Despite the continued negative criticism of looking into these outlier communications from certain quarters, this site will not deviate in exploring every avenue possible that has the capability of shedding more light on the Zodiac Killer story. Remaining entrenched in a common narrative has, and will always, fail to push this case forward.

One rarely covered communication is the "Ambler Tours" letter postmarked Los Angeles County and credited with two dates of March 7th 1986 and March 12th 1986  Mailed to "(Redacted) Ambler Tours 101 2ND AVE. Suite 1900 SAN DieGo, CA. 92101", it has very little information attached to it in the FBI files, other than the sender appeared to be addressing the San Diego owners and founders of Ambler Tours & Travel Agency, Frank and Virginia "Ginny" Ambler. They had two sons, Dale and Wayne. The ZIP code 92101 corresponds to the city of San Diego, California, and is primarily associated with downtown San Diego, including areas like the Gaslamp District and Petco Park. Something about this letter, so distant in time and location to the main body of Zodiac communications must have peaked the interest of law enforcement to have found its way into the Zodiac FBI files.

This letter arrived about two months before the "Freeway" letter on May 6th 1986, and approximately 10 weeks after the release of Robert Graysmith's book "Zodiac". Letters postmarked Los Angeles were not unprecedented in the Zodiac case, with the previous two California letters from the Zodiac Killer having both been mailed from this location on May 2nd 1978 and July 19th 1978. The "Channel 9" letter sent to KHJ-TV at 5515 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978, was postmarked in Anaheim, a city in Orange County and part of the Greater Los Angeles area..Therefore, we have three known letters postmarked in this locality within an 8 year period (absent to the knowledge of others).  

The only crime that has regularly been touted as a potential Zodiac attack was the double murder of Johnny Ray Swindle (20) and Joyce Ann Swindle (19) at Ocean Beach in San Diego on February 5th 1964,.when they were murdered on a concrete patio overlooking the sea by a sniper situated approximately 50 feet away. Perched on the bluff above the patio, the sniper fired five shots at the couple from this distance, before walking down to where Johnny and Joyce lay and firing two more shots from near point blank range into their heads. Their location on the patio just beneath the terminus of Narragansett Avenue can be found only 5.5 miles northwest of the Ambler Tours & Travel Agency office. 

Founded in 1953, Frank and Ginny Ambler had run the travel agency for 33 years by the time this "Zodiac Killer" letter arrived on their doorstep. Their travel service organized bus tours throughout California, so if the Zodiac Killer had targeted their company, what possible threat could he have imparted upon them? We know that the Zodiac Killer had a propensity to threaten schoolchildren by way of bombs on the buses or by the roadside, so it's not incomprehensible that this would have been his leverage when targeting Frank and Ginny Ambler (or their family). 

​The previous year, on May 7th 1985 a comprehensive newspaper article on Johnny and Joyce Swindle featured in the San Diego Union newspaper, in which ongoing work was still being undertaken on the case. A recent television news story on the Swindle murders had generated "one pretty damn interesting phone call", which Sergeant Ed Stevens forwarded to the current homicide lieutenant, Paul Ybarrondo. Sgt Stevens is still of the belief that the murders were committed by a teenage boy "thrill sniper", despite no evidence forthcoming on the age of the unknown murderer in 1964. 

The 1986 "Amber Tours" letter would have been an unusual deviation for the Zodiac Killer, directed toward a business. However, it would be followed two years later, on February 1st 1988 and February 8th 1988, by two letters aimed at the McDonald's regional office at 2 Northgate Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the signature "This is the Zodiac" introduction. Seemingly, two threats on businesses, both withheld from the newspapers. Without further information on this correspondence it is practically impossible to determine if the author of the "Ambler Tours" letter was the infamous Zodiac Killer, but it certainly doesn't hurt to explore the possibility. I may do a FOIA request for this letter in the near future.   

On October 27th 1987 the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald threatening to run over children on Halloween night. Three months later, two communications were mailed from Chattanooga in Tennessee on February 1st 1988 and February 8th 1988 to McDonald's regional office at 2 Northgate Park, with claims to be from the Zodiac Killer and the pasted messages of "CHINESE ZODIAC", "The Chinese Zodiac" and "Many Chinese believe". The rest of the text has been withheld from the FBI files.

​There is currently no possible way to determine whether these two letters were from the Zodiac Killer or an imposter, but we do know that any communication from the Zodiac Killer would likely have been inspired by recent newspaper articles, or current media affairs. Therefore, if these letters were from the Zodiac Killer, why would he create a union of the McDonald's fast food chain and the Chinese? There is usually reason behind his offerings. Bearing in mind that the Zodiac Killer had threatened children just a few months previous, we have to consider that his Halloween theme of targeting children may have continued regarding McDonald's, a popular outlet for kids. So how can we possibly group the "Chinese Zodiac", McDonald's and children into one neat package?

The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of 12 animals, each associated with a specific year in a repeating 12-year cycle. The animals in order are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal is believed to influence the personalities and destinies of those born in its respective year. In 1988, according to the Chinese zodiac, it was the Year of the Earth Dragon, spanning from February 17th 1988, to February 5th 1989. These two communications arrived with the upcoming Chinese New Year on the horizon. 

The Chinese New Year in 1988 wasn't just celebrated in the Chinese community and their restaurants,  the year of the dragon was a feature of the McDonald's Happy Meal. A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley face and the McDonald's logo. The packaging and toy are frequently part of a marketing tie-in to an existing television series, film or toyline. This was the case in 1988, when different colored Chinese dragons were included in the Happy Meal of children. I wouldn't be surprised if the Zodiac Killer contacted the McDonald's regional office to threaten kids within McDonald's establishments, which was listed under "extortion" in the FBI files. The Zodiac Killer (if responsible) may have threatened children if his demands were not met, using the Chinese New Year as his inspiration.  

The March 13th 1971 and March 22nd 1971 communications were effectively claiming murders from October 1966 and September 1970. However, the next murder Zodiac would ultimately claim, occurred just four days after the San Francisco, California release of Tom Hanson's "Zodiac Killer" (April 7th 1971). This movie was advertised extensively in the San Francisco Chronicle the week before, and several days after the murder of Kathy Bilek on April 11th 1971 "in the woods" of Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. The movie poster and advertisements carried the wording from the Confession letter, mailed on November 29th 1966 after the Cheri Jo Bates murder, a month earlier. It read "Keep your sisters, daughters and wives off the streets", Or Zodiac Says "I lay awake nights; thinking of my next victim" (see foot of article).

Two days after this movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 13th 1971, a "Zodiac" letter was received at the San Jose Sheriff's Office dated "Thursday", which was April 15th 1971. It was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector". On the same day the movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle (April 13th 1971), newspaper reports from around the country asked the question of whether Zodiac was responsible for the murder of Kathy Bilek (including The Riverside Press), stating "the teenager might be another victim of the Zodiac Killer".

​Therefore, we.have the San Francisco Chronicle and The Riverside Press newspapers using the phrases "next victim" and "another victim" on the same day. Followed two days later by a suggested Zodiac letter on April 15th 1971, which the local San Jose newspaper reported as a communication that spoke of "Zodiac" and "another victim". The newspaper also mentioned that the letter told of a girl who works in a hospital, who could be his "next victim". It appears that the author was incorporating phrases from the newspapers into his correspondence, which could demonstrate attentiveness to any story related to the Zodiac Killer. The letter was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector", whereas the threat of a "next victim" in one of the Confession letters from 1966, was addressed to "Homicide Detail". This letter was mailed one month after the Zodiac Killer admitted to "riverside activity" on March 13th 1971, which included a promised "next victim" in Riverside in 1966.  

The April 15th 1971 letter wasn't the first time a claimed Zodiac Killer wrote to San Jose law enforcement. A letter was mailed to the San Jose Police Department on November 21st 1969 threatening a widow in San Jose, which resulted in police providing the woman with 24 hours of protection. This current author would not have been aware of that threat, because the November 21st 1969 communication has never been released into the public domain. Unless of course, the current author was the Zodiac Killer - and he wrote both letters.

​Another curious feature of the  April 15th 1971 letter, is the suggestion that the "next victim" could be a girl who works in a hospital. On August 1st 1973 the Zodiac Killer seemed to confirm this wish by writing a letter to the Albany Times Union newspaper and threatening that the location of his "next victim" would be the Albany Medical Center in New York. The letter read "You were wrong I am not dead or in the hospital. I am alive and I'm going to start killing again. Below is the name and location of my next victim. But you had better hurry because I'm going to kill her August 10th at 5:00 PM when the shift change". The thought being that the Zodiac Killer was promising to murder a female nurse.  

It really is no surprise that in May 1971 and on July 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer would mail a further two communications laying claim to the murder of Kathy Bilek (18), alongside his previously claimed victims of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14), murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. And that he would link the May 1971 and August 1st 1973 cryptograms together through ciphertext and plaintext similarities.

​On Sunday, April 11th 1971, Kathy Bilek (18) visited Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, having planned to read a paperback book (The Gabriel Hounds) and engage in a spot of bird watching​ in the seclusion of a remote, wooded portion of the park, near a small stream. Her body was found the next day by her father, Charles, while Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies searched nearby. She had been stabbed 17 times in the back and 32 times in her chest and stomach. 

​The Gabriel Hounds is a romantic mystery by Mary Stewart, set in Lebanon. The "Gabriel Hounds" are spectral hounds in folklore, believed to foretell death or misfortune to those who hear their howls, and are associated with the crumbling palace of Dar Ibrahim in the Adonis Valley of Lebanon.  

 A FOUR YEAR JOURNEY TO TOMBSTONE 
ANOTHER "ZODIAC" LETTER ON APRIL 15TH 1971

It is practically impossible to look at the envelope of the December 1990 Eureka card from the standpoint of handwriting and determine whether this communication was mailed by the Zodiac Killer. The only way to significantly shift the needle on its authenticity or otherwise, is to compare it to other Zodiac communications, irrespective of whether these other communications have been authenticated or not. It is possible to compare two "questionable" Zodiac communications and make a case that both are genuine. It must be remembered that the January 10th 2001 Happy New Year card mailed by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer was created without the knowledge of the 1990 Eureka card, because the Eureka card wasn't made public until 2007 (if different authors). .

The author of the 2001 card decided not to mimic any previous confirmed Zodiac communications (envelopes) that were publicly available to them, and opted to use the full newspaper address of "San Francisco Chronicle", never done previously in any Zodiac Killer communication widely accepted as genuine by the Zodiac community. However, it was done by the 1990 Eureka card author eleven years previously. The author of the 2001 card chose to use "901 Mission Street" on the envelope, never done previously by the Zodiac Killer. However, it was done by the 1990 Eureka card author. The author of the 2001 card chose to use the zip code of "94103" on the envelope, never done previously by the Zodiac Killer. However, it was done by the 1990 Eureka card author.

The only two times a real or questioned Zodiac communication began by using the word "Editor" at the beginning of the envelope, followed by "San Francisco Chronicle" were in 1990 and 2007. Both of these communications used only one punctuation, in the form of a comma after "San Francisco" on the fourth line. These were the only two communications addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle and suggested as Zodiac Killer mailings, that were festive greeting cards. So we have two festive greeting cards, beginning by addressing the "Editor" of the newspaper, with the full newspaper title of "San Francisco Chronicle", "901 Mission Street", the zip code "94103" and only one punctuation in the form of a comma after "San Francisco", who were apparently two different authors that decided to use no mimicry of earlier Zodiac communications, yet managed to copy each other in all these instances. Yet they did opt to mimic the "y" style number "4" used by the Zodiac Killer in his confirmed communications. A very strange affair indeed.    

​However, the letter mailed on May 6th 1986, four years before the 1990 Eureka card (and not publicly released), also began by using "Editor" on the first line of the envelope, followed by the full address of "San Francisco Chronicle". In fact, the 1986 envelope began with "To the Editor", similar in fashion to the 2001 Happy New Year card that began with "Letters To The Editor". The 1986 letter can be connected to the 1987 letter, which can be connected to the July 31st 1969 letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald. The 1986, 1990 and 2007 mailings are the only communications publicly available now, all consecutive to one another, that all begin by using "Editor" on the first line of the address, followed by the full newspaper title of "San Francisco Chronicle".     

The question we have to ask is this: Did two independent and separate hoaxers just happen to mimic each other in 1990 and 2007, but neither made any reasonable effort to imitate the previous communications of the Zodiac Killer? Was the author of the 1990 and 2007 communications the same hoaxer, who never made any reasonable effort to imitate the previous communications of the Zodiac Killer? Or was it the Zodiac Killer who authored both festive greetings cards, who placed no emphasis on attempting to imitate himself? A hoaxer of the Zodiac Killer, by his very nature, should want to imitate previous communications to convince the reader he is the real deal, but the actual Zodiac Killer has no such obligation because he is genuine article. In other words, a hoaxer of the Zodiac Killer communications, who fails to hoax properly, may not be a hoaxer.  

On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". This business envelope came with an advertisement for miniature pewter models of classic automobiles, placed inside eighteen major Sunday newspapers on March 1st 1981 (see below). One of the newspapers this advertisement and business reply envelope was placed inside, was the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Bearing in mind that the sinister message threatening murder was written on an advertisement and postmarked Cleveland, it is extremely likely that the author of this message sourced their pre-printed envelope from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. 

Six days later, on March 8th 1981, a letter was mailed to the WXIA-TV station in Atlanta. It was signed "Zodiac" and carried the message "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet. I'll give you a hint, I used to be in San Francisco. I used to stalk women, but I like to kill children now. At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle. So I guess I'll have to tell you. I'll (to) kill children because they are so easy to "pick off: Buy the way, if you still have letters from the other murders, I am not writing in the same hand writing". View letter. 

​The author of this letter made references associated with the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, by mentioning "I used to be in San Francisco", wrote that he would "pick off children" just like the October 13th 1969 letter from the Zodiac Killer, and had "left certain clues with his victims bodies", as he did when he wrote "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with". So it is particularly noteworthy that the Atlanta envelope contained small crosshairs in the upper left corner just like the October 13th 1969 envelope, which was not publicly available in 1981. These are the only two envelopes mailed in California carrying the "Zodiac" pseudonym, with these small crosshairs on the envelope. I doubt this was a fluke by the Atlanta author. Investigators believe that the March 2nd 1981 letter (from Cleveland) and March 8th 1981 letter (from Atlanta) are from the same author. I believe they are both from the Zodiac Killer.   

If the Zodiac Killer had accessed the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in 1981 and used material within it to mail one of his threatening letters, had he ever previously sourced from this newspaper in any his letters from July 31st 1969 to March 22nd 1971, which covered the bulk of his letter writing? Were there any key Zodiac phrases borrowed from the ​Cleveland Plain Dealer during the height of his terror? I managed to find the longest phrase yet (10 consecutive words) in a Zodiac letter that matched some wording from this same newspaper. I typed a phrase from the August 4th 1969 "Debut of Zodiac" letter into the newspaper archive and found it in only one newspaper in 334 years. Whether it has any relevance, or was a matter of chance, I really don't know.  

​In three lengthy consecutive communications on November 29th 1966, July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, I found the quote ​"it was about time for her to die" from 1888, "man is the most dangerous animal of all" from 1932, and "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" from 1942. A newspaper article on November 24th 1966 mentioned Jack the Ripper and Cheri Jo Bates, and five days later in the Confession letter we had a Ripper style communication with "it was about time for her to die" from 1888 (found only once prior to 1966). The July 31st 1969 letters appeared to reference the movie "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932, with the quote "man is the most dangerous animal of all" being uttered by Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of the film, discovered in only three 1932 newspapers. The quote "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" was only found in one newspaper previous to August 4th 1969, spanning 279 years (see below).

​The "Debut of Zodiac" letter was referencing the targeting of kids with a pencil flashlight attached to a gun, whereas the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from 1942 was referring to the targeting of cities with bombs. Both the Zodiac letter and Cleveland Plain Dealer also mentioned "the code". I fail to see why the Zodiac Killer would ever plagiarize such a newspaper article from June 17th 1942 about wartime precautions for an air raid, but I thought it was worthy of mention because of the seeming mimicry previously exhibited on November 29th 1966 and July 31st 1969. A trait, one could argue, that was specific to one individual and one mind. 

The canonical murders of Jack the Ripper began on August 31st 1888 with the brutal murder of Mary Ann Nichols in Buck's Row, her throat severed, her vagina stabbed and her lower abdomen partly ripped open to expose her bowels. This grisly affair was followed on September 8th 1888, when the body of Annie Chapman was discovered in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. She had also suffered deep cuts to her throat and abdomen, but this time the killer had removed her small intestine and placed it on her right shoulder, and excised part of her stomach and deposited it on her left shoulder. Annie Chapman's uterus was missing, along with parts of her bladder and vagina. 

Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes both met their fate on September 30th 1888, with Elizabeth Stride being found in Dutfield's Yard, having received one knife wound to her neck. The severity of her injuries were believed to be considerably less because of the arrival of Louis Diemschutz, the steward of the International Working Men's Educational Club, who arrived at the location in his horse and two-wheeled cart. The killer, now unable to perform the mutilation of the corpse as in previous attacks, sought out Catherine Eddowes less than an hour later, cutting her throat and once again ripping her intestines from her body. Her left kidney and the majority of her uterus had been taken from the site of the murder. The final attack, that of Mary Jane Kelly inside her single room at 13 Miller's Court on November 9th 1888 is almost impossible to describe, other than to say that her body was destroyed beyond recognition.          

Jack the Ripper was fond of removing various body parts, some of which he carried away from the crime scene and some he left on public display for the whole world to see. This sickening display of the grotesque was the seeming ambition of the Confession letter author in Riverside on November 29th 1966, who confessed that he wanted to mutilate furher victims, stating that he would "cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see" and had recently "finished the job out cutting her throat", referring to the October 30th 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates. The Confession letter author issued the Riverside Police Department a stark warning, that he was "stalking your girls now", just like the Ripper had done in the dimly lit streets of Whitechapel, 78 years earlier.

Five days before the Confession letter was postmarked, a newspaper article from the Press-Enterprise told of the recent murder of Cheri Jo Bates and postulated a connection to the abduction of a 19-year-old girl on November 22nd 1966. The perpetrator in this case invoked the name of "Jack the Ripper", by stating "Well, after all, I'm not Jack the Ripper" after she refused to enter his vehicle. This led me to explore the idea that the author of the Confession letter, who plagiarized key phrases from this newspaper article, had also been inspired to create a typed letter using the sadistic reportings of Jack the Ripper. The promise to cut off female parts, the stalking of girls, and the casual and brutal way he described cutting the throat of Cheri Jo Bates - synonymous with the Whitechapel murderer - required further exploration to see whether this was coincidental or a deliberate choice by the Confession letter typist. And indeed, if the author of the letter was the killer of Cheri Jo Bates.         

To discover material on Jack the Ripper, the easiest route for the killer in 1966 was to use the Riverside library (possibly) on his doorstep, writing a poem on the desktop in between his searches of the microfiche reels. The Riverside City College library may have been convenient for him, but any library would have sufficed. Today, I approached the task at hand by typing in key phrases from the Confession letter, and/or the year 1888, to see if the newspaper archives churned up any interesting results, whereas in 1966 the task would have been a bit more arduous and labor intensive. However, it would have been easily  accomplished by somebody who was determined enough, who was prepared put considerable thought into his compositions. Somebody like the Zodiac Killer.

The following section of the Confession letter looked contrived, stating "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". The last phrase reading "I said it was about time for her to die" appeared over-dramatic and had a punchline effect, as though it had been borrowed for purpose from elsewhere. I typed the shortened phrase of "it was about time for her to die" into the newspaper archive and it produced only one result in 336 years. That year was 1888, the year of Jack the Ripper. Alongside the stories of Jack the Ripper in 1888 was the accompanying story of "The Sturdy Beggar", who attempted to scrounge food from a woman inside her home and placed his hand into his hip pocket (probably reaching for a presumed knife) and stated that "it was about time for her to die".​ Had the Confession letter author added this phrase into his communication to bolster the Jack the Ripper theme of "body parts" and "cutting her throat"?

​In 1927, multiple American newspapers reported the Ripper like murders from New York, spanning the previous 15 years. The first in 1912, detailed the savage knife murder of Julia Connors by Nathan Swartz, who wrote a confession letter after the killing and an additional message on a soiled linen collar with a lead pencil, reading "I am guilty. I am insane", using five of the same words from the Riverside Confession letter, which read "I am not sick. I am insane". Two stories, loosely connected to Jack the Ripper, with two perinent phrases. But there had to be more.

On October 27th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Halloween card with the skeleton of an unknown victim. One observer of this communication by the name of Phil Sins contacted San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reporter, Paul Avery, believing that the greeting card was insinuating the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, whose lifeless body was discovered by a Riverside groundskeeper on Halloween morning in 1966.

It turned out that the prominent word "by" was shared 6 times by the Halloween card and the two typed Confession letters. The Halloween card author also used the signature "Z" for the first time, that was suggested by Paul Avery as the signature present on two of the three Bates' letters on April 30th 1967. The presumed connection was laid bare by Paul Avery in a comprehensive newspaper article in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970. By claiming a connection between the Zodiac Killer and the Riverside communications, Paul Avery was suggesting that the murder of Cheri Jo Bates may have been the early work of the Zodiac Killer. To see if this has any validity, I decided to explore the Jack the Ripper connection a little further. Did the Zodiac Killer select the Halloween card with wording similar to the Confession letter?

​The wording on the selected Halloween card inner read "But, then why spoil our game. Happy Halloween". The typed Confession letter read "I then finished the job by cutting her throat. I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game". One communication didn't want the game spoiled, while the other pledged to not to stop the game.

On October 16th 1888 the "From Hell" letter, addressed to George Lusk, the president of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, arrived inside a cardboard box from somebody claiming to be Jack the Ripper. It contained a "body part" in the form of half a kidney, with the message "Mr Lusk, Sor I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer". signed "Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk". 

​Just before Halloween, on October 29th 1888 (one day before the date Cheri was murdered), a letter was sent to Dr. Openshaw, who performed the medical examination on the portion of kidney received by George Lusk. The letter stated "Old boss you was rite it was the left kidny i was goin to hoperate agin close to you ospitle just as i was going to dror mi nife along of er bloomin throte them cusses of coppers spoilt the game but i guess i wil be on the jobn soon and will send you another bit of innerds. Jack the Ripper. O have you seen the devle with his mikerscope and scalpul a-lookin at a kidney with a slide cocked up". 

This letter arrived on October 29th 1888, Cheri Jo Bates was murdered on October 30th 1966, her body was found the next day on Halloween morning, and the Confession letter about Cheri Jo Bates contained many plausible links to Jack the Ripper (shown above). The Halloween card contained the phrase "spoil our game", that somewhat mirrored "spoilt the game" from the Openshaw letter, and "stop the game" from the Confession letter. Throw in "The Most Dangerous Game" and we have a cocktail of "games". You may also notice that the Openshaw letter described murder as a "job", just like the Confession letter author, who typed "I then finished the job out cutting her throat".  Many Ripper letters use the word "job" in respect to the killing of women.
​
​Four months after reading the San Francisco Chronicle article by Paul Avery (on November 16th 1970), the Zodiac killer replied to the claim he was involved in Riverside, by stating on March 13th 1971 "I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there". Not only was the Zodiac Killer invoking the word "hell" and using similar phraseology from the Bates' letters that "there will be more", he was apparently accepting his involvement to some capacity in the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. If that "activity" was suggestive of the communications, involving the Confession letter with Jack the Ripper overtones, then it's really curious that his next two widely published letters (mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle) on January 29th 1974 and April 24th 1978, began using the Jack the Ripper valediction of "yours truley" and "yours truly", that the Whitechapel murderer used in the majority of his letters from 1888. If the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the "riverside activity" down south, was his use of "yours truley" and "yours truly" in these following communications a case of playing more "games" with law enforcement? The continuation of the Jack the Ripper theme in these letters laying bare his character - and belatedly pointing a finger to the secrets of the Confession letter, now that his Riverside connection had finally come to light?

In his July 31st 1969 letters and 408 cipher, the Zodiac Killer would delve into the distant newspaper archive of 1932 to create the significant phrase of "man is the most dangerous animal of all", which he plagiarised from the utterances of Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of "The Most Dangerous Game". Was the same archival  technique used to fashion the typed Confession letter in 1966, borrowing the wording of "it was about time for her to die" from "The Sturdy Beggar" in 1888, with both the Riverside and Bay Area communications created by the cunning disposition of one author and one mind?   ​
​THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MURDER.

The wording of "I saw and think "The Exorcist" was the best saterical comidy" in the January 29th 1974 letter was an immediate response to the movie winning four Golden Globes on January 26th 1974, receiving the awards for "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Supporting Actress" and "Best Screenplay". The wording of "I am waiting for a good movie about me" in the April 24th 1978 letter was a belated response to the April 3rd 1978 Academy Awards (as was the Channel 9 letter on May 2nd 1978). Both of these letters on January 29th 1974 and April 24th 1978 were intrinsically bound to the movie industry, and both carried the Jack the Ripper style valediction of "yours truly", in the form of "yours truley" in 1974 (which was spelled incorrectly) and "yours truly" in 1978 (which was spelled correctly). This form of valediction is clearly not appropriate in the context of a threatening letter, so the use of this "act of farewell" is relatively unusual in this respect.

​Therefore, I looked for something on TV or in the movies that contained both elements of "Jack the Ripper" and "Yours Truly", and found the 1943 short story by Robert Bloch, subsequently made into a fifty minute TV thriller in 1961 entitled "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", hosted by Boris Karloff and starring John Williams, Donald Woods and Edmon Ryan. On the Internet Movie Database it is described as follows: "70 years after the Jack the Ripper killings in London, Sir Guy tries to convince the police that Jack may still be alive, eternally young, and still killing, currently in New York". After a  hiatus of several years, Jack the Ripper had returned to begin killing again in New York. 

The same has been argued in the Zodiac case, where the Bay Area murderer appeared to take a hiatus from 1971 to 1974 and returned with the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. The same can be said of his inactivity between 1974 and 1978, when he returned to mail the 1978 letter with the introduction "I am back with you". So it is noteworthy that he appeared to use the "yours truly" valediction from the book and TV episode of ​"Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", which presented the story of a killer returning after a period of inactivity. 

​Another interesting feature of the Exorcist letter was the final paragraph where the Zodiac wrote "Ps. If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing". You will notice that he described the communication as a "note" and not a letter. Bearing in mind that the TV episode of "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" featured Jack the Ripper taking his crimes from Whitechapel in London to New York, I looked for a Jack the Ripper "note" mailed in New York on the date of January 29th. A search of the newspaper archives didn't disappoint. The following newspaper article (among many) describes a "Jack the Ripper in New York", who wrote a "note" to Police Captain Ryan on January 29th 1889 promising that the streets of his precinct would soon be filled with murdered women.

In an odd turn of events, the script of "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" may have been turned on its head by the Bay Area murderer, because the previous letter claimed to have been mailed from the Zodiac Killer was postmarked August 1st 1973 from Albany, New York, six months before the arrival of the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. The letter, addressed to the Albany Times Union newspaper, stated he was "going to start killing again".

Robert Bloch, the author of "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" also wrote "The Thing" in 1932 and "Psycho" in 1959, the latter of which the Zodiac Killer featured in his 148 character cipher and letter in the middle of 1971. The 1971 letter stated that he would "skin 3 little kids and make a suit from the skin" if his cipher was not printed on the front page of the newspaper. This phraseology was reminscent of the murderer Edward Gein, who professed a desire to make a "skin suit" from his dead mother, and the movie "Psycho" that hit cinema screens in 1960 and featured the seated corpse of Norman Bates' dead mother. An arguable case can be made for Robert Bloch inspired letters from 1971 through to 1974, whether one was intended or not.

On January 19th 1889, ten days before the Jack the Ripper "note" on January 29th 1889, it is likely that the same individual first announced his presence to Captain Ryan in a letter (described in the newspaper cutting below), by stating "Do you think that Jack the Ripper is in England?", before promising to kill by next Thursday and signing it with the familiar valediction of "Yours truly, Jack the Ripper".

​CONNECTING RIVERSIDE TO THE ZODIAC USING JACK THE RIPPER [IN 7 PARTS]

In a previous article I examined the notion that the Confession letter mailed on November 29th 1966 was the forerunner to the July 31st 1969 Zodiac letters. When "The Most Dangerous Game" movie was released in 1932, its associate producer, Merian C. Cooper, reflected on the evil of the human condition and stated "man is the most dangerous animal of all". This would be the wording used by the Zodiac Killer in his decrypted 408 cipher, solved by Donald and Bettye June Harden on August 8th 1969. Thirteen years after "The Most Dangerous Game" was released, "A Game of Death" starring John Loder and Audrey Long opened in US cinemas on November 23rd 1945. A poor remake of the original, the only real difference was that the evil Russian, Count Zaroff, had turned into the insane German, Erich Kreiger.

​This later movie featured on television throughout California from November 5th 1966 to November 8th 1966 - so if the Zodiac Killer was present in Riverside (or California) during this period, and was responsible for any of the communications down south - could this movie have had any influence on the phrases chosen in the Confession letters? Did the flawed character traits of Count Zaroff and Erich Kreiger, who were insane, heartless, and psychopathic men with a thirst to hunt human beings, form the basis of the wording "I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game" in the Confession letters on November 29th 1966? That "game" being "a game of death", in which the insanity of Erich Kreiger and the Confession letter author created no barrier to the murderous game and ambitions of either.. "A Game of Death" in 1966 turning into a "Most Dangerous Game" in the Bay Area, two to three years later. The murders in southern and northern California cloaked under the banner of the Richard Connell short story of 1924. ​

There were extremely close similarities between the language used in the Confession letter to the Riverside Desktop Poem. The desktop poem appeared to be reminiscing in the present tense about the attempted murder by knife of Roslyn Atwood (19} on the Riverside City College campus on April 13th 1965, before switching attention to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, writing "Just wait till next time. rh." The footnote being riverside, halloween, the day Cheri Jo Bates' lifeless body was discovered next to the library. An interesting connection was made by Ricardo Gomez of MK-Zodiac, who showed a strong similarity between the headline of the Riverside Daily Press on April 17th 1965, to the opening lines from the desktop poem. The Riverside Daily Press stated "Clean-cut youth sought in stabbing", with the desktop poem beginning "cut, clean, if red/clean. blood spurting, dripping, spilling; all over her new dress". 

Was this just one big game, comparing the "unwillingness" of Roslyn Atwood to die on April 13th 1965 in the desktop poem title, to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, who the author of the Confession letter claimed was as a woman who "went very willingly" to her death. The Riverside Daily Press on April 17th 1965 with the "clean-cut" headline also mentioned that Roslyn Atwood was "stabbed in the lower abdomen with a hunting knife with a 4 1/2 inch blade". Strangely, the morning after the Riverside City College library reconstruction on November 13th 1966 concerning the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, a buried hunting knife with a blade measuring 4 1/2 inches was raked up by a groundskeeper just 50 feet from the location of Cheri Jo Bates' body, in the same driveway. Although this was unlikely the weapon used in the attack on Roslyn Atwood, was the game now being played out in the campus itself? The comparison between the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and Roslyn Atwood was briefly considered in the Riverside Daily Press newspaper published on November 3rd 1966, entitled "Key Clue Goes to C11 Unit". Only briefly, however, because Rolland Lin Taft (19) was still behind bars for the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood.      

The typed wording on the Confession letter of "I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game" may have a different meaning. Was the author of the Confession letter, just like the Riverside Desktop Poem, harking back to the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood in 1965, using a mocking defence of his actions in the stabbing of Cheri Jo Bates? It was reported in the Riverside Daily-Enterprise newspaper on September 11th 1965 that Rolland Taft had pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood by reason of insanity. It appeared that the author of the Confession letter was doing the same. But I suspect this claim of insanity was just another part of the "game". It must also be noted that one of the Confession letters was mailed to the Riverside Daily-Enterprise.   

When the Zodiac Killer concealed "man is the most dangerous animal of all" in his 408 cipher, he mimicked the exact quote used by Merian C. Cooper upon the release of the 1932 film "The Most Dangerous Game". I have only found this quote in a handful of newspapers from 1932, so how did the Zodiac Killer acquire this from 37 years prior to 1969 without the use of old newspapers, possibly stored on the microfiche from a library? Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to royalty in the 17th century. The words once used by Edward Hyde of “They who are most weary of life, and yet are most unwilling to die" are extremely similar to the Riverside Desktop Poem title of "sick of living, unwilling to die," who himself survived a murderous attack, when English sailors nearly killed him at Evreux in France in 1668. If the title of the desktop poem had such lofty origins, it would seem that a library would be of great value once more. A history graduate that can migrate from southern to northern California perhaps? 

MERIAN C. COOPER AND "THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME" (1932)

It has recently been shown how phrases from the Riverside newspapers have been used to create the Riverside Desktop Poem in November/December, The Confession letters on November 29th 1966 and the "Bates Had to Die" letters on April 30th 1967. It seems like the author of the desktop poem trawled through old articles from the local newspaper (the Riverside Daily Press), and used "Clean-cut youth sought in stabbing" from April 17th 1965 about the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood (19). She was stabbed once in the lower abdomen by Rolland Taft while she was walking through a Riverside City College parking lot on April 13th 1965 at 9:30pm. The Riverside Desktop Poem stated "cut, clean, if red/clean. blood spurting, dripping, spilling; all over her new dress". 

The author of the confession letter used the same mimicry on November 29th 1966 by taking phrases and inspiration from the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper on November 24th 1966. This newspaper article was about another 19-year-old female college student, who was offered a ride in a man's car and then attacked, just like the claims in the confession letter five days later. The newspaper article stated that the man "grabbed her around the neck". The confession letter author typed "I grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth". The newspaper article stated "I could just hit you in the head with this piece of wood". The confession letter author typed "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". The assailant mentioned in the newspaper stated "I'm not Jack the Ripper". The confession letter author typed "But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see". At one point the assailant offered to "take her home", with the confession letter author typing he "would give her a lift home".

The author of the "Bates Had to Die" letters continued the theme of mimicry from local newspapers. The sender of the three Bates' letters on April 30th 1967 parroted the words used by Jack Matthews, the Staff Writer of the Press-Enterprise newspaper. On the same day the three threatening letters arrived (one to the Press-Enterprise), he wrote an extensive article about the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and the content in the confession letter, stating "The letter told of how Cheri struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". The author of the Bates' letters mimicked this wording by writing "Bates had to die, there will be more".

​On October 19th 1966, eleven days before the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, The Riverside Daily Press ran an article about David Karp's original drama series on ABC Stage 67. It ran from September 14th 1966 to May 4th 1967, featuring 26 episodes. The episode immediately before the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, aired on October 19th 1966, was entitled "The Confession", in which a lieutenant who was unaware of the latest Supreme Court ruling on murder confessions, attempts to coerce a confession from murder suspect Brandon de Wilde. 

​On June 13th 1966 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, was a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that law enforcement in the United States must warn a person of their constitutional rights before interrogating them, or else the person's statements or confession cannot be used as evidence at their trial. Specifically, the Court held that under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government cannot use a person's statements made in response to an interrogation while in police custody as evidence at the person's criminal trial unless they can show that the person was informed of the right to consult with a lawyer before and during questioning, and of the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant not only understood these rights but also voluntarily waived them before answering questions. ​ 

"The Confession" to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on November 29th 1966 may have been another time the author mimicked the local Riverside newspaper (four times in total), mockingly confessing to a recent murder, knowing that anything he typed was in advance of any Miranda rights being issued. We have the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood (19) on April 13th 1965, the murder of Cheri Jo Bates (18) on October 30th 1966, the abduction of a young 19-year-old woman on November 22nd 1966, and the fictitious "murder" of Bonnie on October 19th 1966, all wrapped up in three suspicious communications authored in Riverside, using mimicry from the local Riverside newspaper.   

It is clear that the author of the three Bates' letters on April 30th 1967 parroted the words used by Jack Matthews, the Staff Writer of the Press-Enterprise newspaper. On the same day the three threatening letters arrived (one to the Press-Enterprise), he wrote an extensive article about the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and the content in the confession letter, stating "The letter told of how Cheri struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". The author of the Bates' letters mimicked this wording by writing "Bates had to die, there will be more" (see foot of article).

​The author of the confession letter used the same mimicry on November 29th 1966 by taking phrases and inspiration from the Press-Enterprise newspaper on November 24th 1966 (see below). This newspaper article was about a 19-year-old woman who was offered a ride in a man's car and then attacked, just like the claims in the confession letter five days later. The newspaper article stated that the man "grabbed her around the neck". The confession letter author typed "I grabbed her around the neck with my hand over her mouth". The newspaper article stated "I could just hit you in the head with this piece of wood". The confession letter author typed "She let out a scream once and I kicked her in the head to shut her up". The assailant mentioned in the newspaper stated "I'm not Jack the Ripper". The confession letter author typed "But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see". At one point the assailant offered to "take her home", with the confession letter author typing he "would give her a lift home". The author of both the Bates' letters and confession letters borrowed phrases from a recently published newspaper article in the Press-Enterprise, and summarily addressed two of these offerings to the same newspaper..The menacing letters came in duplicate on November 29th 1966 and in triplicate on April 30th 1967. The methodology of both authors was extremely similar. The strange signature on two of the Bates' letters followed the wording "There will be more". The author was implying more victims?

​The murder of Cheri Jo Bates (18) and the attack on the 19-year-old woman happened 2 1/2 miles from each other. The man who picked up the woman on Linden Street on November 22nd 1966, had initially given her a lift in his car three weeks earlier. This would have been approximately November 1st 1966, one day after the body of Cheri Jo Bates was found murdered in the driveway alongside Terracina Drive. He was described as 35 years old, 5-foot 9-inches, with a "chunky protruding stomach". I wonder what he looked like on October 11th 1969?

​It is difficult not to see a connection between the Riverside Desktop Poem, Confession letter and Bates' letters when they have the common language of "to die" running through all three, along with the numerous similarities between the poem and the Confession letter, explored here in great detail. A further comprehensive examination of the Confession letter with the then unreleased autopsy report of Cheri Jo Bates, strongly points to an author who knew too much. If the Confession letter author on November 29th 1966 was the murderer of the young college student, then he was very likely responsible for the desktop poem also. 

Only three days after the discovery of Cheri Jo Bates' body on Halloween morning (October 31st 1966), the Riverside Daily Press newspaper published an article on November 3rd 1966 entitled "Key Clue Goes to C11 Unit", comparing the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood (19) on April 13th 1965 with the murder of Cheri Jo Bates.(18) on the same campus (see below). It was soon discovered that Rolland Taft (19), responsible for the attack on Atwood, was still in jail when Cheri was murdered and therefore was not responsible for her murder and any of the subsequent communications. I suspect that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates read this newspaper article and composed a desktop poem mentioning how Roslyn Atwood was "unwilling to die" and had escaped to a nearby house after her stabbing. with "blood spurting, dripping and spilling over her new red dress". The author concluded that she wouldn't "die this time," but Cheri Jo Bates wouldn't be so lucky, stating "just wait till next time", The addition of "rh" likely dating her demise as happening in Riverside on Halloween, because that is when her body was discovered.

The poem was predominately structured around the Roslyn Atwood attack, and was possibly written in blue ballpoint pen a matter of days after the November 3rd 1966 newspaper article. The Confession letter on November 29th 1966 likely continued where the desktop poem finished off, by describing that "next time". The Confession letter would contrast the fact that Roslyn Atwood was "unwilling to die" by remarking how Cheri Jo Bates "went to the slaughter like a lamb" and "went very willingly". The Confession letter also used the phrase "to die" again, stating "I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die". It must also be noted how the word "time" appeared 5 times in these two communications.   

It is hard to believe that when the desktop poem was discovered in December 1966, a connection wasn't made between the Roslyn Atwood story and the contents of the desktop poem. I have trawled through approximately a dozen newspaper articles about the attempted murder of Roslyn Atwood and found no mention of a "new red dress" in any. All police really had to do was reinterview Roslyn Atwood and discover if she had bought a new red dress shortly before she was stabbed. If she had been able to confirm this fact, it would have placed the desktop poem author and likely murderer of Cheri Jo Bates in her proximity the day she was stabbed. How else could he have reasonably acquired the knowledge she had recently purchased a new red dress and had worn it that night, other than her telling him directly, by somebody who knew Roslyn telling him, or through him overhearing a conversation of her telling someone else?

Roslyn Atwood attended night classes at the Riverside City College and had been attacked traveling home at 9:30pm that night, so it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that the desktop poem author attended the same night class as Roslyn, or had been at the Riverside college for other classes on April 13th 1965. Either way, if police could have confirmed she had bought such a dress and was wearing it when she was stabbed, it would have placed the author of the desktop poem extremely close to Roslyn Atwood at the Riverside City College. A college he would have been writing a desktop poem about 19 months later. For those who believe Zodiac to be responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, Roslyn Atwood could be the key.

On November 16th 1970 Paul Avery published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper about a possible link between the Zodiac Killer and the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966. The Redlands Daily Facts newspaper also covered this story (see below), by noting the resemblance between the Halloween card mailed by the Zodiac Killer and the "Bates Had to Die" letters, which both were argued to have the "Z" signature. The San Francisco Chronicle and Redlands Daily Facts newspapers also covered the abduction story of Kathleen Johns, who at the time of her ordeal on March 22nd 1970 lived at 847 West Campus Way in San Bernardino, 12 miles from the murder site of Cheri Jo Bates, alongside Terracina Drive. The Zodiac Killer would graciously accept this "riverside activity" on March 13th 1971 when he wrote to the Los Angeles newspaper. But how could he simultaneously attach himself to the Kathleen Johns crime once again, while interjecting himself close to Riverside?     

On July 30th 1971, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to a Redlands resident stating "There is a bomb in your house that will go off tonight at midnight. Leave $1,000,000 at your front door at 11 p.m". Most reasonable people will accept that this demand was unlikely to be met by the resident of the house, yet it was a malicious threat nonetheless. We obviously do not know whether this letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, but if it was, it would be interesting to discover the name of the homeowner. A letter from the Zodiac Killer to somebody connected to the case would have had far more impact than a random Redlands resident plucked from the telephone directory.

​The border of Redlands was only 4.25 miles from the once home of Kathleen Johns (847 West Campus Way), where she had lived at the time of her abduction. Where was she living on July 30th 1971? Could the homeowner have been somebody connected to Kathleen Johns or to Cheri Jo Bates? If this letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, it may have been a strategic move on his behalf to connect himself to an area relevant to both Kathleen Johns and Riverside, arriving just 4 months after his claim of "riverside activity". 

The San Francisco Chronicle and Redlands Daily Facts newspapers highlighted the "Z" connection between the Halloween card and "Bates Had to Die" letters, so did the author of the July 30th 1971 letter provide a compelling literary connection to a Zodiac Killer letter? (preferably using a letter unreleased into the public domain). Although spelt slightly differently, the author of the July 30th 1971 letter signed off his communication with "har! har! har!", using three exclamation marks. When the Zodiac Killer mailed the second Fairfield letter on December 16th 1969 he signed off the letter with "ha! ha! ha!". We have two letters with laughing signatures, both referencing the Zodiac Killer, with the later communication mailed relatively close to the once residence of Kathleen Johns and Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates, both of whom were the main focus of the above two newspapers (and many more), coming 4 months after his admission of "riverside activity". Was this his attempt to apply significance to his claims on March 13th 1971? 

Recently deceased Zodiac researcher Howard Davis spoke with Kathleen Johns, stating "She told us when she jumped from the car and ran to a vineyard he was calling out to her and scanning the area with a flashlight and he was holding a gun. She told me she did mention it to an officer who didn’t take any notes as she spoke. They really didn’t want this to be a kidnap. Then in departing we were talking (and) she mentioned he sent her a Halloween card Oct.70 as l have posted several times. Inside it read:“To the lady in the blue station wagon”. She sent it to Paul Avery who had interviewed her relative to the abduction and did an article. We called him but he said he never got it". This claim by Kathleen Johns may carry some weight, because the telephone threats to Daniel Williams over a two week period beginning October 23rd 1969 by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, made the threat to "kill the lady in the blue house". The language adopted of "the lady in the blue" was pertinent in both instances. 

The one enduring feature of the Zodiac Killer is his ability to play with words, often using contemporary stories in the newspapers to surreptitiously weave into his communications. But was November 1966 one such instance, when the landmark story of "the confession" heavily featured in the newspapers throughout the year to the chagrin of law enforcement, who would become three years later, the target of mockery and ridicule at the hand of the Zodiac Killer. 

On June 13th 1966 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, was a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that law enforcement in the United States must warn a person of their constitutional rights before interrogating them, or else the person's statements or confession cannot be used as evidence at their trial. Specifically, the Court held that under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government cannot use a person's statements made in response to an interrogation while in police custody as evidence at the person's criminal trial unless they can show that the person was informed of the right to consult with a lawyer before and during questioning, and of the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant not only understood these rights but also voluntarily waived them before answering questions. 

​Ernesto Arturo Miranda (March 9, 1941 – January 31, 1976) was an American laborer whose criminal conviction was set aside in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their right against self-incrimination and their right to consult with an attorney before being questioned by police. This warning is known as a Miranda warning. Ernesto Miranda had been convicted of kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges based on his confession under police interrogation. Wikipedia. 

This was met with dismay by many police departments the length and breadth of the country, who feared the balance of power shifting toward the criminal. with the day-to-day operations of law enforcement being shackled by the ruling of the Supreme Court. A confession was now inadmissable without a prior Miranda warning.from interrogating officers. This may have amused the Zodiac Killer (or author of the Confession letter) when they twice addressed Chief Lambert Kinkead of the Riverside Police Department and headed two letters on November 29th 1966 with "THE CONFESSION", reminding them of a prior "WARNING" they issued to police, typing "Yes I did make that call to you also. It was just a warning". This form of mockery wouldn't have been lost on the Zodiac Killer, had he been present in Riverside during this period. A "just warning" by telephone, followed by a typed confession of murder to police.

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.

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

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

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

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

FURTHER READING: A POSSIBLE AUTHOR OF THE NOVATO LETTER?