For nearly half a century law enforcement, newspaper journalists, television commentators and the Zodiac community have speculated and argued on the likely intelligence of the Bay Area murderer. So, I have created a poll using the Current Wechsler IQ classification with seven categories. Here is your chance to vote.
'The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is an IQ test designed to measure intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and older adolescents. The original WAIS (Form I) was published in February 1955 by David Wechsler, as a revision of the Wechsler–Bellevue Intelligence Scale, released in 1939. It is currently in its fourth edition (WAIS-IV) released in 2008 by Pearson, and is the most widely used IQ test, for both adults and older adolescents, in the world'. Wikipedia.​   
https://vote.pollcode.com/39137563

There is the very real possibility that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates went on to kill again, but identifying his signature may be difficult based upon this one crime. The author of the Confession letter exhibited certain traits in his communication that may give us a clue, in particular, using terminology such as "beautiful blond", "shapely blue eyed brownett", "I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see" and "her breast felt very warm". This may indicate a sexual component in his thinking, and indeed, a willingness to continue his crimes in the future. The question though, is was his reference to "brush offs" and "I asked her for a date in high school", along with the tone of the correspondence, indicative of his immaturity and young age?

Was the offer of a lift in the Confession letter a precursor to luring the young girl away from the area, possibly for sexual purposes, that ultimately failed and reached a violent conclusion in the Riverside alleyway on October 30th 1966. Cheri Jo Bates suffered many knife wounds to her face, neck and body, from which the killer apparently gained great pleasure in reliving, that included such details as "she squirmed and shook as I choaked her, and her lips twiched". So, using all of the above details, we shall look for future crimes containing some of these key elements.

In 1995 William Lester Suff was convicted of the murders of 12 women between 1986 and 1992 in Riverside County, after being released from a 10-year prison sentence, spanning 1974 to 1984, for the murder of his two-month-old daughter Dijanet Suff. However, he may have committed at least 22 murders. But what was he doing from 1966 to 1974? William Suff was born August 20th 1950 in Torrance, California, so would have been 16 years of age at the time of Cheri Jo Bates' murder. He graduated from Perris High School in 1968.
​​ 
'William Lester Suff, 41--a local boy still remembered by schoolmates and teachers in the Riverside area--has been charged in two of the grisly murders. Authorities say they are confident of linking Suff to a majority of the 19 murders of women, mostly prostitutes and drug users, whose bodies had been dumped in this semirural community and elsewhere in western Riverside County. Every victim was stabbed or strangled or both, according to new details, and three of the recent bodies were mutilated--a breast cut off each.' Los Angeles Times. 1992.
​
​'William L. Suff, 44, a Riverside County warehouse worker who helped deliver office furniture to the law enforcement task force that was searching for the serial killer, was found guilty of luring the prostitutes into his vehicle, strangling or stabbing them and dumping their bodies in alleys, trash bins, orange groves and fields, primarily around Riverside and Lake Elsinore'. Los Angeles Times. 1995.

The mention of cutting off body parts in the Confession letter may have been an early sadistic fantasy, that eventually came to fruition.    

The map on the left shows where 8 of his victims were discovered in relation to Terracina Drive in Riverside - the location of the alleyway where Cheri Jo Bates was murdered. The victims were lured into his vehicle before being strangled and stabbed.

His first known victim was 23-year-old Michelle Yvette Gutierrez on October 30th 1986, the 20th anniversary of the Riverside College murder. The young woman was stabbed multiple times about the face and chest in similar fashion to Cheri Jo Bates. She had also received injuries to her breast and buttocks. Her body was discovered near Agua Mansa Road, only five miles from Riverside City College library.

'Another gruesome case began on December 11, 1986, when the half-clothed body of Charlotte Jean Palmer, 24, of Anna, Illinois was found near Highway 74 and Matthews Road in Romoland. County coroners were unable to determine the cause of her death, because of the rapidity of putrefaction. Fear and panic spread as more and more women began mysteriously disappearing. Over a period of five years, from 1986 to 1991, nineteen prostitutes were found murdered - at least three of the Riverside County victims had their breasts severed. A forensic pathologist noted that cutting off female breasts was a way in which serial killers can uniquely hurt and harm the females they loathe'. Murderpedia. Please visit Murderpedia for the full list of victims. 

On the 25th anniversary of the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, on October 30th 1991, the nude body of Delliah Zamora Wallace was discovered in Granite Hill Drive, Mira Loma. Could the October 30th 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates have been an attempted abduction by William Lester Suff from the Riverside City College library with the intention of killing her elsewhere, not unlike his later victims. This may have been one of his earliest crimes - and as such - exhibiting the inexperience he would later refine.
There are 12 underscores on the Confession letter introduction, where apparently the killer had left his name blank after typing the word BY. Below, I have placed William Suff into the Confession letter introduction and used parts of the Bates letters.

'In January, 1992, Suff was pulled over by a suspicious Riverside police officer moments after he saw Suff talking to a prostitute on Riverside's University Avenue, which was--along with Lake Elsinore's Main Street--one of his favorite haunts in cruising for prey.' Los Angeles Times. 1995. University Avenue, Riverside is less than one mile from Terracina Drive.

Using the police reports and autopsy of Darlene Ferrin we can reconstruct the mechanics of the crime scene at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969. Michael Mageau was struck four times and survived, but Darlene Ferrin received nine entry wounds and seven exit wounds from five direct hits. The police recovered nine shell casings from the crime scene, seven to the right side of the brown Corvair and two on the floorboard of the rear passenger area. The diagrams below will show the possible order of events that night, followed by a more detailed examination.   

[1] and [2] The widely held belief is that Michael Mageau was targeted first during the initial barrage of gunfire, but the autopsy report of Darlene Ferrin may suggest otherwise. The young woman received 4 entry and 4 exit wounds to both arms, indicating that she may have had both arms on the steering wheel when the first bullet was discharged. Each bullet entered the right arm and exited, before striking the left arm and exiting, creating the 4 entry and exit wounds described at autopsy. If the killer had targeted Michael Mageau first, it is extremely unlikely that Darlene Ferrin's first reaction would have been to turn the key in the ignition and place her hands on the steering wheel in an attempt to pull away. There simply would not have been enough time to achieve such a feat, not withstanding the fact, that the natural reaction after seeing Michael Mageau shot, would have been to turn away from the direction of fire. Had this been the case, the wound pattern to the arms of Darlene Ferrin would be harder to explain. The killer fired off the first two shots into the vehicle, firstly striking Darlene Ferrin just above the right wrist as she was gripping the steering wheel. Her right arm came across her upper body towards her face (either manually or by the resultant force), as the second bullet entered her right upper arm 5 1/2 inches above the elbow on the lateral side, exiting and striking her left upper arm 3 1/4 inches above the elbow. 

[3] and [4] When the killer opened fire on Darlene Ferrin, Michael Mageau turned away, lowering his body from the barrel of the gun. After the initial two shots, the killer then turned the gun on Michael. He was struck twice, once in the neck (facial area) and once in the shoulder, before propelling himself to the rear of the vehicle in an attempt to escape the barrage. Both of these bullets exited his body, striking Darlene Ferrin in the torso. The two bullets lost momentum after passing through Mageau and had reduced velocity when they entered Darlene Ferrin, thereby remaining in her body. #1 was removed from the right second rib. #2 was removed from the seventh and eighth rib left. These were the only two bullets recovered from Darlene Ferrin at autopsy. 

A letter was received by the San Francisco Examiner on July 4th 1969 in which Zodiac described his attack "On the 4th of July I did not open the car door. The window was rolled down all ready. The boy was origionaly sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".  Michael described these two shots in the police report: "He heard a muffled sound and felt a pain in his back and his neck area. He states he heard some more muffled sounds, sounding like a gun with a silencer on it, and felt pains in his body, his back and around his neck. States he tried to climb over the back seat to get away from the shooting".  The killer had now fired 4 shots. Michael Mageau had been struck twice, and Darlene Ferrin had received 6 entry wounds and 4 exit wounds. 

[5] After Michael Mageau had found temporary refuge in the rear of the Corvair, the Zodiac Killer fired the fifth shot into Darlene Ferrin's torso. The bullet exited her body. She now had 7 entry wounds and 5 exit wounds. The killer then retreated according to Michael Mageau. But this was to be a brief respite.

[6] and [7] The Zodiac Killer returned to the passenger side window and leaned into the vehicle, and extended his arm over the front seats to fire 2 more shots at Michael Mageau, striking him in the thigh and hip. These two expended casings fell onto the rear floorboard. The Zodiac described this as "he ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".

[8] and [9] The killer then turned back to Darlene Ferrin, firing off the final 2 shots. Both of these bullets struck her torso and exited on through. She had now received a devastating 9 entry wounds and 7 exit wounds, as described in the autopsy. Two of the final four shots were likely aimed at Michael Mageau first, as he explained to officers that he "could not tell if he meant to yell at the subject or if he just yelled from pain, but he let out some type of yell. At this time, the subject apparently hearing him, came back to the car and shot Michael two more times, once in the back and once in the left leg. States the subject then turned the gun on Dea and shot her twice more". Michael Mageau had actually been struck in the thigh and hip. The killer then retreated into the night. Just under 40 minutes later, the Zodiac would announce himself to the world in a chilling phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover. 

Here is a depiction of the entry wounds (black circles) and exit wounds (red circles) to the arms of Darlene Ferrin.
​The first shot traveled as shown, creating 2 entry and exit wounds. The second shot is more difficult to explain.
​In order to make any sense of this wound pattern, imagine that we need to make these four circles approximately line up.
The white arrow would depict how Darlene Ferrin's arm came across her body, placing it at extremely acute angle to the shooter (the act of turning away). The four circles are now lined up, producing 2 entry and exit wounds. The bullet entered 5 1/2 inches above the right elbow and exited 1 1/4 inches distal to the right elbow. It then entered 3 1/4 inches above the left elbow and exited the opposite side.
The first shot didn't necessarily strike Darlene Ferrin while she was holding the steering wheel, but it is a strong possibility. The right forearm was struck 3 1/2 inches above the wrist, entering the left forearm 2 inches above the wrist.
This however, is only one possible explanation. If you have any comments regarding this analysis, please let me know. 

This is a representation of the likely order of the 10 shots fired in the Lake Herman Road turnout on December 20th 1968, resulting in the murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Each bullet/s fired is represented by four colors, red, green, yellow and blue. This may also be the order the weapon was discharged. [1] The shot into the headliner of the Rambler [2] The shot traveling above the Rambler (shots 1 and 2 can obviously be interchanged). [3] The shot into the rear window [4] The murder of David Faraday [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The six shots fired at Betty Lou Jensen, with one missing the young girl. The respective casings for each of the ten shots have been allocated the corresponding color.
This representation will be explained in greater detail below. 

[1] The killer parked approximately 10 feet alongside the Faraday Rambler. The killer exited the driver side door of his vehicle and immediately fired at the Rambler. The distance creating a relatively flat trajectory, with the bullet striking the headliner and embedding in the upper portion of the Rambler on the left side of the vehicle. The casing flew behind the shooter and bounced off the metallic surface of his vehicle, coming to rest by the red circle, approximately 20 feet from the right side of the Rambler.

[2] The second shot immediately following the first, with the casing flying to the right and rear, likely striking the hood of the assailant's vehicle and coming to rest by the front of his vehicle, 14 feet to the right side of the Rambler. 

[3] The killer approaches the Rambler and fires off his third shot (green line) into the right rear window, just above the window liner. The bullet came to rest in the left rear wheel well of the Rambler. By calculating the angle of the bullet trajectory of approximately 17 to 19 degrees to the horizontal, we know that the shooter based on a height of 5'10", had to be standing no more than 4-5 feet from the Rambler. With an extended arm, this would place the gun 25-30 inches from the Rambler window when fired. So, unless the shooter walked backwards after this shot and fired into the headliner, this was likely the third shot that night, as the killer approached the couple's vehicle. The ejected casing flies to the rear, somewhere in the region of the green circle, measured at 8'2" from the right side of the Rambler. The positions of these circles are only approximations based on the measurements given in the police report.  

[4] The couple are forced from the vehicle and David Faraday is callously executed with a bullet to the left side of his head (just under the ear). He is standing with his back to the Rambler, and the casing ejects to the rear, traveling either directly or indirectly off the Rambler door, coming to rest on the front passenger floorboard of the Rambler (yellow line and circle).

[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The shooter takes a step or two forward and fires at Betty Lou Jensen as she flees into the distance. The first shot at extremely close range left gunpowder residue on her dress, despite this however, she would reach 33 feet from the rear of the Rambler before collapsing backwards, ultimately being discovered 28 feet from the Rambler (where the policeman is shining his torch in the background). The casings are ejected in the blue grouping - close to the right side of the Rambler. The dark blue circle representing 1 of the 6 shots he fired at Betty Lou Jensen, that possibly missed their target. 

Two bullets were never retrieved from the scene, indicating they either missed Betty Lou Jensen while she was running for her life, missed the Rambler on the shooter's approach to the vehicle, were fired into the air as a warning, or were a combination of these possibilities. However, considering the tight grouping of six casings close to the vehicle, it is arguable, they were fired from the same location. It is unlikely the shooter would miss the Rambler standing right next to it. He likely missed the Rambler when initially exiting his vehicle, the two bullet casings at 14 and 20 feet striking his vehicle and coming to rest in the respective positions shown below. 

If you have any alternative thoughts on the sequence of shots fired on December 20th 1968, or opinions on the Lake Herman Road double murder, please leave your contributions in the comments section below. 

These are the taxicab fares dated April 18th 1969:
'Rates for Taxicabs and Sedans. The rates of fare for taxicabs and sedans shall be as follows: Fifty-five Cents (55c) for the first one-fifth mile or "flag": Ten Cents (10c) for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof: Ten Cents (10c) for each one and one fourth minutes of waiting or traffic delay time. Drivers of taxicabs and sedans shall keep an accurate waybill specifically setting forth the time of hire and discharge, the number of passengers, the origin and destination and the charges authorized and made for each trip.
(Amended Ord. 234-69; App, 4/18/69)'   

The History Channel docudrama on the Zodiac Killer calculated the approximate area that Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer on October 11th 1969, and explained that it was likely somewhere near the theater district in San Francisco. Here are the calculations.

The police report stated that Paul Stine's taxicab meter read $6.25 at exactly 10:46 pm. So using the taxicab meter charges above, we can backtrack and calculate the approximate pick-up point from the last known movements of Paul Stine heading back from San Francisco International Airport. The time of the murder was specified as 9:55 pm, so by the time the meter was read at 10:46 pm, the meter had been running idle for 51 minutes. We know that it's 10c for each one and one fourth minutes (1.25) of waiting or traffic delay time. So we can discover the charge the idle taxicab ran up for these 51 minutes. (51 divided by 1.25) = 40.8. Multiplied by 10c = 4 dollars and 8 cents. The investigators deducted this from the $6.25 to give us $2.17. This calculation however, did not include any idle time en route from the proposed theater district to the intersection of Washington and Cherry. But we shall assume it negligible, as they have done. We know it is 55c for the first one-fifth mile. So the taxicab meter would be operating effectively from $2.17 minus 55c thereafter ($2.17 minus 55c) = $1.62. So to calculate the distance traveled we have to use the taxicab meter charges of 10c for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof.
  
$1.62 divided by 10c = 16.2 miles. But it is for one-fifth of a mile, so 16.2 divided by 5 = 3.24 miles traveling distance. But again, this is not factoring in any delays en route, in accordance with the History Channel calculations. The crucial part is the 55c for the first one-fifth mile or "flag." The taxicab should be reading 55c after one-fifth of mile (0.2 miles) is achieved. Therefore, this should be added on to the 3.24 miles, to give us 3.44 miles traveling distance. This would, without any delays en route (not factored in by the History Channel), take us a little further away from Washington and Cherry. The calculations to consider, is whether the taxicab meter started from 55c at the "flag" or 55c after one-fifth mile distance. If it started at one-fifth distance, then without further idle time, as portrayed by the docudrama, the taxicab of Paul Stine would not have picked up Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets, which is 3.0 miles from Washington and Cherry, assuming he traveled by the quickest and shortest route. The Westin St Francis Hotel in Union Square is approximately 3.1 miles.

But allowing for a small amount of idle time en route, possibly one or two minutes, we would have to deduct approximately 10 or 20 cents that was available for the taxicab to be in motion, thereby effectively reducing the distance traveled (one or two one-fifths of a mile). Going on the lower estimate, the distance traveled would therefore be closer to 3.24 miles again. 
Without any or negligible idle time en route, the distance traveled would be 3.44 miles, based on a meter clocking up 55 cents after one-fifth mile distance. A distance of 3.4 miles east of Washington and Cherry, would take the taxicab into the Financial District of San Francisco. If Paul Stine had taken Highway 101 and Interstate 80 back from the San Francisco International Airport, he could have headed to this general area. Your opinions, or any corrections to this analysis would be welcome. ​   

The 'Halloween' card was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 inferring a fourteenth victim. On July 26th 1970 the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Little List' letter claiming thirteen victims. If nurse Donna Ann Lass was a Zodiac victim, then the 'Halloween' card must surely have been referring to the disappearance and likely murder of Donna Lass from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino on September 6th 1970. But why did it take the Zodiac Killer nearly two months to send this correspondence to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper? Was it imperative for the killer to somehow tie this possible murder into the Halloween festival - and did the depiction of skeletons, the pumpkin and the phrase "peek a boo you are doomed" provide any clue to the location of Donna Lass' body or burial site.

This by all accounts was a bold and brazen abduction at the end of the young woman's shift at approximately 1:50 am, in a seemingly predetermined crime. If this was a serial offender, such as the Zodiac Killer, then the clues may lie in previous similar unsolved crimes with overlapping traits. The following ideas will be examining this possibility, using the design of the 'Halloween' card and later 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, also believed by some to have been crafted by the hand of the Zodiac Killer. 

The choice of a skeleton on this card may have been deliberate, bearing in mind Donna Lass was likely murdered the day of her abduction and had remained undiscovered for nearly two months at this juncture. It is also easy to understand how the card can be interpreted as a skeleton wearing a pumpkin. But what if the depiction is implying something more sinister, in that Donna Lass is buried beneath a pumpkin or pumpkins? This may seem a ridiculous observation, until we consider the second skeleton on the card inner wearing a mask of sorts. Could the killer have intended us to interpret the card differently - such as an eye patch, thereby implying the phrase 'pumpkin patch'? The clue may not be entirely literal, but effectively implying the young woman may have been buried on farmland, which may have grown pumpkins or sold farm produce. This is a real stretch, so we will go further. 
​
Randall Scott Clemons produced an interesting article linking the Zodiac Killer to various golf courses, and suggesting that he may have traveled extensively to murder in certain areas he was familiar with through his pastime. In his first contact with the newspapers on July 31st 1969 the killer stated "This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman + the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo". The murderer of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 escaped into the Presidio Park adjacent to the Presidio Golf course. The Aetna Springs Golf Course, Napa, was one of the first golf courses west of the Mississippi River and built on the Aetna Springs Resort's property in 1891. It is only 11 miles as the crow flies from the Knoxville Road, bordering Lake Berryessa, the site of Zodiac's third attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard.​

But more crucially, it is less than 5 miles from Pope Valley, the location where the three young women had driven through at around 3:00 pm on September 27th 1969, just before they encountered a strange man who appeared to be following them. Did he have a ball marker on him that day, which came in useful at around 6:30 pm?
​
Deana Hooper's skeletal remains were discovered on March 11th 1975 in an open field at Columbus Parkway and St. John's Mine Road, right next to the Blue Rock Springs Park Golf Course. She was last seen on July 11th 1974 at the Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island.  Established in 1892, Mare Island Golf Club in Vallejo, California is the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi River. Originally built as a 9-hole course,  its first 30 years included sand greens and dry fairways. The course began near the former Marine Barracks and proceeded south to Lake Rodgers (built in 1876 and named after Rear Admiral Rodgers), then returned to the start. Was the killer somehow connected to the military, and an avid golfer, that inevitably made him familiar with these murder sites?

The 'Pines' card depicted an advertisement for mountain condominiums.
A newspaper article stated that: 'the site depicted on the 'Pines Card' was from an advertisement published last Sunday by several newspapers. It was an artist's rendition of houses among the trees at a Boise Cascade Company project at Incline Village, where construction has just begun on the development. While much of the Sierra area is under several feet of snow, Incline Village has only two feet on the ground. Police went to the area to determine if a search is possible'.
Many observers toyed with the idea that Donna Lass may have been buried by the punch hole in the card - but surely that would have been too simple a clue by the Zodiac Killer. In another stretch of the imagination, could the positioning of 'Sierra Club' on the tree, be designed to give the impression of a flagpole? We would then be possibly looking for a burial site east of a Sierra Club golf course - not at Incline Village - but somewhere 'past the Lake Tahoe areas'. Somewhere the killer was familiar with and had used to bury a previous victim. 

​Judith Hakari was a nurse at Sutter Hospital, who disappeared heading back to the Markston Apartments on March 7th 1970. Her body was later discovered by Ponderosa Way in Weimar, forty two miles along Interstate 80.​
'At 11:30 pm. Hakari calls her fiance to tell him she's leaving Sutter Memorial Hospital where she works as a nurse. By 1:30 in the morning, she has still not come home. Her fiance, waiting at her apartment, begins to worry. "He went out to the apartment complex parking lot and discovered her car was parked in the assigned space that she had," Links said. But Judith was nowhere to be seen. She was found one month later, strangled and bludgeoned to death. "Some hikers discovered a body in a shallow grave up in the town of Weimar, in Placer County. And during their investigation they determined that it was Judith Hakari," Links said.' Fox40.com.
​
Both Judith Hakari and Donna Lass were nurses, who disappeared after their shift end, both at night or in the early hours of darkness, and both en route back home. Is it conceivable that the murderer of Judith Hakari is also responsible for the abduction and murder of Donna Lass, and if so, did he bury or conceal her body somewhere he was familiar with and had ultimately escaped detection before - in Weimar. Or somewhere very close?

We could be looking for a location in Placer County near farm land, that may have a connection to pumpkins. There will be a Sierra Club golf course west of the location. It may also be a location that has relevance to parts of the phrases contained within the 'Halloween' card, such as "From your secret pal," "peek a boo you are doomed" and "slaves." And more importantly, somewhere close to where Judith Hakari's body was discovered.

There is such a place in Colfax, Placer County, California. It was named after Schuyler Colfax Jr, known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. In January 1865, as Speaker of the House, Colfax made the unusual choice to cast a vote for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Colfax is located 4.4 miles (as the crow flies) from Ponderosa Way, the burial site of Judith Hakari.

The Bierwagen's Donner Trail Fruit and Farm Market near Chicago Park, is situated only 7 miles east of the Alta Sierra Country Club and golf course. Secret Town is 7 miles from Colfax and 14 miles from Ponderosa Way.
​
The residence of Judith Hakari and the area her body was discovered, not only were situated alongside Interstate 80, but Ponderosa Way is only 2 miles or 5 minutes from Interstate 80, and the Markston Apartments only 4 miles or 8 minutes from Interstate 80.  Interstate 80 is bisected by Colfax and runs from the Markston Apartments, where Judith Hakari lived, to Truckee, ​California on the north side of Lake Tahoe. Ponderosa Way (as the crow flies) is 38 miles from the Markston Apartments and 46 miles from Truckee. Was the same killer responsible for the murder of both women, and prepared to create a preconceived buffer zone to each burial site? A familiar 'dumping ground' similar to that employed by the likes of the Green River and Gilgo Beach Killer.
​​
Finally, we have a lonely lane in the heart of 'pine country,' where you can "peek through the pines" into "Peek A Boo" lane, just 2 miles (as the crow flies) from Ponderosa Way. But would you be doomed?   

It is uncertain whether the Zodiac Killer wore eyeglasses​ in his everyday life.
​Michael Mageau, shot four times at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969 described a killer without glasses.
Bryan Hartnell, who survived the brutal stabbing at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 described only clip on sunglasses. Five other witnesses by the shores of Berryessa that day, equally described a suspicious man without eyeglasses.
The most infamous sketch of the killer was compiled from eyewitness recollections in the immediate aftermath of the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969. We cannot be sure the eyeglasses worn by the murderer that night were his, due to the unknown whereabouts of Paul Stine's black-rimmed spectacles, or whether the assailant wore glasses that night as a form of disguise.
On November 9th 1969 the killer mailed the 'Bus Bomb' letter stating "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill."
On the left I have removed the murderer's glasses and inserted the brown eyes from a photograph (based on the fact, this is the most common eye color in the world). I have then used real hair and lips, and shaped them to the best of my ability to conform to the sketch, all in an attempt to portray the 'real' face of the Zodiac Killer.   

This is a continuation from a previous article, but relevant in regards to the History Channel docudrama about to air on December 12th 2017. Undoubtedly they will continue to pursue suspect Lawrence Kane and attempt to provide a credible link between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, which according to Detective Harvey Hines, Lawrence Kane had. He purportedly lived at 217 Eddy Street, San Francisco during the Paul Stine murder and worked for Alan Dorfman selling Arizona real estate at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino, the same hotel Donna Lass was employed. The likelihood of Lawrence Kane being the Zodiac Killer is down to opinion, however, as previously suggested, the link between Donna Lass, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and the Zodiac Killer could be a very real one. A link inadvertently or otherwise, left by the killer when designing his 'Pines' card, mailed on March 22nd 1971.         

Many observers believe the 'Pines' card was crafted by a hoaxer, on account of the fact 'Victim 12' had already been claimed by the Zodiac Killer on June 26th 1970 when he mailed the 'Button' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. On the contrary, this could go a long way to actually validating this correspondence. Bearing in mind the make-up of the 'Pines' card, it is extremely likely it is referring to the disappearance of Donna Lass. But in order for its author to have deliberately chosen the phrase 'Sought Victim 12' in reference to Donna Lass, we could assume he knew her previous employment and movements in the preceding few months - or just made a lucky guess when choosing this particular phrase. Would a hoaxer, having gone to all the effort of pasting all the wording onto this card, then have made the basic error of getting the victim total incorrect? One could argue that the author of this card knew Donna Lass, knew that she had previously worked at the Letterman General Hospital and knew exactly when she had moved to South Lake Tahoe.
 
Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. Had the Zodiac Killer targeted Donna Lass before her move to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel? If so, then 'Sought Victim 12' (used in the past tense) could simply be implying that he had intended Donna Lass as a target before she moved from San Francisco.

Harvey Hines stated in his 120 page report "Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked. During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac". If the killer knew Donna Lass, or indeed was familiar with the Presidio Park and Letterman General Hospital, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility he likely was familiar with this area and the advantages it provided as an escape route after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969.       

If the killer knew, worked with, or was familiar with Donna Lass during the short period she worked at the Letterman General Hospital, then clearly he may have sought her as victim 12 during this period.

The Zodiac mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher on April 20th 1970 claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970 he was claiming 12 victims in the Button Letter. Therefore, he must have 'Sought Victim 12' between these two dates. The window of opportunity narrows when we consider that Donna Lass left for South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. If the Zodiac Killer  targeted Donna Lass while she worked and lived in San Francisco, it likely fell between April 20th 1970 and June 6th 1970. A window of just 46 days. Is this something a casual hoaxer would be aware of?

Unless the employment details and movements of Donna Lass between these dates had been carefully noted by the Zodiac Killer from the newspapers, was the choice of the 'Sought Victim 12' phrase just a lucky guess on behalf of the hoaxer and just happened to fall correctly between these dates? Did the author of the 'Pines' card do his research - or was Donna Lass specifically targeted by the Zodiac Killer, who moved or traveled to South Lake Tahoe with the sole purpose of completing his 'mission' - and the wording on the 'Pines' card was anything but a mistake. It may possibly dispel the preconception that the Zodiac Killer only targeted strangers, as has been alluded to in the case of Darlene Ferrin, murdered on July 4th 1969. Maybe the Zodiac Killer didn't care who he killed. 

The 'Hunt for the Zodiac Killer' docudrama on the History Channel has just revealed a portion of code they claim is a solve for the infamous 340 cipher. 
With the accompanying 'Dripping Pen' card, the Zodiac Killer mailed us a message "This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. Could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing." 
Using the deciphering of the History Channel (right side) I have attempted to fill in the blanks on the first six lines. The green lettering is from the History Channel. The yellow lettering is my calculated decryption. The pink lettering is far more speculative.
The reasoning behind the opening two words "my thing," is partially derived from the threat on the 'Dripping Pen' card, possibly left as a clue by the killer, and the code itself. The solve reads:
MY THINGS, I KILL BOTH NIGHT AND DAY. I LIVE BY THE GUN BARREL AIM AND LIKE FISHING FOR GOLDFISH OVER PIGS. I MISS GOLDILOCKS NOW.

​Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed 6 weeks prior to the mailing of the 340 cipher. Considering the proximity of water, were they like 'goldfish in a bowl' to the Zodiac Killer. Cecelia Shepard had blonde hair- was he referencing her in the phrase "I miss Goldilocks now."
If you have a better decryption for the pink and yellow areas, please post them in the comments below. The 340 Cipher.

LINE 7 AND 8 OF THE 340 CIPHER 

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and the older still "The Story of the Three Bears" are two variations of a 19th-century fairy tale. The original tale tells of a badly-behaved old woman who enters the forest home of three bachelor bears whilst they are away. She sits in their chairs, eats some of their porridge, and sleeps in one of their beds. When the bears return and discover her, she starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again. The other major version brings Goldilocks to the tale (replacing the old woman), and an even later version retained Goldilocks, but has the three bachelor bears transformed into Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear. Taken from Wikipedia.

The final episode of the History Channel docudrama about the Zodiac Killer will air on December 12th 2017. It will probably continue the theme of Lawrence Kane as the potential killer, focusing on the theater district of San Francisco, where Paul Stine was presumed to have picked up his eventual murderer. The murderer of Paul Stine, based on the taxicab meter reading, was believed to have flagged down the taxi in the theater district, near the corner of Mason and Geary Street, an area situated approximately 0.3 miles from the proposed residence of Lawrence Kane at 217 Eddy Street. 
They will likely state that Donna Lass worked in the Presidio Park at the Letterman General Hospital and lived at 4122 Balboa Street, San Francisco. The Zodiac was last observed entering the park via Julius Khan playground.

A reminder from Harvey Hines 120 page report on Lawrence Kane:
​"Now, according to John Miles, I find that Kane lived at 217 Eddy Street in San Francisco prior to his moving to South Lake Tahoe. In looking at an area map of San Francisco, I found 217 Eddy Street appeared to be only about two to three blocks from where Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac on October 11th 1969. I then called inspector Dave Toschi at the San Francisco Police Department and got more details on the Stine killing. Toschi said they had determined the killer had called for a cab using the public payphone located at Union Square. Toschi said the cab picked the killer up and drove to the corner of Washington and Cherry Streets. At this point the cab driver was shot in the head. The killer was then seen by three witnesses from a residence nearby, wiping down the cab. Apparently wiping away fingerprints. Toschi said he also cut away a portion of Stine's bloodied shirt. After doing this, he calmly walked away in the direction of the Presidio Army Installation.
Two police officers, Don Foukes and Eric Zelms, heard the first radio broadcast and went directly to the area. The first broadcast, however, according to Toschi, erroneously identified the shooter as a black man. As Zelms and Foukes approached, they saw a white male walking toward the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. They briefly stopped and asked him if he had seen a man with a gun. He told them he had just seen a man waving a gun and running the other direction. The two officers then hurriedly left in search of the black man.
Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked.
During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac." 

The 340 cipher will remain unsolved, despite claims to the contrary in the preview at the end of episode four. 
The only interesting feature yet to be resolved, is the DNA testing of Cheri Jo Bates' trousers. Hopefully it will generate a full DNA profile and provide some answers in the Riverside debate once and for all. 

If you didn't believe the History Channel docudrama on the Zodiac Killer could get any worse after episode three, then you would be wrong. Unfortunately, it failed to perform even a modicum of research on the Albany letter, before placing it in front of an 'internationally renowned handwriting expert' to determine whether the letter was penned by the Zodiac. The two investigators gave her a copy of the letter to analyze- unfortunately for her, the letter wasn't the original penned from the hand of the Zodiac, it was created by me using a highlighting tool freely available on the internet. I did this to make the text clearer without changing the pen strokes. Unfortunately though, it isn't a perfect reproduction and some errors were made.
The handwriting analyst stated "The other thing that left an impression on me is this very unique way that their making those dots in between the numbers for the times (the colons). They're very strong, very dark, very what I call dot grinding. I found it on the Albany letter and then also look at this, the time on one of the known writings, exactly the same thing." Below is the original Zodiac letter, my cleaned and enhanced version and the History Channel version. 
You will notice the lack of speckling in the respective images, along with other small differences, but in particular how I enhanced the lower dot on the colon. So when they are comparing the bold, dark dot, penned by the hand of a killer, they are actually comparing something created by me, and the last time I checked I hadn't killed anybody. 

The disappearance and eventual discovery of the remains of Deana Hooper has been covered on many forums. It is an interesting case, primarily because of the location her skeleton was discovered bordering Columbus Parkway and Blue Rock Springs Park (see below). Thanks to Zamantha for turning the article into readable text.  

​​According to the missing person's report filed last July by Mrs. Albright, Hoffman said her sister last had been seen on July 11 at the Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island (additional information below). Hoffman said Mrs. Albright gave no reason reason for delaying the report of her sister's disappearance until July 15th. Hoffman said Deana Hooper and Tonna Albright had been adopted about eight years ago from an orphanage in Hong Kong by their foster father Dean Hooper, a Caucasian ex-serviceman who now lives at 234 Thomson Ave, Sonoma. Hoffman said he notified Hooper that the skeleton found here had been tentatively identified as his missing adopted daughter. According to Hoffman, Hooper confirmed he had suspected all along that Deana was dead, after she disappeared without a trace last July and that Mrs. Albright confirmation of the identifications of the skeleton came as no surprise to him.

Hoffman said it is his belief the skeleton found Tuesday by an Oakland chiropractor and his 8-year-old son flying kites on the Azevedo Ranch, had lain in the field undetected since last July 12. He indicated the location of the skeleton in high weeds 40 feet east of the nearest roadway would have made it virtually impossible for someone to see the remains, unless a passerby stumbled by accident on that site. Hoffman said the skeleton now is being examined by an anthropologist at the University of California at Davis in the hope of determining the cause of the death. Meanwhile, he said the police investigation into the girls' disappearance is continuing.

Here is a map showing 901 Georgia Street and St Johns Mine Road.
Images along Saint Johns Mine created by Samuel Dapore-Scwartz.

Additional information:
#1] Established in 1892, Mare Island Golf Club in Vallejo, California is the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi River. Originally built as a 9-hole course,  its first 30 years included sand greens and dry fairways. The course began near the former Marine Barracks and proceeded south to Lake Rodgers (built in 1876 and named after Rear Admiral Rodgers), then returned to the start. http://mareislandgolfclub.com/history.
#2] San Francisco Chronicle July 31st 1969 "Dear Editor This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman + the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo."
#3] Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island at the Naval Inshore Operations Training Center.

Was the killer a serviceman with golfing ties, who knew this quiet retreat near Blue Rock Springs golf course was the ideal dumping ground for a body, just a short distance from the road.

California Maritime Academy, located Vallejo California. 1960s graduates.  1950s graduates.  All.

The fourth episode of the History Channel docudrama about the Zodiac Killer will air on December 5th 2017. The show was featured in an article by Fox News on December 1st 2017, in which it stated "The team says it may have solved a significant portion of the diabolically complicated Zodiac code, Z340." But what are they referring to?
A portion only refers to a part, piece, section, chunk, segment, slice or fragment, so it's highly unlikely it is referring to any wholesale decryption. Significant does not mean large part, only notable, remarkable, consequential or conspicuous, so the claimed 'solution' could be just a small feature of the 340 cipher, dressed up in wording to imply a greater find.
There are some notable features present on the 340 cipher, and here are three.
The first was presented in an article by Jos Kirps, which is not readily available on the internet anymore with a cursory search. It involves the blending of the 'Halloween' card and 340 cipher, in which the wording Paradice and Slaves from the 'Halloween' card forms a cross formation within the 340 cipher, with corresponding characters (see below)
In this image I have placed the additional phrases By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife from the 'Halloween' card in the respective quadrants of the 340 cipher 
The second interesting feature is the corrected sixth line of the 340 cipher. In 2012 I found a tenuous link from this portion of the 340 cipher to the 'Exorcist' letter mailed four years later. See here. 
The third notable area of interest is the 'near Zodiac' placed on the 20th line of the 340 cipher, almost signature like. Was this a random array of characters, or was it specifically designed by the author and killer for a reason. I have suggested a possibility for its design, linking the '13 Symbol' cipher and 340 cipher as a form of continuation. See here. 
These three offerings may have nothing to do with the History Channel revelation next Tuesday, and none were maybe what the Zodiac Killer intended, but I would like your opinion and suggestions to the claim "the team says it may have solved a significant portion of the diabolically complicated Zodiac code, Z340."  What do you believe they have found. 

Fox News article: 
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/01/zodiac-killer-detectives-hope-dna-will-unlock-murderers-id-at-last.html