The following San Francisco Police Department files on the Robert Salem murder have been kindly sent to me by Jarett Kobek, author of many books, including Motor Spirit:The Long Hunt for the Zodiac and How to Find Zodiac. The latter book examines a man named Paul Doerr with respect to the infamous Zodiac murders in Northern California through 1968 and 1969, and provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of this individual through his literary work and life. I have placed a few of the police files below, showing much clearer imagery of Robert Salem's 745 Stevenson Street apartment and the bloody writing at the crime scene, which read Satan Saves and Zodiac. I have also added a PDF file containing many more photographs from the San Francisco Police Department. I would like to thank Jarett Kobek for supplying me this additional information regarding the tragic case of Robert Salem. Link to Google Drive for all files.

The "Good Citizen" letter mailed on October 7th 1969 by a possible Zodiac Killer read "On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote: Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX". The Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street has been identified in recent articles as the common workplace of Robert Salem, Carl John Welz and Jerry Hatcher. However, 680 Beach Street wasn't 56 Beach Street, so more work was needed. Then it was discovered by Cragle that the Haslett Warehouse Company operated a state refrigeration terminal at pier 56 in China basin. This may have been the meaning behind the cryptic message above. The Haslett Warehouse was situated on Beach Street, San Francisco, and operated from pier 56. Cragle conjectured that the seven X's may be Haslett. 

To understand the full story, please read  Robert Salem-The Complete Story and The Spirit of Zodiac  

China Basin is a neighborhood built on landfill along the San Francisco Bay. It lies north of Mission Creek and the Mission Bay neighborhood, and includes Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, numerous restaurants, and the Caltrain railroad station. It borders on the South-of-Market (SOMA) neighborhood to the northwest and the South Beach neighborhood to the north. The term China Basin also refers to the body of water from which the neighborhood takes its name. This inlet where Mission Creek flows into the bay, home to a number of houseboats, was once an active ​industrial waterfront, though in recent decades the shore has been developed with residential condominiums.

The state refrigeration terminal at pier 56, operated by the Haslett Warehouse Co. was situated less than one mile from pier 64, where Paul Stine picked up his last paying fare on October 11th 1969. China basin is just over one mile from the intersection of Mason and Geary streets.

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS   

Recently I have been examining the inspiration behind the "Good Citizen" letter mailed on October 7th 1969, and its possible connection to the murder of Robert Salem at 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco on April 15th 1970. Cragle, a contributor to both Zodiac forums, found a viable connection to 680 Beach Street through Carl John Welz, Jerry Hatcher and Robert Salem, who all worked at the Haslett Warehouse in 1969. To get up to speed on this unfolding story, please visit Robert Salem-The Complete Story. Cragle has recently contacted me again with even more compelling material to advance this story.

The message in the Good Citizen letter to Sergeant John Lynch read "On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote: Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX".  Cragle correctly concluded that this form of writing is called automatic writing or psychography, which is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Scientists and skeptics consider automatic writing to be the result of the ideomotor effect and even proponents of automatic writing admit it has been the source of innumerable cases of self-delusion. Automatic writing is not the same thing as free writing. Spirit writing, later called Fuji (planchette writing), has a long tradition in China, where messages from various deities and spirits were received by mediums since the Song dynasty. In the 19th century, messages received through spirit writing led to the foundation of several Chinese salvationist religions. The spread of Chinese cultural techniques, such as printing and painting, introduced the influence of "spirit writing", practiced by Japanese Zen Ōbaku monks, who were said to communicate with an ancient Taoist sage credited with creation of the kung fu system. Parapsychologist William Fletcher Barrett wrote that "automatic messages may take place either by the writer passively holding a pencil on a sheet of paper, or by the planchette, or by a ouija board. In spiritualism, spirits are claimed to take control of the hand of a medium to write messages, letters, and even entire books. Automatic writing can happen in a trance or waking state. Some psychical researchers such as Thomson Jay Hudson have claimed no spirits are involved in automatic writing and the subconscious mind is the explanation. Wikipedia. So, it's pretty apparent the author of the Good Citizen letter was referring to spirit messages received through a planchette or ouija board.

Miss Winifred Moyes practiced this form of mediumship. Here is an excerpt from a Christian spiritualism website: Perhaps only those who were closest in the work could truly judge the remarkable gift of mediumship possessed by Miss Moyes, and the sensitiveness which enabled her to be used by Zodiac. Suffering from ill-health from the age of ten, when she was eventually used as an instrument by Zodiac, her weak physical body was compensated for by an iron will and a determination which forced the body to do the bidding of the Spirit. Such was her state of health that there were many times when Spirit Power alone enabled Zodiac to control his instrument and deliver his message. The strength of Miss Moyes lay in her implicit faith in the Christ power around her. Zodiac's first act on "taking control" was to place his medium under the protection of the Cross on the altar with upstretched arms and using the invocation: "Saviour Christ, into Thy hands I commend the spirit of this Thy child". Miss Moyes dedicated her gift of mediumship entirely to Zodiac's work. How closely she was attuned to the higher vibrations of Zodiac is shown in the perfection of the messages given. They are given in purity, unobstructed by the physical mind. Read the full story. 

The important section, not withstanding the constant reference to "Zodiac", was the following "My sister-in-law used the planchette several times, and we were very disappointed when the message came that she must not go on with it, and that i was to take the messages instead. I protested that the board would not move for me, and the reply came "Try to pencil alone". 

It is clear that the author of the Good Citizen letter when referring to ESP and the pencil writing, was referring to messages received from the afterlife. Cragle pointed out that just six weeks later, on November 21st 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed a communication directed towards Diane Kennedy Pike through the San Jose Police Department, that caused police to instigate 24-hour protection because of the threat on the widow. She had recently lost her husband, James Albert Pike (born February 14, 1913 – died September 3–7, 1969), who was an American Episcopal bishop, accused heretic, iconoclast, prolific writer, and one of the first mainline, charismatic religious figures to appear regularly on television. In 1966, after they had shared a sabbatical study at Cambridge University, Pike's son, Jim Jr., fatally shot himself in a New York City hotel room. Shortly after his son's death, Pike reported experiencing poltergeist phenomena—books vanishing and reappearing, safety pins open and indicating the approximate hour of his son's death, along with half the clothes in a closet disarranged and heaped up. Pike led a public pursuit of various spiritualist and clairvoyant methods of contacting his deceased son to reconcile. In September 1967, Pike participated in a televised séance with his dead son through the medium Arthur Ford, an ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ church. Pike detailed these experiences in his book The Other Side (released on January 1st 1968). In 1968, in defiance of C. Kilmer Myers, the Bishop who'd succeeded him, he married Diane Kennedy, a Methodist student twenty-five years his junior, with whom he had collaborated on The Other Side. Wikipedia   ​

The connection between the Good Citizen letter and the San Jose letter can now be seen, through spirituality, mediumship, seance and the afterlife. In the words of Cragle: "So let us look at this is relation to the Welz's. Christian Science strongly condemns the idea of spirituality as this is a direct contradiction to their belief system, and we have a couple living in San Francisco responsible for the main publication of the Christian Science faith, being referenced in a communication that "was" made by one of the fundamental practices in spiritualism. I can only interpret this as a direct jibe at Christian Science and their beliefs. Also we have the two correspondences being linked by their theme and the associated work of Winifred Moyes and the "Zodiac" speaking through her. All tying in with Zodiac ideas on the afterlife. Something that is interesting regarding Winifred's "Zodiac" is that the small group of people which formed around her were the Zodiac Circle and their symbol was a cross. "Total control refers to the trance states into which a person goes when they are allowing another soul to pass messages"  

​One month after the letter to Diane Kennedy Pike, the Zodiac Killer wrote a letter to Melvin Belli on December 20th 1969, in which he stated "I cannot reach out for help because of this thing in me wont let me. I am finding it extreamly difficult to hold it in check. I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth & possibly tenth victom. Please help me. I am drownding. At the moment the children are safe from the bomb because it is so massive to dig in & the triger mech requires much work to get it adjusted just right. But if I hold back too long from no nine I will loose all controol of my self & set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer". Was the thing inside of him the spirit of Zodiac, controlling his every move? Or was this what he wanted us to believe?  

If we continue the angle of spiritualism, the afterlife and contacting of the dead, and consider that the April 20th 1970 letter was mailed on the same day the Robert Salem murder story broke in the newspapers, then we can look at the 13 character code beginning with A and ending with M (half the alphabet). The ouija board was split into the two halves of the alphabet and contained the numbers 0 and 8, present in the 13 character code.

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

An amalgamation of articles: 
LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

Sergeant John Lynch of the Vallejo Police Department received a typewritten card from a "concerned citizen" on August 10th 1969 stating "Dear Sergeant Lynch. I hope the enclosed "key" will prove to be beneficial to you in connection with the cipher letter writer. Working puzzles criptograms and word puzzles is one of my pleasures. Please forgive the absence of my signature or name as I do not wish to have my name in the papers and it could be mentiond by a slip of the tongue. With best wishes. concerned citizen". It also contained a working key to the 408 cipher, which was mailed by the Zodiac Killer in his three "code letters" to the Vallejo Times-Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner on July 31st 1969. On October 7th 1969, another concerned citizen, this time describing himself as a "good citizen", mailed another cryptic message to Sergeant John Lynch, stating "On occasion, while thinking of the code letters, the pencil wrote:Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX". The author by mentioning "code letters" is clearly referring to the trinity of communications mailed on July 31st 1969, to which the August 10th 1969 communication provided a key. Despite both the "concerned citizen" and "good citizen" communications being extremely brief in nature, both utilized the word "name" twice. The author of these two communications can be argued to be the Zodiac Killer, who also mailed the April 20th 1970 letter, teasing us with "my name is". Crucially, the "concerned citizen" card and code key had not been released into the public domain by the arrival of the "good citizen" letter.  

Recently I have been examining the murder of Robert Michael Salem, who was found stabbed in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 19th 1970. The April 20th 1970 Zodiac Killer letter was received at the San Francisco Chronicle the same day the Robert Salem murder was reported in their newspaper. The letter read "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name is", belatedly followed by "I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed". The Zodiac Killer chose three Christian symbols in his enclosed 13 character code, that mirrored the Christian symbolism written in blood on the apartment wall of Robert Salem. Above the Japanese tatami mat where Robert Salem's body lay, was the drawing of an Egyptian ankh or "crucified man", along with the wording "Satan Saves" and "Zodiac". The murder of Robert Salem and the April 20th 1970 letter so reeked of Christian symbolism, that it was hard to ignore that the two weren't connected, and led me to believe that the wording "Satan Saves" had some biblical meaning with respect to Robert Salem and his homosexual lifestyle. Whether the drawing of the Egyptian ankh or "crucified man" on the wall of Robert Salem were interchangeable in the mind of the killer is unknown, but the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970 made no mention of the Egyptian ankh - making the appearance of the Christian anchor in Zodiac's 13-Symbol cipher intriguing. Anchor and ankh have the same phonetic root - and when the Zodiac Killer's crude anchor in the code is superimposed over the ankh drawing on Robert Salem's wall - a full and complete Christian anchor is revealed.   .

The ankh (key of life) was commonly held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife. The ankh was one of the most common decorative motifs in ancient Egypt and was also used decoratively by neighbouring cultures. Coptic Christians adapted it into the crux ansata, a shape with a circular rather than oval loop (as seen in the image above), and used it as a variant of the Christian cross. The message of "Satan Saves" rather than "Jesus Saves", along with a crucifix style cross, gives the strong impression of a murder with religious connotations, bearing in mind the anti-gay and intolerant Christian attitudes that permeated society in 1970 (and to a lesser extent today). Robert Salem was a gay man, who may have unfortunately attracted somebody with the belief he was a sinner or non-believer - and hence the sarcastic message of "Satan Saves" and the "key of life" being drawn on his stomach. Clearly, the person who drew the symbol and writing, was portraying a message to the viewer (whether a belief sincerely held or not).

The most unusual and notable features inflicted to the body of Robert Salem, were the crucifix style design "drawn" on his stomach and the removal of his left ear. Both of these featured heavily in the crucifixion of Jesus. Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, attempted to "save" and protect Jesus from arrest by severing the ear of Malchus, who was a servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas. According to the gospels, Calaphas organized a plot to kill Jesus. The arrest of Jesus was a pivotal event in Christianity recorded in the canonical gospels. It occurred shortly after the Last Supper (during which Jesus gave his final sermon), and immediately after the kiss of Judas, which is traditionally said to have been an act of betrayal since Judas made a deal with the chief priests to arrest Jesus. This event ultimately led, in the Gospel accounts, to the crucifixion of Jesus. Although the right ear of Malchus was severed, as opposed to the left ear of Robert Salem, this was the most viable connection I could find that links the two unusual features discovered by investigators on the body of Robert Salem.​

The immediate murder with a Zodiac connection after the "latent homosexual" suggestion was floated in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the Bay Area murderer's pseudonym was found at the crime scene, was the murder of gay man, Robert Salem on April 15th 1970 in San Francisco. The Zodiac Killer's 13-Symbol cipher is arguably contemporary in nature, with his April 20th 1970 letter being mailed the same day this murder was published in the newspapers. Homosexuality and acceptance has been a continuing struggle for gay activists to this day, but the 1960s and 1970s were arguably more difficult times, with newspaper coverage on this topic less than acceptable. Many religious people were unwilling to accept individual rights, claiming that homosexuality was the mark of the beast, and was an abomination in the eyes of God. The writing in blood on Robert Salem's apartment wall stating "Satan Saves" must have had some meaning to the killer - so was it in any way connected to the sexual preferences of Robert Salem? I couldn't help thinking that the "Satan Saves" element written in blood on the apartment wall had a more important role to play, not only in the fact Robert Salem was homosexual, but in the damage inflicted to his body and the removal of his left ear. So I looked for a bible verse that may have been known to the killer. 

​I also had to be mindful that the bible verse was relevant to perceived "sins of the flesh". In other words, the murderer of Robert Salem had an issue with homosexuality, believing it to be satanic, and wanted to deliver him unto Satan to be saved (see image above). Hence the wording "Satan Saves". 1 Corinthians 5:5 featured Paul, who had commanded the Christians in Corinth to remove from among them a man who was sleeping with his father's wife, a form of sexual immorality that even their own pagan culture condemned. The killer of Robert Salem may have considered his lifestyle the devil's work and a form of sexual immorality, that resulted in "destruction of the flesh" as witnessed by investigators at the crime scene. I also took the "Satan" element from the apartment wall and combined it with the "destruction of the flesh", to create a relevant solution to the 13-Symbol cipher of "Skin A Satanist". Not only did the Zodiac Killer encipher the word "skin" twice in the 148 character cipher in 1971, but it was relevant to the Robert Salem crime scene in April 1970.

Robert Michael Salem was found murdered in his 745 Stevenson Street San Francisco apartment on April 19th 1970, accompanied by the drawing of a religious crux ansata (crucified man) and the words "Satan Saves" scrawled in blood on the wall. This somewhat mirrored the religious characters in the 13 character code mailed by the Zodiac Killer the following day (April 20th 1970), when he posed the question "I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed". Investigators found no forced entry at Robert Salem's apartment, and little appeared to have been taken from the property, other than possibly some money from an open wallet on a shelf. The crime scene appeared to scream of far more than a simple robbery. This opens up the possibility that Robert Salem was murdered by somebody known to him, or somebody that befriended him with common interests. Robert Salem was a lamp designer, whose products had been exhibited in Japan, England and Russia. His apartment certainly showed an Oriental influence, with a Japanese hurricane lamp hanging from the ceiling, tree trunks prominent in the apartment in the style of Japanese tea houses, and he was discovered murdered wearing Oriental lounging clothes on top of a Japanese tatami mat.

Three months after this crime, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, paraphrasing two acts from The Mikado, a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera set in Japan. The first act he paraphrased was entitled A More Humane Mikado, followed by As Some Day It May Happen, in which victims or society offenders must be found, and who would never be missed. His introduction in the communication detailed how he would torture his victims in paradise, stating in one part: "Others I shall skin them alive + let them run around screaming". In the middle of 1971, the Zodiac Killer would again mention the skinning of victims, when he encrypted the following in his 148 character cipher: "If this is not on the front page in a week I will skin 3 little kids and make a suit from the skin", and wrote in accompaniment to the cipher "Next time I will send a patch of human skin". This is why I found the phrase "Skin A Satanist" very interesting, when from a cryptology standpoint, it satisfied the 13 character code on April 20th 1970, arriving the same day the Robert Salem story broke in the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the "Satan Saves" on the apartment wall. Robert Salem was effectively skinned, when his left ear was severed and taken from the crime scene. On January 29th 1974, the Zodiac Killer would again recite a section from The Mikado, using a verse from Tit-Willow. Not only did he paraphrase the Japanese based opera, but he added some Oriental characters at the foot of the letter. One line in this act reminded me of the introduction in the April 20th 1970 (My Name Is letter). It read "Now I feel just as sure as I'm sure that my name Isn't Willow, titwillow, titwillow", 

Robert Salem was a flamboyant character with an interest in the arts, having been the lighting designer for the historic Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street, San Francisco in 1969. Other than the mention of Washington and Maple streets on October 13th 1969, the only other street the Zodiac Killer ever imentioned in his communications (if authentic} was when he mailed a letter to Sergeant John Lynch on October 7th 1969, when he wrote ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX''. So, was the Zodiac Killer in the apartment of Robert Salem in April 1970?​​​

​​Cragle, an excellent Zodiac researcher who contributes to both forums, sent Michael Morford some invaluable information that he knew I would like (and Mike subsequently added some extra findings). It was fantastic news. A letter was possibly mailed by the Zodiac Killer on October 7th 1969, containing the wording ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX'' (and mentioned code letters). This letter can now be inextricably linked to the Concerned Citizen card postmarked August 10th 1969, which gave us a key to the 408 cipher, mailed by the Zodiac Killer within three "code letters" on July 31st 1969. The 56 Beach Street address never existed in 1969, only on street planning maps. Cragle found a Carl John Welz (married to Jerry Hatcher) who were working at 680 Beach Street, San Francisco and living at 2529 Union Street, San Francisco in 1969, He had a Batchelor and Master of Arts, taught in many public and  private schools and was well known in Christian science circles, with a mentioned periodical from him in 1967 (see below).

If this was the "Jerry" a possible Zodiac Killer was referring to, then this is an enormous find, Carl John Welz (and wife) would most likely have been working at 680 Beach Street at the same time as Robert Michael Salem, who was murdered by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer on April 15th 1970. Throughout 1969, Robert Salem worked as the lighting designer for the historic Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street. Carl John Welz wrote an anti gay article entitled Homosexuality Can Be Healed, so the fact that murdered Robert Salem was a homosexual, with the wording "Satan Saves" and a "crucified man" drawn in blood on his apartment wall, with the pseudonym Zodiac present also, makes this is a significant find. We can now connect the August 10th and October 7th 1969 communications, link the name "Jerry" to the Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street, and to murder victim Robert Salem, who also worked there - and finally - combine the religious overtones from the above article to the apartment wall, and to the Zodiac Killer's 13-Symbol cipher.. 

Cragle, an excellent Zodiac researcher who contributes to both forums, sent Michael Morford some invaluable information that he knew I would like (and Mike subsequently added some extra findings). It was fantastic news. A letter was possibly mailed by the Zodiac Killer on October 7th 1969, containing the wording ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX'' (and mentioned code letters). This letter can now be inextricably linked to the Concerned Citizen card postmarked August 10th 1969, which gave us a key to the 408 cipher, mailed by the Zodiac Killer within three "code letters" on July 31st 1969. The 56 Beach Street address never existed in 1969, only on street planning maps. Cragle found a Carl John Welz (married to Jerry Hatcher) who were working at 680 Beach Street, San Francisco and living at 2529 Union Street, San Francisco in 1969, He had a Batchelor and Master of Arts, taught in many public and  private schools and was well known in Christian science circles, with a mentioned periodical from him in 1967 (see below).

If this was the "Jerry" a possible Zodiac Killer was referring to, then this is an enormous find, Carl John Welz (and wife) would most likely have been working at 680 Beach Street at the same time as Robert Michael Salem, who was murdered by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer on April 15th 1970. Throughout 1969, Robert Salem worked as the lighting designer for the historic Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street. Carl John Welz wrote an anti gay article entitled Homosexuality Can Be Healed, so the fact that murdered Robert Salem was a homosexual, with the wording "Satan Saves" and a "crucified man" drawn in blood on his apartment wall, with the pseudonym Zodiac present also, makes this is a significant find. We can now connect the August 10th and October 7th 1969 communications, possibly link the name "Jerry" to the Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street and to murder victim Robert Salem, and finally, combine the religious overtones from the article to the apartment wall. 

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

Thanks to Cragle and Mike.

ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:
ANCHORS AWEIGH
ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?
A CONTEMPORARY CODE ON APRIL 20TH 1970
THE ZODIAC KILLER-DRIVEN BY DEVIANCY     
A SATANIC MESSAGE IN CODE? 
THE "SKIN MARKINGS" ON ROBERT SALEM 
​DELIVER UNTO SATAN
MURDER THROUGH THEATRE?

Robert Michael Salem was found murdered in his 745 Stevenson Street San Francisco apartment on April 19th 1970, accompanied by the drawing of a religious crux ansata (crucified man) and the words "Satan Saves" scrawled in blood on the wall. This mirrored the religious characters in the 13 character code mailed by the Zodiac Killer the following day (April 20th 1970), when he posed the question "I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed". Investigators found no forced entry at Robert Salem's apartment, and little appeared to have been taken from the property, other than possibly some money from an open wallet on a shelf. The crime scene appeared to scream of far more than a simple robbery. This opens up the possibility that Robert Salem was murdered by somebody known to him, or somebody that befriended him with common interests. Robert Salem was a lamp designer, whose products had been exhibited in Japan, England and Russia. His apartment certainly showed an Oriental influence, with a Japanese hurricane lamp hanging from the ceiling, tree trunks prominent in the apartment in the style of Japanese tea houses, and he was discovered murdered wearing Oriental lounging clothes on top of a Japanese tatami mat.

Three months after this crime, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Little List letter on July 26th 1970, paraphrasing two acts from The Mikado, a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera set in Japan. The first act he paraphrased was entitled A More Humane Mikado, followed by As Some Day It May Happen, in which victims or society offenders must be found, and who would never be missed. His introduction in the communication detailed how he would torture his victims in paradise, stating in one part: "Others I shall skin them alive + let them run around screaming". In the middle of 1971, the Zodiac Killer would again mention the skinning of victims, when he encrypted the following in his 148 character cipher: "If this is not on the front page in a week I will skin 3 little kids and make a suit from the skin", and wrote in accompaniment to the cipher "Next time I will send a patch of human skin". This is why I found the phrase "Skin A Satanist" very interesting, when from a cryptology standpoint, it satisfied the 13 character code on April 20th 1970, arriving the same day the Robert Salem story broke in the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the "Satan Saves" on the apartment wall. Robert Salem was effectively skinned, when his left ear was severed and taken from the crime scene. On January 29th 1974, the Zodiac Killer would again recite a section from The Mikado, using a verse from Tit-Willow. Not only did he paraphrase the Japanese based opera, but he added some Oriental characters at the foot of the letter. One line in this act reminded me of the introduction in the April 20th 1970 (My Name Is letter). It read "Now I feel just as sure as I'm sure that my name Isn't Willow, titwillow, titwillow", 

Robert Salem was a flamboyant character with an interest in the arts, having been the lighting designer for the historic Haslett Warehouse at 680 Beach Street, San Francisco in 1969. Other than the mention of Washington and Maple streets on October 13th 1969, the only other street the Zodiac Killer ever imentioned in his communications (if authentic} was when he mailed a letter to Sergeant John Lynch on October 7th 1969, when he wrote ''Go to 56 Beach Street. I get the name Jerry, perhaps he knows people or his name is XXXXXXX''. So, was the Zodiac Killer in the apartment of Robert Salem in April 1970?

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:
ANCHORS AWEIGH
ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?
A CONTEMPORARY CODE ON APRIL 20TH 1970
THE ZODIAC KILLER-DRIVEN BY DEVIANCY     
A SATANIC MESSAGE IN CODE? 
THE "SKIN MARKINGS" ON ROBERT SALEM 
​DELIVER UNTO SATAN

​Recently I have been examining the horrific murder of Robert Salem (40), stabbed seven times in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 15th 1970. Robert was a gay man, whose lifestyle may have attracted the attention of the Zodiac Killer or another sick individual, who left many clues at the crime scene to suggest a religious element to the comissmion of this murder. Either that, or the person responsible wanted us to draw this conclusion. The murderer of Robert Salem had written "Satan Saves", "Zodiac", and drawn an Egyptian ankh (or crux ansata/cross surmounted by a loop) in blood on the apartment wall. The same day this story broke in the newspapers, on April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle with a short thirteen character code containing a Christian anchor, Celtic cross (a form of Christian cross) and 888 (the number representing Jesus in Christian numerology). Not only did the Christian element span both crime scene and letter, the ear of Robert Salem was also severed and removed from the crime scene by the killer. The murderer had also drawn a crucifix style design on Robert Salem's stomach. 

In a previous article, it was noted that both of these featured heavily in the crucifixion of Jesus. Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, attempted to "save" and protect Jesus from arrest by severing the ear of Malchus, who was a servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas. According to the gospels, Calaphas organized a plot to kill Jesus. The arrest of Jesus was a pivotal event in Christianity recorded in the canonical gospels. It occurred shortly after the Last Supper (during which Jesus gave his final sermon), and immediately after the kiss of Judas, which is traditionally said to have been an act of betrayal since Judas made a deal with the chief priests to arrest Jesus. This event ultimately led, in the Gospel accounts, to the crucifixion of Jesus. Although the right ear of Malchus was severed, as opposed to the left ear of Robert Salem, this was the most viable connection I could find that links the two unusual features discovered by investigators on the body of Robert Salem. However, I couldn't help thinking that the "Satan Saves" element written in blood on the apartment wall had a more important role to play, not only in the fact Robert Salem was homosexual, but in the damage inflicted to his body and the removal of his left ear. So I looked for a bible verse that may have been known to the killer.     

I also had to be mindful that the bible verse was relevant to perceived "sins of the flesh". In other words, the murderer of Robert Salem had an issue with homosexuality, believing it to be satanic, and wanted to deliver him unto Satan to be saved (see left image). Hence the wording "Satan Saves".

1 Corinthians 5:5 featured Paul, who had commanded the Christians in Corinth to remove from among them a man who was sleeping with his father's wife, a form of sexual immorality that even their own pagan culture condemned. The killer of Robert Salem may have considered his lifestyle the devil's work and a form of sexual immorality, that resulted in "destruction of the flesh" as witnessed by investigators at the crime scene. 

I also took the "Satan" element from the apartment wall and combined it with the "destruction of the flesh", to create a relevant solution to the 13-Symbol cipher of "Skin A Satanist". Not only did the Zodiac Killer encipher the word "skin" twice in the 148 character cipher in 1971, but it was relevant to the Robert Salem crime scene in April 1970.

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:
ANCHORS AWEIGH
ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?
A CONTEMPORARY CODE ON APRIL 20TH 1970
THE ZODIAC KILLER-DRIVEN BY DEVIANCY     
A SATANIC MESSAGE IN CODE? 
THE "SKIN MARKINGS" ON ROBERT SALEM 

Robert Michael Salem was stabbed seven times and murdered in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 15th 1970. His body was discovered by friends from the nearby San Franciscan Hotel on April 19th 1970 when they realized they hadn't seen Robert Salem for several days. Investigators found a gruesome scene, with the blood of Robert Salem having been used to scrawl the words "Satan Saves" and "Zodiac" on the apartment wall, accompanied by a drawing of the ancient Egyptian ankh symbol. The ankh symbol, as detailed in the newspapers, was also "drawn on Salem's stomach". Whether the symbol on Robert Salem's stomach had been carved into his flesh or "drawn" on by a marker pen cannot be ascertained by this wording alone, but clearly this symbol held some significance to the person who perpetrated this murder (or wanted us to believe it did).

The ankh (key of life) was commonly held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife. The ankh was one of the most common decorative motifs in ancient Egypt and was also used decoratively by neighbouring cultures. Coptic Christians adapted it into the crux ansata, a shape with a circular rather than oval loop (as seen in the image above), and used it as a variant of the Christian cross. The message of "Satan Saves" rather than "Jesus Saves", along with a crucifix style cross, gives the strong impression of a murder with religious connotations, bearing in mind the anti-gay and intolerant Christian attitudes that permeated society in 1970 (and to a lesser extent today). Robert Salem was a gay man, who may have unfortunately attracted somebody with the belief he was a sinner or non-believer - and hence the sarcastic message of "Satan Saves" and the "key of life" being drawn on his stomach. Clearly, the person who drew the symbol and writing, was portraying a message to the viewer (whether a belief sincerely held or not).

This idea was exacerbated by the Zodiac Killer's use of three circled eights (Jesus in Christian numerology) and the "anchor" symbol  in his April 20th 1970 letter. The word "anchor" has the same phonetic root as the Egyptian "Ankh", and Christians adopted the anchor as a symbol of hope in future existence because the anchor was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. Maybe significant, was the fact the ankh symbol or crux ansata featured twice at the Robert Salem crime scene, which Christians used as a variant for the Christian cross (seen as a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus on a large wooden cross). Bearing in mind the crucifix style design in blood on the wall of Robert Salem, coupled with his unusual injuries, it was important to examine if any correlation between the two existed (no matter how unlikely). 

The most unusual and notable features inflicted to the body of Robert Salem, were the crucifix style design "drawn" on his stomach and the removal of his left ear. Both of these featured heavily in the crucifixion of Jesus. Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, attempted to "save" and protect Jesus from arrest by severing the ear of Malchus, who was a servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas. According to the gospels, Calaphas organized a plot to kill Jesus. The arrest of Jesus was a pivotal event in Christianity recorded in the canonical gospels. It occurred shortly after the Last Supper (during which Jesus gave his final sermon), and immediately after the kiss of Judas, which is traditionally said to have been an act of betrayal since Judas made a deal with the chief priests to arrest Jesus. This event ultimately led, in the Gospel accounts, to the crucifixion of Jesus. Although the right ear of Malchus was severed, as opposed to the left ear of Robert Salem, this was the most viable connection I could find that links the two unusual features discovered by investigators on the body of Robert Salem.
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ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:
ANCHORS AWEIGH
ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?
A CONTEMPORARY CODE ON APRIL 20TH 1970
THE ZODIAC KILLER-DRIVEN BY DEVIANCY     
A SATANIC MESSAGE IN CODE? 

The point was made in an earlier article that the immediate murder with a Zodiac connection after the "latent homosexual" suggestion was floated in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the Bay Area murderer's pseudonym was found at the crime scene, was the murder of gay man, Robert Salem, on April 15th 1970 in San Francisco. The Zodiac Killer's 13-Symbol cipher was argued as being contemporary in nature, with his April 20th 1970 letter being mailed the same day this murder was published in the newspapers. Homosexuality and acceptance has been a continuing struggle for gay activists to this day, but the 1960s and 1970s were arguably more difficult times, with newspaper coverage on this topic less than acceptable. Many religious people were unwilling to accept individual rights, claiming that homosexuality was the mark of the beast, and was an abomination in the eyes of God. The writing in blood on Robert Salem's apartment wall stating "Satan Saves" must have had some meaning to the killer - so was it in any way connected to the sexual preferences of Robert Salem? This writing was accompanied by an Egyptian ankh, adopted by Coptic Christians as early as AD 200. If the 13-Symbol cipher was based on the murder of Robert Salem, one could argue that the writing on the apartment wall, along with the murder of Robert Salem, may have featured in this extremely short code.  

The only other time the Zodiac Killer mailed a cipher in connection with a brutal knife murder, was when he mailed the 148 character cipher shortly after the arrest and interrogation of Karl Francis Werner for the murders of Kathie Snoozy, Debra Furlong and Kathy Bilek on August 3rd 1969 and April 11th 1971. In the 148 character cipher the Zodiac Killer encrypted "I will skin three little kids and make a suit from the skin", and wrote "I will send a patch of human skin if their is some left over" in the message of the accompanying letter. Bearing in mind the killer removed Robert Salem's left ear and took it from the crime scene, I considered the possibility that the word "skin" may feature in the 13-Symbol cipher, alongside the word "satan" (or an extension of it), taken from the apartment wall. In other words, the encrypted message was related to the murder scene of Robert Salem. The dash after "My name is" in the April 20th 1970 letter, being the withheld name, with the 13-Symbol cipher being the message. 

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ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:
ANCHORS AWEIGH
ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?
A CONTEMPORARY CODE ON APRIL 20TH 1970
THE ZODIAC KILLER-DRIVEN BY DEVIANCY     

Prior to, and continuing on after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969, investigators painted the Zodiac Killer as a sexual deviant, targeting couples (primarily the females), because of some relationship inadequacies in his own life. Despite no evidence whatsoever that the Zodiac murders were sexually motivated, the psychological profile of the killer was deemed sexual in nature. The next murder was the clinical, execution style shooting of a lone male taxicab driver in the heart of San Francisco on October 11th 1969.   

The attribution of a sexual component to the Zodiac crimes were not scotched by the taxicab murder however. The Zodiac Killer was now being labeled a "latent homosexual" in a Paul Avery article on October 18th 1969.  

The next murder in San Francisco with the Zodiac pseudonym placed at the crime scene (similar to Berryessa), was the murder of a gay man, Robert Michael Salem on April 15th 1970, who had been callously stabbed numerous times in his 745 Stevenson Street apartment - and "Zodiac" had been written in the victim's blood on the apartment wall. 

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The 408 cipher mailed on July 31st 1969 could be considered an introductory cipher by the Zodiac Killer, laying out his plans to collect more slaves for his afterlife and warning police of more murder to come. The 340 cipher, solved by eminent cryptographers David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke in December 2020 was contemporary in nature, and effectively called out Eric Weill who telephoned into the Jim Dunbar TV Show on October 22nd 1969, that initiated the response of Zodiac just over two weeks later, who stated "That wasn't me on the TV show". The 32-Symbol cipher was also contemporary in nature, threatening to detonate a bomb in San Francisco & Vicinity soon after the Zodiac Killer had referenced the Park Police Station bombing (on April 20th 1970) which killed San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell. The Zodiac Killer also called out Karl Francis Werner shortly after his arrest and interrogation for the murders of Snoozy & Furlong on April 29th 1971, again encoding a contemporary message stating "stop listening to phonys". This message (plural in nature) was not only labelling Karl Francis Werner as an imposter, but included Eric Weill from the Jim Dunbar Show - and effectively bound the 340 and 148 character ciphers under the banner of one author.

This should make you think, when you consider the April 20th 1970 letter arriving after 121 days sf silence from the Zodiac Killer, mailed on the same day his Zodiac pseudonym was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle as being written in blood on the wall of murder victim Robert Michael Salem, stabbed to death in his 745 Stevenson Street apartment. Was this just sheer coincidence after four months, or was the letter a rushed response to the breaking news in the Chronicle newspaper on the same day (with an AM postmark)? If you play the odds, the chances that this was coincidence, may appear unlikely. If the April 20th 1970 letter was a response to the San Francisco Chronicle article, then the cipher and bus bomb diagram were literally created in a matter of hours. Of course, the 13-Symbol code could have been designed in advance and added to his letter - but if not - the message contained within the code could likely be a reaction to the latest news about Robert Salem, or at the very least, be extremely contemporary in nature if his other three ciphers are anything to go by.

In fact, if you believe the 148 character cipher and letter in 1971 as genuine Zodiac material (as I do), then there will never be any reasonable chance of the Zodiac Killer ever revealing his real name in any code or communication, because the Zodiac Killer comprehensively stated in the 1971 letter that "I will never give my name because you don't understand". The offering of an alternative name in the Z13 seems equally unlikely, because its lack of ciphertext characters lends itself to thousands of possibilities, rendering any alternative name a pointless exercise when it cannot be verified. There appears two ways forward: [1] either the Zodiac Killer fashioned a code based on the Robert Salem murder or its column inches, so contemporary in nature, that it would carry great significance when unearthed, or [2] It isn't necessarily contemporary in nature and the answer or key lies in subsequent communications. The Zodiac Killer would almost certainly have known a code of just 13 characters was practically unsolvable, so the notion of a solve so contemporary in nature as to cement its validity, appears a justifiable avenue to explore. 

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This is a follow up article to Anchors Aweigh concerning the knife murder of Robert Michael Salem, whose body was discovered in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 19th 1970. The Zodiac Killer mailed a communication to the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970, the very same day this story broke in the San Francisco Chronicle. If this wasn't a coincidence after 121 days of silence from the Zodiac Killer - and he reacted to the San Francisco Chronicle morning edition about the Robert Salem murder - then he had to write this letter (that included a code and bomb diagram) and mail it extremely quickly, to enable this communication to bear the postmark "SAN FRANCISCO CALIF, 4A AM 20 APR". In other words, it had to be created, mailed, collected and processed in the morning to carry an AM postmark. But was the letter designed with Robert Salem in mind? 

The San Francisco Chronicle article on April 20th 1970 only described the drawing on Robert Salem's apartment wall as "a weird cross like design with an arc, similar to the Zodiac's circled cross insignia". There was no mention of an Egyptian ankh or Crux Ansata, no mention of a crucifix style design - and other than the writing "Satan Saves Zodiac" - no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. The ankh or key of life (drawn in blood on the apartment wall of Robert Salem) is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol used in Egyptian art and writing to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself. It was especially commonly held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife. Because it symbolizes immortality and the universe it was initially borrowed by the fourth-century Coptic Christians who used it as a symbol to reinforce Christ's message that there is life after death. The ankh cross as a symbol of eternal life eventually lost its loop at the top to become the Christian cross which, like the ancient ankh, is worn by believers in Jesus Christ in the present day for the same reason: to identify with their god and all that god promises. link.  Much more recently, the ankh has become a popular symbol in modern Western culture, particularly as a design for jewelry and tattoos. Its resurgence began when the counterculture of the 1960s stirred a greater interest in ancient religions.

Despite no direct mention of Christianity, Jesus Christ or the Egyptian Ankh in the San Francisco Chronicle article on April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer within hours would manufacture a code letter containing the three circled eights (which represents the name Jesus in Christian numerology, with the number 8 representing rebirth and regeneration, and infinity/eternity), along with a Christian anchor symbol. Christians adopted the anchor as a symbol of hope in future existence because the anchor was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. For Christians, Christ is the unfailing hope of all who believe in him: Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and several of the early ​Church Fathers speak in this sense. link. 

So, did the Zodiac Killer create the 13-Symbol code the same day the Chronicle article was released, containing four characters of Christian symbolism, representing Jesus Christ, eternity and the afterlife, based solely upon the phrase "Satan Saves Zodiac", or was the Zodiac Killer fully aware of the Egyptian ankh symbol (representing Christianity and the hope of everlasting life) drawn in blood, because he was present in the 745 Stevenson Street apartment of Robert Salem? The other possibility is that my interpretation of the Zodiac Killer's symbols are incorrect, and they in no way correlate to the Egyptian ankh on the apartment wall. 
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On April 19th 1970, the mutilated body of Robert Michael Salem was discovered in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment by some friends. He had been stabbed several times, and his blood had been used to draw an Egyptian Ankh on his apartment wall, accompanied by the wording "Satan Saves Zodiac". This story would be reported in the newspapers the following morning, when on April 20th 1970 the San Francisco Chronicle released an article entitled "Bizarre 'Zodiac' Murder". At this point, the Zodiac Killer had remained silent for 121 days, so was the timing of his April 20th 1970 letter, having being mailed on the same date as the news coverage of the pseudonym "Zodiac" being discovered on the apartment wall of a murder victim, just sheer coincidence? Or had the Zodiac Killer read the morning edition of the San Francisco Chronicle and hastily created a 2-page letter containing a code and bus bomb diagram to quickly mail to the newspapers? In other words, he fashioned a communication in double-quick time to coincide with the newspaper article, stating "I hope you have fun trying to figure out who I killed", to insinuate himself as the murderer.  

This may explain why he didn't have the time to create a more complex cryptogram in the same fashion as his 408 and 340 ciphers. If the Zodiac Killer didn't murder Robert Salem and wasn't an employee of the San Francisco Chronicle, then he had to create the code in a matter of hours, because his envelope was postmarked April 20th 1970, the same date as the newspaper article. Therefore, his 13-Symbol code was about as contemporary as could be. It could have been inspired by the very newspaper article that inspired the letter.

​The April 20th 1970 newspaper article did not show an image of the apartment wall, it only mentioned the "Satan Saves Zodiac" writing, and descrbed the drawing on the wall as "a weird cross like design with an arc, similar to the Zodiac's circled cross insignia". It made no mention of an Egyptian Ankh. The image at the top of this article was taken from the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper article released on April 21st 1970.

In the Zodiac Killer's short code, he added the Celtic Cross, three circled eights (which represents the name Jesus in Christian numerology) and the Christian anchor (a symbol of hope in future existence for many Christians). All the symbols have a religious connotation. The image on the right is a Christian anchor. The word "anchor" has the same phonetic root as the Egyptian "Ankh". However, the interesting aspect of the Christian anchor, is that its imagery comprises that of the crude anchor Zodiac placed in his 13 character code and the drawing of the Egyptian Ankh placed on the apartment wall of Robert Michael Salem. A drawing he should have had no knowledge of on April 20th 1970, because that image wasn't released until April 21st 1970. Not only do we have the 888 of Jesus Christ and "Satan Saves" connection, but we have the Christian anchor being a combination of Zodiac's crude "code anchor" and the yet to be released image of the Ankh, discovered the night before. Was this another coincidence, or was the Zodiac Killer responsible for the murder at 745 Stevenson Street?  
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FOLLOW UP ARTICLE: ROBERT SALEM-A ZODIAC MURDER?      

On Tuesday, April 21st 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled The Bloody Satan Murder stating "An autopsy yesterday morning showed Salem was slain sometime last Wednesday", which was April 15th 1970. The introduction to the article highlighted the murder of Robert Michael Salem in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment, describing the "macabre mutilation of the renowned lighting designer" found Sunday evening (April 19th). On Monday, April 20th 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle produced their first article on the murder, stating "A bizarre murder - with the words Satan Saves Zodiac written in blood on the expensively decorated hippie-style pad - was discovered last night at 745 Stevenson Street". The pseudonym "Zodiac" and the drawing of a religious Ankh was also found scrawled in blood on the apartment wall. It is clear, that despite Robert Salem being murdered on April 15th 1970 (or thereabouts), his murder was not discovered until Sunday, April 19th 1970. The story not released publicly until it appeared the following morning in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

If the Zodiac Killer was not the murderer of Robert Salem - and didn't have inside knowledge of the discovery on April 19th - the first time he would have become aware of his pseudonym being found at a murder scene was when he bought his morning newspaper on April 20th 1970. The very same day, a letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle stating "PS I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed" and "I have killed ten people to date". After four months of not writing, was the timing of this letter really a coincidence - falling on the same day his bloody pseudonym was reported on the wall of a murder victim. The Zodiac Killer could easily have just written the victim count once, next to his crosshairs, but specifically added "I have killed ten people to date", suggesting that we should include the month of April into the equation. The Zodiac Killer was seemingly attempting to push us into concluding he was the murderer of Robert Michael Salem. By including a short code of thirteen characters, which included the three number eights (Christ the Redeemer in Christian numerology, and the opposing value of 666, the number of the beast), was the phrase of "I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed" trying to lead us to "Satan Saves" on the wall of the apartment?                    

What is crucial here, is the timing of this Zodiac communication in relation to the newspaper article reporting the murder of Robert Salem. If the letter was insinuating he was responsible for the 745 Stevenson Street murder, then after reading the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday, April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer would have had to access (or buy) his writing paper, envelopes and stamps - create a thirteen character code, recall the Officer Brian McDonnell murder on February 16th 1970, compose the letter and draw his "string of bombs" diagram almost immediately - before mailing the letter in time for it still to be collected, processed and postmarked AM on the morning of Monday, April 20th 1970 (before noon),. Is that a reasonable proposition? If this were the case, it could imply that the 13-Symbol cipher was created with no forethought, was contemporary in nature and possibly related to the murder of Robert Salem (hence the numbers).

The alternative could be that the April 20th 1970 letter was created in advance of the San Francisco Chronicle article reporting the murder of Robert Salem. This could mean that the Zodiac Killer knew of the murder prior to the details being released in the newspaper, because he was the murderer of Robert Salem at 745 Stevenson Street. It just depends on what credence you place on the timing of this letter and the emphasis you place on "I have killed ten people to date" to mean "I have killed ten people to April 20th 1970", thereby highlighting the importance of April to the victim count.

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On September 27th 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, with the Zodiac Killer leaving his signature at the crime scene by writing on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia near the crime scene. Two weeks later, on October 11th 1969, Paul Stine was shot in his taxicab in the wealthy district of Presidio Heights, with the Zodiac Killer this time removing something personal from the victim, by tearing a piece of Paul Stine's blooded shirt and mailing a portion of it to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969.

​A crime was six months in the making, incorporating features from both of these attacks, when Robert Michael Salem was knifed to death in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment on April 15th 1970. The killer appeared to mimic the Zodiac Killer's two previous attacks by writing a message at the crime scene, as well as removing something from the victim. However, the attack on Robert Salem was an escalation on the other attacks in regards to the sadistic nature of the crime. The killer had written the message on the apartment wall of Robert Salem in blood and taken the left ear of the victim away from the crime scene (never to be retrieved). By all accounts, the murderer had first attempted to decapitate Robert Salem. The third important facet of this crime, was that it appeared to mimic the meaning behind the Zodiac Killer's last communication on December 20th 1969, when the Melvin Belli letter arrived at 1228 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. The letter mailed to the prominent attorney could have foreshadowed the Robert Salem murder, not only because the killer of Robert Salem was seemingly "losing all control", but because the wording in the Melvin Belli letter appeared to mimic the writing in red lipstick on the apartment wall of Frances Brown, murdered by William Heirens in Chicago in 1945. 

William Heirens was also found guilty for the murder of 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan in Chicago in 1946. Her body had been dismembered just like Robert Salem, albeit far more brutally. Her head was eventually discovered in a nearby sewer, her right leg in a catch basin and her torso in a storm drain. The killer of Robert Salem had attempted to decapitate him just like Suzanne Degnan, before apparently giving up and removing his left ear. Therefore, the 745 Stevenson Street murder not only had writing at the crime scene and something from the victim removed, but the red writing and attempted decapitation mirrored two of the crimes committed by William Heirens, which may have inspired the wording in the Melvin Belli letter. William Heirens was also responsible for the murder of Josephine Ross in Chicago in 1945, with all three victims subjected to numerous knife wounds, just like Robert Salem. 

The San Francisco murder of Robert Salem seemed like extreme overkill for robbery or revenge, due in large part to the sadistic nature of the crime and the writing in blood on the apartment wall. The killer then took the time to take a shower before leaving. The killer drew an ancient Egyptian ankh symbol on the wall of the apartment, accompanied by the wording "Satan Saves" and the pseudonym "Zodiac". The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy. If the murderer of Robert Salem was attempting to sidetrack the police investigation and pin this crime on the Zodiac Killer, why didn't he just use the crosshairs symbol of the Bay Area murderer, write on the wall in black marker pen and refrain from decapitating Robert Salem, which would have helped his attempt to frame the Zodiac Killer as being the responsible. This approach would surely have been far easier. Additonally, if the murderer was not the Zodiac Killer, was the killer of Robert Salem just extremely fortuitous in creating a crime scene at 745 Stevenson Street that just happened to mimic two of William Heirens crimes, which may have been mimicked in the Melvin Belli letter - and the last communication mailed by the Zodiac Killer with an item removed from the victim, that of Paul Stine? Or had the killer of Robert Salem worked out the meaning behind the Melvin Belli letter and made the connection to the William Heirens murders in order to mimic them four months later? Could you have imagined the repercussions had it been reported that an ear had been mailed on April 20th 1970 to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The Zodiac Killer mailed the 148 character cipher and letter on or around May 2nd 1971, in which he refrained from taking the easy option of using his Zodiac crosshairs, when he signed his letter using a sun cross from prehistoric cultures. But did he employ the same technique on April 15th 1970, designed to confuse law enforcement until his April 20th 1970 letter arrived, A letter that didn't carry the wording "Satan Saves", but did carry the numerical figure of Jesus, with the added notation of "PS I hope you have fun trying to fiygure out who I killed". The crime scene at 745 Stevenson Street appeared to be the work of a brutal and sadistic killer more in line with a murderer "losing all control" - and in direct contrast with the Zodiac Killer who never went further than necessary in his requirement to murder. Unless of course, the Zodiac Killer took the wording in the Melvin Belli letter seriously and enacted the 1945 murder of Frances Brown in Chicago to the new setting of San Francisco. He certainly liked his history.   
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