The identity of the Zodiac Killer still remains a mystery after nearly five decades of searching, despite numerous suspects being thrust into the limelight, some with more merit than others. This often involves digging deep into the history of the suspect, their profession, acquaintances, social life, personality and movements in and around the Zodiac timeline, to get a better understanding on their viability as a serial killer. But in the following analysis we shall do the complete opposite and examine what the Zodiac Killer didn't do. The only tangible evidence we have to go on are the crimes themselves and the correspondence he mailed, so we shall use these to search for any anomalies or departures from the expected, bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer courted attention, with an insatiable appetite for baiting the newspapers for nigh on five years. However two things stand out during the Zodiac timeline, one of which happened, or should I say didn't happen after the 'Los Angeles' Letter mailed on March 13th 1971 that is particularly telling, or quite possibly after the 'Pines Card' mailed on March 22nd 1971, if you are inclined to believe this card to be genuine Zodiac material. The second is something that has been covered before in an article entitled 'Away for the Winter', and concerns the Zodiac Killer's notable absences during three consecutive years. For now though we will concentrate on March of 1971.  

The Zodiac Killer remained silent for nearly three years until the Exorcist Letter surfaced on January 29th 1974, widely regarded as his final correspondence, although a further three letters would be received in February, May and July of that year. The SLA Letter was mailed on February 14th, the Citizen Card was mailed on May 8th and the Red Phantom was mailed on July 8th. Every other correspondence after this year has generally been received with widespread skepticism. Recently an article on Zodiac Revisited sparked my interest detailing the Zodiac Killer movie released in the April of 1971, just one month after the 'Los Angeles' Letter mailed on March 13th 1971 and six months after the Halloween Card mailed and addressed to Paul Avery on October 27th 1970. This article covers many aspects of the movie, and Michael Cole, the author of this website and the Zodiac Revisited book due for release in 2016, highlights the involvement of Paul Avery as a consultant to the movie, and is credited as such on the Internet Movie Database.
http://zodiacrevisited.com/the-zodiac-killer-1971-movie/   
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​So bearing in mind the Zodiac's insatiable ego and penchant for letter writing, surely the Zodiac could not resist contacting the newspapers to give us his review of the movie, considering he had no hesitation in giving us his opinion on The Exorcist and Badlands movies. The Exorcist was released on December 26th 1973 and one month later the Zodiac Killer would give his appraisal of the movie; calling it 'the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen.' The Badlands movie was released on October 13th 1973, featured in his 'Citizen Card' correspondence seven months later, yet he fails to ever mention anything about a movie solely dedicated to his murderous rampage. The Zodiac Killer replied to Jack K Stiltz in the San Francisco Examiner, replied to Martin Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle, and to Paul Avery in a personalized Halloween Card, yet in this instance nothing.
​Eight months later Zodiac would get a reprieve, in the much higher profile movie 'Dirty Harry' starring Clint Eastwood, a movie that wouldn't have escaped Zodiac's attention, based on the Zodiac enigma. Here is the perfect opportunity to bathe in his notoriety, but yet again nothing. In fact the Zodiac would keep up this silence for nearly three years until the Exorcist Letter in the January of 1974, commenting on a movie that has nothing to do with him. His moment in the sun had been lost.
"P.S. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing." I'm afraid your three years too late.     

The three year hiatus was broken by the confirmed Exorcist Letter mailed on January 29th 1974, indicating he was still alive, so what interrupted his insatiable appetite for communication. One of the most likely answers is incarceration, for a lesser offence other than murder. An inability to maintain his contact with the world surreptitiously from the confines of a cell, with constant vetting of correspondence, would definitely negate his literary prowess, and utterly refute his claim of 37 victims in the Exorcist Letter as a bluff too far. A massive increase of victims, totaling up to 20 since the 'Los Angeles' Letter nearly three years ago, to shift our focus into believing he was footloose and fancy free during this time period and likely his greatest lie of all.
​One avenue to discover the identity of the Zodiac Killer is to examine this hiatus, and is maybe more fruitful than examining the crimes and letters themselves. If we believe the Zodiac Killer to be a resident of the Bay Area, then it makes perfect sense to examine prison records of the locality and work outward, starting with San Quentin Prison, opened in July 1852 and located in Marin County.
The 'Los Angeles' Letter was mailed on March 13th 1971 and the 'Exorcist Letter' on January 29th 1974, so a prisoner jailed in late March of 1971 or possibly April or May, and released in late 1973 or early 1974, for a time period approximating two and a half years, may just give us the identity we have yearned. The answer may not lie in the crimes the Zodiac committed, more in the crimes he didn't commit.

A special thanks to Michael Cole.- Zodiac Revisited. 

* If anybody can provide information regarding this subject or any links to the relevant prison records, please contact me in the comments section below.    

Recent events have shone some new light on the murder of Meadowbrook student Nikki Alexandra Benedict, just shy of forty seven years ago in Poway Road, Poway, California on Monday May 1st 1967. The young 14 year old girl was traveling back home to Olive Tree Lane, when her journey was cut short by an unknown assailant, who to this day remains a mystery.
She had left her friends house, situated on Halper Road in the early evening hours and it was in the region of the 12700 blocks of Poway, 100 yards from the Carriage Road intersection that her life was cruelly snatched away by fatal stab wounds to her chest. See area on Google Maps. Nikki Benedict was discovered alive at approximately 6.30 pm, by a local boy Ronald Fisk (11), who raced to get help on his bicycle to his fathers shop nearby. Bob Fisk ran a butchers store in Poway throughout the 1960's and 70's. 

Cheri Jo Bates was brutally stabbed outside the Riverside City College Library, after the killer had sabotaged her Volkswagen Beetle in the pretense of luring the young student to her death. One month later on November 29th 1966, a typed Confession Letter was received at the Riverside Police and Riverside Enterprise, detailing the murder and culminating with the chilling words 'Beware....I am stalking your girls now'. Five months later came the murder of Nikki Benedict on May 1st 1967.
However there is little to link the two cases, other than a vague suggestion by the Zodiac Killer, there was a 'lot more down there'. On the face of it this appears to be an unlikely Zodiac connection, but all avenues must be explored for the sake of the family and friends of Nikki Benedict, who surely after 47 years of questions, deserve some form of resolution to her cruel murder.

This murder took place the day before the Button Letter was received at the San Francisco Chronicle on 26th June 1970, claiming he had 'shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38', but the location in San Diego and the traveling distance back to San Francisco makes any connection to the Button Letter, as well as the Zodiac Killer, unlikely. But nevertheless provides a significant timeline between the murder of Larry Hargis and the mailing of the Button Letter to the San Francisco Chronicle the following day.
Any information regarding either of these cases, please contact the San Diego Homicide Detail by visiting their website below.
http://www.sdsheriff.net/coldcase/index.html. Thank-you.

It has been widely considered that the Exorcist letter mailed on January 29th 1974 may have been the final correspondence from the infamous Zodiac Killer. But is its claim of 37 murders, if indeed this is what was meant, a realistic one.
Firstly, we will take the unusual step of acknowledging the Zodiac Killer at his word, when throughout his campaign of terror he constantly informed the authorities of his murder count, displayed on each subsequent letter or card. But how accurate were his claims, and could a timeline of potential Zodiac victims be attributed to the periods in between each correspondence, bearing in mind that his declaration of seven murders on the Dripping Pen card of November 8th 1969 could be attributed with almost complete accuracy, albeit the missing murder in August, has still yet to be resolved.
As stated previously, the months displayed at the foot of the Dripping Pen card could indicate the murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in December, Darlene Ferrin in July, Cecelia Shepard in September, along with Paul Stine and Cheri Jo Bates in October. This meant six murders possibly attributed and one unaccounted for, due to his proclamation on November 8th 1969, indicating a total of seven victims up to this point.
So let us examine the period from this letter to the next confirmed Zodiac correspondence on December 20th 1969, that of the Melvin Belli letter, claiming he may lose control and claim a ninth and tenth victim. The suggestion of a search for a ninth and tenth victim, by inference, meant he had already claimed his eighth murder victim and it must have occurred between November 8th 1969 and December 20th 1969. So who was the most likely Zodiac victim, based on age, locality and nature of the crime during this time period.
One possibility is Betsy Aardsma, murdered in the campus library of Pennsylvania State University on November 28th 1969- although this crime has a number of question marks, including the locality- seemingly out of kilter with what we know of the killer to this point. There is, however, another interesting case that deserves closer scrutiny.          

Incidentally, a woman's body was discovered next to Paradise Drive, Belvedere, Tiburon in December 1966, although the body, wearing a red dress had lain undiscovered for approximately three to four months, according to Marin County detectives.
Also on December 1st 1969 Elaine Davis (17) disappeared from from her home in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, California. She was abducted during the evening hours through a sliding rear window. Two and a half weeks later on December 19th 1969 her body was discovered floating off Light House Point, Santa Cruz, California, however, due to investigators misinterpreting the age of the victim at the time, her identity was only realized 31 years later when officials exhumed the body in 2000.
No link was ever ascertained between the murder of Elaine Davis and Leona Roberts, however, both victims fell within the correct age, area and timeline of the Zodiac Killer.    

On March 22nd Kathleen Johns was abducted and taken on a terrifying journey by an assailant she later claimed to be the Zodiac Killer. Even the Zodiac himself claimed his involvement, when he mailed a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 24th 1970. There were many murders and disappearances in California during the month of March, including Cosette Ellison on March 3rd, Patricia King on March 5th, Judith Hakari on March 7th, Marie Anstey on March 13th and Eva Blau on March 20th. However, the 'My Name is...Letter' and Bus Bomb Diagram claimed 10 murders on April 20th 1970, with the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969 indicating that 8 murders had taken place. If we therefore take the Zodiac at his word, only two murders had taken place in this four month period. If John Hood and Sandra Garcia were Zodiac victims, then none of the disappearances and murders in March were anything to do with the Zodiac Killer. On the other hand, if the Hood and Garcia murders were not Zodiac victims, then only two of these victims in March remain a possibility, not more. Unless for some reason only known to the killer, he committed more murders, yet failed to attribute them to himself. 

Nancy Bennallack had been slain in her own apartment on Arden Way and Bell Avenue, Sacramento , cut down by over 30 knife wounds, indicating the severity of the brutal murder- although she had not been sexually assaulted. The crime scene indicated that the killer may have used tape to mask over his fingertips during the attack.
Finally, onto the Los Angeles letter, mailed on March 13th 1971, where he laid claim to an estimated 17 or more murders.
In this letter he stated "I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there".
He was apparently referring to the fact that detectives had forged a link between the Zodiac Killer and the senseless slaying of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966, claiming there were many more victims in that region.