In many previous articles it was considered whether the Zodiac Killer murdered with religious motivation, from his references to paradise and the afterlife, to a numerical system buried deep within his cards and ciphers. The numbers 888 and 444 were integral to this hypothesis. In Christian numerology, the number 888 represents Jesus, or sometimes more specifically Christ the Redeemer. In English numerology 444 represents Jesus, based upon a multiplication factor of 6.   

Numbers are attributed to the alphabet (see right). However, with this system everything is multiplied by six. A (6), B (12), C (18) etc. JESUS is therefore 60+30+114+126+114=444. But things may not have been so straightforward with the Zodiac Killer.

After the abduction and likely murder of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed two cards. The first was the 13-Hole postcard on October 5th 1970 - notable for the number 13, with a cross pasted underneath. The second was the Halloween card with the number 14 written as 4-TEEN, with a skeleton underneath, in the style of Jesus being crucified on the cross. In both instances, a number written at the top of the cross or crucified form. 

When Jesus was crucified, the letters INRI were affixed at the top of the cross above his head: 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' meaning ''Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.'' Bearing this in mind, we shall consider why the Zodiac Killer decided to write 4-TEEN instead of fourteen or 14. There surely must be a reason.

Switching back to 13-Hole postcard, we will place CROSS (a symbol of Christianity) into the code above using the factor of 6 again: CROSS = 18+108+90+114+114=444, exactly the same as Jesus. Could this link our two cards together. JESUS and CROSS together equal 888, reminiscent of the numbers contained within the 13-Symbol cipher, mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970. One has to ask, why would the Zodiac Killer paste a cross on the 13-Hole postcard in red, if not the suggestion of a bloodied crucifix?

Was the murderer of five likening himself to Jesus Christ, the savior of souls for the afterlife. The thirteen eyes representing 13 souls he was allegedly claiming, looking at the crucified form of Jesus Christ or a potential fourteenth victim. This was after all a Halloween Card:

Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of All Hallows' Evening), also known as Allhalloween,  All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Taken from Wikipedia.

​The problem we have with the Halloween card, is that the Zodiac Killer has already given us one number - the number 4. This is not present in the system of coding above, based on a factor of 6. So, we will return to basics, where A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4 etc. 4-TEEN = 4 - 20+5+5+14 = 4-44, to give us the figure 444 over the crucified form of Jesus. This now is in tandem with INRI representing Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, Prophesy! And the guards took him and beat him. - Mark 14:65

In 2007, the David Fincher 'Zodiac' film burst onto our cinema screens to bring a new audience to the now 49-year-old murder mystery. The film was based on the 1986 Robert Graysmith book and employed many previous investigators as consultants or technical advisors to the film, such as George Bawart, Russell T. Butterbach, Pierre Bidou, Kelly Carroll, Donald Fouke, Armond Pelissetti, Ken Narlow and Dave Toschi, to name but a few. The film does provide a good overview of the Zodiac case, although clearly employs a fair degree of artistic license not based in fact. However, there is one key scene that we shall focus on here, where the Halloween card arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle headquarters and a piece of Paul Stine's shirt is discovered within the greeting card. 

The Zodiac Killer mailed three pieces of Paul Stine's shirt, firstly, in the October 13th 1969 letter, secondly, in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter and thirdly, to Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969, yet no mention was ever given to a fourth swatch of Paul Stine's being received with any subsequent correspondence. The film, up to this point, had been accurate in this respect, so why was it necessary to invent this portion of the story when the Halloween card stood on its own merits as a Zodiac correspondence, being perceived as a personal threat to newspaper reporter Paul Avery. With many previous and current investigators involved in the film, this seemed an unnecessary addition of fiction. Unless of course it wasn't.

The Zodiac did not mail the entirety of the shirt section he removed from the taxicab driver on October 11th 1969, and we have come to believe he wasn't a collector of souvenirs. So why didn't he just mail back the remainder of the shirt in later communications, particularly ones he must have realized would be questioned as authentic correspondence from the killer?      

This is not claiming a piece of shirt did arrive with the Halloween card but is looking for reasons why it could be a possibility based on the card's contents. There would seem little reason to withhold this from the newspapers when previous pieces received had been fully disclosed.

Despite this, in 1970, certain details contained in several correspondences were withheld from publication, most notably the whole of the Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970, eventually released to the press on October 12th 1970 only two weeks prior to the arrival of the Halloween card. Whether the investigators were trying to force a mistake from Zodiac by 'interfering' with his communications can only be surmised. 

The immediate communication after the disappearance of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970 was the Zodiac 13-Hole postcard containing a pasted red crucifix. In later years, a potential burial site was explored by Officer Harvey Hines near Clair Tappaan Lodge, where a rock configuration of 13 stones were positioned in the form of a cross. It was considered that Zodiac may have been pointing us toward the burial site of Donna Lass (the area he had concealed her remains). ​Was the Halloween card also pointing us toward an area of concealment in a rather more subtle way? The author of the Halloween card had certainly made great effort in creating additions to this card in similar fashion to the 13-Hole postcard, but obviously in a more magnified fashion. What purpose belied the addition of a pumpkin over the pelvis of the first skeleton, as well as adding the second skeleton on the card inner? If indeed this held great purpose, then it was largely missed by most observers. One would like to believe the pumpkin and skeleton were placed on the card for more than just the casual amusement of its creator. That is what we shall investigate.       

The first thing to look at is "peek-a-boo you are doomed", a perceived threat to newspaper reporter Paul Avery, placed around the knothole of the tree on the card inner. Peek-a-boo is a form of play where a parent may cover their face with their hands and then reveal themselves to the infant, exclaiming peekaboo. Was this Zodiac patronizing his investigators, painting himself as the parent while subtly mocking the police and journalists as children, warning them they were "doomed?" In addition, was it suggestive of something hidden that was about to be revealed, with the eye in the knothole telling us to look closer.

The Zodiac Killer could have drawn on the Halloween card but chose to add a cut out pumpkin and skeleton. The inside of the envelope contained the phrase "sorry no cipher" twice and was fashioned into an X formation. There may have been no cipher, but was the X marking a location to be found? The pumpkin on the card outer was fashioned over the pelvic region of the skeleton, only to be effectively removed from the skeleton on the card inner to the delight of the author in the form of the word "Boo". Again, an extension of something concealed to the observer before its unearthing. Everything in the card screams out to something hidden that will be revealed. If the Zodiac Killer didn't place a small piece of Paul Stine's shirt behind the pumpkin, it could be argued he missed a Halloween trick - or treat in his case. He drew a colored mask on the eyes of the inner skeleton (that likely in the real world would be made of fabric), that once again hints at concealment.   

The Zodiac Killer may have written 14 on the Halloween card three times. Firstly, the number fourteen on the hand of the outer skeleton. Secondly, in the form of 4-TEEN above the head of the inner skeleton. And thirdly, in the form of a strange symbol at the foot of the card inner, which may represent 'Zodiac Victims Fourteen' or 'Zodiac Fourteen.'  There may however be another possibility, based on the 'four eyes' near the pelvic region of the skeleton, and near the strange symbol at the foot of the card, where the Zodiac Killer curiously added four dots.

The Bay Area killer certainly was indicating 14 victims, or a potential 14 victims. However, he also appeared to be emphasizing the number 4. He deliberately separated the number fourteen to create 4-TEEN. He placed four larger eyes close to the pelvic region of the skeleton as if urging us to see something, along with the four dots around the symbol. Could the symbol stand for 'Zodiac Four,' or was it still 'Zodiac Victims Fourteen,' with four attachments to date. The fourth piece of Paul Stine's shirt possibly concealed under the pumpkin by the pelvic region of the outer skeleton, highlighted by the four large eyes imploring us to discover. The Zodiac Killer mailed the Halloween card just after the first anniversary of the Presidio Heights murder, so if he was to send any more pieces of Paul Stine's shirt, this may have been his opportune moment. There appears little reason to conclude this information was withheld by investigators, but it doesn't hurt to consider the possibility. 

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 Zodiac Killer appeared to enjoy taunting the police and newspapers, often replying to them directly. Two such examples were the 'Debut of Zodiac' Letter, where he replied the following day to the San Francisco Examiner's article on August 3rd 1969, giving more details regarding his first two attacks to Vallejo policeman Jack E. Stiltz. Then the Zodiac mailed the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, responding to the San Francisco article featuring comments by Chief of Police Martin Lee, entitled Zodiac Called a Clumsy Criminal. So it makes perfect sense to examine the preceding article to Zodiac's Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 to possibly unearth the trigger behind this correspondence. It is easy to search for correlations between any two pieces of work, so the following has to be treated with caution - but we will travel back to the San Francisco Chronicle article authored by Paul Avery on October 12th 1970, just two weeks prior to the mailing of the Halloween Card.

It was entitled Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac, so it would come as no surprise that the Halloween Card opened with the line "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so i'll clue you in".  It would appear that the Zodiac Killer deliberately chose this particular card in regards to the use of the word 'clue,' to be considered as his response. But once again he disappointed, revealing very little. However, what could be garnered from this card was his use of the pumpkin to strategically mask the pelvic gender of the skeleton, unashamedly revealed on the card inner to the accompaniment of the word 'Boo' - while in reverse, masking the face of the skeleton and suggestive of a hidden identity. The question is, what identity are we looking for - a sexual identity or the killer himself?        

The San Francisco Chronicle article also stated "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". On the Halloween Card he chalked up 4-TEEN victims on the card inner in very bold stylized white writing - although whether this was as a response to the article rather than necessity based on the color of the card background, is unknown.

Very little, if anything about the Zodiac crimes can be regarded as sexual, as no apparent interference took place in any of the four crimes, but could this in its absence tell us anything about the killer himself. It has been suggested that his savage attacks on young courting couples is an attack on something unavailable to him, either from a standpoint of confidence and inadequacy, or in terms of his repressed or closet sexuality. After all, the Zodiac did state that killing people was "better than getting your rocks off with a girl". In a previous article 'From Your Secret Pal' we examined the possibility that the Zodiac Killer was a latent homosexual as alluded to in the San Francisco Chronicle, authored by Paul Avery on October 18th 1969 - so here we will slightly expand on that idea.

Jose Sarria was a high profile advocate of the LGBT scene in San Francisco, becoming synonymous with the Black Cat bar at 710 Montgomery Street from 1945 to its closure in 1974, also founding The League for Civil Education to highlight acceptance towards homosexuality and even finding the time to run for office. Jose Sarria encouraged patrons to be proud of their homosexuality, while often dressing up - and as a performer often sang in opera based shows and torch songs. However, there was fierce opposition from society, with constant police intimidation and raids, with cross dressing patrons routinely arrested on the pretext of impersonating a woman. Jose Sarria encouraged the arrested to demand jury trials in an attempt to clog up the court system, forcing a rethink by authorities. Despite this, the names and addresses of those arrested were routinely published in the newspapers as a form of deterrent and shaming. This oppression was certainly cause enough to ignite a hatred towards the police and newspapers, two things the Zodiac seemed to revel in during his barrage of communication for nearly five years - but whether this was the incendiary is pure conjecture.                

For one night only, that of Halloween, homosexuality was 'overlooked' by the police force, ultimately becoming a day that would prove emblematic for LGBT celebrations. However, the rest of the time it was business as usual - or for that matter, lack of business - as gay premises, including the Black Cat bar were routinely raided by police. Jose Sarria was annoyed by the constant harassment and sought the help of prominent attorney Melvin Belli, who had offices at 722 Montgomery Street, a stone's throw from the Black Cat bar - and together they formulated a plan to protect the cross dresser from the 'intent to deceive' law.

A button or label was created stating I am a boy, effectively negating deception as an intention. In response to the perceived threat on Paul Avery in the Halloween Card, colleagues would adorn buttons on their clothing similar to the I am a boy declaration, but on this occasion would read I am not Paul Avery.

The Zodiac Killer aligned himself with Melvin Belli for a brief period, even mentioning or inferring the attorney's name in the Dragon Card mailed on April 28th 1970, where the Zodiac declared "I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's". The intention of Zodiac is rooted in the Irwin Weisfeld counterculture buttons of the 1960s, nevertheless the Sarria connection remains a viable influence. A further link exists in the maker of the Dragon Card (created by the Jolly Roger Card Company). After winning a court case, Melvin Belli would often raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco, returning full circle to the Halloween Card characteristics once more.

Mason and Geary Street, the supposed intersection where fate carried Paul Stine to his death, bisects the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, and combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner - but reference was made by Robert Graysmith, stating that Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer from outside the Westin St Francis Hotel, situated at 335 Powell Street in Union Square. Jose Sarria was arrested at the Westin St Francis public restrooms for solicitation, a location often frequented by homosexuals, with police attempting to clamp down on such activities.

The Zodiac Killer liked dressing up, as we saw during his Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 and he apparently had access to disguises, that he alluded to in the Bus Bomb Letter on November 9th 1969, when in response to Chief of Police Martin Lee he stated "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different". The question is, how different did he look the rest of the time? The Halloween Card was taken as a perceived threat on the life of San Francisco reporter Paul Avery, but how serious a threat was it considered - after all, the Zodiac Killer apologized on the inside of the envelope addressed to Paul Avery with 'sorry no cipher' and sealed it with a kiss. 

This is a continuation of the 'Skeleton in the Closet' article, for which I will post a link below, but is a further examination of the Halloween card mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 and the reasons behind its design. It was mailed to Paul Avery, and on the face of it appeared to contain a veiled threat toward the San Francisco journalist, however, the question remains, was it actually a threat or just disguised humor directed at the reporter, as the card itself was bereft of any direct reference to harming Paul Avery. On October 18th 1969 Paul Avery ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, entitled  'Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer' describing the Zodiac Killer as a "latent homosexual". Under this banner he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual."

Law enforcement and structured journalism will often attempt to provoke a reaction from a criminal - in this case a murderer - so as to generate a response that somehow undermines their anonymity and in doing so aid their capture, whether the claim of the article bears any truth or not. In this case the delay between Paul Avery's article and the Halloween card arrival would suggest not, after all, the time difference is approximately one year. That is until we drill down into the Halloween card, not for complex answers or mathematical solutions, but for the sheer simplicity of it all. ​  

The Halloween card introduction states 'From Your Secret Pal',  from where a number of interesting features follow, including a strategically placed pumpkin over the 'genitalia' or pelvic region of the first skeleton. This of course could mean anything or nothing at all, nevertheless, it is suggestive of an act of concealment, of something hidden from prying eyes. On the inside of the Halloween card the pumpkin has effectively been removed, or to be more precise, it has not been implemented, and the pelvic region of the skeleton is now exposed to the accompaniment of the word BOO and implied shock value of such a revelation. The exposure is now in full view of the many eyes littered across the card and the secret is out of the bag. One does not know if this is cheap toilet humor on behalf of Zodiac in response to Paul Avery, but to uncover the truth we shall examine the Halloween card even further.

'Skeleton in the closet', coined in the 19th century, is a colloquial phrase and idiom used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of that said individual - and since we are examining this card as a response to Paul Avery, in view of his "latent homosexual" remark in the San Francisco Chronicle, this phrase has some credence, bearing in mind the design of the Halloween card. Coming out of the closet is widely used by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) as affirmation of their real, yet previously hidden or concealed sexual identity.     

It has been suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have been of British origin because of his use of language, however, it is equally possible he may have been exposed to British parentage or quite simply have worked in or around a theatrical environment, facilitating his access to disguises, and more importantly, the materials for his Lake Berryessa costume.

This brings us to the underlined LAV on the Halloween card envelope. This could easily have been a simple underscore, having no meaning whatsoever, but let us assume for a moment this was not the case and it did have an intentional hidden meaning in line with the rest of the correspondence. If the Zodiac Killer was of British origin or of theatrical leanings, what could the word LAV mean. The word lav is an abbreviation for lavatory or water closet, often used in British colloquialism, and could provide us with a link back to the homosexuality angle. On the outside of the envelope we have closet, within the envelope on the card we have skeletons, so effectively we have skeletons in the closet. Admittedly this is a reach, so let us examine further the contention that Zodiac may have been a latent homosexual, or for that matter, one who had already come out of the closet.

It has also been considered that Zodiac had a military connection, in part, because of the Wing Walker boot impressions discovered at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. What we do know, is that homosexuality and the military did not go hand in glove, certainly not in the 1960s and 1970s - and beyond. The Zodiac Killer was indelibly linked to San Francisco, as most of his mailings were to the San Francisco Chronicle, along with his final confirmed murder, which displayed a marked deviation from his previous attacks on lone couples across the bay. Paul Stine was believed to have picked up his final passenger from the theater district, near the intersection of Mason and Geary, while some believe it may have been around the area of Nob Hill or the Tenderloin District. San Francisco in the 1960s had overseen a marked change, in particular the Castro District having been transformed from a working class area to a prominent symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements. After World War II many military personnel courted the area, unwilling to return to a life incompatible with homosexuality and other forms of behavior, and areas like the Tenderloin and Castro Street became the home to many gay bars and sex clubs. The Mason and Geary Street intersection which bisects the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner, and may place the Zodiac Killer integral to this area, as this was the only time he failed to use his own vehicle in the commission of a crime. The question remains though, where had he been earlier that night?      

The Zodiac Killer appeared to project a feeling of enmity towards the police and newspapers, in particular the San Francisco Chronicle, leading us to consider the motive of his attacks on predominantly young heterosexual couples, along with his bitterness and enjoyment in taunting the police and San Francisco Chronicle for nearly five years.

The Halloween festival, LGBT community, police and San Francisco Chronicle were inextricably linked in the 1960s and 1970s.  Halloween in the Tenderloin grew in the early 1960s with the growing LGBT community and welcomed tourists – who many of the prostitutes and hustlers relied upon for income. By the late 1960s, a major celebration area during Halloween was along Grant Avenue in North Beach, on which there were many gay bars in the late 1960s between Broadway and Union. In the early years of San Francisco it was against the law for men to dress up in women's clothing, but an exception was made for one night only on Halloween, a pagan celebration that would become the adopted day for gay celebrations. Gay bars were often the targets of extortion by police and people were routinely rounded up and hauled before the courts. Raids on gay bars were routine, with everyone inside the raided bar taken into custody and charged with such crimes as being "inmates in a disorderly house". Although the charges were routinely dropped, the arrested patrons' names, addresses and workplaces were printed in the newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

Considering the military angle, persecution by the police and 'gay shaming' in the newspapers, could this all have come together, in part, to become the trigger for Zodiac's compulsion to fight back against a system he felt alienated by. ​As early as 1963, Castro Street opened its first gay bar, the 'Missouri Mule'. One such person, was gay activist and entertainer Jose Sarria, who himself had served in World War II, but continued to fight the police harassment against, not only gay people, but gay establishments as a whole, having performed in the 'Black Cat Bar' at 710 Montgomery Street, a north-south thoroughfare. 1228 Montgomery Street was the former residence of Melvin Belli, who also became embroiled in the Zodiac case, Melvin Belli, Jose Sarria and the San Francisco Chronicle became intertwined in respect to these police raids and just may have been the reason the Zodiac Killer turned to Melvin Belli in his December 20th 1969 communication, in conjunction with his appearance on the Jim Dunbar Show. The following explains their actions to thwart police oppression. 

In consultation with attorney Melvin Belli, Sarria countered this tactic by distributing labels to his fellow drag queens (hand-made, in the shape of a black cat's head)  that read "I am a boy". If confronted, the queen would simply display the tag to prove that there was no intent to deceive. Sarria's actions helped bring an end to Halloween police raids.
The Zodiac Killer made reference to counterculture buttons in the Dragon card and Button letter, stating "If you dont want me to have this blast you must do two things. Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's". The reference to melvin eats bluber is based on the creation of buttons in the mid to late 60s by Irwin Weisfeld, in the form of a counter culture expressionism. The actual pin button says Melville Eats Blubber, which is in fact referring to Herman Melville, the creator of Moby Dick, published in 1851.  

In response to the perceived threat on Paul Avery in the Halloween card, colleagues would wear buttons on their clothing similar to the "I am a boy" declaration, but on this occasion would read "I am not Paul Avery." ​Was the Zodiac Killer imploring people to wear his Zodiac buttons, influenced by his experiences in the gay bars of San Francisco years earlier?

Melvin Belli was also well known for 'Elmer' the skeleton, which he would often used in his medical malpractice suits which, after winning a court case, he would invariably raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco.

Are any of the above in anyway responsible for the 'toilet humor' employed by the Zodiac Killer within the Halloween card, created as a direct result of his experiences of vilification and persecution by the police and San Francisco Chronicle in the anti-homosexual climate of fear he lived in, that ultimately drove him on his conquest of revenge and retribution? Is there any chance, however small, that the Zodiac Killer's name, address and workplace may be found in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper archives, as a result of the 'gay shaming' that occurred throughout the 1960s and 1970s? Is there a name we may recognize in print, or has the Zodiac Killer's identity once again slipped through our fingers. 
​
http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/skeleton-in-the-closet  

The following article is an updated version of a previous post, expanded and covered in greater detail. It is not particularly a line of investigation that I subscribe to, but it attempts to compare the Zodiac Killer's Halloween Card mailed on October 27th 1970 with the Harper Lee novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird', published in 1960 and turned into a film in 1962 featuring Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, the film explored the deep set racial undertones prevalent in American society, brought to the forefront, as lawyer Atticus Finch fought to defend a black man accused of rape in Alabama. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor. 

The most reclusive character in the film was Arthur "Boo" Radley, who went by the shortened version Boo Radley. The first thing to be noticed on the Halloween Card envelope is the misspelled name of the reporter Paul Avery to Paul Averly- which emphasizes the 'ley' section. On the inside of the card he places the word BOO in bold letters. Now we have two parts of our puzzle, "Boo" and "ley". To complete the name Boo Radley requires us to search for "Rad", which is not far away. It crosses the "LAV" of "SLAVES" on the Halloween Card paradice and slaves configuration - which rather fortunately was underlined on the envelope  containing the reporter's name. The Zodiac Killer may not have given us a cipher but had he given us "Boo Radley". 
 
Boo Radley was a much misunderstood character in the novel, feared and rumored upon by the local schoolchildren. He was described by Jem (brother of Scout Finch) as "6 1/2 feet tall... dined on all the raw squirrels and cats he could catch... you could never wash the blood off... there was a large scar that ran across his face... his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time".  In fact, Boo Radley's house and chicken yard backed onto Maycomb School. Funny that - I remember Arthur Leigh Allen slaughtered chickens and squirrels and was never far from schools - but coincidence aside - we shall move on.

The children feared the Radley House and garden, believing the trees were poisoned, however, in one such tree a knot-hole existed, that would ultimately bridge a friendship between Boo Radley, Scout and Jem. Periodically the reclusive Boo Radley would  place objects in the knot-hole for Scout and Jem to find. This was his outlet to the world. On various days the two children would find presents he had left - which included carved soap figures, a ball of twine, chewing gum, a broken pocket watch, an Indian medal, and an aluminium knife on a key chain - many deposited in pairs, one for each child. This was their 'Tree Treasure'. In fact, 'Tree Treasure' was one of the tracks created for the musical score accompanying the film, composed by Elmer Bernstein. Two other tracks on the musical score were titled  'Boo Who' and 'Peek-a-boo.'. What a coincidence. 

The Halloween Card had a knot-hole in the tree with the words "peek-a-boo" circled around it.. Peek-a-boo is the act of concealing ones face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here. That eye was certainly hiding in the Halloween Card tree - was it not. Didn't the Zodiac Killer hide behind a tree at Lake Berryessa and hide his face behind a mask?. When he eventually came into view his identity was concealed. When the Halloween Card was removed from the envelope, it goaded us  with the introduction "I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name, and so I'll clue you in" - and once opened it revealed the word "BOO". I know what your thinking "Boo Who."  Well, I had to squeeze it in.

The Eureka Card, mailed in the December of 1990 was the sister card to the Halloween Card, and was very similar in design. It too began with a message from our 'secret pal', yet this time it had a present from Zodiac - not an aluminium knife and pocket watch on a key chain - but a photocopy of a pair of keys on a key chain. 

In the novel Scout and Jem made a snowman, constructed with mud, then layered with snow - a theme many believe was suggestive to the racist overtones of the story. A snowman is depicted on the Eureka Card, with what appeas to be Groucho Marx imagery on the face. Jem and Scout built this snowman because of their dislike of a local resident down the street, but their father Atticus intervened and told the children to disguise it because it so resembled the local resident they were poking fun at. To placate their father, they placed Miss Maudie's hat on it. The resident they so disliked was called MR AVERY - now that is a coincidence, along with December 25th 1962 release date of the film in Los Angeles, California. The Eureka Card was mailed sometime in December and depicted a Christmas scene. Facing the snowman was a cute rabbit. I hope Arthur Leigh Allen didn't slaughter rabbits as well as chickens and squirrels. 

Incidentally, Scout and Jem went to a Halloween celebration. In the book on Chapter 28, the schoolchildren are encouraged to dress up in the local agricultural produce of Maycomb for the Halloween night pageant rather than go trick or treating. Scout is dressed as a piece of ham. While traveling home after the pageant, Jem and Scout are attacked by somebody and rescued by Boo Radley. As we all now know, Bob Ewell is later found dead under a tree with a knife stuck in him. It is curious that the skeleton on the Halloween Card is also wearing agricultural produce. Is that a pumpkin I see? And that tree keeps reappearing. 

Was this card based on the Lake Berryessa attack, or could the Zodiac have been peeking out, playing hide and seek in the Julius Khan playground in the Presidio. I feel something in my bones. Anyway, here ends the story. The only question left to ask is, have I now created a second piece of fiction?

We have spent nearly fifty years studying the Zodiac Killer, delving into the mind of a murderer and attempting to unlock the driving force behind his reign of terror to uncover the reason behind the madness - and we are by no way short of ideas. As many observers have pointed out, our killer may have had a military connection, had theatrical links either professionally or personally, including an oriental link, born out by three references to the Mikado and the symbols portrayed on the Exorcist Letter, as well as an affinity towards movies and a penchant for the cryptic. However, on the flip side he portrayed an illiterate, egotist with a flair for a lack of subtlety, displayed in unstinting fashion in his 408 Cipher, in which he states candidly "to kill something gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl". The thing is, he may have been telling the truth, if the San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery was to be believed.

On October 18th 1969 he 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". How close this description is to reality is open to question, but it has some legs and is worth investigating. The Zodiac Killer addressed Paul Avery personally when he sent the Halloween Card on October 27th 1970 approximately one year after this article was written - and bearing in mind the killer's ability to reduce everything to base level and the aforementioned characteristics he displayed in his missives, this is how we shall approach this card.        

Two notable features of this card were the two skeletons, one of which had a pumpkin placed over the genital area. It was after all four days before Halloween, so the pumpkin and skeletons were not unusual - but why would the Zodiac Killer choose a pumpkin, of all the things he could have chosen, and in particular, place it in such a fashion. The Zodiac Killer also underlined the 'lav' in the misspelled reporter's name Paul Averly. These two features of the card, along with the phrase 'peek-a-boo', implied a suggestion of something hidden.
 
Some Zodiac researchers have explored the possibility the Zodiac was of English origin, on account of his word usage, such as 'shall', infrequently used in American English, but by the same token a word frequently used by thespians. Peek-a-boo  
is known as Peep-bo in British culture and is the act of concealing ones face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo or peep-bo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here. Whether or not it is a significant phrase by the Zodiac Killer is open to question, but Peep-Bo is a character that features during Act I of The Mikado.

The eyes peering from the tree, peek-a-boo and the hidden gender, may just have been the start of a form of 'toilet humor' backlash or closet acceptance that the Paul Avery reference to Zodiac possibly being a 'latent homosexual' had been officially noted. After all 'lav' is a colloquialism used in English speech for lavatory or 'water closet'. A 'closet homosexual' is used for people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity, and ties in nicely with the English phrase 'skeleton in the closet', coined in the 19th century, a colloquial phrase and idiom used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of the person.

​Falling back to the theatrical connection and The Mikado, 'Skeleton in the Closet' was a 1965 Japanese 'Pink Film', also called 'Secrets Behind the Wall'. A 'Pink Film' deals with Japanese theatrical films of nudity, almost exclusively shot on 35mm film - but in order to circumvent censorship restrictions, Japanese directors carefully positioned props over the actors private parts, although one doubts a pumpkin found its way on to set very often. Incidentally pumpkin seeds have long been used in parts of Asia for boosting sexual performance and prostate health.

The Zodiac Killer is indelibly linked to San Francisco. Most of his mailings were to the Chronicle, along with his final confirmed murder, a marked deviation from his previous attacks on lone couples across the bay. Paul Stine was believed to have picked up his final passenger from the theater district near the intersection of Mason and Geary Street, while some believe it may have been around the area of Nob Hill or the Tenderloin District.

San Francisco in the 1960s had overseen a marked change - the Castro District being one - having transformed from a working class area to a prominent symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements. After World War II many military personnel courted the area, unwilling to return to a life incompatible with homosexuality and other forms of behavior, and areas like the Tenderloin and Castro Street became the home to many gay bars and sex clubs. As early as 1963 Castro Street opened its first gay bar, the 'Missouri Mule'. One such person was gay activist and entertainer Jose Sarria, who himself had served in World War II, but continued to fight against police harassment against not only gay people, but gay establishments as a whole, having performed in the 'Black Cat Bar' at 710 Montgomery Street, a north-south thoroughfare. 

The idea of a hidden body was extensively used in the Gothic novels of the Victorian period. Edgar Allen Poe was best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, and one such example was this extract from 'The Black Cat' in 1845. "Gentlemen, I delight to have allayed your suspicions", and here, through the mere frenzy of bravado, I rapped heavily upon that very portion of the brick-work behind which stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom. The wall fell bodily. The corpse, already greatly decayed, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators". It has been suggested that the phrase 'skeleton in the closet' derives from the era of the notorious body snatchers, prior to 1832, when the UK's Anatomy Act allowed the more extensive use of corpses for medical research. The theory goes that, in a scenario similar to that of the concealment of Catholic priests in priest holes in domestic houses in Elizabethan England, doctors would conceal in cupboards the illegally held skeletons they used for teaching. Although there's no evidence at all to corroborate that theory. Concealed skeletons are occasionally found walled-up in houses, but they are usually those of unwanted infants. See here. 

In the early years of San Francisco it was against the law for men to dress up in women's clothing, but an exception was made for one night only on Halloween, a pagan celebration that would become the adopted day for gay celebrations. Sarria encouraged patrons to be as open and honest as possible, exhorting the clientele, "There's nothing wrong with being gay–the crime is getting caught," and "United we stand, divided they catch us one by one."  At closing time, he would lead patrons in singing "God Save Us Nelly Queens" to the tune of "God Save the Queen". Sometimes he would take the crowd outside to sing the final verse to the men across the street in jail, who had been arrested in raids earlier in the night. Raids on gay bars were routine, with everyone inside the raided bar taken into custody and charged with such crimes as being "inmates in a disorderly house". Although the charges were routinely dropped, the arrested patrons' names, addresses and workplaces were printed in the newspapers. When charges were not dropped, the arrested men usually quietly pleaded guilty. Sarria encouraged men to plead not guilty and demand a jury trial. Following Sarria's advice, more and more gay men began demanding jury trials, so many that court dockets were overloaded and judges began expecting that prosecutors have actual evidence against the accused before going to trial. One favored harassment technique, employed especially on Halloween after midnight, was to arrest drag queens under an old city ordinance that made it illegal for a man to dress in women's clothing with an "intent to deceive". In consultation with attorney Melvin Belli, Sarria countered this tactic by distributing labels to his fellow drag queens (hand-made, in the shape of a black cat's head)  that read "I am a boy". If confronted, the queen would simply display the tag to prove that there was no intent to deceive. Sarria's actions helped bring an end to Halloween police raids  Excerpt from Wikipedia.

The Zodiac Killer certainly seemed to have many things in common with San Francisco. Is it possible he was a 'latent homosexual' as described by Paul Avery, who harbored a resentment against police and officialdom, strikingly evident in his correspondence to the San Francisco Chronicle, not to mention his linkage to Melvin Belli through the 'Call to Chat Show' spectacle and the Dragon Card mailed on April 28th 1970 calling for people to wear his nice Zodiac buttons - possibly on their lapels, similar to the hand-made labels of protest above. And finally the Melvin Belli Letter mailed on the anniversary of Lake Herman Road, just before Christmas.  

Halloween in the Tenderloin grew in the early 1960s with the growing LGBT community and welcomed tourists – who many of the prostitutes and hustlers relied upon for income. By the late 1960s, a major celebration area during Halloween was along Grant Avenue in North Beach, on which there were many gay bars in the late 1960s between Broadway and Union. Excerpt from Wikipedia.

​Melvin Belli was a flamboyant showman and prominent attorney summoned to appear on the Jim Dunbar Chat Show supposedly by the Zodiac Killer, along with Francis Lee Bailey, well known for his involvement in the Patty Hearst SLA trial - something again the Zodiac seemed at pains to point out. Melvin Belli was famous for his use of 'Elmer' the skeleton, which he often used in his medical malpractice suits. After winning a court case, Belli would raise a Jolly Roger flag over his Montgomery Street office building in the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco (which Belli claimed had been a Gold Rush-era brothel) and fire a cannon, mounted on his office roof, to announce the victory and the impending party. See Wikipedia

The Dragon Card mentioned above contained these lines "If you dont want me to have this blast you must do two things. Tell everyone about the bus bomb with all the details. I would like to see some nice Zodiac buttons wandering about town. Everyone else has these buttons like, black power, melvin eats bluber, etc. Well it would cheer me up considerably if I saw a lot of people wearing my buton. Please no nasty ones like melvin's. Thank you". The card used was a Jolly Roger greetings card.- and we know that a Jolly Roger is a traditional English name used to refer to the flag depicting part of a skeleton and displayed on pirate ships. The links are there, but are they interconnected? Was the Halloween Card a form of base subtle humor, along with the Dragon Card that implied the Zodiac Killer did indeed harbor a deep felt resentment, against not only Paul Avery and the San Francisco Chronicle, but also the police in general - not only for the reasons we have become accustomed to, but for reasons far more personal to our killer, leaving us to wonder if the 'skeletons in the closet' may have been rattled loose just slightly and the 'mask' of the Zodiac Killer may one day fall to reveal his true identity.   

The Halloween Card was mailed on October 27th 1970, one month after of the first Lake Berryessa anniversary, and one cannot help thinking the Zodiac Killer may have delayed this correspondence a short time, with Halloween providing the perfect backdrop to 'commemorate' his attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on the shores of Lake Berryessa, bearing in mind that dressing up in costumes is central to the All Hallows Eve festivities. Before the attack on the couple, Cecelia Shepard noticed the eventual assailant conceal himself behind a tree, before approaching them bedecked in his executioner's costume. It has not gone unnoticed that the Halloween card parallels this to some extent, with eyes peering from the tree and the phrase 'peek-a-boo you are doomed' circled around a knothole in the tree, along with the mask on the skeleton. The author of the card accentuates the section 'ME' of 'DOOMED', lending weight to the thought he was indeed referring to himself as the eyes behind the tree.

The Lamplighters, hailed as one of the oldest company's in the Bay Area, specializing in Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, operated at the Harding Theater throughout the 1960s, and were performing the Mikado in San Francisco in 1969, opening on April 20th. This connection is nothing new, with many speculating the Zodiac Killer could have been a cast member or had viewed the production, prior to his version, when he tabled in the 'Little List' letter on July 26th 1970. But it is equally likely he may have been a theater technician, employed in the area of stage management, lighting, electrics or quite possibly wardrobe, trained in costume design, as a tailor or more specifically wardrobe crafts involving masks and disguises.

In two other correspondences mailed by the Zodiac Killer he referenced three portions of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. In the 'Little List' letter mailed on July 26th 1970 he paraphrases 'A more humane Mikado' and 'As some day it may happen'. On the Exorcist letter mailed on January 29th 1974 he refers to 'On a tree by a river', in what many believe to be the Zodiac Killer's final offering. But there could be a fourth reference to the Mikado production and we need look no further than the Halloween card itself, with two possibilities.
​
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. Taken from Wikipedia. This drew its inspiration from the the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, however, it may be pushing the boat out a little farther than necessary to suggest the Zodiac Killer was either aware, or in any way influenced by this promotion.

One thing evident throughout his correspondence, was his use of the word 'shall', leading to speculation that he may have been of British origin, as the word 'shall' is infrequently used in American English. However, another option exists. As a member of theater production, his exposure to the word 'shall' would have been far more common in the performance of stage plays, particularly in traditional works of English origin, yet he would seek maximum impact when he took it to the next level and started crafting his own scripts.

Peek-a-boo is known as Peep-bo in British culture, being the act of concealing one's face behind the hands or other object, before suddenly appearing back into view and uttering the words peek-a-boo or peep-bo. It can be seen in Wikipedia that many variations involve trees, similar to the depiction on the Halloween card, where 'Hiding behind that tree' is added. See here. Whether or not this a significant phrase to the Zodiac Killer is open to question, but Peep-Bo is a character that features during Act I of the Mikado. Peep-bo can also be reversed to Bo-peep, believed to originate from the 16th century practice of concealment, before reappearing to startle or surprise. See here.   

Little Bo Peep is a popular English nursery rhyme 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), but little evidence that the rhyme existed. 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. 

​The phrase "to play bo peep" was in use from the 14th century to refer to the punishment of being stood in a pillory. For example, in 1364, an ale-wife, Alice Causton, was convicted of giving short measure, for which crime she had to "play bo pepe thorowe a pillery". Andrew Boorde uses the same phrase in 1542, "And evyll bakers, the which doth nat make good breade of whete, but wyl myngle other corne with whete, or do nat order and seson hit, gyving good wegght, I would they myghte play bo pepe throwe a pyllery". Taken from Wikipedia.

Little Bo Peep was a shepherdess, who lost her sheep and went in search to find them. The connection of shepherd to the Lake Berryessa attack via this route would be one hell of a stretch, however, the connection to the theater, with an English slant, still remains an avenue for investigation.

It has often been theorized that the 340 cipher may have inspired the design of later communications, but equally, as time went by the Zodiac Killer dismayed that nobody was able to crack his masterpiece, may have dropped clues or keys in his subsequent cards and letters, particularly the latter ones as he became more desperate to push people in the right direction. An interesting article on Jos Kirps's Popular Science and Technology Blog, indicated some extremely close connections, that suggested the Halloween card mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 may have been the Zodiac Killer's biggest clue to date.

He observed that on the Halloween card the Zodiac Killer had added the phrases By Fire, By Gun, By Knife and By Rope in four quadrants around the intersecting Paradice and Slaves, which may bear some relation to the unsolved 340 cipher. The word "By" was also present in the four quadrants of the 340 cipher, all running horizontally. If that was not curious enough, he noticed the possibility that the word Paradice ran down the center of the 340 cipher, and the word Slaves  across its midsection, on the 10th row. In the following section we shall use this as our starting point and attempt to find some more connections to the Halloween card.

We shall add the words  Fire, Knife and Rope underneath the words "By" on the 340 cipher (By Gun runs upwards to remain in its respective quadrant). On the Halloween card the Zodiac Killer placed Fire, Gun and Rope next to the letter B of "By". But the word Knife is placed next to the letter Y of "By" (as it runs vertically). In the diagram below Fire, Gun, Knife and Rope have been colored in.

If you take a look at the word Knife and Rope, the letter E on both would fall over a > symbol on the 340 cipher. The letter E in the word Slaves would fall over a < symbol. The E in the vertical word Paradice would fall over a < symbol as well.

Therefore out of the five E's on the Halloween card, four would fall over a directional symbol, either < or > (Fire would not). If we transposed this E onto the fourth symbol on the top row of the 340 cipher, the word Here is formed.
This would now connect five directional symbols to the letter E. In the above examples, three E's are represented by > symbol and two E's are represented by < symbol. But it would be nice to have five the same.

The Halloween card has many interesting features, but in terms of focusing in on individual alphabetical letters, the Zodiac Killer does two things. He mirrors the letter N in By Knife and underlines LAV in Paul Averly on the envelope. If we then produce a mirror image of all the symbols on the 17th line of the 340 cipher (to correct the reversed N in Knife), the < (E) of Paradice becomes >. If we take a mirror image of all the characters on the 10th line of the 340 cipher, including Slaves (LAV), the < (E) of Slaves becomes >. Therefore all five E's would now be represented by the symbol >.

Nancy Patricia Gidley (24) was last seen alive on Thursday, July 12th 1973 leaving the Rodeway Inn at 895 Geary Street in San Francisco, forever synonymous with the area that Paul Stine collected his final taxicab passenger, before being callously gunned down in the Presidio Heights district, almost four years earlier on October 11th 1969. Her body was found on Sunday, July 15th 1973, nude and strangled in the grounds of George Washington High School in the Richmond area, although it was believed she was murdered elsewhere. Formerly stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base for four years, until the early months of 1972, Miss Gidley an X-ray technician, arrived in San Francisco in mysterious circumstances, supposedly invited to be the maid of honor at a wedding, which apparently nobody was able to verify. Before leaving her home in Idaho, she also told close friends her intention to work as a freelance writer at the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, but staff at the Chronicle, again, had never heard of her.  
 
This murder was only the tip of the iceberg, that began 47 days earlier, when the body of Rosa Vasquez (20) was discovered close to the Arguello Boulevard entrance to the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. Almost three years earlier, Donna Ann Lass disappeared from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970 after finishing her shift as a nurse. A few months earlier in June she had moved to South Lake Tahoe from San Francisco, where she had previously been employed as a nurse at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, near the Paul Stine murder scene. Curiously, Rosa Vasquez was also employed at the Letterman General Hospital as a keypunch operator. A keypunch is a device for delivering punch holes at specific locations on a card face, to carry information for a relevant task. This was apparent on two cards possibly mailed by the Zodiac Killer, when the 13-Hole postcard was received on October 5th 1970, along with the Pines card on March 22nd 1971, albeit prior to the murder of Rosa Vasquez. She had been a resident of 834 Bush Street, close to the collective of the Good Times newspaper at 2377 Bush Street, where Zodiac suspect Richard Gaikowski worked as an editor for the publication (although the Good Times had produced its last offering by the turn of 1973).

Twelve days later, a pregnant Yvonne Quilantang (15) from Delta Street in Visitacion Valley, San Francisco was found strangled in a Bayview district vacant lot on June 12th 1973. She had been out to buy groceries.

Finally, Angela Thomas (16), a resident of Belton, Texas had traveled to San Francisco for brief stay. After a day out in Hayward she visited friends in the Presidio district of San Francisco, but neither of her friends were home at the time and she was last seen walking away from the area at 9:00 pm on Sunday, July 1st 1973. She was found naked and smothered the following day in the grounds of the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School. 

All four had a military connection, a trait often associated with the Zodiac Killer due to a number of factors, which included the Wing Walker footprint impressions taken from the Lake Berryessa crime scene, the Riverside alleyway heel print at the site of Cheri Jo Bates' murder and the possible links to the Vandenberg Air Force Base, due to the lot number of the unspent ammunition at the scene of the Domingos/Edwards murders in 1963.

Nancy Gidley was stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, Marin County. Rosa Vasquez was a keypunch operator at Letterman Army Hospital. The father of Angela Thomas was an army sergeant, previously based at the Presidio. And finally, Yvonne Quilantang was having a relationship with a soldier from Missouri (albeit not a strong connection). There is no evidence to suggest that any of these four victims were Zodiac crimes, although there is reason enough to consider these four murders may have been committed by a single perpetrator, due to numerous similarities and occurring within such a short time frame. 

Some researchers believe that Lawrence Kane and the Zodiac Killer may be one and the same, trailing Donna Lass from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe, having lived at 217 Eddy Street, close to Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco at the time of the Paul Stine murder. Latterly, working near the workstation of Donna Lass at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel according to former law enforcement officer Harvey Hines. Is it possible he returned in 1973?. Both Donna Lass and Rosa Vasquez murdered, having worked at the same hospital, inside of three years seems unusual, albeit probably coincidental. The identity of the Zodiac Killer may never be known, but did he continue his reign of terror beyond the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969?  

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, was a hugely successful book published on July 11th 1960 and later adapted into a motion picture starring Gregory Peck two years later, portraying racial injustice and the innocence of youth from the backdrop of the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. This next section is not inferring the Zodiac drew any inspiration from this novel, however, it will outline some unusual coincidences between this work of fiction and two greeting cards mailed by the Zodiac, notably the October 27th 1970 'Halloween' card and the December 1990 'Eureka' or 'American Greetings' card.

​Kevin Robert Brooks noticed that the Asian characters at the foot of the 'Exorcist' letter could be rearranged to spell the words, 'To Kill'. These are obviously the first two words of this novel, but the 'Exorcist' letter also contained an extract from The Mikado about a bird, taken from Act II On a tree by a river- a little tom-tit in this case. 

To Kill a Mockingbird was widely used as an educational tool in many schools, in which one of the central characters was "Boo" Radley, a reclusive resident of Maycomb, who generated a constant source of suspicion and mystery from the local townsfolk, despite his later acts of disguised benevolence. Note BOO on the 'Halloween' card. He went by the name Boo Radley, but curiously his first name was Arthur. 

The alphabetical letters LAV letters are present together in the horizontal word SLAVES on the back of the card and underlined in the name Paul Averly on the envelope, but note the three letters at the intersection of the crossed PARADICE and SLAVES running vertically - they spell RAD,
The incorrect spelling of Paul Avery to Averly points towards LEY, to complete the character BOO RADLEY.

In the novel, a local resident by the name of Stephanie Crawford reported she was woken up one night and saw Boo Radley "looking straight through the window at her..... said his head was like a skull lookin' at her". On the tree around the knothole there are the words PEEK A BOO YOU ARE DOOMED.

The musical score to the original motion picture was composed by Elmer Bernstein. Three of the soundtracks are Creepy Caper/Peek-a-Boo, Boo Who and Tree Treasure. In the book, Tree Treasure was a hiding place in the knothole of a tree, where several items were found including a broken pocket watch, an aluminium knife and a ball of twine. These were placed there by Boo Radley for two local kids, Scout and Jem, to discover. The knothole in the tree represented Boo Radley's outlet to the world, and soon the children were to realize that Boo Radley was far from the monster he had been depicted. All the items he placed at intervals in the knothole came in pairs, except the twine - there were two packets of chewing gum, two polished coins, two miniatures of children, and the most interesting of all, was a knife and pocket watch, both on the same chain. Presumably two items, so Jem and Scout could have one each. The 'Eureka' card or 'American Greetings' card, mailed by the Zodiac Killer in 1990, was very similar to the 'Halloween' card in its design, both beginning with the phrase "From your secret pal". The 'Eureka' card included a photocopy, of not one, but a pair of keys on a chain. But who was the "secret pal" - the Zodiac Killer or Boo Radley?

​Incidentally, Scout and Jem build a snowman in the the Harper Lee novel, made initially from mud, but then layered with snow- a theme many believe is reflective of the racial overtones contained within the story. A snowman was depicted on the 'Eureka' card, with what appeared to be Groucho Marx imagery on the face. Jem and Scout created this snowman because of their dislike of a local resident down the street, much to the annoyance of their father Atticus Finch, who told the children to disguise it because it so resembled the local resident they were poking fun at. Their solution was to place Miss Maudie Atkinson's hat on it (she lived across the street from Atticus Finch and his family). The resident they so disliked was called MR AVERY- now that is a coincidence- along with release date of the film: December 25th 1962, in Los Angeles, California. Happy Holidays.

Astrology and the Zodiac Killer has been widely discussed regarding the Bay Area murders and the communications he mailed to the newspapers. Here we will concentrate on the 13 moon calendar, based upon a cycle of 4 weeks, forming a 28 day cycle (it takes 28 days for the moon to orbit the earth) over 13 moon phases, amounting to 364 days - the 365th day referred to as 'the day out of time,' and serves as a public holiday in some countries. But what has this got to do with the Zodiac Killer? It is believed by some that the Zodiac Killer committed his crimes on a full or new moon, but this was not the case. For example, the Blue Rock Springs Park attack on July 4th or 5th 1969 (as it occurred close to midnight) were neither a full moon or a new moon - only a waning gibbous moon. However, something does correlate with all four confirmed Zodiac attacks, in that they all occurred on DALI days. In other words, the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd day of each moon cycle. Therefore, the first day of each week of the 28 day cycle, represented by the Dali crosshairs symbol. Visit here for calendar and explanation. Leave this new window open on the calendar, to enter the relevant dates. There are 7 symbols of Dali, Seli, Gamma, Kali, Alpha, Limi and Silio representing each day of one week.

If we now place the Zodiac crimes into place, beginning with the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968, which is 12/20, this falls on the first day of the week on the Dali line in position 8 of the Rythmic Moon. The Blue Rock Springs attack on July 4th 1969, which is 7/4, falls on the first day of the week on the Dali line in position 8 of the Cosmic Moon. The Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969, which is 9/27, falls on the first day of the week on the Dali line in position 8 of the Electric Moon (remember the three circled 8's of the 'My name is' letter). Finally, the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, which is 10/11, and falls for the fourth time on the first day of a week on the Dali line in position 22 of the Electric Moon. For confirmation of the above, visit Spacestation Plaza and enter in all four complete dates, including the year, under where it says 13 Moon Natural Time Calendar. It can be seen that all the four confirmed Zodiac attacks occur at the beginning of the week on the 13 moon calendar, which if my mathematics are correct, produces odds of 2401 to 1. 

Continuing this observation, to rule in or out any of the other touted Zodiac crimes, suggests that the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns, and the Cheri Jo Bates, Betsy Aardsma and Domingos/Edwards murders would all be ruled out on this basis. However, the Donna Ann Lass disappearance on September 6th 1970 and the Hood/Garcia murders would still remain a possibility. ​The disappearance and eventual murder of Judith Hakari on March 7th 1970, and the Sleeping Bag Murders sometime on the night of July 4th 1970. both fall on the first day of the week in the 13 moon calendar and would also be ruled in

In total, this would make 11 murders (8 attacks), that all fall on the first day of the 13 moon calendar week, represented by the Dali symbol. If we expand the search field to other potential Zodiac victims (detailed below), one can see the correlation of the data, with all the victims from December 20th 1968 to November 15th 1970 (just a 2-year period) being murdered on the first day of the 13 moon calendar, and all on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, possibly when the killer had finished his working week.  This is either a highly credible argument or one hell of a statistical coincidence. 

Kevin Robert Brooks has done extensive research into the Zodiac case and firmly believes he has identified the notorious serial killer as Donald Lee Bujok, with numerous interesting 'coincidences' between Bujok's life and the Zodiac letters. But here we will concentrate on his findings regarding the Halloween card, mailed on October 27th 1970 to Paul Avery, a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Firstly, Donald Lee Bujok had a military background, serving with the Sixth Infantry Division for approximately eight months in 1954. The 6th Infantry Division of the United States Army was active in World War I, World War II, and the last years of the Cold War. Known as "Red Star" - and formerly called the Sight Seein' Sixth - the 6th Division was reactivated on the 4th October 1950 at Fort Ord, California. There the division remained throughout the Korean War, training troops and providing personnel for combat, but was never deployed overseas as an entity itself and was again inactivated on the 3rd April 1956.
While stationed there, Bujok would have come across the California Veterans Association symbol which looks very similar to the symbol the Zodiac placed on the upper left of the envelope and at the foot of the card once opened (seen here below left).

Kevin Brooks draws your attention to the symbol at the bottom of the Halloween card , believing the lined section with four dots to stand for ZV4F, decoded to: Zodiac is a veteran with 4F, regarding the medical grounds to which Donald Lee Bujok was released from the army. The medical release records indicated issues of mental health, to which Bujok suffered throughout his life. Classifications are detailed in Wikipedia: "Registrant not acceptable for military service. To be eligible for Class 4-F, a registrant must have been found not qualified for service in the Armed Forces by a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) under the established physical, mental, or moral standards. The standards of physical fitness that would be used in a future draft would come from AR 40-501", Wikipedia.  Also, the familiar Zodiac crosshair symbol could be found at the garrison during the time Bujok was stationed there (see below right). It marked the spot for a helicopter landing pad - from where he drew the inspiration for the crosshairs that he used in later Zodiac correspondence.

The skeleton's position within the card was possibly portraying memories of his time in prison, in which prisoners were hung by their wrists to the cell bars as a form of punishment - and similar to how Paul Stine's body was discovered in the taxicab at the Presidio Heights murder scene. A prison disturbance (Jerry's Riot) broke out at Old Montana State Prison in 1959, detailed in an excellent book by Kevin S. Giles. In it he described the punishment meted out by prison guards at the jail, of  "a cruelty that included extortion and beatings, that included blackjacks and iron pipes. Parolees came forward with tales of some convicts being tear gassed in their cells. Others hung Christ like from the bars in the hole, where handcuffs chaffed their wrists until they bled. In this dungeon men lived round the clock on bread and water diets. Stories got out that in some cases they got a surprise meal of pork, purposefully soaked in salt. Thirsty men cried out for more than two cups of tepid water that was allowed to them". On July 26th 1970, the Zodiac Killer would mail the Little List letter, in which he described what he would like to do to his slaves in the afterlife: "Others shall be placed in cages + fed salt beef untill they are gorged then I shall listen to their pleass for water and I shall laugh at them".  Were these images from Old Montana Prison seared into the mind of Donald Lee Bujok, just like the following phrases on the Halloween card. 

"An inmate who particularly stands out in my mind was the man who killed a deputy sheriff. When the posse found him hiding out in an outhouse, he told them "You can't convict me because I swallowed the evidence." He had swallowed the bullets. This demented individual showed an overwhelmingly interest in science fiction and Egyptian literature. He believed that anyone he killed would be his slave in the next life. He was generally disliked and distrusted by the other inmates. I personally felt that he was one of the most deranged and potentially dangerous persons in the prison. You never knew when he was going to erupt. ​Unfortunately, this inmate idolized me, for the simple reason that I had earned the respect of the population- something, deep down, he desperately wanted to do. He had an uncanny knack for making your skin crawl. Today, when I think about all the different types I met in that excuse for a penitentiary, this man remains my most uncomfortable memory".   PDF page 230     
This is possibly where the inception of the Zodiac Killer, along with his inspiration gathered momentum, eventually to be realized during later communications, such as the 408 cipher mailed on July 31st 1969 and Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970.

Finally, photographs of Donald Lee Bujok wearing military issue glasses, which he often wore in later life, bear an uncanny resemblance to the famous Zodiac composite sketch. For the full analysis of Kevin Robert Brooks interpretation and theories on why Donald Lee Bujok is a firm candidate for the Zodiac attacks, please visit here: He is now waiting on news from the FBI and Napa County for the results regarding the evidence he has submitted, to hopefully discover if his prime suspect matches the DNA and fingerprints held in storage in the Zodiac case files.