One of the cornerstone arguments I put forward for the 1978 letter being genuine, was the fact that the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking I" on April 24th 1978 mimicked the introduction on the December 20th 1969 Melvin Belli letter. The 1969 and 1978 letters were the only two communications to date that failed to exclusively keep "This is the Zodiac speaking" as the introduction on the top line, with the grammatical error of not placing a "period" or "full stop" between "speaking" and "I" common to both. Bearing in mind that these two communications were connected through the word "control" (unique to these two letters), meant that if an image of the Melvin Belli letter had not appeared in the newspapers to date, the author of the April 24th 1978 letter likely fashioned the Melvin Belli letter, with added shirt piece. This was used to argue (along with other reasons) that the Zodiac Killer was the author of the 1978 letter.

​To his credit, notable Zodiac researcher Cragle unearthed an article in The Napa Register on December 29th 1969 that dispelled this notion (see below). But when I proposed the idea - asking people to check if a newspaper image of the Melvin Belli letter existed - it took two years to achieve. This is with the combined power of the Zodiac internet community, and a comprehensive newspaper database at our fingertips. 

The author of the 1978 letter had none of these advantages. Often described as a "lazy" hoaxer by document examiners, the author of the 1978 letter could have accessed the above article to mimic, by keeping hundreds of newspapers featuring the Zodiac Killer since 1968, by keeping hundreds of newspaper cuttings about the Zodiac Killer, by trawling through the microfiche of a public library, or they just got extremely lucky in mimicking the introduction (with grammatical error) and the use of the word "control", common to both letters. But there is another common theme binding these two letters, which is not visible in the article above. The Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 and the April 24th 1978 letter both inserted an unnecessary word (just once) into the correspondence, spelled it correctly one alphabetical letter shy of completion, and then very neatly (almost ruler like) crossed out each word. This was unique to both these letters. 

If somebody can find this section of the Melvin Belli letter in the newspapers (showing this correction technique), I will be eternally grateful. Is it more likely that the Zodiac Killer crafted the 1978 letter, with personal knowledge of the Melvin Belli letter and its composition, or is it more likely that a random hoaxer (described as lazy) went to extraordinary lengths to mimic the Melvin Belli letter? Or was the presumed hoaxer of the 1978 letter just lucky, creating all these similarities by accident? 

The April 24th 1978 letter, stating "I am back with you. Tell herb caen I am here" was postmarked only 42 days after a voice message was left on the telephone answering machine of an individual living in the Mission District, using similar wording to that used in the letter, and claiming to be the "Zodiac". The telephone caller stated "This is the Zodiac. Tell the press I am back in San Francisco".  Read more. Was this the Zodiac Killer twice, or the hoaxer twice?

​Thanks to Cragle, another unusual mention in the above newspaper article may be relevant to 1978. It may indicate that the person who crafted the April 24th 1978 and May 2nd 1978 letters were one and the same - who had kept or read The Napa Register publication. The article above finished with the following text.

The newspaper article stated "Belli said that he has a trial starting next week in Naples and plans to confer with fugitive Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver".​ Just eight days after the April 24th 1978 letter, on May 2nd 1978, the Channel 9 letter was mailed to KHJ-TV Studios, 5615 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles,.claiming to have been mailed by the Zodiac Killer, It too mentioned Eldridge Cleaver. Bearing in mind the similarities between the April 24th 1978 and Melvin Belli letter, it is extremely curious that the very newspaper article that featured the grammatically unique introduction common to these two communications, would also feature the name of Eldridge Cleaver, that appeared in a "Zodiac" letter only eight days later. 

The December 7th 1969 and December 16th 1969 Fairfield letters mailed by the Zodiac Killer were almost certainly responses to two newspaper articles published by the Los Angeles Times. A third Los Angeles Times article on December 18th 1969 likely triggered the Zodiac Killer into phoning the San Jose Highway Patrol on December 19th 1969, stating "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". The newspaper headlined with "Cult May Be Linked to Slaying of 2 Girls", incorrectly suggesting a possible connection between the Mansion Family and the murders of Kathie Snoozy & Debra Furlong in San Jose on August 3rd 1969, to which the Zodiac Killer had already claimed on November 8th 1969 when he mailed the Dripping Pen card.

The newspaper detailed the slayings of the Manson Family at the Sharon Tate residence and stated "San Jose detectives developed a possible connection between the cases after conferring with Los Angeles officers. Six members of a hippie clan led by Charles Manson have been charged with murdering five persons. One of the members of the nomadic band, Susan Denise Atkins, 21, is from San Jose. The Manson "family" has visited Miss Atkins' father there". This newspaper article had all the ingredients for the phone call on December 19th 1969. in which the Zodiac Killer may have used the Manson "family" murder of "five" people to concoct the San Jose telephone message of "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". 

It must also be remembered that a comprehensive newspaper article published by the San Francisco Chronicle on August 6th 1969 about the San Jose murders conducted an interview with the father of murdered Debra Furlong, who had a wife and three surviving children. In other words, a remaining "family of five" from San Jose. Probably upset that San Jose law enforcement had mentioned two of Zodiac's claimed victims and were implying a murder link to the Manson Family, it probably wasn't too surprising that he would phone the San Jose Highway Patrol on December 19th 1969 and threaten five officers, just as he had threatened multiple cops in different jurisdictions when he mailed the Fairfield letter on December 16th 1969, just three days earlier.  

​The Zodiac Killer may have had a long memory, because 8 1/2 years later, a letter mailed to a Los Angeles radio station again threatened to kill two officers and "five" people in total, including Susan Atkins of the Manson Family, whose name featured three times in the Los Angeles Times article on December 18th 1969. On May 2nd 1978, a letter arrived at KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, stating that the Zodiac Killer was "planning to kill five people in the next three weeks", rather than "five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". The new threat promised to kill Chief Daryl Gates, Chief Ed Davis, Pat Boone, Eldridge Cleaver and Susan Atkins. The phone call on December 19th 1969, and the letter mailed on May 2nd 1978, were both seemingly inspired by news related to the Manson Family and Susan Atkins, suggestive of one mindset that yearned to kill five. 

Druzer, an extremely intelligent Zodiac researcher, noted the indented lines on certain Zodiac letters as a way to help ascertain whether particular communications may be genuine or otherwise. The structure and composition of a letter may tell you more than the handwriting itself. There is a complete change in how the Zodiac letters were structured from 1969 to 1971, compared to how the letters were structured subsequent to 1971. As pointed out by Druzer, any hoaxer subsequent to 1971 has numerous early Zodiac letters from the newspapers to analyze with respect to their structure (in particular, how the killer opened with the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking"). In every single Zodiac communication in 1969, 1970 and 1971 where the Bay Area murderer opened with "This is the Zodiac speaking", he began the introduction in line with the text below on all 12 occasions (including the Fairfield letters). Here are two examples:     

Subsequent to 1971, we have the 1978 letter (4/24/78), the Channel 9 letter (5/2/78), the 1986 letter (5/6/1986) and the 1987 letter (10/28/1987). All of these letters began with the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking", but each time the introduction was offset from the left margin and the text below. If these were all different hoaxers, then it is rather uncanny how all these authors not only ignored how the Zodiac Killer structured his main opening line to conform with the text below, but they all structured the opening line in the same fashion. Of the 12 Zodiac letters in 1969, 1970 and 1971, only the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 failed to keep the "This is the Zodiac speaking" introduction exclusively on the main first line (ignoring the "Dear" intro). It was written "This is the Zodiac speaking I". One may have thought a hoaxer would adopt the introduction used the majority of the time, but instead the two 1978 letters, the 1986 letter and the 1987 letter followed a similar pattern to the Melvin Bellii letter, contrary to what would be expected of a hoaxer. 

You will notice below that three of the later letters failed to insert a full-stop or comma after the introduction, and before the rest of the text. Exactly the same as the authenticated Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969. All four of the communications below begin with either the subject of "I" or "You" after the introduction, rather than something non-personal. It has been shown extensively on this website how the 1986 and 1987 letters should be included as confirmed Zodiac correspondence. This being the case, the 1978 letter and the Channel 9 letter should be regarded as worthy contenders also. The change in style from 1969, 1970 and 1971, to 1978 onwards, shows a distinct pattern of "Zodiac" development in his style of writing. 

Another pattern that can be observed in the widely believed Zodiac letters, is that the August 4th 1969, October 13th 1969, November 8th 1969, November 9th 1969, December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970 letters all have the introduction "This is the Zodiac speaking" with no significant gap to the second line. Then a seemingly conscious change, when the June 26th 1970, July 24th 1970, July 26th 1970 and March 13th 1971 letters all left a distinct gap between the first and second line (March 13th 1971 slightly less so). This shows a marked change in pattern by the Zodiac Killer. However, the latter four communications were pre-empted by both Fairfield letters on December 7tth 1969 and December 16th 1969, which both placed a noticeable gap between the opening introduction and the second line.   

Threatening letters to the newspapers, police and celebrities are not uncommon (so cannot all be attributed to the Zodiac Killer), but in the interest of impartiality we will look at as many as possible and consider if any link exists to the Bay Area murderer or other suspected Zodiac material.

The following communication (postmark address unknown) was dated by its author as January 19th 1974, but was received by Sammy Davis, JR on the same day the Exorcist letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, on January 29th 1974. It was received at Harrah's Reno Hotel & Casino, Reno, Nevada, situated 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe and Incline Village. It contained several interesting items accompanied by the signed pseudonyms "The General" and "Der Führer". Part of the letter "From: U.S. Armed Forces To: Sammy David, JR", stated "You are on a death list. The police cannot help you. If you wish to stay alive, go to the L.A. (SFV) Nike Missile Base for instructions. The General".

The Zodiac Killer, or somebody purporting to be the Zodiac Killer, sent a "death list" of 30 politicians and celebrities on June 8th 1977, dubbed the "Steve McQueen" letter. Then on May 2nd 1978, another letter with a "death list" was mailed in Los Angeles to 5615 Melrose Avenue and the Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios. The envelope postmarked May 2nd 1978 was misaddressed and should have been mailed to 5515 Melrose Avenue, which was the correct address of Channel 9 KHJ-TV, which sat right next to Paramount Studios located at 5555 Melrose Avenue. However, there are many things that came with the "Der Fuhrer" letter that parallel the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 letter. 

There are many parts to the January 19th 1974 letter, but the "death list" introduction was written on the reverse side of a billing invoice dated October 31st 1971, from the Monterrey Pharmacy, 12901 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California. Irrespective of this being the date Cheri Jo Bates' body was found in Riverside, the Monterrey Pharmacy was just 7 miles (by crow) from the Channel 9 Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue. Another part of the January 19th 1974 letter had a small card enclosed, bearing the name "Institute for Family Neurosis Research". The flip side of the card bore the handprinting "KGIL, (213) 894-9191". This was a radio station in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. KGIL began broadcasting on October 19th 1947, on 1260 kHz with 1,000 watts of power full-time. The station was licensed to San Fernando Valley Broadcasting Company, with studios and executive offices at 4919 Van Nuys Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California. This location was 9 miles from the Channel 9 Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue.      

Another item in the January 19th 1974 letter was an extensive list of well-known individuals and accusations on a memographed sheet dated December 4th 1973. This was signed with the pseudonym "Der Führer". Two individuals mentioned on the list could be connected to the Channel 9 letter, which included "Ex Chief piggy Ed Davis" and "Susan Atkins" (see right). 

The "Der Führer" section stated "Police Chief Ed Davis and City Atty, Burt Pines managed the poisoning of Marv Gray....Pres". Later in the ramblings it mentioned the murder victim Sharon Tate, killed by the Manson family and Susan Atkins, which also featured heavily on the Channel 9 envelope and in the letter. Sharon Tate was murdered at 10050 Cielo Drive, a former luxury home in Benedict Canyon, in the west-central part of the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, bordering Beverly Hills. This location was just 5 miles from the Monterrey Pharmacy and KGIL radio station.

Therefore, did we have an individual mailing the January 19th 1974 and May 2nd 1978 letters from the region of Los Angeles, with a passing interest in the Monterrey Pharmacy, KGIL radio station, Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios and the Manson family murders at Cielo Drive, all located within a 9-mile circumference of one another. And of course, both letters mentioned or carried a "death list".  

Another threatening letter to a famous personality, was postmarked December 5th 1973 from California and mailed to Colonel Harland D. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky. It bore the return address of Central News - Wave Publications, 1016 West Vernon Avenue, Los Angeles, California. It was another typewritten letter, dated December 4th 1973, exactly the same date attributed to the "Der Führer" letter above, thereby indicating it was almost certainly mailed by the same individual. It was accompanied by a handwritten note bearing the letterhead "United Paper & Press, 13240 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California", dated January 14th 1974, and signed "The General" once again. The return address on the typed letter of 1016 West Vernon Avenue, Los Angeles, bisects Sherman Oaks and Anaheim (postmark on the Channel 9 letter).

United Paper & Press at 13240 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California is just 702 meters from the Monterrey Pharmacy at 12901 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks (from the Sammy Davis, JR letter insert). Both inserts from Sherman Oaks (Monterrey Pharmacy and United Paper & Press) were from U.S. Armed Forces. This one too carried a similar ominous message: "This is to inform you that you are in grave danger of being murdered. For details go to any recruiting station and call the Los Angeles Nike Missile Base. The General". 

We can now add United Paper & Press at 13240 Riverside Drive, to the Monterrey Pharmacy, KGIL radio station, Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios and the Manson family murders at Cielo Drive, totaling 5 locations within a 9-mile circumference - along with Police Chief Ed Davis, Sharon Tate, Susan Atkins and the 1234567 A.G.C.G.T.H. (All Good Children Go To Heaven) additions.

The Channel 9 letter was mailed to KHJ-TV Studios, 5615 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978. However, the envelope was misaddressed and should have been mailed to 5515 Melrose Avenue, which was the correct address of Channel 9 KHJ-TV, which sat right next to Paramount Studios located at 5555 Melrose Avenue. This area is just below the Hollywood Hills and iconic sign. 5515 Melrose Avenue is only 6 miles from 10050 Cielo Drive, where Sharon Tate (26) was brutally murdered by the Manson Family on August 9th 1969. On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson directed Watson to take Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to Melcher's former home at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles and kill everyone there. The home had only recently been rented to actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski.

The Channel 9 letter contained all the ingredients related to the map below. The letter threatened to kill Susan Atkins calling her the "Judas of the Manson Family" and threatening "Shes gona get hers now". She was present at 10050 Cielo Drive during the murder of Sharon Tate. The letter continued with "Hey - - - you actors - this is your lucky Break. Remember - whoever plays me has his work cut out for him". Unsurprising rhetoric from the Zodiac Killer (or copycat), bearing in mind the location of 5515 Melrose Avenue by Paramount Studios and the Hollywood Hills. 

The author of the envelope wrote the reversed 1234567 A.G.C.G.T.H. (All Good Children Go To Heaven) on the envelope, taken from The Beatles You Never Give Me Your Money lyrics, as well as drawing the Apple logo from their record label in the bottom left corner. This was also written in blood on a door at the Manson Family Spahn Ranch at 12,000 Santa Susana Pass Road in the Simi Hills. Boxed off in the top left corner of the envelope, usually reserved for the sender's return address, were the reversed letters AIC. Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer was active in California, and the Channel 9 envelope was postmarked Anaheim, California, the Zodiac Killer was probably telling us his return address was "ANAHEIM IN CALIFORNIA". 

Below is the envelope of the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 letter featured on zodiackiller.com, mailed to KHJ-TV in Los Angeles just eight days after the "I Am Back With You" letter, postmarked April 24th 1978. There have been links forged on the Zodiac Killer Site forum between two of the 1978 letters and the March 8th 1981 "Atlanta" letter, mailed to West Peachtree Street in Atlanta. All three carried the Symbols of America stamps of the 13c Liberty Bell, 13c Eagle and Shield, and 15c American Flag from the Americana Seies. In addition to these three communications, another communication was mailed on July 19th 1978 to the San Francisco Chronicle from Los Angeles, rambling on about tape waiting for him all over California. In this analysis, I would like to focus initially on the three 1978 letters mailed within three months of one another, as well as the Melvin Belli letter mailed to 1228 Montgomery Street in San Francisco on December 20th 1969. The reason to jump back to 1969, was not only because the handwriting on the Melvin Belli letter looked somewhat similar to the Channel 9 envelope, but because of the content contained within it. 

The Melvin Belli letter contained the phrases I am afraid I will loose control again, I will loose all controol of my self and Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer. The communications on April 24th 1978 and July 19th 1978, either side of the Channel 9 letter, both continued this theme of control. The April 24th 1978 letter concluded with "I am now in control of all things". The July 19th 1978 letter concluded with "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control," but also began with "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control of all things". One couldn't help thinking that this theme should be present in the Channel 9 letter, therefore binding it to the other two 1978 letters - and possibly the Zodiac Killer.

The upper left corner of an envelope is usually reserved for the sender's name and address, but the author of the Channel 9 letter has placed 1234567 All Good Children Go To Heaven (abbreviated) from The Beatles You Never Give Me Your Money lyrics, as well as drawing the Apple logo from their record label in the bottom left corner. However, we are left with the boxed off section in the top left corner of the envelope, which if a mirror image just like the other writing, should be the acronym AIC. Was the answer present in the July 19th 1978 letter, when he twice stated "I AM THE ZODIAC AND I AM IN CONTROL", or are we looking for a continuation of The Beatles theme regarding the letters AIC.

If we consider one author responsible for the April 24th 1978, May 2nd 1978, July 19th 1978 and March 8th 1981 letters - and he bought several "blocks of four stamps" of the Americana Series in one visit - then we may be able to track the selection of his stamps in respect to his mailings. The Americana Series stamps followed a very uniform plan that outlined the designs of individual stamps as well as the blocks of four. In all, there were five different blocks, each with a different theme, but similar design style – the subject in the center, and the title curving around two of the edges. When all four stamps were placed together, the titles created a frame around the stamps. The five themes were Roots of Democracy, Rights and Freedoms of the American People, Symbols of America, Pioneer America, and America’s Light. Mysticstamp.com.

If the Zodiac Killer was to purchase several of the Symbols of America Series (shown below), these would have been the appropriate postage for the time. The postage was 13c from December 31st 1975 until May 29th 1978, when it switched to 15c. Then on March 22nd 1981 the postage increased to 18c. So three of these stamps would be the correct postage for his three 1978 letters and March 8th 1981 letter, had he applied just one to each.

Let us assume that the Zodiac Killer buys these blocks of four stamps just prior to his first 1978 letter on April 24th 1978. We will use the two blocks shown above to follow his course of action. Being right-handed, he tears off the two upper right Liberty Bell stamps and affixes them to his April 24th 1978 (I Am Back With You) letter. He then tears off one of the upper left Eagle and Shield stamps and affixes it to his May 2nd 1978 (Channel 9) letter. On the block of four with only two stamps remaining, he tears off the 15c American Flag stamp and affixes it to his July 19th 1978 (Friction Tape) letter. This is the easiest of the two options available to him. The stamp on the July 19th 1978 envelope is unknown because we don't have this correspondence available, so this is just a calculated guess. This would have been his only choice from the Symbols of America Series, because the stamp price increased to 15c on May 29th 1978. Then on March 8th 1981 he used the only remaining 15c American Flag stamp from the block of three stamps.

The Zodiac Killer would be left with one redundant 13c Eagle and Shield stamp in respect to correct postage for any letter up to one ounce. If another potential Zodiac letter is discovered to have been mailed between April 24th 1978 (I Am Back With You letter) and May 29th 1978 (when the 13c postage increased), and it contains an Eagle and Shield stamp on the envelope from the Symbols of America Series, we have to consider it as a strong contender for the same responsible.

If the above letters were just mailed by random hoaxers unconnected to one another, it would be rather unusual to expect three independent and consecutive communications claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, to have all contained three Symbols of America stamps from the Americana Series. If the Zodiac Killer kept a secret stash containing his writing paper, marker pens and a supply of stamps for "future use", away from prying eyes, then it is not difficult to understand how the sequence of his mailings could have unfolded.