The Red Phantom letter, postmarked San Rafael on July 8th 1974, was authored by the same individual who created the Symbionese Liberation Army letter on February 3rd 1974. Irrespective of who mailed each correspondence, it was almost certainly not the Zodiac Killer. The entire focus of the Red Phantom letter was aimed at Count Marco (Marc H. Spinelli) and his overtly chauvenistic views towards women, calling for the cancellation of his column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Much of the rhetoric evident in the communications of the left-leaning Symbionese Liberation Army would carry the message of equality for women. A search for the inspiration behind the Red Phantom pseudonym has long been sought, with many possible explanations having been suggested, including the theatrical release of the 1908 Pathé Frères film, El Espectro Rojo or The Red Phantom at the Port Theater in Mill Valley, Marin County on the 27th and 28th April 1974. However, the inspiration for the pseudonym may be nothing more than an angry response to the July 3rd 1974 article by Count Marco in the San Francisco Chronicle, with the Red Phantom pseudonym inspired by the article itself.   

The Red Phantom letter begins with "Put Marco back in the hell-hole whence it came - he has a serious psychological disorder". A sentence clearly inspired by the article on the left, in which Marc H. Spinelli uses the words psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatry multiple times. Then the letter suggests to the San Francisco Chronicle that they "refer him to a shrink".

The Red Phantom letter ends with "Meanwhile, cancel the Count Marco column. Since the Count can write anonymously, so can I". The article on the left ends with "You don't need psychiatry. All you need is the Count Marco column". Hence the reference to "column" in the letter.

Marc H. Spinelli wrote this column under an anonymous pseudonym - and why the author of the July 8th 1974 communication used the word "Phantom". A phantom can be described as a ghost, a figment of the imagination, not real or illusory. The author was simply choosing a pseudonym lacking visibility and substance. Although, The Phantom was an American adventure comic strip published by Lee Falk in February 1936 that has run in many newspapers to this day, syndicated by King Features of Hearst Holdings, Inc.

The addition of "Red" before "Phantom" explained perfectly by the bracketed "red with rage" placed underneath. The Count Marco column had already detailed in the first paragraph that he "wasn't surprised by the angry reaction" when he wrote about psychiatrists and psychologists, so it's probably no surprise that the author of the San Rafael letter used the word "Red" before "Phantom" to express their anger or rage. No external "Red Phantom" was required as inspiration for this correspondence, because every element of the correspondence was derived from within the July 3rd 1974 Count Marco column. The Red Phantom is just a construct of the author's mind, that has ultimately become a figment of our imagination.   

Solve Crimes with Rick & Gavin is a new Youtube channel, website, True Crime podcast series and forum where you can get involved and help to find a resolution to the many unsolved murders and disappearances that have haunted so many people for far too long. In the words of Rick & Gavin "help us solve the mystery and provide the victim, the victim's family, community and law enforcement with justice and peace of mind".

They invite you to join their burgeoning venture by joining the forum, providing new information or tips, suggesting possible new cold cases for them to investigate and even the option of confessing to a crime (and hopefully remove all the murderers and criminals that visit my site). To date they have currently produced six extremely well-researched Youtube videos on the murder of Judith Hakari (4), the disappearance of Denise Anderson and an additional video entitled "Killer Wine" (I will leave you to work that one out). They welcome everybody with a keen interest in solving cold cases to cooperatively make this venture an ongoing success, which judging by the first few videos, I have no doubt it will be. To view each video shown below, click the images. 

Rick Tracewell and Gavin Fish present an introductory first episode regarding the abduction and murder of Judith Ann Hakari (23) on March 7th 1970 outside the Markston Apartments in Sacramento. This video presentation will include a mixture of crime scene imagery, newspaper cuttings, and a back and forth discussion between Rick and Gavin. They will also touch on the Nancy Bennallack, Carol Beth Hilburn and Donna Lass crimes, to be expanded upon in further episodes.   

The second episode explores in much more detail the abduction of Judith Hakari, along with the devastating impact this crime had on the family and community. The episode concentrates mainly on the crime scene outside of the Markston Apartments and the condition her vehicle was found by her boyfriend, Raymond Willis (24), at approximately 1:45 am. There would be no happy ending seven weeks later. As Gavin stated "The Placer County Sheriff's Offce were very swift to go and notify the Hakari's - and that is when the first chapter of their nightmare ended".

The third episode takes you on a journey between the two crime scenes and apartments of Judith Hakari and Nancy Bennallack. This young woman was brutally stabbed in the Tahitian Apartment complex on October 25th 1970, located just 830 feet from the Markston Apartments. No solid link has ever been forged between the two murders, but their close proximity within eight months of each other has led to much speculation of a single perpetrator. Offender DNA has been secured in the case of Nancy Bennallack.

The fourth episode explores the discovery of Judith Hakari's shallow grave alongside Ponderosa Way in Weimar and its implications regarding the possible perpetrator or perpetrators of the savage and brutal murder of the young nurse. Rick & Gavin detail the items found at the crime scene and an eyewitness to three men acting suspiciously in the area prior to the discovery of her body. Judith Hakari went missing on March 7th 1970, with her body discovered by two hikers on April 25th 1970. Episode five.

The sixth episode covers the rarely covered case of Denise Kathleen Anderson (22), who was last seen in her 925 16th Street apartment in Sacramento on April 13th 1971. Information on this crime is so lacking and threadbare, they have done an excellent job in airing this crime for 29 minutes. I say crime, because the body of Denise Anderson has never been found, but everything points to her abduction at or in close proximity to her residence. If you knew Denise Anderson, or have any information on her life and disappearance, please contact Rick & Gavin via the website link posted above.   

Denise Kathleen Anderson (22) disappeared on April 13th 1971, having been last seen by one of her roommates at 5:30 am at their residence located on 925 16th Street in Sacramento. One of the women who shared with Denise borrowed her car that fateful day, returning at 2:30 pm to find the residence empty. From that day forward Denise Anderson has never been seen or heard from again. It was reported in the Sacramento Bee newspaper that she had left behind all her personal belongings and her bank account remained dormant. She was an employee of the Wells Fargo Bank in Sacramento, but failed to appear on July 13th 1971.

Denise was also an avid performer in the Centerplayers theater group, which she also failed to attend for rehearsals that day. The group had recently performed in the Crossroads Shopping Center at 35th Avenue and Freeport Boulevard. 

In light of recent articles concerning the murders of Judith Hakari, Carol Beth Hilburn and Betty Cloer, the disappearance of Denise Anderson at or in the proximity of her residence at 925 16th Street, is rather pertinent. Her residence was only 1.28 miles from the home of convicted murderer, Phillip Arthur Thompson (2526 V Street}, and only 1.19 miles from Alhambra Boulevard where he worked with partner Mark Masterson. Betty Cloer was raped and murdered by Phillip Arthur Thompson on June 19th 1971, just two months after the disappearance of Denise Anderson.

Assuming she left her residence early that morning for work, it may be extremely useful to find out which branch of the Wells Fargo Bank she worked - and headed toward (on foot) that day. There is a branch of Wells Fargo at 1831 S Street in Midtown about 1km from the 2526 V Street residence of Thompson, but without knowing whether it was on that site in 1971 leaves only speculation. This journey would have certainly taken her into the hot zone of Thompson. The United States District Court transcripts stated that "Petitioner and a partner, Mark Masterson, operated a used car sales and service company located on Alhambra Boulevard", thereby providing a secure and private location out of business hours, distinct and separate from his home residence.

Under Distinguishing Characteristics on The Charley Project it details Denise Anderson as a Caucasian female with brown hair, brown eyes, 5'2" to 5'4" inches in height and 120lbs. Although her hair was long at the time of her disappearance, Anderson has been known to wear a wig which would give her a short hairstyle. This item was missing from her apartment after she disappeared.

Tying the disappearance of Denise Anderson to the murders of Betty Cloer, Carol Beth Hilburn and Judith Hakari is much more difficult without knowing exactly her fate and any injuries she may have sustained. If her body had been discovered shortly after her disappearance and exhibited the excessive trauma to the head and face as evident in the other three cases, then the location of her residence and her bank would certainly be much more significant with respect to the home and business addresses of Phillip Arthur Thompson. But one thing is for sure. The bodies of Betty Cloer, Carol Beth Hilburn and Judith Hakari were all found north or north easterly to their last known positions. The killer in each case sought to dispose of his victim in a rural setting - with all the dump sites north or north easterly from the residence and workplace of Thompson. 

The map above shows the pertinent addresses regarding the murders of Betty Cloer, Carol Beth Hilburn and Judith Hakari. At approximately 1:00 am on June 19th 1971, Betty Cloer left the club and traveled to the Texaco gas station on Madison Avenue (probably 4300 Madison Avenue). where they first encountered Phillip Arthur Thompson, who apparently trailed them to her apartment (located somewhere in North Sacramento). We can get an approximate position of the apartment because it was 6.5 miles north from the V Street residence of Thompson and Saylor. It was 5.5 miles from Thompson's used car sales and service company at Alhambra Boulevard. Thompson's home address and business were just 2 miles and 1.5 miles respectively, from the Sutter Memorial Hospital at F Street between 51st and 53rd Streets. If Thompson trailed Betty Cloer from a dance club around 1:00 am, is it possible he trailed Judith Hakari on March 7th 1970 from Sutter Memorial Hospital to the Markston Apartments? Did he also set his sights on Carol Beth Hilburn (22) as she exited Lloyd Hickey’s Forty Grand Club at 1819 Del Paso Boulevard at approximately 5:00 am on Saturday, November 14th 1970. The close proximity of all these locations could suggest a hunting ground extremely close to his residence on the northern and eastern side of downtown Sacramento.

Betty Cloer's body was discovered lying in Cameron Park, El Dorado County on June 19th 1971, located just 10 miles west of Placerville. Despite being shot in the head, chest and arm, Phillip Arthur Thompson felt the need (probably before) to inflict crushing blows to her head and face, leaving her unrecognizable. These same destructive blows to the face and head were evident in the murders of Judith Hakari and Carol Beth Hilburn. Investigators described the condition of Judith Hakari as "one of the most godawful assaults ever investigated", with her nose smashed to a pulp, several teeth knocked out, and her jaw broken in at least two places. Coroners in the murder of Carol Beth Hilburn stated that she "was so badly beaten that she was unrecognizable, suffering several skull and facial fractures, and her throat was cut". In all of the murders, the perpetrator went far beyond what was necessary to kill each woman - seemingly gaining pleasure in destroying the identity of Cloer, Hilburn and Hakari. All women were found in a state of near full or partial disrobing, with sexual degradation the overriding feature of each crime. The bodies of Betty Cloer and Judith Hakari were discovered in remote wilderness either side of Auburn, California, with just 24 miles (as the crow flies) separating each dump site. Both Hakari and Cloer were taken from their apartments (located just a few miles apart) and found 38 miles and 28 miles respectively, to the east of Sacramento - almost equidistant between South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento.         

In the case of Phillip Arthur Thompson, the prosecution presented evidence regarding two prior incidents in which petitioner had sexually assaulted young women, the first involving Sharon S. on December 2, 1970, and the second involving Melinda M. on March 9, 1972. Sharon S. and Melinda M. were both, like Cloer, young white females who appear to have been chosen by random encounter. Both Sharon S. and Melinda M. alleged that they had agreed to go somewhere with petitioner and another man, then were taken by car to a different location where they could be rendered helpless. Petitioner physically assaulted both women, and threated to kill them. He put a gun to Melissa M.’s head. Petitioner had sexual intercourse with both women. Petitioner and Mark Masterson (who operated the car sales and service company with Thompson) were tried for the Sharon S. assault in 1971.

Testimony from the preliminary hearing in that case, including the victim’s testimony, was read into the record of the instant case. The jury also heard live witness testimony regarding the Sharon S.case. Mark Masterson testified that he and petitioner had both raped Sharon S. and that petitioner had persuaded another employee, John Mays, to falsely testify at the 1971 trial that both men had been with him at the auto shop on the night of the rape. Petitioner and Masterson were both acquitted in the Sharon S. case. Petitioner had been charged in the Melinda M. matter and eventually entered a negotiated plea to assault, with the sex offense charges being dropped. Melinda M. testified at petitioner’s trial that he had raped her in 1972 after he and James Allen picked her up when she was hitchhiking.

This seems extremely pertinent information when we have the testimony of a landowner on Ponderosa Way, who described three men at the gravesite where Judith Hakari would ultimately be found, acting suspiciously. He described the trunk of their vehicle open while digging into the earth. When he approached they closed the trunk and stated they were looking for bottles. A vehicle description could be extremely important with respect to vehicles owned by each of the men in the above case.

Donna Ann Lass (25) disappeared from Stateline, Nevada on September 6th 1970, having finished her shift that day at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, (now the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino). where she was employed as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe from San Francisco, where she had previously worked as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. She was scheduled to work her night shift at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel from 6:00 pm to 2:00 am, but was logged out at 1:45 am that morning for the last time. She is considered murdered, but her remains have never been discovered.

The similarity between the Donna Lass and Judith Hakari cases, are the fact that both women had just finished their respective shifts as a nurse, either side of midnight and separated by just six months. One hopes that Donna Lass didn't receive the barbaric beatings suffered by Cloer, Hilburn and Hakari - but bearing in mind the above United States District Court transcript - it was mentioned that "Cloer told Ford she was going to Lake Tahoe and needed a coat". It is clear that Phillip Arthur Thompson was heading in that direction from Sacramento, but whether they reached South Lake Tahoe and Betty Cloer was murdered on the return journey is unclear. Whatever the case, Phillip Arthur Thompson must have mentioned Lake Tahoe to Betty Cloer - being somewhere he was undoubtedly familiar with. The question that has to be asked is, was he present near the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino on September 6th 1970, with the lifeless body of Donna Lass to be found somewhere near Auburn, California? I sincerely hope this is not the case.

According to Dr. Doogie on the Zodiac Killer message board, Phillip Arthur Thompson and his wife first lived in Kings Beach, CA (on Lake Tahoe) after June 1968, but quickly moved to various locations in the Bay Area and on to Sacramento. Kings Beach sits next to Incline Village, the area featured on the infamous Pines card of March 22nd 1971, purportedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer.

On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". On March 8th 1981, the Atlanta letter arived, signed Zodiac and replete with crosshairs, intimating he was killing the black children of Atlanta.  On March 18th 1981, the Washington Post received a letter addressed to "Editor of the Washington Post", claiming to have information on the Atlanta killings and requesting that the editor place an advertisement in the newspaper, stating "Daniel Please Call Home". Another letter, postmarked Williamsport PA 177 PM 23 APR 1981, bearing a pre-printed address was mailed with the accompanying handwritten note beginning "You shall die I'm going to..." The postage-paid envelope was used by a company to distribute literature to its prospective customers. The distribution was made from the New York office of the company.

On or about January 20th 1982, a Santa Claus card was mailed to the family home of missing 25-year-old Harvard graduate, Joan Webster, with the pre-printed address of 654 Grandview Avenue, Ridgewood, New York, mailed inside a business reply envelope for the Better Life Journal with the press-printed address of 7617-D Metro Drive, Austin, Texas. The Santa Claus card carried the message "Please, where can I write you,?" Three of these ominous/cryptic brief messages contained the polite request of "Please", either in the first or second word of the message. At least three of the communications had another thing in common - notably the use of pre-printed or business reply envelopes. There may be a geographical connection as well.

If you look at the map above you will notice the close proximity relationship of the Santa Claus card (with the pre-printed address of 654 Grandview Avenue) to the Glen Ridge home of the Webster family, to where it was mailed. The author had glued a newspaper cutting around the envelope carrying the message "Offer 10G reward for missing coed". This was cut from the New York Daily News article of January 18th 1982. The Santa Claus card was almost certainly a response to a heartfelt appeal by the Webster family for any information pertaining to their missing daughter, which was broadcast throughout New England on Christmas Day of 1981, less than a month after her disappearance.on 28th November 1981.

The March 2nd 1981 business reply envelope, postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the handwritten note: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". The Danbury Mint ran advertisements in eighteen newspapers through a mail order company, advertising miniature pewter models of classic automobiles. The Danbury Mint is a division of MBI, Inc. that markets a variety of collectibles. Danbury Mint historically marketed high quality medals and ingots produced by others exclusively for them. The company also sold numerous other collectible offering including plates, bells, sculptures, etc. Danbury Mint is well known for its 1:24 scale die-cast vehicles, including a now discontinued James Bond's DB5. These advertisements ran on March 1st 1981, the day before the press printed Danbury Mint envelope was mailed. These envelopes were inserted inside each newspaper. One prominent newspaper on the list was the Staten Island Advance in New York, which could very well be where the author of the "forced bussing" letter sourced the envelope. The Better Life Journal business printed envelope, used for the Joan Webster family Santa Claus card, may also have been sourced from the Staten Island Advance. The Better Life Journal advertised its literature through subscription advertisements in selected newspapers. Here is an image of the Better Life Journals, including 1981.     

There is good reason to believe the March 2nd 1981 "forced bussing" letter is connected to the March 8th 1981 "Zodiac" Atlanta letter. If this was the Zodiac Killer, then the Danbury Mint business reply envelope used in the March 2nd correspondence - possibly sourced from inside the Staten Island Advance newspaper - could place the Zodiac Killer in and around New York in 1981. The business reply envelope used for the Santa Claus card (addressed 654 Grandview Avenue, Ridgewood, New York), mailed to Glen Ridge, New Jersey and using a New York Daily News cutting, could easily be the same author. Whoever mailed these communications had a propensity to use pre-printed business reply envelopes, distributed free in the newspapers. And in both instances, readdressed them to their desired recipient. In the case of the Better Life Journal envelope, it was readdressed to the Webster family. In the case of the Danbury Mint envelope, it was directed to investigators in the Atlanta child murders. Gareth Penn believed the Santa Claus card was mailed to the Webster family by the Zodiac Killer in the aftermath of their daughter's disappearance. The links shown above may bolster his case - but only if the March 8th 1981 "Zodiac" Atlanta letter can be comprehensively proven to be the real Zodiac Killer.

Under an FBI file marked "Zodiac Extortion", there was a "request to compare writing on demand note submitted previously in the case (redacted) Wells Fargo Bank, Sutter Street Office, San Francisco, California, 12/3/68; BR" with the specimens in captioned case". The FBI were comparing the handwriting on a bank robbery note with submitted handwriting from an individual or individuals. The bank robbery note (demand note) shown below, is the handwriting of such an individual. Regardless of this fact, the original bank robbery note read "This is Bank Rhobery IF you don't do as I say I will shot. Zodiac".  It isn't certain that the "Zodiac" element is part of the bank robbery note, but this threatening communication was considered relevant enough to be placed in the Zodiac FBI files under "Zodiac Extortion". The demand note also carried the date of December 3rd 1968, seventeen days before the Zodiac's first murders on Lake Herman Road.

The FBI files continued with "It was not determined whether the specimens in captioned case were prepared by the writer of the Q1 demand note in the case (redacted) Wells Fargo Bank, Sutter Street Office, San Francisco, California, 12/3/68; BR" because of distortion in the Q1 demand note and a lack of comparable material". Was a fledgling Zodiac hovering around San Francisco in the December of 1968? The Wells Fargo Bank in Sutter Street is a two minute walk from Union Square, where the Zodiac Killer likely entered the taxicab of murder victim, Paul Stine.

The story became a little more quirky when I read a post on the Zodiac Killer message board by BugsMoran regarding an outlaw called Black Bart, one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers in Northern California. BugsMoran wrote "Like the Zodiac, Black Bart would also send the police taunting letters (usually lousy poems about his capers). At times he even handed his victims these letters. It took years for the Pinkerton Detective Agencty to crack the case. I think his last robbery was foiled - and in his flight - he left behind a hankerchef with a laundry marking on it. The police had to go to every Chinese laundry in San Francisco before they were able to trace the hankerchef to Bart. Being from San Francisco the Zodiac would have known of the as local bandit". 

Black Bart (Charles Earl Boles) adopted the nickname "Black Bart" and proceeded to rob Wells Fargo stagecoaches at least 28 times across northern California between 1875 and 1883, Boles was invariably polite and used no foul language, despite its appearance in his poems. He dressed in a long linen duster coat and a bowler hat, using a flour sack with holes cut for his eyes as a mask. He brandished a shotgun, but never used it. These features became his trademarks. The idea of a robber, handing out poetic notes in northern California, wearing a head sack with eyeholes, sort of rang a bell for some reason. Especially with the Wells Fargo connection. 

Black Bart is a 1948 American western film directed by George Sherman and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea as the real-life cowboy bandit Charles Boles, and Jeffrey Lynn. It was distributed by Universal-International and produced by Leonard Goldstein. It was shot in Technicolor and was also known as Black Bart, Highwayman. The film was written by Luci Ward, Jack Natteford, and William Bowers and was released on March 3, 1948.

The results of the handwriting comparison were inconclusive "because of distortion in the Q1 demand note and a lack of comparable material". Despite the handwriting submitted being unable to be matched to the demand note because of "lack of material", it appears that this 15-worded note was enough to place it in the Zodiac files under "Zodiac Extortion". Was this because the author of the bank robbery note used the word "Zodiac" and/or investigators noticed a similarity of handwriting in the original note? The notion of a threatening bank robbery note containing the pseudonym Zodiac, seven months in advance of the Debut of Zodiac letter, in which the Bay Area killer introduced himself for the first time, is puzzling to say the least. The FBI report stated "It is noted that the Q1 demand note mentioned in the attached Laboratory report was submitted by San Francisco with an airtel dated 6/27/69". June 27th 1969 was still one week before the Blue Rock Springs attack on July 4th 1969, and just over a month before the Debut of Zodiac letter. Why would this threatening note be considered Zodiac material before the Zodiac pseudonym ever emerged in the San Francisco Examiner offices? I find it unusual that such a brief robbery note could be considered to have been penned by the Zodiac Killer without a signature underwriting the note itself.

Carol Beth Hilburn (22) was last seen at Lloyd Hickey’s Forty Grand Club at 1819 Del Paso Boulevard in Sacramento (where she had previously worked) at approximately 5:00 am on Saturday, November 14th 1970. She was discovered murdered later that day, her near naked body beaten about the face, with a deep cut to her throat. The severity of her injuries were such, that her face was unrecognizable and had to be identified through dental records and fingerprints. Coroner George Nielsen reported that she was not sexually molested, but that seems difficult to believe when a naked and lifeless woman is discovered lying in a field beaten to death. The ferocity of the injuries to her face reminiscent of the destructive blows suffered by Judith Hakari, whose remains were discovered near Weimar on April 25th 1970. 

Carol Beth Hilburn was found lying in weeds, 30 feet south of West Ascot Avenue and West 4th Street near Rio Linda, just 6 miles (14 minutes) north along Rio Linda Boulevard from her last known location. Investigators concluded she had been bludgeoned to death, transported to this location and dragged naked through the field for approximately 30 feet and dumped in some weeds. With only one suede boot on her feet and her panties around one knee, it clearly indicates she was murdered elsewhere and transported to this location. 

Fishermen occasionally use the field where her body was discovered to park their vehicles and fish in the nearby Dry Creek. The nearest point of Dry Creek to the location her body was found is only 398 meters. The time between Carol Beth Hilburn going missing and being discovered, is 10 hours or less, leaving the perpetrator or perpetrators little time to consider where to dispose of her body. Often a murderer will choose somewhere remote and somewhere they are familiar with. Her body lay next to the 265 acre Hansen Ranch Park Site, through which the Dry Creek runs.

Carol Beth Hilburn had previously separated from her husband, Jay Hilburn (24) of Sebastopol, California, in what was described as an amicable separation only three months earlier. As the crow flies, 1819 Del Paso Boulevard is 2.6 miles from the Markston Apartments, where Judith Hakari was also snatched from the street and transported to a second location, while also suffering devastating injuries to her face and neck, as well as her underwear displaced. The noticeable difference between the two cases lies only in the time difference of the two women's discovery. Could Judith Hakari have been killed within hours of her abduction, buried inside of 10 hours, and the three men spotted on Ponderosa Way be unconnected to her abduction and burial? Or were the same three men cruising the nightlife along Del Paso Boulevard on November 14th 1970, emboldened by their "successful" exploits on March 7th 1970.

Add to the equation the murder of Nancy Bennallack on October 25th 1970, and we have three attractive young women murdered or abducted in eight months, within a 3-mile radius of one another. Denise Kathleen Anderson (22), who resided in Sacramento at 925 16th Street, also went missing and was last seen at 5:30 am on April 13th 1971 by her roommate. Her residence was 2.6 miles from the location Carol Beth Hilburn was last seen alive. 

Judith Hakari (23) was abducted from the parking lot of the Markston Apartments on March 7th 1970 at approximately 11:30 pm, after returning home from her nurses shift at the Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. Her partially buried body was discovered by two hikers on April 25th 1970, just 677 feet off Ponderosa Way, near Weimar. The location of her burial site was 43 miles from the site of her abduction and 3.1 miles from Interstate 80 at Weimar.

Her Mercury Cougar (discovered by her boyfriend) showed signs of foul play, with the passenger door open, her ignition keys on the floorboard, buttons scattered about and ripped strips of Cannon-brand towel, indicating that these may have been used to restrain the young woman. The same style toweling was discovered in the burial site of Judith Hakari seven weeks later, providing a common link between both locations. Her body was found inside a canvas laundry bag, laying over a grey sweatshirt. She had been savagely beaten in the face, strangled and raped, with her bra torn in two and her underwear found beneath her.

Detectives stated that on March 13th 1970 (six days after her disappearance), the owner of the land where Judith Hakari was eventually discovered, noticed three sharply-dressed men in their late 20s at the site, with the trunk of their vehicle open and digging into the ground. Their lame excuse of digging for bottles, while suspiciously closing the trunk of their vehicle, seemed sinister. There is very good reason to believe these three men were involved in the murder and disposal of Judith Hakari. At the very least, one murderer and two accomplices after the fact. With little to go on after 50 years, an examination of the abduction and burial site can reveal so much about this crime.        

The presence of ripped toweling in Judith Hakari's vehicle indicated malice aforethought. The killer or killers had pre-planned this abduction ahead of time, with the primary goal of feeding their sexual peversion at the cost of a young and promising life. Judith Hakari had to travel a matter of seconds from her Mercury Cougar to the front door of her residence. We have to weigh up the odds of a random and opportunistic abduction in this slender window of time, to the possibility that somebody knew her routine and lay in wait. An attractive 23-year-old young woman, dressed in a nurses uniform, following a pattern to and from Sutter Memorial Hospital each day, always has the potential to draw in the sickest of predators. Judith Hakari, arriving back to her apartment complex at a similar time each night, may very well have been noticed by such an individual, who came pre-prepared with materials of restraint. This opens up the possibility that the perpetrator or perpetrators lived in the same Markston Apartments as Judith Hakari, or in close proximity to it. Or she was trailed from Sutter Memorial Hospital.  

Nancy Bennallack (28), a court reporter, was found brutally stabbed numerous times at the Tahitian Apartments on October 25th 1970. The Tahitian Apartments were just 830 feet from the Markston Apartments, where Judith Hakari was abducted just seven months earlier. Two young women attacked in and around their apartments, opens up the possibility of the same perpetrator who specifically targeted both of these women.

We can now switch to the burial location of Judith Hakari, highly suggestive of somebody who had frequented this location before. The perpetrator or perpetrators of this murder had clearly used the canvas bag to transport the lifeless body of Judith Hakari - which if the three well-dressed men - must have been done six days after her abduction. Whether she was killed a short time after her abduction and stored, or held captive for several days, will likely never be known unless a resolution is found in the next few years. The notion of a killer distancing the body from his home location is not unusual, so as to shift the focus into another area. But whoever abducted Judith Hakari made no attempt to disguise the fact she was the victim of foul play, leaving her vehicle in disarray outside of her apartment complex.

The killer or killers chose the extremely remote, hilly and winding road of Ponderosa Way. They could have pulled up their vehicle and tossed the body of Judith Hakari, in a matter of seconds, down any steep ravine into dense woodland, where she may have gone undetected for months, years, or forever. They could have thrown her body into the North Fork American River, thereby destroying any remaining evidence on the body. Instead, they inexplicably chose to pull onto a dirt road off Ponderosa Way into an area containing wooden buildings, near an old deserted mine entrance. This appears to suggest that this location was known to them - and in relative seclusion away from the main roadway - it would allow them the time to dig a grave. So, what advantage was the killer or killers attempting to gain by delaying or preventing the discovery of the body? They certainly made no effort to disguise the abduction. Was it simply a case of no body, no murder?

The likelihood is that three young men were responsible for the burial of Judith Hakari, with at least one directly involved in her savage murder. The crime was undoubtedly pre-planned by somebody who had observed her routine and took full advantage of a dark, secluded parking lot at near midnight. Although not conclusive, it appears as though her abductor was either familiar with the young woman from Sutter Memorial Hospital, or her comings and goings from the Markston Apartments. The canvas bag, manufactured in Sacramento for the San Juan Unified School District and the ripped toweling could provide a tenuous link to the people responsible.

There is little to suggest the abduction and murder of Judith Hakari has anything to do with the Zodiac Killer, despite the fact he may have latched onto her murder through the San Francisco Chronicle article on September 26th 1970, featuring the disappearance of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970. By mailing the Pines card on March 22nd 1971, he was effectively insinuating he was in the Lake Tahoe/Placer County area in the near timeframe. The murder and rape of Judith Hakari showed none of the features of the Zodiac killings, other than a propensity to rob young victims of their lives with no remorse.

There is a well-researched and informative documentary series on Youtube called Solve Crimes with Rick & Gavin, taking a deep dive into the story of Judith Hakari. If you want to extend your knowledge on the murder of Judith Hakari and hopefully forge a resolution to this 50-year-old case, please click the link above. Or visit their website here. 

Inspired by an idea floated by Dave Oranchak of Zodiac Killer Ciphers and the third instalment of his Let's Crack Zodiac series, we will take another look at the 408 cipher and the notion of a killer who simply skipped a line accidentally when transferring his 17 by 24 plaintext grid into three separate 17 by 8 ciphertext mailings. It was an easy error to make, bearing in mind that the letter E may have began three consecutive rows on the original plaintext 408 (rows 17, 18 and 19). The Zodiac Killer may have inadvertently missed out ELONEORSTRAYPEOPL while transferring from his 17 by 24 plaintext grid into the ciphertext mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. He accidentally enciphered the next row, which also began with the letter E, converting EIHAVEKILLEDWILLB into ciphertext (which unfortunately now began the enciphered message to the Chronicle). This created the appearance of a missing word (such as people) in "the best part of it is that when I die I will be reborn in paradise and all the (people) I have killed will become my slaves".  

The reason for believing that ELONEORSTRAYPEOPL are the missing 17 letters of plaintext, is based on his threats to the three newspapers, who he threatened with devastating consequences if they failed to publish his cipher by the afternoon of Friday, August 1st. The Zodiac Killer, when finishing his encryption, would now realise his mistake, but for whatever reason decided not to go back and correct the error. His original intention may very well have been to leave just one apparently meaningless plaintext letter E at the end of the 408 cipher (effectively creating a 407 character cipher). That is, until we run the decoding process for a second time.

Dave Oranchak showed us how the Zodiac Killer enciphered his letter E's as he traveled through the 408 cipher, by cycling through Z9W+ONE (O with dot). which all represented the letter E and created a repeating sequence (despite breaking down towards the end). This is shown at 32:47 on his Let's Crack Zodiac episode. If we apply a second decoding to the letter E remaining at the end of the 408 cipher, the letter E would now be replaced by the letter Z, which begins this repeating sequence. The 408 cipher would now be complete with a message and signature (or identity). The Zodiac Killer would be signing off his cipher with the letter Z, partially and fully evident in the April 30th 1967 Bates letters and October 27th 1970 Halloween card. Whether the letter E required a second decoding is unproven, but it's a tantalizing prospect regarding a killer who initially boasted "in this cipher is my idenity" - and a missing line that makes this all possible.

Let's Crack Zodiac (Part One)      Let's Crack Zodiac (Part Two)

The Zodiac Killer gave directions to two of his attacks on July 5th 1969 and September 27th 1969. In many communications he teased us with his name, although he always either failed to follow through on this promise of a name or we failed to understand the communication. The Pines card was a blend of previous Zodiac activity, but on this occasion he coalesced both, to provide us with the name of the victim he was claiming through a set of directions, exactly as he did just four months later with the arrival of the Monticello card on July 13th 1971. Both postcards supplying a cryptic array of pasted text to identify the victim's name. The instructions he pasted onto the Pines card aimed at the police, whose home on March 22nd 1971 was located at Fremont Avenue and Mono Way on the south tip of Lake Tahoe. It was a simple affair of "passing the Lake Tahoe areas" on the west side of the lake to the "Sierra Club" at Clair Tappaan Lodge on Donner Pass Road. Then from the roadside edge *peek through the pines" to discover the Sierra Club lodge. Once we placed the pasted text of "Sierra Club" over the Clair Tappaan Lodge, the punched hole fell nicely over the Donner Memorial State Park. The entire card designed to intimate he was responsible for the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass, who could be found buried "around in the snow". EIther this was the case, or it was extremely fortuitous that the Sierra Club was located on Donner Pass Road, and the punched hole just happened to fall over Donner Memorial State Park.

The Zodiac Killer by reading the September 26th 1970, San Francisco Chronicle article of Nurse Vanishes -- A Tahoe Mystery, knew that Donna Lass was a resident of San Francisco and worked at the Letterman General Hospital as a nurse, before leaving in June for the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino. Therefore, it wasn't that difficult for him to retrospectively claim he sought her as victim number 12, before the arrival of the Button letter on June 26th 1970 with the victim count now standing at 12. He was clearly intimating he had sought her prior to her move to South Lake Tahoe, having now finally caught up with her. The whole purpose of the card designed to coalesce his activity in San Francisco and South Lake Tahoe under the Zodiac umbrella.

The notion of an author spending a considerable amount of time choosing this particular card, methodically finding and pasting particular text from newspaper cuttings onto the card, and then punching a hole into a preselected position, to then get the victim total horribly out of sequence, doesn't hold any water. Anybody prepared to go to these lengths to design a postcard, to then be accused of failing to notice the innumerable newspaper articles featuring the Zodiac Killer claiming 12, 13, 14 and 17 victims, simply doesn't stack up. Not withstanding the fact, that the author wasn't claiming 12 victims, because he used the past participle of seek (in sought), thereby taking us back to an earlier time.

The Zodiac Killer wasn't responsible for the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass, however, this cleverly designed and thought out card was created to give the impression he was, by suggesting he had trailed her from state to state and wasn't to be denied. Just four months later he would use exactly the same technique when designing the pasted Monticello card. He again retrospectively claimed the murder of Kathy Bilek on July 13th 1971 when this card was mailed. Kathy Bilek was murdered three months earlier in the Villa Montalvo woods in Saratoga on April 11th 1971 - and hence why the Zodiac Killer used the past tense of "shought victim 21" one again. He was taking us back to an earlier time and claiming he had trailed Kathy Bilek before murdering her. We know he wasn't responsible for the murder of Kathy Bilek (because Karl Francis Werner was ultimately jailed for the crime), and so he was very likely not responsible for the Donna Lass murder either. In both cases he attempted to bamboozle us with cryptic text, to deflect from the reality that he had nothing to do with either crime.

The July 13th 1971 Monticello card was the mirror image of the Pines card. It contained a set of clues to the name of the victim it was referring to, such as "woods", "April" and "near Monticello". April was April 11th 1971, woods was the Villa Montalvo woods, and Monticello was the directional clue to her name. Just as the Pines card directed us to the Donner Pass Road and Donner Memorial State Park, this card directed us to the neighborhood of Monticello in San Jose, where another one of his previously claimed victim's was buried. Donna Lass was claimed to be buried "around in the snow", whereas the clue to the name of Kathy Bilek lay buried in the Oak Hill Memorial Park cemetery. Not only another victim of Karl Francis Werner, but the Zodiac Killer had previously claimed the murder of Kathy Snoozy by the addition of "Aug" in his Dripping Pen card. He chose the resting place of Kathy Snoozy rather than the burial site of Deborah Furlong because Kathy Snoozy was the namesake of Kathy Bilek.

The Monticello card, just like the Pines card, contained a set of directional instructions which revealed a name - and both led to a Memorial Park. This level of ingenuity and thought, not the hallmarks of a casual hoaxer. The Monticello card was the culmination of a deception spanning nearly two years, but as of August 31st 2020 it has never been released into the public domain.

This letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles County, but according to the FBI files was only received by the San Francisco Chronicle on February 14th 1974. This mailing followed the Exorcist letter, widely believed to be the final confirmed correspondence of the Zodiac Killer, mailed on January 29th 1974. There is now strong circumstantial evidence to show that this communication was not mailed by the Zodiac Killer, and was almost certainly authored by a Symbionese Liberation Army member, somebody loosely affiliated with them, or a sympathizer of the group. 

In a previous article we showed an answer to the Zodiac Killer's three main unsolved ciphers, using only his own words. Here we will give an answer to four lines of the 340 cipher using the exact text on the April 20th 1970 letter, changing just two words from past to present tense. The idea is based on a Zodiac Killer giving us his name in the shortened format, in response to the challenge by Dr. Marsh in the October 22nd 1969 San Francisco Examiner. If he responded to the challenge in the 340 cipher, one would expect an introduction on the first line, followed by the answer at its base.

There are three noticeable elements on the 340 cipher - the unusual opening of HER (contained in CIPHER), the reversed K on the sixth row and the "near Zodiac" on the final line. However, their positioning is problematic regarding a Zodiac introduction and incorporating "cipher" into the 340 cryptogram. But not if we vertically flip the cipher on Dave Oranchak's Webtoy. The Zodiac Killer deliberately reversed or flipped the K on the 340 cipher, he deliberately flipped the text on the October 5th 1970 card with "Fk I'm crackproof", and did a similar thing with the "N" on the October 27th 1970 communication, that incorporated "sorry no cipher". The Halloween card also has Paradice and Slaves that can be found in the 340 cipher. So, with no further ado, let us flip the 340 cipher and place the entire introductory text from the April 20th 1970 letter into the 340 cipher.

We just need to change two words from past to present tense. If the solution to the 13 Symbol cipher was "Fk I'm crackproof" as previously shown here, then I would expect this to be the answer on the bottom line of the 340 cipher as well. Both ciphers being the same response to Dr. Marsh. Here is the introduction to the April 20th 1970 letter "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name is__ Fk, I'm crackproof". Here is the new format "This is the Zodiac speaking. Can you crack the cipher. My name is__ Fk I'm crackproof". Now let's introduce this into the flipped 340 cipher. It must accommodate the "HER" of "CIPHER", accommodate the "near Zodiac", accommodate "Fk I'm crackproof" and accommodate the dash symbol after "My name is". 

This is not being claimed as a part answer to the 340 cipher, moreover a strange crossover from one cipher to another.

In the aftermath of the double murder of Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40) on April 22nd 1986, a hitchhiker reported to law enforcement of an "accident" on Highway 99. This case is not only interesting because of the May 6th 1986 "Zodiac" letter, but because it mirrored almost exactly the murder and attempted murder of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969. It also could have mirrored the prelude to the questionable Kathleen Johns abduction on March 22nd 1970, in that Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee may have been ushered to the side of Highway 99 before their murder. It was surmised they had been murdered between 3:15 am and 7:30 am that morning, in what appears to be a motiveless and random attack.

The case for the hitchhiker being the murderer was considered on the basis of this line in the 1986 letter: "They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me". The idea being, the hitchiker reported the murders as an "accident" in a cat and mouse game with authorities. But how can we determine whether or not the hitchhiker was the author of the 1986 letter, or possibly the Zodiac Killer? The link between the 1986, 1987 and 1969 Zodiac communications strongly suggests one author responsible for all five letters, however, this doesn't tell us whether the hitchiker was a concerned citizen performing his civic duty, or somebody toying with the police, who failed to provide any details about himself - and has never been identified to this day.

Either the newspaper reporting in this case was shockingly bad, the hitchhiker was extremely concerned, or he was playing games with the police for at least 70 minutes over a 66 mile journey. The Appeal-Democrat newspaper reported that "Saechao and Saelee, who lived on Dorman Avenue with four children and a grandchild, were sprayed with 15 rounds of small-caliber gunfire as they sat in their car at Highway 99 and Interstate 5, where they had apparently stopped to rest. An unidentified hitchhiker was sought for questioning in connection with the killings. The hitchhiker had flagged down a California Highway Patrol officer in East Nicolaus shortly after the killings to report an auto accident where the couple were found". This hitchhiker apparently flagged down an East Nicolaus patrolman 25 miles north of the crime scene.

The Sacramento Bee ran an article stating "Two victims, Choy Fow Saelee and Koy Ien Saechao, were found dead in their car by a hitchhiker about 6:30 am. Sometime later the hitchhiker reported what he had seen to authorities in Marysville". Marysville (or Marysville Police Department) is 67 miles north of the crime scene, and 18 miles further north from East Nicolaus, along California State Route 70.

The Sacramento Bee ran a much more comprehensive article and wrote "Police discovered the bodies, sitting upright in the front seat of the Mercury, after a hitchhiker told a Chico California Highway Patrol Officer he had witnessed a car wreck at the freeway interchange, Sgt. Bob Burns said". Chico is 90 miles north of the crime scene, a 90 minute car journey, and 49 miles from Marysville.

So, either the information given by law enforcement to the newspapers was wildly inaccurate, the newspapers had reported it incorrectly, or the hitchhiker traveled an extraordinary distance, contacting at least three police forces over a 90 mile journey. Had the latter been the case, the hitchhiker was either an extremely diligent and concerned citizen, or he was playing games in the aftermath of the murder, possibly writing "They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me" just two weeks later. The reported contacts with the hitchhiker were at least consistent with somebody traveling north along Highway 99 and California State Route 70, from Sacramento to Chico. Had the hitchhiker continued north, he would have arrived in Redding, California. To the west was the city of Eureka in Humboldt County.

Because we can confidently authenticate this communication to the Zodiac Killer, it leaves us with the possibility that the release of the Robert Graysmith book may have awoken the Zodiac Killer from his slumber. This crime didn't receive widespread coverage throughout California, so the Zodiac Killer must have been extremely fortunate to have stumbled across a crime that mirrored two of his previously claimed attacks, accompanied by a mysterious and elusive hitchhiker, only a matter of months after Robert Graysmith's Zodiac hit the bookshelves and placed the Zodiac Killer back into the spotlight. Or, it had rewoken his desire for murder once again  - and he was responsible for the murders of Choy Fow Saelee and Koy Ien Saechao in the early morning of April 22nd 1986.

The Zodiac Killer FBI files featured two multi-paged letters, mailed on April 13th 1988 and April 21st 1988 from Stamford, Connecticut. Zodiac researcher, Michael Morford described an anonymous email he received concerning the Stamford communications: "The letters that came from New Haven, CT were from a 17 year old emotionally disturbed genius, He wrote Zodiac symbols on the chalkboard to scare a Girl. He also wrote a graphic letter of how he was going to kill her. The FBI came into town, caught him, and he was sent to Residential counseling". However, the envelopes were postmarked Stamford, Connecticut, 36 miles west of New Haven. The city of Stamford, Connecticut, on the other hand, is just 6 miles south of New Canaan High School.      

The nearest other outlier Zodiac communication we can place in the proximity of New Canaan High School is based around the Atlanta Child murders, in which the author wrote a short note stating "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". This was a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, March 2nd 1981, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn". The Danbury Mint at 47 Richards Avenue in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut is just 3.28 miles from New Canaan High School   

In order to discover the possible 17-year-old responsible for the two 1988 Stamford communications, we can look for 18-year-old graduates in high school yearbooks. The only clues in the Stamford communications were the two decoded cryptograms that mentioned a Shauna (twice) and Missus Taylor. One section read "Shauna, if you wish to know my identity you will have to put some effort into it, not fiddle and fart around. Here is a clue as Missus Taylor. If she remembers who draws the symbol then you will have me". In the 1989 New Canaan High School yearbook, we have the extremely uncommon name of "Shauna" in the name Shauna McCarthy, and "Missus Taylor" in the name Christa Taylor, thereby corroborating the notion of "he wrote Zodiac symbols on the chalkboard to scare a girl". However, if this individual was a disturbed genius, then it would be rather foolish to provide two names that linked back to a classroom he attended, contained within envelopes that bore the address New Canaan. The alternative, is it was somebody who wanted us to believe it was some unhinged 17-year-old teenager writing the Stamford communications. The only viable connection to this classroom with respect to a more plausible Zodiac communication, is the press printed 1981 envelope carrying the Danbury Mint address, just 3.28 miles south of the New Canaan High School. 

Over half of the Danbury Mint's profits support mental health research. The Stanley Family Foundation is the majority shareholder of the company. This charitable organization funds research that would reduce the burden of serious mental illness. Top scientists in the field of genetics, stem cell biology and neurobiology rely on funding from The Stanley Family Foundation to finance their research 

A music or drama teacher would be quite an interesting proposition for a Zodiac Killer who cherished The Mikado.

The Zodiac Killer murdered David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in Benicia on December 20th 1968, before moving into Vallejo on July 4th 1969 with the attack at Blue Rock Springs on Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau. He had successfully committed two late night attacks on two young couples - and by the time he had mailed his July 31st 1969 letters and cryptograms to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald newspapers - the police were no nearer to catching him. By all accounts, this seemed a rather 'successful' opening to his serial killer career, evolving from the murderer of three into the ominous Zodiac Killer by August 4th 1969. This being the case, why did the Zodiac Killer rip up this template of murder and embark on a whole new path on September 27th 1969, leaving many observers to this day questioning the Lake Berryessa stabbings as a Zodiac crime? Rather than constantly examining the modus operandi between the three crimes and questioning their incompatibility with one another, it may be more productive to discover the reasons why the Zodiac Killer dropped an approach that had worked on December 20th 1968 and July 4th 1969, to now adopt a brazen attack with a knife in daylight hours. Something happened externally or internally to provoke this switch in attack style.

The Zodiac Killer by August 4th 1969 had murdered three people, severely injured one, mailed three cryptograms and written four letters. From the outset he placed importance on receiving front page coverage. On July 31st 1969, his trinity of communications demanded that he received front page coverage, stating "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend". Imagine his horror and dismay, that the highest circulation newspapers in the Bay Area ignored his demands and relegated the cryptic murderer of three into relative anonymity on their inner pages. The San Francisco Chronicle published his cryptogram on page four, while the San Francisco Examiner (had in his eyes), literally spat in his face, by placing their portion of the cryptogram on a lowly page nine. This wouldn't go unnoticed by the killer of three on August 4th 1969, who hastily composed a fourth letter with an imposing pseudonym and uttered his displeasure by stating "I was not happy to see that I did not get front page coverage". We have come to understand the Zodiac Killer as a narcissistic braggart, whose primary objective wasn't the murders, but the publicity they generated. This publicity, to him, meant front page coverage in the major newspapers of the day - not page four and certainly not page nine. 

Just when the Zodiac Killer didn't think it could get any worse, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a front page article on August 6th 1969, entitled The Frenzy of San Jose Girls' Slayer, detailing the brutal stabbing murders of two young teenagers in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. This article arrived just two days after his dismay at not receiving front page coverage. The San Francisco Chronicle article read as follows:

The two young girls, found dead Sunday on a sun-parched San Jose hillside, appear to have been victims of a sexual psychopath, whose blood frenzy led him to "overkill."  Dr. John E. Hauser, Santa Clara county's chief medical examiner and coroner, said yesterday that the girls, Deborah Gay Furlong, 14, and Kathy Snoozy, 15, died in a "frenzied flurry of knife-wounds" inflicted so swiftly that neither gave any evidence of having struggled against the attack. Dr. Hauser, so shaken by the brutality of the crime he could scarcely find words, said the Snoozy youngster had 150 wounds on her back, 50 on the front and a "storm" of punctures on her neck. Deborah's body had about 100 wounds on her back and upper front and a dozen on her neck.

PUZZLE: Dr. Hauser said he was "puzzled" by many aspects of the brutal slaying. He said neither girl had been sexually molested; neither had suffered any wounds below her waist, neither gave evidence of having struggled to escape. Only the Snoozy girl, he said, had one small mark on her hand, suggesting she may have tried vainly to deflect the plunging knife. The coroner said both girls must have died very quickly and he is investigating the possibility they may have been drugged before the stabbing began. Blood and skin samples as well as stomach contents have been sent for further examination to area laboratories, he said. The results should be known in a few days. It is Dr. Hauser's opinion that the multiple puncture wounds were inflicted by one or two small knives, the largest wound the size of a pocket knife with a half-inch blade. "I've never seen a case with this many stab wounds," Dr. Hauser said. "You know, I've been in this profession a long time and sometimes I think I'm rather callous, but when I saw these girls, believe me it was terrifying. "The Nazi sex mutilations during World War II were nothing compared to what was done to these young girls.

INVESTIGATION: So far, according to Chief of San Jose Detectives Barton Collins, his investigators have uncovered no solid clues to the slaying. He said police and sheriff's deputies are looking for a "light colored van—a Volkswagen, a Dodge, a Chevrolet or a Ford" in which the girls may have been killed and then rolled, carried or dragged down the hillside to a grove of snarled, dusty oaks where their bodies were found. Both he and the coroner emphasized that at the scene there was almost no blood, suggesting they had been slain elsewhere. Collins said he and his men have talked to at least 200 people so far, searching for some information that might draw them closer to the killer. Asked if he were looking for a "mad man," Collins, pale and exhausted, snapped: "I'm looking for a killer and it doesn't matter whether he was under drugs or what." Collins did not mention this, but the Chronicle learned that wedged in between the two bodies of the dead girls police found a "new," but empty beer can. There was speculation the killer may have rolled or carried one girl down, then finished off a can of beer, and then disposed of the second body without noticing the can. The scene, not more than six blocks from where the two girls lived with their families in a neat, prosperous subdivision in San Jose's Almaden area, was utterly desolate yesterday. A few small boys on bicycles paused to look up at the tanned knoll, swathed with wide paths used for scrambles by neighborhood motorcyclists, and scurried off. Normally scores of children play in that area, because, in the words of Deborah's father, Glen Furlong, "It's the only open area close by where kids can go to." Housewives living in the immediate area, across the street and around the corner, conceded they were suddenly "very frightened." One mother said that since the murder she had seen some children poking around the scene, and added, "We were shocked. "Maybe their parents don't care. But I wouldn't let mine go up there . . . "

PUBLICITY: Although very close to tears, Furlong said yesterday that he was allowing interviews in the hope that more and more publicity "would trigger something in someone's mind and we can solve this crime." The 40-year old father works at the big International Business Machines plant only about a mile away from the family home. He is a senior associate engineer in the logic design section of IBM and he tried to bring objectivity to the disaster that has befallen his family. "The individual or individuals who did this either had to be deranged or high on dope or something of that nature," he said. "They didn't know what they were doing. It was such a senseless killing." He said his neighborhood has never had any problems, although mahy complain about the noise made by the weekend cyclists. He noted parenthetically that the riders are not of the Hell's Angel variety, but use lighter motorcycles. He said his neighbors were "very sympathetic," but complained he found some of his phone calls "very disconcerting."

CALLERS: "On several occasions people have called and as soon as we answer, they hang up," he said in bewilderment. Furlong tried to control his emotions as he spoke of his eldest daughter — one of his four children. "She was only a freshman in high school," he said, "and this was the first year we allowed her to date. We talked to her about it, and I sort of teased her. She went out with a boy friend a few times — a very nice boy who came over yesterday morning to extend his condolences — but most of her social activities were confined to her school. She was never any trouble." School mates and neighborhood friends of Deborah said the girl, very slim and looking more like a 10-year-old than a 14-year-old, was "just an ordinary nice girl who baby set and had a boy friend and talked about becoming an airline stewardess."

CHILDREN: The other Furlong children are Glen, 16; Floyd, 12, and Pamela, 11. Furlong said he did not know and had not yet talked to Kathy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Snoozy. Both Snoozy, a carpet layer, and Mrs. Snoozy reportedly are in a state of collapse. Her funeral has been scheduled Friday at 11 a.m. at the Place Funeral Home in Los Gatos. Burial will be at Oak Wood Cemetery in Santa Cruz. Funeral services for Kathy will be held tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 p.m. at the Oak Hill Memorial Park Mortuary in San Jose. Burial will be at Oak Hill Memorial Park.  

The Zodiac Killer, avidly scanning the newspapers for progress on his cryptograms and latest letter, must have been bitterly disappointed that these murders committed in San Jose featured front and center of the San Francisco Chronicle, while his three murders, allied to his cryptic ciphers, were relegated to page four and nine of the two San Francisco newspapers. He needed to switch his approach to murder and hit San Francisco hard.

The phrases of "The Nazi sex mutilations during World War II were nothing compared to what was done to these young girls", the title of "The Frenzy of San Jose Girls' Slayer" and "Dr. Hauser, so shaken by the brutality of the crime he could scarcely find words", must have resonated with the Bay Area murderer. He knew that to generate the front page coverage he so badly craved, he needed to switch from gun to knife in a savage close-quarter attack. However, he needed to elevate the fear by dressing up in a costume with his moniker emblazoned on his chest, akin to the fear the Nazi swastika instilled in its victims. He would also ramp up the terror by using a bayonet-style knife, rather than the pocket knife used in the Snoozy and Furlong murders. This article alone was the driver behind the Lake Berryessa stabbings, and effectively sealed Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard's fate, seven weeks in advance of the crime. The Zodiac Killer, dressed in ordinary clothes, gazed into the mirror and effectively saw the costumed Lake Berryessa murderer staring back at him. His fantasy was taking shape.         

Three girls from Pacific Union College may have been the initial target of the Zodiac Killer as he scoured the hillsides of Lake Berryessa, but circumstances unknown would ultimately change what transpired. Two hours later, an ominous figure stepped out from behind a tree at Twin Oak Ridge and bore down on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. The Zodiac Killer's fantasy, driven by the August 6th 1969 San Francisco Chronicle article, had emerged into reality. The Snoozy and Furlong murders on August 3rd 1969 were about to be replicated in the mind of a killer. The costume specifically designed and crafted with care, by a man who fed into his own narcissism and who was now on the verge of securing the recognition he felt he so richly deserved. Whether the couple survived the upcoming attack and reported what they saw was incidental - the Zodiac Killer had now satiated his desire to become the embodiment of fear, he viewed as being denied from him and his accomplishments after the trinity of cryptic communications on July 31st 1969.

After the attack on the couple, he made his way up the hillside to the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell and defiantly listed his accomplishments on the door of the vehicle, but specifically added the words "by knife" at the foot of the message. He was effectively making a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle (and to a lesser extent, The Examiner), "do I get front page coverage now". The Snoozy and Furlong murders, in his mind, had overshadowed his accomplishments at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, despite the cryptic offerings he had so painstakingly crafted. So he crafted a costume instead and attempted to ramp the fear factor to a new level. The fact that Bryan Hartnell survived the Lake Berryessa attack, inadvertently played right into his hands. The evil, fear-inducing costume he had carefully crafted and labored over, was now the focus and feeding frenzy of a media gripped by this new revelation. The second coming of Zodiac was now complete - and his requirement to converse with the newspapers strangely deflated, because Bryan Hartnell had successfully recounted the details of Lake Berryessa with astonishing clarity and vividness. The Zodiac Killer had now been reborn and resurrected from gun-toting lunatic into the embodiment of evil. This crime also had one added benefit with respect to the identity of the killer of Snoozy and Furlong - and I doubt this possibility escaped the attention of the Zodiac Killer when he arrived at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969.    

In an article entitled Another Grim Message by Paul Avery, a link between the Lake Berryessa stabbings and the murder of the two San Jose teenagers was pondered by both investigators and newspapers alike. The Zodiac Killer had deliberately emphasized "by knife" on the car door at Twin Oak Ridge, and included "Aug" in his victim months on the Dripping Pen card for this very reason. When he mailed the November 8th 1969 Dripping Pen card, he requested "I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. PS 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 !!!!!!  Des July Aug Sept Oct = 7". The Zodiac Killer didn't need to demand front page coverage anymore, he knew he would get it. By committing the Lake Berryessa stabbings and including "Aug" in his chronology of months, he had effectively planted the seed in investigators minds that he could have been responsible for the Snoozy and Furlong murders in August. He had essentially bought himself front page coverage by piggybacking off a crime he already knew had achieved this status on August 6th 1969.
Just like the threat to pick off schoolchildren and blow up a school bus, the savagery of these two close-quarter attacks demanded he be taken seriously. Whatever we say about the Zodiac Killer, his marketing skills were second to none. He knew how to turn page four and page nine into page one, placing Another Grim Message proudly on the news stands of San Francisco.    

The importance of the San Francisco Chronicle article from August 6th 1969 cannot be underestimated with respect to Lake Berryessa and future Zodiac communications. Who would remember the burial location of one of the victims from San Jose, if not the killer who was so influenced by this very article? Who then shifted from impersonal double shootings at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, to intimate stabbings at Lake Berryessa. Only somebody invested in murder during the time  period this article was released, would have reason to remember where the two San Jose teenagers were laid to rest. Under CHILDREN in the August 6th 1969 Chronicle article, it stated "The other Furlong children are Glen, 16; Floyd, 12, and Pamela, 11. Furlong said he did not know and had not yet talked to Kathy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Snoozy. Both Snoozy, a carpet layer, and Mrs. Snoozy reportedly are in a state of collapse. Her funeral has been scheduled Friday at 11 a.m. at the Place Funeral Home in Los Gatos. Burial will be at Oak Wood Cemetery in Santa Cruz. Funeral services for Kathy will be held tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 p.m. at the Oak Hill Memorial Park Mortuary in San Jose. Burial will be at Oak Hill Memorial Park".

The Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery in San Jose lies in the Monticello neighborhood, just nine miles east of the Villa Montalvo woods, where Kathy Bilek was brutally stabbed on April 11th 1971 - and who the Zodiac Killer referenced in his July 13th 1971 communication, stating "Near Monticello Shought Victims 21 ...... In The Woods Dies April". There are a multitude of places in San Jose the author of this card could have chosen, but he chose Monticello. The exact place Kathy Snoozy was buried - and the teenager whose murder he insinuated his involvement in on November 8th 1969. When Karl Francis Werner was attributed with the murders of Deborah Furlong, Kathy Snoozy and Kathy Bilek, the Zodiac Killer had the option to recuse himself of all involvement in the two San Jose murders. But that wasn't his style. The attack at Lake Berryessa, the Dripping Pen card, and a whole host of communications involving San Jose had locked him into a lie he was unwilling to relinquish. He would effectively try to reclaim the Snoozy and Furlong murders, by also claiming the Kathy Bilek murder in Saratoga and calling Werner a phony. The Zodiac Killer had simply invested too much time and effort into this elaborate facade, that was encapsulated by his theatrical performance at Lake Berryessa. Two years he had lived in a house of illusion - and Karl Francis Werner was not going to tear it down.