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.   

Just like the attempted poisoning of Daniel Williams on November 2nd 1969, the murder of Robert Michael Salem just prior to the Zodiac Killer's letter on April 20th 1970, is another case of possible Zodiac activity too readily dismissed. There are many potential clues in the April 20th 1970 letter to the Robert Salem murder, but here we shall focus on just one aspect of the case.

The Zodiac Killer likely switched to murder by knife at Lake Berryessa because of the contast he noted in newspaper coverage between his crimes and the double murder of Kathy Snoozy and Deborah Furlong in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. The Zodiac Killer had murdered three people, attempted to murder a fourth, and mailed four letters and three cryptograms to high profile Bay Area newspapers. Imagine his "consternation", when discovering that the highest circulation newspapers in the Bay Area ignored his demands and relegated the cryptic murderer of three into relative anonymity on their inner pages.

The San Francisco Chronicle published his cryptogram on page four, while the San Francisco Examiner had placed their portion of the cipher on a lowly page nine. This was shortly followed by a comprehensive front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 6th 1969, covering the brutal stabbings of Snoozy & Furlong in San Jose. The Zodiac Killer, likely scouring the newspapers for information about himself and the ongoing effort to crack his 408 cryptogram, must have read this article and been understandably horrified. He now knew what he had to do to secure the front page coverage he felt he richly deserved - kill his next victims with a knife. This was probably the trigger for his emphasis of "by knife" written on the car door of Bryan Hartnell on September 27th 1969.  

The Zodiac Killer added the "August" murders into his Dripping Pen card on November 8th 1969, followed by a drawing entitled "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" on December 16th 1969. This fascination with knife murders likely continued on December 20th 1969 with his address to Melvin Belli. In this communication he used very similar wording connected to another knife murder on December 10th 1945. We know the Zodiac Killer kept abreast of the news, so did he read something in the newspapers on December 10th 1969, the anniversary of the murder of Frances Brown at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment in Edgewater, Chicago? She had been savagely stabbed, with the knife left protruding from her neck, along with a bullet wound to her head.. Near her body, written in lipstick on the apartment wall, were the words "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer wrote in the Melvin Belli letter "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". This is what makes the Robert Salem murder so very interesting.

Just shy of four months later (just prior to April 20th 1970), Robert Salem too was discovered murdered in his apartment, the victim of a repeated stabbing using a long-bladed knife. Just like the murder of Frances Brown (attributed to William Heirens), the murderer had written a "red message" (this time in blood) on the apartment wall of Robert Salem. It read "Satan Saves Zodiac" and was accompanied by the drawing of an Ankh, which 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.

If this was a copycat as police suspected, then we would have to conclude that the perpetrator (who didn't write the Belli letter) made the connection to the Frances Brown murder, which was concealed in the wording of the December 20th 1969 letter, and recreated her murder scene in the apartment of Robert Salem, with the Zodiac pseudonym attached. Or, the copycat inadvertently created the murder scene of Frances Brown in the 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment of Robert Salem, without any prior knowledge of the hidden meaning in the Melvin Belli letter, and just so happened to write the Zodiac pseudonym. The third option, is that the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the stabbing of Robert Salem and was deliberately linking the hidden message in the Melvin Belli letter to his latest murder, playing games with the police along the way. The final option may be that no connection exists between the wording on the Melvin Belli letter and the murder of Frances Brown. It is just another case of seeing things that aren't there.

The brutal stabbing and murder of Robert Michael Salem on April 15th 1970 is so much more compelling as a potential Zodiac crime compared to other outlier murders linked to the Bay Area killer. I will do a brief run through of what we know so far, before adding a little more to the equation. This additional information will include the Good Citizen letter mailed to Sergeant John Lynch on October 7th 1969, just four days before the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights. 

The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 appeared to invoke the Frances Brown murder scene on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment in Chicago. She had been stabbed multiple times, with the knife discovered protruding from her neck. Her killer (supposedly William Heirens} had left an ominous message written in red lipstick on the wall of her apartment stating "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer had written on the Melvin Belli letter "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". The message on the wall of Frances Brown's apartment was written above a table lamp. It was therefore uncanny that the Zodiac Killer's next correspondence arrived on April 20th 1970, on the same day that the San Francisco Chronicle published details regarding the murder of Robert Salem, in which the killer wrote a message on the wall in blood -. and Robert Salem was a lamp designer, having them displayed in museums and art fairs around the world. If the statement of "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed" on the April 20th 1970 letter wasn't Robert Salem, it is extremely fortunate timing off the back of the Melvin Belli letter four months previously.  

For a copycat killer to read into the wording contained within the Melvin Belli letter, authenticated as Zodiac correspondence, and place Zodiac on the wall of Robert Salem's 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment in similar fashion to the Frances Brown murder scene, would take a special form of insight. Unless of course, it was the Zodiac Killer who murdered the lamp designer. This drives to the heart of the question - of whether the Zodiac Killer had crossed paths with Robert Salem in the preceding months to his murder - and was specifically targeted by the Bay Area murderer. By murdering somebody of relative acclaim and scrawling his pseudonym on the wall, he could certainly expect front page coverage in the Chronicle. We have speculated that the Zodiac Killer had a penchant for the dramatic, with his references to The Mikado, his Lake Berrryessa costume and the style of his communications. He certainly appeared to have artistic leanings. If the Zodiac Killer had befriended Robert Salem, then it may have come through a mutual love of the arts, either through a museum, the theater or an arts and crafts fair. 

The San Francisco Chronicle article on April 20th 1970 stated that "Salem's designs have been exhibited in England, Japan and Russia under State Department cultural exchange programs. Until last year (1969) he had been the lighting designer for restoration of the historic Haslett Warehouse on Hyde Street". In fact, the address is given as 680 Beach Street at Hyde, Russian Hill, San Francisco. It is situated just 1.5 miles from where Paul Stine began his fateful journey on October 11th 1969. Here is the view of the Haslett Warehouse from 700 Beach Street, just across the intersection of Hyde Road.  

"During the 1960s, California was the site of many outdoor art fairs, which nurtured a culture of independent artists and craftspersons. At this time there was an effort to sell crafts on the sidewalks of the liberal Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Artists and street performers who illegally set up in public areas were frequently harassed and arrested by the police. In the 700 block of Beach Street adjacent to Victorian Park and near Fisherman's Wharf, between 15 and 25 artists would set up their displays and use lookouts to alert them to the arrival of the police". Wikipedia. This certainly would have attracted the attention of somebody like Robert Salem, who was working at the Haslett Warehouse just yards away. Is it possible the Zodiac Killer crossed paths with Salem at an art and crafts fair such as this? I wouldn't normally attempt to use such a speculative link but for October 7th 1969 Good Citizen letter, possibly mailed to Sergeant John Lynch from the Zodiac Killer.

With immense gratitude to Rubislaw32,  this correspondence was mailed on October 7th 1969, just two months after the "concerned citizen" card and four days before the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. It has been dubbed the "good citizen" letter, postmarked San Mateo and signed ''A good citizen", with a footnote from Sergeant John Lynch. It stated that the writer has a strong feeling of ESP. While having these feelings, the writer writes with a pencil. 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''. This letter referenced Beach Street, where Robert Salem worked during the latter months of 1969. So we have four intersecting points of interest - an art and crafts fair on Beach Street, where artist Robert Salem likely worked during the mailing of the October 7th 1969 "Beach Street" letter, with Paul Stine picking up his killer just 1.5 miles south, only four days later. It may not be compelling, but the possibility exists that the Zodiac Killer crossed paths with the lamp designer before April 15th 1970 and murdered him at his 745 Stevenson Street apartment, all while inspired by the December 20th 1969 Melvin Belli letter some four months earlier.

In previous articles we have discussed the Zodiac shift from gun to knife at Lake Berryessa, his claim to be responsible for the San Jose knife slayings on August 3rd 1969, the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" correspondence and the possibility he was referring to the Reet Jurvetson murder as victim number eight. Then came the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, the tone of which bore similarities to the Frances Brown murder scene on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment in Chicago. She had been stabbed multiple times and the knife was discovered protruding from her neck. Her killer had left an ominous message written in red lipstick on the wall of her apartment stating "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer had written "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". We know that the Zodiac Killer had a propensity for plagiarism, often using lines from The Mikado, along with his reference to The Most Dangerous Game - both of which dated back to 1885 and 1924 respectively. Therefore, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that he would again bring up another knife murder, this time from 24 years prior. The question is, whether anybody in the four subsequent months to December 20th 1969 could reasonably have been expected to make the connection between the Melvin Belli letter wording and the murder of Frances Brown in 1945, other than its designer?

William Heirens was convicted in the murders of Frances Brown, Josephine Ross and 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan, who was savagely killed and dismembered. This is what makes the murder of Robert Michael Salem on April 15th 1970 so very interesting. He was brutally stabbed in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment, with the newspapers reporting that "the killer had apparently tried to decapitate his victim and when that failed, cut off Salem's left ear". Suzanne Degnan's killer had severed her head, which was ultimately found in a sewer one block from her residence. The murderer of Robert Salem had also written on the wall of the apartment above his body, this time with "red blood" as opposed to "red lipstick", but accompanied by the wording "satan saves" and "Zodiac". The writing was adorned with the drawing of an Ankh - it was commonly held in the hands of deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife.

This crime scene coming just under 4 months after the Melvin Belli letter, which didn't overtly mention the Frances Brown crime scene, but disguised it within the context of the wording chosen. The murder of Robert Salem at 745 Stevenson Street just 1.6 miles from the 1228 Montgomery Street residence of prominent attorney Melvin Belli, 821 meters from the Chronicle offices and 0.8 miles from Union Square (the pick up point of Paul Stine's fateful taxicab journey). Could a random killer have engineered such a crome scene at 745 Stevenson Street by reading into the disguised writings of the Zodiac Killer 4 months earlier, when it is most likely not many had made the connection to the Frances Brown murder scene over two decades earlier? Or is it more likely that the Zodiac Killer murdered Robert Salem with multiple knife wounds (just 1.6 miles from the Belli residence), scrawled "Zodiac" on the wall in "red writing" and attempted to decapitate his victim in similar fashion to that of Suzanne Degnan?

An article describing the murder of Robert Salem featured in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970, just hours before the Zodiac Killer mailed his '13 Symbol' cipher to the newspaper, stating "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed"​​​. After four months of silence, one could easily come to the conclusion that this was no coincidence, especially when we draw a parallel from the "satan saves" message on the wall in blood, to the 888 circled in the '13 Symbol' cipher. This figure representing Jesus or Christ the Redeemer in Christian numerology. Throw in the "Ankh" and "afterlife", and the picture becomes clearer. The massive parallels of the Robert Salem murder to the Frances Brown murder are clear to see - but could a killer pretending to be Zodiac have worked all this out from the innocuous pleas for help in the Melvin Belli letter months earlier? The Zodiac Killer (referring to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell) stated that "I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station. It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory". But was 745 Stevenson Street, just 1.6 miles from the Melvin Belli residence and 0.8 miles from Union Square, more likely the territory he operated within - and did so on April 15th 1970?   

The first coverage of the Salem murder was in the morning edition of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 20th 1970, so did the Zodiac Killer have time to construct a letter that included a cipher, bus bomb diagram and a reference to the murder of San Francisco police officer Brian McDonnell on February 16th 1970, who suffered devastating and sadly fatal injuries two months earlier, when a bomb packed with fence staples exploded on an outside ledge of Park Police Station in the Upper Haight neighborhood? The Zodiac Killer would had to have rushed this letter in order for it to be mailed and postmarked the same day. Unless, he had prepared it days earlier, just after the murder of Robert Salem and deliberately timed to coincide with the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper coverage. 

The police claimed that the "killer was not Zodiac", but with the parallels drawn from the authenticated Melvin Belli letter regarding the murder of Frances Brown - that a copycat would have been hard pushed to extrapolate - does this make the assertion that this was not a Zodiac crime by police, a rather over-confident statement just five days after the murder?