The Exorcist letter bore the postmark 'U.S. Postal Service CA 940 AM 29 Jan', listed in the FBI files as documents Qc62 and Qc63 with a lab number of D-740208094. The following month, in the February of 1974, the SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. This letter has been ascribed the date of February 14th 1974 on all major websites - and because it followed the Exorcist letter - it is listed in the FBI files as documents Qc64 and Qc65 (envelope and letter) with a lab number of D-740304063. The SLA letter stated "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLA spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend." 

In the FBI file below, it states "Enclosed for the Bureau is one photocopy and one xerox copy of letter and envelope received 2/26/74 from Inspector (redacted) Homicide Detail, San Francisco Police Department. Enclosed for Sacramento is one xerox copy of same letter. For the information of the Bureau, on 2/20/74, Inspector (redacted) advised that on 2/14/74 the enclosed letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle and (redacted), reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle brought the letter to (redacted) as a possible Zodiac letter. (Redacted) thereafter turned the letter over to (redacted) questioned document examiner, United States Postal Office, San Francisco. Mr (redacted) has advised (redacted) that he feels the letter is a Zodiac letter".

I don't believe this letter is from the Zodiac Killer - it was likely mailed by the Symbionese Liberation Army, somebody affillliated with them, or a sympathizer or friend. What the above document doesn't tell you, is when the SLA letter was mailed or postmarked. The above document read "that on 2/14/74 the enclosed letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle." Received is not mailed. If we travel a little further in the FBI files we can find more information on the SLA letter and envelope, listed under Qc64 and Qc65, as circled in red on the above document.

The FBI files state on more than one occasion:
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the....."     

It is believed that the Zodiac Killer by mailing the SLA letter, was piggybacking the media exposure regarding the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst, granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. "On February 4, 1974, 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley, California, apartment. She was beaten and lost consciousness during the abduction. Shots were fired from a machine gun during the incident. An urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) claimed responsibility for the abduction". Wikipedia.
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According to the FBI files above, the SLA letter was mailed on or before February 3rd 1974 (postmarked 3 FEB 1974).
Therefore, it was likely mailed one day before the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping of Patty Hearst. This means one of four things:
[1] The Zodiac Killer was a member of the SLA. and was involved in the kidnapping plot. 
[2] The Zodiac Killer didn't belong to the SLA, but somehow knew of their plans to kidnap Patty Hearst.​
[3] The Zodiac Killer just got extremely lucky, writing "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLA spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend", then mailing the letter on February 3rd 1974, just one day before Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army​. In other words, it was sheer coincidence. Or,
[4] The letter was written by the Symbionese Liberation Army and had nothing to do with Zodiac.

If this letter was mailed on February 3rd 1974, the day before the kidnapping, then it is highly likely it was mailed by the American left-wing militant organization ​themselves. Coming just five days after the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter, in which Kevin Robert Brooks may have decoded the Asian characters to spell "To Kill", it is yet another amazing coincidence that the author of the SLA letter would highlight the word "Kill".   

The emphasis on the word "Kill" at the foot of both letters, within days of one another, had led me to believe they are connected. However, this is not the case. The Exorcist letter can be shown to be a genuine Zodiac correspondence, with the SLA letter having nothing to do with the Zodiac Killer.   

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​SLA LETTER NOT ZODIAC - AND HERE IS THE FBI FILE TO PROVE IT

The Exorcist letter has recently come under the spotlight regarding its authenticity as a Zodiac communication, but regardless, we will examine it in context to previous correspondence from the Bay Area murderer and hopefully show that the entire letter is designed around the Gilbert & Sullivan comedic opera 'The Mikado', in particular Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. The Zodiac Killer had now seemingly dropped his long-held pseudonym after a three year hiatus and had reemerged, vowing to continue his campaign of murder under a new guise.    

The Zodiac Killer had previously used two musical numbers from The Mikado when he mailed the Little List letter on July 26th 1970. The first was 'A More Humane Mikado', followed by 'As Some Day It May Happen', featuring Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner.​ This was noted in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 12th 1970, just 15 days prior to the mailing of the 'Halloween' card: "It was immediately apparent that Zodiac had plagiarized several stanzas from an aria in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta 'The Mikado'. It is the entrance aria of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. A quiet search of onetime Ko-Ko's has turned up none that could be Zodiac. Obvious differences in physical description and handwriting comparisons have cleared all Ko-Ko's tracked down since the arrival of the July 27 letters."

The text on the Exorcist letter is split into three sections: [1] The introduction referring to the recently released Exorcist movie, and featured in a newspaper article by reporter Paul Avery, [2] The latest Zodiac pseudonym disguised under the heading of 'Yours truley', and [3] The customary threat promising more victims if his "note" is not published.

There is little doubt that the Zodiac Killer (now Lord High Executioner) is describing the William Friedkin movie 'The Exorcist' in terms of 'The Mikado'. The Gilbert & Sullivan play is often described as a comedic opera of political satire, so the author choosing the words "I saw and think "The Exorcist" was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen" is certainly not by accident. However, it is the introduction of "I saw and think" that may carry more meaning than initially thought.
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'As Some Day It May Happen' featured heavily in the July 26th 1970 letter. It was spoken by Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, with the word "think" appearing four times during this act, including the introduction :
[1] "Gentlemen, I'm much touched by this reception. I can only trust that by strict attention to duty I shall ensure a continuance of those favours which it will ever be my study to deserve. If I should ever be called upon to act professionally, I am happy to think that there will be no difficulty in finding plenty of people whose loss will be a distinct gain to society at large". [2] and [3] "And who doesn't think she dances, but would rather like to try; And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist — I don't think she'd be missed — I'm sure she'd not be missed". 
[4] "He's got her on the list — he's got her on the list; And I don't think she'll be missed — I'm sure she'll not be missed".

Was the Zodiac Killer reprising his performance of the Little List letter and using the introduction of "I saw and think" under the guise of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner?  This argument may be bolstered, when he immediately follows this up by signing his new pseudonym in the form of another Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner verse from 'On A Tree By A River' featuring tit-willow. The author is simply saying "Signed, yours truley: The Lord High Executioner." 

The third section of text on the 'Exorcist' letter is uncannily similar to the first letters mailed by the Zodiac Killer on July 31st 1969. The 'Exorcist' letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, so we will take a look at the July 31st 1969 letter mailed to the same paper. This is what the killer signed off with: "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend." It begins with a demand to print his material in the paper, and finishes with the threat "to kill" again if his instructions are not followed, exactly like the Exorcist letter. 

The 'Exorcist' letter symbols were decoded by Kevin Robert Brooks to spell the words "To Kill", which although not proven, makes perfect sense with respect to the July 31st 1969 letters, and in keeping with the Lord High Executioner's list of people who will not be missed. The Mikado style symbolism at the foot of the Exorcist letter threatening "To Kill" again, lending credence to the notion the Zodiac Killer is now operating under the pseudonym of a Japanese High Executioner. 

The answer that has always eluded people - is did the Zodiac Killer begin his murders and letter writing in Riverside, before resuming his campaign of terror in the Bay Area? The Zodiac Killer communications began on July 31st 1969, and presumably ceased with the last confirmed correspondence on January 29th 1974. We have shown the similarity of threats exhibited by the Exorcist letter and the trinity of July 31st 1969 letters, regarding his promise "to kill" if his cipher or "Tit-willow" communications were not published. The 408 cipher was split into three parts (similar to the Exorcist letter) containing 8 lines of text, thereby 24 lines in total. The verse Tit-willow was split identically to the 408 cipher, three verses of 8 lines. The three Bates letters were mailed to Joseph Bates, the Riverside Press Enterprise and Riverside Police, and once again contained double postage like much of the Zodiac correspondence, with each containing just 8 words: "Bates/She had to die there will be more".   

The Mikado influence is present in all three sections of the Exorcist letter (including the Asian style characters) in a reinvention of the July 26th 1970 Little List letter. Was the Exorcist letter a hoaxer operating under the guise of the Zodiac Killer, plagiarizing the Gilbert & Sullivan opera once again and convincing us the threat was still alive in the Bay Area after nearly five years, or was the executioner at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 biding his time, before extinguishing the Zodiac Killer once and for all?

Paul Avery, a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, covered many of the Zodiac stories during his reign of terror and became the focus of the murderer's attention when the Zodiac Killer mailed the Halloween card to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper on October 27th 1970. The murderer responded to an article published on November 16th 1970 by Paul Avery, linking him to the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966. This would be followed nearly three years later, when the Exorcist letter was mailed on January 29th 1974, closely followed by the SLA letter on February 3rd 1974, mailed the day before the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping of  Patty Hearst, a media heiress, on February 4th 1974. "Paul Avery covered the Hearst case until the newspaper heiress-turned-bank robber was arrested in September 1975. Avery then holed up on his houseboat at Gate 5 in Sausalito with Boston writer Vin McLellan to write The Voices of Guns, a book on the SLA and the Hearst kidnapping." Wikipedia.

The Exorcist letter has recently courted new attention with the publication of Mike Rodelli's new book 'The Hunt for Zodiac: The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer', pouring some doubt on the authenticity of this communication. This letter, once again, appeared another response to a Paul Avery newspaper article, featuring the recently released Exorcist movie - an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The San Francisco Chronicle article entitled Weird Goings on at the Movies, was published on January 11th 1974 and detailed the audience reaction to what they had just experienced. The opening lines of the article are extremely interesting when we consider the opening lines of the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter, only 18 days later.     

The article began "If these crowds queuing up three times a night for "The Exorcist" prove anything, it's that a lot of people are willing to go to a lot of trouble to get their wits scared out of them. Since the day after Christmas, some 60,000 persons have endured a harsh winter's elements standing in lines - sometimes for as long as two hours - to see the see the current cinema rage playing at the Northpoint Theater near Fisherman's Wharf. It is an experience that produces reactions ranging from vomiting to fainting, to one apparently jaded patron's demand for his money back because it was about as scary as Snow White". 

The author of the 'Exorcist' letter apparently concurred with this disgruntled patron, beginning the letter with "I saw + think "The Exorcist" was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen". The author also made sure to place "The Exorcist" in quotation marks, just like the article. If this letter was the Zodiac Killer, he would go on to use quotation marks around words in his following two correspondences - something he had never previously done in his communications from 1969 to 1971. 

It could be argued that the middle section of the Exorcist letter is signed yours truley 'Ko-Ko Lord High Executioner' by means of Tit-Willow from The Mikado's On a tree by a river. The same can be said of the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, which also featured Ko-Ko in A more humane Mikado.

Then we travel to the most interesting part of the Exorcist letter at the bottom of the correspondence, and its comparison to the first letters mailed by the Zodiac Killer on July 31st 1969. The Exorcist letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, so we will take a look at the July 31st 1969 letter mailed to the same paper. This is what the killer signed off with: "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend." It begins with a demand to print his material in the paper and finishes with the threat "to kill" again if his instructions are not followed.       

The foot of the Exorcist letter begins with a demand to put this note in the paper and finishes with a threat you know he is capable of. We know what the killer was capable of - it is "to kill" - as he threatened at the foot of the July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter if his demands to print the cipher were not met. Even the decoded cipher rammed home the message "To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience". Therefore, by logical deduction, the strange characters at the foot of the Exorcist letter should read "To Kill". Thanks to the great work of Zodiac researcher Kevin Robert Brooks, this is exactly what he showed. Even more importantly, the beginning of each word began with an upper case letter, just like "The Exorcist" - forming the words "To Kill" with significant emphasis on the 'K' of "Kill".

This emphasis would be carried forward into the SLA letter, mailed on February 3rd 1974, where he used quotation marks to highlight the word "kill" once more. The murderer now appeared to have slayed his demons, signing off the letter with "a friend" - albeit, a friend you wouldn't invite home for tea and scones with grandma.

His reformation now appeared complete in the May 8th 1974 Citizen letter, remonstrating against the publication of advertisements for the "Badlands" movie starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, based upon the real life events of spree killers Charles Raymond Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate.
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His final consternation would be reserved for Marc H Spinelli in the July 8th 1974 Red Phantom letter, calling for the cancellation of his Count Marco column. The murderer now seemingly devoid of the Zodiac persona after exorcising his demons subsequent to January 29th 1974, along with his inability to spell.

Had the Zodiac Killer returned after an absence of nearly three years, or was the return of the Bay Area murderer a demon that had to be resurrected for the sake of publicity in an ever dwindling case?

Zodiac researcher Mike Rodelli recalled a conversation with Alan Keel, Criminalist at the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco, California from 1996 to 1999. He stated "In contrast (to earlier communications), Keel analyzes two other letters, one of which is the 1978 forgery, and finds that this letter and one of the 1974 letters are loaded with saliva and cells. He then easily extracts DNA from both of these letters using the more primitive DNA technology of that time and finds that the DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both".

For these two communications to be matched definitively using DNA, "proving that one person sent both", they must have revealed full DNA profiles - because a partial DNA profile in one could not have proved conclusive. The DNA tests conducted by the San Francisco Police Department in the late 1990s. indicated that subsequent to 1974 only the January 29th 1974 'Exorcist' letter had been processed and "cells found". There was no mention of the other 1974 letters being processed. Therefore, one could conclude that the two letters discovered to match one another (according to Keel), were the 1974 'Exorcist' letter and the April 24th 1978 letter - and therefore written by the same individual.

The 1978 letter is listed in the report as "not authentic Zodiac letter". If the San Francisco Police Department concluded the 1978 letter was not an authentic Zodiac letter, then the 'Exorcist' letter would not be either. This brings forth some interesting questions.    

Michael Butterfield wrote an article entitled 'Zodiac DNA:The Magic Bullet' on his 'Zodiac Killer Facts' website, stating
"In the late 1990s, San Francisco police obtained DNA from a suspected Zodiac letter, and the DNA did not match Allen’s DNA".. The San Francisco Police Department surely wouldn't have used the DNA obtained from the April 24th 1978 letter for comparison, as they themselves had deemed it "not authentic Zodiac correspondence" and it had long been considered questionable material. Therefore, they must have obtained this DNA from another letter they "suspected" was a Zodiac letter, to compare to known suspects. But if the 'Exorcist' letter (as Mike Rodelli suspects) and the 1978 letter matched in DNA - were written by the same individual - and so by association were considered "not authentic Zodiac correspondence", then which "suspected Zodiac letter" did the San Francisco Police Department use to compare to Allen's DNA. 

In the San Francisco Police Department report the only letters in which they stated "cells found", other than the 'Exorcist' letter, were the July 24th 1970 'Kathleen Johns' letter and July 26th 1970 'Little List' letter. Every correspondence tested prior to July 24th 1970 were labelled 'Envelope processed for DNA - few cells'. The 'Exorcist' letter came under scrutiny, alongside the 1978 letter, when Inspector David Toschi fell under the microscope in 1978 for forging one or both. So, would it be likely the 'Exorcist' or 1978 letter would be chosen by the San Francisco Police Department in the 1990s as a "suspected Zodiac letter" (and for the reasons given above), and used to rule out Arthur Leigh Allen's DNA? They surely would have turned to more credible sources. But they only had two other letters where "cells were found".

In 2002, Dr. Cydne Holt performed a new round of tests on some of the early 1969 Zodiac letters. Having failed to find suitable DNA on these letters (as suggested by the "few cells" findings of the 1990s), it has now come to light that the ABC Primetime documentary scoured the outside of the envelopes and stamps for DNA instead, thereby negating any findings as to the identity of the Zodiac Killer.

But why were they searching for Zodiac DNA, to compare to suspects such as Arthur Leigh Allen and Kjell Qvale, when "in the late 1990s, San Francisco police obtained DNA from a suspected Zodiac letter, and the DNA did not match Allen’s DNA". The new round of tests performed in 2002 would now suggest that the DNA they found in the 1990s from a "suspected Zodiac letter" was no longer believed to be from Zodiac. 

In 2018 "Vallejo police Detective Terry Poyser, who has worked the Zodiac case for four years, said his agency has submitted two envelopes that contained letters from the Zodiac Killer for a type of advanced DNA analysis that previously had not been available in the case. The department has three letters and two envelopes from the Zodiac, Poyser said. The envelopes each have a double stamp, which Poyser said was a trademark of the Zodiac. They originally were sent to the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner, he said. The third letter was sent to the Vallejo Times-Herald, but does not have an envelope with it, he said". Sacramento Bee.

However, these are the July 31st 1969 envelopes and stamps already tested by Dr. Cydne Holt in 2002, which failed to produce any viable results. The hope is that more advanced DNA analysis may turn up something new. But what about the "suspected Zodiac letter" from the 1990s with "cells found". Couldn't this be examined using advanced DNA analysis? This letter has apparently already produced a DNA profile to rule out Allen, so why is it being ignored - or is it?

In a poll of 93 people conducted on this site, 85% believe the 'Exorcist' letter to be genuine Zodiac correspondence, whereas in a poll of 94 people conducted on this site, only 54% believe the 1978 letter to be genuine Zodiac correspondence. If Mike Rodelli's suspicions are true, then both the 'Exorcist' and 1978  letter are "not authentic Zodiac correspondence". If the San Francisco Police Department have long considered these two communications as not credible, then which "suspected Zodiac letter" was used to rule out Arthur Leigh Allen in the 1990s - and can it be used again for advanced DNA analysis?

We have long been led to believe the 'Exorcist' letter was the last confirmed communication by the Zodiac Killer. If the poll on this site were true of the entire Zodiac community, then 85% of people believe the 'Exorcist' letter to be genuine Zodiac correspondence. If the other 1974 letters were not tested or found to contain DNA (as the SFPD report suggests), then it is extremely likely a full DNA profile exists for the 'Exorcist' letter (shown at the top of this article).

For those who believe the January 29th 1974 'Exorcist' letter to be an authentic mailing from the Zodiac Killer with a full DNA profile, you should be asking "why hasn't this been run through GEDmatch".

I have just finished reading 'The Hunt for Zodiac: The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer' by Zodiac researcher Mike Rodelli. While I don't agree with everything in the book, it is an extremely well researched and informative addition to the Zodiac Killer story, even if you don't arrive at the same conclusions on the murderer's identity. For beginners and seasoned veterans alike, it will not disappoint as a comprehensive introduction to the case, as well as a complimentary addition to any existing knowledge you may already have. While fresh in my mind, I would like to explore one important feature of the book, regarding the topic of DNA, which is currently hanging over the case like a dose of skeptical optimism.. 

Mike tackles this problem in extensive detail, particularly with regards to the viability of the DNA tests conducted by Dr. Cydne Holt in the 2002 ABC Primetime documentary, in addition to his discussions with Alan Keel, Criminalist at the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco, California from 1996 to 1999.

The disputed results of the 2002 'showpiece' are now well documented, however, Mike delves further into the DNA analysis with respect to two later 'Zodiac' letters, namely the 1974 'Exorcist' letter and the subsequent 1978 'I Am Back With You' letter, both mailed after a lengthy silence from the Zodiac Killer - leading some to question their authenticity. 

Mike recalls information of his conversation with Alan Keel: "In contrast (to earlier communications), Keel analyzes two other letters, one of which is the 1978 forgery, and finds that this letter and one of the 1974 letters are loaded with saliva and cells. He then easily extracts DNA from both of these letters using the more primitive DNA technology of that time and finds that the DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both." 

This is a stunning revelation (if correct) when we consider the findings of the San Francisco Police Department laboratory in the 1990s, in which there was a notable absence of saliva/DNA present on the envelopes prior to the 1974 'Exorcist' letter. Would a killer who seemingly didn't lick any of his envelopes or stamps throughout the majority of his letter-writing campaign, now suddenly break that habit in the 1974 and 1978 communications? The SFPD report, shown here, references the April 24th 1978 letter, claiming that the "DNA SAMPLE OBTAINED - NOT AUTHENTIC ZODIAC LETTER".   

This lack of saliva or DNA on the earlier letters may have become more evident, as Dr..Cydne Holt struggled to generate any tangible results from the sealed sections of stamps and envelopes using more advanced forensic DNA testing in 2002, compared to the earlier and more primitive testing undertaken in the 1990s. This apparent dichotomy brings into stark reality the essence of Mike Rodelli's argument.     

The bold statement of "DNA  sample obtained- not authentic Zodiac letter" opens up the proverbial can of worms. On first reading, it gives the impression that they have something to compare it to. How would they know the DNA sample obtained from the 1978 letter was not from Zodiac, if they didn't have Zodiac's DNA? If they had Zodiac's DNA in the 1990s, this wasn't the impression given by the search for Zodiac DNA in the 2002 ABC Primetime documentary.

"DNA  sample obtained- not authentic Zodiac letter" could imply they know the sex of the DNA present on the 1978 letter, and therefore by extension, not the Zodiac Killer (as suggested on many forums). But, it could imply they know the identity of the individual who contributed the DNA to the 1978 letter, and having identified that individual, know they were not the Zodiac Killer. This lack of clarity has led Zodiac researchers to question the transparency of the San Francisco Police Department.     

We know that a partial DNA profile from a letter can exclude suspects, but not definitively identify an individual. Therefore, the apparent (but unconfirmed) revelation of Alan Keel that "DNA matches between" one of the 1974 letters (possibly the 'Exorcist' letter) and 1978 'I Am Back With You' letter, would suggest that full DNA profiles have been obtained for both letters.
​If only a partial DNA profile had been obtained from the 1978 letter (much like the exclusion of suspects) it can only be excluded as matching a profile from the 'Exorcist' letter (if this had a full DNA profile), but not definitively matched to it.
As such, the statement of "DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both", would be indicative of a full DNA profile obtained from both the 1974 and 1978 letters in the 1990s.. 

For those who believe the 'Exorcist' letter to be genuine Zodiac correspondence, then this could imply that a full DNA profile may exist for this letter (or one of the 'lesser' 1974 letters), and consequently the profile of the Zodiac Killer. However, the search for Zodiac's DNA in 2002 negates this premise - unless the San Francisco Police Department knew all along that both the 'Exorcist'/74 letter and 1978 letter were not mailed by the Zodiac Killer. In fact, the Exorcist and April 24th 1978 letters were the only two communications mentioned with regards to the controversy surrounding Inspector David Toschi, who led the investigation for many years. He came under suspicion for forging the 1978 letter, after the San Francisco Chronicle columnist and author, Armistead Maupin, discovered that David Toschi had mailed fictitious fan mail to a series he had written, with the inclusion of the detective.  ​

​Armistead Maupin had first met David Toschi in 1976 while he was writing the 'Tales of the City' series. Wanting to energize the series with a murder mystery element, he contacted San Francisco Chronicle reporter Bob Popp, who then introduced him to David Toschi. The police inspector would make a debut appearance in 'Tales of the City' on September 10th that year, with a character based on his attributes. Further episodes would follow under his real name, as a friend and confidant to Armistead Maupin's fictitious Detective Inspector Henry Tandy. 

Here is an excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle, published on July 14th 1978 "Police officials are investigating the possibility that Inspector David Toschi forged a Zodiac letter in The Chronicle in 1974 as well as a similar letter the newspaper received earlier this year. Toschi - who said he was interrogated officially last Friday about both letters - has denied writing any letters in the guise of Zodiac, the killer of six who eluded capture by Toschi for nearly nine years before the detective was transferred out of the homicide detail last week. Deputy Clement DeAmicis, who had recommended the transfer to Chief Charles Gain, confirmed yesterday the probe was being extended".  

The fact that Inspector David Toschi was questioned regarding these two communications, only heightens the mystery surrounding Alan Keel's statement of "the DNA matches between those two letters, thus proving that one person sent both" and the San Francisco Police Department's report concerning the 1978 letter, in which it noted that a "DNA  sample was obtained, but indicated it was not an authentic Zodiac letter".

We don't know for certain that Alan Keel is referring to the 'Exorcist' letter when he stated "one of which is the 1978 forgery, and finds that this letter and one of the 1974 letters are loaded with saliva and cells".  However, since the 'Exorcist' letter for the large part has been widely regarded as the last confirmed correspondence mailed by the Zodiac Killer, as opposed to the other 1974 communications,  it would be the logical correspondence to test for Zodiac Killer DNA  when searching for the Bay Area murderer. Testing the other much more questionable 1974 mailings would not make as much sense - which is probably why the San Francisco Police Department report is blank or omitted next to these communications. 

The 'go to' mailing, when testing for Zodiac DNA from the 1974 letters, would undoubtedly be the 'Exorcist' letter rather than its dubious companions. So, if this was the case and the statement of Alan Keel were true, then the 'Exorcist' mailing would not be an authentic Zodiac correspondence - and as a result - would quite possibly shrink the Zodiac reign by nearly three years.  

The Zodiac Killer quoted a portion from one of the three stanzas of The Mikado's Tit-Willow, when he mailed the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. This may possibly have been the third correspondence, including the Halloween card, where The Mikado was referenced. The Zodiac Killer began with the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, in which he paraphrased As Some Day It May Happen featuring Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. In this letter he was effectively outlining his search for future victims by paralleling his agenda throughout the state of California with The Mikado. If we break down the Exorcist letter into its constituent parts, it becomes apparent the correspondence is a further threat towards the citizens of California rather than a declaration of his impending suicide.

If we take a look at the October 27th 1970 Halloween card and compare it to his confirmed attacks, only one stands out. On September 27th 1969, Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell were relaxing by the shores of Lake Berryessa when a man spotted by Cecelia ducked behind a tree to don an executioner's mask and waistline bib. This theatrical entrance in the form of Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner has long been suggested as an influence on the Zodiac's actions and writings. Here is an extract from the San Francisco Chronicle on October 12th 1970, just 15 days prior to the mailing of the Halloween card: "It was immediately apparent that Zodiac had plagiarized several stanzas from an aria in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta 'The Mikado'. It is the entrance aria of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. A quiet search of onetime Ko-Ko's has turned up none that could be Zodiac. Obvious differences in physical description and handwriting comparisons have cleared all Ko-Ko's tracked down since the arrival of the July 27 letters".

The Halloween card depicted an eye peering from the knothole of a tree, accompanied by the words "peek-a-boo you are doomed", possibly implying the impending threat of the Zodiac Killer hiding behind the tree at Lake Berryessa and his ultimate arrival bedecked in an executioner's outfit. If you look up the definition of peek-a-boo in Wikipedia, it quotes Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) as a form of play primarily played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says Peekaboo!, sometimes followed by I see you!  There are many variations: for example, where trees are involved, "Hiding behind that tree!" is sometimes added.

However, Peek-A-Boo was also a character in another version of The Mikado at around the same time as the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. In 1888, Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel district of London. In the same year of somewhat less significance Ed J. Smith wrote a stage parody called The Capitalist; or, The City of Fort Worth. Designed to encourage capital investment in Fort Worth, Texas, and underwritten by local banks and railroad lines, the two act piece features characters named Yankee-Doo, Kokonut, By-Gum and Peek-A-Boo. Here is an image depicting this reference.     

Peep-bo is the English version of peek-a-boo, and has a curious, albeit likely unintentional connection to the Lake Berryessa murder of Cecelia Shepard, in the nursery rhyme Little Bo-Peep.

​"The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called "bo-peep", from the 16th century, including one in Shakespeare's King Lear (Act I Scene iv), for which "bo-peep" is thought to refer to the children's game of peek-a-boo, but no evidence that the rhyme existed earlier than the 18th century. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed version in a version of Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus in 1810. Wikipedia.

Peep-bo was one of the three little maids from The Mikado: "Three little maids from school are we, pert as a school-girl well can be, filled to the brim with girlish glee, three little maids from school". Three young girls from Pacific Union College would feature in the Zodiac story of Lake Berryessa that day, when describing a suspicious individual roaming the hillside bordering the lake - later providing a sketch of the individual. Little Bo-Peep was a shepherdess, so its significance to the name of Cecelia Shepard could not be ignored, although likely accidental. "She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye, and over the hillocks went rambling, and tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, to tack each again to its lambkin".

The Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 and the subsequent Confession letter held an odd precursor to the events of Lake Berryessa, when it stated "Miss Bates was stupid. She went to the slaughter like a lamb", along with the widely referenced "She squirmed and shook as I choked her, and her lips twitched" connection to the Little List letter.  

​The Zodiac Killer, after mailing his response to the unearthed Riverside connection, would then go into hibernation from March 13th 1971 until the arrival of the Exorcist letter nearly three years later on January 29th 1974, leading many to believe the Zodiac Killer was likely incarcerated during this period. 

"Taken from the county jail
By a set of curious chances;
Liberated then on bail,
On my own recognizances;
Wafted by a favouring gale
As one sometimes is in trances,
To a height that few can scale." 
Behold the Lord High Executioner Youtube
The Mikado/Act I/Part V

The Lord High Executioner was to return, ridiculin the 1973 film, The Exorcist, yet curiously comparing it to Gilbert and Sullivan's satirical operatic comedy, The Mikado, calling it "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen".  He then signed his name using the verse of Tit-Willow by Ko-Ko: "He plunged himself into the billowy wave and an echo arose from the suicides grave, titwillo, titwillo, titwillo". The whole letter appeared to be announcing the return of the Lord High Executioner after nearly three years. Here is the Exorcist letter broken down into its constituent parts to reveal its likely meaning.

"I saw and think "The Exorcist" was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen, even better than The Mikado. Signed, yours truley: The Lord High Executioner. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing- To Kill". Kevin Robert Brooks came up with possibly the best interpretation of the Japanese/Asian symbols at the foot of the letter, befitting of Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. The "This is the Zodiac speaking" introduction was apparent by its absence, as well as the Zodiac crosshairs - but the Lord High Executioner was alive and well, and still making threats.  

The 'Exorcist' letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 - to some a form of epitaph to his impending death by suicide. The final paragraph however warned "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing," seemingly contradictory to this notion. The letter opened in mocking fashion, describing the recently released Exorcist film as "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen". Was he constructively criticizing the film, or had its content of exorcism hit closer to home from the point of homosexuality. On October 18th 1969 Paul Avery ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle describing the Zodiac Killer as a 'latent homosexual'. Under the banner Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer  he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual". This was covered extensively in two articles, Skeleton in the Closet and What a Drag, but we shall explore this possibility further in respect the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine.

This was the late 1960s, a time when the gay community suffered unspeakable prejudice from the police, authorities and a seeping religious intolerance. Christian fundamentalists, cloaked in toxic reverence of themselves, believed incorrectly by summoning the will of God upon the person with homosexual feelings, that the devil could be driven out of their body and thus cleanse their soul. It therefore wouldn't be a great leap of faith to believe that the Zodiac Killer had utter contempt for this form of religious piety and the practice of exorcism, hence the description of The Exorcist movie as the "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen". ​This contempt for the police and newspapers may have been well founded, as arrested gay individuals had their names and addresses routinely published in the newspapers as a form of public shaming.​ 

The Zodiac Killer would reference the film Badlands on May 8th 1974 and the Red Phantom movie (also known as El Espectro Rojo) on July 8th 1974, which had a showing at the Lyric Theater in Mill Valley at the end of April. The Zodiac Killer certainly appeared to have a penchant for the theatrical, with his references to The Mikado in his correspondence, and his 'grand curtain call' at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. However, did this extravagance for attention spill out into his personal life. Did these 'attractions' for Zodiac have any bearing on his movements in the hours prior the murder of Paul Stine. 

Taking meter readings from the taxicab at the crime scene and information acquired by Robert Graysmith and Officer Harvey Hines, it was believed the Zodiac entered the taxicab of Paul Stine outside the Westin St Francis Hotel in Union Square. But where had he been in the hours preceding this fateful journey? The 'Exorcist' letter was without doubt a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article entitled Weird Goings on at the Movies, authored by Paul Avery and published on January 11th 1974 detailing the audience reaction to the recently released Exorcist movie in 1973. The news report was from the Northpoint Theatre, located at 2290 Powell Street, San Francisco. The theater was located 3.4 miles from Washington and Cherry Streets, the intersection where Paul Stine was murdered and only 1.3 miles from Union Square where the taxicab driver picked up Zodiac.

The Exorcist movie opened its 26 week stint at the Northpoint Theatre on December 26th 1973 and had performances throughout the day. A typical schedule was 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm for films two hours or longer. The area where Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer was the bustling theater district in San Francisco, so his perceived  leanings to the theatrical in his communications may have played a part in his choice of pick-up point. Had he just exited from an early evening performance? The arrival of the taxicab at the intersection of Washington and Cherry at 9:55 pm indicated a departure time of approximately 9:40 pm from Union Square, conducive to his exit from a nearby theater. The Westin St. Francis Hotel may also have been familiar. Union Square borders the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, which combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner. Jose Sarria, a high profile San Francisco drag performer and gay activist was arrested at the Westin St Francis public restrooms for solicitation - a location known to be frequented by homosexuals.

Had the Zodiac Killer been somewhere else that evening, rather than a stage performance. Could he have been viewing a movie at the Northpoint Theatre. A two hour film beginning at 7:00 pm and finishing at 9:00 pm would leave a 25 to 30 minute walk back to Union Square, possibly with a quick takeaway, to enable the Zodiac Killer to enter Paul Stine's taxicab circa 9:40 pm. But what was playing at the Northpoint Theatre on October 11th 1969?

Midnight Cowboy ran from the 16th July 1969 to 17th December 1969. The film, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first gay-related Best Picture winner. In addition, it was the only X-rated film ever to win Best Picture. Ironically, the film that preceded Midnight Cowboy was The Great Bank Robbery with writer William Blatty accredited for screenplay. 
Here is a very relevant clip from Midnight Cowboy where Dustin Hoffman has an altercation with a Yellow taxicab driver. The taxicab incident in Midnight Cowboy was apparently not scripted in the film - but likely Zodiac's impending murder of Paul Stine was conceived beforehand - a predetermined reel of murder for which there was only one end.

The following will not propose a solution to the 13-Symbol cipher because the limited characters in the code make that simply impossible without a key - and the Zodiac Killer must surely have known that based on his 408 and 340 ciphers, even if he had limited cipher experience. However, a search for the solution may not be necessary, as the Zodiac Killer may have given us the answer just five and a half months later. The Zodiac Killer vowed to give us his name in his earlier 408 cipher, only to renege on that promise. Therefore, the idea that he would reveal his name in the April 20th 1970 correspondence is equally unlikely. But he may have given us an abbreviated answer, which from the standpoint of incrimination, is virtually non-existent. 

The October 5th 1970 13-Hole Postcard has links to the 13-Symbol cipher for obvious reasons, but the author of the postcard does paste some unusual text, notably "Fk, I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?"  Is there a correlation to the 13-Symbol cipher? Immediately after "Fk, I'm crackproof", the author asks about the price tag on his head. Immediately after the 13-Symbol cipher on the April 20th 1970 correspondence, the author writes "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now".  So what is the likelihood "Fk, I'm crackproof" precedes this question also. It would make sense when the April 20th 1970 communication is read as a whole: "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is FK, I'm crackproof". The phrase would be 14 characters and infinitely circular in configuration, beginning and ending with the letter F as shown below. The problem with an answer such as this, is that identical ciphertext characters are represented by different plaintext characters, thereby breaking the pattern of standard cryptography.  

The letters K and M line up nicely in the code, yet on its own it is pretty worthless. Could the killer's initials be FK or KF, on account of the upside-down text on the 13-Hole postcard, or could the killer simply want us to believe this is the case. The FK in close proximity occurs seven times in the 340 cipher, but much more significantly, the eye is drawn to the 'mistake' on line six, where the author of the cipher elevates the letter K in reverse, next to the letter F. The author of the 13-Hole postcard effectively rotates both letters through 180 degrees, again reversing the letter K. 

The Exorcist Letter mailed on January 29th 1974 looks somewhat similar to the sixth line of the 340 cipher, in that the strange symbolism at the foot of the letter appears to marry up. It contains what looks like a letter F, and to its elevated left is an upside-down K. But there is much more correlation, in that five of the characters on the Exorcist letter bear a striking resemblance to five of the characters by the FK on the 340 Cipher. 340-cipher-and-exorcist-link            

The elevated and reversed letter K, is positioned to the left of the letter F in both the 340 cipher sixth line and the Exorcist letter symbolism. It is again reversed and positioned to the left of the letter F in "Fk, I'm crackproof" on the 13-Hole postcard. If the Zodiac Killer lived within a 10 minute walking radius of the Springs and Tuolumne payphone, then by examining land registry records in 1969 for males with FK or KF initials and cross checking their vital statistics (including photographs), it would go a long way to deciding whether this is just another pattern in a rich tapestry of Zodiac imaginings.

​http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-fictitious-negro-male    

Here we are in 2016 and there are still huge question marks on which of the Zodiac correspondence are by the killer and which are from hoaxers. We have been told that a partial DNA fingerprint of the killer has been secured from testing various letters, stamps and envelopes. A full DNA profile is much more exact in definitively securing the identification of an actual offender, whereas a partial DNA sample may produce more than one hit on a particular database. This is explained on the 'Council of Responsible Genetics' "In cases I have reviewed over the past few years, evidentiary samples from crime scenes often produce incomplete or partial DNA profiles.  Limited quantities of DNA, degradation of the sample, or the presence of inhibitors (contaminants) can make it impossible to determine the genotype at every locus.  In some instances the test yields no information about the genotype at a particular locus; in some instances one of the two alleles at a locus will "drop out" (become undetectable).  Because partial profiles contain fewer genetic markers (alleles) than complete profiles, they are more likely to match someone by chance.  The probability of a coincidental match is higher for a partial profile than for a full profile.The risk of obtaining a match by coincidence is far higher when authorities search through thousands or millions of profiles looking for a match than when they compare the evidentiary profile to the profile of a single individual who has been identified as a suspect for other reasons." 

As stated, if you have identified a Zodiac suspect through other evidence and the partial DNA then provides a match, the significance of the match is more relevant than just a random match from the general population. A comparison between Zodiac letters, if all contained partial DNA profiles, would therefore be more conclusive if a match was secured, as you have a strong evidentiary reason for doing so.      

Dr Cydne Holt of the San Francisco DNA laboratory tested the Zodiac letters to compare to several Zodiac suspects in this case, including Arthur Leigh Allen - and in doing so these suspects were excluded as the contributors of the DNA recovered from the seal of the envelopes and stamps. It is crucial what she says in this documentary (shown below) and suggests almost without question the DNA profile held by law enforcement is that of the Zodiac Killer, as not only were matches secured between letters, but crucially from one of three envelopes mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969 - letters verified as Zodiac correspondence, due to details the author revealed only known to the murderer and police. It is also crucial that the letters were tested using the sealed sections, so as to avoid contamination from the many handlers of the envelopes throughout the intervening years.

Narrator in the documentary "However if Doctor Cydne Holt can find enough genetic material from Zodiac's stamps and letters, she can compare it to a wafer thin slice of brain tissue from Arthur Leigh Allen's autopsy." Dr Cydne Holt "This brain tissue from Arthur Leigh Allen is the reference sample that I would use for the comparison."  Narrator "Dr Holt has already detected the possible presence of Zodiac's DNA in the seal of the envelope that contained the greeting card (Dripping Pen Card and 340 cipher), and just in case that test fails to provide a full DNA profile, she also prepares to look for DNA beneath the stamps on two of these three letters (July 31st letters)." Dr Cydne Holt "Depending on whether those DNA's match each other, might allow me to include or exclude Arthur Leigh Allen as potentially contributing the DNA on the Zodiac letters."

As she states in the last line, she must match between letters to then be sure Zodiac is the contributor of the DNA. Ruling out a suspect to just one letter is meaningless, as that letter could be from the hand of a hoaxer. But by comparing the Dripping Pen card envelope to the first three letters mailed by the killer, she can then corroborate the DNA as likely from Zodiac, before moving on and comparing it to any potential suspect. A DNA match between envelopes must have been secured, as she followed on to exclude the three subjects in the video. This with near certainty provides a link from the Dripping Pen card to the July 31st 1969 letters and to the killer.

On June 17th 1996, a reddish-brown hair was discovered sealed beneath a stamp on the Stine envelope, particularly relevant due to eyewitness recollection in the aftermath of the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969, with the killer described by the three teenagers overlooking the crime scene as having a reddish-brown crew cut. Unless a very clever Zodiac deliberately planted it there to throw investigators onto the wrong trail, knowing he indeed had used a disguise during the murder.

The hair failed to provide a DNA sample, as the root was missing, but advances over the last 20 years, particularly regarding mitochondrial DNA may yet provide useful information.

Here is a list of envelopes processed for DNA, minus the envelopes from July 31st 1969, as they had been misplaced at the time this list was compiled. It can be noticed that the 1978 'I am back with you' letter has yielded DNA material, but is attributed as not being an authentic Zodiac letter. Since authorities now have Zodiac's partial DNA profile, it is fairly certain that this letter has now been compared and effectively ruled out, laying to rest any debate about its authenticity. What is apparent; is that although all the preceding material, including the July 31st 1969 letters, contained the evidence of cells, there is an evident departure of any recorded biological material up to 1974 on the Halloween card, Los Angeles letter, Pines card, Monticello card, Citizen card, Red Phantom letter, and possibly 13-Hole postcard. Admittedly, many of these are postcards, hence may not have been tested or attributed on this list due to the absence of an envelope, but what we are left with, is that subsequent to the Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970, we have to wait three-and-a-half years to the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974 for any cells to be found on the envelope again (obviously dismissing the 1978 letter). It is quite conceivable that the Little List correspondence may have been Zodiac's last, unless he willfully attached himself to the Cheri Jo Bates murder by sending the Los Angeles letter on March 13th 1971.        

One has to question the validity of all the correspondence in 1974 and beyond. The Zodiac Killer was an egotist, who craved attention, yet failed to capitalize on two films released in April and December of 1971, that of 'The Zodiac Killer' and 'Dirty Harry' respectively, but waited nearly three years to comment on a film that had nothing to do with him. Was he already dead or incarcerated.

Seasoned Zodiac researcher Mike Rodelli, featured in the ABC Primetime Investigation, stated on Zodiac Killer Site forum "The DNA on the 1978 letter is supposedly what proves that letter was NOT from Zodiac. Alan Keel, who did the early DNA testing on the SFPD evidence, told both me and LL that DNA matching the 1978 letter was found on one of the 1974 letters. We still can't find out which one, though! They are both considered forgeries. So you have to be careful, IMHO, if you make a case about a suspect that involves evidence from all four of those 1974 letters because one is the odd man out. However, one of the 1974 letters is considered a forgery AND the only letter with cells found on it from that year IS the Exorcist letter! Do I dare? It is blasphemy to suggest that the Exorcist letter is the "second forgery" because of the sacred palm print. Hey, Z never left a palm print on any other letter, so maybe that suggests that he did not write that one, either!" 

If this is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then one of the four 1974 letters is a fake. If we take the four correspondences; The Exorcist letter, SLA letter, Citizen card and Red Phantom letter, the most 'genuine' looking material is the Exorcist letter. A hoaxer attempting to make the correspondence look like Zodiac, will attempt to copy known Zodiac letters, as shown by the 1978 letter, so in theory the Exorcist letter could be considered the 'odd man out'.
  
Mike Rodelli added "There is *one person* (Dave Toschi) whose name has come up time and again as possibly having forged the 1978 letter, and he suffered for those claims. The presumed goal of a forger sending a letter like the 1978 letter would have possibly been to reinvigorate a dying investigation. After all, Zodiac had not written a letter since either May or July 1974. That is three years and change. When the Exorcist letter arrived, although it was not written like a true "Zodiac" letter with the correct opening phrase, it did have the effect of reviving a dead investigation once it was revealed as a "Zodiac" letter. Zodiac had not written in nearly three years at that point, so the investigation had gone a bit cold. So the Exorcist letter can at least be construed as having had the same goal as what Keel said is a known forgery in the 1978 letter."

In fact, none of the letters in 1974 opened with the line "This is the Zodiac Speaking", none were adorned with the crosshairs symbol, only one featured a running victim total and all were rather tame, truth be told, signed "Yours truly", "a friend", "A citizen" and "the Red Phantom." The final three letters in 1974 were also postmarked: Los Angeles and San Rafael, along with the 1990 American Greetings card which was mailed from Eureka, a marked deviation from the geography of earlier correspondence.

The first letter to arrive, containing any DNA/cells, after the Little List letter on July 26th 1970 was the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974 and both contained lines paraphrasing 'The Mikado', a satirical comedic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. Strange therefore that the Zodiac should refer to The Exorcist as "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen," albeit introducing 'Tit Willow' into the letter, that this time appears to have little purpose or context. But does this validate the Exorcist letter or does the three year Zodiac hiatus affect its apparent status as the last confirmed Zodiac correspondence ever mailed by the killer. The fact it was confirmed as the final correspondence likely works in its favor.

THE ZODIAC KILLER'S DNA PART TWO

On Monday, October 12th 1970 the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac. Just two weeks later, the Zodiac Killer would respond when he mailed the Halloween Card to Paul Avery, a prominent San Francisco Chronicle reporter. This card, containing two skeletons, opened with the phrase "I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name. And so I'll clue you in". This on the face of it seemed like a direct response to the Chronicle article, but what clue was the Zodiac prepared to give us in this card regarding his identity or name? Before we tackle this problem, we shall fast forward to the Exorcist Letter, mailed to the Chronicle on January 29th 1974 and investigate any possible clues within this correspondence. This first part has been covered previously, however, this will be expanded upon as we delve a little deeper.
The Exorcist Letter appeared a curious blend of two productions; The Mikado (1885), a satirical portrait of Victorian England, and the horror classic The Exorcist (1973), ironically labeled "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen" by the Zodiac Killer. The Exorcist Letter appears a mismatch of genres containing an unholy alliance of mixed messages - unless of course - it was designed this way to provide us with a hidden clue to his identity or name.   

After a line such as "Signed, yours truley" one would expect the sender to provide us with a name, yet here the Zodiac Killer gives us a line from The Mikado's On a tree by a river, part of Act Two. Is his name concealed within these lines? In the article 'The Best Saterical Comidy,' this idea was explored. The name William can be abbreviated to Will, Bill, Billy, Willy, or Willie. It can be seen that these lines contain the names 'Bill and Will' several times. This of course is meaningless on its own, until you wrangle with the unusual alliance of The Exorcist and The Mikado. 

The Exorcist is an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The Mikado was created by Gilbert and Sullivan, however, one half of the duo was Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, which effectively gives us the three William's in the excerpt above and tempt us with the phrase "Signed, yours truley, William".  The inspiration for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist (1971) was the real life exorcism of Roland Doe, a 13-year-old Maryland boy, in 1949. Father William S. Bowdern, S.J. was central to this exorcism, assisted by Walter Halloran and William Van Roo, a third Jesuit priest, bringing our total to five.

​In the San Francisco Chronicle article Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac, Paul Avery wrote "Sheriff's detective sergeant Kenneth Narlow of Napa County has fruitlessly followed up another 900 tips to Zodiac's identity since September 27th 1969". Did the Zodiac take this line and incorporate it into the Halloween Card, using the pumpkin fruit to effectively reveal his identity, by deliberately placing the pumpkin over the groin and then removing it to expose his identity. The groin becomes fruitless, yet reveals a name? I'm afraid you've guessed it - Willy. While this is highly improbable, the Zodiac Killer did present a rather immature element in much of his correspondence. In an attempt to reinforce this identity we shall proceed. The Halloween Card is obviously a reference to the Western Christian celebration of All Hallows Day on October 31st, hence the use of the spiders web, skeletons and pumpkin within the card. The most notable addition to the card was the pumpkin, so other than its deliberate positioning, has it any further significance to the Zodiac Killer's identity? The pumpkin itself is carved out on Halloween to create a spooky or ghostly face and lit on the inside to create a menacing glowing effect. This is termed a 'Jack o' lantern' or 'Will o the wisp' - an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night.    

The Zodiac Killer placed numerous eyes on the Halloween Card, accompanied by the words "peek-a-boo you are doomed" which was wrapped around the knothole in the tree. This, on the face of it, appeared a veiled threat towards San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, but was it yet another clue to his identity?
 
​'Blind Bat', a member on the Zodiac Killer Site forum, found an interesting connection to the Halloween Card involving the "peek-a-boo" phrase the author added to the greeting card. The picture on the right demonstrates this perfectly with the Zodiac-like letter K, with the eyes and eyelashes eerily similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card itself. ​William V. Peekaboo Pennington Senior was a San Francisco private detective, described as a cattle man, private investigator, theater owner, building contractor, oil man and member of the Eastern Star, a freemasonry related order established in 1850 by Rob Morris. He moved to San Francisco in 1924 and performed investigative duties for prominent lawyers and attorneys, including Melvin Belli, who became closely embroiled in the Zodiac Killer case. The Halloween Card provides us with two full, and two abbreviations of William, when we consider the following.

​The Halloween Card is the only time the Zodiac Killer used the letter Z on his correspondence. He placed the letter Z on the envelope and the inside of the card - but in addition to this - the Zodiac Killer placed a Zorro style mask on the skeleton. Is this a further clue? Had the Zodiac spent his formative years in the 1950s, Zorro would have been a high profile television series, made into two Walt Disney films, The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959). The Disney television series ran from 1957 to 1959, and this, along with the two movies, starred Guy Williams.  
  
Revisiting the subject of Melvin Belli, the Zodiac Killer wrote a personal correspondence to the prominent lawyer on December 20th 1969. In this correspondence he stated "I will loose all controol of myself and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer". This phrase is remarkably similar to a message scrawled on the wall of murder victim Frances Brown, who was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds, with the actual knife found protruding from the victim's neck, along with a bullet wound to the head. The killer had left a calling card, in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. See here. It said: "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer wrote (edited) "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer".  The killer William Heirens, known as the 'Lipstick Killer', was convicted of the murders of three females over a seven-month period. Was the letter mailed to Melvin Belli a plea for help or just another subtle clue to his identity.

Paul Avery extensively covered the Patty Hearst affair, along with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tim Findley, something the Zodiac was unlikely to miss. The Zodiac Killer has been credited with the 'SLA Letter' mailed on February 3rd 1974, the day before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4th 1974. There are two links here, in that Patty Hearst was the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who gained control of the San Francisco Examiner from his father. But more importantly, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) leaders were Donald De Freeze and William Harris. One of its founding members was Willie Wolfe. 

​In the article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac', Paul Avery wrote "Zodiac is still at large today. And he is now claiming he has murdered thirteen persons. Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on December 20th 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims". In chalk-like writing, the Zodiac would now be claiming a potential fourteen victims in the Halloween Card, but was it revealing a lot more than initially thought?

The Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970 heavily featured two portions of The Mikado. The seventh line of Mikado Act One Part 5a  As some day it may happen reads "All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat". The Zodiac Killer paraphrases this verse to "All children who are up in dates and implore you with im platt". It could simply be that he was attempting to write the letter F, and accidentally formed the letter P - but if not. I don't subscribe to the techniques employed in this article, but I thought it worthwhile for those who have William as a suspect.  

The identity of the Zodiac Killer still remains a mystery after nearly five decades of searching, despite numerous suspects being thrust into the limelight, some with more merit than others. This often involves digging deep into the history of the suspect, their profession, acquaintances, social life, personality and movements in and around the Zodiac timeline, to get a better understanding on their viability as a serial killer. But in the following analysis we shall do the complete opposite and examine what the Zodiac Killer didn't do. The only tangible evidence we have to go on, are the crimes themselves and the correspondence he mailed, so we shall use these to search for any anomalies or departures from the expected, bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer courted attention, with an insatiable appetite for baiting the newspapers for nigh on five years. However, two things stand out during the Zodiac timeline, one of which happened, or should I say didn't happen after the 'Los Angeles' letter mailed on March 13th 1971, that is particularly telling. Or quite possibly after the 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, if you are inclined to believe this card to be genuine Zodiac material. The second is something that has been covered before in an article entitled 'Away for the Winter', and concerns the Zodiac Killer's notable absences during three consecutive years. For now though we will concentrate on the March of 1971.  

The Zodiac Killer remained silent for nearly three years until the Exorcist letter surfaced on January 29th 1974, widely regarded as his final correspondence - although a further three communications would be received in the February, May and July of that year. The S.L.A. letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974, the Citizen card was postmarked May 8th 1974 and the Red Phantom letter was postmarked July 8th 1974. Every other correspondence after this year has generally been received with widespread skepticism. Recently, an article on Zodiac Revisited sparked my interest detailing the Zodiac Killer movie released in the April of 1971, just one month after the 'Los Angeles' letter was mailed on March 13th 1971 and six months after the Halloween card mailed and addressed to Paul Avery on October 27th 1970. This article covers many aspects of the movie. Michael Cole, the author of this website and the Zodiac Revisited book due for release in 2019, highlights the involvement of Paul Avery as a consultant to the movie, and is credited as such on the Internet Movie Database.
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​So, bearing in mind the Zodiac's insatiable ego and penchant for letter writing, one would have expected the Zodiac Killer to have found it extremely difficult to resist contacting the newspapers to give us his review of the movie, considering he had no hesitation in giving us his opinion on The Exorcist and Badlands movies. The Exorcist movie was released in the USA on December 26th 1973 and one month later the Zodiac Killer would give his appraisal of the movie, calling it "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen". The Badlands movie went on general release in the USA on March 24th 1974 and featured in his 'Citizen' card correspondence just over a month later, yet the Zodiac Killer failed to ever mention anything about a movie solely dedicated to his murderous rampage, when 'The Zodiac Killer' was released on April 7th 1971, directed by Tom Hanson. The Zodiac Killer replied to Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz in the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969, replied to Chief Martin Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 9th 1969 and to journalist Paul Avery in a personalized Halloween card, yet in the instance, absolutely nothing. ​Eight months later, the Zodiac Killer would get a reprieve when the much higher profile movie 'Dirty Harry', starring Clint Eastwood, was released on December 23rd 1971 featuring aspects of the Zodiac case - a movie that wouldn't have escaped Zodiac's attention. Here was the perfect opportunity to bathe in his notoriety, but yet again, absolutely nothing. In fact, the Zodiac Killer would apparently keep up this silence for nearly three years until the Exorcist Letter in the January of 1974, commenting on a movie that has nothing to do with him. His moment in the sun had been lost. The Exorcist letter signed off with a threat: "P.S. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing." I'm afraid he was three years too late.     

The three year hiatus was broken by the confirmed Exorcist letter, mailed on January 29th 1974, indicating he was still alive. So what interrupted his insatiable appetite for communication. It may be likely that he was incarcerated during this period for a lesser offence, curtailing his murderous exploits and communications with the newspapers. An inability to maintain his contact with the world surreptitiously from the confines of a cell, with constant vetting of correspondence, would certainly negate his literary prowess, thereby utterly refuting his exaggerated claim of 37 victims in the Exorcist letter. He may have massively increased his victim total by 20 since the 'Los Angeles' letter nearly three years ago, to give us the impression he was footloose and fancy free during this time period.
 
​One avenue to unearth the identity of the Zodiac Killer is to examine this three year period of 'absentia', which may ultimately prove more fruitful than examining the crimes and letters themselves. If we believe the Zodiac Killer to be a resident of the Bay Area, then it makes perfect sense to examine prison records of the locality and work outward - starting with San Quentin Prison, located in Marin County. The 'Los Angeles' letter was mailed on March 13th 1971 and the 'Exorcist' letter on January 29th 1974, so a prisoner jailed in late March of 1971 or possibly April or May, and released in late 1973 or early 1974, for a time period approximating two and a half years, may just give us the identity of the killer we have yearned. The answer may not lie in the crimes the Zodiac committed, but more in the crimes he didn't commit.

A special thanks to Michael Cole.- Zodiac Revisited.   

The final confirmed letter mailed by the infamous Zodiac Killer to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 has been commonly referred to as the Exorcist Letter. This sixty-one word correspondence appeared to mock the 1973 movie The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin and based on a novel by William Peter Blatty published in 1971, chronicling the demonic possession of a twelve-year-old girl, Regan MacNeil. William Peter Blatty spent long nights in a secluded Lake Tahoe cabin crafting images of good and evil, religion, faith and the afterlife, that would eventually go on to make movie history and court its fair share of controversy along the way. 

The letter is short, reminiscent of much of the Zodiac Killer's later contact with authorities, but as well as mentioning The Exorcist movie, the letter, in rather disjointed fashion, breaks into a Mikado recital once again, recalling memories of the Little List Letter mailed three and a half years previously on July 26th 1970. But this time the foreboding 'Tit Willow' seemed contemplatory in this context, possibly marking the end of the Zodiac reign - and to this day is still often quoted as the murderer's epitaph. The third and final section issued the usual threat of more murders, capped off with Asian style symbols in the form of a cryptic message. Like much of his later correspondence there is little substance here, but we will attempt to delve a little deeper into the Exorcist Letter and find any links that may be relevant or otherwise, as to why he wrote the letter in the first place. This is not a theory, just an examination into where the Zodiac Killer may have been drawing his inspiration.       

The Little List Letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 26th 1970 heavily featured the Gilbert and Sullivan stage play, The Mikado. One section loosely quotes 'a more humane Mikado',  followed by the more extensive paraphrasing of Act 1 Part 5a, 'As some day it may happen'. The curious thing, is that the Zodiac Killer's version of the Little List mimics closer to the Groucho Marx version in the Bell Telephone Hour (1960) than the original Gilbert and Sullivan play. Visit here for the full audio collection: Gilbert Sullivan-The Mikado audio. A thread at the Zodiac Killer Site Forum also covers this topic in detail. Groucho Marx would possibly appear again, depicted in the American Greetings Card or Eureka Card, mailed by either the Zodiac or a copycat in the December of 1990.

The Eureka Card was reminiscent of the Halloween Card mailed some 20 years earlier. It begins with the words FROM YOUR SECRET PAL CAN'T GUESS WHO I AM YET?  WELL, LOOK INSIDE AND YOU'LL FIND OUT...  and once opened stated ... THAT I'M GONNA KEEP YOU GUESSIN'! HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ANYWAY. The scene portrayed on the Christmas card  was of a snowman disguised in a Groucho Marx style nose and glasses. In front of the snowman was a rabbit or hare apparently gazing up at the wintry scene. One cannot help thinking the Zodiac Killer chose his cards for a reason.

Another interesting connection was noted on viewing the Tom Hanson Zodiac movie from 1971, in that the killer wore a Groucho Marx style nose and glasses in one scene from the movie. View the scene and thread at ZodiacKiller.com. But this was not the only possible film connection to the Groucho Marx disguise featured on the 1990 Eureka Card.  

Terror Train was released in 1980, directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson and David Copperfield. During New Year celebrations at the students fraternity house Sigma Phi, a prank backfires on Kenny Hampson (Derek MacKinnion). Mentally scarred by the event, this forms the basis of revenge when the students responsible for the prank board a private train hosting a fancy dress party, exactly three years later. On boarding the train one of the students is stabbed, but his friends believing it is a prank, continue along unconcerned. The killer collects the victim's Groucho Marx mask, follows them onto the train and seeks his revenge, one by one. The movie was primarily a thriller/slasher, filmed in Canada from November 21st to December 23rd 1979 and released by Twentieth Century Fox in the October of 1980.

But can we connect Groucho Marx to the Exorcist Letter? Not directly, but by association. The Zodiac Killer described The Exorcist as, "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen". Well, this may not be the case, however, the genesis of the movie may well have been born with the help of a comedy genius - that of Groucho Marx. The Exorcist author, William Peter Blatty, was a close friend of Groucho Marx, and there was an intention by Marx to dress as the priest Father Lankester Merrin from the movie and appear on the set of the Exorcist film, but due to scheduling matters the comedic entrance never materialized. But in one episode of the popular You Bet Your Life series, hosted by Groucho Marx, William Peter Blatty was a contestant and walked away with a prize of $10,000. When he was asked what he was going to do with the money, he stated he was to take some time off  to work on a novel. That novel was the acclaimed inspiration for the movie The Exorcist.  

Groucho Marx was a lifelong fan of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, appearing as Ko-Ko in a production of the Mikado, on NBC's Bell Telephone Hour in 1960. He also recited Tit Willow in 1960 and on the Dick Cavett Show on March 20th 1970. Wikipedia. Therefore, Groucho Marx can be associated through the Little List Letter mailed on July 26th 1970, the Exorcist Letter on January 29th 1974 and the Eureka Card in the December of 1990. However, there is a little more background.

William Peter Blatty released a novel in 1966, entitled Twinkle,Twinkle Killer Kane. It achieved little commercial or critical acclaim. View accompaniment. The story centers on a psychiatrist, 'Killer Kane' (Hudson L Kane) and explores faith, humanity and irony. He enters a madhouse to determine if its residents, comprised of soldiers and astronauts are actually mad or just putting on an act. This results in extended interaction with resident Manfred Cutshaw on the concept of God. In the story Kane postulates "every man who has ever lived has been born with desire for perfect happiness. But unless there is an afterlife, fulfillment of this desire is a patent impossibility". It was to be later rewritten and published under the new title 'The Ninth Configuration' in 1980, attempting to explore the marginal line of sanity over insanity. It failed to inspire the public on its cinematic release.    

"Today, when I think about all the different types I met in that excuse for a penitentiary, this man remains my most uncomfortable memory". Striking words from a convicted serial killer, who in 1961 became one of America's most wanted fugitives, appearing on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. That man was Edward Wayne Edwards - and the man he was talking about was Donald Lee Bujok - promulgated as a prime candidate for the murders of five people in Northern California in the late 1960s by Zodiac researcher Kevin Robert Brooks. This extract was taken from an Edward Edwards autobiography entitled Metamorphosis of a Criminal, and left you in no doubt that there was more to Donald Lee Bujok than could possibly be imagined.

The penitentiary Edward Edwards was referring to was Old Montana State Prison, approximately three and a half miles west of Deer Lodge. Donald Lee Bujok had spent eleven years at the prison, serving time for the brutal slaying of Deputy Otto Fossen, who was shot five times in the neck and chest in the small town of Joplin, Montana on October 5th 1957. Built in 1871, Old Montana State Prison suffered badly with overcrowding, and prisoners daily life mirrored the bleak walls that confined them. The only solace was sought through work related activities and occasional visits to the W.A. Clark Theater, built in 1919 under the governance of Warden Conley. It seated around 600 and hosted a variety of events that included traveling theater groups, movies, concerts and religious services, providing temporary relief to inmates, who for the most part relied heavily on introspection to wile away the harsh realities that became an everyday occurrence. Donald Lee Bujok was no exception to this rule, performing many jobs within the prison, notably a kitchen clerk, upholsterer and garment maker, but in an attempt to escape his reality may have ascended to an altogether different level of existence, driven by a fascination for Egyptian literature and science fiction, apparent in the striking memoirs of Edward Wayne Edwards. Donald Lee Bujok, strangled by the rigors of daily life in prison sought his escape into the non-material realm of fantasy, embracing an afterlife that would eventually be realized a few years later in the very real world of Northern California, one dark December night in 1968.

The shadow of Old Montana Prison became the embodiment of all things evil, when the headlights of the car driven by Donald Lee Bujok flickered across the dark twisting road of Lake Herman on December 20th 1968 and his route to paradise, that he had sought for eleven years, was just moments away, Sadly it came at great cost and the paradise sought by the Zodiac Killer was the paradise lost by so many, in the the wake of Northern California's most reviled and elusive killer. A chapter that has left its mark for over four decades and one that began in memories recalled within the writings of Edward Wayne Edwards autobiography, Metamorphosis of a Criminal.  

Kevin Robert Brooks has examined in depth the early life of Donald Lee Bujok, that may have seeded the very inception of the Zodiac Killer, through to the numerous letters and cards he mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, along with other associated publications - and believes his search for America's most notorious serial killer may be coming to an end. One such letter he has analyzed may possibly have marked the final chapter of this story, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 - that of the Exorcist letter, believed by many to be the Zodiac Killer's final letter and impending epitaph.               

The Zodiac Killer throughout his correspondence exhibited an overt interest in the theatrical, never more so than the Little List letter he mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 26th 1970, paraphrasing extracts from The Mikado, a two-part comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, which opened to the paying public on March 14th 1885, and was hugely successful running for 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre in London.

In his later correspondence, his interest in the movies came to the forefront, mentioning the film Badlands, Red Phantom (El Espectro Rojo), possibly The Car (in a now unauthenticated letter sent on Wednesday October 28th 1987) and the Exorcist letter, ridiculing the William Friedkin horror film released in 1973. But the Exorcist correspondence encompassed both - reciting lines from The Mikado's Tit Willow, as well as embodying the movie angle into its design. The author also added Asian style characters at the foot of the letter, reminiscent of Japanese stylism. The Zodiac Killer used a blue felt tip pen when writing this letter, causing occasional filling on the circular letters. Kevin Robert Brooks believes the F style symbol to be the word "To", so when the symbols are reorganized, they spell the words "To Kill". Just above the symbols he wrote "PS if I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing".

Another striking comparison can be found in authenticated correspondence Donald Lee Bujok mailed to the Billings Gazette in Montana on June 2nd 1974, just over four months after the receipt of the Exorcist letter. It also ridiculed the idea of demonic possession stating "If his work was impressive enough, we could then extend his services to Deer Lodge. Just think of the money we could save by releasing de-possessed people who would no longer require confinement" and "Exorcism? Evil Spirits? Possession? I have a word to describe this so called phenomenon, but I'll use the initials BS, because I don't think the editor would print my expletive".

Of course, Donald Lee Bujok wrote many letters to the Billings Gazette and while some showed parallels to the Zodiac Killer letters, many did not. However, this correspondence to the Billings Gazette held a little more. He began this letter with the wording "I have been reading and hearing all about the Exorcist in Billings". In the Exorcist letter the Zodiac Killer began with "I saw and think the Exorcist was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen". Very similar in phraseology. He also makes reference to Deer Lodge Prison. Significant, as this was purportedly mentioned by the attacker at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969.    

On October 5th 1970, exactly thirteen years after the murder of Deputy Otto Fossen in 1957, '13 bullet holes' punched through the fabric of the 13 Hole Postcard arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle with the words "FK I'm Crackproof, What is the price tag now?". But this is another story. See  http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/thirteen-holes-in-time

Below is a sketch created by Kevin Robert Brooks, taken from a photograph of Donald Lee Bujok aged in his late 40s.

Although the last confirmed murder attributed to the Zodiac was the slaying of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, the killer continued his onslaught towards the citizens of Northern California and beyond in the form of threatening and taunting letters to the newspapers, the like of which authorities had never experienced previously and governed by an overwhelming desire to keep the fear factor well and truly alive in the psyche of everyday people. Driven by the art of humiliation and misdirection, he led the investigative bodies on a piece of string, complimented by an inordinate amount of good fortune, to elude capture throughout his manifesto of evil during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although his communications to the newspapers eventually dwindled away, it may be that two of his later letters, despite being shorter by comparison, held the biggest key to unraveling - or at the very least guiding us - into the footprints of a killer.

The Exorcist letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 was closely followed just five days later by the SLA letter, postmarked February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles. Both letters seemed to offer very little in the way of clues.
Kevin Robert Brooks steps into the mind of the Zodiac Killer, believing he is slowly drawing his suspect out of the shadows and into the light, as one and the same. On the face of it, little seems to stand out in these two short messages, until you compare these two letters alongside articles sent by Donald Lee Bujok to the Billings Gazette in the 1970s. In a previous article it was shown that Donald Lee Bujok had mailed numerous literary observations on various social issues of the day to the newspapers, giving us a tantalizing glimpse into the psyche of what drove him - and possibly indicated that the author was luring us into a game of 'cat and mouse', thereby toying with authorities to see if they could connect the dots between the Billings Gazette articles and the Zodiac communications that had streamed from the pen of a killer for nearly half a decade.   

One of the most interesting letters he sent to the Billings Gazette was his reference to The Exorcist film, dated June 2nd 1974, sent approximately four months after the Zodiac mailed the Exorcist letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974. In the article he ridiculed the idea of possession and thoughts of the supernatural, not unlike Zodiac's statement at the top of the Exorcist letter, in which he wrote "I saw and think the Exorcist was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen".

In the Billings Gazette he opened up with the statement "I have been reading and hearing all about the Exorcist in Billings", very similar to his superfluity of words in the Exorcist letter. On March 22nd 1974, in another letter to the Billings Gazette, he seemed irked by a Dick Tracy horror strip apparently promoting poor moral values, mirroring the Badlands/Citizen letter, mailed by the supposed Zodiac on May 8th 1974, just one-and-a-half months later. In the Citizen letter the author chastised the running of advertisements for the Badlands movie, stating "Sirs -- I would like to expression my consternation concerning your poor taste + lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands", featuring the blurb: "In 1959 most people were killing time. Kit + Holly were killing people." In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable) why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad?  A citizen". There was a further vitriolic letter aimed at columnist Marco Spinelli in the Red Phantom letter on July 8th 1974. Donald Lee Bujok, In another article, moralizes over the issues of hunting and the rights of landowners. 

However,  there is another more revealing piece of correspondence he mailed to the Billings Gazette, dated Monday March 17th 1975, entitled It could be the octane rating, which provided further and more interesting parallels to the Zodiac case, as well as to the apparently insignificant SLA letter, that will now become the centerpiece of our focus. 

The Zodiac presented us with symbols at the foot of the Exorcist letter, thought to be the words To Kill, as Kevin Robert Brooks surmised this was the most reasonable assumption based on what we know about the killer. He then, as a form of prompt to the police, mailed us the SLA letter just five days later - and in trademark Zodiac style, continued his art of toying with authorities by stating 

"Did you know that the initials SLA spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "Kill". a friend" (even stylizing his 'K' in typical Mikado fashion). The SLA letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974. Just over one year later, on March 17th 1975, came more high octane correspondence in the form of a Donald Lee Bujok letter crafted on the subject of a haunted Volkswagen. It was titled by the newspaper "It could be the octane rating".

In the article he placed two interesting features that spiked interest. Firstly, he mentioned Mr Kolchak, the lead character from the television series Kolchak the Night Stalker. The first episode of which, is about a serial killer who writes to newspapers, entitled "The Ripper" and aired by ABC television on September 13th 1974.

The storyline is about a murderer who preys on women in Chicago, with Carl Kolchak played by Darren McGavin, strong in his belief that this was not a copycat, but actually Jack the Ripper himself - a ruthless killer who slaughtered five women in the Whitechapel district of London, England in 1888. He was an intimidating and fast talking character, strong willed with a dark sense of humor, who worked as investigative newspaper journalist for Chicago's Independent News Service and going to any lengths to nail down a story. A rival reporter, Jane Plumb, who was also pursuing the story after receiving correspondence from the killer, felt she could arrange a meeting with 'The Ripper' for an exclusive.

Two pilots were made in 1972 and 1973 based on an unpublished novel, called 'The Night Stalker'. The series also included 'They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be', released on TV on September 27th 1974, 'Firefall' released November 8th 1974,  'Horror in the Heights' released December 20th 1974, 'Legacy of Terror' released February 14th 1975, and ended with 'The Sentry' after twenty episodes on March 28th 1975, just eleven days after Donald Lee Bujok's most recent correspondence with the Billings Gazette. The second interesting piece of the article, is the word Donald Lee Bujok used to sign the foot of the letter. He used the word 'Skoal', which is Danish Old Norse meaning cheers or good health, using the same language implied within the SLA letter, stating 'an old Norse word meaning "Kill". On the face of it, these articles to the Billings Gazette appear insignificant, until you bear in mind their close proximity to known Zodiac correspondence and the subject matter involved. This article is courtesy of Kevin Robert Brooks and this is the 'Montana Connection'.

THE 340 CIPHER WAS CRACKED ON DECEMBER 3RD 2020 BY DAVE ORANCHAK, SAM BLAKE AND JARL VAN EYCKE, SO THIS EARLIER ARTICLE SHOULD BE VIEWED IN RESPECT TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.

The following will examine a link between the 'corrected' sixth line of the 340 cipher and the Exorcist letter symbols. The Dripping Pen card and 340 cipher were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, with the Exorcist letter, widely considered to be the final Zodiac correspondence, mailed just over four years later on January 29th 1974 to the same newspaper. Is it possible a link could have been generated by the killer over such a period of time.