This is what Officer Pierre Bidou said in the 2007 documentary 'This is the Zodiac Speaking'; "During that night we had served a search warrant at what we call The Cottage at Lake Herman which was owned by the city of Benicia, a narcotics search warrant my partner and I, we confiscated about a pound and a half of marijuana, which in the 1960s was a big drugs bust, today it wouldn't get very high on the Richter scale. We had left and were heading back to the police department to put the marijuana into evidence and as we drove by we didn't see or observe anybody in that area, there's a turn there (the crime scene turnout) and your headlights shine right in there as you go by. As I was pulling into the lot at the police department we heard the Benicia Police Department dispatcher put out a call of a possible shooting and victims on Lake Herman Road and described the location. My partner and I turned around at that time and responded to the call".  https://youtu.be/HI0jnsbZwys?t=3m5s 

In the Benicia Herald online this is confirmed "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec 20th 1968 and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department's evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road".
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In True Crime with Aphrodite Jones (2010) he states at 11:58 into the video "And you can see she is dead and the bloods still fresh, her heart was still pumping the blood out when we got here".
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By all accounts it appeared Officer Pierre Bidou responded pretty quickly to the crime scene and was one of first responding officers at the Lake Herman Road turnout. But there is one very big problem when we look at the timeline of Frank Gasser, Robert Connelly, Peggy and Homer Your, Stella Borges (Medeiros) and James Owen.   

The timeline of the above eyewitnesses are often questioned as to what exact minute they passed the crime scene turnout. However, what we are fairly certain of, is that David Faraday's Rambler is observed for at least a 15 minute time period from when they were observed alive by the Your's at around 11:00 pm until Stella Borges passed the turnout around 11:15 to 11:20 pm, when she observed the bodies of the young couple lying on the turnout floor. We know Stella Borges passed the scene at around 11:15-11:20 pm (the exact minute is not important), then she sped off toward Benicia and attracted the attention of Captain Daniel Pitta. He arrived at the crime scene between 11:22 pm and 11:28 pm (depending on whose opinion you read) - but you can guage the approximate timeline.

Pierre Bidou stated he passed the turnout on the way to the Benicia Police Department, his headlights illuminating the turnout and nobody was observed. It takes approximately 8 minutes to arrive at the Benicia Police Department from this location traveling at 30 mph - at which point he received the dispatcher's call of a possible incident on Lake Herman Road. Pierre Bidou, by all accounts, had to have passed the Lake Herman Road turnout before the murders, yet how can 8 or even 10 minutes later, a possible double murder have been reported? The timeline of the above eyewitnesses span approximately 15-20 minutes. In other words, after Pierre Bidou had passed the turnout seeing no vehicles, David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen would need to park up in their Rambler, then have been spotted by six eyewitnesses over a period of 15-20 minutes before and after the murders, followed by Stella Borges racing off to notify Captain Daniel Pitta a further 3 to 4 minutes later. He was the first officer to have been informed of the crime. This means that 18 to 23 minutes had elapsed from the first eyewitnesses spotting David Faraday's Rambler, to the reporting of the crime to Officer Daniel Pitta. So how could Pierre Bidou have been notified as he pulled into the Benicia Police Department just 8 to 10 minutes later, after passing an empty turnout and stating "We had left and were heading back to the police department to put the marijuana into evidence and as we drove by we didn't see or observe anybody in that area". There is simply not enough time for all these eyewitnesses to have observed and done what they said they did, and for both David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen to have been killed in approximately 8 minutes.

Also, in this article http://beniciaheraldonline.com/citizens-police-academy-signs-of-the-zodiac/  it stated "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene."

Who sent this "crank call"?  It certainly sounds from reading between the lines, that this wasn't an official police radio dispatch relayed from Captain Daniel Pitta. Could it have been an early Zodiac phone call? The only other two people to have known about the Lake Herman Road crime scene at approximately 11:18-11:23 pm were Stella Borges and Captain Daniel Pitta. Additionally, if Captain Daniel Pitta had called in the crime, it would have been an official radio message, not a crank call - possibly indicating a third party was aware of the scene at Lake Herman Road. So, either somebody else of innocent persuasion had also passed the scene near to the timeline of Stella Borges, or the Zodiac Killer himself had called it in.

Finally, in the True Crime video with Aphrodite Jones (2010) https://youtu.be/TFp9s3cwkms?t=11m9s Pierre Bidou twice mentioned David Faraday being inside the Rambler, at 11:17 and 11:45 into the video. He stated "The young man was still in the car" and  "you see the male in the car still breathing". In the https://beniciaherald.wordpress.com/the-zodiac-case/ article, it stated "Inside the car, the officers found a boy in the passenger’s seat who appeared as if he was trying to get out of the car. Bidou remembers seeing the shattered glass of the car window, pierced by a bullet. More poignantly, he also remembers that the boy was still breathing." Additionally, on the 'Richard Gaikowski -The Case of the Zodiac Killer' video, we get a further example at 13:22, where Pierre Bidou stated "The male was still halfway in the vehicle and he was showing signs of breathing." https://youtu.be/vdVJH1OVk-Q?t=13m22s​. I suppose we will have to put these four examples down to a slip of the tongue. 

One of the overriding questions in the Zodiac case has always been a hot topic for debate, that being, did Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms stop and talk to the Zodiac Killer? Donald Fouke has always denied any conversation between him and the killer ever took place, in direct conflict to what the Zodiac claimed in the 'Bus Bomb' letter mailed one month after the murder of Paul Stine on November 9th 1969, when he wrote: "p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again". 
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Some people believe their denial of stopping and talking to the white male stems from the embarrassment of letting a killer on his way, whereas some people believe Donald Fouke, a respected police officer, over a merciless killer. Is there anyway to find a definitive answer nearly 50 years later? The short answer is no - but by reading through the detail and listening to the accounts of Armond Pelissetti, the first responding officer that night, and Donald Fouke being interviewed on 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' (2007) and the 'Crimes of the Century' (1989) documentaries, we can say it is extremely likely a conversation between the police and the killer did occur. Of course, memories get blurred over time and this is understandable, however, there are definite red flags of such inconsistency, one finds it difficult to explain away 
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Armond Pelissetti stated in the 2007 documentary that he responded to a radio dispatch concerning Paul Stine 'red light and siren' at 9:55 pm. The actual time was closer to 9:58 pm, but it is not critical, because at the same time patrolmen Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms also received the broadcast as they were traveling northbound on Presidio Avenue, having just passed Washington Street. So we will go with 9:55 pm in this instance. 
Armond Pelissetti was close by and reacted by traveling west on Washington Street, parking on the intersection of Washington and Cherry Streets. He exited his vehicle and noticed three teenagers in the vicinity of the intersection, so he ushered the kids back across the street to the alcove of their residence. At this point he was of the understanding he was looking for a black male suspect. He went over to the taxicab and observed Paul Stine lying slumped over the front passenger seat with his head resting on the floorboard of the passenger side and was 99.9% certain he was dead. It is then he retook the description of the suspect. In the 2007 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' documentary he stated "it was then I was told it was a white male, I couldn't get to the radio fast enough at that point to let everybody else know. The kids had told me whoever had done this crime had left the cab, went out the door and seemed to be wiping the cab down and reaching into the cab and ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kind of towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars, so I went down following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". 

Officer Donald Fouke, on the other hand, was at the same time (9:55 pm) making his approach to the crime scene - he had just passed Washington Street by Presidio Avenue - so his quickest and most direct route was north to Jackson Street, west along Jackson Street to Cherry Street and then south to the crime scene, which is exactly what he should have done if he was responding to the crime scene. En route, he noticed a white male on the north side of Jackson Street as he approached Maple Street, however, believing he was looking for a black male adult, he claimed he slowed down and passed the man without stopping or questioning him. He then claimed he continued west on Jackson Street before turning southbound into Cherry. This is where he stated in the 2007 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' documentary that he bumped into Armond Pelissetti, who was cautiously scanning the alcoves and vehicles traveling up Cherry Street. It is then, crucially, that Donald Fouke said "He stopped us and said that he was looking for the white male that had just gone down the street. There was a little conversation about what the initial description was and he said no he was a white male, I then used a slang term and said oh that was the suspect". Clearly, Donald Fouke was still under the impression he was on the lookout for a black male until he was corrected.      

It is patently obvious, that when both officers received the original police broadcast, their first instincts would have been to head toward the Washington and Cherry crime scene, which is what they ultimately both did. Many people say memories get blurred with time, so we will head backwards to the 'Crimes of the Century' documentary eighteen years earlier in 1989 and see what Donald Fouke stated when asked of his recollections. It should, in theory, be a little more accurate. Here is the important section of this documentary where Donald Fouke outlined how the events unfolded that night.  
https://youtu.be/_A3kD-j25jQ?t=57s
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He stated "We proceeded on Jackson Street towards Arguello continuing our search, as we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult, believing this suspect was possibly the one involved in the shooting we entered the Presidio of San Francisco and conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect".  Clearly, this account differs markedly from the 2007 version, and from the standpoint of common sense, because turning southbound on Cherry seemed the correct course of action - after all, he was responding to the crime scene at Washington and Cherry, unaware at this point in time that Armond Pelissetti has responded to the crime scene before him. So what was he doing as he claimed in the 'Crimes of the Century' documentary, heading towards Arguello Boulevard and West Pacific Avenue, away from the crime scene? Remember what the Zodiac claimed in the 'Bus Bomb' letter on November 9th 1969: "p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them." In other words, the only reason for Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms to have been heading towards Arguello Boulevard and around the corner into West Pacific Avenue, away from the crime scene, is if Zodiac directed them there - and they were looking for a man 'running and waving a gun'. 

Remember, Donald Fouke stated we "conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect". In the 2007 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' documentary he said he last observed the suspect entering a stairwell at 3712 Jackson Street. If this were the case, on receiving the revised description of a white male as his patrol car was approaching Arguello Boulevard, the logical move would have been to perform a u-turn and head straight back to 3712 Jackson Street. Yet he stated that they continued onward conducting a search along West Pacific Avenue to the Julius Kahn playground, pouring huge doubt on this sighting outside 3712 Jackson Street being the last observed location of the suspect. What is more likely, is the white male suspect who issued them with directions, was last observed heading towards West Pacific Avenue via the Jackson and Maple intersection, hence why they continued onward and entered West Pacific Avenue themselves.

​The detailed description by Donald Fouke of the white male suspect, right down to his tan engineering boots and elasticated waistband and cuffs, bearing in mind he was still looking for a black male at this point, seems to point to the fact that a greater interaction occurred between killer and police officer than we were being led to believe. There is one other crucial factor in the timeline that indicates Donald Fouke's account is nearer the mark in the 'Crimes of the Century' documentary than his 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' recollection - and that is concerning his meeting with Armond Pelissetti along Cherry Street, which they both concur.

Both Donald Fouke and Armond Pelissetti received the initial police broadcast at 9:55 pm - it was more likely 9:58 pm - but the important thing to remember here, is they both received it at the same time. So let us examine what Donald Fouke said in the 2007 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' documentary concerning his speed, "Before I saw him (the white male on Jackson St) I was traveling probably about 35-40 mph, slowed down as we passed him, saw it was a white male, step on the gas, 5,10,15 seconds tops". The journey from the Presidio Avenue and Washington Street intersection, where he took the initial broadcast, is approximately 0.6 miles to the upper reaches of Cherry Street, where he bumped into Armond Pelissetti. Erring on the side of caution, which backs up the following argument even more, we have averaged his speed down to 30 mph. Therefore, traveling 0.6 miles at 30 mph, it would take Officer Donald Fouke approximately 1 minute 30 seconds to meet up with Armond Pelissetti at the top of Cherry Street.      

So, let us now look at Officer Armond Pelissetti's timeline to enable him the reach the upper part of Cherry Street in 1m 30s to meet with Donald Fouke. ​Again, we shall be generous, and attempt to get him to the meeting on time. Let us say it took only 30 seconds for Armond Pelissetti to respond to the initial radio broadcast and park up at the intersection of Washington and Cherry. A brisk walk up Cherry Street to the Jackson/Cherry intersection is about 1 minute - but remember, Armond Pelissetti is walking slowly checking alcoves and parked cars. So we will be even more generous and afford him 90 seconds. That is 90 seconds to traverse up Cherry and 30 seconds to arrive at the crime scene - which is obviously 2 minutes. This is already exceeding the time he can take if he is to meet up with Donald Fouke - making their meeting impossible. Remember, when he arrived at the intersection of Washington and Cherry he ushered the kids back to the alcove of their residence, checked the body of Paul Stine in the taxicab and was 99.9% certain he was dead, retook the description and direction of the killer, sent out the revised description of a white male to all other units, and asked his partner, Frank Peda, to secure the crime scene, before heading up Cherry Street. The two minutes described earlier, plus all these actions, shows without any doubt he would never have met Donald Fouke at the top of Cherry Street, had Donald Fouke traveled here directly from the initial radio broadcast, Donald Fouke would now be at the crime scene, which he wasn't.

So, the question to ask is, what was Donald Fouke doing with all this extra time, of which there could be at least two minutes?
If he turned straight into Cherry Street as he claimed in the 2007 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' documentary, then he would had to have stopped and talked to the white male suspect in Jackson Street for possibly 2 minutes to allow for him to meet Armond Pelissetti directly - and based on the dialogue given by Zodiac in the 'Bus Bomb' letter, it was more likely a matter of seconds rather than minutes. So this scenario is unlikely. However, if he had briefly talked to the Zodiac Killer and had been directed to Arguello Boulevard and then had conducted a brief sweep of West Pacific Avenue, before returning to Cherry Street to meet Armond Pelissetti, then this 2+ minutes are accounted for easily. This indicates that his account in the 'Crimes of the Century' documentary is truer to the unfolding events of October 11th 1969 and not his later account in the 2007 documentary, which does not conform to the timeline. In fact, it simply is not possible whichever way you twist it.   

A big thanks to Alex Lewis for all his help on this subject. 

One of the first police officers at the scene of the Presidio Heights murder was Armond Pelissetti, he described finding Paul Stine slumped over the passenger side seat with his head in the floor well and this makes perfect sense as this is where the majority of blood had pooled. Whether or not he fell or was pulled into this position is not up for debate, however one question has always divided the Zodiac community. What happened to Paul Stine's glasses. If his glasses stayed on after the initial shot and he had fell or been dragged to a position where his head was in the passenger side well, is it not likely this is where his glasses were jolted off his head or had been dislodged by the passenger side compartment. 
The question is, are these Paul Stine's glasses lying damaged and upside down on the passenger side floor well. The lower edge of the frames not catching the light of the flash photography as they are immersed in the blood pool.
Watch this scene on Youtube and view in full screen..
Please watch this video and vote on how convinced or unconvinced you are by this argument. Also click the image on the right for an outline depiction of the glasses on the floor well.

In the article 'The Truth Behind 9/11', we took the Zodiac statements in the Bus Bomb letter mailed on November 9th 1969 and saw if all his wording corroborated itself from the standpoint of his claim he entered the park after the murder of Paul Stine. In other words, did every phrase he chose, tie together and point to one specific location. It suggested he was in the park watching the unfolding events for a short duration before making good his escape. That location, based on the wording in the Bus Bomb letter, suggested he entered the park after traveling north from the intersection of Jackson and Spruce Street. The idea was, that this was his intended escape route from the moment he planned this murder.

The Zodiac stated "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night." on October 13th 1969, suggesting that this was his original intended murder site, which would have facilitated an exit north along Maple Street, before traveling east to Spruce Street and north into the Presidio park. The destination of Washington & Maple makes much more sense bearing in mind an escape via Spruce Street and Julius Kahn playground.

The Zodiac stated on November 9th 1969 "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again." This description tallies with Spruce Street, which is situated approximately a 'block and a half away.' from the sighting of Officer Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms as they traveled west along Jackson Street. The Zodiac stated "The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west".  Arguello Boulevard, where Zodiac described the police cars and fire trucks and where the hive of activity was focused, is just over two blocks west of Spruce Street.

And finally Zodiac stated "there was only 2 groups of parking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west." The only view of Arguello Boulevard from Zodiac's position in the trees adjacent to Spruce Street, is the section of road running northwest. In fact, it runs from south to northwest, just as the Zodiac stated. If he was in the park, concealed in the trees by Spruce Street, then everything he said would effectively be true. The reason the Zodiac only has an eyeline on this section of Arguello Boulevard, is that the rest is masked by trees, as it was in 1969. 

In previous articles we have made a case for the Vallejo and Benicia areas being the home of the Zodiac Killer based on geographic profiling, but on this occasion in the interest of impartiality, we shall make a case for San Francisco from nothing more than what the killer specifically wrote in two pieces of correspondence. He was a braggart and egotist, and like many killers he may inadvertently have left clues in his correspondence that individually reveal nothing, but taken as a collective could possibly narrow down his possible residence to within a few blocks, when we piece back the jigsaw. The biggest argument for his base being San Francisco is the correspondence itself, with the majority of the his communications mailed from this region to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Using the 'least effort principle', in that people are generally lazy and usually perform a task closer to home, when at all possible, this could apply to the Zodiac Killer when mailing his letters. One alternative suggestion was that he lived across the bay and worked in San Francisco, which is equally plausible. However, for the purposes of this argument we will leave that one behind. 
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We are fairly certain the Zodiac Killer used a vehicle to depart the scene in his first three attacks, but in the Presidio Heights murder of Paul Stine there is much doubt. Some people swear he had a getaway car waiting nearby, while others suggest he may have lived close by. What we do know, is the Zodiac Killer fled the scene on foot and claimed he entered the park - and for the purposes of this article - we shall take everything the Zodiac stated at face value and see where it leads us.      

Tracker dogs were employed in the search of the park 'The military police headquarters of the Presidio of S.F. was notified and an intense search of the Julius Khan area was made by seven dog units, other Richmond and C.P. units- to no avail.' From the Stine Report. But this took time, allowing the Zodiac Killer to observe the unfolding events for a brief period of time. Going on the basis the Zodiac Killer lived in San Francisco and was on foot, where does he go now? He can see the commotion on Arguello Boulevard, so he certainly doesn't head west. Heading through the undergrowth into the park north is equally risky. View on Google Maps. He was aware he was spotted on Jackson Street, where Officer Donald Fouke saw him (these were his claims), so it would be foolish and unnecessary to re-enter Jackson Street in a southerly direction, thereby leaving the logical choice available to the killer of heading east, away from the current search area. In other words the Cow Hollow district. But if he had no vehicle, did he live somewhere close by?

In the 'My Name is..Letter' mailed on April 20th 1970 the Zodiac stated "I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud.  I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back," and in the Bus Bomb letter he said "What you do not know is whether the death machine is at the sight or whether it is being stored in my basement for future use." So again, taking the Zodiac Killer at face value, we shall look in this region of Cow Hollow or the Marina District for basement residences and flood plains in the region. The 'My Name is..Letter' could easily have been telling the truth also. It was mailed on April 20th talking of "rain we had a while back." San Francisco's rainy months are between November and April, averaging over 100 mm monthly. Here is the chart. If you take a look at this historical monthly and yearly rainfall map of San Francisco, it is evident that December and January were particularly heavy monthly rainfall totals in 1969/70 compared to the average, bearing out the Zodiac's claim of being 'swamped out a while back'. http://ggweather.com/sf/monthly.html  

The map on the left shows areas vulnerable to sea level rise, low level areas close to the coast at mercy to the weather, in addition to heavy rainfall and storm surges. Click here to enter the map. Some residences within this area had basements. Also, if you zoom in on the map you will notice Scott Street.

​One Zodiac suspect, Rick Marshall, highlighted in the 2007 movie, lived in a basement residence in Scott Street in 1969, a few miles from the crime scene. See here. So if we assume that Zodiac had no car that night, lived nearby and take his statements as true, then logically his escape route from the park was east to low lying ground, vulnerable to flooding, sending him on a collision course with the Marina District of San Francisco or very close by.