he parked his vehicle on September 27th 1969. Or maybe he was just terrible at distances - but great at cryptograms, codes, maps and radians. We all have to be bad at something.  

This is an extension to the Washington Street Sketch article, further examining the age of the Zodiac Killer in 1969. Many people have argued that the Zodiac Killer, through four attacks, wasn't one individual because of the varying age estimations, differing from 26-30 by Michael Mageau, 20-30 by Bryan Hartnell (voice concept) and 25-30 by the three teenagers at Presidio Heights, up to 35-45 by Officer Donald Fouke and about 40 by the Julius Khan playground eyewitnesses. However, this really isn't the case when we consider that Michael Mageau's testimony cannot be relied upon, bearing in mind he was blinded by the light from the assailant's vehicle and flashlight, while being shot in the head. His recollection of the events are unclear, with probably less than a second to make a visual on the suspect's face. In the following attack at Lake Berryessa, Bryan Hartnell never saw the suspect's face at all, so we only have a recollection of "voice concept", which in essence means very little. The only attack where the Zodiac Killer's face was seen for any reasonable length of time was on October 11th 1969. At Presidio Heights there were three sets of eyewitnesses who saw the Zodiac Killer from the taxicab to the park - and all gave the same age. The three teenagers described a man in his early forties, Officer Donald Fouke described the man as 35-45 (therefore a median age of 40) and the Julius Khan playground eyewitnesses described the man running into the park as about 40. Three sets of eyewitnesses pinpointing the Zodiac Killer as 40 years of age or slightly above, within a five minute window.

We can of course throw away or disregard the last sighting of a man running into the park and matching the other two descriptions, if our theory revolves around the Zodiac Killer never entering the park or getting into a vehicle along Jackson Street, but this again relies on cherry-picking the evidence to suit our theory, rather than let the evidence or eyewitness testimony become the driver.

The three teenagers never described the suspect as 25-30 years - only the October 13th 1969 police sketch did. Their account was comprehensively detailed in the police report countersigned by Officer Armond Pelissetti on October 12th 1969. Their viewing of the suspect "last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street" was the only eyewitness testimony in the police report, and therefore the suspect description on page 2 could only have been derived from them. It stated the man was in his early forties. It couldn't have been from the other two sets of eyewitnesses because the police report clearly states that the suspect was "last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street". The other eyewitnesses viewed the suspect after Cherry Street.

The three teenagers sat down with a sketch artist who interpreted their description of the man - and it's extremely likely that because the sketch was interpreted and drawn looking younger, the police attributed the age range of 25-30 years to it - likely believing this was the correct course of action based on the appearance of the sketch. In other words, the contradiction of the three teenagers early forties description in the police report to the appearance of the sketch, likely played a part in the revision of the age range placed on the wanted poster. However, it is apparent that the three teenagers were not happy with the first sketch, forcing the police to create an amended sketch more in line with their original early forties description. The police then released the amended sketch on October 18th 1969 with a compromise age range of 35-45 years, which allowed for any slight error either way.      

If we factor in Officer Donald Fouke's description of a man "older and heavier" with a "lumbering gait", possibly "graying in the rear" with a "widows peak", we could be looking at a much more mature Zodiac Killer. A killer who described David Faraday (17), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Michael Mageau (19) and Darlene Ferrin (22) as boy, girl and kids in his initial correspondence. Our suspect is unlikely to be a young man aged between 25-30 years, addressing a 19 and 22-year-old as a boy, girl or kid. The way the Zodiac Killer addressed the couple at Blue Rock Springs Park suggests more of a generational divide.

Here is an excerpt by Donn Devine: "But just how long is a generation? Don’t we all know as a matter of common knowledge that it generally averages about 25 years from the birth of a parent to the birth of a child, even though it varies case by case? And wasn’t it closer to 20 years in earlier times when humans mated younger and life expectancies were shorter? Where did those numbers come from? Several recent studies by a sociologist-demographer and groups of population geneticists and biological anthropologists show that male-line generations, from father to son, are always longer on average than female-line generations, from mother to daughter. They show, too, that both are longer than the 25-year interval that conventional wisdom has assigned to a generation. The male generation is at least a third longer, the female generation is longer by perhaps half that amount".

Most people affix around 20-25 years to a generation, so if we took the average of the four victim's ages from the first two attacks, we would arrive at 19 years. Add the generational divide of 20-25 years and we have a suspect between 39-44 years of age - a man in his early forties or about 40. We know the attack at Presidio Heights was a Zodiac crime because of the blooded piece of taxicab driver Paul Stine's shirt being mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, therefore these three sets of eyewitnesses, in a time window of just five minutes, all describing a man about 40 years of age should carry great value. But does this argument have any sway with the long-held convictions of people regarding suspects in the Zodiac case, or will no amount of eyewitness testimony cloud the lens through which they view the Zodiac case?

In 1969, the ages of the most widely touted suspects were: Theodore Kaczynski (27), Bruce Davis (27), Gareth Penn (28), Ross Sullivan (28), Richard Gaikowski (33), Arthur Leigh Allen (35), Richard Marshall (41), Lawrence Kane (45) and Kjell Qvale (50). Based on the eyewitness testimony at Presidio Heights, only two candidates fit the age description of the Zodiac Killer and these are poor suspects at best. The farther we travel to either end of the suspect age-scale spectrum, the weaker the argument becomes for these men to be the infamous Zodiac Killer. People often defy their years, but the argument still stands.
We have multiple eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights, all of whom were able to give fairly detailed descriptions of a killer emerging from the taxicab, heading up Cherry Street, turning into Jackson Street, before seeking refuge in the Presidio Park just after 10:00 pm. The question is, what faith do you have in three corroborating sets of eyewitnesses?   

To fully understand the true picture of the events of Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 we first have to place the Faraday Rambler in its correct position when discovered by police. It wasn't situated with its front end parked on the eastern bank, it was at least 25-30 feet from the eastern bank, not parked in a position one would have expected David Faraday to choose as the ideal location in the turnout. The photographs of the crime scene clearly show no turnout bank in front of the Rambler, and in addition, the police sketches vary wildly. As one would expect, the police sketch with the measurements should be the most accurate - and this shows a distinct distance from the Rambler front end to the turnout edge. Using simple trigonometry, the distances recorded by police, the telegraph pole, photographs and newspaper images, it is a relatively easy task to find the exact position of the Rambler. It can be determined that the longest measurement on the police sketch must read 93'1" as opposed to the widely believed 73'1" (it just hasn't been written clearly). If you enter Google maps and measure the 53'3" from the telegraph pole in any degree of a north-westerly direction, you will observe how far the front end of the Rambler must be away from the turnout edge. Now widen the turnout (as it would have been in 1968) and you will see the distance increase markedly. This is extremely important because it changes the whole dynamic of the Lake Herman Road events that night, especially when we factor in eyewitnesses who believed the Rambler was literally on the eastern bank and the testimony of Robert Connelly, who on two occasions stated the Rambler was facing into the turnout alongside the western bank. An eyewitness statement conveniently ignored because it doesn't appear to fit the widespread narrative of a killer pulling alongside the Rambler on the eastern bank, exiting his vehicle and attacking the young couple. If Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser are correct, the whole attack may have unfolded in a completely different manner and explain why David Faraday's Rambler was parked so far from the turnout edge.

The 50 feet measurement above is a combination of the length of the Rambler (16ft), Betty Lou Jensen's height (just over 5ft) and the distance of 28'6" her head was measured from the rear of the Rambler. The final resting position of the Rambler doesn't rely on eyewitness testimony or recollections by police, because it can be definitively placed in its correct position by using the feet and inches of exact measurement. Positioning the Rambler approximately 25 to 30 feet away from the turnout edge, closer to the middle of the turnout, is not the natural position to park in a lovers lane retreat and may be explained by the observations of Robert Connelly - the last person to have seen the Rambler alone in the turnout. The final location of the Rambler more indicative of a position not chosen by David Faraday. If this position was not through choice, then he must have been forced there from the position noted by Robert Connelly (facing toward the gate on the west bank).

To discover why David Faraday would move his vehicle from the east bank to the west bank may be explained by the recollections of Peggy Your, the eyewitness immediately preceding Robert Connelly. She stated "As they were driving west on Lake Herman Road (toward Vallejo) at the turn off to the Benicia Water Pumping Station, she observed a Rambler station wagon parked with front end heading east, there were two Caucasians in the front seat, male and female, when the lights from the car came upon the station wagon, the male sat up in the seat. Mrs Your said it was a cold night and she noticed no frost on the station wagon". The Rambler in its original position catches the headlights from oncoming vehicles in either direction, so it is perfectly feasible that David Faraday opted to move his vehicle to the west bank for more privacy. He was clearly still visible to Robert Connelly at approximately 11:05 pm on the west bank, but he may have thought this a better spot for the courting couple. Since the Rambler was the only vehicle spotted in the turnout when Robert Connelly passed, it is clear that David Faraday changed the position of the Rambler to the west bank by his own choice, and therefore, the reason behind his thinking is fairly immaterial. The only question that remains is, what caused the Rambler to move from the west bank to the red position below (the final resting position observed by police). 

We can pick and choose eyewitness testimony to suit our theory of how the crime unfolded, but unless a valid reason can be found for discounting such testimony, then it cannot be overlooked. Robert Connelly stated the Rambler was on the west bank a few minutes before our next eyewitness, James Owen, passed the turnout. In that brief period a second vehicle had arrived and the Rambler had moved back over toward the east side of the turnout (the red position above). The reach of James Owen's headlights as he was traveling toward Benicia may explain why he could only see a "dark car" alongside the Rambler at the periphery of the light. Robert Connelly (also traveling toward Benicia) noticed the Rambler but couldn't see the occupants - probably because the young couple were in the reclined position in a less illuminated section of the turnout. The time difference between Robert Connelly and James Owen passing the turnout may have been as little as five minutes. In this short window of time the Rambler had moved and the second vehicle had arrived. There is a high probability that these two events are related to one another, bearing in mind the unnatural position of the Rambler discovered by police, approximately 25 to 30 feet from the eastern bank facing southeast (the compass directions on the police sketch are slightly off). This is a position most unlikely to have been chosen by David Faraday of his own volition - and if we believe the twice repeated testimony of Robert Connelly - then the Zodiac Killer must have forced this change of position.     

The Zodiac Killer could conceivably have pulled up behind David Faraday (as shown above) thereby blinding their vehicle in light, in similar fashion to Blue Rock Springs. The Zodiac Killer may have flashed his headlights, and with David Faraday possibly believing it to be police and/or under instruction, reversed and pulled his vehicle into its final resting position, with the Zodiac Killer pulling alongside. Whatever the case, his Rambler changed position from the west bank to the position shown in the December 21st 1968 KRON footage below. This would explain the three shifts in position of the Rambler through three sets of eyewitnesses, however, what it doesn't explain is the statement of James Owen that "he did not see anyone in the cars or around them". The Zodiac Killer, being just beyond the periphery of light, would explain why he was not visible, but as for David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen we can only speculate. The simplest answer, is that James Owen simply failed to notice them - or depending on the time difference between Zodiac and James Owen reaching the turnout - they may have been removed from the vehicle. The Faraday Rambler must have been in three different positions from 11:00 pm onwards, because if we take the Robert Connelly testimony as accurate, then the Rambler moved from east to west in the turnout and back again. It therefore couldn't have ended up in the identical position it was first noted. David Faraday was an extremely intelligent and responsible young man, who would certainly not have parked his vehicle in the odd position detailed at the crime scene by police. The Rambler was coerced into that position - and the Zodiac Killer is the only viable candidate. 

Although I am doubtful of a Zodiac connection to Riverside, Tom Voigt (from ZodiacKiller.com) is correct in suggesting that the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, being our 'ground zero', could open many doors in discovering the identity of the Zodiac Killer, where tangible evidence was recovered from the victim's hand and floor of the alleyway. Identifying commonalities between Zodiac crimes and Zodiac victims could be invaluable in narrowing down our search for the infamous Bay Area murderer. While understandably cautious about the two tips he received regarding a link between Cheri Jo Bates and Cecilia Shepard, it is a lead certainly worth pursuing amid the uncertainty of a viable DNA fingerprint. Just like geographic profiling, if we can tie the Zodiac Killer to a specific location through two victims, then many further doors could open.

In the April of 2019, Tom Voigt received an email stating that Cecilia Shepard and Cheri Jo Bates were known to one another - often frequenting the popular Sorrento Italian Restaurant on Magnolia Avenue. This corroborated a previous tip he had received fifteen years ago, thereby adding credence to the possibility the two girls knew each other. In 1966, Cheri Jo Bates was a student at the Riverside City College, whereas Cecilia Shepard attended the nearby La Sierra University, just 4.6 miles east of the infamous Corona crosshairs, where Joseph Bates (father of Cheri) worked as a machinist for the Corona Naval Ordnance Laboratory. Corona used to hold car racing around its city center in the early 1900s, primarily because of the unique layout of its streets, incorporating Main Street, East Grand Boulevard and West Grand Boulevard which formed a perfect circle. It was originally called South Riverside and is widely known as 'Circle City.'

The Sorrento Italian Restaurant was located at 9844 Magnolia Avenue. La Sierra University was located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, one mile north of Magnolia Avenue, with the Riverside City College at 4800 Magnolia Ave. The Italian restaurant just 2.5 miles from the grounds of La Sierra University. Tom Voigt makes an interesting connection to the November 29th 1966 'Confession' letter in which the author concludes "I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game", and reminiscent of the "dangerous game" he played out in the Bay Area. Tom Voigt hypothesised on whether there may have been an element of truth in the author's frankness, deducing that the only psychiatric facility available in 1966 was the Riverside General Hospital University Medical Center (founded 1893) and located at 9851 Magnolia Avenue, virtually on the doorstep of the Sorrento Italian Restaurant. Tom Voigt concluded that if the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and received any treatment for a mental illness, then it's perfectly conceivable he received this treatment across the road from the Sorrento Restaurant - and may have visited the restaurant himself. Placing two victims and the Zodiac Killer in the same room would obviously turn the search for the infamous Bay Area murderer on its head, albeit layered with a degree of cautious optimism.

After 25 years of chasing the Zodiac Killer and many blind alleys, the link between Cecilia Shepard and Cheri Jo Bates (although still has to be conclusively proven) has invigorated Tom Voigt in his quest for the identity of the Zodiac Killer and bolstered his belief that the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 and the Bay Area murders are inextricably linked. Did the inception of the Zodiac Killer begin on Magnolia Avenue, ultimately taking the crosshairs of Corona to his correspondence in the Bay Area and the "road races" of Presidio Heights, just under three years later? Tom Voigt is determined that the journey has only just begun.

To visit the forum thread pertaining to this subject, please visit the Zodiac Killer message board. Tom Voigt has also released a 14 minute 32 second Youtube video outlining other material regarding the suggested connection between Cecilia Shepard and Cheri Jo Bates.

In previous articles we have discussed the Zodiac shift from gun to knife at Lake Berryessa, his claim to be responsible for the San Jose knife slayings on August 3rd 1969, the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" correspondence and the possibility he was referring to the Reet Jurvetson murder as victim number eight. Then came the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, the tone of which bore similarities to the Frances Brown murder scene on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment in Chicago. She had been stabbed multiple times and the knife was discovered protruding from her neck. Her killer had left an ominous message written in red lipstick on the wall of her apartment stating "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer had written "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". We know that the Zodiac Killer had a propensity for plagiarism, often using lines from The Mikado, along with his reference to The Most Dangerous Game - both of which dated back to 1885 and 1924 respectively. Therefore, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that he would again bring up another knife murder, this time from 24 years prior. The question is, whether anybody in the four subsequent months to December 20th 1969 could reasonably have been expected to make the connection between the Melvin Belli letter wording and the murder of Frances Brown in 1945, other than its designer?

William Heirens was convicted in the murders of Frances Brown, Josephine Ross and 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan, who was savagely killed and dismembered. This is what makes the murder of Robert Michael Salem on April 15th 1970 so very interesting. He was brutally stabbed in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment, with the newspapers reporting that "the killer had apparently tried to decapitate his victim and when that failed, cut off Salem's left ear". Suzanne Degnan's killer had severed her head, which was ultimately found in a sewer one block from her residence. The murderer of Robert Salem had also written on the wall of the apartment above his body, this time with "red blood" as opposed to "red lipstick", but accompanied by the wording "satan saves" and "Zodiac". The writing was adorned with the drawing of an Ankh - it was commonly held in the hands of deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife.

This crime scene coming just under 4 months after the Melvin Belli letter, which didn't overtly mention the Frances Brown crime scene, but disguised it within the context of the wording chosen. The murder of Robert Salem at 745 Stevenson Street just 1.6 miles from the 1228 Montgomery Street residence of prominent attorney Melvin Belli, 821 meters from the Chronicle offices and 0.8 miles from Union Square (the pick up point of Paul Stine's fateful taxicab journey). Could a random killer have engineered such a crome scene at 745 Stevenson Street by reading into the disguised writings of the Zodiac Killer 4 months earlier, when it is most likely not many had made the connection to the Frances Brown murder scene over two decades earlier? Or is it more likely that the Zodiac Killer murdered Robert Salem with multiple knife wounds (just 1.6 miles from the Belli residence), scrawled "Zodiac" on the wall in "red writing" and attempted to decapitate his victim in similar fashion to that of Suzanne Degnan?

An article describing the murder of Robert Salem featured in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970, just hours before the Zodiac Killer mailed his '13 Symbol' cipher to the newspaper, stating "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed"​​​. After four months of silence, one could easily come to the conclusion that this was no coincidence, especially when we draw a parallel from the "satan saves" message on the wall in blood, to the 888 circled in the '13 Symbol' cipher. This figure representing Jesus or Christ the Redeemer in Christian numerology. Throw in the "Ankh" and "afterlife", and the picture becomes clearer. The massive parallels of the Robert Salem murder to the Frances Brown murder are clear to see - but could a killer pretending to be Zodiac have worked all this out from the innocuous pleas for help in the Melvin Belli letter months earlier? The Zodiac Killer (referring to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell) stated that "I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory". But was 745 Stevenson Street, just 1.6 miles from the Melvin Belli residence and 0.8 miles from Union Square, more likely the territory he operated within - and did so on April 15th 1970?   

The first coverage of the Salem murder was in the morning edition of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970, so did the Zodiac Killer have time to construct a letter that included a cipher, bus bomb diagram and a reference to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell on February 16th 1970, who suffered devastating and sadly fatal injuries two months earlier, when a bomb packed with fence staples exploded on an outside ledge of Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood? The Zodiac Killer would had to have rushed this letter in order for it to be mailed and postmarked the same day. Unless, he had prepared it days earlier, just after the murder of Robert Salem and deliberately timed to coincide with the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper coverage. 

The police claimed that the "killer was not Zodiac", but with the parallels drawn from the authenticated Melvin Belli letter regarding the murder of Frances Brown - that a copycat would have been hard pushed to extrapolate - does this make the assertion that this was not a Zodiac crime by police, a rather over-confident statement just five days after the murder?  

Geographic profiling ia an invaluable tool for mapping the probable location where an offender most likely lives. This offender, like all of us, has areas of familiarity with respect to their profession and personal life that governs one's comfort zone, and therefore the commuter routes they opt for. These are factored into their way of thinking when considering any crimes that are to be committed or the areas where an offender may conceal a body. There is a delicate balance to be struck between the least effort principle (expenditure of the least amount of effort to accomplish a task) and the buffer zone (where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their home). In other words, they don't want to focus the attention around the place they live, but may equally not want to expend the effort in traveling a great distance, thereby creating a mental map of a target zone - usually somewhere with which they have a familiarity. Of course, factors such as their working week will affect the distance they are prepared to travel on any given day.

​This mental map was considered in the article Seventy One Days of Terror from October 11th 1969 to December 20th 1969, analyzing confirmed and unconfirmed letters, phone calls, murders and proposed murders during this time period. It became apparent that the locations targeted during this period, that included Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose, all have Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 running directly through them. This may give us a clue to the areas where the Zodiac Killer was most comfortable. If he frequented these areas regularly in his profession, then this could very well influence the newspapers he read and the stories he became interested in. The case of murder victim Reet Jurvetson in a previous article, another example of a crime conforming to the above criteria. He may not have murdered this young woman, but was familiar with the area in which she was murdered, which ultimately governed his decision to choose her as victim number eight - allied to his new found fascination of knife crime. She too was brutally stabbed 157 times and unceremoniously dumped down a ravine off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Her body was discovered just 2 miles from U.S. Route 101.           

When the Zodiac Killer failed to acquire the "front page coverage" he craved, he may have drew inspiration from the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed and murdered on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose. They each had suffered in excess of 100 knife wounds that can only be described as savagery. In less than two months he would arrive on the shores of Lake Berryessa armed with a 12-inch bayonet. The killer wrote on the car door of victim Bryan Hartnell "by knife". On November 8th 1969, he claimed his involvement in the Snoozy-Furlong murders by the addition of "Aug" on the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card, followed by the November 21st 1969 San Jose letter possibly suggesting that Reet Jurvetson was another one of his knife victims. Then came the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" mailed from Fairfield on December 16th 1969, followed by the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969, stating he was losing control and looking for victims nine and ten.  

On April 20th 1970 he was claiming a victim count of ten - so if we are to determine the murder victims or proclaimed murder victims of the Zodiac Killer, then we must take all of the above into account. Based on three of the four attacks to date, victims nine and ten may have been a couple. They would have been murdered between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970, in a non-sexual attack that involved numerous knife wounds. It is also critical (whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible or claiming to be the responsible) that they would would be found close to Interstate 80 or U.S. Route 101.
​
On February 22nd 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armoured Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, were discovered brutally stabbed on a beach close to Santa Barbara Cemetery and East Cabrillo Boulevard. This crime in some ways mirrored the stabbings at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack. The beach where their bodies were found, lies only 500 meters from U.S. Route 101. The mental map of the Zodiac Killer is starting to take shape.

On July 19th 1978 a typewritten letter from Los Angeles arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating: "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control of all things. I am going to tell you a secret. I like friction tape. I like to have it around in case I need to truss someone up in a hurry....I have my real name on a small metallic tape. You see, while you have it in your possession, I want you to know it belongs to me and you think I may have left it accidentally. I am athletic. It could be swim fins, or a piece of scuba gear. But maybe you play chess with me. I have several cheap sets in closets all over. I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape....My tape is waiting for me all over California. Do you know me? I am the ZODIAC and I am in control". ​

In the previous article on this topic we discussed how this letter may have been a sarcastic dig at David Toschi, who had been demoted from homicide detail to pawn detail after revelations of his possible authorship of the April 24th 1978 letter. The phrase "but maybe you play chess with me" a reference to his misfortune of ending up in the pawn section. Quicktrader, from Zodiac Killer Site forum, explained how the author of this letter may have given us a clue to his name Paul, which featured at the bottom of the lid on a well known brand of Scotch tape. In fact, the majority of the letter implicitly focuses on tape, beginning with "friction tape" to bind his victims, then "small metallic tape" which he didn't leave somewhere accidentally, and finally, the "scotch tape" which we've already covered.  

Regarding the tape - twice he mentioned his name in accompaniment. The author stated "I have my real name on a small metallic tape" and  "I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape". If we are to discover what the Zodiac Killer (if the author) meant by "small metallic tape" we need to travel back to a murder where his name featured, at or close to the attack site, and where it was deliberately left. Fortunately we don't have to go back too far.

On Sunday November 2nd 1975, a man walked up to a couple's vehicle on Monte Cresta Drive, Belmont, California and shot 17-year-old Carlmont High School student Anthony Vincent Bruno Jr to death. "According to Police Captain George Stephenson, Bruno and his girlfriend (16 years) had been parked on Monte Cresta Drive, above Barclay Way in an isolated area of western hills when a man opened the driver's side door and apparently without saying anything fired the shotgun. The girl, who was not identified by police, pushed Bruno's body aside and drove the car to her home from where police were notified. She described the assailant as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds and wearing an Army green parka with hood, according to police. Stephenson said also that a late model brown pick-up truck, possibly a Dodge or Chevrolet, had been seen in the area at about the time of the shooting." San Mateo Times.

​The description doesn't sound much like the Zodiac Killer, but often he would lay claim to murders he never committed. This may have been the case here, when on the following day (possibly having read or heard about the murder) placed something interesting in a phone booth. ​Mike Morford stated, in reference to a San Mateo news article, dated November 14th 1975 "The reporter, a man named Bob Foster, mentions that on the night of November 3, 1975, the 11 pm TV news on channel KGO, ran a story about a Zodiac letter being found in a phone booth. This is pretty interesting to me for a couple reasons regarding the timing. First of all because, the night before, on 11/2/75, a young man and his girlfriend were attacked on a lovers lane by a gun wielding man. The male victim, Vincent Bruno was killed, but his girlfriend survived. If I recall correctly, there may have been a letter & cassette tape found the same night in a phone booth not far from the attack site, from someone claiming to be Zodiac. Also, I will try to find it again, but in one of the FBI files, there IS mention of a letter & casette tape found together". Here is a previous article covering this topic. 

The Zodiac Killer may have been inspired to switch from gun to knife after the extensive front page coverage given to the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found murdered on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose. They were savagely attacked with a penknife. The chief medical examiner described the ferocity of the attack: "Dr. Hauser, so shaken by the brutality of the crime he could scarcely find words, said the Snoozy youngster had 150 wounds on her back, 50 on the front and a "storm" of punctures on her neck. Deborah's body had about 100 wounds on her back and upper front and a dozen on her neck". Disillusioned by his lack of front page coverage, the Zodiac Killer struck in Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 inflicting 16 knife wounds on the defenseless Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. He would write on the card door of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle minutes after the attack, stating Vallejo 12-20-68, 7-4-69, Sept 27-69 -6:30 by knife. On November 8th 1969 he would not only claim the murder of Cecelia Shepard, but the murders of Debra Furlong and Kathy Snoozy in the August of 1969, writing Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7 on the greeting card. 

Just thirteen days after the mailing of the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card, the Zodiac Killer would write another cryptic message on November 21st 1969 - this time to the San Jose Police Department (the city of the Snoozy and Furlong murders), bumping up his running victim total to November = 8 and beginning the message with "There's no doubt I will do my Thing!". Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer had switched to a knife at Lake Berryessa to achieve "front page coverage", and claimed the savage knife murders of two teenage girls, who had both been stabbed in excess of 100 times, the Zodiac Killer's claimed 8th victim should mirror these attacks. If he was going to keep up the terror in the minds of the American people, the 8th victim would likely have been murdered in California just prior to the mailing of the November 21st 1969 letter - and stabbed multiple times. 

Although unidentified until 2016 and known only as Jane Doe 59, Reet Jurvetson (19) was discovered on November 16th 1969 by Trevor Santochi, who was hiking on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Reet Jurvetson had been viciously stabbed in excess of 150 times by a common penknife in the neck, chest and torso, similar to the attack on the two teenage girls from San Jose. Close to her body in the ravine next to the road, a pair of black prescription glasses (Liberty brand frames) were discovered. Detectives have concluded they are likely connected to her death. The Zodiac Killer was extremely unlikely to have been responsible for her murder, but just like the vague clue of "Aug" on November 8th 1969 insinuating his involvement in the penknife attack on Snoozy and Furlong, was he similarly giving us the vague clue of November = 8 to suggest his involvement in another senseless penknife attack just five days earlier? Had he read about the discovery of Reet Jurvetson's murder in the newspapers - the similarities between the two crimes of which would not have gone unnoticed.   

On July 19th 1978 a typewritten letter from Los Angeles arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating: "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control of all things. I am going to tell you a secret. I like friction tape. I like to have it around in case I need to truss someone up in a hurry....I have my real name on a small metallic tape. You see, while you have it in your possession, I want you to know it belongs to me and you think I may have left it accidentally. I am athletic. It could be swim fins, or a piece of scuba gear. But maybe you play chess with me. I have several cheap sets in closets all over. I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape....My tape is waiting for me all over California. Do you know me? I am the ZODIAC and I am in control". 

This letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and described by Robert Graysmith in his Zodiac book, appears like a mishmash of inane ramblings of somebody "not in control", although sometimes there is method in the madness if you look hard enough. The one thing the Zodiac Killer did on numerous occasions during his initial letter writing campaign, was to respond to the recent newspaper articles he read. There is no reason why this letter cannot be unpicked by looking at articles published in the San Francisco Chronicle in the days leading up to July 19th 1978 - the date of this typed correspondence.

In this newspaper collection compiled by cryptographer Dave Oranchak it can be seen that a flurry of newspaper articles preceded this 'Zodiac' mailing, from July 11th 1978 to July 18th 1978. They were entitled The Rise and Fall of a Good Cop, New Puzzles Further Muddle Zodiac Case, Officials Jittery Over Latest Zodiac Puzzle, New Zodiac Disclosures, Feinstein Says Toschi's Being Crucified and Gain Talks About Toschi. They all highlighted the plight of Inspector David Toschi of Homicide Detail, who came under suspicion for forging both the Exorcist letter, mailed on January 29th 1974, and the most recent 'Zodiac' communication on April 24th 1978, which stated "Dear Editor, This is the Zodiac speaking I am back with you. Tell herb caen I am here, I have always been here. That city pig toschi is good - but I am smarter and better he will get tired then leave me alone. I am waiting for a good movie about me. who will play me. I am now in control of all things". Considering this July 19th 1978 letter was mailed just after these newspaper articles about David Toschi, parroting "I am in control of all things", it is a fairly safe bet that this typed communication was addressing David Toschi personally.

Quicktrader, from the Zodiac Killer Site forum, highlighted the first clue in the letter, in which the author states "I have my real name on a small metallic tape", "I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape" and "my tape is waiting for me all over California". Scotch Tape could be bought all over California, and this version of the product did have a name on the bottom of the lid. Was this the Zodiac Killer insinuating that his forename was Paul? 

But what inspired the author of the July 19th 1978 letter to hint at his "real name" in the correspondence? In the San Francisco Chronicle article on July 18th 1978, entitled ​Gain Talks About Toschi, the journalist writes "Zodiac is the name used by a man who killed six persons at random - five in the Bay Area - in the late 1960s". So this may have been the perfect retort, declaring his real name was all over California on the bottom of Scotch Tape lids.

However, the author of this communication also refers to chess, stating "But maybe you play chess with me. I have several cheap sets in closets all over". He was offering to play chess with David Toschi for a reason that was well known - and published in many newspapers precedent to this typed letter. Here is the possible answer lying in the pages of the July 14th 1978 San Francisco Chronicle. It stated Maupin turned his phony letters from Toschi over to DeAmicis, who confronted the inspector with them in the deputy chief's office last Friday morning. Toschi admitted writing them. "My recommendations" said DeAmicis "was that because of ego problems we thought it in the best interest of Dave Toschi and the department" to consign him to pawn shop detail.  

The author of this letter likely knew that David Toschi had been demoted from homicide detail to pawn shop detail and was currently taking a short holiday. What better way, in true Zodiac style, to ridicule the demoted inspector by offering the steward of the pawn shop detail a game of chess. The answer is always so black and white.

THE 7/19/78 LETTER [PART TWO]

On October 20th 1969, nine days after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, somebody made a threatening phone call to the Palo Alto Times newspaper saying he intended "to pick the kids off as they get on the school bus". The San Bernardino County Sun reported on the threat, stating "Patrol cars convoyed school buses around Palo Alto yesterday after a telephoned murder threat by a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer of five persons. The weird slayer who signs himself "The Zodiac" made a similar threat in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle last week after the Oct 11 shooting of a taxi driver. The district transportation supervisor said an armed guard might ride with each of the system's 25 buses. Officers in Napa and Vallejo, areas of the first three murderous attacks, some 45 miles north of Palo Alto, have been convoying police officers. Palo Alto Police Chief William Hydie called the new threat "extremely serious," but warned against over reaction to what might be a crank call".

On November 8th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Dripping Pen' card and 340 cipher to the San Francisco Chronicle claiming the "Aug" murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose.

On November 21st 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer wrote to the San Jose Police Department​ threatening the life of a widow, accompanied by the words "There's no doubt I will do my Thing". The brief text in the letter clearly contained enough information for police to identify the woman and implement 24-hour surveillance on her residence.

On December 7th 1969, a letter was mailed from Fairfield stating "I just need help. I will kill again, so expect it any time the will be a cop".

On December 16th 1969, another letter arrived from Fairfield threatening to kill "government life" and "cops" in Sacramento, Fairfield, Napa, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. A future geographic profiling technique was applied to the locations in which he 'threatened murder' (as detailed in the Fairfield letter), and noted that "Interstate 80 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in San Francisco, and then crosses the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into Oakland. It then heads northeast through Vallejo, Fairfield, Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada mountains before crossing into Nevada". The idea was to identify the areas the Zodiac Killer was prepared to target, based on their accessibility to him using a main commuter route he regularly traveled. If he regularly used the I-80 for his profession, then six of these seven destinations are directly passed by the I-80, with Napa only a few miles off route.

On December 19th 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer again threatened cops, making a phone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol (see article above), stating "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". This threat towards San Jose police and a family of five was issued on a Friday, exactly as was the November 21st 1969 letter, mailed to San Jose police threatening harm on a widow. After the threat on the widow was thwarted by 24-hour police surveillance on her residence, was this the response, to once again instigate fear in the San Jose community? Were the widow and 'family of five' of the same residence? We know he was threatening the lives of numerous police officers, but the threat on five members of a family appears rather specific.           

On December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Melvin Belli' letter containing a piece of murdered Paul Stine's shirt, effectively proving the author was the murderer of the taxicab driver on October 11th 1969. This letter mimicked the December 7th 1969 Fairfield letter by stating "please help me", which in some way helps to authenticate both Fairfield letters not released to the newspapers.

​The purpose of this article is to show the targeted areas of the Zodiac Killer (if responsible for these letters and phone calls) from the standpoint of geographic profiling. These events spanned from the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine, to the mailing of the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969 (71 days). The areas shown in red above, highlight the locations the Zodiac Killer targeted by murder, proposed murder, as well as by his threatening phone calls and letters - and they are all connected by one direct route of travel.

During these 71 days in October, November and December the Zodiac Killer focused his attention on Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose. Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 provide one seamless journey from Sacramento to San Jose. Was the Zodiac Killer a traveling salesman which took him through each of these locations - and therefore he had a familiarity with? Do these commuter route tell you anything about his home residence during this time period? 
When you commit, or intend to commit these acts, accessibility to and from a main commuter route could be invaluable.

Equidistant (as the crow flies) to Sacramento and San Jose is the waterfront city of Vallejo, believed by many to be the home residence of the Zodiac Killer. It is 53 miles from Sacramento and 57 miles from San Jose. The Springs and Tuolumne payphone, where Zodiac placed a call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover on the morning of July 5th 1969, sits 728 metres from Interstate 80.

There are innumerable theories on the October 27th 1970 Halloween card, including here on this site, but none have adequately explained the strange symbol on the upper left corner of the envelope or the foot of the card inner. The cattle branding was a good idea, yet it conveniently ignored the four dots present in the design. In both instances, on the envelope and card, the symbol was followed by the letter Z. This lends credence to the notion, it represents a statement followed by his signature. The Zodiac, from November 8th 1969 to March 13th 1971, was fairly consistent in giving us a running victim total, with the only two notable exceptions being the April 28th 1970 Dragon card and the July 24th 1970 Kathleen Johns letter. With respect to the Dragon card, he had given us 10 victims only eight days earlier, so clearly there was no update on the total, and with respect to Kathleen Johns, she survived the encounter so no update was necessary. The Zodiac Killer repeated the victim count of 13 on the October 5th 1970 '13 Hole' postcard because his previous letter proclaiming 13 victims had not been published in the newspapers at this juncture, The July 26th 1970 Little List letter proclaimed 13 victims, while the October 27th 1970 Halloween card issued us with the number 14, indicating that victim 14 possibly lay between these two dates.      

We know the Zodiac Killer was responsible for 5 victims - the rest he inferred by increasing his total periodically. The only victim we know of between July 26th 1970 and October 27th 1970 that was subsequently claimed by Zodiac, was Donna Ann Lass, who disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in the early morning hours of September 6th 1970. We know he was insinuating his involvement in her disappearance because of the March 22nd 1971 Pines card mailed to Paul Avery at the San Francisco Chronicle, just like this communication. 

However, although believed murdered, the body of Donna Lass has never been found - and on October 27th 1970 she was still classified as missing. Therefore, any running victim total on this card may reflect the current status regarding Donna Lass within its design. The March 22nd 1971 Pines card teased us with the possible location of where her burial site may be found, by placing a punched hole in the top right corner. Why should this communication be any different, when we consider the design in the top left corner of the envelope and the same design placed within the card, not withstanding, that victim 14 should have fell between July 26th 1970 and October 27th 1970, which the disappearance of Donna Lass did. 

The numerous eyes spattered over the entire card should have told us we need to be looking for something - or more specifically - looking for victim number 14. I have considered the possibility of the symbols being interpreted as "Zodiac Victims Fourteen" or "Zodiac Fourteen", but this doesn't adequately explain the four dots present in the design. It also doesn't make any sense with respect to the letter Z accompanying it on either the envelope or card inner. The phrase created would read "Zodiac Victims Fourteen, Zodiac" or "Zodiac Fourteen, Zodiac". There has to be another answer, incorporating the design of the card and the 13 eyes splashed all over its face. The 13 eyes suggestive of only 13 deceased victims, looking for the 14th victim. The Zodiac Killer would eventually claim his involvement in the disappearance of Donna Lass, so the Halloween card "looking for the fourteenth victim" makes perfect sense with respect to the dates. Take a look at the card below.   

If we follow the green, yellow and blue rectangles in that order, it can be seen how this spells out "look for fourteen". If we follow the green, yellow and blue circles in that order, it can also be interpreted as "look for fourteen". The first part of the strange symbol isn't structured like the letter Z or the number 7, because the top angle is ninety degrees. However, it can be interpreted as the letter L. The four dots representing "four" or "for", with the F representing 14, as displayed on the hand of the skeleton and by the 4-TEEN above it. The phrase now reads coherently: "look for fourteen, Zodiac". In view of the fact that Donna Lass went missing on September 6th 1970, and his later Pines card communication insinuating his involvement in her disappearance, the running victim total (placed into this design) reading "look for fourteen, Zodiac" isn't so far-fetched.  

With both of these communications (Pines and Halloween) being addressed to Paul Avery, it is easy to consider a correlation between the two, even if the Zodiac Killer was behind the disappearance of Donna Lass or not. The "sought victim 12" attribution on the Pines card a whole different story.

Most, if not all Zodiac forums and websites classify the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter as confirmed Zodiac correspondence. It is widely touted by law enforcement, newspapers and documentaries as the last confirmed Zodiac communication, and in a poll conducted on this site, 86% of visitors believe it to be genuine Zodiac material. This mailing was listed in the 2000 San Francisco 'Suspected Zodiac Correspondence' DNA Report as one of the communications processed for DNA. The subsequent 1974 letters were not processed for DNA, otherwise the report would have stated this. Since the Exorcist letter was widely considered to be the last confirmed Zodiac communication, it would therefore make perfect sense that this took priority over the Citizen Card and Red Phantom letter to be the only 1974 correspondence tested.

Mike Rodelli wrote in his book, 'The Hunt for Zodiac:The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer', that Alan Keel, Criminalist at the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco, California from 1996 to 1999 "revealed that there were two letters in possession of the department that, in contrast to the "true" Zodiac letters, had abundant saliva and DNA-containing oral epithelial cells on them, that DNA was easily extracted from these two letters, and that the DNA extracted from these two letters matched between them. These two letters were considered forgeries, since the "true" Zodiac verifiable letters had not been licked by the sender." Mike Rodelli added that "In contrast (to earlier communications), Keel analyzed two other letters, one of which is the 1978 forgery, and finds that this letter and one of the 1974 letters are loaded with saliva and cells. He then easily extracts DNA from both of these letters using the more primitive DNA technology of that time and finds that the DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both."  

For two letters to have a definitive match of DNA they must have a complete profile. A partial DNA profile from one letter compared to a full DNA profile of the other could only be used to exclude them as having been licked by the same person, not conclusively tie them together as having a single contributor. Since the Exorcist letter appeared to be the only 1974 letter processed for DNA, it can be argued from Alan Keel's statement that the two letters that matched in DNA were the 1978 letter and Exorcist letter. If the San Francisco DNA report concluded that the 1978 letter was "not an authentic Zodiac letter", then there is a strong possibility that neither was the Exorcist letter.

For those who resolutely argue that the Exorcist letter is a genuine Zodiac communication, may have to accept the authenticity of the 1978 letter too. According to all the above observations, these two communications are inextricably linked by one sender. In early 2018 Vallejo police Detective Terry Poyser, who has worked the Zodiac case for four years, said his agency has submitted two envelopes (in late 2017) that contained letters from the Zodiac Killer for a type of advanced DNA analysis that previously had not been available in the case. Poyser declined to identify the lab, but said it would attempt to obtain a full DNA profile from saliva on the envelope flap and stamps. He said he expected to have results back from the lab as soon as in the next few weeks, and almost certainly by summer. Sacramento Bee.

Why are they attempting to find a full DNA profile, when presumably they have already achieved a full DNA profile, according to Alan Keel and the San Francisco Police Department DNA report? They cannot claim the 1978 letter as "not an authentic Zodiac letter" in a DNA report, unless a full profile exists. Furthermore, how did they ascertain the 1978 letter was not Zodiac, unless they knew who licked the envelope and stamp seal - and knew that person wasn't Zodiac. They couldn't ascertain the 1978 letter wasn't Zodiac by comparing it to authenticated early Zodiac material, because seemingly these had not yielded a full DNA profile as we stand today. They clearly seem to have little faith in the Exorcist letter either, because if this has generated a full DNA profile in the past, but they are still "attempting to obtain a full DNA profile from saliva" today, then I presume this invalidates their confidence in its authenticity.  

Tom Voigt recently began a forum thread on the Zodiac Killer message board entitled Vallejo Police Department DNA Update, stating "The lab work has turned into more lab work. VPD is still at it. The hunt continues..." Why are they still hunting for viable DNA when apparently a full profile has been secured previously? Even if law enforcement have little confidence in the Exorcist and 1978 letter, these would have provided the best options to run through a genealogy website 18 months ago and the results would have been in by now had anything fruitful been generated. Unless of course, you already know who forged both of these letters. I see no benefit in not seeking profiles from these two letters (generated from the 1978 letter and another, if different to suggested) to enter into a familial DNA program. If the familial search threw out a notable family tree, or the lineage of a recognized Zodiac suspect, then it would add credence to the previously doubted Zodiac communication. 

For the 60% of people who voted on this site, believing the 1978 letter to be from the hand of the Zodiac Killer, the question you should be asking is, why did the the 2000 San Francisco DNA report determine the 1978 correspondence to be "not an authentic Zodiac letter" if they hadn't already obtained a full DNA profile to make such an authoritative and conclusive judgement? The only other reasonable conclusion, is that they already knew who the author was.    ​

The circumstances of a payphone call 40 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs attack, being made from a location only 10 minutes journey time from the crime scene, has generated the idea of a killer who lived extremely close to the Springs and Tuolumne intersection in Vallejo. The over-detailed description of a negro-male eyewitness, generously offered by the author in his August 4th 1969 communication, appeared to corroborate that the murderer was making the phone call accompanied by his car, His unnecessary use of phraseology such as "when I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car", can be construed as a man attempting to sell us the idea that he was not on foot. This formulated the notion of a ruthless killer who separated himself from his vehicle, weapon and clothing, before making the risky phone call so near to the Vallejo Police Department. He also admitted to hearing the 'trace' on the payphone, indicating that he was still within earshot of the payphone when it rang. This is important, because if the ring-back hadn't occurred within approximately 20 seconds, he would have been long gone in his vehicle. 

There is also a distinct possibility the slayer of Darlene Ferrin had blood transfer on his t-shirt, as he leaned over the passenger side seat of the 1963 brown Corvair in order to shoot Michael Mageau as he took refuge in the rear of the vehicle. Michael Mageau later described a heavyset man of 26-30 years, standing at about 5'8'' tall, beefy build, but not blubbery fat, possibly 195-200 pounds, short curly light brown hair, almost blond. He stated the assailant's vehicle was similar to Darlene's brown Corvair, possibly lighter in color. The accuracy of these statements must be seen in context to the very brief time he was given to view the subject. Nevertheless, these were his recollections documented in the police report. 

Nearly one month after the attack on July 31st 1969, three letters were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald threatening more murder and mayhem. Speculation inevitably arose after the Blue Rock Springs attack, as to whether Darlene Ferrin was specifically targeted by the killer, after three further suspicious phone calls were received in the early morning hours of July 5th. Much has been discussed regarding these 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, just one and a half hours after the murder of Darlene Ferrin and attempted murder of Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs.

Using the descriptors above, I went in search of a young male, heavyset, brownish hair, around 5'8", driving a vehicle similar or the same as the brown Corvair of Darlene Ferrin. This subject must also have had the ability to drive from Blue Rock Springs to a residence close to the payphone, so he could ditch his vehicle, weapon and clothing, and still walk to the payphone by 12:40 am and place the call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover. The murderer issued the message "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". The wording of the killer gave the impression that he was unaware of the crime having already been discovered. Was he a resident close to the Vallejo Police Department and had not heard or seen the 'surge' of patrol cars heading along Solano Avenue to Springs Road?- which didn't happen. The answer to all the above observations already lay on page 42 of the Blue Rock Springs police report.  

Page 42: At 12:55 pm on 9-9-69 an anonymous letter was received at Vallejo PD stating "Badly rusted beat up Corvair getting a bright green paint job at 909 Georgia. Owner about 25, 5'9", over 200 lbs, brownish thinning hair, sloppy fat, strange acting. Lives with parents. Calif BTU 179". Sgt Kramer observed this car parked in the Mobile Station at the corner of Georgia and Monterey Streets, BTU 179. Car has maroon (brownish red) top, light green hood and dark green panels. Car is 1963 Corvair 2-door. Checked the registration of the car and it reflects that Patrick, 909 Georgia Street. Went to that address and contacted Patrick Dennis, WMA, 23 years, dob 3-19-46. Is employed as a stevedore at Port Chicago.

Patrick states that on 7-4-69 he went to the fireworks display at the waterfront and from there he went home. States that he parked his car in front of the house at 11:30 pm and did not leave after that time. Patrick's mother Delores was present and verified Patrick's statement. Patrick doesn't own a gun and he did not know Darlene Ferrin. Patrick states that the car can be started without a key but he is sure no one else used the car as it was in the same place in the morning as it was the night before. This car apparently has a bad oil leak as the street in front of the house showed oil on the pavement as though the car was leaking oil.

The similarities are likely unconnected, but 909 Georgia Street is the type of residence we should be looking for - if you buy into the notion of a killer walking to the payphone that morning. An approximate 10 minute drive home, 10 minutes to ditch the vehicle, weapon and clothes, before readying onself for the 15-20 minute journey to the payphone and placing the 12:40 am call to Nancy Slover. And... in a location to have not seen or heard the patrol cars leaving the Vallejo Police Department up Solano Avenue. This location (as the crow flies) is 400 meters from the Vallejo Police Department, 600 meters from Darlene Ferrin's residence, 400 meters from Solano Avenue, 500 meters from the old Vallejo Times-Herald office and 5/8 of a mile from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. However, if the August 4th 1969 letter wasn't selling us one big red herring, then all of the above is superfluous.  

The December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter has its own unique design, written on lined paper threatening "government life" and 38 cops in San Francisco, San Jose, Vallejo, Napa, Fairfield, Sacramento and Oakland. This correspondence was not released to the newspapers, thereby making any subsequent letter mirroring this communication all the more significant. Any future author could not be accused of copycatting the Zodiac Killer using the Fairfield letter as their guide. That is what makes the "Jimmy Carter" letter, mailed on June 8th 1977, so very interesting when placed alongside the 'Zodiac letter' from December 16th 1969. 

The FBI files stated "Enclosed for the bureau is one copy of a letter threatening to kill numerous political figures and television personalities and envelope postmarked Sacramento, California 6/8/77. For information of the bureau, on 6/9/77, the Sacramento Bee newspaper received the enclosed letter and information was developed that captioned subject was currently under indictment for threatening to kill the president and a check with U.S. Secret Service, Sacramento, confirmed this. On 6/9/77 Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Heller, Sacramento, determined that redacted had been sentenced that day for violation of Title 18, section 871, Threats to Kill the President to an indeterminate sentence under the Youth Corrections Act. Based on this information, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Heller advised he would consider no further prosecution of captioned subject. On 6/19/77, the originals of the enclosed letter and envelope were turned over to the U.S. Secret Service Agent to be made a part of their case".            

The candidates threatened high on the list are elected government officials from the Democratic Party, followed by television personalities - with President Jimmy Carter top of the hit list of 30. The December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter also threatened "government life", with 38 people placed in a similar list at the foot of the letter Two letters, both on lined paper, separated by nearly eight years, and both promising to kill 30+ people. Let us take a closer look at the Jimmy Carter and Fairfield letter alongside each other. The Fairfield letter has been placed beneath the Jimmy Carter letter in the image below. 

I have highlighted certain areas of interest in blue, green and red. In the Jimmy Carter letter the author begins with "this letter has been written to tell the people", whereas in the Fairfield letter the author begins with "I just want to tell you". The Jimmy Carter letter then threatens the "following people to be killed", with the Fairfield letter stating "I will kill more people". And finally, the Jimmy Carter letter concludes with "you better carry out the demand", with the Fairfield letter ending with "you better print".  Not withstanding the similar construct and tone of each letter, along with the lined paper, the handwriting is comparable. Furthermore, if we compare these two letters with the threat letter to Richard Nixon (more government life) on May 14th 1973, we see a pattern. The December 16th 1969, May 14th 1973 and June 8th 1977 letters, all begin with either "to tell you that", "to tell you this" and "to tell the people". 

I thought I would take another look at the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter in which Zodiac stated "I will kill more people than you cops can count so look for more blood". The Zodiac Killer accompanied his lined letter with the large drawing of a knife entitled "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac". I had always believed this to be a crude reference to the brutal stabbing of Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell on September 27th 1969, however, the answer may lie elsewhere - to be found in the November 12th 1969 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. 

In an article with the header "I've Killed Seven, The Zodiac Claims" by Paul Avery, the article begins with "San Jose Girls May Be Victims" and continues "Beyond leaving several cryptic clues indicating that the newly revealed killings occurred last August, possibly in San Jose, Zodiac's latest correspondence - a long rambling letter and a contemporary greeting card - revealed nothing as to who the two victims were".  

Law enforcement and the newspapers had long posed the question as to whether Zodiac had any involvement in the brutal stabbing murders of the two young San Jose girls. The two teenagers, Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), had been savagely attacked with a short-bladed knife on August 3rd 1969. Therefore, it didn't come as much of a surprise when the Zodiac Killer bolstered his victim total to seven murders on November 8th 1969, when he mailed the 'Dripping Pen Card' to the San Francisco Chronicle. After the attack on Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa, followed by the message on the car door, a depiction of a fountain pen dripping with blood probably seemed like an apt choice by the Zodiac Killer.

I couldn't help noticing the similarities between the Dripping Pen and Dripping Knife of Zodiac, particularly because of the seven blood drops falling from the knife correlating with his "I've Killed Seven" claims in the greeting card and the addition of "Aug" in his chronological victim count. We know he was responsible for five murders, that of David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Ferrin, Cecelia Shepard and Paul Stine - but had now tagged victims six and seven onto his running total. These two extra victims were Debra Furlong and Kathy Snoozy. 

Five weeks later, on December 16th 1969, he effectively rejoiced in these murders by mailing the "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" correspondence, which depicted seven drops of blood falling from a knife - one for each victim - and fashioned like his Dripping Pen card. The Zodiac Killer, inspired by the Deborah Furlong and Kathy Snoozy murders on August 3rd 1969 and its coverage on the front page of the Chronicle three days later, launched his callous knife attack at Lake Berryessa seven weeks later, resulting in the premature death of Cecelia Shepard. The Zodiac Killer was hoping the attack on the shores of Lake Berryessa would augment the belief of law enforcement to his involvement in the San Jose murders. This is why he wrote August on the Dripping Pen card, bumped his total up to seven and then boldly exhibited the "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" on December 16th 1969 with seven drops of blood. 

Four days later, on December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Melvin Belli letter containing a piece of Paul Stine's blood-soaked shirt, confirming its authenticity. Ironical then, that the Zodiac Killer wrote "look for more blood" in his previous correspondence. The Melvin Belli letter attempted to depict a killer who was losing control and searching for a ninth and tenth victim. Bearing in mind the two brutal attacks perpetrated with a knife, was the Melvin Belli letter attempting to paint a picture of a bloodthirsty maniac, looking for two more victims picnicking alongside a scenic backdrop?

The drawing of a 'bleeding knife' not a direct reference to the "by knife" phrase written on the car door of Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa, but more of a triumphant claim of his involvement in two brutal knife attacks in the Bay Area. It would take nearly two years to conclusively expose this deception, coming with the arrest of Karl Francis Werner in late April of 1971. Regardless, the Zodiac Killer wasn't finished yet.