Postmarked June 18th 1970, but received on June 19th 1970, Gerald Tagert of 1423 Roleen Drive, Vallejo was the recipient of a letter containing two Oakland A's baseball tickets for Saturday, June 20th 1970 against the Chicago White Sox, with the attached message "Gift from Zodiac" wrapped in a piece of paper. Gerald Tagert moved to California in 1967 and worked as an electrician at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Why would the Zodiac Killer (if responsible) mail two baseball tickets to Gerald Tagert for this particular game at the Oakland Coliseum - and who was the second ticket for? One thing we know about the Zodiac Killer was his ability to play on words when mailing his communications, so what was the meaning behind the wording "Gift from Zodiac"? See Vallejo Police Department crime report.

Gerald Tagert had a 7-year-old son in 1970 (Greg Tagert), who went on to become a professional baseball coach. There is a high probability that if these tickets were mailed by the Zodiac Killer, he knew Gerald Tagert well enough to know he had a young son obsessed with baseball, who was a potential recipient of the second baseball ticket (Gerald had two other sons, Dave and Chris). The two Oakland A's tickets were likely a "gift" for "Father's Day", which was on Sunday, June 21st 1970 (the day after the date on the Oakland A's tickets). A "Gift from Zodiac" for father and son, wrapped up in "wrapping paper" like a present. If these tickets were mailed to Gerald Tagert exclusively with "Father's Day" in mind, then the fact that Chicago While Sox were the opponents that day had no relevance to the sender of the letter. The tickets were presented as a gift addressed to Gerald Tagert rather than Mr and Mrs Tagert.

If Gerald and Greg Tagert were the intended recipients on June 19th 1970, then the act of offering a baseball ticket to a 7-year-old child with the accompanying signature of "Zodiac" should undoubtedly be perceived as sinister, bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer had previously threatened school children on more than one occasion. At the very least, the sender of this letter knew the name of the householder, understood it wasn't a single occupancy residence, and was fully aware that the occupants had an interest in the Oakland A's baseball team. They may also have been aware that Saturday, June 20th 1970 was "Helmet Day" when 25,000 gold batting helmets were being given away free to all youngsters 14 years of age or under (see newspaper cuttings below). This was the first "Helmet Day" in the club's history. 

The Athletics Major League Baseball franchise began in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 and then to its home at the Oakland Coliseum in 1968. The Oakland A's made their Bay Area debut on Wednesday, April 17, 1968, with a 4–1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in front of an opening-night crowd of 50,164. Greg Tagert's earliest memories of baseball were evenings spent at the Oakland Coliseum. 

FURTHER READING: A POSSIBLE AUTHOR OF THE NOVATO LETTER?

On June 18th 1970, somebody claiming to be the Bay Area murderer mailed a letter to Gerald Tagert of 1423 Roleen Drive in the northern section of Vallejo. Inside was a note stating "Gift from Zodiac" and two Oakland A's baseball tickets. An avid baseball fan, his son, Greg Tagert, would go on to manage the Gary SouthShore RailCats. On June 29th 1972, Edward J. Salmina, sports editor of the Novato Advance who funded and managed the Novato Knicks team, received a death threat from an individual claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, stating "If you leave your house past 3:13:47 on the next ten Saturdays, you will be killed". It was thought that the threat was an attempt to prevent his management of the Novato Knicks baseball team. Two sinister threats (one perceived) on two people, with baseball a factor in both.

Four months later, on Saturday, October 21st 1972, Beatrice Kolby, an operator at the San Rafael Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company received a bomb threat at approximately 6:30pm aimed at the Oakland Coliseum. The caller's voice, described by the operator as slow and southern in nature, threatened "I just wanted to tell you that a bomb is going to go off at the Oakland Coliseum when the A's return tonight". The call was traced with the help of a supervisor and Luther Elmer Jackson (32) was arrested on Sunday, October 22nd 1972 and given $5,000 bail. A preliminary hearing was set for November 14th at the Marin Municipal Court. He lived at 572 Fernando Drive, Novato. This individual combined facets of both the "Zodiac Killer" communications on June 18th 1970 and June 29th 1972, through Novato and the Oakland A's. His address at 572 Fernando Drive, Novato, was located just 1.5 miles (by crow) from the 25 Crescent Lane, Novato residence of Edward J. Salmina. 
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I found an obituary of Luther Jackson (72), who passed away in Santa Rosa in 2012, so the age and location fits with the Luther E. Jackson mentioned in the newspapers. It stated that Luther Jackson coached the Phillies baseball team in the Novato Little League for several years, just like Edward J. Salmina coached the Novato Knicks baseball team. A few hours before Luther E. Jackson rang in a bomb threat to the Oakland Coliseum stating "I just wanted to tell you that a bomb is going to go off at the Oakland Coliseum when the A's return tonight", the Oakland A's baseball team had defeated the Cincinnati Reds in the baseball World Series at the Riverfront Stadium. It appears that Luther E. Jackson was extremely upset at the Oakland A's victory. Had he previously become upset with the Novato Knicks baseball team - and disguised as Zodiac - threatened the life of their coach, Edward J. Salmina on June 29th 1972 in an attempt to interfere with his coaching duties, or through just plain anger? The telephone bomb threat on the Oakland A's team was issued on October 21st 1972 from a man who lived 1.5 miles (by crow) from Edward J. Salmina's residence, who likewise received a threat just four months earlier. Both threats concerning Saturday's. And both related to baseball.   

Two weeks before the telephoned bomb threat on October 21st 1972 by Luther E. Jackson, upset after the Oakland A's beat the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, somebody telephoned a bomb threat on October 8th 1972 toward the Oakland A's chartered plane heading to Detroit, following their 5-0 victory over the Detroit Lions in the second game of the American League playoffs. Two bomb threats on the Oakland A's team following two victories, within two weeks of one another, while traveling back from Cincinnati and traveling to Detroit. The previous year, another telephoned bomb threat on Monday, October 5th 1971 delayed their return to the west coast from Baltimore during the playoffs. An anonymous caller at 4:20pm claimed a bomb was on board the chartered flight, which proved to be a hoax.

FURTHER READING: BASEBALL "GIFT FROM ZODIAC" 

Postmarked Vallejo on Thursday, June 18th 1970, two Oakland A's baseball tickets were mailed to Gerald Tagert of 1423 Roleen Drive in Vallejo, wrapped in a piece of paper with the message "Gift from Zodiac". The tickets for the baseball game were dated Saturday, June 20th 1970. It appeared that "Zodiac" or the impersonator wanted the couple to vacate their house and attend the baseball game in two days time. This communication was not released to the public and has only surfaced in recent years. Just over two years later, on Thursday, June 29th 1972 (and 18 miles west of Roleen Drive), Edward J. Salmina of 25 Crescent Lane, Novato received a death threat signed "Zodiac", stating "If you leave your house past 3:13:47 on the next ten Saturdays, you will be killed". Edward J. Salmina was a sports editor of the Novato Advance newspaper for 33 years and was a staunch baseball fan, who funded and managed the Novato Knicks team, while also having served as a sports correspondent for The Examiner newspaper. The specific threat on Salmina to not leave his house on ten consecutive Saturdays was almost certainly connected to his management of the Novato Knicks baseball team, thereby preventing his coaching of the team during this period of time.

We have two June communications separated by two years, both extremely brief in nature and connected to baseball, with both signed by the pseudonym "Zodiac" and mailed on the Thursday before the Saturday in question. Each letter was focused on the Saturday, The Oakland A's tickets were chosen for Saturday, June 20th 1970, encouraging the recipients to leave their house on 1423 Roleen Drive and attend the baseball game, whereas the letter to Edward J. Salmina on June 29th 1972 was encouraging him not to leave his house on the next ten Saturdays (and probably threatening him not to attend the baseball). The second author in 1972, if different to the one in 1970, could never have imitated the original threat without inside knowledge.       

Particular dates were the overriding focus of each letter, involving eleven Saturdays in total. The only other time the Zodiac Killer made reference to a specific date he would kill, is when he mailed the trinity of communications to the Vallejo Times-Herald, San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, July 31st 1969, stating to the Chronicle that  "the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner. I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. 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". These specific threats to kill, again occurring on a Thursday, just one or two days before the intended premise of the letter.

The 1972 Novato letter threatening to kill Edward J. Salmina contained a series of symbols under the heading "message" (believed to be a short code). This is extremely interesting, because the next letter we know of (claimed to be from Zodiac) also contained a short code, while claiming he would kill on a specific date. The author of the Albany letter, mailed to the Albany Times Union newspaper in New York on August 1st 1973 and targeting the Albany Medical Center, promised to "kill her on August 10th at 5:00pm". The author of this letter gave a specific time he would murder, just like the author of the Novato letter who stated "If you leave your house past 3:13:47 on the next ten Saturdays, you will be killed". This was unique to both these letters. Although the Albany message was issued on a Wednesday for a week Friday, it was again issued with time being the central focus. The two 1970 Oakland A's tickets bore a time and date, the 1972 Novato letter bore a time and ten dates, as did the Albany letter in 1973. All three letters were aimed at a specific individual - Gerald Tagert, Edward J.Salmina and Connie Henly (from the decoded portion).

In an attempt to cover all possible Zodiac communications, I will add the June 18th 1970 letter, postmarked Vallejo and addressed to Gerald Tagert of 1423 Roleen Drive in the northern section of Vallejo. The letter contained two tickets for the Oakland A's baseball game for June 20th 1970, wrapped in a piece of paper with the brief message "GIFT FROM ZODIAC". Barbara Tagert was totally perplexed as to who may have sent the letter. It was analyzed and ultimately determined that it exhibited a slight similarity to confirmed Zodiac correspondence. 

The only address of any note in close proximity to 1423 Roleen Drive was the address of James Owen (1735 Mini Drive), the last person to pass the turnout on December 20th 1968, before the double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Of course, we have no idea whether this communication was by the hand of the Zodiac Killer fifty years after the fact, but let us assume for the purpose of this article, it was. Did the Zodiac Killer know Gerald Tagert, an electrician employed at the Mare Island Shipyard? It seems unlikely that the murderer of five would unnecessarily aid the police in his capture, by linking himself as somebody known to Gerald Tagert or possibly a work colleague at the Shipyard. It could be a threat by somebody pretending to be Zodiac in order to scare the couple, but this could have just as easily been achieved without the need to spend money and purchase two valid baseball tickets - a sinister Zodiac threat of murder would have been far more effective, if your intention was to scare the living daylights out of the couple. What other possibilities exist?

1423 Roleen Drive is a corner house, so would be visible from not only neighboring properties along the same road, but several in the adjoining Alice Drive. This would only be of importance if the Zodiac Killer resided in one of the houses nearby and wanted the cheap thrill of watching the police visit the Tagert's property. However, this not only relies on the police visiting the Tagert's home address, but also necessitates the Zodiac Killer remaining at his residence throughout the relevant period. A threat to murder the couple would have been a far more effective tactic by the Zodiac Killer had he wanted to observe police activity around the property. It seemed that the Oakland A's tickets were of particular significance to the sender.   

To verify whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible for this correspondence, it is often prudent to look at the last confirmed Zodiac communication prior to  this one. The April 28th 1970 'Dragon' card stated "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my blast" - so is it logical to assume he would lure the couple to the Oakland Coliseum with the intention of detonating a bomb at the stadium. This is extremely unlikely. The only vague connection to the Oakland A's contained in the 'Dragon' card is the mule/donkey depicted on the card. Charlie-O the Mule was the mascot used by the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland A's from 1965 to 1976. But this is an extremely weak link and highly unlikely to have any connection to the baseball tickets mailed to Gerald Tagert.

Is it conceivable that the police would have allowed the couple to attend the baseball match with a possible threat hanging over them, covertly viewing the area in and around them for suspicious activity and anyone showing an unhealthy amount of attention towards them? Would the Zodiac Killer seriously have expected the police to have advised the couple to attend, or agreed to such a dangerous tactic even if they were willing?

The fact that the tickets were accompanied by the message "GIFT FROM ZODIAC", as opposed to a direct threat on their lives, seems to suggest the purpose behind the communication lay at the Oakland Coliseum and the half-chance that the Zodiac Killer could observe the couple squirming in their seats. But without knowing what transpired on June 20th 1970, one can only speculate. I highly doubt the couple ever attended the baseball match because of the possible ramifications had anything unsavory occurred.

One of the main reasons for covering this topic is to understand the motive behind the mailing (if the Zodiac Killer), and get some other opinions. Why were the tickets added to the correspondence, if not to center the focus on the Oakland Coliseum?