On June 26th 1970 the Zodiac Killer mailed a Phillips 66 map with the instructions "the map coupled with the code will tell you where the bomb is set". He claimed he had buried a bomb. A month later another communication was sent with extra clues of "The Mt. Diablo Code concerns Radians & # inches along the radians" and crosshairs with a bold, black circle positioned at close to 4 radians set to Magnetic North (246.2 degrees). When the Zodiac Killer mailed the Pines postcard on March 22nd 1971 he used a punch-hole (another circle) and the wording "Sierra Club", "pass.Lake Tahoe areas" and "around in the snow", coupled with an advertisement of Incline Village, to probably direct us to the burial site of Donna Lass.

Using measurements between the "Sierra Club" pasting and the punch-hole (after inverting the postcard), I was able to determine that the 1.96 square mile punch-hole around Yuba Gap captured the location of the jawbone of Donna Lass, discovered on December 31st 1985. This suggested that the author of the Pines postcard knew where the remains of Donna Lass were. If the circles in both instances were the location of a buried mystery that we had to solve, could the Zodiac Killer have added another layer to the Pines postcard to identify the burial site of Donna, similar to the June 26th and July 26th 1970 letters? In other words, did the Zodiac Killer bury Donna Lass at a specific location west of Clair Tappaan Lodge Sierra Club?  

The three major locations regarding Donna Lass were her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home, the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino where she worked and the Yuba Gap area where her jawbone was found. So I placed a compass rose over the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home and the casino, and calculated the position of Yuba Gap in degrees. From her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home it measured 303.5 to 304 degrees. From the casino it measured 303 to 303.5 degrees. There could be a margin of error of one degree. The measurement of 303.5 degrees is exactly 5 radians and Magnetic North (5 X 57.3 + 17). Therefore, the Zodiac Killer may have twice given us a "circle" denoting a burial location, and both times it was positioned at a radian value plus Magnetic North. In 1970 from Mount Diablo, in 1971 from either the home or work address of Donna Lass.  

​A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART ONE)
A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART TWO]
A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART THREE] 

Expanding on my last article, I have calculated the position and area of the punch-hole on the Pines postcard to 1.96 square miles, and placed it over the map below. If the punch-hole was intended to be a burial or deposition site, then the measurement and direction of this punch-hole with respect to the "Sierra Club" pasting on the card, coupled with the map scale, means that the jawbone of Donna Lass falls inside the punch-hole created by the author of the postcard (shown on the map below).This technique was previously used by the Zodiac Killer on June 26th 1970, when he used radians and inches along those radians to pinpoint the location of a buried bomb. Only this time in the Pines postcard it was a human being. 

Years ago I identified a location for this bomb alongside a road close to Ingleside Police Station of 4 radians and 5 inches (tilted to Magnetic North). Long time Zodiac researcher, Andrew Gray, later took these measurements and slotted them into the Z32 code, reading "Estimate Four Radians and Five Inches". The word "estimate" allowed for a margin of error. When the Zodiac Killer crafted his Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1970, he may have used the 9 o' clock position tilted to Magnetic North to identify the Salesian High School of teacher Daniel Williams, who had just been targeted for death by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer. The 9 o' clock position had been highlighted along with 0, 3 and 6 on the June 26th 1970 Phillips 66 map.

So this technique of using a clock face, radians and inches (measurements) to identify a location, is not without precedent. On this occasion the Pines postcard author placed the punch-hole of 1.96 square miles.over the remains of Donna Lass. This location also landed on the 9 o' clock position of a clock face from the Sierra Club of Clair Tappaan Lodge. But were these measurements created deliberately by the Zodiac Killer, or was he just lucky when he applied the "Sierra Club" and punch-hole 2.19 inches apart on the same horizontal plane, and used "around in the snow" upside down, which when flipped through 180 degrees forced a change and corrected their east-west relationship to one another? It's rather curious that the newspaper read in January 1986 that remains had been "found in 2 inches of snow", given that the author of the postcard likely expected her to be found "around in the snow". Read more.  

​A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART ONE)
A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART TWO]
A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE PINES POSTCARD [PART THREE]   

The phone caller to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel & Casino was most likely the murderer of Donna Lass, but who was it that rang security guard Gordon Petrovich on either September 7th or 8th 1970 stating that he was "Mr. Davis" and claiming that the young 25-year-old nurse would not be coming to work because she had been called out of town for a family illness? This individual appeared to know two crucial factors about Donna Lass: [1] That her family lived out of town (they lived in South Dakota), and [2] The surname of her landlord. If she was murdered in the few hours after she was last seen at 1:50am on September 6th 1970 at the casino, they should have made the phone call to buy time on that day but they didn't. A complete stranger killing Donna Lass after she left the casino on the 6th wouldn't have known the name of her landlord, and the residency of her family. 

The private investigator's report stated Mr. Davis had accompanied subject (Donna) on an inspection tour of the apartment on September 5th 1970, and his inventory sheet is dated September 5th 1970. Also with him was Frank Desimone". Even if this was 9:00am in the morning, Donna Lass, had she set off for work at about 5:00pm that evening (for her 6pm shift), would only have been living at her new apartment for 8 hours if she was abducted outside the casino or on her way home in the early morning hours of the 6th. It would mean she had never slept at the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartment.

Several possibilities have been put forward. She could have been coaxed from her work station by somebody claiming they needed urgent assistance in the parking lot and abducted, or she could have been lured to somewhere within the casino, murdered, and surreptitiously removed at a later date. Donna may have been offered a lift home and murdered in her apartment by somebody she trusted, or driven elsewhere. Or she could have walked home and been abducted along the way, or the moment she arrived at her 3893 Pioneer Trail Road home. Another possibility is that Donna Lass could have arrived home safely and gone to sleep, to be murdered at this juncture by somebody entering her apartment. She could also have been murdered later, on September 6th, 7th or 8th (depending when Gordon Petrovich received the mystery call)..We could wade through all these options forever, so the best approach is to discover how the phone caller knew the name of her landlord and that her family lived out of town. 

Testimony from Nick Davis (Donna's landlord} stated that he received a call from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel security office on September 11th 1970 enquiring on the whereabouts of Donna Lass (so they knew he was her landlord and knew his phone number). This means that Donna Lass could have informed the casino of her new address and the name of her landlord when she arrived to work on September 5th 1970, or the Sahara Tahoe Hotel security were given this information by somebody else. But who else would have known that she now lived at the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartments, let alone the name of her landlord, "Mr. Davis", by the time she was last seen?

​Donna inspected the apartment on September 5th 1970, accepted the accommodation and then went to work a few hours later, where she was last seen at approximately 1:50am on September 6th 1970. The only people that could possibly have known this information would have been the casino itself, or friends/work colleagues that she told between the time she signed the rental agreement on September 5th 1970 and 1:50am on September 6th 1970. This information is not going to be known by a random abductor from the casino parking lot, or a stranger snatching her from the street while walking home. We also have to factor in that the perpetrator likely knew that her family lived in South Dakota, and by making the phone call claiming a family illness out of town, he was affording himself plenty of time to cover his tracks.

​If he had known Donna Lass when she moved to South Lake Tahoe in early June 1970, he had plenty of opportunity to know about her family circumstances in the intervening 3 months, but could only have learned about her new apartment and the name of her landlord from the moment she put pen to paper on September 5th 1970 to the time she was last seen. Even if he was the person who recommended the apartment complex to her in advance of September 5th 1970, it is not certain she would have accepted the accommodation until after the inspection. This information could only realistically have been known after she signed the contract. 

While working from 6:00pm to 1:50am on September 5th and 6th 1970, what work colleagues and friends could she have told about the name of her landlord - who would then make a mental note of this name for the purpose of a murder they knew they were soon going to commit - to use on September 7th or 8th as a delaying tactic. Does this sound plausible? If Donna had informed the casino of her address and the name of her landlord when arriving for work on September 5th 1970, the only people who would know this information, were the people who could reasonably gain access to her written details.

Without access to this information, the notion that somebody would make a conscious decision to remember the spoken mention of her landlord's name (had she ever told anybody), knowing they were going to kill Donna Lass in the coming hours and then make a phone call to the casino they worked at, or frequented as one of her male friends, takes some believing. But if the person who made the phone call using the name "Mr. Davis" had access to this written information at the casino, he is in danger of drawing the police to people who worked at the casino, including himself. It is possible that this was a mistake by the killer, who was desperate to buy time by using the credible name of her landlord to deliver the message. 

​Somebody who knew Donna Lass had signed the rental agreement at the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartments and knew the landlord's name, could have been another resident at the complex. Such a person had the opportunity to abduct her if she had made it back to this location in the early morning hours of September 6th 1970 (or on September 7th/8th), but how many people at this complex would Donna Lass have told about her family "living out of town" in the few hours between signing the contract and leaving for work? In those few hours she could have spoken with a neighbour who asked where she had moved from - and at some point she told them she was originally from South Dakota. This scenario isn't implausible.    

On November 18th 1970 the private investigator interviewed taxicab driver Raymond Jacobs, who lived at apartment 11 of the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road complex when Donna Lass went missing. Her apartment was number 6. Sometime between September 6th 1970 and November 18th 1970 he had moved to 3780 Aspen Avenue, a multi-family residence, 530 meters south of the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartments. He stated "he observed the subject on many occasions, and that he drove a cab on the street at the same time the subject was getting off work, but had never seen her on the way home walking. He had not observed any male companions around her apartment on any occasion". Bearing in mind Donna Lass moved into the apartment on September 5th 1970 and was last seen at 1:50am on September 6th 1970, how did he "observe the subject on many occasions" and how could he possibly have observed "male companions around her apartment on any occasion". Only if Donna Lass was alive on September 5th, 6th and 7th could this be somewhat true.

The only way Joseph Stephen Holt, responsible for the murders of ​Brynn Rainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Andersen (16) in 1979, could have reasonably known the name of Donna's landlord and that her family lived out of town, was if he was either in the casino on September 5th or 6th 1970 and had picked up this information by word of mouth, or had coerced this information from her for the purpose of the phone call. It's unlikely a stranger to Donna would need to force information from her to to buy time, yet somebody known to her may want to create this necessary breathing space, knowing that they could come under suspicion, Forcing information from somebody you've abducted to create a delaying phone call isn't the likeliest of scenarios, however, since we now know that Joseph Stephen Holt was responsible for the murder of Brynn Rainey in 1977, in which a phone call was made to her place of work (the Sahara Tahoe Hotel) to excuse her absence, it doesn't seem inconceivable in 1970. After all, both Donna Lass and Brynn Rainey's family lived a considerable distance from South Lake Tahoe, in South Dakota and Ohio respectively. I still doubt the involvement of Joseph Stephen Holt in the murder of Donna Lass, so if it isn't him, the focus should still remain on the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and anybody that knew she signed that rental agreement with Nick Davis just a few short hours earlier.

FURTHER READING: THE MYSTERIOUS PHONE CALL TO THE CASINO RE-EXAMINED ​

After Donna Lass was last seen at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 6th 1970, Gordon Petrovich, security guard at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, stated that somebody calling himself "Mr. Davis" had rang the casino on either September 7th or 8th and reported that Donna Lass had left town because of a family illness. The landlord of Donna Lass, Nick Davis, said he first learned of the family illness story from Bob Morgan of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department on September 11th 1970, so he couldn't have been the "Mr. Davis" who rang the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on September 7th or 8th. The caller was most likely Donna's killer, buying time after the murder. It is now clear that the Sahara Tahoe Hotel informed the police of Donna's absence from work after not hearing from her for a few days. They must have made this call to police sometime sfter the call received by Gordon Petrovich, and before the call made by Nick Davis on September 11th. This sinister phone call from the killer successfully bought him valuable breathing space. 

Recently we learned that in an episode of "Bloodline Detectives" with Nancy Grace entitled "The South Lake Tahoe Strangler", Joe Alexander, the Deputy District Attorney of El Dorado County stated "One of the interesting facts in this case is that an unidentified male called Brynn Rainey's employer and informed them that she would not be showing up for her shift at the casino where she worked. We certainly don't know for sure who that was that made the call, but under the circumstances, and the fact that Brynn at that time was likely already dead, it would strongly suggest that the killer made that call in order to buy more time before people knew she was missing". This information was backed up by the host, Nancy Grace, who added "While detectives tried to trace that mystery caller, they also pieced together Brynn Rainey's last known movements". But there was something else in the documentary that supports the fact that Brynn Rainey's killer rang the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and relayed information to quell any worries over her absence from work - and it must have been pretty compelling. 

There is a good chance it was convincing because the Sahara Tahoe Hotel didn't report Brynn Rainey missing to the police in the three weeks that followed this phone call. The "Bloodline Detecives" episode Investigator John Gaines stated "She was due to work at 2:00am on the 25th (July 1977). She never showed up for that work shift. On August 15th (1977) her landlord reported her missing. The landlord said he had seen her around the last she had been seen, which would have been around July 24th, and that he had not seen her since".

​In the Donna Lass case the phone caller on September 7th or 8th 1970 didn't ring the casino in the 16 hours after her last shift ended at 2;00am, suggesting that if he had abducted her on September 6th he may have known that Donna Lass wasn't due into work at 6:00pm on September 6th 1970 at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. The caller also stated that she had been called "out of town" for a family illness. So how did he know her family didn't live "in town"? A murder on September 6th and a call to the casino on September 7th would very likely have failed had she been married. Therefore, was he somebody fairly close to Donna, who knew her marital status, knew her work pattern and knew her family lived in South Dakota approximately 1,560 miles away. A phone call in this instance would have bought plenty of time for the killer. Or did he coerce this information out of her primarily for the purpose of the phone call?

​Brynn Rainey fell in love with South Lake Tahoe and had moved there from Ohio, which was a journey of 2,240 miles. She took up employment at the Crystal Range Motel located at 941 Emerald Bay Road, working as a maid, before becoming a Keno runner at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel in April 1977. So if her killer had rang the Sahara Tahoe Hotel on July 25th 1977 and used the "called out of town because of a family illness" ruse, it would have been just as effective as the deceit used in the Donna Lass case. It must have been something along these lines because she was excused from work on July 25th 1977 by a male caller and wasn't reported missing until August 15th 1977 (and not by the casino). This information was corroborated by the newspapers of the day. Does this show intimate knowledge of the life of Brynn Rainey, which also appeared to be the case with Donna Lass? Both women lived alone in rented accommodation overseen by landlords.

​Did the killer in 1970 and 1977 spend considerable time with each victim after their abduction, thereby necessitating the phone calls in order to buy time? If he had killed and disposed of them within hours, why would a phone call be necessary? Or was a phone call made in each case to delay any impending investigation into their murders, because he had some previous interactions with both women at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and feared the police may come knocking at his door? The burial of Brynn Rainey and the deposition site of Donna Lass ​74 miles from the Sahara Tahoe Hotel (possibly buried) showed a marked deviation from the murder of Carol Andersen in 1979, who was just dumped by the side of the road in plain sight. But she never worked at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel.  

FURTHER READING: THE MYSTERIOUS PHONE CALL TO THE CASINO RE-EXAMINED 

At the time of Brynn Rainey's murder in 1977 Joseph Stephen Holt was living at 1390 Keller Road. We know he lived in South Lake Tahoe in 1974, but we don't know for certain whether he had vacationed or visited the area before moving there. There is some evidence pointing to his family owning the 1390 Keller Road residence prior to 1970, so it's perfectly feasible he could have stayed at this location at the time of Donna Lass' disappearance on September 6th 1970. He was listed at this address from 1971 to 2015 in the US Index to Public Records, so it's possible he stayed at an earlier time.

​Two reasons that Joseph Stephen Holt may have chosen to visit South Lake Tahoe in the years before moving there was his passion for skiing and swimming (according to his obituary), making this an ideal place for permanent residency. The love of skiing was something he had in common with Donna Lass, who when speaking to Joan Bentley at the casino just before the end of her shift on September 6th 1970, said that she was looking forward to skiing that upcoming winter. For Joseph Stephen Holt, the 1390 Keller Road location was ideal to pursue that passion, with the Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort right next to the Keller Road address.

Opening in 1955, the Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort is situated on 3860 Saddle Road and the Heavenly Village base location on 4080 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. I am currently unsure what facilities (if any) were available at 4080 Lake Tahoe Boulevard in 1970 but it would be very interesting to find out, because had Joseph Stephen Holt left his 1390 Keller Road address on foot (or by car), his quickest route to the base location of the Heavenly Ski Resort (or the Sahara Tahoe Hotel) would have taken him alongside the 3893 Pioneer Trail Road apartment of Donna Lass (shown by the red line on the map below). With a common interest in skiing it is not implausible that they may have crossed paths - quite literally. The Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort was extremely close to both addresses on their south side.

Assuming that a sinister phone call was received by the Sahara Tahoe Hotel in 1977 stating that Brynn Rainey wouldn't be turning up for her shift at 2am, the one big difference between this and the phone call received on behalf of Donna Lass in 1970, was that the caller in Donna's case knew the name of her landlord (Mr. Davis). This could indicate a more personal connection to Donna Lass, rather than a killer who just performed a random abduction from the street. Knowledge of her address would be required.  

Thanks to all the contributors that have made the last three articles possible. 
Further reading:   ​THE 1970s, ONE ROAD, THREE MURDERS    
​ANOTHER SINISTER PHONE CALL TO THE SAHARA IN 1977 

Thanks to the great work of researchers Adam and Andrew Gray we now have more information about Joseph Stephen Holt and the murders of Brynn Rainey (27) in 1977 and Carol Ann Andersen (16) in 1979, who both lived in South Lake Tahoe. What we don't yet know is whether Joseph Stephen Holt had ever visited or vacationed in the region prior to moving there in 1974. If he was prepared to move to South Lake Tahoe and begin a career in the real estate business, one would have thought he was already accustomed with this area and liked it enough to move there. How many people are prepared to move house and relocate without knowing anything about the destination they are moving to? Visit the previous introductory article on this subject. 

​At the time Joseph Stephen Holt murdered Brynn Rainey in 1977 he was living at 1390 Keller Road, just 4,400 feet from the once address of Donna Lass at 3893 Pioneer Trail Road in 1970. Had he visited this specific area of South Lake Tahoe in 1970 and thought it was a good place to live? Every residence associated with Joseph Stephen Holt is situated on the south side of the lake, with four of them within a 4.3 mile radius of 3893 Pioneer Trail Road. If he was responsible for the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass in 1970, did he consider this area the ideal hunting ground for his depravity and choose to set up base here in 1974? But this isn't where the coincidences stop? 

In an episode of Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace entitled "The South Lake Tahoe Strangler", Joe Alexander, the Deputy District Attorney of El Dorado County stated "One of the interesting facts in this case is that an unidentified male called Brynn Rainey's employer and informed them that she would not be showing up for her shift at the casino where she worked. We certainly don't know for sure who that was that made the call, but under the circumstances, and the fact that Brynn at that time was likely already dead, it would strongly suggest that the killer made that call in order to buy more time before people knew she was missing".

​If this is correct, it means that Joseph Stephen Holt rang the Sahara Tahoe Hotel to delay any investigation into Brynn Rainey's murder (She was carrying her casino ID). This is the exact playbook used by the murderer of Donna Lass, who phoned the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and stated that Donna Lass wouldn't be turning up to work at the casino because of a family illness. Nowhere in this documentary did it mention Donna Lass or reference her case whatsoever. This could mean that both Brynn Rainey and Donna Lass both went missing traveling to and from their 2:00am shift at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, followed by a phone call from the killer excusing their absence. This information is difficult to ignore.  

Joseph Stephen Holt moved to South Lake Tahoe to begin a career in real estate, so had he shown any interest in the property under construction at Incline Village in 1971, that featured in the mailing of the Pines card on March 22nd 1971. A newspaper article stated that 'the site depicted on the 'Pines Card' was from an advertisement published last Sunday by several newspapers. It was an artist's rendition of houses among the trees at a Boise Cascade Company project at Incline Village, where construction has just begun on the development. While much of the Sierra area is under several feet of snow, Incline Village has only two feet on the ground. Police went to the area to determine if a search is possible'. ​Chief Lauritzen, who was involved in the search for Donna Lass, remarked that "there's no point to a search at this time. It's unlikely a victim would be uncovered before spring". Is it conceivable that Joseph Stephen Holt, an intelligent individual, mailed this postcard to shift the attention of Donna's murder onto the Zodiac Killer?  

Thanks again to Adam and Andrew Gray for the information used in this article. 
Further reading: The 1970s, One Road, Three Murders 

Despite conflicting reports regarding the time of the Johnny and Joyce Swindle murders on February 5th 1964, several investigators place the time closer to 8:15pm, including Sergeant Ed Stevens. Although it was reported that "a man was seen running away from the beach about two blocks away" from the crime scene, I wasn't able to consolidate this sighting with a time and location. Fortunately there was additional and more promising eyewitness testimony. 

There was another report that a man was seen running on Del Monte Avenue at 8:16pm, about one minute after the earliest estimates of the murders (8:15pm) The shortest route from the top of the stairwell at Narragansett Avenue (above the crime scene) to Del Monte Avenue in a southerly direction is a journey of 558 feet. Typical walking speed is 4.6 feet per second, so if this was the killer running at approximately 10 feet per second, it would take him about 55.8 seconds to reach the western edge of Del Monte Avenue and correlate with the 8:16pm eyewitness sighting. This would have placed the man only 82 feet from the cliff edge. 

If this was the killer, he refused to choose the option of heading a considerable distance east on Narragansett Avenue by traveling south on Ocean Front Street. After this brief journey, he again had the option of heading a considerable distance east on a narrow side road (marked with a red line on the map), but instead he continued on Ocean Front Street to Del Monte Avenue. See Google maps. 

If our killer was on foot heading to safety in the direction of his home (without a vehicle) and lived in San Diego, this may suggest that he didn't live anywhere north of Narragansett Avenue.because he was heading away from this location. He could have lived on Del Monte Avenue or further south such as Bacon St, Santa Cruz Ave, Coronado Ave, lower Cable St, or Del Mar Ave (or beyond). If on foot, it would just depend on what "buffer zone" he was prepared to implement between his residence and the crime scene, and how far he was prepared to travel on foot in the public gaze after committing a double murder with a gun in his possession.

We may all apply different standards to this conundrum but I doubt it would extend beyond a mile at most. The red circles below extend southwards about 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile from the crime scene. If this was the murderer of Johnny and Joyce Swindle spotted by an eyewitness, then his refusal to head a significant distance east when twice presented with the opportunity before he reached Del Monte Avenue, has the potential to narrow down the search for the killer's residnce or anchor point. The sighting of this individual running away from the crime scene is the nearest to the site of the murders and relevant to the time the shootings were believed to have occurred. This analysis is obviously highly dependent on a murderer who didn't park a getaway vehicle close to the crime scene, but it's a start. 

​Had the killer used a vehicle it still makes sense from the standpoint of caution that he would apply a discretionary buffer zone. A murderer parking his vehicle at the top of the stairwell on Narragansett Avenue would have been taking a huge risk of his vehicle being spotted in close proximity to the crime scene (and possibly the sound of gunfire), so it would have been safer to park his vehicle one block south away from any immediate potential eyewitnesses. However, applying common sense to the criminal mind is probably the definition of madness.      

THE SWINDLE MURDERS AT OCEAN BEACH (PT1)

Thanks to the diligent research of Kristi Hawthorne, we now know that on April 9th 1962 an unknown caller rang the Oceanside Police Department and declared “I am going to pull something here in Oceanside and you will never be able to figure it out”. Two days later, in the early hours of April 11th 1962, taxicab driver Ray Davis was found shot to death and dumped in an alley by 1926 South Pacific Street in Oceanside. His vehicle was not located in close proximity to his body, having been driven away by the murderer and abandoned 1.5 miles northwest on the same street. One week later, on April 16th 1962, the same caller rang the Oceanside Police Department again and ominously reminded them of his previous contact by stating “Do you remember me calling you last week and telling you that I was going to pull a real baffling crime. I killed the cab driver and I am going to get me a bus driver next".

Many people have drawn comparisons between this crime and the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, noting that the sinister phone calls and the promise of a future threat on a bus driver mirrored elements of previous Zodiac activity, and his communications subsequent to the Stine murder which threatened to target school buses and their occupants. However, there were never any phone threats immediately prior to Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs, Lake Berryessa or Presidio Heights. Or were there?

​When the Zodiac impersonator rang into the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, the caller was asked by the host "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago. Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?". Bearing in mind that Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli were working under the premise that this could be the Zodiac Killer, it makes the statement of "Did you try to call us one other time, about two or three weeks ago" very important. It opens up the possibility that the real Zodiac Killer tried to contact the show two or three weeks previous to October 22nd 1969. Allowing for some leeway (2 days either side), we will go with 12 to 23 days ago. This means that the real Zodiac Killer may have tried to phone the Jim Dunbar Show between September 30th 1969 and October 10th 1969. The earliest would have been three days after the Lake Berryessa attack, with the latest phone call the day before the taxicab murder of Paul Stine, just like the threat before the murder of Ray Davis in 1962.     

The host of the Jim Dunbar Show made this specific remark when questioning the fake Zodiac, asking "Did you attempt to call this program one other time when Mr. Belli was with us?". It is fairly obvious that Eric Weill knew nothing about the call to the Jim Dunbar Show "two or three weeks ago" by his lack of conviction. However, the phone caller to the Oakland Police Department at 2am on October 22nd 1969 knew all about this phone call to the Jim Dunbar Show "two or three weeks ago", because the caller to the Oakland Police Department specifically requested either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey to appear on the show.

It can be no coincidence that the Oakland Police Department caller and the Jim Dunbar Show caller prior to the Stine murder, both wanted to appear on the TV show alongside Melvin Belli. And with the Oakland Police Department caller providing information to the patrolman who took the call, information about the killings only known to the real Zodiac, it would mean that the real Zodiac Killer did ring the Jim Dunbar Show in the days before the Stine murder. There would have been less reason for Eric Weill to want to appear on a San Francisco TV show before the Stine murder because no Zodiac murders had occurred in San Francisco, but the real Zodiac Killer had every reason to phone the Jim Dunbar TV Show in San Francisco prior to the Stine murder, because he was planning to kill somebody there.   

The phone caller in Oceanside made the threat on the eve of the murder of taxicab driver Ray Davis, and it could have repeated itself on October 10th 1969 had the real Zodiac Killer managed to secure an appearance on the Jim Dunbar Show prior to the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine. If the receptionist for the show had taken the call seriously (because it was very likely just another case of believing it to be a crank call), we may have heard from the real Zodiac Killer on the Jim Dunbar Show in early October, rather than Eric Weill crying about headaches on October 22nd 1969. If the Zodiac Killer had appeared on the show prior to the Stine murder and proclaimed “I am going to pull something here in San Francisco and you will never be able to figure it out”, before mailing a shirt piece several days after the murder for confirmation, then we may be looking at the Ray Davis case in a totally different light today. After all, he did say months later "I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed".

Any phone call from the Zodiac Killer prior to the Paul Stine murder would have coincided with the "Good Citizen" letter mailed to Sergeant John Lynch at the Vallejo Police Department on October 7th 1969, stating ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX''. Therefore, we could have had a Zodiac phone call to Jim Dunbar and Melvin Belli promising something sinister in San Francisco, followed by the murder of Paul Stine at the intersection of Washington & Cherry a few days later, by a killer last seen entering Presidio Park by Julius Kahn Playground, just 5,000 feet from Beach Street in San Francisco. Of all the streets to name in the Bay Area, the "Good Citizen" letter author not only chose one less than a mile from Julius Kahn Playground, but chose a street in the direction Zodiac was heading. 

Having failed in his bid to appear on the Jim Dunbar Show with Melvin Belli, probably in early October, he would try again on October 22nd 1969, but this time he used the Oakland Police Department as the conduit by supplying them with details about the murders only known to him and the police. Obviously, what he gave them worked, because the Jim Dunbar Show hastily rearranged their scheduling and contacted Melvin Belli. I sincerely doubt they would have done all this without verification from the Oakland caller that he was indeed the real Zodiac Killer. Unfortunately for Zodiac, his grand declaration was hijacked by a mental patient, who literally stole the show. 

One of the curious aspects of the John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia murders on a Santa Barbara beach on February 21st 1970 was the foldable bone-handled fish knife (with saw blade) found buried in the sand approximately one foot from the bodies. After reading through scores of newspaper articles it is still unclear whether investigators considered this the murder weapon. If they were going to hold back information to the public so that any future confession to the crime could be verified, it almost certainly would be the description of the knife and/or the location it was found, rather than whether it was the murder weapon.

However, investigators described the knife in great detail and exactly where it was found, but failed to reveal whether the knife blade was open and ready for use. It was also confounding why a killer would bury the murder weapon in the sand so close to the victims where it could easily be unearthed by responding officers. Any weapon being used on the victims would have been smeared in blood, which even if wiped down at the scene in darkness, would almost certainly have failed to remove all traces of the victims blood. The easiest option of throwing it into the sea would have been the sensible choice for somebody wanting to quickly separate themself from the murder weapon, but apparently this choice was not taken. Very little of this story makes sense, until we re-evaluate the crime scene from a more logical perspective. 

​It is highly unlikely that John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on an isolated stretch of beach at the exact location a knife had previously been buried in the sand. Therefore, it's logical to conclude it was part of the crime. But if investigators were still unsure whether it was the murder weapon months after the attack (which should have been obvious), then it probably wasn't the knife that killed either John or Sandra. That knife was probably taken from the crime scene by his accomplice.

​The newspaper reports of a knife found buried in the sand sounds like a wilful act on behalf of its owner, but the word "buried" is likely misleading and could simply mean "covered in sand". Imagine for a moment we have a vigorous struggle between two assailants with knives and our two victims, but one of the attackers drops his knife into the sand during the initial struggle, which is disturbed enough by the action of shifting feet (or trodden on) to inadvertently cover it over. In this instance it is easy to see how a clean knife can be "buried" in the sand" absent of any blood, that investigators later had difficulty attaching to the murders. That's because it may not have been the knife that killed anybody - it was a second knife carried by a second assailant, who failed to use it in the attack. This may explain why the couple were beaten and stabbed. Once the second perpetrator lost his knife he likely resorted to using his fists. It is equally possible that the knife fell out of his pocket during an initial struggle (or fight) with the victims, before any knives were to be deployed  After the murders of John and Sandra, any attempt to find his knife could have been brief and unsuccessful in near complete darkness. The frenzied and dynamic attack could easily have encompassed a considerable area of the beach (away from the blanket where the couple initially lay), so it's easy to see how a knife could be difficult to find after a limited search. Or he never even realised it had fell from his pocket because he was the one perpetrator of two who chose not to use it during the attack. The knife being lost by an attacker at the scene of the murders, as opposed to being deliberately buried, makes far more sense after re-examining what was reported in the newspapers. 

This brings into focus the reports of two young men washing wounds at a service station in the area at approximately 1am on Sunday 22nd 1970, alleged to have been received during a fight at the beach. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that these wounds could have been acquired through stabbing and punching somebody, but this would have likely placed John and Sandra at "Cemetery Beach" in the hour preceding midnight or just beyond, had these young men been related to the murders.  

The other unusual feature of the double murder was the covering of the bodies with a blanket, that doesn't necessarily indicate that the victims were known to the killer/s. Sometimes a killer will cover the face of a victim in a process called "psychological undoing", that can occur during a frenzied attack. It is a defense mechanism in which a person attempts to atone or erase some negative action. Despite the brutality of the crime inflicted upon John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia, one of the perpetrators (or sole killer) may have had a difficult time looking at the faces of the victims, so the blanket of John and Sandra was used to cover their bodies while the killer/s contemplated their next move. Other than this, there was no other benefit that could possibly be achieved by the covering of two bodies lying on a beach in almost total darkness. Maybe the killers covered the bodies while searching in the sand for the lost knife.

​This has been mentioned in the case of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards who were murdered in 1963 thirty miles west of "Cemetery Beach", where some accounts claim that a towel was placed over Linda's face while she was positioned in the shack. The process of covering a victim's face is not common, but it's certainly well documented in many crimes.   

THE CEMETERY BEACH MURDERS OF 1970 (PT1)

On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam with the 64th Armoured Division, discharged with the rank of staff sergeant in January after winning the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart, and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit a stretch of beach overlooked by Santa Barbara Cemetery at 901 Channel Drive, located at the eastern tip of East Cabrillo Boulevard. About one mile west of the graveyard was the Santa Barbara Inn, and approximately 0.45 miles west at 625 Por La Mar, close to Ninos Drive, construction work had just got underway on the plush Park Cabrillo Apartments, with 312 units being built during the first phase. 

Having visited this area previously, John Franklin Hood, after finishing work at the Wimpy's Drive-In on Saturday, left his parents home at 460 Helsam Avenue in Oxnard to visit his girlfriend Sandra, who lived with her parents at 3088 Calle Pinon in Santa Barbara, where they were last seen leaving for the beach at 6pm. The journey from here was a leisurely 12-15 minute drive to East Beach where they parked their vehicle at a beachfront parking lot.

​I have yet to find the precise location where they parked but it was probably the one closest to their ultimate destination at "Cemetery Beach", which was located just under half a mile east of their vehicle. If they had traveled directly to the parking lot they would have arrived at approximately 6:15pm, with a casual stroll to "Cemetery Beach" placing them there at 6:30pm to 6:35pm, or thereabouts. On February 21st 1970 sunset was 5:47pm, so it was already dark when they began their journey eastwards along the beach. However, it was a full moon that evening, so there would have been limited illumination of 0.1 lux. At the point they reached "Cemetery Beach" the couple would have been 330 meters from East Cabrillo Boulevard, which lay to the north beyond the graveyard. Below is a map depicting the relevant locations. 

At a time yet to be confirmed (but likely between 6:35pm and midnight) the couple were brutally stabbed and beaten (possibly by a fist or blunt instrument).by one or more assailants. John Franklin Hood suffered eleven knife wounds with the majority inflicted to his face and back, whereas Sandra Garcia received the brunt of the vicious attack leaving her almost unrecognizable in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. Robbery was effectively ruled out because John's wallet was still on his person and Sandra's pocketbook was left untouched. Their bodies - Hood in Levi's and a T-shirt, and Garcia in Levi's and a blouse - were discovered the following morning by beachgoers under a green blanket, Sandra was lying face up, with John lying face down in the sand.

​Investigators found a four-inch bone-handled fish knife (with a saw blade and regular blade) buried in the sand about one foot from their bodies that they initially concluded must have played a part in the crime, but according to later newspaper reports uncertainty remained if it had any connection to the murders. It really shouldn't have been that difficult to test the knife for blood and answer this question, so I suspect this must have been established at some point in the future. It would have been an unusual coincidence had it been unrelated to the stabbings, although why would a murderer bury the murder weapon within one foot of the bodies rather than just tossing it into the ocean. Investigators stated "We don't know whose it is, but we know it didn't belong to the victims". On February 24th 1970 a newspaper headline entitled "Knife Linked To Murders" appeared to suggest we had clarity regarding the weapon used in the murders, despite immediately following this up with "a four inch blade apparently was the weapon used". This less than decisive language creates more questions than answers - so what happened to John and Sandra that evening or night? 

​The three likeliest possibilities are that John parked his vehicle in the parking lot and the couple were followed by an unknown number of individuals to "Cemetery Beach" and attacked, The second possibility is that their killer or killers just stumbled across them as they lay on the beach in the darkness. Or they inadvertently walked into an area where one or several undesirables were hanging around..The Santa Barbara Cemetery is shielded by steep cliffs from the beacfront except for its western edge, so if the topography was similar in 1970 it is likely the person/s arrived at the location of the murders from either the east or west.

Progress in solving this crime has been extremely limited and little to nothing about these murders has featured in the newspapers in the subsequent 54 years as of 2024. Almost immediately after the attack Detective Commander George told of reports from a nearby service station at approximately 1am on Sunday 22nd 1970 that two young men were seen washing wounds claimed to have been received from a fight at the beach, stating on February 24th 1970 that the individuals may have no connection to the murders, despite their desire to follow up on every clue, no matter how small. It is an obvious statement routinely trotted out by law enforcement, but the bottom line is that these two men may have had something to do with the murders, so this should have been the approach adopted with respect to these individuals until ruled out, not the contrary stance.

​With no subsequent information available regarding this sighting it is reasonable to conclude these two youths were never found. Anybody tending wounds to their person in close proximity to a beach where two vicious murders had recently occurred, where the victims were brutally stabbed and beaten to death, should have been given high priority. John Franklin Hood was clearly a man who knew how to handle himself, so it's very likely it required two people to overpower the young couple. Investigators attempted to trace the movements of the slain couple before they went to the beach, but with Sandra telling her parents at 6pm they would be back soon, where would they have possibly gone, bearing in mind the beach was already shrouded in darkness before they left 3088 Calle Pinon in Santa Barbara? With no reported sightings from establishments in close proximity to the beach, it could be considered likely that they headed straight to "Cemetery Beach" with no detours. 

One unusual aspect of the crime was the green blanket devoid of any knife marks. After the killer or killers had beaten and stabbed their victims numerous times in what must have been a dynamic attack, why did they deem it necessary to place the victims alongside each other on the beach and cover them up with the couple's blanket? If they were unknown to the victims what purpose could this possibly serve in near complete darkness? Then, inexplicably, choose to bury the murder weapon next to the victims (assuming this knife was the one used in the attack}. The chances of the couple remaining perfectly aligned on the beach after such a brutal attack, in which John and Sandra must have fought vigorously for their lives, so that the perpetrator/s could neatly place a blanket on top of them requiring no movement of the bodies, I suspect is highly unlikely. Therefore, after the murders, this would have required the deliberate action of relocating the bodies before covering them up. Sandra Garcia was found face up, with John face down, just like the position of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards after their bodies were relocated and placed inside the shack in 1963, thirty miles west of this crime. For those people who consider the Gaviota Beach murders to be the signature of the Zodiac Killer, cannot fail to notice that this crime has equal, if not more relevance to the Lake Berryessa attack, with the "Cemetery Beach" murders occurring within the Zodiac timeline, in which the Bay Area murderer still sought victims nine and ten on December 20th 1969 , and then confirmed his ten victims on April 20th 1970, either side of this double murder. I don't believe the Gaviota or East Beach attacks were the work of the Zodiac Killer, but I don't understand why one can be accepted without the other, 

Hope for a resolution in the Zodiac case was buoyed by the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo in 2018 through the use of genetic genealogy. The identification of the Golden State Killer gave hope to an ailing Zodiac investigation where many communications had the possibility of being tested and any DNA retrieved used to identify the family tree of our killer.

If the Hood and Garcia murders were ever linked to the Zodiac Killer, it would be strange quirk of fate that Robert Offerman and Debra Manning, a couple murdered by ​Joseph James DeAngelo in Goleta in 1979, would be buried in Santa Barbara Cemetery just a few hundred feet from the location where John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia lost their lives to the Zodiac Killer nine years earlier. However, that is a big if.

​The Santa Barbara Cemetery is the resting place of many Hollywood stars, that unfortunately became the silent witness to the tragic final act of a young couple on February 21st 1970, whose lives may have ended, but whose story shouldn't be forgotten.  

THE CEMETERY BEACH MURDERS OF 1970 (PT2)

Here are seven in depth articles examining the murders of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards. The Ballistics. The Shack. The Rope. The Beach. The Ammo. Pistol or Rifle? The Final Analysis. ​

On January 4th 1970, somebody identifying as the "Zodiac" phoned Peggy Trainer in Rodeo and threatened that she was to become his next victim. But according to the newspapers there wasn't one phone call on Sunday, January 4th 1970, there were two sinister calls at approximately 10:20pm and 10:25pm. These were then followed by a further two calls by the same individual on Tuesday, January 6th 1970 at 1:00am and 12:15pm - making four malicious phone calls in total by a laughing "Zodiac". 

It was reported in the Contra Costa Times newspaper (see left) that Peggy Trainer lived directly behind the 749 Tormey Avenue apartment from which Leona Roberts disappeared. She was forcibly snatched from her boyfriend's apartment at 749 Tormey Avenue in Rodeo at approximately 6:15pm on December 10th 1969, with her naked body being found on December 28th 1969 by an elderly man collecting driftwood near Bolinas Lagoon. The coroner estimated she had been alive 10 to 14 days after her abduction, with the sheriff's office stating she had been dead about 10 days..

​The Independent newspaper from Richmond (see below) stated that after her experience on the phone with "Zodiac" on January 4th she left the apartment and went upstairs to a neighbor's apartment until her husband arrived home. The newspaper also stated that Peggy Trainer lived next door to the abduction site. All of these descriptions tally with the four-occupancy apartments at 749 Tormey Avenue, in which Peggy Trainer is described as living behind the address from which Leona Roberts was abducted from on the ground floor. If Leona was visiting 749A Tormey Avenue, Peggy must have lived at 749B Tormey Avenue.

Well, that's what I thought until "The Independent" newspaper on January 5th 1970 and January 7th 1970 reported that Peggy Trainer (18) lived at 180 1/2 Napa Avenue in Rodeo. This address was 800 feet east of 749 Tormey Avenue, wasn't an apartment complex and wasn't "directly behind" or "next door" to the apartment where Leona Roberts went missing. The reporting in "The Independent" newspaper makes no sense whatsoever - and neither does the 180 and a half address.

On December 10th 1969, somebody mailed the Day-by-day forecast for Cancer horoscope page to the Sacramento Bee newspaper, lollowed by the Day-by-day forecast for Leo horoscope page to the San Francisco Newspaper Printing Company on December 11th 1969. The mailing date of the Forecast for Cancer page on December 10th coincided with the abduction date of Leona Roberts from 749 Tormey Avenue, Rodeo. The pasted phrase "Birds Fly South" seemed relevant to Bolinas Lagoon, Marin County where her body was ultimately found on December 28th 1969. And it must also be noted that a novel by Stanton Arthur Coblentz called "When the Birds Fly South" (1945) was published in Marin County. The Cancer page also contained the pasted text "Zodiac".

The Forecast for Leo(na) page mailed the following day was considered a play on the name and fate of "Leona", who wasn't murdered for at least a week after her abduction. At the end of December, the newspapers told of the discovery of her body at Bolinas Lagoon and refreshed the memories of the readers by reporting on the day of her abduction from the 749 Tormey Avenue apartment. Alongside the story of Leona Roberts in the Solano-Napa News Chronicle on December 29th 1969 was the headline "Zodiac Security Tightened", warning that the Bay Area murderer might strike again soon.  

So it's probably unsurprising that this newspaper coverage was shortly followed by another "Zodiac" phone call on January 4th 1971 to Peggy Trainer, threatening her murder. Peggy Trainer lived at the same 749 Tormey Avenue address from where Leona Roberts was abducted from. The Zodiac Killer could easily have read the newspaper coverage and phoned a death threat to Peggy Trainer to attach himself to that address and the murder of Leona Roberts, but if this phone call was all he did, then how lucky was he that his pseudonym "Zodiac" was mailed by somebody else on December 10th 1969 (the day of her abduction), who pasted "Birds Fly South" which appeared to coincide with the north-south Pacific flyway of Bolinas Lagoon where her body was found, and who mailed a "Forecast for Leo" page that coincided with her name and not immediate death. 

However, there is a major problem with the timeline presented above. One of the neighbors reported hearing screams from the ground floor apartment at approximately 6:15pm on December 10th 1969, with police arriving shortly thereafter. This, as yet undetermined "disturbance", was obviously not reported to the public on the 10th, so any communication mailed with a PM postmark on the same day by somebody pasting "Zodiac" onto a horoscope page, could not have been a response to the abduction, whether Zodiac or not. The Cancer horoscope page, with pasted newspaper cuttings on its face, was mailed in Sacramento, a 60 minute journey from the 749 Tormey Avenue address.

The notion of an abductor, forcibly removing a 16-year-old girl from a residence and securing her at an undetermined location, manufacturing an immediate multi-pasted communication, and then driving 58 miles to Sacramento to mail the letter, for it to somehow receive a December 10th postmark, is totally unrealistic. The fact that the designer of the two December communications chose horoscope pages from November rather than December - which would have been more relevant to the crime - could suggest that these two letters were prepared in advance of Leona Roberts abduction and the generic Cancer page mailed prior to 6:15pm on December 10th 1969.

​After the successful abduction had been achieved, the more specific "Forecast for Leo" page could then have been dispatched. The other alternative, is that neither communication had anything to do with the abduction of Leona Roberts, and the phone call on January 4th 1971 was unrelated, but for the pseudonym "Zodiac" that was relevant to both. It has yet to be definitively established whether any connection exists between the abduction of Leona Roberts and the December 10th/11th letters, or any Zodiac involvement whatsoever. The communications and phone call on January 4th 1969 could have been somebody attempting to misdirect law enforcement away from a killer known to Leona Roberts, who had personal reasons to end her life. Implicating the Zodiac Killer for a murder (especially by phone) was an easy option through 1969 and beyond. I think it much more likely that the murderer of Leona Roberts was a mentally inadequate individual with an unhealthy fantasy he failed to control. Sounds just like Zodiac doesn't it.

When the author of the July 19th 1978 letter typed their cryptic communication they used the word "tape" four times, including "I like friction tape", "I have my name on the bottom of the lid with the scotch tape", "My tape is waiting for me all over California" and "I have my real name on a small metallic tape". The fourth phrase is different from the rest because it singularises the object by using "a small metallic tape" rather than "I have my name on metallic tape". It also makes a point of distinction in this instance by describing the tape as small, which the author fails to do in the three other examples. The author continued by stating "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". This wording implies that law enforcement have in their possession "a small metallic tape" that was left deliberately by the author and was secured by investigators. 

Metallic mini-cassettes (Phillips) and micro-cassettes (Olympus) were introduced in 1967 and 1969 respectively, so the wording of somebody claiming to be Zodiac, who stated "I have my real name on a small metallic tape", could conceivably have left police a message on "a small metallic tape" with his name written on the casing. The author used the wording "a small metallic tape" instead of "a small tape", suggestive that the word "metallic" was to distinguish this tape from the others. The same reasoning can apply to the use of the word "small", which wasn't used in the three other phrases. This descriptor may have been important if the author of the letter had left a micro or mini-cassette at a crime scene with a message.

​On Sunday November 2nd 1975, a man walked up to a couple parked in a lovers' lane in Belmont, California (Monte Cresta Drive) and opened fire with a shotgun, killing  Anthony Vincent Bruno instantly.

Zodiac researcher, Mike Morford, highlighted a San Mateo newspaper article dated November 14th 1975 (shown below) and stated "The reporter, a man named Bob Foster, mentions that on the night of November 3, 1975, the 11 pm TV news on channel KGO ran a story about a Zodiac letter being found in a phone booth. This is pretty interesting to me for a couple reasons regarding the timing. First of all because, the night before, on 11/2/75, a young man and his girlfriend were attacked on a lovers' lane by a gun wielding man. The male victim, Vincent Bruno was killed, but his girlfriend survived. If I recall correctly, there may have been a letter & cassette tape found the same night in a phone booth not far from the attack site, from someone claiming to be Zodiac". 

​If Mike Morford's recollection is correct, then a potential message may have been left in Belmont by the Zodiac Killer in the form of a cassette tape, irrespective of whether he committed the crime or not. He may have heard the news of the murder and mischievously left a letter and cassette tape in a nearby phone booth, yet again claiming a murder he didn't commit. But, if this were true, why would the Zodiac Killer have revisited Belmont in his mind on July 19th 1978, nearly three years later? The act of leaving "a small metallic tape" in Belmont may have been triggered by recent activity. 

One month before the mailing of the typed July 19th 1978 letter, on June 11th 1978, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer telephoned the Redwood City and Belmont police announcing that "I'm still around". The newspaper article (June 12th 1978) stated "Copies of three tape-recorded calls, received one right after the other starting at about 3:20am, have been sent to San Francisco Police Department homicide investigator James Tedesco. He had not received the tapes yet but was told that the caller identified himself as the Zodiac Killer". Therefore, we have the possibility of the Zodiac Killer making several threats to Belmont police on June 11th 1978, which they recorded on tape, followed one month later by somebody mailing a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 19th 1978, stating  "I am the Zodiac" and using the word "tape" four times, including "I have my name on a small metallic tape" and "you have it in your possession". Did the Zodiac Killer suggest that he was "still around" in Belmont, having previously left a cassette tape there three years earlier, which was also forwarded to the San Francisco Police Department and remained in their possession?  

FURTHER READING: A PAWN IN A GAME OF DEATH 

On November 29th 1966, one month after the murder of Cheri Jo Bates alongside the Riverside City College library, two confession letters were delivered to the Riverside Homicide Detail and Riverside Press Enterprise containing a sinister message. They read in part "Then I waited for her in the library and followed her out after about two minutes. The battery must have been about dead by then. I then offered to help. She was then very willing to talk to me. I told her that my car was down the street and that I would give her a lift home. When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die". If the good Samaritan, as he claimed in the letter, was offering to give her a lift home from his nearby vehicle, then it's fairly obvious that Cheri Jo Bates isn't going to willingly travel 3.5 miles back to her 4195 Via San Jose home with this individual and leave her prized Volkswagen Beetle with the windows rolled down, her keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked. Therefore, the idea that her killer promised her a lift home doesn't tally with the condition her vehicle was found the following morning. 

The January 1969 Inside Detective magazine described the crime scene, stating "The victim of the savage attack was clad in faded red capris, a long-sleeved pale yellow blouse with a ribbon tied at the throat. Her feet were encased in white sandals. A large red and tan woven straw bag was half covered by the body". This large bag can be seen in the crime scene photographs. If Cheri Jo Bates had arrived back at her vehicle after exiting the library and placed her library books on the passenger seat, one might have expected Cheri Jo Bates to have first removed this straw bag from her shoulder prior to rolling the windows, placing her key in the ignition and preparing to drive away (especially if the bag was slung over her right shoulder). This oversize straw bag would certainly have impaired her ability to shift gear in a comfortable manner while driving. If she had removed this bag to prepare to drive home and was forcibly removed from her vehicle in a surprise attack under the threat of a knife or gun, why under any circumstances, would she have placed the bag back on her shoulders under duress (for it to be later found under her body in the driveway) The Confession letter author claimed she was very willing to talk and leave with him, which would explain her grabbing her bag before leaving - but not the condition her vehicle was ultimately found the next morning. If the author was her killer, she had two minutes (according to the Confession letter) to remove the straw bag from her shoulder before he arrived and offered the young woman assistance. 

Recently I looked at the autopsy report of Cheri Jo Bates, which may suggest her being placed in a choke-hold at the moment the attack began, while the killer stabbed backwards into her upper body and right arm, before thrusting her forward (face down) into the hard driveway floor and "finishing the job out" by stabbing her in the back and slashing her throat. This would explain why her straw bag remained in contact with her body throughout (although not slung over her head as a method of carrying it). A vicious attack from the front, by a knife wielding assailant facing Cheri Jo Bates, is less likely to have her retaining control of a large straw bag throughout.

​None of the knife wounds to her front torso were immediately life threatening, so a savage attack with somebody thrusting a knife towards her (and into her) while she is mobile and able to run, is unlikely to create a scenario where her bag remained on her shoulder during this period. Her bag is likely to be dropped - and she is likely to move away. The chances that she would be coincidentally reunited with that bag later in the attack is extremely unlikely. The position of the straw bag under her body, on the right side, could suggest she had the bag on her right shoulder when the killer grabbed her around the neck with his left arm and stabbed backwards with his right hand. Her right arm would naturally come upwards to defend herself, with the straw bag remaining in relatively close contact with her body while upright. When the killer thrust her face down into the driveway, her straw bag fell from her right shoulder to the position shown in the crime scene. In other words, she was grabbed and killed in virtually the same spot in the driveway. 

To listen to a comprehensive discussion on the Cheri Jo Bates murder in Riverside on October 30th 1966, with contributions from Druzer and Michael Morford, please visit the Citizen Detective podcast on Youtube (running time 3hr 10 mins). 

Despite having reservations that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates was the author of the Confession letter, let us look at certain aspects of the Confession letter in relation to the published details of the crime and the unpublished details of the autopsy report by November 29th 1966. Many of the newspaper articles prior to November 29th 1966 mentioned the stab wounds to her arms, back and face, along with her throat being slashed, but I could find none that mentioned stab wounds to her breasts, or any mention of Cheri Jo Bates being choked or strangled (unless you know better). The autopsy did show she had at least seven incised wounds across her throat and one stab wound to her right arm, although no concrete evidence of any stab wounds to her face (rather, blunt force lacerations and abrasions to her lip, chin and left cheek). The following snippet is the relevant part of the Confession letter pertaining to the autopsy report.

It seems unusual that Cheri Jo Bates received three stab wounds to her breasts, with no other stab wounds to her front torso, bearing in mind the author of the Confession letter infused a sexual element into their typing, by stating "Her breast felt very warm and firm under my hands" and mentioned "cutting off female parts to deposit for the whole world to see". The author was claiming contact with her breast region just before stating that "she died hard". The author also stated that he initially grabbed Cheri Jo Bates around the neck and mouth, and choked her. This could explain the petechial haemorrhaging visible on her forehead at autopsy. The Confession letter then mentioned her lips twitching before he kicked her in the head, which could explain the 2cm ragged non-gaping oblique laceration to the left side of her lip, and the dark blue-gray slightly swollen discoloration of the mucocutanous portions of the upper and lower lips to the right side - both consistent with a kick to her head while in close contact with the driveway floor - and to the claims in the Confession letter.

The stab wounds (as explained in the previous analysis) to her left breast (2), right breast (1), right axillary fold (1) and right upper arm, grouped on an approximate 10cm vertical plane, is also consistent with an assailant holding the victim around the neck (possibly with their left arm) from behind, and stabbing backwards into the upper torso and upper right arm of Cheri Jo Bates, thereby resulting in the relatively close grouping of stab wounds to her frontal region. Her right arm being motioned across her body for protection would explain the two stab wounds to the upper right arm and right axillary fold. In fact, had she been stabbed here while using her right arm for protection over her chest, it would further narrow the horizontal plane width of the incoming knife. After thrusting Cheri Jo Bates to the driveway floor and kicking her in the head, the author of the Confession letter then claimed he "plunged the knife into her". This, too, is consistent with the one knife wound to her back detailed at autopsy. The word "plunged" maybe suggestive of a downward strike as she lay face down on the driveway floor, before he "finished the job out cutting her throat". The limited details given in the Confession letter are consistent with the previous analysis and the autopsy report, yet insufficient to fully claim that the author and murderer are one and the same.
PART ONE  PART TWO

WAS THE CONFESSION LETTER AUTHOR THE KILLER OF CHERI JO BATES?
WAS THE CONFESSION LETTER AUTHOR THE KILLER OF CHERI JO BATES? [PART TWO]