Of the three lengthy cryptograms crafted by the Zodiac Killer, the 408 cipher mailed on July 31st 1969 was his introductory message to the public, proclaiming his intention to collect slaves for the afterlife. The cryptogram was a simple homophonic substitution cipher, cracked in a matter of days by schoolteacher Donald Gene Harden and Bettye June Harden (née Tischer) of Salinas, California. The Zodiac Killer's next character laden cryptogram appeared reactionary, in that the design of the 340 cipher on November 8th 1969 was much more complex, despite the fact it contained a contemporary message regarding the "phony" (Eric Weill), who rang into the Jim Dunbar TV Show on October 22nd 1969 and February 5th 1970 pretending to be the infamous Zodiac Killer. Although the design of the cipher was arguably more difficult, it is clear that the Zodiac Killer underestimated its complexity and failings, resulting in the contemporary message contained within it being diminished and compromised by the passage of time. 

​When the Zodiac Killer created his third lengthy cryptogram (in possibly May, 1971), containing yet another contemporary message about "phony" Eric Weill (and claimed additional "phony" Karl Francis Werner), the Zodiac Killer, this time, made sure his message would not be lost to the hands of time by manufacturing a cryptogram much simpler than the 408 cipher, by allotting just one ciphertext character to each plaintext letter. The only three times he deviated from this technique in the cryptogram was with the bold letter "G" that concluded the word "LISTENING" on the third row, and the letter "T" in "THE" and "FRONT" on the first and fifth row. The Zodiac Killer likely incorporated two deliberate errors on the first row when he used two misspellings within his "This is the Zodiac speaking" introduction. These deliberate misspellings, by adding and subtracting a plaintext letter, very likely created to add minor complexity, and prevent an immediate decoding of his cipher.  

Having used the letter "Z" in plaintext for the first time in three cryptograms, it seemed that the Zodiac Killer couldn't resist using the "sun cross" character (similar to his crosshairs) to represent the initial of his pseudonym. This becomes apparent when he uses this individual character to sign off his accompanying letter, rather than the traditional crosshairs or letter "Z".

Victims of serial killers ​make up a very small percentage of the total number of murder victims each year. Communications written by such killers (and accompanying hoaxers) are even less. So imagine the percentage of serial killers and their accompanying hoaxers that mail communications to authorities with cryptograms and codes included within the correspondence. Now imagine two cryptograms contained within two letters unreleased into the public domain, both of which have many crossover features, that both use the ciphertext character "7" to represent the plaintext character "A" in the code, with both claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer, and both using the "sun cross" in their respective codes. These two letters were mailed from Fairfield, California (1971) and Albany, New York (1973). Now imagine mailing a 148 character cryptogram in 1971 using the root word "phony" that was previously used to describe the Jim Dunbar TV Show hoaxer Eric Weill in the headlines of a newspaper article on February 6th 1970, who was the focus of the 340 cipher solve in 2020, when the Zodiac Killer wrote "That wasn't me on the TV show" and effectively proclaimed the caller a hoaxer. A 340 cipher message that wasn't known to anybody else but the Zodiac Killer in 1971. Regardless, we must not let facts get in the way of the long told Zodiac narrative. 

When determining whether the "concerned citizen" card mailed to Sergeant John Lynch on August 10th 1969 was written by a helpful member of the public or the Zodiac Killer, we need look no further than the "good citizen" letter mailed on October 7th 1969. Despite the fact the "concerned citizen" card was not in the public domain in 1969, the "good citizen" author would also adopt the word "citizen" in their signature, address the communication to Sergeant John Lynch once again, and refer to the July 31st 1969 cryptogram by mentioning "code letters", just as the "concerned citizen" author was addressing the "code letters" by supplying us with a key to the 408 cryptogram. These are compelling reasons to believe that both communications were composed by the same author. The question being; is the wording in the "good citizen" letter that of a helpful citizen or a mischievous individual playing games with the police. The "good citizen" letter read "On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote: Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX".  

The "good citizen" letter was postmarked October 7th 1969 and mentioned 56 Beach Street, which is the old block numbering from the original planning maps, which comes out as 1654/1656 on the street numbering. The address at 1654/56 Beach St, San Francisco, California is a condominium home that measures 2,141 sq ft, and was built in 1938. Irrespective of the exact numbering, Beach Street is just 240 meters from the Presidio of San Francisco, where eyewitnesses saw a white male, about 40 years of age, weighing 170lbs, sporting a blond crewcut and wearing glasses, running into Julius Kahn playground shortly after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. Of all the places in northern California or the Bay Area the author could select, the composer of the "good citizen" letter was not only referring to Zodiac's code letters, but managed to choose the location of Beach Street, bordering the Presidio in which the Zodiac Killer possibly escaped into just four days later. Possibly coincidence, but noteworthy nonetheless. The "good citizen" author may have been referring to Beach Street in San Francisco just a matter of days before the Zodiac Killer first struck in the big city, before mailing a letter on October 13th 1969, again detailing a destination in the form of a street name - this time "Washington St and Maple St".   

This letter, likely referring to San Francisco, may hold some significance when we consider the statement of Jim Dunbar on October 22nd 1969, when somebody pretending to be the Zodiac Killer rang into the KGO-TV Jim Dunbar Show. He asked the caller "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago. Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?" It can be understood why the hoaxer, Eric Weill, would ring into the Jim Dunbar Show, because he got wind that the Jim Dunbar Show was possibly entertaining a call from the Zodiac Killer that morning. Therefore, it isn't unreasonable to conclude he used opportunism to hijack the limelight. But why would Eric Weill claim to be the Zodiac Killer and ring into the Jim Dunbar Show "two or three weeks" earlier, when the Zodiac Killer had never comitted an attack in San Francisco at this juncture?

The Zodiac Killer wanting a TV audience in San Francisco on October 22nd 1969 after his murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco eleven days earlier, can be argued. It is also possible that the Zodiac Killer may have rang into the Jim Dunbar Show "two or three weeks" earlier (between October 1st and October 8th), requesting a slot on the show to announce his intentions of bringing terror to the heart of San Francisco. A phone call placed to the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco on October 8th 1969 would coincide with the "good citizen" letter on October 7th 1969, also possibly involving a location in San Francisco - and both would predate the murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco by just a matter of days. A murder, in which the Zodiac Killer was spotted entering the Presidio grounds, which Beach Street borders. If we are to determine whether the "concerned citizen" card on August 10th 1969 was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, we have to factor in the letter on October 7th 1969 and the phone call to the Jim Dunbar Show around the same time - and the significance they may, or may not hold.  

On October 22nd 1969, the Zodiac Killer (or somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer) rang the Oakland Police Department requesting an airing on the Jim Dunbar TV Show with either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, two high profile celebrity lawyers of the day. Unfortunately this never materialized, with Zodiac Killer hoaxer Eric Weill taking the limelight and ringing into the KGO Radio Station in San Francisco that same morning. The Zodiac Killer would react to this when he enciphered a message in the 340 cryptogram on November 8th 1969, stating "That wasn't me on the TV show".  As time went by, the narcissistic traits of Zodiac realized that by focusing his attention towards high profile individuals such as Melvin Belli and Paul Avery, it would inevitably garner more attention for himself. But this may not have been the only time the Zodiac Killer responded to a TV show by creating a cryptogram.

The Zodiac Killer mailed two letters on October 28th 1987 to the Vallejo Times-Herald and San Francisco Chronicle, so it had been nearly three years since any confirmed correspondence had arrived at any newspaper offices, when on September 25th 1990, somebody insinuating he was the Zodiac Killer mailed the Celebrity Cypher postcard to the Vallejo Times-Herald containing a 63 or 64 character cryptogram. This correspondence was reminiscent of the April 20th 1970 code mailed by the Zodiac Killer, as it too promised a name at the foot of the postcard and the address side of the communication. Both the April 20th 1970 letter and September 25th 1990 postcard tempted us with a 13 character name. The final three words on the September 25th 1990 message were highly suggestive of the words "My name is". We know that the Zodiac Killer was often triggered into writing to the newspapers because of recent published articles that featured him, but at this point in time (after nearly 3 years), the newspaper articles about the Zodiac Killer had become extremely threadbare. Therefore, the pool of newspaper articles that triggered the September 25th 1990 postcard shouldn't be too difficult to find. This cryptographic postcard message was also highly relevant to the 340 cipher mailed on November 8th 1969.

The 340 cipher was a direct response to Jim Dunbar, an American radio program director, talk show host and news anchor, and Melvin Belli, a flamboyant lawyer, writer and actor. The Zodiac Killer, in this instance, took the opportunity to reply to the Jim Dunbar TV Show with his message concealed in code. He may have done exactly the same on September 25th 1990, because one month before the Celebrity Cypher was mailed, the Sally Jessy Raphael TV Show featured the story of the Zodiac Killer with three high profile guests, including Robert Graysmith (author of the 1986 book Zodiac), James Fox (professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston) and Pam Huckaby (sister of murder victim, Darlene Ferrin). So, there is every chance the Zodiac Killer responded to a second TV show with another cryptographic message. It is important to note, that when the Celebrity Cypher was mailed, nobody knew that the Zodiac Killer's 340 cipher was a response to the Jim Dunbar TV Show. Therefore, the timing of the postcard to the Vallejo Times-Herald on September 25th 1990, a matter of weeks after the Sally Jessy Raphael TV Show and the accompanying newspaper article in the Vallejo Times-Herald, which featured the revelations on the TV Show, is a strong indicator that the postcard and TV show are relevant to one another. Especially when you consider the contents of the newspaper article.

The newspaper article began with "A former Vallejo woman related to one of the Zodiac's victims told a national television audience Wednesday that she is being harassed with death threats from the serial killer. Pam Huckaby, a guest on Sally Jessy Raphael's talk show, said that just days before she was to leave for New York to film Wednesday's show, she was assaulted and knocked unconscious in her home near Antioch". The newspaper continued "The killer is called the Zodiac because of his cryptic messages, loaded with astrological symbols, to the news media and investigators". But here is the crucial part of this newspaper article, where it stated "In a 1986 Times-Herald interview, Huckaby said she received annual calls from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac who said "This is the Zodiac speaking. I have collected the slaves I needed to collect. Now I'm going after the family". The Zodiac Killer in his 340 cipher stated "I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice all the sooner. I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice". In summary, we have two cryptographic communications, very likely a response to celebrities appearing on a TV show, both occurring just weeks after the show aired. 

​Below are two possible decodings of the Celebrity Cypher postcard, bearing in mind Pam Huckaby was the focus of the Sally Jessy Raphael Show and subsequent Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper article.

If that wasn't enough, the author of the Celebrity Cypher on September 25th 1990 misspelled the address of Vallejo Times-Herald, using "Vallejo Times Herold", just as the Zodiac Killer had done on July 31st 1969 (and the 1969 envelope wasn't in the public domain in 1990). The October 28th 1987 envelope was also likely misspelled "Herold" as well. That is three communications to the Vallejo Times-Herald spanning 21 years, all probably misspelled the same way. ​

A few months after the Celebrity Cypher was received by the Vallejo Times-Herald, beginning in 1991, another series of cryptograms would be mailed concerning another TV show host. John Edward Walsh Jr. is an American television personality, and victim rights advocate, and the host/creator of America's Most Wanted. Beginning in 1991, John Walsh started receiving a sequence of sinister letters and cryptograms that many have considered may have been authored by the infamous Zodiac Killer. The title of the fifth cipher, accompanied by a 180 character cryptogram, read "Hi!, Remember me?", while another was signed by the pseudonym of "Scorpion". The author of these latest series of letters is unknown, but we have three high profile TV hosts, connected closely to several cryptograms, with the most recent offerings mailed in 1990 and 1991, just months apart. 

The Zodiac Killer's 38 character code may be solved by examining three of his other ciphers (two solved and one unsolved), including the day he mailed the first Fairfield letter in December. The Z340 (November 8th 1969), Z38 (December 7th 1969), Z13 (April 20th 1970) and Z148 (probably May 3rd 1971) all have one other date in common - October 22nd 1969.

[1] The Z340 (November 8th 1969) was a response to the October 22nd 1969 Jim Dunbar Show, stating that the person who phoned into the show was effectively an imposter or phony, encoding a contemporary message and using wording similar to the headlines in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 24th 1969. The 340 message read, in part "That wasn't me on the TV Show", mimicking the headlines of "That Wasn't Zodiac, Say 3 Who Know" and "It Wasn't Zodiac, Say 3 Who Know". He also responded to the Jim Dunbar Show and the October 23rd 1969 Chronicle article, entitled "A TV Runaround With Zodiac Calls", in which "Belli told Sam he'd attempt to get a promise from District Attorney John J. Ferdon that Zodiac would be spared the gas chamber if convicted of murder". The Zodiac Killer responded in code that he was "not afraid of the gas chamber".​ 

​[2] The Z148 code (probably mailed May 3rd 1971) was again contemporary in nature, and a response to the police arrest and interview of Karl Francis Werner on April 29th 1971. Three newspaper articles ran with the headlines "San Jose Student Held in Slaying of Three Girls", "San Jose Student Held in Slaying of 3 Girls" and "Youth Arraigned in Knife Slayings of Three Girls". The Zodiac Killer encoded these headlines in his 148 character cipher by promising to "skin three kids and make a suit from the skin" if his latest letter was not published. He also encoded the statement "stop listening to phonys" in the Z148, referring to both Karl Francis Werner (who was being interviewed for the Snoozy & Furlong murders on August 3rd 1969, to which the Zodiac Killer had already claimed as his victims) and Eric Weill (who phoned into the Jim Dunbar Show at least twice, claiming to be Zodiac}. The second phone call was reported in San Francisco Chronicle on February 6th 1970, entitled "Talk Show's 'Zodiac' Caller a Phony", with Inspector David Toschi pitching in: "Homicide detectives later listened to a tape recording of the conversation and concluded that Sam was a phony. It most certainly was not Zodiac, said Inspector David Toschi".  The headlines of the October 24th 1969 and February 6th 1970 Chronicle articles both placed within the encoded text of the Z340 and Z148.

[3] The Zodiac Killer mailed the Z13 on April 20th 1970, very likely a response to the October 22nd 1969 article in the San Francisco Examiner, entitled "Cipher Expert Dares Zodiac to Tell Name". It read "Dr Marsh told the Examiner today: The killer wouldn't dare, as he claimed in letters to the newspapers, to reveal his name in the cipher to established cryptogram experts. He knows, to quote Edgar Allen Poe, that any cipher created by man can be solved by man. Zodiac has not told the truth in his cipher messages to the Examiner, the Chronicle and the Vallejo Times-Herald. Zodiac has not done this, because to tell the complete truth in relation to his name-in cipher code-would lead to his capture. I invite Zodiac to send The American Cryptogram Association a cipher code, which will truly and honestly include his name". The Zodiac responded on April 20th 1970 by stating "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name is___ " The letters N, A, M and E could be found in the ciphertext of the code.

[4] The Z38 mailed on December 7th 1969 began with "This is the Zodiac speaking. I just need help", mimicking the caller (Eric Weill) to the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. It is clear that this cry for help was a disingenuous attempt at ridicule from a killer who either listened to the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, or read the subsequent newspaper articles. On October 22nd 1969, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Belli was put on the line, and the voice said "I want help". On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” On the same day of December 7th 1969, we have a man mailing a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle mocking the call to the Jim Dunbar Show by stating "I just need help", followed a few hours later by a call to an Oklahoma radio station by a man doing an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This impressionist caller could possibly be the Zodiac Killer mocking the Jim Dunbar Show, just as he had done in the letter earlier that day.

​Therefore, we have the Z340 (November 8th 1969), Z38 (December 7th 1969), Z13 (April 20th 1970) and Z148 (probably May 3rd 1971), all relevant to the date of October 22nd 1969. Bearing in mind the Z38 carried the same four and five characters from the beginning and the end of the 340 cipher, along with the observations above, we could expect the Z38 message to be somehow related to these other ciphers. The message may very well lie in the newspaper inches from October 22nd 1969 to December 7th 1969 - and may be related to the Jim Dunbar TV Show yet again. 

This is a continuation from the article The Day the Zodiac Killer Rang Oklahoma. The original article will be replicated here under Part One, immediately followed by some fresh information under Part Two (with the help of Zodiac Killer Net forum).

Part One: ​An imposter by the name of Eric Weill called into the Jim Dunbar KGO-TV station on the morning of October 22nd 1969 and attempted to pass himself off to the host and Melvin Belli as the infamous Zodiac Killer. During the phone call Eric Weill pleaded with Melvin Belli, stating "I want help".  On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” The Zodiac Killer clearly latched onto this plea for help, when in mocking fashion he wrote to the residence of Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969 and stated "please help me" on three occasions, in accompaniment to the phrase "I cannot reach out for help". However, this wasn't the first time the Zodiac Killer would mock the spectacle of the Jim Dunbar Show, when on December 7th 1969 he mailed a letter from Fairfield to the San Francisco Chronicle stating "I just need help. I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop". Thirteen days later, the Melvin Belli letter would replicate this plea for help, despite the fact the December 7th 1969 correspondence was never released to the newspapers. But here's the kicker.

After the Zodiac Killer communication, postmarked December 7th 1969, a phone call was received later that night by the host of commercial radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer. KTOK news director Larry Lamotte told the San Francisco Chronicle that a man rang the station and declared that he had to leave California because "it got too hot for me", remarking that the man did an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This is the crucial part. On the same day of December 7th 1969, we have a man mailing a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle mocking the call to the Jim Dunbar Show by stating "I just need help", followed a few hours later by a call to an Oklahoma radio station by a man doing an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This impressionist caller could possibly be the Zodiac Killer mocking the Jim Dunbar Show, just as he had done in the letter earlier that day - and would do thirteen days later when he thrice pleaded "please help me". There is no way of finding out the full transcript of the phone call to the Oklahoma radio station, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to believe he mockingly asked for help on this occasion too.   

The caller to the Oklahoma radio station, doing an impression of the Jim Dunbar Show caller, claimed he left California because "it got too hot for me". A few hours before the October 22nd 1969 Oakland Police Department phone call requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day, somebody rang the Palo Alto Times newspaper claiming to be the Zodiac Killer and stated that he had left San Francisco because "because I'm too hot there". Two similar pieces of phraseology connected by two phone calls and the Jim Dunbar Show.

​In addition, we have the December 7th 1969 letter stating "I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop", followed by the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter listing 38 "cops" as potential victims, and a December 19th 1969 payphone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol threatening "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". Three threats to kill cops within twelve days of December. Then came the mocking Melvin Belli letter just one day later. Neither of the Fairfield letters were released to the newspapers, making the December 19th 1969 payphone caller just another lucky chap if it wasn't the Zodiac Killer. It is fairly evident that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for many more phone calls than the two he has been accredited with, including a phone call to the Santa Rosa Police Department on October 15th 1969. 

The apparent familiarity with the KTOK radio station, by choosing to call one of its hosts over 1,000 miles from the Bay Area, could suggest an affinity to their style of broadcasting. During the 1960s KTOK radio station featured news, sport and adult music, with the 1960 Broadcasting Yearbook describing its content as "toe tapping music (no rock and roll) and all the announcers are adults". That music included such artists as Tony Bennett, The Mills Brothers and Al Martino. This may give an insight into the maturity and age of the Zodiac Killer when the phone call was made on December 7th 1969, in a year when all three sets of eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights described the Zodiac Killer as 40 years or above. Was the Zodiac Killer an avid listener to this radio station, or did he once have roots in Oklahoma?   

Part Two: Then came the ridiculous statements in the Lodi News-Sentinel by a detective sergeant and KTOK news director, Larry Lamotte. The detective sergeant told the Sentinel that "Major Miller told us it was a hoax. I don't know if we even looked into the case". Apparently the police ended their investigation inside of one day - and according to Larry Lamotte they didn't even come to collect recordings of the man's voice when offered the tapes. Larry Lamotte remarked "I don't see how it can be anything but a hoax. The caller was too familiar with Oklahoma City. He knew the name of our shopping centers and mentioned our high rate of traffic fatalities and even the governor's 'Live for the 70s program". Well, maybe he had visited Oklahoma recently, and/or had possibly lived there at some point Larry. Maybe he read newspapers and magazines.   

When the caller was asked if he was the Zodiac Killer, he stated "I could be", and added that "I don't need to kill. There are too many people killed on the highways and that's legal". The conversation continued with the caller remarking "You're going to try and trace it" - and when met with the affirmative - replied "then I better hang up". The caller added one final thing, threatening more killings by stating "There are plenty of parking lots" - mentioning one large Oklahoma shopping center by name. This call to Oklahoma City on December 7th 1969 came forty-seven days after the Jim Dunbar Show, yet it mimicked the October 22nd 1969 call to KGO-TV station the very same day a Zodiac letter was postmarked to the San Francisco Chronicle, also mimicking the Jim Dunbar Show hoaxer by stating "I just need help". Again, predating the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 that thrice pleaded "please help me". The caller to the Oklahoma radio station stated he had to leave California because "it got too hot for me", just like the caller to the Palo Alto newspaper just hours before the Oakland Police Department call in the early morning hours of October 22nd 1969. On that occasion the caller stated that he left San Francisco "because I'm too hot there". So, the notion the Oklahoma City caller was an isolated hoaxer that was currently resident in Oklahoma doesn't stack up, especially when you consider the December 7th 1969 letter was postmarked Fairfield, California. This Oklahoma City recording could reveal the true voice of the Zodiac Killer. At the very least, it should have been played to Bryan Hartnell, Nancy Slover and David Slaight, who had all heard the Zodiac Killer's voice a matter of months earlier.       

Additional Information: On October 19th 1969, the San Francisco Examiner ran an article entitled "Message to the Zodiac Killer". It read: "Five people are dead. Let there be no more killings. Police say you are intelligent. If you are, then listen to reason. You are being hunted everywhere in the state, and nation. You are alone in this world. You can share your secrets with no one. No friend can help you. You are as much a victim of your crimes as those whose lives you snuffed out. You cannot walk the streets a free man. There is no safety for you, anywhere. And you will be caught, there is no doubt. You face life as a hunted, tormented animal - unless you help yourself. We ask that you give yourself up to the Examiner. We offer you no protection, and no sympathy. But we do offer you fair treatment, the assurance of medical help and the full benefits of your legal rights. And we offer to tell your story. Why have you killed? How has life wronged you? Call the City Editor of the Examiner any time, day or night. The telephone number is (415) 781 24 24. Call collect. Your call will not be traced".

This message may have inspired the Zodiac Killer to ring the Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969 requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, two high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day. The San Francisco Examiner article was published on October 19th 1969 with the assurance of "legal rights" if the Zodiac Killer phoned in - and requested the murderer to "give yourself up". It was reported in a magazine article in August 1971 that after the caller to Oakland Police made contact, the main thrust of the conversation was that the Zodiac Killer wanted to give himself up, but only if he could be represented by a famous lawyer. Approximately six weeks after the Oakland call, a letter mailed on December 7th 1969 to the San Francisco Chronicle (now validated as Zodiac correspondence), mocked the dialogue in the Jim Dunbar Show by opening his communication with "I just need help", but after threatening to kill a cop he stated "I will turn myself in". This was the only time the Zodiac Killer offered to turn himself in, other than the caller to the Oakland Police Department. To the best of my knowledge no newspaper articles immediately subsequent to the Jim Dunbar Show mentioned the Oakland caller offering to turn himself in - and neither did the Jim Dunbar Show hoaxer. This last section will be deleted if fresh information proves otherwise.  

An imposter by the name of Eric Weill called into the Jim Dunbar KGO-TV station on the morning of October 22nd 1969 and attempted to pass himself off to the host and Melvin Belli as the infamous Zodiac Killer. During the phone call Eric Weill pleaded with Melvin Belli, stating "I want help".  On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” The Zodiac Killer clearly latched onto this plea for help, when in mocking fashion he wrote to the residence of Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969 and stated "please help me" on three occasions, in accompaniment to the phrase "I cannot reach out for help". However, this wasn't the first time the Zodiac Killer would mock the spectacle of the Jim Dunbar Show, when on December 7th 1969 he mailed a letter from Fairfield to the San Francisco Chronicle stating "I just need help. I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop". Thirteen days later, the Melvin Belli letter would replicate this plea for help, despite the fact the December 7th 1969 correspondence was never released to the newspapers. But here's the kicker.

After the Zodiac Killer communication, postmarked December 7th 1969, a phone call was received later that night by the host of commercial radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer. KTOK news director Larry Lamotte told the San Francisco Chronicle that a man rang the station and declared that he had to leave California because "it got too hot for me", remarking that the man did an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This is the crucial part. On the same day of December 7th 1969, we have a man mailing a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle mocking the call to the Jim Dunbar Show by stating "I just need help", followed a few hours later by a call to an Oklahoma radio station by a man doing an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. This impressionist caller could possibly be the Zodiac Killer mocking the Jim Dunbar Show, just as he had done in the letter earlier that day - and would do thirteen days later when he thrice pleaded "please help me". There is no way of finding out the full transcript of the phone call to the Oklahoma radio station, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to believe he mockingly asked for help on this occasion too.   

The caller to the Oklahoma radio station, doing an impression of the Jim Dunbar Show caller, claimed he left California because "it got too hot for me". A few hours before the October 22nd 1969 Oakland Police Department phone call requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day, somebody rang the Palo Alto Times newspaper claiming to be the Zodiac Killer and stated that he had left San Francisco because "because I'm too hot there". Two similar pieces of phraseology connected by two phone calls and the Jim Dunbar Show.

​In addition, we have the December 7th 1969 letter stating "I will kill again so expect it any time soon the will be a cop", followed by the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter listing 38 "cops" as potential victims, and a December 19th 1969 payphone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol threatening "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". Three threats to kill cops within twelve days of December. Then came the mocking Melvin Belli letter just one day later. Neither of the Fairfield letters were released to the newspapers, making the December 19th 1969 payphone caller just another lucky chap if it wasn't the Zodiac Killer. It is fairly evident that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for many more phone calls than the two he has been accredited with, including a phone call to the Santa Rosa Police Department on October 15th 1969. 

The Zodiac Killer may have attempted to ring the Jim Dunbar Show before the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. On October 22nd 1969, Eric Weill (Sam) rang into the morning KGO-TV Jim Dunbar Show - but when Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli interviewed this man it was on the understanding he may have been the infamous Zodiac Killer, with the host asking him "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago". This suggests that Jim Dunbar was aware of a previous attempt by the Zodiac Killer to contact the show prior to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. The Zodiac Killer may have attempted to contact the Jim Dunbar Show for a second time, when he rang the Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969, but again his debut on the show was thwarted by imposter Eric Weill. With this in mind, did he then choose to redirect his attention to a different radio station in Oklahoma on December 7th 1969? But why would he choose KTOK radio station in Oklahoma? There has to be a reason.  

The apparent familiarity with the KTOK radio station, by choosing to call one of its hosts over 1,000 miles from the Bay Area, could suggest an affinity to their style of broadcasting. During the 1960s KTOK radio station featured news, sport and adult music, with the 1960 Broadcasting Yearbook describing its content as "toe tapping music (no rock and roll) and all the announcers are adults". That music included such artists as Tony Bennett, The Mills Brothers and Al Martino. This may give an insight into the maturity and age of the Zodiac Killer when the phone call was made on December 7th 1969, in a year when all three sets of eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights described the Zodiac Killer as 40 years or above. Was the Zodiac Killer an avid listener to this radio station, or did he once have roots in Oklahoma?   

So, could the 38 character code hold some further reference to the Jim Dunbar Show, or the upcoming appearance on the KTOK radio station? If the Z38 is somehow related to the Z340 (through its opening 4 characters and 5 ending characters), does it carry a similar message? The first communication after the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969 was the 'Dripping Pen' card and 340 cipher mailed on November 8th 1969, stating "that wasn't me on the TV show". With the December 7th 1969 letter and KTOK radio call coming on the same day, could it have any bearing on the message contained within the code? "That was me on the Oklahoma radio station" would have certainly been the ideal contemporary message to encode.  

On October 22nd 1969, Eric Weill (Sam) rang into the morning KGO-TV Jim Dunbar Show - but when Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli interviewed this man it was on the understanding he may have been the infamous Zodiac Killer, with the host asking him "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago". This suggests that Jim Dunbar was aware of a previous attempt by the Zodiac Killer to contact the show prior to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. Many have considered the possibility that the Zodiac Killer may have rang into the Oakland Police Department at 2:00am on October 22nd 1969 requesting to appear on the Jim Dunbar Show, but when the show aired later that morning his appearance was hijacked by mental patient, Eric Weill, who impulsively contacted the show under the guise of the Zodiac Killer. Prior to the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, the Zodiac Killer had committed three attacks in Benicia, Vallejo and Napa County, with no known attacks in San Francisco, so why would Eric Weill take it upon himself to contact the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco in advance of the Paul Stine murder.

A much stronger case could be made for the Zodiac Killer wanting to contact the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco just several days prior to his murder of Paul Stine in San Francisco. The Zodiac Killer had already made threats to "cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again" if his cryptograms were not published in the newspapers on August 1st 1969, and that he was not happy to see he "did not get front page coverage" for his exploits thus far. Therefore, one could argue that the Zodiac Killer had tried to contact the Jim Dunbar Show before the murder of Paul Stine to threaten the citizens of San Francisco that his terror would soon be felt on the streets of the big city. Jim Dunbar asked the "Zodiac Killer" (Sam) "Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?", suggesting that the Zodiac Killer had previously chosen to ring a San Francisco TV show with a resident San Francisco lawyer as guest, just a few days prior to the Zodiac Killer switching his attacks to San Francisco. The other possibility, is that a mental patient just took it upon himself to contact a San Francisco TV show in absence of any murders being committed by the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco prior to the attack in Presidio Heights.  

The Zodiac Killer would go on to deny he was the caller to the Jim Dunbar Show in the recently decoded 340 cipher, in which he stated "That wasn't me on the TV show". But he very likely could have tuned into the broadcast to view the spectacle unfold. Without the full transcript of this call to the Jim Dunbar Show, it would be interesting to find out how many times Eric Weill pleaded for the help of Melvin Belli. On December 20th 1969, it is clear that the Zodiac Killer linked the Paul Stine murder with the Jim Dunbar Show by mailing a piece of Paul Stine's bloody shirt with the correspondence, with the letter itself carrying a mocking tone by using the phrase "please help me" on three occasions, in accompaniment to the phrase "I cannot reach out for help". It is clear that this cry for help was a disingenuous attempt at ridicule from a killer who either listened to the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, or read the subsequent newspaper articles. On October 22nd 1969, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Belli was put on the line, and the voice said "I want help". On October 23rd 1969, the Desert Sun newspaper claimed that Melvin Belli told the caller “All of San Francisco wants to help you. The hand is out, you can feel the hands out.” The Zodiac Killer would make these cries for help the bedrock of his December 20th 1969 communication. 

​If anybody "can help" in pinpointing the exact date that Melvin Belli appeared on the Jim Dunbar Show immediately prior to the October 22nd 1969 call, please let me know by using the Zodiac Killer forums. Thank you. PART 1.

In the early hours of October 22nd 1969, a phone call was made to the Oakland Police Department asking for either Francis Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli, two prominent attorneys, to appear on the KGO Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco that morning. A few hours later, somebody rang into the Jim Dunbar Show pretending to be the Zodiac Killer, adopting the less menacing name of "Sam" once prompted. That person was later identified as a mental patient, Eric Weill. When the 340 cipher was deciphered by Dave Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke in December 2020, the Zodiac Killer message finally revealed what everyone knew all along - that the Zodiac Killer never made that call to the Jim Dunbar Show. However, he didn't deny making the phone call to the Oakland Police Department. But why would the Zodiac Killer make a phone call to Oakland police to arrange an appearance on the Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco? Why not ring the Jim Dunbar Show directly? The answer may lie in the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, spoken by Jim Dunbar himself.

This was the dialogue between "Sam" (Eric Weill) and Jim Dunbar:
Jim Dunbar: Sam, let me ask you a question. Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?
Sam: What?
Jim Dunbar: Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago when Mel Belli was with us? 
Sam: Yes
Jim Dunbar: And you couldn't get through, the phones were tied up. Is that it?
Sam: Yes  

It could be argued, when you listen to this exchange between the host and caller, that "Sam" has no idea what Jim Dunbar is referring to when he mentions a previous phone call received at the Jim Dunbar Show. He hesitates profoundly when asked the question, before saying "what". This could mean that the Zodiac Killer had previously phoned the Jim Dunbar Show between October 1st and October 8th 1969. When Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli are interviewing the caller, they are doing it under the presumption this could be the Zodiac Killer. So when they ask "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago", they are effectively asking the Zodiac Killer if he rang two or three weeks ago. This suggests they were aware of a previous call from the Zodiac Killer prior to the murder of Paul Stine. The Zodiac Killer may have rang the Jim Dunbar Show in early October but failed to get through. In other words, he attempted to call the TV show but the call was rejected for whatever reason. They may have thought it was just another crank call. This is probably why the Zodiac Killer eventually decided to ring the Oakland Police Department instead - getting them to relay the message to the Jim Dunbar Show - which they obviously did. There seems to be no other good reason why the Bay Area murderer would place a call to the Oakland Police Department, other than his failure to get his message across to the Jim Dunbar Show before October 11th 1969. It should also be noted that the San Francisco Police Department were inundated with calls after the murder of Paul Stine, probably forcing the Zodiac Killer to target his phone call to a 'less busy' police department and thereby guaranteeing the delivery of his message this time around. But what date was Melvin Belli on the Jim Dunbar Show prior to October 22nd 1969?  PART 2.

On December 3rd 2020 David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke unlocked the mystery to the 51-year-old 340 cipher, mailed by the Zodiac Killer on November 8th 1969.  The decoded message was a response to the Jim Dunbar Show in which an imposter/fraud called in to the TV show pretending to be the infamous Zodiac Killer.on October 22rd 1969. It may have also been a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article on October 23rd 1969 entitled A TV Runaround With Zodiac Calls in which "Belli told Sam he'd attempt to get a promise from District Attorney John J. Ferdon that Zodiac would be spared the gas chamber if convicted of murder". The Zodiac Killer responded in code that he was "not afraid of the gas chamber". 

The following day, the San Francisco Chronicle published another article which featured the opinions of Nancy Slover, David Slaight and Bryan Hartnell, who were the only three people credited with hearing the Zodiac's voice to date. The headline of that column read That Wasn't Zodiac, Say 3 Who Know, to which the Zodiac Killer would reply in his message in the 340 cipher by confirming "That wasn't me on the TV show". He took the newspaper headline and incorporated it into his hidden message. The Zodiac Killer was effectively rejecting the notion that the person who appeared on the Jim Dunbar Show claiming to be him was the genuine article - the caller was a fraud or imposter.

The decoded 340 ciphertext read: I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME - THAT WASN’T ME ON THE TV SHOW - WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME - I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE - SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH - I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH.

However, it didn't stop there. On February 5th 1970, the Desert Sun newspaper reported that "a man claiming to be the Zodiac killer of five persons held another on-the-air conversation today with television personality Jim Dunbar. Two police inspectors closeted themselves with Dunbar at station KGOTV immediately after the one-sided conversation, which consisted mainly of Dunbar asking questions and repealing fragments of answers". This second call was also reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on February 6th 1970, again highlighting the belief of investigators that this person was another fraud impersonating the Zodiac Killer. Just over a year later the Zodiac Killer mailed a 148 character cryptogram and letter, again encoding a contemporary message, but this time calling out Karl Francis Werner as a phony. Karl Francis Werner had just been arrested in connection with the murders of Kathie Reyne Snoozy, Debra Gaye Furlong and Kathy Bilek, two of which he had long claimed he murdered since the mailing of his November 8th 1969 Dripping Pen card and 340 cryptogram. He would also soon claim Kathy Bilek as a murder victim in the July 13th 1971 Monticello card. The Zodiac Killer was clearly upset somebody else had been arrested for the two San Jose murders on August 3rd 1969 and was responding to a San Francisco Chronicle article on April 30th 1971 entitled San Jose Student Held in Slaying of Three Girls. The newspaper article read "He was immediately advised of his rights concerning any statements he may make and legal representation to which he is entitled, the detectives said. Werner was then taken to the scenes of the crimes. Late yesterday he was undergoing questioning. The detectives would not reveal what statements, if any, he had made concerning the killings of the three girls". His response was immediate, likely firing off the following communication in early May. 

The Zodiac Killer was responding to the Paul Avery newspaper article on April 30th 1971 describing the arrest and interview of Karl Francis Werner by law enforcement, imploring investigators to "stop listening to phonys". Just like the 340 cipher, in which the Zodiac Killer used the newspaper headline banner of That Wasn't Zodiac, Say 3 Who Know to create "That wasn't me on the TV show", he would again use a newspaper headline banner in his rebuttal of Karl Francis Werner as the killer of the three girls (in particular, Snoozy & Furlong).

An imposter/fraud had called into the Jim Dunbar TV Show on October 22nd 1969, followed by a second call to the show on February 5th 1970. The San Francisco Chronicle article on the left was entitled Talk Show's Zodiac Caller Called a Phony. The article read "Homicide detectives later listened to a tape recording of the conversation and concluded that Sam was a phony. It most certainly was not Zodiac, said Inspector David Toschi".  Fast forward to May of 1971, in which Karl Francis Werner is being interviewed by investigators for three murders, including the brutal stabbings of Kathie Reyne Snoozy and Debra Gaye Furlong, to which Zodiac had previously claimed by the addition of "Aug" on his November 8th 1969 Dripping Pen card. Perceived by him, the Zodiac Killer has now had the indignity of two phone calls to the Jim Dunbar Show, where a phony has effectively claimed his crimes, followed by the arrest and interview of Karl Francis Werner in 1971, possibly being credited with crimes he had previously claimed. His response to law enforcement was "stop listening to phonys", again using a newspaper headline incorporated into the ciphertext message of his cryptogram.

At the time the Zodiac Killer mailed the 148 character cipher in 1971, the 340 cryptogram was unsolved. Yet here we have two lengthy cryptograms, both of which are incorporating in contemporary form the rejection of an imposter or phony by using the phrases "That wasn't me on the TV show" and "stop listening to phonys" - and both cryptograms incorporated the language used in two newspaper headlines.

The 340 and 148 character cryptograms are inextricably linked through a message that is contemporary in nature, both are the rejection of two people connected to his crimes (and claimed crime), and both the Dripping Pen card and 148 character cipher are indelibly linked to the murders of Kathy Reyne Snoozy and Debra Gaye Furlong who were horribly killed and mutilated on August 3rd 1969 in San Jose. The Zodiac Killer would finish his written message in May 1971 with the wording of "I will send a patch of human skin if their is some left over". This was a threat to kill another three kids, just like Snoozy, Furlong and Bilek. The nature of these three brutal stabbings (in excess of 300 knife wounds) should leave you in no doubt the meaning behind the sinister message of "I will send a patch of human skin if their is some left over".

The breaking of the 340 cipher by David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke on December 3rd 2020 was a fantastic achievement after 51 years, only slightly tarnished by the banality of the message encoded by the Zodiac Killer, in which he denied it was him on the Jim Dunbar Show, along with the usual paradice and slaves nonsense. However, it may have gone a long way to verifying two previous communications once considered inauthentic Zodiac letters. 

The 340 message stated "That wasn't me on the TV show", thereby suggesting by inference that the person who called into the Jim Dunbar TV show on October 22nd 1969 was an imposter and fraud. Shortly after the April 29th 1971 arrest of Karl Francis Werner for the murders of Kathie Reyne Snoozy, Debra Gaye Furlong and Kathy Bilek in San Jose and Saratoga, another cryptogram was mailed from Fairfield to the San Francisco Chronicle containing 148 characters. It too was effectively delivering a contemporary message, again claiming that the person (Karl Francis Werner) being 'interviewed' was an imposter and fraud, stating "Tis the Zodiac Speacking. Why can't you stop me. I can't stop killing. Stop listening t(o) phonys". The 340 cipher was unbroken in 1971, yet the author of another contemporary enciphered message was again claiming that the person in the spotlight was a "phony". The only difference this time was the Zodiac Killer was the "phony", falsely attempting to wrestle back the murder victims of Snoozy & Furlong on August 3rd 1969, that he had claimed in the Dripping Pen card mailed on November 8th 1969, with his addition of "Aug" in his chronological victim count of seven. He would further compound matters by adding the April 11th 1971 murder of Kathy Bilek to this list, when on July 13th 1971 he claimed her murder in the Monticello card by stating "In The Woods Dies April".

This should allay any doubts as to the authenticity of this communication, especially when you consider that the Monticello card "shought victims 21" just like the written message accompanying the 148 character cipher - and both were withheld from the newspapers.

The 340 cipher also went a long way to verifying the 38 character code, mailed from Fairfield on December 7th 1969, because both cryptograms isolated the word "death" at the end of each message. The person who created the Z38 deliberately separated the prominent ZO∆AIKꞮ+ characters on the bottom line of the 340 cipher, into AIKꞮ+ on the bottom line of the 38 character code. thereby manufacturing the word "death". Druzer, a valued contributor to both main Zodiac forums, pointed out the same thing, stating  "The most curious/compelling feats are that the author isolated actual words, most notably death, and that he refrained from copying Zodaik, which would certainly be expected of a hoaxer".  

The 340 cipher did indeed harbor a banal and relatively uninteresting message after a long 51 year wait, but it can be argued that the solving of the message contained within it, may have handed us two more confirmed Zodiac communications to examine, offering fresh insights into an investigation often blighted by stagnation. The Z38 can be connected to the 340 cipher through two notable portions of each code, The words IRON and DEATH can be found in both, before any period 19 shift is applied. If these two enciphered cryptograms are connected by beginning and end, then why should the middle section of the Z38 be any different. The Z38 and Z340 could very well be have a much bigger relationship, yet to be unearthed.

On October 22nd 1969, somebody rang the Oakland Police Department to request that either Francis Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli appear on the Jim Dunbar chat show at KGO Radio in San Francisco. Melvin Belli would co-host the morning show at approximately 6:30 am, to which, after a period of inactivity, an unknown male would call and hang up numerous times. The dysfunctional sounding caller claimed he was the infamous Zodiac Killer, a man responsible for at least five murders in the Bay Area of California.

Three people who had heard the Zodiac Killer's voice, Nancy Slover, David Slaight and Bryan Hartnell, were confident that the caller was not the man they had heard during their respective encounters with the killer. A fourth person was absolutely certain, because he was about to compose a 340 cipher denouncing the caller to the Jim Dunbar Show as a fraud, by stating "That wasn't me on the TV show". Many have found it strange that the Zodiac Killer decided to encode this denial, when he could have simply written it into the Dripping Pen card that accompanied the cipher. He clearly expected this cryptogram to be decoded fairly quickly as the message was contemporary, and of diminishing value as the years ticked by.

However, his method of encoding such contemporary information to highlight that it wasn't him on the TV show, thereby confirming that the Jim Dunbar Show caller was an imposter, was to be repeated eighteen months later. Another cryptogram would be mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle in about May of 1971, harboring a hidden message that was again contemporary in nature, while calling out an imposter. This time though, the tables would be turned. On this occasion, the Zodiac Killer would be calling out a "phony", when in realty he was the imposter and the person he was addressing was the real killer. This stemmed from his false claim that he was the murderer of Kathy Snoozy (15) and Deborah Furlong (14) in San Jose. These two young girls were brutally stabbed on August 3rd 1969 and claimed as Zodiac victims when he mailed the Dripping Pen card on November 8th 1969. He would write "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7", thereby falsely inflating his victim count to engender more terror over a wider area.

On April 29th 1971, Karl Francis Werner was arrested for the murders of Kathy Snoozy, Deborah Furlong and Kathy Bilek, and his story was covered by Paul Avery on April 30th 1971 under the title of San Jose Student Held in Slaying of Three Girls. 
The newspaper article stated "He was immediately advised of his rights concerning any statements he may make and legal representation to which he is entitled, the detectives said. Werner was then taken to the scenes of the crimes. Late yesterday he was undergoing questioning. The detectives would not reveal what statements, if any, he had made concerning the killings of the three girls". The Zodiac Killer was understandably horrified, because the two murders he had falsely adopted into his victim total for a year-and-a-half, were about to be handed over to someone else. Karl Francis Werner was ultimately charged (and later convicted) of all three murders, but the Zodiac Killer was having none of it, firing off a 148 character cipher and letter sometime in May (see below).

Just like his encoded message in the 340 cipher stating "That wasn't me on the TV show", he would again encode the following message "Tis the Zodiac Speacking. Why can't you stop me. I can't stop killing. Stop listening t(o) phonys. If this is not on your front page in a week I will skin 3 little kids and make a suit from the skin". The Zodiac Killer was responding to the Paul Avery newspaper article, informing everybody that they should pay no attention to Karl Francis Werner and insisted they should "Stop listening to phonys". One can't help seeing the irony of the situation. The Zodiac Killer effectively declared that the caller to the Jim Dunbar Show was a phony because it wasn't him on the TV show, but has now become the phony calling out the real killer - and both of these declarations hidden within cryptograms separated by eighteen months. The Zodiac Killer felt angered enough to dissuade law enforcement in listening to Karl Francis Werner, yet disguised this pertinent message behind a wall of coding, just as he had done on November 8th 1969 with another contemporary message. However, there was one big difference. This latest cryptogram had returned back to the standard left-to-right homophonic technique employed by the 408 cipher. Bearing in mind his 340 cipher was yet to be deciphered - and knowing he wanted to declare Karl Francis Werner a fraud while it still mattered - the Zodiac Killer probably thought it wise to return back to the simplest form of encryption.

Early in December 2020, the 340 cipher was cracked by David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke, which revealed the message shown below. Despite the fact the message left many rather deflated because of its banality, hoping it would reveal so much more, the message contained in the Dripping Pen card and the following Fairfield letters appear to show a running theme. It was recently highlighted how the 38 character code in the December 7th 1969 communication (1st Fairfield letter) showed a distinct correlation to the 340 cipher. Here is a brief recap:

If a Zodiac impersonator had created the 38 character code, this hoaxer would have had to guess that by separating the prominent ZO∆AIKꞮ+ characters on the bottom line of the 340 cipher, into AIKꞮ+ on the bottom line of the 38 character code, he would be reducing these characters to create something meaningful. He apparently did. By separating these characters into the five visible at the end of the 38 character code, he created the word "death", just like the solved 340 cipher. Druzer, an excellent Zodiac researcher, pointed out the same thing, stating "The most curious/compelling feats are that the author isolated actual words, most notably death, and that he refrained from copying Zodaik, which would certainly be expected of a hoaxer". In other words, he dismantled the ZO∆AIK element, while leaving Ɪ+ in place, to form "death" as the final word on the 38 character code. This appears to show knowledge of the hidden message in the 340 cipher. But there is so much more in the Fairfield letters that harks back to the Dripping Pen card and 340 cipher.

Despite stating in the above message he now had enough slaves to work for him in paradice, he would ultimately decide to "kill again" on December 7th 1969, in accompaniment to his brief 38 character code. The Zodiac Killer would never use the standalone word "life" outside of the November 8th and December 16th communications, yet he would end the 340 message with "life will be an easy one in paradice [death]", and begin the December 16th 1969 communication (2nd Fairfield letter) with "I just need to tell you this state is in troulbe, I will go for the Goverment life".

The Dripping Pen card containing the 340 cipher stated "Could you print this new cipher in your frunt page?", whereas the wording "you better print" preceded the small 5/9 character code in the December 16th 1969 letter. The decoded message in the 340 cipher (unknown to anyone until December 2020) began in mocking fashion, stating "I hope you are having lots of fun trying to catch me", while the message immediately beneath the small code in the December 16th 1969 letter stated "you will not catch me". It was almost as though the Zodiac Killer was replying to himself just over five weeks later, in absence of his cipher being solved.

On October 22nd 1969, the Oakland Police Department took a call in the early morning hours from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac, requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day. Melvin Belli agreed to appear on the show to which a man would eventually contact via telephone, claiming not only his name was 'Sam', but also by inference that he was the infamous Zodiac Killer. It was very quickly determined from Nancy Slover, David Slaight and Bryan Hartnell that the caller to the TV show wasn't the Zodiac Killer, which was confirmed by the decoded 340 message, which read "That wasn't me on the TV show". However, the Zodiac Killer didn't expand on who the person was that made the phone call to the Oakland Police Department. Whether he was leaving this open to speculation deliberately, nobody knows, but Oakland would feature in his murder destinations on December 16th 1969. This was the only time this city would feature by way of written text in any of the Zodiac Killer's communications, and it came just five weeks after the Bay Area murderer encoded the denial of "That wasn't me on the TV show". Was it a subtle admission that he did make the Oakland phone call to police and was now promising to murder eight of them, hence the renewed contact with Melvin Belli just four days later providing a piece of Paul Stine's shirt?

There are three things a hoaxer should not have known regarding the decoded 340 cipher message. [1] He shouldn't have known that by separating ZO∆AIKꞮ+ into AIKꞮ+ that it would produce the word "death" at the end of both codes, and provide a common link between the two. [2] He shouldn't have known that the opening line of the 340 message read "I hope you are having lots of fun trying to catch me", when he replied "you will not catch me" only 38 days later, unless you maintain that this is a coincidence. [3] He shouldn't have known that the Oakland inspired TV show had featured as a denial by the Zodiac Killer in the message, when he listed Oakland in the list of his murder sites.

The word "death" could be decoded using the Zodiac key through both the Z340 and Z38 within 29 days of one another. The December 16th 1969 letter also contained a configuration of four smaller crosshairs positioned around larger crosshairs, similar to the configuration of By Knife, By Gun, By Rope and By Fire on the Halloween card mailed on October 27th 1970. However, on this occasion the design was preceded by five characters. Could this be the word "death" once again, mirroring the Tim Holt comic book which likely inspired the design of the Halloween card in the first place? Anyway, "I thought you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. Ha! Ha! Ha!"   

In the early morning hours of October 22nd 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer called the Oakland Police Department and requested that Francis Lee Bailey or Melvin Mouron Belli appear on the Jim Dunbar Show at KGO Radio in San Francisco, to which he would ring in. Somebody did ring the chat show, but this caller was later identified as mental patient, Eric Weill. However, we still don't know to this day whether the original caller to the Oakland Police Department was the Zodiac Killer or not, because the genuine Zodiac Killer only stated "That wasn't me on the TV show" in his now decrypted 340 cipher. At no point did he deny being the caller to the Oakland Police Department.

Probably the most important question to ask, is why would the Zodiac Killer choose to ring the Oakland Police Department above any other. There appeared no connection between the Zodiac Killer and Oakland prior to October 22nd 1969. However, this was also the case on October 15th 1969, when the Zodiac Killer almost certainly phoned the Santa Rosa Police Department to threaten schoolchildren on buses, who then implemented the routine checking of every school bus for hidden bombs. This caller, claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, was threatening schoolchildren two days before the details of "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning" was released by the San Francisco Chronicle, and one day before it was released by the Los Angeles Times. .

On October 21st 1969, the day before the Oakland Police Department call, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer rang the Palo Alto Times newspaper. The Palo Alto Times reported on October 22nd 1969, that 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. This would come only six days after the Santa Rosa threat on schoolchildren. The caller also stated to the Palo Alto Times that he had left San Francisco "because I'm too hot there". On December 7th 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer rang commercial radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City, claiming he left California "because it got too hot for me". There was a further call on December 19th 1969, the day before the Melvin Belli letter, threatening "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". This call was received by Shirley Searey, a police dispatcher at the San Jose Highway Patrol.

Captain Martin Lee stated, after the Zodiac Killer's October 13th 1969 letter: "His boast of being in the area we were searching was 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". Captain Lee added that Zodiac's failure to mention the dogs and floodlights was proof "he wasn't anywhere in the vicinity". The Zodiac Killer responded on November 9th 1969 with "I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. 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".

However, this ire likely began on October 15th 1969, when the San Francisco Chronicle failed to publish his threat on schoolchildren, resulting in his phone call to the Santa Rosa Police Department. The call to Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969 may have been triggered by these perceived slights from law enforcement. By avoiding the San Francisco Police Department and calling the Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969, the Zodiac Killer could request a prominent attorney to represent him on the Jim Dunbar Show, and set the record straight on the misinformation and lies spoken about him by Captain Martin Lee to the San Francisco Chronicle. This TV audience on the popular Jim Dunbar Show in San Francisco may have been the ideal way to set the record straight, circumventing the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Chronicle and receiving maximum exposure. Ultimately, the Zodiac Killer may have had second thoughts, surmising that it could have led to somebody identifying him. This hesitancy opened the door to hoaxer Eric Weill.

Despite the phone call to the Jim Dunbar Show having been roundly dismissed as the Zodiac Killer "by three who knew", the murderer of five still felt compelled to disassociate himself from being the caller to the TV show, by mailing a cryptogram and greeting card on November 8th 1969. If the Zodiac Killer had rang the Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969 with the intention of appearing on the Jim Dunbar TV show and setting the record straight concerning Captain Martin Lee and the San Francisco Police Department - then having not done so - one would have expected his next communication to do exactly that. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969 was the Zodiac Killer's longest communication of them all, attacking the police with the venom he so wanted to do with a captive TV audience. The two communications on November 8th 1969 and November 9th 1969, inextricably bound by his failure to appear on the Jim Dunbar Show just over two weeks earlier.

The phone calls wouldn't stop there, when Daniel Williams (24), a Salesian High School teacher, started to receive malicious phone calls to his 1234 Bush Street, Martinez residence on October 23rd 1969. These calls continued for ten days and culminated with somebody breaking into his residence on November 2nd 1969 and lacing his 7-Up soft drink with enough arsenic to kill. The caller, claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, told Daniel Williams over the phone that he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there", mocking law enforcement by stating “I’m too smart for them". This was considered particularly relevant because of the language Zodiac adopted on November 9th 1969 in the Bus Bomb letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle of "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

On Wednesday, November 5th 1969, somebody rang the Martinez Police Department at 12:30 am stating "There's going to be a shooting at 1234 Bush Street", before immediately hanging up. The threat to find victims at a Martinez school, coupled with the menacing phone calls, were not dissimilar to recent Zodiac activity during the month of October. After the threat to shoot Daniel Williams at his residence, police instigated surveillance in the immediate area of Bush Street for the remainder of that morning, but no suspicious activity was detected. The next Zodiac Killer communications would be postmarked just two and three days later, with the promise of more bad news and a victim count left dangling at the end of October. If the perpetrator of the crimes inflicted upon Daniel Williams wasn't the Zodiac Killer, then it was a pretty determined hoaxer claiming to be him. The call to Oakland Police Department was made on October 22nd 1969, with the threats on Daniel Williams beginning just a day later, on October 23rd 1969. The Salesian High School where Daniel Williams worked, only thirteen miles north of the Oakland Police Department. When we place all of this in context, does it indicate that the Zodiac Killer was likely the caller to Oakland Police Department on October 22nd 1969, or did Eric Weill just spontaneously call law enforcement because he had nothing better to do at the time? 

Larry Lamotte (60), a former news director at commercial radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City, drowned off the coast of Florida in 2003 while swimming at Grayton Beach. There was nothing suspicious about his death, but Larry Lamotte spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle in an article featured on December 8th 1969. A man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer phoned a talk show host at KTOK on December 7th 1969 doing an awfully good impression of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, stating he left California because "it got too hot for me".

On October 22nd 1969, the Oakland Police Department took a call at 2:00 am from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day. Melvin Belli agreed to appear on the show, to which a man would eventually contact via telephone, claiming not only his name was 'Sam', but by inference that he was the infamous Zodiac Killer. The call was later attributed to hoaxer, Eric Weill, whose  father's name just happened to be Sam.

Larry Lamotte thought that the man on the phone to KTOK appeared to be impersonating the caller who rang the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, so it's quite a coincidence that on the same day (October 22nd 1969) the Palo Alto Times newspaper carried a news story regarding a phone call from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, stating he left San Francisco "because I'm too hot there".

The Palo Alto Times reported 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.

We have two phone calls separated by one-and-a-half months, with both callers claiming they left the Bay Area because "because I'm too hot there" and "it got too hot for me". Either it's coincdence (and both are hoaxers), the second caller recalled the phrase used by the first caller one-and-a-half months earlier (and one caller may be Zodiac), or both phone calls were made by the Zodiac Killer, who was simply enjoying the terror he was inflicting on the people of northern California. 

On October 22nd 1969 the Oakland Police Department took a call at 2:00 am from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar later that day. Melvin Belli agreed to appear on the show, to which a man would eventually contact via telephone, claiming not only his name was 'Sam', but by inference that he was the infamous Zodiac Killer.

The Desert Sun newspaper reported "SAN FRANCISCO (UPI)- A man who said he was Northern California’s "Zodiac killer” of five persons talked with a San Francisco attorney by telephone today while television viewers listened in. Attorney Melvin Belli also talked with the man on another, private line, then said he had arranged to meet with him. Police said they had no way of knowing whether the man was "Zodiac,” who has boasted in notes of five killings in the San Francisco Bay area in the last nine months. But they said they did not consider the caller a prankster. The caller first called a police station at 2 a.m. and said he wanted to get in touch wbth either Belli, the attorney who once defended Jack Ruby in Dallas, or Boston lawyer F. Lee Bailey. He asked that one of them be on the morning talk show of disc jockey Jim Dunbar on KGO-TV. Police contacted Belli, who went to the studio. The man, who said his name was "Sam,” called shortly after 7 a.m and said he was the ‘‘Zodiac killer.” He hung up immediately, but called back a total of 12 more times. While Belli and Jim Dunbar, host of the show, pleaded with him to give himself up, the caller said he suffered from recurring headaches and impulses to kill. Finally, the caller agreed to have Belli go to the San Francisco district attorney’s office to see if prosecutors would assure him they would not ask for the death penalty. Belli said that in another call off camera, the man had agreed to meet him at a secret location after the conference with the district attorney".

In January of 1970, a person claiming to be Zodiac rang the Belli residence, spoke with his housekeeper Erna and requested to speak with the flamboyant lawyer, only to be told he was unavailable and out of the country. The caller replied "I can't wait, today's my birthday". This interaction was detailed in a partially redacted FBI file on January 14th 1970. The phone call would have been placed in the days before this urgent request, labeled "instant date January 14th". On February 18th 1970, the caller to the Jim Dunbar Show was identified by San Francisco Police as Eric Weill. They contacted the FBI with the details, but this information did not appear in the newspapers. Eric Weill was almost certainly the responsible for both the Jim Dunbar Show call and the call to Bellii's residence, stating "I can't wait, today's my birthday". Eric Weill was born on January 10th 1940 and his father's name was "Sam".

San Francisco Chronicle reporter, Paul Avery, would later document the Jim Dunbar Show phone call in 1971 (see below), misspelling the name "Eric Weill" to "Eric Weil", accidentally omitting one of the L's. The Zodiac Killer followed the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper coverage throughout his campaign of terror, so couldn't have failed to know the correct spelling of Paul Avery which sat under the title of many articles. So it was rather curious to see that the Zodiac Killer had seemingly added one of the L's back, by inserting it into the reporter's name, changing "Paul Avery" to "Paul Averly" in both the October 27th 1970 Halloween card and March 22nd 1971 Pines card. If the spelling error by the Zodiac Killer was deliberate, could it have been a subtle dig at Paul Avery for his misspelling of Eric Weill in the run-up to this report. However, for this to be the case, Paul Avery would have needed to know the identity of Eric Weill sometime between February 18th 1970 and the writing of this report in 1971, have previously misspelled the name - and the Zodiac Killer to have known this. The only reason for this speculation, is the idea suggested by some, that the Zodiac Killer may have worked for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and hence his numerous communications mailed to them. This notion would rely heavily on the "Paul Averly" misspelling being deliberate and done for purpose. The problem with this train of thought, is the Zodiac Killer posed as an illiterate communicator throughout his correspondence, so singling out one specific section has its drawbacks.

But there is a strong possibility that the "birthday call" was placed on January 10th 1970, with Eric Weill likely believing, that being honest about his birthday would never lead to his identification. It didn't, but the resultant tracing of the calls to him and the FBI files detailing the "birthday call" just prior to January 14th 1970, further strengthening the case against him. The choice of "Sam" as his chosen name on the Jim Dunbar Show call may also be very close to home.