In the aftermath of the double murder of Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40) on April 22nd 1986, a hitchhiker reported to law enforcement of an "accident" on Highway 99. This case is not only interesting because of the May 6th 1986 "Zodiac" letter, but because it mirrored almost exactly the murder and attempted murder of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969. It also could have mirrored the prelude to the questionable Kathleen Johns abduction on March 22nd 1970, in that Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee may have been ushered to the side of Highway 99 before their murder. It was surmised they had been murdered between 3:15 am and 7:30 am that morning, in what appears to be a motiveless and random attack.

The case for the hitchhiker being the murderer was considered on the basis of this line in the 1986 letter: "They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me". The idea being, the hitchiker reported the murders as an "accident" in a cat and mouse game with authorities. But how can we determine whether or not the hitchhiker was the author of the 1986 letter, or possibly the Zodiac Killer? The link between the 1986, 1987 and 1969 Zodiac communications strongly suggests one author responsible for all five letters, however, this doesn't tell us whether the hitchiker was a concerned citizen performing his civic duty, or somebody toying with the police, who failed to provide any details about himself - and has never been identified to this day.

Either the newspaper reporting in this case was shockingly bad, the hitchhiker was extremely concerned, or he was playing games with the police for at least 70 minutes over a 66 mile journey. The Appeal-Democrat newspaper reported that "Saechao and Saelee, who lived on Dorman Avenue with four children and a grandchild, were sprayed with 15 rounds of small-caliber gunfire as they sat in their car at Highway 99 and Interstate 5, where they had apparently stopped to rest. An unidentified hitchhiker was sought for questioning in connection with the killings. The hitchhiker had flagged down a California Highway Patrol officer in East Nicolaus shortly after the killings to report an auto accident where the couple were found". This hitchhiker apparently flagged down an East Nicolaus patrolman 19 miles north of the crime scene.

The Sacramento Bee ran an article stating "Two victims, Choy Fow Saelee and Koy Ien Saechao, were found dead in their car by a hitchhiker about 6:30 am. Sometime later the hitchhiker reported what he had seen to authorities in Marysville". Marysville (or Marysville Police Department) is 35 miles north of the crime scene, and 16 miles further north from East Nicolaus, along California State Route 70.

The Sacramento Bee ran a much more comprehensive article and wrote "Police discovered the bodies, sitting upright in the front seat of the Mercury, after a hitchhiker told a Chico California Highway Patrol Officer he had witnessed a car wreck at the freeway interchange, Sgt. Bob Burns said". Chico is 77 miles north of the crime scene, a 90 minute car journey, and 42 miles north of Marysville.

So, either the information given by law enforcement to the newspapers was wildly inaccurate, the newspapers had reported it incorrectly, or the hitchhiker traveled an extraordinary distance, contacting at least three police forces over a 77 mile journey. Had the latter been the case, the hitchhiker was either an extremely diligent and concerned citizen, or he was playing games in the aftermath of the murder, possibly writing "They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me" just two weeks later. The reported contacts with the hitchhiker were at least consistent with somebody traveling north along Highway 99 and California State Route 70, from Sacramento to Chico. Had the hitchhiker continued north, he would have arrived in Redding, California. To the west was the city of Eureka in Humboldt County.

Because we can confidently authenticate this communication to the Zodiac Killer, it leaves us with the possibility that the release of the Robert Graysmith book may have awoken the Zodiac Killer from his slumber. This crime didn't receive widespread coverage throughout California, so the Zodiac Killer must have been extremely fortunate to have stumbled across a crime that mirrored two of his previously claimed attacks, accompanied by a mysterious and elusive hitchhiker, only a matter of months after Robert Graysmith's Zodiac hit the bookshelves and placed the Zodiac Killer back into the spotlight. Or, it had rewoken his desire for murder once again  - and he was responsible for the murders of Choy Fow Saelee and Koy Ien Saechao in the early morning of April 22nd 1986.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 22nd 2018
Today is the 32nd anniversary of the callous double murder of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee  just north of Sacramento. 
 
This is a follow up, looking in greater detail at a potential Zodiac letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle and postmarked San Francisco on May 6th 1986. The author of this letter may not be the murderer of the two unfortunate victims described within it, but without doubt this letter is detailing the murders of Laotian couple Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40).

The couple had left their residence in Dorman Avenue, Yuba City (approximately 39 miles north of Sacramento) for the 195 mile (3 hour) journey to Merced County to visit their son in hospital. Later that day, on April 22nd 1986, they would make the exhausting three hour journey back home - or so they thought. Somebody would change these plans as they approached the interchange of Highway 99 and Interstate 5 in Sacramento, just north of the city. For whatever reason, the pair decided to pull over onto the hard shoulder of the freeway - a decision that would ultimately prove deadly. A merciless killer approached their vehicle and unloaded 15 bullets into the driver side window of the car, blowing out both front side windows in a relentless barrage of gunfire. Small caliber shell casings were strewn beside the vehicle. ​Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were left with no chance of survival at the hands of a brutal killer or killers.    

The couple were only 45-50 minutes away from their home location during their 3 hour 10 minute journey from Merced - which may indicate that they decided to take a rest momentarily - or were possibly signaled to the side of the freeway by a trailing motorist, not dissimilar to the tactic employed in the abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970. The killer/s may have approached from the rear of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee's vehicle in similar fashion to the Modesto attack, or in the case of Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau at Blue Rock Springs on July 4th 1969, where the killer approached the passenger side of the vehicle and unleashed a deadly attack on the defenseless young couple, firing off nine shots from a 9mm Luger. The double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968 was also perpetrated by a killer approaching the victims vehicle.

A short time after the murders, a 'hitchhiker' flagged down an East Nicolaus Highway Patrol Officer and informed him of an accident at the said location.
If the killer was the 'hitchhiker', then this 'mystery man' likely drove his vehicle north to East Nicolaus and informed the Highway Patrol Officer of this crash in absence of his vehicle. Relaying this information to the officer with his vehicle in tow may not have been the wisest choice. The claim of being a hitchhiker separates him from his vehicle and distances himself from the yet to be discovered double murder, which he described as an accident to likely avoid being dragged in deeper. 

This was not unlike the phone call, possibly received after the Lake Herman Road double murder: "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".

Was the Zodiac Killer employing a similar tactic on April 22nd 1986, especially considering this time he was face-to-face with a Highway Patrol Officer and didn't want to be detained? Whether this officer took any details from the hitchhiker, or gave a description is unknown, but the author of the 1986 letter may have referenced this encounter "two weeks" later.

The Zodiac Killer was certainly keen on informing the police of his murders, as demonstrated by his payphone calls after both the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa attacks, when on both occasions he directed the police to the scene of the crime. 
On April 24th 1986, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on these crimes, stating "The man and woman found shot to death in a parked car just north of Sacramento have been identified as a refugee from Laos and a friend who lived in Yuba City. They were identified Wednesday as Choy Fow Saelee, 40, and Koy Ien Saechao, 48. Their bodies were found Tuesday at the junction of Interstate 5 and California Route 99 after a hitchhiker tipped a California Highway Patrol officer to what he called an accident. The victims' four children and 10-month-old grandchild have been placed with the Sutter County Children's Protective Services. They also had three grown children". Sacramento Police spokesman Bob Burns added "there is still no known motive for the slayings. They may have been the victims of a random killer. The hitchhiker is still being sought".

A letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, postmarked May 6th 1986. It stated:​
"This is the Zodiac speaking. I am still out here an crackproof. I want you to know about my latest slaves that I have collected about two weeks ago up by Sacramento Ca. I will give you clue to help you with the mystry. They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me. The body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Na". 

The murders occurred on April 22nd 1986, corroborating the claim in the letter of a murder "about two weeks ago". In fact, from the date of the postmark on this letter, the double murder of the couple was perpetrated exactly two weeks ago. The author's reference to "they" and "slaves" certainly indicated more than one victim in this brutal attack. The author's reference to a "freeway up by Sacramento" is more than adequate, to finally confirm that this letter was claiming responsibility for the murders of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee alongside Highway 99. No other murders in this timeframe or location even remotely parallel this communication. But whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the murders or the letter will no doubt rage on.​       

Kathleen Johns was traveling along Highway 99 before turning west on Highway 132, shortly before she was abducted and returned close to Interstate 5. This is where her burnt out vehicle was located, just east of Bird Road. Did the assailant exit north on Interstate 5, heading toward Sacramento, before turning west and heading toward the Bay Area? Was this a tactic employed by the Zodiac Killer on Highway 99? 

The 1986 letter stated "the blue meannies almost caught me".
​The police confirmed that a Highway Patrol Officer was directed to the scene of the crime under the pretense of an accident by a hitchhiker. This letter may very well have been inferring as much, mocking the police once again for letting him on his way, not dissimilar to the October 13th 1969 Paul Stine letter and subsequent 'Bus Bomb' letter, in which the killer stated "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again. The S.F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly".

The quality of collection and storage of evidence in 1986 should have moved on from the late 1960s, with less degraded biological material hopefully still available in this case. With advancements in the retrieval of DNA from ever smaller samples - such as bullet casings - all hope is not necessarily lost. If this crime was committed by the Zodiac Killer, then there is an outside chance that the identity of the Bay Area murder may still be resting in fifteen crucial places. ​

Devon Stuart Olson confessed to the murder of the Yuba couple, apparently providing investigators with details of the crime, however, little connected him to the crime and he was never charged..Sergeant James Lewis in 2001 reiterated that none of Olson's statements matched to any of the crimes he claimed and he wasn't charged in these murders.

I have recently contacted the Sacramento cold cases department regarding the 30-year-old murder case of Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40), a Laotian couple brutality gunned down on the hard shoulder of a Sacramento highway on April 22nd 1986. This has been covered twice before, but I am attempting to find more information on this crime, including any police reports, as the information on the internet is scant to say the least. The crime was originally linked to Devon Stuart Olson, however, Sergeant James Lewis in 2001 reiterated that none of Olson's statements matched to any of the crimes he claimed and he wasn't charged in these murders. 

Rewinding the clock back fifteen years, the Donna Lass case entered the Zodiac sphere with the mailing of the Pines Card on March 22nd 1971 inferring he may be the killer. Donna Lass disappeared from a South Lake Tahoe casino in the early hours of September 6th 1970 and has never been heard or seen of since. Gian Quaser of the Quester Files ran a story indicating a possible link between Donna Lass, Judith Hakari, Nancy Bennalack and Carol Hilburn, the latter three of which were all murdered in Sacramento in 1970. A straight line from the Vallejo and San Francisco region to South Lake Tahoe takes you directly through Sacramento. The slaying of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee, although sixteen years later, took place within 10 miles of the murdered women in Sacramento, and furthermore the Zodiac Killer would possibly claim these murders in a 1986 letter.. What is most important, is what the Zodiac meant in the 1986 letter by "The Blue Meannies almost caught me." Is he talking about his interaction with the Highway Patrol officer in the article?

The murders of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee had all the hallmarks of the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park attacks - a couple fired upon while inside their vehicle, just like Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau. The Laotian couple were shot multiple times from close range. Both front side windows were blown out, with 15 shell casings strewn around the vehicle. This was a merciless assault on the side of the highway. 

Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were traveling back on the two and a half journey to their residence in Dorman Road, Yuba City after visiting their son in a Merced CA hospital, situated in the area of the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. They were only 45 minutes from home when it was believed they had opted to take a rest on the roadside edge, near the interchange of Highway 99 and I-5 Sacramento. Unfortunately for them, a merciless killer was in the vicinity. However, without knowing the exact dynamics of the crime, it is equally plausible they were ushered to the side of the highway on a ruse similar to the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns.

The 1986 letter claimed to be from the Bay Area killer, but what catches the eye, is how close this letter is to the Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee murders.

​[1] The letter was postmarked 6th May 1986. The letter writer stated his victims were collected "about two weeks ago". Exactly 14 days prior to May 6th was April 22nd, the day the couple were murdered.
[2] The letter writer stated "up by Sacramento".  They were murdered close to the center of Sacramento.
[3] The letter writer stated "They were killed by a freeway" and "I want you to know about my latest slaves". Both statements indicative of more than one victim. The couple were also murdered right next to a two lane freeway. (Highway 99).
This Highway serves Modesto and was traveled by Kathleen Johns in March 1970. Wikipedia: 'From SR 99 to south of Tracy, I-5 skirts along the far more remote western edge of the great Central Valley, and thus here is removed from population centers such as Bakersfield and Fresno; other state highways provide these connections. I-580 splits from I-5 at a point south of Tracy, providing a loop-route connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. After passing Tracy, I-5 heads north through Stockton and Sacramento before turning west to Woodland.'
[4] The letter writer stated "The Blue Meannies almost caught me," indicating that he saw police that night, likely close to the scene. The mystery hitchhiker directed police to the scene, reminiscent of his two phone calls, but subsequently was never traced. Was this the Zodiac playing games with the police and hence his reference to "The Blue Meannies almost caught me". The hitchhiker flagged down a California Highway Patrol Officer in East Nicolaus and informed him of an automobile accident at the precise location the couple were eventually discovered.

The Zodiac could again be claiming murders for which he had no hand in, so it is imperative to find more detailed information on this crime and possibly elaborate on his claim of a near miss with police. It would also be interesting to discover the weapon used in this crime and compare the shell casings to ones retrieved in the Zodiac case.

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"This is the Zodiac Speaking. I am still out there and crackproof. I want you to know about my latest slaves that I have collected about two weeks ago up by Sacramento Ca. I will give you clue to help you with the Mystry. They were killed by a freeway. The Blue Meannies almost caught me. The Body count is growing now 100+ all over the state of Ca and Na".

The date was Tuesday, April 22nd 1986, when Laotian couple Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40) were traveling back on the two-and-a-half journey to their residence in Dorman Road, Yuba City after visiting their son in a Merced, California hospital, situated in the area of the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. They were only 45 minutes from home, when it was believed they had opted to take a rest on the roadside edge near the interchange of Highway 99 and I-5 Sacramento, and their paths crossed with a merciless killer. How the killer approached is open to question, but the assailant unleashed a barrage of gunfire into their car, blowing in both front side windows, the testimony to which was the 15 small caliber shell casings scattered and retrieved from outside the driver side door. The couple suffered multiple shots to the head.

Sacramento is situated approximately a one hour drive northeast of Vallejo, CA, and a one hour and forty minutes drive due east of Lake Berryessa - and mentioned in two letters by the Zodiac Killer. Firstly, in the Fairfield Letter, postmarked December 16th 1969, it was claimed by the author he would go on to kill at least 38 more people, including three in Fairfield, CA and nine in Sacramento. Fairfield is on a direct route from Vallejo through to Sacramento and within easy traveling distance for the Zodiac Killer, if indeed he was a resident of the Benicia, Vallejo or San Francisco area during the said time period. More crucially though, the 1986 Letter, mailed on Tuesday, May 6th, is relevant to the date and area where Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were gunned down.

Furthermore, was his alluding to the "Blue Meannies almost caught me",  just another case of the Zodiac Killer toying with the long suffering police and authorities, that he seemingly enjoyed ridiculing during his campaign of terror in the Bay Area.
A relative of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee said "We don't want to get killed in the United States, we want to live here for freedom". Let us hope one day that they find a resolution to the answers they desperately yearn, and the killer, whomever they may be, finds that freedom will one day be no more.​

This is the correspondence purportedly mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle by the Zodiac Killer on May 6th 1986.
The author alluded to killing more than one person when he used the word "slaves" along with "They were killed by a freeway", suggesting his attack claimed at least two victims.

Previous confirmed Zodiac attacks had involved the killer approaching the victims cars at some point, either before or after the attack, and in particular during the Zodiac Killer's first two crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park. So, with the mention of 'freeway' in this letter, it obviously suggests we should be looking for a scene bearing these hallmarks.

As this letter was postmarked May 6th 1986, he would have almost certainly been referring to this crime, because he stated in the letter approximately "two weeks ago", hence​sometime in the latter third of April 1986. But what is interesting, is the author of the letter stated "The Blue Meannies almost caught me". Exactly two weeks prior to May 6th, on April 22nd 1986, Koy Ien Saechao (48) and Choy Fow Saelee (40), a Laotian couple were brutally gunned down by the interchange of Highway 99 and Interstate 5 in Sacramento, California after they had pulled over to take a break. Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee were traveling back on the three-hour journey to their residence in Dorman Road, Yuba City after visiting their son in a Merced CA hospital, situated in the area of the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. They were only 45 to 50 minutes from home when it was believed they had opted to take a rest on the roadside edge, near the interchange of Highway 99 and I-5 Sacramento - and unfortunately for them a ruthless killer was in the vicinity. However, without knowing the exact dynamics of the crime, it is equally plausible they were ushered to the side of the highway on a ruse, similar to the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. 

The victims were subjected to a barrage of 15 rounds of small caliber fire at close range, with casings strewn around the car. Both front side windows were blown out during the merciless assault. A short time later, a California Highway Patrol Officer was stopped by a hitchhiker in East Nicolaus, informing the officer that he had just witnessed an accident, which led police to the murder scene. The hitchhiker was never traced - but was he somehow involved?

In 2001 Devon Stuart Olson confessed to the murder of the Yuba couple, apparently attempting to provide investigators with details of the crime, however, little connected him to the crime and he was never charged. He also laid claim to another 10 murders, his connections to which were roundly discredited by law enforcement. Despite several terms in prison for other offences he was paroled in 1998 and has never been heard from again. This is a debatable Zodiac letter as it is a Zodiac crime, but it is without doubt that the author of the 1986 letter is describing the senseless slaying of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Saelee on Highway 99.

FOLLOW UP ARTICLE - MURDER BY THE FREEWAY