October 22nd 1969: PALO ALTO (AP) - Patrol cars convoyed school buses around Palo Alto yesterday after a telephoned murder threat by a man claiming to be the Zodiac killer of five persons. The caller to the Palo Alto Times said he intended to "pick the kids off as they get on the school bus." The weird slayer, who signs himself "The Zodiac," made a similar threat in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle last week after the Oct. 11 shooting of a taxi driver. Handwriting tests and descriptions of two victims who survived have convinced police that the same person. The district transportation supervisor said an armed guard might ride with each of the system's 25 buses. Officers in Napa and Vallejo, areas of the first three murderous attacks, some 75 miles north of Palo Alto, have been convoying police officers. Palo Alto Police Chief William Hydie called the new threat "extremely serious," but warned against over reaction to what might be a crank call.

This threat was extremely similar to the October 13th 1969 letter, in which the Zodiac Killer claimed "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". At no point in either the October 13th 1969 letter or the Palo Alto telephone call did the perpetrator claim anything other than "picking off the kiddies as they come bouncing out" or "picking the kids off as they get on the school bus". The emphasis was squarely on shooting schoolchildren in close proximity to a school bus.

The mailing of the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969 was the first time the Zodiac Killer suggested he was going to blow up a school bus by use of a bomb. He mocked the police who believed he was going to "pick off kids" by use of a firearm. The Zodiac Killer stated "If you cops think I'm going to take on a bus the way I stated I was, you deserve to have holes in your heads". He continued "What you do not know is whether the death machine is at the sight or whether it is being stored in my basement for future use. I think you do not have the manpower to stop this one by continually searching the road sides looking for this thing. + it wont do to re roat + re schedule the busses because the bomb can be adapted to new conditions". It was painfully clear that the Zodiac Killer was intimating the use of a bomb to kill schoolchildren. However, the November 9th 1969 communication may not have been the Zodiac Killer's first contact with police with respect to blowing up a school bus. This threat was telephoned through to the Santa Rosa Police Department a matter of days after the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969. The call arrived on, or shortly before October 15th 1969.

On October 21st 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled Fear Rides the Yellow Bus, stating "A climate of fear hangs over the Napa Valley. The fear is over "Zodiac" and his terrifying boast to "wipe out a school bus". No one takes the threat lightly, Zodiac has already struck here. The task of trying to insure the safety of 10,000 youngsters who ride the Napa Valley Unified School District is immense. The district encompasses an area of Southern Napa County of 229 square miles. Sixty-four bright yellow buses travel the county roadways each day - often into areas where houses are a couple of miles apart. The vehicles go a total of 4,000 miles daily in and from elementary schools, three junior highs and one senior high school. Even before starting on its routes each vehicle has undergone a thorough check to make sure a bomb isn't aboard. Someone hinting he might be Zodiac has telephoned such a threat in Santa Rosa. The man responsible for the safety of the students who ride the buses is Fred Sowash, the district's transportation director. Since last Wednesday, when he learned of Zodiac's threat, Sowash has been devoting 18 to 20 hours a day to blunt it".   

This article was released on Tuesday, October 21st 1969, indicating that the threat Fred Sowash was aware of last Wednesday, must have been delivered by the man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer on October 15th 1969 at the latest. The telephone threat could conceivably have been delivered as early as October 14th 1969, the day before the October 15th 1969 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported a connection between the Paul Stine murder and the Zodiac Killer. But crucially, the October 15th 1969 Chronicle article withheld the threat of "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out", for fear of stateside panic. This meant that any telephone caller to Santa Rosa Police Department on October 15th 1969 (or slightly earlier) threatening to blow up a school bus and kill schoolchildren, gave this information over the phone before any threat on schoolchildren was ever released in the newspapers. This caller effectively pre-empted the last paragraph of the Stine letter in absence of its contents being published. This almost certainly means, that the telephone caller claiming to be the Zodiac Killer on October 15th 1969, was the Zodiac Killer. He not only threatened schoolchildren before the full Stine letter contents were made public, but he threatened the use of a bomb to attack a school bus, twenty-five days before the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. 

                                       THE SANTA ROSA THREAT:MUST PRINT IN PAPER

An unknown caller claiming to be the Zodiac Killer threatened Daniel Williams, a Richmond high school teacher, from October 23rd 1969 to November 2nd 1969. It was reported that the sadistic caller stated he was going to "kill the lady in the blue house". Despite previous exploration of this subject, here we will examine two new ideas related to the lady in the blue house. One will be a simplistic approach, while the second may understandably be regarded as far-fetched.

It could be argued that it would be rather meaningless for the sadistic caller to threaten a woman in a blue house, had this woman got no connection whatsoever to Daniel Williams. The caller was clearly targeting Daniel Williams and attempting to unnerve him. When Daniel Williams left his house on November 2nd 1969, the killer gained access by prying open his screen door and placing some arsenic in his soft drink. There is every chance that the perpetrator had followed Daniel Williams to some extent and was aware of his departure from his Martinez home that day. Had this person also seen Daniel Williams visit or converse with a woman in a blue house, possibly on Bush Street where he lived - and knowing that he was friendly with this woman - he knew that a threat to kill her would resonate with the school teacher? Threatening an unknown woman to Daniel Williams, plucked from nothing more than his imagination, appears rather pointless. However, there is a more unlikely alternative.  

The newspapers stated that the caller gave no explanation regarding the lady in the blue house, so either he expected Daniel Williams to work it out, or he had planned a future attack on a woman unknown to Daniel Williams, but hoped that Daniel Williams would relay his intention to "kill the lady in the blue house" to police. When his next attack was then threatened or carried out, police would understand that he was responsible for both events. It was suggested in the previous article that the sadistic caller may have had unfinished business with Daniel Williams after the failed poisoning, hence his statement of "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people" in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter, thereby leaving investigators to speculate upon his intentions during the beginning of November and the likelihood of murder for the remainder of the month. Since nothing materialized with respect to Daniel Williams in this window of time and subsequent to November 9th 1969, it could be reasoned that it was just another idle, but menacing threat from the Zodiac Killer (assuming he played any part in the Daniel William affair). But what of his threat to "kill the lady in the blue house". 

The next possible letter by the Zodiac Killer arrived at the San Jose Police Department on November 21st 1969, threatening a woman and accompanied by the wording "There's no doubt I will do my Thing!". In the Dripping Pen card the Zodiac Killer wrote "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". Was the communication on November 21st 1969 the bad news he had promised us, and the culmination of the threat to "kill the lady in the blue house"? In this communication the author threatened a widow, with enough detail in the letter that police were able to identify her. They took the threat extremely seriously, instituting 24-hour surveillance on her and her property. It is impossible, fifty-one years after the fact, to establish whether any connection existed between this woman and Daniel Williams. The likelihood of a connection is extremely remote, but it would have been interesting to find out the color of her house. 

Daniel Williams, a Salesian High School teacher in Richmond, received ten days of sadistic telephone calls beginning on October 23rd 1969 from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer. These calls were probably dismissed as the genuine Zodiac Killer because of the language adopted in the calls, mimicking the hoax caller who addressed Melvin Belli on the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. Daniel Williams would recall that the menacing caller would also "sob and complain of headaches". However, the calls to Daniel Williams shouldn't be ruled out on this basis, because two months later the real Zodiac Killer did speak of "losing control" and having difficulty "holding it in check" when writing to Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969. In previous articles covering this topic, the city of Richmond was identified as a possible future target on his Bus Bomb crosshairs. Also, the phraseology of “I’m too smart for them" by the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams was compared to the passage in the Bus Bomb letter of "I have been too clever for them". However, there is a little bit more.

It was November 2nd 1969 when Daniel Williams received the final call from the man presumably impersonating the Zodiac Killer, with the menacing threat of “You’re the dead duck". He would then leave his house in Martinez and return later, only to find his screen door pried open and arsenic in his soft drink. Fortunately for Daniel Williams he noticed the metallic taste and spat it out, which undoubtedly saved his life. Clearly the murder of Daniel Williams had been thwarted, meaning the perpetrator had unfinished business. This is why I find the Zodiac Killer's opening statement in the Bus Bomb letter particularly unusual. The opening line of the November 9th 1969 communication began "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people".  But why didn't he just declare "This is the Zodiac speaking. I have killed 7 people to date", or "This is the Zodiac speaking. I have murdered 7 people". He deliberately chose to say "up to the end of Oct", almost like there was a murder he was still engineering or was attempting to complete between the end of October and November 9th 1969. In other words, he had unfinished business. Bearing in mind the murder attempt on Daniel Williams took place on November 2nd 1969, he may have been signalling by the statement of "up to the end of Oct" that he wasn't finished with Daniel Williams just yet. Especially when we consider that just a few lines later he issued the statement of "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them", in extremely similar fashion to “I’m too smart for them" spoken over the phone to Daniel Williams.    

When we couple these observations with his Dripping Pen card on November 8th 1969, the story becomes a little more intriguing. It too gives the impression of unfinished business. The card read "This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. 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 wording of "I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news". appears to indicate that the Zodiac Killer has, or is actively seeking to generate some bad news - which would usually involve murder. He then qualifies this statement by adding "You won't get the news for a while yet". This could indicate that he had plans for murder, but was yet to complete his mission. If he was the caller and poisoner of Daniel Williams, his failed murder attempt may have inspired the statement of "up to the end of Oct" and "You won't get the news for a while yet" in reference to his continued pursuit of the Richmond school teacher. Ironically, the Dripping Pen card would be accompanied by the Zodiac Killer's second lengthy cryptogram, the first of which was cracked by a Salinas High School teacher.


RELEVANT ARTICLES: THE PROMISE OF MURDER ON LINE 5    A KILLER ON LINE FIVE

The above story broke in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, the day before the Zodiac Killer's Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. The previous two articles [1] [2] explored the idea that the Zodiac Killer may have positioned one of the X's on the Bus Bomb crosshairs to signify an impending attack/murder in Richmond, based upon the fact Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School. How the police came to the conclusion this wasn't the genuine Zodiac Killer by virtue of relayed phone messages, appears rather speculative. If this wasn't the Zodiac Killer, then it becomes a distinct possibility that somebody known to Daniel Williams was trying to kill him, using the Zodiac Killer as a convenient fall guy.

However, there are crucial parts of the Daniel Williams story that were not covered in the San Francisco Chronicle article above. The day after this article was published, the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked, meaning it was out of the Zodiac Killer's hands by November 9th 1969. The Bus Bomb letter continued the theme of threatening schoolchildren by means of a bomb. But the November 9th 1969 letter contained one important line, after his introduction of "changing his way of collecting slaves". He stated "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

The following day (November 10th), the Desert Sun newspaper would expand on the details of the sadistic phone call to Daniel Williams. It read "MARTINEZ (UPI)—A young scoolteacher who received threatening telephone calls for 10 days thought the caller was a crank who was pretending to be the Zodiac Killer. But police took the threats seriously after 24-year-old Daniel Williams found a lethal dose of arsenic in a bottle of soft drink in his refrigerator. Williams, a teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond, told police the caller talked of how he intended to kill several persons, then last; Sunday said: “You’re the dead duck.” Williams went out and when he returned home found someone had pried open the screen on a back door. However, a police search showed nothing was missing. But after the officers left and Williams took a drink from a bottle of opened soft drink in his refrigerator, he found it tasted “metallic” and immediately spat it out. Police reported Friday that the bottle contained more than enough arsenic to kill a human being. Williams said the caller identified himself as the still sought Zodiac killer of five, but police discounted the idea. The caller would “sob and complain of headaches.” Williams said, and on one occasion said he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there. Williams said the caller told him: “I’m too smart for them". This story was also published (word for word) in the San Mateo Times on November 8th 1969.

The sadistic phone calls to Daniel Williams began on October 23rd 1969 and lasted 10 days until November 2nd 1969, with the caller mocking police by stating “I’m too smart for them". The Zodiac Killer in reference to the police on November 9th 1969 (Bus Bomb letter), stated "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them". Very similar phraseology aimed towards the police by the real Zodiac Killer and somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, separated by approximately one week. The expanded story of Daniel Williams (in the Desert Sun on November 10th) was copied from an identical version in the San Mateo Times newspaper, published on November 8th 1969, which covered the details of the phone call boasting “I’m too smart for them". But if the Zodiac Killer only read the Chronicle article (which didn't cover the phrase), then it's rather fortuitous that he would also use the near identical wording of "I have been too clever for them" at the beginning of the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969. If they were not the same person, then there is a possibility that the Zodiac Killer read the version of Daniel Williams story, covered in the San Mateo Times or another newspaper prior to the mailing of the Bus Bomb letter, and used the phraseology of the sadistic caller detailed in the newspapers in his latest letter, so as to convince the police he was the caller and poisoner of Daniel Williams. Does the phraseology suggest one perpetrator as sadistic caller and Bus Bomb letter author, a Zodiac Killer mimicking the newspaper articles, or is the wording just a simple coincidence?

RELEVANT ARTICLES: THE PROMISE OF MURDER ON LINE 5    A KILLER ON LINE FIVE

Daniel Williams (24), a young school teacher from Martinez, California started receiving sadistic calls from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, beginning on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). While this was initially passed off as just another copycat by Daniel Williams, he and the police took it extremely seriously when a lethal dose of arsenic was discovered in a soft drink inside his refrigerator. Many copycats forging communications and phone calls would not be considered unusual in a high profile case such as the Zodiac Killer, but I doubt many would take it to the next level and commit murder in the name of impersonating the murderer of five. The phone calls spanned a period of ten days, culminating in somebody breaking into his house and spiking his drink. Had Daniel Williams not noticed the metallic taste in his drink, the young teacher would have been a "dead duck" as the phone caller had promised.

The Zodiac Killer, would eventually, on November 9th 1969, promise to "change the way the collecting of slaves". Was this the first step in that direction, attempting to kill remotely after his fortunate escape subsequent to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, buoyed by the publicity he received during the Jim Dunbar Show circus?

The Zodiac Killer may not be responsible for the phone calls or attempted murder of Daniel Williams during this period, however, it may be possible he was inspired by the reporting of this story. The case of Daniel Williams was reported in the Zodiac Killer's favorite newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, the day before the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. One notable passage in the San Francisco Chronicle read "The string of sadistic calls began on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). On one occasion, the caller told Williams he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there". Did the Zodiac Killer use this to his advantage? In the previous article, The Promise of Murder on Line 5, it was noted that the Zodiac Killer placed four X's around his Bus Bomb letter crosshairs, possibly denoting the seven victims he was claiming. Only line 5 (the fifth X) was unexplained. This line ran over the city of Richmond.   

On October 13th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter with an ominous warning at its base, stating "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". The caller to Daniel Williams had continued this theme by claiming "he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".

Daniel Williams residence was situated at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez, so why would police have visited a Martinez school, when Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond? Wouldn't police more likely have placed protection in and around the Richmond school where he worked? Isn't it more likely the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams may have planned to target the Richmond school, with police pre-empting this eventuality? The newspaper may have made an error, and should have read "he had gone to a Richmond school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".

The Zodiac Killer, had he read this newspaper article the day before he mailed the Bus Bomb letter, would have known Daniel Williams taught kids at Salesian High School in Richmond (even if he wasn't the caller or poisoner). Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer's recent fascination with targeting schoolchildren, the notion that line 5 on the Bus Bomb crosshairs runs directly over Salesian High School in Richmond and may have been chosen deliberately by the Zodiac Killer, is not out of the question. The Bay Area murderer may have been insinuating a continued threat towards the school where Daniel Williams taught, thereby attempting to lay credence to his involvement in the phone calls and poisoning. Or maybe he was just taunting the police. 

FOLLOW UP ARTICLES: DID ZODIAC POISON DANIEL WILLIAMS?   DID ZODIAC POISON DANIEL WILLIAMS? [PT2]

After watching the very educational and insightful presentation of Let's Crack Zodiac (Part Four) by Dave Oranchak for the National Cryptologic Museum, the section about the X's positioned around the Bus Bomb crosshairs sparked a fresh interest. Dave Oranchak is correct when he identifies the difficulty regarding scale when overlaying the crosshairs over a map. The Zodiac Killer overlayed his crosshairs over Mount Diablo as part of the Button letter on June 26th 1970, which he followed up with a further clue in the Little List letter on July 26th 1970. The Zodiac Killer explicitly stated that the crosshairs were to be set to Magnetic North (17 degrees in 1970). Therefore, it wasn't particularly surprising that the center of the black circle around the circumference of the first crosshairs on the Little List letter, fell exactly at 4 radians when set to Magnetic North, ultimately identifying Ingleside Police Station as the focus for the bomb.

Two overlays were used to great effect in the June 26th and July 26th communications. It is with little doubt that the Bus Bomb crosshairs were designed to pinpoint locations as well. However, as Dave Oranchak pointed out, the scaling of such an operation is likely to lead to inaccuracy. Therefore, we have to treat the crosshairs on the Bus Bomb letter as a guide. Only a day earlier, the Zodiac Killer had listed his murder count on the Dripping Pen card, mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969. He chronologically listed the murders he was claiming by use of months, writing "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7".

We know the Zodiac Killer had murdered five victims at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, but he added in the murders of Kathy Snoozy and Deborah Furlong in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. To this point, the Zodiac Killer had listed his victims, but always left us dangling with the promise of more murders. Would it be all that unusual if the Zodiac Killer again pinpointed these seven victims the following day by use of X's around the circumference of his crosshairs, just like he pinpointed 4 radians and Magnetic North around the circumference of his crosshairs in the Little List letter on July 26th 1970 - with both crosshairs overlayed over Mount Diablo. But in true Zodiac style, the promise of another location in which he would soon murder. If this were the case, we would expect one X on the circumference of the Bus Bomb crosshairs to be unknown.              

To a reasonable degree of accuracy, line [1] falls over Lake Berryessa and the murder victim Cecelia Shepard. Line [2] passes directly over Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, accounting for David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen and Darlene Ferrin. Line [3] passes over Presidio Heights and the murder of Paul Stine. Line [4] passes over San Jose and the murders of Kathy Snoozy & Deborah Furlong. These were the locations of his seven victims which he had claimed just a day earlier. One line remains unknown. This line passes over Walnut Creek (where Elaine Davis was abducted from on December 1st 1969, and eventually murdered), as well as Richmond and San Rafael. Had the Zodiac Killer deliberately created this X on the 9 o'clock position as a teaser to his next destination of murder? Next to the bottom right quadrant of his crosshairs on the Bus Bomb letter, he wrote "Be sure to print the part I marked out on page 3 or I shall do my thing". Considering this section of text was placed next to the crosshairs with the X's, was his "thing" going to occur somewhere in the vicinity of Walnut Creek, Richmond or San Rafael, along the unknown line? As far as we know, no murders can be connected to the Zodiac Killer over the next few months in these locations, making you wonder whether this was just another threat that didn't materialize. Or it was simply just a game he was playing.  

FOLLOW UP ARTICLE: A KILLER ON LINE FIVE  

The problem with solving the Zodiac Killer's 32 Symbol cipher and Phillips 66 Map code, is a failure to follow the instructions given by the killer in the June 26th 1970 letter and its follow up on July 26th 1970. The Zodiac Killer stated "The map coupled with this code will tell you where the bomb is set.  You have untill next Fall to dig it up". This tells us that the solution to the 32 symbol cipher will not supply us with the exact position of the supposed bomb. Any solution to this 32 character code pinpointing the exact position of the bomb will be incorrect, because this can only be realized by coupling it with the map. Therefore, the position of the bomb to be set, was a combination of both code and map.

In his following letter he stated "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians". This tells you that the code is about radians and inches but not necessarily the entire solution. Any solution to the position of the bomb that doesn't use radians and inches (as implicitly stated by the killer) will be wrong. The phrase "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians" would supply the inches value, hence the hashtag before inches, along with the arrow beneath, instructing us to insert a value here. This isn't rocket science - the hashtag is widely recognized as a number sign, so by placing this immediately before the word "inches", the Zodiac Killer is telling us to insert a number before inches. The only way to find a bomb in Northern California using his instructions, is to travel a set amount of radians around his crosshairs, and then subtend a set amount of inches from it. In this case, a number of radians around Mount Diablo and a number of inches from it. Placing a hashtag and arrow before the word "inches", is rather a giveaway that a number value should precede it. Even the map code was 6.4 miles to the inch. Any solution that gives us the answer in degrees or miles is wrong, because "The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians". We need to follow his instructions. This is why any theory of crime scene locations being chosen because they are separated by a radian or near radian value, is wrong also. The whole premise of the June 26th 1970 letter was to discover the location of his bomb, not measure angles between crime scenes or any other object we choose to construct or imagine

The Zodiac Killer gave us crosshairs superimposed over Mount Diablo with an arrow pointer set in the north facing position, "to be set to Mag. N". He allocated it a zero position, with a 3, 6 and 9 in the form of a clock face around its circumference. This was to instruct us to travel clockwise around the circumference of the crosshairs, to be set at 17 degrees (which was the magnetic north value in 1970). We had to travel a set amount of radians around his crosshairs over Mount Diablo, in addition to this value of 17 degrees. So, we are looking for a set amount of inches and a set amount of radians. The Zodiac Killer was incapable of keeping secrets and resisting putting pen to paper, so just one month later he gave us the answer, when the July 26th 1970 letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle.          

Never done before or since by the Zodiac Killer, he drew a big fat zero around the circumference of his crosshairs with SFPD alongside it. This represented the San Francisco Police Department. The center of the bold, black circle sat extremely close to 246.2 degrees, which is 4 radians and magnetic north. This was the radian component of "The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians". The answer was 4 radians. All we had to do now was find the "inches" value.

The Zodiac Killer mailed virtually every correspondence to the San Francisco Chronicle, describing the makeup of his bomb on November 9th 1969. He followed this up with a diagram of a school bus and photoelectric cells on April 20th 1970, referencing the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell on February 16th 1970, who suffered devastating and sadly fatal injuries two months earlier, when a bomb packed with fence staples exploded on an outside ledge of Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood of San Francisco. The Zodiac wrote about the "blast" he was going to have when he mailed the Dragon card on April 28th 1970. All of these communications directed towards the San Francisco Chronicle indicating he was constructing a bomb, with the SFPD attribution totaling zero adorning many. Therefore, it's pretty obvious that placing SFPD around the circumference of his crosshairs, next to a big fat zero and set close to a value of 4 radians and magnetic north (4 X 57.3 + 17), indicates that the target for the bomb is San Francisco - or more specifically - the San Francisco Police Department. When the above crosshairs are set over Mount Diablo, we now have to travel 4 radians and magnetic north from the peak of the mountain. Let us now find the inches value to be inserted into "Radians and # inches along the radians".

We actually don't have to look hard to find the answer. The land mass and geography of San Francisco is such, that only 5 inches can fall over it. Using the map scale of 6.4 miles to the inch, anything less than 5 inches, and anything more than 5 inches, doesn't fall inside San Francisco. Therefore, there is only one answer. The same applies to the radians value. Anything more or less than 4 radians and magnetic north (such as 5 radians and magnetic north, or 3 radians and magnetic north), doesn't fall inside the geography of San Francisco. A bomb threat on San Francisco (hence SFPD=0), can only be 4 radians and magnetic north, and 5 inches along that radian value. The choice of words by the Zodiac Killer when he wrote "Radians and # inches along the radians". were chosen carefully. We were instructed to find "radians", and an amount of "inches" along the amount of "radians" we found. Once we found the radians value, we would travel 5 inches along that radian. The answer to the map was the magnetic north value of 17 degrees, to be coupled with four radians and five inches of the code. The two "coupled" together gave us the full answer. Druzer, an avid Zodiac researcher, came up with a solution to the 32 character code which I believe is correct, when he suggested Estimate: four radians and five inches. This solution not only satisfies the 32 characters, but correlates three plaintext letters to the only three repeating ciphertext characters in the code, thereby providing a perfectly valid key. See The Blast Estimate of Zodiac, The Blast Estimate of Zodiac (Part Two). and The Blast Estimate of Zodiac (Part Three).

The map scale is 6.4 miles to the inch. This gives us a distance of 6.4 multiplied by 5 (inches). Therefore, the bomb was to be set close to 4 radians and magnetic north, and 32 miles from the peak of Mount Diablo. The only San Francisco Police Department that comes anywhere close is Ingleside Police Station. This San Francisco Police Department sits at 30.96 miles from the peak of Mount Diablo (4.84 inches). It also sits at 251 degrees from the peak of Mount Diablo (4.08 radians).

The Zodiac Killer gave us a rough guide of 4 radians and magnetic north, and 5 inches (hence the word "estimate"). If he had given us the exact measurement, it would have been 4.08 radians and 4.84 inches, He was clearly giving us an approximate measurement. Since Ingleside Police Station was the only San Francisco Police Department anywhere close to these measurements, it's fairly obvious this was his target. The Zodiac Killer's distance in miles was 96.8% accurate. His angular accuracy in degrees was 98.0%. The Zodiac Killer was very unlikely to have selected a specific target that fell on an exact whole number of radians and inches.   

The Zodiac Killer was targeting Ingleside Police Station for his bomb, but clearly he wasn't going to start digging a hole on the lawn of Ingleside Police Station. The Zodiac Killer also threatened to blow up a school bus on April 20th 1970, in which he drew us a diagram with a steep embankment on the right, with the sun rising to the east. This would suggest we should be looking for a bus route traveling from north to south (where the sun rises to the east in the morning), with a steep embankment to the right of the bus, where the Zodiac Killer can lay his photoelectric cells and conceal his bomb. He also has to access that roadway from a position of anonymity, with his vehicle parked at the top of the embankment in relative seclusion. What are the odds of that location being the exact closest portion of road to Ingleside Police Station, meeting all the criteria above. This would satisfy the drawing on the April 20th 1970 letter and the target of SFPD (Ingleside Police Station). The Zodiac Killer could metaphorically kill two birds with one stone.

So let us travel just 274 feet from the Ingleside Police Station building to the nearest section of road heading north to south.  

Again, what are the chances that the area highlighted by the red rectangle would mimic exactly his bomb diagram of a school bus and embankment, as drawn in the April 20th 1970 letter. Not only that, but this would have been a school bus route in 1970. Children from the northern and eastern areas of San Francisco would use the school bus to reach St Thomas More Catholic School at 50 Thomas More Way. There is even a bus route road sign 38 feet from the proposed location of the bomb (whether it existed in 1970 I don't know). So, let us drop down to the exact position of the red rectangle and take a closer look.

All the Zodiac Killer had to do to access the embankment, was to access the parking lot of the City College of San Francisco and drive to its eastern edge - and at night - in relative anonymity to the police station, dig the bomb into the embankment. It is highly unlikely that the Zodiac Killer ever intended to plant a bomb, but this location fits all the criteria of targeting both a San Francisco Police Department and a school bus at the same time. It achieves his objective of targeting school children for maximum terror, and achieves his objective of "rubbing the pigs nozes in their booboos". The location of the bomb not only matches the diagram from April 20th 1970, but satisfies the criteria of the Mount Diablo map and code to an overall accuracy of 97.5%. The 32 character cipher is also answered. The Zodiac Killer likely had no intention of laying this bomb, but it was the threat that mattered most of all. The Zodiac Killer knew that the clues he provided us with on June 26th 1970 were inadequate in cracking the bomb location and code, so he gave us these additional clues in the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, one month later.

# Radian values are normally measured in a counter-clockwise direction, but the positioning of the bold, black circle at 246 degrees (4 radians and magnetic north), along with the north facing arrow pointer, the addition of the clock face set at zero, and the instructions to "set to Mag. N.", appears to indicate the Zodiac Killer measured his radians from the north position clockwise. In effect, he was multiplying the radian value of 57.3 by a factor of 4, set to magnetic north of 17 degrees (246.2).   

It has been stated on this site and elsewhere, that the 32 character code is unsolvable using conventional cipher techniques without the killer supplying us with a key. There are 29 unique characters within the code, making any solution practically unprovable. The solutions offered by using the 408 and 340 keys have produced less than convincing results, particularly when we consider that this code contains an "anchor" and "omega" symbol, not used in the 408 and 340 ciphers. Attempting to correlate the letters used in the code to written text in both the Button letter (June 26th 1970) and Little List letter (July 26th 1970) also produces negative results. Therefore, it could be argued, that a code containing 29 unique characters must have an alternative meaning, in accompaniment to the code solution of "estimate:four radians and five inches". Here is one possibility. 

The Zodiac Killer gave us an estimate of 4 radians, but the exact figure is 4.084 radians. That is, 4.084 multiplied by one radian value (57.3 degrees) to equal 234 degrees. When we add in the magnetic north which Zodiac instructed us to do (17 degrees in 1970), we get 251 degrees and the precise location of the Southern Freeway embankment and Ingleside Police Station. Could the 32 character code contain the value of 234 degrees, which once set to magnetic north, now identified the exact location of Ingleside Police Station? If we resort to basic numerology where A=1, B=2, C=3 etc, and add up the values of the forward facing alphabetical characters in the Zodiac Killer's 32 character code, we arrive at a total of 234 (or 234 degrees). When set to magnetic north, it gives us the value of 251 degrees, which when subtended from the peak of Mount Diablo passes directly over Ingleside Police Station and the Southern Freeway. 

​    "The map (set to 17 degrees magnetic north) coupled with the code of 234 will tell you where the bomb is set".

In a previous article we concluded that the 32 character code mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on June 26th 1970 stated "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns 4 Radians and 5 inches along the radian", based upon the clues the Zodiac Killer gave us in the Little List Letter on July 26th 1970. This led to an area somewhere between Ingleside and Daly City on the south edge of San Francisco. The Zodiac drew us a bus bomb diagram on April 20th 1970, suggesting he was going to place two photoelectric switches on an embankment or hillside on the right side of the road. He stated it was to be set up early in the morning when the sun was rising in the east. The images below show the El Camino Real by Outer Mission, heading south, with the April 20th 1970 'Bus Bomb' diagram superimposed over it. The hillside to the right is the type required to place his two photoelectric switches - one by the roadside and the other higher on the banking. Any school bus heading along this road for early morning assembly, would have the sun rising in the east (shining left to right in the image below).

If the Zodiac Killer had any intentions of blowing up a school bus (which is unlikely), then he would be targeting the schoolchildren on their way to school in the morning. If the children were being bussed in from other parts of San Francisco for this particular school (St. Thomas More Catholic School), then traveling from the north and east, the bus driver could be using Highway 101 and Interstate 280 in the direction shown by the red line below (recommended on Google maps). The blue circle is 4 radians (+ magnetic north), and 5 inches from Mount Diablo, satisfying the 32 character cipher and Zodiac's statement of "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians". The highway under the blue circle is traveling south with the sun to the east in the morning - and is heading toward St. Thomas More Catholic School (just 1.37 miles away).      

The Zodiac Killer stated on April 20th 1970 "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now.  I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station.  Even though I talked about killing school children with one. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory.  But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back.  I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud.  I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back. The new bomb is set up like this. Sun light in early morning. A + B are photoelectric swiches when sun beam is broken A closes circut. B opens circut, which makes B the cloudy day disconect so the bomb won't go off by accid. PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".

​​The choice of words the Zodiac used at the beginning of this communication were unfortunate, had his target been children from St. Thomas More Catholic School. The school was named after Thomas More, an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a Chancellor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to 16 May 1532. He was sentenced under the Treasons Act 1534 and decapitated with an axe. Therefore, it was very unfortunate that the Zodiac Killer should state "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now".

There are several other schools in this area between Ingleside and Daly City, but we must remember that it is the bus he was targeting, not the school. Therefore, we should prioritize the roadways in this area (shown by the red rectangle), from the perspective of a bus traveling south, with its left side facing east.

The Zodiac Killer mailed the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, opening with the lines "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people. I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc". Then on page 6 he gives us the Zodiac crosshairs with five X's marked on the circumference, accompanied by "PS. Be sure to print the part I marked out on page 3 or I shall do my thing". These X's are meant to be the areas he is threatening to target if his demands are not followed. The crosshairs can be spun around and placed over a map to correlate with the attacks at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berrryessa and Presidio Heights, like so. But this only accounts for four attacks and five murders, when clearly the Zodiac Killer is claiming five attacks and seven murders at this juncture. The additional attack he was claiming, was the August 3rd 1969 double stabbing of Kathy Snoozy and Deborah Furlong in San Jose, to which he added "Aug" on the November 8th 1969 'Dripping Pen' card. Furthermore, the inaccuracy of attempting to transfer the crosshairs from the Bus Bomb Letter, to overlay onto a map, is extremely problematic. The Zodiac Killer had placed very small dots around the crosshairs to represent the numbers on a clock face. Therefore, to be far more accurate, we need to place the perfect circle of a clock face over a map and locate the five X's he has placed around the circumference.

One thing to remember here, is that many people have centered these crosshairs over Mount Diablo, when by November 9th 1969 the Zodiac Killer had never referenced Mount Diablo in any of his communications. We would have to wait until June 26th 1970 for the Zodiac Killer to send us the Phillips 66 Road Map with his crosshairs centered over Mount Diablo. These crosshairs had the numbers 3, 6 and 9 around its face, also suggestive of a clock face. So, although the Bus Bomb Letter crosshairs came with no indication of where they (or a clock face) should be placed, it is apparent in hindsight they were to be placed over Mount Diablo. There is also no indication in the Bus Bomb Letter that we should try in any way to rotate the five X's around to suit our needs. Below, I have placed a clock face over Mount Diablo to locate the positions 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11, marked out by the Zodiac Killer         

Interestingly, the Zodiac Killer was claiming five attacks by November 9th 1969, and positions 1 to 5 are vacant on the clock face. The first X falls over position 6, which heads off towards San Jose, the site of the murders he was claiming just one day earlier. Position 10 on the clock face passes directly over Rodeo, the location where Leona LaRell Roberts was to be abducted from in one month from now, on December 10th 1969 (the date matching the clock face). Position 11 passes directly over Pacific Union College in Angwin - the college significant to the attack at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Position 8 passes over Oakland, brought into play, when on June 18th 1970 a letter was mailed from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, enclosing two Oakland A's tickets for Gerald Tagert. Position 9 passes directly over Tamalpais Valley, Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972, and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9.00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home, but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

I don't know whether these examples highlighted were the intention behind the five X's on the circumference, but it can be strongly argued, based on the Zodiac Killer's introduction in the Bus Bomb Letter, that he was threatening more attacks without announcing the murders he was to accomplish. The statement next to the crosshairs of "PS. Be sure to print the part I marked out on page 3 or I shall do my thing", suggests that these five X's would be the result of non-compliance, rather than the attacks he had already carried out. The Zodiac is split into 12 signs just like a clock face - beginning at zero degrees longitude - which is maybe why the Zodiac Killer attributed zero to the north face of his crosshairs on the June 26th 1970 Phillips Map. Had the Zodiac Killer originally intended to commit 12 attacks when he began his murderous campaign of terror, thereby completing the circle he had created for himself? Something to which he would later realize was simply unachievable.

The 'Dripping Pen' greeting card and cipher were purportedly mailed virtually alongside the 'Bus Bomb' letter, on November 8th and November 9th 1969 respectively. The postmark on the 'Dripping Pen' card envelope is less than clear in many reproductions, but there may be a better version available somewhere online. However, there is something rather out of place regarding this Zodiac communication, particularly when one compares it to the 'Bus Bomb' letter postmarked just one day later.   

The Zodiac wrote his victim count using months of the year: "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7," but in his next 'Bus Bomb' communication he adds "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people. I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc."
​
Why is the killer informing us he has killed seven people up to the end of October, when he has made this plainly obvious in the 'Dripping Pen' card by addition of the last entry as "Oct," meaning October. If the Zodiac Killer had murdered anybody in November, then surely the total would be 8 victims, with November added to the list of months. The killer further states "I though(t) you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet." But we didn't hear of any bad news before he mailed the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, or for months thereafter. 
This may be because we had already heard the bad news, and the 'Dripping Pen' card was intended to be mailed slightly over a month earlier. Mail can go astray from mailing to being postmarked, however, that avenue will not be explored here.

It seemed unusual for two such prominent communications to be sent either in tandem, or one day apart. The Zodiac Killer had obviously invested a lot of time crafting a new and innovative cipher, after becoming aware his first cipher had been cracked in a matter of days, and announced in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 9th 1969. So, after investing time and energy into his new masterpiece, it seemed strange he would take the shine and emphasis away from this new cipher, by tying it alongside the rather lengthy 'Bus Bomb' letter about the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 and his exploits in the park.
The 'Dripping Pen' card and cipher could have been mailed two weeks later to maximize impact. The context and choice of card, if chosen for purpose, also makes little sense. The message on the purchased greetings card read "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen."  The Zodiac Killer, however, had written only 27 days earlier, when he mailed the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter containing the swatch of blooded shirt. The bad news we were supposed to get also never materialized, and in addition, he would repeat the month of October just one day later, reminding us of seven victims claimed, as if our attention span only lasted 24 hours. All these factors place this correspondence and its contents curiously out of place. ​​We will attempt to put this card chronologically in its rightful place, where its contents can be understood. 

The wording "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen,"​ if this card was chosen carefully, seems to imply the killer had not written to the newspapers for a while - longer than 27 days. The Zodiac Killer prior to the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter, had not written to the newspapers since August 4th 1969, when the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner. That is over two months. It is longer regarding the San Francisco Chronicle, of over 10 weeks. This card now makes more sense. But why would the dripping pen (possibly red in color) be relevant to the Zodiac. 

On September 27th 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were enjoying a pleasant picnic at Lake Berryessa when a knife-wielding man approached wearing an theatrical executioner's costume, brutally stabbing the young couple 16 times in their back and abdomen. The assailant's hand or glove would have been covered in blood. Minutes later he wrote on the car door with a pen: Vallejo 12-20-68, 7-4-69, Sept 27-69 -6:30 by knife.
The pen would have been covered with blood. What better time to ironically proclaim in your next correspondence "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen," as if to imply he was the responsible for the callous attack and murder of Cecelia Shepard just days earlier, and was washing the blood from his pen. The author of the 'Dripping Pen' card further added "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."
The Zodiac Killer, like most serial killers, don't have horns growing from their head- they go largely unnoticed and blend into society. The Zodiac Killer was certainly searching for notoriety, as opposed to the loneliness he experienced in everyday life. What better way, than to dress up in an executioner's costume and do his "thing." 

The 'Dripping Pen' card would sit nicely between the Lake Berryessa attack and the murder of Paul Stine, had it been mailed sometime around September 30th 1969. The text on the card would then make further sense in respect to the month of October and the wording "I though(t) you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet."
The seventh victim was to become Paul Stine (or another taxicab driver) in San Francisco. He had already earmarked his next murder, and this was the "bad news" we were soon to receive. The addition of the month of October was the precursor to death, and unlike his previous attacks where he had to search out victims - in San Francisco they would literally come to him.

But why wasn't the 'Dripping Pen' card mailed after the Lake Berryessa attack, assuming the communication didn't go astray from posting to postmark? The Zodiac Killer likely had his ego dented after Donald Gene and Bettye June Harden cracked his 408 cipher in a matter of days. He may have begun developing his more challenging cipher immediately in response, or at the very least sometime in August or September. 

The Zodiac Killer chose the greetings card in respect to the Lake Berryessa stabbings, for which he could have then attached his cipher and mailed it. But something changed. Did he want to revise or add to his cipher to incorporate the attack by the lake? Some have suggested the cipher may have been separated into two halves. Did the killer originally encipher a banal message, much like his original code, and wanted to completely redesign it. The intended murder at Presidio Heights was looming, and the killer was planning ahead. The cipher and card may have been placed on the back-burner. 
​
On October 11th 1969, taxicab driver Paul Stine was murdered in Presidio Heights. The killer mailed a piece of the taxicab driver's shirt two days later, and followed up with more details on November 9th 1969 about his excursion into the park. 
In between the October 13th 1969 Stine letter and November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter, the killer may have finalized his cipher, unable to replace the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card with an identical or relevant card, and with the Lake Berryessa attack cooling, mailed off both communications in unison. He stated we wouldn't "get the news for a while yet," totally negating the message he delivered one day later, that "I shall no longer announce to anyone when I committ my murders." Seemed like a quick change of heart. The card choice still made sense to him, if not us at this juncture, with the message inside now appearing chronologically repetitive in respect to the 'Bus Bomb' letter and the intended "bad news" had already occurred. 

Desert Sun Newspaper -November 10th 1969: Arsenic Is Found In Soft Drink MARTINEZ (UPI)-- 'A young schoolteacher who received threatening telephone calls for 10 days thought the caller was a crank who was pretending to be the Zodiac killer. But police took the threats seriously after 24-year-old Daniel Williams found a lethal dose of arsenic in a bottle of soft drink in his refrigerator. Williams, a teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond, told police the caller talked of how he intended to kill several persons, then last; Sunday said: “You’re the dead duck.” Williams went out and when he returned home found someone had pried open the screen on a back door. However, a police search showed nothing was missing. But after the officers left and Williams took a drink from a bottle of opened soft drink in his refrigerator, he found it tasted “metallic” and immediately spit it out. Police reported Friday that the bottle contained more than enough arsenic to kill a human being. Williams said the caller identified himself as the still sought Zodiac killer of five, but police discounted the idea. The caller would “sob and complain of headaches.” Williams said, and on one occasion said he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there. Williams said the caller told him: “I’m too smart for them". link

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the same subject on November 8th 1969, stating "The string of sadistic calls began on October 23rd. On one occasion, the caller told Williams he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there. Another time, the teacher said the caller, whose voice he described as muffled as if speaking through a handkerchief, said he was going to "kill the lady in the blue house". The arsenic laden drink was discovered on November 2nd 1969, so clearly the intention was to kill. The jury is still out on whether this was the Zodiac Killer, but nevertheless this threat was persistent through October and November. 

The article ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, so if this was the Zodiac he may have been unaware at the point he mailed the Dripping Pen card on November 8th as to whether his deadly attack had been successful. He mailed the "poison pen" letter on the same day and declared "I thought you would need a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet". Clearly, had Daniel Williams died from the poisoning, he may not have been discovered immediately. The style of attack would also conform to Zodiac's new declaration on November 9th that "I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc".  
  
The threatening phone calls and attempted murder of this high school teacher would precede the second cipher offering from the Zodiac, in what could be interpreted as a "poison pen" letter. The Zodiac Killer's first cipher was cracked in a matter of days by Donald Gene and Bettye June Harden. Don Harden began teaching at North Salinas High School in 1960. 

Martinez and Richmond, California, where Daniel Williams lived and worked are direct routes from Vallejo and Benicia through to San Francisco. The threatening caller stated he was going to "kill the lady in the blue house". So if the caller was Zodiac, however small the likelihood, what is the reasoning behind this threat, and was he familiar with the woman or the area in question? One famous San Francisco "blue house" is situated in the Castro District at 3841 18th Street, San Francisco, near Haight-Ashbury and the Golden Gate Park. It is 3.4 miles southeast of the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine, a month earlier.

It was memorialized in music by French singer Maxime Le Forestier in 1971, inspired by his time living in the blue house with a hippie commune called "Hunga Dunga". 'Maxime Le Forestier spoke of the house where everyone was welcome, where Tom, Phil and Psylvia lived. The house was in fact home to the Hunga Dunga commune, and several of the people mentioned in the song still live in the Bay Area'. Mission Local. 

Could Daniel Williams have been Zodiac's intended eighth victim, and was the Bus Bomb letter mailed on November 9th 1969 stating "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people" indicative that an eighth victim was yet to be discovered, somewhere between October 31st 1969 and the date of this letter. The fact that Zodiac made a point of highlighting the "end of Oct" in the Bus Bomb letter, rather than just stating "to date I have killed 7 people" is extremely suggestive that we hadn't "heard the bad news yet".  

A few months ago, Alex Lewis secured a redacted document from the FBI regarding the sighting of an eight-year-old, in relation to the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. The document stated "Xenophon L Anthony, WMA, DOB 2/28/31, resides 3218 Jackson Street, San Francisco. For info ident division, San Francisco PD advised eight year old witness in murder of cab driver identified Anthony as possible subject in this matter". Nobody can verify Xenophon Anthony as the Zodiac Killer, he may simply have been identified close to the crime scene, or for that matter misidentified by the eight-year-old. But hypothetically, let us assume the eight-year-old was correct, and observed Xenophon Anthony in the proximity of the taxicab that fateful night.

The only way a child observing from the window of a residence can actually recognize somebody they knew, particularly at 9:58 pm at night, in less than ideal light conditions, is if they were viewing the unfolding events from a relatively close distance from the taxicab - in other words, a residence close by. The closest residence to the crime scene was 3898 Washington Street, actually overlooking the taxicab, situated less than 30 feet away and the perfect vantage point to correctly identity a subject known to the observer. The residence is also the most likely to be disturbed by a taxicab pulling up sharply, a muffled gunshot, or any form of commotion on the street. The three teenagers across the street, by whatever means, had their attention drawn to the unfolding drama, therefore it is perfectly logical that they may not have been the only ones. Crucially, a simple records check placed an 8 year and 2 months old boy resident at 3898 Washington Street on October 11th 1969. This, although not conclusive, is likely the eight-year-old mentioned in the FBI document.      

Alex Lewis is not convinced the Zodiac Killer entered the Presidio Park with good reason, however, the following will take the opposite stance and attempt to connect the killer's movements to 3218 Jackson Street, highlighted in the document on the right. In addition, reminding ourselves to the curious statements on the initial wanted poster.  

Whether or not Donald Fouke stopped the Zodiac is not important here, but the 'meeting' took place just shy of the Jackson and Maple intersection. Witnesses in Spruce Street, detailed in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 12th 1969, reported seeing a man running into Julius Khan playground. The description was so similar to the ones given by Donald Fouke and the three teenagers, it seems inconceivable that this was not the same person that left the taxicab moments earlier. The only way it can be argued that this man entering the park wasn't the killer, is if we dismiss the testimonies of the witnesses in Spruce Street, while choosing to believe Donald Fouke and the three teenagers. The descriptions of the murderer given at all three points in the journey, not only overlap closely, but are testimony to the exact direction taken by the killer. Firstly, 3898 Washington Street, secondly, Jackson Street and thirdly, Julius Khan playground. To dispel this final sighting, is to dispel them all. 

This is where the Zodiac Killer takes over in his November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb Letter. He charts his position throughout his entire journey, from the taxicab to the moment he left the park - almost like he was fitted with a GPS. It is important to note that sniffer dogs were assembled on the outskirts of the park at certain points. The area of Arguello Boulevard and the Julius Khan playground were two notable areas, in order for police to sweep west to east, and south to north, covering the entirety of the park. (see here). The route Zodiac took will be told in his own words.

1. "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up". Donald Fouke corroborated this, stating he passed a WMA just past the intersection of Jackson and Maple, at a point exactly 3 minutes walking distance from the taxicab.
2. "I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".
One and a half blocks from the location of where Donald Fouke passed him, is Spruce Street. Zodiac stated he entered the park here, and several eyewitnesses agreed with him, even giving a near perfect description of him.        

3. "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".
In view of the assembled sniffer dogs and activity along West Pacific Avenue, Zodiac had limited options, so headed east. The nearest dogs to Zodiac were the ones assembled by Julius Khan playground, so if they never came within two blocks of him, he must now have moved 2+ blocks east, by or just beyond Laurel Street.
You will notice Zodiac stated "there was only 2 groups of parking about 10 min apart". Here they were, two groups of police with sniffer dogs measured at 8 minutes separation by Google Maps.​

4. "then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west".
With the dogs fanning across the park, Zodiac gives us his final position before exiting the park, somewhere by the white cross. Zodiac having last been seen entering Julius Khan playground, motorcycles were traveling down West Pacific Avenue towards Presidio Boulevard and circling the park, searching for the killer. This area provides plenty of coverage from the road and is approximately 150 feet away from any motorcycles passing by. He correctly states that the motorcycles would be travelling from south to northwest, along Presidio Boulevard. But where does the killer go now?

The Zodiac Killer can head east, but it can be noticed that his directions and bragging have inadvertently taken us right by the residence of 3218 Jackson Street. A quick exit across West Pacific Avenue, through either Walnut Street or Presidio Avenue, to Jackson Street, places him only a couple of hundred feet from the doorstep, if indeed this was the killer's residence. Of course Xenophon Anthony may not be the killer, in which case, the 'Bus Bomb' letter author has by sheer chance taken us on a guided tour through the park directly adjacent to his residence. This takes us to our final thoughts, regarding the wanted poster released on October 13th 1969.

The poster bearing the name Chief of Police Thomas J Cahill stated "Suspect takes cab in downtown area at 9.30 pm and sits in front seat with driver. Tells driver destination is Washington and Laurel area or area near park or Presidio. Upon reaching destination, suspect orders driver to continue on at gunpoint into or near park where he perpetrates robbery".  

​Considering two people were present in the taxicab on October 11th 1969, one of whom is dead and the other not available for interview, where did this information originate from. It may have been supposition based on a recent spate of taxicab attacks in San Francisco, however, the specific detailing of Laurel Street is noteworthy, in lieu of the absent trip sheet.

Assuming the killer had initially planned his murder on Washington Street and lived in the area, it would make sense to leave some form of 'buffer zone' from the site of the murder to his residence, a bare minimum of a block - preferably more - but all the time being wary of traveling any great distance on foot with the murder weapon and blooded shirt in tow. It's a delicate compromise.

It can be seen on the left and here on Google Maps that the intersection of Laurel and Washington Street is one block to Jackson Street, then one and a half blocks to 3218 Jackson Street, therefore not too close, and not too far, especially on foot, where time becomes more of a premium. It is actually a 5 minute journey.  If the information on the wanted poster has any origin in fact, then Zodiac certainly did overshoot his destination, but this time it would have been four blocks. Understandable if he is in the process of threatening a nervous taxicab driver.

Either way, the location of Washington Street, close to Presidio Park, would have provided the perfect contingency plan, to shelter from the police, if things didn't go to plan. Enter Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms. If we believe the Zodiac and Bus Bomb Letter, and the eyewitnesses in Spruce Street, then the likelihood he had a car parked up, somewhere by Jackson and Maple Street, is not likely. Once Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms had faded into the distance, all he had to do was locate his vehicle and drive off. Instead he headed to Spruce Street and through the park. But did he head for 3218 Jackson Street? ​        

The Zodiac signed off the Bus Bomb letter mailed on November 9th 1969 with the words "To prove that I am the Zodiac, ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves."  But to whom was the Zodiac referring. The answer is almost certainly Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz, a native Vallejoan who first joined the police force in 1939 and oversaw many changes, including the new station located at 111 Amador Street, before retiring with health issues in 1970. Jack E. Stiltz died in 1974. 

The Zodiac sent three coded segments in three letters on July 31st 1969 to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle and Vallejo Times-Herald, giving details of his first two crimes to prove he was the actual killer. However, the Zodiac Killer was still doubted, with Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz wanting further proof the killer and letter-writer were one and the same. This can be seen here in this extract from from the Saturday August 2nd 1969 San Francisco Chronicle. He requested the writer send a follow up communication  "with more facts to prove it."  

This story was featured again on Sunday August 3rd 1969 in the San Francisco Examiner (shown here on the left). Jack E. Stiltz was "still not convinced the letters and codes were written by the actual killer". The police chief "urged the writer to send more letters, with more facts to prove his connections to the crimes".

The Zodiac Killer's response was almost immediate, when he hand delivered the Debut of Zodiac letter just one day later, on August 4th 1969 to the San Francisco Examiner, to leave you in no doubt he was replying directly to Jack E. Stiltz. The Zodiac's opening gambit was "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. By the way, are the police having a good time with the code? If not, tell them to cheer up; when they do crack it, they will have me". He went on to describe the Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Herman Road attacks in much greater detail and effectively informed Jack E. Stiltz about his attached gun sight;  "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights. I was not happy to see that I did not get front page coverage". 
​  
Fast forward to Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 and Chief Inspector Martin Lee's claims that Zodiac "has made some mistakes." They did not believe that Zodiac could have been hiding in the park. Chief Inspector Martin Lee stated "His boast of being in the area we were searching is a lie. We had the whole area flooded with lights. We had seven police dogs and a large number of patrolmen searching the area tree by tree and bush by bush. The dogs are the best in the country. A mouse couldn't have escaped our attention". They also irked the Zodiac by claiming he had left fingerprints on the interior and exterior of the taxicab, particularly the bloody fingerprints on the driver side door panel.

Zodiac again felt compelled to reply in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter: "I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me...... p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again", and again asked for newspaper coverage similar to the Debut of Zodiac letter by threatening more attacks: "By the way it could be rather messy if you try to bluff me. PS. Be shure to print the part I marked out on page 3 or I shall do my thing. To prove that I am the Zodiac, Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves".

The last time the Zodiac Killer was doubted, he supplied extra details of the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Road attacks to Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz, including his "small pencel flash light". He would repeat this in the Bus Bomb letter, reminding everybody that he most certainly was the Zodiac Killer. In other words, to not doubt him and "Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves". The Vallejo cop he is referring to is Jack E. Stiltz. The Vallejo cop, to which he sent details about his improvised gun sight in the Debut of Zodiac letter only three months earlier. He proved to Jack E. Stiltz that he was both the letter writer and the killer, and again here, in the Bus Bomb letter, he is referring back to this Vallejo cop - and to not doubt him again.  

Bus Bomb letter 11/9/69: "p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".  It can be seen the Zodiac Killer is claiming an encounter with two policemen only minutes after the murder of Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry Street in San Francisco.

In the 2007 This is the Zodiac Speaking documentary, Armond Pelissetti was clearly lending credence to this encounter when referring to Officer Donald Fouke, who supposedly spotted the Zodiac Killer by 3712 Jackson Street. Officer Pelissetti said "I spoke to Officer Fouke later that evening and was unaware that he had stopped anybody, black, white or any other color, however, in subsequent conversations with him, he told me that he did stop somebody". Donald Fouke denies that he stopped anybody. It is clear that the Zodiac Killer was not privy to this conversation, and the supposed stopping and questioning of a suspect was not featured in any newspaper articles prior to the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter. The Zodiac claimed that the encounter occurred about 3 minutes after he left the taxicab, so let us examine the timeline of Donald Fouke and the Zodiac Killer that night.   

Armond Pelissetti stated in the documentary that he and Frank Peda responded "red light and siren" after the dispatcher's call at 9:58 pm.
So, let us surmise for now that the Zodiac left the scene at 9:56 pm. After about three minutes walking, the Zodiac Killer would have arrived close to the intersection of Jackson and Maple, by 3712 Jackson Street, at 9:59 pm - supposedly where this encounter happened.

Donald Fouke stated that he saw a white male entering the stairwell to 3712 Jackson Street. Donald Fouke also received the dispatcher's call at 9:58 pm, while he and his rookie partner Eric Zelms were traveling northbound on Presidio Avenue, having just passed Washington Street. Their journey time from this location is approximately 1 minute to 3712 Jackson Street, indicating that Donald Fouke would have arrived at 9:59 pm - the exact time the Zodiac would have been passing this location.
So, Zodiac's claim of this encounter holds up to the timeline - and bearing in mind Armond Pelissetti's claim that Donald Fouke stated to him that he stopped somebody - it appears to corroborate Zodiac's claim that "two cops pulled a goof".
 
Again, the Zodiac Killer was not privy to the police officers claims or statements prior to November 9th 1969, so it was either a extremely lucky guess on his part or he was telling the truth. It is easy for the police and newspapers to discredit the Zodiac Killer simply by saying "they are the claims of a madman" or "psychopath", but this fails to answer the question. The newspapers made no reference to the officers stopping or even viewing a suspect that night, while also claiming it was unlikely the Zodiac Killer had entered the park that night on account of the sniffer dogs employed in the search. But this appears not be the case. His claim above, of talking to Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms is likely true (as the timeline suggests) - and unless Armond Pelissetti was lying - it placed Donald Fouke in a direct path with the killer at 9:59 pm that night. Not withstanding the fact, that the Zodiac Killer knew nothing of Donald Fouke's route that night, which ties in perfectly. The embarrassment of questioning a suspect and then letting him on his way, may have been something that would be better glossed over, yet something the Zodiac was keen to capitalize on in his extensive Bus Bomb letter and insisting it must be printed in the newspapers. In other words, he wanted to highlight this fact - something that had clearly been kept under wraps. But if this were the truth, how many other of the Zodiac claims were true. Let's take a look. 

"The cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again". This encounter was claimed to have occurred at 3712 Jackson Street, just before the intersection of Jackson and Maple. So, if the Zodiac disappeared into the park one block and a half away, we shall travel this distance. Although just under a block and a half, the nearest to this description is Spruce Street, shown here. From this location the Zodiac Killer could easily enter the park at a safer distance from any searches that may have materialized and distance himself from where he was initially spotted. It also lies closer to his initial claim of a murder by "Washington and Maple", if this was his original intended destination.

Of course, some of his claims to have been hiding in the park could have been bolstered by adding detail he subsequently read in the newspapers, but there is one thing he stated that not only boosts the idea he entered the park via Spruce Street and hid in the trees there, but is descriptive enough to provide us with a location. This is what the Zodiac Killer stated in the Bus Bomb letter: "I gave the cops som bussy work to do to keep them happy. I enjoy needling the blue pigs. 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 parking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west." The Zodiac Killer again backs up the idea he entered the park via Spruce Street saying "The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west". This suggests that if we travel just over two blocks west of the Spruce Street entrance to the park, this is where the police, fire trucks, motorcycles and dogs were milling around. See here. The Arguello Boulevard entrance to the park is just over two blocks. 

We now have Zodiac possibly entering the park at Spruce Street, but can we narrow it down further. In the topographic maps of 1968, the layout of the park's trees and hedges have altered little to affect this analysis and can be viewed here.

Many of the police would have flooded the park via the Arguello Boulevard entrance - this is the area of dense growth highlighted on the map by the red ellipse shown to the left. This activity was noted by the killer "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". But he went on to add one further critical statement, that may have pinpointed his exact location within the park: "There was only 2 groups of parking about 10 min apart, then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west".

They were going from south to northwest. So what road was the Zodiac describing from his vantage point, allowing him to view this directional movement of traffic? There was elevation in the park - but his view would also have been masked by trees. This image on Google Maps shows part of the Arguello Boulevard masked by trees, however, a little further on it opens up. This section of Arguello Boulevard frees itself from the tree line and heads from south to northwest, just as the Zodiac stated in the Bus Bomb letter. All that is left for us to do is pinpoint his location, allowing him to clearly view this area. The police would certainly have focused on this area, as it was not only a key entrance to the park but also an area of dense growth, availing many possibilities to escape into. So, let us travel back to the entrance to the park from Spruce Street.

Knowing of the commotion to the west, logically the Zodiac Killer should have accessed cover immediately to the east after entering the park - somewhere in the region shown below. Notice the line of sight available to the Zodiac to that portion of Arguello Boulevard we mentioned earlier, running from south to northwest, thereby giving us a viable location for the Zodiac Killer on October 11th 1969, a matter of minutes after the crime. It may well be the case that if the Zodiac didn't have a car waiting somewhere by the intersection of Jackson and Maple, for fear of vehicle identification, then his claim of entering the park that night may well be true after all.

After viewing the police to the west, including any scent dogs, he may have cut his losses. He couldn't head west, and he surely wouldn't have re-entered West Pacific Avenue or Jackson Street, so the realistic option available to him, was to head eastwards toward Cow Hollow or the Marina District. But, bearing in mind he may have been covered in blood, is it possible he lived in a house backing onto the park or likely had his vehicle parked there, affording him a distinct separation from the Presidio Heights area? Or was the Zodiac Killer a liar as Chief of Inspectors Martin Lee contended, and the Zodiac Killer was never in the park at all?

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Paul Avery dated November 12th 1969 and titled I've Killed Seven, The Zodiac Claims, clearly states "As proof the letters were from the true Zodiac and not an imposter, the mass murderer enclosed another portion of the piece of shirt he tore off the body of San Francisco taxi driver Paul Stine". Then in a second article on December 28th 1969, entitled New Zodiac Letter...Fears He'll Kill Again, it states "A few days after the Stine killing, Zodiac sent a letter to San Francisco newspapers and also included a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt. Another letter and another piece of Stine's shirt was sent to a Newspaper on November 11th". The 340 Cipher and Dripping Pen Card/Bus Bomb Letter were mailed in close succession on November 8th and 9th at the weekend and may have arrived at the beginning of the following week, accounting for the November 11th attribution. Then, in a Youtube documentary commencing at the 3 minute mark, it confirms that a total of three shirt pieces were sent. Two articles and one documentary, all indicating that a third section of Paul Stine's was sent accompanying either the 340 Cipher or Bus Bomb Letter.

Had the Zodiac Killer set aside three portions of shirt to send, it is highly unlikely he would want to be sitting on incriminating evidence for too long - and after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 he would mail his three portions of shirt with his next three correspondences. His first being the October 13th letter, just two days after the murder, his next letters were postmarked within one day of each other, so he sent the second portion with these, with the final piece being mailed with the Melvin Belli Letter on December 20th 1969. What he didn't do however, was mail a piece of shirt with the Fairfield Letter on December 16th, four days before the Melvin Belli Letter.

It cannot be known for certain, but the Fairfield Letter seems to be suggesting a link to the Lake Berryessa stabbing on September 27th 1969, the only crime committed thus far with a knife. It was always questioned why the Zodiac failed to brag about his theatrical crime on the shoreline of Lake Berryessa, after all, it was his most daring to date. There is no definitive answer, but one thing the Zodiac Killer never foresaw, was that he was to leave a surviving witness, in Bryan Hartnell. He could have bragged endlessly about this crime, but in hindsight his failure to kill both victims actually played right into his hands. The detailed account of Bryan Hartnell, the description of the killer's costume and the extensive newspaper accounts gave him all the publicity he could ever have wished for. What more was there to add.

However, newspaper accounts were starved of the full details, because the 'by knife' attribution on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's car was withheld from the public in an attempt to flush out the real killer from any subsequent hoaxers - and the Fairfield Letter may be one example. Anybody who was aware of the Lake Berryessa attack could have concocted the phrase 'The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac' - and more importantly its failure to highlight 'by knife' was an opportunity missed from a killer now determined to link himself to the authenticity of his correspondence by enclosing the swatches of Paul Stine's shirt.

The Zodiac Killer had his ego dented when his first cipher was cracked in a matter of days by school teacher Donald Gene Harden and his wife, Bettye June Harden, two amateur sleuths. His response was to send us the still unsolved 340 Cipher, crafted either with no solution, or a solution that went far beyond simple homophonic substitution. The Fairfield Letter, however, seemed a retrograde step into mediocrity, when the supposed Zodiac Killer mailed just nine symbols, showing little effort in the apparent guise of a small code and beginning his letter with "I just want to tell you this state is in trouble, I will go for the government life". This appeared more like a politically motivated correspondence, with bold claims of another potential 38 victims. The 'knife' wording does look similar to the writing on the card door at Lake Berryessa, but the template for these letters was freely available throughout his correspondence up to this point. The one thing that is apparent, is his failure to corroborate this letter with a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt, that has led some people to believe the Fairfield Letter was written by the hand of a hoaxer and the real Zodiac Killer was to contact authorities just four days later.   

The Fairfield Letter was mailed on December 16th 1969, sandwiched between the Bus Bomb Letter of November 9th and the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th - and it was this reason, along with its design that has placed this relatively early letter into the section of unlikely Zodiac correspondence. The main reason for this, centers on the belief that the Zodiac Killer after murdering Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, actually mailed three pieces of Paul Stine's shirt to the newspapers, not two as is widely believed. This is not a new concept, with a thorough section devoted to this on the excellent ZodiacKillerSite forum here - but for those who have not come across this, we shall do a brief summary.

It is widely acknowledged that two pieces of Paul Stine's shirt were sent - firstly to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969, just two days after his murder and secondly on December 20th 1969 to the home residence of prominent attorney Melvin Belli - but a third piece was mailed along with the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, outlined in two articles written by the San Francisco Chronicle and mentioned in a Youtube documentary. Anyone can believe in mistakes, but the wording in the Chronicle is specific. Additionally, the mailing of three portions of Paul Stine's shirt makes perfect sense, as shown in photographs of the shirt on the Zodiac Killer Facts website, marked A, B and C. 
Here is an excerpt from the FBI files (Zodiac 5 page 46/249), clearly showing three shirt pieces were mailed.