This is a continuation from a previous article, but relevant in regards to the History Channel docudrama about to air on December 12th 2017. Undoubtedly they will continue to pursue suspect Lawrence Kane and attempt to provide a credible link between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, which according to Detective Harvey Hines, Lawrence Kane had. He purportedly lived at 217 Eddy Street, San Francisco during the Paul Stine murder and worked for Alan Dorfman selling Arizona real estate at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino, the same hotel Donna Lass was employed. The likelihood of Lawrence Kane being the Zodiac Killer is down to opinion, however, as previously suggested, the link between Donna Lass, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and the Zodiac Killer could be a very real one. A link inadvertently or otherwise, left by the killer when designing his 'Pines' card, mailed on March 22nd 1971.         

Many observers believe the 'Pines' card was crafted by a hoaxer, on account of the fact 'Victim 12' had already been claimed by the Zodiac Killer on June 26th 1970 when he mailed the 'Button' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. On the contrary, this could go a long way to actually validating this correspondence. Bearing in mind the make-up of the 'Pines' card, it is extremely likely it is referring to the disappearance of Donna Lass. But in order for its author to have deliberately chosen the phrase 'Sought Victim 12' in reference to Donna Lass, we could assume he knew her previous employment and movements in the preceding few months - or just made a lucky guess when choosing this particular phrase. Would a hoaxer, having gone to all the effort of pasting all the wording onto this card, then have made the basic error of getting the victim total incorrect? One could argue that the author of this card knew Donna Lass, knew that she had previously worked at the Letterman General Hospital and knew exactly when she had moved to South Lake Tahoe.
 
Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. Had the Zodiac Killer targeted Donna Lass before her move to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel? If so, then 'Sought Victim 12' (used in the past tense) could simply be implying that he had intended Donna Lass as a target before she moved from San Francisco.

Harvey Hines stated in his 120 page report "Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked. During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac". If the killer knew Donna Lass, or indeed was familiar with the Presidio Park and Letterman General Hospital, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility he likely was familiar with this area and the advantages it provided as an escape route after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969.       

If the killer knew, worked with, or was familiar with Donna Lass during the short period she worked at the Letterman General Hospital, then clearly he may have sought her as victim 12 during this period.

The Zodiac mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher on April 20th 1970 claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970 he was claiming 12 victims in the Button Letter. Therefore, he must have 'Sought Victim 12' between these two dates. The window of opportunity narrows when we consider that Donna Lass left for South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. If the Zodiac Killer  targeted Donna Lass while she worked and lived in San Francisco, it likely fell between April 20th 1970 and June 6th 1970. A window of just 46 days. Is this something a casual hoaxer would be aware of?

Unless the employment details and movements of Donna Lass between these dates had been carefully noted by the Zodiac Killer from the newspapers, was the choice of the 'Sought Victim 12' phrase just a lucky guess on behalf of the hoaxer and just happened to fall correctly between these dates? Did the author of the 'Pines' card do his research - or was Donna Lass specifically targeted by the Zodiac Killer, who moved or traveled to South Lake Tahoe with the sole purpose of completing his 'mission' - and the wording on the 'Pines' card was anything but a mistake. It may possibly dispel the preconception that the Zodiac Killer only targeted strangers, as has been alluded to in the case of Darlene Ferrin, murdered on July 4th 1969. Maybe the Zodiac Killer didn't care who he killed. 

On the 22nd March 1971, a postcard landed at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle, that has become widely known as the 'Pines' card. It was this correspondence in particular that caught the eye of police officer Harvey Hines, who after extensive investigative work became utterly convinced Lawrence Kane was the most likely candidate for the five Zodiac murders, committed from December 20th 1968 to October 11th 1969. Although the Zodiac Killer's reign of terror appeared brief, Harvey Hines was convinced that it may have been a lot longer, in that, where Lawrence Kane moved, murder would soon follow. He noticed certain locations and timelines that spiked his interest, placing Lawrence Kane to the forefront of his focus and started nigh on three decades of dedication to unearthing the truth. He provided a intriguing case against his suspect permeated by a solid case history, although it appears that much of it fell on deaf ears as Lawrence Kane was relegated to the fringe of the Zodiac suspect list.   

It was the hunt for missing nurse Donna Ann Lass that became a near obsession for Harvey Hines, becoming closely allied to the family members of the young 25-year-old as he searched undaunted for a break in the case. He has to be commended for his devotion in and out of police hours, when many others seemed to have lost hope.
The story began when the Zodiac Killer turned into the isolated turnout of Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 and appeared to have ended when the murderer exited the taxicab of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 and disappeared, heading north into the darkness of Cherry Street towards the Presidio. But in fact the story was only just beginning.

After the murder of Paul Stine the killer headed towards the Julius Khan Playground, but whether he actually ended up there, as he alluded to in his October 13th 1969 letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, has been the topic of much debate. Donna Lass worked in the Presidio at the Letterman General Hospital and lived at 4122 Balboa Street, San Francisco. The murderer of Paul Stine, based on the taxicab meter reading, was believed to have flagged down the taxicab in the theater district, near the corner of Mason and Geary Street, and an area situated less than a quarter of a mile from the Lawrence Kane residence at 217 Eddy Street. For all these relevant locations, click here for Google Maps. 

But this may be about to change, due to the persistent work of Zodiac enthusiast Alex Lewis (Welsh Chappie), an avid member of the ZodiacKillerSite forum. On Monday April 7th 2014, after multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, he finally received the information he had been searching for. The United States Department of Justice sent him some valuable information regarding his prime suspect Lawrence Kane, including a full and complete arrest sheet, with a lot more besides. (See foot of page for two examples). Alex Lewis, as well as contributing to the popular ZodiacKillerSite forum, has dedicated many hours compiling extensive information on his favorite suspect Lawrence Kane. His comprehensive Wordpress site can be viewed here. These interesting findings have also generated a discussion thread on the ZodiacKillerSite forum; so to contribute your thoughts please visit the topic here.  htttp://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1536.

Harvey Hines remained undeterred, when many others had given up hope - and even though the search for Donna Lass has hit many dead ends in the intervening years, the hope that was held by Harvey Hines still lives on.   

Lawrence Kane is one of several high profile suspects linked to the atrocities that befell the Northern regions of California during the late 1960s, a period that saw a new breed of serial killer emerge from the shadows. Alex Lewis, an avid Zodiac enthusiast, also known by his pseudonym Welsh Chappie, is of the conviction that Larry Kane is the man most likely behind the mask of evil, due to several observations relating to Larry Kane's timeline during the Zodiac murders. Alex has compiled an extensive range of information on his website pertaining to this subject, and pretty much covers all you need to know about Larry Kane. http://welshchappie.wordpress.com. He has also formulated an interesting theory that links the solved 408 Cipher, the My Name is...Cipher, Larry Kane's year of birth and his residency in Round Hill Village, Zephyr Cove, South Lake Tahoe.
The following post is entirely the work of Alex Lewis, submitted to me, outlining the details of his connection between the aforementioned Zodiac letters.

Each of the three parts had eight lines of encrypted cipher. This was no random number of lines per section of cipher. Three lines of eight total twenty-four lines in total for the entire message (3 x 8 = 24). Then, in Zodiac's My Name Is line of cipher, he once again seems to want to point to three eights, or twenty-four, being relevant because this time he leaves no room for it to be overlooked by placing three circles within the line of cipher, each of which contain the number eight.

What relevance, if any, could this seemingly random number have? Well, 408 is his house number. And finally, the first 4 letters in the 'My Name Is Cipher' line are AENK. We don't need to be anagram experts to work out that this is a clear anagram of the name 'KANE'. We all know Lawrence Kane is one of the suspects in the Zodiac case, but what many won't be aware of is how 24 and 408 are extremely specific to him and here is why.
 
Lawrence Kane was born in the year 1924. Kane's main residence was in South Lake Tahoe, in Zephyr Cove's Round Hill Village and his address was: 408 Mcfaul Way, Round Hill Village, Zephyr Cove, NV. So, combining the 408 cipher with the My Name Is Cipher, it is possible to conclude that his name is Kane, as he blatantly tells is in Stating 'My Name Is....AENK'. He was born in 1924, as he twice makes reference to, once in the 408 and then in the My Name Is Cipher. And finally, his address is, just like the number of symbols in the first Cipher, 408 McFaul Way.