The following are a few extracts from the newspapers regarding the murder of Anthony Vincent Bruno on November 2nd 1975.

According to Police Captain George Stephenson, Bruno and his girlfriend (16 years) had been parked on Monte Cresta Drive, above Barclay Way in an isolated area of western hills when a man opened the driver's side door and apparently without saying anything fired the shotgun. The girl, who was not identified by police, pushed Bruno's body aside and drove the car to her home from where police were notified. She described the assailant as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds and wearing an Army green parka with hood, according to police. Stephenson said also that a late model brown pick-up truck, possibly a Dodge or Chevrolet, had been seen in the area at about the time of the shooting. The killer then ran south on Monte Cresta from the dark hillside area, past a streetlight 50 yards away, and then possibly to a late model Dodge or Chevrolet pick-up truck.

Belmont police today are attempting to find a man who shotgunned a 17-year-old Carlmont High School student to death in a parked car early Sunday morning. The youth, Anthony Vincent Bruno of 213 Bayview Drive, San Carlos, died instantly, his body sprawled on the seat of the parked car beside his terrified 16-year-old girlfriend. The killer then turned, dropped the sawed-off stock of his weapon on the ground, perhaps by accident, and fled. It was disclosed Wednesday that about an hour and a half before the brutal slaying, a man was seen struggling to drag a box about two feet long and 18 inches wide up a steep rise about 100 feet from the slaying site. A rod, or perhaps a rope, protruded from the box, according to police, and the dragging was being done by a man in mechanic's overalls with longish, dark brown hair. Stephenson also confirmed that police are searching for the driver of a maroon pick-up truck, equipped with blackwall tires and white wheels; a vehicle which they have information to believe may have approached the parked couple 15 minutes before the slaying, stopped a distance away, made a u-turn, and apparently drove off. The girl gave a follow up description "She saw a face but couldn't identify him. She couldn't see whether he was black or white, or anything other than he was 5'5", 140 pounds and wearing a green army-type parka". One has to consider that under the circumstances, this description may be less than reliable.  

"We've never had a case like this before. This is the bloodiest, most brutal killing I've ever seen", Belmont Police Chief William R. Singer said as he surveyed the scene of Belmont's first potential murder case in over two years. "It could be another Zodiac", he added.  Wednesday afternoon, Juvenile Division Detective Gary Sickman drove this reporter to the scene of the slaying and replayed what police have linked together about it so far. "This is a little-known lovers' lane", Sickman said. "Many of the kids I've talked with at Carlmont were unaware of it." Sickman drove the patrol car down a narrow dirt road connecting with Monte Cresta Drive; a chuckhole-pocked stretch traversing a ridge high above Belmont Canyon. At the end of the road, a half-mile from the slaying site, a teenaged couple embraced in a parked car. Sickman checked their identification and jotted their names in his notebook after giving them a little fatherly advice.

The image on the right shows Belmont Police Chief William Singer and Captain George Stephenson examining the scene of the crime. To visit the location, click the image to enter Google maps.  

This crime has similarities to the two attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, particularly the latter (highlighted above in blue). The couple in this instance were 16 and 17 years of age just like Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday, attacked on what was described as a lovers' lane area. The killer, without uttering a word, fired into the vehicle in similar fashion to the shooting at Blue Rock Springs, this time in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 2nd 1975. The assailant at Monte Cresta Drive may have driven up to the vehicle of the young couple just prior to the murder, driving away and returning a few minutes later, before unleashing his deadly assault. Had the gun not broke apart, we could again have been looking at a repeat of December 20th 1968.

The following day, on November 3rd 1975, it was reported by KGO-TV that a possible Zodiac letter was discovered near to the crime scene in a phone booth. Michael Morford, a researcher at the Zodiac Killer Site forum, also remembered a cassette tape accompanying the letter. The attack happened early Sunday morning, with the newspapers carrying the story on Monday, November 3rd 1975, so when the letter (and possibly tape) were placed in the phone booth is an important factor. If the letter was placed there in the minutes after the crime (or Sunday night) and not discovered until Monday morning, the greater the possibility that the letter was written by the murderer of Anthony Vincent Bruno, who hadn't read or heard any reporting of the crime.

The reporting in the San Mateo Times of a letter alleged to have been written by the Zodiac Killer appears to carry weight, when you consider the wording of Chief William R. Singer, who stated "It could be another Zodiac". If this letter existed, then it is fairly obvious that law enforcement and Chief William R. Singer would have been aware of it.

There are three main possibilities regarding the letter: [1] Somebody read or heard the details of the crime, noted the similarities to the Zodiac attacks, and decided to hoax a letter. [2] The person who murdered Anthony Vincent Bruno prepared a Zodiac-style letter to shift the emphasis away from the fact it was personal attack. [3] The person who committed the murder and wrote the letter was the Zodiac Killer, however unlikely this option may seem. The Zodiac Killer hadn't conclusively been linked to a murder for six years at this point, and hadn't written a confirmed letter for well over a year, which undoubtedly weakens the intent of a person attempting to shift the blame onto the Zodiac Killer. The last widely accepted letter from the Zodiac Killer was the Exorcist letter mailed on January 29th 1974, probably mailed from San Mateo County. If this was "truly" a Zodiac letter, it too would have a San Mateo connection.

Two and a half years later, a cryptic letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 19th 1978, in what can only be described as unintelligent ramblings. With respect to the 1975 letter (and possibly cassette tape) placed in the phone booth near the crime scene, a certain section of text in the July 19th 1978 was of particular interest. It may have no connection whatsoever to the Anthony Vincent Bruno murder, but read "I have my real name on a small metallic tape. You see, while you have it in your possession, I want you to know it belongs to me and you think I may have left it accidentally".  Was this "small metallic tape", a ferric cassette tape, which was deliberately placed in the phone booth and was now in the possession of law enforcement? The murder of Anthony Vincent Bruno in San Mateo on November 2nd 1975 is a difficult crime to connect to the Bay Area murders of the Zodiac Killer without access to this letter (and tape), but the broken stock of the shotgun found ten feet from the murder scene could contain valuable evidence if stored correctly.

Thanks to Zodiac Killer Site forum.

One would presume the only person who knew that Leona Roberts wasn't going to be killed immediately after being abducted was the killer, which is why the two "forecast" letters on December 10th 1969 and December 11th 1969 are extremely interesting. The two pasted horoscope communications entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Cancer and Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo, bearing in mind the latter could easily be interpreted as Day-By-Day Forecast For Leona Roberts, is extremely perintinent when we consider the timing of the communications and her abduction. The December 10th communication also came with the pasted pseudonym of "ZODIAC" emblazoned across its face. The fact that these communications were a forecast (a prediction of what will happen), coupled with a Zodiac horoscope and the distinct possibility that "Leo" was chosen for purpose, then the discovery of her body eighteen days later at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County, is rather curious.

The coroner concluded that she had likely been dead "4 to 7 days prior to recovery, and he theorized that she had been alive 10-14 days after her abduction". She was abducted on Wednesday December 10th 1969 and found at Bolinas Lagoon on December 28th 1969, so that places her murder between December 20th 1969 and December 24th 1969, allowing for a small margin of error. The longer between death and discovery, the more difficult it is to make an accurate determination. 

The Zodiac Killer mailed the Fairfield letter on December 16th 1969, but he made no update to his running total of seven victims. In this communication he added a supplemental drawing of a "Bleeding Knife" with seven drops of blood, possibly fashioned to incorporate the two extra victims he was claiming, that of Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969, by knife. Just four days later, the Melvin Belli letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating the Zodiac Killer was resisting the temptation to murder his ninth and tenth victim. This appears to indicate that victim number eight was secured between December 16th 1969 and December 20th 1969, which falls around the approximate time the coroner determined that Leona Roberts was murdered. If the above interpretation is correct, we would have three Zodiac communications on December 11th 1969, December 16th 1969 and December 20th 1969, giving us a "forecast for Leo", a failure to update the running victim total five days later, followed by an update to eight victims just four days later, around the time Leona Roberts was killed.         

The phrases on the Cancer and Leo communications are difficult to interpret, but when we consider the random phrase of "BIRDS FLY SOUTH" (pasted between the 18th and 24th) and the location where her body was discovered, on a north to south Pacific Flyway for migratory birds, one can't help thinking that the pasted clues were cryptic in nature. Irrespective of their correct meanings or otherwise, the "forecast" letters and the timing of Leona Roberts abduction should not be overlooked. It is likely only one person knew the day-by-day forecast for Leona Roberts, and his identity remains a mystery to this day. 

A man was seen running into Julius Khan playground shortly after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, detailed by author Robert Graysmith, who stated "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Khan playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County".

It was speculated whether the Zodiac Killer had exited the Presidio Park on its eastern edge to a waiting vehicle, with his escape via the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County a matter of minutes away, providing separation from the San Francisco area. If the Zodiac Killer worked in San Francisco (near Presidio Heights), but commuted from Vallejo, then he may have used Highway 101 on a regular basis, passing through Marin County. Highway 101 straddles Shoreline Highway by just 724 meters, which we will return to shortly.

Here is an excerpt from Websleuths by Steph54 "On 28 December 1969, a man searching for driftwood on the beach at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County found the nude body of Leona Roberts. It was later determined that a unique wristwatch was missing from the girl's wrist, but a Napa High School class ring given to her by a neighbor still remained on her finger. The tan dress she wore when last seen, along with two pairs of bell-bottomed pants, a blouse, a black purse and wallet, a key chain with car and house keys were also reported missing. There were marks on the wrists and ankles indicative of binding, but the coroner was unsure whether they occurred before or after death. The cause of death was reported as "due to viral infection of an unidentified species." It was also reported that there was "evidence of choking which could probably be linked to the virus." link. 

Leona LaRell Roberts had been abducted on December 10th 1969 from 749 Tormey Avenue in Rodeo. At about 5:50 pm a neighbor, Susan Clark, heard the sound of a girl screaming, followed by somebody running from the rear of the apartment. A suspicious male was observed many times between the front door and a blue station wagon, before he eventually drove away. The man was described as 25 years old, 5'8", short blond hair and wearing brown trousers and a jacket. A while later her boyfriend arrived home to find a disturbance inside the apartment, scuff marks near the back door and her red Volkswagen parked outside.

The same day, a potential Zodiac correspondence arrived at the Sacramento Bee newspaper containing a horoscope page with pasted wording. This communication entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Cancer was pasted with the wording ZODIAC, WATCH, FLT 555 and BIRDS FLY SOUTH. The day after the Leona LaRell Roberts abduction, on December 11th 1969, a communication entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo arrived at the San Francisco Newspaper Printing Company at Rincon Annex, again  with many pasted words, including FLT THREE OF A KIND. It was thought that the Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo may have been a sinister play on words for Day-By-Day Forecast For Leona Roberts, considering the date of her abduction and the mailing of this communication the following day.

A day-by-day forecast may have been an appropriate message considering her abduction on December 10th 1969 to the eventual discovery of her body eighteen days later at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County. This is where Shoreline Highway comes into play, being just 724 meters from Highway 101, and a route that the Zodiac Killer may have commuted to and from work. Shoreline Highway runs alongside Bolinas Bay to Bolinas Lagoon where Leona Robert's body was discovered. When we consider the December 10th 1969 communication containing the words ZODIAC and BIRDS FLY SOUTH, coupled with the December 11th 1969 Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo and her body being discovered at Bolinas Lagoon, the following information may become relevant.

Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately 1,100 acres in area, located in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States, adjacent to the town of Bolinas. The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in America, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or travelling to overwintering sites. Along the Pacific Flyway, there are many key rest stops where birds of many species gather, sometimes in the millions, to feed and regain their strength before continuing. Some species may remain in these rest stops for the entire season, but most stay a few days before moving on. Wikipedia.     

Four months later, on April 19th 1970, Pat Tan, a woman of Eurasian descent was discovered hanging by rope and electrical cord from an oak tree near Bootjack Campground on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. She was identified because of a key found in her pocket by Coroner, Keith Craig, which he traced to a Greyhound bus terminal and the eventual discovery of her address book. The question remains as to whether the death of Pat Tan was suicide or murder.

Bootjack Campground is located 553 meters from the Pantoll Campground along Panoramic Highway, which joins Shoreline Highway at its southern tip, Pat Tan's body was discovered hanging just 2.5 miles from the dump site of Leona Roberts at Bolinas Lagoon. Leona Roberts abduction was paralleled by two communications entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Cancer and Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo, along with the pasted pseudonym of ZODIAC, as was the untimely death of Pat Tan, when the following day on the April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 13-Symbol cipher containing THREE OF A KIND. However, this time it would be 888 instead of 555.

Two years later, on April 7th 1972, Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972, and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9.00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home, but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection, that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, around 40 years of age, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson. Pine Hill Road, where the attack occurred, joins Shoreline Highway at its southern edge, just 4 miles from the Bootjack Campground and 7 miles from Bolinas Lagoon. Shoreline Highway joins Panoramic Highway only 1 mile from Pine Hill Road. So, had the attacker of Isobel Watson managed to lure her into his vehicle, would we have found her near Bootjack Campground or Bolinas Lagoon, just like Pat Tan and Leona Roberts? Of course, we don't know whether the Zodiac Killer had anything to do with the unfortunate events that befell these three women, but the location of Marin County and the proximity of Pine Hill Road, Bootjack Campground and Bolinas Lagoon is worthy of further investigation.     

During the height of Zodiac activity, sandwiched between the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 and the mailing of the infamous 340 cipher on November 8th 1969, one man stared pensively out of the window in search of a prowler that was stalking his house, equally disturbed by the inevitability that his phone at some point would burst into life, threatening death at the other end. That man was Daniel Williams, a Salesian High School teacher in the city of Richmond, living at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez.

Almost certainly one and the same, this prowler had been calling Daniel Williams' residence from October 23rd 1969 to November 2nd 1969, which culminated in his pursuer lacing his 7-Up soft drink with more than enough arsenic to kill. Police had been summoned to his residence on November 2nd 1969 when he noticed the screen door of his house had been pried open, however, they left shortly thereafter when it was determined nothing had been stolen. A short time later, Daniel Williams went to his refrigerator for some light refreshment and took a swig of 7-Up. Had he swallowed after noticing the metallic tasting drink, he most certainly would have died alone on his kitchen floor. The person who called Daniel Williams on numerous occasions threatening his murder claimed to be none other than the Zodiac Killer. Somebody pretending to be the Zodiac Killer by phone or mail is one thing, but this person had intended to kill.

Daniel Williams was a 24-year-old school teacher at the very beginning of his life, so one can only wonder how it came to pass that somebody felt the persistent need to target this man over a period of thirteen days, when finally, on November 5th 1969, somebody rang the Martinez Police Department at 12:30 am stating "There's going to be a shooting at 1234 Bush Street", before immediately hanging the receiver up.

If Daniel Williams had a hidden enemy with a grudge, not only was he apparently unaware of this animosity toward him, but why would this person telegraph his intent over a two week period by way of malicious phone calls. The notion of somebody attempting to kill the school teacher, while passing it off as a Zodiac crime over a prolonged period, appears a rather convoluted approach, when the perpetrator could simply have killed Daniel Williams and then made a phone call or mailed a letter taking responsibility as the Zodiac Killer. Ringing a police department and making threats to kill, in advance of comitting the act, seems to negate the opportunity of surprise and allows the intended victim to take preparatory steps. When we consider the contents of the November 8th and 9th communications by the Zodiac Killer, only three days after the phone call to the Martinez Police Department on November 5th 1969, another possibility begins to materialize.    

The person behind the phone calls to Daniel Williams' house and the Martinez Police Department, along with the prowling incidents, had also made threats toward a Martinez school. When he rang the school teacher, the caller stated he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there". In light of the Zodiac Killer's desire to murder schoolchildren during the month of October, the claim of searching for victims at a nearby school should have raised significant alarm bells.

The persistence of this stalker may not have stopped on November 5th 1969, when the Zodiac Killer's Dripping Pen card arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, stating "I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet". This phrase had all the hallmarks of activity ongoing, which had yet to reach its conclusion, backed up by the letter which arrived at the Chronicle the following day. In the Bus Bomb letter mailed on November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer made obvious that his victim count was only totalled "up to the end of Oct", suggestive of ongoing action between October 31st 1969 and the current mailing date. This apparent desire to add an eighth victim to his total, in light of a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer and ringing the Martinez Police Department on November 5th 1969 with the threat of murder, appeared to indicate he was not finished yet. Or at the very least, this is what he wanted us to believe.

The nature of the attack on Daniel Williams by way of arsenic poisoning, seemed to fit with the opening paragraph of the November 9th 1969 letter, in which the Zodiac Killer vented his frustration and promised to alter his approach to murder. He directly addressed law enforcement, remarking that "I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc". However, it's what he said next that may link the Zodiac Killer to the malicious phone calls perpetrated on Daniel Williams. The caller to 1234 Bush Street claimed he was thwarted by police outside a Martinez school during his search for victims, but they wouldn't catch him because, as he stated “I’m too smart for them". The next line of the Bus Bomb letter, after promising to change his way of collecting slaves, was to ridicule police by asserting that "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them". This could be argued as the Zodiac Killer reading the newspapers and mimicking the wording in the written text to plant a seed of his involvement in the Daniel Williams stalking. If this was his intention, it was so subtle, it went ignored for 51 years. The police probably believed this prolonged attack on Daniel Williams was just another successor in a long line of Zodiac hoaxers, but this supposed hoaxer was not only determined, he was prepared to kill to imitate the Zodiac Killer.      

Daniel Williams (24), a Salesian High School teacher, started to receive malicious phone calls to his 1234 Bush Street, Martinez residence on October 23rd 1969. These calls continued for ten days and culminated with somebody breaking into his residence on November 2nd 1969 and lacing his 7-Up soft drink with enough arsenic to kill. The caller, claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, told Daniel Williams over the phone that he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there", mocking law enforcement by stating “I’m too smart for them". This was considered particularly relevant because of the language Zodiac adopted on November 9th 1969 in the Bus Bomb letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle of "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

The Zodiac Killer's wording was also considered suspicious in the Dripping Pen card, when on November 8th 1969 he stated "This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet". The wording smacked of unfinished business, especially when you consider that he wrote "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people" in the following communication. It was now November 9th 1969, but he made a point of claiming seven victims only up to the end of October. These sections of text highly suggestive he was in the process of acquiring victim number eight. That victim could very well have entailed the ongoing pursuit of the Richmond High School teacher, Daniel Williams, to which this number had been reserved. These ideas may be speculative, but the story doesn't end there.

After the November 2nd 1969 attempted poisoning, Daniel Williams reported to police that the prowlings he had experienced around his residence during the time of the sadistic phone calls, continued after the break-in and failed poisoning. The persistent threats on the life of Daniel Williams would also fail to cease.

On Wednesday, November 5th 1969, somebody rang the Martinez Police Department at 12:30 am stating "There's going to be a shooting at 1234 Bush Street", before immediately hanging up. The threat to find victims at a Martinez school, coupled with the menacing phone calls were not dissimilar to recent Zodiac activity during the month of October. After the threat to shoot Daniel Williams at his residence, police instigated surveillance in the immediate area of Bush Street for the remainder of that morning, but no suspicious activity was detected. The next Zodiac Killer communications would be postmarked just two and three days later, with the promise of more bad news and a victim count left dangling at the end of October. If the perpetrator of the crimes inflicted upon Daniel Williams wasn't the Zodiac Killer, then it was a pretty determined hoaxer claiming to be him.

In the sadistic phone calls to Daniel Williams the caller also promised to "kill the lady in the blue house". On November 21st 1969, San Jose Police had to provide 24-hour surveillance for a woman, after somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer mailed a threatening letter identifying her as the target. The letter was accompanied by the wording "There's no doubt I will do my Thing!" reminiscent of the Dripping Pen card of "I could do my Thing". Of course, we don't know whether the threats in Martinez and San Jose were the infamous Zodiac Killer, but they certainly could have been.  

From October 23rd 1969 to November 2nd 1969, Daniel Williams, a Richmond High School teacher received a series of sadistic phone calls that culminated in somebody attempting to kill him by lacing his soft drink with arsenic. Had he not noticed the metallic taste and spat it out, Daniel Williams would have been a "dead duck" as the caller had promised.

In a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle postmarked October 13th 1969, the Zodiac Killer threatened to "wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". A telephone threat to bomb a school bus and kill children from somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer was targeted at Santa Rosa on October 15th 1969, prior to the details about "wiping out a school bus and picking off the kiddies" had been released by the newspapers. There were reports of a possible gunshot being heard by a Santa Rosa bus driver on October 17th 1969. These threats on schoolchildren brought a massive response from school officials and law enforcement, who laid out extensive measures to combat the perceived threat by the Zodiac Killer. Extra security to the buses also came in the form of police vehicles shadowing the schoolchildren to and from their respective schools.

On October 21st 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled Fear Rides the Yellow Bus, stating "A climate of fear hangs over the Napa Valley. The fear is over "Zodiac" and his terrifying boast to "wipe out a school bus". No one takes the threat lightly, Zodiac has already struck here. The task of trying to insure the safety of 10,000 youngsters who ride the Napa Valley Unified School District is immense".  It was two days later that Daniel Williams started receiving menacing phone calls from a caller claiming to be the infamous Zodiac Killer. The caller stated that "he intended to kill several persons" and on one occasion said he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there". Bearing in mind the heightened security around school buses and therefore school premises, this was entirely plausible. This could easily have been interpreted as an empty threat from another hoaxer, but it's a fair assumption that the phone caller and arsenic poisoner were one and the same. There were probably many idle hoaxers latching onto the Zodiac case during this period of uncertainty, but I doubt many were prepared to back up their threats with murder, as was the case in the attempted poisoning of Daniel Williams. If this person was prepared to kill a school teacher, then it's not beyond the realms of possibility he was prepared to kill schoolchildren in Martinez (where Daniel Williams lived) or the city of Richmond, where Daniel Williams taught at Salesian High School.   

If this was the Zodiac Killer, how did it come to be that Daniel Williams was selected as a possible target by the Bay Area murder? The Zodiac Killer may have selected Daniel Williams by staking out his school and following him home. He now has a credible victim who police won't dismiss as an attention seeker. Daniel Williams also teaches schoolchildren, making him the ideal target for the Zodiac Killer. When Daniel Williams relays the details of the "Zodiac" phone calls to police, such as the man claiming he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there", it adds veracity to the threats in the current climate. In the mind of the Zodiac Killer, he knew that these phone calls would be readily dismissed as just another hoax by police, so he needed to elevate these threats to the next level and show law enforcement he wasn't just playing games.

The Zodiac Killer, by poisoning the soft drink of Daniel Williams with arsenic, having previously stated he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there", must have concluded that his visit to a Martinez school, in accompaniment to Daniel Williams being a Richmond school teacher, was more than enough to occupy law enforcement on several fronts. He may have thought that if the police didn't take the threat of murder seriously, then they would likely take nothing seriously.

With the failed poisoning on November 2nd 1969, the Zodiac Killer wrote in the Bus Bomb letter "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people", possibly indicating he hadn't yet finished with Daniel Williams (or possibly wanted us to believe that). When the phone caller to Daniel Williams mentioned his visit to a Martinez school, he concluded that police would never catch him because he was "too smart for them". In the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them". The Zodiac Killer was certainly a clever wordsmith, but was he responsible for the attempted murder of Daniel Williams? 

An unknown caller claiming to be the Zodiac Killer threatened Daniel Williams, a Richmond high school teacher, from October 23rd 1969 to November 2nd 1969. It was reported that the sadistic caller stated he was going to "kill the lady in the blue house". Despite previous exploration of this subject, here we will examine two new ideas related to the lady in the blue house. One will be a simplistic approach, while the second may understandably be regarded as far-fetched.

It could be argued that it would be rather meaningless for the sadistic caller to threaten a woman in a blue house, had this woman got no connection whatsoever to Daniel Williams. The caller was clearly targeting Daniel Williams and attempting to unnerve him. When Daniel Williams left his house on November 2nd 1969, the killer gained access by prying open his screen door and placing some arsenic in his soft drink. There is every chance that the perpetrator had followed Daniel Williams to some extent and was aware of his departure from his Martinez home that day. Had this person also seen Daniel Williams visit or converse with a woman in a blue house, possibly on Bush Street where he lived - and knowing that he was friendly with this woman - he knew that a threat to kill her would resonate with the school teacher? Threatening an unknown woman to Daniel Williams, plucked from nothing more than his imagination, appears rather pointless. However, there is a more unlikely alternative.  

The newspapers stated that the caller gave no explanation regarding the lady in the blue house, so either he expected Daniel Williams to work it out, or he had planned a future attack on a woman unknown to Daniel Williams, but hoped that Daniel Williams would relay his intention to "kill the lady in the blue house" to police. When his next attack was then threatened or carried out, police would understand that he was responsible for both events. It was suggested in the previous article that the sadistic caller may have had unfinished business with Daniel Williams after the failed poisoning, hence his statement of "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people" in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter, thereby leaving investigators to speculate upon his intentions during the beginning of November and the likelihood of murder for the remainder of the month. Since nothing materialized with respect to Daniel Williams in this window of time and subsequent to November 9th 1969, it could be reasoned that it was just another idle, but menacing threat from the Zodiac Killer (assuming he played any part in the Daniel William affair). But what of his threat to "kill the lady in the blue house". 

The next possible letter by the Zodiac Killer arrived at the San Jose Police Department on November 21st 1969, threatening a woman and accompanied by the wording "There's no doubt I will do my Thing!". In the Dripping Pen card the Zodiac Killer wrote "I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. PS could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing !!!!!!  Des July Aug Sept Oct = 7". Was the communication on November 21st 1969 the bad news he had promised us, and the culmination of the threat to "kill the lady in the blue house"? In this communication the author threatened a widow, with enough detail in the letter that police were able to identify her. They took the threat extremely seriously, instituting 24-hour surveillance on her and her property. It is impossible, fifty-one years after the fact, to establish whether any connection existed between this woman and Daniel Williams. The likelihood of a connection is extremely remote, but it would have been interesting to find out the color of her house. 

Daniel Williams, a Salesian High School teacher in Richmond, received ten days of sadistic telephone calls beginning on October 23rd 1969 from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer. These calls were probably dismissed as the genuine Zodiac Killer because of the language adopted in the calls, mimicking the hoax caller who addressed Melvin Belli on the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969. Daniel Williams would recall that the menacing caller would also "sob and complain of headaches". However, the calls to Daniel Williams shouldn't be ruled out on this basis, because two months later the real Zodiac Killer did speak of "losing control" and having difficulty "holding it in check" when writing to Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969. In previous articles covering this topic, the city of Richmond was identified as a possible future target on his Bus Bomb crosshairs. Also, the phraseology of “I’m too smart for them" by the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams was compared to the passage in the Bus Bomb letter of "I have been too clever for them". However, there is a little bit more.

It was November 2nd 1969 when Daniel Williams received the final call from the man presumably impersonating the Zodiac Killer, with the menacing threat of “You’re the dead duck". He would then leave his house in Martinez and return later, only to find his screen door pried open and arsenic in his soft drink. Fortunately for Daniel Williams he noticed the metallic taste and spat it out, which undoubtedly saved his life. Clearly the murder of Daniel Williams had been thwarted, meaning the perpetrator had unfinished business. This is why I find the Zodiac Killer's opening statement in the Bus Bomb letter particularly unusual. The opening line of the November 9th 1969 communication began "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people".  But why didn't he just declare "This is the Zodiac speaking. I have killed 7 people to date", or "This is the Zodiac speaking. I have murdered 7 people". He deliberately chose to say "up to the end of Oct", almost like there was a murder he was still engineering or was attempting to complete between the end of October and November 9th 1969. In other words, he had unfinished business. Bearing in mind the murder attempt on Daniel Williams took place on November 2nd 1969, he may have been signalling by the statement of "up to the end of Oct" that he wasn't finished with Daniel Williams just yet. Especially when we consider that just a few lines later he issued the statement of "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them", in extremely similar fashion to “I’m too smart for them" spoken over the phone to Daniel Williams.    

When we couple these observations with his Dripping Pen card on November 8th 1969, the story becomes a little more intriguing. It too gives the impression of unfinished business. The card read "This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. PS could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing !!!!!!  Des July Aug Sept Oct = 7".

The wording of "I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news". appears to indicate that the Zodiac Killer has, or is actively seeking to generate some bad news - which would usually involve murder. He then qualifies this statement by adding "You won't get the news for a while yet". This could indicate that he had plans for murder, but was yet to complete his mission. If he was the caller and poisoner of Daniel Williams, his failed murder attempt may have inspired the statement of "up to the end of Oct" and "You won't get the news for a while yet" in reference to his continued pursuit of the Richmond school teacher. Ironically, the Dripping Pen card would be accompanied by the Zodiac Killer's second lengthy cryptogram, the first of which was cracked by a Salinas High School teacher.


RELEVANT ARTICLES: THE PROMISE OF MURDER ON LINE 5    A KILLER ON LINE FIVE

The above story broke in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, the day before the Zodiac Killer's Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. The previous two articles [1] [2] explored the idea that the Zodiac Killer may have positioned one of the X's on the Bus Bomb crosshairs to signify an impending attack/murder in Richmond, based upon the fact Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School. How the police came to the conclusion this wasn't the genuine Zodiac Killer by virtue of relayed phone messages, appears rather speculative. If this wasn't the Zodiac Killer, then it becomes a distinct possibility that somebody known to Daniel Williams was trying to kill him, using the Zodiac Killer as a convenient fall guy.

However, there are crucial parts of the Daniel Williams story that were not covered in the San Francisco Chronicle article above. The day after this article was published, the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked, meaning it was out of the Zodiac Killer's hands by November 9th 1969. The Bus Bomb letter continued the theme of threatening schoolchildren by means of a bomb. But the November 9th 1969 letter contained one important line, after his introduction of "changing his way of collecting slaves". He stated "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

The following day (November 10th), the Desert Sun newspaper would expand on the details of the sadistic phone call to Daniel Williams. It read "MARTINEZ (UPI)—A young scoolteacher who received threatening telephone calls for 10 days thought the caller was a crank who was pretending to be the Zodiac Killer. But police took the threats seriously after 24-year-old Daniel Williams found a lethal dose of arsenic in a bottle of soft drink in his refrigerator. Williams, a teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond, told police the caller talked of how he intended to kill several persons, then last; Sunday said: “You’re the dead duck.” Williams went out and when he returned home found someone had pried open the screen on a back door. However, a police search showed nothing was missing. But after the officers left and Williams took a drink from a bottle of opened soft drink in his refrigerator, he found it tasted “metallic” and immediately spat it out. Police reported Friday that the bottle contained more than enough arsenic to kill a human being. Williams said the caller identified himself as the still sought Zodiac killer of five, but police discounted the idea. The caller would “sob and complain of headaches.” Williams said, and on one occasion said he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there. Williams said the caller told him: “I’m too smart for them". This story was also published (word for word) in the San Mateo Times on November 8th 1969.

The sadistic phone calls to Daniel Williams began on October 23rd 1969 and lasted 10 days until November 2nd 1969, with the caller mocking police by stating “I’m too smart for them". The Zodiac Killer in reference to the police on November 9th 1969 (Bus Bomb letter), stated "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them". Very similar phraseology aimed towards the police by the real Zodiac Killer and somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, separated by approximately one week. The expanded story of Daniel Williams (in the Desert Sun on November 10th) was copied from an identical version in the San Mateo Times newspaper, published on November 8th 1969, which covered the details of the phone call boasting “I’m too smart for them". But if the Zodiac Killer only read the Chronicle article (which didn't cover the phrase), then it's rather fortuitous that he would also use the near identical wording of "I have been too clever for them" at the beginning of the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969. If they were not the same person, then there is a possibility that the Zodiac Killer read the version of Daniel Williams story, covered in the San Mateo Times or another newspaper prior to the mailing of the Bus Bomb letter, and used the phraseology of the sadistic caller detailed in the newspapers in his latest letter, so as to convince the police he was the caller and poisoner of Daniel Williams. Does the phraseology suggest one perpetrator as sadistic caller and Bus Bomb letter author, a Zodiac Killer mimicking the newspaper articles, or is the wording just a simple coincidence?

RELEVANT ARTICLES: THE PROMISE OF MURDER ON LINE 5    A KILLER ON LINE FIVE

Daniel Williams (24), a young school teacher from Martinez, California started receiving sadistic calls from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, beginning on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). While this was initially passed off as just another copycat by Daniel Williams, he and the police took it extremely seriously when a lethal dose of arsenic was discovered in a soft drink inside his refrigerator. Many copycats forging communications and phone calls would not be considered unusual in a high profile case such as the Zodiac Killer, but I doubt many would take it to the next level and commit murder in the name of impersonating the murderer of five. The phone calls spanned a period of ten days, culminating in somebody breaking into his house and spiking his drink. Had Daniel Williams not noticed the metallic taste in his drink, the young teacher would have been a "dead duck" as the phone caller had promised.

The Zodiac Killer, would eventually, on November 9th 1969, promise to "change the way the collecting of slaves". Was this the first step in that direction, attempting to kill remotely after his fortunate escape subsequent to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, buoyed by the publicity he received during the Jim Dunbar Show circus?

The Zodiac Killer may not be responsible for the phone calls or attempted murder of Daniel Williams during this period, however, it may be possible he was inspired by the reporting of this story. The case of Daniel Williams was reported in the Zodiac Killer's favorite newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8th 1969, the day before the Bus Bomb letter was postmarked. One notable passage in the San Francisco Chronicle read "The string of sadistic calls began on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). On one occasion, the caller told Williams he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there". Did the Zodiac Killer use this to his advantage? In the previous article, The Promise of Murder on Line 5, it was noted that the Zodiac Killer placed four X's around his Bus Bomb letter crosshairs, possibly denoting the seven victims he was claiming. Only line 5 (the fifth X) was unexplained. This line ran over the city of Richmond.   

On October 13th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter with an ominous warning at its base, stating "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out". The caller to Daniel Williams had continued this theme by claiming "he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".

Daniel Williams residence was situated at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez, so why would police have visited a Martinez school, when Daniel Williams was a school teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond? Wouldn't police more likely have placed protection in and around the Richmond school where he worked? Isn't it more likely the sadistic caller to Daniel Williams may have planned to target the Richmond school, with police pre-empting this eventuality? The newspaper may have made an error, and should have read "he had gone to a Richmond school in search of victims but had left when he found police there".

The Zodiac Killer, had he read this newspaper article the day before he mailed the Bus Bomb letter, would have known Daniel Williams taught kids at Salesian High School in Richmond (even if he wasn't the caller or poisoner). Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer's recent fascination with targeting schoolchildren, the notion that line 5 on the Bus Bomb crosshairs runs directly over Salesian High School in Richmond and may have been chosen deliberately by the Zodiac Killer, is not out of the question. The Bay Area murderer may have been insinuating a continued threat towards the school where Daniel Williams taught, thereby attempting to lay credence to his involvement in the phone calls and poisoning. Or maybe he was just taunting the police. 

FOLLOW UP ARTICLES: DID ZODIAC POISON DANIEL WILLIAMS?   DID ZODIAC POISON DANIEL WILLIAMS? [PT2]

Tom Voigt was recently interviewed by CBS8 News in San Diego regarding the 1962 Ray Davis and 1964 Swindle murders, and their possible connection to the same individual responsible for the Zodiac Killer murders in Northern California in the late 1960s. Tom Voigt is correct when he says he doesn't "understand why agencies withhold information after all this time. The police departments aren't that forthcoming. They are not doing the victims any justice, as they can still get a prosecution. The guy could still be alive". The same could be levelled at the Riverside Police Department, sitting on information with respect to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966. Although this case, along with aforementioned murders are heading towards the 60-year mark, the suggestion that the Zodiac Killer may have been responsible and could have made mistakes in the infancy of his murderous career, is a reasonable assertion. The majority of serial killers will learn from their mistakes with time, often refining their approach to avoid capture. However, there is a possibility that towards the back end of their reign, they begin to feel impervious to capture and begin to take greater risks. This too could provide an opening.    

Tom Voigt is again correct that the answers could possibly lie outside of the four canonical attacks, which have literally been examined to breaking point. Rather than solely pinning our hopes on the search for DNA within the Zodiac communications, it is imperative that we don't put all our eggs in one basket. Linking the Zodiac Killer through different cities and using geographic profiling to pinpoint locations within those cities, could provide a common name to investigate. Tom Voigt also stated "It's amazing to me that the murder of Ray Davis was not to linked the Zodiac until earlier this year. There was nobody in the Zodiac world, professional or amateur detectives - nobody had ever heard of the murder of Ray Davis (which) it's clear is probably a Zodiac murder. I think there are other cases like that in Southern California in the early 1960s, and I think it's crucial to focus on that area in that time period".  While I agree again, there appears a contradiction when investigating the Zodiac case for potential leads. While the Ray Davis murder has rightly been hailed as a good avenue to pursue, there is another case that has been routinely ignored by virtually all amateur sleuths, despite the fact it has thirty pieces of ballistic evidence and an accompanying Zodiac letter. Not only does it have viable cartridge cases and bullets, it also has closer parallels to a known Zodiac murder than that of Ray Davis. Yet this crime lies virtually abandoned.

The two murders occurred on April 22nd 1986, and were featured in a Zodiac letter just two weeks later. I won't expand on this particular case any further, not only because it has been covered multiple times before on this site, but because no agency I have contacted is the slightest bit interested. Tom Voigt was amazed that nobody had linked the Ray Davis murder to the Zodiac until earlier this year, yet the Sacramento murders on April 22nd 1986 have been linked to the Zodiac Killer since 2013, but have essentially been ignored, gathering dust to this day. The constant search for answers down south is certainly an avenue worth investigating, yet the search for answers on the doorstep of the Bay Area under the Zodiac umbrella, seemingly appears an avenue worth ignoring. The contrast in approach to these two cases couldn't be more stark within the Zodiac community. It isn't just the police agencies we should be looking at. Cooperation is lacking at every level.  

Using the words of Mike Oh from That Chapter, this old story involves a man who isn't the Zodiac Killer, but has probably more going for him than 99% of the suspects ever named. Those old coincidences just keep following this bloke around northern and southern California. He first came to the attention of the newspapers on October 21st 1969 regarding the Zodiac case, when he underwent six hours of questioning in Ukiah, California. Bruce Kenneth Swanson (30) was arrested by California Highway Patrol for speeding along Highway 101 (120 mph) just north of Ukiah, suspected of failing to pay a Ridgewood Motel bill. When his vehicle was searched they found a 14-inch knife, a bloody shirt and pair of shoes, and a woman's handbag. They also noted a resemblance to the infamous Zodiac Killer sketch (presumably from Lake Berryessa). However, after Napa law enforcement had traveled to Ukiah for a sit-down with Bruce Kenneth "Gift of the Gab" Swanson, the police allowed him on his merry way, satisfied with his explanations. Wouldn't you just loved to have been a fly on the wall in that interrogation room - but never mind - it probably went something like this: Bruce: "I was driving along the road like a maniac and hit a deer crossing the road, which I had to drag onto the verge, getting blood all over me. Fortunately, I happened to have a change of clothing with me because I was staying at the motel overnight. I bought the 14-inch kitchen knife and the woman's handbag for a female acquaintance of mine". Police Officer: "Ok, sounds reasonable, on your way lad".   

Bruce Kenneth Swanson grew up in San Bernardino County, was a 1957 graduate of Pacific High School, married his wife Barbara Ann Gaines at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, honeymooned in Santa Barbara and then moved into 1267 Mt. View Avenue, San Bernardino. If this is the correct location. it is 7.5 miles from the Redlands home of Elizabeth Lurene Ernstein (14), who went missing on March 19th 1968, heading back home from Moore Junior High School in Mentone. The home of Bruce Kenneth Swanson was also 11.6 miles from Terracina Drive, the location of Cheri Jo Bates murder. Map.

Tragedy then struck the family of Swanson, with his wife apparently committing suicide and killing their three children. "Mother, 28, Kills 3 Children, Self UPLAND (AP) A 28-year-old woman killed herself and her three small children Saturday by carbon monoxide poisoning, police reported. Officers said Mrs. Barbara Ann Swanson ran a hose from the exhaust pipe of her car into the vehicle and then closed the windows. The children were identified as Eric Edward, 4; Elisa Marie, 3; and Keith Kenneth, 1. Mrs. Swanson's husband, Bruce, 27, earlier had filed a missing person report and was apparently out looking for her the time the deaths occurred, police said." San Bernardino County Sun, December 19th 1966: "The tragedy which destroyed the family of Bruce K. Swanson, 27, occurred after an apparent happy ride in the car by the mother and her children. A service station attendant in La-Verne told Upland police Mrs. Swanson had asked directions to the nearest hamburger stand. The children were dressed in pajamas and bathrobes, the attendant said. In answer to his request that she 'come back soon,' Mrs. Swanson said that she would. But 12 hours later, Mrs. Swanson's husband, worried and tired after an all-night search for his family, walked into a lemon grove adjacent to the yard and found the station wagon".

Much of these details can be found online, but after a bit of brain-storming and endless sleepless nights, I have managed to make potential Zodiac communications and murders follow this man around like a proverbial shadow, turning him into one of those "good old Zodiac suspects" who never was - and will never be the Bay Area murderer in a million years. Off went Bruce Kenneth Swanson from southern California to northern California sometime in the late 1960s, just in time for the Zodiac murders and communications to begin, and nestled himself in Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County, Despite the fact he wasn't the Zodiac Killer or a murderer, coincidence would seemingly follow him around.

On December 1st 1969 Elaine Davis (17), a Pleasant Hill High School senior disappeared from her 158 Pioneer Avenue home in Walnut Creek, believed to have been forcibly removed from the residence by one or more assailants, while in the presence of her three-year-old sister, Heidi. Her glasses and her purse containing four dollars were still in the home. Her parents described Elaine as shy, with no boyfriend or relationship problems at the time of her disappearance. Her mother had driven to nearby Concord at 10:30 pm to pick up her husband from work and was out of the residence for just 45 minutes - and it is during this period of time that Elaine Davis vanished.

On December 19th 1969 the body of a young woman (in 2000, eventually identified as Elaine Davis after an exhumation) was discovered floating off Light House Point near Santa Cruz, CA. The body was decomposed with extensive damage, described as a partial torso with arm-bones and parts of the legs. Santa Cruz's deputy county coroner, Luther Young stated "We'll work on this case until we run out of leads, but right now we have nothing that would indicate any identification. I wouldn't venture to say the body is that of Elaine Davis. We have never ruled on that possibility and we have never ruled it out".

On Wednesday December 10th 1969 Leona Roberts left her job at the White Front Discount Store in Pleasant Hill (560 Contra Costa Boulevard) at approximately 5:00 pm for the eleven mile journey to her friend's apartment (Greg V. Valo) at 749 Tormey Avenue, Rodeo. This location is only 8 miles from the Lake Herman Road murder site. At about 5:50 pm a neighbor, Susan Clark, heard the sound of a girl screaming, followed by somebody running from the rear of the apartment. A suspicious male was observed many times between the front door and a blue station wagon, before he eventually drove away. The man was described as 25 years old, 5'8", short blond hair and wearing brown trousers and a jacket. A while later her boyfriend arrived home to find a disturbance inside the apartment, scuff marks near the back door and her red Volkswagen parked outside. 

Here is an excerpt from Websleuths by Steph54 "On 28 December 1969, a man searching for driftwood on the beach at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County found the nude body of Leona Roberts. It was later determined that a unique wristwatch was missing from the girl's wrist, but a Napa High School class ring given to her by a neighbor still remained on her finger. The tan dress she wore when last seen, along with two pairs of bell-bottomed pants, a blouse, a black purse and wallet, a key chain with car and house keys were also reported missing. There were marks on the wrists and ankles indicative of binding, but the coroner was unsure whether they occurred before or after death. The cause of death was reported as "due to viral infection of an unidentified species." It was also reported that there was "evidence of choking which could probably be linked to the virus". link.

Cosette Ellison (15) disappeared from her 423 Canyon Road, Moraga residence (near Walnut Creek) on Tuesday March 3rd 1970, believed to have been forcibly taken from outside her home after getting off the school bus from Campolinda High School. She was dropped off by bus driver, Eugene Yee, at 3:20 pm, who saw her cross the road and remove some letters from the mailbox before heading along the driveway. The bus driver noticed a man sitting in a truck near the residence. On his return journey 10 minutes later, the truck had edged closer to the driveway of the Ellison household but the occupant was no longer inside. Thirty minutes later, at approximately 4:00 pm, Mr and Mrs Richard Ellison returned to an empty house. Cosette's school books were not in their usual place and no mail had been brought into the house, suggesting something untoward had happened close to the time Eugene Yee passed the Ellison residence. On January 1st 1971, nearly a year after the disappearance of Cosette Ellison, her body was found in a ravine of the Mount Diablo foothills. The residences of 423 Canyon Road and North Gate Road are extremely rural and spread, with a reduced chance of being overseen in the commission of an abduction. This may have been a consideration for the perpetrator, who likely followed school buses to a more remote setting. The risky nature of forcibly removing somebody from outside their residence necessitates a lack of eyewitnesses.

Patricia King (20) was murdered while attending Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill on March 5th 1970. The college layout has altered over the last 48 years, but we can pinpoint the key locations based on the wording in the newspapers. Patricia King of 2200 Lisa Lane, Pleasant Hill had attended Diablo Valley College for her gym class at 7:00 pm on Thursday evening. Her classmates informed investigators that Patricia usually only stayed for the first hour of her gym class, which is what transpired that evening, when the young woman left the building at approximately 7:50 pm. Her boyfriend was expecting her back at her home and became concerned when she didn't return by 8:15 pm.

Patricia King's body was found by a workman, Ernest Ellington, at 7:20 am the following morning in the DVC Vikings football stadium. She was wearing a black blouse and three-quarter length coat and had been strangled with her own gym tights. The newspaper reports stated "A purse (handbag) with her identification was found on the front seat of her car, in a lot adjacent to the stadium. A pair of leather sandals were on the floorboard. Her car keys were found on the Pleasant Hill campus parking lot Friday afternoon". Detective Sergeant Sam Ginsburg said "it was impossible to tell at this time if the girl knew her slayer. There was no reason for her to go into the stadium area coming to or from the parking lot to the class".

I have placed the relevant locations of these young girls in respect to Pleasant Hill in the Google map above.

Returning back to the Vallejo News Chronicle article reporting on Swanson being quizzed for six hours the morning of October 21st 1969, it stated "He had been arrested by the California Highway Patrol Monday (20th) on US 101 north of Ukiah", obviously with "squealling tires and raceing engine" so as to attract everybody to his car in Mendocino County. The following morning, after his release by Ukiah law enforcement, somebody was driving on Lake Mendocino Drive at 3:00 pm that same day (October 21st 1969) just north of Ukiah and threw a note attached to a twig at an eight-year-old girl. The crudely printed note read "You're Next - Z". A few minutes later, a man asked another eight-year-old girl in Bargain Lane what color panties she was wearing. There had also been a spate of "Zodiac sightings" in nearby Anderson Valley.   

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on November 8th 1969, stating "The string of sadistic calls began on October 23rd 1969 (the day after the Jim Dunbar Show call). On one occasion, the caller told Williams he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but had left when he found police there. Another time, the teacher said the caller, whose voice he described as muffled as if speaking through a handkerchief, said he was going to "kill the lady in the blue house". These calls began two days after the Ukiah incidents. 

Daniel Williams (24), a teacher at Salesian High School in Richmond, told police the caller talked of how he intended to kill several persons, then last; Sunday said: “You’re the dead duck.” Williams went out and when he returned home found someone had pried open the screen on a back door. However, a police search showed nothing was missing. But after the officers left and Williams took a drink from a bottle of opened soft drink in his refrigerator, he found it tasted “metallic” and immediately spat it out. Police reported Friday that the bottle contained more than enough arsenic to kill a human being. Williams said the caller identified himself as the still sought Zodiac Killer of five, but police discounted the idea. The caller would “sob and complain of headaches". Williams said, and on one occasion said he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there. Williams said the caller told him: “I’m too smart for them".

If the caller had told Daniel Williams that "he had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims", then he didn't have far to travel if he lived in Pleasant Hill. The city of  Martinez is only 6 miles to the north, with the residence of Daniel Williams at 1234 Bush Street a mere 5 miles away.

Approximately eleven months later, a pasted card, mimicking the 13-Hole Postcard was mailed to the home address of Dr. Edward C. Adams at 102 Camino Don Miguel, Orinda, California, postmarked October 17th 1970 from Berkeley. Edward C. Adams was a psychiatrist. The card read "Mon Oct 12, 1970. Edward Adams. The Zodiac is going to change the way of committing murders. I shall announce when I shall commit my murders, The Adamses are Next. you taught me to mean it. ADAMS YOU ARE NEXT. Zodiac". The home address of Dr. Edward C. Adams is 8 miles from Pleasant Hill.

Seven-and-a-half months later, on June 1st 1971, a woman from South Dora Road, Ukiah complained she had received a series of threatening phone calls from an adult male, one of which stated "This is Zodiac - you're next". Her residence at South Dora Road is only 4 miles from where the threatening note of "You're Next - Z" was thrown to the eight-year-old girl walking on Lake Mendocino Drive. One man is relevant to all these locations, particularly on October 21st 1969. The city of Ukiah is 115 miles from San Francisco, yet here we have two reports of similar threats with extremely similar phraseology, separated by over a year-and-a-half, when the peak of Zodiac activity had subsided.

We have taken Bruce Kenneth Swanson from the Riverside area and the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and Elizabeth Ernstein in 1966 and 1968, through the sad demise of his wife and children, into the heart of northern California and the Pleasant Hill connected murders of Elaine Davis (12/01/69), Leona Roberts (12/10/69), Cosette Ellison (03/03/70) and Patricia King (03/05/70). We have shown the Ukiah connection through two threatening messages of "You're Next - Z" and "This is Zodiac - you're next", to the ominous communication and phone call to Dr. Edward C. Adams in Orinda and Daniel Williams in Martinez. However, Bruce Kenneth Swanson is not the Zodiac Killer, or likely the murderer of any of these young women. This presentation was put together to show how easy it is to create a series of events to paint a picture of perceived involvement in murder. The reason today we have hundreds of suspects in the Zodiac case, many of which are staunchly presented as the Zodiac Killer, is perfect testimony to the frailty of techniques such as this. If these coincidence building techniques were reliable in identifying the Zodiac Killer, everybody would have reached the same conclusion as to who the Bay Area murderer was. The fact we have hundreds of Zodiac Killer's today, is evidence that this approach to case building is wholly flawed. Of course, it goes without saying, that everybody has a better case for their suspect than the one I have presented here.  

Inspired by the savage knife murders of Kathy Snoozy (15) and Deborah Furlong (14) on August 3rd 1969, the Zodiac Killer drove away from the shores of Lake Berryessa to the corner of Clinton and Main Streets in Napa. By November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer had retrospectively added the San Jose murders of the two teenagers into his running victim count. Just twelve days later he was claiming an eighth victim, when a letter arrived at the San Jose Police Department on November 21st 1969 with the insertion of November = 8. Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer had now switched to brutal knife attacks, whether he was claiming them or participating in them, there is a distinct possibility that victim number eight was along these lines. He had no involvement in the Snoozy and Furlong murders, but the ferocity of the attack which left both victims absolutely brutalized, was ideal for a killer intent on stoking fear in the psyche of the American people. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "the Snoozy youngster had 150 wounds on her back, 50 on the front and a "storm" of punctures on her neck. Deborah's body had about 100 wounds on her back and upper front and a dozen on her neck". The location of the attack was another advantageous feature for the Zodiac Killer, keen to bolster his burgeoning reputation as the most feared sociopath in the Bay Area. It was imperative that the Zodiac Killer chose his next victim wisely.

It is extremely unlikely that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the murder of Reet Jurvetson (19) on November 14th 1969, found in dense undergrowth alongside Mulholland Drive two days later, but he was claiming victim number eight by November 21st 1969. Like the Snoozy and Furlong murders, Reet Jurvetson had been viciously stabbed 157 times in the neck, chest and torso, yet apparently transported to this location and thrown down the canyon from the roadside edge. Her body was discovered just north of Kimridge Avenue, only eight miles west of her last known address, at 5311 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. The journey would have been west on Melrose Avenue, before heading north on Loma Vista Drive to Mulholland Canyon.

This, coupled with the fact she had consumed a meal just two hours prior to her death, could have given police an indication of where that meal had been eaten, bearing in mind the journey time from 5311 Melrose Avenue to the location of her body is about 25 minutes, and her apartment (by all indications) wasn't the site of her murder. That leaves approximately 90 minutes for events to unfold. Accounting for the fact that somebody had to murder the young woman by way of 157 stab wounds, carry or drag her body to a waiting vehicle and drive to Mulholland Drive, it is very likely she was murdered not long after seemingly being at ease in taking a meal. The victim's body showed no evidence that this crime was the result of robbery, or driven by a sexual motive. Drag marks at the crime scene indicated Reet Jurvetson had been transported to the crime scene in an upright position within a car and rolled down the ravine where she snagged in the brush just a short distance down, resulting in her being discovered by a 15-year-old birdwatcher. Her identity remained unknown until 2016.

Had the Zodiac Killer read about the case of the woman alongside Mulholland Drive, noted the similarity in the ferocity of the attack to murders he had already claimed - and so insinuated his involvement by adding November = 8 in his November 21st 1969 communication? The last time he had written the months of his murders, he was also attempting to deceive.

The November 21st 1969 communication was postmarked five days after Reet Jurvetson's body was discovered, claiming an eighth victim, but was postmarked the exact day that Doreen Gaul and James Sharp's bodies were found on November 21st 1969 at around 11:00 PM in an alley behind the residence at 1138 South Magnolia, Los Angeles. They were murdered elsewhere and stabbed in excess of 50 times. This may not seem that unusual, until we consider that Doreen Gaul and James Sharp's bodies were found less than 3 miles (by crow) from the residence of Reet Jurvetson at 5311 Melrose Avenue. Even more curious that a typewritten letter from the supposed Zodiac Killer was discovered in the room of Doreen Gaul stating "You are too beautiful to live and I must kill you". And even more unusual that the Zodiac Killer purportedly mailed a threatening letter to the Albany Times Union newspaper on August 1st 1973 claiming his next victim would be from the Albany Medical Center, only 350 feet from 570 Myrtle Avenue, the street on which Doreen Gaul had previously lived. Then we have the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 letter mailed to KHJ-TV Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue - also purported to be from the Zodiac Killer - and located just 437 meters from the once residence of Reet Jurvetson (pointed out to me by Toots). The murders of Kathy Snoozy, Deborah Furlong, Reet Jurvetson, James Sharp and Doreen Gaul bound by the savagery of excessive knife wounds, with the Zodiac Killer never seemingly far away. Certainly not responsible for the murders of Kathy Snoozy and Deborah Furlong - and unlikely the murderer of Reet Jurvetson, James Sharp and Doreen Gaul - but the Bay Area murderer appears to have an uncanny sense of timing and location. 

I have found a little bit more information on the April 22nd 1986 murders of Laotian couple Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40), who were gunned down by 15 rounds of small caliber fire on Highway 99, near downtown Sacramento. They were traveling back from a Merced County hospital, likely in the dark, early hours of Tuesday, when they were either ushered to the side of the freeway by a trailing motorist, or happened upon as they were parked up in their 4-door, light-blue 1983 Mercury. They had been mercilessly struck by a fusillade of shots through the driver side window of their vehicle and discovered upright in their seats by a person described as a "hitchhiker" in the Sacramento Bee and Santa Cruz Sentinel newspapers. He described finding the couple shortly after sunrise, at 6:30 am. Therefore, it is extremely likely the couple were murdered sometime during the early hours of April 22nd 1986. This crime bears the hallmarks of both the questioned Kathleen Johns abduction and the attack at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969.

In two newspaper reports, the "hitchhiker" is described as notifying an East Nicolaus Highway Patrol officer of, what he described as an accident. There are further newspaper reports stating that the "hitchhiker" informed authorities in Marysville, Yuba County. However, we are led to believe this "hitchhiker" was never traced. These two accounts of a "hitchhiker" reporting the couple dead in their vehicle to an East Nicolaus officer and to authorities in Marysville, California, appears to suggest that this person was just a concerned citizen traveling from, or through Sacramento to Marysville on a direct route from south to north. The notion of a nefarious criminal (or Zodiac Killer) twice playing games with officialdom, appears the less likely narrative regarding the murders of  Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee.          

Assuming the "hitchhiker" reported his discovery of the couple at the 316 6th St, Marysville Police Department, then he would have reported their demise just 1.5 miles from their residence in Dorman Avenue, Yuba City. Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee would have been only 40 minutes from home.

The distance between the crime scene and East Nicolaus is approximately 22 miles. Had the "hitchhiker" continued north to Marysville Police Department, this would have been a further 15 miles. It appears that this person was just a helpful citizen, notifying authorities of his tragic discovery, rather than a Zodiac Killer playing "cat and mouse" games with the police. However, the newspaper reports may have been the inspiration behind the author of the May 6th 1986 "Zodiac" letter, claiming "The Blue Meannies almost caught me". This may exempt the "hitchhiker" being responsible for the crime, but doesn't necessarily preclude the Zodiac Killer being the orchestrator behind the double murder of the Laotian couple.

One can only speculate with such scant material on this case, that Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee had likely traveled back from the Merced County Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday, April 22nd 1986 after visiting their son, because he may have been receiving specialist care. Hence the 155 mile (2 1/2 hour) journey from Dorman Avenue to the Merced hospital. It would have been fairly dark on their return journey along Highway 99, when the killer struck. The exact time of their departure from the Merced hospital and time of their murder has not yet been nailed down, but it appears to be have been sometime before sunrise on Tuesday morning.

We have to weigh up the probability of the couple opting to take a rest by the side of Highway 99 just 40 minutes from home, with the likelihood they were flagged down by a trailing motorist, akin to the ruse supposedly orchestrated on Kathleen Johns near Modesto in 1970. This, allied to the style of the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969, is enough to pause for thought. Exactly two weeks after their murders, a letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle offices on May 6th 1986 claiming responsibilty for the crime, stating "I want you to know about my latest slaves I collected about two weeks ago up by Sacramento. They were killed by a freeway". 

This letter has been unequivocally linked to the author of the October 28th 1987 letter, which has been equally linked to the July 31st 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald letter, detailing the murders at Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Herman Road in Vallejo and Benicia respectively. This indicates that the origin of the 1986 "Freeway" letter lies squarely at the hands of the Zodiac Killer. Whether he was the actual murderer of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee is an entirely different matter. But the crime itself, bearing in mind the limited publicity it received, appeared rather a fortuitous discovery by the Zodiac Killer had he not been present on Highway 99 in the early morning hours of April 22nd 1986.   

The brutal stabbing and murder of Robert Michael Salem on April 15th 1970 is so much more compelling as a potential Zodiac crime compared to other outlier murders linked to the Bay Area killer. I will do a brief run through of what we know so far, before adding a little more to the equation. This additional information will include the Good Citizen letter mailed to Sergeant John Lynch on October 7th 1969, just four days before the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights. 

The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 appeared to invoke the Frances Brown murder scene on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment in Chicago. She had been stabbed multiple times, with the knife discovered protruding from her neck. Her killer (supposedly William Heirens} had left an ominous message written in red lipstick on the wall of her apartment stating "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer had written on the Melvin Belli letter "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". The message on the wall of Frances Brown's apartment was written above a table lamp. It was therefore uncanny that the Zodiac Killer's next correspondence arrived on April 20th 1970, on the same day that the San Francisco Chronicle published details regarding the murder of Robert Salem, in which the killer wrote a message on the wall in blood -. and Robert Salem was a lamp designer, having them displayed in museums and art fairs around the world. If the statement of "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed" on the April 20th 1970 letter wasn't Robert Salem, it is extremely fortunate timing off the back of the Melvin Belli letter four months previously.  

For a copycat killer to read into the wording contained within the Melvin Belli letter, authenticated as Zodiac correspondence, and place Zodiac on the wall of Robert Salem's 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment in similar fashion to the Frances Brown murder scene, would take a special form of insight. Unless of course, it was the Zodiac Killer who murdered the lamp designer. This drives to the heart of the question - of whether the Zodiac Killer had crossed paths with Robert Salem in the preceding months to his murder - and was specifically targeted by the Bay Area murderer. By murdering somebody of relative acclaim and scrawling his pseudonym on the wall, he could certainly expect front page coverage in the Chronicle. We have speculated that the Zodiac Killer had a penchant for the dramatic, with his references to The Mikado, his Lake Berrryessa costume and the style of his communications. He certainly appeared to have artistic leanings. If the Zodiac Killer had befriended Robert Salem, then it may have come through a mutual love of the arts, either through a museum, the theater or an arts and crafts fair. 

The San Francisco Chronicle article on April 20th 1970 stated that "Salem's designs have been exhibited in England, Japan and Russia under State Department cultural exchange programs. Until last year (1969) he had been the lighting designer for restoration of the historic Haslett Warehouse on Hyde Street". In fact, the address is given as 680 Beach Street at Hyde, Russian Hill, San Francisco. It is situated just 1.5 miles from where Paul Stine began his fateful journey on October 11th 1969. Here is the view of the Haslett Warehouse from 700 Beach Street, just across the intersection of Hyde Road.  

"During the 1960s, California was the site of many outdoor art fairs, which nurtured a culture of independent artists and craftspersons. At this time there was an effort to sell crafts on the sidewalks of the liberal Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Artists and street performers who illegally set up in public areas were frequently harassed and arrested by the police. In the 700 block of Beach Street adjacent to Victorian Park and near Fisherman's Wharf, between 15 and 25 artists would set up their displays and use lookouts to alert them to the arrival of the police". Wikipedia. This certainly would have attracted the attention of somebody like Robert Salem, who was working at the Haslett Warehouse just yards away. Is it possible the Zodiac Killer crossed paths with Salem at an art and crafts fair such as this? I wouldn't normally attempt to use such a speculative link but for October 7th 1969 Good Citizen letter, possibly mailed to Sergeant John Lynch from the Zodiac Killer.

With immense gratitude to Rubislaw32,  this correspondence was mailed on October 7th 1969, just two months after the "concerned citizen" card and four days before the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. It has been dubbed the "good citizen" letter, postmarked San Mateo and signed ''A good citizen", with a footnote from Sergeant John Lynch. It stated that the writer has a strong feeling of ESP. While having these feelings, the writer writes with a pencil. On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote: ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX''. This letter referenced Beach Street, where Robert Salem worked during the latter months of 1969. So we have four intersecting points of interest - an art and crafts fair on Beach Street, where artist Robert Salem likely worked during the mailing of the October 7th 1969 "Beach Street" letter, with Paul Stine picking up his killer just 1.5 miles south, only four days later. It may not be compelling, but the possibility exists that the Zodiac Killer crossed paths with the lamp designer before April 15th 1970 and murdered him at his 745 Stevenson Street apartment, all while inspired by the December 20th 1969 Melvin Belli letter some four months earlier.