For many years, people in the Zodiac community have puzzled over the identity of the author and meaning behind the "deep real estate" advertisements placed in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner newspapers for one week beginning on August 26th 1976. The message in the advertisements read "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A." Zodiac Killer sleuths have considered whether this advertisement was placed by the Zodiac Killer himself, composed by somebody who knew the Zodiac Killer, or was manufactured by law enforcement as a form of correspondence with the Bay Area murderer. Some individuals have suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have had a partner, notably Fred Manalli, who died in a car crash on August 24th 1976, just two days before this advertisement was placed in the newspapers. His name is synonymous with the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders. 

Recently I produced an article from information mailed to me by Zodiac researcher Cragle, who unearthed an advertisement placed in the San Francisco Examiner on January 14th 1975 (but from advertisements beginning on January 13th 1975) with the message "ZODIAC it is time: your capture is approaching soon. r.a." I finished that article by writing "This may require a reassessment of the later message and the author's identity". The information provided to me by Cragle advanced our knowledge with respect to the "deep real estate" author, but today, some further information has been given to me that should finally close down any speculation regarding these advertisements from 1975 and 1976.  

Thanks to Jibberjabber, another tireless Zodiac researcher, the mystery of the "deep real estate" author is now probably over - and like much of the Zodiac case - it's not as fantastical as many would like to believe. The identity of the 1975 author (who very likely created the 1976 advertisement as well) was found by Jibberjabber in the San Francisco Examiner on January 14th 1975. The advertisements beginning on January 13th 1975 were created and placed in the newspaper by a City College student, attempting to flush out the Zodiac Killer by provocation. This should realistically end any interest in the "deep real estate" author, and close another long-running chapter of the Zodiac Killer case

On August 26th 1976, an article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer, chronicling the relentless pursuit of the Zodiac Killer by Inspector David Toschi, who stated "I feel he's out there. I feel he's going to surface". The third paragraph of the newspaper article continued: "With the transfer of his long time partner, William Armstrong, to the fraud detail, Toschi is the only San Francisco detective on the case now, one of the most baffling in the history of American crime". A personal advertisement appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner on the same day, seemingly connected to the now extremely rare coverage of the Zodiac Killer story. The fact that the story and personal advertisement coincided is confusing to say the least. The advertisement (under 30 PERSONALS) read "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A."

Mailed to me by the excellent Zodiac researcher, Cragle, below is an advertisement placed in the newspapers on January 14th 1975 under the same "30 PERSONALS" column, signed with the same initials as the August 26th 1976 advertisement. The message read "ZODIAC it is time: your capture is approaching soon. r.a." Therefore, we have the same individual placing  an advertisement 19 months prior to the "deep real estate" message. The language of "your capture is approaching" used in the earlier 1975 communication, could be argued with confidence, that both of these advertisements were referring to the infamous Zodiac Killer rather than an innocuous message delivered in 1976 that has been misinterpreted. This may require a reassessment of the later message and the author's identity.  

Here is a current description of the Financial Crimes Unit at the San Francisco Police Department: Tasked with the investigation of financial crimes including but not limited to: access card fraud, Bunco cases, check fraud, counterfeit currency, counterfeit trademark, embezzlement, false financial statements, forgery, identity theft, internet fraud, elder financial abuse, non-return of rental property, real estate and notary fraud, and theft by false pretense or deceit. This is the equivalent department that long time partner of Inspector David Toschi transferred to after leaving homicide detail. The transfer of William Armstrong to fraud detail was mentioned on August 26th 1976 in the San Francisco Chronicle on the same day an advertisement was placed in the personal column of the same newspaper, reading "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A."

The use of "You're next" has been highlighted in several potential Zodiac communications, so it's not unusual to find it yet again appearing in a personal advertisement headed by the pseudonym "ZODIAC". The standalone use of the "Zodiac" pseudonym was allied to the pasted wording "YOU ARE NEXT" in the Edward C. Adams communication on October 17th 1970, and a letter postmarked Montclair, California (near Riverside) on November 10th 1969, addressed to an individual in Clarinda, Iowa, that carried the message "Mr. (redacted) Your Next. The Zodiac". Neither of which had been released into the public domain by 1976. Therefore, the author of the advertisement in the personal column was somewhat mirroring two communications they could never have seen, unless they were the same individual.  

The wording in the personal advertisement was clearly borrowing from the newspaper article about the Zodiac Killer, mentioning that David Toschi's partner was in DEEP REAL ESTATE. William Armstrong had transferred to fraud detail, which dealt in real estate and mortgage fraud (as shown above). It appears that the threat to "terminate your case" was a direct threat towards David Toschi, who was the only San Francisco detective currently investigating the Zodiac Killer case in 1976.

Inspector David Toschi was also assigned to the "Zebra murders" investigation in the years prior to the placement of this advertisement. These racially motivated murders on white people in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974 were perpetrated by black muslims. On April 28th 1974 many arrests were made, with Mayor Joseph Alioti releasing a statement that read in part "The San Francisco police, under the leadership of Chief Donald Scott, have pierced the veil of a vicious ring of murders called "DEATH ANGELS." The local group is a division of a larger organization dedicated to the murder and mutilation of whites and dissident Blacks. The pattern of killing is by random street shooting or hacking to death with machete, cleaver or knife. Decapitation or other forms of mayhem bring special credit from the organization for the killers. Hitchhikers are a particular prey. "DEATH ANGELS," a kind of reverse Ku Klux Klan, is based on the muddled aberrations clearly outside the mainstream of Islamic religions. In my opinion, it represents as much a potential threat to Blacks as to whites. Members are usually characterized by trim, neat appearance, and purport to live by a puritanical code of moral conduct. They are fanatical believers in Black separatism. The training of young boys fourteen years of age and over in what they call "martial arts" is a practice of this group. It consists of teaching manual methods and techniques of killing or incapacitating".

The Zebra murders investigation was heavily criticized by many black community leaders and the public alike, drawing comparisons to the Zodiac Killer case in the Bay Area. This was evident from KRON-TV News footage on April 18th 1974, in which Reverend Cecil Williams likened the actions of police to a race war and argued that innocent black individuals were being stopped by the police - often several times - based on nothing more than their skin color. He stated "When, in fact, the Zodiac Killer and his picture came out in the newspapers, as well as television, a print of what they thought the Zodiac Killer to look like, they did, in fact, not begin to create a dragnet and a police state as it relates to white participants. So it's inherently discriminatory". 

I think it is unlikely that the Zodiac Killer was not aware of the Zebra murders, his name being brought up by comparison, and the involvement of Inspector David Toschi in the investigation, in a climate described as a race war. The Zodiac Killer wasn't averse to implementing newspaper and television coverage into his later communications, so the personal advertisement that threatened "The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case", could have carried a racial element pertaining to a perceived war on black people. The Zodiac Killer may have been suggesting to Inspector David Toschi that he needed to submit to the teachings of the Imperial Wizard and Ku Klux Klan as his savior or he would be terminated from his current case. This is the only feasible connection I could find to link Inspector David Toschi to the Ku Klux Klan, who were described by Mayor Alioto as the reverse of the "Death Angels".   

If the personal advertisement was placed by the Zodiac Killer on August 26th 1976, one has to question how he could draw inspiration from a newspaper article that was published on the same day. To fashion an advertisement based upon this article he would had to have had advanced knowledge of its contents, which could only be realistically achieved if he was somehow connected to the newspaper or law enforcement. 

Greetings to Mo from Egypt.

On August 26th 1976, an article (see below) appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer, chronicling the relentless pursuit of the Zodiac Killer by Inspector David Toschi, who stated "I feel he's out there. I feel he's going to surface". The third paragraph of the newspaper article continued: "With the transfer of his long time partner, William Armstrong, to the fraud detail, Toschi is the only San Francisco detective on the case now, one of the most baffling in the history of American crime". A personal advertisement appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in the same morning edition, seemingly connected to the now extremely rare coverage of the Zodiac Killer story. The fact that the story and personal advertisement coincided, with linguistically similar traits, could be interpreted in two different ways.   

Many have considered that the personal advertisement may have been placed in the San Francisco Chronicle by law enforcement to encourage a reply from the Zodiac Killer. However, the cryptic nature of the message seems to refer directly to the opening section of the newspaper article, shrouded in confusing language, rather than any meaningful attempt to lure the Zodiac Killer from the shadows and have him begin speaking to law enforcement once again. The second possibility, is that the message is a threat to kill Inspector David Toschi by promising to terminate his case, especially when you consider that Inspector David Toschi was the only investigator currently working the Zodiac case in 1976. A threat upon his life would certainly terminate his involvement in pursuing the Zodiac Killer. The beginning of the advertisement, after possibly declaring he was "Zodiac", suggested that David Toschi's once partner was in "Deep Real Estate". Having been transferred to fraud detail, it would certainly be worthwhile looking for recent newspaper articles concerning William Armstrong and discover if he had been involved in any high profile mortgage frauds during the month of August (or recent months). One of the most lucrative crimes during the 1970s (and today) is mortgage fraud, and may explain the phrase "Your partner is in Deep Real Estate". 

The personal advertisement coincided with the newspaper story of Zodiac on August 26th 1976, so it would appear that the personal advertisement could not be a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article, unless the Zodiac Killer (or author) knew in advance that the story of David Toschi and his drive to solve the case in absence of his long time partner, was about to break in the newspapers. This, of course, would require the author of the advertisement to have prior knowledge to its publication, such as somebody connected to law enforcement or the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper      

The meaning behind "The Imperial Wizard can save you" is a lot more ambiguous, having no apparent connection to the newspaper article, other than known affiliations between law enforcement personnel and the Ku Klux Klan. The notion of infiltrating an organization with white supremacists to promote an agenda of hate is nothing new. Suggesting that David Toschi surrenders to the Imperial Wizard, could imply this was his only redemption. Two years earlier, in 1974, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Scott Nelson, claimed they had infiltrated the Houston Police Department, including narcotics officers and members of the theft and burglary divisions.   

Contact with David Toschi would become a feature of future Zodiac letters, such as on April 24th 1978 and October 28th 1987, as well as inferences (through the wording used) in the May 6th 1986 letter, and questionable July 19th 1978 Scotch Tape communication. Therefore, based on the correlation between the language used in the personal advertisement and newspaper article featuring David Toschi on August 26th 1976, the threat to "terminate his case" could be perceived as a direct threat on the life of the renowned Zodiac investigator. The newspaper article closed with: "I don't know if I'll ever get the case solved, but I'm sure as hell trying, Toschi said gamely".  

Many people believe that the Zodiac Killer's "terroristic" exploits didn't begin with Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 and the subsequent letter writing campaign - and have searched in the Editor's columns of newspapers for any hints of Zodiac type language. The following does not claim this is a Zodiac communication, but it is worthy of a mention because it involves a threatening letter to Mr. Melvin Belli prior to the inception of the Zodiac Killer.

A typewritten letter was postmarked Starkville, Mississippi on March 24th 1964, addressed to Mr. Melvin Belli, Attorney at Law, San Francisco, California, with a return address of R. A. Wagner, 1302 E. Capitol Street, Jackson, Mississippi. Investigators could find no such number on E. Capitol Street and no R. A. Wagner by searching the Polk Directory in Mississippi. The letter read:

"Old Dago Belli says of Dallas, 'This city stinks', We have news for you jelly belli -- that's your upper lip you smell. Furthermore, if you're not careful some-body's going to put a slug of hot lead between those beady eyes of yours". It was signed "The Commitee" and followed by "Remember, San Francisco is no sanctuary."         

This letter was in response to the conviction and death sentence imposed on Jack Ruby on March 14th 1964 for the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, and Melvin Belli's response to the verdict. Melvin Belli, who defended Jack Ruby, was quoted in a newspaper article: "ANOTHER MAN ON THE STREET, L. D. ENNES, DECLARED: "I THINK IF IT. HAD GONE ANY OTHER WAY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DISGRACE TO OUR LAWS." THERE WERE THOSE, HOWEVER, WHO SIDED WITH BELLI. BESIDE HIMSELF WITH RAGE AT THE VERDICT, THE NORMALLY SUAGE SAN FRANCISCO LAWYER ROARED IN COURT WITH RAGE AT THE VERDICT, THE NORMALLY SUAVE SAN FRANCISCO LAWYER ROARED IN COURT: "THIS IS A VICTORY FOR BIGOTRY. DON'T WORRY JACK, WE'LL APPEAL THIS AND TAKE IT OUT OF TEXAS." THE 55-YEAR-OLD BELLI WAS EQUALLY VEHEMENT TODAY IN ASSERTING, "THIS CITY STINKS." 

Mississippi was a hotbed of racial tension in the civil rights movement era, with the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders or the Mississippi Burning murders, which occurred in the latter half of 1964. The reason I bring this up, is the name adopted by the sender from Mississippi. Why would the sender choose this name? Richard Wagner was a German composer,  theater director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. "The self-taught 19th-century German composer was born into a performing family – several of his sisters became opera singers and actresses. A vehement anti-Semite, Wagner is one of the most controversial figures in the history of classical music. The Ku Klux Klan-glorifying 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, featured music from one of Wagner’s operas, Ride of the Valkyries". Post Magazine.. Adolf Wagner was a German soldier and high-ranking Nazi Party official born in Algrange, Alsace-Lorraine, and appointed by Adolf Hitler. So, did the roots of racism play any part in the fictitious name chosen by the sender from Mississippi.  

On August 26th 1976, a personal advertisement mentioning "The Imperial Wizard" and beginning with "ZODIAC" was placed in the San Francisco Chronicle to run for one week. This advertisement carried the initials R. A., just like the threatening letter from Mississippi addressed to Mr. Melvin Belli.

On April 26th 1975 an article entitled Slayer of 14--A Possible Profile appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. It would be over one year until the San Francisco Chronicle featured an article about David Toschi and his endless pursuit of the Zodiac Killer. This article on August 26th 1976 was headed by the title Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer and contained an important piece of text on the third paragraph, of  "With the transfer of his long time partner, William Armstrong, to the fraud detail, Toschi is the only San Francisco detective on the case now, one of the most baffling in the history of American crime". The first major newspaper article in the Chronicle for 16 months, referencing Zodiac and Toschi's long time partner William Armstrong, which coincided with an advertisement placed in the personal column of the Chronicle on August 26th 1976 (to run for one week) beginning with the name "Zodiac" and stating "Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE". That is a coincidence too far - and with little doubt - the newspaper article and the advertisement were connected in some way.  

One of the most common crimes in America is mortgage fraud, so the reference to partner William Armstrong having been transferred to fraud detail in the newspaper article, could very well be the inspiration behind the advertisement from Zodiac, stating "Your partner is in deep real estate".  

But was this the only time the Zodiac Killer targeted the detective duo of David Toschi and William Armstrong via the newspapers or through a personal advertisement? We know that the emphasis of the Zodiac Killer switched from killing people to bomb threats in the latter part of 1969 and throughout 1970. Whether or not he reappeared in 1974 is open to debate, but he certainly would have been aware of his so-called return, even if he wasn't the responsible. The last letter in 1974 credited to the Zodiac Killer in the newspapers, was the Red Phantom letter postmarked July 8th 1974. So, what are the chances that the Zodiac Killer would mail another letter in the August of 1974, indicating his intention of bombing certain locations in San Francisco, getting David Toschi and William Armstrong to "run all over town", including map directions and requesting that an advertisement be placed in the personal column of two newspapers, just like the advertisement above?  

On or shortly before August 16th 1974, an unaddressed letter found in a U.S. Post Office opened with the cordial greeting "Good morning gentlemen and politicians", but carried the ominous message that he had placed explosives in "hard to find places" all over San Francisco. The letter stated he was an educated older man who had fell on hard times, losing his money to unscrupulous businessmen and politicians, but was now going to exact revenge by blowing up various buildings in San Francisco. He had placed 350 pounds of plastic explosives and 13 cases of dynamite around San Francisco and demanded that advertisements be placed in the personal columns of the San Francisco Examiner and Oakland Tribune newspapers indicating that $350,000 be paid to him.

The author included a map and location of a payphone, insisting that "two policemen", whose names are specifically set forth in his letter were to make the pay off. The San Francisco Police Intelligence Unit complied with his wishes, however, no further contact was made by the subject and the matter was closed. Bearing in mind the revitalized interest in the Zodiac Killer in the months preceding this communication, and the relentless pursuit of the killer by David Toschi and his partner, William Armstrong, one couldn't help thinking that the two policemen named to "run around town" with a suitcase of money, may have been Toschi and Armstrong. They were two high profile "policemen" who would certainly have been known by name. I couldn't imagine the author of the letter choosing two ordinary "beat coppers" to run around after him. Not withstanding the fact, that both David Toschi and William Armstrong may have been referenced in another 'personal column advertisement' just two years later, with the pseudonym "Zodiac" front and center of that message.  

The following newspaper article from August 27th 1976 is courtesy of Cragle, a regular contributor to both Zodiac forums.

A pasted card, mimicking the 13 Hole Postcard was mailed to the home address of Dr. Edward C. Adams at 102 Camino Don Miguel, Orinda, California, postmarked October 17th 1970 from Berkeley. Edward C. Adams was a psychiatrist. The card read

"Mon Oct 12, 1970. Edward Adams. The Zodiac is going to change the way of committing murders. I shall announce when I shall commit my murders, The Adamses are Next. you taught me to mean it. ADAMS YOU ARE NEXT. Zodiac".

The Gladman Hospital where Richard H. Adler worked is today listed as a Psychiatric Health Facility in Oakland. Telecare was founded by psychiatrist, Art Gladman in 1965. The Gladman Hospital was a traditional psychiatric hospital back in 1976,  extremely interesting and noteworthy, bearing in mind the FBI file concerning the Edward C. Adams Letter (shown below), which indicates Dr. Adams informed Inspector David Toschi of his belief that the threatening letter he received was sent by a former psychiatric patient who resided in Berkeley. The city of Berkeley lies on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, adjacent to Oakland.

"Edward C. Adams spent most of his life in the Bay Area where he attended the University of California Berkeley for his undergraduate work and Stanford University for his medical degree. His residency in psychiatry was received at the Menninger Clinic, Topeka, KS. During the Korean War he was an instructor in the Medical Field Service at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX. After retiring from an active practice in Psychiatry he devoted his energies to travel, fly fishing, the study of poetry and the enjoyment of his family and many friends. During the time spent at his Carmel home he volunteered as a docent at the Robinson Jeffers Foundation. He was a member of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society and an active supporter of many environmental groups".  SFGATE.COM.

The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis was organized in 2007, combining the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society, founded in 1941, with the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis, founded in 1991. The Center provides an extensive training program in psychoanalysis. The Center also sponsors a large, vibrant Extension Division which offers classes and seminars to mental health professionals as well as to the general public. The San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society and Institute is a facility for psychoanalytic research, training, and education located on 2420 Sutter Street in San Francisco, California. It is situated in Lower Pacific Heights, approximately one mile from the intersection of Washington and Cherry.

It can be seen on the map below that Gladman Hospital (Mental Health Rehab) is only 6.5 miles from Orinda, 6.3 miles from Berkeley and 12 miles from 2420 Sutter Street. In summary, we have two communications sent six years apart, containing the phrases "You are next" and "You're next", both likely to psychiatrists, who lived and worked in close proximity to one another, and who both were addressed by the name "Zodiac" in the message. And one had the initials R.A. 

Edward C. Adams and Richard H. Alder may have crossed paths in their profession of psychiatry, either at the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis or their places of work, and the personal ad stating "Your partner is in deep real estate" may have been referencing Edward C. Adams as a man in deep trouble, using the word partner as "business partner", or in a more loose term, as a "partner in the same profession". Bearing in mind the almost identical threat six years earlier to somebody in the same profession, this seems a distinct possibility.

In a previous article we showed with a high degree of probability that the 13 Hole Postcard mailed on October 5th 1970 was connected to the as yet unpublished Little List Letter through its wording, and therefore both were authored by the Zodiac Killer. Most people accept that the Little List Letter is authenticated Zodiac correspondence, so by extension, if the October 17th 1970 Edward C. Adams Letter and "Deep Real Estate" Letter were authored by the same person, and we can connect the two pasted letters in October 1970, then we can verify Zodiac was responsible for all. This would mean that Edward C. Adams suspicions that the letter mailed to his home address in Orinda by a former psychiatric patient who resided in Berkeley, could have been the Zodiac Killer.        

On the flip side, Richard H. Adler may have been addressing Zodiac, or somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer.