Mike Rodelli stated in his book The Hunt For Zodiac:The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer that the "All points bulletin (APB} went out over three police radio channels and was heard by all units". The closest police unit were Officers Armond Pelissetti and Frank Peda, who (in Armond Pelissetti's own words) arrived very quickly at 9:55 pm. The exact time doesn't really matter for the following observations, because Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms in a second police unit also got the APB at the same time, as they were traveling northbound on Presidio Avenue, just past Washington Street, One of the three teenagers who observed Zodiac in and around the taxicab that night had ventured to the intersection of Washington and Cherry, where he pleaded with Officer Armond Pelissetti "He's getting away, He's getting away. He's right there", gesturing toward Zodiac as he approached the corner of Jackson and Cherry Street.

We will afford Officer Armond Pelissetti a very quick arrival time (let us say 30 seconds). If he arrived at 9:55 pm, then he must have received the APB at 9:54:30 - and so must Officer Donald Fouke. Officer Armond Pelissetti is now at the corner of Washington and Cherry at 9:55 pm, with Lindsey Robbins yelling at him and pointing out Zodiac approaching to north end of Cherry Street. Therefore, the Zodiac Killer is approximately 10 seconds shy of vanishing from Cherry Street, at 9:55 pm. If Officer Donald Fouke also got the APB at 9:54:30, his 819 meter journey to Jackson and Maple Street, at a modest 35 mph (allowing for intersections), is a journey time of 60 seconds. He stated he saw a man (believed to be Zodiac} approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple, before this man headed north on Maple. This sighting was at 9:55:30 - meaning Zodiac was approaching the intersection of Jackson and Cherry at 9:55 pm at the very earliest, while also present near the intersection of Jackson and Maple.at 9:55:30, separated by at least 450 feet.(a journey time of at least 1 minute 37 seconds at normal walking speed}.   

Let us flip this scenario on its head and show how the timeline simply isn't possible. Officer Donald Fouke would be viewing Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple at 9:55:30. The Zodiac Killer's jouney time from Washington and Cherry to Jackson and Maple is approximately 2 minutes 37 seconds (p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab}. Officer Donald Fouke spotted Zodiac at 9:55:30. Therefore, the Zodiac Killer began his journey just shy of 2 minutes and 37 seconds earlier from the intersection of Washington and Cherry. This means Zodiac would have been beginning his journey from the intersection of Washington and Cherry (by the taxicab} at about 9:52:53 (before the time of the reported attack). But Armond Pelissetti arrived at 9:55 pm at the earliest. So how did Zodiac take 2 minutes and 7 seconds to not even reach the intersection of Jackson and Cherry? Imagine Officer Armond Pelissetti taking a more reasonable one minute to arrive at the crime scene  - Zodiac would then have taken 2 minutes 37 seconds to travel up Cherry and still be in view to both officer and teenager. 

If the Zodiac Killer was spotted by Officer Donald Fouke at 9:55:30, having left the intersection of Washington and Cherry at 9:52:53, then he must reasonably be at the north end of Cherry by 9:53:53 at the latest. But for Officer Armond Pelissetti to see Zodiac there at 9:53:53, he must have received the initial radio dispatch 30 seconds earlier, at 9:53:23, which happens to be 1 minute 37 seconds before the reported time of the attack at 9:55 pm. I have been very generous with the timeline regarding Officer Armond Pelissetti and the Lindsey Robbins sighting of Zodiac, but whichever way you cut it, the timeline doesn't make sense. Even if we say that both Officer Armond Pelissetti and Lindsey were correct, and saw Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Cherry at 9:55 pm. Then we have to add a minimum of 1 minute and 37 seconds for Zodiac to be spotted by Officer Donald Fouke approaching Jackson and Maple. That would be 9:56:37, thereby making Officer Donald Fouke's journey time from Washington Street and Presidio Avenue to Jackson and Maple, a 2 minute and 7 second journey, traveling at 14.4 mph. The longer Officer Armond Pelissetti took to arrive at the crime scene, the more unbelievable the timeline becomes. If he arrived at the intersection of Washington and Cherry at 9:55 pm and it took him only one minute, he must have got the APB at 9:54 pm, which Officer Donald Fouke received also. Now Officer Armond Pelissetti is observing Zodiac at the top of Cherry at 9:55 pm, while Officer Donald Fouke would be observing Zodiac at 9:55 pm at Jackson and Maple, which is obviously not possible.  

Mike Rodelli stated in his book that as Officer Donald Fouke passed the intersection of Jackson and Maple they saw the "man about 100 feet west of the corner of Maple. The man was in no hurry and kept his head down as he walked. When he got to a residence just west of Maple (3712 Jackson Street) he casually turned left and began to ascend a flight of stairs to that residence". Although, Donald Fouke in his November 12th 1969 memorandum, recalled no such story - stating a man was "walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turned north on Maple Street". Mike Rodelli then stated Officer Donald Fouke (having a description of a Negro Male Adult from the initial dispartch) continued onward toward Cherry Street and the crime scene. The distance from 3712 Jackson Street to the corner of Cherry Street is 340 feet (traveling at 30 mph, would take approximately 8-10 seconds). 

"Meanwhile, Officer Armond Pelissetti had been examining the cab", and once he got the amended description to a white male he got on the radio to update everybody. He then traveled up Cherry Street cautiously, using his police training to make sure he "did not get his head blown off". Mike Rodelli described that "as Pelissetti carefully made his way up the block, the patrol car carrying Officers Fouke and Zelms rounded the corner (Fouke having spotted the man near Maple Street seconds earlier) and they stopped and spoke". They had a brief conversation about the updated description, "as finally the corrected APB description from SFPD Dispatch came over the air on the channel Fouke was monitoring that evening, which was different from the channel over which it had initially been broadcast by Pelissetti". 

Officer Armond Pelissetti received the amended description to a white male at the crime scene by the kids. which according to Mike was eventually aired by SFPD Dispatch as Pelissetti spoke to Fouke nearing the top of Cherry. But if Officer Donald Fouke had only spotted "the man near Maple Street seconds earlier", then he had passed the Zodiac Killer just over a minute into his journey from the initial dispatch at Washington Street and Presidio Avenue. That means Officer Donald Fouke met Officer Armond Pelissetti at the top of Cherry no longer than 90 seconds after he received the initial dispatch. Therefore, Armond Pelissetti had to travel to the crime scene after receiving the initial dispatch (at least 30 seconds), have his interactions with the teenagers, check on Paul Stine in the taxicab, update everybody on the radio to the amended description, and then travel up Cherry Street in a cautious fashion so he "did not get his head blown off" in a grand total of just 90 seconds in order to meet Donald Fouke at the top of Cherry. The journey up Cherry Street in cautious fashion, on its own, would take 90 seconds. Again showing the massive discrepancy in the timeline offered up by this order of events.

Mike quoted Bryan Hartnell in the 1989 Crimes of the Century TV show regarding the height and weight of the suspect at Lake Berryessa, suggesting that Zodiac may have skewed his appearance at Presidio Heights using "lifts in his shoes" and possibly "three sweaters" under a loose fitting jacket - obviously to create a different body shape to that of Kjell Qvale, and so disguise his appearance. 

What Mike does not tell you, is the quote by Officer Donald Fouke in the 1989 Crimes of the Century show, in which he stated "We proceeded on Jackson Street towards Arguello continuing our search. As we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult - believing this suspect was possibly the one involved in the shooting we entered the Presidio of San Francisco and conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect." Here he gets the updated description to the white male adult on Arguello Boulevard, not at the top of Cherry Street as mentioned earlier. If we are going to use quotes from the 1989 TV show (or even the 2007 documentary), then why was this omitted from the storyline? Cherry picking certain quotes, while failing to mention others, can be used to guide the reader towards your particular narrative. The question that has to be asked, is what was Officer Donald Fouke doing traveling away from the crime scene he is supposed to be responding to, when supposedly he is still under the impression he is searching for a black male adult - unless Zodiac directed him that way. We can of course just conveniently ignore this statement by Officer Donald Fouke if it's not very helpful.

After the brief meeting with Officer Armond Pelissetti in the upper reaches of Cherry Street, in which Officer Donald Fouke had seconds earlier spotted the Zodiac Killer just past Maple Street, Donald Fouke made a three-point turn and headed off north on Cherry and west on Jackson. Armond Pelissetti then traveled up to the corner and headed east on Jackson to the intersection of Jackson and Maple, where he spotted a dog walker (Kjell Qvale/Zodiac) as he turned to go back toward Washington Street.
The 100 foot journey that the Zodiac Killer has from 3712 Jackson Street to the corner of Jackson and Maple, is approximately 22 seconds traveling at normal walking speed. This gives Donald Fouke ample time to travel to the corner of Jackson and Cherry and bump into Armond Pelissetti. The Zodiac Killer would now be roughly at the intersection of Jackson and Maple, while the two officers began their brief exchange. In the time it now takes for Officer Armond Pelissetti to travel the short distance to the top of Cherry Street and negotiate the journey east to the intersection of Jackson and Maple (approximately 500 feet in total distance) to spot Kjell Qvale, would mean that the Zodiac Killer (if Kjell Qvale) has to do the following.

Kjell Qvale would have to travel 370 feet to reach the front door of his residence (80 seconds}, possibly change his clothes (including the "three sweaters" and "lifts in his shoes" maybe), ditch the weapon, put his dog on the leach and immediately travel back to the intersection of Jackson and Maple (another 80 seconds) to be spotted by Officer Armond Pelissetti in Maple Street. This is a bare minimum of four minutes (longer if he entered the rear of his residence}. I shall let you decide if it took Armond Pelissetti four minutes to negotiate this journey east - and whether Kjell Qvale could reasonably manage everything he did at home, as well as traveling away from the Jackson and Maple intersection, and back again, before Armond Pelissetti arrived.  

If we conclude that both Officer Donald Fouke and Lindsey Robbins saw Zodiac, then something about the story isn't correct. This has been covered several times before - but until I get a different answer to "your quibbling about minutes" (which is not an answer), the story remains impossible in its current form. Begin the video below at 1 minute.    

Before the advent of the Rigel software system, utilizing the geographic profiling techniques of criminologist Dr. Kim Rossmo, a rudimentary form of geographic profiling was used by Stuart Kine before the capture of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. This is mentioned by Dr. Kim Rossmo in a 1998 NCIS Conference, stating "I’m sure people in this room are familiar with this case. This is an example of an investigation going awry because of geography. The tape that was sent to the investigators from someone claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper led to analysis of the accents, they felt there was a Geordie accent, the person was from the Sunderland area, and they focused on that part of England which was about a hundred miles away from where the crimes were occurring. That was wrong. Sutcliffe lived close to the area. Interesting, and I’m not sure how many people are aware of it, but shortly before Sutcliffe’s arrest through work by some patrol officers, a Home Office scientist by the name of Stuart Kine did a sort of basic geographic analysis of the crimes and was quite successful as it turned out in his predictions".  He was in fact very accurate, bearing in mind the size of the killing field - and by literally sticking pins in a map - highlighted an area somewhere by Shipley, only 6 miles from the 6 Garden Lane, Bradford address of Peter Sutcliffe. View geoprofile.

Covered extensively in previous articles, had the Zodiac Killer worked a conventional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 profession and had lived in the Vallejo area at the time of his murders, we would expect to see his first two Friday attacks relatively close to his home base. Unconstrained by time on Saturday, the Zodiac Killer would be able to venture further afield for his attacks - which is exactly what happened. However, we now have another tool in our arsenal, highlighted in this short but informative video by BCU professor Craig Jackson. Here is a small extract: "Wherever the Yorkshire Ripper was based, the time of his murders would be a vital clue to where he lived. So, if one of the Yorkshire Ripper's victims was murdered in the early evening, 8 o' clock or 9 o' clock at night, that individual could be based very far away from where the Yorkshire Ripper's base was. But if the victim was murdered in the very small hours, midnight, or one or two in the morning, that victim would probably be very close to where the Ripper's base was, assuming that the Ripper would have to be home at a reasonable time to be with their partner or families, or friends who they lived with". The type of victim targeted, the areas they frequented and their availability also has to be factored into the target backcloth. Therefore, we will use the Zodiac Killer's four attacks and see if they conform to a home base in Vallejo.

If the Zodiac had left his house to search for victims on a Friday in the area of Columbus Parkway and Lake Herman Road, then he likely had a knowledge that young courting couples or lone individuals may be found in these remote locations. He has a mental map of the area and an optimal time he would like to return to his residence - but he knows that this sort of victim targeting is unreliable. Sometimes the opportunity may present itself immediately, while other times he may have to do several passes before a suitable target or targets appear. He has to factor this into his thinking when leaving his residence. In other words, if he wants to arrive home no later than 12:15 am, he has to allow for this when leaving his residence. In respect to Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park, he could have left his residence at 10:00 pm to allow for this "hit and miss" technique of trawling the eastern edge of Vallejo. This may have accounted for the earlier suspicious sightings on December 20th 1968, prior to the eventual double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen.

If we apply the model of professor Craig Jackson to our killer, then an attack at approximately 11:15 pm at Lake Herman Road and midnight at Blue Rock Springs Park, would suggest a killer who lived close by and was aiming to return home sometime in the late evening to early morning hours. If the Zodiac Killer had lived near to the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street payphone, he would have arrived home at around 11:30 pm on 12/20/68, and 12:15 am on 07/04/69. The Zodiac Killer's attack at Presidio Heights would not have been affected by a "hit and miss" targeting technique. Had the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine been planned ahead of time, he would know where he was to find his victim, where he was going to murder the taxicab driver and where his escape route lay before him - including his journey time back to Vallejo. Paul Stine was murdered shortly before 10:00 pm on 10/11/69. The Zodiac Killer (had he parked his vehicle near the Presidio Park) would have about 5-15 minutes of walk time, followed by a 50 to 60 minute journey home via the Golden Gate Bridge. At the latest, he would arrive home at approximately 11:15 pm. Therefore, his window of time to arrive back at his residence after three of his attacks, would fall within one hour of each other (between 11:15 pm and 12:15am) - although it may be slightly more.     

The Lake Berrryessa crime is altogether different. If we believe that the Zodiac Killer targeted areas he was familiar with, then he knew that the outskirts of eastern Vallejo, in the secluded areas of Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs during the weekend or holiday season, was likely rich pickings for courting "couples" or "stray people" in the night. The sheer fact he wrote about killing "over a dozen people" at the weekend, showed an element of confidence in these surroundings, despite the obvious braggadocio displayed.

The Presidio Heights area must also have been familiar to him, to risk such an audacious attack in a built-up area of San Francisco. Dr. Kim Rossmo summed it up perfectly: ​​"The San Francisco murder differs significantly from the Zodiac's other crimes. Up to this point he was hunting in locations that had a good probability of containing his desired victims. Target selection was a function of area, not of an individual. However, it is unlikely the Zodiac was successful in all his searches; serial killers typically engage in extensive hunting activities, and for every attack there are many unsuccessful search attempts. In San Francisco, however, the Zodiac controlled the situation through his selection of victim type. The need for such control could be indicative of the distance the Zodiac had to travel to the crime site. Criminals who travel longer distances to offend are less likely to use uncertain target selection techniques".

His familiarity with Lake Berryessa (09/27/69) was also obvious. The Zodiac Killer knew on this occasion that a targeted attack in the late evening hours (close to midnight), similar to Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park, was wholly uncertain with respect to finding a suitable victim or victims in this location. But he knew that a late afternoon or early evening attack within the expanse of Lake Berryessa, would be the safest bet, The location, on this occasion, effectively governed the earlier attack time. When this constraint was unburdened during his first, second and fourth attacks (assuming he lived in Vallejo and went directly home), his arrival time to his residence would have always fell within a 60-75 minute window of time. If the Zodiac Killer had a preconceived time he wanted to return home by, then Vallejo by the payphone was a perfect fit for a good night's sleep - as well as not arousing suspicion - had he been married (with children).     

This is an extension to the Washington Street Sketch article, further examining the age of the Zodiac Killer in 1969. Many people have argued that the Zodiac Killer, through four attacks, wasn't one individual because of the varying age estimations, differing from 26-30 by Michael Mageau, 20-30 by Bryan Hartnell (voice concept) and 25-30 by the three teenagers at Presidio Heights, up to 35-45 by Officer Donald Fouke and about 40 by the Julius Khan playground eyewitnesses. However, this really isn't the case when we consider that Michael Mageau's testimony cannot be relied upon, bearing in mind he was blinded by the light from the assailant's vehicle and flashlight, while being shot in the head. His recollection of the events are unclear, with probably less than a second to make a visual on the suspect's face. In the following attack at Lake Berryessa, Bryan Hartnell never saw the suspect's face at all, so we only have a recollection of "voice concept", which in essence means very little. The only attack where the Zodiac Killer's face was seen for any reasonable length of time was on October 11th 1969. At Presidio Heights there were three sets of eyewitnesses who saw the Zodiac Killer from the taxicab to the park - and all gave the same age. The three teenagers described a man in his early forties, Officer Donald Fouke described the man as 35-45 (therefore a median age of 40) and the Julius Khan playground eyewitnesses described the man running into the park as about 40. Three sets of eyewitnesses pinpointing the Zodiac Killer as 40 years of age or slightly above, within a five minute window.

We can of course throw away or disregard the last sighting of a man running into the park and matching the other two descriptions, if our theory revolves around the Zodiac Killer never entering the park or getting into a vehicle along Jackson Street, but this again relies on cherry-picking the evidence to suit our theory, rather than let the evidence or eyewitness testimony become the driver.

The three teenagers never described the suspect as 25-30 years - only the October 13th 1969 police sketch did. Their account was comprehensively detailed in the police report countersigned by Officer Armond Pelissetti on October 12th 1969. Their viewing of the suspect "last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street" was the only eyewitness testimony in the police report, and therefore the suspect description on page 2 could only have been derived from them. It stated the man was in his early forties. It couldn't have been from the other two sets of eyewitnesses because the police report clearly states that the suspect was "last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street". The other eyewitnesses viewed the suspect after Cherry Street.

The three teenagers sat down with a sketch artist who interpreted their description of the man - and it's extremely likely that because the sketch was interpreted and drawn looking younger, the police attributed the age range of 25-30 years to it - likely believing this was the correct course of action based on the appearance of the sketch. In other words, the contradiction of the three teenagers early forties description in the police report to the appearance of the sketch, likely played a part in the revision of the age range placed on the wanted poster. However, it is apparent that the three teenagers were not happy with the first sketch, forcing the police to create an amended sketch more in line with their original early forties description. The police then released the amended sketch on October 18th 1969 with a compromise age range of 35-45 years, which allowed for any slight error either way.      

If we factor in Officer Donald Fouke's description of a man "older and heavier" with a "lumbering gait", possibly "graying in the rear" with a "widows peak", we could be looking at a much more mature Zodiac Killer. A killer who described David Faraday (17), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Michael Mageau (19) and Darlene Ferrin (22) as boy, girl and kids in his initial correspondence. Our suspect is unlikely to be a young man aged between 25-30 years, addressing a 19 and 22-year-old as a boy, girl or kid. The way the Zodiac Killer addressed the couple at Blue Rock Springs Park suggests more of a generational divide.

Here is an excerpt by Donn Devine: "But just how long is a generation? Don’t we all know as a matter of common knowledge that it generally averages about 25 years from the birth of a parent to the birth of a child, even though it varies case by case? And wasn’t it closer to 20 years in earlier times when humans mated younger and life expectancies were shorter? Where did those numbers come from? Several recent studies by a sociologist-demographer and groups of population geneticists and biological anthropologists show that male-line generations, from father to son, are always longer on average than female-line generations, from mother to daughter. They show, too, that both are longer than the 25-year interval that conventional wisdom has assigned to a generation. The male generation is at least a third longer, the female generation is longer by perhaps half that amount".

Most people affix around 20-25 years to a generation, so if we took the average of the four victim's ages from the first two attacks, we would arrive at 19 years. Add the generational divide of 20-25 years and we have a suspect between 39-44 years of age - a man in his early forties or about 40. We know the attack at Presidio Heights was a Zodiac crime because of the blooded piece of taxicab driver Paul Stine's shirt being mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, therefore these three sets of eyewitnesses, in a time window of just five minutes, all describing a man about 40 years of age should carry great value. But does this argument have any sway with the long-held convictions of people regarding suspects in the Zodiac case, or will no amount of eyewitness testimony cloud the lens through which they view the Zodiac case?

In 1969, the ages of the most widely touted suspects were: Theodore Kaczynski (27), Bruce Davis (27), Gareth Penn (28), Ross Sullivan (28), Richard Gaikowski (33), Arthur Leigh Allen (35), Richard Marshall (41), Lawrence Kane (45) and Kjell Qvale (50). Based on the eyewitness testimony at Presidio Heights, only two candidates fit the age description of the Zodiac Killer and these are poor suspects at best. The farther we travel to either end of the suspect age-scale spectrum, the weaker the argument becomes for these men to be the infamous Zodiac Killer. People often defy their years, but the argument still stands.
We have multiple eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights, all of whom were able to give fairly detailed descriptions of a killer emerging from the taxicab, heading up Cherry Street, turning into Jackson Street, before seeking refuge in the Presidio Park just after 10:00 pm. The question is, what faith do you have in three corroborating sets of eyewitnesses?   

Many questions have been asked about the Presidio Heights sketch of the Zodiac Killer, in particular, why was the drawing amended in the wanted poster from October 13th 1969 to October 18th 1969 - and did Officer Donald Fouke have any involvement in the amended sketch? If he didn't, many people have asked, why then did the three teenagers change their description so radically from a 25-30 year old male in the first sketch, to a man described as 35-45 years of age in the second sketch? The short answer, is that they didn't. They had always described an older male in the descriptions they furnished. The assumption that the second sketch was a result of the teenagers unsure of their initial description, are unfounded. The description of a 25-30 year old male exiting the taxicab and walking up Cherry Street was never uttered from the lips of the three teenagers, and the proof lies in the Armond Pelissetti two page police report. 

The police report was dated 10/12/69 12:30 am on page one, and countersigned by Armond Pelissetti on page two, with a time and date stamp of Oct 12 6:29 am '69. In effect, the report was completed and ratified by the following morning. Obviously, this is before the first wanted poster was released on October 13th 1969. This report at no point mentions Officer Donald Fouke - and his signature is nowhere to be found on the report. That is because he never contributed to it whatsoever. How can we be sure?

The police report clearly states on page 2 that the "suspect was last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street". There is no mention of the Zodiac Killer's  movements after this sighting. In other words, by 6:29 am on October 12th 1969, the sighting of a man by Officer Donald Fouke walking along Jackson Street was immaterial to this report. Otherwise, the report would have stated "suspect was last seen walking east on Jackson Street" - which it didn't. Here is the full statement on page 2:: "#2 SUSPECT: WMA, in his early forties, 5'8", heavy build, reddish-blond, crew cut hair. wearing eyeglasses, dark brown trousers, dark (navy blue or black) "Parka" jacket, dark shoes. Suspect should have many blood stains on his person and clothing, suspect may also be in possession of the keys to the Yellow Cab, possibly has wallet belonging to the victim. Last seen walking north on Cherry Street, from Washington Street". The only eyewitnesses that could possibly have viewed the suspect to our knowledge, before he exited Cherry Street were the three teenagers. Officer Donald Fouke hadn't even entered the picture yet.

​The above description of a white male in his early forties was given by the three teenagers before 6:29 am on the 12th October 1969, dispelling the notion they initially described him as aged between 25 and 30 years. Their description of a man in his early forties actually tallies with Officer Donald Fouke's memorandum submitted one month later, on November 12th 1969. In the memorandum he describes the suspect as a "WMA, 35-45 yrs, about 5'10", 180-200 lbs, medium heavy build, barrel chested, medium complexion, light colored hair possibly graying in rear, crew cut, wearing glasses. Dressed in dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue). Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up. Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown)". The two descriptions near corroborate one another, totally debunking the conspiracy theories that depend on these two sightings being two different people.​

So why does the sketch, compiled from the recollections of the three teenagers say the suspect was 25-30 years? One could ask why does the description now say reddish-brown hair, when the police report states reddish-blond? Why does the wanted poster say the suspect sat in the front seat and directed Paul Stine to Washington and Laurel, when the trip sheet supposedly gave a destination of Washington and Maple? Why does the wanted poster invent the notion of a passenger who pulls a gun out and orders Paul Stine several blocks further? If we accept the credibility of 25-30 years, then why don't we accept the rest of this garbage on the wanted poster? The three teenagers certainly helped in the creation of the suspect composite, but that doesn't mean they played any part in the fantasy accompanying it - and that includes the age range. They had clearly contributed to the police report a day earlier, describing the suspect as somebody in his early forties, which not only is corroborated by Officer Donald Fouke, but a third party sighting by Spruce Street, near the Julius Khan playground. This was detailed in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle below. This sighting described the suspect as "about 40". 

In summary, we have three independent sightings describing the features of the suspect as somebody in his "early forties, with a reddish-blond crewcut", followed by "35-45 years, with light colored hair in a crewcut" and finally "about 40, with a blond crewcut". There is a distinct possibility that the Zodiac Killer had light hair and was aged around 40.

The teenagers certainly helped compile the sketch, but because of its rather youthful appearance appearing to contradict their police report of a suspect in his early forties, law enforcement likely used some artistic license to reduce the age of the suspect in the wanted poster, more in line with the sketch created. It is also important to consider that Michael Mageau estimated his attacker as 26-30 years on page 10 of the Blue Rock Springs police report, Michael stated "Subject was not blubbery fat, but real beefy, possibly 195-200, or maybe even larger. Stated he had short curly hair, light brown, almost blond. States he just saw subject's face from the profile, side view, and does not recall seeing a front view. Michael reemphasized that he really did not get a good look at subject other than his profile. Stated subject was a white male, approximately 26-30 years". Bryan Hartnell's recollections were stated on page 23 of the Lake Berryessa police report "Victim thought suspect was possibly 20 to 30 years of age by voice concept". It is not unrealistic to conclude, that based on previous estimations of the suspect's age and the youthful depiction generated by the sketch artist from the recollections of the teenagers, law enforcement took it upon themselves to guesstimate the age range of 25-30 years for the purpose of the first wanted poster. It is apparent that the teenagers were dissatisfied with the quality of the initial sketch and the age range attributed to it, so a second sketch qualifying their statements in the police report was generated.       

Officer Donald Fouke had no input into either of the two wanted posters, which is absolutely astonishing, if you believe his superiors were aware that he had crossed paths with a man on Jackson Street, who he described almost identically to the suspect described in the police report. The fact that his description in the memorandum was extremely detailed, yet he wasn't asked to independently sit down with a sketch artist sometime between October 11th 1969 and November 12th 1969, beggars belief. How do we know he had no input?

In the 2007 Zodiac documentary he stated "One month later, when the composite drawing came out at Richmond Station and was posted on the wall, he looked similar to the man I had seen on October 11th. I then wrote a scratch, interdepartmental memorandum, to my lieutenant to forward to homicide division, so that they would have the additional information about the appearance of the suspect. I never spoke to Toschi that I personally know of or remember. He may have been the inspector that came out and asked me about the composite drawing and I told them the suspect was older and heavier".  Not the words of a man who played any part in the composite drawings released on October 13th and October 18th of 1969. For the life of me, I cannot understand why.

Rex Bolt, author and avid Zodiac researcher, has made an excellent video on Youtube about his thoughts on the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine, detailing with the use of a comprehensive slideshow the possible escape route of the Zodiac Killer.
It is a fantastic analysis of the area of Presidio Heights, with respect to the options Zodiac faced that night as he walked away from the intersection of Washington and Cherry. Of course, it was around 10:00 pm at night when the Zodiac Killer departed the crime scene, and the route ahead of him was far more claustrophobic.      

Rex, from the perspective of a native of San Francisco,  takes you on a journey from Mason and Geary, bordering Union Square  (where Paul Stine picked up Zodiac) through to the crime scene and beyond.
​
With photographs showing the layout of Presidio park, Rex comes to the conclusion that Zodiac most likely headed east from Julius Khan playground to the dense wooded area by Presidio Boulevard.
The Zodiac Killer, now waiting for an opportune moment, had just a few hundred feet to escape the Presidio to his waiting vehicle.

The killer would now reach his vehicle, parked somewhere close to Broadway and the Lyon Street Steps. A relatively remote area for residential San Francisco and an ideal location to escape to Highway 101 and the Golden Gate Bridge in a matter of minutes. 
You are now out of San Francisco and away.

The following is a brief explanation of the crime scene photographs regarding the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. It is designed to address the correct sequence of events that night for anyone new to the case.

The Robbins children observed the murderer wipe down the taxicab that night, as detailed in the police report: "The suspect appeared to be searching the victim's pockets. (Witnesses never heard a gun shot). The suspect then appeared to be wiping (fingerprints) on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment. The suspect then exited the cab by the passenger side front door, also wiping with a white rag, possibly a handkerchief. The suspect then walked around the cab to the driver's side and proceeded to wipe the exterior of the left door area."
This being the case, it would be very unusual for a killer to be wiping away fingerprints from the taxicab, had he used guards on his fingertips as claimed in the 'Bus Bomb' letter mailed on November 9th 1969: "As of yet I have left no fingerprints behind me contrary to what the police say in my killings I wear transparent fingertip guards. All it is is 2 coats of airplane cement coated on my fingertips -- quite unnoticible + very efective."

In a follow up statement the Robbins children went into more detail: "They both watched and observed in silence as Zodiac pushed the driver to an upright position behind the steering wheel, exited the car and walked around the rear of the car and opened the driver's door. Stine had fallen over onto the seat and Zodiac pulled him back up into the seated position and had some difficulty keeping him upright. Once upright, he was seen to have a rag, or something like a handkerchief and began to wipe down the door area and leaning over the driver, part of the dashboard. When he was finished, Zodiac calmly walked to Cherry St. and walked north."

When the Zodiac Killer left the crime scene Paul Stine's body must have slumped back across the passenger seat, because when Officer Armond Pelissetti arrived shortly thereafter, he stated "When I went over to the cab I could see Mr Paul Stine, who was slumped over the front seat with his head into the well on the passenger side in the front." 
There was extensive blood pooling in the footwell (shown in photograph 1 below).  

This photograph can be estimated at approximately 10:11 pm.

​When the ambulance crew arrived shortly before 10.10 pm, they pulled Paul Stine from the passenger footwell into the position shown on the left.
They pronounced him dead at 10:10 pm.
 
It can be seen that there is a complete absence of blood on the tarmac below Paul Stine's head. This indicates that once they pulled him into this position to check for signs of life (causing the splashing of blood from his hands - shown by the white arrow), the photograph must have been taken almost immediately after they vacated the passenger side door. Otherwise there would have been blood present on the roadside beneath Paul Stine's head, as was evident in photograph 2 below.

This indicated that once the medical personnel had arrived at the taxicab and pulled Paul Stine into the position shown, their evaluation must have been brief. It was immediately determined that Paul Stine showed no signs of life and certainly negated any need to circle the taxicab depositing bloody fingerprints on the dividing panel by the driver side door. 

In photograph 2 on the right, it can be seen the devastating impact of the murder, as the blood on the roadside continues to accumulate.
This is the reason why photograph 1 must have been taken almost immediately after the ambulance crew retreated.

One unusual feature is the door position. Did the ambulance crew pull Paul Stine into this position without fully opening the door? Were they mindful of preserving the crime scene by their own volition, or under instruction?   
Their priority was clearly the welfare of Paul Stine and determining signs of life - but if they had opened the passenger door fully, then it must have either fell back to the position shown on the right or been manually placed back in this position.   

The reasoning for this is shown in photograph 3. 

The door in the photograph on the left is now fully open. This is the position one would have expected the door to be located when the medical personnel were attending to Paul Stine, thereby giving them ample room to pull Paul Stine from the footwell and examine for signs of life. But the door only allowed for restricted access in photographs 1 and 2.

When the medical personnel extricated Paul Stine from the taxicab, a street guide was dragged out onto the roadside. This indicated that it was probably located under the body of Paul Stine on the passenger seat of the vehicle. This sheds doubt on the premise of a front seat passenger, although it cannot rule it out entirely.  

The photograph on the right shows the passenger door in the same position as photograph 3.
The relationship between the inner door handle (in brown on photograph 4) and the blood on the roadside can be seen as markedly different from photograph 2 (and therefore photograph 1).

The similar wider door positions in photograph 3 and photograph 4, indicate that the door was pulled open to acquire better pictures of the inside of the taxicab, before they eventually removed the body of Paul Stine.

This brief timeline takes us from the moment the Zodiac Killer left the front passenger seat of the taxicab, to the time the street guide was photographed on the roadside.

The poignant reminder of a journey that has now lasted 49 years - but a murder that should never be forgotten.

Just over a year ago we ran an article outlining the missing evidence at Lake Herman Road. Not only did a shell casing go missing from the crime scene to the submitted items at the Department of Justice, but a bullet was also missing from both the police report and the Department of Justice records. Ten shots were fired that night - 5 shots to the back of Betty Lou Jensen, 1 shot into David Faraday, 2 shots into the Rambler and 2 were unaccounted for, believed to have missed their intended target. Betty Lou Jensen had five entry wounds and three exit wounds, however, only two bullets were ever recovered from outside the body of Betty Lou Jensen. These were noted in the police report and Department of Justice files below. In total, only seven bullets were ever retrieved. One bullet is missing from the record. 

​"But any doubts about the killer's identity were dispelled the next day when a letter from Zodiac arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. With it was a bloodstained piece of the driver's shirt and a bullet from the same pistol that had killed Jensen and Faraday". Had the Zodiac Killer walked towards the stricken Betty Lou Jensen to check on her status and retrieved a bullet from the turnout floor for 'future use"? This may explain why only two of the three exit wound bullets were recovered from Betty Lou Jensen at the crime scene. The police reporting of Presidio Heights was less than transparent in the aftermath of the Paul Stine murder. It wasn't too difficult to confirm that the bloodstained piece of shirt came from the corpse of the taxicab driver, but if a bullet had also been mailed with the letter, this would require interdepartmental cooperation from police involved with the murder of Jensen and Faraday to run a ballistics check. This may be the reason the details of the bullet were withheld from the newspapers until confirmation was acquired, or left out altogether. The police have openly admitted some evidence has been withheld from the public domain. 

The October 13th 1969 letter was only the second time the killer had announced himself as the 'Zodiac', so despite linking himself with the Stine murder using the swatch of shirt, he may have wanted to leave no doubt in the mind of investigators that he was also the "same man who did in the people in the north bay area". In effect, bringing all four crimes under the banner of the Zodiac Killer.

Tom Voigt made a good point regarding the Lake Berryessa attack on the Zodiackiller.com message board, stating "I've always felt that Zodiac might have written a letter regarding the Berryessa attack, perhaps to the Napa newspaper, and since it wasn't printed (for whatever reason) he decided to include physical evidence in future letters".

When Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz asked the Zodiac Killer for more proof that the letter writer and killer were the same person in the August 3rd 1969 Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, the Zodiac Killer could have supplied the bullet at this juncture, but as we know, the Zodiac Killer didn't always play by the rules. This may point to the fact that the killer had a broader agenda and always intended to kill in San Francisco. There had been a spate of taxicab robberies in San Francisco in the months prior to the Paul Stine murder, so by inserting a bullet from the murder of Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday into the October 13th 1969 letter, this notion or connection would be completely dispelled. The narrator in the 1995 'Great Crimes and Trials' documentary may have made a gross error in statement, but to add to the Stine letter "a bullet from the same pistol that had killed Jensen and Faraday" from thin air, considering the missing bullet at Lake Herman Road, begs the question nonetheless.       

Using the Zodiac Killer's own words in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter, we can track his alleged movements that night like a form of global positioning system. After the meeting with Officer Donald Fouke on Jackson Street, he stated
"2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again." According to the Zodiac, this placed him entering the park adjacent to Spruce Street (detailed in the October 12th 1969 San Francisco Chronicle article). Dog units were pressed into the search at this location, again described by Zodiac, apparently hiding in the dense foliage adjacent to Laurel Street, just two blocks east of Julius Khan playground. This is where the story will change from previous articles on this site. 

Had the Zodiac Killer traveled via the safety of the park to reach his vehicle parked somewhere along Pacific Avenue or West Pacific Avenue? He probably hadn't banked on the three teenagers spotting him, or the encounter with Officer Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, as well as the early response of motorcycles and dog units bearing down on his position. He escaped into the park and by his account, traveled approximately two blocks east to the area of the park opposite Laurel Street: "The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west + there was only 2 groups of parking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away." This, according to the 'Bus Bomb' letter claims, was his last known location. Was he waiting for an opportune moment to dash out of cover and across the road, to enter his vehicle parked yards away. How do we know his vehicle was parked here? Because this location may have had relevance to the entry on the taxicab trip sheet.

This location, by the intersection of Laurel Street and Pacific Avenue, is the area being described by Zodiac in the letter, when he stated "The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west." They were congregated by Julius Khan playground. Why though, would a killer park his vehicle four blocks east and two blocks north of the crime scene, greatly increasing the risk of being stopped and questioned. His journey from the crime scene to this location would be 0.4 miles - at least 8 or 9 minutes walking time. This doesn't make a lot of sense. But a murder, at or close to the intersection of Washington and Laurel, would leave just 620 feet to reach his vehicle, parked close to his last known location. If we marry up the details given by the October 13th 1969 police sketch with his last known location, then his escape route from this intended destination of Washington and Laurel would make far more sense. It is a direct route towards the park.​   

It has been long believed the Paul Stine taxicab trip sheet gave a destination of Washington and Maple, and for whatever reason Zodiac traveled a block further. Yet, the details on the police sketch clearly state 'Washington and Laurel'. Are we to believe the police cannot read the trip sheet correctly and made such a glaring error, or are we to believe the trip sheet actually gave the destination of Washington and Laurel, and the details accompanying the Zodiac sketch are correct?

The taxicab rule book stated that "Drivers of taxicabs and sedans shall keep an accurate waybill specifically setting forth the time of hire and discharge, the number of passengers, the origin and destination and the charges authorized and made for each trip."
Since nobody, including investigators, appear certain of exactly where the taxicab picked up Zodiac, we can probably conclude that Paul Stine didn't write down the origin of the fare - only the destination. In the History Channel docudrama 'Hunting the Zodiac,' Lieutenant Tom Bruton, an SFPD homicide investigator, recalled that the destination given in the trip sheet was Washington and Laurel, not Washington and Maple. So, why have we come to believe over the years that the trip sheet stated such a destination?

Keith Power authored an article entitled 'Astrologer Joins Hunt for Killer' in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 17th 1969, just six days after the murder, quoting "When he was picked up by the cab driver about 9:30 pm Saturday at Geary and Mason Streets, Stine noted the destination on his way bill (trip sheet) as Washington and Maple Streets."
How did Keith Power seemingly get hold of this information, to which no one else has been able to ascertain. It appears he may have been told this information by somebody connected to law enforcement, or just assumed the trip sheet noted Washington and Maple.

Somebody, using the taxicab meter-reading at 10:46 pm, backtracked to calculate the origin of the taxicab, and this, coupled with the statement by Zodiac of "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St and Maple St last night," may be the reason it was concluded that this was Zodiac's intended destination, and what was written on the trip sheet. Keith Power stated "he was picked up by the cab driver about 9:30 pm Saturday at Geary and Mason Streets", despite the fact this has not been definitively proven. If this isn't fact, then we can argue, neither is the Washington and Maple destination. If Keith Power had seen the trip sheet and it stated Mason and Geary, why have police been attempting to discover the origin of the taxicab journey down the years. Furthermore, and one must reiterate this fact - why would the Zodiac Killer travel to either Washington and Maple or Washington and Cherry, many blocks away from his final claimed location, two blocks east of Julius Khan playground? This fact alone, must shed doubt on whether the trip sheet ever read Washington and Maple, and the Zodiac Killer at the last minute changed his plans to travel one block further. If this were true, its never been made public.
However, this still doesn't answer the question of why a killer who intended to murder a taxicab driver by Washington and Laurel, ended up four blocks west of his original destination. 

Officers Donald Fouke and Armond Pelissetti (and probably more police) were patrolling the Richmond District area the night of October 11th 1969. Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 Zodiac documentary "My regular partner was off. I don't recall the reason why he was not working that night. However, Eric Zelms was assigned as my partner that night. We were patrolling the eastern side of the Richmond district, going northbound on Presidio Avenue. We had passed Washington Street when a broadcast came in of a shooting at Cherry and Washington Street." Could it be as simple as Zodiac, who was determined to follow through on murder that night, was approaching the intersection of Washington and Laurel in the taxicab of Paul Stine, when he saw a police vehicle in the vicinity, and decided to travel several blocks further in order to reach a safe distance or buffer zone to commit his murderous plan. This would ultimately leave him detached from his vehicle, necessitating the need to backtrack along Jackson Street, past Donald Fouke's approaching police vehicle and toward Laurel Street. The taxicab traveled four blocks east past Laurel Street, and Zodiac walked back four blocks west to Laurel Street. In effect, a complete waste of time. This lends credence to a Zodiac Killer, whose initial intended destination was the intersection of Washington and Laurel, corroborated by the 'Wanted Poster' and Lieutenant Tom Bruton of the San Francisco Police Department.

The Zodiac stated "There was only 2 groups of parking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west" and "The car drivers should have just parked their cars and sat there quietly waiting for me to come out of cover." But they didn't - and Zodiac was away into the night.           

The discrepancies pointed out in the 2007 Zodiac documentary have been extensively covered on this site - and will be again, when we examine another section of the dialogue regarding the two main protagonists. It has been stated innumerable times, the contention that Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms not only stopped Zodiac, but were directed away from the crime scene by the killer toward Arguello Boulevard. Officer Donald Fouke stated in the 1989 'Crime of the Century' documentary "We proceeded on Jackson Street towards Arguello continuing our search, as we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult, believing this suspect was possibly the one involved in the shooting we entered the Presidio of San Francisco and conducted a search on West Pacific Avenue, the opposite side of the wall and the last direction we observed the suspect going, we did not find the suspect".

We shall now focus on the part of the 2007 documentary beginning at 1:18:09. After noticing a white male adult walking along Jackson Street, Officer Donald Fouke proceeded onward, stating "Seeing that it was a white male in an affluent neighborhood walking along the street, we didn't think it was the suspect. So we proceeded the next block at...which was Jackson and Cherry. Turned southbound on Cherry Street and saw Armond Pelissetti, one of the officers who had responded directly to the scene". Was he about to say proceeded the next block at Arguello?

Officer Armond Pelissetti picks up the story "At that point Officer Dan Fouke, who was accompanied by what I believe was a rookie officer Eric Zelms at the time, pulled up very quickly in their police car, called out to me did I see anybody, did I know anything about where the suspect could be and I told him no".

Officer Donald Fouke continued "He stopped us (Pelissetti) and said he was looking for the white male that had just gone down the street. There was a little conversation about what the initial description was, and he said no, he was a white male. I then used a slang term and said 'oh that was the suspect". Officer Armond Pelissetti responded "He did not mention to me that he had seen anybody at that point or stopped anybody".     

We know that Armond Pelissetti was told the suspect was white by the three teenagers at the crime scene, and in his words "couldn't get to the radio fast enough at that point to let everybody else know".
Armond Pelissetti stated "​The kids had told me whoever had done this crime had left the cab, went out the door and seemed to be wiping the cab down and reaching into the cab and ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kind of towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars, so I went down following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". We know that walking Cherry Street at a normal speed would take approximately one minute, but at least 90 seconds to 2 minutes if you were "following every technique" in the police manual. 
​
So, after updating everybody to the new white male description, Armond Pelissetti likely informed his partner Frank Peda of the amended description and asked him to secure the crime scene, before heading off up Cherry Street. Therefore, by the time he met Officer Donald Fouke at the top of Cherry Street, at least 2 minutes must have elapsed. Assuming that Donald Fouke received the amended white male description almost immediately, then he must have received it before Armond Pelissetti headed up Cherry Street (approximately 90 seconds to 2 minutes ago). That is, 90 seconds to 2 minutes prior to meeting Armond Pelissetti. The journey time from Donald Fouke spotting Zodiac to reaching this section of Cherry Street (440 feet), traveling at 30 mph, takes only 10 seconds. Even if we gave Donald Fouke 30 seconds, one can see that by the time he spotted Zodiac, he would have already received the amended white male description at least 1 to 1 1/2 minutes prior to spotting Zodiac. So why didn't he stop him? The answer being that, Donald Fouke didn't turn down Cherry Street, but continued on to Arguello Boulevard (where Zodiac directed him) and down West Pacific Avenue, before returning to Cherry Street, where he met Armond Pelissetti. This diversion by Donald Fouke took just over 2 minutes. We know this because, in the 1989 documentary Donald Fouke stated "as we arrived at Arguello Street the description of the suspect was changed to a white male adult". Donald Fouke, realizing this was the man he had just seen on Jackson Street turn up Maple Street moments earlier and may be the possible killer, swung into West Pacific Avenue toward Julius Khan playground. After an unsuccessful search in this area, he returned toward the crime scene and bumped into Armond Pelissetti at the top of Cherry Street. This 2 minute diversion of Donald Fouke from Arguello, would corroborate Armond Pelissetti's 2 minute journey up Cherry Street after updating Donald Fouke over the radio from the crime scene, enabling them to meet at this exact point. 

One thing has always perplexed when we consider Zodiac's movements that night. Whether you believe that Zodiac had blood on his clothing that night or not, why would a killer who must have seen and heard Donald Fouke's approaching police car 'red light and siren' from quite a distance (possibly blocks away), as shown here on Google maps, then try to conceal himself? Also, why was he walking on the north side of the street in full glare of approaching vehicles, when the obvious choice would have been to turn from Cherry Street and stay on the south side until he reached Maple Street or his required turn off?

If we take a look at the memorandum on the right, it is signed by Donald Fouke, but appears to be written on his behalf. Nevertheless, it states "a suspect fitting the description of the Zodiac Killer was observed by Officer Fouke walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turn north on Maple Street". But there is no mention of which side of the street the suspect was on - bearing in mind this was dated November 12th 1969. Only later would it be mentioned that the Zodiac was apparently on the north side. With ample time to spot the approaching police car, this seems on the face of it a strange choice by the Zodiac Killer, particularly if you are an advocate of a killer smothered in the victim's blood.

Considering Donald Fouke was driving that night, coupled with his extensive description of the killer, wouldn't it be more likely the Zodiac Killer was walking on the south side of Jackson Street that night. 
In the Zodiac Killer's November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter, he stated "p.s. 2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".

When you read the last line of the memorandum, it states "My partner that night was officer E. Zelms #3248 of Richmond Station. I do not know if he observed this subject or not". This appears a stretch, when you consider the detailed description of the subject given by Donald Fouke from the seat furthest away from the north sidewalk, especially when he claimed he slowed down for 5,10, 15 seconds. It is more believable if Eric Zelms is scanning the north side from the passenger seat and Donald Fouke is scanning the south side from the driver seat - and Zodiac is walking on the south side. If we believe that rookie Eric Zelms was being shielded from the events that night - and equally believe Zodiac's claims of being "called over" to the police car - then meshing it with Donald Fouke's extensive description of the subject, it could be argued that the Zodiac Killer was called over from the south sidewalk by Donald Fouke. The Zodiac Killer would then direct Donald Fouke to Arguello Boulevard, and the article can begin again.  

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who pioneered the art of geographic profiling - a technique used to compliment conventional police work in the tracking of criminals. He has used data from the Zodiac Killer case to narrow down the likely residence and possible commuter routes of the murderer, and even a suggestion of where he may have worked. When the details from the Zodiac case were placed into the Rigel crime mapping software it created significant zones of interest in Rancho Vallejo, northern Vallejo, American Canyon and Benicia. These areas have one critical commuter route relevant to all - that of California State Route 37 - which the significance of regarding Zodiac's knowledge of courting couples, his base location and possible workplace will become apparent. Some of Kim Rossmo's ideas will be presented here, but to read his excellent analysis of the Zodiac case, please visit here. 
​
Below is a map showing all the relevant locations concerning the killer's first two crimes - the red circle at the northern end of Tuolumne Street being of significant interest, as it also brings into focus the easy access to and from the payphone after his murder and attempted murder of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at the Blue Rock Springs parking lot on July 5th 1969. The journey time to the payphone from the crime scene of less than 10 minutes, and the phone call to police nearly 40 minutes after the attack lends good weight to the premise the killer was a native Vallejoan, and possibly returned home to ditch his weapon and/or clothes before returning to place the call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover.  

What better way to have knowledge that Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs were frequented regularly by courting couples, than if you routinely traveled this route to reach your place of work, not unlike eyewitness James Owen who lived at 1735 Mini Drive and would have likely used California State Route 37 at the beginning of his journey, to arrive at Humble Oil in Benicia. The same applies to an area around Mare Island Shipyard and Rancho Vallejo, where Tuolumne Street nears State Route 37. Lake Herman Road on the eastern fringes of Vallejo and Benicia, is a dark, unlit stretch of rural road infrequently used. It is, however, a logical choice for somebody living in Ranch Vallejo (north Vallejo) or American Canyon to use, if they worked in the industrial area of Benicia.

The northern side of the green line on the map above, shows that access to State Route 37 would take somebody towards the northern side of Columbus Parkway, before heading southeast along Lake Herman Road towards Benicia, and crucially encompassing both crime scenes. If the killer lived in the northern region of Vallejo and worked in Benicia, his 'compass' knowledge of specific locations would not be surprising. This was evident in his first attack when he stated in the July 31st 1969 letters, that Betty Lou Jensen "was on her right side feet to the west." Of course, he had six and a half months to work this out, but had only 36-38 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs attack, in which he was able to direct Vallejo police to the crime scene along Springs Road and Columbus Parkway with completely accurate directions when he called Nancy Slover, stating "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye." 

Knowledge such as this, could suggest complete familiarity with the public park, golf course, Lake Herman Road and the location of the police station with respect to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. The killer would have one direct route, to and from his residence to the payphone at the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street. His route to work (possibly a night-shift) also giving him first hand knowledge of courting couples and where to trawl for victims at the weekend.   

Kim Rossmo, referring to Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park, stated "In contrast, his target selection at Lake Berryessa and San Francisco did not show any evidence of local area knowledge. Also, the time lapse between the Blue Rock Springs shooting and the Zodiac’s telephone call was approximately 40 minutes, even though the distance between these two locations is only 3.5 miles (7 minutes normal driving time). What did he do for that other half hour? One possibility is that he returned home and disposed of his weapon. If so, that means he most likely lived within a five-mile radius of the crime site. The Zodiac also knew to telephone the Vallejo Police Department, even though the Blue Rock Spring Golf Course and park area was an unusual offshoot of municipal jurisdiction, totally surrounded by Solana County. The Zodiac’s comfort zone clearly includes the Vallejo area."
​
However, there is one thorn in our side - the testimony of Michael Mageau. He stated in the police report "as he fell out onto the ground the vehicle the subject was in backed up in a turning movement and then took off toward Springs Road in Vallejo at a very high rate of speed." The obvious route back home for the killer, had he lived somewhere by the top of Tuolumne Street, and wanted to ditch his weapon and clothes before making the call to police, would have been to head north and west along Columbus Parkway - the opposite direction that he chose for work. There may be several explanations for this.
Michael Mageau was simply mistaken, the killer's initial intention was to make the phone call immediately but changed his mind, preferring to remove his weapon and possibly bloodied clothing from the equation, or the intended payphone at the initial time of his arrival had potential eyewitnesses, forcing a hasty change of plan. This may have been his preferred choice of payphone, as it provided easy access to and from his home residence, yet allowed a reasonable 'buffer zone' of just over two miles. It had the added benefit of a voyeur killer who wanted to remain in his vehicle and watch responding officers scurry into action from the police station, along Springs Road to the crime scene. It may actually have been the primary reason he chose this particular payphone so close to the police station, despite it seemingly being an added unnecessary risk on his part.        

There may be another reason why the Zodiac Killer chose the 'wrong way' after leaving the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. A reason that involved near eyewitnesses to the murder in the parking lot..

Three young kids, Debbie, Jerry and Roger were the first to find Michael Mageau just after he had extracted himself from the brown Corvair and was lying adjacent to it. They must have arrived extremely close to the time of the attack - possibly as little as a minute or two after the brutal shooting. The time of the attack can be calculated with a fair degree of confidence to 12.02 am on July 5th 1969. See here. 
​
Police dispatcher Nancy Slover received a phone call from Jerry's house at  938 Catlewood Drive, Vallejo from Debbie at 12.10 am. The drive to 938 Castlewood Drive from Blue Rock Springs is approximately 6 minutes, indicating they would have had to leave the parking lot by about 12.04 am to make this phone call in time.
​Yet, this isn't the time they arrived at the parking lot, which must have been around a minute earlier at 12.03 am - just after the attack at 12.02 am. The Zodiac Killer may literally have been leaving the Blue Rock Springs parking lot as they were approaching it. This may have influenced the direction Zodiac exited from the crime scene.

Debbie, Jerry and Roger stated in the police report that "they had been downtown to see the festivities for the 4th of July. After this was over, at about 11 pm, they decided to look for this girl that Roger knows. They drove around town and did not see her and decided to go to Blue Rock Springs Park to look for her. They went out the freeway to Columbus Parkway and came into the park the back way. While they were driving in toward the park neither boy recalls seeing any vehicle coming out, none parked along the road, nor did they pass any vehicle."  They must have been almost on top of Zodiac as they approached from the north side of Columbus Parkway. Had Zodiac intended to travel home before making the phone call, his obvious route north and then west along Columbus Parkway, was now not so obvious if he didn't want himself or his vehicle spotted by the three kids. They obviously didn't see him, but he may have spotted their vehicle approaching in the distance. This may have forced a change of plan and coerced Zodiac south toward Springs Road. The Zodiac Killer's journey time heading in this direction to somewhere close to the green circle at the top of Tuolumne Street, would take approximately 11-12 minutes. The Zodiac Killer would arrive home at about 12.14 am - leaving him approximately 20 minutes at his residence before driving back to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone to make the call. Once doing so, his escape home is a mere 4 minutes. 
​ 
Calfornia State Route 37 and Highway 101 may have played a decisive factor when selecting a quick and easy separation from San Francisco after the murder of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969. Whether or not the murderer had entered the Presidio Park is a moot point today, but in 1969 the Zodiac Killer would certainly have wanted to escape from the area in as little time as possible. A vehicle parked somewhere along West Pacific Avenue or to the east of the park in Cow Hollow, would provide immediate access to Highway 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge, and in a handful of minutes out of San Francisco. The killer can then head north and eventually east just before Novato, taking California State Route 37 right onto his doorstep.  

The selection of a taxicab driver to take him to a predetermined destination so close to an exit route from San Francisco, one could argue was the perfect choice for a resident of Vallejo. The killer has a nearby park in case things don't go to plan, along with an immediate escape and separation from the crime scene via Highway 101 and the Golden Gate Bridge. Even Inspector Dave Toschi thought this a viable proposition: "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Khan playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County."

Kim Rossmo made an extremely salient point regarding the murder of Paul Stine. He stated: ​​"The San Francisco murder differs significantly from the Zodiac's other crimes. Up to this point he was hunting in locations that had a good probability of containing his desired victims. Target selection was a function of area, not of an individual. However, it is unlikely the Zodiac was successful in all his searches; serial killers typically engage in extensive hunting activities, and for every attack there are many unsuccessful search attempts. In San Francisco, however, the Zodiac controlled the situation through his selection of victim type. The need for such control could be indicative of the distance the Zodiac had to travel to the crime site. Criminals who travel longer distances to offend are less likely to use uncertain target selection techniques."  Control your location and you control your escape route.
​
The Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 speaks for itself. The killer headed to downtown Napa and the payphone at 1231 Main Street. He may have been only 12 miles from California State Route 37 and home, had he continued the trajectory he had set for himself. Was the Zodiac Killer's apparent knowledge of a road on the fringes of Vallejo more indicative of his recreational habits or a route he traveled daily..... particularly when the sun went down? 

There are no images of the Paul Stine trip sheet from Presidio Heights, so we have to take on word that the destination chosen by the Zodiac Killer was the intersection of Washington and Maple. However, the taxicab was discovered one block further at the intersection of Washington and Cherry. What was the reason for this discrepancy?
#1. Paul Stine was murdered at Washington and Maple and the Zodiac Killer drove the taxicab one block further.
#2. Paul Stine was murdered before Washington and Maple and the Zodiac Killer drove the taxicab to Washington and Cherry.
#3. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Maple, but the presence of people on the sidewalk or in vehicles at this location forced him to change his plans.
#4. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry, he simply stated Washington and Maple to throw investigators off the mark.
#5. The Zodiac Killer intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry, he simply made a mistake in giving the destination as Washington and Maple, and realized this on his approach to the area or somewhere en route.
#6. The Zodiac intended to murder Paul Stine at Washington and Maple, but had second thoughts (or exhibited hesitation) before ultimately settling on murder one block later.
​#7. Another scenario.

The Zodiac Killer's first three attacks were on couples, before switching to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, San Francisco on October 11th 1969. It was considered that he may have 'changed his way of collecting slaves' in the fourth attack, due to the newspaper coverage, insinuating or suggesting he targeted the females primarily and likely feared the males, or the crimes themselves had a sexual component. However, an attack on a lone person in San Francisco was probably cemented in his mind, at least as early as July 31st 1969. Two of the three letters postmarked July 31st were mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner, and both failed to mention couples: The Chronicle letter stated "I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend". The Examiner letter stated "I will cruse around killing people who are alone at night untill Sun Night or un till I kill a dozen people". The Vallejo Times-Herald letter was the only letter that mentioned couples: "I will cruse around and pick of all stray people or coupples that are alone then move on to kill some more untill I have killed over a dozen people". This tends to indicate the Zodiac Killer was well aware of his locations of opportunity and the 'availability' of courting couples in Vallejo as opposed to San Francisco. 

The following observation may be reading a little too much into the Zodiac's wording, but the Vallejo Times-Herald communication is the only one of the three letters he used the past tense regarding his mailing of the letters. He used the phrase "Here is a cyipher or that is part of one. the other 2 parts have been mailed to the S.F. Examiner + the S.F. Chronicle",  whereas the San Francisco communications used the present tense: "The other 2 parts are being mailed to the Vallejo Times + S.F. Chronicle" and "Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner". If he was a resident of Vallejo, and was going to post all three communications somewhere in or near the Richmond District of San Francisco, which he did, then subconsciously on his future return to his residence in Vallejo, he would have posted the other two communications (to the Examiner and Chronicle). That is because he is associating the Vallejo Times-Herald with his home location. The letter he is sending to the Vallejo Times-Herald is close to his residence, so he labels the two San Francisco communications containing the word Vallejo, as are being mailed, because he is projecting further ahead. This subconscious use of words may very early on have told us exactly where the Zodiac Killer lived - somewhere he knew that couples were readily available over the weekend, before he returned to work in San Francisco on Monday morning.    

One always has to question why the killer after the Blue Rock Springs attack on Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau, who apparently lived in San Francisco, wouldn't just make the phone call somewhere equidistant between Vallejo and San Francisco, rather than from a payphone relatively close to the crime scene and extremely close to the police station. Why was he apparently constrained in choosing a payphone 10 minutes from the crime scene, yet 40 minutes after the double shooting, if it wasn't for the fact he lived in the Vallejo area, or extremely close to the payphone. 

If the killer lived in Vallejo and traveled to San Francisco weekly for his occupation - where did he work?. There are plenty of reasons to believe the Zodiac Killer knew the Presidio Heights area fairly well. If you are going to murder a taxicab driver in an affluent, built-up area, in the heart of San Francisco, it would have been advisable to know everything about the area and your likely escape route in advance. There are two ways to enter San Francisco by vehicle from Vallejo - either by the Golden Gate Bridge or Oakland Bay Bridge. Either journey from Vallejo to the Richmond District is approximately the same distance. But if you entered via the Golden Gate Bridge every day, you would certainly have every opportunity to become accustomed to the roadways in and around the Presidio Park area. This is the area the Zodiac Killer may have left his vehicle - somewhere on the fringes of the park, by West Pacific Avenue or Lyon Street - towards the east. 

A man fitting the description of Zodiac was seen running into the Julius Khan playground minutes after the murder of Paul Stine - a description that virtually matched that of the three teenagers and Officer Donald Fouke. If we contend this wasn't the killer, then we have to conveniently dismiss this independent eyewitness testimony as erroneous. Even Dave Toschi believed this was a viable sighting, as search dogs and police vehicles were stationed alongside the Julius Khan playground. A passage in Robert Graysmith's book Zodiac appears to corroborate the premise that eyewitnesses at, or near Spruce Street, observed a man running into Julius Khan playground, and tallies with the October 12th 1969 San Francisco Chronicle article. Here is the excerpt: "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Khan playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County". Richardson Avenue leads onto Highway 101 and the Golden Gate Bridge - a route the killer would be completely familiar with, had he traveled this way to and from work each day. Even if he didn't travel this exact route, and he worked in the Richmond District area, he would surely be familiar with the surrounding area and his best escape route from the intersection of Washington and Cherry.  

The website (now not available online) crackproof.com examined the Zodiac communications and their associated postmarks. This indicated that the July 31st 1969 '408' letters were franked in the Central Richmond District, and the Paul Stine letter, mailed two days after the murder, was franked in the Inner Richmond District. This doesn't mean they were necessarily posted here, but processed at this location (these letters were franked 1A and 1B). However, they were very likely posted by the killer somewhere in the northwest region of San Francisco, with Richmond being a strong possibility. This area and vicinity is an extremely significant area when it comes to the exploits of the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco. This can be seen in the Google map diagram below.     

The only claimed Zodiac victim outside of the canonical five and Bay Area, known to have once lived in San Francisco was Donna Lass, who disappeared on September 6th 1970 from South Lake Tahoe. She worked at the Letterman General Hospital in the Presido and resided at 4122 Balboa Street in the Outer Richmond District. Did she ever cross paths with the Zodiac Killer while she worked here?

On April 20th 1970, the '13 Symbol' cipher arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating "I am mildly cerous as to how much money you have on my head now.  I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station.  Even though I talked about killing school children with one. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory.  But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back.  I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud.  I was swamped out by the rain we had a while back". In the letter the Zodiac Killer was referring to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell on February 16th 1970, two months earlier, when a bomb packed with fence staples exploded on an outside ledge of the 1899 Waller Street, Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood. This location, bordering Golden Gate Park  and the Richmond District areas, is only 1.45 miles south of the Paul Stine crime scene.  

The next Zodiac communication was the 'Dragon' card mailed on April 28th 1970, depicting what appears to be characters from a novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in which Don Quixote, on his horse Rocinante, and Sancho Panza his squire, perched on a donkey called El rucio, embark on a mission to restore chivalry. The Zodiac Killer wrote on the face of the card "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my Blast". Was this a case of Zodiac rubbing salt into the wounds of the San Francisco Police Department, choosing this card for a specific reason. The 1899 Waller Street Police Station is situated on the boundary of the San Francisco Golden Gate Park, in which the memorial statue of Miguel de Cervantes, featuring Don Quixote and Sancho Panza sits. So was this card really just a random choice, or was Zodiac simply 'needling the blue pigs'.

In the following correspondence, the 'Button' letter, on June 26th 1970, the Zodiac Killer suggested he may have been responsible for the murder of Sgt Richard Radetich a week earlier. Officer Radetich was gunned down by three shots from a .38 caliber revolver at point blank range through the driver side window of his vehicle, while in the process of serving a parking ticket. He was sat in his police car near 643 Waller Street, San Francisco, in the Lower Haight District, where he sustained life threatening injuries and subsequently died 15 hours later. 643 Waller Street is only just over a mile from the Golden Gate Park and the Richmond District of San Francisco. One can see the clustering of these Zodiac 'events' within the northwest corner of San Francisco, and around the Richmond District area. Even the 'Dripping Pen' card mailed on November 8th 1969 was supposedly mailed just south of this area.

Nobody can definitively pin down the likely profession of the Zodiac Killer, but did it reside somewhere in this region, and somewhere he could mail his communications to and from work. The question is always asked: Why would the Zodiac Killer mail a noticeable amount of his correspondence from the vicinity of where he worked? - that would be stupid. The answer probably lies within the geographical profiling term 'the least effort principle.' That, when a human can exert the least effort in accomplishing a given task (with little risk), they probably will. Obviously, he realized that the ability to trace a letter or card back to a particular mailing point is practically impossible. Only to the area the letter was franked. 

The final observation on the map above, is the locality and proximity of the three golf courses to the Richmond District - bearing in mind the golf course adjacent to the Blue Rock Springs parking lot. Could the Zodiac Killer have worked at one of these locations, or did he play golf on a regular basis, taking his scorecard from the clubhouse into the very communications he mailed.  

Here we will take another look at the timeline of Presidio Heights from the perspective of Armond Pelissetti, to show how incredibly tight the whole affair is. We will use the police report from the following morning and the claims of Armond Pelissetti in the 2007 Zodiac documentary to create the only viable timeline based on what has been stated. These are their words, not mine.

Armond Pelissetti received the police dispatch at approximately 9:58 pm and likely exited his police car at around 9:59 pm - at which point one of the Robbins kids, who had spotted Zodiac in and around the taxicab that night - pointed out to Armond Pelissetti that Zodiac was approaching the intersection of Jackson and Cherry Street. This being the case, then Zodiac is at this intersection at 9:59 pm. Armond Pelissetti then ushered the children across the street to their residence. He then proceeded back to the taxicab and checked the status of Paul Stine, stating in the documentary he was 99.9% sure the taxicab driver was deceased. He then retook the description from the children and was now aware it was a white male adult, so "couldn't get to the radio fast enough" to inform the other officers of the amended description. He then likely set off up Cherry.

These were his exact words in the 2007 documentary:"it was then I was told it was a white male, I couldn't get to the radio fast enough at that point to let everybody else know. The kids had told me whoever had done this crime had left the cab, went out the door and seemed to be wiping the cab down and reaching into the cab and ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kind of towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars, so I went down following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". Nobody knows for sure how long all these actions took, but a bare minimum of 2 minutes spent at the crime scene seems a reasonable estimate. This would have Armond Pelissetti beginning his journey north on Cherry Street at 10:01 pm.

Now we shall flip the timeline backwards using two points of reference. The first is from the police report countersigned by Armond Pelissetti on October 12th 1969. It stated "P.E.H. ambulance #82 responded, steward Dousette, victim was examined and pronounced dead at 10:10 pm. Inspector Krake responded and summoned dog units and a fire department 'spotlight' vehicle to assist in the search. R/Os called for the Crime Lab, Coroner, Yellow cab officials, and a tow". This section of the police report tallies perfectly with Armond Pelissetti's recollection in the 2007 Zodiac documentary as he approached Maple Street  "I turned to the right and saw a man walking his dog. He was somewhat older than the description I had, a whole lot thinner and he had absolutely no blood on his clothes". After a brief discussion with the man, Armond Pelissetti continued "I got back to the scene, and it was sometime shortly thereafter that the ambulance crew, the coroner, a firetruck, Inspector Walt Krake of the homicide detail, and then about three or four or five minutes thereafter Inspector Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong, two of the best, arrived". 

It can be seen that by marrying these two statements that ​Armond Pelissetti arrived back at the crime scene "sometime shortly" before the ambulance crew arrived, who "pronounced Paul Stine dead at 10:10 pm." This would place Armond Pelissetti arriving back at the crime scene at a reasonable estimate of 10:08 pm. Therefore, Armond Pelissetti left the crime scene at 10:01 pm and arrived back at approximately 10:08 pm.

According to the widely held consensus and the storyline of the 2007 Zodiac documentary, Armond Pelissetti traveled up Cherry Street (which is a 1 minute journey at normal walking pace) extremely cautiously, checking the alcoves and parked cars "following every technique I knew so I didn't get my head blown off". He then supposedly bumped into Officer Donald Fouke (whether it was on his outbound or inbound journey is irrelevant on this occasion). He then presumably applied the same caution down Jackson Street (a 2 minute journey at normal walking pace), checking the alcoves and vehicles, before bumping into a man walking his dog on Maple Street. He had a brief conversation with the dog-walker, before heading back on the 3 minute journey to the crime scene, now presumably at normal walking speed. This whole sequence of events taking just 7 minutes.

The journey from the crime scene to the intersection of Jackson and Maple is approximately 3 minutes, a fact even confirmed by Zodiac: "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab". But if Armond Pelissetti was using every police technique he knew, checking the innumerable alcoves and parked vehicles, this journey must have taken at least 5 minutes. This would have placed Armond Pelissetti arriving to the dog-walker at about 10:06 pm. He then had just 2 minutes to talk to the dog-walker and arrive back at the crime scene at 10:08 pm, sometime before the ambulance arrived and eventually pronounced Paul Stine dead at 10:10 pm. We can throw in some leeway here and have Armond Pelissetti arriving back at 10:09 pm, giving him three minutes to converse with the man on Maple Street and return back to the intersection of Washington and Cherry. Nevertheless, it is an extremely rushed affair, considering Armond Pelissetti's outbound journey of 5 minutes or inbound journey of 3 minutes, also included talking to the dog-walker and Officer Donald Fouke.        

After some grueling and labor intensive detective work on my part, I was able to track down Fido, the dog from that night, and you can tell by his expression on the right, he wasn't impressed with the timeline I presented to him either. Or the suggestion his owner was a cold-blooded killer. I stroked his furrowed brow, made my excuses and left the kennel with my tail between my legs. But in all seriousness, this drives to the heart of the question posed by some - was the dog-walker somehow the killer? Without debating the legitimacy of suspects - if Kjell Qvale was the owner of Fido, then he had to depart the intersection of Jackson and Cherry Street at 9:59 pm (going on the sighting of the three teenagers with Pelissetti), and travel approximately 3 minutes to be firmly ensconced in his 3636 Jackson Street residence. He then needs about 1 minute to return to the area of Maple to be spotted by Armond Pelissetti. This allocation of 4 minutes shifts the time to 10:03 pm, leaving Kjell Qvale three minutes to enter his home, change clothes, put Fido on his leash and leave the residence. He would then arrive to the meeting with Armond Pelissetti at approximately 10:06 pm. The timelines of Armond Pelissetti and Kjell Qvale are possible, albeit extremely rushed. However, this is nothing new for the Zodiac case. 

Robert Graysmith stated "The operator jotted down the answers (of the phone call by the kids). Immediately, the card was handed to the dispatcher, who leaned forward over his lighted panel, consulted a complex map of San Francisco divided into districts and sectors, and broadcast a general call to all police units, cars, and wagons: an APB". The time was 9.58 pm. ​

"At this time, Lindsey went downstairs to get a better look at what was happening, while one of the kids upstairs called the police. Downstairs, the lights were off, so Lindsey knew he could not be seen from the outside. He got close to the window and watched his actions. He was shortly joined by Rebecca. They both watched and observed in silence as Zodiac pushed the driver to an upright position behind the steering wheel, exited the car and walked around the rear of the car and opened the driver's door. Stine had fallen over onto the seat and Zodiac pulled him back up into the seated position and had some difficulty keeping him upright. Once upright, he was seen to have a rag, or something like a handkerchief and began to wipe down the door area and leaning over the driver, part of the dashboard. When he was finished, Zodiac calmly walked to Cherry St. and walked north".

This is a brief section from the account of the three teenagers who observed the subject in the taxicab at Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. But why was the Zodiac Killer spending valuable time attempting to hoist Paul Stine into an upright position behind the steering wheel, when he should have been making good his escape? If the Zodiac had been aware of the three teenage eyewitnesses, it seems unlikely he would have spent an unnecessary period of time tearing a piece of shirt, then compounding the situation by trying to maneuver Paul Stine into an upright position, before casually walking north on Cherry Street and taking no evasive action upon seeing the approach of Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms' patrol car. But what was the purpose of raising Paul Stine, who was covered in blood, into a more visible position to the casual passerby? It would seem the taxicab driver out of view would be the better option in delaying his discovery and any resulting search. Here is one possibility.
 
After Paul Stine had been shot -and either slumped, or was pulled into a lying position - the Zodiac Killer had to gain access to the back of the taxicab driver's shirt. The Zodiac Killer, having entered the right front passenger seat, likely gripped the jacket of the victim and pulled him towards and to the right, with Stine face down in the passenger side floorboard. This is where the largest pooling of blood was located and where responding officer Armond Pelissetti ultimately discovered the stricken taxicab driver. It is evident that the jacket of the victim has been pulled upwards - an obvious necessity to gain access to the rear of Stine's shirt and tear a portion of the fabric. But in maneuvering the body into this position, the jacket had bunched up and may have become wedged between the victim and passenger seat. Once the Zodiac had acquired the shirt piece, he may have wanted to conceal this fact by pulling the jacket back down over the victim. However, there is one big problem - he cannot achieve this with the jacket trapped between seat and victim. The Zodiac Killer attempted to elevate the victim upwards to free the jacket and pull it back down over the shirt, but from the passenger side, with dead weight, achieving the leverage is extremely difficult - and Stine inevitably fell back. The Zodiac Killer exited the vehicle, traveled around the taxicab and opened the driver side door - and with his right hand braced on the dividing panel (leaving the blooded fingerprint) attempted to haul Stine back into an upright position, to where he can now release his right hand in order to pull the jacket down over Stine's exposed back - but he ultimately failed. The teenagers may have mistaken the killer simply attempting to elevate the victim, as trying to prop him back behind the steering wheel. This cannot be proven as the objective of the killer, but it could be argued that the only function of altering the position of Paul Stine inside the taxicab after the fact, was to alter the visible scene viewed by responding investigators.​

The police report stated "R/Os immediately checked the interior of the cab and found the victim to be slumped over the front seat with his upper torso in the passenger side, head resting on the floorboard". Armond Pelissetti did not interfere with the crime scene.

​The next portion of the police report is crucial: "P.E.H. ambulance #82 responded, steward Dousette, victim was examined and pronounced dead at 10:10 pm." Later Toschi and Armstrong would arrive: "A check with the Yellow Cab Co. revealed the victim arrived at work at approximately 8:45 pm and had only one fare prior, that being from Pier 64 to the Air Terminal. Sgt. Falk responded in G-10. Homicide inspectors Armstrong and Toschi responded and took charge. G-40, Lt. Kiel also responded". But by the time Inspectors Toschi and Armstrong had arrived, the victim had been pulled from the floorboard of the passenger side into the position seen in the crime scene photographs. This was undertaken by responding medical personnel to determine the status of Paul Stine (likely to check for vital signs), before pronouncing him deceased at 10.10 pm.

With Paul Stine in this position it would have been impossible for Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong to notice a section of the taxicab driver's shirt had been removed. The police report continued "The coroner responded, Deputy Schultz and Kindred and took charge of the necessary photographs of the preserved scene." The crime scene had not strictly been preserved, because the body had been moved prior to Toschi and Armstrong arriving. Furthermore, the "crime lab's initial investigation showed that the victim was devoid of any U.S. Currency, nor did he have the possession of a wallet; the ignition keys for the cab were also missing". But no mention of any missing shirt.

Once the police had finished their assessment, the victim was taken away from the crime scene. At what point in the investigation did they become aware of the missing shirt piece? Was it the Zodiac Killer's intention to somehow delay its discovery, so his declaration in the October 13th 1969 letter had the maximum impact and shock value, upstaging the police, who believed this crime was nothing more than a routine robbery and taxicab murder at this point. The whole reason behind his attempted crime scene manipulation.

According to Robert Graysmith "Stine's body was the first to be autopsied that morning, a little after 9:30 am. Before the blood and grime are removed, close-up photos are made of the body fully clothed, under the guidance of the pathologist. Stine's blood-stained clothing had been removed, an identification tag wire put on each article, and placed under a drying lamp. When his clothes had dried completely, they were laid flat, with butcher paper between each article to avoid the possibility of any sort of transfer. The clothing was listed on a clothing slip and turned into the property clerk's office to be safeguarded for future lab tests". So, at what point did investigators learn of the missing shirt piece - before Zodiac mailed the October 13th 1969 letter, or afterwards.     

On October 14th 1969, the  Zodiac Killer's letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. Robert Graysmith outlined the reaction of investigators: "Toschi saw the fabric and remembered it from Saturday night. "Jesus Christ" he said. "This looks like Stine's shirt Bill, I think this is Stine's shirt." Armstrong stated "We're going to bring this shirt down to the coroner's office. Stine's clothing is being held there". ​On the main floor annex, Toschi and Armstrong saw the coroner, Dr Henry Turkel, who got all of Stine's clothing out of the property clerk's office. They went back upstairs and told Lee that the cloth enclosed with the letter had come from the left lower portion of Stine's shirt". It appears from the wording above that David Toschi and Bill Armstrong only checked on Paul Stine's shirt at the coroner's office to see if a piece was missing after receiving the Zodiac letter. Therefore, it seems that investigators were unaware of the torn shirt piece of Paul Stine at the point it was received by the Chronicle. Was this the intention of Zodiac when attempting to maneuver Paul Stine in the taxicab?

On October 12th 1969, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the murder, entitled  'Robbery Victim' - "A Yellow Cab driver was found shot to death in his cab last night, the victim of an apparent robbery attempt in Presidio Heights". On October 13th 1969 the police issued a wanted poster, lumping this crime in with other taxicab robberies, with the poster carrying the message "Wanted for murder and robberies of cab drivers. Suspect takes cab in downtown area at 9:30 pm and sits in front seat with driver. Tells driver destination is Washington and Laurel area or area near park or Presidio. Upon reaching destination, suspect orders driver to continue on at gunpoint into or near park where he perpetrates robbery".
 
The police still appeared to consider this a simple matter of robbery, with the suspect possibly having taken a small amount of cash, the driver's wallet and the keys to the taxicab. But what thief would take the time to carefully tear a rectangular portion of the victim's shirt and remove it from the crime scene? This fact alone, should have told investigators they were not dealing with the routine robbery of a taxicab driver and thereby associating it with other robberies committed in recent weeks. The removal of the shirt piece should have set this crime apart, had they been aware that a piece was missing. Is this what the Zodiac Killer had envisioned when he mailed the October 13th 1969 letter, gaining the element of surprise and getting one over on the police? Or did the police know all along that a section of shirt was missing - with the removal of the shirt piece being deliberately withheld from publication as to verify any future contact by the killer? But why label it as a routine robbery to both the press and public alike, when it was anything but.