The Zodiac Killer appeared to have targeted specific areas in his search for victims, such as the secluded areas of Lake Herman Road, the Blue Rock Springs parking lot and Lake Berryessa, as well as his venture into the theater district of Union Square to deliberately target a San Francisco taxicab driver. But if the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns was a Zodiac crime, and he lived in the Bay Area, or more specifically Vallejo, then he went to extraordinary lengths to perpetrate his fifth recorded attack. Modesto is 86 miles from the site of his first attack at Lake Herman Road. That is a 172 mile round trip from Benicia.

If the abduction was the only purpose of his visit, we would have to believe he left his residence at sometime around 9:30 pm on Sunday night at the latest, to travel for 1.5 to 2 hours to a random stretch of highway in Modesto, for the sole purpose of flagging down a passing motorist, when this same technique could have been applied anywhere from Martinez, Concord or Walnut Creek - or an area he was possibly more familiar with. Three to four hours of driving to and from the destination, plus a 2 hour abduction, would mean anywhere up to 6 hours driving, for what turned out to be nothing more than a 'joyride'. Unless of course, there was a purpose behind his visit to Modesto, and the Kathleen Johns abduction was a mere afterthought and spur of the moment decision on his way home.       

On October 11th 1969, taxicab driver Paul Stine was murdered in Presidio Heights. On October 22nd 1969, the same day as the supposed Oakland PD phone call by Zodiac, requesting that either Melvin Belli or Francis Lee Bailey, high profile lawyers at the time, appear on a chat show hosted by Jim Dunbar, Joe Stine, brother of the victim, issued a challenge to Zodiac on a KPIX news report. It was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle the following day. Joe Stine stated "Zodiac has to be sick, a maniac. I hope that by offering myself as a target I can flush him out. I work at the Richfield Service Station at 706 Sutter Street in Modesto, near Rouse Street. I start at 7 am. I go to lunch at the Walk-In Chicken in a shopping center two blocks away, riding a bicycle along Sutter Street and leaving the station at noon each day. I go back to the service station and work until 5".
Joe Stine lived with his mother in Modesto. 

During the interview on the KPIX news report, Joe Stine was asked: "What is your feeling among them or people in the city that you may be drawing the Zodiac here unnecessarily". Joe Stine stated that it was 99% likely the Zodiac wouldn't take up his challenge. It seemed unlikely, but exactly 5 months later the Zodiac appeared on Highway 132, west of Modesto. If this was Zodiac - was it a coincidence? Did the Zodiac make the journey to Modesto over the weekend of March 20th to the early hours of March 23rd (possibly even stopping over) with the express intention of taking up Joe Stine on his challenge and proving this 99% assertion incorrect?

Joe Stine rode a bicycle to work, that may have indicated his mother's residence was relatively close to the Richfield Service Station at Sutter Street. Had the Zodiac Killer traveled to Modesto and followed Joe Stine at any point over the weekend, thereby locating the residence of his mother - presumably Joe Stine would not have been working on a Sunday. Whatever the case, the attack never materialized. Then Kathleen Johns was abducted just shy of Bird Road on Highway 132, en route to Petaluma, and ironically, according to the police report, the suspect drove "west on Highway 132 and pulled into a Richfield service station that was closed". He surely must have been aware it was closed?        

Kathleen Johns traveled from San Bernardino, California to Highway 132, via Highway 99, turning west just by downtown Modesto. She would have traveled on Highway 99, just 4,840 feet, or 1.48 km east of the Richfield Service Station where Joe Stine worked - and likely close to where he resided with his mother. ​Is this where Zodiac picked up her trail, somewhere along Highway 132, en route to his weekend residence, or on his way home to the Bay Area? This may be an unlikely scenario of events, but if the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns was unrelated to Joe Stine, why did the Zodiac Killer make a daunting 6 hour trek all over California just to flag down and give a ride to a random motorist, that he could have done anywhere? Additionally, do we put the abduction in Modesto as a coincidence, bearing in mind Joe Stine's connection to Modesto, and the previous attack was on his brother in San Francisco. Was it just a case of happenstance?

On Zodiac Killer Site forum there is an interesting letter highlighted- sent to the editor of the Modesto Bee newspaper. AK Wilks stated "Someone reacted to Joe Stine very strongly. Doug Oswell and I, and some others, wonder if this letter from AROUSED is actually the Zodiac"  Joe Stine worked near ROUSE Street. Bearing in mind how Zodiac signed off some of his letters, it's worthy of consideration.​ The Modesto Bee communication can be viewed on the forum, or directly here.

Here is a portion of the charter for taxicabs and sedans "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". It is believed Paul Stine was returning back to the theater district after dropping off a passenger at the San Francisco International Airport, when he received his final dispatch from the assistant traffic manager of the Yellow Cab Company, Leroy Sweet. The police report stated "the last dispatch given the victim was at 9:45 pm to 500 9th Ave. apt. #1. Victim allegedly never arrived at the above location as the dispatch was reassigned to another cab at 9:58 pm. R/Os noted that the meter of the cab was running, indicating that the victim possibly picked up another fare (suspect) en route to his original assignment". The language used, that "the victim possibly picked up another fare (suspect) en route to his original assignment" seems to suggest that the exact location of Zodiac entering the taxicab has not been pinned down, despite the charter indicating the origin of the fare be noted. Investigators took a reading of the taxicab meter at 10.46 pm and calculated the Zodiac likely entered the taxicab somewhere in or close to Union Square.     

The attack on Paul Stine was specified as 9:55 pm in the police report - this being the time the three teenagers first spotted the taxicab outside their window. We actually don't know how long it was sitting there prior to the eyewitness testimony, but we will estimate 9:54-9:55 pm. The journey time from Union Square, traveling through in excess of thirty intersections to Washington and Cherry Street, is approximated on Google maps as 12 minutes. However, the taxicab, on a busy Saturday night, would have arrived in 9-10 minutes had Leroy Sweet's 9:45 pm statement been accurate. Leroy Sweet directed Paul Stine to a fare on 500 9th Avenue, and the assumption was, that somewhere en route the Zodiac Killer flagged down the taxicab.

​It seems unlikely that Paul Stine would stop for a random customer on the off chance he was going in roughly the same direction. If you pulled up and the person stated he was going in the opposite direction, do you just simply say sorry, and drive off. It is more likely that your taxicab is stationary when your potential fare approaches, just as your receiving the dispatch from Leroy Sweet to proceed to 500 9th Avenue. Then, upon hearing a destination of Washington and Cherry, it makes perfect sense to accommodate the pedestrian because you are traveling in that direction anyway. A 9-10 minute journey is possible, but it's a tight timeline.

Then we factor in another statement in the police report: "Victim allegedly never arrived at the above location as the dispatch was reassigned to another cab at 9:58 pm."  Even if we take this journey at 10 minutes, Paul Stine has to drop this passenger off, and then proceed to 500 9th Avenue, which is a further journey time of 5 minutes from the Washington and Cherry intersection. Trimming this down to 4 minutes - and allowing for the previous passenger to pay and vacate the vehicle - we have a minimum journey time to 500 9th Avenue from Union Square of 14 minutes, which is a stretch. From a starting point of 9:45 pm, this should have Paul Stine reaching 500 9th Avenue at 9:59 pm. Yet, reading between the lines, Leroy Sweet is already reassigning this fare to another taxicab at 9:58 pm. How did Leroy Sweet conclude that Paul Stine was somehow late?          

Unless, Paul Stine wasn't approaching the theater district when he got the radio message to proceed to 500 9th Avenue - but was well into his journey to Washington and Cherry - and Zodiac was already seated in the rear of the taxicab, having entered the vehicle several minutes before. If this were the case, and Leroy Sweet knew that Paul Stine was much closer to 500 9th Avenue than Union Square or thereabouts, then it could be argued that he would reallocate the fare to another taxicab, that wouldn't be justified after just 13 minutes (9:58 pm minus 9:45 pm). Even if Leroy Sweet thought that Paul Stine was 5 minutes overdue, then he would have been expecting Paul Stine to reach 500 9th Avenue by 9:53 pm, which is an unlikely journey time on Saturday night of 8 minutes from Union Square. This could indicate that Leroy Sweet knew that Paul Stine was proceeding west towards Washington and Cherry when he gave Paul Stine the 9:45 pm dispatch. But even this, hardly  explains the impatience of reallocating another taxicab to the aforementioned destination.
 
The simplest answer could be, that Leroy Sweet dispatched Paul Stine at 9:35 pm, not 9:45 pm, thereby justifying any perceived impatience on his part, however, this turns the journey time of Paul Stine from Union Square to the Washington and Cherry Street intersection, into a 20 minute journey, which is now too long. Unless something happened along the way? Something that takes the focus away from the crime scene. These are the details regarding the taxicab meter reading taken from a previous post.

The rates of fare for taxicabs and sedans shall be as follows: Fifty-five Cents (55c) for the first one-fifth mile or "flag": Ten Cents (10c) for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof: Ten Cents (10c) for each one and one fourth minutes of waiting or traffic delay time.
'The police report stated that Paul Stine's taxicab meter read $6.25 at exactly 10:46 pm. So using the taxicab meter charges here, we can backtrack and calculate the approximate pick-up point from the last known movements of Paul Stine heading back from San Francisco International Airport. The time of the murder was specified as 9:55 pm, so by the time the meter was read at 10:46 pm, the meter had been running idle for 51 minutes. We know that it's 10c for each one and one fourth minutes (1.25) of waiting or traffic delay time. So we can discover the charge the idle taxicab ran up for these 51 minutes. (51 divided by 1.25) = 40.8. Multiplied by 10c = 4 dollars and 8 cents. The investigators deducted this from the $6.25 to give us $2.17. This calculation however, did not include any idle time en route from the proposed theater district to the intersection of Washington and Cherry. But we shall assume it negligible, as they have done. We know it is 55c for the first one-fifth mile. So the taxicab meter would be operating effectively from $2.17 minus 55c thereafter ($2.17 minus 55c) = $1.62. So to calculate the distance traveled we have to use the taxicab meter charges of 10c for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof. 
 
$1.62 divided by 10c = 16.2 miles. But it is for one-fifth of a mile, so 16.2 divided by 5 = 3.24 miles traveling distance. But again, this is not factoring in any delays en route, in accordance with the History Channel calculations. The crucial part is the 55c for the first one-fifth mile or "flag." The taxicab should be reading 55c after one-fifth of mile (0.2 miles) is achieved. Therefore, this should be added on to the 3.24 miles, to give us 3.44 miles traveling distance. This would, without any delays en route (not factored in by the History Channel), take us a little further away from Washington and Cherry. But these calculations are a fragile balance. What if the idle time above was 61 minutes in total, instead of 51 minutes, and Leroy Sweet's 9:45 pm, was in fact 9:35 pm. This makes the journey time from Union Square to Washington and Cherry, 20 minutes. This could be 10 minutes with the taxicab in motion, and 10 minutes parked up anywhere en route.

Below are two parks, the accessibility at night in 1969 I have no idea. These two parks, Lafayette and Alta Plaza, would not take the taxicab off route, and could have been used (holding the taxicab driver under gunpoint) by either entering or parking alongside, to execute Paul Stine. The murderer could take 10 minutes, or anytime up to 10 minutes to shoot the taxicab driver and remove a piece of shirt, before taking control of the vehicle and driving it to Washington and Cherry, accidentally or mistakenly parking the taxicab one block further west to the destination he gave as Washington and Maple- the one recorded on the trip sheet. This could explain the lack of gunshot and the assumed confidence displayed by the killer in removing the shirt piece at the crime scene- because he had already acquired it. He may have began to leave the crime scene, but returned via the front passenger door to recover the keys he had touched, wiped the steering wheel, driver side compartment, before leaving and wiping down both exterior doors. The three teenagers pick up the story once he has entered the front passenger door. This may seem unlikely, but a simpler variation of this is certainly possible. One has to remember though, that any extra idle time can dramatically affect the potential origin or pick up point of the Zodiac Killer. The taxicab sitting idle for an extra, let's say, 3 minutes somewhere along the route, will have a marked effect.   

If we add the 3 minutes extra idle time to 51 minutes, to give us 54 minutes, the traveling distance backwards from Washington and Cherry would drop from the 3.44 miles calculated above, to 2.96 miles. That is approximately half a mile. Then, if we throw any more waiting time, explained in the charges above, the distance traveled by the taxicab diminishes even further, making the calculations used to determine where the taxicab picked up Zodiac, an extremely inaccurate affair.
However, this 2.96 miles, is closer to the 3.00 miles from Mason and Geary to the crime scene, as calculated by Google maps, than the 3.44 miles calculated above. Without knowing the exact 'traffic delay time' experienced during Paul Stine's final journey, we cannot say with any confidence that the taxicab parked up along the route to Washington and Cherry. However, we can say that, if this was the method employed to discover the location of where Zodiac entered the taxicab, it could be massively off. If we assume that Paul Stine was heading back to the theater district after leaving San Francisco International Airport, and Leroy Sweet gave the heading of 500 9th Avenue at 9:45 pm, then we are back to where we started.    

Robert Graysmith has been accused of many factual inaccuracies down the years, of which many are well-founded. One of these we shall revisit and explore whether it has any basis in truth. ​Michael Butterfield highlighted this 'inaccuracy' under the title Robert Graysmith-Separating Fact and Fiction, where Robert Graysmith notes the sighting of the Zodiac Killer incorrectly on two occasions, firstly on the TLC show The Ultimate Ten, by 3758 Jackson Street, and secondly, on Cherry Street 'lumbering along in the fog toward the Presidio'.
 
However, the reality is, we only have the word of Officer Donald Fouke on where he last saw the Zodiac Killer on October 11th 1969, and he also placed the murderer of Paul Stine in two locations. firstly, walking up a flight of stairs and approaching the residence of 3712 Jackson Street, and secondly, he last saw the Zodiac Killer turning north on Maple Street as he drove past.

If you are going to question the statements of Robert Graysmith, then you have to equally challenge the conflicting statements of Officer Donald Fouke in the November 12th 1969 interdepartmental police memorandum and the 2007 Zodiac documentary.  
But there may be a possibility that Robert Graysmith and Donald Fouke are both correct, and the Zodiac Killer was spotted at both locations. The three teenagers gave a second, more comprehensive account of the events that night, recalling their meeting with Armond Pelissetti at the intersection of Washington and Cherry, and the Zodiac Killer attempting to haul Paul Stine into an upright position behind the steering wheel of the taxicab. These recollections tally with Armond Pelissetti's statements in the 2007 documentary, along with the bloody right-handed fingerprint retrieved from the dividing panel between the driver side door and left rear passenger door. The statement of Lindsey that  "He ran to the corner of Cherry and watched as Zodiac continued his casual pace right up to the corner of Jackson & Cherry. At this exact point, the first SFPD car arrives with two officers. One, Pelissetti, approached Lindsey and tried to extract what was happening. The other officer went to the cab and found the bloody victim. While Pelissetti was asking questions, Lindsey was trying to explain that the suspect was in sight on Cherry St. By the time Pelissetti got the point, they both looked and the Zodiac was gone", does not tally with the timeline of Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple and being spotted by Donald Fouke.      

If Armond Pelissetti and Lindsey were both watching Zodiac as he approached the corner of Jackson and Cherry, then the Zodiac Killer still had 128 meters of traveling distance to reach 3712 Jackson Street, close to the intersection of Jackson and Maple. At an average walking speed of 1.4 m/s, this would take 91 seconds.
​If Armond Pelissetti only took 30 seconds to arrive en scene, and he got the initial radio broadcast at 9:58 pm, the time is now 9:58:30 pm.

Zodiac would therefore arrive at 3712 Jackson Street at approximately 10:00 pm, where he is spotted by Donald Fouke. But Donald Fouke's journey at approximately 30 mph from the intersection of Presidio Avenue and Washington Street, where he received the initial 9:58 pm broadcast, is just 60 seconds. He arrived at Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm, so couldn't possibly have seen Zodiac here, who wouldn't have arrived until 10:00 pm. Zodiac cannot travel from the upper reaches of Cherry to the near intersection of Jackson and Maple in 30 seconds.

If Armond Pelissetti took 1 minute to arrive en scene and met with Lindsey, then they are both viewing Zodiac approach the intersection of Jackson and Cherry at 9:59 pm. Donald Fouke is also viewing Zodiac approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm - and Zodiac cannot be in two places at once. But the Robert Graysmith statement of Zodiac being spotted somewhere near the intersection of Jackson and Cherry is certainly plausible. In the Zodiac book by Robert Graysmith it stated "The patrol reached Jackson and Cherry by 10:00 and saw a stocky man "lumbering" along in the fog toward the Presidio. The radio unit, Patrolmen Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, looking for a black man, shouted to the stranger and asked if he had seen anything unusual in the last minute or so. The stocky man called out he'd seen a man waving a gun running east on Washington, and the patrol car sped off in that direction".
 
It would take Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms approximately 1 minute 15/20 seconds from the initial broadcast, to be somewhere between the 3758 Jackson Street residence and the Jackson/Cherry intersection, and would take Zodiac a similar time from the taxicab. Zodiac cannot reach the Jackson/Maple intersection at normal walking speed to be spotted by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, but their patrol car can reach Zodiac at the beginning of his journey east along Jackson Street. This would tally with the claims of Robert Graysmith, along with the sighting of Lindsey and Armond Pelissetti.    

According to Graysmith "Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, looking for a black man, shouted to the stranger and asked if he had seen anything unusual in the last minute or so". This sounds perfectly feasible, because Donald Fouke had received the initial broadcast just over a minute previous.
Graysmith also stated "The stocky man called out he'd seen a man waving a gun running east on Washington, and the patrol car sped off in that direction". ​This would have resulted in Donald Fouke turning southbound on Cherry, and turning left (east) on Washington Street, past Armond Pelissetti and the crime scene - likely while Pelissetti was ushering the teenagers back to their residence. Noticing another officer was dealing with the crime scene, he proceeded east along Washington looking for the assailant. But does this make sense?

Zodiac stated in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter: "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". If the Zodiac saw them go around the corner, then that corner may have been the Jackson/Cherry intersection. But why would he state the man waving the gun was heading east on Washington Street? Was there purpose behind this?

The Zodiac had murdered Paul Stine at the intersection of Washington and Cherry, but the trip sheet had recorded Washington and Maple, so had the Zodiac Killer subconsciously or deliberately directed the patrol car east to the area of Washington and Maple, in order to throw the police a false lead, so they would focus their search near that intersection. 

Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 documentary "He was putting his head down when he spotted the police car and turned into the entrance way of a house. By entrance way, I mean stairs, leading up that are concrete, to a path, that leads to a front door. Never saw him get to the top of the stairs. You want the address of that residence- 3712 Jackson Street".  But was Donald Fouke mistaken? The residence at 3758 Jackson Street conforms to his description of a flight of concrete stairs, leading to a path, that leads to a front door - and is closer to Cherry Street than 3712 Jackson Street. It is also exactly a "block and half away" from the thoroughfare of Spruce Street into the park - the last place eyewitnesses saw Zodiac that night. There is a reasonable argument to be had, that Donald Fouke passed Zodiac twice that night, leading to his two separate and distinct recollections, in the police memorandum and the 2007 documentary. Both of which have become muddled in time.    

The Zodiac Killer turns out of view from Lindsey Robbins and Armond Pelissetti, and heads down the hill towards 3758 Jackson Street, where he observes the patrol car of Donald Fouke approaching. He makes a snap decision to turn into the stairs of a residence and is spotted by the patrol car. Because he is white (and police are searching for a NMA), they ask him has he seen anything suspicious. He gratefully directs them south on Cherry and east on Washington Street, before continuing his journey down the hill. Donald Fouke travels two blocks on Washington Street to Spruce Street, searching for a black male, but finds nobody. Believing the assailant may have headed for the Presidio, he turns north on Spruce Street towards the thoroughfare entering Julius Khan playground, but fails to spot his charge. He turns west on Jackson Street and heads toward the Jackson and Maple intersection, where he spots the white male again - this time turning north on Maple. This would explain the timeline and the two different stories given by Donald Fouke in the police memorandum and 2007 Zodiac documentary. The journey time for Donald Fouke traveling at 30 mph, following the yellow directional markers above is approximately 1 minute, as is the time for Zodiac to walk from 3758 Jackson Street to the intersection of Jackson and Maple. Both journey times are comparable. 

The police memorandum on the right states "Sir: I respectfully wish to report the following, that while responding to the area of Cherry and Washington Streets a suspect fitting the description of the Zodiac Killer was observed by officer Donald Fouke walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turn north on Maple Street. The subject was not stopped as the description received from communication was that of a negro male". The detail is particularly cautious and guarded. 

The question arises - did Donald Fouke pass the Zodiac twice? Firstly, walking up stairs to a residence, and then later, heading north on Maple. From his accounts in 1969 and 2007, we would have to believe he just plucked the second story out of thin air, or that both events did occur, but have been viewed as contradictory to one another, when this doesn't necessarily need to be the case, had he viewed the WMA on two distinct and separate occasions.

Donald Fouke passed the Zodiac on the second occasion, but still hadn't received the amended update after approximately two minutes 15 seconds. He doesn't need to attend the crime scene, because he has already seen this being taken care of, so heads towards Arguello Boulevard to search the park area. He now receives the second broadcast updating the description to a WMA. Realizing he may have just passed the suspect, last seen heading north on Maple, he turns east on West Pacific Avenue. He fails to find the suspect, so returns to Cherry Street where he meets up with Armond Pelissetti. The above is just a suggestion, hopefully incorporating both the accounts of Donald Fouke and Robert Graysmith, without pitting one against the other - and more importantly, blending all the recollections together in a plausible, if unlikely course of events   

We will take another look at the claim that both Armond Pelissetti and Donald Fouke received an initial radio broadcast of a negro male adult suspect, and question whether in fact this ever took place. There is a distinct possibility this was a later addition, boldly underlined in the November 12th 1969 Donald Fouke memorandum, to explain away why Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms supposedly bypassed a viable suspect walking along Jackson Street only three minutes after a reported assault and robbery on a taxicab driver. Later determined to be a murder, this 'oversight' had to be addressed. It is clear that this sighting was known within the police department, alluded to by Armond Pelissetti in the 2007 Zodiac documentary, when he stated "I spoke to Officer Fouke later that evening and I was unaware he'd stopped anybody, black, white or any other color, however, in subsequent conversations with him, he told me that he did stop somebody".

This visual of a potential suspect by two officers along Jackson Street was never reported in any newspapers up to November 9th 1969, so for the Zodiac Killer to be aware of these police officers in a patrol car near the intersection of Jackson and Maple, belatedly corroborated three days later in the Donald Fouke interdepartmental memorandum, confirmed the Zodiac claim of the 'meeting' on Jackson Street. This would prove unequivocally the letter writer had first hand information not known to the general public - and bearing in mind the Paul Stine blooded shirt piece, would place the Zodiac Killer in the location he claimed. If Donald Fouke stopped the suspect, then he stopped the Zodiac. The time Zodiac left the taxicab, and the time Donald Fouke received the first radio broadcast at Washington and Presidio Avenue, match up perfectly for a collision course near the intersection of Jackson and Maple.

We have heard plenty from two police dispatchers over the years, namely Dave Slaight and Nancy Slover, who both took calls from Zodiac, yet the police dispatcher who received the call from the three teenagers at Presidio Heights we have a noticeable silence in any documented material. The same can be said of the three teenagers. Therefore the widely reported notion of the radio dispatcher either receiving or hearing incorrect information, and incorrectly informing responding officers of a negro male adult suspect has gone widely unchallenged. The idea of a black male adult supposedly involved in the taxicab 'assault and robbery' could certainly be used as a reasonable excuse for bypassing a white man walking on Jackson Street only minutes after the attack. But there is every reason to believe this 'mistake' never happened.

The description given by the three teenagers was "A white male, 25-30 years old, 5'8" to 5'9", stocky build, reddish-brown hair worn in a crew cut, heavy rimmed glasses and dark clothing". Are we to believe the description given to the police dispatcher was heavily redacted to "be on the lookout for a black male adult," when passed to responding officers, with no accompanying detail. The idea of a negro male adult in 1969 with a crew-cut and reddish-brown hair should have at least raised a question to its validity with both dispatcher and officers alike. Unless the dispatcher decided to ignore the full description and pass on the bare minimum.

Donald Fouke described his approach to the intersection of Jackson and Maple in the 2007 Zodiac documentary "I would like to say the Zodiac made eye contact with us, but I can't picture it. I remember seeing his eyes, but I couldn't tell you what color they were, it was dark enough that his eyes were concealed, but you could sort of say he looked down, perhaps this lumbering gait, stumbling along, like a semi-limp may have come up in my mind, because he was putting his head down when he spotted the police car". This was only three minutes after a perceived assault and robbery on a taxicab driver - so one would assume an officer spotting a man so soon after the attack, walking with a limp or lumbering gait, and avoiding eye contact by putting his head down, was certainly suspicion enough for a stop. If for nothing else, but to question the white male on whether he had spotted a black man in the area. Just simply bypassing him doesn't make sense, especially when you consider Donald Fouke described the white male in alarming detail, such as tan engineering boots, low-cut shoes, a jacket with elasticated waist and cuffs, pleated trousers and graying hair at the rear. All of which would have been unnecessary details to focus upon as you approached from say 50 feet away - because the man was white and therefore presumably not the suspect.

The fact that Donald Fouke claimed in a 1989 documentary, that he got a second radio broadcast approaching Arguello Boulevard, goes a long way to proving he stopped the Zodiac Killer. 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". Why would he be heading away from the taxicab crime scene, when he should have been heading towards it. The answer is self explanatory - the Zodiac Killer directed him there after they stopped him. This proves Armond Pelissetti correct, when he claimed that Donald Fouke admitted to him, that he had indeed stopped the white male adult. This was backed up by Zodiac in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter.              

"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 Donald Fouke stopped the white male subject, his next logical question would have been "have you seen a black male adult in the area". But the Zodiac Killer in his communication makes no mention of this fact. 

Many observers have noted how the Zodiac Killer liked to taunt the police, as he did numerous times in the November 9th 1969 correspondence. Had he been stopped by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms on Jackson Street, and asked if he had seen a black male in the area, this certainly would have been of great amusement to Zodiac, realizing the police were searching for a suspect with the wrong ethnicity or color, and without doubt would have been capitalized upon in his forthcoming correspondence - yet he mentions nothing. Only referring to the instruction as "I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber". The fact he doesn't mention this "booboo," is a strong indication that the police were not looking for a black male​ at any point in the night's proceedings, particularly one with a reddish-brown crewcut. 

In the 2007 documentary Donald Fouke stated "The initial radio description of the suspect was that of a black male, 5'10" or something like that. Seeing that it was a white male in an affluent neighborhood walking along the street, we didn't think it was the suspect".  Not withstanding the racial overtones in this statement - apparently the white male was evading eye contact, stumbling along, supposedly turning into a residence (omitted, and contradictory to the memorandum), as well as matching every indicator in the initial radio description of the suspect apart from color, yet the police car simply rolled on past, not even asking the man if he had seen anybody in the area. This is very difficult to believe. 

BLACK MALE ADULT [PART ONE]

These are the taxicab fares dated April 18th 1969:
'Rates for Taxicabs and Sedans. The rates of fare for taxicabs and sedans shall be as follows: Fifty-five Cents (55c) for the first one-fifth mile or "flag": Ten Cents (10c) for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof: Ten Cents (10c) for each one and one fourth minutes of waiting or traffic delay time. 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.
(Amended Ord. 234-69; App, 4/18/69)'   

The History Channel docudrama on the Zodiac Killer calculated the approximate area that Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer on October 11th 1969, and explained that it was likely somewhere near the theater district in San Francisco. Here are the calculations.

The police report stated that Paul Stine's taxicab meter read $6.25 at exactly 10:46 pm. So using the taxicab meter charges above, we can backtrack and calculate the approximate pick-up point from the last known movements of Paul Stine heading back from San Francisco International Airport. The time of the murder was specified as 9:55 pm, so by the time the meter was read at 10:46 pm, the meter had been running idle for 51 minutes. We know that it's 10c for each one and one fourth minutes (1.25) of waiting or traffic delay time. So we can discover the charge the idle taxicab ran up for these 51 minutes. (51 divided by 1.25) = 40.8. Multiplied by 10c = 4 dollars and 8 cents. The investigators deducted this from the $6.25 to give us $2.17. This calculation however, did not include any idle time en route from the proposed theater district to the intersection of Washington and Cherry. But we shall assume it negligible, as they have done. We know it is 55c for the first one-fifth mile. So the taxicab meter would be operating effectively from $2.17 minus 55c thereafter ($2.17 minus 55c) = $1.62. So to calculate the distance traveled we have to use the taxicab meter charges of 10c for each additional one-fifth mile or fraction thereof.
  
$1.62 divided by 10c = 16.2 miles. But it is for one-fifth of a mile, so 16.2 divided by 5 = 3.24 miles traveling distance. But again, this is not factoring in any delays en route, in accordance with the History Channel calculations. The crucial part is the 55c for the first one-fifth mile or "flag." The taxicab should be reading 55c after one-fifth of mile (0.2 miles) is achieved. Therefore, this should be added on to the 3.24 miles, to give us 3.44 miles traveling distance. This would, without any delays en route (not factored in by the History Channel), take us a little further away from Washington and Cherry. The calculations to consider, is whether the taxicab meter started from 55c at the "flag" or 55c after one-fifth mile distance. If it started at one-fifth distance, then without further idle time, as portrayed by the docudrama, the taxicab of Paul Stine would not have picked up Paul Stine at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets, which is 3.0 miles from Washington and Cherry, assuming he traveled by the quickest and shortest route. The Westin St Francis Hotel in Union Square is approximately 3.1 miles.

But allowing for a small amount of idle time en route, possibly one or two minutes, we would have to deduct approximately 10 or 20 cents that was available for the taxicab to be in motion, thereby effectively reducing the distance traveled (one or two one-fifths of a mile). Going on the lower estimate, the distance traveled would therefore be closer to 3.24 miles again. 
Without any or negligible idle time en route, the distance traveled would be 3.44 miles, based on a meter clocking up 55 cents after one-fifth mile distance. A distance of 3.4 miles east of Washington and Cherry, would take the taxicab into the Financial District of San Francisco. If Paul Stine had taken Highway 101 and Interstate 80 back from the San Francisco International Airport, he could have headed to this general area. Your opinions, or any corrections to this analysis would be welcome. ​   

It is uncertain whether the Zodiac Killer wore eyeglasses​ in his everyday life.
​Michael Mageau, shot four times at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969 described a killer without glasses.
Bryan Hartnell, who survived the brutal stabbing at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 described only clip on sunglasses. Five other witnesses by the shores of Berryessa that day, equally described a suspicious man without eyeglasses.
The most infamous sketch of the killer was compiled from eyewitness recollections in the immediate aftermath of the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969. We cannot be sure the eyeglasses worn by the murderer that night were his, due to the unknown whereabouts of Paul Stine's black-rimmed spectacles, or whether the assailant wore glasses that night as a form of disguise.
On November 9th 1969 the killer mailed the 'Bus Bomb' letter stating "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill."
On the left I have removed the murderer's glasses and inserted the brown eyes from a photograph (based on the fact, this is the most common eye color in the world). I have then used real hair and lips, and shaped them to the best of my ability to conform to the sketch, all in an attempt to portray the 'real' face of the Zodiac Killer.   

This is a continuation from a previous article, but relevant in regards to the History Channel docudrama about to air on December 12th 2017. Undoubtedly they will continue to pursue suspect Lawrence Kane and attempt to provide a credible link between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, which according to Detective Harvey Hines, Lawrence Kane had. He purportedly lived at 217 Eddy Street, San Francisco during the Paul Stine murder and worked for Alan Dorfman selling Arizona real estate at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino, the same hotel Donna Lass was employed. The likelihood of Lawrence Kane being the Zodiac Killer is down to opinion, however, as previously suggested, the link between Donna Lass, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and the Zodiac Killer could be a very real one. A link inadvertently or otherwise, left by the killer when designing his 'Pines' card, mailed on March 22nd 1971.         

Many observers believe the 'Pines' card was crafted by a hoaxer, on account of the fact 'Victim 12' had already been claimed by the Zodiac Killer on June 26th 1970 when he mailed the 'Button' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. On the contrary, this could go a long way to actually validating this correspondence. Bearing in mind the make-up of the 'Pines' card, it is extremely likely it is referring to the disappearance of Donna Lass. But in order for its author to have deliberately chosen the phrase 'Sought Victim 12' in reference to Donna Lass, we could assume he knew her previous employment and movements in the preceding few months - or just made a lucky guess when choosing this particular phrase. Would a hoaxer, having gone to all the effort of pasting all the wording onto this card, then have made the basic error of getting the victim total incorrect? One could argue that the author of this card knew Donna Lass, knew that she had previously worked at the Letterman General Hospital and knew exactly when she had moved to South Lake Tahoe.
 
Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. Had the Zodiac Killer targeted Donna Lass before her move to the Sahara Tahoe Hotel? If so, then 'Sought Victim 12' (used in the past tense) could simply be implying that he had intended Donna Lass as a target before she moved from San Francisco.

Harvey Hines stated in his 120 page report "Now we have the Zodiac running into the Presidio in the direction of Letterman General Hospital. The very place that Donna Lass worked. Also, in looking at the area map, I found that Lass lived six blocks south in the 4000 block of Balboa. That meant the Zodiac Killer started his ride near where Kane lived and ended it several blocks away where Donna Lass lived and worked. During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac". If the killer knew Donna Lass, or indeed was familiar with the Presidio Park and Letterman General Hospital, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility he likely was familiar with this area and the advantages it provided as an escape route after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969.       

If the killer knew, worked with, or was familiar with Donna Lass during the short period she worked at the Letterman General Hospital, then clearly he may have sought her as victim 12 during this period.

The Zodiac mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher on April 20th 1970 claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970 he was claiming 12 victims in the Button Letter. Therefore, he must have 'Sought Victim 12' between these two dates. The window of opportunity narrows when we consider that Donna Lass left for South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970. If the Zodiac Killer  targeted Donna Lass while she worked and lived in San Francisco, it likely fell between April 20th 1970 and June 6th 1970. A window of just 46 days. Is this something a casual hoaxer would be aware of?

Unless the employment details and movements of Donna Lass between these dates had been carefully noted by the Zodiac Killer from the newspapers, was the choice of the 'Sought Victim 12' phrase just a lucky guess on behalf of the hoaxer and just happened to fall correctly between these dates? Did the author of the 'Pines' card do his research - or was Donna Lass specifically targeted by the Zodiac Killer, who moved or traveled to South Lake Tahoe with the sole purpose of completing his 'mission' - and the wording on the 'Pines' card was anything but a mistake. It may possibly dispel the preconception that the Zodiac Killer only targeted strangers, as has been alluded to in the case of Darlene Ferrin, murdered on July 4th 1969. Maybe the Zodiac Killer didn't care who he killed. 

The 'Exorcist' letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 - to some a form of epitaph to his impending death by suicide. The final paragraph however warned "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing," seemingly contradictory to this notion. The letter opened in mocking fashion, describing the recently released Exorcist film as "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen". Was he constructively criticizing the film, or had its content of exorcism hit closer to home from the point of homosexuality. On October 18th 1969 Paul Avery ran a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle describing the Zodiac Killer as a 'latent homosexual'. Under the banner Zodiac-Portrait of the Killer  he stated "The killer of five who calls himself 'Zodiac' is a clumsy criminal, a liar and possibly a latent homosexual". This was covered extensively in two articles, Skeleton in the Closet and What a Drag, but we shall explore this possibility further in respect the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine.

This was the late 1960s, a time when the gay community suffered unspeakable prejudice from the police, authorities and a seeping religious intolerance. Christian fundamentalists, cloaked in toxic reverence of themselves, believed incorrectly by summoning the will of God upon the person with homosexual feelings, that the devil could be driven out of their body and thus cleanse their soul. It therefore wouldn't be a great leap of faith to believe that the Zodiac Killer had utter contempt for this form of religious piety and the practice of exorcism, hence the description of The Exorcist movie as the "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen". ​This contempt for the police and newspapers may have been well founded, as arrested gay individuals had their names and addresses routinely published in the newspapers as a form of public shaming.​ 

The Zodiac Killer would reference the film Badlands on May 8th 1974 and the Red Phantom movie (also known as El Espectro Rojo) on July 8th 1974, which had a showing at the Lyric Theater in Mill Valley at the end of April. The Zodiac Killer certainly appeared to have a penchant for the theatrical, with his references to The Mikado in his correspondence, and his 'grand curtain call' at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. However, did this extravagance for attention spill out into his personal life. Did these 'attractions' for Zodiac have any bearing on his movements in the hours prior the murder of Paul Stine. 

Taking meter readings from the taxicab at the crime scene and information acquired by Robert Graysmith and Officer Harvey Hines, it was believed the Zodiac entered the taxicab of Paul Stine outside the Westin St Francis Hotel in Union Square. But where had he been in the hours preceding this fateful journey? The 'Exorcist' letter was without doubt a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article entitled Weird Goings on at the Movies, authored by Paul Avery and published on January 11th 1974 detailing the audience reaction to the recently released Exorcist movie in 1973. The news report was from the Northpoint Theatre, located at 2290 Powell Street, San Francisco. The theater was located 3.4 miles from Washington and Cherry Streets, the intersection where Paul Stine was murdered and only 1.3 miles from Union Square where the taxicab driver picked up Zodiac.

The Exorcist movie opened its 26 week stint at the Northpoint Theatre on December 26th 1973 and had performances throughout the day. A typical schedule was 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm for films two hours or longer. The area where Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer was the bustling theater district in San Francisco, so his perceived  leanings to the theatrical in his communications may have played a part in his choice of pick-up point. Had he just exited from an early evening performance? The arrival of the taxicab at the intersection of Washington and Cherry at 9:55 pm indicated a departure time of approximately 9:40 pm from Union Square, conducive to his exit from a nearby theater. The Westin St. Francis Hotel may also have been familiar. Union Square borders the Nob Hill and Tenderloin districts, which combines both the LGBT and theater influences under one banner. Jose Sarria, a high profile San Francisco drag performer and gay activist was arrested at the Westin St Francis public restrooms for solicitation - a location known to be frequented by homosexuals.

Had the Zodiac Killer been somewhere else that evening, rather than a stage performance. Could he have been viewing a movie at the Northpoint Theatre. A two hour film beginning at 7:00 pm and finishing at 9:00 pm would leave a 25 to 30 minute walk back to Union Square, possibly with a quick takeaway, to enable the Zodiac Killer to enter Paul Stine's taxicab circa 9:40 pm. But what was playing at the Northpoint Theatre on October 11th 1969?

Midnight Cowboy ran from the 16th July 1969 to 17th December 1969. The film, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first gay-related Best Picture winner. In addition, it was the only X-rated film ever to win Best Picture. Ironically, the film that preceded Midnight Cowboy was The Great Bank Robbery with writer William Blatty accredited for screenplay. 
Here is a very relevant clip from Midnight Cowboy where Dustin Hoffman has an altercation with a Yellow taxicab driver. The taxicab incident in Midnight Cowboy was apparently not scripted in the film - but likely Zodiac's impending murder of Paul Stine was conceived beforehand - a predetermined reel of murder for which there was only one end.

Here we will take one final look at the vital four minutes from the time of the attack on Paul Stine, detailed in the police report as 9:55 pm, to the sighting of an unknown white male by the intersection of Jackson and Maple by Donald Fouke at 9:59 pm.
It is often claimed that trying to break down a timeline to individual seconds can lead to incorrect conclusions (and that is a worthy contention). However, when the discrepancy is so extremely glaring, it is something that should not be overlooked. In major investigations involving many suspects, as it is imperative to interview each and break down the movements of the individual around the relevant time period to consider the validity of their claims. Timelines are crucial in identifying unachievable claims, and including and excluding suspects from the investigation.

There is an argument to be made that two individuals were present in the taxicab that night, and the white male subject observed by Officer Donald Fouke approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple was not the white male subject observed in and around the taxicab on October 11th 1969, yet both were present as it pulled up to the intersection of Washington and Cherry Street at 9:55 pm. To shoot a taxicab driver in the wealthy district of Presidio Heights, then carefully tear a rectangular piece of the victim's shirt to take from the crime scene is extremely daring. But to then remove his keys and wallet, wipe down the taxicab, and inexplicably attempt to pull Paul Stine into an upright position behind the steering wheel on a busy Saturday night with the certain conviction that nobody has heard the gunshot and called police, is bordering on insanity. This whole sequence of events from murdering the taxicab driver to leaving the crime scene, we have to consider, took just 60 seconds.    

It is without doubt the author of the Bus Bomb letter mailed on November 9th 1969 was a participant in the murder one month earlier. The statement in the letter claiming "2 cops pulled a goof about 3 min after I left the cab", is not only proof he knew the exact time of the murder, but had knowledge that two police officers in a patrol car were present near the intersection of Jackson and Maple at the correct time that night. This information was never published in the newspapers.

Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms received the police dispatch of an assault and robbery of a taxicab driver at about 9:58 pm. This radio dispatch was also received at 9:58 pm by Officers Armond Pelissetti and Frank Peda while patrolling along Washington Street. Pelissetti and Peda arrived at the murder scene a little before 9:59 pm. 

Upon receiving the initial radio broadcast, the journey time is 1 minute for Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms to reach the intersection of Jackson and Maple from their location on Presidio Avenue (passing Washington St), where they spotted the unknown white male on the north side of Jackson Street - apparently the one who described that "2 cops who pulled a goof". This places Donald Fouke at the intersection of ​Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm. Armond Pelissetti arrived at the intersection of Washington and Cherry just shy of 9:59 pm. But how do we know Armond Pelissetti arrived at the crime scene nearing 9:59 pm? The answer lies in the expanded statement of the three teenage eyewitnesses that night: 

"As both Robbins kids were the oldest, their statements were the given the most weight. Also they were the least traumatized by the event. One of the kids (not sure which) noticed a cab parked outside (in that now famous spot) with the interior lights on. So when Lindsey told me that the light inside the car was like a spotlight, it was so bright. The first kid at the window said the driver looked "sick, or something". Lindsey and Rebecca went to the window and saw the driver laying across the front seat, head toward the passenger door. His head was in the lap of another man (passenger). Rebecca saw blood and said out loud, "he's stabbing that man." She was seeing blood on the victim and saw the glint of a knife, so she assumed a stabbing was taking place. (No shots were heard by anyone). We know now that Zodiac was cutting off a large piece of Stine's shirt with the knife. 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. Not many know this, but Lindsey (being 16. feeling immortal, and believing the suspect to be armed with only a knife) ran out of his door to see where Zodiac was going. He ran to the corner of Cherry and watched as Zodiac continued his casual pace right up to the corner of Jackson & Cherry. At this exact point, the first SFPD car arrives with two officers. One, Pelissetti, approached Lindsey and tried to extract what was happening. The other officer went to the cab and found the bloody victim. While Pelissetti was asking questions, Lindsey was trying to explain that the suspect was in sight on Cherry St. By the time Pelissetti got the point, they both looked and the Zodiac was gone".

The key line in the Robbins statement is the last one. Lindsey was trying to show Armond Pelissetti the subject nearing the top of Cherry Street before he disappeared along Jackson Street. The journey time from the intersection of Washington and Cherry to the top of Cherry Street is approximately 1 minute. The remaining journey time from here to Jackson and Maple is about 2 minutes. The total journey time is approximately 3 minutes, exactly as 'Zodiac' had claimed in the Bus Bomb letter, stating "2 cops pulled a goof about 3 min after I left the cab".  Donald Fouke spotted the unknown white male at 9:59 pm, meaning the subject left the taxicab at around 9:56 pm.

Based on the subject leaving the taxicab at 9:56 pm, the unknown white male taking 1 minute to walk up Cherry Street, would place him near the top of Cherry Street at 9:57 pm, where Lindsey pointed him out to Armond Pelissetti as he arrived at the scene. This is where a major problem arises. Armond Pelissetti didn't even get the initial broadcast until 9:58 pm, and still had to travel to the scene "red light and siren". Let us assume that Armond Pelissetti was only 20 seconds away from the crime scene when he got the radio dispatch. He brings his police car to a halt at the intersection, then approaches Lindsey, and "while Pelissetti was asking questions, Lindsey was trying to explain that the suspect was in sight on Cherry St". Attributing all of this only 30 seconds (which is highly unlikely), it would mean the time after the initial radio dispatch of 9:58 pm, was now 9.58:30 pm - and the time he saw the subject at the top of Cherry. But we know that the subject was there at 9:57 pm based on everything above.

According to the timeline of Donald Fouke, the subject left the taxicab at 9:56 pm, so how could he have been spotted 2 1/2 minutes later at the top of Cherry Street, at 9:58:30 pm. Even using this stringent timeline, there is a discrepancy of 90 seconds over the length of Cherry. Another way of looking at it, is that only 30 seconds after the initial radio broadcast, the timeline is already out by a minimum of 90 seconds. If Armond Pelissetti took a more reasonable 1 minute to arrive, park up and meet with Lindsey at the intersection of Washington and Cherry, the time would now be one minute after the initial broadcast (a time of 9:59 pm), when he was made aware of the subject nearing the top of Cherry. However, this is the same time that Donald Fouke spotted the subject nearing the intersection of Jackson and Maple (at 9:59 pm). A discrepancy of two whole minutes. A discrepancy calculated over 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes could possibly be explained away, but this discrepancy of two minutes, only one minute after the initial radio broadcast, is something that cannot be explained away by an argument of nitpicking the timeline.

In the 2007 Zodiac documentary, Armond Pelissetti stated he "got down to the corner of Jackson Street. Had to make a choice. I was on the east side of the street so I turned right to the east and went up in that direction". The question being, did he make that choice because of Lindsey pointing the subject out to him, which is a more realistic reason to why he headed east.      

Therefore, we apparently have the same white male subject at the top of Cherry Street at 9:59 pm, and at the intersection of Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm, leading to the notion they are two different people. Lindsey had tracked the movements of the subject in and around the taxicab that night, as well as when he rounded the corner to head up Cherry Street, thereby inextricably linking this person to the crime scene. Could he have entered Jackson Street and was able to see the red light and siren of Donald Fouke at the other end of Jackson Street pulling over an innocent pedestrian, subsequently referencing this in his Bus Bomb letter a month later, to give the impression that it was actually him Officer Donald Fouke had spoken to? This is highly unlikely, because this person, had he been an innocent pedestrian, would not have directed Donald Fouke away from the crime scene toward Arguello Boulevard, as can be inferred from the statement of Donald Fouke in the 1989 Crimes of the Century' documentary. 

In the 1989 documentary, Donald Fouke recalled "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". Why would Donald Fouke be heading away from an assault and robbery to which he was supposed to be responding towards?

The likely answer is contained in the Bus Bomb letter: "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". The white male subject sent them on a wild goose chase, knowing that, presented with the option of the police further questioning him or burning rubber to protect the public from a man waving a gun, the police would choose to quell the imminent threat. Which is why Donald Fouke went off route, away from the crime scene towards Arguello Boulevard. The officers likely made the correct call at the time, as they were on the lookout for a negro male adult, not a white male. Unfortunately, they were duped by the man they stopped. Therefore, it is highly unlikely this man was an innocent pedestrian, rather somebody with a more sinister motive - and likely the man who penned the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter. We could therefore make the case for more than one Zodiac.     

The following are the three descriptions of the unknown male, given by Officer Donald Fouke, the three teenagers, and eyewitnesses at Spruce Street moments after the 'meeting' at Jackson and Maple. Spruce Street was situated just over one block east from the sighting of the suspect, just past the Jackson and Maple intersection, and was indirectly referenced in the Bus Bomb letter: "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".

Here is the description attributed to the teenagers on the police report, who observed the Zodiac Killer in and around the taxicab on Washington Street from a residence across the street: "#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.

Donald Fouke's description of the likely Zodiac Killer was 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 October 12th 1969 San Francisco article detailed the sighting of a man entering Julius Khan playground, stating "Later reports indicated someone was seen running into Julius Khan playground in the Presidio, and all seven police dog units were pressed into the search. The suspect was described as white, about 40, 170 pounds, a blond crewcut, warning glasses".
 
The three descriptions over a five minute period appear to indicate that one man left the taxicab, headed toward the Jackson and Maple intersection, and on to the area of the Julius Khan playground near Spruce Street. Yet we still have a major discrepancy regarding the statements of Donald Fouke and the Robbins children.

If two assailants were involved that night, then the first assailant could have shot the taxicab driver at 9:56 pm and departed the crime scene immediately. He would have been spotted by Officer Donald Fouke three minutes later at the intersection of Jackson and Maple at 9:59 pm, corroborated by the Bus Bomb letter which claimed "2 cops pulled a goof about 3 min after I left the cab." The second assailant would be the one spotted by the three teenagers, indicating they looked out of the window after the first assailant had left. This man spent two minutes wiping down the taxicab, tearing the section of Paul Stine's shirt, removing the keys and wallet, while subsequently attempting to lift Paul Stine into an upright position behind the steering wheel, before leaving at 9:58 pm. Armond Pelissetti receives the initial radio broadcast at 9:58 pm and arrives en scene just shy of 9:59 pm, at which point the second assailant is approaching the top of Cherry Street, and is pointed out by Lindsey. This would explain the discrepancy in the timeline.       

This may possibly explain the evident lack of urgency displayed by the second assailant in and around the taxicab that night. Had the police arrived earlier, his actions could have been explained as an innocent passer-by, who noticing the stricken taxicab driver had ripped a portion of shirt to staunch the blood flow. He wasn't in possession of the 'smoking gun', so how could he be the killer? However, when he realized the police were not upon him, his last action was to grab the keys from the ignition, and head in the same direction as his accomplice. If he was attempting to lift Paul Stine into an upright position, this would certainly explain why bloody fingerprints were discovered on the dividing panel to the right of the driver side door, which clearly he would have used to brace himself. But why he was doing it, one can only conjecture.

Lindsey was fairly clear in the details observed that night, particularly in the attempt to draw Armond Pelissetti's attention to the white male heading up Cherry Street. If this recollection is accurate, then the man observed walking towards Jackson Street was not the same subject spotted by Donald Fouke as he approached the intersection of Jackson and Maple. These two men were separated by two full minutes. If either of the accounts by Lindsey or Officer Donald Fouke are flawed,  then the idea of an accomplice dissolves away into the night, just like the lone Zodiac Killer.  

In several articles we have explored the concept of geographical profiling to narrow down the search area for the likely residence of the Zodiac Killer, using timelines and his own words in an effort to identify the elusive murderer. A forum member of Zodiac Killer Site with the moniker 'Seagull' has been invaluable in this quest, mailing me names and addresses around the Springs Road and Tuolumne Street payphone in Vallejo in 1969. By cross checking these to previous residency in Riverside and other locations using ancestry records, a common thread is hoped to be unearthed. The problem is, it may take months or even years to manually trawl through a sample area radius of just 0.5 miles around the payphone. 

Another common thread that has been explored, is a possible link between Donna Lass and the Zodiac Killer. According to former police officer Harvey Hines "During the time she worked in San Francisco she lived at 4122 Balboa Street with a roommate named Carol Emerich. Emerich was also a nurse. According to the employment records, Lass was working a late night shift in October of 1969 when the San Francisco cab driver, Paul Stine, was killed by the Zodiac". This, bearing in mind the disappearance and likely murder of Donna Lass only eleven months later, along with the alleged Zodiac 'Pines' card mailed on March 22nd 1971, it is something not to be overlooked. It may be coincidence, but the 'Pines' card does reveal an interesting feature, long believed to be from the hands of a hoaxer because of the victim count not marrying up with known Zodiac correspondence. However, it does in fact fit perfectly into the Zodiac timeline.         

'Lemonboy', a contributor to this site triggered this article, when he stated "What if Donna lass saw Zodiac as he was walking away from the Stine murder? After that he targets her thinking she might have recognized him. The fact she lived so close to the crime scene seems more than coincidence". But what if the Zodiac moved in the circle of Donna Lass, knew the young nurse, or even worked alongside her. His confidence in these surroundings was evident after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, apparent by his detailed account of events in the November 9th 1969 'Bus Bomb' letter. He may have lived in the Vallejo area and worked in San Francisco, hence the copious mailings to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. If we could tie this person to Donna Lass through San Francisco and South Lake Tahoe, and possibly Cheri Jo Bates at Riverside, we may inch a little closer. The 'Pines' card may be suspect Zodiac material, but the wording on the postcard does leave a subtle hint that a connection may exist.

It all lies in the wording "Sought Victim 12", considered by some an error on behalf of its sender. But if we examine the victim count of the Zodiac Killer, the past participle of seek, indicated the killer may have been targeting Donna Lass during her residency in San Francisco some four months earlier. "Sought Victim 12" suggested that the Zodiac Killer at some point in his recent history had trailed victim 12. Bearing in mind the 'Pines' card was supposedly referencing the disappearance and murder of Donna Lass on September 6th 1970, then it isn't a giant leap of faith to believe that the murderer was searching for victim 12 relative to his timeline and the young nurse.

On April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed the '13 Symbol' cipher claiming 10 victims. On June 26th 1970, the killer mailed the 'Button' letter and Phillips 66 map claiming 12 victims. His search for victim 12 was clearly over, according to him, therefore it couldn't have been Donna Lass, who was abducted just over two months later. However, she may have been the original target. If she had been earmarked as victim 12, as hinted by the 'Pines' card, his plans were clearly thwarted or sidelined.​      

Before Zodiac could "seek victim 12" though, he had to secure victim 11, which he wasn't claiming when the 'Dragon' card landed at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 28th 1970. Donna Lass left her job at the Letterman General Hospital and moved to South Lake Tahoe on June 6th 1970 to begin her new post at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel and Casino. If he had targeted Donna Lass in San Francisco, it would likely have fell somewhere between the dates of April 28th 1970 and June 6th 1970, but was ultimately denied to him by circumstances unknown or her move away from the Bay Area. Even if Zodiac had claimed victim 11 as early as the end of April, then we could be looking for a man who either worked with the young nurse during the month of May, was in her near circle, or had a romantic or unhealthy interest in Donna Lass during this short timeframe.

Friends and colleagues of Donna Lass included Carol Emerich and Jo Anne Goettsche, the latter of which visited her around the time she disappeared - and it is these friends or persons close to them - that may hold the key to the identity of the Zodiac Killer during that crucial month in 1970. When the killer mailed the 'Pines' card on March 22nd 1971, either by accident or design, his mask of anonymity may have slipped even further upon pasting the words "Sought Victim 12," and place him a lot closer to Donna Lass than we care to imagine.   

​When somebody has a suspect they believe to be the Zodiac Killer, often a side-by-side comparison using the Presidio Heights sketch is presented to bolster their argument. However, the idea that the Zodiac Killer wore black-styled 'prescription' glasses in his daily life is likely a false one. There could well be seven possible eyewitnesses to the Zodiac Killer, all of whom failed to mention any eyeglasses whatsoever. The reasoning for this comes courtesy of Deborah Perez, the woman who falsely claimed her father Guy Ward Hendrickson was the Zodiac Killer. She claimed she had the glasses worn by Paul Stine, removed from the taxicab that fateful night and the response of the police was telling. Had it been previously established that Paul Stine's glasses were found at the crime scene or at his home, then it would be immediately obvious to police she was a liar. But that was not their response.

"San Francisco police said Thursday that they were still waiting for Perez to produce a pair of glasses that she said her father took as a souvenir from a cab driver he killed. Police believe the Zodiac shot a San Francisco taxi driver named Paul Stine on Oct. 11, 1969. Reports of the crime say that Stine's glasses were missing. Once you make complaints to a police department, you are required by law to provide the evidence to a police agency, and there is no reason to believe she is not going to do that", said San Francisco Police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka. Asked whether police were taking her claims seriously, Tomioka said: "We take any new leads or any new information or evidence and look at it seriously, and then we follow up to see if there is any legitimacy to the statements".

During the press conference, Perez produced the glasses she said her father took from Paul Stine, the San Francisco taxicab driver, who was the Zodiac’s only confirmed victim in that city. But an investigation determined the glasses didn’t belong to Stine, said Kevin Jones, an inspector in the San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Bureau. Jones handled the Zodiac case. “They’re not Paul Stine’s glasses,” Jones affirmed this month, though he added he’s still working on other leads that Perez provided him with during lengthy interviews earlier this year. Jones would not say what those leads were. Perez had hoped the glasses might yield some DNA or other evidence. Why would police contemplate the arrival or wait for them to be presented, if they had already known the glasses had never been taken? This strongly indicates -- if they had done a cursory search into the their files - that Zodiac had indeed removed Paul Stine's glasses from his person. Otherwise they would have dismissed her claim immediately. One phone call to Dave Toschi or reviewing the inventory of items recovered from the taxicab would have been a 10 minute job to discover whether the glasses were retrieved that night or not. This suggests Zodiac likely wore the glasses of Paul Stine as he exited the taxicab and was subsequently spotted by the three teenagers. He likely kept wearing them, or donned them as Donald Fouke approached also.

The Zodiac stated in the November 9th 'Bus Bomb' letter: "I look like the description passed out only when I do my thing, the rest of the time I look entirle different. I shall not tell you what my descise consists of when I kill". He possibly looked like the description due to the glasses he secured from Paul Stine's lifeless body. Had he been aware of the three teenagers observing him from the window, then the choice of using Paul Stine's glasses to help disguise his appearance may have been a wise choice.

Michael Mageau, after the Blue Rock Springs attack, asserted that the killer had not worn glasses, and had noted that his assailant had a particularly large face, all in line with the Berryessa sketch. Bryan Hartnell stated: "And he had clip on sunglasses...it was hard to tell. You know, the sunglasses you clip on when you're wearing glasses, eyeglasses. He had those clipped on. I'm pretty sure...I don't think he had glasses, though. I just think he had these clipped onto his suit....you know, that little mask".

The three female eyewitnesses at Lake Berryessa (if Zodiac) also recollected a man devoid of glasses. On the same day, around the time of the stabbing, Dr. Rayfield and his son recalled a stocky man wandering the hillside approximately 0.8 miles from the area of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. Dr. Rayfield continued "He wasn't nimble when he was walking. And when he turned to walk away he wasn't like a smooth, athletic person. To me he seemed a little overweight and on the clumsier side." He added "His body type matches what police said at the time-two hundred pounds or more. He was pretty big and built, but he didn't move like he was a real coordinated, smooth walking guy". Dr Rayfield and his son did not recall or mention the man wearing any glasses. This description mirrors the three women, who remembered a stocky build of 200-225 lbs. They also stated that he favored one leg over the other. The idea of a clumsy, uncoordinated man would again be reported two weeks later by Officer Donald Fouke, who observed the killer walking along Jackson Street shortly after the murder of Paul Stine. He described a man with a "lumbering gait, sort of stumbling along, like a semi-limp'. Up to the point of the Presidio Heights murder, along with the sighting of the three teenagers and Donald Fouke, not one of a possible seven eyewitness recall seeing a man wearing eyeglasses.

In two instances, it may not have been the Zodiac Killer, but we cannot know for sure. The Lake Berryessa sketch has by many, been dismissed as the same man portrayed in the Presidio Heights sketch. However, the likeness may be a lot closer than you think. If the Zodiac Killer had changed his hairstyle during the intervening two weeks, and the Presidio Heights face is slightly widened to portray a man around 200 lbs, we get the following.              

On October 13th 1969, two days after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, the Zodiac began taunting the police for their incompetence, stating "The S.F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly instead of holding road races with their motorcicles seeing who could make the most noise. The car drivers should have just parked their cars and sat there quietly waiting for me to come out of cover".

He would continue this theme of ridicule a month after the crime, when he mailed the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter stating "Hey pig doesnt it rile you up to have your noze rubed in your booboos? If you cops think I'm going to take on a bus the way I stated I was, you deserve to have holes in your heads". But if that wasn't enough, he would highlight how Officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms effectively let him through their grasp as he walked along Jackson Street only minutes after the murder: "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".
 
Three months after the murder, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled Yellow Cab Sets Reward for Zodiac, offering a reward for the Zodiac Killer's capture. It read Yellow Cab Company yesterday posted a $1000 reward for the Zodiac Killer. Specifically the money is being "offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the deaths of Yellow Cab drivers Charles Jarman and Paul Stine. The Teamsters Union, which represents Yellow Cab's drivers, is also considering offering a reward in the two cases. The subject will be discussed and voted on at a meeting of drivers set for February 8".​  

This would not go unnoticed by the Bay Area killer, who responded on April 20th 1970 in the 'My Name is' cipher communication, stating "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. 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".

The Zodiac Killer was clearly emboldened by his narrow escape along Jackson Street and from the park, likely believing he was untouchable. This was clearly demonstrated by his unashamed taunting of police in the Bus Bomb letter by remarking "The police shall never catch me, because I have been too clever for them".

Five-and-a-half months after the April 20th letter the tone was pretty much the same, when the 13-Hole pasted postcard was mailed on October 5th 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle. He would again mention the reward on his head and further suggest to police that they "shall never catch me". The postcard read "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?" The suggestion here, is that the killer is taking a swipe at the San Francisco Police Department, having mailed the correspondence to the Chronicle newspaper. The wording on the postcard is particularly telling, and seemingly directed at somebody in particular in the phrase "Fk I'm crackproof," in which the killer is again apparently unable to refrain from his love of cryptic messages. If the killer is addressing the San Francisco Police Department, it makes perfect sense that 'Fk' would in fact be somebody connected to the SFPD also. Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer's close call with Donald Fouke along Jackson Street when the officer's patrol car approached him and subsequently let him on his way, it gives a new dimension to the phrase "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fk I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?"

Alex Lewis (aka Welsh Chappie) came up with a plausible solution to this cryptic message which fits all the known criteria in the postcard: "There are reports city police pig cops are closeing in on me. Fouke knows I'm crackproof. What is the price tag now?" This simple solution may be the reason for the capitalized F and lower case k in the phrase. Coupled with the "price tag" in reference to the Yellow Cab Company reward of $1000, the 13-Hole postcard mailed on the near anniversary of the Paul Stine murder, could possibly be seen in a whole new light.     

There is nevertheless a massive stumbling block. Apparently Officer Donald Fouke was never mentioned in the newspapers up to October 5th 1970 and the mailing of the '13 Hole' postcard, so how was the Zodiac Killer able to locate the name of the officer involved in the 'near miss' on Jackson Street, if the 'decryption' is correct. 

After the Blue Rock Springs Park shooting of Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin on July 4th 1969 the Zodiac Killer mailed the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, in which he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". This negro male was never mentioned in the police report, and the newspapers were also apparently unaware of this vital eyewitness as detailed in the Vallejo News Chronicle on Monday August 4th 1969: "The car's description was given to police by Mageau, not a phone call witness, as related in the letter. However, there could have been such a witness near the phone booth".
 
If the Zodiac Killer was telling the truth about a negro male by the payphone, how was he privy to this eyewitness speaking to police when clearly the newspapers were not. The killer also must have been fully aware of Michael Mageau's description of his vehicle, making this statement even more curious and unnecessary. In both cases, if correct, the impression taken would be of a Zodiac Killer who had inside information beyond what the newspapers had published. This could place the murderer of five much closer to the investigation than we care to imagine. However, if the above interpretations submitted are incorrect, then "Fouke knows" just about sums it up. 

A big thanks to Alex Lewis - https://welshchappie.wordpress.com/

This is a follow up article, exploring the idea a phone call was placed approximately 10-12 minutes after the Lake Herman Road murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968, using the concept of a 'laughing killer' and the disputed 1986 'Zodiac' letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Many magazine and newspaper articles are littered with basic errors regarding the Zodiac case, however, some recurring themes not widely recognized as fact are present in many.

The Tuscaloosa News ran an article on October 17th 1969, just 20 days after the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. It stated 'Then the man said "I'm going to have to stab you people." Hartnell said "Please stab me first, I'm chicken. I couldn't stand to see her stabbed." The man told him "I'll do just that." He stabbed Hartnell until he passed out. The poor girl, she just had to watch. Then he knifed her until she fainted. When he stabbed Hartnell it was deliberate. When he stabbed the girl he laughed in a frenzy. Hartnell had been stabbed 10 times with a thin 12-inch blade. Miss Shepard, whose writhing provoked her attacker to laughter, had been stabbed 24 times'. One can see the embellishment, in the fact the newspaper reported 34 stab wounds as opposed to 16 - so did the killer really laugh in a frenzy during his attack on Cecelia Shepard?

The second article involves the Argosy Magazine dated September 1970 and the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, two weeks after the Berryessa attack. The following is extremely unlikely, but was a section of the October 13th 1969 letter omitted from public consumption in similar fashion to the phrase 'by knife' written on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia, to provoke a reaction from the killer. It is highly doubtful, and likely sensationalized reporting, however this magazine article actually adds a phrase attributed to the killer, written in the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. The article read 'Four days after the murder of Paul Stine yet another scrawled letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. With it was a bloodstained piece of cloth, later established by laboratory technicians as a small part of the missing swatch ripped from Stine's shirt. The rambling letter, signed with the crossed-circle symbol, began, as had the others, with "This is the Zodiac Speaking."  The writer went on to say that he was the killer of the cabbie-student, adding "and to prove it, here is a piece of his shirt." The letter also disclosed that the fugitive, from some nearby hiding place, had watched with uncontrollable amusement while police searched the area. He said "they could have caught me if they had done it right, instead of dashing around waiting for me to come out of cover. I like to died laughing".    

The Argosy Magazine article continued with reflections of the Lake Berryessa stabbing: 'The mention of laughter at a murder scene struck a responsive chord in the minds of the manhunters. During his recovery, young Hartnell had told Napa sleuths that "the man in the hood" had laughed diabolically as he plunged his knife again and again into Miss Shepard beside the lake'.

This would be repeated in the Coronet Magazine in October 1973 where it described the following 'He held an automatic pistol on them, tied them securely with plastic-coated clothesline, and then stabbed them repeatedly, laughing hysterically as they thrashed and rolled in pain'.

The Front Page Detective Magazine article of February 1970 stated "He (the killer) dropped to his knees and slowly, deliberately, forcefully plunged a 12-inch, double edged knife into Bryan's back 10 times. When the youth fainted in pain, the killer turned on the girl. His demeanor changed, kneeling beside her, he laughed wildly as he plunged the dagger 20 times into her back in a frenzied assault".

In April of 1974 Detective Cases Magazine covered the Berryessa stabbing: "He ordered Miss Shepard to tie up Hartnell, then he bound the girl, hands and ankles. The gun had been replaced with a knife and when both victims were securely trussed, the hooded monster began plunging the weapon repeatedly into first, the man, then, the girl, accompanying each thrust with a maniacal laugh. For what seemed an eternity to the horrified, screaming, helpless victims, the merciless butchery continued. Their torturer first slashed, then stabbed as his hideous laughter echoed along the banks of the lake".      

Officer Pierre Bidou remembered a 'crank call' after the Lake Herman Road murders. He described this to the Benicia Herald newspaper: "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene". Officer Pierre Bidou also recalled this 'car accident' to Zodiac investigator Michael Butterfield. “…we got the call from the dispatcher that an accident, or something, had occurred on Lake Herman Road, so we turned around and came by.” Source.

This is from a previous article: 'When Stella Medeiros observed the crime scene at 11:20 pm, she raced off to seek help in Benicia, eventually locating Captain Daniel Pitta at the Enco Gas Station on East 2nd Street. This is 3.4 miles from the turnout, an estimated journey time of 5 minutes on Google Maps. She is obviously driving faster than normal and flags down Captain Daniel Pitta probably slightly shy of 11:25 pm, allowing her to give her account and for Captain Daniel Pitta to head to the crime scene by 11:28 pm. In the course of this, the information would have been relayed to Benicia Police Department. So where did the supposition of a crank call or a car accident originate from. The description given by Stella Medeiros may have been interpreted as a car crash originally and relayed this way, but why would a radio message from a respected officer of the law be interpreted as a crank call? He was a captain reporting an incident on official police channels. Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday are lying prostrate in the turnout - whether a crash or not - why would Pierre Bidou be under any illusion of a crank call, unless a payphone call had come in slightly earlier than the radio message from Captain Daniel Pitta. The Zodiac Killer made phone calls after both his subsequent attacks, so why not this one? The only difference being, he called it in as a car accident, unwilling to show his hand as the murderer.

​Had James Owen passed the turnout around 11:08-11:09 pm, and the Zodiac Killer had exited the turnout somewhere between 11.12-11.14 pm and headed to Vallejo via Springs Road, his journey time to the payphone at the intersection of Springs and Tuolumne would be approximately 10-12 minutes, placing the 'crank call' at 11:22-11:24 pm, just prior to Stella Borges' meeting with Captain Daniel Pitta at 11:25 pm. The 'crank call' and the radio message from Captain Daniel Pitta would have been received in close proximity, leading to the confusion. The crank call being received slightly before the official police radio message.

This is where the 'laughing killer' and the phone call intersect in the aftermath of the Lake Herman Road murders. The Argosy Magazine wasn't finished yet. It continued on further "The man in the hood" had laughed diabolically as he plunged his knife again and again into Miss Shepard beside the lake. He had also laughed in his phone call to Vallejo Police in December 1968.' Does this validate the claim by Pierre Bidou? If the Zodiac Killer had laughed down the phone, could this be why the dispatcher had interpreted it as a crank call? Additionally, the article stated the phone call was made to Vallejo Police, exactly as the phone call had been 6 1/2 months later, after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack on July 4th 1969.

Russell Butterbach of the Solano County Sheriff's Department and his partner Wayne Waterman were just heading onto Lake Herman Road, when they received a call from the sergeant to go to the Hells Angels pad on Warren Avenue, Vallejo. After approximately 30 minutes they then received a double 187 on Lake Herman Road. If a crank phone call from the killer was received after the Lake Herman Road double shooting, then the time of this call, likely just before 11:25 pm, ties in perfectly with a 10-12 minute journey from the turnout to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. This wasn't the only time that the Zodiac Killer may have directed police to the scene of an accident.

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/sacramento-cold-case-contact

The Zodiac Killer wrote in his 'Bus Bomb' letter "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with, as one might say". This has been mulled over incessantly to discover the true meaning to which the Zodiac was referring, with many believing the Zodiac Killer was likely leaving fake fingerprints. But unless these fingerprints were by comparison matched to certain individuals, the police wouldn't be running anywhere.

Three years earlier in a Riverside alleyway, Cheri Jo Bates' lifeless body was discovered by groundskeeper Cleophus Martin. She had been brutally stabbed and slashed with a short-bladed knife on October 30th 1966. Sitting just 10 feet away was a Timex watch, believed to have been ripped from the assailant's wrist during the struggle. Or is that possibly what the killer wanted us to believe. It was determined that the wristband was set for a man with a 7-inch wrist. Was this a 'fake clew' designed to throw investigators off the scent of the killer. 

The Zodiac Killer appeared well read, certainly keeping abreast of the newspaper coverage of his crimes. The extract on the left was published in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday November 1st 1966, only two days after the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. It states "Police have arrested no suspects, but they said they were examining several clews. A man's wristwatch was found about 10 feet from the body". Did the Zodiac drag these clews into his November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb Letter, but this time replacing the 7-inch leather watch with a pair of size 7 black leather gloves as his 'fake clews'?

Although Robert Graysmith claimed in his first book these gloves may have been left in the taxicab by a prior female passenger, he effectively contradicted this account in Zodiac Unmasked, using them, in effect, to implicate Arthur Leigh Allen.

Shortly after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, three teenagers noticed a man in the front seat of the taxicab, stating "The suspect appeared to be searching the victim's pockets. The suspect then appeared to be wiping (fingerprints) on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment". The three teenagers later recalled that "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". But was the Zodiac Killer only wiping down the driver side compartment and dashboard? Could he have been removing gloves from his own pocket to deposit them underneath the dashboard? Robert Graysmith stated in his first Zodiac book that "Just under the dash, Toschi found a pair of dull black leather gloves".  Were these Zodiac's "fake clews for the police to run all over town with", as one might say. The Zodiac Killer evidently missed a trick in his Bus Bomb Letter, when he could have stated "fake clews for the police to dash all over town with" - but he didn't. 

The investigators certainly considered these gloves as belonging to the killer, and were taken into evidence (see right). It is equally certain they would have attempted to trace the origin and manufacturer of the gloves, as they did with the Wing Walker's that created the boot impressions noted at the Lake Berryessa crime scene. This would have given the police "some bussy work to do to keep them happy," and would most certainly have had them "running all over town".

In an interview with Bryan Hartnell shortly after the Lake Berryessa stabbing, he was asked if the assailant wore gloves. He replied "I don't remember if he had gloves on or not. I can't remember now. I keep thinking he had gloves on". Did the Zodiac Killer purchase gloves with the express intention of dropping them in the taxicab, to give police the runaround. Or was he steering us towards his previous exploits at Lake Berryessa. One doesn't know if the San Francisco Police Department traced the origin of the gloves, or indeed whether the gloves were labeled, although one of the premier glove manufacturers in the USA and California were the Napa Glove Company in Napa Valley, whose beginnings stretch back as far as 1888. The Napa Glove Company is situated one mile west of the 1231 Main Steet payphone, where Zodiac placed his second phone call to police. This would have been one hell of a 'fake clew'. Napa leather was first 'coined' by Emanuel Manasse in 1875 while working for the Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa, California, and can be found in Merriam-Webster's dictionary. See Wikipedia.

This is a continuation to the article 'Two Assailants at Presidio Heights', examining the statement given by the Robbins teenagers in the aftermath of the Paul Stine murder. The initial police report found on most websites is noticeably brief compared to the other three crimes, and certainly doesn't encompass the whole story that night. The Robbins teenagers themselves have certainly not been publicity hungry during the last 48 years, so couldn't be accused of witness embellishment. Furthermore, their story has been totally corroborated by Officer Armond Pelissetti in the 2007 Zodiac documentary, along with the bloody fingerprints noted from two areas of the taxicab. Here is a reminder of their story:
​
"As both Robbins kids were the oldest, their statements were the given the most weight. Also they were the least traumatized by the event. One of the kids (not sure which) noticed a cab parked outside (in that now famous spot) with the interior lights on. So when Lindsey told me that the light inside the car was like a spotlight, it was so bright. The first kid at the window said the driver looked "sick, or something". Lindsey and Rebecca went to the window and saw the driver laying across the front seat, head toward the passenger door. His head was in the lap of another man (passenger). Rebecca saw blood and said out loud, "he's stabbing that man." She was seeing blood on the victim and saw the glint of a knife, so she assumed a stabbing was taking place. (No shots were heard by anyone). We know now that Zodiac was cutting off a large piece of Stine's shirt with the knife.

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. Not many know this, but Lindsey (being 16. feeling immortal, and believing the suspect to be armed with only a knife) ran out of his door to see where Zodiac was going. He ran to the corner of Cherry and watched as Zodiac continued his casual pace right up to the corner of Jackson & Cherry." ​

The bloody fingerprints shown on the right are indicative of a suspect bracing his right hand on the dividing panel to pull Paul Stine upright with his left hand, in line with the version given by the Robbins teenagers. Lindsey's venture to the corner of Washington and Cherry, latterly joined by the others, is also backed up by the first responding officer, Armond Pelissetti. There is every reason to believe that this is the expanded version of a very brief and inadequate police report consisting of less than two full pages. But more importantly it helps us with the timeline. A timeline that could suggest the person seen by the three teenagers is not the killer of Paul Stine, just an accomplice to the crime.
​
Lindsey went downstairs as the phone call was being placed. What they saw subsequent to this is: "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." The amount of time this took is subjective, but a minimum of 30 seconds is a fair estimate. Then the suspect walked casually north on Cherry Street.

Officer Armond Pelissetti arrived when the suspect was approaching the corner of Jackson and Cherry - approximately 50 seconds walking time. This indicates that Armond Pelissetti was very close when he received the radio dispatch, likely no longer than one-and-a-half minutes after the teenagers called the police. The first job of the police dispatcher, however, is to take the description and reported offence, before then relaying this information to responding units. This would suggest that Armond Pelissetti received the message and arrived in one minute or less. All the indications are, that the suspect began his journey up Cherry Street the moment that Armond Pelisstti received the initial dispatch. When he arrived, the suspect was approaching the intersection of Jackson and Cherry, approximately 50 seconds later.

​The major problem, is that Officer Donald Fouke also responded to the initial radio broadcast at the identical time as Pelissetti. This means that Donald Fouke began his journey from the intersection of Washington and Presidio Avenue at the time the suspect began his journey from the crime scene, just like Armond Pelissetti did. The journey time for Donald Fouke traveling at a moderate speed of 30 mph, places him at the intersection of Jackson and Maple one minute later, where he spots the 'Zodiac'. For this to be the responsible observed by the three teenagers, the suspect would have to travel this 3 minute journey at walking pace in approximately one minute. Something he ultimately failed to achieve, because he was pointed out to Armond Pelissetti at the top of Cherry by Lindsey.

If we take the story of the three teenagers as reliable, which by all accounts it is, then the man observed removing the shirt piece of Paul Stine cannot be the man who pulled the trigger that night. This man would have exited the scene just prior to the teenagers looking out of the window. This would be the suspect observed by Officer Donald Fouke, and may explain the lack of blood on the clothes of the man walking on Jackson Street - because he was never present in the front of the taxicab. Donald Fouke described the sketch given by the three teenagers as 'similar' - only that he was 'older and heavier'. Is it likely these two assailants were related, father and son, or brothers? Or did Donald Fouke exhibit confirmation bias, meshing his story to fit that of the three teenagers? It would have been far more helpful had two independent sketches been sought. Had the sketches then matched, the validity of the eyewitnesses recollection would have been greatly enhanced. 

What is extremely difficult to reconcile is the wildly different versions given by Donald Fouke. The first was from his memorandum only one month after the murder on November 12th 1969 where he stated "The Zodiac Killer was observed walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turning north on Maple Street."
However, his description in the 2007 Zodiac documentary was taken after observing a man heading into a residence: "We turned west on Jackson Street, as we approached Maple Street I noticed on the north side of the street a white male adult. We slowed down as we passed him, I don't know, we we're still rolling, saw that it was a white male, step on the gas, 5, 10, 15 seconds tops from first spotting him to passing him. He sort of looked down, perhaps this lumbering gait, stumbling along, like a semi-limp might have come up in my mind, because he was putting his head down when he spotted the police car, and turned into the entrance way of a house, and by entrance way I mean stairs that are leading up that are concrete to a path, that leads to a front door. Never saw him get to the top of the stairs. You want the address of that residence, 3712 Jackson Street." 
​
"Never saw him get to the top of the stairs" suggests this is when the subject went out of view. This does not tally with a man last seen heading north on Maple in the November 12th memorandum. He also stated this in the 2007 documentary: "we 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." But in the above recollection the last place he saw the subject heading was up the stairs of 3712 Jackson Street. Bearing in mind these two wholly irreconcilable statements, what is the possibility both accounts have a shred of truth, muddled by time, and Officer Donald Fouke actually saw two men on Jackson Street that night. The first heading north on Maple, with the second feigning a move into 3712 Jackson Street.
​
The timeline would have the first assailant heading towards Maple as Officer Donald Fouke is approaching the intersection. The second assailant is turning the corner of Jackson and Cherry. Officer Donald Fouke slows down and beckons the man over, who states he saw somebody waving a gun heading towards Arguello Boulevard. The second assailant meanwhile is heading towards his accomplice, thinking he may have to intervene. But fortunately, Officer Donald Fouke, under the impression he is searching for a negro male adult buys the story and continues on Jackson Street, when he spots the second subject. The second assailant then instinctively feigns a turn into 3712 Jackson Street to give the impression to the patrol car he is a resident of that house. Officer Donald Fouke, satisfied by the first assailant's story slows down to observe this man, but ultimately decides to head off towards Arguello Boulevard. This may explain the conflicted versions given by Officer Donald Fouke that night - and his difficulty when it comes to a coherent account of the events that night.
 
The timeline is suggestive of two assailants, along with two subjects spotted in two different locations by Officer Donald Fouke. This may explain why the man observed in and around the taxicab that night by the three teenagers was apparently so calm. He possibly had no gun - or not the gun that fired the fatal shot into Paul Stine - and was simply aiding a stricken taxicab driver. This may have been his alibi had he required one. 
The Zodiac stated "This is the Zodiac speaking. I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt." He didn't say we, so maybe we shall have to take his word on it.

​This is not designed to promote the idea of two assailants at Presidio Heights, merely to point out the discrepancies in the timelines that simply make no sense.   

TWO ASSAILANTS AT PRESIDIO HEIGHTS [PT1]