The nude and beaten body of a young woman ("Winona" or "Ronnie" Davis) was found on an Isla Vista beach, adjacent to the University of California at Santa Barbara on January 18th 1971 with a cut on her head and a badly mutilated face, which had been covered with a coat. Just under a year previous, on February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) had been stabbed and badly beaten on Cemetery Beach just 11 miles east of this location. Sandra Garcia was viciously beaten around the head leaving her almost unrecognizable, and a blanket had been placed over her face and body, and that of her partner. 

Four months after the Isla Vista murder, on May 10th 1971, Karen Ann Signore (21), a recent student at the University of California at Santa Barbara, was hitchhiking along Sycamore Canyon Road by Coyote Road when she was shot eight times by either a .22 rifle or gun. Stll alive when spotted by a passing motorist at 10pm, she was rushed to hospital but died on the operating table. Karen was shot just 2 miles north (by crow) from the Santa Barbara beach where Hood and Garcia were murdered.

John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia have been loosely connected to the Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) murders on June 4th 1963 at Canada Del Molino beach, 29 miles west of Cemetery Beach.

Like the murder of the Isla Vista female, Linda Edwards was also exposed, because her bathing suit had been cut to reveal her breasts. There were also reports that a towel had been placed over Linda's face, similar in fashion to the covering of the face with a coat, performed by the Isla Vista murderer. The face and bodies of Hood and Garcia had also been covered with a blanket. Three deadly attacks on a Santa Barbara beach within 29 miles of each other, and all the victims may have had their faces covered. Linda had been shot 8 times with a .22 caliber weapon, exactly the same caliber and times suffered by Karen Ann Signore on Sycamore Canyon Road. A further interesting aspect to the shooting murder of.Karen Ann Signore, was that her near lifeless body was found in an area occupied by a "lot of hippie types" with lean-to's and shacks. Linda Edwards was dragged (along with Robert Domingos) to a dilapidated shack used by transients, located near the beach.   

There were at least two reports of gunfire on June 2nd 1963, either side of the area where Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards were eventually murdered on June 4th 1963. Eleven teenagers in total reported two bullets whizzing past them as they were standing by their vehicles in a remote area of Gaviota State Park. They had been surfing at the beach that day. They reported that the shooting took place at around mid-afternoon. In another incident seven miles east, three teenagers camping at Tajiguas Creek reported hearing gunshots coming from the beach, just south of their location. The time was given as daybreak. Both sets of earwitnesses descrbed what they thought was the sound of a .22 gun. Four days before the murder of Karen Ann Signore with a .22 weapon, on May 6th 1971, less than one mile from where she was shot, a sniping incident was investigated by Detective William Baker. He said two officers in their patrol car were shot at as they drove along Sycamore Canyon Road.

Joseph Stephen Holt, born on November 8th 1947, would graduate from the Cupertino High School and study political science at the University of California at Santa Barbara, before studying later at UC Berkeley, receiving a bachelor's degree. Joseph Stephen Holt, who murdered Brynn Tainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Andersen (16) in 1979, and is the prime suspect for the murder of Donna Lass (25) in 1970, would have been 23 years old at the time of the Isla Vista murder on January 18th 1971, next to the University of California at Santa Barbara. ​Karen Ann Signore was also a recent student there.

​Putting ​Joseph Stephen Holt aside for any of the Santa Barbara murders, because he is an unlikely candidate, we have five murders on a Santa Barbara beach from 1963 to 1971, with the possibility that all the victims faces were concealed. Robert Domingos was found face down in the shack, with Linda Edwards placed face up on top of him, with possibly a towel over her face. John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were covered with a blanket (John face down, Sandra face up), and the Isla Vista female had her face covered with a coat..The murderer of Sandra Garcia and the Isla Vista female, separated by 11 months, had their faces seriously disfigured. Karen Ann Signore, was murdered four months after the Isla Vista victim, 2 miles north of the Hood and Garcia killings.   

One of the curious aspects of the John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia murders on a Santa Barbara beach on February 21st 1970 was the foldable bone-handled fish knife (with saw blade) found buried in the sand approximately one foot from the bodies. After reading through scores of newspaper articles it is still unclear whether investigators considered this the murder weapon. If they were going to hold back information to the public so that any future confession to the crime could be verified, it almost certainly would be the description of the knife and/or the location it was found, rather than whether it was the murder weapon.

However, investigators described the knife in great detail and exactly where it was found, but failed to reveal whether the knife blade was open and ready for use. It was also confounding why a killer would bury the murder weapon in the sand so close to the victims where it could easily be unearthed by responding officers. Any weapon being used on the victims would have been smeared in blood, which even if wiped down at the scene in darkness, would almost certainly have failed to remove all traces of the victims blood. The easiest option of throwing it into the sea would have been the sensible choice for somebody wanting to quickly separate themself from the murder weapon, but apparently this choice was not taken. Very little of this story makes sense, until we re-evaluate the crime scene from a more logical perspective. 

​It is highly unlikely that John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on an isolated stretch of beach at the exact location a knife had previously been buried in the sand. Therefore, it's logical to conclude it was part of the crime. But if investigators were still unsure whether it was the murder weapon months after the attack (which should have been obvious), then it probably wasn't the knife that killed either John or Sandra. That knife was probably taken from the crime scene by his accomplice.

​The newspaper reports of a knife found buried in the sand sounds like a wilful act on behalf of its owner, but the word "buried" is likely misleading and could simply mean "covered in sand". Imagine for a moment we have a vigorous struggle between two assailants with knives and our two victims, but one of the attackers drops his knife into the sand during the initial struggle, which is disturbed enough by the action of shifting feet (or trodden on) to inadvertently cover it over. In this instance it is easy to see how a clean knife can be "buried" in the sand" absent of any blood, that investigators later had difficulty attaching to the murders. That's because it may not have been the knife that killed anybody - it was a second knife carried by a second assailant, who failed to use it in the attack. This may explain why the couple were beaten and stabbed. Once the second perpetrator lost his knife he likely resorted to using his fists. It is equally possible that the knife fell out of his pocket during an initial struggle (or fight) with the victims, before any knives were to be deployed  After the murders of John and Sandra, any attempt to find his knife could have been brief and unsuccessful in near complete darkness. The frenzied and dynamic attack could easily have encompassed a considerable area of the beach (away from the blanket where the couple initially lay), so it's easy to see how a knife could be difficult to find after a limited search. Or he never even realised it had fell from his pocket because he was the one perpetrator of two who chose not to use it during the attack. The knife being lost by an attacker at the scene of the murders, as opposed to being deliberately buried, makes far more sense after re-examining what was reported in the newspapers. 

This brings into focus the reports of two young men washing wounds at a service station in the area at approximately 1am on Sunday 22nd 1970, alleged to have been received during a fight at the beach. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that these wounds could have been acquired through stabbing and punching somebody, but this would have likely placed John and Sandra at "Cemetery Beach" in the hour preceding midnight or just beyond, had these young men been related to the murders.  

The other unusual feature of the double murder was the covering of the bodies with a blanket, that doesn't necessarily indicate that the victims were known to the killer/s. Sometimes a killer will cover the face of a victim in a process called "psychological undoing", that can occur during a frenzied attack. It is a defense mechanism in which a person attempts to atone or erase some negative action. Despite the brutality of the crime inflicted upon John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia, one of the perpetrators (or sole killer) may have had a difficult time looking at the faces of the victims, so the blanket of John and Sandra was used to cover their bodies while the killer/s contemplated their next move. Other than this, there was no other benefit that could possibly be achieved by the covering of two bodies lying on a beach in almost total darkness. Maybe the killers covered the bodies while searching in the sand for the lost knife.

​This has been mentioned in the case of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards who were murdered in 1963 thirty miles west of "Cemetery Beach", where some accounts claim that a towel was placed over Linda's face while she was positioned in the shack. The process of covering a victim's face is not common, but it's certainly well documented in many crimes.   

THE CEMETERY BEACH MURDERS OF 1970 (PT1)

On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam with the 64th Armoured Division, discharged with the rank of staff sergeant in January after winning the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart, and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit a stretch of beach overlooked by Santa Barbara Cemetery at 901 Channel Drive, located at the eastern tip of East Cabrillo Boulevard. About one mile west of the graveyard was the Santa Barbara Inn, and approximately 0.45 miles west at 625 Por La Mar, close to Ninos Drive, construction work had just got underway on the plush Park Cabrillo Apartments, with 312 units being built during the first phase. 

Having visited this area previously, John Franklin Hood, after finishing work at the Wimpy's Drive-In on Saturday, left his parents home at 460 Helsam Avenue in Oxnard to visit his girlfriend Sandra, who lived with her parents at 3088 Calle Pinon in Santa Barbara, where they were last seen leaving for the beach at 6pm. The journey from here was a leisurely 12-15 minute drive to East Beach where they parked their vehicle at a beachfront parking lot.

​I have yet to find the precise location where they parked but it was probably the one closest to their ultimate destination at "Cemetery Beach", which was located just under half a mile east of their vehicle. If they had traveled directly to the parking lot they would have arrived at approximately 6:15pm, with a casual stroll to "Cemetery Beach" placing them there at 6:30pm to 6:35pm, or thereabouts. On February 21st 1970 sunset was 5:47pm, so it was already dark when they began their journey eastwards along the beach. However, it was a full moon that evening, so there would have been limited illumination of 0.1 lux. At the point they reached "Cemetery Beach" the couple would have been 330 meters from East Cabrillo Boulevard, which lay to the north beyond the graveyard. Below is a map depicting the relevant locations. 

At a time yet to be confirmed (but likely between 6:35pm and midnight) the couple were brutally stabbed and beaten (possibly by a fist or blunt instrument).by one or more assailants. John Franklin Hood suffered eleven knife wounds with the majority inflicted to his face and back, whereas Sandra Garcia received the brunt of the vicious attack leaving her almost unrecognizable in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. Robbery was effectively ruled out because John's wallet was still on his person and Sandra's pocketbook was left untouched. Their bodies - Hood in Levi's and a T-shirt, and Garcia in Levi's and a blouse - were discovered the following morning by beachgoers under a green blanket, Sandra was lying face up, with John lying face down in the sand.

​Investigators found a four-inch bone-handled fish knife (with a saw blade and regular blade) buried in the sand about one foot from their bodies that they initially concluded must have played a part in the crime, but according to later newspaper reports uncertainty remained if it had any connection to the murders. It really shouldn't have been that difficult to test the knife for blood and answer this question, so I suspect this must have been established at some point in the future. It would have been an unusual coincidence had it been unrelated to the stabbings, although why would a murderer bury the murder weapon within one foot of the bodies rather than just tossing it into the ocean. Investigators stated "We don't know whose it is, but we know it didn't belong to the victims". On February 24th 1970 a newspaper headline entitled "Knife Linked To Murders" appeared to suggest we had clarity regarding the weapon used in the murders, despite immediately following this up with "a four inch blade apparently was the weapon used". This less than decisive language creates more questions than answers - so what happened to John and Sandra that evening or night? 

​The three likeliest possibilities are that John parked his vehicle in the parking lot and the couple were followed by an unknown number of individuals to "Cemetery Beach" and attacked, The second possibility is that their killer or killers just stumbled across them as they lay on the beach in the darkness. Or they inadvertently walked into an area where one or several undesirables were hanging around..The Santa Barbara Cemetery is shielded by steep cliffs from the beacfront except for its western edge, so if the topography was similar in 1970 it is likely the person/s arrived at the location of the murders from either the east or west.

Progress in solving this crime has been extremely limited and little to nothing about these murders has featured in the newspapers in the subsequent 54 years as of 2024. Almost immediately after the attack Detective Commander George told of reports from a nearby service station at approximately 1am on Sunday 22nd 1970 that two young men were seen washing wounds claimed to have been received from a fight at the beach, stating on February 24th 1970 that the individuals may have no connection to the murders, despite their desire to follow up on every clue, no matter how small. It is an obvious statement routinely trotted out by law enforcement, but the bottom line is that these two men may have had something to do with the murders, so this should have been the approach adopted with respect to these individuals until ruled out, not the contrary stance.

​With no subsequent information available regarding this sighting it is reasonable to conclude these two youths were never found. Anybody tending wounds to their person in close proximity to a beach where two vicious murders had recently occurred, where the victims were brutally stabbed and beaten to death, should have been given high priority. John Franklin Hood was clearly a man who knew how to handle himself, so it's very likely it required two people to overpower the young couple. Investigators attempted to trace the movements of the slain couple before they went to the beach, but with Sandra telling her parents at 6pm they would be back soon, where would they have possibly gone, bearing in mind the beach was already shrouded in darkness before they left 3088 Calle Pinon in Santa Barbara? With no reported sightings from establishments in close proximity to the beach, it could be considered likely that they headed straight to "Cemetery Beach" with no detours. 

One unusual aspect of the crime was the green blanket devoid of any knife marks. After the killer or killers had beaten and stabbed their victims numerous times in what must have been a dynamic attack, why did they deem it necessary to place the victims alongside each other on the beach and cover them up with the couple's blanket? If they were unknown to the victims what purpose could this possibly serve in near complete darkness? Then, inexplicably, choose to bury the murder weapon next to the victims (assuming this knife was the one used in the attack}. The chances of the couple remaining perfectly aligned on the beach after such a brutal attack, in which John and Sandra must have fought vigorously for their lives, so that the perpetrator/s could neatly place a blanket on top of them requiring no movement of the bodies, I suspect is highly unlikely. Therefore, after the murders, this would have required the deliberate action of relocating the bodies before covering them up. Sandra Garcia was found face up, with John face down, just like the position of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards after their bodies were relocated and placed inside the shack in 1963, thirty miles west of this crime. For those people who consider the Gaviota Beach murders to be the signature of the Zodiac Killer, cannot fail to notice that this crime has equal, if not more relevance to the Lake Berryessa attack, with the "Cemetery Beach" murders occurring within the Zodiac timeline, in which the Bay Area murderer still sought victims nine and ten on December 20th 1969 , and then confirmed his ten victims on April 20th 1970, either side of this double murder. I don't believe the Gaviota or East Beach attacks were the work of the Zodiac Killer, but I don't understand why one can be accepted without the other, 

Hope for a resolution in the Zodiac case was buoyed by the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo in 2018 through the use of genetic genealogy. The identification of the Golden State Killer gave hope to an ailing Zodiac investigation where many communications had the possibility of being tested and any DNA retrieved used to identify the family tree of our killer.

If the Hood and Garcia murders were ever linked to the Zodiac Killer, it would be strange quirk of fate that Robert Offerman and Debra Manning, a couple murdered by ​Joseph James DeAngelo in Goleta in 1979, would be buried in Santa Barbara Cemetery just a few hundred feet from the location where John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia lost their lives to the Zodiac Killer nine years earlier. However, that is a big if.

​The Santa Barbara Cemetery is the resting place of many Hollywood stars, that unfortunately became the silent witness to the tragic final act of a young couple on February 21st 1970, whose lives may have ended, but whose story shouldn't be forgotten.  

THE CEMETERY BEACH MURDERS OF 1970 (PT2)

Here are seven in depth articles examining the murders of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards. The Ballistics. The Shack. The Rope. The Beach. The Ammo. Pistol or Rifle? The Final Analysis. ​

Geographic profiling ia an invaluable tool for mapping the probable location where an offender most likely lives. This offender, like all of us, has areas of familiarity with respect to their profession and personal life that governs one's comfort zone, and therefore the commuter routes they opt for. These are factored into their way of thinking when considering any crimes that are to be committed or the areas where an offender may conceal a body. There is a delicate balance to be struck between the least effort principle (expenditure of the least amount of effort to accomplish a task) and the buffer zone (where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their home). In other words, they don't want to focus the attention around the place they live, but may equally not want to expend the effort in traveling a great distance, thereby creating a mental map of a target zone - usually somewhere with which they have a familiarity. Of course, factors such as their working week will affect the distance they are prepared to travel on any given day.

​This mental map was considered in the article Seventy One Days of Terror from October 11th 1969 to December 20th 1969, analyzing confirmed and unconfirmed letters, phone calls, murders and proposed murders during this time period. It became apparent that the locations targeted during this period, that included Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose, all have Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 running directly through them. This may give us a clue to the areas where the Zodiac Killer was most comfortable. If he frequented these areas regularly in his profession, then this could very well influence the newspapers he read and the stories he became interested in. The case of murder victim Reet Jurvetson in a previous article, another example of a crime conforming to the above criteria. He may not have murdered this young woman, but was familiar with the area in which she was murdered, which ultimately governed his decision to choose her as victim number eight - allied to his new found fascination of knife crime. She too was brutally stabbed 157 times and unceremoniously dumped down a ravine off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Her body was discovered just 2 miles from U.S. Route 101.           

When the Zodiac Killer failed to acquire the "front page coverage" he craved, he may have drew inspiration from the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed and murdered on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose. They each had suffered in excess of 100 knife wounds that can only be described as savagery. In less than two months he would arrive on the shores of Lake Berryessa armed with a 12-inch bayonet. The killer wrote on the car door of victim Bryan Hartnell "by knife". On November 8th 1969, he claimed his involvement in the Snoozy-Furlong murders by the addition of "Aug" on the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card, followed by the November 21st 1969 San Jose letter possibly suggesting that Reet Jurvetson was another one of his knife victims. Then came the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" mailed from Fairfield on December 16th 1969, followed by the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969, stating he was losing control and looking for victims nine and ten.  

On April 20th 1970 he was claiming a victim count of ten - so if we are to determine the murder victims or proclaimed murder victims of the Zodiac Killer, then we must take all of the above into account. Based on three of the four attacks to date, victims nine and ten may have been a couple. They would have been murdered between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970, in a non-sexual attack that involved numerous knife wounds. It is also critical (whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible or claiming to be the responsible) that they would would be found close to Interstate 80 or U.S. Route 101.
​
On February 22nd 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armoured Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, were discovered brutally stabbed on a beach close to Santa Barbara Cemetery and East Cabrillo Boulevard. This crime in some ways mirrored the stabbings at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack. The beach where their bodies were found, lies only 500 meters from U.S. Route 101. The mental map of the Zodiac Killer is starting to take shape.

THIS ARTICLE HAS SINCE BEEN SUPERSEDED BY 'THE SACRAMENTO DMV' ARTICLE. Here is an accompanying extract from another valid DMV article (shown in red):

In October 1971, a magazine publication entitled 'True Detective' comprehensively featured the murders of Kathy Snoozy, Deborah Furlong and Kathy Bilek, stating "At about the same moment, Park Ranger Ken Williamson was informing a member of the investigative team that he, too, had noticed a tall, bespectacled young man who had been a frequent visitor at Villa Montalvo. He was a loner and had impressed the Villa's ranger staff with his almost furtive conduct, said Williamson. The ranger had jotted down the license number of the strange youth's auto. The license number was forwarded to the California Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters in Sacramento, the state's capital 150 miles to the north of San Jose. The information teletyped back from the registration bureau was that the auto was the property of a Karl Francis Werner, living at an address on Shawnee Lane in San Jose".

The Zodiac Killer, probably in one last throw of the dice, sent a letter to the chairman of the DMV in a desperate attempt to reclaim some lost pride. It likely read as follows "I am the murderer of the two kids in San Jose in August and the girl on the 11th of April near the park in Saratoga. I drove away quite slowly from both crime scenes so as not to draw attention to my car. Stop listening to phonys". Yet, on this occasion he couldn't supply any extra details known only to him and the police, finally bringing the Zodiac Killer's unabated fortune of claiming unsolved crimes to a crashing halt, and thereby exposing him as the real phony that many suspected he always was. The Zodiac Killer's race was run - and Ken Williamson was the architect in his unthroning.
Ken Williamson and the DMV Letter

Also read The Story of San Jose for full context surrounding the DMV letter.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (NOW NOT APPLICABLE}
Tom Voigt, creator of the hugely successful ZodiacKiller.com website has been striving to secure Zodiac material previously withheld from the public for many years. Authenticated by a state document examiner, the DMV letter was mailed to the chairman of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, yet its delivery date and contents have remained elusive to this day. It appears the overriding consensus, that the closer this correspondence was mailed to the four canonical crimes, the more likely it is to be genuine Zodiac material. Having read the limited forum threads on this topic, the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 comes to the fore.

Tom Voigt stated "While I don't yet have as many details as I would like, at some point the Zodiac wrote a letter to the chairman of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California. The letter was authenticated, apparently via handwriting, and was kept quiet for reasons unknown. The reason I have only lately been attempting to get permission from my source is because I just recently learned from victim Paul Stine's sister that Paul's wife at the time of his murder worked for the DMV". 

There is a California Department of Motor Vehicles at 1377 Fell Street, San Francisco, the same street that Paul Stine resided (1842 Fell Street) and just 700 meters away - but whether the suspect letter was mailed to the San Francisco offices and forwarded to the Department of Justice in Sacramento, or mailed directly to Sacramento, maybe Tom can elaborate. The Paul Stine police report suggested that the "suspect may also be in possession of the keys to the Yellow Cab, and possibly has the wallet belonging to the victim", so whether the Zodiac Killer mailed any possessions of Paul Stine with his communication to the DMV  chairman is uncertain. Having no idea the date this letter was mailed, opens up the possibility it may be connected to the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969, the only confirmed Zodiac crime in which the killer seemingly failed to document in letter form.

Having left his message on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia, it is not unrealistic to consider that any correspondence following this crime may have been automobile related, hence the connections being drawn to the California Department of Motor Vehicles letter. Tom Voigt stated that "Paul's wife at the time of his murder worked for the DMV", but can we connect a possible Zodiac victim to the California Department of Motor Vehicles in or around the five murders attributed to Zodiac.

​On Saturday February 21st 1970, five months after the Paul Stine murder, John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) had traveled to East Beach, Santa Barbara, near East Cabrillo Boulevard - with John telling his parents he was to spend the day with his fiancee. Sandra had informed her parents that they "wouldn't be gone long," however, when they didn't return home that night the families became understandably concerned.

Their bodies were discovered early Sunday morning by beachgoers, fully clothed underneath a blanket. They had been brutally beaten and stabbed, predominantly in the back and face. ​John Hood had been stabbed eleven times, but it appears Sandra Garcia suffered the brunt of the attack, not dissimilar to the senseless attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Had the Zodiac Killer returned to a familiar method of execution after his venture into the heart of San Francisco, and was the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 the foreboding of a man who was about to murder once again, stating he may "lose control again and take his ninth or possibly tenth victim." Were John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia those victims?

"The eldest of six children, Hood was born in Seattle. He came to California with his family in 1950. He attended El Rio Elementary School and graduated from Camarillo High School in June, 1965. After graduation, he worked at Wimpy's Drive-In in Oxnard and then joined the Army in January 1966. He spent two years in Germany with the 64th Armored Division after boot training in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then returned home for leave before being sent to Vietnam. While on leave, Hood met Sandra while they were both vacationing in Tijuana, Mexico. An expert marksman, Hood was sent to Vietnam on January 6, 1969 with the 64th Armored Division. Hood was closed-mouthed about the combat-filled year he spent there and about the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other medals he had received for valor. After returning to Oxnard, he went back to work for the drive-in eatery. Although Hood and Sandra were planning to be married, they had not set a wedding date." Oxnard Press Courier, February 23, 1970. 

Sandra Garcia worked for the California Department of Motor Vehicles in Oxnard, Santa Barbara. ​Was the DMV letter claiming this double murder, but was withheld from publication by police, who were unsure of a connection to the Zodiac Killer, or because of the sensitive details contained within the communication? We may have to wait a little longer to find out. 

FOOTNOTE: On September 12th 1987, Jose Santo Bugarin (26) and Rodolfo Alvaro (31) were traveling on King Road, San Jose, California when their car slammed into four children playing on the front lawn of a residence, killing three and injuring one. The driver then backed over the bodies and left the scene. Both were apprehended a short time later. "Bugarin was arrested on three counts of second-degree murder. Alvaro also was arrested on murder charges". Chicago Tribune. This was covered extensively in the newspapers. Just over six weeks later a letter claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer was mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald on October 28th 1987​.

"SAN JOSE (AP) A man who ran over and killed three children entered a plea bargain on Wednesday, pleading no contest to second degree murder and two vehicular manslaughter charges. Jose Santos Bugarin, 26, of San Jose, had two of the original murder charges filed against him changed to manslaughter. He will be sentenced to 21 years and eight months in state prison. Bugarin was the driver of a car that plowed through a front yard on King Road in San Jose on Sept. 12, killing three children." San Bernardino Sun- December 3rd 1987.

​Did the Zodiac Killer, or the author of the 1987 letter, read the news stories of this senseless crime and callously draw inspiration from this tragedy (Cars make nice weapons), compelling him to write the above correspondence, piggybacking off newspaper articles in not dissimilar fashion to his early communications. The Car movie featured a satanic driverless car running people over in the fictional desert town of Santa Ynez in Utah. IMDB. However, Santa Ynez is not so fictional in California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara.  It is situated just 20 minutes or 12 miles (as the crow flies) from the site of the Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) murders on June 4th 1963, widely touted as an early Zodiac crime. See article 'Death on Four Wheels'. 

Thanks to Tom Voigt at ZodiacKiller.com

We certainly cannot take the early victim count of the Zodiac Killer as gospel, but bearing in mind the confidence of many regarding the murders of Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) on June 4th 1963 as possibly the precursor to the Lake Berryessa attack, the murders of John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) on February 21st 1970 appear a little under-reported. The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 indicated the Zodiac Killer may have been looking for a ninth and possibly tenth victim - so bearing in mind his propensity of searching for a couple, this double murder is certainly in the correct timeframe, exactly bisecting the Melvin Belli and 13 Symbol cipher letter on April 20th 1970. In addition, this letter would claim ten victims.

The young couple had traveled to East Beach, Santa Barbara, near East Cabrillo Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, with John telling his parents he was to spend the day with his fiancee. Sandra had informed her parents that they "wouldn't be gone long." When they didn't return home that night the families were understandably concerned. Their bodies were discovered early Sunday morning by beachgoers, fully clothed underneath a blanket. They had been brutally beaten and stabbed, predominantly in the back and face. John Hood had been stabbed eleven times, but it appears Sandra Garcia suffered far worse, not dissimilar to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Had the Zodiac Killer returned to a familiar method of execution after his venture into the heart of San Francisco, and was the Melvin Belli letter the foreboding of a man who had lost control once again. 

The Oxnard Press Courier of John Franklin's home town reported the murders on February 23rd 1970: "Oxnard Man, Fiancee Murdered Victims. Bodies Found on Beach; Man was decorated veteran John F. Hood found slain with fiancee. The brutally stabbed and beaten bodies of a highly decorated Vietnam veteran from Oxnard and his attractive fiancee were discovered Sunday on an east side Santa Barbara beach just below a cemetery. Police identified the victims as John Franklin Hood, 24. who was discharged from the Army last month with the rank of staff sergeant after a combat-filled year in Vietnam, and Sandra Garcia, 20. of Santa Barbara. Early-morning beachgoers discovered the fully-clothed bodies under a blanket and hailed a passing patrolman. Police immediately closed off the area and later gave some brief details. However, they did not release some information for what they termed was a “good reason.” Detectives have questioned relatives and friends of the victims in an effort to trace the steps that led them to that beach".

Continued - Page 2 of above article: "by Oxnard police. After the bodies were moved police found a 9 inch bone-handled fish knife in the sand. Santa Barbara authorities said the knife, possibly the murder weapon, had a 4 inch blade. Hood was stabbed 11 times in the face and back. The girl had multiple stab wounds, and authorities said she was not sexually molested.
Both bodies were discovered face-down, apparently left that way to give the appearance that the victims were sleeping, authorities said. 

The Hood family drove to Santa Barbara last night to be with Sandra's parents, Mr and Mrs Cruz Garcia, 3088 Calle Pinon, who were reported under heavy sedation. The families said "they had no idea" as to what happened at the beach. There were no difficulties and neither of the victims had any enemies as far as the families knew. Police said their investigation would continue. 

The eldest of six children, Hood was born in Seattle. He came to California with his family in 1950. He attended El Rio Elementary School and graduated from Camarillo High School in June, 1965. After graduation, he worked at Wimpy's Drive-In in Oxnard and then joined the Army in January 1966. He spent two years in Germany with the 64th Armored Division after boot training in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then returned home for leave before being sent to Vietnam. While on leave, Hood met Sandra while they were both vacationing in Tijuana, Mexico. An expert marksman, Hood was sent to Vietnam on January 6, 1969 with the 64th Armored Division. Hood was closed-mouthed about the combat-filled year he spent there and about the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other medals he had received for valor. After returning to Oxnard, he went back to work for the drive-in eatery. Although Hood and Sandra were planning to be married, they had not set a wedding date.

Besides his parents, Hood is survived by his sisters, Mrs Linda Jean Ortiz, 19, Lauretta Ann Hood, 16, and Virginia Sue, 13; and two brothers Jerry Allen, 18, and Joseph William, 10. The elder Hood is employed with the Associated Concrete Co, Saticoy, and Mrs Hood drives a small school bus. Hood's fiancee had been an employee of the State Motor Vehicle Department in Santa Barbara. Her father is the owner of the Garcia Auto Wrecking Co, Besides her parents, she is survived by three brothers".  Oxnard Press Courier, February 23, 1970.  

​February 24th 1970: "Police Hunt Pair In Twin Murders Santa Barbara. Detectives today were combing their city for two young men wanted for questioning in the vicious knife-slaying of an Oxnard Vietnam war veteran and his pretty Santa Barbara fiancee. Detectives said the pair, both in their early 20s, were seen “washing cut wounds” at an east beach area service station near where the bodies of the couple, John Franklin Hood, 23, of 460 Helsam Ave, and Sandra Garcia, 20, of 3088 Calle Pinon, Santa Barbara, were found. Witnesses told detectives the two men walked into the station about I a.m. with cut wounds they said they had received as the result of a fight in the east beach area. Detectives said one of the men had a vertical cut across the center of his forehead, extending from his hairline to an eyebrow. The other man had a wound on the back of his right hand. They were seen driving an early 1950 vintage light blue sedan with primer spots on the right side and trunk deck. Pathological tests revealed Hood and Miss Garcia were killed sometime between IO p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday. The tests were conducted by Dr. John P. Blanchard, pathologist there".
Oxnard Press Courier, February 24, 1970. 

Early details of crimes are usually withheld, though it later became apparent that the killer had murdered the young couple with a 4-inch bone-handled knife, partially buried in the sand underneath their blanket. Why the killer failed to take the knife with him can only be speculated upon. Whether this was the Zodiac Killer venturing south to commit this double murder may never be known, but bearing in mind the murders were in the correct Zodiac timeline the only reasonable approach with such limited information available is to examine his following correspondence - the April 20th '13 Symbol' cipher.

This correspondence and cipher has been analyzed with a view to the code giving us a name. However, the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is ------," leaves us with the possibility we are not looking for a name within the code, but were in fact supposed to fill in the blank. Later in the communication he states "I have killed ten people to date" and "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed",​​​ Was this a subtle clue - that we were supposed to be figuring out a date in order to unlock who his ninth and tenth victims were. By the sheer law of averages of his known victims, he attacked a couple 75% of the time. He also never claimed a ninth victim independently between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970. 

The Zodiac Killer used symbols in his ciphers, so we will strip the 13 Symbol cipher back to basics in an attempt to uncover his intentions. He gave us three Taurus symbols and an Aries symbol reversed. He also gave us three circles. The 13 Symbol  cipher was mailed on April 20th, which is the exact date the star sign switches from Aries to Taurus. The blank or white circle is the symbol for a full moon. See 1970 calendar. The astrological signs and full moon symbol are both relevant to the calendar. The Zodiac Killer has placed the Taurus symbols within the circles - so by simple wordplay we have 'full moon in Taurus'. The only 1970 full moon in Taurus is April 21st. If we are trying to figure out who he killed,  the figure 21 isn't a bad place to start. The next thing to tackle is the reasoning behind the Zodiac Killer giving us three full moon symbols. Because he is challenging us to discover who he killed, it isn't unreasonable to assume the three full moons play a significant part in this game. The 13 Symbol cipher gave us the first full moon, so we will look back at the last two Zodiac events.

One month prior, Kathleen Johns, accompanied by her 10-month-old daughter Jennifer, were traveling along Highway 132, west of Modesto, en route to Petaluma, California, when her routine journey turned upside down. She was to make the near fatal mistake of stopping on a deserted highway at approximately 11:15 pm at night, ushered to the side of the road by a passing motorist who was flashing his headlights and gesturing towards her 1957 Chevrolet. Believing he was indicating a fault with her vehicle, Kathleen Johns drew over to the side of the road. The man explained that her wheel appeared loose, offering to tighten it up for her, and she duly obliged.

This innocent error was to begin a chain of events that are still not fully understood to this day, and have initiated countless years of debate on whether the man who approached Kathleen Johns car that fateful night was actually the Zodiac Killer, and the 'proposed madman' responsible for unleashing terror in the Bay Area of Northern California, and bringing the 'Summer of Love' into the summer of fear just two short years later.

Kathleen Johns was abducted in the last hour before before midnight on March 22nd 1970 and escaped at approximately 1:50 to 2:00 am on March 23rd 1970. The date of March 22nd would become our second full moon. The third, with the figure 21 in mind, must be the date that Zodiac was asking us to "figure out". Therefore, we will travel back to the previous full moon. John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on February 21st 1970, to give us our third full moon as depicted in the 13 Symbol cipher. 
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/1970 

In the Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated he was afraid of "losing control again and taking his ninth or possibly tenth victim". Bearing in mind that three of his four attacks thus far were on couples, and his threat of claiming two victims in one letter, it is hardly surprising his next correspondence on April 20th 1970 had a total of ten proclaimed victims. But had he actually killed anybody, or was it again a case of idle bragging? The 'My Name is..'.letter contained a 13 symbol code, where the central focus was seemingly three circled eights positioned symmetrically in its design. These have been interpreted as Taurus symbols, due to the fact the Zodiac Killer had also apparently added an Aries symbol within the code (albeit upside down). The Zodiac Killer may have circled the characters so they could be interpreted as both Taurus symbols or a number eight. Since the Zodiac horoscope is prominent in astrology, the use of these symbols by the Zodiac Killer cannot be regarded as unusual.    

The author of the correspondence would sign off with the words "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".​​​ Was this a subtle clue using the misspelled 'figgure' to shunt us in the right direction? He gave us three circled figure of eights and an extra 'g' in figgure. In addition, the symbol for a full moon is a circle​

The 13 Symbol cipher was mailed on April 20th 1970 - and a quick look at the entire moon cycle for San Francisco in April shows a full moon on April 21st. A Waxing Gibbous denotes 95% illumination approaching a full moon and a Waning Gibbous denotes 95% illumination as we leave the full moon, while everything in between can be regarded as varying degrees of a full moon. These are the four key phases in April. Considering the Zodiac used the Taurus symbol in his code, it is therefore not surprising that the date of this letter, April 20th, is the exact date that Taurus takes over from Aries in the Zodiac horoscope, with the varying degrees of the full moon (from waxing to waning) in exactly the same 3:1 ratio as the 13-Symbol cipher code. This is displayed below, placing the dates from the calendar above onto the cipher. 

                                       The center of the cipher is where we shall focus. It is the 21st and a full moon. 

The Zodiac Killer stated ​ "I have killed ten people to date" - so was the date of the 21st on a full moon? Considering the Melvin Belli letter was mailed on December 20th 1969, any double murder would have to fall on December 21st 1969, January 21st 1970, February 21st 1970 or March 21st 1970. The attack on Kathleen Johns on March 22nd fell on a full moon, but does not fit the criteria  There is only one month that follows the exact four lunar phases as above, waxing and waning from the 19th to the 22nd, where the full moon falls on the 21st - and that is February 1970.

​Let us return to the phrase "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed".​​​ We have the figure 21 for the date, but what about the circled eight and the letter 'g' from figgure. The 13-Symbol cipher begins with an A and ends with an M, which is half the alphabet. The cipher showed perfect symmetry when the alphabet was placed alongside it here. When the identical technique is used here, the letter G falls over the central 8 (and the 21st). Even the three 8's total 21 if we take their numerical position on the cipher. 

Putting everything together, we are possibly looking for a double murder, perpetrated on a young couple (similar to other Zodiac attacks), on February 21st 1970, during a full moon, where the two letters G and H may feature.  

On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armored Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, where unfortunately they fell victim to a knife wielding assassin. John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia were shortly to be married and were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when a man armed with a bone-handled 4" blade approached them and shattered their dreams. Despite apparently fighting back against their attacker, both unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on the remote Santa Barbara beach. John Hood suffered eleven knife wounds, the majority inflicted to the face and back, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack, leaving her almost unrecognizable, in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. There appeared to be no sexual interference and robbery was ruled out.

The couple were discovered the following day, Sunday 22nd February, lying face down on their blanket. The bone-handled fish knife used in their murder was retrieved from beneath the blanket, partially buried in the sand. ​These murders came five months after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 - and the similarities have not gone unnoticed - with the use of a knife, the age of the couple, the apparent lack of motive and the waterfront location. 

On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, when they fell victim to a knife-wielding assassin similar to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa five months earlier - and more importantly - contained within the umbrella of known Zodiac crimes and letters. John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia were set to become married and were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when a knife-man, carrying a bone-handled 4" blade approached them taking them by surprise - and despite evidently fighting back against their attacker, both unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on that fateful night. John Hood suffered 11 stab wounds, the majority inflicted to the face and back, while Sandra Garcia received the brunt of the attack leaving her almost unrecognizable, in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. Like the Berryessa attack, robbery and a sexual motive were absent and the remote location apparent - but is it possible this little publicized double murder could be the work of the Zodiac Killer. Speculation will take us no nearer the truth, so let us examine the Zodiac letters and suspected crimes around the relevant time period and see if we can unearth any possible clues to push the Hood and Garcia case back into the limelight and into forefront of our minds.  

What we know of the Zodiac Killer, is that he kept a running total of victims contained in his correspondence. The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 and the "My Name is.." letter mailed on April 20th 1970 are of particular interest in this regard. The Melvin Belli letter stated "I am afraid I will lose control again and take my ninth and possibly tenth victim". This is important because the next correspondence to claim 10 victims was the "My Name is.." letter, mailed 2 months after the Hood/Garcia murders on February 21st 1970 and the immediate correspondence after the Melvin Belli letter. The wording in the Melvin Belli letter does not tell us whether the ninth and tenth victims are to be separate attacks or one combined attack, but what the Zodiac has been best known for is attacks on couples and the Hood/Garcia murders fits this template. However, there is something more important to bear in mind when we look at the 13 Symbol cipher on April 20th 1970, particularly the phrase contained within the letter stating "I have killed ten people to date".

​Let us look at the notable dates of Zodiac events from the Melvin Belli letter to just prior to his mailing of the "My Name is.." letter. The Melvin Belli letter was mailed on the anniversary of the Lake Herman Road murders on the 20th, the Hood/Garcia murders were on the 21st and the highly debated Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns took place on the 22nd. The key numbers to remember here are 20, 21 and 22, followed by the 'My Name is..Letter'. Within this letter the Zodiac gave us a 13 Symbol cipher containing four Zodiac signs, but apparent was the highlighted three 8's or three Taurus symbols circled.

An astrological chart shows a full moon denoted as a circle and the "My Name is.." letter was mailed on April 20th 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle. So let us look at an astrological chart of San Francisco on this date, bearing in mind that a full moon is regarded a full moon either side of it waxing and waning above 95% illumination. In astrology, the Zodiac sign of Aries runs on average from March 21st to April 19th and Taurus takes over on April 20th (the date this letter was mailed) until May 20th. There are four full moons in April (shown here on the astrological chart), in which one falls in Aries and three fall in Taurus (the exact configuration on the 13 Symbol cipher). However, the most important thing is the full moon circled Taurus symbols. They fall on the 20th, 21st and 22nd, exactly the same dates as the Melvin Belli letter, the Hood and Garcia murders and the Modesto abduction in the run up to this letter, with the 21st being the center point of the cipher as a whole. Take a look here for a visual representation. 

The Hood/Garcia murders on February 21st 1970 occurred on a 100% full moon, as did the date of April 21st 1970, depicted by the central Taurus on the My Name is.. "letter'.  

On July 5th 1970, Thomas Victor Dolan (17), of Manhattan Beach, Thomas Hayes (19), of Hermosa Beach and Homer Clyde Shadwick (19), of Saginaw Michigan were discovered by a passer-by on a beach in Santa Barbara, which straddled the University of California S.B building. Two had succumbed to their injuries, while the third, Thomas Hayes, had been rushed to hospital in nearby Goleta in critical condition, after the three appeared to have been subjected to a frenzied machete/hatchet and knife attack while camping out in their sleeping bags on the night of July 4th 1970, after hitchhiking back from fireworks celebrations in Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Fortunately for Hayes he survived his injuries. The attack seemed motiveless, as the three young men's watches and money remained untouched.

This attack came approximately four months after Hood and Garcia, who were murdered on Saturday February 21st 1970, 16 miles west of these attacks. Both the Melvin Belli letter and Shadwick/Dolan murders were anniversaries of the Zodiac Killer's first two crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. But this may be the tip of the iceberg regarding dates employed by the Zodiac Killer. Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Beryessa, Presidio Heights, the Hood/Garcia murders, the Shadwick/Dolan murders and the likely murder of Donna Lass, all had one date in common, but that is another story.  
Zodiac Ciphers-Murder In The First.