The case of Betsy Aardsma, murdered in the campus library of Pennsylvania State University on Friday November 28th 1969, has continued to resonate throughout the last 44 years, and as of writing, remains frustratingly unsolved. There have been many suspects in the case including Richard Haefner, but never enough tangible evidence has ever emerged to bring the perpetrator to justice. Betsy Aardsma had been attacked in the campus library between 4:30 pm and 4:45 pm, with one single but fatal knife wound to the heart, believed to be from a hunting knife 3-4 inches in length. When she was initially discovered the true extent of her injuries were not apparent, as her heart wound had bled into her lungs, with any residual blood having been masked by her choice of attire - a red dress. She lay on the floor between rows 50 to 51, with books scattered on the floor, apparently dragged from the shelves as she fell. No weapon was ever retrieved and the killer had escaped almost unnoticed.    

Betsy Aardsma was wearing a red dress on the day she was killed, that temporarily disguised the severity of her injury. Was this poem a dormant fantasy by the killer that he later enacted? This is a curious association, albeit, given enough time between crimes the possible links inevitably begin to multiply. Investigators toyed with the idea that the murderer may have had military connections, as they did with Zodiac, because of the clinical nature of the wound which was inflicted with an extreme downward motion - not a frenzied attack that is sometimes exhibited by killer's who have an extreme hate for the victim. This was an audacious crime committed in a very public place at approximately 4:30 pm, so the murderer appeared to have wanted to remain in the library for as little time as possible. Both Cheri Jo Bates and Betsy Aardsma were intelligent college students, similar in appearance, and in both instances, the library connection was apparent. But again, these inferences are subjective and fail to move us forward to any great degree.

A highly controversial letter mailed in 1978, alleging it was from the Zodiac Killer, began with the words "This is the Zodiac speaking I am back with you". On November 28th 1994, exactly 25 years after the Betsy Aardsma murder, an employee of the library found a candle had been lit and placed in the location of the murder. A message written on the floor using a marker pen read "RIP Betsy Aardsma, born July 11th 1947, died November 28th 1969. I'm back." Additionally, a postcard had been mailed to police sometime in the 1970s with the wording "You never did catch the guy who killed that c**t in the library".  But these were considered malicious hoaxes - and not considered to have been authored by the killer.

There is no hard and fast rule that connects the methodology of serial killers, particularly in regards to the areas they operate and the locations of murder they ultimately choose. But this does not preclude the investigator from forming an opinion on the killer based upon knowledge of the locality, along with geographic profiling, that has suggested a criminal has a comfort zone within which he operates, near to his home or workplace. Although a buffer zone will still exist in the mind of the killer, in that he does not wipe his feet too close to home. Can we apply anything we know about the four confirmed attack locations of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, along with the two Zodiac phone calls placed at the corner of Springs Road and Tuolumne and 1231 Main Street, Napa to this so called buffer zone? It has been suggested that an offender will start their crimes close to home before extending outwards, so as not to draw unwanted attention to themselves, but not too far as to increase the risk of being apprehended on returning back to their comfort zone, to wash or stash away any incriminating evidence they may have unwittingly or deliberately removed from the crime scene.     

When asked whether he thought the Zodiac Killer lived in Vallejo, he responded, "Oh, I think so, he lived in the area, that's for sure, oh yeah, he knew the area".

The second attack, in another secluded area at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969, was a four-mile journey northwest of Lake Herman Road, and a 15 minute drive from downtown Vallejo. On this occasion Michael Mageau survived, but unfortunately Darlene Ferrin became the Zodiac Killer's third fatality. This time though, the killer was more brazen, calling police dispatcher Nancy Slover from a phone booth at the gas station at Springs Road and Tuolumne, just a short 10 minute drive from the crime scene. The attack occurred around midnight, with the call logged at 12:40 am. This left 40 minutes of unaccounted time to be explained, leading to the notion of a killer who returned home first to dispose of any incriminating evidence, including his weapon and possibly clothes, before venturing back out with renewed confidence and placing the call. This unexplained time could lend greater weight to the theory that the killer was a local to the area of Vallejo, combined with his apparent knowledge of the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park areas.

The third attack at Lake Berryessa, with a driving time of approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, saw the killer venture further away from the Vallejo area, if indeed he resided there. The male victim, Bryan Hartnell, would again survive, however, the devastating ten knife injuries sustained by Cecelia Shepard would sadly claim her life just two days later at the Queen of the Valley Hospital. The attack took place early evening on September 27th 1969 at around 6:30 pm, with the killer leaving a message at the scene of the crime on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. If we take the message written on Bryan Hartnell's Volkswagen Karmann Ghia door with near accuracy, then the 27 mile journey to the payphone at 1231 Main Street, Napa away from Lake Berryessa, would have taken approximately 50 minutes. The phone call was logged at 7:40 pm, leaving a shortfall of 20 minutes. http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/lake-berryessa-north-of-the-crime-scene-pt2. 
Napa County is a direct route between Vallejo and Lake Berryessa, so if the killer lived in, or very close to Vallejo, he would have left himself approximately 25-30 minutes to arrive home, after placing the phone call. 

The Zodiac Killer's last confirmed murder was that of Paul Stine, on October 11th 1969, leading people to consider the possibility the killer may have been a resident of San Francisco or the Presidio Heights area, bearing in mind his first 14 confirmed letters and cards were postmarked San Francisco, starting with the July 31st 1969 mailings and ending with the Halloween Card. But bearing in mind his apparent knowledge of the first two crime scene locations, that a resident of San Francisco would unlikely possess (unless a former resident), it is quite plausible he lived somewhere in the region of Vallejo and mailed his letters en route to his place of work in San Francisco. The third option being, he at one time had lived at both locations. 

The lost 40 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs attack is noteworthy though, in that, did the killer drive home first and remove any incriminating evidence, before driving back to the gas station at Springs Road and Tuolumne - or more logically as Mike Morford suggested on Zodiackillersite forum - walk back to the payphone to place the first phone call, thereby attracting less attention to himself? Quote "I personally think Zodiac lived close to that phonebooth on Springs & Tuolumne, went home, and stashed his gun and car, and walked to the phonebooth. With no car, he was less likely to be noticed". If indeed this was the case - and taking into account the time it took him to change, check for any transference from the crime scene, stash the gun and ready himself before venturing back to the payphone - this may have left him with about 15 minutes surplus traveling time, to walk back and make the phone call, thereby placing the Zodiac Killer's residence extremely close to the corner of Springs Road and Tuolumne (in distance terms, a one mile radius of the payphone).

In the August 4th 1969 Debut of Zodiac letter, the author wrote "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". This seemed to suggest he was still using his vehicle at that point, yet it could have been an employed diversion, so as not to expose the close proximity of his home address - with the apparent over emphasis on the wording "me + my car" used to sell us a story, when he quite simply could have said "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me".
 
This takes into account the applying of logic to the mind of a serial killer, who may in time be found to have been responsible for 37 murders or more over a five-year period. Therefore, you can possibly disregard everything you have just read as sheer madness. 

Incidentally, Arthur Leigh Allen was living within this one mile radius at 32 Fresno Street during the first two confirmed attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park. His residence sits approximately 10 minutes north of the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street intersection. 

Mailed to the Albany Times Union newspaper and postmarked August 1st 1973, this correspondence was secured by Zodiac researcher Tom Voigt of the hugely successful website Zodiackiller.com. The letter suggested an impending threat of murder on the precise date of August 10th at 5.00 pm during a shift change at the Albany Medical Center. An FBI cryptanalysis unit 

deciphered the material at the foot of the letter to reveal the following: "ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER. THIS ONLY THE BEGINNING". The targeting of a nurse at the end of her shift would seem eerily similar to the disappearance of Donna Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970. 
​​
Rumblings of a Richard Gaikowski connection surfaced due to his familiarity with Albany, having worked for the Knickerbocker News from 1966 to the latter part of 1968, before traveling to Europe and then returning to America, relocating in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. The following will outline some notable crimes in the months and years surrounding the August 10th 1973 timeline in relation to the Albany Medical Center.

The first was the murder of prostitute Gloria South (18), shot once behind her left ear with a .25 caliber pistol. Her body was found close to Morris and Lark Street, behind the Veterans Hospital. But this murder was committed approximately two years prior to the Albany letter on June 29th 1971, despite the location being very close to the Albany Medical Center. Although investigators did have a prime suspect in this case, they failed to find any solid evidence tying him to the crime and were subsequently unable to make good on their suspicions.

The second was a lot closer to the timeline, occurring four and a half months after the said date of August 10th 1973, on December 27th 1973, when Barbara Smith (24) of Hamilton Street was murdered close to the St Philips Day Care Center on Road Street. The perpetrator had shot the young woman in the head, but having failed to penetrate her skull he then used a rock to inflict the severe injuries noted at autopsy. This location was also close to the other murder, along with the Albany Medical Center.

On November 2nd 1974, Kathleen Kolodziej vanished after leaving the Vault Bar in Cobleskill, having turned down the chance to return to her dormitory with a roommate - last seen heading along Main Street. The village of Coblekill lies approximately 40 miles west of Albany. Although not a confirmed sighting, she was last thought to have been getting into a yellow Volkswagen Beetle just before 2am. Twenty-six days later on November 28th 1974 she was discovered on MacDonald Road, Richmondville, lying on a stone wall. She was partially clothed and had been brutally stabbed in the back and shoulders numerous times. Kathleen Kolodziej's autopsy was carried out at the Albany Medical Center.

These murders occurred from June 1971 to November 1974. The Zodiac's assumed hiatus in confirmed correspondence is claimed to have been between March 13th 1971 with the arrival of Los Angeles letter (or the March 22nd 1971 Pines card) and January 29th 1974, when his supposed last confirmed mailing to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper arrived in the form of an Exorcist letter. However, it can be shown that there were at least two more communications mailed by the Zodiac Killer in May and July of 1971, with the 1973 Albany letter also shown to be a genuine Zodiac communication.

Many researchers question the nature of certain crimes having been committed by the Zodiac Killer, despite the fact he did once claim in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter that he would "change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc".

The murders of Doreen Gaul (19) and James Sharp (15) provided another link, in that the Gaul residence was located on Myrtle Avenue, Albany, within touching distance of the Albany Medical Center. Doreen Gaul and James Sharp had been brutally murdered and disfigured - their bodies found on November 21st 1969 in a Los Angeles alleyway between Arapahoe Street and Magnolia Avenue. Examination of the crime scene strongly suggested that Gaul & Sharp had been killed at a secondary location and their bodies relocated. They had been stabbed in excess of 50 times and their eyes had been slashed. Doreen Gaul had been resident at the Scientology Thetan Manor hippie commune, having graduated one year earlier from high school in Albany. A note found in her room was claimed to have been authored by the Zodiac Killer.  

The letter found in in Doreen Gaul's belongings read: "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN FOOL THE OLD KILLER HA HA. I KNOW ALL YOUR MOVEMENTS AND THE TIME THEY ARE MADE. TIME IS SHORT, ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU CAN. YOU ARE TO BEAUTIFUL TO LIVE AND I MUST KILL YOU. THE ZODIAC KILLER".
​(full stops added for clarity).



WHY THE ALBANY LETTER IS GENUINE ZODIAC CORRESPONDENCE 

This news story is based on articles posted by Zodiac investigator Michael Morford in 2009, regarding several attacks in the Los Angeles area, as well as the murder of Cheri Jo Bates outside the Riverside City College library on October 30th 1966 and the Kathleen Johns abduction along Highway 132, near Modesto, approximately three and one half years later. It is these  seemingly motiveless attacks on lone women, sandwiched in between the Bates and Johns timeline, that I would like to concentrate on. Both the Cheri Jo Bates murder and the Kathleen Johns abduction have been linked to the Zodiac Killer, but are far from certain Zodiac crimes, nevertheless, an interesting chapter of events occurred in the area of Los Angeles with certain similarities, throwing open the possibility that the Zodiac Killer may have had a strong connection to this area or possibly commuted through it. Several attacks took place in Los Angeles County in Southern California in 1967, all bearing the hallmarks of the Kathleen Johns incident.

The second attack occurred along 7200 Ponce Avenue, near Canoga Park. Again, the assailant sounded his horn, beckoning the lone female to pull over due to a supposed loose wheel. When she complied, the man approached her and threatened to kill her, hitting her in the stomach. However, this victim was fortunately able to escape his clutches and make haste to a nearby house and raise the alarm.
​
The third case, only three days later, was a slight deviation to the previous attacks, with the woman being assaulted in her own driveway after being trailed on the Ventura Freeway, near Winetka Avenue. The 52-year-old woman was grabbed through the open window of her vehicle, but the assailant fled the scene after she screamed.

A fourth attack took place in Long Beach, when another lone female was ushered to a standstill on a deserted stretch of road by a man pointing and gesturing towards the woman's left rear tire. She eventually pulled over, stooping down to check the rear of her vehicle, but when she arose she was faced with a man clutching a tire iron. Unfortunately though, this man was not there to offer assistance. She was later found beaten and robbed in a field. The modus operandi is again very similar to the Kathleen Johns case, although the robbery aspect is out of character from what what we know of the Zodiac crimes, as his attacks and murders appeared devoid of motive.

In December 1967, the police considered the possibility of a fifth attack on Anita Shieling (37), when she pulled into a closed gas station situated on White Oak Avenue and Lassen Street, Sepulveda, Los Angeles, California, after being told by a man driving a sedan that her wheel was falling off her car. The man then approached Mrs Shieling on the precursor of test driving her car, but instead punched her in the face, before grabbing her purse and driving away westbound on Lassen Street. Again though, it appears robbery was the primary motive in this crime.
​
Four of these attacks exhibited the ruse of faulty wheel, similar to the Modesto abduction, but unfortunately they provide little in the way of moving the case forward, other than if these were early Zodiac crimes, an indication of his movements and possible residency. Other crimes have been closely linked to the Zodiac Killer caseload down the years, but where his crimes began and ended has never quite been resolved with any certainty.
  
Another two possible Zodiac victims are Robin Graham (18), who disappeared in the early hours of November 15th 1970 on the Hollywood Freeway after encountering car problems, and noticed in the company of an unidentified dark haired male driving a pale Chevrolet Corvette. Also, Jeanette Kamahele (20) on April 25th 1972, who was last spotted along Highway 101, Santa Rosa, being aided by a white male driving a light brown Chevrolet pick-up truck. 

If we are to believe the Kathleen Johns abduction as a Zodiac crime, then these other attacks have a credible bearing on the case. If not, the further we search into this topic, the further we distance ourselves from the real killer.
​
Thanks to Michael Morford and his Zodiac Killer forum. 

The Zodiac Killer or a copycat, mailed a letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald on Wednesday October 28th 1987 claiming he would be driving around on Halloween night in his "death machine" looking for some "kiddies" to run over and that "cars make nice weapons". He also made reference to the movie The Car, directed by Elliot Silverstein and released in 1977, about a satanic, driverless car that embarks on a series of hit and run deaths. Here is a review of The Car.

The Zodiac modus operandi, if any can really be established,  involved attacks where he tended to seek out couple's in cars, the only deviation being the Presidio Heights slaying of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, yet still a vehicle was integral to the crime. In searching for crimes based upon the threats outlined in the 1987 letter, where the author had used his car as a potential weapon, we shall examine the murder of a young girl in Wichita on October 31st 1987. But first, we will take a look at the brutal attack on a lone woman in Marin County who had a terrifying encounter one dark night in 1972

Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972 and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9:00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection - that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, in his early 40s, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson - and that April 7th 1972 once again fell on a Friday. ​The Zodiac crimes of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights were on Friday, Friday, Saturday and Saturday respectively.

It is believed by some that the Zodiac Killer murders and correspondence were part influenced by an occultist theme. The Church of Satan was founded by author and occultist Anton Szandor LaVey, almost to the day, six months prior to All Hallows Eve on April 30th 1966 at the Black House, 6114 California Street, San  Francisco, California, close to the Presidio Heights district where Paul Stine was killed on October 11th 1969.  The building has since been demolished (in 2001). It was also exactly six months later that Cheri Jo Bates was murdered outside the Riverside City College library on October 30th 1966. The San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times ran articles on Anton LaVey calling him "The Black Pope". Anton LaVey knew the Tamalpais Valley area well, having attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley until the age of 16. He died on October 29th 1997 but curiously his death certificate stated his passing on Halloween morning. 

Was the Zodiac Killer an integral member of the Church of Satan, or was he part influenced by the Anton LaVey movement and the resulting press coverage? In a television interview, reporter Paul Avery, who had become the subject of the Zodiac Killer's Halloween card received a phone call from Anton LaVey stating that he thought the Zodiac Killer may have attempted to become one of his parishioners, subsequently providing Paul Avery with some material. This created a comical response from Paul Avery who stated that the "Zodiac was so bad even the Church of Satan didn't want him". As stated earlier, the Zodiac Killer mentioned the 1977 film The Car, about a satanically possessed vehicle that embarks on a murderous rampage, Anton LaVey was awarded  the title of Creative Consultant in the movies credits with a quote from his Satanic Bible.

The murder of Shannon Olson may be unlikely a Zodiac crime - with many people suggesting the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader as the possible murderer - as his crimes were committed in the area of Wichita, Kansas between 1974 and 1991 where he claimed 10 victims. However, the majority of his murders involved strangulation or suffocation, with only one of his victims, Kathryn Bright, having been stabbed. Dennis Rader has never confessed to the murder of Shannon Olson and the case remains unsolved to this day.