One noticeable feature of the three Cheri Jo Bates letters mailed on April 30th 1967 is the distinct lack of care or thought exhibited in creating these communications. This doesn't necessarily mean they were mailed by a different author to the two typed Confession letters sent on November 29th 1966 (that were clearly more labor intensive) - because the apparent haste shown in these letters could suggest the author was impulsively responding to something they had just read in the newspapers.

​The murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966 was now six months old, and the newspaper coverage of her brutal stabbing had sadly dwindled away. So it's clearly no coincidence that the three Bates letters on April 30th 1967 coincided with the release of a comprehensive newspaper article released by the Riverside Press-Enterprise on the same day, entitled "After Six Months Coed's Murder Remains Puzzle to Detectives". This is probably why these three letters were hastily written, and only contained eight words in each correspondence. The author may have been triggered into an immediate response by what they had read in Jack Mathews article.

The important section of text in the April 30th 1967 newspaper read "The last major piece of evidence came November 30 in the form of a confession letter sent to both the Riverside police department and the Press-Enterprise. The letter explained in detail how the writer allegedly tampered with Cheri's car, waited for her to return from the library and coaxed her away on the pretense of giving her a lift. The letter told of how she struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". Therefore, it's not difficult to contemplate somebody responding to the phrases "stabbed to death" and "there would be more" - and arriving at the wording "She had to die. There will be more" and "Bates had to die. There will be more" on the same day in three letters. The author was assuring us that the newspaper reporting of "there would be more" was to be realized by his statement of ​"there will be more". The writer was simply bringing things up to date (from the Confession letter to the Bates letters).

The Confession letter did suggest "there would be more killings to come", however, it specifically referred to the possible killings as potential victims, by stating "She is not the first and she will not be the last. I lay awake nights thinking about my next victom. Maybe she will be the beautiful blond that babysits near the little store and walks down the dark alley each evening about seven. Or maybe she will be the shapely blue eyed brunett that said xxx no when I asked her for a date in high school". 

The Press=Enterprise newspaper could easily have stated "there would be more victims to come". This may be one possible answer to the "signature" on two of the Bates letters, which "undersigns" the wording "She/Bates had to die. There will be more". If we complete the phrase, we get "She/Bates had to die. There will be more......more victims".   

On might expect that a signature (such as the pseudonym "Zodiac") would feature more prominently at the foot of these letters, rather than the small and obscure offering given. The writings at the base of these two letters are consistent in nature, suggesting that these two designs were deliberately conceived. However, they were extremely small in comparison to the rest of the lettering in these communications, which seems to detract from any importance the author placed on them. If these really were the signatures of the killer (or author), it is unusual that they would design them in such an understated manner.

If the unresolved writing at the base of two of the letters was nothing more than an afterthought, then this may explain the rather insignificant way the author finalized each letter. Could they have been 2L and 3L, denoting two parts of a trinity of letters, as mentioned by the Zodiac Killer when he wrote "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle" on July 31st 1969? The answer to the "signature" on the Bates letters may lie in the Press-Enterprise newspaper on April 30th 1967. 
​
​Two and a half months after the three Bates' letters were mailed promising "there will be more", a former Ramona High School classmate of Cheri Jo Bates (18) was strangled unconscious in the driveway of her home in Arlington, California, just 5 miles southwest of Terracina Drive, where Cheri was murdered in the driveway alongside the Riverside City College library. According to police the young 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted, with Detective Wayne Durrington of the belief that her assailant lay in wait in some nearby tall bushes and attacked her shortly after she left her car at 10:30 pm when returning home from a nearby church function. After regaining consciousness, she was found screaming in a neighbor's yard and was transported to Parkview Hospital at 3865 Jackson Street in Riverside.

​Arlington is only 1.4 miles from the once 4195 Via San Jose home of Cheri Jo Bates and her father. There is little to connect the two cases, despite the common thread of Ramona High School, and a strangulation/choking in a driveway at approximately 10:30 pm in both instances. The author of the Confession letter stated "maybe she will be the shapely blue eyed brunett that said xxx no when I asked her for a date in high school" and. "dont make it to easy for me. Keep your sisters, daughters and wives off the streets and alleys. I am stalking your girls now". So the proximity of the two girls addresses is at the very least noteworthy, if both were deliberately targeted by an attacker stalking young women. Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle had seemingly been identified and disabled in advance by her killer, while in this case, on or around July 14th 1967, the assailant was apparently waiting in the bushes outside her home as she parked up in her car. It would be interesting to search for other possible attacks in the Riverside, Ramona and Arlington areas in the ensuing months and years. Two Ramona High School classmates aged 18, living approximately 1 1/2 miles apart, murdered and sexually assaulted (and both choked) within nine months of one another. It makes you wonder. 

It may be possible to track the Zodiac Killer's movements through Presidio Park on October 11th 1969 by using his wording in the "Bus Bomb" letter mailed on November 9th 1969. This communication, one month after the murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco, stated "Hey blue pig I was in the park -- you were useing fire trucks to mask the sound of your cruzeing prowl cars. The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west + there was only 2 groups of barking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west".

The Zodiac Killer claimed he entered the park at Spruce Street, that was earlier corroborated by a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper article on October 12th 1969, which mentioned a man matching the killer's description running into Julius Kahn playground. The Zodiac Killer by writing "the dogs never came with in 2 blocks + they were to the west", indicated that once he entered the park he walked in an easterly direction (likely taking path B in the map below). This wording is open to interpretation because he is walking in the wooded park away from Pacific Avenue - and therefore can only reasonably estimate that he is more than two blocks east of the dogs (located at Julius Kahn playground).

​Approaching the blue circle on the map, the Zodiac Killer would be in excess of two blocks from the search dogs mentioned in the October 15th 1969 San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, which stated "A large contingent of police with dogs and searchlights scoured the area around Cherry Street, which includes the wooded south boundary of the Presidio and Julius Kahn playground". If the Zodiac Killer was somewhere near this location, he would have been about three blocks from the searchlights and dogs - and probably would have heard the dogs barking from the approximate location he entered the park. This was the obvious place for the police to instigate their search, based upon the eyewitness (or eyewitnesses) testimony at Spruce Street, who saw somebody running into Julius Kahn playground shortly after the murder. 

​His following statement of "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west" suggested he was walking through the trees beyond the blue circle, heading towards Presidio Boulevard, where motorcycles would have been circling the park, traveling from the south to northwest (shown by the orange circle on the map). If the Zodiac Killer was watching the motorcycles from this location (and he walked at a moderate pace), the time would be about 10:15 pm (19 minutes after he left the crime scene). It was at this approximate time and location that the Zodiac Killer mentioned "there was only 2 groups of barking about 10 min apart". But what did he mean by this statement?   

The October 12th 1969 police report stated that "The military police headquarters of the Presidio of S.F. was notified and an intense search of the Julius Kahn area was made by seven dog units, other Richmond and C.P. units - to no avail". It is evident the dog units were deployed from the military police headquarters in Presidio Park - and as previously noted - a contingent of police and dogs were grouped by Julius Kahn playground. These two locations were about 11 minutes walking distance apart in Presidio Park. Therefore, a large grouping of tracker dogs assembled at both the military headquarters and Julius Kahn playground, may explain the wording adopted by the Zodiac Killer, who wrote "there was only 2 groups of barking about 10 min apart" (see below). If he was present by the orange circle on the map, he would have been capable of hearing dogs barking from the southwest and northwest. Was the information about the dogs being deployed from military headquarters available in the newspapers?    

Although Chief Martin Lee dismissed the idea that the Zodiac entered the Presidio Park, it appeared that Inspectors David Toschi and Bill Armstrong were not of the same opinion according to Robert Graysmith, who wrote "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Kahn playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County". 

It is not very likely that the murderer of Paul Stine would have parked a getaway vehicle by Richardson Avenue on the north-eastern edge of Presidio Park. This location was nine blocks north of Presidio Avenue and would have effectively negated the purpose of having a vehicle for a quick escape. There were many better options along Lyon Street much closer to the entrance at Julius Kahn playground. If the Zodiac Killer was watching the motorcycles go by on Presidio Boulevard (by the orange circle), then a vehicle parked at Green Street or Union Street would have been a wiser choice. However, there were far more favorable options to park a getaway vehicle around Presidio Park that day, by a killer who originally planned his murder at the intersection of Washington & Maple streets. His apparent decision to ignore these more obvious (and nearer) choices, could suggest that the Zodiac Killer opted to escape without the use of a vehicle that night by accessing the wooded protection of the park. Especially if he currently lived, or had access to a business on the eastern side of Presidio Park that nullified the need for transport. Leaving a vehicle unattended for a long period of time around the park still carried an element of risk.  

The Zodiac Killed seemed extremely irritated by the claims of Chief Martin Lee, firing off a seven page communication to the San Francisco Chronicle on November 9th 1969, in large part berating and mocking the police for telling lies about him. He even highlighted a section of text about his encounter with "two cops who pulled a goof". This turned out to be true. I tend to believe that his description of navigating the park was also true. If the Zodiac Killer walked through the park on October 11th 1969 and made his way to the section of Presidio Boulevard traveling from "south to northwest", then I highly doubt he was heading towards his vehicle that night. There is a good argument to be had that he was heading to his residence (or anchor point) somewhere beyond the eastern wall of Presidio Park. Possibly located in Cow Hollow or the Marina District.  

​EXTRA READING: 
WALKING TOWARDS THE MARINA DISTRICT
DID ZODIAC USE A CAR AT PRESIDIO HEIGHTS?

Many people have questioned why the Zodiac Killer had latched onto the murder of Donna Lass (25) in South Lake Tahoe after she was abducted from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino on September 6th 1970, when he authored the Pines postcard on March 22nd 1971. Most of his threats centered around San Francisco and the Bay Area, so why did he infer his involvement in the disappearance of Donna Lass, who lived 165 miles away from Vallejo in Stateline, Nevada? Had the Zodiac Killer any previous and/or current connections to this area, that either drew his attention to her case in the newspapers, or did he abduct and murder the young nurse because he had a specific reason to be at that location in September 1970?

​The Zodiac Killer may have chosen Donna Lass as a victim because it was an area he frequently/occasionally visited for business, or had spent some of his time vacationing at Lake Tahoe. As previously mentioned, the Pines postcard mailed on March 22nd 1971 may not have been the first time the Zodiac Killer targeted South Lake Tahoe, when for several weeks in November 1969, during the height of his "bombing campaign" in San Francisco, several telephoned threats to school bus routes in Lake Tahoe were issued to Reno authorities, including Incline Village which became the centerpiece of his Pines card over a year later. The Zodiac Killer used a Forest Pines at Incline Village advertisement from the newspapers to attach to his postcard on March 22nd 1971. So what are the options?​

​Were the November 1969 threats to Lake Tahoe a hoaxer, who decided that the best way to convince law enforcement and the newspapers he was the genuine Bay Area murderer, was to target school buses around Incline Village, 207 miles from San Francisco? The obvious choice for a hoaxer aiming to convince police he was the genuine article, was to continue the threats in San Francisco or the Bay Area.

​However, if the threats were from the Zodiac Killer himself, then branching his terror beyond the Bay Area to spread fear into the wider community (especially somewhere he was familiar with), appears to be something that would satisfy his ego. If these threatening calls to Lake Tahoe occurred in the weeks before the above published newspaper article, then the calls were likely placed between November 3rd 1969 and November 23rd 1969 (if few weeks was a maximum of three). The Zodiac Killer's "Bus Bomb" letter was mailed on November 9th 1969.

​Is it possible that a hoaxer local to the Lake Tahoe area made the threatening calls to generate some "excitement" in the location they lived, which then featured in a Sacramento newspaper on November 24th 1969 and was stumbled across by Zodiac in March 1971, who decided to mail the Pines card with an Incline Village advertisement so as to capitalize on the threats to school buses from 16 months earlier? Is that a realistic scenario, bearing in mind that Donna Lass lived in San Francisco and worked at the Letterman General Hospital in Presidio Park (that Zodiac escaped into), before moving to South Lake Tahoe where she was abducted and murdered. The common thread being the Zodiac Killer.

​Isn't it more likely that the Zodiac Killer made the school bus threats to Lake Tahoe in 1969 because he had some connection to that area, which is why the disappearance of Donna Lass just over nine months later, on September 6th 1970, triggered his interest? He may have decided to claim his involvement in her disappearance (and murder) to continue the theme of Lake Tahoe, and thereby bolster his earlier threats as genuine. If his connection to the Lake Tahoe area was a viable one in 1969, then it is not without merit that he could be responsible for the young 25-year-old nurse's murder, Especially if the Zodiac Killer was familiar with Donna Lass (either directly) or through her friend, Jo Anne Goettsche, whom she lived with at 4122 Balboa Street in San Francisco during the Paul Stine murder (10/11/69). Jo Anne Goettsche had moved to 225 Mallorca Way in the Marina District in 1970 - an area Zodiac appeared to be heading towards as he traveled through Presidio Park on October 11th 1969. Could the Zodiac Killer have known (or become aware) of Jo Anne Goettsche's plans to travel from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe to visit Donna Lass late on the evening of September 6th 1970? The timing of her disappearance less than 24 hours earlier may be significant. It's extremely unlikely that the Zodiac Killer got wind of Jo Anne Goettsche's intentions, but stranger things have happened.     

Officers in Lake Tahoe discounted the caller's claim that he was the Zodiac slayer, but I wonder what the same officers thought sixteen months later, on March 22nd 1971? 

EXTRA READING: WALKING TOWARDS THE MARINA DISTRICT  

The following is nothing new, but I am going to run an old story in reverse. Ever since July 31st 1969 the Zodiac Killer had been taunting us with his name or identity through various letters, cards and ciphers, yet only gave us three "signatures" up to January 29th 1974. The SLA letter, Badlands card and Red Phantom letter will not be included in this analysis because they were not authored by the Zodiac Killer.

​The Bay Area murderer gave us three ways to identify himself as the author, by using "Zodiac" and his "crosshairs" in numerous communications, and "Me" (only once) in his Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. The question being, why did he use "Me" in 1974 when he could have just written "Zodiac" or added his "crosshairs"? The Zodiac Killer usually had purpose beneath his assumed madness.

​The answer probably lay in the verse he added after writing "Signed, Yours Truley" in the Exorcist letter, which carried the 8-letter phrase "My name is" in the extended version of the "Tit-Willow" verse. Only one communication carried all three signatures of the Bay Area murderer if you apply the following logic.

​The April 20th 1970 letter not only began with "This is the Zodiac speaking", carried the 8-letter phrase of "My name is", and had three 8's in the code, but also produced "Me" and the "crosshairs" by simply circling through the code 8 positions from each circled 8. This would give us "Zodiac", "Me" and his "crosshairs" in one communication. A communication with a 13-character code that is practically unsolvable by using standard homophonic substitution methods. This form of cryptography is able to produce thousands of possible answers, so why would the Zodiac Killer use a methodology that provides no resolution to his puzzle?

​He gave us the answer to his Z32 code by writing  "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians" one month later, on July 26th 1970. Both "radians" and "inches" could be found in the Z32 solution, so why not "Me" in the Z13 solution. The Zodiac Killer, in mocking fashion, may have been giving us the answer to the Z13 code in the most simplistic of terms. A signature he would corroborate on January 29th 1974 when he unusually added "Me" to his letter. This is the only Z13 solution ever presented as a "signature" that was replicated in a later Zodiac Killer communication. The April 20th 1970 and January 29th 1974 letters would now carry both "My name is" and "Me" in each instance.

We also have to consider why the Zodiac Killer added three circled 8's to his code when he could have just added three triangles, three squares, or indeed, three circles without the 8's? The answer may lie in the dual purpose of both characters. In essence, we have to circle through 8 positions of the code to arrive at the answer. What are the chances that when we apply this methodology to the Z13 code, we produce a signature that is present in a letter nearly 4 years later, that also harbors the phrase "My name is".

If we know that replacing ciphertext characters with plaintext characters can never produce a verifiable answer without later validation, then the Zodiac Killer almost certainly knew it.

​The technique of rotating an outer circle of characters around an inner circle of fixed characters by a desired number of positions was ably covered by Edgar Allan Poe in "A Few Words on Secret Writing".. He wrote about this immediately after detailing another technique of splitting the alphabet into two lots of 13 characters, A through M, and N through Z. Odd therefore, that the Zodiac Killer would create a code of 13 characters beginning with A and ending with M, which when rotated by 8 positions on a circle, would create a signature later used in the Exorcist letter. Both of these techniques coming after Edgar Allan Poe described the scytale method of decryption, that can be used to solve the Zodiac Killer's 340 cipher. A cipher that Zodiac referred to when opening his April 20th 1970 letter, stating "By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you?".

We have two techniques described in "A Few Words on Secret Writing" that when combined and rotated through eight positions, gives us a signature used in the Exorcist letter. However, it may just be one of those massive coincidences.  
​
FURTHER READING: DEATH IN PARADISE    

The Zodiac Killer claimed that when he was making the phone call from the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo to Nancy Slover at 12:40am, he was spotted by a "negro male" walking along the street. In his August 4th 1969 letter he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". Therefore, the only possible place the Zodiac Killer could have reasonably seen this black male talking to the police, was by the payphone after he had finished his call to Nancy Slover.

​One officer was sent from the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to secure the payphone after it was traced. If it was traced almost immediately (at 12:41am), this would mean that the Zodiac Killer was watching the interaction between the black man and the police officer at 12:50am, because the journey time from the crime scene to the payphone is approximately 9 minutes. The Zodiac Killer would have been at the payphone nearly 10 minutes after he finished his call to the Vallejo Police Department. If the phone call took 5 mintes to trace, then Zodiac would have been watching the payphone from 12:41am to 12:55am subsequent to finishing his call to the police dispatcher. But how do we know he saw a "negro male"? What is the first thing law enforcement should have done after receiving the August 4th 1969 letter, stating "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed"?

They should have worked out that if Zodiac was claiming he saw "police" talking to a "negro male", then it had to be their officer who was instructed to head to the payphone to secure it for fingerprints, who must have bumped into the same "negro male" that Zodiac claimed he saw earlier. All law enforcement had to do was interview the officer initially sent to the payphone and ask him whether he spoke to a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". If he had said yes, then they would have known Zodiac was telling the truth - and much more importantly - was at the payphone a bare minimum of 10 minutes after he finished the call to Nancy Slover. If they had interviewed this officer and he had confirmed Zodiac's claim in the letter, then the obvious thing to have done was to make an appeal in the newspaper asking for the negro male to come forward. Just like they did in the attached cutting. This goes a long way in showing that Zodiac was telling the truth all along.   

The Zodiac Killer wrote "To prove I killed them I shall state some facts which only I + the police know" in his July 31st 1969 letters to convince law enforcement of his involvement in the crimes. Vallejo Police Chief Jack Stiltz asked for more proof in a follow up letter, so the Zodiac Killer gave additional information about his escapades in his August 4th 1969 letter, 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". So why would the Zodiac Killer ruin all his good work attempting to convince police he was the killer of three people, by completely inventing an interaction between a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" and a police officer by the payphone, which could have been easily checked by simply interviewing that member of law enforcement? If that officer had denied speaking to a "negro male", then why bother making a newspaper appeal.

​The fact that this "negro male" was described as a "local" in the newspapers, may suggest there was a previous interaction between him and the police officer sent from Blue Rock Springs on July 5th 1969, but he had possibly been let on his way because he claimed he saw little to nothing at the time. After the statement by Zodiac in August, the police probably wanted to double-check his recollections that morning by instigating the appeal for him to come forward. If law enforcement didn't interview the officer sent to the payphone, then that would beggar belief. I can now confidently state that this "negro male" wasn't as fictitious as I once believed  If the Zodiac Killer saw an officer talking to a "negro male" by the payphone, ten or more minutes longer than absolutely necessary to deliver his message, then the odds his residence was close by would increase exponentially. Waiting around with your vehicle and weapon still in your possession (near to the payphone) for that length of time would be extremely risky. However, if the Zodiac Killer had immediately returned home after committing the crime, changed his clothes and ditched the car and gun, that risk would vastly reduce.
​
EXTRA READING: 
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 
​OUR KILLER LIVES HERE

In the previous article it was considered whether the Zodiac Killer traveled through the park in a north-easterly direction to a home (or business) in the Marina District of San Francisco. I took a closer look at the statement of Zodiac in the November 9th 1969 letter, when he claimed that while in the park "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west". Bearing in mind he was likely walking east, there was only one satisfactory location that matched this description. It was Presidio Boulevard which began in the south by Pacific Avenue and headed north for 333 meters, before turning to the northwest for approximately 275 meters. in other words, any vehicle coming from Pacific Avenue into Presidio Boulevard was traveling from the south before turning to the northwest.

If the Zodiac Killer had parked a vehicle on the eastern side of the park along Lyon Street, the quickest route with complete cover from trees and shrubbery the entire distance, is path A shown in the map diagram below. The distance from Spruce Street to the intersection of Lyon Street & Broadway taking this route is 766 meters. Path B, also affording cover the entire route, from Spruce Street to Union Street is 871 meters..Both routes avoid residential areas. If the Zodiac Killer wanted to escape the park to the eastern edge and enter a vehicle, path A appears the quickest and most obvious choice. Lyon Street also seems like the perfect place to park, with its western side largely absent of houses. However, the Zodiac Killer may not have had a vehicle parked anywhere that night. It all depends on whether the Zodiac Killer was recalling his details in the November 9th 1969 letter purely from memory, or he aided his recollections by using a map.

If he was physically watching the motorcycles go by from about 150 feet away and recalling from his memory of that night, stating "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", then the Zodiac Killer is describing the motorcycles passing him as he is watching from a close distance. Therefore, this may rule out the Zodiac Killer taking path A to Presidio Boulevard, because the motorcycles wouldn't have been going from south to northwest at this point (as they passed by). But if he had taken path B, he could have been on either side of Presidio Boulevard, watching "first hand" the motorcycles turn from the south side of the road and head in a north-westerly direction (shown by the orange circle on the map). If we look at this section of Presidio Boulevard on its eastern edge, we see a distinct clearing through the trees. If you switch between 2D and 3D on the map it becomes more apparent. This clearing, with adequate coverage from the road, would allow the Zodiac Killer to see the motorcycles turning from the south to the northwest. This clearing is about 150 feet from Presidio Boulevard. 

The phrase by the Zodiac Killer is difficult to interpret. If we alter the phrase of "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west" to "the motor cicles went by me going from south to north west, about 150 ft away", does it become any clearer? Could the Zodiac Killer have been on path A, 150 feet from Presidio Boulevard, watching the motorcycles enter the south end from Pacific Avenue and pass by him, knowing the layout of the road and reasoning that they would eventually have to turn northwest after traveling a short distance? Or was the Zodiac Killer physically watching the motorcycles turn from the south to the northwest in real time? This ambiguous phrase would be important to clarify.

If the Zodiac Killer had chosen Lyon Street to park his getaway vehicle, then path A is the logical choice (being the shortest distance). If the Zodiac Killer had taken path B and physically saw the motorcycles change course from the south to northwest, then it is unlikely he had a vehicle parked anywhere that night. Why would you park a vehicle further than necessary from your entry point by Julius Kahn playground? If path B was the route he took, it's probably because this was the most direct route to his residence (or business) in the Marina District on foot, just beyond the eastern edge of Presidio Park. Why not use the concealment that the park offered as you headed home?

​To get to the bottom of the phrase "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", we can remove "about 150 feet away". We now have "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north west". If the Zodiac Killer had taken path A to Presidio Boulevard, isn't it more likely he would have written "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north", because he would have seen the motorcycles passing by his location and heading north into the distance (unable to see the northwest turn). But he didn't. He wrote "the motor cicles went by, going from south to north west", which suggests that from memory he last saw the motorcycles heading south to northwest. The phrase used by Zodiac appears moment oriented and could indicate his likely route of travel was path B that night.

​This being the case, a vehicle positioned here (somewhere by Union Street), seems an extremely distant location to facilitate a hasty retreat, when the Zodiac Killer had the better option of path A with cover, or other much closer alternatives such as Pacific Avenue or Jackson Street to park his getaway vehicle, In fact, the Zodiac Killer had innumerable locations to park a vehicle closer to the crime scene (or intended crime scene) that night. If he really had taken path B and was watching from 150 feet away in the trees at motorcycles heading from the south to the northwest, then I highly doubt any vehicle was involved in proceedings on October 11th 1969. He was simply walking home using the shortest route possible. 

EXTRA READING: WALKING TOWARDS THE MARINA DISTRICT?  

Recently I have been re-examining the likelihood that the Zodiac Killer lived in close proximity to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo at the time he committed the Blue Rock Springs shooting on July 5th 1969, but this doesn't necessarily mean he resided at this location for the remainder of his attacks. Is there any evidence that he may have moved from Vallejo to San Francisco after the Blue Rock Springs or Lake Berryessa attacks, or possibly had a residence and/or business at both locations simultaneously?

​Michael Morford, a dedicated and long time Zodiac researcher, has put forward an interesting case for William "Mac" Andrew, who had access to a residence at 623 Tuolumne Street in Vallejo, only 420 feet from the Springs & Tuolumne payphone where Zodiac made the call to Nancy Slover, a dispatcher at the Vallejo Police Department. This suspect and Arthur Leigh Allen are the only two individuals that align with my thoughts of a killer living within a 0.5 mile radius of that payphone. Although Michael Morford has put together a reasonable case for his suspect - and has definitely taken, in my opinion, the correct approach by implementing a search for the Zodiac Killer in proximity to the payphone - I believe he has focused in on the wrong person.

The Zodiac Killer's first three attacks were likely selected because of the remoteness of the locations, but his fourth attack at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 was a significant uptick in risk. The chances of being apprehended after the murder of Paul Stine was significantly greater. One of the most widely pushed narratives about this crime, is the notion of a killer who parked his vehicle somewhere in the proximity of Presidio Park for his later escape, before making his way to Union Square (or thereabouts) by either walking, using public transport, or summoning a taxicab - and after an indeterminate period of time - hailed the taxicab of Paul Stine to bring him back to Presidio Heights, commit the murder, and then make inroads to his waiting vehicle and facilitate a quick departure from the area. While this is perfectly feasible, it can also be argued as an unnecessary sequence of events with little corroborating evidence any such thing happened. Let us examine the possibility of a killer who made his escape to a nearby residence or business. Somewhere close to Presidio Park, requiring limited walking time.

The trip sheet of Paul Stine gave a destination of Washington & Maple, but for whatever reason the deceased taxicab driver was found pulled up at the intersection of Washington & Cherry, one block further west. It is clear that the Zodiac Killer intended to exit the taxicab at Washington & Maple because he backtracked east along Jackson Street in the compass direction he had just come from. This likely tells us that the Zodiac Killer's original plan that night was to leave the taxicab at Washington & Maple, head north up Maple, and turn east along Jackson Street, before traveling north up Spruce Street into the Julius Kahn playground, where he was ultimately spotted by an eyewitness running into the park (as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper). This route makes logical sense, because turning east on Jackson after heading up Maple from your intended murder site, would remove you from the eyeline of the crime. His immediate requirement to evade capture was to access the cover of the park and the next available point of entry would have been Spruce Street.

​The directional movement of the Zodiac Killer thus far virtually eliminates the notion he would travel in any other direction than east. Police motorcycles would ultimately circle Presidio Park, attempting to find a killer who had possibly sought refuge and needed to escape the attention of the resulting search. If the Zodiac Killer lived in Cow Hollow or the Marina District of San Francisco (on the north-eastern edge of Presidio Park), it would make sense for him to take the shortest route through the park and use cover as much as possible, while heading in a north-easterly direction. This tallies with what the Zodiac Killer stated in his November 9th 1969 letter, when he claimed that "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west". Presidio Boulevard on the eastern edge of the park and skirted by a wooded area, would have provided the perfect cover for a killer about to escape the park. There is a section of Presidio Boulevard that shifts from south to northwest, exactly as described by the Zodiac Killer. As shown below, if we draw a straight line from Julius Kahn playground through Presidio Boulevard where it switches from south to northwest - and continue that trajectory onwards - we arrive at 225 Mallorca Way, the once home of Jo Anne Goettsche, who previously shared a residence with Donna Lass at 4122 Balboa Street in San Francisco.   

At the time of the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969 Donna Lass worked at the Letterman General Hospital in Presidio Park and lived at 4122 Balboa Street, San Francisco. However, according to Robert Graysmith she moved from this address a few months later and relocated to 225 Mallorca Way in the Marina District. If a few months was three or four, Donna Lass could have moved to 225 Mallorca Way in January or February 1970  Either way, it is possible she moved into an area where the Zodiac Killer was currently living (in 1970), and living when he murdered Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 - and why he may have latched onto the young nurse (who he probably referred to in the March 22nd 1971 "Pines Card").

In an interview with Michael Morford on the Zodiac Speaking podcast, Jo Anne Goettsche gave the impression she moved to 225 Mallorca Way without Donna Lass. If this was the case, it was still evident that the two young women remained friends during their time in San Francisco, and likely visited each others homes before Donna eventually moved to South Lake Tahoe in early June 1970. She would go missing from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Nevada just three months later, on September 6th 1970. The Zodiac Killer may have become aware of Donna Lass through Jo Anne Goettsche. 

​If the Zodiac Killer had walked through the park to the area of Presidio Boulevard where "the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west", he would likely exit the park by the intersection of Lyon and Union streets. This location would leave 15 to 20 minutes (just under a mile) to reach 225 Mallorca Way. That is if the Zodiac Killer lived somewhere in the vicinity of this address, which afforded him the opportunity to have crossed paths with Jo Anne Goettsche and Donna Lass.  

Interestingly, on October 7th 1969, just four days before the Paul murder, somebody mailed a letter to Sergeant John Lynch of the Vallejo Police Department, mentioning Beach Street in the correspondence and claiming to be the Zodiac Killer (this was the same person who mailed the Concerned Citizen card on August 10th 1969). In San Francisco, Beach Street is joined to Malloca Way, with the once residence of Jo Anne Goettsche only 450 feet away.

Of course, I have no way of knowing for certain that the Zodiac Killer lived within a 0.5 mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone, before moving to San Francisco prior to the Paul Stine murder. But he may have remained on foot after leaving both the payphone and Paul Stine crime scene. However, if the Zodiac Killer was walking towards a home or business in the Marina District on October 11th 1969, and walking towards a home or business by the Springs & Tuolumne payphone on July 5th 1969, then by checking a city directory such as the one published by R.L. Polk & Company, it may be possible to find a common name or business to both locations. If we find such a person or place, then we may be in business. It would be great if the members of the Zodiac Discord forum could find a directory that covers both the Marina District from 1969 to 1972 and the 0.5 mile radius around the Vallejo payphone in 1969. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

EXTRA READING: OUR KILLER LIVES HERE

In the image of Vallejo below I have placed 10 random locations for payphones in 1969 (shown by the red dots). I don't know the exact location of each payphone in Vallejo in 1969, but there would have been plenty scattered around the city. There is little doubt that the Zodiac Killer planned his crimes in advance, knowing where potential victims would be found and his likely exit strategies. This planning was increasingly evident at Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights for which he created an elaborate executioner's costume, probably carried a knife and gun to both crime locations (or scissors at Presidio Heights) to secure a shirt piece from Paul Stine to validate his involvement, and took a marker pen to Lake Berryessa to write on the car door of Bryan Hartnell. At Presidio Heights there is a strong possibility he decided upon a location for murder with a reasonably wooded park nearby, so as to mitigate any unforeseen circumstances. This being the case, there is a good argument for the Zodiac Killer knowing in advance which payphone he was going to make a call from after the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa attacks. 

By crow, the distance from Blue Rock Springs parking lot to the payphone at Springs & Tuolumne is approximately 3 miles. So if you are a resident of Vallejo and likely knowledgeable to the location of your local police station (Vallejo Police Department at 111 Armador Street), why would you drive across the city to make a phone call admitting to the attacks at Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Road, from a payphone only 840 meters from the police station? This action seems counterintuitive to giving the police a wide berth. You might expect the assailant at Blue Rock Springs to not only make the phone call away from his residence, but to also make the phone call away from the police station. If the Zodiac Killer lived somewhere by the Springs & Tuolumne payphone (such as the blue cross on the map), as I have speculated, then making a phone call in your vehicle from any of these "red dot" locations appears to be the safer option, before heading home. These locations would have been a reasonable distance from your home and the police station.

However, there is one logical reason why a killer wouldn't make the phone call from any of these "red dot" locations if he lived by the "blue cross". And that is if his vehicle wasn't used, making it too far to walk to these payphones by a Zodiac Killer employing the "least effort principle". If he wanted to remove his vehicle, clothes and gun from the equation before making the phone call on foot, then the round trip from his "blue cross" residence to the any of these "red dot" payphones and back, would take far too long. The reason the Zodiac Killer may have made the phone call so close to where he lived is because the disposal of evidence, such as the car and gun, before making an admission to multiple murders, outweighed the importance of having a residence nearby. In fact, living nearby would have enabled the Zodiac Killer to distance himself from the evidence before the crime was discovered (in his mind), make the phone call and return to the safety of home fairly promptly.​

​Walking from his residence to any of these "red dot" payphones not only negates the "least effort principle", it places him in the public gaze for far longer than necessary. If he had planned to murder somebody on the eastern fringes of Vallejo that night, he very likely chose the Springs & Tuolumne payphone for the express purpose of getting home fairly quickly in case anything went wrong, so he could part with (and conceal) the evidence, while still achieving the phone call with limited foot travel and exposure. The choice of a payphone reasonably close to his home appears contradictory to common sense but it has major benefits as well. The least time you are driving on public streets in possession of the vehicle and gun, instrumental to the crime you have just committed, the better. 

​But wait a minute I hear you ask. If the Zodiac Killer lived by the "blue cross", why didn't he just drive from Blue Rock Springs to the "red dot" payphone 1.3  miles north of his residence (or the payphone to the east of his residence), make the call and head home? This would have required no deviation in travel. The answer may probably be found in his August 4th 1969 letter, where he stated "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 thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".

​The Zodiac Killer knew only too well that Michael Mageau was very much alive and "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he left the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. Therefore, it was imperative that he headed straight home to get rid of his car and gun, with no time to waste making a phone call as he traveled toward his residence. This was probably the Zodiac Killer's contingency plan. He always knew that if the crime didn't transpire as he expected, he could still get home fairly quickly and also achieve his goal of making the phone call to the Vallejo Police Department without his car and gun placing him in greater danger. He mitigated the proximity risk of his residence to the payphone by adding his "brown car" back into the equation in his August 4th 1969 letter, selling the notion to police that he still had the capability to travel anywhere. 

EXTRA READING: "THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY"    

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who specializes in the investigative methodology of geographic profiling, which can be used to narrow down the likely home residence or "anchor point" of an offender. He used this technique to identify Vallejo as one of the areas of high priority in the search for the Zodiac Killer, while concluding that San Francisco should be given a lower probability score. It is true that the vast bulk of Zodiac communications were mailed from San Francisco, but dropping off letters into mailboxes in the 1960s and 1970s carried little to no risk, so this would have been the perfect way to lead investigators toward the conclusion that the Zodiac Killer may have lived in San Francisco, when your mailings are at least six times that of your kill sites. These letters could have been mailed from anywhere, yet almost all carried the postmark of San Francisco, which appears counterintuitive to somebody residing in that location. 

The software was created to determine the likeliest anchor points of the Zodiac Killer by using key locations, such as the four attack sites at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, and the two payphones at Vallejo and Napa - but the software was not designed to include the mechanics of the crime and the contents of the letters. We know for a fact that the journey time by car to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone from the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs is approximately 9 to 10 minutes in duration. And we know for a fact that the Zodiac Killer made the phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at 12:40am. If the Zodiac Killer left the parking lot at about midnight, we absolutely have 30 minutes of unaccounted time. The question has always been, what did the Zodiac Killer do with these 40 minutes? 

Some people have suggested that the Zodiac Killer, having been exhilarated by his attack at Blue Rock Springs, parked up his vehicle and pleasured himself. Other suggestions offered, include a Zodiac Killer who went to a drive-in and purchased some food. The biggest problem with ideas such as these is that they do not take into account the known facts and what was written in the August 4th 1969 Zodiac letter. Sure, the Zodiac Killer could have penned some falsehoods, but when his written text matches the known facts, we have to re-evaluate the notion of a killer who just drives around Vallejo, masturbating or eating burgers, or both, for just shy of 40 minutes. Although it has been offered previously on this site that the Zodiac Killer may have received blood transfer to his shirt when leaning over the front passenger seat to fire the final two shots at Michael Mageau (because two bullet casings were found on the rear passenger floorboard), it cannot be proven beyond doubt that this was the case. Therefore, we are unable to use this as incontrovertible proof of a killer needing to immediately return home to change his clothes before making the payphone call to Nancy Slover. However, it is important to remember as a probability or possibility.

The one thing we do know to be true from the Zodiac Killer's August 4th 1969 letter, is that the last three descriptors he gave of Michael Mageau, was a boy who "leaped backwards" into the rear of the Corvair and was "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer's last recollection of Michael Mageau was that of a boy very much alive when he struck the 19-year-old victim in the knee. We had a young man who had "leaped" over the front seat, before "thrashing" about very "violently" as he tried to avoid the final two shots (that entered his hip and thigh). Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival at about 12:10am, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the airwaves to all police units as early as 12:15am to 12:20am. Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at Kaiser Hospital at about 12:45am, where he ultimately underwent surgery for his injuries and survived. Michael Mageau's injuries bled profusely but none of his injuries were immediately life threatening. This is why he was able to survive for upwards of 45 minutes after being shot four times.​

​Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer would have factored in the condition of Michael Mageau when he left the crime scene, and contemplated the possibility his description and vehicle had the potential to be over the airwaves in the next few minutes, can a reasonable argument be made that the Zodiac Killer just parked up his vehicle on the street and began masturbating, or visited a local eatery and ordered a burger and fries? This would have required a Zodiac Killer performing totally unnecessary activities for close to 40 minutes, after delivering nine shots to a young couple in a parking lot, while possibly still in possession of the weapon, covered in gun shot residue, and driving a vehicle that Michael Mageau could reasonably have identified. What makes far more sense, is a killer who mitigated this risk and headed straight home to dispose of his vehicle, clothes and weapon, before heading to the payphone on foot and delivering his murderous message. Let us look at some other options.

Our killer lived in Richmond, Berkeley, El Sobrante, Santa Rosa, Napa or San Francisco - and instead of heading directly home and making the phone call somewhere along the way in relative safety - he decided to hang around Vallejo or Benicia in his vehicle for the purpose of whatever story we can make up, with no supporting evidence to show why he would choose this option. Leaving the crime scene at Blue Rock Springs with Michael Mageau very much alive appears to contradict the notion of a killer living in Richmond or San Francisco, yet choosing to wilfully remain in the area of Vallejo when the airwaves could conceivably have been filled with "be on the lookout" for this particular man, driving this particular car, who if randomly stopped is sitting on a goldmine of evidence. The Zodiac Killer may have been many things, but was he a killer who totally disregarded the fact he could see Michael Mageau still kicking and screaming when he fired his ninth and final shot shortly after midnight on July 5th 1969, just before he re-entered his vehicle and drove away from the parking lot?

We also know that after the payphone call was traced a policeman was sent from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot to secure the Springs & Tuolumne payphone at approximately 12:50am (or slightly later), so it could be dusted for fingerprints. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer told of an encounter with a black male by the payphone while he was talking to Nancy Slover, what possible other locatiions could the Zodiac Killer have ever meant, when he stated on August 4th 1969 that "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". The Zodiac Killer could only have seen the policeman who was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone at about 12:50am. This being the case, would the Zodiac Killer really have sat in his vehicle close to the payphone for at least 9 minutes after ending the call with Nancy Slover, with the chance his vehicle description was floating across the airwaves?  Or was it more likely he arrived to the payphone on foot, absent of his vehicle and other incriminating evidence? There is more than enough reason to believe that the Zodiac Killer lived within a half mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone 
​
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 

Only six weeks away from claiming the August 3rd 1969 San Jose murders of Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14) in the "Dripping Pen" card on November 8th 1969, the Zodiac Killer attempted to augment the perception he was involved in their murders, by reinforcing newspaper stories of his possible connection to this crime and adding "by knife" on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. The obviousness of the double stabbing by the lake, a clear indication that the wording on the car door had greater purpose. This became clear when the Zodiac Killer drew us a "bleeding knife" on December 16th 1969, when he mailed the second Fairfield letter. This letter was the product of a Los Angeles Times newspaper article earlier that morning, which told of the Zodiac Killer's "hint" on November 8th 1969 that he was responsible for the slayings of Snoozy and Furlong. There is no way to prove the following concept, but it's eminently possible that his two phrases of "bleeding knife" and "by knife" were deliberately taken from the newspapers which detailed the murder of Debra Furlong and her resulting autopsy. 

In the San Jose Mercury on August 6th 1969, Dr. John Hauser, who performed the two autopsies on the teenage girls, stated that he couldn't attribute a specific cause of death, but concluded that it may have been from "bleeding" or lacerations of internal organs or both. On the same day, August 6th 1969, the Los Angeles Herald & Examiner ran an article entitled "The Victims: 16 Young Girls", featuring pictures of Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong. The picture of Debra Furlong had the wording "killed by knife" written under it. The phrase "by knife" that was written on the car door at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. One year later, on October 27th 1970, "by knife" was added to the Halloween card, which appeared to incorporate "4-TEEN" or "4 teenagers" into the running victim total of fourteen. The Zodiac Killer was only claiming the murders of four teenagers by October 27th 1970. They were David Faraday (17), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14). 

Also, on August 6th 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled "The Frenzy of San Jose Girls' Slayer". The newspaper gave the proposed burial site of Kathie Snoozy at the Oak Hill Memorial Park in the Monticello neighborhood of San Jose (which formed part of the 07/13/1971 Monticello card), and released details of the five remaining family members of the Furlong family, that the Zodiac Killer may have threatened on December 19th 1969, three days after the "bleeding knife" of Zodiac offering.

It appeared as though August 6th 1969 was integral to at least three "communications" (car door, Fairfield letter, Monticello card), and one phone call to the San Jose Highway Patrol on December 19th 1969, in which the Zodiac Killer spoke to dispatcher Shirley Searey and claimed he would "kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday".

​In 1971, two communications were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle (the 148 character cipher in probably May and Monticello card on July 13th), which both indirectly referenced the Snoozy & Furlong murders and the recent murder of Kathy Bilek (18) in Saratoga on April 11th 1971. The 148 character cryptogram contained the ciphertext symbol of a "mirrored N", just like the Halloween card on October 27th 1970.. The phrase "by knife" was written on the Halloween card, not only reminiscent of the car door and picture of Debra Furlong, but the Halloween card very possibly also referenced Debra Furlong amongst the four teenagers he was claiming as victims at this juncture. The "mirrored N" would therefore have appeared in two communications from the Zodiac Killer, both of which suggested his involvement in the murders of Kathie Snoozy & Debra Furlong. The plaintext character for the "mirrored N" in the decrypted 148 character cryptogram was "K" for "Knife".  

Another message would appear on September 18th 1973:
WHAT INSPIRED THE TOMBSTONE WRITING? 

On September 18th 1973 the Zodiac Killer, either deliberately or inadvertently, revealed the location of "Monticello" in the July 13th 1971 Monticello card by (probably) removing the tombstone of Kathie Snoozy from the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery in the Monticello neighborhood of San Jose. The tombstone had "Zodiac" written on it in crayon. This was almost certainly the Zodiac Killer, because a hoaxer in 1973 would have had no way of knowing that this cemetery had been featured in an unreleased communication nearly two years previously. But what triggered the Zodiac Killer to perform such an act in the third quarter of 1973? Had something about the Zodiac Killer appeared in a San Jose newspaper in the last week or so?

On September 13th 1973, the San Jose Mercury reported on the September 10th 1973 murder of Yellow Cab driver Roland J. Canfield (41) of 551 Manor Drive, Pacifica, who was shot behind his right ear at 4:00pm while parked at the intersection of 27th and Noe streets in San Francisco. The wallet of Roland J. Canfield, still in his back pocket, was empty of money. The taxicab strongbox was described as undisturbed. Homicide inspectors David Toschi and William Armstrong, investigatng the case, indicated a lack of evidence to form a Zodiac Killer connection to that of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. 

In the middle of the afternoon Roland J. Canfield received a dispatch to an address at 27th and Noe streets, but when he arrived at the intersection he would have discovered that the address he was given didn't exist. Reports from police, who interviewed the dispatcher, stated that upon discovering the non-existent address the taxicab driver was hailed by a man walking on the opposite side of the street. The fact that this man shot Roland J. Canfield and escaped to a nearby automobile, strongly suggests that the taxicab driver was lured to this location for the purpose of murder (and maybe robbery). A fictitious address followed shortly by murder could be argued as related. The Zodiac Killer has long been believed to have parked his vehicle close to the crime scene at Presidio Heights - although this comparison - would be rightly described as clutching at straws when attempting to forge a link from this crime to the murder at Washington and Cherry in 1969, just over 3 miles north.

Three days after the murder of Roland J. Canfield, on Thursday, September 13th 1973, homicide inspectors David Toschi arrested James A. Montano (20) at his 380 Tompkins Street home. No weapon was retrieved from the crime scene or suspect. The arrest was detailed in the accompanying newspaper article from the San Jose Mercury on September 14th 1973. Four days later, on September 18th 1973, the Zodiac Killer wrote on the tombstone removed from the Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery in San Jose. Had the connection between the murder of Roland J. Canfield and Paul Stine to Zodiac, reported in the San Jose newspaper only days earlier, stirred the Zodiac Killer into visiting the San Jose cemetery and placing his pseudonym firmly in the public gaze once again? Clearly telling us he was still around. 

On January 12th 1974, after two court proceedings, the second jury in the trial of James A. Montano again failed to reach a verdict, with Superior Judge S. Lee Vavuris declaring a mistrial. The murder of Roland J. Canfield remains unsolved to this day. This Yellow Cab shooting is extremely unlikely to have any connection to the 1969 murder of Paul Stine and the Zodiac Killer, but the mere mention of his pseudonym in the newspapers often created an immediate response from the Bay Area murderer in the form of a letter. On September 18th 1973, it seems he deviated from this pattern and left his message on a tombstone. 

The murder of Paul Stine occurred at the intersection of Washington and Cherry streets on October 11th 1969, despite the trip sheet indicating that the Zodiac Killer had given a destination one block earlier at Washington and Maple. Many people have speculated that the Zodiac Killer may have intended to kill Paul Stine at this less residential location, but his plans were thwarted because of possible pedestrian traffic. Therefore he chose to instruct the driver to proceed one block further.

However, what if an incident took place at Washington and Maple that necessitated this change of plan? We assume the widely portrayed version of events of a killer who simply pulled a gun on an unsuspecting Paul Stine as he parked up outside 3898 Washington Street and then shot him dead. This version has two problems, in that it doesn't explain the intraparenchymal tissue hemorrhages in both lungs of Paul Stine noted at autopsy, and it doesn't reconcile the conflict between the trip sheet destination and the eventual murder site. Unless of course, the Washington and Maple intersection and the autopsy results are inextricably linked. 

We have no way of knowing if and what verbal exchanges took place in the taxicab that night, or when the gun was pulled on Paul Stine, but three things we do know. [1] The autopsy of Paul Stine indicates that the bleeding occurred in the lung tissue itself and not as a result of blood draining from the head to the lung spaces. Parenchymal relates to, or affecting the functional tissue of an organ. Parenchyma is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs. With no pre-existing conditions attributed to Paul Stine in this regard, it strongly suggests his lungs received trauma due to an external injury to his chest on October 11th 1969. These types of injury can be caused by impact with the steering wheel or dashboard, and noted in many car accidents. [2] We know that the interdepartmental memorandum of Officer Donald Fouke on November 12th 1969 described the Zodiac Killer as having a "shuffling lope", which in dictionary form is detailed as "a way of walking or moving using long, relaxed steps" and "a way of walking (dragging feet instead of lifting them)". Either way, Officer Donald Fouke found it necessary to highlight the Zodiac Killer's "unusual" walking style. And [3], We know that the trip sheet destination did not correlate with the location of the murder. Is it possible that all three are connected?  

If the Zodiac Killer had readied his gun on the approach to Washington and Maple, could Paul Stine have noticed this, or was the gun actually presented to the driver on the pretense of a robbery? In a situation such as this, Paul Stine has two options. He can comply and wish for the best, or he can slam on his brakes as he approaches the intersection causing the rapid deceleration of the taxicab and hopefully catapult his passenger forward into the rear seats, giving him a momentary advantage to escape or disarm his assailant.

​If this rapid braking had occurred in the middle of the road (with accompanied screeching of tires), but had failed to achieve the desired result, the Zodiac Killer could still have easily received injuries to his knees and/or upper legs. The action of the driver, although unsuccessful, had the potential to draw unwanted attention to the taxicab. Wanting to mitigate this risk, the Zodiac Killer may have ordered Paul Stine to drive one block further west, where the taxicab was located askew from the kerb. A killer who was described by Officer Donald Fouke three minutes later as a white male with a "shuffling lope". An injury to the quadriceps can affect the ability to raise your legs off the ground, yet the desire of the Zodiac Killer to leave the area quickly and elude capture could have ameliorated this setback through longer strides. Although this is just supposition, the observations of Officer Donald Fouke cannot be ignored.

The injuries to Paul Stine's lungs and the walking style of the Zodiac Killer, in combination with the discrepancy of trip sheet and murder site, can be argued to have had one root cause at the intersection of Washington and Maple. If Paul Stine damaged his lungs by slamming on his brakes and impacting the steering wheel, then it follows that the Zodiac Killer would have been propelled forwards into the rear seat of the taxicab and also potentially sustained injuries. Possibly noted by Officer Donald Fouke a few minutes later on Jackson Street. Of course, none of this is provable, but we shouldn't ignore the autopsy report because it doesn't align with the story we've been fed since 1969.   

We have all seen the relatively crude facial representations manufactured from the genetics of retrieved DNA (created by Parabon NanoLabs), that produces reasonable but extremely limited results. But by identifying more genetic markers and merging it with artificial intelligence, it may soon be possible to create an extremely accurate age-based 3-D image of a murderer from DNA left at the crime scene, or deposited on the stamp or seal of an envelope.

​A recent genetic database of 9,674 Han Chinese individuals has been used by the Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers with the aim to turn crime scene DNA into extremely lifelike 3-D imagery. The model called Difface uses single nucleotide polymorphisms, frequently called SNPs (pronounced “snips”), which are the most common type of genetic variation among people..They can be found in regulatory regions near genes, potentially affecting gene expression. ​

​​Each of the 9,674 Han Chinese individuals provided both genome sequencing data and high-resolution 3D face scans. The results were surprisingly detailed. Even subtle traits like the nasion — the dip at the top of the nose — or cheekbone shape could be recreated with remarkable precision.. By analyzing patterns in the DNA, including the segments called SNPs that influence facial traits, the system learned to match genetic markers with physical features like nose shape, cheekbone structure, and jawline. Thus creating a digital face with a high degree of precision and average measurement inaccuracy of only 3.5 mm. This is extremely accurate when you consider the size of the human face. When age, sex and body mass indes are added into the equation, the error dropped to 2.93 mm.

​The most obvious application of this tool is its use in forensics. An artificial intelligence tool that can perform such tasks could be used by law enforcement to retrieve DNA from a crime scene and then reconstruct a suspect’s face in absence of witnesses or camera footage. Below is an original scan taken from an individual, accompanied by a generated image using their DNA. Bearing in mind that this technique is in early development and has room for scalable improvement, the results are quite astounding.   

When the model is eventually expanded using an increased database of larger populations such as America, the aim is to correlate specific markers in the DNA to particular features of the face with reduced margins of error. Think of the DNA like a 3-D map, that can be recognised and visualised by artificial intelligence and converted into human form. We would have nothing to lose by using the DNA retrieved from the hand of Cheri Jo Bates, the DNA from the 1978 letter, or the hair from the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter, to produce a 3-D facial image from any of the given samples.

​If an image produced in the Zodiac case looked extremely similar to the Presidio Heights sketch or one of the many suspects proposed as the Bay Area murderer, it would be a rather fascinating development. The image formed in respect to the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates could be compared to individuals from the library and any number of suspects connected to the young 18-year-old college freshman. The images created from possible Zodiac Killer DNA by the use of artificial intelligence and then age progressed through the years, may generate an interesting response from the public - particularly from individuals who point the finger towards a person who once lived (or maybe still lives) in Vallejo, San Francisco, or any of the neighboring areas.     

There are many document examiners who had access to the original 3-part ransom note from the 1996 JonBenet Ramsey murder case in Boulder, Colorado, that concluded there was no evidence to suggest Patsy Ramsey wrote the threatening communication. Richard Dusak, a U.S. Secret Service document examiner, found no evidence linking Patsy to the note. Similarly, forensic document examiner Howard Rile believed it was unlikely Patsy wrote the note. Leonard Speckin, a private forensic document examiner, also concluded that differences existed between Patsy's writing and the ransom note.

However, there are other certified document examiners that wholeheartedly disagree, such as Gideon Epstein who stated he was "absolutely certain that she (Patsy) wrote the note, 100 percent certain". David Liebman, a certified document examiner, stated "There are far too many similarities and consistencies revealed in the handwriting of Patsy Ramsey and the ransom note for it to be coincidence. In light of the number of comparisons and similarities between Patsy Ramsey and the ransom note writer, the chances of a third party also sharing the same characteristics is astronomical. In my professional opinion Patsy Ramsey is the ransom note writer". Tom Miller, a court qualified expert witness in questioned documents, stated "Based upon available exemplars compared to the purported "ransom" note in the JonBenét Ramsey murder, the handwriting is probably that of Patsy Ramsey". I can find you dozens of "certified" experts that absolutely believe Patsy Ramsey wrote the ransom note, dozens of "certified" experts that absolutely believe Patsy Ramsey did not write the ransom note, and dozens of "certified" experts that fall somewhere in between, who don't fully commit one way or another.

This clearly demonstrates that handwriting analysis is not objective, it is subjective. It is a matter of opinion. Regardless of this undeniable fact, it doesn't stop misinformed individuals like Tom Voigt directing people to his list of authenticated letters on his website - that have obviously (in absence of DNA and fingerprints) been largely deemed authentic by certified document examiners like the ones above. In other words, this list is meaningless, because it's based, for the most part, on handwriting analysis. If certified document examiners subsequent to December 25th 1996 cannot determine whether a written communication is from Patsy Ramsey or not, despite multiple available exemplars of her handwriting, then it is obviously not possible to determine the authenticity of a Zodiac letter based predominantly on handwriting analysis. For some unknown reason, individuals like Tom Voigt appear not to grasp this simple concept. He seems to be augmenting the suspension of reality when dishing up this list of fiction. 

Unfortunately, Tom Voigt believes that "certified experts" in the Zodiac case are somehow different to the "certified experts" in the JonBenet Ramsey case - they can 100% authenticate letters when nobody else can. The one thing we do know for certain in the Zodiac case, is that Tom Voigt is no "certified expert" when it comes to compiling lists and applying reasoned thought. 

Despite the continued negative criticism of looking into these outlier communications from certain quarters, this site will not deviate in exploring every avenue possible that has the capability of shedding more light on the Zodiac Killer story. Remaining entrenched in a common narrative has, and will always, fail to push this case forward.

One rarely covered communication is the "Ambler Tours" letter postmarked Los Angeles County and credited with two dates of March 7th 1986 and March 12th 1986  Mailed to "(Redacted) Ambler Tours 101 2ND AVE. Suite 1900 SAN DieGo, CA. 92101", it has very little information attached to it in the FBI files, other than the sender appeared to be addressing the San Diego owners and founders of Ambler Tours & Travel Agency, Frank and Virginia "Ginny" Ambler. They had two sons, Dale and Wayne. The ZIP code 92101 corresponds to the city of San Diego, California, and is primarily associated with downtown San Diego, including areas like the Gaslamp District and Petco Park. Something about this letter, so distant in time and location to the main body of Zodiac communications must have peaked the interest of law enforcement to have found its way into the Zodiac FBI files.

This letter arrived about two months before the "Freeway" letter on May 6th 1986, and approximately 10 weeks after the release of Robert Graysmith's book "Zodiac". Letters postmarked Los Angeles were not unprecedented in the Zodiac case, with the previous two California letters from the Zodiac Killer having both been mailed from this location on May 2nd 1978 and July 19th 1978. The "Channel 9" letter sent to KHJ-TV at 5515 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978, was postmarked in Anaheim, a city in Orange County and part of the Greater Los Angeles area..Therefore, we have three known letters postmarked in this locality within an 8 year period (absent to the knowledge of others).  

The only crime that has regularly been touted as a potential Zodiac attack was the double murder of Johnny Ray Swindle (20) and Joyce Ann Swindle (19) at Ocean Beach in San Diego on February 5th 1964,.when they were murdered on a concrete patio overlooking the sea by a sniper situated approximately 50 feet away. Perched on the bluff above the patio, the sniper fired five shots at the couple from this distance, before walking down to where Johnny and Joyce lay and firing two more shots from near point blank range into their heads. Their location on the patio just beneath the terminus of Narragansett Avenue can be found only 5.5 miles northwest of the Ambler Tours & Travel Agency office. 

Founded in 1953, Frank and Ginny Ambler had run the travel agency for 33 years by the time this "Zodiac Killer" letter arrived on their doorstep. Their travel service organized bus tours throughout California, so if the Zodiac Killer had targeted their company, what possible threat could he have imparted upon them? We know that the Zodiac Killer had a propensity to threaten schoolchildren by way of bombs on the buses or by the roadside, so it's not incomprehensible that this would have been his leverage when targeting Frank and Ginny Ambler (or their family). 

​The previous year, on May 7th 1985 a comprehensive newspaper article on Johnny and Joyce Swindle featured in the San Diego Union newspaper, in which ongoing work was still being undertaken on the case. A recent television news story on the Swindle murders had generated "one pretty damn interesting phone call", which Sergeant Ed Stevens forwarded to the current homicide lieutenant, Paul Ybarrondo. Sgt Stevens is still of the belief that the murders were committed by a teenage boy "thrill sniper", despite no evidence forthcoming on the age of the unknown murderer in 1964. 

The 1986 "Amber Tours" letter would have been an unusual deviation for the Zodiac Killer, directed toward a business. However, it would be followed two years later, on February 1st 1988 and February 8th 1988, by two letters aimed at the McDonald's regional office at 2 Northgate Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the signature "This is the Zodiac" introduction. Seemingly, two threats on businesses, both withheld from the newspapers. Without further information on this correspondence it is practically impossible to determine if the author of the "Ambler Tours" letter was the infamous Zodiac Killer, but it certainly doesn't hurt to explore the possibility. I may do a FOIA request for this letter in the near future.