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.

In a series of recent articles, it was shown that the February 3rd 1974 SLA letter was mailed by the Symbionese Liberation Army, as were possibly two of the other three 1974 communications purportedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer. The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) were thrust into the spotlight after the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, a media heiress, on February 4th 1974. They were a short-lived urban militant group, operating from 1973 to 1975. The SLA letter was mailed from Los Angeles County - the location  of a deadly shootout between Symbionese Liberation Army members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974 at 1466 East 54th Street, resulting in the deaths of six urban militants. The Symbionese Liberation Army had its main headquarters in San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, despite the militant group effectively fragmenting in 1975, not all members or allies of the group were apprehended.

The group mailed numerous letters and cassette recordings to the newspapers, and to radio and television stations during the height of their operations. It is certainly conceivable that all the 1974 'Zodiac' letters were in fact written by the Symbionese Liberation Army, with the January 29th 1974 letter specifically designed to mimic previous Zodiac correspondence. The proof for this militant group's involvement in posing as the Zodiac Killer would come approximately four years later, when the Channel Nine letter was mailed to KHJ-TV in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978. Arriving just one week after the April 24th 1978 "I am back with you" letter, widely considered a hoax, it may indicate the Symbionese Liberation Army's involvement in both 1978 letters. There was little motivation for the Zodiac Killer to reappear in 1978 and threaten [1] Daryl Gates [2] Edward Davis [3] Pat Boone, and [4] Eldridge Cleaver, all of which had no relevance to him whatsoever. But the Symbionese Liberation Army certainly had every reason to threaten numbers 1 & 2 on the list - Daryl Gates and Edward Davis.

Patricia Hearst was convicted in March 1976 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. 'Hearst suffered a collapsed lung in prison (the beginning of a series of medical problems) and underwent emergency surgery, which prevented her from appearing to testify against the Harrises on eleven state charges including robbery, kidnapping, and assault; she was also arraigned for those charges. Hearst, who was being held in solitary confinement for security reasons, was granted bail for an appeal in November 1976, on condition she was protected on bond. Dozens of bodyguards were hired by her father. Saying he considered that Hearst's actions had not been voluntary, Superior Court judge Talbot Callister gave her probation on the sporting goods store charge when she pleaded no contest. California Attorney General Evelle J. Younger said if there was a double standard for the wealthy it was the opposite of what was generally believed, and though Hearst had no legal brainwashing defense there was a good deal of equity favoring her in the essential point that everything started with her kidnapping. Hearst's bail was revoked in May 1978 when appeals failed and the Supreme Court declined to hear her case'. Wikipedia.

Her appeals had failed and the Channel Nine letter arrived on May 2nd, threatening to kill both Daryl Gates and Edward Davis. But why were these names top of the letter's hit list?

Daryl Gates was born Darrel Gates (as the Channel Nine letter stated).
​
'While not the first to use specially trained units, the LAPD was the first to form a police tactical unit, and originally created the term, "Special Weapons And Tactics". John Nelson was the LAPD officer who came up with the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. In 1967, Nelson's CO, then-Inspector Daryl F. Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, for a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits. They were required to attend special monthly training. This unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during times of civil unrest.

In 1971, SWAT personnel were assigned on a full-time basis to Metropolitan Division to respond to continuing action by subversive groups, the rising crime rate and the continuing difficulty of mustering a team response in a timely manner. Metropolitan Division, which had a long-established reputation as the tactical unit of the Department, was reorganized into 6 units: "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", and "K-9" Platoons. The Special Weapons And Tactics Unit was given the designation of "D" Platoon, and at the same time formally adopted the acronym SWAT.

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panthers. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of a group which called itself the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily armed leftists, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. In response, more than 400 LAPD officers, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers, and Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters surrounded the residence. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Law enforcement units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and fully automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,772 rounds fired by the SLA, no civilians or sworn personnel sustained injury from gunfire.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds and perished in the ensuing blaze.
By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons was a sniper rifle (apparently a .243-caliber bolt-action, judging from the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. The normal gear issued them included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. In fact it was a change just to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles, at a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns. The encounter with the heavily armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and fully automatic weapons of various types'. Wikipedia.

'The public became aware of SWAT in May of 1974, when a shoplifting incident at an Inglewood sporting goods store led investigators to a South Los Angeles home on 54th Street. The Symbionese Liberation Army and heiress Patty Hearst, who were barricaded inside, exchanged gunfire with tactical officers for two hours before surrendering. Six SLA members were killed, as thousands of rounds of ammunition was used. The incident, which unfolded on live television, brought home the usefulness of SWAT to Gates, who was the field commander of that incident'. Policemag.com

Edward Davis was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978. He instantly became well-known internationally in 1969 when he held a press conference announcing the arrests of Charles Manson and his followers for what are known as the Tate and LaBianca murders. His role is well-documented in the book Helter Skelter, written by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor in the case. Wikipedia.

In an NBC News article reporting his death in 2006, it led with the words "Ed Davis, the tough-talking former Los Angeles police chief who led the department during its shootout with the Symbionese Liberation Army and the arrest of Charles Manson, died Saturday, a family spokesman said. He was 89".

You don't have to search hard on the internet to discover that Daryl Gates and Edward Davis were instrumental in the demise of the Symbionese Liberation Army and the deadly shootout on May 17th 1974 which resulted in the deaths of six of its members. The Zodiac Killer had never crossed swords with either of these two law enforcement officers and had absolutely no reason to want to threaten them with death, as displayed in the Channel Nine letter. On the contrary, an ex-member, close associate or sympathizer of the Symbionese Liberation Army had every reason to want to see these two LAPD servants dead. The author of the Channel Nine letter held them personally responsible for the slaying at 1466 East 54th Street.

On April 24th 1978, the author of the 1978 letter wrote "I am waiting for a good movie about me, who will play me". Eight days later, the Channel Nine letter was mailed to ​KHJ-TV in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978, stating "Hey you actors, this is your lucky break. Whoever plays me has his work cut out for him". There is every chance that, if the Channel Nine letter was mailed by an associate or somebody sympathetic to the SLA cause, then the 1978 letter (widely regarded as a hoax anyway) was also mailed by somebody in and around the Symbionese Liberation Army circle. This wouldn't be the first time that somebody connected or loosely affiliated with the militant group mailed a letter pretending to be the Zodiac Killer. The 1974 SLA letter was almost certainly unconnected to the Bay Area murderer, and the remaining three 1974 letters are widely questioned.   


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