The July 31st 1969 letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald provided information that proved the Zodiac Killer was the murderer at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. To all three newspapers he threatened to go on a kill rampage over the weekend if his demands were not. To the San Francisco Chronicle he stated he was going to target "lone people". To the San Francisco Examiner he stated he was going to target "people who are alone at night". To the Vallejo Times-Herald he stated he was going to target "stray people or coupples that are alone". When he addressed the San Francisco newspapers he promised to target "lone or alone people", but to the Vallejo Times-Herald he opted to use the words "stray people" and "couples". Believing that his first two attacks on couples were committed in Vallejo, it really isn't surprising that he only used the word "couples" when writing to the Vallejo newspaper. Did this suggest his knowledge of courting couples and the areas they frequented was greater in Vallejo rather than San Francisco, because he lived there? 

But why did he opt to use the word "stray" when addressing the Vallejo Times-Herald​, rather than just "alone" or "lone". Stray can mean wander away from the correct path or from a given area, but is commonly used to refer to an animal. A stray sheep symbolizes a person who has wandered from their faith, community, or moral path, representing vulnerability and separation, but also the focus of divine compassion and pursuit, as shown in the Biblical parable where a shepherd joyfully retrieves the single lost sheep. Did the word "stray" leak into the Zodiac Killer's thought process when writing to the Vallejo newspaper because of what occurred on December 20th 1968, and the individual the Zodiac may have originally targeted? Who would have been a person off the beaten path in solitude? Somebody who would have been in pitch darkness, known to frequent a particular remote location (possibly with a schedule), that required the Zodiac Killer to attach a pencil flashlight onto his gun to facilitate a hunt in the wilderness. And more importantly, a relatively safe area for a first kill, where gunshots are a familiar sound to the residents nearby. 

The driverless white Chevrolet Impala was noticed in the Lake Herman Road turnout at 9:00 pm by Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser on their way to the Marshall Ranch. The white Impala was also noticed in the turnout at 10:00 pm by sheepherder Bingo Wesner, who was tending his sheep in the adjoining field, and possibly by Helen Axe at 10:15 pm and 10:30 pm, who after reading publicity surrounding the murders, likely assumed she had seen the Faraday Rambler. But for a few minutes, when William Crow was parked in the turnout (and chased by a mystery vehicle) sometime between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm, the Chevrolet Impala could have been in the turnout for upwards of 90 minutes on at least two separate occasions.

​The question being, did it arrive a third time carrying the Zodiac Killer to the murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen? The individual driving this vehicle had obviously ventured beyond the roadside for at least 60 minutes (and upwards of 90 minutes) on a freezing night in December, in total darkness. Routine enquiries by police on local residences could have easily eliminated this person as doing anything suspicious, but we have heard nothing about this individual being cleared from the investigation in 57 years. If the person driving the Chevrolet Impala wasn't there on business or visiting friends, what other reason could there be to venture into the fields and hillsides in such inclement weather, other than "hunting"?          

When we first learn of the Zodiac Killer story it's easy to become controlled by the narrative that has gone before, of a killer that arrived at the turnout, pulled alongside the Faraday Rambler, immediately left his vehicle and began the attack to its conclusion, where Betty Lou Jensen received five shots to her back as she is running away, square on to the killer. Of course, the preponderance of the evidence doesn't point to a killer pulling alongside the Rambler when arriving at the turnout, with the killer failing to immediately vacate his vehicle and kill the couple in one continuous sequence, if we believe the testimony of James Owen. And the autopsy proves beyond any doubt that Betty Lou Jensen was not square on to the killer when he began firing at her. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a generational story.

We have an unaccounted for white Chevrolet Impala with an occupant that has seemingly never been traced, parked in a remote turnout in freezing weather, who was confirmed present in the same location twice, as testified by Robert Connelly and Bingo Wesner, within (or close to) one hour before a double murder. A double murder that wouldn't have required an illuminated gunsight had he initially parked behind the Faraday Rambler and prevented it from escaping the turnout. However, when you leave the confines of the turnout on foot at night, additional lighting would have been an absolute must. When we consider the illuminated gunsight mentioned by the Zodiac Killer and the reference to hunting humans rather than wild game in the forest, it brings the unoccupied white Chevrolet, parked next to rolling hills and woods, into sharp focus. High hills and trees that the Zodiac Killer pointed out didn't produce silhouettes on the horizon, and necessitated the use of his pencil flashlight. Everything the Zodiac Killer said here is true, but only for a killer standing in the surrounding fields and trees, not for somebody looking for victims in the turnout with the use of a vehicle. A fact that the Zodiac Killer admitted when finishing his "Debut of Zodiac" letter on August 4th 1969, by stating "there was no need to use the gun sights".

​The.confidence that the Zodiac Killer exhibited when proclaiming "Bullshit that area is surrounded by high hills and trees. What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun". suggested he was more than familiar with that area. He knew that he required a sighting flashlight to roam those hills, but he must also have known he didn't need a sighting flashlight for the turnout, which he ultimately admitted to in his communication. So the fact he claimed he fastened a pencil flashlight onto his gun prior to venturing out that night, strongly indicates he knew he was heading for the fields beyond the Gate #10 turnout that night, rather than cruising around looking for uncertain victims in random turnouts.

A local sheepherder with a routine, in the middle of nowhere, where heard gunshots were nothing out of the ordinary, seems like the perfect victim for a first murder. The stumbling block that may have scuppered the Zodiac Killer's plans, could have been the presence of Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser with their guns and dogs, who chose to go raccoon hunting in the very same area that night. Crossing paths with Bingo Wesner and a safe avoidance of the two hunters probably never materialized for the Zodiac Killer on December 20th 1968. But maybe everything fell into place on his third attempt, with the arrival of the unfortunate David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen into the turnout on their first date. The Zodiac Killer, having failed in his original mission of targeting "stray people in the night", was presented with the conundrum of going home or murdering the young teenagers from Vallejo. The rest is history. 

I have superimposed the KRON crime scene footage from December 21st 1968 into the Lake Herman Road turnout of today, using the telegraph pole from the roadside edge (applying the correct angle and height), merged the roadway as close as possible, and used the turnout edge and tree-line to pinpoint the near exact body position of Betty Lou Jensen, approximately 18 feel from the road, The turnout, was of course, much bigger (wider and deeper) in 1968. From the head of Betty Lou Jensen to the back of the turnout today is about 40 feet, but to the gated fence at the rear of the turnout in 1968 would have been roughly 100 feet. Therefore, the Rambler would have been found by responding officers further from the eastern edge as witnessed today. The rear of the Rambler was located eastwards of Betty Lou Jensen, approximately 28 feet from her head (towards the left railing of the turnout on Google maps).  

Using the original 1968 video footage, we can further blend the images together (as shown below), to get the relative positions of both Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday. The angle of the detective's vehicle is different to that shown in the Google maps image above, so the head of David Faraday would have been much closer to the back of the turnout today. The approaching Stella Medeiros in 1968 would have easily seen Betty Lou Jensen lying on the turnout floor, but David Faraday less so  These merged images from 1968 are as close to accuracy as could be achieved, and shows that Betty Lou Jensen was heading westwards towards Lake Herman and Vallejo.     

The Robert Connelly sighting of the Rambler on the west bank (circa 11:05 pm), places it further into the turnout than the detective's vehicle (possibly 30 feet or more). Somewhere by the green circle below. This would have been the last sighting of the Rambler in the turnout before the Zodiac arrived. If it had remained in this position for several minutes longer, the Zodiac Killer would have likely contributed to it shifting towards the east bank, as noted by James Owen, who described two vehicles in the turnout.   

It is noticeable that the 0.5 inch bruise to the left side of David Faraday's neck is consistent with the muzzle of a gun being forcibly pressed into the victim's neck as he was being restrained by the right rear wheel of the Rambler, with David facing away from the Rambler. A killer looking into David's eyes, pressing a gun into the left side of his neck could only have been performed by a right-handed killer. It is not difficult to understand at the moment of the shooting, that the killer shifted the position of the gun behind his left ear flap and pulled the trigger to deliver a devastating head shot to the helpless young man. The entry point of the bullet is not consistent with a left-handed killer standing by the open door of the Rambler with an outstretched left arm (or bent arm). Not only would the gun unlikely be positioned behind the flap of the left ear, but the killer (if alone) would have had his back turned to Betty Lou Jensen (see here)..

After collapsing to the turnout floor, David Faraday's feet were literally touching the right rear tire (and both feet were in line with the bodywork of the vehicle), indicating that the killer was not left-handed and standing behind David Faraday. This could have produced a bullet entry point behind his left ear, but the killer's standing position would have created a buffer zone between David Faraday and the vehicle, preventing his body falling with his feet touching the right rear wheel. Everything points to David Faraday crumpling to the ground where he stood, with his back pressed firmly against the right rear window. The ejected casing from this shot likely landing on the front passenger floorwell of the Rambler (either directly, or via the angled open door).     

​There are comminuted fractures of both left and right temporal bones and sphenoid bones.
A "comminuted fracture of both left and right temporal bones and sphenoid bones" refers to a severe head injury where both the left and right temporal bones, as well as the sphenoid bone at the base of the skull, have fractured into multiple pieces. In other words the bullet, as stated in the autopsy report, followed a straight horizontal course from left to right, angling forward as it went (through the anterior margins of the left temporal lobe). This is consistent with a gun being pressed behind the left ear, horizontally positioned, slightly angled towards the front of David's head. Again, inconsistent with a killer standing to the right side of David Faraday, pointing a gun left-handed towards his head. The entry wound behind the ear flap, and the angle the shot was delivered, would not be natural for a left-handed shooter   

There is good argument to be had that the Zodiac Killer began the design of his July 31st 1969 letters and 408 cipher shortly after July 20th 1969, when the movie "Rampage" (1963), based loosely on "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), was screened on television throughout the Bay Area. This was a film originally championed by movie posters, newspaper advertisements and the original Warner Brothers press book, carrying the slogans "The woman who was the most dangerous game of all", "The screen's mightiest excitements go on the rampage", "Big, Bold, Bob Mitchum is on a Rampage", "They lived, loved and fought by the code of the jungle" and "His code was to snare everything". It isn't difficult to see how the Zodiac Killer would then create a trinity of letters carrying the message that "man is the most dangerous animal of all" and that he would "go on a kill rampage". part enciphered within a code. This film, screened on American television just eleven days earlier, even had crosshairs featured in the opening credits of the movie. 

However, this movie was likely the inspiration for the Zodiac Killer to delve into the newspaper archives and conduct some research into the original film "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), using tools such as library microfiche. I recreated this possible research and looked for the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all" from 1690 to 1969 and found only one result in 1932.

​Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of "The Most Dangerous Game" was interviewed upon its release, and he was quoted as saying "man is the most dangerous animal of all". The Zodiac Killer had effectively plagiarized this quote and embedded it into his code. It turned out that Merian C. Cooper, an avid game hunter and explorer, had done something similar, taking the phrase from a quote by Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne, another game hunter. 

​Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne had previously stated that "The most dangerous animal of all to capture is the gorilla", that was likely picked up by Merian C. Cooper because he was working on the movie "King Kong" at the same time he was involved in the making of "The Most Dangerous Game". "King Kong" was directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper.

​Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne and Merian C. Cooper had both worked for RKO Pictures inside of one year from one another. The movie company behind both "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932) and "King Kong" (1933) was RKO Pictures.

It appears as though DNA and fingerprint analysis has failed to bridge the gap between Riverside and the Bay Area murders, as has analyzing the text of the Riverside communications to forge a conclusive link in language between southern and northern California. This left one final option: discovering a commonality in design between the lengthy Riverside Confession letter and the July 31st 1969 letters mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald. In other words, was there a recent trigger that caused the Confession letter author to delve into the library microfiche for suitable quotes from yesteryear? Long suspected to be based upon "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), the 408 cipher author just happened to harvest the exact quote from its associate producer, spoken in 1932. What are the chances that the Confession letter author would find a equal length quote for his November 29th 1966 typed letter, harvested from the year of "Jack the Ripper" in 1888, after mimicking the wording from a recent newspaper article mentioning Cheri Jo Bates and "Jack the Ripper"? (see article clipping above).  

The author of the Confession letter seemed to borrow phrases from The Press-Enterprise newspaper on November 24th 1966. The newspaper article generated in the above link stated that the man "grabbed her around the neck". The confession letter author typed "I grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth". The newspaper article stated "I could just hit you in the head with this piece of wood". The confession letter author typed "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". Both the Confession letter author and the man featured in the above newspaper offered the woman a lift home. 
​
​After reading the newspaper article on November 24th 1966 quoting "Jack the Ripper", its easy to reconcile a Confession letter author typing "Ripper" like phrases such as "cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see", "finished the job out cutting her throat" and "I am stalking your girls now". Especially when the additional phrase of "it was about time for her to die", present in the Confession letter, could only be found in one newspaper article on December 11th 1888 (the year of "Jack the Ripper"), from newspaper archive searches spanning 1690 to 1966. December 11th 1888 being the same day it was reported that "Jack the Ripper" had possibly "cut the throat" of a woman on Bermondsey Street in London, causing great excitement in the neighborhood. 

As far as can be ascertained, it appears as though the white Chevrolet Impala described by Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and Bingo Wesner in the Lake Herman Road police report never made it into the newspapers. This may have been held back to not encourage the driver of this vehicle to distance themself from it, as they attempted to track it down. However, subsequent to the second attack at Blue Rock Springs, the description of this vehicle, allied with the description of the man given by Michael Mageau, may have been useful in the public domain to gain assistance that was badly needed by police. Somebody may have known of an individual who had recently sold (or no longer drove) such a vehicle, had this person attempted to part company with the Chevrolet. A revised search could also have been done after Presidio Heights, when new descriptions of the killer were submitted by three sets of eyewitnesses within minutes of one another. 

This individual parked the Chevrolet Impala in the Lake Herman Road turnout sometime prior to 9pm and 10pm on December 20th 1968 and wandered off into the night, before returning. Had this been the Zodiac Killer hunting for victims in the adjoining fields, the description of a pencil flashlight mounted on a gun now doesn't seem so fanciful. Apart from the eyewitnesses in the police report, only the Zodiac Killer would have known of this vacant Chevrolet Impala (had it been his). In other words, the Zodiac Killer may have brought up the notion of gun-mounted illumination, because he knew the hunt for victims initially extended beyond the turnout perimeter. An additional source of illumination that wouldn't have been required had the Zodiac Killer arrived at the turnout shortly after 11pm and remained within the confines of the turnout throughout. His murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen could easily have been achieved in a similar manner to that used at Blue Rock Springs, employing the headlights from his vehicle and/or a handheld flashlight to illuminate his victims from close range. The use of a pencil flashlight buys into the notion of a hunter stalking the surrounding fields of Lake Herman, along with his use of the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all" in the 408 cipher, plagiarized from the words of two big game hunters in Merian C. Cooper and ​Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne, who both worked for RKO Pictures in the 1930s.

The vacant white Chevrolet Impala close to 9pm, and sometime after 10pm coincides with Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser hunting raccoons in the adjoining field, so this may explain why the owner of the Chevrolet Impala decided to abandon his plans for murder during this time period (to possibly target Bingo Wesner or another). The thought of encountering two hunters was probably something he hadn't bargained for, resulting in him leaving twice and arriving for a final time shortly after 11pm.

​This time he saw David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen parked up in their Rambler, making any venture into the surrounding fields unnecessary. No wonder he wrote on August 4th 1969 "there was no need to use the gun sights.  All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose". There was never any need to use gun sights in the turnout - but for a hunter stalking his prey in the fields of Lake Herman at distance, having left his vehicle for a protracted length of time - the marksmanship provided by gun sights would have come in much more useful. A Zodiac Killer driving a 1959/1960 white Chevrolet Impala, that he was only too glad to concede was brown in the very same letter.  

The one thing I noticed in the Zodiac Killer's trinity of letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969, was when he mentioned the Vallejo Times-Herald first he used the present tense, but when he referred to the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner newspapers he used the past tense, possibly revealing subconsciously that Vallejo was in his "here and now", while San Francisco was somewhere he had mailed his letters but had now returned home. Indicating he was a resident of Vallejo. 

Vallejo Times-Herald: "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle."
San Francisco Examiner: "Here is a cipher or that is part of one. The other 2 parts are being mailed to the Vallejo Times + S.F. Chronicle." 
San Francisco Chronicle: "Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner." 

I also noticed that in his San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner letters he wrote "I will cruse around killing people who are alone at night untill Sun Night or un till I kill a dozen people" and "I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend". In both instances the Zodiac Killer described his potential victims in the singular of "lone" and "alone" (which Paul Stine was}.

​When he wrote to the Vallejo Times-Herald he stated "I will cruse around and pick of all stray people or coupples that are alone then move on to kill some more untill I have killed over a dozen people". In this instance he added the words "stray" and "couples" to his communication. Did this specific deviation of language show a greater familiarity with the area of Vallejo and where he might find his victims? In his first two attacks that he attributed to Vallejo, he shot two couples. However, he also chose to add the word "stray" into his language, to give the impression of a victim who is lost or distant. The word "stray" is often used as a verb to describe someone who wanders away from a path or area. 

If the Zodiac Killer was the owner of the driverless white Chevrolet Impala spotted by Robert Connelly & Frank Gasser at 9pm in the Lake Herman Road turnout. and later at 10pm by sheepherder Bingo Wesner, then it is not illogical to consider that its driver had vacated the vehicle and entered the surrounding fields on more than one occasion. Anybody reading the numerous Lake Herman Road newspaper articles would have been aware that one eyewitness reported seeing a second vehicle in the turnout with the Faraday Rambler, but nobody would have been aware of the empty Chevrolet Impala parked in the turnout at 9pm and 10pm on December 20th 1968, except each of the eyewitnesses that night, and probably the killer. If the occupant of this vehicle had traveled into the adjoining fields on two occasions, looking for victims, they would have required additional illumination such as a carry flashlight or gun-mounted flaslight.

​If this was the murderer's vehicle he would have known this. Therefore, the claims of the August 4th 1969 letter writer stating he used a pencil flashlight for extra illumination, is extremely noteworthy. Extra illumination would not have been required in the turnout when you have the use of headlights from your vehicle, along with the illumination from within each vehicle. Also, extra illumination would certainly not have been required if the murderer had kept the couple penned inside their vehicle. The only person that would have required additional illumination (either carried or gun-mounted) would have been somebody venturing into the fields surrounding the turnout. Such as the driver of the white Chevrolet Impala, who apparently never came forward. ​

There is a distinct possibility that this Chevrolet owner wrote the "Debut of Zodiac" letter, because this person had a viable reason to carry additional illumination as he distanced himself from his vehicle that night. Not once, but twice, on a freezing dark night in Benicia. Possibly an individual, who on July 31st 1969, would promote the idea of hunting humans in the wilderness because it was more fun than killing wild game in the forest.   

Was the Zodiac Killer familiar with the area of Lake Herman Road, as his indignant rebuttal of police on August 4th 1969 may have suggested, when he wrote "In that epasode the police were wondering how I could shoot + hit my victims in the dark. They did not openly state this, but implied this by saying it was a well lit night + I could see silowets on the horizon. Bullshit that area is surrounded by high hills + trees".  

​Any previous experience of traveling this route could have presented him with a possible target in a rural setting, such as a "stray" person like sheepherder Bingo Wesner, whose routine would have been fairly regular. Having second thoughts of attacking Bingo Wesner in the field because of the presence of Robert Connelly & Frank Gasser armed with weapons, did the Zodiac Killer abandon his plans and later return for a third time, finding David Faraday & Betty Lou Jensen in the turnout? The Zodiac wrote on July 31st 1969 to the Vallejo Times-Herald that "I will cruse around and pick of all stray people or coupples that are alone". Having failed with the "stray" person on December 20th 1968, did he choose the couple?​

​​The reason I bring this up, is because of the possibility that the Zodiac Killer allowed details of his life and experiences to subconsciously leak into his letters. Why did he insert the word "stray" into his language when "couples" and "alone" (or even "lone") would have sufficed in his Vallejo Times-Herald letter? The word "stray" gives the impression of a person who is off the beaten track. Sheepherding is one of the oldest occupations in the world. Shepherds are often required to work long hours, live independently in isolated areas, and be able to perform tasks without close supervision. ​The very nature of their job is locating and herding "stray" sheep into the flock. If the Zodiac Killer had initially targeted sheepherder Bingo Wesner that night, did his knowledge of this cause the word "stray" to subconsciously drop into his letter when referring to victims he identified as targets? "Stray people" such as Bingo Wesner, who tended to "stray sheep" away from the beaten track.

​Stella Medeiros, after discovering the Lake Herman Road crime scene on December 20th 1968, "raced" off toward Benicia Police Station to seek help. Before she reached the police staton she noticed Captain Daniel Pitta by the Enco Gas Station at 1925 East 2nd Street and flagged him down. Captain Daniel Pitta in his police report recorded the time as 11:25pm, so with a simple calculation, law enforcement deducted her 5 minute journey time over the 3.4 miles to calculate that she passed the Lake Herman Road crime scene at approximately 11:20pm. I believe this time is way off, as does Ray Grant.

After discovering the crime scene Stella Medeiros claimed she drove to Benicia at 60 to 70mph (which at the lower end speed would have taken approximately 3 1/2 minutes). She stated that she left her home (1.5 miles west of the turnout) after noticing the kitchen clock read 11:10pm. This clock was determined to be one minute fast, so the time was actually 11:09pm. However, she was still in the kitchen at the time and traveled to Benicia with her mother-in-law and daughter, so we can add that minute back on in order to get the family into her vehicle and onto Lake Herman Road (now 11:10pm).

​At a slow speed of 30mph, the journey time from her residence to the turnout is about 3 minutes. If we now add this 3 minutes to the time she took from the turnout to the Enco Gas Station of 3 1/2 minutes, we get a total journey time of 6 1/2 minutes. The time should have been 11:16:30pm when she flagged down police at the Enco Gas Station, not 11:25pm as recorded in the Daniel Pitta police report. There is a massive discrepancy of 8 1/2 minutes. If we left these timings alone (and kept the time of 11:14pm that James Owen was thought to have passed the turnout), Stella Medeiros would actually have passed the turnout before James Owen. Now that would shake up the whole story. 

It is highly unlikely Stella Medeiros was driving at speeds of 60 to 70mph on an unlit road, with the temperature in the police report recorded at 22°F (-5°C) that night, with her mother-in-law and daughter in the car. She had spotted the body of Betty Lou Jensen on the turnout floor, but belting around at the speeds she claimed would have been putting her own family at risk, so I suspect these speeds were slightly exaggerated. Allowing for a slightly slower speed and a little more than one minute to leave the kitchen, seat her family members in the car and enter Lake Herman Road, I have added 1 1/2 minutes to the overall journey time. She would now be flagging down Captain Daniel Pitta at 11:18pm, but this is still 7 minutes shy of 11:25pm recorded in his police report. 

According to Captain Daniel Pitta's police report, it was claimed that they arrived at the turnout at 11:28pm. A journey time of 3 minutes for him to travel 3.4 miles from the Enco Gas Station to the turnout, would have required him traveling at 68mph. However, 11:25pm was the time he recorded that Stella Medeiros flagged him down, not the time he headed to the crime scene. She had to approach the police car and relay to Captain Daniel Pitta what she had observed and where. He had to register her information and take down her details at the Enco Gas Station (name & address), before relaying this information to the Benicia Police Department. Even if this had somehow taken a meagre one minute, he would now only have 2 minutes to reach the crime scene at 11:28pm, traveling at 102mph. The timings are wrong at this end   

If we stretch the timeline a little further, allowing Stella Medeiros another 2 minutes leeway, she would now arrive at the Enco Gas Station at 11:20pm. We shall now give 3 minutes to the interaction between Stella Medeiros and Captain Daniel Pitta at the Enco Gas Station, and 5 minutes for Captain Daniel Pitta to reach the crime scene (the same time they calculated it took Stella Medeiros to travel from the crime scene to the Enco Gas Station). This means that 8 minutes would have elapsed between Stella Medeiros flagging down the police and Captain Daniel Pitta arriving at the crime scene at 11:28pm. Wringing everything from this timeline, it pours huge doubt on Stella Medeiros being anywhere near the turnout at 11:20pm, as claimed in the police reports and most Zodiac circles. If any error has been made, it probably lies in the interaction time at the Enco Gas Station. If the police took as correct the time given to them from the kitchen clock of Stella Medeiros, then it could have never taken her 11 minutes to leave the kitchen of her home at 11:09pm and pass the Lake Herman Road turnout at 11:20pm.

Factoring everything into the equation, I have estimated that Stella Medeiros left her kitchen at 11:09pm, entered Lake Herman Road at about 11:11pm, and passed the turnout no later than 11:14pm, to arrive at the Enco Gas Station at 11:19pm. Her interaction with Captain Daniel Pitta lasted upwards of 4 minutes until 11:23pm, before he headed off to the crime scene, arriving and parking up at approximately 11:27 or 11:28pm. Stella Medeiros would have left her home and passed the turnout at the higher estimate of 5 minutes she originally claimed in the police report. The police report stated that "she left her home and arrived at the area (turnout) four or five minutes later. She estimated between 11:14 and 11:15pm".

James Owen (see map below) stated that he had left him home at 1735 Mini Drive in Vallejo at 11:00pm and passed the Lake Herman Road turnout at 11:20pm, but after it was discovered that his clock was six minutes fast, his turnout passing was amended to 11:14pm. But like Ray Grant, I believe it was several minutes earlier. Ray Grant balanced the speed of James Owen to 35mph, equidistant between 30 and 40mph. With his clock time adjusted to 10:54pm, the 9.1 mile journey from his home to the turnout is calculated as 14 minutes on Google maps. This would have James Owen passing the turnout at 11:08pm.

​However, he too had to leave his home and enter his vehicle. Allowing one minute for this task, he would have begun his journey at approximately 10:55pm, to arrive at the turnout at 11:09pm. To accomplish this, I calculated this to an average speed of 39mph. Ray Grant calculated a 15 minute 36 second journey from 10:54pm, traveling at 35mph, to arrive at the turnout at about 11:09:30pm. If James Owen began his journey at 10:55pm, traveling at a modest 35mph, he passes the turnout at 11:10:30pm. At a slightly higher speed of 40mph, he passes the turnout at 11:08:30pm. I estimate the time was somewhere around 11:09pm, in near agreement with Ray Grant. The window of the Zodiac Killer to now commit the murders would narrow to 5 minutes. 

One of the eyewitnesses on Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 was James Owen, who described seeing the Faraday Rambler parked on the east bank with an unidentified vehicle to its right, approximately 10 feet away in his first statement and 3-4 feet away in his second statement. He recalled seeing nobody "in the cars or around them". If James Owen had seen between the vehicles, which were just a short distance apart, with no persons in between them, then it's significant that he made no mention of the Rambler passenger door being wide open (as found by responding officers later that night).

Many have speculated that the Zodiac Killer, after extracting the couple from the Rambler, saw the approaching vehicle of James Owen, shut the Rambler door and forced them out of sight behind the vehicles. Once James Owen had passed the turnout he re-emerged with David and Betty and killed them fairly promptly (James Owen thought he heard a shot about 30 seconds after he passed Gate #10). However, this version of events is almost certainly false, because the shell casing found on the front passenger floorboard of the Rambler by investigators could not have entered the Rambler through a closed door. The passenger door had to be open when the Zodiac Killer began firing.

​If the couple were not concealed behind the vehicles, but were in the turnout, then the only logical answer is that the Zodiac Killer forced the couple over to the west bank, where an approaching vehicle's headlights heading towards Benicia would not illuminate the trio. They would be hidden in darkness. Once James Owen had passed the turnout, the Zodiac Killer once again forces the couple back across the turnout, to the illuminated area around the vehicles and begins his murderous exploits. But the Rambler door should have been open in this scenario also. Something that James Owen should have noticed.      

One might expect that a killer standing in front of the open passenger door and forcing the occupants to exit this door, would have to usher Betty Lou Jensen to his left, with David exiting second, having been positioned to the right side of Betty Lou Jensen. However, David was found lying on the turnout floor with his feet touching the right rear wheel, with Betty running across the turnout in a westerly direction from somewhere near the open passenger door, having been murdered after David Faraday and shot 5 times to the right side of her back.

​The grouping of casings, the position she waa found in the turnout and the bullet pathways discovered at autopsy, clearly shows her direction of travel that night. This apparent switching of positions, with Betty Lou Jensen to the right of David Faraday, when the opposite may have been expected, suggests that they were not murdered immediately after leaving the Rambler. In fact, the possible switching of positions would support the notion of the couple being hidden from view when James Owen passed, who were then relocated back to the side of the Rambler as James Owen disappeared into the distance. This would explain why Betty was to the right of David when the shooting began. 

If James Owen saw two vehicles alongside each other with the doors closed, there appears little reason for the Rambler door to be reopened once the Zodiac Killer, Betty and David returned to the side of the Rambler. The Zodiac Killer sent no souvenirs from the victims, and I doubt that the couple attempted to re-enter the vehicle with a gun at their backs. The only reasonable conclusion is that the Rambler door remained open throughout, and James Owen either didn't recollect this piece of information, or he wasn't asked and didn't mention it. If the account of James Owen was correct, that he saw two unoccupied vehicles with nobody in or around them, then David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were probably being held under duress in the shadows of the west bank. Other than being removed into the fields beyond and returned to the turnout to be killed (which makes little sense), there really is no other option - apart from James Owen completely fabricating his sighting of a second vehicle. But what does this all mean?

It suggests that when the Zodiac Killer had forced the couple from the Rambler and was about to murder them, he either heard and/or saw the approaching vehicle of James Owen heading up the hill. Trying to avoid being seen by the occupant/s of this vehicle, the Zodiac Killer had about 20 seconds to shepherd the young teenagers to the west bank and out of sight. Why he didn't murder them here and chose to relocate them back to the Rambler may have been a matter of light, or a matter of control. His statement on August 4th 1969 of "all I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights", may have indicated that he didn't want to rely on his pencil flashlight on the west bank, so moved back to the more favorable area between the vehicles, illuminated on both sides.  

​​RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
RAY GRANT'S ROBERT CONNELLY TIMELINE
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
HUNTING BY THE BENICIA PUMPING STATION
​CONNELLY AND GASSER NEVER SAW WESNER
WAS THE HELEN AXE SIGHTING WRONG?

If the police come knocking at your door to ask what time you went to the movie theater last night, or went for a walk in the countryside, you would usually furnish them with the time you set out or arrived at your destination, not the time you made your way home. We must take this into account when we read the statement of sheepherder, Bingo Wesner, who told investigators that "he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00pm and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan parked by the south fence of the entrance".

It can be strongly argued that this was the time given for his arrival at the field beyond the Gate #10 turnout, not the time he was leaving to go home. In other words, he went to check his sheep at 10pm and noticed the white Chevrolet Impala when he entered the turnout gate. I sincerely doubt that Bingo Wesner had traveled to his place of work that night, entered the double-sided gate, drove up the dirt road and parked up, left his vehicle and traversed the extensive field checking his flock of sheep, before returning to his vehicle and leaving Gate #10 in just 15 minutes. Although not impossible, it isn't realistic. 

One of the eyewitnesses that night was Helen Axe, who described seeing the Faraday Rambler and the victims inside the vehicle, which was facing in towards the gate at 10:15pm as she and her boyfriend headed towards Benicia. Upon their return at 10:30pm, they again noticed the Faraday Rambler, which had now turned around and was facing the field. If this really was the Faraday Rambler, it's safe to assume that David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen remained in this position until Peggy and Homer Your spotted them at 10:55pm when they went to check pipes at the Marshall Ranch. They described the Rambler facing the field. Therefore, we assume that the Rambler was still in the same position as last seen by Helen Axe. However, if Bingo Wesner arrived at the Gate #10 turnout that night at 10pm to check his sheep and had spent longer than 15 minutes performing his duties, by the time he left, he almost certainly would have seen the Faraday Rambler in the turnout. But he didn't. On the other hand, if Helen Axe had seen the Chevrolet Impala in the turnout at 10:15pm and 10:30pm, which was turning around to leave at 10:30pm, then when Bingo Wesner had finished checking his sheep that night and had left at the more reasonable time, somewhere between say 10:35pm and 10:50pm, he quite possibly would have seen no vehicles in the turnout. It must be noted that he made no mention of any vehicles in the turnout as he left to go home

​Bingo Wesner told investigators "he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00pm and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan parked by the south fence of the entrance", but what he didn't say, was that "he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan while leaving the turnout at 10pm to go home". So it's safe to assume he saw no Rambler or Chevrolet when he exited the Gate #10 turnout. Had Helen Axe's sighting been correct, he realistically should have seen the Rambler had he left the turnout at 10:15pm or beyond, yet he never recalled seeing any Rambler that night. He presumably didn't even see the Chevrolet when he left the turnout, because this isn't what he told police. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that Bingo Wesner went to check his sheep at 10pm that night and left beyond 10:30pm - and before David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen entered the turnout. If Bingo Wesner arrived to check his sheep at 10pm and spent longer than 15 minutes doing so, this is the only logical conclusion. If Bingo Wesner arrived at 10pm to check his sheep and left before 10:15pm, then he wasn't doing much checking.

Ray Grant's assertion that Helen Axe's sighting of the Rambler was a case of her reading the newspaper reports of the murders and placing the Faraday Rambler in the turnout instead of the Chevrlet Impala, effectively interjecting herself into the case, now seems likely. If so, we now have a Chevrolet Impala arriving in the turnout sometime before 10pm and leaving at 10:30pm, or slightly after. We have somebody vacating their vehicle for upwards of 30 minutes on a freezing cold night, just 40-45 minutes before an unknown vehicle parked alongside the Rambler of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, carrying an occupant with murder on his mind.  

RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
​RAY GRANT'S ROBERT CONNELLY TIMELINE
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
HUNTING BY THE BENICIA PUMPING STATION
​CONNELLY AND GASSER NEVER SAW WESNER

In the immediate days after the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968, investigators appealed for any eyewitnesses who traveled the route that night and saw any activity in the area. The newspapers reported that "Sheriff's Det Sgt Leslie B. Lundblad today asked all such persons to contact him immediately. He's interested in any other vehicle you saw on that road, any person, any shots you may have heard, in fact any activity that may have occurred".

​That night, an empty white 1959/1960 Chevrolet Impala was spotted in the turnout by Robert Connelly & Frank Gasser at 9pm and Bingo Wesner at 10pm. It sat idle in pitch darkness on an extremely cold night (22°F) on two occasions in an extremely remote location, yet there appeared to be no newspaper coverage of this Chevrolet Impala, asking the public if they saw such a vehicle anywhere else in the vicinity that night (or requesting assistance to locate it). Investigators questioned the workers at nearby Humble Oil to see if they passed the turnout that night, therefore common sense should have meant they would have questioned everybody in and around the Benicia Water Pumping Station, including the Marshall Ranch, Frank Dotta Ranch (and others), to determine whether any had an association with an individual connected to a 1959 or 1960 white Chevrolet Impala. This should have been routine police work, yet we have read nothing beyond the sighting of Frank Gasser, Robert Connelly and Bingo Wesner. 

​Without the aid of headlights, the owner of this vehicle would have required the use of a flashlight to venture any substantive distance into the surrounding fields beyond the Gate #10 turnout. If we believe the account of Robert Graysmith, the Chevrolet Impala was spotted at 9pm when Robert Connelly & Frank Gasser passed the turnout on their way to the Marshall Ranch, and several minutes later on foot, when they headed towards the Benicia Pumping Station to go raccoon hunting, with Frank Gasser seemingly shining a flashlight into the empty vehicle.

​At 10pm, Bingo Wesner also noticed the Chevrolet Impala while walking the adjoining field, tending to his sheep. Or he noticed the Chevrolet Impala when driving into Gate #10 to check his sheep. Clearly, this was unlikely a motorist relieving himself on two occasions for an extended period. A furher eyewitness, William Crow, was parked up in the turnout for a brief time between 9:30pm and 10pm, without seeing the Chevrolet. So it's fairly obvious that the driver of the Chevrolet had twice parked up in the turnout that night, and vacated the vehicle on both occasions. The only reasonable conclusion is that its occupant (or occupants) entered one of the surrounding fields. But seemingly, with no follow up regarding this vehicle in the police report, the only logical conclusion is that nobody in the vicinity of the turnout could shed any light regarding its owner. So why is at least one individual wandering the adjoining fields in freezing temperatures in pitch darkness, if not for nefarious reasons?    

Anybody reading the numerous Lake Herman Road newspaper articles would have been aware that one eyewitness reported seeing a second vehicle in the turnout with the Faraday Rambler, but nobody would have been aware of the empty Chevrolet Impala parked in the turnout at 9pm and 10pm on December 20th 1968, except each of the eyewitnesses that night, and probably the killer. If the occupant of this vehicle had traveled into the adjoining fields on two occasions, looking for victims, they would have required additional illumination such as a carry flashlight or gun-mounted flaslight.

If this was the murderer's vehicle he would have known this. Therefore, the claims of the August 4th 1969 letter writer stating he used a pencil flashlight for extra illumination, is extremely noteworthy. Extra illumination would not have been required in the turnout when you have the use of headlights from your vehicle, along with the illumination from within each vehicle. Also, extra illumination would certainly not have been required if the murderer had kept the couple penned inside their vehicle. The only person that would have required additional illumination (either carried or gun-mounted) would have been somebody venturing into the fields surrounding the turnout. Such as the driver of the white Chevrolet Impala, who apparently never came forward. ​There is a distinct possibility that this Chevrolet owner wrote the "Debut of Zodiac" letter, because this person had a viable reason to carry additional illumination as he distanced himself from his vehicle that night. Not once, but twice, on a freezing dark night in Benicia. Possibly an individual, who on July 31st 1969, would promote the idea of hunting humans in the wilderness because it was more fun than killing wild game in the forest.    

​​RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
RAY GRANT'S ROBERT CONNELLY TIMELINE
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
HUNTING BY THE BENICIA PUMPING STATION
​CONNELLY AND GASSER NEVER SAW WESNER
WAS THE HELEN AXE SIGHTING WRONG?

It has been widely accepted for 56 years that the Zodiac Killer entered the Lake Herman Road turnout on December 20th 1968 and parked abreast and to the right of the Faraday Rambler, before commencing his attack on the young couple. This has been deduced primarily from the eyewitness statement of James Owen, who saw a second vehicle positioned on the far side of the Rambler, minutes before Stella Medeiros passed the turnout and saw the aftermath of the attack - spotting only the Rambler and Betty Lou Jensen lying on the floor. This was the obvious assumption, but it totally ignores what the other two sets of eyewitnesses stated that night.

The first eyewitnesses to see the Rambler during the crucial period, Peggy and Homer Your, stated that "As they were driving west on Lake Herman Road at the turn off to the Benicia Water Pumping Station, she observed a Rambler station wagon parked with front end heading east (on the east bank), there were two Caucasians in the front seat, male and female, when the lights from the car came upon the station wagon, the male sat up in the seat". Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser left the area after the Your's and stated "that the Rambler was parked on the bank (west bank). That would be on the south side. He did not see any person in the car".

​So why had David Faraday changed the position of the Rambler from east bank to west bank between the two sightings? The reason for David relocating the vehicle, one can conclude, was done because David saw the west bank as preferential to him and Betty Lou Jensen. The answer probably lies in the two statements, in which the first stated "when the lights from the car came upon the station wagon, the male sat up in the seat", and the second stated "He did not see any person in the car". We don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to conclude that David Faraday likely moved the Rambler because of the obtrusive nature of car headlights, and thought the west bank provided more privacy. This was the last noted position of the Rambler in the turnout before two vehicles were spotted by James Owen several minutes later. In other words, this was the last noted position of the Rambler in the turnout before the Zodiac Killer arrived. So why do Zodiac researchers assume that David Faraday willingly, of his own volition, relocated the Rambler back to the east bank before Zodiac arrived, rather than just accept that the Rambler was still on the west bank when Zodiac arrived? Probably because it's less complicated to explain.

The Zodiac Killer at Blue Rock Springs not only illuminated and blinded the occupants of the target vehicle, but he parked behind them to restrict their movement. Why at Lake Herman Road, if David and Betty were parked on the east bank, wouldn't the Zodiac Killer have parked flush behind them to effectively box them in, rather than parking to the less advantageous right side? We have to consider he didn't, because the Rambler may have still been on the west bank when the Zodiac Killer arrived. Let's go with the last known position described by Robert Connelly before the sighting of two vehicles, rather than just inventing stories - and attempt to reason a likely chain of events why the Rambler ends up back near the east bank when police discovered the crime scene later that night.

The Zodiac Killer spots the Rambler on the west bank, so pulls in behind it to restrict its options of escape. He immediately exits his vehicle carrying a flashlight and makes David and Betty think exactly like Michael and Darlene did 6 1/2 months later - that he was a policeman. The Zodiac Killer now has several choices. He can immediately open fire when he arrives at the driver side window of the Rambler, he can ask them to leave their vehicle, or he can instruct them to move their vehicle over to the east bank. 

We already know that he wanted them out the vehicle because of what ultimately transpired. This is probably why he didn't immediately shoot them on the west bank. Or extricate them from the Rambler at this location, because his vehicle make and model (and license plate) were in an exposed position relative to the road and any potential eyewitnesses. His best option for concealment was ordering the couple across the turnout so that he could park abreast of the Rambler, to its right side, away from the road. This proved to be a good decision, because James Owen was unable to make out any significant details about the Zodiac Killer's vehicle when he passed the turnout, whereas Robert Connelly was earlier able to describe a light colored 1960 Station Wagon parked on the west bank. So imagine if the Zodiac Killer had decided to commence his attack on the young couple, with his vehicle even closer to the road on the west bank, parked behind the Rambler. His vehicle would have been much more exposed to passing motorists. 

The last question is trickier. If the Zodiac Killer, acting as a policeman or authority figure, had convinced David Faraday to move the Rambler to the east bank, why didn't he just instruct them to leave their vehicle at this location rather than apparently shooting at the Rambler? The problem is, we don't know when the two shots into the Rambler were fired. They may have been fired into the Rambler after the couple had exited through the passenger door by a killer exhibiting bravado, to force compliance from David and Betty. Or maybe David and Betty had become suspicious of the individual, showing a reluctance to leave the vehicle, causing the Zodiac Killer to fire into the Rambler to encourage cooperation from the couple. It may have been a mixture of the two.

​There are so many possible variables at this point, it's difficult to be confident on the most probable scenario. Regardless of how and when the shots were fired into the Rambler, it doesn't change the fact that the last position the Rambler was observed alone in the turnout before James Owen passed, was on the west bank by Robert Connelly. This is where we should assume David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were when Zodiac arrived, rather than place him back on the east bank for the sake of convenience. This story is much easier to tell with David and Betty on the east bank throughout, but ignoring the eyewitness testimony of Robert Connelly to achieve this, only serves as self-deception. Something that has permeated the Lake Herman Road story ever since Robert Connelly had to insist to the police that the Rambler was on the west bank that night. The widely held narrative from December 21st 1968 to this day, is a Zodiac Killer who drives into the turnout and immediately parks alongside the Rambler to its right. Although this is still possible, it contradicts the last known sighting of the Rambler when sitting alone in the Lake Herman Road turnout.

On 12.24.68 James Owen in the police report stated that "He definitely saw two cars, a station wagon and another vehicle, parked approximately three or four feet to the right of the station wagon. He did not see anyone in the cars or around them".

James Owen traveling at 40mph along Lake Herman Road to Humble Oil in Benicia on December 20th 1968, would cover 925 feet in approximately 16 seconds. Traveling at 30mph he would cover this distance in 21 seconds. This is the distance between the bottom of the hill looking up to the now infamous Lake Herman Road turnout. James Owen never reported seeing any headlights of a vehicle entering the turnout as he approached. If the Zodiac Killer had entered the turnout just prior to James Owen arriving at this position on Lake Herman Road, can we reasonably conclude that the moment Zodiac arrived in the turnout, his immediate actions were to pull up to the right side of the 1961 Rambler, exit his vehicle, fire two shots into the Rambler, approach its passenger side door, before summoning both David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen from the Rambler, and then making David, Betty and himself completely vanish from the turnout before James Owen passed? The Zodiac Killer would have needed to achieve all these actions in marginally over 16 to 21 seconds. It simply isn't realistic. 

So let us consider that James Owen was 60 to 90 seconds away from the turnout (or more) when Zodiac pulled up alongside the Rambler. Based upon the chain of events we have been sold, wouldn't we now have expected James Owen to see two bodies lying in the turnout? (with or without Zodiac's vehicle}. However, he saw nobody in or around the vehicles, or beyond the turnout. Therefore, if the Zodiac Killer entered the turnout that night with the express intention of extracting both David and Betty from the Rambler and killing them quickly, he can only realistically have entered the turnout moments before James Owen arrived. Let us consider a third option.          

​The Zodiac arrives at the turnout while James Owen is about 45 seconds away. He has parked up, exited his vehicle, fired off two shots and removed both David and Betty from the Rambler, when he becomes aware of the approaching James Owen. He cannot now kill the couple, so he forces them behind one of the vehicles to hide from James Owen. This would require the Zodiac Killer to shut the passenger door of the Rambler, hide the couple from sight as James Owen passed, relocate both David and Betty back to the right side of the Rambler, execute the couple from this position (based upon the bullet casings and autopsy) and then re-open the passenger door of the Rambler before leaving the scene.

James Owen didn't recollect the passenger door of the Rambler being open when he passed the turnout - so if it wasn't open - then the Zodiac Killer must have closed it before Owen passed and re-opened it later - because this is how it was discovered by responding officers. If we look at the police sketches and this video, James Owen should have had a line of sight to the passenger door of the Rambler. While this version of events is possible, it sounds wholly implausible for numerous reasons.   

​This leaves us with a further option. The Zodiac Killer pulled alongside the Rambler in low gear, which certainly would have alerted David and Betty to the presence of his vehicle (even if his headlights were extinguished), and David Faraday chose to just sit there and do nothing for 16/20 seconds, while the Zodiac just sat there twiddling his thumbs, waiting for James Owen to arrive - who noticed nobody. If James Owen had been 1, 2, or 3 minutes away from the turnout when Zodiac arrived, would David Faraday have just remained in the turnout for this length of time with a man sitting a few feet away in a vehicle? So how did this story unfold? The final option to consider, albeit curious, is that James Owen saw no second vehicle and failed to notice the victims in the turnout. Or he noticed the kids in the turnout and just dismissed the sighting as drunk teenagers. When he realised later that a double murder had occurred he felt compelled to come forward, but needed to change his account because he may have been shamed for just driving by and not reporting what he saw. 

Is it possible that the Zodiac Killer had already committed the murders and was heading back to Vallejo when James Owen saw his vehicle by the Borges Ranch? This was the extended police statement given by James Owen, that "just before he approached the scene, a vehicle passed him going in the opposite direction toward Vallejo. He could give no description of the vehicle. This occurred near the Borges Ranch". The person driving this vehicle had impeccable timing, yet never came forward. If the individual driving this car towards Vallejo wasn't the Zodiac Killer, then they could have seen the second vehicle and crime in progress at the turnout also. If this driver was the Zodiac Killer, then it's pretty obvious why he never gave a police statement.

The close contact wound to David Faraday's left ear was almost certainly delivered by a killer standing in front of him, or by a killer standing to the right side of David Faraday (17), while the young man had the rear of his body pressed against the right side of the Rambler. If the killer had been standing behind him when he was shot, it is extremely unlikely that the feet of David Faraday would have been touching the right rear wheel and been in line with the bodywork of the vehicle. The Vallejo teenager's killer would have provided a buffer zone between David and the vehicle.

Ray Grant supplied the autopsy report of David Faraday to the Zodiac Tapatalk forum in 2013, which provided some interesting information from the internal and external examination. Notably, "A soft, discrete mass (2.0 cm.) is palpable over the right side of the face at the right of the mandible (towards the angle of the jaw). Wounds: A small ½ inch bruise is noted over the left side of the neck". It is the external injuries to his right cheek and neck I would like to focus on.

Assuming that the 2cm mass by the gonial angle of the mandible, and 0.5 inch bruise on the left side of the neck were not resultant from an action prior to them arriving at the Lake Herman Road turnout, what interaction with the killer could have caused these two features described at autopsy. 

The first thing I considered was a killer standing in front of David, holding him around the neck with his left hand, and pressing his thumb into the left side of David's neck, thereby causing the 0.5 inch bruise. The second possibility was a killer forcefully pressing the gun into David's neck, before switching position to fire the fatal shot into the "upper slight posterior area of the left ear". Had such an action transpired, it would suggest that David was held by the assailant for a period of time prior to his ultimate murder. A shot from this position could account for the shell casing found on the front passenger floorboard of the Rambler at the crime scene - which may never have arrived at the laboratory for analysis - and therefore omitted from the Department of Justice report.  

The gun shown above is not one of the guns believed responsible for the David Faraday murder, but I have used it to demonstrate the width of the muzzle compared to the barrel of the gun. The above example is about 0.5 inches, the same size as the bruise noted on David Faraday's neck at autopsy. A gun pressed into the neck with some force has the potential to cause bruising to the neck tissues. If the bruise to the left side of David's neck was caused by either the left thumb or gun of a killer standing in front of him, then he would have been a right-handed individual. The bullet casing possibly ejecting to the rear and into the open door of the Rambler.  

The 2cm mass described on the right cheek/jawline could have been caused by a blow from the assailant or from David striking the hard ground after being shot. David Faraday was found lying on his back, so could have collapsed forward to the turnout floor on his right side, impacting the ground with his face, before the momentum rolled him onto his back. This would have placed him standing right of the position shown above when shot (closer to the open door). This would be consistent with a killer securing David Faraday.the moment he stepped from the front passenger side of the Rambler.   

The crucial part of the Department of Justice report is the statement that ''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. The report suggested that because some of the bullets were damaged (such as the one fired into David Faraday), it wasn't possible to determine if this bullet had right hand groove class characteristics like the other bullets fired at the Rambler and Betty Lou Jensen. This leaves the door open that this bullet could have been fired from a second gun. The same could apply to the missing tenth casing from the DOJ report, likely separated from the other nine when the Rambler was towed away. A bullet and casing that may be connected to one another, and a second shooter.  

The claim of the author on August 4th 1969 rings somewhat true with regards to Betty Lou Jensen, when the Zodiac Killer stated "All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose". However, this claim doesn't apply to David Faraday, who was clinically executed by a close-quarter assailant at point blank range. Did the author of the "Debut of Zodiac" letter overlook the perspective of his accomplice, or was this just another unimportant throwaway comment by the lone Zodiac Killer?  

Thanks to Ray Grant for making public the autopsy report. 

This is what Ray Grant said about the statement of Peggy Your when she was heading to the Marshall Ranch at 10:55pm :"But when you drive west on Lake Herman Road, and pass the Gate #10 turnout, which would then be to your left, your headlights don't shine into the turnout". Below is a representation of the drawing from Ray Grant's book "Zodiac Killer Solved". Ray Grant continued: "The only way Homer Your's headlights could have illuminated the Faraday Rambler is if he had his high beams on, in which case the headlights would only shine on the driver's window for a moment from about 350 feet away". What Ray is arguing for, is that neither of the Your's got a clear look at the Rambler and what its occupants were doing that night at 10:55pm.    

So when Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser headed to the Marshall Ranch at 9pm or 10pm (like the Your's did later), how could they have possibly recognised the truck of Bingo Wesner coming out of Gate #10? In 1968 (shown in the image below), the gate in the turnout was 100 feet from the right side of the road in extreme darkness. All they would have seen was a vehicle and its headlights from that distance. That vehicle could have been anybody from the ranches and businesses beyond that gate. Nowhere in the police report does it say that Bingo Wesner was in his truck when he spotted the white Chevrolet Impala. Nowhere in the police report does it say he was exiting the gate at 10pm (or 9pm). Nowhere in the police report does it say that Robert Connelly saw Bingo Wesner's truck exit gate #10. And nowhere in the police report does it say that Bingo Wesner saw the red pick-up truck of Connelly & Gasser pass the turnout. For a full explanation see here.

Ray stated "At 10pm, Connelly's red pickup truck with wood sideboards just happens to pass the Gate #10 turnout as Bingo Wesner's truck comes out through Gate #10. Besides noticing each other, both notice the white Chevy Impala parked in the turnout". Again, how does Robert Connelly or Frank Gasser notice Bingo Wesner in pitch black from close to 100 feet away, when the Your's could barely (if at all) see David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in the Rambler from about half that distance. The cold hard facts are, that Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser could never have recognised Bingo Wesner or his truck that night. At best, they would have seen the glare of headlights coming from the gate as they passed the turnout..

RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
​HUNTING BY THE BENICIA PUMPING STATION 
​WAS THE HELEN AXE SIGHTING WRONG?​

Kim Rossmo stated: ​​"The San Francisco murder differs significantly from the Zodiac's other crimes. Up to this point he was hunting in locations that had a good probability of containing his desired victims. Target selection was a function of area, not of an individual. However, it is unlikely the Zodiac was successful in all his searches; serial killers typically engage in extensive hunting activities, and for every attack there are many unsuccessful search attempts".

This may have been the case with the white Chevrolet Impala spotted by Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser when they passed the gate #10 turnout at 9pm on their way to the Marshall Ranch to hunt raccoons in the area of the Benicia Pumping Station. Later, spotted by sheepherder Bingo Wesner at 10pm as he walked the field tending his sheep near the turnout. Or he noticed the Chevrolet Impala when driving into Gate #10 to check his sheep. The question has always been: was this the vehicle of the Zodiac Killer, armed with a sighting attachment to his gun or rifle? Shooting kids in or by a vehicle, aided by headlights, doesn't really necessitate the use of a pencil flaslight. However, if his intention that night was to park in the turnout by the pumping station and head off into the dark fields to hunt potential victims connected to the businesses and ranches in that area, a sighting implement may have been much more beneficial. 

​On at least two occasions (possibly more), the Chevrolet Impala was observed empty over a minimum of one hour. It was observed by Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and George "Bingo" Wesner at 9pm and 10pm, parked facing the gate on an extremely cold night in December. What purpose could the owner of this vehicle have for being in this area over this protracted length of time? Undoubtedly, police should have interviewed local ranches and businesses in the area of that turnout to see whether anybody had any late night dealings with somebody who owned a white 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala. To this day, we have had no confirmation that this vehicle has been cleared from the investigation.

The Zodiac Killer could have parked his Chevrolet in the turnout sometime before 9pm and ventured into the area by the pumping station to search for victims, but was later disturbed by the arrival of Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser, armed with guns and dogs. He may have thought it wise to temporarily vacate the area and return to his vehicle. Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser reported that they "treed either a cat or raccoon in the area of the Dotta Ranch. While they were there they saw some sort of activity up there, all the lights were on, but they were a little distance away". The Zodiac Killer may have got back into his vehicle and cruised around the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs areas looking for alternative victims. The "extensive hunting activities" described by Kim Rossmo. Failing to find any victims he reverts back to his original plan and heads back to the gate #10 turnout, where he may have "encouraged" the decision by William Crow and his girlfriend to relinquish the turnout (Crow in a later account described the car that chased him as a four-door light-colored Chevy). The alternative is that Zodiac arrived after the William Crow incident. Parking back up sometime before 10pm, he once again ventures back into the field beyond the gate to resume his hunt. While he is scouting the area by the pumping station, Bingo Wesner notices his vehicle at 10pm in the turnout while walking the field tending his sheep. After seeing the vehicle has no occupants he resumes his duties. 

​Meanwhile, the Zodiac Killer has noticed Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser are still in the area, so once again returns to his vehicle at about 10:30pm. Helen Axe has previously passed the turnout heading to Benicia and possibly notices the Chevrolet facing the gate at 10:15pm, but just before she returns up the road at 10:30pm, the Zodiac Killer has changed the posiition of the Chevrolet in the process of leaving the turnout. This shift in position is noted by Helen Axe. The Zodiac Killer leaves the turnout once again, but is determined to begin collecting his slaves for the afterlife.

​After the Zodiac Killer leaves the turnout, Bingo Wesner, who has now finished tending his sheep, leaves through the vacant turnout sometime after 10:30pm. Approximately 45 minutes after Zodiac had left the turnout, he returns for a third time at about 11:15pm and notices the Faraday Ramber in the turnout. The rest is history. Later, he would recall in his August 4th 1969 letter, that "All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights". There may have been no need to use the "gun sights" because these murders were not his original plan.

There was some conflict in the statement of Helen Axe according to police, who noted that when Miss Axe first contacted them, she described a Rambler backed into the gate, and then changed her story to a Rambler facing the gate before turning around. Ray Grant may have a good case for arguing that Helen Axe saw the Chevrolet Impala, who ultimately convinced herself she had seen the Faraday Rambler after the story of the murders broke in the newspaper. The shifting position of a Chevrolet facing the gate, to turning around, would effectively describe a Zodiac Killer returning from his excursion into the field at approximately 10:30pm. Her first sighting of a vehicle at 10:15pm facing into the gate would have been only 15 minutes after the sighting of an unoccupied Chevrolet in the turnout by Bingo Wesner, facing into the gate. For her sighting to be the Faraday Rambler, the owner of the Chevrolet facing the gate, would have had to return to the vehicle shortly after 10pm, leave the turnout, to be replaced by the Faraday Rambler minutes later, which also parked facing the gate at 10:15pm. This seems less likely than it being the same Chevrolet in the turnout at 10pm, 10:15pm and 10:30pm. The final time being the Chevrolet after turning around to leave.

If this were true, we would now have a Chevrolet Impala being spotted in the gate #10 turnout from 9pm to 10:30pm, just 45 minutes before the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, by the occupant of a vehicle parked alongside their Rambler in the same turnout. It's quite amazing what can happen in one turnout over a 2 hour and 15 minute period. So is it likely that these were separate and coincidental events, or the dogged determination of a killer searching for his first victims before Christmas?

There is also the possibility that Helen Axe mistook the color of the vehicle she observed, because the factory color of some Chevrolet Impala's made in 1959 and 1960, were painted in ermine white, which in dark and subdued lighting can appear light brown. The very color that Michael Mageau described as the color of Zodiac's car on July 4th/5th 1969, viewed in less than favorable light. The reason that Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser described the vehicle as white, was that Frank Gasser, while hunting that night, later revealed he had approached the Chevrolet Impala and shone a flaslight at it (noticing it was unoccupied). Bingo Wesner, tending his sheep at night, also noticed the Chevrolet while walking in the field. Bingo Wesner absolutely required visibility to do his job, so it is quite reasonable to conclude he was in possession of a flashlight too. ​The following section is from a previous article, suggesting that there is a possibility Zodiac used the same vehicle during his second attack

Shortly before midnight on July 4th 1969, Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin pulled into the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs and sat there talking for a while. A vehicle, that most people believe was Zodiac, came from the direction of Springs Road according to Michael Mageau, entered the parking lot and parked alongside the left side of their Corvair for about one minute, about 6 to 8 feet away. The vehicle, that Michael thought was driven by a single male, then left the parking lot and headed back towards Springs Road. He estimated that 5 minutes later the vehicle returned from that direction, once again pulled into the parking lot, but this time positioned itself to the rear of Darlene Ferrin's Corvair.

After exiting his vehicle the Zodiac Killer approached the Corvair and began shooting the couple. Subsequent to the attack (at about 12:02am on July 5th 1969) he got back in his vehicle and then drove away towards Springs Road for a second time. Michael Mageau was able to recall the assailant's vehcle had a California license plate. The Zodiac Killer, without knowing the automobile proficiency of the couple in the Corvair, especially after parking his vehicle alongside theirs for about one minute - and entering and exiting the parking lot twice - must have been aware that there was a reasonable possibility the couple had recognised the make and color of his vehicle. He even drove away from the crime scene slowly according to his story.

The Zodiac Killer, if he was familiar with Blue Rock Springs, also knew that there was a reasonable possibility that the nine shots he fired that morning may have been heard by the caretaker and/or residents of the house approximately 800 feet from the parking lot. George Bryant stated that "he could hear laughing and a few firecrackers being set off. And at approximately midnight he heard what appeared to be a gunshot. This was much louder than any of the firecrackers. A short time later he heard what appeared to be another gunshot. After another short pause he heard rapid fire of what appeared to be gunshots. He then heard a car take off".

The Zodiac Killer's vehicle had been viewed by Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin for at least 2 minutes that night/ morning, and he had fired off 9 shots in total. If he had planned to make a phone call that morning, the obvious choice was to do this immediately before police were alerted and his vehicle description was sent out over the airwaves throughout Vallejo. But wait I hear you say; Zodiac probably thought the couple were dead. After all, his phone call to Nancy Slover stated ​"I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... On Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car". This gives the impression that he thought he had killed two people - but this claim was bullshit - and he knew there was a distinct possibility he had only killed one person that morning.​  

​He knew this because he gave himself away on August 4th 1969 when he sent a letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. In it he wrote "The boy was origionaly sitting in the front seat when I began fireing. When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee. I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car". 

Michael Mageau was last described by Zodiac as thrashing around violently in the back seat when he shot him in the knee. The Zodiac Killer must have known that a knee shot was not a terminal injury, knew that there was a strong possibility that Michael Mageau was still alive when he left the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs, knew that Michael Mageau had the ability to have seen his vehicle for at least two minutes, knew there was a possibility his 9 shots were heard in the vicinity of Blue Rock Springs, and understood that the crime scene may have been discovered fairly quickly,

​Understanding all this and knowing the make and color of his vehicle could be all over the Vallejo airwaves fairly quickly, is it reasonable to conclude he drove around Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes, before parking his vehicle adjacent to a payphone, only 830 meters from the Vallejo Police Department? He also leaned into the Corvair to target Michael Mageau in the back seat, leaving two spent casings on the rear floorboard of the vehicle, which had the potential to transfer blood to his shirt from the passenger seat.

Taking all these circumstances into account, it is far more reasonable to conclude he drove home, concealed his vehicle, ditched the smoking gun, changed his clothes, and then headed to the payphone on foot to make the call. This would explain why the phone call to Nancy Slover was logged at 12:40am, when the journey time to the payphone from the murder scene was only 9 minutes. If the Zodiac Killer had made these obvious assumptions described above, it would have been reckless to have been driving around or parked up on the streets of Vallejo for approximately 40 minutes after the attack. He would have been right to conclude this, because a limited description of him and his vehicle was given to officers by Michael Mageau at the crime scene, who broadcasted this information over the airwaves. But the Zodiac Killer couldn't have been sure how limited this description would be. He knew his face was shielded by the glare of the flashlight, but his vehicle was afforded no such protection.          

​In his August 4th 1969 letter the Zodiac was giving police details about the Blue Rock Springs crime scene to prove he was the killer. He immediately jumped into a detailed description of a "man who told police that my car was brown (and) was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed". This description could have easily been verified by police had the Zodiac been telling the truth, so it would have been pretty pointless the Zodiac Killer giving this information had it not been true. But if the Zodiac Killer saw police talking to a negro male, then it was likely by the payphone that Zodiac had earlier claimed he was walking by. Which Zodiac described by stating "I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn X@ thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". 

We know that after the payphone call was traced, a responding officer was sent from Blue Rock Springs to the payphone to secure it for fingerprint testing, so it is logical to conclude that this is where the Zodiac saw police talking to the black man. If so, then the Zodiac Killer stil had eyes on that payphone at least 10 minutes after his call to Nancy Slover. Because if the payphone call was traced as early as 12:41am, it would have taken the responding officer from Blue Rock Springs about 9 minutes to reach that payphone, at approximately 12:50am. The longer the trace took, the longer the Zodiac Killer was hanging around the vicinity of that payphone. If the phone call was traced at 12:47am, the responding officer would arrive at the payphone at about 12:56am.

​The police may have suspected that a payphone call at 12:40am from Sptings & Tuolumne, when its journey time from the crime scene was only 9 minutes, opened up the possibility the Zodiac Killer could have lived nearby. The Zodiac Killer must also have realized this possibility, so he attributed the presence of his vehicle to the negro male, who Zodiac claimed saw it while walking by the payphone at 12:40am, and who at 12:50am (or later), Zodiac claimed he believed, had given the color of his vehicle to the police. By adding in the color of his vehicle as brown into his August 4th 1969 letter, the Zodiac can mischievously corroborate the testimony of Mageau, when in fact, it was an ermine white Chevrolet Impala.  Even if the police were not told by the negro male he had noticed the vehicle of the man in the payphone, the accuracy of the negro male's description by Zodiac (if true), would have added validity to the Zodiac Killer's claims his vehicle was present. Another reason why the Zodiac had to ensure his description of the black male was accurate, was because if this information couldn't be verified, the rest of his story loses validity. The Zodiac Killer, in his August 4th 1969 letter, was effectively telling police he was still present near that payphone when they responded to it. He was nearby, and had hung around the area after ending the call with Nancy Slover. By claiming he was still in his vehicle during and after the payphone call, he was suggesting to the police that he had the capability to travel anywhere. But everything described above, should tell you that this may very well have been a lie. His vehicle was never at that payphone (and it wasn't brown) - and the real negro male was the conduit for this deception.

On December 20th 1968 we had a Chevrolet Impala, as yet unidentified, present in the turnout on two separate occasions at 9pm and 10pm. If Helen Axe mistook the vehicle she saw and subconsciously attributed her sighting as the Faraday Rambler, then we have three sightings between 9pm and 10:30pm. When we consider what occurred about 40 to 45 minutes later, this 1959 or 1960 white Chevrolet Impala has to be strongly considered as the suspect vehicle viewed by James Owen as he passed the turnout sometime between 11:10pm and 11:15pm that night. Unfortunately, he was unable to give a satisfactory description of the vehicle parked alongside the Rambler. Had he described a Chevrolet Impala in the turnout, it could be argued that the Zodiac Killer's designs that night, bore closer resemblance to a man that thought killing people was more fun than "hunting wild game in the forest". He would have been hunting people on the hillsides of Benicia, armed with a pencil flashlight for that very purpose. What was the "activity" described by Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser at the Dotta Ranch on the south side of the lake? Was it at this point the Zodiac Killer abandoned his plans after noticing the flashlight carrying raccoon hunters in the distance?

At Presidio Heights three similar descriptions of the Zodiac Killer's clothing were given by three sets of eyewitness in a six minute window, during the time the killer left the taxicab and entered the Presidio park. But their description of his age were extremely significant. The teenagers described a man in his early forties. Officer Donald Fouke described a man between 35 and 45. The sighting of a man running into Julius Kahn playground was given an estimation of about forty. Bearing in mind the small window of time that these three descriptions were given, they have to be considered as the likeliest age of our killer. Coalescing the arguments above for Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and Presidio Heights, there is a reasonable argument to be had, that we should prioritize our search for a man aged about 40, who drove a white 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala, who lived within a one mile radius of the Springs & Tuolumne payphone in Vallejo. Such a record search in 1969 may have had a fighting chance of identifying the Zodiac Killer. But was it done?

RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
CONNELLY AND GASSER NEVER SAW WESNER
WAS THE HELEN AXE SIGHTING WRONG?

Ray Grant for a long time has argued that Robert Connelly and Frank Gasser passed the gate #10 turnout on Lake Herman Road at 10pm, heading to the Marshall Ranch for a spot of raccoon hunting, not the 9pm as Connelly claimed in the police report. Ray Grant believes the sighting of the white Chevrolet Impala in the turnout was spotted simultaneously by Robert Connelly and sheepherder Bingo Wesner at 10pm, as Bingo Wesner exited the gate to enter Lake Herman Road. The major problem with this hypothesis, is that nowhere in the police report does it say that Bingo Wesner was in his truck when he spotted the white Chevrolet Impala. Nowhere in the police report does it say he was exiting the turnout at 10pm. Nowhere in the police report does it say that Robert Connelly saw Bingo Wesner's truck exit gate #10. And nowhere in the police report does it say that Bingo Wesner saw the red pick-up truck of Connelly & Gasser pass the turnout.

In the only account given by Bingo Wesner in the police report, he stated "Last night he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00 pm and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan parked by the south fence of the entrance to the pumping station. He also observed a red Ford pick-up truck with wood side boards in the area". Bingo Wesner tended his sheep east of the Benicia Pumping Station. The land he tended his sheep on was likely the Frank Dotta Ranch, located (on maps in 1919) east of the pumping station and bordering the gate #10 turnout. Two parcels of land were owned by Frank Dotta alongside Lake Herman Road. Whether the eastern portion was still owned by Frank Dotta in 1968, I cannot verify, but this is the location Bingo Wesner tended his sheep. You will notice that the police report states "he was checking his sheep at approximately 10:00 pm and he observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan parked by the south fence of the entrance". Nowhere in this statement does it say he noticed the Chevrolet while driving his truck. He said he noticed the Chevrolet while checking his sheep. That's because he was still in the field at 10pm. Then he made the belated statement that he had "observed a red Ford pick-up truck with wood side boards in the area". He didn't say he observed a red pick-up truck by the same turnout he just saw the Chevrolet.

The police report of Robert Connelly recalled that "when they arrived there at 9:00 pm a white 4-door hardtop, a '59 or '60 Impala, was parked there, and also, a truck coming out of the gate. This coincides with information from Bingo Wesner that when he came out of the gate he saw the same Impala and also saw the red pick-up truck go by". Nowhere in this statement does it say they saw the truck of Bingo Wesner exiting the gate. Bingo Wesner never said he exited the gate at 9pm. In fact, Bingo Wesner never said he exited the gate at 10pm. Neither Connelly or Gasser described the truck coming out of the gate at 9pm. They never even identified its color. There were many businesses and ranches beyond the gate #10 turnout, so this truck could have belonged to anybody. The big mistake that police made was evident in the final paragraph of page 22. They remarked upon the Connelly & Gasser statement, by stating "This coincides with information from Bingo Wesner that when he came out of the gate he saw the same Impala and also saw the red pick-up truck go by". But it didn't coincide at all with his statement. Bingo Wesner never said he saw the Chevrolet when he came out of the gate, and Bingo Wesner never said he saw a red pick-up truck go by. Bingo Wesner said he saw a red truck in the area. Unfortunately, the police took two separate accounts of that night and believed they coincided with each other. Here's what most likely happened.    

We don't have any idea of the movements of Bingo Wesner before his account of tending his sheep. Let us assume he had been in Vallejo earlier that evening/night and headed east along Lake Herman Road towards gate #10 somewhere between 9pm and 10pm. As he passed the turnout of the Marshall Ranch he noticed the red pick-up truck of Connelly & Gasser parked 25 feet into the field/property. He could have noticed the red pick-up truck on his outward or inward journey, or both. This is where the Your's also saw the red truck just before 11pm. Bingo Wesner continued his drive to the Lake Herman Road turnout and entered gate #10 (let's say 9:30pm) to tend his sheep. After parking and exiting his truck, he walked onto the field east of the Benicia Pumping Station, and sometime later while checking his sheep he "observed a white Chevrolet Impala Sedan parked by the south fence of the entrance". The time was 10pm. He would later recall to police that he "also observed a red Ford pick-up truck with wood side boards in the area". That's it.

Even Robert Graysmith in his 2002 book "Zodiac Unmasked", indicated that the truck coming out of gate #10 at 9pm hadn't been identified as Bingo Wesner. He described the truck as "unidentified". It means that the Chevrolet Impala was parked in the turnout on at least two separate occasions - 9pm and 10pm. It must have left and returned between this hour, making it a little more suspicious when you consider what would transpire shortly after 11pm that cold winter night.  

​RAY GRANT'S ROAMING CHEVROLET IMPALA
THE CONNELLY AND GASSER SIGHTING OF THE CHEVROLET IMPALA WAS 9PM
​HUNTING BY THE BENICIA PUMPING STATION 
​CONNELLY AND GASSER NEVER SAW WESNER
WAS THE HELEN AXE SIGHTING WRONG?