Whenever polls are conducted on the Zodiac Killer many people fall down on the side of Vallejo as his most likely residence, with much justification. The first murders on Lake Herman Road were just inside Benicia limits, but very close to the jurisdictional line of Vallejo. The second crime at Blue Rock Springs Park was in Vallejo, and the phone call at Main Street, Napa after the Lake Berryessa stabbings, in respect to Lake Berryessa, is on a southerly collision course with downtown Vallejo and the direction the killer appeared to be heading. Pierre Bidou, one of the first police officers on scene at the Lake Herman Road turnout on December 20th 1968 stated on 'True Crime with Aphrodite Jones' "There's no streetlights here, there still isn't. If you come out at night time and look at this place it is dark, really dark. There was hardly anybody coming by here, if you had a car about once an hour that would probably be a lot. This was kind of known as a lovers point and a lot of people didn't know this road, so you had to be somewhat familiar with this area". When prompted by the host on whether the Zodiac may have lived in the area, Pierre Bidou replied "Oh I think so, he lived in the area that's for sure. Oh yeh he knew the area". It was supposed that the killer of five knew the area based on his knowledge, not only of this remote two lane highway, but the fact it was predisposed to courting couples seeking a little privacy, something that would not be apparent to somebody unfamiliar with this area. The killer himself referenced Vallejo several times in his letters to the newspapers, mentioned the uncommon term of 'radians', and supplied us with a map and compass directions. This would then make it all the more surprising, that during the Zodiac Killer's first contact with police at the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street intersection payphone, he would then get his directions so horribly wrong.     

The distance from this payphone or the police station, east to Columbus Parkway is approximately 2 miles. From here you would travel north on Columbus Parkway to the site of the second attack at Blue Rock Springs Park. So, if the killer was directing police to the scene of the crime from either his location or the police station, his claim of "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" makes absolutely no sense, leading some people to believe he knew little of the Vallejo area, even failing to mention Blue Rock Springs Park by name.

However, there may be a far simpler answer - that Zodiac was correct all along. When you examine the wording in the Zodiac phone call, it is easy to see how this could be changed ever so slightly to make perfect sense. The phone message delivered to Nancy Slover from the murderer and detailed in the police report was the one she remembered, but it may not necessarily be the actual message delivered by the killer.
 
​Let us go ahead and change the message from "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" to "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go east and one mile 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."
​Keeping the identical words, with the addition of the word 'and' in the correct place, changes the entire meaning of the message and now makes perfect sense, in respect to the Zodiac Killer making a phone call and directing police to the scene of the crime. Heading east along Springs Road brings you onto Columbus Parkway. But the section of Columbus Parkway that heads universally north to the crime scene is approximately 1 mile. See here. It is located on the junction with Lake Herman Road. The entire route along Columbus Parkway from Springs Road to the crime scene is 1.5 miles, but the Zodiac is no doubt approximating the distance in his phone message. Yet, the overall narrative of the phrase is now correct, heading east, before joining Columbus Parkway and continuing north to the public park.
​
The phone message can be slightly altered with no additions whatsoever, just inserting a comma or slight pause in the way it was spoken: "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go east, one mile 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."  The structure of the statement remains viable with respect to directions from Zodiac's location or the police station.
It is 2.3 miles in totality from the Vallejo police station to Columbus Parkway, but if Zodiac had underestimated the distance, one further option retaining the same order could be "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east onto 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."  or  "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east, on Columbus Parkway by 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."

In fact, the wording in Zodiac's message can remain totally unaltered, yet still contain a totally different meaning to the one widely accepted - if we just insert a comma or slight pause in the way it is spoken. This way, Nancy Slover could have remembered every word in order correctly, but simply failed to interpret the method of delivery: "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" 
  
The payphone is roughly 10 minutes by car from the crime scene, but there was a 40 minute delay after the murder and attempted murder of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau, leading to speculation that the killer may have lived nearby, going home to possibly ditch the murder weapon before returning to place the call. If this were the case, it would surely lend credence to the idea that the Zodiac Killer was all too familiar with his his surroundings, and the phone message to Nancy Slover was simply a case of crossed wires.

The Zodiac Killer, having placed the phone call to the Vallejo Police Department, was clearly directing the police from the station to the crime scene. The quickest route for police leaving the 111 Amador Street police station, was to enter Solano Avenue and join Springs Road, from where they would be heading east towards Columbus Parkway and the crime scene. So, when the Zodiac Killer stated "if you will go one mile east" to the police, he was pretty much correct. When the police joined Springs Road, they would have traveled only 1.4 miles east before entering Columbus Parkway. If the Zodiac Killer hadn't approximated his distance, then the original message to Nancy Slover would have read "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go 1.4 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"   

This article is an extension of 2 Cops Pulled a Goof, but on this occasion it will be a case of reversing backward through the timeline of Officer Donald Fouke, that has him approaching the Jackson and Maple intersection fully aware he is looking for a white male adult, before he even lays eyes on the mystery man on Jackson Street. If you believe the 2007 Zodiac documentary and the timeline statements of Officers Donald Fouke and Armond Pelissetti contained within it, then it is impossible for Donald Fouke to still be under the impression he is looking for a black male as he hits the intersection of Jackson and Maple. 
Donald Fouke stated he received the initial dispatch traveling northbound on Presidio Avenue, having just passed Washington Street, turned west on Jackson, proceeded to Cherry Street and turned left heading south on Cherry, where he met Armond Pelissetti who had just left the crime scene.

Armond Pelissetti on the other hand, after examining the crime scene stated "it was then I was told it was a white male, I couldn't get to the radio fast enough at that point to let everybody else know. The kids had told me whoever had done this crime had left the cab, went out the door and seemed to be wiping the cab down and reaching into the cab and ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kind of towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars, so I went down following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". 

Here is the basic layout of the relevant area and the time it takes to walk along Cherry and Jackson Street. The Zodiac Killer was in fact correct when he mentioned this journey taking approximately 3 minutes, stating "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".

Remember, Officer Armond Pelissetti received the update of the suspect being a white male at the crime scene and got on the radio to inform everyone else. He then proceeded up Cherry Street cautiously, because, as he stated he "didn't want to get his head blown off". It takes 1 minute to walk up Cherry Street at a normal pace, so we will afford Armond Pelissetti 90 seconds. It probably took him longer, but 90 seconds will do for now. At the top of Cherry Street he bumps into Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, who are naturally responding to the crime scene.

THIS IS NOW 90 SECONDS AFTER INFORMING ALL OTHER OFFICERS OF THE REVISED WHITE MALE DESCRIPTION, INCLUDING DONALD FOUKE AND ERIC ZELMS, SO WHERE WERE DONALD FOUKE AND ERIC ZELMS 90 SECONDS AGO, CONSIDERING THEY ARE NOW AT THE TOP OF CHERRY STREET. 

The above portion of Jackson Street takes approximately 2 minutes to travel at an average walking speed (3.1 mph), so does it take Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms 90 seconds to travel the same distance traveling at 35 mph in a police car? This is what Donald Fouke said in the This is the Zodiac Speaking documentary concerning his speed, "Before I saw him (the white male on Jackson St) I was traveling probably about 35-40 mph, slowed down as we passed him, saw it was a white male, step on the gas, 5,10,15 seconds tops".

So where were Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms 90 seconds prior to meeting Armond Pelissetti? The answer is, well beyond the vicinity of the sighting of the white male on Jackson Street and well beyond the intersection of Jackson and Maple. In fact, 90 seconds ago both officers would actually be back where they received the initial radio broadcast, at the Presidio Avenue and Washington Street intersection. It begs the question, was Presidio Avenue/Washington St really where they received the initial radio broadcast of an attempted robbery of a taxicab driver - or where they actually received the amended description?

In fact, walking from the top of Cherry Street to the intersection of Jackson and Maple traveling at 4 mph walking speed and taking 2 minutes, would mean this section of Jackson Street is only 0.1333 miles in length. If this portion of Jackson Street was 0.2 miles, then in 90 seconds Donald Fouke would have to be traveling at an average speed of 8 mph to cover the distance. But we know his average speed was approximately 30 mph.

Traveling at 30 mph for 90 seconds, means you would cover three quarters of a mile. This would place Donald Fouke's police car well beyond the intersection of Jackson and Maple when he received the amended white male description. This means, if we take the timeline of Donald Fouke and Armond Pelissetti as fact, as presented in the 2007 Zodiac Killer documentary, it would clearly show that both Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms both knew they were looking for a white male suspect long before they spotted him on Jackson Street, and the accounts portrayed in this documentary are totally incorrect. In fact, the longer it takes Armond Pelissetti to travel Cherry Street, the further back from the Jackson/Maple intersection Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms would become, when they get the updated description.  

The only way around this discrepancy is if Donald Fouke never traveled directly to Cherry Street. The claim of his in the 1989 Crimes of the Century documentary that "We proceeded on Jackson Street towards Arguello continuing our search, as we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult, believing this suspect was possibly the one involved in the shooting we entered the Presidio of San Francisco and conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect",  is the only viable option. In other words, he searched on West Pacific Avenue and returned back to Cherry Street in 90 seconds after receiving the updated description. This is the only way to account for the 90 seconds it took for Armond Pelissetti to send out the updated radio broadcast and possibly meet Donald Fouke at the top of Cherry Street. If this is the only viable option, then who directed the two police officers into Arguello and West Pacific Avenue away from the Washington and Cherry crime scene. I will let you decide.

​This is not meant to cast aspersions on the character of Donald Fouke or Armond Pelissetti, but to simply highlight that the events of October 11th 1969 could not have unfolded as portrayed in the 2007 Zodiac documentary.

This article has been sent to me by Gregory Haugevik, a valued member of the Zodiac Ciphers Facebook group, concerning the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. It reads as follows:

“Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!” - Jane Austen.
Like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel the Zodiac mystery never fails to stoke our interest with the possibility of resolution; only for the candle to abruptly extinguish itself as we hasten in our approach. Among the most puzzling incidents the case has to offer is unraveling just what happened on the night of October 11, 1969 when the phantom murderer claimed the life of San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine. My intention here will not be to rehash the events of this night, but rather to offer evidence I feel is supportive of the conclusion that Zodiac made a spontaneous decision to shoot Mr. Stine, rather than it being an act that was well-orchestrated and planned -- as very clearly seems to have occured some two weeks prior during the Lake Berryessa stabbings.
The first point I have in arguing Zodiac's spontaneity on this occasion has to do with why he was seen wiping down the vehicle in the aftermath of the murder. One may disagree, but Zodiac has often been credited as being a thinking-man's criminal. His intricate ciphers and general ability to have gone uncaptured might suggest a degree of acumen or sophistication on his part. As such, if shooting Paul Stine was highly deliberate, wouldn't he have worn gloves throughout the entire event? The abandoned pair of gloves found in the backseat notwithstanding (we don't know whom these belonged to, they were a small size and could have been left behind by an earlier passenger) Zodiac's hands were obviously uncovered since he found himself inside the cab cradling a mortally wounded Stine while risking being spotted by any passerby or police officer as he wasted valuable time trying to remove his fingerprints.

Point 2: Taking the car keys. As we know, Zodiac tore away swatches of Mr. Stine's shirt which he later sent to area newspapers effectively proving he was the killer. All indications are that these pieces of fabric had been torn by hand and not cut using scissors. My contention is that Zodiac took the car keys because he required a tool to puncture the fabric of the shirt, enabling him to then tear away strips. Once again, had Zodiac premeditated this murder - like he did at Lake Berryessa when he came equipped with precut lengths of clothesline to tie his victims - I believe he'd have brought scissors to easily shred the fabric.
3: His initial reason for cutting the shirt. In my opinion this was done because Zodiac needed a material to wipe his fingerprints from the taxi. The police report says he was using a white rag or handkerchief to clean the vehicle. This was observed by the teens at the window, some 60 feet away; for all anyone knows it could have been Stine's shirt which was doubling as a print remover. After the murder, when Zodiac arrived home, he realized he still had the bloodied shirt and then thought how mailing out pieces of it would serve as a great way of proving he was the killer to the police and media.

4: Zodiac being spotted by Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms on Jackson Street approximately 3 minutes after the shooting. My argument here is that had Zodiac planned this murder he would have had his vehicle parked within shouting distance of the crime scene. Instead, the police observe him meandering along on foot some blocks away, seemingly headed toward The Presidio. Again, this is something that does not typically happen in a tightly constructed operation. It's not improbable that Zodiac actually did make it into The Presidio and waited it out while an intensive manhunt ensued, exactly as he went on to state in his letter.
It's anybody's guess as to why Zodiac decided to take the life of Paul Stine on this Saturday night in early autumn. Could they have had a disagreement while en route to their destination? Did Zodiac inadvertently say something to Mr. Stine which he feared compromised his secret identity? There are undoubtedly any number of scenarios which are equally plausible. However, the slipshod nature of the killer's modus operandi during this incident is a sharp departure from the careful and precise methodology which seem to define his previous known crimes. The fact that he came within a wisp of being apprehended this night -- the first and only time we can say this of him -- only underscores my belief that his decision to murder Paul Stine took place in the spur of the moment.

​by Gregory Haugevik

Armond Pelissetti stated in the 2007 Zodiac documentary about the murder of Paul Stine "It seemed Officer Fouke in that amount of time felt that he had stopped the Zodiac. Well it's very hard to say whether he did or not, it would be a point of conjecture at this point, and he seemed quite upset. Fouke was also very clear as to what the person was wearing, well it just so happens that area is extremely well lit and I cannot imagine him not seeing the shine of blood on the clothing if it had been Zodiac".  There is much debate on whether Officer Donald Fouke stopped the Zodiac or not, but either way, he seemingly got a good view of the unidentified white male, describing the suspect in great detail, right down to his tan- engineering boots and elasticated cuffs. Armond Pelissetti stressed that the area was well lit in 1969 - and Officer Donald Fouke was certainly able to give a detailed description of the suspect's clothes, so why was he unable to notice any blood? This is often used, as Pelissetti inferred, to promote the idea that the unknown white male was not the Zodiac Killer. If we believe the credibility of the three teenagers and Officer Donald Fouke, then this white male walking along Jackson Street was, with near certainty, the Zodiac Killer.   

We know for certain that the man described by the three teenagers in the composite sketch, was the man observed in and around Paul Stine's taxicab. He then proceeded up Cherry Street in the direction of Jackson Street. Donald Fouke passed the white male and described the suspect as 35-45 years, about 5'10", 180-200 lbs, medium to heavy build, barrel chested, medium complexion, light colored hair, crew cut and wearing glasses.

Officer Donald Fouke also stated in the 2007 documentary, that  "One month later when the composite drawing came out at Richmond Station and was posted on the wall, it looked similar to the man that I had seen on October 11th. I then wrote a scratch, err, interdepartmental memorandum to my lieutenant to forward to homicide division so that they would have the additional information about the appearance of the suspect".  He went on to say "It is purported in Zodiac Unmasked that I tearfully told Inspector Toschi - You know Dave we could have been killed that night, I never spoke to Toschi that I personally know of or remember, he may have been the inspector who came out and asked me about the composite drawing and I told him the suspect was older and heavier, beyond that I had no further contact with the investigation".

Officer Donald Fouke's description of the Zodiac Killer was very similar to the three teenagers, so much so, that his only deviation from the three teenagers, was that the suspect was likely "older and heavier". The rest was pretty much in tandem. What we can take from this, is that Donald Fouke is pretty much in agreement that the unknown white male he saw, is the same man observed by the three teenagers at the intersection of Washington and Cherry - particularly from a facial standpoint - because he did not disagree with the composite drawn from the recollection of the teenagers. Therefore, the notion of the man walking down Jackson Street not being the Zodiac Killer, can effectively be ruled out. In addition, the timeline of "about 3 minutes" from Zodiac leaving the taxicab and Donald Fouke reaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple from his position when receiving the initial dispatch, is on a collision course for this intersection.      

It is fairly certain that the three teenagers and Donald Fouke saw the same man, and the assertion by Armond Pelissetti of it not being Zodiac was a misguided one - as was the claim that Donald Fouke would have noticed the "shine of blood".  If Officer Donald Fouke was able to give great detail about the man's clothing, he almost certainly would have seen blood on the man, if there was any.

Officer Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 documentary that the man walking on Jackson Street was "dressed in a three quarter waist length jacket, with elastic at the waist".  Armond Pelissetti said this area was well lit (and it was). So, if Officer Donald Fouke saw enough detail to describe the "elastic at the waist", one would like to think he would also have seen the shine of blood on the clothing. The three teenagers in the police report, stated "the suspect was in the front seat of the Yellow cab, mid to passenger side, with the victim slumped over his lap.". If this observation was accurate, then Officer Donald Fouke could not have failed to see blood all over the Zodiac's mid-section, as Paul Stine was bleeding profusely from a devastating head wound - yet he failed to do so.

Knowing this was the killer of Paul Stine, the only logical conclusion that can be drawn, is that the Zodiac Killer did not have Paul Stine resting over his lap. What killer, knowing he had just shot a man in the head and knowing he would be escaping on foot in a built up area, would then proceed to deliberately place the victim's head in his lap and effectively cover himself in copious quantities of blood. There may be a case for the Zodiac Killer being devoid of empathy, but he wasn't stupid. If his intention was not to get caught that night, then there is absolutely no way he placed the head of the victim in his lap - and there was no need to ever perform such an action. The three teenagers were observing from a raised vantage point, approximately 50-60 feet away, and in all likelihood, saw the Zodiac Killer leaning over the stricken taxicab driver and removing a piece of his shirt. Had Paul Stine slumped, or been pulled into the front passenger seat footwell, then the only blood the Zodiac Killer needed to get on himself, was on his hands, which could easily be wiped away with a handkerchief. The handkerchief seen by the three teenagers as the Zodiac Killer emerged from the taxicab that night.     

This is a continuation of the 'Skeleton in the Closet' article, for which I will post a link below, but is a further examination of the Halloween card mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 and the reasons behind its design. It was mailed to Paul Avery, and on the face of it appeared to contain a veiled threat toward the San Francisco journalist, however, the question remains, was it actually a threat or just disguised humor directed at the reporter, as the card itself was bereft of any direct reference to harming Paul Avery. On October 18th 1969 Paul Avery ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, entitled  'Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer' describing the Zodiac Killer as a "latent homosexual". Under this banner he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual."

Law enforcement and structured journalism will often attempt to provoke a reaction from a criminal - in this case a murderer - so as to generate a response that somehow undermines their anonymity and in doing so aid their capture, whether the claim of the article bears any truth or not. In this case the delay between Paul Avery's article and the Halloween card arrival would suggest not, after all, the time difference is approximately one year. That is until we drill down into the Halloween card, not for complex answers or mathematical solutions, but for the sheer simplicity of it all. ​  

The Halloween card introduction states 'From Your Secret Pal',  from where a number of interesting features follow, including a strategically placed pumpkin over the 'genitalia' or pelvic region of the first skeleton. This of course could mean anything or nothing at all, nevertheless, it is suggestive of an act of concealment, of something hidden from prying eyes. On the inside of the Halloween card the pumpkin has effectively been removed, or to be more precise, it has not been implemented, and the pelvic region of the skeleton is now exposed to the accompaniment of the word BOO and implied shock value of such a revelation. The exposure is now in full view of the many eyes littered across the card and the secret is out of the bag. One does not know if this is cheap toilet humor on behalf of Zodiac in response to Paul Avery, but to uncover the truth we shall examine the Halloween card even further.

'Skeleton in the closet', coined in the 19th century, is a colloquial phrase and idiom used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of that said individual - and since we are examining this card as a response to Paul Avery, in view of his "latent homosexual" remark in the San Francisco Chronicle, this phrase has some credence, bearing in mind the design of the Halloween card. Coming out of the closet is widely used by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) as affirmation of their real, yet previously hidden or concealed sexual identity.     

It has been suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have been of British origin because of his use of language, however, it is equally possible he may have been exposed to British parentage or quite simply have worked in or around a theatrical environment, facilitating his access to disguises, and more importantly, the materials for his Lake Berryessa costume.

This brings us to the underlined LAV on the Halloween card envelope. This could easily have been a simple underscore, having no meaning whatsoever, but let us assume for a moment this was not the case and it did have an intentional hidden meaning in line with the rest of the correspondence. If the Zodiac Killer was of British origin or of theatrical leanings, what could the word LAV mean. The word lav is an abbreviation for lavatory or water closet, often used in British colloquialism, and could provide us with a link back to the homosexuality angle. On the outside of the envelope we have closet, within the envelope on the card we have skeletons, so effectively we have skeletons in the closet. Admittedly this is a reach, so let us examine further the contention that Zodiac may have been a latent homosexual, or for that matter, one who had already come out of the closet.

It has also been considered that Zodiac had a military connection, in part, because of the Wing Walker boot impressions discovered at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. What we do know, is that homosexuality and the military did not go hand in glove, certainly not in the 1960s and 1970s - and beyond. The Zodiac Killer was indelibly linked to San Francisco, as most of his mailings were to the San Francisco Chronicle, along with his final confirmed murder, which displayed a marked deviation from his previous attacks on lone couples across the bay. Paul Stine was believed to have picked up his final passenger from the theater district, near the intersection of Mason and Geary, while some believe it may have been around the area of Nob Hill or the Tenderloin District. San Francisco in the 1960s had overseen a marked change, in particular the Castro District having been transformed from a working class area to a prominent symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements. After World War II many military personnel courted the area, unwilling to return to a life incompatible with homosexuality and other forms of behavior, and areas like the Tenderloin and Castro Street became the home to many gay bars and sex clubs. The Mason and Geary Street intersection which bisects the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner, and may place the Zodiac Killer integral to this area, as this was the only time he failed to use his own vehicle in the commission of a crime. The question remains though, where had he been earlier that night?      

The Zodiac Killer appeared to project a feeling of enmity towards the police and newspapers, in particular the San Francisco Chronicle, leading us to consider the motive of his attacks on predominantly young heterosexual couples, along with his bitterness and enjoyment in taunting the police and San Francisco Chronicle for nearly five years.

The Halloween festival, LGBT community, police and San Francisco Chronicle were inextricably linked in the 1960s and 1970s.  Halloween in the Tenderloin grew in the early 1960s with the growing LGBT community and welcomed tourists – who many of the prostitutes and hustlers relied upon for income. By the late 1960s, a major celebration area during Halloween was along Grant Avenue in North Beach, on which there were many gay bars in the late 1960s between Broadway and Union. In the early years of San Francisco it was against the law for men to dress up in women's clothing, but an exception was made for one night only on Halloween, a pagan celebration that would become the adopted day for gay celebrations. Gay bars were often the targets of extortion by police and people were routinely rounded up and hauled before the courts. Raids on gay bars were routine, with everyone inside the raided bar taken into custody and charged with such crimes as being "inmates in a disorderly house". Although the charges were routinely dropped, the arrested patrons' names, addresses and workplaces were printed in the newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

Considering the military angle, persecution by the police and 'gay shaming' in the newspapers, could this all have come together, in part, to become the trigger for Zodiac's compulsion to fight back against a system he felt alienated by. ​As early as 1963, Castro Street opened its first gay bar, the 'Missouri Mule'. One such person, was gay activist and entertainer Jose Sarria, who himself had served in World War II, but continued to fight the police harassment against, not only gay people, but gay establishments as a whole, having performed in the 'Black Cat Bar' at 710 Montgomery Street, a north-south thoroughfare. 1228 Montgomery Street was the former residence of Melvin Belli, who also became embroiled in the Zodiac case, Melvin Belli, Jose Sarria and the San Francisco Chronicle became intertwined in respect to these police raids and just may have been the reason the Zodiac Killer turned to Melvin Belli in his December 20th 1969 communication, in conjunction with his appearance on the Jim Dunbar Show. The following explains their actions to thwart police oppression. 

In consultation with attorney Melvin Belli, Sarria countered this tactic by distributing labels to his fellow drag queens (hand-made, in the shape of a black cat's head)  that read "I am a boy". If confronted, the queen would simply display the tag to prove that there was no intent to deceive. Sarria's actions helped bring an end to Halloween police raids.
The Zodiac Killer made reference to counterculture buttons in the Dragon card and Button letter, stating "If you dont want me to have this blast you must do two things. Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's". The reference to melvin eats bluber is based on the creation of buttons in the mid to late 60s by Irwin Weisfeld, in the form of a counter culture expressionism. The actual pin button says Melville Eats Blubber, which is in fact referring to Herman Melville, the creator of Moby Dick, published in 1851.  

In response to the perceived threat on Paul Avery in the Halloween card, colleagues would wear buttons on their clothing similar to the "I am a boy" declaration, but on this occasion would read "I am not Paul Avery." ​Was the Zodiac Killer imploring people to wear his Zodiac buttons, influenced by his experiences in the gay bars of San Francisco years earlier?

Melvin Belli was also well known for 'Elmer' the skeleton, which he would often used in his medical malpractice suits which, after winning a court case, he would invariably raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco.

Are any of the above in anyway responsible for the 'toilet humor' employed by the Zodiac Killer within the Halloween card, created as a direct result of his experiences of vilification and persecution by the police and San Francisco Chronicle in the anti-homosexual climate of fear he lived in, that ultimately drove him on his conquest of revenge and retribution? Is there any chance, however small, that the Zodiac Killer's name, address and workplace may be found in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper archives, as a result of the 'gay shaming' that occurred throughout the 1960s and 1970s? Is there a name we may recognize in print, or has the Zodiac Killer's identity once again slipped through our fingers. 
​
http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/skeleton-in-the-closet