The 'Dripping Pen' greeting card and cipher were purportedly mailed virtually alongside the 'Bus Bomb' letter, on November 8th and November 9th 1969 respectively. The postmark on the 'Dripping Pen' card envelope is less than clear in many reproductions, but there may be a better version available somewhere online. However, there is something rather out of place regarding this Zodiac communication, particularly when one compares it to the 'Bus Bomb' letter postmarked just one day later.   

The Zodiac wrote his victim count using months of the year: "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7," but in his next 'Bus Bomb' communication he adds "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people. I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc."
​
Why is the killer informing us he has killed seven people up to the end of October, when he has made this plainly obvious in the 'Dripping Pen' card by addition of the last entry as "Oct," meaning October. If the Zodiac Killer had murdered anybody in November, then surely the total would be 8 victims, with November added to the list of months. The killer further states "I though(t) you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet." But we didn't hear of any bad news before he mailed the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, or for months thereafter. 
This may be because we had already heard the bad news, and the 'Dripping Pen' card was intended to be mailed slightly over a month earlier. Mail can go astray from mailing to being postmarked, however, that avenue will not be explored here.

It seemed unusual for two such prominent communications to be sent either in tandem, or one day apart. The Zodiac Killer had obviously invested a lot of time crafting a new and innovative cipher, after becoming aware his first cipher had been cracked in a matter of days, and announced in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 9th 1969. So, after investing time and energy into his new masterpiece, it seemed strange he would take the shine and emphasis away from this new cipher, by tying it alongside the rather lengthy 'Bus Bomb' letter about the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 and his exploits in the park.
The 'Dripping Pen' card and cipher could have been mailed two weeks later to maximize impact. The context and choice of card, if chosen for purpose, also makes little sense. The message on the purchased greetings card read "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen."  The Zodiac Killer, however, had written only 27 days earlier, when he mailed the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter containing the swatch of blooded shirt. The bad news we were supposed to get also never materialized, and in addition, he would repeat the month of October just one day later, reminding us of seven victims claimed, as if our attention span only lasted 24 hours. All these factors place this correspondence and its contents curiously out of place. ​​We will attempt to put this card chronologically in its rightful place, where its contents can be understood. 

The wording "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen,"​ if this card was chosen carefully, seems to imply the killer had not written to the newspapers for a while - longer than 27 days. The Zodiac Killer prior to the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter, had not written to the newspapers since August 4th 1969, when the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter arrived at the San Francisco Examiner. That is over two months. It is longer regarding the San Francisco Chronicle, of over 10 weeks. This card now makes more sense. But why would the dripping pen (possibly red in color) be relevant to the Zodiac. 

On September 27th 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were enjoying a pleasant picnic at Lake Berryessa when a knife-wielding man approached wearing an theatrical executioner's costume, brutally stabbing the young couple 16 times in their back and abdomen. The assailant's hand or glove would have been covered in blood. Minutes later he wrote on the car door with a pen: Vallejo 12-20-68, 7-4-69, Sept 27-69 -6:30 by knife.
The pen would have been covered with blood. What better time to ironically proclaim in your next correspondence "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen," as if to imply he was the responsible for the callous attack and murder of Cecelia Shepard just days earlier, and was washing the blood from his pen. The author of the 'Dripping Pen' card further added "Could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing."
The Zodiac Killer, like most serial killers, don't have horns growing from their head- they go largely unnoticed and blend into society. The Zodiac Killer was certainly searching for notoriety, as opposed to the loneliness he experienced in everyday life. What better way, than to dress up in an executioner's costume and do his "thing." 

The 'Dripping Pen' card would sit nicely between the Lake Berryessa attack and the murder of Paul Stine, had it been mailed sometime around September 30th 1969. The text on the card would then make further sense in respect to the month of October and the wording "I though(t) you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet."
The seventh victim was to become Paul Stine (or another taxicab driver) in San Francisco. He had already earmarked his next murder, and this was the "bad news" we were soon to receive. The addition of the month of October was the precursor to death, and unlike his previous attacks where he had to search out victims - in San Francisco they would literally come to him.

But why wasn't the 'Dripping Pen' card mailed after the Lake Berryessa attack, assuming the communication didn't go astray from posting to postmark? The Zodiac Killer likely had his ego dented after Donald Gene and Bettye June Harden cracked his 408 cipher in a matter of days. He may have begun developing his more challenging cipher immediately in response, or at the very least sometime in August or September. 

The Zodiac Killer chose the greetings card in respect to the Lake Berryessa stabbings, for which he could have then attached his cipher and mailed it. But something changed. Did he want to revise or add to his cipher to incorporate the attack by the lake? Some have suggested the cipher may have been separated into two halves. Did the killer originally encipher a banal message, much like his original code, and wanted to completely redesign it. The intended murder at Presidio Heights was looming, and the killer was planning ahead. The cipher and card may have been placed on the back-burner. 
​
On October 11th 1969, taxicab driver Paul Stine was murdered in Presidio Heights. The killer mailed a piece of the taxicab driver's shirt two days later, and followed up with more details on November 9th 1969 about his excursion into the park. 
In between the October 13th 1969 Stine letter and November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter, the killer may have finalized his cipher, unable to replace the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card with an identical or relevant card, and with the Lake Berryessa attack cooling, mailed off both communications in unison. He stated we wouldn't "get the news for a while yet," totally negating the message he delivered one day later, that "I shall no longer announce to anyone when I committ my murders." Seemed like a quick change of heart. The card choice still made sense to him, if not us at this juncture, with the message inside now appearing chronologically repetitive in respect to the 'Bus Bomb' letter and the intended "bad news" had already occurred. 

In the previous article we estimated that the Zodiac Killer arrived at the location of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia at approximately 6:00 pm. Here we shall reverse the timeline of Ronald Fong, the man who noticed the stricken couple from his boat on Lake Berryessa and set off for help at the Rancho Monticello Resort, and hopefully attempt to verify or negate this finding. It may also answer the question of whether the 6:30 written on Bryan Hartnell's vehicle was the time of the attack or the time of writing. Here are some key statements to consider.

#1. On page 6 of the police report it read "White stated at approximately 18:55 hours 9/27/69 he was on routine patrol around the Lake Berryessa area when he received a call from Park Headquarters to proceed to the Rancho Monticello Resort where a person was reporting a possible stabbing. Ronald Fong advised him that he had seen a male and a female victim on the beach area south of Rancho Monticello Resort, hollering that they had been stabbed". link

#2. Bryan Hartnell interview: "There was a boat kept circling around out there in the lake and we started yelling at it and finally it came within about 100 yards of the shore and turned off its motor and stayed there watching us for about 15 minutes". link

#3. "I heard this screaming", said Fong, who has relocated to Washington state but was back in San Francisco last week visiting his family. "I used binoculars to see what was going on. He wanted me to go help him. But I had my 9-year-old son. ... I was close to the boathouse, so I went and told the park rangers". link

#4. "Victim stated he thought suspect had been with the couple for approximately 15 minutes from time of observing suspect until suspect departed". link 

The Rancho Monticello Resort is 3.7 miles by road from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (3.2 miles as the crow flies). By boat from the area of the crime scene to dock at the Rancho Monticello Resort is also approximately 3.7 miles. We shall use these pieces of information to calculate the time of the attack, by first using the shortest timeline.  

What we don't know is the speed that Ronald Fong traveled in his boat, so we will estimate this to begin with, giving an initial value of 10.mph. ​Sergeant William White received a call from Park Headquarters regarding the attack and proceeded to the Rancho Monticello Resort at 6:55 pm. Because this time is approximated, we will take 6:55 pm as the time Ronald Fong reported the stabbing at the Rancho Monticello Resort, and assume it was transferred through fairly quickly. The journey time of Ronald Fong at an estimated 10 mph is 22.2 minutes (22 approx). After docking his boat he traveled by foot to the Rancho Monticello Resort, and allocating little time to the delay in transferring the call to Sergeant William White, this will be estimated at 6 minutes. Thus far, a minimum of 28 minutes had elapsed since Ronald Fong departed the crime scene.

Bryan Hartnell stated that after the attack Ronald Fong had "stayed there watching us for about 15 minutes". This time may have appeared longer than it actually was, but it will be left untouched, because Bryan Hartnell certainly wouldn't have started shouting for help immediately with the Zodiac Killer nearby. This delay in calling for help will be incorporated into the 15 minutes. Keeping these timelines as tight as possible will compensate for the speed of Ronald Fong's boat, had it traveled slightly quicker. Adding the 15 minutes to the 28 minutes already elapsed after Ronald Fong left the crime scene, we have 43 minutes to deduct from 6:55 pm (18:55 pm), to give us an indication of when the Zodiac Killer finished his attack on the young couple. This would have been 6:12 pm.

Now let us ramp up the speed of the boat to 20 mph. This would cut his journey time in half, to 11 minutes. Giving us a total time elapsed of 32 minutes, placing the end of the attack at 6:23 pm. Traveling at an unlikely 30 mph, the end of the attack would be 6:27 pm. But having kept the timeline as tight as possible, to allow the 10 mph boat speed, the end of the attack was can be approximated to 6:12-6:17 pm.

On page 6 of the police report it continued "Sergeant William White stated he proceeded to the Rancho Monticello Resort where a person was reporting a stabbing. Ranger Sgt White, accompanied by Archie White, Mrs Elizabeth White and Ronald Fong, proceeded to the beach area via speedboat owned by Archie White. When they arrived on the beach they observed a young female lying on the ground with what appeared to be numerous stab wounds. White stated he immediately radioed in and had Park Headquarters radio the Sheriff's Office to dispatch an ambulance and deputy". Deputy Ray Land and Sergeant David Collins were dispatched directly to the crime scene from St Helena and Napa respectively. Sgt David Collins spoke on the documentary 'This is the Zodiac Speaking', stating "It took us a half hour from Napa and/or St Helena to arrive at the location. And we later found out of course that crime had occurred at least half an hour before we were notified". They were notified at approximately 7:10 pm, which by their statement above, would place the crime at around 6:10 pm.

Allowing Sergeant William White 8 minutes from being radioed at 6:55 pm to entering the speedboat and 1 minute to docking and reaching Cecelia Shepard once they arrived at the crime scene (9 minutes), and then contacting Park Headquarters, who in turn contacted the Sheriff's Office, would give us 6 minutes for the speedboat journey (15 minutes in total: ie 6:55 pm to 7:10 pm). Or 7 minutes if we tighten the timeline. The speedboat was therefore traveling approximately 30-37 mph. This is the reason they took Archie White's speedboat - it likely accommodated four people and could travel at a far greater speed than Ronald Fong's small fishing boat. Indicating that the 10-20 mph range of Ronald Fong's boat - and more likely the lower end estimate - is likely the correct one. 

But what time did the Zodiac Killer approach the couple?
Bryan Hartnell estimated that "he thought suspect had been with the couple for approximately 15 minutes from time of observing suspect until suspect departed". Therefore, if the end of the attack was 6:12 pm, the Zodiac must have approached the couple at 5.57 pm. The distance from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to the crime scene was approximately 510 yards. Allowing for the terrain, and the time for the killer to hide behind the tree and don his costume, it would take approximately 7 minutes. This would have the Zodiac Killer spotting the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at 5.50 pm, slightly earlier than the anticipated 6:00 pm in the previous article. But allowing for a little flexibility in the timeline and taking the end of the attack at 6:17 pm, would have the killer approaching the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at 5.55 pm - only five minutes out from the previous article. Had the attack finished at 6:12-6:17 pm, then Zodiac would be writing on the car door at 6:19-6:24 pm.

Keeping a tight timeline, with Ronald Fong's boat traveling between 10-20 mph, the end of the attack on the young couple never would have exceeded 6:23 pm. His small boat was extremely unlikely to have reached anything in excess of this range, and indicates the Zodiac Killer more than likely 'signed' the car door by at least 6:30 pm, or possibly slightly earlier. 

The last article theorized Zodiac's vehicle just over a mile north of this location. However, if he had parked by the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, the Zodiac Killer could have had anywhere from 70-80 minutes for his 40-50 minute journey to the payphone in Napa, indicating he either went off route on the return journey, he stopped or was delayed, or his vehicle wasn't parked behind the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell. 

But why did Ronald Fong, if he frequented the area regularly, travel 3.7 miles north to the Rancho Monticello Resort for help, when he could have traveled 0.7 miles south - directly to Park Headquarters.  
​
LAKE BERRYESSA- A KILLER'S TIMELINE [PART ONE]

The following will re-examine the timeline of the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969, placing the Zodiac Killer's vehicle approximately 1.1 to 1.2 miles from the crime scene during the brutal stabbing of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. 
Two other sets of eyewitnesses, Dr Rayfield and his son, and the three young women, all may have seen the killer that day, possibly from the near identical location around Smittle Creek. This location being 0.8 miles from the 1956 White Volkswagen Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell. To get an overview of the crime scene we must use details given in the police report - and in addition to this - use the Zodiac Killer's phone call to Dave Slaight to pinpoint the likely location of his vehicle that day. These are some of the crucial measurements:

The Zodiac Killer stated in the phone call to police, "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I'm the one that did it".  The victims were in fact 0.7 miles north of Park Headquarters. The three young women who potentially saw Zodiac, "parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road." The Sugar Loaf Park A & W was situated at 5100 Knoxville Road. The second set of eyewitnesses saw the Zodiac later that day: "Dr Rayfield and his son stated that they did not notice a vehicle in the area of their vehicle and only this subject at a distance of about 100 yards. This location was approximately 8/10ths of a mile from the scene of the victim's vehicle. There are four coves of water between the scene of the crime and the area where the doctor saw the subject". Using these statements we can now create the relative positions of everybody that day, using the measurement tools on Google Maps.   

The first thing to be noticed using these approximate measurements, is that the position of Dr Rayfield & his son would be at the very same location as the three young women - or at the very least - in the same vicinity (Smittle Creek). The Zodiac Killer's vehicle would have been relocated slightly north of the three young women, after he had 'stalked' them from the hillside. In fact, he could have been as little as 600 meters north at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area. The police report stated that "at 3:30 pm she and her two girlfriends parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road". They then walked to the beach. "After approximately one-half hour had passed, they observed what appeared to be the same subject standing with 40 or 50 feet of them, apparently observing them. The subject hung around the area for approximately 45 minutes and then the girls observed him walk up the hill". This would have the man walking up the hill at around 4:45 pm, or marginally later.

One page later in the police report, it stated "The three girls left the area about 4:30 pm and the subjects vehicle was gone".  This discrepancy is not crucial to the remaining timeline, so we will estimate the time the man left at 4:45 pm, with the girls shortly after. If the Zodiac Killer was preparing an attack on the three girls, then he certainly had second thoughts and departed the scene, not unlike his attack at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969 and his switch of intersections at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. In both of these examples he was not to be denied, and continued on with his murderous intentions. There may be good reason to believe he had the very same intentions here. The reason being:   

"Dr Rayfield stated that about 6:30 pm the previous evening, he and his son had parked their car north of Park Headquarters in the general area of the crime scene. They stated they went down towards the beach area when David noticed a white male adult subject walking in the area, described as about 5'10", heavy build, wearing dark trousers, a dark shirt with red in it, long sleeves".
By the time they reached the beach and then noticed the man, it was likely closer to 6:45-6:50 pm. There is a very good chance that the individual they saw that evening was the Zodiac Killer - and the dark shirt he was wearing "with red in it" was likely the blood of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. The Zodiac Killer was returning to his vehicle from the crime scene 0.8 miles south. The killer was effectively traveling from south to north, and likely had to pass the location of Dr Rayfield and his son to reach his vehicle. 

We have established that this is virtually the same location the three girls were present earlier that afternoon. Therefore, when the three sunbathing girls saw the man leave up the hill at approximately 4:45 pm, it could be argued he drove northwards, just beyond this location, which is why he had to pass this area after the brutal double stabbing of the young couple. The journey time on foot from the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (6:30 pm) to the location of Dr Rayfield and son, is approximately 20 minutes along the hillside, This ties in with the estimated time of the David Rayfield sighting, given earlier as 6:50 pm. But why did the Zodiac Killer leave the scene of the three girls and park a short distance north of their location? This cannot be fully established - but he may have had second thoughts about murdering the three girls with his vehicle in such close proximity to the scene. There is every chance he left with the full intention of returning 15 minutes later with a 'buffer zone' in place. However, the girls had left shortly after him, and his murderous plot was foiled. I have made a calculated guess on the position of the Zodiac Killer's vehicle that afternoon and evening, based on his possible movements after leaving the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, the fact an off-road parking area is present at that position on Google Maps (and maybe 1969), and the phone call he made from 1231 Main Street - which we shall return to later.    

The man would have walked back to the girls location at around 5:00 pm (4:45 pm + 15 minutes). He then had to walk back down the hill to approach the girls for a second time. Unfortunately for him, they had left the area and returned home, leaving the Zodiac Killer searching the area in vain, possibly for alternative victims. The search, and travel time up and down the hill, we shall guesstimate at 30 minutes, taking the time to 5:30 pm. The Zodiac Killer then travels 0.8 miles south along the hillside, searching for potential targets along the way. He happens upon the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at 5:50 pm (0.8 miles walking time of 20 minutes). This allows the killer 30 to 40 minutes to approach Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, enter into brief dialogue, secure them, and begin his deadly attack, before returning up the hill to 'sign' the car door with 6:30 pm.

His journey time back to his vehicle, past Dr Rayfield and his son, would have taken roughly 25-30 minutes, which placed him entering his vehicle at approximately 6:55 to 7:00 pm for his 28 mile return journey towards the Napa payphone. Traveling at near 40 mph, he would have arrived at the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone circa 7:35-7:40 pm and the exact time the call was logged by police dispatcher Dave Slaight. The phone call contained the ominous message "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I'm the one that did it". However, Park Headquarters was only 0.7 miles from the crime scene, not 2 miles as he had claimed. So how could the killer make such a pronounced error, particularly if he was familiar with the area.

If the Zodiac Killer had parked at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, left it there, and trawled the hillsides of Lake Berryessa traveling south, while looking for potential victims, then on his return from the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard he would have to pass by Dr Rayfield & Son at Smittle Creek Trailhead to reach his vehicle. That is why they spotted a suspicious man traveling across the upper reaches of the hillside sometime after 6:30 pm, wearing a shirt with red in it. The Zodiac Killer traveled a further 600 meters to the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, got in his vehicle and drove 1.83 miles south along Knoxville Road past the Park Headquarters. When he reached the payphone at Napa he mistakenly described this distance of 1.83 miles as "two miles north of Park Headquarters", accidentally giving away the location of where he parked his vehicle on September 27th 1969. Or maybe he was just terrible at distances - but great at cryptograms, codes, maps and radians. We all have to be bad at something.

Deputy Ray Land and Sergeant David Collins were dispatched directly to the crime scene from St Helena and Napa respectively.  Sgt David Collins spoke on the documentary 'This is the Zodiac Speaking' "It took us a half hour from Napa and/or St Helena to arrive at the location. And we later found out of course that crime had occurred at least half an hour before we were notified." They were notified at 7:10 pm, so arrived en scene at approximately 7:40 pm. 
The Zodiac Killer would have exited the Berryessa-Knoxville Road literally minutes before they entered it.

​LAKE BERRYESSA- A KILLER'S TIMELINE [PART TWO]

​When somebody has a suspect they believe to be the Zodiac Killer, often a side-by-side comparison using the Presidio Heights sketch is presented to bolster their argument. However, the idea that the Zodiac Killer wore black-styled 'prescription' glasses in his daily life is likely a false one. There could well be seven possible eyewitnesses to the Zodiac Killer, all of whom failed to mention any eyeglasses whatsoever. The reasoning for this comes courtesy of Deborah Perez, the woman who falsely claimed her father Guy Ward Hendrickson was the Zodiac Killer. She claimed she had the glasses worn by Paul Stine, removed from the taxicab that fateful night and the response of the police was telling. Had it been previously established that Paul Stine's glasses were found at the crime scene or at his home, then it would be immediately obvious to police she was a liar. But that was not their response.

"San Francisco police said Thursday that they were still waiting for Perez to produce a pair of glasses that she said her father took as a souvenir from a cab driver he killed. Police believe the Zodiac shot a San Francisco taxi driver named Paul Stine on Oct. 11, 1969. Reports of the crime say that Stine's glasses were missing. Once you make complaints to a police department, you are required by law to provide the evidence to a police agency, and there is no reason to believe she is not going to do that", said San Francisco Police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka. Asked whether police were taking her claims seriously, Tomioka said: "We take any new leads or any new information or evidence and look at it seriously, and then we follow up to see if there is any legitimacy to the statements".

During the press conference, Perez produced the glasses she said her father took from Paul Stine, the San Francisco taxicab driver, who was the Zodiac’s only confirmed victim in that city. But an investigation determined the glasses didn’t belong to Stine, said Kevin Jones, an inspector in the San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Bureau. Jones handled the Zodiac case. “They’re not Paul Stine’s glasses,” Jones affirmed this month, though he added he’s still working on other leads that Perez provided him with during lengthy interviews earlier this year. Jones would not say what those leads were. Perez had hoped the glasses might yield some DNA or other evidence. Why would police contemplate the arrival or wait for them to be presented, if they had already known the glasses had never been taken? This strongly indicates -- if they had done a cursory search into the their files - that Zodiac had indeed removed Paul Stine's glasses from his person. Otherwise they would have dismissed her claim immediately. One phone call to Dave Toschi or reviewing the inventory of items recovered from the taxicab would have been a 10 minute job to discover whether the glasses were retrieved that night or not. This suggests Zodiac likely wore the glasses of Paul Stine as he exited the taxicab and was subsequently spotted by the three teenagers. He likely kept wearing them, or donned them as Donald Fouke approached also.

The Zodiac stated in the November 9th 'Bus Bomb' letter: "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill". He possibly looked like the description due to the glasses he secured from Paul Stine's lifeless body. Had he been aware of the three teenagers observing him from the window, then the choice of using Paul Stine's glasses to help disguise his appearance may have been a wise choice.

Michael Mageau, after the Blue Rock Springs attack, asserted that the killer had not worn glasses, and had noted that his assailant had a particularly large face, all in line with the Berryessa sketch. Bryan Hartnell stated: "And he had clip on sunglasses...it was hard to tell. You know, the sunglasses you clip on when you're wearing glasses, eyeglasses. He had those clipped on. I'm pretty sure...I don't think he had glasses, though. I just think he had these clipped onto his suit....you know, that little mask".

The three female eyewitnesses at Lake Berryessa (if Zodiac) also recollected a man devoid of glasses. On the same day, around the time of the stabbing, Dr. Rayfield and his son recalled a stocky man wandering the hillside approximately 0.8 miles from the area of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. Dr. Rayfield continued "He wasn't nimble when he was walking. And when he turned to walk away he wasn't like a smooth, athletic person. To me he seemed a little overweight and on the clumsier side." He added "His body type matches what police said at the time-two hundred pounds or more. He was pretty big and built, but he didn't move like he was a real coordinated, smooth walking guy". Dr Rayfield and his son did not recall or mention the man wearing any glasses. This description mirrors the three women, who remembered a stocky build of 200-225 lbs. They also stated that he favored one leg over the other. The idea of a clumsy, uncoordinated man would again be reported two weeks later by Officer Donald Fouke, who observed the killer walking along Jackson Street shortly after the murder of Paul Stine. He described a man with a "lumbering gait, sort of stumbling along, like a semi-limp'. Up to the point of the Presidio Heights murder, along with the sighting of the three teenagers and Donald Fouke, not one of a possible seven eyewitness recall seeing a man wearing eyeglasses.

In two instances, it may not have been the Zodiac Killer, but we cannot know for sure. The Lake Berryessa sketch has by many, been dismissed as the same man portrayed in the Presidio Heights sketch. However, the likeness may be a lot closer than you think. If the Zodiac Killer had changed his hairstyle during the intervening two weeks, and the Presidio Heights face is slightly widened to portray a man around 200 lbs, we get the following.              

This is a follow up article, exploring the idea a phone call was placed approximately 10-12 minutes after the Lake Herman Road murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968, using the concept of a 'laughing killer' and the disputed 1986 'Zodiac' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Many magazine and newspaper articles are littered with basic errors regarding the Zodiac case, however, some recurring themes not widely recognized as fact are present in many.

The Tuscaloosa News ran an article on October 17th 1969, just 20 days after the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. It stated 'Then the man said "I'm going to have to stab you people." Hartnell said "Please stab me first, I'm chicken. I couldn't stand to see her stabbed." The man told him "I'll do just that." He stabbed Hartnell until he passed out. The poor girl, she just had to watch. Then he knifed her until she fainted. When he stabbed Hartnell it was deliberate. When he stabbed the girl he laughed in a frenzy. Hartnell had been stabbed 10 times with a thin 12-inch blade. Miss Shepard, whose writhing provoked her attacker to laughter, had been stabbed 24 times'. One can see the embellishment, in the fact the newspaper reported 34 stab wounds as opposed to 16 - so did the killer really laugh in a frenzy during his attack on Cecelia Shepard?

The second article involves the Argosy Magazine dated September 1970 and the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, two weeks after the Berryessa attack. The following is extremely unlikely, but was a section of the October 13th 1969 letter omitted from public consumption in similar fashion to the phrase 'by knife' written on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia, to provoke a reaction from the killer. It is highly doubtful, and likely sensationalized reporting, however this magazine article actually adds a phrase attributed to the killer, written in the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. The article read 'Four days after the murder of Paul Stine yet another scrawled letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. With it was a bloodstained piece of cloth, later established by laboratory technicians as a small part of the missing swatch ripped from Stine's shirt. The rambling letter, signed with the crossed-circle symbol, began, as had the others, with "This is the Zodiac Speaking."  The writer went on to say that he was the killer of the cabbie-student, adding "and to prove it, here is a piece of his shirt." The letter also disclosed that the fugitive, from some nearby hiding place, had watched with uncontrollable amusement while police searched the area. He said "they could have caught me if they had done it right, instead of dashing around waiting for me to come out of cover. I like to died laughing".    

The Argosy Magazine article continued with reflections of the Lake Berryessa stabbing: 'The mention of laughter at a murder scene struck a responsive chord in the minds of the manhunters. During his recovery, young Hartnell had told Napa sleuths that "the man in the hood" had laughed diabolically as he plunged his knife again and again into Miss Shepard beside the lake'.

This would be repeated in the Coronet Magazine in October 1973 where it described the following 'He held an automatic pistol on them, tied them securely with plastic-coated clothesline, and then stabbed them repeatedly, laughing hysterically as they thrashed and rolled in pain'.

The Front Page Detective Magazine article of February 1970 stated "He (the killer) dropped to his knees and slowly, deliberately, forcefully plunged a 12-inch, double edged knife into Bryan's back 10 times. When the youth fainted in pain, the killer turned on the girl. His demeanor changed, kneeling beside her, he laughed wildly as he plunged the dagger 20 times into her back in a frenzied assault".

In April of 1974 Detective Cases Magazine covered the Berryessa stabbing: "He ordered Miss Shepard to tie up Hartnell, then he bound the girl, hands and ankles. The gun had been replaced with a knife and when both victims were securely trussed, the hooded monster began plunging the weapon repeatedly into first, the man, then, the girl, accompanying each thrust with a maniacal laugh. For what seemed an eternity to the horrified, screaming, helpless victims, the merciless butchery continued. Their torturer first slashed, then stabbed as his hideous laughter echoed along the banks of the lake".      

Officer Pierre Bidou remembered a 'crank call' after the Lake Herman Road murders. He described this to the Benicia Herald newspaper: "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene". Officer Pierre Bidou also recalled this 'car accident' to Zodiac investigator Michael Butterfield. “…we got the call from the dispatcher that an accident, or something, had occurred on Lake Herman Road, so we turned around and came by.” Source.

This is from a previous article: 'When Stella Medeiros observed the crime scene at 11:20 pm, she raced off to seek help in Benicia, eventually locating Captain Daniel Pitta at the Enco Gas Station on East 2nd Street. This is 3.4 miles from the turnout, an estimated journey time of 5 minutes on Google Maps. She is obviously driving faster than normal and flags down Captain Daniel Pitta probably slightly shy of 11:25 pm, allowing her to give her account and for Captain Daniel Pitta to head to the crime scene by 11:28 pm. In the course of this, the information would have been relayed to Benicia Police Department. So where did the supposition of a crank call or a car accident originate from. The description given by Stella Medeiros may have been interpreted as a car crash originally and relayed this way, but why would a radio message from a respected officer of the law be interpreted as a crank call? He was a captain reporting an incident on official police channels. Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday are lying prostrate in the turnout - whether a crash or not - why would Pierre Bidou be under any illusion of a crank call, unless a payphone call had come in slightly earlier than the radio message from Captain Daniel Pitta. The Zodiac Killer made phone calls after both his subsequent attacks, so why not this one? The only difference being, he called it in as a car accident, unwilling to show his hand as the murderer.

​Had James Owen passed the turnout around 11:08-11:09 pm, and the Zodiac Killer had exited the turnout somewhere between 11.12-11.14 pm and headed to Vallejo via Springs Road, his journey time to the payphone at the intersection of Springs and Tuolumne would be approximately 10-12 minutes, placing the 'crank call' at 11:22-11:24 pm, just prior to Stella Borges' meeting with Captain Daniel Pitta at 11:25 pm. The 'crank call' and the radio message from Captain Daniel Pitta would have been received in close proximity, leading to the confusion. The crank call being received slightly before the official police radio message.

This is where the 'laughing killer' and the phone call intersect in the aftermath of the Lake Herman Road murders. The Argosy Magazine wasn't finished yet. It continued on further "The man in the hood" had laughed diabolically as he plunged his knife again and again into Miss Shepard beside the lake. He had also laughed in his phone call to Vallejo Police in December 1968.' Does this validate the claim by Pierre Bidou? If the Zodiac Killer had laughed down the phone, could this be why the dispatcher had interpreted it as a crank call? Additionally, the article stated the phone call was made to Vallejo Police, exactly as the phone call had been 6 1/2 months later, after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack on July 4th 1969.

Russell Butterbach of the Solano County Sheriff's Department and his partner Wayne Waterman were just heading onto Lake Herman Road, when they received a call from the sergeant to go to the Hells Angels pad on Warren Avenue, Vallejo. After approximately 30 minutes they then received a double 187 on Lake Herman Road. If a crank phone call from the killer was received after the Lake Herman Road double shooting, then the time of this call, likely just before 11:25 pm, ties in perfectly with a 10-12 minute journey from the turnout to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. This wasn't the only time that the Zodiac Killer may have directed police to the scene of an accident.

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/sacramento-cold-case-contact

The Zodiac Killer wrote in his 'Bus Bomb' letter "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with, as one might say". This has been mulled over incessantly to discover the true meaning to which the Zodiac was referring, with many believing the Zodiac Killer was likely leaving fake fingerprints. But unless these fingerprints were by comparison matched to certain individuals, the police wouldn't be running anywhere.

Three years earlier in a Riverside alleyway, Cheri Jo Bates' lifeless body was discovered by groundskeeper Cleophus Martin. She had been brutally stabbed and slashed with a short-bladed knife on October 30th 1966. Sitting just 10 feet away was a Timex watch, believed to have been ripped from the assailant's wrist during the struggle. Or is that possibly what the killer wanted us to believe. It was determined that the wristband was set for a man with a 7-inch wrist. Was this a 'fake clew' designed to throw investigators off the scent of the killer. 

The Zodiac Killer appeared well read, certainly keeping abreast of the newspaper coverage of his crimes. The extract on the left was published in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday November 1st 1966, only two days after the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. It states "Police have arrested no suspects, but they said they were examining several clews. A man's wristwatch was found about 10 feet from the body". Did the Zodiac drag these clews into his November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb Letter, but this time replacing the 7-inch leather watch with a pair of size 7 black leather gloves as his 'fake clews'?

Although Robert Graysmith claimed in his first book these gloves may have been left in the taxicab by a prior female passenger, he effectively contradicted this account in Zodiac Unmasked, using them, in effect, to implicate Arthur Leigh Allen.

Shortly after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, three teenagers noticed a man in the front seat of the taxicab, stating "The suspect appeared to be searching the victim's pockets. The suspect then appeared to be wiping (fingerprints) on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment". The three teenagers later recalled that "They both watched and observed in silence as Zodiac pushed the driver to an upright position behind the steering wheel, exited the car and walked around the rear of the car and opened the driver's door. Stine had fallen over onto the seat and Zodiac pulled him back up into the seated position and had some difficulty keeping him upright. Once upright, he was seen to have a rag, or something like a handkerchief and began to wipe down the door area and leaning over the driver, part of the dashboard". But was the Zodiac Killer only wiping down the driver side compartment and dashboard? Could he have been removing gloves from his own pocket to deposit them underneath the dashboard? Robert Graysmith stated in his first Zodiac book that "Just under the dash, Toschi found a pair of dull black leather gloves".  Were these Zodiac's "fake clews for the police to run all over town with", as one might say. The Zodiac Killer evidently missed a trick in his Bus Bomb Letter, when he could have stated "fake clews for the police to dash all over town with" - but he didn't. 

The investigators certainly considered these gloves as belonging to the killer, and were taken into evidence (see right). It is equally certain they would have attempted to trace the origin and manufacturer of the gloves, as they did with the Wing Walker's that created the boot impressions noted at the Lake Berryessa crime scene. This would have given the police "some bussy work to do to keep them happy," and would most certainly have had them "running all over town".

In an interview with Bryan Hartnell shortly after the Lake Berryessa stabbing, he was asked if the assailant wore gloves. He replied "I don't remember if he had gloves on or not. I can't remember now. I keep thinking he had gloves on". Did the Zodiac Killer purchase gloves with the express intention of dropping them in the taxicab, to give police the runaround. Or was he steering us towards his previous exploits at Lake Berryessa. One doesn't know if the San Francisco Police Department traced the origin of the gloves, or indeed whether the gloves were labeled, although one of the premier glove manufacturers in the USA and California were the Napa Glove Company in Napa Valley, whose beginnings stretch back as far as 1888. The Napa Glove Company is situated one mile west of the 1231 Main Steet payphone, where Zodiac placed his second phone call to police. This would have been one hell of a 'fake clew'. Napa leather was first 'coined' by Emanuel Manasse in 1875 while working for the Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa, California, and can be found in Merriam-Webster's dictionary. See Wikipedia.

The double stabbing at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 has been constantly questioned as a Zodiac crime, often backed up by the argument that the Zodiac Killer never bragged to newspapers in the following weeks. On the face of it he didn't really have to, as Bryan Hartnell was able to recall virtually every chilling detail in the aftermath of the attack. To claim that the lack of correspondence by the Zodiac Killer after this crime is evidence of a copycat killer is a false dichotomy. They are not the only two options. There are many features of this crime that suggest a Zodiac connection, but there is actually no evidence whatsoever to the contrary.

The first claim is that the modus operandi (MO) of the crime was totally different from the other three attacks. This is clearly not true. It was an attack on a young couple, seemingly random, just like the first two crimes preceding it, despite the sample size being relatively small and statistically weak. Had the killer not mailed pieces of Paul Stine's shirt with three subsequent letters or written to the newspapers, neither the police or anybody else would have likely connected his murder to the Zodiac Killer. The modus operandi would have been called into question. So claiming the Lake Berryessa crime as not that of the Zodiac Killer because it didn't marry up perfectly with the first two crimes, is again, not evidence of anything. Absence of perfect continuity is not evidence to the absence of Zodiac.

The message on the car door detailing his crimes to date shows distinct Zodiac traits in the handwriting, but expecting it to match up perfectly with his mailed correspondence is not a reasonable premise. He had just stabbed a couple sixteen times, his adrenaline was likely raised, he had then traversed back up the hill and proceeded to write on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's car, on a different surface, in larger handwriting, in a totally different position he would adopt if he were writing calmly on a desktop. The comparison between the two must take this into account, so the fact it looks somewhat similar to his mailed correspondence is actually quite an achievement. Had this been written by a copycat it would actually have been a lot harder, who not only had all of the above to contend with, but had to replicate the handwriting from an awkward stance or seated position, side on to the vehicle.  

The phraseology of the killer in both phone calls to the police is virtually identical. After the Blue Rock Springs Park attack he stated "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". After Lake Berryessa he stated "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia" and after a brief pause uttered the words  "I'm the one that did it".

It is possible a copycat read the transcript of the Zodiac Killer's first payphone call to police in the newspapers and reproduced its phraseology during the Napa payphone call, but why is it easier to believe that, rather than believing it was the Zodiac Killer? What evidence exists to promote a copycat making the call above the Zodiac Killer? There is none. The same can be said of the handwriting on Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia.
 
In terms of the content of the handwriting, it is often said it was not the Zodiac Killer because his November 8th 1969 'Dripping Pen' card made reference to a murder or possible double murder in August, which the killer at Lake Berryessa did not refer to on the car door. But the reverse could be argued, that the reference to September in the 'Dripping Pen' card is equal proof that he was claiming the Lake Berryessa crime as his, particularly in light of no other valid murders in September where a killer wore a crossed circle costume and made a phone call with all the hallmarks of Blue Rock Springs Park. This again is a false argument. Even if the Zodiac Killer had murdered in August, the police were apparently unaware of this fact prior to the Lake Berryessa attack, so he simply wrote the dates of the crimes he knew the police would recognize.

​At the top of the Karmann Ghia door the Zodiac wrote 'Vallejo,' so any murder outside of this area would have been unnecessary to include in the message. This indicated that the Zodiac believed that both the Lake Herman Road murders and the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park were both committed in the jurisdiction of Vallejo. This is understandable, because the jurisdictional line that separates Benicia and Vallejo is a short distance from the Lake Herman Road turnout. ​The Zodiac never mentioned Benicia in any of his correspondence to the newspapers, however, he did refer to Vallejo several times. Curious then, that a copycat would make the same mistake and lump the 12-20-68 on the car door under the banner of Vallejo also. If this alleged copycat had read the newspaper transcripts of the Blue Rock Springs Park phone call, he certainly didn't take the time to read the multiple references in the newspapers to Benicia when referring to the first crime on the car door. It could be argued that he studied the Zodiac letters intently and knew the tendencies of the Zodiac Killer, or we could opt for the more likely reasoning, that he was the Zodiac Killer.

Much debate has occurred on whether the man spotted by the three girls at Lake Berryessa was the assailant of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, with comparisons made of this man to the Presidio Heights sketch. Many have stated the two artist impressions are dissimilar in appearance, yet with a quick hair change and slight alteration to the eyebrows, the difference is much less significant between the two. Eyewitness recollections are also proven to be notoriously unreliable. These hair changes have been made to the Lake Berryessa sketch below, without altering any of the facial features.             

The executioner's costume at Lake Berryessa is often used to discredit this as a Zodiac crime. It is claimed it wasn't his modus operandi. In this instance what MO?  We only have two confirmed attacks by the Zodiac Killer as of September 27th 1969 - one of which we have no idea what he was wearing - and both committed in virtual darkness. So, in terms of clothing we would actually be deducing that Lake Berryessa wasn't the Zodiac Killer because he didn't wear the costume at Blue Rock Springs Park. Not a really convincing argument. When the scientific community needs to draw any conclusions from trials, or politicians from polls, the larger the sample the better. Drawing conclusions from a pool of one or two crimes is utterly meaningless, and falls into the category of subjective opinion.

In an ABC Primetime documentary the narration was as follows "However if Doctor Cydne Holt can find enough genetic material from Zodiac's stamps and letters, she can compare it to a wafer thin slice of brain tissue from Arthur Leigh Allen's autopsy." Dr Cydne Holt "This brain tissue from Arthur Leigh Allen is the reference sample that I would use for the comparison."  Narrator "Dr Holt has already detected the possible presence of Zodiac's DNA in the seal of the envelope that contained the greeting card (Dripping Pen Card and 340 cipher), and just in case that test fails to provide a full DNA profile, she also prepares to look for DNA beneath the stamps on two of these three letters (July 31st letters)." Dr Cydne Holt "Depending on whether those DNA's match each other, might allow me to include or exclude Arthur Leigh Allen as potentially contributing the DNA on the Zodiac letters." She was able to exclude Arthur Leigh Allen as the contributor, indicating a positive match was found between the letters. So if we maintain that the 'Dripping Pen' card and August 31st letters were mailed by Zodiac - and he claimed September as his crime - it lends credence to the Lake Berryessa crime being committed by Zodiac (this DNA has subsequently been questioned).
​
The Zodiac Killer probably believed that by writing on the car door and making the telephone call, it would be enough for people to conclude he was the killer. However, this has not proved to be the case. He probably believed that mailing a section of Paul Stine's bloody shirt would be proof enough. This has also failed in certain quarters. The details only known to him and the police at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park he thought would be enough, but it wasn't. The reality: is that for some people there is nothing he could have done to prove he was the killer. If it's claimed that this crime had a totally different modus operandi to the first two crimes and was therefore not the Zodiac Killer, then the copycat was obviously not doing a particularly good job. A copycat attempts to replicate the crimes of a known killer. Therefore, we could conclude that by failing to stick to the known MO at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, the Lake Berryessa perpetrator was more than likely the Zodiac Killer after all. But the fact remains, that not one piece of tangible evidence points to a copycat killer, only the idea that such a person exists. ​ 

​http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/was-the-lake-berryessa-sketch-the-zodiac-killer
​http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/lake-berryessa-killer-and-caller-the-same 

This is a follow up to the article Lake Berryessa-North of the Crime Scene, analyzing the sighting of an individual by Dr. Clifton Rayfield and his son David. This is what Napa County Sheriff's Department detective Ken Narlow said: "Dr. Clifton Rayfield, an ophthalmologist, and his son, David, had parked their car four-fifths of a mile further up the road from Hartnell’s Karmann Ghia. Rayfield reported to me that at approximately 6:30 P.M. he and his son had parked their vehicle north of Park Headquarters . . . in the general area of the crime scene and walked down toward the beach. While en route Rayfield observed a WMA described as five feet ten inches, heavy build, wearing dark trousers and a long-sleeved dark shirt with red coloring. Rayfield and his son both stated that they had not observed a vehicle parked in the area of their car". He continued “I think their time was off a little bit ’cause I think Rayfield actually saw the Zodiac killer just prior to him going south four-fifths of a mile to where Shephard and Hartnell had their car parked. It sure looks like he stumbled on them and had not followed them. I’m convinced that Zodiac was just stalking any singular parked cars along the route. And that’s why he stopped when he saw Rayfield’s car there. When he saw the father and son and they saw him, he decided to go back up to his car. Then he drove down the road a little ways and saw the white Karmann Ghia. Then he came down here and saw a boy and a girl laying on this blanket under this oak tree, and this is what his game was, to kill the boy and the girl. This is why he struck here and not further up the road".
http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport6.html

Many observers believe this could be Zodiac - but what is the likelihood?

The 6:30 pm time that Dr. Rayfield parked his vehicle can be argued. Had this 'mystery man' been Zodiac, then he would have had to return up the hill, get in his vehicle and drive 0.8 miles south to where Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia was located. The time would now be approximately 6:33 pm. The walk from the Karmann Ghia to the crime scene location is a quarter of a mile. The average walking speed is 3.1 mph (1 mile taking approximately 20 minutes). Therefore, the journey down to the location where Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were lying, considering the terrain, would likely be upwards of 5 minutes - but we will go with this figure. The time is now 6:38 pm. He hides behind a tree and prepares for his attack (6:39 pm). The Zodiac then entered into a fairly long dialogue with the couple, proceeded to secure them with bindings and then stabbed them multiple times. The minimum estimation is 10 minutes, taking us to 6:49 pm. Returning up the hill and writing on the car door, a minimum of 6 minutes, giving us a time of approximately 6:55 pm when he begins his journey to Napa. The journey time for the 27 mile trip to the 1231 Main St, Napa payphone is estimated on Google maps at about 45 minutes. This would place the Zodiac Killer at the payphone at 7:40 pm - the exact time of the call to police dispatcher Dave Slaight. This timeline, however, is very optimistic, and does not tally exactly with the time of the attack, written as 6:30 pm on the car door of Bryan Hartnell.  Nevertheless, it is within 10 minutes.   

According to page 11 of the police report 'Miss Marilyn Denise, a student at Pacific Union College, stated that about 5:15 pm Saturday 9/27/69 she was in the Lake Berryessa area with a male companion. She stated at this time they were parked on the Knoxville Road approximately one mile south of the Lake Berryessa Marina. She stated shortly after they parked the vehicle they observed the victims who were known to them, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, driving south on Knoxville Road in Bryan's white Karmann Ghia. She stated as the Hartnell vehicle drove by, Bryan waved out of the window and said "Hi John", referring to her companion.'  Based on this police report, let us assume that Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard arrived and parked up the Karmann Ghia around 5:30 pm.
​
Dr. Clifton Rayfield reported that he had parked his vehicle four-fifths of a mile further north at 6:30 pm, likely one hour after Bryan Hartnell had arrived. So, Detective Ken Narlow's assumption that Zodiac was probably "stalking any singular parked cars along the route", would be extremely unlikely, as the Zodiac Killer would certainly have stumbled across the Karmann Ghia first, not Dr. Rayfield's vehicle. This could lend credence to the idea that Dr. Rayfield and his son saw the killer after the stabbing of the couple, hence the observation of a man wearing a "long-sleeved dark shirt with red coloring", that may have been blood. This, however, has a massive stumbling block. If the Zodiac Killer had discovered the Karmann Ghia first and parked alongside it, why would he be wandering around a hillside 0.8 miles north. He would simply have entered his vehicle and driven south towards Napa.

​In a previous article it was considered that the killer may have been searching for victims on foot, traveling along the hillside scanning for single vehicles and likely prey, as opposed to continually moving his vehicle back and forth. If this were the case, and the Zodiac Killer had written on the Karmann Ghia at 6:30 pm, then the journey on foot 0.8 miles north, using caution, would have taken about 20 to 25 minutes, thereby arriving at his vehicle at 6:50 to 6:55 pm, This again, considering a 45 minute journey to the Napa payphone, places him making the call to police dispatcher Dave Slaight at exactly 7:40 pm.

This would mean Dr. Clifton Rayfield and his son saw the Zodiac Killer roughly 20 minutes after they parked their vehicle, rather than shortly after 6:30 pm. In other words, the actual time they arrived at the lake was nearer 6:50 pm. If this was the Zodiac Killer after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, it may explain the "red coloring" on the shirt.

Dr. Clifton Rayfield had driven from Cypress Way, Los Gatos, California - so he would have traveled northwards along Knoxville Road. Had Zodiac's vehicle been parked further north, just out of view, then this would explain why Dr. Rayfied and son claimed they "had not observed a vehicle parked in the area of their car". The 6:50 pm sighting would have put greater pressure on the already strained timeline, of Zodiac leaving this area and committing any subsequent attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard south of this location. This coupled with the fact Zodiac wrote 6:30 pm on the Karmann Ghia, strengthens Dr. Rayfield's initial assumption, when he stated, "I didn’t realize 'Zodiac' came upon us just before he stabbed the young couple. I sort of assumed I saw him making his getaway".

If this was the Zodiac Killer, then he was most certainly making his getaway, thereby bolstering the argument that he had never parked alongside the Karmann Ghia of Bryan Hartnell that evening. If it wasn't the Zodiac Killer spotted by Dr. Rayfield & Son, then what you have just read is inconsequential.     

LAKE BERRYESSA-NORTH OF THE CRIME SCENE [PT1]   

During the first two Zodiac crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park it is entirely plausible the killer knew the area was frequented by courting couples and systematically cruised between the two locations until the opportunity presented itself. He may very well have adopted the exact same technique at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, moving between areas looking for suitable victims, either by moving his vehicle or trawling the hillside on foot. One interesting observation may indicate his direction of travel after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, and negate the premise his vehicle was parked near to Bryan's 1956 White Karmann Ghia. In fact, it may have been parked just over 0.80 miles northwards along the Knoxville Road. Assuming he wrote on the car door after the attack, he certainly would not want to be conspicuous traveling along the roadside edge back to his vehicle, so likely walked along the hillside to attract less attention. Despite this choice, he still may well have been spotted.    

Three possible 'Zodiac' sightings may have occurred inside of three hours.
 
Earlier on in the day, three young women, students of Pacific Union College, parked their vehicle two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand (5100 Knoxville Road). As they left their vehicle to go sunbathing, a white male, driving a silver or light blue Chevrolet 2-door sedan with California plates pulled up to the rear of their car, bumper to bumper, yet remained inside his vehicle. This man would seemingly remain in his vehicle for approximately 30 minutes before they spotted him again, observing them from about 40 to 50 feet away while they were sunbathing - and each time they looked at him he evaded eye contact thus drawing suspicion.

He was described as being between 28 and 40 years, 200-225 pounds, 6 feet tall, styled black hair, with rounded eyes and thin lips. He was good looking, with a muscular or stocky build, wearing dark blue or black pleated slacks and a dark pullover shirt. He remained observing them, by their accounts, for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. About two hours later, Bryan Hartnell described his attacker as having dark brown hair, 225-250 lbs in weight and 5'8'' to 5'10'' in height, but admitted he was a bad judge of height because he was so tall. He wore a dark blue windbreaker and dark blue or black pleated pants. Bryan Hartnell noted the assailant's greasy hair visible by the eyelets of the hood, suggesting a longer hairstyle, and not inconsistent with the drawing generated from the observations of the three women, with a swept back coiffured hairstyle.    

After deciding the three women were not viable targets, the suggestion is that Zodiac traveled along the Knoxville Road in his vehicle and parked at a location north of where Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were ultimately attacked. He would then traverse the hillside, scouring the area for potential victims. The time is approximately 4:00-4:30 pm - so he had ample daylight remaining. The reason for this hypothesis are the observations of Dr. Clifton Rayfield and his son David.

In Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith, David Rayfield stated "I saw 'Zodiac' at a distance of about one hundred yards, so I wouldn’t be able to comment on his face. He was walking along the hillside about halfway between the road and the lake. But I remember him as being a stockier person. He wasn’t nimble when he was walking. And when he turned to walk away he wasn’t like a smooth, athletic person. To me he seemed a little overweight and on the clumsier side. Not having followed the story or ever having been re-interviewed by the police, I didn’t realize 'Zodiac' came upon us just before he stabbed the young couple. I sort of assumed I saw him making his getaway. I’ll tell you one thing, he didn’t like the fact I was carrying a gun. He turns and looks at me and my gun (which with its scope was pretty intimidating) for probably five, six seconds, and then turned and went up the hill up in a southerly direction. I said to myself, ‘That was funny. This guy wasn’t carrying a fishing pole. There’s no camping equipment. There’s no gun. What’s he doing out here?"

Napa County Sheriff's Department detective Ken Narlow would add "The kid had a .22 rifle, and 'Zodiac' came down within one hundred yards of them across an inlet. The kid saw the guy over there and he was wearing the blue windbreaker jacket. But evidently this wasn’t what he was looking for because it was a father-and-son deal. So the killer went a quarter mile up this road, went back up to the road, and evidently came down the road this way and saw this single car parked here, and then pulled in behind it. Rayfield and his son both stated that they had not observed a vehicle parked in the area of their car, and had only noticed the subject at a distance of approximately one hundred yards. Rayfield did report that there was a man with two young boys in the area shooting BB guns, but didn’t know whether or not they saw the subject. “I think their time was off a little bit ’cause I think Rayfield actually saw the Zodiac killer just prior to him going south four-fifths of a mile to where Shephard and Hartnell had their car parked. It sure looks like he stumbled on them and had not followed them. I’m convinced that Zodiac was just stalking any singular parked cars along the route. And that’s why he stopped when he saw Rayfield’s car there. When he saw the father and son and they saw him, he decided to go back up to his car. Then he drove down the road a little ways and saw the white Karmann Ghia. Then he came down here and saw a boy and a girl laying on this blanket under this oak tree, and this is what his game was, to kill the boy and the girl. This is why he struck here and not further up the road".

Of course, the man observed by Dr. Rayfield and son was not necessarily the Zodiac Killer, but let us run with the notion for a moment. ​Detective Ken Narlow may possibly be correct, that the Rayfield's "time was off a little bit". They estimated the time at about 6:30 pm, and Narlow thought that "Rayfield actually saw the Zodiac killer just prior to him going south four-fifths of a mile to where Shepard and Hartnell had their car parked". But what of the possibility that Clifton and David Rayfield saw the Zodiac after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard as David had initially assumed, with the time nearer 6:50 pm (20 minutes walking time for 0.80 mile). The Zodiac was traveling along the hillside equidistant from the road and the lake for obvious reasons. Despite having worn a three-quarter waistline bib during his attack, he may well be spattered with blood to some degree.

The reason for believing this sighting could have been after the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard are threefold.
In Zodiac Unmasked, Detective Ken Narlow revealed "Dr. Clifton Rayfield, an ophthalmologist, and his son, David, had parked their car four-fifths of a mile further up the road from Hartnell’s Karmann Ghia. Rayfield reported to me that at approximately 6:30 P.M. he and his son had parked their vehicle north of Park Headquarters . . . in the general area of the crime scene and walked down toward the beach. While en route Rayfield observed a WMA described as five feet ten inches, heavy build, wearing dark trousers and a long-sleeved dark shirt with red coloring". Was this "red coloring" actually blood, with the Zodiac Killer heading back to his car parked nearby, likely just beyond the Rayfield vehicle. Had this been 6:50 to 6:55 pm, then the 45-50 minute journey time from Lake Berryessa to the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone, would have placed him there at exactly 7:40 pm and the time of the call to police dispatcher David Slaight. Had the Zodiac Killer departed Lake Berryessa at 6:30 pm it would have left at least 20 minutes unaccounted for. The 20 minute walk to his vehicle from Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia to his vehicle, just beyond the Rayfield sighting, fills in this time period. This period of walking may also account for the discrepancy in Zodiac's phone call, where he overestimated his distances by 1.3 miles: "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia" and after a brief pause uttered the words  "I'm the one that did it".
 
Earlier, the three women described the man wearing a "white belt around his back" or possibly "a white T-shirt hanging out". It has been considered that bearing in mind the man was a distance away, this could have been the white clothesline, described later by Bryan Hartnell. Then we have the "long-sleeved dark shirt with red coloring". But were the two sightings connected - effectively ruling out the idea Zodiac parked alongside Bryan Hartnell's vehicle before the attack - and suggest the Zodiac Killer was actually trolling the hillside on foot looking for single vehicles and vulnerable targets, and his vehicle was actually parked just over four-fifths of a mile north of the crime scene.
 
LAKE BERRYESSA-NORTH OF THE CRIME SCENE [PT2]
​http://murders.ru/zodiac%20unmasked.pdf

This time we will take a trip to the shores of Lake Berryessa and take a closer look at whether the mystery man spotted by the three young women from Pacific Union College was the same man that would later go on to attack Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard just a couple of hours later. A rudimentary sketch of the man, compiled using the descriptions of the three women was generated - an overall description that bore similarities to statements by Bryan Hartnell. On first look, the sketch appears inconsistent with the drawing of the suspect generated from eyewitness testimony at Presidio Heights, just two weeks later on October 11th 1969, however, they may be a lot closer than first thought.
 
Many people have questioned Lake Berryessa as a Zodiac crime, citing the different style of the attack and his failure to detail this crime in any of his subsequent correspondence with newspapers. The writing on the car door, his phone call and the mention of 'sept' on the 'Dripping Pen' card mailed on November 8th 1969, have seemingly failed to convince everyone. So later we will take a closer look at the sketch, bearing in mind the Zodiac could easily have cut and dyed his hair in the two weeks prior to the murder of Paul Stine.
The Zodiac Killer also stated in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill".

Firstly let us take a look at the overall details submitted by the three women.
Earlier on in the day, three young women, students of Pacific Union College parked their vehicle two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand at 5100 Knoxville Road. As they left their vehicle to go sunbathing, a white male, driving a silver or light blue Chevrolet 2-door sedan with California plates pulled up to the rear of their car, bumper to bumper, yet remained inside his vehicle. This man would seemingly remain in his vehicle for approximately 30 minutes before they spotted him again, observing them from about 40 to 50 feet away while they were sunbathing. Each time they looked at him he seemingly evaded eye contact, thus drawing suspicion from the three women. He was described as being between 28 and 40 years, 200-225 pounds, 6 feet tall, styled black hair, with rounded eyes and thin lips - he was good looking, with a muscular or stocky build, wearing dark pants and a dark pullover shirt. He remained observing them, by their accounts, for between 30-45 minutes and then left. At 4:30 pm they decided to leave the shores of Lake Berryessa and noticed his vehicle had gone. Here are the separate descriptions they submitted;

#1. "A subject driving a late model silver-blue Chevrolet, 2-door sedan. This subject was described as 6' tall, weighing 200/210 pounds, muscular build, rather nice looking".
#2. "Vehicle described as a 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet with California plates. Witness believes the vehicle was a 2-door sedan and described the headlights as long rather than round".
#3. "Subject was described as approximately 28 years of age, 6'1" to 6'2" tall, 200/225 lbs, black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left, rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking".
#4. "Vehicle was described as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. The rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round. She described the subject as 6' tall, stocky build, about 200 lbs, black short-sleeved sweater shirt, dark blue slacks, and straight dark hair neatly combed. She guessed his age at approximately 30 years".
When the three young women returned to their vehicle at 4.30 pm, the man and his vehicle had left.

Bryan Hartnell thought the attacker to be 20-30 years using voice concept, with dark brown hair visible through the hood, wearing dark blue or black pleated slacks, 5' 8" to 6' 0" tall and 225-250 pounds. He also noticed a knife in a case on the right side of his belt, near the front of his trousers and cut up rope in the assailant's rear pocket. It was the type similar to white plastic clothesline.

Certain key aspects given by Bryan Hartnell and the three women match up. The dark hair, observed by both Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard by the eyelets of the mask worn by the assailant, may indicate his hair was drawn downwards when he pulled on the mask. The sketch by the three women indicates longer hair, probably swept back on top. The description of a heavyset man, 200-225 pounds is identical in both instances, in line with the description of a heavyset man at Presidio Heights. The age is also consistent. The three women described what they thought was a white belt around his back, thinking it could possibly have been a tee shirt hanging out. Another girl stated he was wearing a black short sleeved sweater shirt bunched up at the front, again describing a white tee shirt hanging out the back. Did the bunched up sweater shirt hide anything sinister? Could the descriptions given by the women, describing a white belt around his back or white tee shirt 'hanging out', actually have been the cut lengths of plastic clothesline trailing from his rear pocket in anticipation of a prepared attack on the women, but for whatever reason got cold feet, changed his mind and turned to Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard approximately two hours later. 

In an interview with Sgt John Robertson, Bryan Hartnell mentioned the windbreaker worn by the assailant stating "That was dark blue. And I don't know. Maybe he had something in his pouch". The three women would describe the man as he approached the beach within 20 feet of them, noticing "a black short-sleeved sweater shirt, bunched up in front". Was the knife or gun concealed under his shirt, described by Bryan Hartnell as "a knife in a case on the right side of his belt, near the front of his trousers?" Bryan Hartnell in the police report, stated the assailant was wearing "sloppy clothes. And he had on this old pair of pleated pants. Well like I say, he was dressed kind of sloppily, you know. His pants real tight up here and his stomach kind of pouched a bit". These style of pants would be later detailed by Donald Fouke, one of the responding officers at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. Bryan Hartnell would also describe the clothing worn by the assailant as old-fashioned. One of the women would describe the vehicle driven by the mystery man, stating the car "as appearing very conservative and did not appear to belong to any young person, such as a teenager". ​ 

Just prior to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard, the assailant ducked behind some trees, before he reappeared wearing his costume. The three women mentioned in the police report "the male subject watching them from the edge of the trees" at the top of the hill. Was the "black short-sleeved sweater shirt, bunched up in front", possibly the executioner's hood, concealed beneath his clothing in preparation, along with the gun and knife?

The three women described his vehicle as a 'late model, 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet, the rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round.' Below is a picture of the rear end of a 1967 Chevrolet Nova II, with long taillights, rather than round. What was actually meant by the description of 'long' can be interpreted in two ways - either 'long' vertically or horizontally. However, after much searching of vehicle specifications, this car has been chosen for a reason. Its track width is almost identical to the tire impressions found next to Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Karmann Ghia shortly after the Lake Berryessa attack. This was examined in much greater detail here.

Ninety minutes precedent to the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968, William Crow and his girlfriend were parked up in the fateful turnout. "He was parked in the open area by the pump station and he observed a blue car, possibly a Valiant coming down the road from Benicia towards Vallejo. They passed his location, stopped in the middle of the road and he saw the white lights of the reverse come on and the car started backing up towards them. Mr Crow put the car in gear and took off at a high rate of speed and the car followed him at a high rate of speed". William Crow described the vehicle as possibly a blue Valiant in the original police report - and bearing in mind the vehicle momentarily stopped just past the turnout, before reversing, this would undoubtedly be the best view he had of the vehicle that night, before being chased down Lake Herman Road. The rear of a 1967 Plymouth Valiant is shown in the above right photograph, with the characteristics of the rear end and taillights bearing a passing similarity to the 1967 Chevrolet Nova II. So is it possible William Crow was pursued by a 1967 Chevrolet Nova II on December 20th 1968, the same vehicle that would be viewed by the three women at Lake Berryessa nine months later?  A vehicle that would further match the track width, measured by detectives alongside Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Karmann Ghia.  

Finally, we shall return to the sketch attributed to the three women and compare it to the sketch generated at Presidio Heights.
The first image on the left is the original sketch (colored, without glasses) from the three teenagers overlooking 3898 Washington Street. The middle image shows the Lake Berryessa sketch with the haircut from Presidio Heights. The right image changes one further characteristic from Lake Berryessa;- the lips of the assailant. Taking into consideration the eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights were hindered by distance and poor lighting, was the Lake Berryessa sketch more accurate? Or indeed, was the man observed by the three women actually the Zodiac Killer? It depends on whether the images below could be mistaken for the same person. I will let you decide. 

In the middle image below, the eyes on the Lake Berryessa sketch have been widened to match the Presidio Heights sketch. In the right image below the eyes on the Presidio Heights sketch have been narrowed to match the Lake Berryessa sketch. This has been done to  compensate for any possible changes to the appearance by wearing glasses.

The following will be investigating the idea that possibly two or more individuals may have been involved in the Zodiac crimes, or at least some of the crimes. It is not necessarily something I subscribe to, but certainly would not dismiss the idea out of hand, particularly when we consider the nature of the first two crimes at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 and Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969, and many of the unanswered questions. Some of the following will  consider new angles regarding the crimes that don't necessarily follow the widely accepted Zodiac narrative.

At Lake Herman Road, what strikes you, are the occupants of two vehicles observed in the run-up to the murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. These occupants, despite the publicity these murders generated, never came forward. This may be a fear of implication in the crime, nevertheless, the owner of the white Chevrolet Impala, spotted parked unoccupied in the Lake Herman Road turnout by three witnesses and the blue Valiant observed by William Crow, who stated he was pursued by two Caucasian males in this vehicle within 90 minutes of the double murder, have all remained unidentified. One has to ask, why is the empty Chevrolet Impala sitting parked in the turnout for an extended period of time bearing in mind it was late evening, extremely cold and pitch black? What were the occupant/s of the vehicle doing that night, considering they were never observed in the vicinity at any time by Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser or Bingo Wesner?

The 'Blue Valiant' story by William Crow is difficult to dismiss as irrelevant, having occurred so close to the crime scene - and on the face of it appeared threatening. William Crow would later change the recollection of his encounter that night, in addition to altering his vehicle description to a white Chevrolet. This can be easily interpreted as witness embellishment. Mike Rodelli attempted to contact William Crow in subsequent years to no avail. He addressed William Crow thus; "Since that time, you have become a practicing attorney and are reportedly employed by the local government in Solano County. In February of 2004, you spoke to Zodiac researcher Howard Davis. At this time you had a much different story to tell. You clarified the reason you had pulled over to the side of the road near the pumping station as being to learn how to use "toggle switches" on the dashboard of your girlfriend's car. The chase is now much more detail-filled and very dramatic. The car tried to gain on you and, in trying to get inside your left rear quarter panel, presumably tried to force you off the road. He flashed his lights on and off. In taking the turnoff to Benicia, you apparently had to execute a high speed "evasive" maneuver which the less agile, older car could not handle. There was just one person in the car now and his description was eerily like that which was promoted for the Zodiac killer (i.e., short hair and glasses) after October 1969. The car was now remarkably the "white Chevy" that two other sets of eyewitnesses described that night. You stated that your girlfriend lived in (and presumably purchased her sports car in) San Francisco (or was it Napa?). After the encounter, your common sense kicked in and you went home".

It is not unusual for eyewitnesses to become creative in later accounts, which drives at the heart of their credibility, similar in fashion to the changing stories of Donald Fouke at Presidio Heights. This is what William Crow originally stated; "He was driving his girlfriend's sports car and he was testing it out and adjusting the motor. He was parked in the open area by the pump station and he observed a blue car, possibly a Valiant coming down the road from Benicia towards Vallejo. They passed his location, stopped in the middle of the road and he saw the white lights of the reverse come on and the car started backing up towards them. Mr Owen put the car in gear and took off at a high rate of speed and the car followed him at a high rate of speed. They did not attempt to gain on him, but when they got to the turn off towards Benicia, William Crow turned towards Benicia and the other car went straight ahead. The subjects were both Caucasians and there is no further identification on the car or the subjects".

The level of threat these individuals posed is indeterminable, although they never presented themselves to investigators to clarify their account of proceedings - so the question will still persist - to what extent they were connected to the subsequent murders that night. The significance of the white Chevrolet Impala is equally unclear.          

The Zodiac Killer described his attack on David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights".

How difficult is it to control two frightened teenagers in near perfect darkness using just a 'pencil flashlight', bearing in mind his vehicle was supposedly parked alongside the victims Rambler, providing limited auxiliary lighting from the headlights of his car. The most obvious position to place his vehicle was to the right and slightly behind, to not only blind his victims and box them in, but to provide some extra illumination in the comission of the crime. The Zodiac also stated "All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". The fact he never used the gunsights may suggest this very scenario. His statement of "all I had to do was spray them" is open to scrutiny, because he never sprayed both victims - David Faraday was shot point blank to the left side of his head. This brings us to the ballistics evidence, covered extensively in regards to two shooters, in the article http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/lake-herman-road-the-ballistics-report  

In short, eight bullets were recovered from the crime scene and only one failed to exhibit 'right hand groove class characteristics' - the one retrieved from David Faraday's head at autopsy. Ten casings were detailed in the crime scene sketches, but only nine were sent to the Department of Justice for testing. Since nine of the casings were retrieved from the turnout floor, it seems likely the tenth casing, marked as sitting on the front passenger side Rambler floor, got towed away with the vehicle and separated from the rest of the casings. Therefore, it is possible this casing was never tested. If this tenth casing had exhibited different characteristics to the other nine, then a plausible link could be attributed to this casing and the 'odd man out' bullet. It makes perfect sense, because a head shot into David Faraday from his left side by a right-handed shooter would eject the casing to the right and rear, in direct line with the open passenger door where it was ultimately found. The same could be said of a left-handed shooter securing David Faraday from behind. But without ever locating this missing casing we will never know.

Mike Rodelli responded to this with some additional information, which if correct defies belief: "That missing casing is interesting. I remember being at Russ' home for several days in 2003 and he told me that he had one of the shell casings from LHR. We looked through several ashtrays of junk trying to find it but never did. I wonder if the one he had is the missing one, since the car would have been placed in possession of the SO after the shooting, as seen in several videos. Maybe he took it as a souvenir.". If this were the case, then it is highly unlikely that this promising lead will go anywhere, but it certainly does not discount the possibility that a second gun and second shooter may have been involved that night. Were the two Caucasians spotted by William Crow still en scene, and what role, if any, did the white Chevrolet Impala play?         

Comparing vehicles in the Zodiac attacks is extremely limiting, especially when considering Michael Mageau's less than reliable eyewitness account. Understandable after the horrific attack he was subjected to at Blue Rock Springs Park.

On the left is a blue 1966 Chevrolet Nova, which when compared to the 1966 Plymouth Valiant above has a similar square looking design. In addition, the Chevrolet Nova II and Chevrolet Nova II 327 exhibit equally similar features and specifications. These vehicles have been selected for a reason.

The three women at Lake Berryessa, who spotted a suspicious man in the run up to the double stabbing of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969, described his vehicle as a late model, 1966/7 Chevrolet, light or sky blue in color, with long rear taillights rather than round. These Chevrolet Nova models have long taillights. Not a great match up admittedly, however, the police took tire impressions of a vehicle they suspected parked by Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia on the day of the crime, that may have been the killer's vehicle. The mystery man spotted by the three women may not have been the Zodiac Killer, but the tire tracks or tread impression widths of a Chevrolet Nova, if he drove such a vehicle, are almost  identical to the track width of the observed tire impressions by police.   

This is what it states in the police report "Reporting officer observed one set of tire impressions approximately 20 feet to the rear of the victim's vehicle. The suspect track nearer the fence measured approximately 4 1/2 inches in width and showed a parallel tread design. This tread design was photographed by Sgt T Butler and then a plaster cast was made by reporting officer. The tire impression furthest from the fence measured approximately 5 1/2 inches in width. The distance between the inside of the left tread to the inside of the right tread measured approximately 52 inches".
Track width is a measurement from tire center to tire center.
If you look at the specs of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala, the tire width is 205 mm or 8.07 inches. This would mean that the center of the tire is situated at roughly 4 inches. It would be nice to think, that if we added the 4 inches of both tires to the 52 inches in the police report (measured to the inside of the tread above), we would get 60 inches track width, which happens to be the exact front width shown here of the 1960 Chevrolet Impala (although 59.3 in the rear). However, tire width and tread width are not the same (shown in the photograph above), where the rubber cambers off on the edge of the tire, meaning the tread width is often smaller than tire width. This is often different bearing in mind the aspect ratio of a tire, given as 75% on a 1960 Chevrolet Impala, in respect to rim size. Here is a brief explanation on Youtube.  If we take the median value of the tread impression widths (5 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches) stated in the police report above, we have an approximation of 5 inches tread width. This can vary front and back. 

The police report gave us 52 inches to the inside of the tread (left and right), depicted here on the left. The tread value of each tire is 5 inches, which is 2 1/2 inches to the center of each tire (excluding the camber shown in yellow). With two tires, that amounts to 5 inches. Therefore, the total track width (measured to the center of each tire) is 57 inches. This would suggest that the suspect vehicle, if it is related to the Berrryessa tire impressions at all, is not a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair with a track width of not greater than 55 inches - and shy of the 60 inch track width of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala - seemingly ruling both vehicles out as being responsible for the impressions discovered by responding officers. Even taking the actual values of tread width of 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches, the track width would fall in between the specifications of both vehicles. 


​The three girls descriptions, suggested a 1966 or 1967, late model blue Chevrolet, 2-door, with one highlighting long taillights. The question being, could this description be enough to provide a match to the tire impressions found close to Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. We are looking for a Chevrolet somewhere in the range of 57 inch wheel track width. Here are examples of the Chevrolet II Nova, beginning with the 2-door '66 model.    

Supplemental to this, is the Chevrolet Nova II SS 327.  Here is a Youtube video of a 1967 marina-blue Chevrolet Nova II 327, featuring front, side and rear views. It is 2-door, with long, rather than round taillights.

​If we take the median value of the tire impressions from the police report, then as already stated, we have a track width of 57 inches. If we take the low end estimate of the tire impressions of approximately 4 1/2 inches, this gives a track width of 56.50 inches. Here are the complete specs of the Chevrolet Nova II from two sources. Here and here.

The track width for the front is 56.80 inches, very close to the 57.00 inches estimated from the police report. The track width for the rear is 56.30 inches, very close to 'the suspect track nearer the fence, measured at approximately 4 1/2 inches in width.' This was the closest fit I could find, matching as many specifications as possible, including the color, make, year, taillights, door and track width, and combining both scenes at Lake Berryessa - but this of course is the best one can manage without comprehensive identification. Had William Crow identified a blue Chevrolet Nova instead of a blue Valiant, then its significance may have ramped up a notch. He may have been mistaken on December 20th 1968, after all, he apparently only saw its front and rear end in near pitch darkness. He would eventually change his statement in 2004 to a white Chevrolet - so by taking half of each statement - we could manufacture our blue Chevrolet like magic.

Seven months after Lake Herman Road, the killer struck for a second time, attacking Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin at Blue Rock Springs Park. Again, two vehicles may have come into play. Michael Mageau described a vehicle pulling alongside Darlene Ferrin's brown Corvair before leaving in the direction of Springs Road. Approximately five minutes later, this vehicle, or a different vehicle, pulled up about ten feet to their rear. The occupant exited his vehicle with torch and gun in hand, approached the couple's vehicle and fired five shots at the defenseless victims through the open side passenger window. He then retreated, before returning to fire off a further four shots.      

Who was the man who pulled alongside the victims car five minutes prior to the attack? If this man was the eventual shooter, why did he drive away when he had the perfect opportunity to attack the couple in the first instance. If he was unrelated to the murder and attempted murder, why did he pull alongside the couple in an empty car park in which he could have parked anywhere, and in similar fashion to the unknown occupants of the vehicles at Lake Herman Road, he never presented himself as a material witness to police regarding the events that night. Was the occupant of the vehicle who initially pulled up alongside the victims Corvair surveying the scene for an accomplice, possibly known to Darlene Ferrin? Hence, the strategy of parking a vehicle alongside, then behind. This certainly wouldn't be the first serial killer to target someone known to them, before continuing their rampage. Then there is the additional phone call to family members in the early hours of July 5th 1969, other than the call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover. This theory I doubt will ever be resolved. 

This attack, and the one at Lake Herman Road, both may have displayed some sort of reconnaissance before the murders ultimately took place, with unidentified vehicles and persons unknown present before each crime.

At Lake Herman Road we had an extensive DOJ ballistics report (although missing one vital casing), along with detailed, if inaccurate police sketches. Blue Rock Springs Park on the other hand, has very little. No extensive ballistics report available to the public and no photographs of the crime scene whatsoever. We know that nine expended bullet casings were retrieved from the crime scene, seven found to the right side of the Corvair and two on the back seat floorboard of the vehicle, as though the killer had leaned into the vehicle to deliver the final two shots at Michael Mageau, who had clambered to the rear of the vehicle to escape the initial barrage. The strange thing about this shooting, is that the killer had unleashed nine shots towards his victims, yet despite both Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin being alive after the first five shots, he retreated according to Michael Mageau. Why didn't he just use up the whole magazine, or nine shots in one 'sitting' so to speak? Although not privy to the Blue Rock Springs ballistics report, I suspect the expended casings were compared and shown to have been the product of one firearm - but who fired the nine shots? This may seem a stupid question, but Michael Mageau by his own admission, stated a vehicle pulled up behind them with the headlights on and a man exited with a flashlight. At near midnight with limited alternative lighting, this would have made it extremely difficult to ascertain how many occupants were present in the assailant's vehicle.              

Michael Mageau stated that the attacker retreated after the first volley of shots. It is entirely plausible that the assailant handed off the gun to a second man in the car, who was then told to 'finish the job'. They came as a team and wanted to be equally involved. The first assailant firing off five shots and the second four shots. This cannot be proved or disproved, especially considering Michael Mageau was blinded by the headlights from behind, in accompaniment to the flashlight - and for a brief period had no view of the assailant/s vehicle as he had sought respite on the back seat of the Corvair. His account of the night and his description of the assailant's vehicle are extremely sketchy, and could also throw into doubt the actual number of perpetrators involved on July 4th 1969.

Lake Berryessa is totally different. We know that one masked man was responsible for the stabbing of Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. What we don't know is who wrote on Bryan Hartnell's car door. We assume it was the same person who committed the stabbing. Lake Berryessa had limited escape routes by car, with the crime being perpetrated during daylight hours and boats still circling the lake. Would our killer be eager to leave the scene of crime as soon as he reached his vehicle? Would he take the time to write on Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia? Or would it have been much easier for a second person to have written on the vehicle while the attack was underway, so as to facilitate a quick exit along Knoxville Road? Again, neither can be proved or disproved.

Finally, we have the Presidio Heights murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. There have been many debates on where the actual murder took place, in light of no gunshot being heard by the three teenagers across the street - or any other resident for that matter. But what we do know, is that we cannot inextricably link the man observed in the taxicab with Paul Stine's shooting. By the time the three teenagers had looked out of their window that night, all they observed was a man in the front seat of the taxicab, presumably tearing off a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt. The shooter (his accomplice) may have already vacated the taxicab before the teenagers came to the window. Nobody knows the time period between the taxicab arriving at Washington and Cherry and the teenagers initial observations. The shooter could have been long gone and the 'clean up' guy was taking care of business. Without the gun, his lack of urgency may have been measurable by his actions.

The following will explore the possibility that two people were in fact the 'Zodiac Killer', briefly touched upon in a previous Lake Herman Road article entitled 'Lake Herman Road-The Ballistics Report.' This is not necessarily a held opinion, but the idea of more than one person in some way being involved has long been touted in numerous postings, so is worthy of investigation. Let us start at the beginning with some observations noted at Lake Herman Road.

The first interesting aspect of the December 20th 1968 murders was that the bullet fired into David Faraday did not contain the same class characteristics as the other seven submitted bullets. What the Department of Justice report actually said was 'All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle bullets, although some were damaged, it was possible to determine ALL but Item [1] had 6 right hand groove class characteristics.'  Item [1] was the bullet recovered from David Faraday. This doesn't categorically separate this bullet as being fired from a second weapon, but it certainly opens up the possibility, as it couldn't be definitively linked to the other seven bullets. Furthermore, only nine casings were documented in the police report and the Department of Justice report, when clearly ten casings were ejected from the weaponry that night and explicitly marked in numerous police sketches. So why did this tenth casing, described by Zodiac and depicted in the police sketches, seemingly disappear on its journey from the crime scene to the Department of Justice evidence room. In all likelihood, it is because this casing was the one discovered on the front passenger side floorboard of the Rambler, either left in situ purposely or inadvertently when the Rambler of David Faraday was towed away, but which ultimately became separated from the other nine. Having never been tested, we will never know if this 'missing' tenth casing matches the other nine from a ballistics standpoint. Had it displayed unique characteristics, then there remains a strong possibility that this casing could have been the one ejected from the bullet fired into David Faraday's brain - as this was the only bullet not linked the other seven. This would open up the notion of a second weapon that night, or likely a second shooter - but without the tenth casing being unearthed, this remains just speculation. See Lake Herman Road-The Ballistics Report. 

It has been suggested that one person may have written the letters to the newspapers, while the other was the killer. But it is equally possible both participated in the murders, while one or both wrote the correspondence. It is easy to scrutinize every word penned by the author of the Zodiac letters, and interpret the wording in a multitude of different ways. One such example is present in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, received by the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969.

Imagine that two attackers were present at Lake Herman Road, and as inferred above, one was responsible for the close quarter execution of David Faraday, while the other was responsible for the remaining nine shots. In other words, the second shooter had a containing role, securing David Faraday as he left the Rambler. If this were the case, it could be inferred that the assailant who murdered Betty Lou Jensen was the author of the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter and wrote "What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". He did essentially "spray" Betty Lou Jensen with five bullets, but he didn't 'spray them', so he could be writing about the events that night from his perspective, not his accomplice's - who may have clinically murdered David Faraday with a single bullet and suggested at the beginning of this article.

Another example of interpretation can be found in the wording on the first three letters mailed on July 31st 1969, where the author stated alongside part one of the cipher "the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle". Alongside parts two and three of the cipher the author stated "the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner". and uses the present tense of "are being mailed". On all three correspondences the author is tending towards the third person perspective. This is most unlike the Zodiac, who would usually not fail to refer to himself, such as "I have mailed the other two parts of the cipher."  Clearly though, this boils down to the subjectivity of the reader and the dissection of such material.      

The final observation, is the encounter of William Crow approximately 90 minutes prior to the Lake Herman Road double murder, in which he detailed being chased by another vehicle occupied by two male Caucasians. If his account is true, then this suspicious activity so close to the actual time of the murders has to be considered one of, if not the most significant feature of the night's events when searching for suspects. Most telling, was that these two individuals never came forward and were never located. There are many reasons why individuals do not come forward - one being the fear of being turned from eyewitness into the accused, although guilt would certainly head the list. Taking the ballistics from above and linking it to these two white males is certainly worthy of consideration, albeit a little simplistic.

Did these two individuals reappear just over six months later, both of whom were possibly sighted and recalled by Michael Mageau, who survived the horrific onslaught at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969. Michael Mageau would recount two significant sightings that night. Firstly, the vehicle that pulled up alongside Darlene Ferrin's brown Corvair - and either this vehicle returning five minutes later to the rear of their Corvair - or a second vehicle now entering the scene, implying that two males may be involved in the crime. Michael Mageau stated in the police report "Shortly after this and about 5 minutes before the shooting occurred, a vehicle pulled into the lot, coming from the direction of Springs Road and Vallejo. The driver turned the lights off on the car and pulled around to the left or east side of their car, approximately 6 or 8 feet away and sat there for a minute. He asked Dea if she knew who it was and she stated 'Oh, never mind'".
 
The Zodiac Killer appeared bold and brazen, particularly at Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights, where he took enormous risks beyond what was required to execute his murders. The wearing of an elaborate costume, the writing on the car door, and the murder of Paul Stine in the heart of San Francisco (that included the tearing of Paul Stine's shirt), yet here, if we contend that both these sightings by Michael Mageau were of the Zodiac Killer, then the hesitancy looks out of place. When the first vehicle pulled into the parking lot it was empty, other than Darlene's Corvair. Why not pull up behind the intended victims, as in the second instance, and begin the attack? It could be argued that the first vehicle which pulled up alongside the Corvair was a totally innocent motorist, but the parking lot was totally empty, so why pull alongside the only other vehicle and extinguish the car's lights for upwards of a minute? This could be construed as suspicious activity in the run up to the attack at Blue Rock Springs, in similar fashion to Lake Herman Road - and again - as with Lake Herman Road, this person (if innocent) never came forward as an eyewitness to this crime and has never been traced. Three significant eyewitnesses over three murders that all failed to make themselves available.                     

The Zodiac would remind us of his individuality just two days after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, "I am the same man who did in the people in the north bay area". We do not know exactly what alerted the three teenagers to the unfolding events outside their home that night, but it was apparently not the gunshot, as they stated they heard no firearm being discharged that night. Therefore, it cannot be stated with any certainty that the man they observed in the front passenger seat of the taxicab was actually the killer of Paul Stine. In fact, we do not know exactly how long the taxicab was present at the intersection of Washington and Cherry Street prior to the teenagers looking out of their upstairs window. We can only determine that the person observed inside the taxicab was likely responsible for the removal of the shirt piece and the wiping down of the taxicab.

​It is perfectly feasible that two people were inside Paul Stine's taxicab as it approached the corner of Washington and Cherry just before 9:55 pm. The first person shot Paul Stine and immediately left the scene, taking the 'smoking gun' with him. The second person remained to secure the shirt piece and wipe down the taxicab. Had the second person still been inside the taxicab as police approached, he could just claim to be a witness to the murder or aftermath - and seeing a taxicab driver had been injured or shot, had entered the taxicab to assist the driver. After all, this accomplice would have been devoid of any firearm and incriminating gunshot residue, so how could he be the shooter? The tearing of any shirt (had this been noticed) could be attributed to first aid, acquiring material to staunch the blood loss. However, as police had not arrived in time, any back up plan was not required and the accomplice headed north along Cherry Street.  

It would have been an extremely audacious act to have shot a taxicab driver in a built up area, only yards from nearby residences, and then have taken the time to carefully tear a rectangular section of Paul Stine's shirt while still in possession of the only item that would inextricably link you to the crime - the smoking gun. The same could be said of remaining at the scene after the Lake Berryessa double stabbing, and taking the time to write on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia. Unless, both of these tasks were performed by an accomplice, thereby reducing the risk factor of each crime. 
It is actually impossible to disprove that two people were involved in the Zodiac crimes, as it is for multiple co-conspirators. It is equally impossible to prove a lone killer in all four confirmed attacks, as it simply boils down to what you believe. The murderer crafted an elaborate costume for the attack on Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell on September 27th 1969, but the creation of the 'Zodiac Killer' just prior to August 4th 1969 may have been the greatest disguise of them all.                    

During the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968, one car, above all, was spotted by numerous eyewitnesses that night, including Bingo Wesner, Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and William Crow, who saw the vehicle up close and personal, either in the turnout or adjacent to it, described in more detail in the police report as a white 1959 or 1960 4-door hardtop Chevrolet Impala. Just under seven months later, the second attack would occur at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th or 5th 1969, again involving a young couple. Unfortunately, this time the surviving witness Michael Mageau was less than confident on the description of the assailant's vehicle. He stated in the police report "He could not see the car too clearly, however the shape of the car looked similar to the car that Dea owns, a Corvair. He could not see the color or anything as it was very dark out there".  The killer clearly could have changed vehicle in the preceding months, but what is the likelihood Michael Mageau saw a white Chevrolet Impala?

The assailant's vehicle left no tracks at Lake Herman Road because the ground in the turnout was frozen solid under 22 degree Fahrenheit conditions. At Blue Rock Springs, the parking lot was Macadam paved, so in both instances this avenue of investigation was unable to generate any linkage between the two crimes. Michael Mageau described the assailant's vehicle as similar in shape to Dea's, and Darlene Ferrin drove a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair. The track width of a Chevrolet Corvair of the respective year, front and rear, is 54.5 to 55 inches. The track width being the distance from the center of one tire, to the center of the corresponding tire. This may be relevant, if any connection can be made to the tire tracks discovered to the rear of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia at Lake Berryessa just under three months later, unless we assume the killer simply kept swapping cars.

The factory specifications show this 1960 model of Chevrolet was produced in Ermine White. The color has a distinctive brown hue, which is further enhanced under reduced light (see above). In respect of Blue Rock Springs, the glare of the assailant's headlights and carry handle flashlight, and Mageau's position throughout, makes it highly unlikely any worthwhile comparison can be made between Darlene Ferrin's vehicle and the killer's from the perspective of Michael Mageau, before or after the shooting.

​The third attack at Lake Berryessa, on September 27th 1969, yielded a further description of a vehicle. However, whether it is connected to the murder of Cecelia Shepard and attempted murder of Bryan Hartnell is unknown. Three young women in the preceding hours to the crime itself, painted a description of a young male hovering around the area as they were sunbathing. Their recollections are as follows;

​#1. "A subject driving a late model silver-blue Chevrolet, 2-door sedan. This subject was described as 6' tall, weighing 200/210 pounds, muscular build, rather nice looking". 
#2. "Vehicle described as a 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet with California plates. Witness believes the vehicle was a 2-door sedan and described the headlights as long rather than round".
#3. "Subject was described as approximately 28 years of age, 6'1" to 6'2" tall, 200/225 lbs, black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left, rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking".
#4. "Vehicle was described as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. The rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round. She described the subject as 6' tall, stocky build, about 200 lbs, black short-sleeved sweater shirt, dark blue slacks, and straight dark hair neatly combed. She guessed his age at approximately 30 years". 

Was this the Zodiac Killer's first attempt that day, ultimately abandoning the idea, before finally settling on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard just two hours later? The descriptions of the young girls sound promising, but could the vehicle described as a late model Chevrolet be tied to the scene of the eventual crime, and the tire tracks behind Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia?
​Or can we link the white 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala spotted around Lake Herman Road to the murder and attempted murder on September 27th 1969 at Lake Berryessa?  

This is what it states in the Lake Berrryessa police report: "Reporting officer observed one set of tire impressions approximately 20 feet to the rear of the victim's vehicle. The suspect track nearer the fence measured approximately 4 1/2 inches in width and showed a parallel tread design. This tread design was photographed by Sgt T Butler and then a plaster cast was made by reporting officer. The tire impression furthest from the fence measured approximately 5 1/2 inches in width. The distance between the inside of the left tread to the inside of the right tread measured approximately 52 inches".
Track width is a measurement from tire center to tire center.

If you look at the specs of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala, the tire width is 205 mm or 8.07 inches. This would mean that the center of the tire is situated at roughly 4 inches. It would be nice to think, that if we added the 4 inches of both tires to the 52 inches in the police report (measured to the inside of the tread above), we would get 60 inches track width, which happens to be the exact front width shown here of the 1960 Chevrolet Impala (although 59.3 in the rear). However, tire width and tread width are not the same (shown in the photograph above), where the rubber cambers off on the edge of the tire, meaning the tread width is often smaller than tire width. This is often different bearing in mind the aspect ratio of a tire, given as 75% on a 1960 Chevrolet Impala, in respect to rim size. Here is a brief explanation on Youtube.  If we take the median value of the tread impression widths (5 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches) stated in the police report above, we have an approximation of 5 inches tread width. This can vary front and back. 

The police report gave us 52 inches to the inside of the tread (left and right), depicted here on the left. The tread value of each tire is 5 inches, which is 2 1/2 inches to the center of each tire (excluding the camber shown in yellow). With two tires, that amounts to 5 inches. Therefore, the total track width (measured to the center of each tire) is 57 inches. This would suggest that the suspect vehicle, if it is related to the Berrryessa tire impressions at all, is not a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair with a track width of not greater than 55 inches - and shy of the 60 inch track width of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala - seemingly ruling both vehicles out as being responsible for the impressions discovered by responding officers. Even taking the actual values of tread width of 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches, the track width would fall in between the specifications of both vehicles. 

The three girls descriptions, suggested a 1966 or 1967, late model blue Chevrolet, 2-door, with one highlighting long taillights. The question being, could this description be enough to provide a match to the tire impressions found close to Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. We are looking for a Chevrolet somewhere in the range of 57 inch wheel track width. Here are examples of the Chevrolet II Nova, beginning with the 2-door '66 model.    

Supplemental to this, is the Chevrolet Nova II SS 327.  Here is a Youtube video of a 1967 marina-blue Chevrolet Nova II 327, featuring front, side and rear views. It is 2-door, with long, rather than round taillights.

​If we take the median value of the tire impressions from the police report, then as already stated, we have a track width of 57 inches. If we take the low end estimate of the tire impressions of approximately 4 1/2 inches, this gives a track width of 56.50 inches. Here are the complete specs of the Chevrolet Nova II from two sources. Here and here.
 
The track width for the front is 56.80 inches, very close to the 57.00 inches estimated from the police report. The track width for the rear is 56.30 inches, very close to 'the suspect track nearer the fence, measured at approximately 4 1/2 inches in width.' This was the closest fit I could find, matching as many specifications as possible, including the color, make, year, taillights, door and track width, and combining both scenes at Lake Berryessa. It would have been highly advantageous to have a more positive identification of the vehicle at Blue Rock Springs, however, if it were a Chevrolet Corvair, we would have at least one running theme throughout the first three Zodiac crimes - that of make.

As a footnote, one major Chevrolet manufacturing facility was the Oakland Assembly situated in Elmhurst. 'It was the first automobile plant established in Northern California to build Chevrolet vehicles. In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry's first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland. Production of the Chevrolet Series 490 began on Sept. 23, 1916, while World War I was taking place (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918). The plant remained in continuous service until the summer of 1963, when it was replaced by Fremont Assembly'. Taken from Wikipedia.
See locations on Google Maps.

The Chevrolet may have been integral to this story in some small way - and if so - was it from a standpoint of either work, or simply a love for one of America's most cherished automobiles. I'll let you decide.
http://www.novaresource.org/production.htm 

Subsequent to the 6:30 pm attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa, one key eyewitness, Ronald Fong, was circling the lake in his boat and responded to the cries of Bryan Hartnell. Ronald Fong turned his engine on and motored away to seek help at the Rancho Monticello Resort. It was at this point Ranger Sergeant William White received a call from Park Headquarters regarding the attack and proceeded to the Rancho Monticello Resort at 6:55 pm. It is here that Ronald Fong relayed his observations to Sgt William White as to the young couple in distress, and both, along with Archie White and Elizabeth White traveled via speedboat to the crime scene to offer assistance to both Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. The time is now 7:10 pm. At this time Ranger Dennis Land arrived in his truck, carrying the stricken Bryan Hartnell, who had managed to crawl his way towards the road. At approximately 7:10 pm, or very shortly after, Sgt William White radioed Park Headquarters to summon an ambulance and deputies to the crime scene. We know the 7:10 pm estimate is about right, because help arrived via Piner's ambulance from Napa to the crime scene, and returned back to the Queen of the Valley Hospital arriving at 8:50 pm. That is an approximate journey time of 45 minutes each way, including 10 minutes negotiating the crime scene. Detective Sergeant Kenneth Narlow and Richard Lonergan were contacted regarding the attack at 8:20 pm - at which time the ambulance would have been approaching mid-route to the hospital - and both officers were sent to see if they could interview the couple.     

Deputy Ray Land and Sergeant David Collins were dispatched directly to the crime scene from St Helena and Napa respectively. Sgt David Collins spoke on the documentary 'This is the Zodiac Speaking': "It took us a half hour from Napa and/or St Helena to arrive at the location. And we later found out of course that crime had occurred at least half an hour before we were notified". They were notified at 7:10 pm and arrived en scene at approximately 7:40 pm. It would be a further 15 minutes before the ambulance would arrive at 7:55 pm - now of course 85 minutes after the attack - and both victims were in critical condition. The time of 7:40 pm is also the time the killer placed his call from the Napa Car Wash payphone. At this point the victims are being tended to by the respondents, including David Collins, who took a statement from Cecelia Shepard regarding the movements and description of the killer. At this point David Collins and both victims were unaware that this crime was the work of the Zodiac Killer, only that an assailant had brutally stabbed the young couple.

The caller from the payphone issued his declaration "I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia" and after a brief pause uttered the words  "I'm the one that did it". Strikingly similar in composition to the Blue Rock Springs phone call nearly three months earlier, where the murderer issued the words "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".  It has been suggested in certain quarters that the caller in the aftermath of Lake Berryessa may have been a hoaxer, having scanned police frequencies and delivered the message, yet it wasn't the actual killer. However, at 7:40 pm when the call was phoned in, the police were at this point unaware it was a Zodiac crime, having not yet examined the footprints and Karmann Ghia door. They were still by the shoreline tending to the victims - after all, this was their main priority at this point.

The question therefore, is how could the killer and the caller be separate people, without first hand knowledge of the crime as a Zodiac crime, suggested by the near identically structured message. The fact of the matter, is that the caller would be implying a Zodiac crime, even though nobody else has yet discovered it is. This suggests strongly that the killer and payphone caller are one and the same person - especially considering the time of the attack, the distance to downtown Napa and the time of the call - not to mention his direction of travel appears southwards toward Vallejo.

​It would be later that Sergeant David Collins would head towards the roadside to examine the tire impressions and car door. He said "After the ambulance took the victims to the hospital in Napa (remember it arrived at approximately 7:55 pm, so likely left around 8:05 pm, to arrive at the Queen of the Valley Hospital at 8:50 pm), and while waiting for detectives from the Sheriff's Department to arrive Deputy Land talked to the witnesses and obtained statements from them. I began a search for evidence and discovered a footprint that led from Berryessa Knoxville Road to the victims and back again, which was totally separate from the shoes that they were wearing. When I went to the roadway I saw the white Karmann Ghia and I saw tracks leading away from it". He further added "I looked at the Karmann Ghia, and on the passenger door the circle with the vertical and horizontal line through it was displayed on the door and there were several dates, and then it ended with September 27th 1969, 6:30 pm, by knife, which was our crime, so he had left his calling card, which is what he had done. I recognized the symbol on the door as being the same symbol she had described on the hood"." The roadway observations occurred after 8:00 pm, once the ambulance had departed the scene, making any Zodiac styled payphone message at 7:40 pm inextricably linked back to the crime scene, with one perpetrator of the crime and call.  

In the police report Bryan Hartnell backed up Cecelia Shepard stating "He could see hair through the mask's eyelets and observed the hair to be dark brown." Bryan Hartnell in the 2007 documentary remarks that Cecelia Shepard "saw a man over there" and "he went behind a tree." He went on to say "I'll tell you another thing that probably made me think that it was somebody over there, it wasn't an improved park site, there wasn't regular established bathroom, so if you had to go to the restroom you'd just kinda get outta eye-shot of whoever you were with or go behind a tree like that".
​
During the Presidio Heights murder two weeks later, three teenagers saw the Zodiac exiting the taxicab and walking around the taxicab to apparently wipe fingerprints off the driver side door. This was the only time outside of the taxicab that a clear unobstructed view of the assailant was observed. This was a matter of seconds before the assailant turned around and departed the scene up Cherry Street. The three teenagers were viewing the suspect from approximately 60 feet away, at 9.58 pm at night, with only the aid of street lighting, albeit, described a man sporting a reddish-brown crew cut. This description was backed up by one of the responding officers Donald Fouke, who had typed in his scratch 'a crew cut, light colored hair, possibly graying in rear'.The police sketch was compiled depicting a man with short hair - a man viewed by four eyewitnesses. Many have questioned how accurate this sketch may be, but they are confident of a short-haired crew cut.

During the Lake Berryessa attack Cecelia Shepard spotted the man initially unmasked from 200-300 yards away to the point of 75 to 100 feet away. Taking the minimum distance she first observed the Zodiac of 200 yards (600 feet), he then approached to within 100 feet, meaning his approach distance was a minimum of 500 feet. This distance at a walking speed of 3 mph would take approximately 1 minute 50 seconds. Now we do not know if Cecelia Shepard was watching him the whole time, but she definitely stated she saw him before he had donned his mask, and definitely saw him approach the tree and duck behind it. Cecelia Shepard saw the man for considerably longer than the three teenagers at Presidio Heights, and sometime shortly after 6.00 pm on a clear sunny day. If you argue that the sketch from Presidio Heights is likely accurate, then clearly Cecelia Shepard's description is equally viable, if not more, because she saw the suspect in daylight for a considerably longer period of time.          

The validity of the Lake Berryessa stabbings have been called into question as a Zodiac attack, but the handwriting on the car door and the composition of both phone calls at Main Street and Springs/Tuolumne seem to discredit this notion. ​We have been told by David Collins that he took notes at the scene, so the recollection of events by Cecelia Shepard carries great significance, describing her assailant with 'brown hair that hung down across his forehead and was showing through the eye-holes.'

Two weeks later at Presidio Heights, not only had his hair color changed, it was markedly shorter. The Zodiac Killer wrote in the 'Bus Bomb' letter on November 9th 1969. "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill." So the question is, if these two assailants are one and the same, what disguise did he employ. The Presidio Heights sketch exhibited a slight widows peak, not something you would associate with a wig - so is the only conclusion to be had, one of a killer who disguised his looks by cutting his hair and then dying it. However, on the face of it, this appears to be a change as opposed to a disguise. Furthermore, this would negate the Zodiac declaration "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill."  He most certainly didn't look the description at Presidio Heights during the Lake Berryessa attack as recalled by Cecelia Shepard.     

Michael Mageau, in the aftermath of the Blue Rock Springs Park attack described the assailant as "short, possibly 5'8", heavy set, beefy build, 195-200 lbs or maybe larger, short curly hair, light brown, almost blond."  Although Michael Mageau's view was fleeting, his observation corroborates the short light-colored hair description at Presidio Heights by Donald Fouke. However, nearly 3 months later, the man who appeared at Lake Berryessa had not only considerably darker hair, but hair that was now long enough to fall over his forehead - so much so, it had been noticeable in the eyelets of the mask. This could be a wig - although the donning of an executioner's hood would appear to make this choice unnecessary. This discrepancy has to be addressed from the standpoint of tying together these three crimes together and certainly something that needs clarifying.
​
​The attacker at Lake Berryessa seemingly failed to mail any correspondence regarding the events of September 27th 1969, but with Bryan Hartnell surviving the attack and outlining the events in great detail, maybe the Zodiac felt Bryan Hartnell had done a good enough job on his behalf. Nevertheless, it did seem strange to not capitalize on his grand theatrical appearance.
​
If we take the final three attacks in sequence - his hair was short, almost blond, then changed to dark hair, long enough to reach the eyelets of the mask and then reverted back to a short reddish-brown/blond crew cut at Presidio Heights, thereby challenging us to examine the claim "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill".
Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell both described brown hair, long enough to reach the eyelets of the mask, Regarding the four canonical attacks, no other living eyewitness got as close as them for such an extended period, described by Bryan Hartnell as an interaction that lasted approximately 15 minutes. It was a clear sunny day in September with perfect visibility, and Cecelia Shepard had the man in direct line of sight, unmasked, for at least one and a half minutes. If the same killer emerged from the taxicab of Paul Stine and drove away from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot, we should consider that this short brown/blond appearance was his disguise as he claimed, and the 'real' Zodiac is the one who appeared on the shores of Lake Berryessa, when a wig on this occasion was rendered unnecessary by the donning of an executioner's hood. It could therefore be reasoned, that the long brown hair by the eyelets may be all we require to confirm the true face of the Zodiac Killer.