On December 20th 1968 the Zodiac Killer murdered David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in a lonely turnout in Benicia, waking up the following day to news about the slayings and the manned Apollo 8 mission to the moon, which launched on December 21st 1968. It would be 6 1/2 months before the return of the Zodiac Killer, when he attacked Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin at Blue Rock Springs on July 5th 1969, before mailing his first communications on July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969.

​In later years there has been much debate on the origin of the pseudonym "Zodiac" and his "crosshairs" logo, with many believing the inspiration lay in the Zodiac watch brand, founded in Switzerland by Ariste Calame in 1882. The Zodiac watches contained both the pseudonym and crosshairs together on the watch face. This thought process featured heavily regarding the prime suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen, who owned this very watch.

In the run up to the Zodiac Killer's commuications on July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, a new Zodiac watch brand was about to hit the market, designed to coincide with the current Space Age and the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 21st 1969. A mission that began on July 16th 1969 and ended when the astronauts returned to Earth on July 24th 1969. A week later, the Zodiac Killer mailed three letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald, which all contained crosshairs. Four days further on, the Zodiac Killer mailed the "Debut" letter with his now infamous pseudonym "Zodiac". The watch brand was called the Zodiac Astrographic, and was designed with a "mystery dial" timepiece of floating hands. Whether the launch of Apollo 8 on December 21st 1968 had stuck in the Zodiac Killer's mind when he noticed the "space inspired" Zodiac Astrographic watch prior to his earliest communications, is anybody's guess. But it does bring forward the astrological connection.     

I have failed to find any mention of the watch connection to Zodiac in any of the early newspaper articles about this case, which is why I found the two pasted horoscope letters on December 10th 1969 and December 11th 1969 so very curious. The December 10th 1969 letter from Sacramento, called the Day-by-day forecast for Cancer, contained two prominent cuttings aligned with one another, giving us the words "Zodiac" and "Watch". Was this a clue to the origin of the Zodiac Killer's pseudonym? Had he read this as a suggestion somewhere in the newspapers or other media outlets and dropped us a clue? Postmarked the following day on December 11th 1969, there was a further horoscope page mailed from San Francisco, called the Day-by-day forecast for Leo. Two unusual cuttings were placed on this correspondence, that featured the wording "Run a Crooked Mile Mystery", a British crime thriller released on November 18th 1969. The second appeared to be a cross symbol. These two cuttings on December 11th 1969 made little sense whatsoever, compared to the use of "Zodiac" and "Watch" on December 10th 1969. Until we consider that this cross looks like the flag of Switzerland, the origin country of the Zodiac watch brand. But what on earth has the ​"Run a Crooked Mile Mystery" TV movie got to do with any of this?

The movie is described as follows: "A man witnesses a murder in a secluded mansion. When he reports it, there's no evidence of the murder, or that anyone was there. He finds a key on the floor and goes to his boss to get help when he's struck from behind. He wakes up in a hospital room after a polo accident to find he's had amnesia for two years, is now married, and living in Switzerland. He still has the key and the memories of the murder". We now have two connections to Switzerland on December 11th 1969, allied with "Zodiac" and "Watch" on December 10th 1969 (to give us four in total). The horoscope page entitled  Day-by-day forecast for Cancer, containing the words "Zodiac" and "Watch", had the star sign of "Cancer" circled as if to imply some significance to this sign. The horoscope date of the Cancer sign runs from approximately June 22nd to July 23nd and encompasses the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 21st 1969, thereby taking us back to the impending launch of the Zodiac Astrographic watch.

Ten months after the two horoscope pages the Zodiac Killer mailed the Halloween card on October 27th 1970, a partial response to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper article "Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac", which two weeks earlier mentioned the murders of teenagers David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. The Zodiac Killer appeared to incorporate the young couple into the Halloween card by writing 4-TEEN above the skull of the skeleton, reminding us that four teenagers were part of his running victim total. As of October 27th 1970 the Zodiac Killer was claiming the murders of David Faraday (17), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Kathie Snoozy (15) and Debra Furlong (14). To accompany the Halloween card he used an Apollo 8 stamp on the envelope, which commemorated the launch of the manned mission on December 21st 1968, the day the first Zodiac murders broke in the news

Discovered by Tahoe27 many years ago, she noted the resemblance of By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife on the Halloween card, to the 30th issue of the Tim Holt comic book series, whose front page contained a "Death Wheel" of punishment By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife. However, if we turn to page 2 of the Tim Holt comic book we get an advertisement for Switzerland airlines (Swissair) mentioning a record flight (FLT) between New York and Geneva. Prominent front and center of this advertisement is the Swiss flag, which mirrors the cross image pasted onto the Day-by-day forecast for Leo horoscope page on December 11th 1969, which accompanied the TV movie ​"Run a Crooked Mile Mystery", partly filmed in Geneva, Switzerland. This horoscope page followed the Day-by-day forecast for Cancer communication on December 10th 1969, which featured the wording "Zodiac" and "Watch", synonymous with the Swiss watchmaker. A company that made the Zodiac Astrographic watch to commemorate the Space Age and the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 21st 1969. A watch that maybe inspired the Zodiac Killer's pseudonym and logo on July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969.        

The July 31st 1969 letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald provided information that proved the Zodiac Killer was the murderer at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. To all three newspapers he threatened to go on a kill rampage over the weekend if his demands were not. To the San Francisco Chronicle he stated he was going to target "lone people". To the San Francisco Examiner he stated he was going to target "people who are alone at night". To the Vallejo Times-Herald he stated he was going to target "stray people or coupples that are alone". When he addressed the San Francisco newspapers he promised to target "lone or alone people", but to the Vallejo Times-Herald he opted to use the words "stray people" and "couples". Believing that his first two attacks on couples were committed in Vallejo, it really isn't surprising that he only used the word "couples" when writing to the Vallejo newspaper. Did this suggest his knowledge of courting couples and the areas they frequented was greater in Vallejo rather than San Francisco, because he lived there? 

But why did he opt to use the word "stray" when addressing the Vallejo Times-Herald​, rather than just "alone" or "lone". Stray can mean wander away from the correct path or from a given area, but is commonly used to refer to an animal. A stray sheep symbolizes a person who has wandered from their faith, community, or moral path, representing vulnerability and separation, but also the focus of divine compassion and pursuit, as shown in the Biblical parable where a shepherd joyfully retrieves the single lost sheep. Did the word "stray" leak into the Zodiac Killer's thought process when writing to the Vallejo newspaper because of what occurred on December 20th 1968, and the individual the Zodiac may have originally targeted? Who would have been a person off the beaten path in solitude? Somebody who would have been in pitch darkness, known to frequent a particular remote location (possibly with a schedule), that required the Zodiac Killer to attach a pencil flashlight onto his gun to facilitate a hunt in the wilderness. And more importantly, a relatively safe area for a first kill, where gunshots are a familiar sound to the residents nearby. 

The driverless white Chevrolet Impala was noticed in the Lake Herman Road turnout at 9:00 pm by Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser on their way to the Marshall Ranch. The white Impala was also noticed in the turnout at 10:00 pm by sheepherder Bingo Wesner, who was tending his sheep in the adjoining field, and possibly by Helen Axe at 10:15 pm and 10:30 pm, who after reading publicity surrounding the murders, likely assumed she had seen the Faraday Rambler. But for a few minutes, when William Crow was parked in the turnout (and chased by a mystery vehicle) sometime between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm, the Chevrolet Impala could have been in the turnout for upwards of 90 minutes on at least two separate occasions.

​The question being, did it arrive a third time carrying the Zodiac Killer to the murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen? The individual driving this vehicle had obviously ventured beyond the roadside for at least 60 minutes (and upwards of 90 minutes) on a freezing night in December, in total darkness. Routine enquiries by police on local residences could have easily eliminated this person as doing anything suspicious, but we have heard nothing about this individual being cleared from the investigation in 57 years. If the person driving the Chevrolet Impala wasn't there on business or visiting friends, what other reason could there be to venture into the fields and hillsides in such inclement weather, other than "hunting"?          

When we first learn of the Zodiac Killer story it's easy to become controlled by the narrative that has gone before, of a killer that arrived at the turnout, pulled alongside the Faraday Rambler, immediately left his vehicle and began the attack to its conclusion, where Betty Lou Jensen received five shots to her back as she is running away, square on to the killer. Of course, the preponderance of the evidence doesn't point to a killer pulling alongside the Rambler when arriving at the turnout, with the killer failing to immediately vacate his vehicle and kill the couple in one continuous sequence, if we believe the testimony of James Owen. And the autopsy proves beyond any doubt that Betty Lou Jensen was not square on to the killer when he began firing at her. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a generational story.

We have an unaccounted for white Chevrolet Impala with an occupant that has seemingly never been traced, parked in a remote turnout in freezing weather, who was confirmed present in the same location twice, as testified by Robert Connelly and Bingo Wesner, within (or close to) one hour before a double murder. A double murder that wouldn't have required an illuminated gunsight had he initially parked behind the Faraday Rambler and prevented it from escaping the turnout. However, when you leave the confines of the turnout on foot at night, additional lighting would have been an absolute must. When we consider the illuminated gunsight mentioned by the Zodiac Killer and the reference to hunting humans rather than wild game in the forest, it brings the unoccupied white Chevrolet, parked next to rolling hills and woods, into sharp focus. High hills and trees that the Zodiac Killer pointed out didn't produce silhouettes on the horizon, and necessitated the use of his pencil flashlight. Everything the Zodiac Killer said here is true, but only for a killer standing in the surrounding fields and trees, not for somebody looking for victims in the turnout with the use of a vehicle. A fact that the Zodiac Killer admitted when finishing his "Debut of Zodiac" letter on August 4th 1969, by stating "there was no need to use the gun sights".

​The.confidence that the Zodiac Killer exhibited when proclaiming "Bullshit that area is surrounded by high hills and trees. What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun". suggested he was more than familiar with that area. He knew that he required a sighting flashlight to roam those hills, but he must also have known he didn't need a sighting flashlight for the turnout, which he ultimately admitted to in his communication. So the fact he claimed he fastened a pencil flashlight onto his gun prior to venturing out that night, strongly indicates he knew he was heading for the fields beyond the Gate #10 turnout that night, rather than cruising around looking for uncertain victims in random turnouts.

A local sheepherder with a routine, in the middle of nowhere, where heard gunshots were nothing out of the ordinary, seems like the perfect victim for a first murder. The stumbling block that may have scuppered the Zodiac Killer's plans, could have been the presence of Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser with their guns and dogs, who chose to go raccoon hunting in the very same area that night. Crossing paths with Bingo Wesner and a safe avoidance of the two hunters probably never materialized for the Zodiac Killer on December 20th 1968. But maybe everything fell into place on his third attempt, with the arrival of the unfortunate David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen into the turnout on their first date. The Zodiac Killer, having failed in his original mission of targeting "stray people in the night", was presented with the conundrum of going home or murdering the young teenagers from Vallejo. The rest is history. 

I have considered what level of research and newspaper archive digging the Zodiac Killer undertook to prepare his communications, bearing in mind the dedication he devoted to mailings such as the "13-Hole" postcard, "Edward Adams" card and "Pines" postcard, to name but three. His use of the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all" in his 408 cipher on July 31st 1969 was taken from a direct quote of Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of the 1932 movie, "The Most Dangerous Game".

​Uttered by Merian C. Cooper immediately after the release of the movie, it only appeared in a handful of 1932 newspapers, until the Zodiac Killer made it newsworthy thirty-seven years later. Other than the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all" used by the Zodiac Killer, the only other time I have found this quote, was from Merian C. Cooper in 1932, despite trawling through newspapers back to the distant 17th century. The following observations are likely coincidences, but they too are relevant to the life of Merian C. Cooper.

The exploits of Merian C. Cooper, an American filmmaker, actor, producer and air officer, have been widely publicized, including a 1932 book entitled "Wings Over Poland" by author Kenneth Malcolm Murray, featuring the bombing raids of the Kosciuszko Squadron under the supervision of Captain Merian C. Cooper in which Polish aviators fought to repel the Russians. The following newspaper cutting is taken from "The Lantern" newspaper in Ohio on December 14th 1932, describing the story as a "thrilling experience after thrilling experience on nearly every page of his book". The Zodiac Killer in his 408 cipher stated "I like killing people because it is so much fun - it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all. To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience". Therefore, we have "man is the most dangerous animal of all" and "thrilling experience" connected to Merian C. Cooper in 1932 through book and movie, both present in the 408 cipher. This isn't particularly noteworthy, so let's move forward to 1942 and another Ohio newspaper publication.        

The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in Ohio published an article about bombing raids during World War II on June 17th 1942, with the phrase "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" (see below). This is the exact phrase used by the Zodiac Killer on August 4th 1969 in his "Debut of Zodiac" letter. Before entering the film business, Cooper was a distinguished military officer. He was an aviator in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and was shot down and captured by the Germans. He later founded the Kościuszko Squadron of American volunteers who fought for Poland in the Polish-Soviet War, during which he was again shot down and taken as a prisoner of war by the Soviets. He achieved the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Colonel Cooper later served in China as chief of staff for General Claire Chennault of the China Air Task Force, which was the precursor of the Fourteenth Air Force..On October 25th 1942, a CATF raid consisting of 12 B-25s and 7 P-40s, led by Colonel Cooper, successfully bombed the Kowloon Docks at Hong Kong.  

​So, Merian C. Cooper led a bombing raid in 1942 during World War II, with the Zodiac Killer choosing the phrase "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" on August 4th 1969, which can be found in an Ohio newspaper article in 1942 about bombing raids during World War II. This coming after his 408 cipher on July 31st 1969 (four days earlier), in which the Zodiac Killer used the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all", taken from Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of "The Most Dangerous Game" movie in 1932. With the phrase "thrilling experience" being used twice in an Ohio newspaper in 1932, describing the adventures of Merian C. Cooper during bombing raids in the Polish-Soviet War, from a book by ​Kenneth Malcolm Murray.

​Therefore, we have "man is the most dangerous animal of all", "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" and "thrilling experience" in two Zodiac Killer communications in the space of four days, all of which can be directly and indirectly linked to Merian C. Cooper through the newspapers. Did the Zodiac Killer do exactly the same thing in Riverside in 1966, when the author typed the phrase "it was about time for her to die" in the Confession letter? 

Merian C. Cooper was an accomplished U.S. Army Air Force pilot, trained in the art of bombing raids, so it wouldn't be surprising to know that we can find 1,000 foot crosshairs in the Nevada desert made by the National Aeronautics and Space Administrationas as early as the 1950s (used for aerial bombing). They are situated about 20 miles south of the Tonopah Test Range, part of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), which is one of two military training areas at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex in Nevada and used by the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. The NTTR land area includes a "simulated Integrated Air Defense System", several individual ranges with 1200 targets, and 4 remote communication sites. The current NTTR area and the range's former areas have been used for aerial gunnery and bombing, for nuclear tests, as a proving ground and flight test area, for aircraft control and warning, and for Blue Flag, Green Flag, and Red Flag exercises. 

These targets in the desert were used in training exercises to determine accuracy, which included the dropping of bombs onto crosshairs such as the one above. The Zodiac Killer used crosshairs in his opening communications and would place a similar target upon Mount Diablo to help locate his bomb on June 26th 1970. The only reason I have brought this up, is because of the specific wording he chose to use in his communication following the 408 cipher, when, on August 4th 1969 he described his methodology of targeting victims in the dark by using a pencil flashlight (which he called an electric gun sight in his "Bus Bomb" letter on November 9th 1969).The Zodiac Killer stated "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light".

The magazine "Battle Stories" in its #11 issue (July 1928) featured a story titled The Winged Dare-Devil, which referenced Merian C. Cooper (listed as Merian R. Cooper in some indexes). Merian C. Cooper, a real-life adventurer, filmmaker (co-creator of King Kong), and U.S. Air Force Brigadier General, had many famous and dangerous exploits. These real-world adventures likely inspired fictional "battle stories" in magazines of the era. 

The term "fingerprint of value" can refer to the evidential value of a physical fingerprint in forensic science. A "fingerprint of value" refers to a latent fingerprint impression that has enough quality and detail for a forensic examiner to make a reliable identification or exclusion. This is determined by factors like the clarity, quantity, and relationship of features within the print. While sometimes a full print is left, a partial or smudged print can still be of value if it contains sufficient information for a comparison. Evidential value refers to how useful a fingerprint is as evidence. A high-quality print with clear minutiae points (unique ridge characteristics) has a high value for comparison and identification.

​When the Zodiac Killer delivered his three-page letter to the San Francisco Examiner on the morning of August 4th 1969, he did it by hand at the newspapers offices located on Third & Market streets. The FBI files made no mention of an envelope, which is why they described the Zodiac Killer three-page letter as "undated" and never gave a mailing location. It is fairly clear at this point that the Zodiac Killer placed the three pages together and folded them at least twice, in such a way, that the third page with the Zodiac crosshairs and wording "no address" faced the receiver. Having just been sent a letter from the Zodiac Killer a matter of days earlier (on July 31st 1969) adorned with the crosshairs symbol, the Zodiac Killer was obviously highlighting a recognisable feature to the San Francisco Examiner to prioritize this communication. 

The above FBI file noted "one latent fingerprint of value developed on second page of letter (Q2), and one latent fingerprint of value developed on third page of letter (Q3)". This doesn't necessarily tell us how many fingerprints were noted on the pages, only that two of "value" were retrieved to enable a search through the extortion section of their single fingerprint file. One might expect the inner pages of an automatically manufactured writing pad to be fingerprint free, and for the Zodiac Killer to have been careful when writing on these three sheets of paper. Of course, when this folded communication was handled by the receiver, they would have certainly touched the outer third page and possibly second page when separating the three-page communication, but this person (and any subsequent handler of the pages) could easily have been eliminated as the donor of the two "fingerprints of value" collected from Q2 and Q3.

​It can be argued that these two "fingerprints of value" did not belong to any San Francisco Examiner staff, because had they, there would have been no need to put them through the extortion file search to seek a match. Therefore, these latent fingerprints were likely deposited on the two pages prior to their arrival at the San Francisco Examiner offices. If they weren't deposited on the pages during the manufacturing process, who would have touched these blank pages prior to the Zodiac Killer writing on them, other than the Bay Area murderer himself? If these two latent fingerprints on two separate pages had matched one another and not any San Francisco Examiner worker, it would have been of greater significance. Two separate digit impressions from the killer in 1969, not so much.    

The Zodiac Killer envelopes in this case had the possibility of being touched by any number of people on their journey to the newspapers, but once opened or recognised in advance as Zodiac, those individuals who have touched the writing paper itself should be identifiable, limited or non-existent. This should make any remaining and unaccounted "fingerprints of value" on the surface of any pages highly relevant in the search for the Zodiac Killer. If we have two confirmed Zodiac communications containing "fingerprints of value" on the writing pages of each (with elimination prints done), who could have donated these fingerprints in absence of the Zodiac Killer, who likely had exclusive access to his notepad? This becomes more significant on Zodiac communications mailed with multiple sheets, where less reason exists for fingerprints other than the killer to be present on page 2, 3 or 4 of any notebook or writing pad. In other words, inner pages protected by page one (from any family or friends).

There has long been interest in the comparison of prints from the taxicab of Paul Stine to the "Little List" letter mailed on July 26th 1970, and whether they originate from one individual. The "Little List" letter was a five-page offering presumably stacked in order within the envelope, so that anybody removing the contents should only reasonably have handled the front folded sheet of page 1 (the side with the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking"), or the rear of page 5 which was blank. There would have been absolutely no need to further contaminate the remainder of the communication with unnecessary fingerprints, bearing in mind the San Francisco Chronicle, should at this juncture, have been well versed by Zodiac investigators on how to handle Zodiac communications. There should have been no reason to touch pages 2, 3 or 4 (without gloves or at all), once the receiver had read the Zodiac introduction on page 1, assuming it wasn't recognised as a Zodiac communication before opening the envelope. Any fingerprints on pages 2, 3, 4 or 5, protected by page 1 of any writing pad (and excluding newspaper staff) should therefore be of increased importance to investigators. These pages were presumably written on consecutively by the Zodiac Killer - and as such - should not have been contaminated by hands other than the author. The page location and position of the latent fingerprint on the "Little List" letter should be factored into this equation.       . 

There remains a possibility that the latent fingerprints recovered from Zodiac communications originate from the killer, but from different digits of either hand, or different areas of the same digit, So there could be "fingerprints of value" donated by the Zodiac Killer on a single letter (or many letters), but never from the same area of a particular digit. This may explain why people say there are no definitive fingerprints of the Zodiac Killer. But this could soon change, when it becomes possible to link different digit fingerprints to the same person.

"Columbia engineers have built a new AI that shatters a long-held belief in forensics–that fingerprints from different fingers of the same person are unique. It turns out they are similar, only we’ve been comparing fingerprints the wrong way. A team led by Columbia Engineering undergraduate senior Gabe Guo challenged this widely held presumption. Guo, who had no prior knowledge of forensics, found a public U.S. government database of some 60,000 fingerprints and fed them in pairs into an artificial intelligence-based system known as a deep contrastive network. Sometimes the pairs belonged to the same person (but different fingers), and sometimes they belonged to different people. Over time, the AI system, which the team designed by modifying a state-of-the-art framework, got better at telling when seemingly unique fingerprints belonged to the same person and when they didn’t. The accuracy for a single pair reached 77%. When multiple pairs were presented, the accuracy shot significantly higher, potentially increasing current forensic efficiency by more than tenfold". Engineering Columbia Edu. 

With the advent of artificial intelligence and its possible application to the Zodiac Killer case, including the research by Columbia engineers on fingerprint comparison, we may be able to place multiple fingerprints from Zodiac letters and crime scenes into a computer, and confidentiality present an argument that some belong to one author, and ultimately one killer. Even though the fingerprints are different between the digits of one individual, they may very well be unique in design when looking at the angles and curvature of fingerprint patterns. This new concept has the potential to push the Zodiac case significantly forward in so many ways.    

Michael Butterfield has covered the idea of Alfred Hitchcock Presents possibly having some influence on the Zodiac Killer, when the murderer stated in the "Debut" letter on August 4th 1969: "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light". He would back this claim up on November 9th 1969 when he wrote "To prove that I am the Zodiac, Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves."  

In a series of 268 episodes running from 1955 to 1962, Museum Piece aired on April 4th 1961, in which a gun mounted sight on a .22 caliber rifle was used to aid in the hunting of victims, with a cursory mention of "The Most Dangerous Game" in the episode. The suggestion was that the Zodiac Killer may have watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents and used this sighting implement in his first attack at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968, before describing it in the "Debut" letter 7 1/2 months later.

Sir Howard Grubb (1844–1931) was an Irish optical engineer renowned for designing and manufacturing high-quality astronomical instruments, including some of the largest telescopes of the 19th century. He inherited and later expanded his father's company, cementing its reputation for precision optics. His innovations also included the invention of the reflector sight and improvements to the submarine periscope. In 1900, Grubb invented the reflector or "reflex" sight, a non-magnifying optical sight that uses a collimator to allow the viewer looking through the sight to see an illuminated image of a reticle or other pattern in front of them that stays in alignment with the device the sight is attached to (parallax free). This type of sight has come to be used on all kinds of weapons from small firearms to fighter aircraft.

​Using this principle, an "electric gun sight" was featured in the monthly publication of "Popular Mechanics" in the early 20th century. Michael Butterfield wrote "The Zodiac was not the first to conceive of a light attached to the barrel of a gun. Articles about a gun light had appeared in the magazine Popular Mechanics as far back as 1922 and 1933". However, the idea of an "electric gun sight" appeared in "Popular Mechanics" a little bit earlier than Michael suggested. The concept first appeared in "Popular Mechanics" in December 1908, and was featured in the San Jose Tribune, Bay Area newspaper on December 20th 1908, the very same day and month that Zodiac claimed he used an electric gun sight in his Lake Herman Road attack. The dates lining up is probably nothing more than coincidence, but it is noteworthy nonetheless.    

In a recent series of articles I attempted to show the thought process of one mind when exploring the feasibility that the Zodiac Killer may have composed communications in both Riverside and the Bay Area, through phrases such as "man is the most dangerous animal of all" and "it was about time for her to die". The thinking being that both the author in Riverside and the Bay Area used microfiche searches at the library when manufacturing the 408 cipher on July 31st 1969 and the "Confession" letter on November 29th 1966. One mind, therefore placing the Zodiac Killer in Riverside just after the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966. The Confession letter author claimed "I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game", while the author of the July 31st 1969 letters referenced "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932. But were there any signs of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in the Confession letter on November 29th 1966, therefore binding further the two authors? 

The Confession letter author typed "Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb", yet they twisted the phrase "lamb to the slaughter", which comes from the Bible, specifically the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Jeremiah describing a righteous person being led to death without protest. The phrase symbolizes an innocent, unaware person being led to their own destruction. 

​In the Roald Dahl 1953 short story "Lamb to the Slaughter", the title serves as a dark, dual-meaning metaphor for Mary Maloney, who is initially an innocent, loving wife, but becomes the cunning killer who commits the act of slaughter with the leg of lamb itself. After murdering her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, she then cooks the meat to destroy any evidence and ends up serving the murder weapon in a dinner to responding law enforcement, who kindly oblige and eat the meal. While consuming the lamb, as Mary sits nearby but does not join them, the policemen discuss the murder weapon's possible location. One officer, his mouth full of meat, says it is "probably right under our very noses." I explored the possibility that the author of the Confession letter may have watched or read something about this Roald Dahl story, until I discovered that it had been made into an episode on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" on April 13th 1958 under the same title of "Lamb to the Slaughter".  

If this phrase had been in the Confession letter author's mind when he typed this communication and subsequently mailed it to the Riverside Homicide Detail and Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper, had he recently watched the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Lamb to the Slaughter" in Riverside? Using a newspaper archive search in "Genealogy Bank" using the terms "Lamb to the Slaughter", "California" and the year "1966", I could find only three newspapers advertising this episode (using this platform), but crucially, all three were in November (and one was in Riverside).

​They were the Riverside Daily Press on November 5th 1966, Long Beach Press-Telegram on November 6th 1966 and Long Beach Independent on November 10th 1966. The show was due to air on Thursday, November 10th 1966 on KTLA (channel 5) from Los Angeles, about two weeks before the Confession letter author began typing the two Confession letters. It may have featured elsewhere in America during the year, but importantly, a Riverside resident could have viewed the episode "Lamb to the Slaughter" on television just fourteen days (or slightly more) before they typed "Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb" into the Confession letters. It is impossible to say if a correlation exists between the two because we would have to know the mind of the author. However, if the Confession letter author did derive inspiration from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in Riverside in 1966, did this inspiration spill over to December 20th 1968, August 4th 1969 and November 9th 1969, when his "electric gun sight" took center stage? A murderer called Zodiac who possibly enjoyed murder mysteries. Who would have guessed.      

The Zodiac Killer claimed that when he was making the phone call from the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo to Nancy Slover at 12:40am, he was spotted by a "negro male" walking along the street. In his August 4th 1969 letter he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". Therefore, the only possible place the Zodiac Killer could have reasonably seen this black male talking to the police, was by the payphone after he had finished his call to Nancy Slover.

​One officer was sent from the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to secure the payphone after it was traced. If it was traced almost immediately (at 12:41am), this would mean that the Zodiac Killer was watching the interaction between the black man and the police officer at 12:50am, because the journey time from the crime scene to the payphone is approximately 9 minutes. The Zodiac Killer would have been at the payphone nearly 10 minutes after he finished his call to the Vallejo Police Department. If the phone call took 5 mintes to trace, then Zodiac would have been watching the payphone from 12:41am to 12:55am subsequent to finishing his call to the police dispatcher. But how do we know he saw a "negro male"? What is the first thing law enforcement should have done after receiving the August 4th 1969 letter, stating "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed"?

They should have worked out that if Zodiac was claiming he saw "police" talking to a "negro male", then it had to be their officer who was instructed to head to the payphone to secure it for fingerprints, who must have bumped into the same "negro male" that Zodiac claimed he saw earlier. All law enforcement had to do was interview the officer initially sent to the payphone and ask him whether he spoke to a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". If he had said yes, then they would have known Zodiac was telling the truth - and much more importantly - was at the payphone a bare minimum of 10 minutes after he finished the call to Nancy Slover. If they had interviewed this officer and he had confirmed Zodiac's claim in the letter, then the obvious thing to have done was to make an appeal in the newspaper asking for the negro male to come forward. Just like they did in the attached cutting. This goes a long way in showing that Zodiac was telling the truth all along.   

The Zodiac Killer wrote "To prove I killed them I shall state some facts which only I + the police know" in his July 31st 1969 letters to convince law enforcement of his involvement in the crimes. Vallejo Police Chief Jack Stiltz asked for more proof in a follow up letter, so the Zodiac Killer gave additional information about his escapades in his August 4th 1969 letter, stating "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". So why would the Zodiac Killer ruin all his good work attempting to convince police he was the killer of three people, by completely inventing an interaction between a "negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" and a police officer by the payphone, which could have been easily checked by simply interviewing that member of law enforcement? If that officer had denied speaking to a "negro male", then why bother making a newspaper appeal.

​The fact that this "negro male" was described as a "local" in the newspapers, may suggest there was a previous interaction between him and the police officer sent from Blue Rock Springs on July 5th 1969, but he had possibly been let on his way because he claimed he saw little to nothing at the time. After the statement by Zodiac in August, the police probably wanted to double-check his recollections that morning by instigating the appeal for him to come forward. If law enforcement didn't interview the officer sent to the payphone, then that would beggar belief. I can now confidently state that this "negro male" wasn't as fictitious as I once believed  If the Zodiac Killer saw an officer talking to a "negro male" by the payphone, ten or more minutes longer than absolutely necessary to deliver his message, then the odds his residence was close by would increase exponentially. Waiting around with your vehicle and weapon still in your possession (near to the payphone) for that length of time would be extremely risky. However, if the Zodiac Killer had immediately returned home after committing the crime, changed his clothes and ditched the car and gun, that risk would vastly reduce.
​
EXTRA READING: 
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 
​OUR KILLER LIVES HERE

In the image of Vallejo below I have placed 10 random locations for payphones in 1969 (shown by the red dots). I don't know the exact location of each payphone in Vallejo in 1969, but there would have been plenty scattered around the city. There is little doubt that the Zodiac Killer planned his crimes in advance, knowing where potential victims would be found and his likely exit strategies. This planning was increasingly evident at Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights for which he created an elaborate executioner's costume, probably carried a knife and gun to both crime locations (or scissors at Presidio Heights) to secure a shirt piece from Paul Stine to validate his involvement, and took a marker pen to Lake Berryessa to write on the car door of Bryan Hartnell. At Presidio Heights there is a strong possibility he decided upon a location for murder with a reasonably wooded park nearby, so as to mitigate any unforeseen circumstances. This being the case, there is a good argument for the Zodiac Killer knowing in advance which payphone he was going to make a call from after the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa attacks. 

By crow, the distance from Blue Rock Springs parking lot to the payphone at Springs & Tuolumne is approximately 3 miles. So if you are a resident of Vallejo and likely knowledgeable to the location of your local police station (Vallejo Police Department at 111 Armador Street), why would you drive across the city to make a phone call admitting to the attacks at Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Road, from a payphone only 840 meters from the police station? This action seems counterintuitive to giving the police a wide berth. You might expect the assailant at Blue Rock Springs to not only make the phone call away from his residence, but to also make the phone call away from the police station. If the Zodiac Killer lived somewhere by the Springs & Tuolumne payphone (such as the blue cross on the map), as I have speculated, then making a phone call in your vehicle from any of these "red dot" locations appears to be the safer option, before heading home. These locations would have been a reasonable distance from your home and the police station.

However, there is one logical reason why a killer wouldn't make the phone call from any of these "red dot" locations if he lived by the "blue cross". And that is if his vehicle wasn't used, making it too far to walk to these payphones by a Zodiac Killer employing the "least effort principle". If he wanted to remove his vehicle, clothes and gun from the equation before making the phone call on foot, then the round trip from his "blue cross" residence to the any of these "red dot" payphones and back, would take far too long. The reason the Zodiac Killer may have made the phone call so close to where he lived is because the disposal of evidence, such as the car and gun, before making an admission to multiple murders, outweighed the importance of having a residence nearby. In fact, living nearby would have enabled the Zodiac Killer to distance himself from the evidence before the crime was discovered (in his mind), make the phone call and return to the safety of home fairly promptly.​

​Walking from his residence to any of these "red dot" payphones not only negates the "least effort principle", it places him in the public gaze for far longer than necessary. If he had planned to murder somebody on the eastern fringes of Vallejo that night, he very likely chose the Springs & Tuolumne payphone for the express purpose of getting home fairly quickly in case anything went wrong, so he could part with (and conceal) the evidence, while still achieving the phone call with limited foot travel and exposure. The choice of a payphone reasonably close to his home appears contradictory to common sense but it has major benefits as well. The least time you are driving on public streets in possession of the vehicle and gun, instrumental to the crime you have just committed, the better. 

​But wait a minute I hear you ask. If the Zodiac Killer lived by the "blue cross", why didn't he just drive from Blue Rock Springs to the "red dot" payphone 1.3  miles north of his residence (or the payphone to the east of his residence), make the call and head home? This would have required no deviation in travel. The answer may probably be found in his August 4th 1969 letter, where he stated "When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".

​The Zodiac Killer knew only too well that Michael Mageau was very much alive and "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he left the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. Therefore, it was imperative that he headed straight home to get rid of his car and gun, with no time to waste making a phone call as he traveled toward his residence. This was probably the Zodiac Killer's contingency plan. He always knew that if the crime didn't transpire as he expected, he could still get home fairly quickly and also achieve his goal of making the phone call to the Vallejo Police Department without his car and gun placing him in greater danger. He mitigated the proximity risk of his residence to the payphone by adding his "brown car" back into the equation in his August 4th 1969 letter, selling the notion to police that he still had the capability to travel anywhere. 

EXTRA READING: "THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY"    

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who specializes in the investigative methodology of geographic profiling, which can be used to narrow down the likely home residence or "anchor point" of an offender. He used this technique to identify Vallejo as one of the areas of high priority in the search for the Zodiac Killer, while concluding that San Francisco should be given a lower probability score. It is true that the vast bulk of Zodiac communications were mailed from San Francisco, but dropping off letters into mailboxes in the 1960s and 1970s carried little to no risk, so this would have been the perfect way to lead investigators toward the conclusion that the Zodiac Killer may have lived in San Francisco, when your mailings are at least six times that of your kill sites. These letters could have been mailed from anywhere, yet almost all carried the postmark of San Francisco, which appears counterintuitive to somebody residing in that location. 

The software was created to determine the likeliest anchor points of the Zodiac Killer by using key locations, such as the four attack sites at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, and the two payphones at Vallejo and Napa - but the software was not designed to include the mechanics of the crime and the contents of the letters. We know for a fact that the journey time by car to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone from the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs is approximately 9 to 10 minutes in duration. And we know for a fact that the Zodiac Killer made the phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at 12:40am. If the Zodiac Killer left the parking lot at about midnight, we absolutely have 30 minutes of unaccounted time. The question has always been, what did the Zodiac Killer do with these 40 minutes? 

Some people have suggested that the Zodiac Killer, having been exhilarated by his attack at Blue Rock Springs, parked up his vehicle and pleasured himself. Other suggestions offered, include a Zodiac Killer who went to a drive-in and purchased some food. The biggest problem with ideas such as these is that they do not take into account the known facts and what was written in the August 4th 1969 Zodiac letter. Sure, the Zodiac Killer could have penned some falsehoods, but when his written text matches the known facts, we have to re-evaluate the notion of a killer who just drives around Vallejo, masturbating or eating burgers, or both, for just shy of 40 minutes. Although it has been offered previously on this site that the Zodiac Killer may have received blood transfer to his shirt when leaning over the front passenger seat to fire the final two shots at Michael Mageau (because two bullet casings were found on the rear passenger floorboard), it cannot be proven beyond doubt that this was the case. Therefore, we are unable to use this as incontrovertible proof of a killer needing to immediately return home to change his clothes before making the payphone call to Nancy Slover. However, it is important to remember as a probability or possibility.

The one thing we do know to be true from the Zodiac Killer's August 4th 1969 letter, is that the last three descriptors he gave of Michael Mageau, was a boy who "leaped backwards" into the rear of the Corvair and was "thrashing out very violently with his legs" when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer's last recollection of Michael Mageau was that of a boy very much alive when he struck the 19-year-old victim in the knee. We had a young man who had "leaped" over the front seat, before "thrashing" about very "violently" as he tried to avoid the final two shots (that entered his hip and thigh). Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival at about 12:10am, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the airwaves to all police units as early as 12:15am to 12:20am. Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at Kaiser Hospital at about 12:45am, where he ultimately underwent surgery for his injuries and survived. Michael Mageau's injuries bled profusely but none of his injuries were immediately life threatening. This is why he was able to survive for upwards of 45 minutes after being shot four times.​

​Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer would have factored in the condition of Michael Mageau when he left the crime scene, and contemplated the possibility his description and vehicle had the potential to be over the airwaves in the next few minutes, can a reasonable argument be made that the Zodiac Killer just parked up his vehicle on the street and began masturbating, or visited a local eatery and ordered a burger and fries? This would have required a Zodiac Killer performing totally unnecessary activities for close to 40 minutes, after delivering nine shots to a young couple in a parking lot, while possibly still in possession of the weapon, covered in gun shot residue, and driving a vehicle that Michael Mageau could reasonably have identified. What makes far more sense, is a killer who mitigated this risk and headed straight home to dispose of his vehicle, clothes and weapon, before heading to the payphone on foot and delivering his murderous message. Let us look at some other options.

Our killer lived in Richmond, Berkeley, El Sobrante, Santa Rosa, Napa or San Francisco - and instead of heading directly home and making the phone call somewhere along the way in relative safety - he decided to hang around Vallejo or Benicia in his vehicle for the purpose of whatever story we can make up, with no supporting evidence to show why he would choose this option. Leaving the crime scene at Blue Rock Springs with Michael Mageau very much alive appears to contradict the notion of a killer living in Richmond or San Francisco, yet choosing to wilfully remain in the area of Vallejo when the airwaves could conceivably have been filled with "be on the lookout" for this particular man, driving this particular car, who if randomly stopped is sitting on a goldmine of evidence. The Zodiac Killer may have been many things, but was he a killer who totally disregarded the fact he could see Michael Mageau still kicking and screaming when he fired his ninth and final shot shortly after midnight on July 5th 1969, just before he re-entered his vehicle and drove away from the parking lot?

We also know that after the payphone call was traced a policeman was sent from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot to secure the Springs & Tuolumne payphone at approximately 12:50am (or slightly later), so it could be dusted for fingerprints. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer told of an encounter with a black male by the payphone while he was talking to Nancy Slover, what possible other locatiions could the Zodiac Killer have ever meant, when he stated on August 4th 1969 that "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". The Zodiac Killer could only have seen the policeman who was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone at about 12:50am. This being the case, would the Zodiac Killer really have sat in his vehicle close to the payphone for at least 9 minutes after ending the call with Nancy Slover, with the chance his vehicle description was floating across the airwaves?  Or was it more likely he arrived to the payphone on foot, absent of his vehicle and other incriminating evidence? There is more than enough reason to believe that the Zodiac Killer lived within a half mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone 
​
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]
WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
​"THRASHING ABOUT VERY VIOLENTLY" 
SEARCHING FOR THE PAYPHONE WITNESS
THE ZODIAC KILLER-A VALLEJO RESIDENT 

Michael Mageau was struck by four bullets on July 5th 1969. One was removed from his left thigh during surgery by Dr. Shirai. One bullet had exited his hip and was noted on the ground by his side when responding officers arrived at the crime scene, which had likely trapped in his clothing and fell to the floor when he exited the Corvair. The remaining 2 bullets exited his jaw and right shoulder (through skin), and had struck Darlene Ferrin seated to his left.

​The first responding officer to the Blue Rock Springs parking lot shortly after 12:10am noted that it was evident Michael Mageau was in pain, with blood visibly running from his mouth and lower left leg, Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the air to all police units. Sometime around 12:25am an ambulance arrived, extricated Darlene Ferrin from the Corvair - and along with Michael Mageau - departed the crime scene with both victims around 12:30am and headed to Kaiser Foundation Hospital at 2600 Alameda Street in Vallejo, where Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon arrival at 12:38am. Officer Richard Hoffman was also present, having traveled with both victims.  

Michael Mageau was initially attended to by Dr. Jantzen, before he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition. However, during this time he was still being questioned regarding the attack at Blue Rock Springs, recalling that "A white man drove up in a car, got out, walked up to the car, shined a flashlight inside and started shooting. Man was older than me, window was down. After (he) stop shooting I got out of car. I tried to get the people to come over but they drove off. After finally ten minutes the policeman came". Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at about 12:45am. Despite Michael being described as critical, he was extremely fortunate that no major organs were struck, and his femoral and popliteal arteries in his legs were not severed. Otherwise, he could have been dead within minutes. This means that Michael Mageau was lucid and conscious for at least 45 minutes after the shooting. When the Zodiac Killer described these events in the parking lot in his letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper on August 4th 1969, he wrote "When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee". 

The two dynamic verbs used by Zodiac to describe Michael Mageau's actions immediately prior to him leaving the crime scene, were "leaped" and "thrashing". In fact, the Zodiac Killer noted that Michael Mageau was "thrashing about very violently" when he shot him in the back seat of the Corvair. Not the descriptors of a young man teetering on the edge of death, despite the braggadocio exhibited by the Zodiac Killer when making the payphone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover, in which he claimed a double murder.

​"Thrashing about very violently" as Zodiac shot him in the knee does not equate to somebody who is dead. Far from it. Michael Mageau was answering questions up to 45 minutes later. This is why it makes no sense that the Zodiac Killer would drive away from Blue Rock Springs and park his vehicle on the street in the local area for close to 40 minutes, before making the payphone call from the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolomne Streets (with his car in tow). A limited description of him and his vehicle was broadcast to all police units shortly after Officer Richard Hoffman arrived at the crime scene (about 12:15am). The Zodiac Killer, in his vehicle, in possession of the gun and possibly stained with blood from leaning into the Corvair, is extremely unlikely to have sat in his parked car for nigh on 40 minutes, before driving to a payphone just 819 meters (by crow) from the Vallejo Police Department.   

Zodiac researchers will claim that the Zodiac Killer probably thought that Michael Mageau would likely die from his wounds before being discovered, so didn't worry about remaining in his vehicle for this length of time. This would have been an extremely risky and unnecessary gamble when your entire future rests upon it - and totally flies in the face of Zodiac's own words, describing Michael Mageau as very much alive when he departed the crime scene. The Zodiac Killer was a psychopath, but he was certainly no fool. A phone call made nearly 40 minutes after he left Blue Rock Springs, from a payphone that should have only taken 9 minutes to reach, strongly suggests a killer who had access to a residence within a mile radius of that payphone (quite possibly a lot closer). From which he likely walked to the payphone. There are numerous other reasons to support the idea of a killer living close to the intersection of Springs & Tuolumne. See below.
​
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]    WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
​WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]    WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE

Many people have wondered what inspired the Zodiac Killer to choose his crosshairs symbol on July 31st 1969, with varied interpretations such as the Zodiac watch, gunsights or the Celtic Cross. What we can confidently state is that the Zodiac Killer used his crosshairs to pinpoint locations on maps. In his "Bus Bomb" letter on November 9th 1969 he placed five X's on the circumference of his crosshairs, which when tilted clockwise towards magnetic north and placed over Mount Diablo, near aligned with the atack sites he was currently claiming. On June 26th 1970 the Zodiac Killer placed his crosshairs on a map of San Francisco & Vicinity, making Mount Diablo the target of his bomb location puzzle. On March 22nd 1971 the Zodiac Killer placed his crosshairs around a punch-hole, which has been considered by investigators to be the burial location of Donna Lass, who went missing from Stateline, Nevada on September 6th 1970.

​In all three examples, the Zodiac Killer was using his crosshairs as a target on land mass. So, is it possible that the Zodiac Killer derived his symbol from a target on land mass, such as the mysterious crosshairs symbol found in the Nevada desert, measuring 1,000 feet by 1,000 feet? The crosshairs symbol just south of the Triangle Eye is believed to have been constructed from slabs of concrete and asphalt, and made as early as the 1950s by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.   

It is situated 20 miles south of the Tonopah Test Range, part of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), which is one of two military training areas at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex in Nevada and used by the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. The NTTR land area includes a "simulated Integrated Air Defense System", several individual ranges with 1200 targets, and 4 remote communication sites. The current NTTR area and the range's former areas have been used for aerial gunnery and bombing, for nuclear tests, as a proving ground and flight test area, for aircraft control and warning, and for Blue Flag, Green Flag, and Red Flag exercises. Wikipedia. 

Triangle Eye is within the Nevada Test and Training Range. The area is closed off to the general public so probably only see it from the air. These are artillery firing targets meant for "Circular Error Probable" and Time on Target related calibrations and training. During WW1 and WW2, it was found that most artillery kills happen within seconds of the attack starting, because once the artillery has started to impact, the soldiers are quickly rushing for cover. Because of this, artillery soldiers found that the best way to get optimal impact from artillery was to ensure that all shells landed roughly in the same area and at the same time, like a high-powered shotgun blast. These circles are used to determine how closely grouped the shells are, and because the ground is completely flat, it also allows for easy monitoring of the impacts to verify how close they are in time. If you look over the hills to the west, there is a similar circle that has more obvious impact markings. The circles are roughly 100 meters apart so it's easy to gauge how many shells land within 100 meters of the target. Link.

These targets in the desert were used in training exercises to determine accuracy, which included the dropping of bombs onto crosshairs such as the one above. The Zodiac Killer would place a similar target upon Mount Diablo to help locate his bomb on June 26th 1970. The only reason I have brought all of this up, is because of the wording he chose in his following communication on August 4th 1969, when he was describing his methodology of targeting his victims using a pencil flashlight (described as an electric gun sight in his "Bus Bomb" letter on November 9th 1969).

​On August 4th 1969 he wrote "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light". When the phrase in red (corrected for spelling) was typed into the newspaper archive, this sequence of ten words was only found in one newspaper previous to August 4th 1969, spanning 279 years. This exact same phrase was used in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper on June 17th 1942 about wartime precautions in the event of a bombing raid from enemy planes (see below).​

On its own this means very little, but In three lengthy consecutive communications on November 29th 1966, July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, I found the quote ​"it was about time for her to die" from 1888, "man is the most dangerous animal of all" from 1932, and "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" from 1942. A newspaper article on November 24th 1966 mentioned Jack the Ripper and Cheri Jo Bates, and five days later in the Confession letter we had a Ripper style communication with "it was about time for her to die" from 1888 (found only once prior to 1966). The July 31st 1969 letters appeared to reference the movie "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932, with the quote "man is the most dangerous animal of all" being uttered by Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of the film, discovered in only three 1932 newspapers. Now we had the "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" from 1942. One could argue that the methodology of sourcing archival newspapers phrases on November 29th 1966, July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969 for the purpose of fashioning a sinister letter (if this is what happened), was indicative of a single designer responsible for all three.

On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". This business envelope came with an advertisement for miniature pewter models of classic automobiles, placed inside eighteen major Sunday newspapers on March 1st 1981 (see below). One of the newspapers this advertisement and business reply envelope was placed inside, was the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Bearing in mind that the sinister message threatening murder was written on an advertisement and postmarked Cleveland, it is extremely likely that the author of this message sourced their pre-printed envelope from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. 

Six days later, on March 8th 1981, a letter was mailed to the WXIA-TV station in Atlanta. It was signed "Zodiac" and carried the message "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet. I'll give you a hint, I used to be in San Francisco. I used to stalk women, but I like to kill children now. At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle. So I guess I'll have to tell you. I'll (to) kill children because they are so easy to "pick off: Buy the way, if you still have letters from the other murders, I am not writing in the same hand writing". View letter. 

​The author of this letter made references associated with the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, by mentioning "I used to be in San Francisco", wrote that he would "pick off children" just like the October 13th 1969 letter from the Zodiac Killer, and had "left certain clues with his victims bodies", as he did when he wrote "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with". So it is particularly noteworthy that the Atlanta envelope contained small crosshairs in the upper left corner just like the October 13th 1969 envelope, which was not publicly available in 1981. These are the only two envelopes mailed in California carrying the "Zodiac" pseudonym, with these small crosshairs on the envelope. I doubt this was a fluke by the Atlanta author. Investigators believe that the March 2nd 1981 letter (from Cleveland) and March 8th 1981 letter (from Atlanta) are from the same author. I believe they are both from the Zodiac Killer.   

If the Zodiac Killer had accessed the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in 1981 and used material within it to mail one of his threatening letters, had he ever previously sourced from this newspaper in any his letters from July 31st 1969 to March 22nd 1971, which covered the bulk of his letter writing? Were there any key Zodiac phrases borrowed from the ​Cleveland Plain Dealer during the height of his terror? I managed to find the longest phrase yet (10 consecutive words) in a Zodiac letter that matched some wording from this same newspaper. I typed a phrase from the August 4th 1969 "Debut of Zodiac" letter into the newspaper archive and found it in only one newspaper in 334 years. Whether it has any relevance, or was a matter of chance, I really don't know.  

​In three lengthy consecutive communications on November 29th 1966, July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, I found the quote ​"it was about time for her to die" from 1888, "man is the most dangerous animal of all" from 1932, and "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" from 1942. A newspaper article on November 24th 1966 mentioned Jack the Ripper and Cheri Jo Bates, and five days later in the Confession letter we had a Ripper style communication with "it was about time for her to die" from 1888 (found only once prior to 1966). The July 31st 1969 letters appeared to reference the movie "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932, with the quote "man is the most dangerous animal of all" being uttered by Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of the film, discovered in only three 1932 newspapers. The quote "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" was only found in one newspaper previous to August 4th 1969, spanning 279 years (see below).

​The "Debut of Zodiac" letter was referencing the targeting of kids with a pencil flashlight attached to a gun, whereas the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from 1942 was referring to the targeting of cities with bombs. Both the Zodiac letter and Cleveland Plain Dealer also mentioned "the code". I fail to see why the Zodiac Killer would ever plagiarize such a newspaper article from June 17th 1942 about wartime precautions for an air raid, but I thought it was worthy of mention because of the seeming mimicry previously exhibited on November 29th 1966 and July 31st 1969. A trait, one could argue, that was specific to one individual and one mind. 

Shortly before midnight on July 4th 1969, Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin pulled into the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs and sat there talking for a while. A vehicle, that most people believe was Zodiac, came from the direction of Springs Road according to Michael Mageau, entered the parking lot and parked alongside the left side of their Corvair for about one minute, about 6 to 8 feet away. The vehicle, that Michael thought was driven by a single male, then left the parking lot and headed back towards Springs Road. He estimated that 5 minutes later the vehicle returned from that direction, once again pulled into the parking lot, but this time positioned itself to the rear of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair.

After exiting his vehicle the Zodiac Killer approached the Corvair and began shooting the couple. Subsequent to the attack (at about 12:02am on July 5th 1969) he got back in his vehicle and then drove away towards Springs Road for a second time. Michael Mageau was able to recall the assailant's vehcle had a California license plate. The Zodiac Killer, without knowing the automobile proficiency of the couple in the Corvair, especially after parking his vehicle alongside theirs for about one minute - and entering and exiting the parking lot twice - must have been aware that there was a reasonable possibility the couple had recognised the make and color of his vehicle. He even drove away from the crime scene slowly according to his story.

The Zodiac Killer, if he was familiar with Blue Rock Springs, also knew that there was a reasonable possibility that the nine shots he fired that morning may have been heard by the caretaker and/or residents of the house approximately 800 feet from the parking lot. George Bryant stated that "he could hear laughing and a few firecrackers being set off. And at approximately midnight he heard what appeared to be a gunshot. This was much louder than any of the firecrackers. A short time later he heard what appeared to be another gunshot. After another short pause he heard rapid fire of what appeared to be gunshots. He then heard a car take off".

The Zodiac Killer's vehicle had been viewed by Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin for at least 2 minutes that night/ morning, and he had fired off 9 shots in total. If he had planned to make a phone call that morning, the obvious choice was to do this immediately before police were alerted and his vehicle description was sent out over the airwaves throughout Vallejo. But wait I hear you say; Zodiac probably thought the couple were dead. After all, his phone call to Nancy Slover stated ​"I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... On Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car". This gives the impression that he thought he had killed two people - but this claim was bullshit - and he knew there was a distinct possibility he had only killed one person that morning.​  

​He knew this because he gave himself away on August 4th 1969 when he sent a letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. In it he wrote "The boy was origionaly sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee. I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car". 

Michael Mageau was last described by Zodiac as thrashing around violently in the back seat when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer must have known that a knee shot was not a terminal injury, knew that there was a strong possibility that Michael Mageau was still alive when he left the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs, knew that Michael Mageau had the ability to have seen his vehicle for at least two minutes, knew there was a possibility his 9 shots were heard in the vicinity of Blue Rock Springs, and understood that the crime scene may have been discovered fairly quickly,

​Understanding all this and knowing the make and color of his vehicle could be all over the Vallejo airwaves fairly quickly, is it reasonable to conclude he drove around Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes, before parking his vehicle adjacent to a payphone, only 830 meters from the Vallejo Police Department? He also leaned into the Corvair to target Michael Mageau in the back seat, leaving two spent casings on the rear floorboard of the vehicle, which had the potential to transfer blood to his shirt from the passenger seat.

Taking all these circumstances into account, it is far more reasonable to conclude he drove home, concealed his vehicle, ditched the smoking gun, changed his clothes, and then headed to the payphone on foot to make the call. This would explain why the phone call to Nancy Slover was logged at 12:40am, when the journey time to the payphone from the murder scene was only 9 minutes. If the Zodiac Killer had made these obvious assumptions described above, it would have been reckless to have been driving around or parked up on the streets of Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes after the attack. He would have been right to conclude this, because a limited description of him and his vehicle was given to officers by Michael Mageau at the crime scene, who broadcasted this information over the airwaves. But the Zodiac Killer couldn't have been sure how limited this description would be. He knew his face was shielded by the glare of the flashlight, but his vehicle was afforded no such protection.          

In his August 4th 1969 letter the Zodiac was giving police details about the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to prove he was the killer. He immediately jumped into a detailed description of a "man who told police that my car was brown (and) was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". This description could have easily been verified by police had the Zodiac been telling the truth, so it would have been pretty pointless the Zodiac Killer giving this information had it not been true. But if the Zodiac Killer saw police talking to a negro male, then it was likely by the payphone that Zodiac had earlier claimed he was walking by. Which Zodiac described by stating "I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn X@ thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". 

We know that after the payphone call was traced, a responding officer was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone to secure it for fingerprint testing, so it is logical to conclude that this is where the Zodiac saw police talking to the black man. If so, then the Zodiac Killer stil had eyes on that payphone at least 10 minutes after his call to Nancy Slover. Because if the payphone call was traced as early as 12:41am, it would have taken the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs about 9 minutes to reach that payphone, at approximately 12:50am. The longer the trace took, the longer the Zodiac Killer was hanging around the vicinity of that payphone. If the phone call was traced at 12:47am, the responding officer would arrive at the payphone at about 12:56am.

​The police may have suspected that a payphone call at 12:40am from Sptings & Tuolumne, when its journey time from the crime scene was only 9 minutes, opened up the possibility the Zodiac Killer could have lived nearby. The Zodiac Killer must also have realized this possibility, so he attributed the presence of his vehicle to the negro male, who Zodiac claimed saw it while walking by the payphone at 12:40am, and who at 12:50am (or later), Zodiac claimed he believed, had given the color of his vehicle to the police. Even if the police were not told by the negro male he had noticed the vehicle of the man in the payphone, the accuracy of the negro male's description by Zodiac (if true), would have added validity to the Zodiac Killer's claims his vehicle was present. Another reason why the Zodiac had to ensure his description of the black male was accurate, was because if this information couldn't be verified, the rest of his story loses validity. The Zodiac Killer, in his August 4th 1969 letter, was effectively telling police he was still present near that payphone when they responded to it. He was nearby, and had hung around the area after ending the call with Nancy Slover. By claiming he was still in his vehicle during and after the payphone call, he was suggesting to the police that he had the capability to travel anywhere. But everything described in the first part of this article, should tell you that this may very well have been a lie. His vehicle was never at that payphone - and the real negro male was the conduit for this deception   

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]

The earliest estimates of the payphone trace in Vallejo fall between 12:41am and 12:47am, meaning that the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs arrived at the Springs & Tuolumne payphone at approximately 12:50am to 12:56am. If the police officer was talking to a scruffily dressed black man around 40 to 45 years old, then the Zodiac Killer was still in the area observing this interaction. If the Zodiac Killer had earlier experienced this black man while talking to Nancy Slover, why was this individual still in the area of the payphone at least 10 minutes later?

​Had he passed the Zodiac Killer in the payphone to go somewhere and was returning home along the same sidewalk when police arrived? Did he live in the area and approached police to offer assistance when they pulled up at the payphone? Had he noticed the dangling receiver and spoken to the operator, who asked him to remain at the scene? Was he just hanging around the area, or was he homeless? There could be innumerable possibilities, but if the police arrived at the payphone and saw a black male in the area (or anyone else for that matter), it would have been correct police procedure to question the person to find out if they had seen a white male using the payphone in the recent past. If police did talk to the black male as Zodiac contended, then the obvious conclusion is that it was in the vicinity of the payphone. Only the police know for certain if they spoke to this black man, and only the police know if he matches the description given by the Zodiac Killer - and they have never openly confirmed or denied this interaction. 

The attack at Blue Rock Springs culminated shortly after midnight, on July 5th 1969, yet the phone call to Nancy Slover was placed at 12:40am, despite the journey time from the park being only 9 minutes. This opened up the possibility that the Zodiac Killer went home, changed his clothes and stashed his gun, before walking to the payphone absent of any incriminating evidence. This would mean that the August 4th 1969 letter which stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" and "When I hung the phone up the damn X@ thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". was designed to misdirect police into believing the Zodiac Killer was still in his vehicle - and as such - he was not giving away the fact he was now on foot and thereby lived nearby.

​If the police encountered a black man by the payphone who matched the later description given by Zodiac in the August 4th 1969 letter, then adding his absent vehicle into the equation wouldn't detract from the verifiable characteristics of the man described by the Zodiac Killer, if the black male simply couldn't recollect a vehicle near the payphone. When reading "The man who told police that my car was brown", the police, if they knew that Zodiac's description of the black male was extremely accurate, may have assumed the Zodiac in his letter had just believed that the eyewitness saw and described his vehicle, when in fact he had not. If this was the case, this wouldn't harm his claims, it would further benefit the Zodiac story.

The Zodiac Killer hiding nearby on foot, observing the police talking to the black male by the payphone, would have been the far safer option for somebody now separated from their vehicle, the smoking gun, and their clothes, which could potentially have received blood transfer from leaning into the open window of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair. Conversely, absent of a residence (or accessible workplace nearby), the Zodiac Killer remaining in the area after the phone call for upwards of 10 minutes, with the car, gun and clothing he committed the crime with, would have presented far more risk for the Zodiac Killer. If he really did spot the black male talking to police by the payphone, it can be argued that he likely arrived at the payphone on foot to place the call to Nancy Slover.

​The million dollar question is, did the Zodiac Killer describe the man as "a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed" because he was selling us a fictional character who spotted the vehicle of Zodiac, or did he give this overly detailed description of the man to taunt law enforcement or give them proof of his presence, because he was watching the responding officer talk to this individual when he arrived at the payphone? I doubt he inserted this black man into his letter for no reason whatsoever, but honesty. This "negro male" made an appearance in his August 4th 1969 letter because it benefited the Zodiac Killer in some way. I doubt we will ever get the true answer.

After the challenge by Vallejo police chirf Jack Stiltz in questioning whether the recent letter writer was the killer, the purpose of the following  August 4th 1969 letter was to provide law enforcement with details they could verify. The Zodiac Killer was correct that he did not open the car door, and was telling the truth that the window was already rolled down and Michael Mageau leapt into the back seat of the Corvair. Although he was incorrect about the exact point of entry of one of his bullets, he knew that Mageau was shot in the leg while in the backseat. This can be shown to be true because two firearm casings were found on the floorboard of the back seat.

​The Zodiac Killer then moved the clock forward by describing a shabbily dressed negro male about 40 to 45 years of age, who investigators could easily have verified existed by speaking to the police officers designated to the payphone in the aftermath of the double shooting. All of the above details were able to be checked by investigators. The one thing they couldn't verify for certain was whether the Zodiac Killer was still in his vehicle when the "negro male" spotted him. For that the police would have been reliant on the black man, who the Zodiac may have known could never have seen and described his vehicle, because he wasn't in one. But by adding into the equation that the negro male told police that his car was brown, he was selling the story a little more. The August 4th 1969 letter after confirming details at the crime scene, immediately jumped to "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". This suggested one continuous sequence of verification regarding the events on July 5th 1969 - and something the Zodiac Killer knew police would be able to corroborate by interviewing the responding officer to the payphone. Why follow up the truth about the crime scene with an immediate lie and negate your credibility with something that was easily falsifiable?    

The potential presence of Zodiac near the payphone 10 or more minutes after speaking to Nancy Slover is probably one of the most, if not, the most important questions in the Zodiac case. A murderer still present near that payphone approximately 50 minutes (or more) after the Blue Rock Springs attack would be extremely important to know with regards to where he lived. If he was there, he was far safer without his vehicle and the smoking gun. The search parameters for the Zodiac Killer would narrow demonstrably.

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]​

There were multiple newspaper articles between July 4th 1969 and August 4th 1969 that mentioned Michael Mageau's description of the Zodiac Killer's vehicle, including its brown color, so what was the purpose of the August 4th 1969 letter when it stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed", rather than just attributing this observation to Mageau? The obvious answer is that the Zodiac Killer was conjuring up an imaginary eyewitness to back up the earlier description by Mageau and misdirect us to the true color of his vehicle, which was anything but brown. To make this "negro male" more believable the Zodiac Killer may have added the "40-45 rather shabbly dressed" description to bring this fictional character to life. 

​However, if the police hadn't spoken to anybody other than Mageau regarding the color of Zodiac's car, then this attempt to misdirect the police would have been less than convincing and immediately disregarded. His efforts at misdirection would have been a complete waste of time and ink. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer placed the negro male eyewitness observing him at the payphone as he was "walking by", the logical inference when he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro", was that the Zodiac Killer saw the negro male chatting to police somewhere in the vicinity of the payphone at a later time. We know that a responding officer left the Blue Rock Springs crime scene after the location of the payphone was traced in order to secure the location until an I.D. technician could dust it for potential fingerprints. 

It can be argued that the over-descriptive nature of "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed", highlighting his approximate age and attire, and selecting a minority demographic, was designed to bring this person to life. But what if the Zodiac Killer described the man in detail to prove to police he was actually observing their interaction with him by the payphone, meaning that Zodiac still had eyes on that payphone at 12:50am, or even later. Even if the payphone call (at 12:40am) was traced almost immediately, a police officer traveling from Blue Rock Springs to that payphone, couldn't have arrived much earlier than 12:50am. Did the Zodiac Killer live nearby, and/or did he just hide in the area to observe police activity around the payphone, hitting upon gold when he saw the black male, who was still in the area, conversing with the responding officer. As stated earlier, if no such interaction took place between police and a negro male by the payphone, then his claims in the August 4th 1969 letter would have had little impact with law enforcement. On the other hand, the Zodiac Killer taunting police in a letter by providing evidence he was still near the payphone at least 10 minutes after the call to Nancy Slover, may have been a little jarring. A negro male that police wouldn't want to confirm to the newspapers, just like they concealed the police sighting of a potential Zodiac on Jackson Street two months later.   

There may be other circumstantial evidence to support an eyewitness being present at the payphone that morning. How realistic is it that operators at PT&T called back that payphone immediately, as opposed to a delay of 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds. Although Robert Graysmith was much maligned, he did offer something interesting regarding this matter. In his 1986 book "Zodiac" he wrote "When he said "good-bye", the man's voice deepened and became taunting  Nancy heard the sound of the receiver being replaced. She was left listening to the empty hum of the line. After he hung up, the killer must have stood for a minute in a lighted phone booth. Suddenly the phone began to ring; a middle-aged black man in shabby clothes who was passing by looked over and saw the stocky man in the booth. Turning his head away, the killer opened the door of the phone booth, plunging it into darkness. To stop the phone from ringing he unhooked it and let it hang. After a moment, he briskly walked off into the night".

Robert Graysmith may have had some knowledge of the operators actions that morning when he stated "After he hung up, the killer must have stood for a minute in a lighted phone booth". One would have expected the Zodiac Killer after declaring he was responsible for four murders from a payphone close to the police station, to have left the payphone immediately and headed back to his vehicle, which he claimed was alongside him in his August 4th 1969 letter. Yet according to Graysmith he waited in the payphone for at least one minute before it began to ring. The only logical reason why the Zodiac Killer was still in the payphone after a minute to hear it ring and subsequently remove the receiver, was if he saw the black man heading in his direction and used the payphone sides as a shield to his identity. He had just made a phone call to police claiming murder, so it would have been human nature upon seeing an approaching black man to remain concealed in the payphone, head down, and open its door to extinguish the payphone lights, rather than head out onto the sidewalk and risk being observed in close quarters by the black male. This would explain his reluctance to leave the payphone immediately and why he was still in it up to one minute after replacing the receiver. The fact he was still in the payphone after 10 seconds or more, rather than back at his vehicle and/or driving away, can be explained by the unwanted presence of an eyewitness "walking by" the payphone. An eyewitness he described in detail in his letter, who he later claimed he saw talking to police (probably by the payphone). When the PT&T operator rang the payphone back it briefly drew the attention of the black male to him and his car, irritating the Zodiac Killer and shaping his actions when he completed the payphone call to David Slaight from Napa after the Lake Berryessa attack.

WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]  
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3]

At a time when finding Zodiac Killer DNA and solving this case is heavily debated and in question, one of the most important things to explore are the vast number of communications sent by the killer, with a view to unearthing something within them that points towards his identity and/or home location (anchor point) when committing the murders. No doubt the Zodiac Killer used caution in this regard when composing his communications, but no matter how careful and attentive you are in preventing the accidental leakage of vital information to law enforcement through your wording, mistakes and oversight can often happen. When a murderer is questioned about a missing person, they will often stray into the territory of referring to that missing person in the past tense, because they are knowledgeable to the fact they have killed them. The study of language in interviews and written form can often reveal vital information about a criminal which they have subconsciously revealed, but were incapable of preventing because of their lived experience.

​This may have been the case in the very first letters authored by the Zodiac Killer on July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, both of which, possibly revealed the home location of the killer (or his anchor point when perpetrating the crimes). You will notice in his July 31st 1969 letters when addressing the San Francisco Chronicle or San Francisco Examiner first, the Zodiac Killer refers to posting letters to these newspapers in the past tense of "have". In other words, suggesting the significant time that has elapsed, and the distance he has traveled before returning home. When first addressing the Vallejo Times-Herald in his July 31st 1969 letters he uses the present tense of "are", because (possibly) he doesn't associate any great time and distance to the Vallejo Times-Herald offices, as they are within his close proximity. They are in his "here and now". If you left your house in Vallejo and mailed three letters into a San Francisco mailbox, before returning home - you would write "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle" (associating distance to these two newspaper offices). If you live in Vallejo and are addressing the Vallejo Times-Herald first in two instances, you would write "Here is a cipher or that is part of one. The other 2 parts are being mailed to the Vallejo Times + S.F. Chronicle" or "Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner". The Zodiac Killer uses the word "are" in both instances he immediately addresses the Vallejo Times-Herald offices (because he doesn't associate distance to this newspaper office). He uses the present tense of "are" to associate something in his lived "mental map" or "here and now". Of course, this isn't conclusive evidence he lived in Vallejo for his first two crimes, but it may point to a subconscious use of language that he failed to keep in check. There is similar language used at the beginning of his next communication on August 4th 1969.              

The following reasoning may seem innocuous and insignificant, but it's just another example of how language could point us in the direction of a Vallejo killer. When the Zodiac Killer opened up in his August 4th 1969 mailing, he wrote "This is the Zodiac speaking. In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". What he didn't write is this:"This is the Zodiac speaking. In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". The Zodiac Killer used the present perfect tense of "have had" rather than the past tense of "had". The present perfect tense, in this example, suggests that the Zodiac Killer has had good times in Vallejo but they are not complete. The word "had" implies a distinct separation from the past to the present, whereas "have had" implies a distinct connection from the past to the present. The "good times I have had in Vallejo" being congruent with somebody still living in this location. Although tenuous, this subtle use of language is important to analyse in conjunction with the previous example highlighted  The third example will focus on the anomaly of a phone call made to the Vallejo Police Department 40 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs attack, from a payphone located just 10 minutes from the crime scene. 

It has been widely noted that a killer living in San Francisco, Napa, Oakland, or any distant home location, could easily have made this phone call at 12:40 am from any payphone in the Bay Area, rather than place a phone call in close proximity to the police station he was delivering his message - and seemingly hanging around for an unnecessary 30 minutes, thereby risking detection. This has opened up the notion of a killer who lived in close proximity to the Springs & Tuolumne payphone, who secured his vehicle, removed any incriminating evidence and walked to the payphone from a nearby residence. This is where further language analysis could point us to a Vallejo resident, or otherwise. It depends on what merit you apply to the above arguments, in conjunction to the ones I'm about to present. ​      

The Zodiac Killer went on to write "I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car", and "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". In the second statement the Zodiac Killer felt the necessity to highlight both him and his car. The phone apparently rang when he hung up the phone, so why didn't the Zodiac Killer just state "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me".

When he left the Blue Rock Springs parking lot he made the point of driving away slowly so as not to draw attention to his car, yet by the payphone he is making sure that investigators draw the conclusion that the eyewitness saw both him and his vehicle, despite apparently positioned at the payphone independent of his car. It could be concluded that his car was still running, and it would have been obvious to the eyewitness that he and his vehicle were in tandem (and so provided this information), but it certainly wasn't necessary to provide investigators with corroboratory evidence that his car was brown as reported in the newspapers, by stating "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by". Unless of course, his vehicle wasn't brown, The biggest red flag to his vehicle being present in the vicinity of the payphone, is the description given by the Zodiac Killer about the eyewitness.

The Zodiac Killer only went into detail regarding his murder victims when it benefited his case of proof, such as the description of clothing worn by Darlene Ferrin, or the movement of the living victims and bodies in relation to the crime scene. So why didn't the Zodiac Killer just write "The man who told police that my car was brown, noticed me + my car when he was walking by". What relevance does his race, clothing or age have to do with anything? The descriptive nature of "negro", "40-45" and "shabbily dressed" brings this eyewitness to life and makes him more believable to the reader of the letter. The Zodiac Killer, by describing this man in detail, may have been attempting to corroborate that his vehicle was present by the payphone, and was brown in color. The Zodiac Killer had previously supplied extra details to the police when it helped his cause, so the unnecessary inclusion of this man's description in the letter, could again, be viewed as beneficial to him. If the Zodiac Killer wanted to deflect away from a home location nearby, he had to create a vehicle that can take him anywhere, and supply an eyewitness to corroborate this fact. Not just any eyewitness, but a believable middle-aged, black man, with questionable clothing.   

These observations regarding the language used by the Zodiac Killer are not proof he resided in Vallejo or near the payphone, but they should provide the impetus to examine later communications mailed by the killer, who may have unwittingly left more offerings to further bolster the case argued here. Or maybe dispel it entirely.