On April 26th 1975 an article entitled Slayer of 14--A Possible Profile appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. It would be over one year until the San Francisco Chronicle featured an article about David Toschi and his endless pursuit of the Zodiac Killer. This article on August 26th 1976 was headed by the title Tips Still Pursue Multiple Slayer and contained an important piece of text on the third paragraph, of  "With the transfer of his long time partner, William Armstrong, to the fraud detail, Toschi is the only San Francisco detective on the case now, one of the most baffling in the history of American crime". The first major newspaper article in the Chronicle for 16 months, referencing Zodiac and Toschi's long time partner William Armstrong, which coincided with an advertisement placed in the personal column of the Chronicle on August 26th 1976 (to run for one week) beginning with the name "Zodiac" and stating "Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE". That is a coincidence too far - and with little doubt - the newspaper article and the advertisement were connected in some way.  

One of the most common crimes in America is mortgage fraud, so the reference to partner William Armstrong having been transferred to fraud detail in the newspaper article, could very well be the inspiration behind the advertisement from Zodiac, stating "Your partner is in deep real estate".  

But was this the only time the Zodiac Killer targeted the detective duo of David Toschi and William Armstrong via the newspapers or through a personal advertisement? We know that the emphasis of the Zodiac Killer switched from killing people to bomb threats in the latter part of 1969 and throughout 1970. Whether or not he reappeared in 1974 is open to debate, but he certainly would have been aware of his so-called return, even if he wasn't the responsible. The last letter in 1974 credited to the Zodiac Killer in the newspapers, was the Red Phantom letter postmarked July 8th 1974. So, what are the chances that the Zodiac Killer would mail another letter in the August of 1974, indicating his intention of bombing certain locations in San Francisco, getting David Toschi and William Armstrong to "run all over town", including map directions and requesting that an advertisement be placed in the personal column of two newspapers, just like the advertisement above?  

On or shortly before August 16th 1974, an unaddressed letter found in a U.S. Post Office opened with the cordial greeting "Good morning gentlemen and politicians", but carried the ominous message that he had placed explosives in "hard to find places" all over San Francisco. The letter stated he was an educated older man who had fell on hard times, losing his money to unscrupulous businessmen and politicians, but was now going to exact revenge by blowing up various buildings in San Francisco. He had placed 350 pounds of plastic explosives and 13 cases of dynamite around San Francisco and demanded that advertisements be placed in the personal columns of the San Francisco Examiner and Oakland Tribune newspapers indicating that $350,000 be paid to him.

The author included a map and location of a payphone, insisting that "two policemen", whose names are specifically set forth in his letter were to make the pay off. The San Francisco Police Intelligence Unit complied with his wishes, however, no further contact was made by the subject and the matter was closed. Bearing in mind the revitalized interest in the Zodiac Killer in the months preceding this communication, and the relentless pursuit of the killer by David Toschi and his partner, William Armstrong, one couldn't help thinking that the two policemen named to "run around town" with a suitcase of money, may have been Toschi and Armstrong. They were two high profile "policemen" who would certainly have been known by name. I couldn't imagine the author of the letter choosing two ordinary "beat coppers" to run around after him. Not withstanding the fact, that both David Toschi and William Armstrong may have been referenced in another 'personal column advertisement' just two years later, with the pseudonym "Zodiac" front and center of that message.  

The following newspaper article from August 27th 1976 is courtesy of Cragle, a regular contributor to both Zodiac forums.

A business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, March 2nd 1981, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn", contained the message "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". Six days later, a letter claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer arrived at the television station WXIA-TV "11 Alive" at 1611 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, 30308 on March 8th 1981, stating "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet". I therefore went in search of other communications from these postmark locations that bore any similarity to the Zodiac Killer. The following find is extremely unlikely to have any connection to the Bay Area murderer, but it was a threatening greeting card that carried the same message apparently included with the Zodiac Killer's October 27th 1970 Halloween card, the arrival date carries some significance, the card was postmarked just 22 days before the 2001 Happy New Year "Zodiac" greeting card, which was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 10th 2001, and it was postmarked from Cleveland, Ohio, just like the March 2nd 1981 letter above.   

It was a threatening communication, cut into four pieces and mailed to the Republican Headquarters, 526 Superior Avenue Northeast, Cleveland, Ohio on December 19th 2000 to U.S. Senator George Voinovich, and received on December 20th 2000. Two stickers apparently came with the Zodiac Halloween card in 1970 with the messages "Thinking of you" and "Have a nice day". This greeting card, adorned with an image of flowers, also came with the message "Thinking of you". Three parts of the handwritten threat stated "Hey you stinking white bitch", "We don't want no TV bullshit" and "we will cut off your head and impale it on a spear". The envelope bore a zip code of 44126-1906 and a 33c upside down General Omar N. Bradley stamp.

In essence, we have a 2000 greeting card bearing the message "Thinking of you", the exact wording previously mailed with the 1970 Halloween card. The 2000 communication bore the postmark Cleveland, Ohio, the same as a potential Zodiac correspondence from 1981. The 2000 greeting card was postmarked 22 days before a suspected Zodiac greeting card on January 10th 2001. The March 2nd 1981, December 19th 2000 and January 10th 2001 communications all carried a racial overtone of "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March", "Hey you stinking white bitch" and "Those bastard Muni Drive (The majority Black and asians) What happened to the White people Drivers we once had".

To find out the reason Senator George Voinovich was targeted, we have to look at his timeline on Wikipedia, where it states "In the Senate, Voinovich opposed lowering tax rates. He frequently joined Democrats on tax issues and in 2000 was the only Republican in Congress to vote against a bill providing for relief from the "marriage penalty". In previous suspected Zodiac communications the author had targeted many notable Democrats, so the fact Senator Voinovich "frequently joined with Democrats on tax issues" is in keeping with a Zodiac Killer of Republican persuasion attacking anybody who opposed his views. However, it must be stressed, that this greeting card was unlikely to have been mailed by the Zodiac Killer despite some of the overlapping features.

Threatening letters to the newspapers, police and celebrities are not uncommon (so cannot all be attributed to the Zodiac Killer), but in the interest of impartiality we will look at as many as possible and consider if any link exists to the Bay Area murderer or other suspected Zodiac material.

The following communication (postmark address unknown) was dated by its author as January 19th 1974, but was received by Sammy Davis, JR on the same day the Exorcist letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, on January 29th 1974. It was received at Harrah's Reno Hotel & Casino, Reno, Nevada, situated 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe and Incline Village. It contained several interesting items accompanied by the signed pseudonyms "The General" and "Der Führer". Part of the letter "From: U.S. Armed Forces To: Sammy David, JR", stated "You are on a death list. The police cannot help you. If you wish to stay alive, go to the L.A. (SFV) Nike Missile Base for instructions. The General".

The Zodiac Killer, or somebody purporting to be the Zodiac Killer, sent a "death list" of 30 politicians and celebrities on June 8th 1977, dubbed the "Steve McQueen" letter. Then on May 2nd 1978, another letter with a "death list" was mailed in Los Angeles to 5615 Melrose Avenue and the Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios. The envelope postmarked May 2nd 1978 was misaddressed and should have been mailed to 5515 Melrose Avenue, which was the correct address of Channel 9 KHJ-TV, which sat right next to Paramount Studios located at 5555 Melrose Avenue. However, there are many things that came with the "Der Fuhrer" letter that parallel the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 letter. 

There are many parts to the January 19th 1974 letter, but the "death list" introduction was written on the reverse side of a billing invoice dated October 31st 1971, from the Monterrey Pharmacy, 12901 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California. Irrespective of this being the date Cheri Jo Bates' body was found in Riverside, the Monterrey Pharmacy was just 7 miles (by crow) from the Channel 9 Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue. Another part of the January 19th 1974 letter had a small card enclosed, bearing the name "Institute for Family Neurosis Research". The flip side of the card bore the handprinting "KGIL, (213) 894-9191". This was a radio station in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. KGIL began broadcasting on October 19th 1947, on 1260 kHz with 1,000 watts of power full-time. The station was licensed to San Fernando Valley Broadcasting Company, with studios and executive offices at 4919 Van Nuys Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California. This location was 9 miles from the Channel 9 Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue.      

Another item in the January 19th 1974 letter was an extensive list of well-known individuals and accusations on a memographed sheet dated December 4th 1973. This was signed with the pseudonym "Der Führer". Two individuals mentioned on the list could be connected to the Channel 9 letter, which included "Ex Chief piggy Ed Davis" and "Susan Atkins" (see right). 

The "Der Führer" section stated "Police Chief Ed Davis and City Atty, Burt Pines managed the poisoning of Marv Gray....Pres". Later in the ramblings it mentioned the murder victim Sharon Tate, killed by the Manson family and Susan Atkins, which also featured heavily on the Channel 9 envelope and in the letter. Sharon Tate was murdered at 10050 Cielo Drive, a former luxury home in Benedict Canyon, in the west-central part of the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, bordering Beverly Hills. This location was just 5 miles from the Monterrey Pharmacy and KGIL radio station.

Therefore, did we have an individual mailing the January 19th 1974 and May 2nd 1978 letters from the region of Los Angeles, with a passing interest in the Monterrey Pharmacy, KGIL radio station, Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios and the Manson family murders at Cielo Drive, all located within a 9-mile circumference of one another. And of course, both letters mentioned or carried a "death list".  

Another threatening letter to a famous personality, was postmarked December 5th 1973 from California and mailed to Colonel Harland D. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky. It bore the return address of Central News - Wave Publications, 1016 West Vernon Avenue, Los Angeles, California. It was another typewritten letter, dated December 4th 1973, exactly the same date attributed to the "Der Führer" letter above, thereby indicating it was almost certainly mailed by the same individual. It was accompanied by a handwritten note bearing the letterhead "United Paper & Press, 13240 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California", dated January 14th 1974, and signed "The General" once again. The return address on the typed letter of 1016 West Vernon Avenue, Los Angeles, bisects Sherman Oaks and Anaheim (postmark on the Channel 9 letter).

United Paper & Press at 13240 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California is just 702 meters from the Monterrey Pharmacy at 12901 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks (from the Sammy Davis, JR letter insert). Both inserts from Sherman Oaks (Monterrey Pharmacy and United Paper & Press) were from U.S. Armed Forces. This one too carried a similar ominous message: "This is to inform you that you are in grave danger of being murdered. For details go to any recruiting station and call the Los Angeles Nike Missile Base. The General". 

We can now add United Paper & Press at 13240 Riverside Drive, to the Monterrey Pharmacy, KGIL radio station, Channel 9 KHJ-TV Studios and the Manson family murders at Cielo Drive, totaling 5 locations within a 9-mile circumference - along with Police Chief Ed Davis, Sharon Tate, Susan Atkins and the 1234567 A.G.C.G.T.H. (All Good Children Go To Heaven) additions.

In two recent articles [1] [2] we have been attempting to find potential Zodiac Killer communications along the route of California, Texas, Atlanta, Washington and New York, thereby bridging the gap between the March 8th 1981 "Zodiac" Atlanta letter, implying he was killing children, and the Santa Claus card mailed to the family of missing Joan Webster, on or shortly after January 20th 1982.

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". On March 18th 1981, the Washington Post received a letter addressed to "Editor of the Washington Post" and claiming to have information on the Atlanta killings, requesting that the editor place an advertisement in the newspaper, stating "Daniel Please Call Home". In the Santa Claus card, mailed circa January 20th 1982, the author typed "Please, where can I write you,?" Three ominous/cryptic brief messages, all containing the polite request of "Please", either in the first or second word of the message.

Below is a further communication, postmarked Williamsport PA 177 PM 23 APR 1981, bearing a pre-printed address. The accompanying handwritten note began "You shall die I'm going to..." The postage-paid envelope was used by a company to distribute literature to its prospective customers. The distribution was made from the New York office of the company because it was printed in red ink. The company retained a list of individuals who received such an envelope, however, no suspects have been formally identified in the matter. The name "Bobby Doe" had been added over the erased return address on the face of the envelope, while the reverse side of the envelope carried a threat to President Ronald Reagan. This communication was reminiscent of the threat to kill Jimmy Carter in a suspected Zodiac letter postmarked June 8th 1977, and "You shall die I'm going to..." similar to the beginning of the October 17th 1970 card, stating "The Zodiac is going to". I am unsure whether the crosshairs on the second page below were sourced from the original letter, but a curious addition nonetheless, bearing in mind the two Zodiac crosshairs added to the March 8th 1981 Atlanta letter, one of which was present on the envelope.    

Williamsport, Pennsylvania is approximately 160 miles from New York and Washington, which featured regarding the "Daniel Please Call Home" letter and the Santa Claus card. The analysis of the letter determined that the author was probably a male, aged between 10 and 15 years. However, it is specified that the linguistic method employed is not considered a positive means of identification. Was it the scrawling childlike writing of the Zodiac Killer, akin to the scribbled Bates letters, or indeed an extremely youthful impersonator? 

Joan Lucinda Webster, a 25-year-old Harvard graduate, disappeared after her arrival at Boston's Logan International Airport on 28th November 1981, with her remains identified nearly nine years later on April 30th 1990 in Hamilton, Massachusetts. The envelope and card (shown below) were likely mailed to the parents of the missing woman on, or shortly after January 20th 1982 (because the postmark is missing the date). See previous article The Santa Claus Card.

If the Zodiac Killer had travelled from Los Angeles to Texas by car, either in late 1980 or January 1981, he could have travelled through Texas and picked up the Better Life Journal envelope after a moderate stay. His next port of call in the early months of 1981 would have been Atlanta, Georgia, where he claimed in a letter that he had now killed children and was targeting more.
Not everybody believed that 23-year-old Wayne Bertram Williams was responsible for the totality of the Atlanta Child Murders.
The letter, purportedly written by the Zodiac Killer, was postmarked Atlanta, Georgia and mailed to the television station WXIA-TV "11 Alive" at 1611 West Peachtree Street, 30308 on March 8th 1981.

In accompaniment to the Atlanta letter, the author wrote another short note stating "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". This was a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, March 2nd 1981, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn". Shortly before these letters (or after, depending on how you interpret the files), an anonymous communication postmarked Prince George's County, Maryland, February 17th 1981, addressed to "Editor of the Washington Post" and claiming to have information on the Atlanta killings, demanded that the editor place an advertisement in the newspaper stating "Daniel Please Call Home", after which the writer would initiate further contact with the editor of the Washington Post. At approximately 2:30 pm on the same date, March 18th 1981, the Washington Field Office contacted (redacted) and he advised that he and his newspaper would cooperate fully and place the "Daniel Please Call Home" advertisement in the March 19th 1981 edition. If the Zodiac Killer was in Cleveland or Maryland, was he going to initiate further contact with the editor of the Washington Post when he arrived in Washington - once he had finished his promise of murdering three more kids in Atlanta in March. 

Did the Zodiac Killer commute between Atlanta, Cleveland and Maryland, before continuing eastwards toward New York. The question is, who is Daniel and did the Zodiac Killer initiate further contact with the Washington Post during his stop in Washington? Was the author insinuating his involvement in another missing person case? When the Zodiac Killer arrived in New York, he acquired the Santa Claus card in the latter months of 1981 (during the approach to the festive period). The card carried the return address of 654 Grand View Avenue, Ridgewood, New York. This New York Santa Claus card was soon to be placed inside the Better Life Journal Texas envelope 

Los Angeles to Atlanta is a virtual straight line across the country, through Texas. U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 is an east–west United States highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest all the way to New England. Once the Zodiac had collected the Santa Claus card in New York, did he continue north-east to Massachusetts (Boston's Logan International Airport) where he abducted and murdered Joan Webster? Then, a month later, on January 21st 1982 (or thereabouts) he used both envelope and card he picked up on his travels, mailing them in unison to the Webster family at Glen Ridge, New Jersey. The Zodiac Killer may have had nothing to do with Joan Webster's abduction and murder, but the Atlanta letter does place him on that trajectory 9 months prior to her disappearance, presuming any, or all of these communications have anything to do with the Bay Area murderer.

Joan Lucinda Webster, a 25-year-old Harvard graduate, disappeared after her arrival at Boston's Logan International Airport on 28th November 1981, with her remains identified nearly nine years later on April 30th 1990 in Hamilton, Massachusetts. The cause of her death remains undetermined and nobody has been charged with her presumed abduction and murder. The case is constantly kept alive by determined individuals keen for a resolution to this thirty-nine year old murder mystery - and is covered extensively on the Joan Webster Murder site. 

Joan Webster's parents made a heartfelt appeal for any information pertaining to their missing daughter, which was broadcast throughout New England on Christmas Day of 1981, less than a month after her disappearance. On January 18th 1982, a $10,000 reward was offered by George Webster's employer, International Telephone and Telegraph Inc, for any pertinent information regarding the disappearance and present whereabouts of the young Harvard graduate. 

Gareth Sewell Penn, by some considered a Zodiac Killer suspect, contacted George and Eleanor Webster suggesting that the missing woman may have been the work of the Zodiac Killer. He was convinced that a Santa Claus greeting card was fashioned by the Bay Area murderer, likening it to the November 29th 1966 Confession letter by use of Morse and binary code, along with a whole host of mathematical trickery in a vain attempt to forge a link. However, he was able to receive photocopies of the Santa Claus card and envelope, to which he refers to in a communication retrieved from the FBI files, shown below. 

I have taken four clippings of the communication, which include the Santa Claus greeting card (front and back) and the envelope (front and back) that contained it. The original size and quality of the photocopies were poor, so I have enhanced and resized them for greater clarity. Next to the return address on the envelope (from Better Life Journal) was a newspaper cutting wrapped around the envelope from front to back. The newspaper cutting was in respect to the missing woman, with the only visible section on the front reading "Offer 10G reward for missing coed". The envelope was addressed "Deliver to ::: Joan Webster./Familie Glen Ridge NJ." The $10,000 reward was offered on behalf of the family on January 18th 1982, with the above typed Gareth Penn communication dated April 5th 1982, so it's clearly evident that the Santa Claus greeting card was mailed between these dates. The envelope carried 4 X 5c George Washington stamps, the correct postage for 1982.

The postmark does not give away its mailing date, but the family made a 1981 Christmas day appeal, followed up by a $10,000 reward on January 18th 1982, in all likelihood, making the deliberately chosen Santa Claus greeting card to be mailed on or shortly after January 20th 1982. That is because I have identified the newspaper cutting from this date, reporting that the family "offer 10G reward for missing coed". I can see no connection to the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, but if I was attempting to forge a link between this greeting card and the Zodiac Killer case, I would start by comparing it to the Christmas card mailed in 1974 to the sister of missing nurse Donna Lass. The 1974 card was addressed to Mary Pilker, a family member of the missing Donna Lass, much the same as the Santa Claus card was mailed to the family of missing Joan Webster. Both women were 25 years of age, and both were still missing when the respective greetings cards were mailed. The 1974 Christmas card contained the cryptic message "Best Wishes, St Donna & Guardian of the Pines", while the 1982 Santa Claus card held the equally cryptic, but typed "Please, where can I write you, ?. SC".

THE SANTA CLAUS CARD (PART 2)
.

Recently I have examined a connection between the 1969 and 1987 Vallejo Times-Herald envelopes not only through handwriting, but through design. We know of only three communications to the Vallejo Times-Herald, mailed on July 31st 1969, October 28th 1987 and September 25th 1990. There is a strong possibility that the Bay Area murderer mailed all three. I am sure he was a killer who meticulously kept all the newspaper cuttings written about him over the years and drew inspiration from them when he mailed his latter communications, dropping in subtle clues beyond the capability of the casual hoaxer. 

If we take a look at the three July 31st 1969 letters, you will notice that the communication addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle contained the word "cipher" spelled correctly five times. To the San Francisco Examiner the word "cipher" was spelled correctly three times. In the Vallejo Times-Herald he spelled the word "cipher" correctly once, while spelling it incorrectly on the only other occasion, depositing the letter "Y" into the word (cyipher). The author of the postcard mailed on September 25th 1990 from Oakland, addressed the card as the Celebrity Cypher to the Vallejo Times Herold Vallejo CA. The 1969, 1987 and 1990 communications all used the full address of the newspaper, despite the publicly known July 31st 1969 letters to the Chronicle and Examiner only using the title of Vallejo Times.

But more crucially, both the communications on July 31st 1969 and September 25th 1990 addressed the Vallejo Times-Herald as "Herold", switching the "A" for an "O". I have contacted the editor of the Vallejo Times-Herald for a clearer image of the October 28th 1987 envelope and he promised to have a look in the files. Not only would we be able to view the handwriting in greater clarity, but we would find out if he addressed the envelope "Herold" for a third time. If he did, then the Bay Area murderer would have mailed only three communication to the Vallejo Times-Herald (that we know of), and all would have contained the misspelling of "Herald" to "Herold".

Below is an FBI file from November 8th 1973 carrying the name of Leslie B. Lundblad, analyzing some handwriting in respect to the Vallejo Times-Herald envelope, the Debut of Zodiac letter and the Little List letter. It is accompanied by two excerpts from the Zodiac Killer FBI files (Part One). All three FBI documents feature the address used on the July 31st 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope. All three show that it was addressed to the Vallejo Times Herold, just like the 1990 Celebrity Cypher. What is the betting on the October 28th 1987 envelope containing the word "Herold" as well? Could a casual copycat just keep getting so many things correct, despite having no access to any of the preceding Zodiac envelopes - or is it more likely that the Zodiac Killer was more nuanced than we give him credit for.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Below is the envelope of the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 letter featured on zodiackiller.com, mailed to KHJ-TV in Los Angeles just eight days after the "I Am Back With You" letter, postmarked April 24th 1978. There have been links forged on the Zodiac Killer Site forum between two of the 1978 letters and the March 8th 1981 "Atlanta" letter, mailed to West Peachtree Street in Atlanta. All three carried the Symbols of America stamps of the 13c Liberty Bell, 13c Eagle and Shield, and 15c American Flag from the Americana Seies. In addition to these three communications, another communication was mailed on July 19th 1978 to the San Francisco Chronicle from Los Angeles, rambling on about tape waiting for him all over California. In this analysis, I would like to focus initially on the three 1978 letters mailed within three months of one another, as well as the Melvin Belli letter mailed to 1228 Montgomery Street in San Francisco on December 20th 1969. The reason to jump back to 1969, was not only because the handwriting on the Melvin Belli letter looked somewhat similar to the Channel 9 envelope, but because of the content contained within it. 

The Melvin Belli letter contained the phrases I am afraid I will loose control again, I will loose all controol of my self and Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer. The communications on April 24th 1978 and July 19th 1978, either side of the Channel 9 letter, both continued this theme of control. The April 24th 1978 letter concluded with "I am now in control of all things". The July 19th 1978 letter concluded with "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control," but also began with "I am the ZODIAC and I am in control of all things". One couldn't help thinking that this theme should be present in the Channel 9 letter, therefore binding it to the other two 1978 letters - and possibly the Zodiac Killer.

The upper left corner of an envelope is usually reserved for the sender's name and address, but the author of the Channel 9 letter has placed 1234567 All Good Children Go To Heaven (abbreviated) from The Beatles You Never Give Me Your Money lyrics, as well as drawing the Apple logo from their record label in the bottom left corner. However, we are left with the boxed off section in the top left corner of the envelope, which if a mirror image just like the other writing, should be the acronym AIC. Was the answer present in the July 19th 1978 letter, when he twice stated "I AM THE ZODIAC AND I AM IN CONTROL", or are we looking for a continuation of The Beatles theme regarding the letters AIC.

If we consider one author responsible for the April 24th 1978, May 2nd 1978, July 19th 1978 and March 8th 1981 letters - and he bought several "blocks of four stamps" of the Americana Series in one visit - then we may be able to track the selection of his stamps in respect to his mailings. The Americana Series stamps followed a very uniform plan that outlined the designs of individual stamps as well as the blocks of four. In all, there were five different blocks, each with a different theme, but similar design style – the subject in the center, and the title curving around two of the edges. When all four stamps were placed together, the titles created a frame around the stamps. The five themes were Roots of Democracy, Rights and Freedoms of the American People, Symbols of America, Pioneer America, and America’s Light. Mysticstamp.com.

If the Zodiac Killer was to purchase several of the Symbols of America Series (shown below), these would have been the appropriate postage for the time. The postage was 13c from December 31st 1975 until May 29th 1978, when it switched to 15c. Then on March 22nd 1981 the postage increased to 18c. So three of these stamps would be the correct postage for his three 1978 letters and March 8th 1981 letter, had he applied just one to each.

Let us assume that the Zodiac Killer buys these blocks of four stamps just prior to his first 1978 letter on April 24th 1978. We will use the two blocks shown above to follow his course of action. Being right-handed, he tears off the two upper right Liberty Bell stamps and affixes them to his April 24th 1978 (I Am Back With You) letter. He then tears off one of the upper left Eagle and Shield stamps and affixes it to his May 2nd 1978 (Channel 9) letter. On the block of four with only two stamps remaining, he tears off the 15c American Flag stamp and affixes it to his July 19th 1978 (Friction Tape) letter. This is the easiest of the two options available to him. The stamp on the July 19th 1978 envelope is unknown because we don't have this correspondence available, so this is just a calculated guess. This would have been his only choice from the Symbols of America Series, because the stamp price increased to 15c on May 29th 1978. Then on March 8th 1981 he used the only remaining 15c American Flag stamp from the block of three stamps.

The Zodiac Killer would be left with one redundant 13c Eagle and Shield stamp in respect to correct postage for any letter up to one ounce. If another potential Zodiac letter is discovered to have been mailed between April 24th 1978 (I Am Back With You letter) and May 29th 1978 (when the 13c postage increased), and it contains an Eagle and Shield stamp on the envelope from the Symbols of America Series, we have to consider it as a strong contender for the same responsible.

If the above letters were just mailed by random hoaxers unconnected to one another, it would be rather unusual to expect three independent and consecutive communications claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, to have all contained three Symbols of America stamps from the Americana Series. If the Zodiac Killer kept a secret stash containing his writing paper, marker pens and a supply of stamps for "future use", away from prying eyes, then it is not difficult to understand how the sequence of his mailings could have unfolded.

Acquired by Tom Voigt from zodiackiller.com, the Albany letter was mailed on August 1st 1973 to the Albany Times Union newspaper in New York. As with all Zodiac outlier communications, the letter and envelope have been analyzed to death regarding the handwriting, with many determining that the letter was not authored by the Bay Area murder.

As with the recent analyses of the 1978, 1986 and 1987 communications, we have to go beyond just the handwriting and look at the composition of the envelope, taking into consideration the stamps he applied, the format of the address and the words the author chose. In this instance, we cannot compare the address format to previously unpublished Zodiac envelopes because the communication was addressed to the Albany Times Union in New York. However, as Michael Morford correctly pointed out on the Zodiac Killer message board thread, the author of the Albany Times Union letter placed the Zodiac crosshairs in the return address section of the envelope, just like the Zodiac Killer added on his October 13th 1969, Paul Stine envelope. This was the only other time the Zodiac Killer added crosshairs on the front side of his envelope by the close of 1973. On March 8th 1981, the author would do the same on the Atlanta letter.

There is also doubt surrounding the stamps affixed to this letter - but with a fair degree of certainty we can conclude that the far left stamp was a 6c Franklin D. Roosevelt. I have superimposed it next to the black outline visible on the envelope, and it matches perfectly when sized as shown. Using the remainder of horizontal black lines, it can be reasonably argued that this envelope contained three stamps amounting to postage of 18c. The postal rate for letters (for first ounce) on August 1st 1973 was 8c, so the author had used just 2c excess over double postage. The Zodiac Killer had mailed 12 confirmed letters with Franklin D. Roosevelt stamps prior to August 1st 1973. Only three of his confirmed letters (using Tom Voigt's list of letters) contained something other than a Franklin D. Roosevelt stamp by January 29th 1974. Both the Paul Stine envelope and this communication used excessive Franklin D. Roosevelt postage.

The Zodiac Killer 148 character cipher was likely mailed in the May of 1971, before the July 13th 1971 Monticello postcard. The cipher was broken to reveal the rambling message of "Tis the Zodiac Speacking. Why can't you stop me. I can't stop killing. Stop listening t(o) phonys. If this is not on your front page in a week I will skin 3 little kids and make a suit from the skin". This was telling investigators not to listen to Karl Francis Werner, recently arrested for the murders of Kathy Bilek, Kathy Snoozy and Deborah Furlong - and describing him as a phony or impostor. The Zodiac Killer had previously insinuated his involvement in the murder of all three young girls. Hence the further threat to "skin 3 little kids".

The Albany letter, purported to have been mailed by the Zodiac Killer, also carried a cipher fashioned with striking geometric shapes. Below I have highlighted four characters in both the 148 character cipher and Albany letter code (not used by the Zodiac Killer previously) that match closely to one another. In fact, three are virtually identical. In effect, we have two consecutive suspected Zodiac communications mailed two years apart, each contained a geometric style cipher with four congruent characters, and both used the number 7 in the ciphertext to correspond with the letter A in the plaintext. The decoded 148 cipher stated "Why can't you stop me. I can't stop killing", whereas the Albany letter threatened that he was "going to start killing again". This theme continued in the May 2nd 1978 KHJ-TV Channel 9 letter, pointed out by Tom Voigt on the Albany forum thread. The author added in this latest letter that he had "decided to begin killing again", creating a fragile link between all three communications. 

If we consider the crosshairs on the address side of the Albany and Stine envelope, the eccessive Franklin D. Roosevelt postage used on August 1st 1973 letter and the similarity between the two geometric ciphers shown (albeit limited), can we make a case for the May 1971 and August 1973 letters both being authored by the Zodiac Killer?         

The Albany key courtesy of Dave Oranchak, author of the website Zodiac Killer Ciphers. 

With the handwriting of the Zodiac Killer so freely available in the newspapers throughout 1969 and 1970, the best way to authenticate later communications such as the 1978, 1986 and 1987 letters is through the design and composition of the address on the envelopes. Had all the confirmed envelopes of the Zodiac Killer been withheld from the newspapers, this would have gone a long way to helping authenticate later material sent by the Zodiac or potential copycats.

Unfortunately, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article on November 16th 1970, using the Dripping Pen card envelope mailed on November 8th 1969. This gave any future hoaxer to the San Francisco Chronicle the perfect opportunity, to mimic not only the handwriting, but the structure and layout of the address. Had this not been done, any significant deviation to known envelope styles could then be challenged, if the content within them contained nothing of any substance regarding the Zodiac Killer. However, the publication of the Dripping Pen card envelope in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970, when compared to the questioned April 24th 1978 envelope and letter, may still give us some clues.

Despite being separated by eight years, the 1978 envelope shows extreme similarity to the envelope published in the San Francisco Chronicle. One could be forgiven for believing the author of the 1978 envelope copied the envelope from the November 16th 1970 San Francisco Chronicle. The Zodiac Killer addressed his envelopes to the Chronicle many different ways, using only S.F. Chronicle and San Fran. Chronicle for the name of the newspaper between 1969 and 1974, but used San Fran. Calif., San Francisco Calif, San Fran Calif, San Francisco, Calif., San Fran. Calif, and San Fran. Claif in the remainder of the address. The author of the 1978 letter used the exact wording on the publicized Dripping Pen card envelope (including the not always used "Please Rush To Editor" phrase), which could lead to the assumption that a copycat was mimicking the newspaper publication of this envelope.      

It was considered that Inspector David Toschi had forged this communication to drive publicity back to the ever dwindling Zodiac case. But why would Inspector David Toschi of Homicide Detail attempt to convince authorities of the authenticity of the 1978 letter, by using the exact same handwriting and format of the envelope published in the November 16th 1970 Chronicle newspaper. He likely had many Zodiac envelopes at his disposal, so why not use an unpublicized envelope to appear more convincing? After all, a copycat couldn't have mimicked an envelope not released to the public, from which was known to have been penned by the Zodiac Killer. By mimicking the November 16th 1970 envelope released in the newspapers, you are in effect negating the premise of the 1978 letter being from the genuine Zodiac Killer. I just don't believe a seasoned detective would be that naive.

But there is another thing to consider when determining the authenticity of this letter. The November 16th 1970 reproduction of the envelope in the San Francisco Chronicle did not contain noticeable dotted i's in Francisco, Calif or Editor, but the 1978 envelope dotted all three (just like the original Dripping Pen card envelope). Additionally, the author of the 1978 letter wrote Calif. , placing a dot after the abbreviation. This was a known trait in five confirmed Zodiac communications.

It is unfortunate that the 1978 letter used the address style of the publicized envelope, but while this may lead some to the inevitable conclusion it was designed by a hoaxer, it by the same token appears to exonerate David Toschi, who surely wouldn't have been so stupid to mimic a widely publicized envelope in order to pass off the 1978 letter as being penned by the real killer.

Much is made of the 1978 letter being ruled out by DNA in the San Francisco Police Department report of "suspected Zodiac correspondence." The report states next to the 1978 letter: "DNA sample obtained. Not authentic Zodiac letter". However, it does not explicitly state that the letter was ruled out as being from Zodiac by use of DNA. It had long been determined by many handwriting experts that the 1978 letter wasn't penned by the Zodiac Killer - so incorporating the letter in a list of "suspected Zodiac correspondence" with that determination already in place, is not confirmation it was ruled out specifically by way of DNA analysis. Only that DNA was obtained from a doubted Zodiac correspondence. To have ruled out the 1978 letter through DNA, would imply one of three things. The DNA was determined to have come from a female donor, the DNA was matched to David Toschi, or the DNA didn't match known Zodiac DNA (which by all accounts we don't have). There is every chance that the 1978 letter was never ruled out through DNA, only that it was attributed the title of "not authentic Zodiac letter" through previous determination of its handwriting and the spurious claims of Armistead Maupin. The analysis above, along with investigations exonerating David Toschi as being the author of the 1978 letter, opens up the possibility once again, that the 1978 letter originated from the real killer of five in the Bay Area.    

Every confirmed correspondence of the Zodiac Killer to the San Francisco Chronicle was addressed in a particular way. The envelopes were either addressed S.F. Chronicle or San Fran. Chronicle. That is ten consecutive communications mailed throughout 1969 and 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle, all of which used full stops in the name of the newspaper. If you include the Exorcist letter mailed to the Chronicle on January 29th 1974, that is eleven consecutive communications that followed this pattern. The following three communications to the San Francisco Chronicle, dubbed  the SLA letter, Citizen card and Red Phantom letter, all broke with this pattern. They were addressed San Francisco Chronicle, SF Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle respectively. Not only did these three 1974 communications use an address style never before used by the Zodiac Killer, but suddenly the author had discovered the ability to spell, making not one single spelling error in any of these three communications, which included words such as Symbionese, consternation, evidenced, glorification, deplorable, justifiable, sensibilities, psychological and anonymously. 

In his letter to the San Francisco Examiner on July 31st 1969, he addressed the envelope to S.F. Examiner. In his letter to Melvin Belli he addressed the envelope to Mr. Melvin M. Belli, using dots after abbreviations in the addressee. His letter to the Los Angeles Times again abbreviated the addressee to L.A. Times. The only exception from July 31st 1969 to January 29th 1974 was the envelope addressed to the Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969. It was addressed in full, using Vallejo Times Herold rather than V.T. Herald, or Vallejo Times (as he used in two of the July 31st letters). The envelope to the Vallejo Times-Herald (confirmed as Zodiac) was the only communication out of 15, from July 31st 1969 to January 29th 1974, that did not abbreviate the addressee and include full stops. In fact, the letter to the Vallejo Times Herald was the only time up to the Exorcist letter that Zodiac ever used the full name of the newspaper he was addressing. 

This should give you extreme pause of thought when you consider the previously debunked October 28th 1987 Halloween letter (click link). This communication not only carried the full address of Vallejo Times Herald, just like the 1969 envelope, but both contained no full stops or commas, both carried the "Please Rush To Editor" phrase twice, both contained the same exact 13 words, both used "Calif" for "California" and both contained extremely excessive postage. The postal rate in 1969 was 6c, but the Zodiac placed 24c on his Vallejo Times-Herald envelope (an excess of 18c). The postal rate in 1987 was 22c, but the author affixed 44c worth of stamps (an excess of 22c). These were by far the most excessive postage used in any Zodiac or suspected Zodiac communications. When you consider the fact that a copycat would never have seen the 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope in 1987, he did a remarkable job imitating the real killer in all of the above, not withstanding the fact that the handwriting looked eerily similar. The author would have had handwriting available to him from published Zodiac letters and the Dripping Pen card envelope published in the November 16th 1970 San Francisco Chronicle, but how on earth does he use this to mimic the July 31st 1969 envelope so perfectly in 1987. The author of the 1987 envelope could have designed it in a multitude of different ways, yet he just happened to choose the exact wording from an envelope in 1969 to which he should have had no knowledge of if he was a hoaxer. The October 28th 1987 envelope (shown below) is the best available image we have currently.

This should allay any doubts to the authenticity of the October 28th 1987 Halloween letter. This was the Zodiac Killer. If the eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights were correct in describing the killer as "in his early forties", "about 40" and "35 to 45" (averaging 40), then the Zodiac Killer would have been approximately 58 years of age when he authored the 1987 letter. He would have been 72 years of age when the 2001 Happy New Year card arrived, stating "What happened with the white people drivers we once had, are they all retired on welfare or at Laguna Honda". He would currently stand at 91 years of age today, assuming he is still alive. One thing we can be sure of, is if the author of the 1987 letter is the Zodiac Killer, then Ross Sullivan and Earl Van Best Jr. cannot be the Bay Area murderer. The book would be finally closed on these two individuals.

It is also my belief that the July 31st 1969 envelope, October 28th 1987 envelope and September 25th 1990 Celebrity Cypher postcard were all addressed misspelling the word "Herald" to "Herold". The July 31st 1969 and September 25th 1990 communications most certainly were. If I am able to secure a clearer image of the October 28th 1987 envelope and it reads "Herold", then we can almost certainly link the Zodiac Killer to three communications spanning four decades.

1986 AND 1987 LETTERS - ONE HAND

"A letter sent to a newspaper by someone who said he was the Zodiac serial killer of 19 years ago was declared a hoax Thursday by the state Department of Justice. The letter, in which the writer threatened to kill trick or treaters on Halloween, was similar to several mailed to area newspapers in the late 1960s and early 70s. It was received by the Vallejo Times-Herald Wednesday, but a handwriting analysis found it to be a phony, police reported. Vallejo police Capt. Roy Conway said the letter ″was not authored by the authentic Zodiac, but that it is a simulation of a hoax letter written in 1978". link. "In Sacramento, spokeswoman Melinda Stehr of the attorney general's office said handwriting experts confirmed the letter was a simulation of a letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle a decade ago, which was also considered to be a hoax. 'Someone saw the letter and was using it as a copy,' Stehr said. 'It's a fake. It's a hoax". link.

The author of the October 1987 letter had a multitude of genuine Zodiac letters available to him from the 1960s and 1970s. but we are led to believe that the designer of the 1987 letter chose to mimic the only letter ever made public to be comprehensively questioned regarding its authenticity. Any author that is trying to convince the reader he is Zodiac would simply take a trip to the library, scroll through the microfilm and access a wealth of Zodiac writings, or buy Robert Graysmith's 1986 Zodiac book.  According to the excerpts from the articles above, the hoaxer got his hands on images of the 1978 letter from nine years ago. If he was capable of doing that, he was capable of accessing the Zodiac letters from 1969 through to 1971. Despite this, the author of the 1987 letter copycatted the copycat from nine years ago, to convince current investigators he was the real Zodiac and not a copycat. Also, why would a copycat determined to pass themselves off as Zodiac, deliberately choose to mimic the opening three lines of the 1978 letter and give the impression they are a copycat. The real Zodiac Killer would have no such concerns.

How did the handwriting experts conclude that the killer mimicked an envelope from 18 years ago so accurately, if he had no access to an image of the 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope? They clearly made a comparison between the 1987 and 1978 letters, but could not have compared the two envelopes and arrived at the conclusion they made. The copycat managed to imitate the July 31st 1969 envelope down to the full address of Vallejo Times-Herald, which was never used in the 1969 letters themselves. Although blurry, the handwriting looks compatible, the "Please Rush to Editor" directive was added twice, no commas or full stops were used on both occasions and thirteen words comprised each envelope in both instances. This copycat certainly went to a lot of effort to apparently mimic an envelope he had no access to, while apparently copying the 1978 letter he did have access to and knew was regarded as a fake. This clearly makes no sense. Then we consider the letter mailed in 1986.    

The 1987 author was without doubt the designer of the 1986 letter. The May 6th 1986 letter wasn't published in the newspapers prior to October 28th 1987 (or thereafter), yet just one year later, the supposed hoaxer of the 1987 Zodiac letter just happened to fashion his letter with near identical opening lines, and referenced how "The Blue Meannies almost caught me" and how "The blue pigs can catch me". That is one hell of a coincidence if the authors are two separate and distinct individuals. This is either a determined hoaxer, writing Zodiac letters twelve and thirteen years adrift from the last confirmed Zodiac letter on January 29th 1974, or it is the real Zodiac Killer. What is the likelihood that the author of the 1986 and 1987 letters was a hoaxer, maintaining his interest over 1 1/2 years, who was also able to reproduce the July 31st 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope to such accuracy when apparently he had no access to it?  

The 1990 Eureka Christmas card and 2001 Happy New Year card weren't enough to rule out candidates as the Zodiac Killer, but the 1986 and 1987 letters, in conjunction with the envelope comparison, leaves little doubt remaining that Ross Sullivan and Earl Van Best Jr were not the Zodiac Killer. Ross Sullivan died on September 29th 1977 and Earl Van Best Jr died on May 20th 1984, so could not be the author of either the 1986 or 1987 letter.

Of course, it goes without saying, that almost all staunch advocates of Ross Sullivan and Earl Van Best Jr will by default reject the 1978, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 2001 communications out of hand. The default setting will be turned to discredit rather than objectively analyze, irrespective of the strength of any presentation.

While some people have claimed that Robert Graysmith may be responsible for forging the 1986 and/or 1987 letter to ignite interest in his book, they have yet to offer any evidence to support such such a claim, other than just speculation. If Robert Graysmith had secured access to all the Zodiac envelopes, you could be assured they would have featured in his Zodiac book, as opposed to the just the Dripping Pen card and Los Angeles Times envelopes. The former of which was readily available in the San Francisco Chronicle article by Paul Avery on November 16th 1970.

A FRESH LOOK AT THE 1987 LETTER [PART ONE]

The biggest problem with authenticating Zodiac communications in the Zodiac community is disagreement regarding the handwriting. Some will say the handwriting looks like Zodiac, while others will take the opposite stance. That is why it is crucial to go beyond the handwriting and analyze the wording, composition and structure of a communication. Recently I have been attempting to validate the October 28th 1987 Vallejo Times-Herald correspondence, opening with the lines "This the Zodiac speaking. I am crack proof. Tell herb caen that I am still here. I have always been here. Tell the blue pigs if want me I will be out driving around on Halloween in my death machine looking for some kiddies to run over". To do this, the 1987 envelope was compared with the July 31st 1969 envelope, previously unreleased in the public domain (unless you know better).

In this analysis we will attempt to bind the May 6th 1986 and October 28th 1987 letters to one author. That way, if we can prove the validity of one correspondence as being authored by Zodiac (such as the 1987 letter), we automatically validate the other. In the 'Los Angeles' letter from March 13th 1971, the Zodiac wrote "This is the Zodiac speaking. Like I have allways said, I am crack proof. If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses + do something. Because the longer they fiddle + fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my after life". In the 1986 letter, the Zodiac wrote "This is the Zodiac speaking. I am still out here an crack proof. I want you to know about my latest slaves that I have collected about two weeks ago up by Sacramento Ca". 

The author of the 1986 letter converted "I am crack proof" to "I am still out here an crack proof". In other words, he just plagiarized the words from the 1971 letter, which doesn't prove he is the Zodiac Killer. Many letters and cards have been mailed to the newspapers between March 13th 1971 and May 6th 1986. I have noted at least thirteen communications linked to the Zodiac Killer between these dates, and not one used the term "crack proof". The first time this term was used, was in the October 5th 1970 pasted postcard, but it was written as "crackproof" without the separation. That means the author of the 1986 communication selected the words "crack proof" for the first time since March 13th 1971 (15 years later). The author also used a  'Flag Over Capitol' US stamp.

The 1986 letter was never released to the newspapers, yet in the following year, the author of the 1987 letter, not only used the similar 'Flag Over Capitol' US stamp, but again began his correspondence using the words "crack proof" in the separated format. Therefore, we have two consecutively released 'Zodiac' communications with the term "crack proof". If the 1987 author was different to the 1986 author, then he got extremely lucky mimicking the stamp selection and the opening two sentences, including the words "crack proof". 

You will also notice that the author of both communications managed to prominently black out two words on each occasion. All four words prominently blacked out over both letters, almost certainly began with the letter T. What is certain, is that the prominently blacked out words were all followed by a word beginning with T. Those four words were They, The, Tell and Toschi. Three individual letters were blacked out over both communications also.

Additionally, the Los Angeles letter of March 13th 1971 stated "If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses + do something".  The 1986 letter author would mimic this narrative, by stating "The Blue Meannies almost caught me". But if the 1987 letter writer was not the author of the 1986 letter, he was again extremely fortunate to use wording similar to that contained in the 1986 letter: "Tell the blue pigs if want me I will be out driving around on Halloween in my death machine looking for some kiddies to run over. The pigs can catch me if they find me out there".

I think it is therefore reasonable to assert, that the 1986 and 1987 letters were written by the same hand, whether Zodiac or not.

On October 29th 1987, one day after the 1987 Halloween letter arrived at the Vallejo Times-Herald claiming to be from the Zodiac Killer, Department of Justice documents experts declared it a clever copy of a 1978 hoax letter. Shortly after that announcement, a similar letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. That letter, too, was declared a hoax. "My very firm opinion is that they were not written by the authentic "Zodiac," said Justice Department handwriting expert Robert Prouty". This means that a second Halloween letter was mailed alongside the Vallejo Times-Herald offering. 

The statement above is one that argues against itself, concluding that the author of the 1987 Vallejo Times-Herald Halloween letter would choose to hoax a hoax letter. They declared it a clever copy of a 1978 hoax letter. Therefore, the 1987 copycat, copycatted a copycat of the real Zodiac Killer, when it would have been far simpler for the copycat to choose any number of authenticated Zodiac letters from either Robert Graysmith's 1986 book or any good library archive. Instead, we have to believe the 1987 copycat made the schoolboy error of choosing one of the few unauthenticated Zodiac letters ever released, and widely touted as such in many newspaper articles. 

Robert Prouty added "They appear to be composed of previous letters which have since been made public". Does this mean that the 1987 San Francisco Chronicle communication was determined to have been composed of writing mimicking letters other than the 1978 correspondence? The emphasis here, is that it seems handwriting analysts compared the writing on the 1987 letters with previous letters - and not the handwriting on the 1987 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope with the only other envelope ever mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald, on July 31st 1969. The similarity and composition of both the 1969 and 1987 envelopes may have changed their determination.

It is my understanding that the July 31st 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope was not released into the public domain, so the author of the 1987 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope could not have mimicked it. However, he did a pretty good job, even using the full address of 'Vallejo Times Herald' on both occasions, in contrast to the publicly available 'Valejo Times' in Zodiac's July 31st 1969 letters to the Chronicle and Examiner. If anybody can find the July 31st 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope in any newspaper prior to the October 28th 1987 letter, please let me know in comments. I do not want to draw any unnecessary conclusions based on incorrect understanding. This currently is just a probing exercise.      

An article dated October 29th 1987 in the San Francisco Chronicle (shown below) made no reference to any Halloween letter received by them. According to the San Francisco Examiner article above, "Department of Justice documents experts declared (the Vallejo Times-Herald letter) a clever copy of a 1978 hoax letter. Shortly after that announcement, a similar letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. One can only assume the second Halloween letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle shortly after this article went to print, and they subsequently decided not to feature it. That means a second letter, likely mailed in tandem with the known 1987 Halloween letter, is yet to be unearthed.