Here are some extracts from the Riverside Desktop Poem and the three Bates' letters, that bleed into the Confession Letter.
[1] SICK OF LIVING/UNWILLING TO DIE  [2] ALL OVER HER NEW DRESS  [3] SHE WONT DIE THIS TIME  [4] JUST WAIT TILL NEXT TIME  [5] SHE HAD TO DIE  [6] BATES HAD TO DIE  [7] THERE WILL BE MORE.

Despite the Riverside communications not being in the public domain prior to November 1968 (only small parts of the Confession Letter were), the author of the typed Confession Letter carried wording similar to the Riverside Desktop Poem and Bates' letters. The wording "to die" featured in all three communications [1] "She/Bates had to die" [2] "I said it was about time for her to die" [3] "Sick of living/unwilling to die" (but "to die" or "die" was never written by the killer in any Zodiac communications). The Riverside Desktop Poem stated "over her new dress", whereas the Confession letter stated "over her mouth". The variation of the word "unwilling" in the Riverside Desktop Poem can been seen twice in the Confession Letter in "willing" and "willingly" (expressed as "unwilling to" die, she went "very willingly" and "willing to" talk to me). The Bates' letter thrice stated "there will be more", with the Confession Letter threatening "maybe she will be the beautiful blond". The Riverside Desktop Poem stated "she wont die this time" and "just wait till next time", whereas the Confession Letter stated "I said it was about time. She asked me about time for what. I said it was about time to die". The Confession Letter stated "I am not sick", in direct contrast to the Riverside Desktop Poem which declared "sick of living". The Confession letter stated "I waited for her in the library", whereas the Riverside Desktop Poem threatened "Just wait till next time". To a much lesser extent, the Riverside Desktop Poem refers to a knife by opening with "cut, clean, if red, clean", with the Confession letter also referring to the same action, by stating "I finished the job out cutting her throat". 

There is a strong probabilty that all three Riverside communications were one author. In 2016 investigators received a communication from an individual in San Bernardino who claimed that he had authored the three Bates letters on April 30th 1967, stating he was a troubled teenager at the time he sent the trinity of malicious handwritten letters to the Riverside Police Department, Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper and Joseph Bates. If he didn't also claim to have written the Riverside Desktop Poem and Confession Letter, I doubt he was responsible for any.

Druzer, an extremely intelligent Zodiac researcher, noted the indented lines on certain Zodiac letters as a way to help ascertain whether particular communications may be genuine or otherwise. The structure and composition of a letter may tell you more than the handwriting itself. There is a complete change in how the Zodiac letters were structured from 1969 to 1971, compared to how the letters were structured subsequent to 1971. As pointed out by Druzer, any hoaxer subsequent to 1971 has numerous early Zodiac letters from the newspapers to analyze with respect to their structure (in particular, how the killer opened with the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking"). In every single Zodiac communication in 1969, 1970 and 1971 where the Bay Area murderer opened with "This is the Zodiac speaking", he began the introduction in line with the text below on all 12 occasions (including the Fairfield letters). Here are two examples:     

Subsequent to 1971, we have the 1978 letter (4/24/78), the Channel 9 letter (5/2/78), the 1986 letter (5/6/1986) and the 1987 letter (10/28/1987). All of these letters began with the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking", but each time the introduction was offset from the left margin and the text below. If these were all different hoaxers, then it is rather uncanny how all these authors not only ignored how the Zodiac Killer structured his main opening line to conform with the text below, but they all structured the opening line in the same fashion. Of the 12 Zodiac letters in 1969, 1970 and 1971, only the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 failed to keep the "This is the Zodiac speaking" introduction exclusively on the main first line (ignoring the "Dear" intro). It was written "This is the Zodiac speaking I". One may have thought a hoaxer would adopt the introduction used the majority of the time, but instead the two 1978 letters, the 1986 letter and the 1987 letter followed a similar pattern to the Melvin Bellii letter, contrary to what would be expected of a hoaxer. 

You will notice below that three of the later letters failed to insert a full-stop or comma after the introduction, and before the rest of the text. Exactly the same as the authenticated Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969. All four of the communications below begin with either the subject of "I" or "You" after the introduction, rather than something non-personal. It has been shown extensively on this website how the 1986 and 1987 letters should be included as confirmed Zodiac correspondence. This being the case, the 1978 letter and the Channel 9 letter should be regarded as worthy contenders also. The change in style from 1969, 1970 and 1971, to 1978 onwards, shows a distinct pattern of "Zodiac" development in his style of writing. 

Another pattern that can be observed in the widely believed Zodiac letters, is that the August 4th 1969, October 13th 1969, November 8th 1969, November 9th 1969, December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970 letters all have the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking" with no significant gap to the second line. Then a seemingly conscious change, when the June 26th 1970, July 24th 1970, July 26th 1970 and March 13th 1971 letters all left a distinct gap between the first and second line (March 13th 1971 slightly less so). This shows a marked change in pattern by the Zodiac Killer. However, the latter four communications were pre-empted by both Fairfield letters on December 7tth 1969 and December 16th 1969, which both placed a noticeable gap between the opening introduction and the second line.   

Below, on November 16th 1970, is one of the rare times that a Zodiac Killer envelope found itself published in the San Francisco Chronicle. This was the envelope containing the Dripping Pen card and 340 cipher. 

To this day the vast majority of people believe the Exorcist letter to be a genuine Zodiac communication. If this is the case, then the 1978 letter should also be considered genuine Zodiac material, if you believe the findings of Alan Keel as testified to by Zodiac investigator Mike Rodelli. Alan Keel, Criminalist at the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco, California from 1996 to 1999 "revealed that there were two letters in possession of the department that, in contrast to the "true" Zodiac letters, had abundant saliva and DNA-containing oral epithelial cells on them, that DNA was easily extracted from these two letters, and that the DNA extracted from these two letters matched between them. These two letters were considered forgeries, since the "true" Zodiac verifiable letters had not been licked by the sender". According to Mike, Alan Keel had "analyzed two letters, one of which is the 1978 'forgery', and finds that this letter and one of the 1974 letters are loaded with saliva and cells. He then easily extracts DNA from both of these letters using the more primitive DNA technology of that time and finds that the DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both".

The only two communications tested in the San Francisco Police Department DNA  report  for cells, from 1974 onwards, were the Exorcist letter and 1978 letter. Therefore, these were the only letters that could reasonably have matched for DNA. Two of the other 1974 communications were not processed for DNA, and the SLA letter wasn't even listed as a "suspected Zodiac correspondence". If Alan Keel believes the 1978 letter to be a "forgery" along with one of the 1974 letters, it is unlikely to be the Exorcist letter. The envelopes of the April 20th 1970 (13-Symbol cipher letter) and April 28th 1970 (Dragon card) were not published in any newspapers. These were the only two confirmed Zodiac envelopes to carry the address of San Fran (dot) Chronicle prior to January 29th 1974. Below is a comparison from these two envelopes and the Exorcist letter. The author of the Exorcist letter (if a hoaxer) had the option to copy the envelope published in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970, but chose not to. The handwriting, spacing and composition almost certainly suggests one author. If you believe that the April 20th 1970 and April 28th 1970 letters to be the Zodiac Killer, then it's reasonable to conclude the Exorcist letter (and envelope) was composed by the Zodiac Killer as well.

If we arrive at the conclusion that the Exorcist letter is genuine based on the above comparisons, and dismiss the SLA & Red Phantom letters as having nothing to do with the Zodiac case based on findings previously shown on this website, then one has to conclude (if Alan Keel is correct) that the DNA from the 1978 letter must match the DNA from the Badlands/Citizen card. But this seemingly wasn't tested for cells in the DNA chart.  If the DNA from the 1978 letter (claimed as a forgery) somehow matched either the SLA or Red Phantom letter, then we would have to rule out both the SLA and Red Phantom letters because their envelopes were written by the same author (see below). Mike Rodelli has argued to the SLA letter (and envelope} being authored by the Zodiac Killer based on handwriting. If he is an advocate for handwriting analysis, then he should come to the conclusion that the SLA & Red Phantom envelopes were written by one author (since neither were published in the newspapers). The SLA & Red Phantom envelopes would also contain the same DNA profile. This being the case, along with the comparisons above suggesting the Exorcist letter is genuine, leaves only the Badlands/Citizen card to match in DNA with the 1978 letter (because only one 1974 letter matched with the 1978 letter). But again, this wasn't tested in the DNA chart. The claim of Alan Keel (assuming this is correct) "that the DNA extracted from two letters matched in DNA", can now produce only one possibility. If the DNA from the 1978 letter matched the Red Phantom letter, then the SLA letter can be ruled out also (this would effectively be three matches). If the DNA from the 1978 letter matched the SLA letter, then the Red Phantom letter can similarly be ruled out.

Therefore, if only two letters matched in DNA, the only possible option is the Exorcist letter and 1978 letter, making both genuine Zodiac communications. Especially when you consider the Exorcist letter was the only communication processed for DNA (and cells were found). This suggests that Zodiac did lick his envelopes and/or stamps. It also suggests that David Toschi is not responsible for writing the 1978 letter, because if he did, he would also be the author of the Exorcist letter, April 20th 1970 letter and April 28th 1970 letter, based on the argument of Alan Keel and the findings above. 

THE PHANTOM ZODIAC LETTER ON JULY 8TH 1974 [PART ONE]
​THE PHANTOM ZODIAC LETTER ON JULY 8TH 1974 [PART TWO]

Melinda Stehr of the attorney general's office said handwriting experts confirmed the October 28th 1987 letter was a simulation of a letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle a decade ago, which was also considered to be a hoax. "Someone saw the letter and was using it as a copy". Stehr said. "It's a fake. It's a hoax". Vallejo Police Captain Roy Conway said the letter ″was not authored by the authentic Zodiac, but that it is a simulation of a hoax letter written in 1978". Robert Prouty, a documents examiner, stated in respect to the 1978 letter: "I examined the photographs of the April letter and those of previous letters attributed to Zodiac. My first impression was that it was in the same general style as previous letters, but after closer examination my ultimate conclusion was that there were so many differences that it was not written by the same person who wrote the previous Zodiac letters … Several letter characteristics in my opinion did not match the style used by Zodiac. The slant of some letters was not consistent with previous Zodiac communications. I am of the opinion that the letter of April 24 was an attempt to duplicate Zodiac letters and is not authentic. He went on to say of the 1987 letter (and its sister letter mailed to the Chronicle): "My very firm opinion is that they were not written by the authentic Zodiac. They appear to be composed of previous letters which have since been made public. All of us were hoping we'd heard the last of him",        

​Therefore, Robert Prouty, Captain Roy Conway and Melinda Stehr are claiming that the 1987 author was mimicking the 1978 author, who was also mimicking previous Zodiac letters. This means that the author of both letters in 1987 took the time and effort to compose and mail two communications, but was utterly incapable of crafting a letter using any of the Zodiac Killer's confirmed communications, either by copying the handwriting from newspapers in 1969 or 1970, or by using Robert Graysmith's book released the previous year. Instead, the author of the October 28th 1987 letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald chose the only letter out of Zodiac's entire portfolio that was widely reported as a hoax by newspapers. In other words, the so-called hoaxer of the 1987 letter chose to copy a hoax letter to convince you he was real.

If you were a hoaxer in 1987, attempting to pass yourself off as the Zodiac Killer, would you really craft a letter in 1987 that virtually mimicked the first three lines of the 1978 letter and expect anything other than a copycat label. The bottom of each correspondence was equally similar, with "yours truly:" and "guess" featuring in both letters. Anybody making a serious attempt at fooling the police and newspapers would surely not have made it so obvious. The author of the 1987 letter clearly didn't care that people viewing this letter would draw the obvious conclusions - and the only person who didn't need to convince you that he was the Zodiac Killer, was the Zodiac Killer himself. These conclusions were made by documents examiner, Robert Prouty, in absence of the comparison between the October 28th 1987 envelope and the July 31st 1969 envelope, both mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald.

The author of the 1987 envelope, if a hoaxer, would have had no knowledge of the design of the 1969 envelope, because it had never been released publicly by October 28th 1987. So maybe Robert Prouty, Captain Roy Conway and Melinda Stehr should have explained how the author of the 1987 envelope used the same 13 words as the 1969 envelope, used no punctuation in either address, used the full newspaper title of Vallejo Times Herold in both (abbreviated in the published July 31st letters), probably misspelled "Herald" to "Herold" on both occasions (as spelled in the 1990 Celebrity Cypher postcard), and finally managed to create handwriting not too dissimilar (see below). A hoaxer on this occasion would have had to mimic another communication without ever seeing it. Unless of course, it was the Zodiac Killer on both occasions.

​Robert Prouty stated "My very firm opinion is that they (1987 letters) were not written by the authentic Zodiac. They appear to be composed of previous letters which have since been made public". Had he stated "My very firm opinion is that they (the 1987 envelopes} were not written by the authentic Zodiac. They appear to be composed of previous letters (envelopes) which have since been made public", he would have been wrong. Had the 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope been released into the public domain by 1987, you can be sure that Robert Prouty would have said the author of the 1987 envelope copied the 1969 envelope. These arguments have been widely used to discredit the 1978 letter and envelope (the latter of which mimicked the Dripping Pen card envelope). If the Zodiac Killer can mimic the 1978 letter in the 1987 letter and mimic the 1969 envelope in the 1987 envelope (which a hoaxer had no access to), then he can mimic the Dripping Pen card envelope in the 1978 envelope, showing that mimicry cannot be used to justify calling somebody a hoaxer.  

On August 10th 1969, somebody mailed a typewritten communication to Vallejo Police Sergeant John Lynch providing the code key to the 408 cipher, that may or may not have been authored by the Zodiac Killer. The communication, ending with "concerned citizen", was withheld from publication. This means that a second communication mailed just two months later, on October 7th 1969, again addressed to Vallejo Police Sergeant John Lynch, with the phraseology "code letters" and ending with "a good citizen", was very likely the same author. This was the cryptic footnote by Sergeant John Lynch regarding the "good citizen" letter.

The writer has a strong feeling of ESP. While having these feelings, the writer writes with a pencil. On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote: ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX''.  

It had been approximately two months since any Zodiac communication was received, yet the "good citizen" letter referenced ESP and 56 Beach Street. A form of ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) is second sight, whereby a person perceives information in the form of a vision about future events before they happen. Four days after the "good citizen" letter, the Zodiac Killer entered the taxicab of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. After his murder at the intersection of Washington & Cherry Streets, the Zodiac Killer was believed to have entered Presidio Park just a few minutes later, mocking law enforcement in a letter he mailed two days later, in which he stated "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". The northeast corner of Presidio Park is 296 meters from Beach Street. This means we have a letter mentioning 56 Beach Street just four days before the Zodiac Killer escaped into Presidio Park, the northeast corner of which sits near the western tip of Beach Street. This street runs from Pier 39 to the Palace of Fine Arts,  A contributor to this website informed me that:"56 Beach St is the old block numbering from the original planning maps, which comes out as 1654/1656 on the street numbering. 1654/56 Beach St, San Francisco, CA is a condo home that contains 2,141 sq ft and was built in 1938".  

On April 20th 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the murder of Robert Michael Salem at 745 Stevenson Street in San Francisco. The pseudonym "Zodiac" was written in blood on his apartment wall next to the body. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that "Salem's designs have been exhibited in England, Japan and Russia under State Department cultural exchange programs. Until last year (1969) he had been the lighting designer for restoration of the historic Haslett Warehouse. The address of the Haslett Warehouse is 680 Beach Street at Hyde. This location is less than one mile from 1654/56 Beach Street (see map below). The author of these two "code" communications from "concerned" and "good" citizens may not have been Zodiac, but did they know the identity of the killer?

An imposter by the name of Eric Weill called into the Jim Dunbar KGO-TV station on the morning of October 22nd 1969 and attempted to pass himself off to the host and Melvin Belli as the infamous Zodiac Killer. During the phone call Eric Weill pleaded with Melvin Belli, stating "I want help".  On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” The Zodiac Killer clearly latched onto this plea for help, when in mocking fashion he wrote to the residence of Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969 and stated "please help me" on three occasions, in accompaniment to the phrase "I cannot reach out for help". However, this wasn't the first time the Zodiac Killer would mock the spectacle of the Jim Dunbar Show, when on December 7th 1969 he mailed a letter from Fairfield to the San Francisco Chronicle stating "I just need help. I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop". Thirteen days later, the Melvin Belli letter would replicate this plea for help, despite the fact the December 7th 1969 correspondence was never released to the newspapers. But here's the kicker.

After the Zodiac Killer communication, postmarked December 7th 1969, a phone call was received later that night by the host of commercial radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer. KTOK news director Larry Lamotte told the San Francisco Chronicle that a man rang the station and declared that he had to leave California because "it got too hot for me", remarking that the man did an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This is the crucial part. On the same day of December 7th 1969, we have a man mailing a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle mocking the call to the Jim Dunbar Show by stating "I just need help", followed a few hours later by a call to an Oklahoma radio station by a man doing an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This impressionist caller could possibly be the Zodiac Killer mocking the Jim Dunbar Show, just as he had done in the letter earlier that day - and would do thirteen days later when he thrice pleaded "please help me". There is no way of finding out the full transcript of the phone call to the Oklahoma radio station, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to believe he mockingly asked for help on this occasion too.   

The caller to the Oklahoma radio station, doing an impression of the Jim Dunbar Show caller, claimed he left California because "it got too hot for me". A few hours before the October 22nd 1969 Oakland Police Department phone call requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day, somebody rang the Palo Alto Times newspaper claiming to be the Zodiac Killer and stated that he had left San Francisco because "because I'm too hot there". Two similar pieces of phraseology connected by two phone calls and the Jim Dunbar Show.

​In addition, we have the December 7th 1969 letter stating "I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop", followed by the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter listing 38 "cops" as potential victims, and a December 19th 1969 payphone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol threatening "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". Three threats to kill cops within twelve days of December. Then came the mocking Melvin Belli letter just one day later. Neither of the Fairfield letters were released to the newspapers, making the December 19th 1969 payphone caller just another lucky chap if it wasn't the Zodiac Killer. It is fairly evident that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for many more phone calls than the two he has been accredited with, including a phone call to the Santa Rosa Police Department on October 15th 1969. 

The Zodiac Killer may have attempted to ring the Jim Dunbar Show before the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. On October 22nd 1969, Eric Weill (Sam) rang into the morning KGO-TV Jim Dunbar Show - but when Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli interviewed this man it was on the understanding he may have been the infamous Zodiac Killer, with the host asking him "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago". This suggests that Jim Dunbar was aware of a previous attempt by the Zodiac Killer to contact the show prior to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. The Zodiac Killer may have attempted to contact the Jim Dunbar Show for a second time, when he rang the Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969, but again his debut on the show was thwarted by imposter Eric Weill. With this in mind, did he then choose to redirect his attention to a different radio station in Oklahoma on December 7th 1969? But why would he choose KTOK radio station in Oklahoma? There has to be a reason.  

The apparent familiarity with the KTOK radio station, by choosing to call one of its hosts over 1,000 miles from the Bay Area, could suggest an affinity to their style of broadcasting. During the 1960s KTOK radio station featured news, sport and adult music, with the 1960 Broadcasting Yearbook describing its content as "toe tapping music (no rock and roll) and all the announcers are adults". That music included such artists as Tony Bennett, The Mills Brothers and Al Martino. This may give an insight into the maturity and age of the Zodiac Killer when the phone call was made on December 7th 1969, in a year when all three sets of eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights described the Zodiac Killer as 40 years or above. Was the Zodiac Killer an avid listener to this radio station, or did he once have roots in Oklahoma?   

So, could the 38 character code hold some further reference to the Jim Dunbar Show, or the upcoming appearance on the KTOK radio station? If the Z38 is somehow related to the Z340 (through its opening 4 characters and 5 ending characters), does it carry a similar message? The first communication after the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969 was the 'Dripping Pen' card and 340 cipher mailed on November 8th 1969, stating "that wasn't me on the TV show". With the December 7th 1969 letter and KTOK radio call coming on the same day, could it have any bearing on the message contained within the code? "That was me on the Oklahoma radio station" would have certainly been the ideal contemporary message to encode.  

Just a quick recap: ​The author of the 38 character code prominently featured two sections of the 340 cipher, that included the beginning 4 ciphertext characters of the 340 cipher, and the last 5 ciphertext characters of the 340 cipher. The only logical reason for the Zodiac Killer to have done this, would have been to give us a clue to the solving of the 340 cipher. When the code key is applied to the 340 cipher before any period 19 (diagonal shift), the first 4 plaintext characters of the 340 cipher spell IRON. The last 5 plaintext characters spell DEATH. As previously pointed out, a hoaxer would have had to be extremely lucky to keep the beginning and ending of the 340 cipher intact, to the tune of 4 & 5 characters (when creating the Z38), that just happened to create two English words in these notable positions. One would have expected a lazy hoaxer to replicate ciphertext characters 333 to 338 in the 340 cipher, because these characters were close to the spelling of "Zodiac". But the author of the December 7th 1969 letter refrained from doing this, choosing to separate these 6 ciphertext characters, so as to form the word DEATH at the end of the 38 character code. See here.

The red rectangle above (around the first three rows of the Z38 code) represents the first 18 rows of the Z340 cipher, These sections both begin with the letter H and end with the number 9 (or reversed P), The last line in the red rectangle contains five characters, all of which can be found on the last line of the 340 cipher (that is solved only using the period 19 diagonal shift). If you apply the period 19 shift to the red rectangle of the Z38, you get H+, mirroring the first two characters seen when you apply the period 19 shift to the 340 ciphertext.  The blue rectangle (around the last two rows of the Z38 code) represents the last two rows of the Z340 (solved absent of the period 19 diagonal shift). The final five characters in the blue rectangle spell DEATH when using the 340 code key. The author of the December 7th 1969 letter (containing the Z38 code) also predated the appeal to Melvin Belli by stating "I just need help". The Zodiac Killer could not have copied the December 7th letter because it was unpublished by the time the Melvin Belli letter was mailed on December 20th 1969. It is such a shame that the majority of the Zodiac community dismiss this communication (and its sister communication on December 16th 1969) based on their extensive research of "it doesn't look like a Zodiac letter". A great opportunity to reveal another Zodiac message is sadly being ignored.  

Have you ever wondered who inspired the Zodiac Killer to mail in a piece of Paul Stine's bloody shirt after the murder in Presidio Heights in 1969? The same member of law enforcement who influenced the arrival of the Zodiac pseudonym on August 4th 1969. The only reason the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter was ever sent to the San Francisco Examiner is because Vallejo Police Chief, Jack E. Stiltz requested the writer of the July 31st letters to prove he was the killer, asking the murderer of three to write another letter "with more facts to prove it". This request by Vallejo Police Chief, Jack E. Stiltz was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 2nd 1969, followed by the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle on August 3rd 1969.

​The Zodiac Killer's response was swift, sending a letter to the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969, replying directly to Jack Stiltz and stating "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". Without this prompt by Jack Stiltz, the pseudonym of "Zodiac" may never have come to pass - at least not by August 4th 1969.

The next communication was mailed just over two months later, on October 13th 1969, admitting to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights only two days earlier. But the Zodiac Killer hadn't forgotten that Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz had doubted his involvement in the attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, by stating he required "more facts to prove it". So, the Zodiac Killer in advance of the taxicab driver's murder, decided to remove a piece of the victim's shirt and leave law enforcement in no doubt he was the true killer at Presidio Heights. Two days later, he mailed the Stine letter, stating "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt". The Zodiac Killer was responding to law enforcement who doubted him previously, but primarily to Jack Stiltz's comments in the newspapers back on August 2nd and August 3rd 1969. 

In his next descriptive letter on November 9th 1969 the Zodiac Killer would continue this theme, with Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz still in the back of his mind. The Zodiac Killer was angry with the San Francisco Police Department for "telling lies" about him, threatening to change his way of collecting slaves for the afterlife. He would finish this communication by warning San Francisco law enforcement not to bluff him, by stating "To prove that I am the Zodiac, Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves." Jack Stiltz was the "Vallejo Cop" that the Zodiac Killer addressed on August 4th 1969 when he wrote to the San Francisco Examiner and described his "small pencel flash light (taped) to the barrel of (his) gun". 

​Therefore, Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz was instrumental to the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter in which the pseudonym "Zodiac" was revealed to the world, as well as the inspiration for the Zodiac Killer to decide in advance of his San Francisco murder, that something from the victim (a shirt piece in this instance} had to be mailed with his next correspondence, "to prove" undeniably he was the killer.     

On December 3rd 2020 David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke unlocked the mystery to the 51-year-old 340 cipher, mailed by the Zodiac Killer on November 8th 1969. On December 7th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed a communication from Fairfield containing a 38 character code, yet to be broken. In recent years I have had little doubt that this letter was genuine Zodiac material, but the solving of the 340 cipher put to rest any lingering doubt regarding its authenticity.

​The author of the 38 character code prominently featured two sections of the 340 cipher, that included the beginning 4 ciphertext characters of the 340 cipher, and the last 5 ciphertext characters of the 340 cipher. The only logical reason for the Zodiac Killer to have done this, would have been to give us a clue to the solving of the 340 cipher. When the code key is applied to the 340 cipher before any period 19 (diagonal shift), the first 4 plaintext characters of the 340 cipher spell IRON. The last 5 plaintext characters spell DEATH. As previously pointed out, a hoaxer would have had to be extremely lucky to keep the beginning and ending of the 340 cipher intact, to the tune of 4 & 5 characters (when creating the Z38), that just happened to create two English words in these notable positions. One would have expected a lazy hoaxer to replicate ciphertext characters 333 to 338 in the 340 cipher, because these characters were close to the spelling of "Zodiac". But the author of the December 7th 1969 letter refrained from doing this, choosing to separate these 6 ciphertext characters, so as to form the word DEATH at the end of the 38 character code. 

After the solving of the 408 and 340 cryptograms in 1969 and 2020, there is a strong argument to be had, that the Zodiac Killer's remaining unbroken codes also contain a message, which includes the Z38 mailed just one month after the 340 cipher. I have attempted to tackle the Z38 code, but it needs an expert in code breaking to take a look at this encipherment, such as Dave Oranchak, who I believe could shed more light on this small code. The message beneath - at the very least - should provide a little more insight into the thinking of the Zodiac Killer during this crucial period. 

Did the Zodiac Killer create the 38 character code so soon after his November 8th 1969 offering as a prompt to the solution of the 340 cipher? I hope Dave Oranchak will take a look and possibly correct some of the incorrect assumptions I may have made. Thanks to Druzer, a regular contributor to both main Zodiac forums, for his assistance in this matter.
CLICK HERE FOR UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF CODE.

The "Zodiac" Atlanta letter was mailed on March 8th 1981 claiming to be the Bay Area murderer of five, and suggesting their passion was to now target children. The author was clearly interjecting themself into the Atlanta Child Murders, for which Wayne Williams would eventually be convicted on February 27th 1982. The only way to prove this is an authentic Zodiac communication is to find something on the letter that corresponds strongly with something that the Zodiac mailed between 1969 and 1974, but was unreleased to the public. The Zodiac letters and cards were widely published in the newspapers, however, the majority of the envelopes were not in the public domain by the arrival of the Atlanta letter in 1981. The Vallejo Times-Herald, October 28th 1987 "Halloween" envelope was shown to perfectly mimic the exact thirteen words on the unreleased Vallejo Times-Herald, August 31st 1969 envelope, including the lack of punctuation (and possible incorrect spelling of Herald to Herold). This attempted to show that the Zodiac Killer was still actively writing letters in 1987. A similar technique can be applied to the Atlanta envelope, postmarked March 8th 1981. The Atlanta letter may be pointing us in the right direction. In the letter (shown below) it can be noted that the author dedicates much of the text to the San Francisco murder of Paul Stine and October 13th 1969 letter.

The author begins the Atlanta letter referencing "San Francisco" and referring to the murder of children, stating "I'll kill children because they are so easy to pick off", and that he had "left certain clues" at his victims bodies. In the letter referencing the murder of Paul Stine on October 13th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". In the second letter on November 9th 1969 mentioning his exploits in San Francisco, the Zodiac Killer stated "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with, as one might say".  It is clear the author of the Atlanta letter heavily focused this communication towards the murder of children, reminiscent of the letter mailed in the aftermath of the Paul Stine killing.

The October 13th 1969 envelope mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle had not been released into the public domain at the time the Atlanta envelope and letter was mailed in 1981. The October 13th 1969 envelope was the only 'confirmed' communication mailed by the Zodiac Killer that carried small Zodiac crosshairs on the address side of the envelope, just like the Atlanta envelope mailed eleven and a half years later. An Atlanta letter that mimicked the October 13th 1969 letter threatening to "pick off" children. We now have two envelopes from the 1980s that mimicked previously unreleased envelopes in 1969, thereby pouring cold water on suspects like Ross Sullivan and Earl Van Best Jr, who died prior to 1987.  Unfortunately, I doubt any amount of evidence will change the Zodiac narrative of a killer whose confirmed communications ceased in 1974. These beliefs have become so embedded and entrenched into Zodiac folklore, that any attempt to challenge the pervading narrative can be likened to throwing a pebble into the Pacific Ocean. 

Imagine you are a hoaxer sitting down at your desk in 1981 pretending to mimic the Zodiac Killer. You mention San Francisco in the 1981 communication (only Paul Stine was killed in San Francisco), you mention "leaving clues" at the crime scene in the Atlanta letter (just like was claimed in the Bus Bomb letter regarding the Paul Stine crime scene), and mention picking off kids in the Atlanta letter, just like the Paul Stine letter on October 13th 1969 - then beyond belief - you add small crosshairs to the address side of the 1981 envelope, mimicking exactly the publicly unreleased envelope on October 13th 1969 concerning the Paul Stine murder, which also contained small crosshairs on the address side. Out of all the claimed authentic Zodiac communications in 1969, 1970, 1971 & 1974, you (the hoaxer) just happened to mimic the Paul Stine envelope that carried the same crosshairs on the address side of the envelope, while using language pertinent to the Paul Stine murder. You are an amazing hoaxer.  

Six days before the Atlanta letter, on March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope, postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the handwritten note: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". On or around May 2nd 1971, the Zodiac Killer encoded a message in a 148 character cipher instructing law enforcement to "stop listening to phonys" or he "will skin 3 little kids" (not in the public domain by 1981). The Zodiac Killer latched onto the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14), Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Kathy Bilek (18) in San Jose and Saratoga (in 1969 and 1971), claiming he was responsible for stabbing all three, despite these murders having been committed by Karl Francis Werner. He then threatened to kill a further three children. The exact same tactic employed a decade later in Atlanta, by interjecting himself into the murders of black children he was likely not responsible for, by once again threatening to kill three more children if his demands were not met. 

RELEVANT ARTICLE: THE MISSING DARRON GLASS 

Doreen Gaul (19) and James Sharp (15) were found brutally stabbed and beaten in an alleyway between  Arapahoe Street and Magnolia Avenue in Los Angeles on November 21st 1969. Doreen Gaul had been a resident at the Scientology Thetan Manor hippie commune, having graduated one year earlier from a high school in Albany, where she lived with her parents at 570 Myrtle Avenue just 500 meters from the Albany Medical Center, that would become the possible target of the Zodiac Killer on August 1st 1973 when he mailed another malicious communication.

The address of Doreen Gaul in Los Angeles was 1032 South Bonnie Brae Street, with James Sharp living at 921 South Bonnie Brae Street, They were found murdered about one kilometer away from their homes. James Sharp was found fully clothed apart from his shoes, whereas Doreen Gaul was found naked but for a colored necklace described as "Indian beads" around her neck. A note from the Zodiac Killer was allegedly found in her residence (see below),  

Nobody knows for sure whether this typewritten note was created by the Zodiac Killer or an imposter. It has been typed to give the impression that Doreen Gaul was in the crosshairs of the Zodiac Killer prior to her murder, but could easily have been typed subsequent to her death in the present and future tense (absent of a postmarked envelope), so as to mislead or taunt law enforcement. Many have wondered what the attached drawing is under the signature of "The Zodiac Killer". It obviously had a meaning. Was it a clue given by the author of this note, insinuating his involvement in Doreen's murder and the crime scene at Arapahoe Street and Magnolia Avenue, in which Doreen Gaul was found naked but for a necklace hanging from her neck? 
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​Fifteen years earlier, on December 25th 1954, Bonnie Brae Street would somewhat resemble the Zodiac Killer's last canonical crime, when 39-year-old taxicab driver Conrad John Favreau of 1312 Hazel Street, Inglewood, picked up a fare at 7th Street and Union Avenue, Los Angeles for the short trip to Bonnie Brae. Five minutes later at 8:45 pm he was discovered lying in the street alongside his taxicab, shot once in the back of the head with a 25-caliber pistol. Blood spatter was evident on the right rear of the Yellow Cab near to the taillight, shown here in a crime scene photograph. It appeared that he had been subject to a violent assault just prior to the murder, with a tooth discovered on the front seat of the taxicab. Homicide Officer Joe La-Monica stated that his pockets had been gone through, but his watch remained on his wrist. Near to the body investigators found a single 25-caliber cartridge casing. 

An earwithness, Fred Perez of 557 N Bonnie Brae Street, described hearing "a sharp crack like a 22" rifle at about 8:45 pm and seeing the Yellow Cab parked on the street. A short time later the body of Conrad John Favreau lying face up was found by a passing motorist, David Lindsay (17) of 2941-A Los Flores Boulevard. The final entry on the trip sheet was detailed as 7th Street and Union Avenue to Bonnie Brae. An all-points bulletin was issued for "a man wearing white trousers and black shoes and possibly armed with a 25-caliber pistol". 557 N Bonnie Brae Street is less than two miles from the once Los Angeles' residences of Doreen Gaul and James Sharp. None of these murders probably have anything to do with the Zodiac Killer, but the connections created between Bonnie Brae Street, a taxicab murder, the typwritten Zodiac note and the previous residence of Doreen Gaul in Albany just 500 meters from the Medical Center which became the focus of another threatening "Zodiac" communication, shows how a story can be fashioned to make you think twice. See Google maps for locations.   

On October 22nd 1969, Eric Weill (Sam) rang into the morning KGO-TV Jim Dunbar Show - but when Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli interviewed this man it was on the understanding he may have been the infamous Zodiac Killer, with the host asking him "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago". This suggests that Jim Dunbar was aware of a previous attempt by the Zodiac Killer to contact the show prior to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. Many have considered the possibility that the Zodiac Killer may have rang into the Oakland Police Department at 2:00am on October 22nd 1969 requesting to appear on the Jim Dunbar Show, but when the show aired later that morning his appearance was hijacked by mental patient, Eric Weill, who impulsively contacted the show under the guise of the Zodiac Killer. Prior to the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, the Zodiac Killer had committed three attacks in Benicia, Vallejo and Napa County, with no known attacks in San Francisco, so why would Eric Weill take it upon himself to contact the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco in advance of the Paul Stine murder.

A much stronger case could be made for the Zodiac Killer wanting to contact the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco just several days prior to his murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco. The Zodiac Killer had already made threats to "cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again" if his cryptograms were not published in the newspapers on August 1st 1969, and that he was not happy to see he "did not get front page coverage" for his exploits thus far. Therefore, one could argue that the Zodiac Killer had tried to contact the Jim Dunbar Show before the murder of Paul Stine to threaten the citizens of San Francisco that his terror would soon be felt on the streets of the big city. Jim Dunbar asked the "Zodiac Killer" (Sam) "Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?", suggesting that the Zodiac Killer had previously chosen to ring a San Francisco TV show with a resident San Francisco lawyer as guest, just a few days prior to the Zodiac Killer switching his attacks to San Francisco. The other possibility, is that a mental patient just took it upon himself to contact a San Francisco TV show in absence of any murders being committed by the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco prior to the attack in Presidio Heights.  

The Zodiac Killer would go on to deny he was the caller to the Jim Dunbar Show in the recently decoded 340 cipher, in which he stated "That wasn't me on the TV show". But he very likely could have tuned into the broadcast to view the spectacle unfold. Without the full transcript of this call to the Jim Dunbar Show, it would be interesting to find out how many times Eric Weill pleaded for the help of Melvin Belli. On December 20th 1969, it is clear that the Zodiac Killer linked the Paul Stine murder with the Jim Dunbar Show by mailing a piece of Paul Stine's bloody shirt with the correspondence, with the letter itself carrying a mocking tone by using the phrase "please help me" on three occasions, in accompaniment to the phrase "I cannot reach out for help". It is clear that this cry for help was a disingenuous attempt at ridicule from a killer who either listened to the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, or read the subsequent newspaper articles. On October 22nd 1969, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Belli was put on the line, and the voice said "I want help". On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” The Zodiac Killer would make these cries for help the bedrock of his December 20th 1969 communication. 

​If anybody "can help" in pinpointing the exact date that Melvin Belli appeared on the Jim Dunbar Show immediately prior to the October 22nd 1969 call, please let me know by using the Zodiac Killer forums. Thank you. PART 1.

In the early hours of October 22nd 1969, a phone call was made to the Oakland Police Department asking for either Francis Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli, two prominent attorneys, to appear on the KGO Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco that morning. A few hours later, somebody rang into the Jim Dunbar Show pretending to be the Zodiac Killer, adopting the less menacing name of "Sam" once prompted. That person was later identified as a mental patient, Eric Weill. When the 340 cipher was deciphered by Dave Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke in December 2020, the Zodiac Killer message finally revealed what everyone knew all along - that the Zodiac Killer never made that call to the Jim Dunbar Show. However, he didn't deny making the phone call to the Oakland Police Department. But why would the Zodiac Killer make a phone call to Oakland police to arrange an appearance on the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco? Why not ring the Jim Dunbar Show directly? The answer may lie in the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, spoken by Jim Dunbar himself.

This was the dialogue between "Sam" (Eric Weill) and Jim Dunbar:
Jim Dunbar: Sam, let me ask you a question. Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?
Sam: What?
Jim Dunbar: Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago when Mel Belli was with us? 
Sam: Yes
Jim Dunbar: And you couldn't get through, the phones were tied up. Is that it?
Sam: Yes  

It could be argued, when you listen to this exchange between the host and caller, that "Sam" has no idea what Jim Dunbar is referring to when he mentions a previous phone call received at the Jim Dunbar Show. He hesitates profoundly when asked the question, before saying "what". This could mean that the Zodiac Killer had previously phoned the Jim Dunbar Show between October 1st and October 8th 1969. When Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli are interviewing the caller, they are doing it under the presumption this could be the Zodiac Killer. So when they ask "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago", they are effectively asking the Zodiac Killer if he rang two or three weeks ago. This suggests they were aware of a previous call from the Zodiac Killer prior to the murder of Paul Stine. The Zodiac Killer may have rang the Jim Dunbar Show in early October but failed to get through. In other words, he attempted to call the TV show but the call was rejected for whatever reason. They may have thought it was just another crank call. This is probably why the Zodiac Killer eventually decided to ring the Oakland Police Department instead - getting them to relay the message to the Jim Dunbar Show - which they obviously did. There seems to be no other good reason why the Bay Area murderer would place a call to the Oakland Police Department, other than his failure to get his message across to the Jim Dunbar Show before October 11th 1969. It should also be noted that the San Francisco Police Department were inundated with calls after the murder of Paul Stine, probably forcing the Zodiac Killer to target his phone call to a 'less busy' police department and thereby guaranteeing the delivery of his message this time around. But what date was Melvin Belli on the Jim Dunbar Show prior to October 22nd 1969?  PART 2.

On September 27th 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, with the Zodiac Killer leaving his signature at the crime scene by writing on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia near the crime scene. Two weeks later, on October 11th 1969, Paul Stine was shot in his taxicab in the wealthy district of Presidio Heights, with the Zodiac Killer this time removing something personal from the victim, by tearing a piece of Paul Stine's blooded shirt and mailing a portion of it to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969.

​A crime was six months in the making, incorporating features from both of these attacks, when Robert Michael Salem was knifed to death in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 15th 1970. The killer appeared to mimic the Zodiac Killer's two previous attacks by writing a message at the crime scene, as well as removing something from the victim. However, the attack on Robert Salem was an escalation on the other attacks in regards to the sadistic nature of the crime. The killer had written the message on the apartment wall of Robert Salem in blood and taken the left ear of the victim away from the crime scene (never to be retrieved). By all accounts, the murderer had first attempted to decapitate Robert Salem. The third important facet of this crime, was that it appeared to mimic the meaning behind the Zodiac Killer's last communication on December 20th 1969, when the Melvin Belli letter arrived at 1228 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. The letter mailed to the prominent attorney could have foreshadowed the Robert Salem murder, not only because the killer of Robert Salem was seemingly "losing all control", but because the wording in the Melvin Belli letter appeared to mimic the writing in red lipstick on the apartment wall of Frances Brown, murdered by William Heirens in Chicago in 1945. 

William Heirens was also found guilty for the murder of 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan in Chicago in 1946. Her body had been dismembered just like Robert Salem, albeit far more brutally. Her head was eventually discovered in a nearby sewer, her right leg in a catch basin and her torso in a storm drain. The killer of Robert Salem had attempted to decapitate him just like Suzanne Degnan, before apparently giving up and removing his left ear. Therefore, the 745 Stevenson Street murder not only had writing at the crime scene and something from the victim removed, but the red writing and attempted decapitation mirrored two of the crimes committed by William Heirens, which may have inspired the wording in the Melvin Belli letter. William Heirens was also responsible for the murder of Josephine Ross in Chicago in 1945, with all three victims subjected to numerous knife wounds, just like Robert Salem. 

The San Francisco murder of Robert Salem seemed like extreme overkill for robbery or revenge, due in large part to the sadistic nature of the crime and the writing in blood on the apartment wall. The killer then took the time to take a shower before leaving. The killer drew an ancient Egyptian ankh symbol on the wall of the apartment, accompanied by the wording "Satan Saves" and the pseudonym "Zodiac". The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy. If the murderer of Robert Salem was attempting to sidetrack the police investigation and pin this crime on the Zodiac Killer, why didn't he just use the crosshairs symbol of the Bay Area murderer, write on the wall in black marker pen and refrain from decapitating Robert Salem, which would have helped his attempt to frame the Zodiac Killer as being the responsible. This approach would surely have been far easier. Additonally, if the murderer was not the Zodiac Killer, was the killer of Robert Salem just extremely fortuitous in creating a crime scene at 745 Stevenson Street that just happened to mimic two of William Heirens crimes, which may have been mimicked in the Melvin Belli letter - and the last communication mailed by the Zodiac Killer with an item removed from the victim, that of Paul Stine? Or had the killer of Robert Salem worked out the meaning behind the Melvin Belli letter and made the connection to the William Heirens murders in order to mimic them four months later? Could you have imagined the repercussions had it been reported that an ear had been mailed on April 20th 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The Zodiac Killer mailed the 148 character cipher and letter on or around May 2nd 1971, in which he refrained from taking the easy option of using his Zodiac crosshairs, when he signed his letter using a sun cross from prehistoric cultures. But did he employ the same technique on April 15th 1970, designed to confuse law enforcement until his April 20th 1970 letter arrived, A letter that didn't carry the wording "Satan Saves", but did carry the numerical figure of Jesus, with the added notation of "PS I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed". The crime scene at 745 Stevenson Street appeared to be the work of a brutal and sadistic killer more in line with a murderer "losing all control" - and in direct contrast with the Zodiac Killer who never went further than necessary in his requirement to murder. Unless of course, the Zodiac Killer took the wording in the Melvin Belli letter seriously and enacted the 1945 murder of Frances Brown in Chicago to the new setting of San Francisco. He certainly liked his history.   
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