Here we will take an even deeper look into the events of October 30th 1966, partially using the excellent timeline of Ray Grant from his book 'Zodiac Killer Solved.' We may disagree on certain aspects of the crime, but he makes extremely interesting observations regarding the movements of Cheri Jo Bates that evening, and the fact that the young woman would never have willingly left her prized Volkswagen Beetle in the state it was found the following morning. 

We can agree that Cheri Jo Bates left her 4195 Via San Jose residence at approximately 5:05 pm. The next important sighting was from a Mexican-American student, who later stated that "he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her in the library the night in question. He said he saw the girl "writing something with a ball point pen" in her blue spiral school notebook. The boy told us he was outside about 5.30 pm, waiting for the library to open at 6, and it was then he saw the girl." This statement can be interpreted in two ways. He either saw the girl at 5:30 pm or 6:00 pm. But on this occasion we will opt for around 5:30 pm for reasons explained in 'Zodiac Killer Solved,' while adding a further component from the 'Inside Detective' Magazine.
​
​The journey time from her residence to Terracina Drive, where her vehicle was ultimately found 'abandoned,' is a journey time of about 12-15 minutes. She parked her vehicle 30 yards east of the library annex, as explained in the previous article, on the right hand side of the road. The time now is 5:20 pm. She walked the short distance to the library where the Mexican-American student noticed Cheri Jo Bates "about 5:30 pm." It was likely a few minutes before, because as Ray Grant pointed out, she would eventually notice she wasn't in possession of her bibliography and ventured off to place a payphone call to her co-worker Donna at the Riverside National Bank at 5:30 pm who said she hadn't seen the bibliography. This call probably lasted for approximately 5 minutes, because the next sighting of Cheri Jo Bates was at 5:40 pm when she returned back to her vehicle by the library. This eyewitness was not 100% sure of the girl's identity, but there is a high probability it was Cheri Jo Bates, as she was returning to her vehicle to make the journey back home to retrieve her bibliography.                

This is where the 'Inside Detective' Magazine comes in handy. It stated "The participants in the reenactment at the detectives' request, wore the same clothing and sat in the same seats that they had occupied the Sunday night of the murder. They were also asked to park their cars in the same places they had on the night of October 30. It had been determined that Cheri Jo (or a girl resembling her and in similar clothes) had arrived at the library about 5:40 pm and waited for about 20 minutes for the doors to be opened. The girl apparently entered the library as soon as the doors were opened at 6:00 pm, and checked out the books she had come for." This seemingly near corroborates everything before it - the sighting of the Mexican-American student just before 5:30 pm, the phone call to Donna at 5:30 pm, and her return to the library at 5:40 pm. There is one big problem however, pointed out by Ray Grant in 'Zodiac Killer Solved.'
​
Cheri Jo Bates was spotted by two eyewitnesses (a March Air Force Base man and a friend of Cheri's driving on Magnolia Avenue) that evening, arriving toward Terracina Drive at 6:10-6:15 pm. How could she be arriving at the college at 6:15 pm when supposedly she was entering the library at 6:00 pm, having earlier arrived at the college library around 5:20 pm? If she had arrived at the college twice, then she must have returned home at some point to search for her bibliography. 
If we take the 5:40 pm eyewitness sighting as Cheri Jo Bates, this may corroborate her Volkswagen Beetle parked only 90 feet east of the library entrance. She was returning from the payphone heading west to east, toward the library entrance, to consider a journey back home. Had her vehicle been parked 360 feet west of the library or 75 yards west of the alleyway, as asserted by Robert Graysmith, then this eyewitness would not have assumed Cheri Jo Bates was "arriving at the library at 5:40 pm." The magazine stated that apparently she entered the library at 6:00 pm, and had waited 20 minutes from arriving. It is highly likely this is supposition on behalf of the investigators, based upon the 5:40 pm sighting. As Ray Grant suggested, Cheri Jo Bates likely entered her vehicle at 5:40 pm or thereabouts, and drove the 24 minute journey to and from her residence to collect her bibliography. Allowing for the turnaround and locating her bibliography, 30 minutes is a reasonable estimate, placing her arriving back on Terracina Drive at 6:10 pm where she was spotted by both the March Air Force Base man and her friend.

In one newspaper article it stated, "Some of her friends were at the library between 7 and 9 pm, but none can recall seeing Cheri. She had been there, however, because three books stamped that day were found in the front seat of her yellow-green Volkswagen found parked on Terracina, near the annex. Someone else was there too. Someone who police believe knew Cheri- knew her well enough to recognize her car. The distributor had been tampered with and there was evidence that the man had been in the car with her. The keys were still in the ignition when the car was found the next day. Both windows had been rolled down and the right door was ajar." ​​
The 'Inside Detective' Magazine added that "the keys were in the ignition, but the car had been disabled and would not start. It was found that the distributor coil and condenser had been ripped out. Greasy finger and palm prints were discovered on the door of the car. Two school books and a notepad were found in the front seat." 
​
Ray Grant believes that Cheri Jo Bates was abducted from her Volkswagen Beetle shortly after arriving at the library at 6:10-6:15 pm, indicating she never entered the library that night. Had the Mexican-American student only spotted Cheri Jo Bates at "about 5:30 pm" outside the library, then no eyewitnesses at all that night had recalled Cheri Jo Bates inside the library. Ray Grant believes it wasn't Cheri Jo Bates that checked out the library books, but the perpetrators of the crime. We may disagree on the events from 6:15 pm onward, but an abduction cannot be ruled out, as the young woman was 'missing' for just over 4 hours, until screams were heard coming from the alleyway where Cheri Jo Bates would ultimately be found by groundskeeper Cleophus Martin the following morning. She was almost certainly forcibly removed from her vehicle, particularly so, if only one assailant approached her vehicle that evening or night. If, as the 'Confession' letter intimated, she walked willingly away from her vehicle, then it is extremely unlikely a conscientious woman who prided her Volkswagen Beetle, would leave the keys in the ignition, with both windows rolled down and the doors unlocked, with one possibly ajar. The state of her vehicle clearly indicated she was under duress at this point.​  

We have to emphasize the fact that both her vehicle windows were rolled down. 'In October 1966 the average high temperature in Riverside, CA was 80.7°F, and this was 0.2°F cooler than the average of 80.9°F. The hottest day in October 1966 was 31 October when the temperature reached 91.9°F. Overnight the average temperature in October is 51.8°F.' Had Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle been sitting idle for an extended period of time in front of her 4195 Via San Jose residence earlier that day, then the temperature inside her Volkswagen Beetle would have been stifling. This certainly would have necessitated her rolling down both windows before her journey. On either journey, it's highly likely one would roll down both windows to circulate the air in temperatures exceeding 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This fact alone may support her abduction or forcible removal from her vehicle as she parked up on Terracina Drive, before she had chance to roll up the windows and exit the vehicle. It may also explain the keys still in the ignition and the doors unlocked, with one not fully closed - especially if more than one assailant was involved. This however, is where the library books come into play in Ray Grant's diversion theory, in 'Zodiac Killer Solved'. It is an extremely interesting read. 
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If on the other hand she was forcibly removed, let's say under gunpoint or knife, shortly before 10:30 pm when she arrived back from her 'missing' 4 hours and then coerced into the alleyway, before being murdered, we have to ask ourselves the question -. would Cheri Jo Bates have arrived back at her vehicle at approximately 10:25 pm at night and rolled down both windows of her vehicle before attempting to drive away? Or had she rolled down the passenger side window for the sole purpose of conversing with somebody on the sidewalk, who was offering her assistance with the stricken vehicle? Were the unlocked doors, greasy fingerprints and "evidence that the man had been in the car with her," a sign that she initially felt comfortable with the good Samaritan - or that it was somebody she knew? All the evidence suggests that Cheri Jo Bates was forced from her vehicle that night, but was it around 6:15-6:20 pm, or shortly before 10:30 pm? Or is there another scenario, that may yet shed light on the events of October 30th 1966? 

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/cheri-jo-bates-re-evaluating-the-crime-scene
 
Zodiac Killer Solved by Ray Grant.  

Here we will take a fresh look at the Cheri Jo Bates murder in Riverside on October 30th 1966, using the 'Confession' letter, excerpts from Robert Graysmith's book, details from police, and earwitnesses to pinpoint the location of Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle and the vehicle of her assailant.

The 'Inside Detective' Magazine from January 1969 stated "At the murder scene, drops of dried blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detective that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying". This indicated that the killer was walking back to his vehicle, parked on Terracina Drive. But which way did he head, east or west? The Riverside City College library entrance was situated approximately 45 yards (135 feet) east of the alleyway where the slain girl was discovered. There are, as always, conflicting versions of the same event.

​[1] The 'Inside Detective' Magazine stated "The Riverside Sheriff's Department picked up the broadcast. Minutes later, Sheriff's Detective Sergeant Jack Reid and Detective Jack Elms discovered the little car. It was parked at the curb in front of the college library about 75 feet (25 yards) from the entrance of the roadway where the girl's body was found". [2] Robert Graysmith, in his book Zodiac. stated "He probably came up and offered help, offered her a lift in his car. Then he got her to go down the unlit gravel road to the parking lot, about 75 yards east of her car". [3] The Riverside Police Department memorandum stated "She returned to her vehicle, which was parked on a city street a short distance from the library, placed her books in the vehicle, and attempted to start her vehicle, The vehicle had been tampered with so it would not start. This was evidently done by the suspect to keep the victim near her vehicle, so the suspect could make his approach. Our victim then left her vehicle, accompanied by the suspect, and walked approximately 200 feet (67 yards) into a dirt driveway between two houses".

Below I have interpreted the statements. One vehicle is placed between 67-75 yards west of the alleyway (which was "about 75 yards east of her car"). The second interpretation places the vehicle "in front of the college library" about 25 yards east of the alleyway. These appear the two options.  

Next we will examine the 'Confession letter' wording to pinpoint the location of the assailant/s vehicle, along with the true location of Cheri Jo Bates' Volkswagen Beetle. The 'Confession' letter stated "Then I waited for her in the library and followed her out after about two minutes. The battery must have been about dead by then. I offered to help. She was then very willing to talk to me. I told her that my car was down the street and I would give her a lift home. When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what." I said it was about time for her to die". If the author of the 'Confession' letter was honest in his directional movements that night, then his choice of words "when we were away from the library walking", seems to suggest he was walking away from the library, towards the alleyway and his vehicle, having already offered Cheri Jo Bates help in fixing her Volkswagen Beetle. This indicated that Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle was parked somewhere close to the library - and going by the above options - 25 yards east of the alleyway.

​If her disabled Volkswagen Beetle was parked 70 yards west of the alleyway, then his statement in the 'Confession' letter of "When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what." I said it was about time for her to die". makes it appear he is heading in the wrong direction. Considering the relative position of the Volkswagen Beetle (70 yards west) and the alleyway in this instance, he would have been walking towards the library, not away from the library. However, the Volkswagen Beetle being parked 25 yards east of the alleyway flies in the face of the Riverside Police Department memorandum, which indicated her vehicle was parked 200 feet (67 yards) from the alleyway. The Riverside Police Department memorandum and Robert Graysmith's book appear to corroborate one another in terms of distance from the alleyway.   

But what if the Volkswagen Beetle was parked 67-75 yards east of the alleyway, instead of 75 yards west, as Robert Graysmith stated in his book. This would literally place the Volkswagen Beetle very close to the library doors, using the measurement capabilities of Google maps, and corroborate the Riverside Police Department memorandum, which stated "her vehicle was parked on a city street a short distance from the library". This also tallies with the 'Inside Detective' Magazine, in which police said her Volkswagen Beetle "was parked at the curb in front of the college library". They did however, go on to state her vehicle was 75 feet from the alleyway, not 75 yards. But it's my guess they made a mistake or were misquoted.  

One wouldn't have imagined parking spaces that difficult to find on a Sunday evening, particularly bearing in mind Cheri Jo Bates had arrived at the library around opening time, before many of the other 65 attendees. This may also challenge the notion of her parking her vehicle 120 yards (360 feet) from the library entrance, along Terracina Drive, leaving her an unnecessary distance to walk. This revamped assessment now places her vehicle approximately 75 yards east of the alleyway, very close to the library, and "parked at the curb in front of the college library". Or, "parked on a city street a short distance from the library".  Not on the west side of the alleyway as originally believed.
 
But where was the assailant's vehicle parked? In the 'Confession' letter the author stated he "waited for her in the library and followed her out after about two minutes". We know that Cheri Jo Bates was not murdered until approximately 10:30 pm, so much of what the 'Confession' letter depicts is false, however, his wording can still give us a clue to the location of where his vehicle was parked. It is extremely likely the killer either trailed Cheri Jo Bates to the library that evening, or pulled up near to the library on the expectation of her arrival, maintaining a visual on the entrance. Regardless of what time she entered the library, or where she went that evening, the assailant would have parked somewhere on Terracina Drive to facilitate his plan, hence the wording on the 'Confession' letter: "I told her that my car was down the street and I would give her a lift home." and "when we were away from the library walking". This indicated his vehicle was parked west of the library entrance, towards the alleyway. 

He clearly didn't want to park his vehicle by the Riverside City College library steps, as this would risk his vehicle being associated with the Volkswagen Beetle of Cheri Jo Bates. The wording on the 'Confession' letter of his vehicle "down the street", to lure her towards the alleyway, would suggest his vehicle was somewhere close to the alleyway. This would facilitate a speedy exit from the alleyway after the knife attack on Cheri Jo Bates, which would inevitably have left him with blood on his clothes. This was backed up by earwitnesses close to the alleyway, who likely heard the perpetrator's vehicle pulling away from the scene.

In the Robert Graysmith book it stated "A neighbor heard an 'awful scream' between 10:15 and 10:45 pm, and then about two minutes of silence, and finally the sound of an old car starting up". The neighbor's claim is backed up by the latter part of the 'Confession' letter: "She died hard. She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched. She let out a scream once and I kicked her head to shut her up. I plunged the knife into her and it broke. I then finished the job by cutting her throat". After Cheri Jo Bates screamed, according to the author, he kicked her and then used the knife twice to finally kill her. Taking this at less than 30 seconds, and assuming the killer and starting car are connected, what did the killer do for the remaining 90 odd seconds. If his vehicle was relatively close by (30 seconds journey) - so that the neighbor was able to hear it starting up - then we are probably looking for an unaccounted minute of time. Was this time used in searching for the Timex watch, wrenched off his wrist in the struggle with Cheri Jo Bates?

Based on everything learned, the Volkswagen Beetle of Cheri Jo Bates was likely parked very close to the library annex - 75 yards east, or thereabouts from the ill-fated alleyway. Her vehicle would have been parked approximately 30 yards (90 feet) east of the library entrance. The assailant's vehicle was also parked on Terracina Drive, within earshot of the alleyway, on either the east or west side. "At the murder scene, drops of dried blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detective that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying". But only a matter of yards from the alleyway, before driving away.    

FOOTNOTE: Newspaper article excerpt - Death on a Driveway, A life that ended too soon.  
"Some of her friends were at the library between 7 and 9 pm, but none can recall seeing Cheri. She had been there, however, because three books stamped that day were found in the front seat of her yellow-green Volkswagen found parked on Terracina, near the annex. Someone else was there too. Someone who police believe knew Cheri- knew her well enough to recognize her car. The distributor had been tampered with and there was evidence that the man had been in the car with her. The keys were still in the ignition when the car was found the next day. Both windows had been rolled down and the right door was ajar."  

The Zodiac Killer teased us with his name on more than one occasion, firstly in the July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter where he stated "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity". He would follow this up with the 'My Name is...' Letter on April 20th 1970 and the Halloween Card on October 27th 1970 tempting us with his name again; "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in.." ​It would appear however, these were empty promises and we are still no nearer to securing the identity of the Zodiac Killer nearly half a century later.

It always seemed strange the Zodiac Killer would integrate the Gilbert and Sullivan Mikado into his correspondence, leading researchers to believe he was a fan of the theater, having quoted three acts of The Mikado in the Little List Letter of July 26th 1970 and Exorcist Letter of January 29th 1974. But there may be an ulterior motive behind this apparent fascination with Gilbert and Sullivan, in that the killer was using The Mikado to reveal his name - and likely through four mailings rather than the accepted two. We will take a closer look at these four correspondences and the speculative links between them, without claiming this is anything more than coincidence. Let us first look at the Exorcist Letter.   

The first thing to notice is its carefully structured appearance, being divided neatly into four sections of text. The curious thing about the correspondence is Zodiac wrote "Signed, yours truley," as though he was about to offer up his name in the third block of writing. He then recited ​Act II - On a tree by a river from The Mikado. It seemed like Zodiac was wasting our time, plucking out random verses from The Mikado - that is until you read verse three of this particular act. It not only contained a reference to 'name', but pointed us towards 'The My Name is...' Cipher mailed on April 20th 1970. Here is verse three.

Now I feel just as sure as I'm sure that my name
Isn't Willow, titwillow, titwillow,
That 'twas blighted affection that made him exclaim
"Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!"
And if you remain callous and obdurate, I
Shall perish as he did, and you will know why,
Though I probably shall not exclaim as I die,
"Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!"

Was the Zodiac Killer giving us clues to his identity or name, by leading us back to the 13 Symbol Cipher. This observation on its own is meaningless, so we will travel back in time to the Little List Letter mailed on July 26th 1970, apparently the only other correspondence to contain references to The Mikado. The first section of the Little List Letter pulled lines from  A More Humane Mikado and continued on to extensively recite Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado Act One Part 5a As Some Day it May Happen, performed by Ko-Ko. In the introductory part of the letter, the Zodiac Killer simply boasted about how he would torture his slaves in paradise - but he again did something curious - by selecting just one small section of A More Humane Mikado, despite it being ten verses in length. The same as he did in the Exorcist Letter. He then continued to paraphrase the entirety of As Some Day it May Happen.

The Exorcist Letter, we have shown to have tenuous links to the April 20th 1970 'My Name is...' Letter, using verse three of Tit-Willow. So let us look at the small section of text Zodiac selected from A More Humane Mikado. The Little List Letter read "And all billiard players I shall have them play in a darkened dungen cell with crooked cues + Twisted Shoes".  Why does Zodiac select this small portion? Was this also hinting towards the 'My Name is...' Cipher? When we think of billiard players or billiard balls from the standpoint of America, eight-ball comes to mind, and the circled eights on the 13 Symbol Cipher. 

This is the full verse (right) from A More Humane Mikado. It is actually verse eight out of ten, providing us with the numerical link, as did verse three from the Exorcist Letter. The Zodiac Killer did state on the 'My Name is...' Letter; "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".

There is however another link from A More Humane Mikado to the alphabetical characters on the '13 Symbol' code mailed by Zodiac.
The Zodiac Killer supplied us with eight alphabetical characters, reading from left to right  A, E, N, K, M, N, A and M. In the diagram below, key sections of A More Humane Mikado are highlighted for comparison to the '13 Symbol' Cipher. Seven letters have been highlighted in green and yellow. This is where we must take a bold leap of faith and consider that the Zodiac Killer chose The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan because it simply contained his name, Kim. Nothing more theatrical than that. 

The green highlighted sections on A More Humane Mikado in reverse, read KIMNAM. If we believe therefore, that the middle eight represents the letter I on the '13 Symbol' Cipher, it reads forward KIMNAM, exactly the same. The remaining letters of the cipher AEN are shown highlighted in yellow. Every letter on the '13 Symbol' Cipher is contained within this section of seven letters. ​The three eights encapsulated his identity, just like the three eights at the foot of the 340 character cipher mailed on November 8th 1969: The Mathematics of the 13 Symbol Cipher. Who said the Magic 8 ball was just for telling fortunes! Additionally, Mikado can be formed using the alphabetical characters on the 20th line of the 340 Cipher.

The Zodiac was keen to share with us what he had in store for his slaves in paradise: "This is the Zodiac speaking. Being that you will not wear some nice buttons, how about wearing some nasty buttons. Or any kind of buttons that you can think up. If you do not wear any type of buttons, I shall (on top of everything else) torture all 13 of my slaves that I have waiting for me in Paradice. Some I shall tie over ant hills and watch them scream + twich and squirm. Others shall have pine splinters driven under their nails + then burned. Others shall be placed in cages + fed salt beef untill they are gorged then I shall listen to their pleass for water and I shall laugh at them. Others will hang by their thumbs + burn in the sun then I will rub them down with deep heat to warm them up. Others I shall skin them alive + let them run around screaming. And all billiard players I shall have them play in a darkened dungen cell with crooked cues + Twisted Shoes. Yes I shall have great fun inflicting the most delicious of pain to my slaves".

The talk of slaves, paradise, pine splinters, dungeons and hanging his 'prisoners' by the thumbs, catapulted me to the Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 and the last Mikado installment. The Zodiac Killer placed some wording around the knothole in the tree stating "peek a boo you are doomed". Bearing in mind that The Mikado opened to the paying public on March 14th 1885, and was hugely successful, running for 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre in London, a British connection had to be sought. The British term for peek-a-boo is peep-bo, and peep-bo is a character in The Mikado.      

In several articles we have explored the concept of geographical profiling to narrow down the search area for the likely residence of the Zodiac Killer, using timelines and his own words in an effort to identify the elusive murderer. A forum member of Zodiac Killer Site with the moniker 'Seagull' has been invaluable in this quest, mailing me names and addresses around the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street payphone in Vallejo in 1969. By cross checking these to previous residency in Riverside and other locations using ancestry records, a common thread is hoped to be unearthed. The problem is, it may take months or even years to manually trawl through a sample area radius of just 0.5 miles around the payphone. 

Another common thread that has been explored, is a possible link between Donna Lass and the Zodiac Killer. According to former police officer Harvey Hines "During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac". This, bearing in mind the disappearance and likely murder of Donna Lass only eleven months later, along with the alleged Zodiac 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, it is something not to be overlooked. It may be coincidence, but the 'Pines' card does reveal an interesting feature, long believed to be from the hands of a hoaxer because of the victim count not marrying up with known Zodiac correspondence. However, it does in fact fit perfectly into the Zodiac timeline.         

'Lemonboy', a contributor to this site triggered this article, when he stated "What if Donna lass saw Zodiac as he was walking away from the Stine murder? After that he targets her thinking she might have recognized him. The fact she lived so close to the crime scene seems more than coincidence". But what if the Zodiac moved in the circle of Donna Lass, knew the young nurse, or even worked alongside her. His confidence in these surroundings was evident after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, apparent by his detailed account of events in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter. He may have lived in the Vallejo area and worked in San Francisco, hence the copious mailings to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. If we could tie this person to Donna Lass through San Francisco and South Lake Tahoe, and possibly Cheri Jo Bates at Riverside, we may inch a little closer. The 'Pines' card may be suspect Zodiac material, but the wording on the postcard does leave a subtle hint that a connection may exist.

It all lies in the wording "Sought Victim 12", considered by some an error on behalf of its sender. But if we examine the victim count of the Zodiac Killer, the past participle of seek, indicated the killer may have been targeting Donna Lass during her residency in San Francisco some four months earlier. "Sought Victim 12" suggested that the Zodiac Killer at some point in his recent history had trailed victim 12. Bearing in mind the 'Pines' card was supposedly referencing the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, then it isn't a giant leap of faith to believe that the murderer was searching for victim 12 relative to his timeline and the young nurse.

On April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970, the killer mailed the 'Button' letter and Phillips 66 map claiming 12 victims. His search for victim 12 was clearly over, according to him, therefore it couldn't have been Donna Lass, who was abducted just over two months later. However, she may have been the original target. If she had been earmarked as victim 12, as hinted by the 'Pines' card, his plans were clearly thwarted or sidelined.​      

Before Zodiac could "seek victim 12" though, he had to secure victim 11, which he wasn't claiming when the 'Dragon' card landed at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 28th 1970. Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970 to begin her new post at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino. If he had targeted Donna Lass in San Francisco, it would likely have fell somewhere between the dates of April 28th 1970 and June 6th 1970, but was ultimately denied to him by circumstances unknown or her move away from the Bay Area. Even if Zodiac had claimed victim 11 as early as the end of April, then we could be looking for a man who either worked with the young nurse during the month of May, was in her near circle, or had a romantic or unhealthy interest in Donna Lass during this short timeframe.

Friends and colleagues of Donna Lass included Carol Emerich and Jo Anne Goettsche, the latter of which visited her around the time she disappeared - and it is these friends or persons close to them - that may hold the key to the identity of the Zodiac Killer during that crucial month in 1970. When the killer mailed the 'Pines' card on March 22nd 1971, either by accident or design, his mask of anonymity may have slipped even further upon pasting the words "Sought Victim 12," and place him a lot closer to Donna Lass than we care to imagine.   

The first three crimes of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa were committed in situ, in that the Zodiac Killer attacked the couples where he discovered them. The Zodiac at Presidio Heights entered the taxicab of Paul Stine in the bustling theater district of San Francisco and murdered him at Washington and Cherry, although Paul Stine effectively remained in situ, within the taxicab throughout. The three crimes that have widely been attributed to Zodiac, are the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates, the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns and the disappearance of Donna Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Casino, all of which were followed by alleged communications from the Zodiac Killer. These three crimes had one thing in common - the perpetrator used a ruse - to lure the women into his vehicle and remove them from the first point of contact.
Cheri Jo Bates' car distributor was tampered with, followed by the promise of a lift home, to lure the young woman into his vehicle. Kathleen Johns, again would fall prey to the same tactic, when her wheel was tampered with, followed by the promise of a lift to a service station. Donna Lass was lured away from her place of work, likely by a false medical emergency, to again draw the nurse toward his vehicle. Three crimes, involving three young women, and in all instances similar tactics were employed, followed by a correspondence claiming the crime. Here though, it is the Donna Lass abduction we shall concentrate on.

In the aftermath of the disappearance, the search for Donna Lass would be badly affected by the inclement weather in the coming months, highlighted by Police Chief Ray Lauritzen in the newspapers from the outset: "We don't know where we're going to begin. There's a four or five foot pack of snow out there and it's still snowing heavily. There's no point to a search at this time. It's unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring". It is far from certain the perpetrator of this crime knew Donna Lass, but the following will explore reasons why this may be the case.  

Similar to the second and third crimes by the Zodiac Killer, the disappearance of Donna Lass was again followed by a phone call from the supposed perpetrator. But unlike Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa, this phone call didn't brag about his crime, it claimed Donna Lass had been 'called away' or 'called out of town' due to a family illness, all of which was subsequently proved to be false. The caller was seemingly trying to give the impression nothing sinister had happened, suggesting the act of the phone call was simply to 'buy time'. If the abductor was affording himself some extra breathing space, then the real possibility he was local to the area or known to Donna Lass is a credible argument, and he was either holding Donna Lass at this juncture, needed time to dispose of her body, or possibly needed to remove incriminating evidence from his home or vehicle before the police came knocking. This may have suggested that the responsible moved in the circle of Donna Lass, such as friends and work colleagues, who are inevitably the first people to be questioned in most police investigations. 

The nature of the call was also suggestive of a perpetrator who knew Donna Lass. A friend or work colleague through conversation or private details, would be privy to information about her family, and the fact they lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 1,555 miles away. A phone call in this instance, using a family illness as a ruse, would be of the utmost benefit to the caller, possibly 'buying' the perpetrator plenty of time. The caller, it would seem, knew her family did not reside in South Lake Tahoe or nearby, because this would have made the call ineffectual.

Two phone calls were laid, one to her employer and one to her landlord. The first would obviously explain her absence from work after the Labor Day weekend, the second would possibly allay the concerns of her landlord over rent collection. He may have known Donna Lass, but would unlikely have known the exact date her payments were due. The fact he called her landlord at all, is indicative of somebody who was familiar with Donna Lass, unlikely to be known by a random killer or abductor who just turned up at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel that morning. If the perpetrator was the Zodiac Killer, then his close ties to Donna Lass could be of crucial importance, bearing in mind the widely held belief he was unknown to his victims in the first four confirmed attacks in the Bay Area. If the Zodiac Killer was also known to Cheri Jo Bates, due to the specific targeting of her Volkswagen Beetle, then Riverside and South Lake Tahoe may be more closely linked than ever imagined.  

​Donna Lass had recently moved into the Monte Verdi apartments on 3893 Pioneer Trail Road, located just a three minute drive from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. When she first arrived in South Lake Tahoe in June she stayed with Ann and Larry Lowe at 4054 US Highway 50, and was just finding her feet in the new residence when she went missing. Although her 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible was discovered outside the Monte Verdi apartment complex in its usual parking spot, it is believed she had not driven it to work on the evening of her disappearance, having walked to work from this previous residence, which was a short walking distance to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel of approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

She had made plans to meet up with her friend Jo Anne Goettsche, intending to travel back to the Monte Verdi Apartments in her vehicle once her shift at the casino had finished. The fact she was targeted immediately on her shift change at around 1:50 am is also telling. Had a nurse just vanished from the start or middle of her shift, this would obviously have raised a red flag with the Sahara Tahoe Casino, negating the intention of the abductor, and most certainly rendering the phone call unnecessary and highly suspicious. She had already changed from her nurses uniform into her civilian clothes, as her shift was due to end at 2:00 am - something the perpetrator likely knew.

The last person apparently to see Donna Lass before her disappearance was a Joan Bentley from San Francisco, who stated that Donna appeared in good spirits at approximately 1:40 am. The last entry on her log according to her sister, Mary Pilker, was "patient complains of", before the pen trailed off the page. This pen mark is unlikely to have been created by her being physically manhandled from the casino, as it was extremely busy during the Labor Day weekend. More likely, is that somebody approached her nurses station and asked for medical assistance in the car park. Donna Lass may have been writing in her nurses log, when she had her arm tugged in a gesture of 'please help,' or had been in the middle of writing when she abruptly rushed off to aid the concerned citizen. Either way, her pen trailed down the page. 

The person who made the phone call was also likely aware Donna Lass had not traveled to work that evening in her 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible. Had he contacted the Sahara Tahoe Hotel explaining the family illness, and that she had been called 'out of town', then this would have been negated had her employer or work colleagues noticed her vehicle sitting idle in the car park over the next few days. A vehicle she would likely have used for her trip to South Dakota.

​Was the perpetrator aware of her plans to meet Jo Anne Goettsche at around 2:00 am inside the casino, so acted just before the end of her shift? The subsequent phone call may then have served an extra purpose of allaying the worries of Jo Anne Goettsche had she informed the casino of her concerns or contacted the police. If the perpetrator knew of Donna Lass' arrangement with her friend, he may very well have spoken to her in the preceding days, further cementing the idea he was known to the young woman. Six and a half months after her disappearance, the 'Pines' postcard was mailed by the Zodiac Killer or an impostor to the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22nd 1971. But why did the likely killer of Donna Lass wait this long to mail the communication. Did his closeness to Donna Lass play any part?

James Owen was the only eyewitness at Lake Herman Road who saw two vehicles parked in the turnout on December 20th 1968. He recalled very little about the vehicle parked alongside the Faraday Rambler, but remembered them being 3 to 10 feet apart. His statement to police noted that "he did not see anyone in the cars or around them." This is probably the most puzzling aspect of the Lake Herman Road murders, and is often explained away in unsatisfactory terms. Raymond Grant, author of 'Zodiac Killer Solved' alerted me to this problem, with respect to how the Faraday Rambler was discovered by police in the turnout - with the front passenger side door open. Ray has tackled this 'anomaly' in his book and presented a comprehensive timeline of the eyewitnesses present that fateful night. However, the following will view the crime from a different perspective.

It is possible that James Owen was mistaken and didn't notice David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in the Rambler, but for now we will take his account in good faith and assume they were not present in the front seats. It is extremely unlikely David Faraday would have just remained in the pitch black turnout for any considerable time if another vehicle had pulled up alongside them. So it is likely that the vehicle that James Owen saw alongside the Rambler had just pulled into the turnout before he arrived. Approximately 30 seconds after he had passed the turnout he "thought he heard a shot." Many observers have speculated that the Zodiac Killer had already forced the couple from the Rambler before James Owen arrived. He was about to murder the couple when he saw or heard James Owen's vehicle approaching, so improvised and forced the couple out of sight between the vehicles. But we have a major problem. James Owen does not mention the car doors on either vehicle being open, particularly the Rambler. This can be simply explained away, in that the killer, keen to avoid drawing unwanted attention, simply closed the Rambler door before forcing the couple out of sight. 

Once James Owen had passed, the killer began his brutal execution of the couple, beginning with David Faraday just 30 seconds later. It was then assumed, he returned to his vehicle and left the turnout. If this version of events were true, then why did the killer reopen the passenger side door of the Rambler before he left, as this is how it was found by investigators responding to the crime scene? Nothing was apparently taken from the victims by the perpetrator, or mailed by the killer thereafter.

It has been suggested that James Owen likely didn't see the couple in the vehicle because they were 'making out' with the seats reclined. This would be highly unlikely, once a second vehicle had entered the turnout in extremely close proximity.
It was a dark, isolated turnout, late at night - and David Faraday, a conscientious young man, accompanying Betty Lou Jensen on a first date, would have been fully aware of the dangers and almost certainly would have reacted to a unknown vehicle pulling alongside them..If we take the statement of James Owen as literal, and the couple were not in the vehicle or under duress between the vehicles, then where were they?

Raymond Grant has presented his version of events in Zodiac Killer Solved, but here we will explore some alternatives. The simplest, is that the couple were in the vehicle but James Owen simply failed to notice them. If they were between the vehicles, then we have to believe that the killer pulled up alongside the Rambler, forced them out of the vehicle with warning shots not within audible range of James Owen's approaching vehicle, but didn't strike immediately. The assailant then noticed the vehicle of James Owen approaching and reacted by hiding the couple out of sight, while at the same time closing his door and the door of the Rambler. Once he believed James Owen had passed beyond audible range, he began his attack on David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Just before he left the turnout, however, he must have reopened the Rambler door, as this is how it was discovered by responding officers. But with nothing reported missing from the young couple, the murderer either didn't find anything of satisfaction within the Rambler, or this chain of events never occurred.  

Did James Owen see a vehicle parked alongside the Rambler at all? The sighting of the empty white Chevrolet Impala earlier that night, along with the suspicious vehicle reported by William Crow, seems to center the focus around the turnout that night, especially when we consider the events that ultimately unfolded approximately 75 minutes later. This appears to solidify James Owen's sighting of a second vehicle as correct. He may have been unsure of the distance between the two vehicles, but in his statement to police he confidently stated that "he definitely saw two cars".

Another alternative (if we dismiss the above), has been presented by Raymond Grant, hypothesizing that the couple were held captive, contained within the trunk of a vehicle, most likely the Chevrolet Impala. It is not a reasonable suggestion to argue that the killer entered the rear of the Rambler, forcing the couple out of sight as James Owen passed, because the rear doors were discovered locked by investigators when they arrived at the crime scene. Either James Owen was mistaken and he failed to notice the couple in the Rambler, the killer reopened the front passenger door after the murders to possibly collect a souvenir, which seem unlikely, or another unexplored option exists, not dissimilar to that suggested by Raymond Grant. 

Here are two interesting snippets from the Harvey Hines 120-page report on Lawrence Kane. The first details a call was being placed by the Zodiac Killer from a public payphone in Union Square, San Francisco. The second features a unique image of the Pines card created by Harvey Hines and photographs of the crucifix stone formation at the Sierra Club.
 
"Now, according to John Miles, I find that Kane lived at 217 Eddy Street in San Francisco prior to his moving to South Lake Tahoe. In looking at an area map of San Francisco, I found 217 Eddy Street appeared to be only about two to three blocks from where Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac on October 11th 1969. I then called inspector Dave Toschi at the San Francisco Police Department and got more details on the Stine killing. Toschi said they had determined the killer had called for a cab using the public payphone located at Union Square. Toschi said the cab picked the killer up and drove to the corner of Washington and Cherry Streets. At this point the cab driver was shot in the head. The killer was then seen by three witnesses from a residence nearby, wiping down the cab. Apparently wiping away fingerprints. Toschi said he also cut away a portion of Stine's bloodied shirt. After doing this, he calmly walked away in the direction of the Presidio Army Installation.

Two police officers, Don Foukes and Eric Zelms, heard the first radio broadcast and went directly to the area. The first broadcast, however, according to Toschi, erroneously identified the shooter as a black man. As Zelms and Foukes approached, they saw a white male walking toward the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. They briefly stopped and asked him if he had seen a man with a gun. He told them he had just seen a man waving a gun and running the other direction. The two officers then hurriedly left in search of the black man.
Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked. During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac." Harvey Hines went on to elaborate about his search for Donna Lass, in particular the Pines card mailed on March 22nd 1971:

"After studying the card, I drove to Nordin, located on old Highway 40, north of Lake Tahoe, and found the SIERRA CLUB. I learned the club was not called the Sierra Club. It was named the Claire Tappan Lodge and it was a private club for Sierra Club members only. I believed if I followed the directions on the postcard I would find Donna Lass' grave. I believe she was buried near the Sierra Club and most likely on the Donner Ski Ranch. I would later have the pictures of the Sierra Club developed. Then using a copy of Zodiac's card, I cut out the phrases he had pasted on his card. Using these phrases, I overpasted them on the copy of the Sierra Club picture. It was striking similar to the original card."  Thanks to Alex Lewis.

​When somebody has a suspect they believe to be the Zodiac Killer, often a side-by-side comparison using the Presidio Heights sketch is presented to bolster their argument. However, the idea that the Zodiac Killer wore black-styled 'prescription' glasses in his daily life is likely a false one. There could well be seven possible eyewitnesses to the Zodiac Killer, all of whom failed to mention any eyeglasses whatsoever. The reasoning for this comes courtesy of Deborah Perez, the woman who falsely claimed her father Guy Ward Hendrickson was the Zodiac Killer. She claimed she had the glasses worn by Paul Stine, removed from the taxicab that fateful night and the response of the police was telling. Had it been previously established that Paul Stine's glasses were found at the crime scene or at his home, then it would be immediately obvious to police she was a liar. But that was not their response.

"San Francisco police said Thursday that they were still waiting for Perez to produce a pair of glasses that she said her father took as a souvenir from a cab driver he killed. Police believe the Zodiac shot a San Francisco taxi driver named Paul Stine on Oct. 11, 1969. Reports of the crime say that Stine's glasses were missing. Once you make complaints to a police department, you are required by law to provide the evidence to a police agency, and there is no reason to believe she is not going to do that", said San Francisco Police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka. Asked whether police were taking her claims seriously, Tomioka said: "We take any new leads or any new information or evidence and look at it seriously, and then we follow up to see if there is any legitimacy to the statements".

During the press conference, Perez produced the glasses she said her father took from Paul Stine, the San Francisco taxicab driver, who was the Zodiac’s only confirmed victim in that city. But an investigation determined the glasses didn’t belong to Stine, said Kevin Jones, an inspector in the San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Bureau. Jones handled the Zodiac case. “They’re not Paul Stine’s glasses,” Jones affirmed this month, though he added he’s still working on other leads that Perez provided him with during lengthy interviews earlier this year. Jones would not say what those leads were. Perez had hoped the glasses might yield some DNA or other evidence. Why would police contemplate the arrival or wait for them to be presented, if they had already known the glasses had never been taken? This strongly indicates -- if they had done a cursory search into the their files - that Zodiac had indeed removed Paul Stine's glasses from his person. Otherwise they would have dismissed her claim immediately. One phone call to Dave Toschi or reviewing the inventory of items recovered from the taxicab would have been a 10 minute job to discover whether the glasses were retrieved that night or not. This suggests Zodiac likely wore the glasses of Paul Stine as he exited the taxicab and was subsequently spotted by the three teenagers. He likely kept wearing them, or donned them as Donald Fouke approached also.

The Zodiac stated in the November 9th 'Bus Bomb' letter: "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill". He possibly looked like the description due to the glasses he secured from Paul Stine's lifeless body. Had he been aware of the three teenagers observing him from the window, then the choice of using Paul Stine's glasses to help disguise his appearance may have been a wise choice.

Michael Mageau, after the Blue Rock Springs attack, asserted that the killer had not worn glasses, and had noted that his assailant had a particularly large face, all in line with the Berryessa sketch. Bryan Hartnell stated: "And he had clip on sunglasses...it was hard to tell. You know, the sunglasses you clip on when you're wearing glasses, eyeglasses. He had those clipped on. I'm pretty sure...I don't think he had glasses, though. I just think he had these clipped onto his suit....you know, that little mask".

The three female eyewitnesses at Lake Berryessa (if Zodiac) also recollected a man devoid of glasses. On the same day, around the time of the stabbing, Dr. Rayfield and his son recalled a stocky man wandering the hillside approximately 0.8 miles from the area of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. Dr. Rayfield continued "He wasn't nimble when he was walking. And when he turned to walk away he wasn't like a smooth, athletic person. To me he seemed a little overweight and on the clumsier side." He added "His body type matches what police said at the time-two hundred pounds or more. He was pretty big and built, but he didn't move like he was a real coordinated, smooth walking guy". Dr Rayfield and his son did not recall or mention the man wearing any glasses. This description mirrors the three women, who remembered a stocky build of 200-225 lbs. They also stated that he favored one leg over the other. The idea of a clumsy, uncoordinated man would again be reported two weeks later by Officer Donald Fouke, who observed the killer walking along Jackson Street shortly after the murder of Paul Stine. He described a man with a "lumbering gait, sort of stumbling along, like a semi-limp'. Up to the point of the Presidio Heights murder, along with the sighting of the three teenagers and Donald Fouke, not one of a possible seven eyewitness recall seeing a man wearing eyeglasses.

In two instances, it may not have been the Zodiac Killer, but we cannot know for sure. The Lake Berryessa sketch has by many, been dismissed as the same man portrayed in the Presidio Heights sketch. However, the likeness may be a lot closer than you think. If the Zodiac Killer had changed his hairstyle during the intervening two weeks, and the Presidio Heights face is slightly widened to portray a man around 200 lbs, we get the following.              

On October 13th 1969, two days after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, the Zodiac began taunting the police for their incompetence, stating "The S.F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly instead of holding road races with their motorcicles seeing who could make the most noise. The car drivers should have just parked their cars and sat there quietly waiting for me to come out of cover".

He would continue this theme of ridicule a month after the crime, when he mailed the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter stating "Hey pig doesnt it rile you up to have your noze rubed in your booboos? If you cops think I'm going to take on a bus the way I stated I was, you deserve to have holes in your heads". But if that wasn't enough, he would highlight how Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms effectively let him through their grasp as he walked along Jackson Street only minutes after the murder: "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".
 
Three months after the murder, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled Yellow Cab Sets Reward for Zodiac, offering a reward for the Zodiac Killer's capture. It read Yellow Cab Company yesterday posted a $1000 reward for the Zodiac Killer. Specifically the money is being "offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the deaths of Yellow Cab drivers Charles Jarman and Paul Stine. The Teamsters Union, which represents Yellow Cab's drivers, is also considering offering a reward in the two cases. The subject will be discussed and voted on at a meeting of drivers set for February 8".​  

This would not go unnoticed by the Bay Area killer, who responded on April 20th 1970 in the 'My Name is' cipher communication, stating "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now.  I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station".

The Zodiac Killer was clearly emboldened by his narrow escape along Jackson Street and from the park, likely believing he was untouchable. This was clearly demonstrated by his unashamed taunting of police in the Bus Bomb letter by remarking "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

Five-and-a-half months after the April 20th letter the tone was pretty much the same, when the 13-Hole pasted postcard was mailed on October 5th 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle. He would again mention the reward on his head and further suggest to police that they "shall never catch me". The postcard read "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?" The suggestion here, is that the killer is taking a swipe at the San Francisco Police Department, having mailed the correspondence to the Chronicle newspaper. The wording on the postcard is particularly telling, and seemingly directed at somebody in particular in the phrase "Fk I'm crackproof," in which the killer is again apparently unable to refrain from his love of cryptic messages. If the killer is addressing the San Francisco Police Department, it makes perfect sense that 'Fk' would in fact be somebody connected to the SFPD also. Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer's close call with Donald Fouke along Jackson Street when the officer's patrol car approached him and subsequently let him on his way, it gives a new dimension to the phrase "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?"

Alex Lewis (aka Welsh Chappie) came up with a plausible solution to this cryptic message which fits all the known criteria in the postcard: "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fouke knows I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?" This simple solution may be the reason for the capitalized F and lower case k in the phrase. Coupled with the "price tag" in reference to the Yellow Cab Company reward of $1000, the 13-Hole postcard mailed on the near anniversary of the Paul Stine murder, could possibly be seen in a whole new light.     

There is nevertheless a massive stumbling block. Apparently Officer Donald Fouke was never mentioned in the newspapers up to October 5th 1970 and the mailing of the '13 Hole' postcard, so how was the Zodiac Killer able to locate the name of the officer involved in the 'near miss' on Jackson Street, if the 'decryption' is correct. 

After the Blue Rock Springs Park shooting of Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin on July 4th 1969 the Zodiac Killer mailed the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, in which he stated "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 negro male was never mentioned in the police report, and the newspapers were also apparently unaware of this vital eyewitness as detailed in the Vallejo News Chronicle on Monday August 4th 1969: "The car's description was given to police by Mageau, not a phone call witness, as related in the letter. However, there could have been such a witness near the phone booth".
 
If the Zodiac Killer was telling the truth about a negro male by the payphone, how was he privy to this eyewitness speaking to police when clearly the newspapers were not. The killer also must have been fully aware of Michael Mageau's description of his vehicle, making this statement even more curious and unnecessary. In both cases, if correct, the impression taken would be of a Zodiac Killer who had inside information beyond what the newspapers had published. This could place the murderer of five much closer to the investigation than we care to imagine. However, if the above interpretations submitted are incorrect, then "Fouke knows" just about sums it up. 

A big thanks to Alex Lewis - https://welshchappie.wordpress.com/

This is a continuation from the article 'The Fictitious Negro Male' examining the crucial 40 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs Park shooting of Michael Mageau (19) and Darlene Ferrin (22) on July 4th 1969, which left Michael Mageau fighting for his life and Darlene Ferrin dead from five direct gunshot wounds. The killer would place a payphone call from the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street at 12:40 am, only 40 minutes after the attack in the parking lot.

​Exactly one month after the double shooting, the murderer mailed the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter to the San Francisco Examiner, received on August 4th 1969. It is in this introductory letter that the killer may have inadvertently revealed the area in which he lived. Many may not share my optimism, but any assistance anybody can offer in terms of material or research regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for 1969 land registry records, phone books or directories that contain names and addresses of individuals who lived in a 10-15 minute walking radius of the payphone at the Springs and Tuolumne intersection. This is what the Zodiac Killer stated in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter:
"I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car. 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".

After Michael Mageau had been shot he recalled exiting Darlene Ferrin's brown Corvair and lying alongside the vehicle, giving a rudimentary description of the assailant's vehicle as it pulled out of the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs. The killer adamantly denied leaving the scene "with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper," insisting he didn't want to draw attention to his vehicle and in direct contrast to the message the letter appeared to be pushing by the payphone. On leaving the crime scene he was now in possession of the 'smoking gun', and the wise choice may well have been to offload his weapon and vehicle at his residence and walk to the payphone, thereby carrying much less risk. He knew Mageau or Ferrin would unlikely be able to give a reliable facial description because of the tactics he employed, in particular the flashlight he used to blind the victims, however, his vehicle was not afforded the same protection as he exited the parking lot - and something he was infinitely aware of. He seemed confident during his phone call that he was reporting a "double murder", but whether or not he contemplated that Michael Mageau may still alive and this was just the statement of a braggart, is open to question. 

In the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter the killer seemingly goes out of his way to feature the payphone call, highlighting a negro male that spotted him after he hung up the receiver. This negro male was never mentioned in the extensive 75-page police report, or by any investigators connected with the case. The negro male also never featured in any newspaper articles up to the August 4th 1969 letter. This was called out in the Vallejo News Chronicle on Monday August 4th 1969, which stated "The car's description was given to police by Mageau, not a phone call witness, as related in the letter. However, there could have been such a witness near the phone booth".
 
Whether the police had identified a negro male eyewitness or not, it appeared that Zodiac wanted to capitalize on the fact he was spotted, by going into unnecessary detail on the man's age and attire, stating "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". Having effectively agreed that his vehicle was brown, he went on to highlight his vehicle once more: "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car".  The Zodiac Killer seemed intent on corroborating the description of his vehicle by Michael Mageau, by backing it up with the negro male eyewitness who saw exactly the same color of vehicle. This is particularly helpful on behalf of the killer, unless of course he was pushing a false narrative and the negro male eyewitness didn't exist - and his vehicle wasn't brown. In addition, the phrase "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car" is particularly telling, unnecessarily adding "my car" at the end. We already know he had a vehicle because the negro male had apparently identified it as brown. The superfluous addition of this content may very well be deliberate, to convince the reader the killer had pulled up to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone after the double shooting and placed the phone call with his vehicle in tow, when in fact he was on foot. We know he didn't drive directly to the payphone, because the payphone is situated only 10 minutes from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot, yet the phone call was logged 40 minutes after the attack.      

The phone call could have been made from anywhere, rather than alongside Springs Road, a prominent route traversing the crime scene and downtown Vallejo, in close proximity to the police station. However, the killer chose to remain in the vicinity at least 30 minutes beyond what was necessary. That is, unless he lived nearby and chose to remove his vehicle and weapon from his person, before making what was seemingly a predetermined decision to announce himself to the world.

A killer choosing to drive from Blue Rock Springs Park to somewhere within a 10-15 minute walking radius of the payphone would take 10 minutes. With 15 minutes to park his vehicle, change his attire, conceal his weapon and ready himself, would leave approximately 15 minutes to walk to the payphone with his imaginary "brown car" in tow and make the phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover. The premise of 10-15 minutes walking time is based on the killer applying a 'buffer zone' to his residence. He clearly didn't want to place a call in extremely close proximity to where he lived, but would also be constrained by his wanting to return to his residence in reasonable time after placing the call. Hence the estimate of 10-15 minutes as a starting point.
 
After the Lake Herman Road murders it was intimated by Officer Pierre Bidou that a crank call was received shortly after the killings, referring to a 'car accident' along that particular stretch of road. Had this been the Zodiac Killer, it would had to have been placed just prior to the official police message called in by Captain Daniel Pitta shortly after 11:25 pm. If the killer of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen had again placed the phone call at the Springs and Tuolumne intersection, then this 10-12 minute journey would have him leaving the turnout at the correct time based on the eyewitness accounts that night. However, by making this phone call before returning home, could have been indicative of a man confident he left no victims alive in this case, in contrast to Michael Mageau, who had extricated himself from the vehicle. This would certainly elevate the payphone's significance as a common denominator over the first two Zodiac crimes and dispel the idea the Zodiac waited 6 1/2 months before contacting the police, if it were true.

The Zodiac's exasperation in the letter seemingly implied a familiarity with the area of Lake Herman Road, stating "Last Christmass In that epasode the police were wondering how I could shoot + hit my victims in the dark. They did not openly state this, but implied this by saying it was a well lit night + I could see silowets on the horizon. Bullshit that area is srounded by high hills + trees".
His compass directions from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone and/or the police station also showed familiarity with his location at this intersection. He knew the Blue Rock Springs parking lot was east of his location and situated alongside Columbus Parkway. This is what he actually said to police dispatcher Nancy Slover with the all important pause or comma inserted into the dialogue, that changes the whole context of the phone call: "I wish to report a double murder.  If you will go one mile east...... On Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye." Unless the killer had prepared in advance by looking at a map, his directional knowledge of his immediate surroundings only 40 minutes after the attack was correct. Had he driven to a location unknown to him, the likelihood of him knowing his relative position to the crime scene using compass markers would be highly unlikely. Additionally, his targeting of lone courting couples may also suggest an intrinsic knowledge of his hunting ground. 

There appears little or no benefit in making an incriminating phone call, claiming four murders from a payphone only 10 minutes from the crime scene, when the killer could have been 40 minutes away at this point, placing the call in a region of relative security. The fact that he traveled so little distance in 40 minutes, meant he did something else for a large percentage of this time - and may well imply a connection to the area. Cross-referencing names of residents (within the 15 minute walking radius) in 1969 with ancestry records, may turn up individuals who previously resided in Riverside in 1966 during the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th, or possibly other key locations. If anybody can provide assistance in this search it would be greatly appreciated.  

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-fictitious-negro-male
http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/a-white-chevrolet-impala-at-blue-rock-springs

Donna Ann Lass disappeared without a trace on September 6th 1970 and is presumed murdered, possibly by the Zodiac Killer.
He would insinuate a connection on March 22nd 1971 when the 'Pines' card addressed to Paul Avery arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. Donna Lass had been working as a nurse at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino, where she curiously vanished from at approximately 1:45 am, just before her shift was about to finish at 2:00 am. She had not traveled to work that day in her Chevrolet Camaro convertible, but chose to walk to work from a previous residence. Her abductor or abductors seemingly targeted the end of her shift - and in the hours after the crime - rang her employer and her landlord to state she had been called away due to a family illness. A story that was subsequently proved false. This certainly suggested that the phone caller was buying time before any investigation got underway, thereby strongly indicating a connection between Donna Lass and her assailant. The delay generated by such a call would enable the assailant to dispose of Donna Lass and/or possibly remove incriminating evidence from their vehicle or home address. This would heavily lean towards one thing - that the murderer was close enough to Donna Lass to expect the police to be knocking on his door sooner rather than later.

The gaps in Zodiac's timeline can likely indicate more about our killer than the actual murders themselves. In his timeline three notable delays in correspondence can be noted.
After the Lake Herman Road double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968 he waited 6 1/2 months to communicate with the public. After the disputed Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970 he waited 4 months to lay claim to the crime. And finally, in the disappearance of Donna Lass it would be again 6 1/2 months before the 'Pines' card would arrive at the Chronicle. After Blue Rock Springs it was 27 days. After Lake Berryessa it was a matter of minutes, with the writing on the car door of Bryan Hartnell. The murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, his last confirmed crime, was followed by correspondence only 2 days later. Were the delays in communication after Lake Herman Road, Modesto and Lake Tahoe indicative of applied caution on behalf of the Zodiac Killer? Lake Herman Road may be understandable, if indeed this was his first venture into murder. But what of Modesto and Lake Tahoe? Was the Zodiac Killer temporarily stationed in these areas through employment, and waited to return to the Bay Area before communicating with the newspapers to apply separation from the area?

Many people believe the Zodiac Killer lived in Vallejo, or in close proximity to it, while posting his correspondence from San Francisco on his way to and from work. His profession is an avenue worth exploring regarding the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns and the Lake Tahoe disappearance of Donna Lass, particularly in light of his delayed communications. If he traveled to either of these locations on a 'day trip', with no connection whatsoever to each area, then there would be no need for a combined delay of 10 1/2 months before his contact with the newspapers. The implication being, that these areas had greater significance to the killer than he would like us to know. This may be further borne out by the customary Zodiac phone call - but this time used to delay the investigation into the disappearance of Donna Lass, because he knew her enough to believe the police may pay him a visit. 

The journey from Vallejo to South Lake Tahoe is a simple one, encompassing the two major highways of U.S. Route 80 and U.S Route 50. The latter runs past the apartment of Donna Lass at 3893 Pioneer Trail Road, the Paradice Motel (Halloween Card) and the once Sahara Tahoe Hotel. Shown here. This route also runs directly through Sacramento, notable for the murders of Judith Hakari, Nancy Bennallack and Carol Beth Hilburn on March 7th 1970, October 25th 1970 and November 14th 1970 respectively. All three of these murders have been suggested as possible Zodiac attacks. Can we connect San Francisco, Modesto and South Lake Tahoe in terms of the Zodiac Killer's profession?

The Naval Air Station Alameda is situated on San Francisco Bay, close to the Oakland Bay Bridge. However, during and since World War 2 it became headquarters for a system of auxiliary airfields, that included Crows Landing Naval Auxiliary Air Station and Fallon Auxiliary Airfield. The Naval Auxiliary Air Station Crows Landing is only 25 miles from the area where Kathleen Johns was abducted. If you exit NASA Crows Landing heading north on Interstate 5, it then joins Highway 132 only 0.8 miles before the point where Kathleen Johns was flagged over and where the vehicle was ultimately found burnt out. Zodiac would have entered Highway 132 just behind Kathleen Johns and trailed her for approximately 2 minutes, before he made his move. 

Fallon Auxiliary Airfield is on a direct route through South Lake Tahoe to the east, on U.S Route 50. If the Zodiac Killer knew Donna Lass, he may have been stationed at this auxiliary airfield and frequented South Lake Tahoe. Investigators in Riverside also pursued the idea that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 may have worked at the March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, situated only 14 miles from the Terracina Drive crime scene. This was considered because of the military heel print discovered in the alleyway by the body of Cheri Jo Bates. This coupled with the military Wing Walker boot impressions found at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 may indicate an Air Force connection, or indeed airplanes in general. After all, the Zodiac Killer did introduce himself with "This is the Zodiac speaking".   

"An auxiliary force is an organized group supplementing but not directly incorporated in a regular military or police entity. It may comprise either civilian volunteers undertaking support functions or additional personnel directly performing military or police duties, usually on a part-time basis. Historically the designation "auxiliary" has also been given to foreign or allied troops in the service of a nation at war. In the context of colonial armies locally recruited irregulars were often described as auxiliaries". Source Wikipedia.

The immediate correspondence after the disappearance of Donna Lass was the '13 Hole' postcard on October 5th 1970. However, this was likely mailed in response to his 'Little List' letter of July 26th 1970 having not being featured in the newspapers. Both claimed 13 victims, so Donna Lass being abducted after July 26th 1970 cannot be the "big thirteenth". ​If she truly was a Zodiac victim, then she had to be victim number 14, dispelling the idea that the 'Halloween' card was a veiled threat towards San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery.

There is some validity to the idea that the 'Halloween' card was indicating the murder of Donna Lass. This correspondence and the 'Pines' card were both addressed to Paul Avery, and both made similar references. The 'Halloween' card featured a tree with an eye in the knothole, with the accompanying phrase "peek-a-boo you are doomed". The 'Pines' card held the phrases "peek through the pines", and the upside-down "around in the snow" -  likely indicative of a burial or disposal site, along with the choice of skeletons on the 'Halloween' card almost two months after the crime. Did the Zodiac Killer work as an auxiliary at Riverside, Patterson, San Francisco and Fallon? The FBI certainly considered this possibility in a least three of the locations.   

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/donna-lass-an-enduring-mystery