Category:

THE HEARST FAMILY CONNECTION

1/18/2019

When tying a single author or group to the mailing of the S.L.A letter, Citizen card and Red Phantom letter together under one banner, it is important to understand the focus of the communications as a whole. This all began on February 3rd 1974 with the S.L.A letter, postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974". This was the eve of the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst, which occurred on February 4th 1974. The letter signed off with "a friend". On February 10th 1974, a Symbionese Liberation Army member mailed a typed letter to the Hearst family at 233 W. Santa Inez Ave, Hillsborough, California, postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 940 PM 10 FEB 1974". It too was signed off with "A friend". The impending and eventual kidnapping of Patricia Hearst may have been the inspiration behind the latter three communications in 1974, with the Hearst family and corporation the main focus. In other words, the S.L.A letter, Citizen card and Red Phantom letter were aimed at William Randolph Hearst Sr (deceased), William Randolph Hearst Jr and the Hearst Corporation as a whole. The Symbionese Liberation Army ran on an anti-capitalist agenda and against everything the Hearst Corporation stood for, hence their targeting of the young woman and the forced distribution of food, sourced from the Hearst's and given to the working class in the form of a ransom. Despite sending an incoherent message to the American public, the Symbionese Liberation Army had extremely well-educated members, which may have played a part in the design of the Citizen card and subsequent Red Phantom letter, with references to the Hearst family. In particular, the "signing off" portion of each correspondence.

William Randolph Hearst Sr

Writing to the San Francisco Chronicle on May 8th 1974, the author reprimanded the editors for "lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands". This was the primary focus of the card, before signing off the communication with "A citizen". Notice the correlation between this and the February 10th 1974 typed Hearst family letter, ending with "A friend". There may have been a tinge of sarcasm portrayed in the Citizen card in relation to the "running of ads" for the Badlands movie.

In the FBI files pertaining to the Symionese Liberation Army, a memorandum dated April 30th 1974 indicated that the Hearst Corporation was prepared to offer a 4 million dollar food plan on May 3rd 1974 for the safe return of their daughter. The Sunday San Francisco Examiner, asking for "citizen assistance" had already run a feature article on April 28th 1974 (based on the file information), which resulted in the paper receiving 75 telephone calls offering information regarding S.L.A members. Only 10 days later, on May 8th 1974, the 'Citizen' card arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, scolding the paper for its movie advertisements, before signing off the letter with "A citizen".

However, this may not have been the only explanation for the "citizen" reference. Here is an extract from Wikipedia:
"The quasi-biographical film (Citizen Kane) examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a character based in part upon the American newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and aspects of the screenwriters' own lives. Upon its release, Hearst prohibited mention of the film in any of his newspapers. Kane's career in the publishing world is born of idealistic social service, but gradually evolves into a ruthless pursuit of power". The film incensed William Randolph Hearst Sr and started a long running feud with Orson Welles, resulting in the newspaper magnate forbidding his newspapers to run any advertisements for the Citizen Kane movie. Does this ring any bells? - "Sirs, I would like to expression my consternation concerning your poor taste + lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands". why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad? A citizen."

This was detailed in History.com with the title 'William Randolph Hearst Stops Citizen Kane Ads': "One of Hollywood’s most famous clashes of the titans–an upstart “boy genius” filmmaker versus a furious 76-year-old newspaper tycoon–heats up on this day in 1941, when William Randolph Hearst forbids any of his newspapers to run advertisements for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. Only a few days after the screening, Hearst sent the word out to all his publications not to run advertisements for the film. Far from stopping there, he also threatened to make war against the Hollywood studio system in general, publicly condemning the number of “immigrants” and “refugees” working in the film industry instead of Americans, a none-too-subtle reference to the many Jewish members of the Hollywood establishment. Hearst’s newspapers also went after Welles, accusing him of Communist sympathies and questioning his patriotism".

In the Telegraph under the title 'Citizen Kane 'feud' between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst thaws after 70 years' it states "When Welles' masterpiece was released in 1941 Hearst, who was the partial inspiration for the movie, was incensed and banned his newspapers from reviewing or even mentioning it".

Click to enlarge

Therefore, it must be an amazing coincidence that the Citizen card called for "cutting the ads" before signing off with "A citizen". Not to mention that the release date in Los Angeles, California for the movie Citizen Kane was May 8th 1941 - the exact date this correspondence was postmarked, on May 8th 1974.

Two months later, the Red Phantom letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle, postmarked July 8th 1974, targeting the 'male chauvinistic' Count Marco column of Marc H. Spinelli. This letter continued the theme, demanding that the Chronicle "cancel the Count Marco column", before signing off with the rather curious "Red Phantom (red with rage)". But what did this pseudonym have to do with the Hearst family?

Entitled 'The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dallies Volume One 1936-1937' by Lee Falk, it states "Leon Harrison Gross was born on April 28, 1911, in St. Louis. By the time he sold his first comic strip, Mandrake the Magician, he had changed his name to Lee Falk. His tendency was to shave a few years off his age and he often told interviewers he was a 19-year-old junior at the University of Illinois when he started Mandrake. Actually he was 23, still an impressively young age to sell a comic strip to the largest syndicate in America, William Randolph Hearst's King Features. Two years later he came up with 'The Phantom' and King bought that one as well". See here.

Founded in 1914, King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles, and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate is a unit of Hearst Holdings, Inc., which combines the Hearst Corporation's cable-network partnerships, television programming and distribution activities, and syndication companies. King Features' affiliate syndicates are North America Syndicate and Cowles Syndicate. Each week, Reed Brennan Media Associates, a unit of Hearst, edits and distributes more than 200 features for King Features. Wikipedia.

The author of the July 8th 1974 Red Phantom letter was again demanding that the newspaper "cut or cancel" another section they disliked. The question being - was this another sarcastic dig at the Hearst Corporation, threatening to release 'The Phantom', a fictional costumed crime-fighter, to seek retribution on the San Francisco Chronicle and Count Marco. Except this time, 'The Phantom' had morphed into the 'Red Phantom', red with rage.

The four 1974 communications were mailed in and around the height of the Symbionese Liberation Army, beginning on January 29th 1974, just days before the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst and ending on July 8th 1974, just six weeks after the deadly shootout between Symbionese Liberation Army members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974, resulting in the deaths of six urban militants. The Hearst family being front and center of everything.

The April 28th 1974 Sunday San Francisco Examiner urging 'citizens' to phone the FBI. A big thanks to Dave Oranchak for sourcing this newspaper clipping.

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THE AUTHOR OF THE S.L.A LETTER?

1/17/2019

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The Exorcist letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 featuring a 'review' of the 1973 William Friedkin Exorcist movie, a verse from The Mikado's 'Tit-Willow', the usual threat and some curious Asian characters at the foot of the letter, whitewashed from the January 31st San Francisco Chronicle article regarding this communication. Just three days later, a follow-up correspondence, widely labelled the S.L.A letter was mailed, highlighting the word "Kill" at its foot. The Asian characters on the Exorcist letter have been 'decoded' by Zodiac researcher Kevin Robert Brooks to spell "To Kill", opening up the possibility that the designer of the S.L.A letter was immediately responding to the Chronicle's whitewashing of the characters, giving us the solution and thus verifying they were the author of both. However, without being able to convince everybody or anybody of the "To Kill" solution, more is needed in tying these two communications together, along with the May 8th 1974 Citizen card and July 8th 1974 Red Phantom letter.

The Zodiac Killer had a penchant for the theatrical, appearing in costume at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969 and citing Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado twice in his July 26th 1970 letter. The 1974 Exorcist letter would feature film and theater, the Citizen card expressed consternation at the 1973 Badlands movie and the Red Phantom letter, likewise, may have been referencing a theatrical release of the film El Espectro Rojo or Red Phantom, as detailed by Tom Voigt on Zodiackiller.com. This provides another avenue of inspiration behind the Red Phantom pseudonym chosen by the July 8th 1974 author. It is certainly in keeping with the film and theater angle, heavily laden in the 1974 communications. Tom Voigt articulates that El Espectro Rojo or Red Phantom played at the Port Theater in Mill Valley, Marin County on the 27th and 28th April 1974, just three months prior to the arrival of the Red Phantom letter. The critical part now, is unearthing the inspiration behind the S.L.A letter from a film or theatrical standpoint, and connecting this to a Symbionese Liberation Army member. In a previous article, it has been shown that a Symbionese Liberation Army member typed a letter to the Hearst Family on February 10th 1974 and signed off with "A friend" - a few days earlier, the San Francisco Chronicle S.L.A letter arrived, also signing off with "a friend".

Kathleen Ann Soliah

One possible author of the S.L.A letter (and possibly the Exorcist letter) was Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947). She was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents, Elsie Soliah (née Engstrom) and Palmdale High School English teacher and coach Martin Soliah. Engström, Engstrøm and Engstrom are surnames of Swedish and Norwegian origin. Was she responsible for authoring the S.L.A letter on February 3rd 1974, one or two days before the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst?

To examine this possibility we have to examine her background. The S.L.A letter was postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974". Kathleen Ann Soliah was brought up in Palmdale, Los Angeles County, California, often frequenting the nearby census-designated area of Agua Dulce. In fact, Agua Dulce was the commuter route from Palmdale to 1466 East 54th Street, Los Angeles - the site of the deadly shootout between Symbionese Liberation Army members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974, resulting in the deaths of six urban militants. The Symbionese Liberation Army had its main headquarters in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Agua Dulce had a postal zip code of 91390, tying in nicely with the postmark on the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter. It is less than five miles from Palmdale.

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To discover the author of the 1974 communications attributed to the Zodiac Killer, we may be looking for somebody familiar with the Zodiac murders and correspondence (particularly with regards to the Exorcist letter), but also, somebody with film and theatrical leanings that may have a strong bearing on the design of the S.L.A letter.

Kathleen Ann Soliah, after leaving high school, studied acting at nearby Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California, near Palmdale. She then moved to study theater at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she met her boyfriend and future Symbionese Liberation Army member, James Kilgore. After graduating in 1969 her radicalization intensified during future years in the Bay Area, eventually becoming friends with the notorious Angela Atwood. This is where a blend of her theatrical leanings, Norwegian-American heritage and a passion for writing may have come into play.

S.L.A member and boyfriend of Kathleen Ann Soliah, James Kilgore, was ultimately jailed in 2002 for his participation in the April 21st 1975 Crocker National Bank robbery that resulted in the murder of bank customer Myrna Lee Opsahl. “I accept full responsibility for my actions on that day,” said Kilgore, a former San Rafael High School honors student and one-time economics major who became an SLA bomb maker and eventually a professor at the University of Cape Town" ReligionNewsBlog. The July 8th 1974 'Red Phantom' letter was mailed from San Rafael, Marin County, and the May 8th 1974 'Badlands' letter was mailed from Alameda County, where the County Coroner's Office received Symbionese Liberation Army threats after the 1973 murder of Marcus Foster. Espectro Rojo or Red Phantom played at the Port Theater in Mill Valley, Marin County.

Henrik Ibsen

When looking for the inspiration behind the S.L.A letter and "Old Norse", keeping in line with the theatrical influences of the Exorcist letter only days earlier, I looked for a link to the theater in the S.L.A letter too. Whoever designed the Exorcist letter, mimicked the July 26th 1970 Mikado letter mailed by Zodiac. The Mikado is a two part comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, which opened to the paying public on March 14th 1885, and was hugely successful, running for 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre in London. Hedda Gabler is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen was present at the world premiere, which took place on January 31st 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. It is recognized as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theater, and world drama. The title character, Hedda, is considered one of the great dramatic roles in theater.

Symbionese Liberation Army member, Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood died in the Los Angeles shootout on May 17th 1974. A year earlier "Kathleen Ann Soliah worked as a cocktail waitress in San Francisco and took small acting roles. She befriended Angela Atwood, the daughter of a New Jersey Teamsters boss who, like Soliah, had grown up in a middle-class home before coming to Berkeley. Atwood, who appeared with Soliah in "Hedda Gabler," helped her friend get a job at the Great Electric Underground, an upscale restaurant in the Bank of America world headquarters". link.

If Kathleen Ann Soliah authored the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter referencing her Norwegian heritage of "Old Norse" and signing off with "a friend", then she was likely the author of the February 10th 1974 S.L.A Hearst letter, again signing off with "A friend". Her role in the Norwegian Hedda Gabler theater production would be an influence she carried forward, when we consider the presence of "Old Norse" in the February 3rd 1974 communication. The premiere of Hedda Gabbler opened on January 31st - the same day in history that the San Francisco Chronicle featured the arrival of the Exorcist letter.

"At this period of Ibsen's youth, Norway experienced a nationalist awakening. The new literary generation, after 400 years of Danish rule, sought to revive the glories of Norwegian history and medieval literature. The middle ages were glorified as well because the romantic movement was in full swing throughout Europe. Thus, when Ole Bull, the great violinist, founded a norse theater at Bergen, the project met with enthusiastic approval from all the youthful idealists eager to subvert the influence of Danish culture. Encouraged by the success of Ole Bull’s Norse theater in Bergen, enthusiasts of nationalist poetry in the capital also founded a new theater in direct competition with the conservative, Danish-influenced Christiania Theater. Asked to direct this new venture, Ibsen’s promised salary was twice the amount he received at Bergen, about six hundred specie dollars The problems of Ibsen’s social dramas are consistent throughout all his works. Georg Brandes, a contemporary critic, said of Ibsen, as early as the 1860s, that “his progress from one work to the other is not due to a rich variety of themes and ideas, but on the contrary to a perpetual scrutiny of the same general questions, regarded from different points of view.”
Hedda Gabler, with its emphasis on individual psychology, is a close scrutiny of a woman like Nora Helmer or Mrs. Alving, who searches for personal meaning in a society which denies freedom of expression". link.

The Det norske Theater is a former theater in Bergen, Norway, and regarded as the first pure Norwegian stage theatre. It opened in 1850 by primus motor, violinist Ole Bull, and closed in 1863, after a bankruptcy. Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties, and some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. Wikipedia.

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S.L.A LETTER NOT ZODIAC - AND HERE IS THE FBI FILE TO PROVE IT

1/14/2019

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S.L.A letter

The S.L.A letter supposedly received at the San Francisco Chronicle from the Zodiac Killer on February 14th 1974, was actually mailed on or slightly before February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles County, one day before the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst. The whole letter was geared towards the word "kill", revealing the meaning behind the Asian characters on the Exorcist letter, whitewashed from the January 31st 1974 newspaper article in the San Francisco Chronicle. In a previous article entitled 'The Symbionese Liberation Army and the Zodiac Killer', an S.L.A member was considered as the possible author of the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter because of the "Old Norse" reference. Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents.

The S.L.A letter was postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974" - the letter itself signed off with the rather tame "A friend". Zodiac researchers, understandably don't want to believe the letter was mailed on February 3rd 1974, because they have a vested interest going back decades, including printed material based on a 'Zodiac Killer' responding to the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst on or around February 14th 1974, despite the fact nothing in the S.L.A letter refers to the kidnapping. So, just for arguments sake, let us assume the Zodiac Killer mailed the letter on February 14th 1974, signing off the letter with "a friend".

On February 10th 1974, just 3 or 4 days prior to the S.L.A letter, a typewritten letter in a white envelope was mailed to the Hearst family, postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 940 PM 10 FEB 1974", bearing the typewritten address "R.A Hearst Family, 233 W. Santa Inez Ave, Hillsborough, Cal, 94010??". It read [corrected for spelling] :

Dear Hearst Family, I am white, and I am sorry I joined the people who have your daughter. I saw her Wednesday and she was alright. She is brave and beautiful and innocent. Don't let her marry that Weed man. He talked to our brass last month and said how to set it up. He said if he marries her, he must have enough money to hold up his head. He got his idea from Miss Angela Davis, who gives orders and ideas to our brass. I am so ashamed to belong I am trying to get out easy, but God help me if they find out I write this. They are animals, but I don't think they will hurt her. God bless you, and God forgive me.

A friend

For those still believing the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer on February 14th 1974 - here we have a Symbionese Liberation Army member mailing a typewritten letter to the Hearst family on February 10th 1974, three or four days prior, and signing off with "A friend". Then, a matter of days later, the Zodiac Killer has returned after a near 3-year hiatus and just happens to accidentally mimic the Hearst letter, signing off his letter with "a friend", while writing about the Symbionese Liberation Army. Even the die-hard proponents of a February 14th 1974 mailing cannot believe this to be the case.

The 'Hearst Family' letter may have been authored by Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah), who could also be responsible for the S.L.A letter mailed from Los Angeles (913) just a week earlier, on February 3rd 1974. The "Old Norse" element of the letter drawn from her Norwegian-American ancestry. Both communications began with "Dear" and ended with "a friend".

The 'Hearst Family' typewritten letter and envelope can be seen below, postmarked February 10th 1974, accompanied by a notation of "For FBI or Family" [corrected].

THE S.L.A LETTER - FEBRUARY 3RD 1974

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THE ANONYMOUS PHANTOM

1/12/2019

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In a previous article entitled 'The Symbionese Liberation Army and the Zodiac Killer', an S.L.A member was considered as the possible author of the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter because of the "Old Norse" reference. Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents. So, can we wipe away any preconceived notions about the S.L.A letter, Badlands card and Red Phantom letter with respect to the Zodiac Killer, and view them from the perspective of having been written by a woman, or at the very least, a member or affiliate of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Here is the text from the three communications:
[1] The S.L.A letter: Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend.

[2]The Badlands card: Sirs -- I would like to expression my consternt (crossed out) consternation concerning your poor taste + lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands," featuring the blurb: "In 1959 most people were killing time. Kit + Holly were killing people." In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable) why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad? A citizen.

[3]The Red Phantom letter: Editor: Put Marco back in the hell-hole from whence it came- he has a serious psychological disorder- always needs to feel superior. I suggest you refer him to a shrink. Meanwhile, cancel the Count Marco column. Since the count can write anonymously, so can I----the Red Phantom (red with rage).

Other than the psychological connection we touched upon in the Edward C. Adams article, what other possible reasons would the Zodiac Killer have for addressing Count Marco, a columnist who gave outrageous advice to women via the San Francisco Chronicle for 15 years. A murderer, who didn't give a second thought to shooting two women a total of 10 times, before also ruthlessly stabbing Cecelia Shepard in the back and abdomen 10 times, was now, just a few years later, objecting to "murder-glorification" and bigoted advise to women. A man devoid of empathy and driven by an insatiable ego had now become the proverbial "snowflake", quivering and upset because of an advice columnist and a film advertisement. Had the Zodiac Killer really achieved a complete transformation in just a matter of three years. If we believe the Exorcist letter as genuine Zodiac material, stating "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing", then the transformation had occurred in just over 3 months.

The Zodiac Killer could have been toying with the newspapers, disingenuously feigning concern while laughing at the authorities - or he was simply not the author of these banal communications that surfaced in 1974.

The Symbionese Liberation Army didn't have unrealistic ideals, but unfortunately used contemptible means to achieve them.

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"In his manifesto "Symbionese Liberation Army Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program", Donald DeFreeze wrote, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body. "This political symbiosis DeFreeze describes means the unity of all left-wing struggles, feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and others. DeFreeze wanted all races, genders, and ages to fight together in a left-wing united front, and to live together peacefully". Wikipedia.

With many female S.L.A members aligned with feminist ideals, would it be that difficult to believe, that the Red Phantom letter was aimed at Marc H. Spinelli (Count Marco) and his San Francisco Chronicle column because of its often belittling or denigrating comments towards women?

"Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is credited with reviving the feminist movement, originally called the strike at the conference of the National Organization for Women in March. As head of the hastily assembled National Women's Strike Coalition, she had predicted an impressive turnout. Inevitably, the women had their detractors. The San Francisco Chronicle's Count Marco called the strike "a day of infamy and shame" and urged his supporters to wear black armbands "mourning the death of femininity." link.
"Count Marco was an extremely popular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle with an outrageous persona; this book of advice (Beauty and the Beast) on how to please a man was mainly for the ladies of "The Greatest Generation" and pre-boomers, whom it surely shocked and annoyed with its sexual frankness and its assumption that American women had everything to learn from European women; feminist readers now would be shocked by his assumption that women's lives are empty without masculine love and their main goal in life should be to please their "beasts." link. In other words, the Red Phantom letter was authored by a female member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (or a male member with a belief in feminism) in order to confront the opinionated columnist.

I am not a staunch advocate of handwriting analysis due to its subjective nature and the fact it can be disguised, but here is the Red Phantom letter next to an extract taken from a Symbionese Liberation Army notebook - written before the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst on February 4th 1974.

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THE EPITAPH OF A KILLER

1/11/2019

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The S.L.A letter was postmarked - and likely mailed the day before the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst. The envelope bore the postmark "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974." Considering the February 3rd 1974 letter referred to the Symbionese Liberation Army and the brazen kidnapping of Hearst followed the next day, there is valid case for believing this urban militant group was responsible for the mailing of the S.L.A letter. But could they have been responsible for the Exorcist letter too? On January 29th 1974 a communication, dubbed the Exorcist letter, arrived at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle. It featured a critique of the William Friedkin movie 'The Exorcist', followed by a sprinkling of The Mikado's Tit-Willow, the usual threat to print in paper, a set of Asian-style characters and finally the author signing off with Me-37 SFPD-0. However, the San Francisco Chronicle whitewashed the strange characters near the base of the letter. The Zodiac Killer hadn't written for nearly three years, so this may have been done to weed out any future hoaxers. If the author of the Exorcist letter, which was believed to be the Zodiac Killer, was to mail any future correspondence, he could use the contents whitewashed by the Chronicle to confirm he was the author of the January 29th 1974 communication. This had been done before, when "by knife" written on Bryan Hartnell's car door was withheld from publication after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969.

On January 31st, in an article entitled 'Zodiac Mystery Letter-the First Since 1971', the San Francisco Chronicle presented the Exorcist letter like so. Only two or three days had elapsed, when the S.L.A letter was also mailed to the Chronicle. But had the author of the February 3rd 1974 letter revealed something about the Exorcist letter known only to them and the police? Had the author of the S.L.A letter effectively decoded the Exorcist letter characters for them, but they just didn't realize?

Just before the author signs off with "a friend" on the S.L.A letter, he highlights the word "Kill" at the foot of the letter, referencing Old Norse. In the identical position at the foot of the Exorcist letter, the author highlights the strange characters in bold marker, before signing off with Me-37. Was the author of the S.L.A letter telling us that the word "Kill" could be decoded in the Exorcist letter characters, thereby confirming they were the author of both? The author of the S.L.A letter would not only have to know that characters existed at the foot of the Exorcist letter, because the San Francisco Chronicle had whitewashed them, but also know that they could possibly feature the word "Kill". Could the author of the S.L.A letter, if different from the author of the Exorcist letter, accidentally place the word "Kill" in the same position through two letters, and highlight them both in bold writing and quotation marks to signify their importance?

The San Francisco Chronicle, along with law enforcement seemingly didn't make the connection, because it wasn't until a few years ago that Zodiac researcher Kevin Robert Brooks offered up a possible solution to the Asian-style characters. When rearranged they were the perfect continuation to the author's preceding paragraph.

The Exorcist letter would now read "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing. To Kill."
Was this the focus behind the entire S.L.A letter, using the Symbionese Liberation Army and "sla" as a precursor to providing the word "Kill" to the San Francisco Chronicle and law enforcement, and therefore verifying they were also responsible for the Exorcist letter? It seemed very fortunate that the word "Kill" in quotation marks was able to be formed by the Asian-style characters of the Exorcist letter, especially considering it was completely whitewashed from publication in the Chronicle.

If the Symbionese Liberation Army were responsible for the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter, then what are the chances they created the Exorcist letter too? - fashioned by weaving together traits of old Zodiac Killer letters such as the July 31st 1969 trinity and the Little List letter of July 26th 1970. Or did the Zodiac Killer simply strike gold, writing a letter about the Symbionese Liberation Army just one day before Patricia Hearst's kidnapping?

There is another intriguing possibility albeit without foundation. The Zodiac Killer stopped his letter writing sometime in 1971, with his campaign of terror having probably run its course. What are the chances he pursued different avenues in life, before joining the Symbionese Liberation Army, or becoming affiliated with them in some capacity by the turn of 1974. He then fires off a quartet of diluted Zodiac letters under the umbrella of his new found affiliation. The Symbionese Liberation Army's notable year was 1974, responsible for the Patricia Hearst kidnapping, the raid on the Hibernia Bank and the May 17th deadly shootout in Los Angeles, where six members were shot or burnt to death at 1466 East 54th Street after a standoff with the Los Angeles Police Department. The third letter of the quartet was the 'Badlands' card stating "In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable)", mailed one week before the shootout. Subsequent to the shootout only one more communication would arrive in 1974 - the Red Phantom letter of July 8th 1974 - then radio silence. No correspondence subsequent to 1974 would ever be attributed as genuine Zodiac material.

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THE SECOND COMING OF ZODIAC?

1/9/2019

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The S.L.A letter with the wording "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend" was postmarked one day before the kidnapping of media heiress Patricia Campbell Hearst by the urban militant group Symbionese Liberation Army. The FBI files state:
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the.....".
The postmark of CA 913 indicates it was mailed in north Los Angeles, an area the Zodiac Killer had never previously mailed a communication from (the S.L.A had headquarters in Los Angeles). The same applied to the two subsequent 1974 mailings - the 'Badlands' card postmarked Alameda County on May 8th 1974 and the 'Red Phantom' letter postmarked San Rafael on July 8th 1974. The city of Los Angeles would become headline news for the 1466 East 54th Street deadly shootout between S.L.A members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974, leaving six members dead.

The S.L.A letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974, but was only received by the San Francisco Chronicle eleven days later on February 14th 1974. This becomes all the more unusual when the following communication, the 'Badlands' postcard, was also delayed by twenty-seven days. It was postmarked May 8th 1974, but was received by the San Francisco Chronicle on June 4th 1974. Chronicle reporter Duffy Jennings wrote "In a postcard sent to the Chronicle on June 4, Zodiac - signing himself only as "a citizen" - urged the paper's editors to "show some concern for public sensibilities" by dropping an advertisement for a motion picture dealing with mass murder. The postcard,

although received on June 4, was mailed in Alameda County nearly a month earlier, on May 8. There was no explanation for its delayed arrival at the Chronicle offices".

Although we cannot say for certain who mailed the S.L.A letter, it was the second letter in a matter of five days after a three year 'hibernation' by the Zodiac Killer. If the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, it shows astonishing timing having been postmarked one day before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, undoubtedly the Symbionese Liberation Army's most daring escapade thus far. But why was both this letter and the 'Badlands' postcard delayed in transit by a total of 38 days? Had somebody at the San Francisco Chronicle not realized the significance of these two mailings because of their lack of identifying features?

For those believing the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, we have a letter mailed from Los Angeles to San Francisco, something the Zodiac had never done before - areas of California where the Symbionese Liberation Army had their headquarters. The Zodiac Killer then got lucky, writing about the Symbionese Liberation Army the day before Patty Hearst's kidnapping in Berkeley - all after a three year hiatus. The S.L.A letter signed off with "a friend", the 'Badlands' postcard signed off with "A citizen" and the 'Red Phantom' letter signed off with "the Red Phantom (red with rage)", none had the menacing introduction of "This is the Zodiac Speaking", none had the Zodiac crosshairs, none had a running victim count and none had any spelling errors. Were these three communications piggybacking off the return of the Zodiac Killer on January 29th 1974, or were all four communications in 1974 the work of somebody other than the Zodiac Killer?

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THE SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY AND THE ZODIAC KILLER

1/7/2019

5 Comments

The Zodiac Killer wrote copious communications to the newspapers throughout 1969 and 1970, finally ceasing sometime in 1971. It would be nearly a three year hiatus, when suddenly four communications in approximately five months landed at the doorstep of the San Francisco Chronicle. Is it reasonable to assume that the Zodiac Killer just reappeared in 1974 for his encore performance, or something or someone else was responsible for the four correspondences that year? Who, in San Francisco appeared in 1973, ran through 1974, and effectively disappeared by 1975? - the Symbionese Liberation Army is high on that list. "The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was an American left-wing militant organization active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a vanguard army. The group committed bank robberies, two murders, and other acts of violence". Wikipedia. In the previous article it was shown that the S.L.A letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974, not February 14th 1974 as widely touted. This changes the whole story surrounding this letter - now mailed one or two days before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. Bearing in mind its contents, it's either an amazing stroke of good fortune for the Zodiac Killer, or it was most likely mailed by a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, knowing that Patty Hearst was soon to be kidnapped from Berkeley, California.

Operating out of San Francisco and Los Angeles, the members of the S.L.A would have certainly been aware of the Zodiac Killer - and in someway mirrored his form of domestic terrorism.

"It wasn't until January 10, 1974 that Oakland Police found their first clues. Two men arrested during a gunfight with police in Concord had a truck full of Symbionese Liberation Army literature. Later that day in Concord, a house torched by arson was also full of SLA literature, a stockpile of weapons and two pipe-bombs. The police found a letter titled “The August Seventh Movement,” a group that claimed responsibility for shooting down two Oakland officers in a helicopter by sniper as well as a communique targeting state prison officials and their wives with death by cyanide. In November 1973, Superintendent Marcus Foster (the first black superintendent in the city) of the Oakland School Administration was shot and killed. Deputy Superintendent Robert Blackburn was seriously wounded. The attackers used bullets whose core had been removed and replaced with cyanide crystals. Letters and calls were made to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Alameda County Coroner's Office, and a Berkeley radio station by the Symbionese Liberation Army", Ghoulifornia.

The Symbionese Liberation Army, not only wrote threatening letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, but in similar fashion to the 'Phone call to Melvin Belli' on the Jim Dunbar KGO-TV show, the S.L.A mailed a cut-and-paste lettered correspondence to KGO-TV. Therefore, isn't it very likely a militant group, operating between 1973 and 1975, who wrote letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, would likely be responsible for the S.L.A letter mailed one day before Patricia Hearst's kidnapping. Or is it more likely that the Zodiac Killer just resurfaced after nearly three years?

On May 8th 1974, twenty-three days after the April 15th 1974 Hibernia Bank Robbery, the 'Badlands' or 'Citizen Card' was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle from Alameda County, stating "In 1959 most people were killing time. Kit + Holly were killing people." In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable) why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad? A citizen." It too ended with a rather benign 'signature', similar to "a friend" on the S.L.A letter, and may have been mailed to mock the authorities, flavored with insincerity.

S.L.A member James Kilgore was ultimately jailed in 2002 for his participation in the April 21st 1975 Crocker National Bank robbery that resulted in the murder of bank customer Myrna Lee Opsahl. “I accept full responsibility for my actions on that day,” said Kilgore, a former San Rafael High School honors student and one-time economics major who became an SLA bomb maker and eventually a professor at the University of Cape Town" ReligionNewsBlog. The July 8th 1974 'Red Phantom' letter was mailed from San Rafael, and the May 8th 1974 'Badlands' letter was mailed from Alameda County, where the County Coroner's Office received threats after the 1973 murder of Marcus Foster. The January 29th 1974 'Exorcist' letter was mailed from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County, completing a list of communications mailed from areas the Zodiac Killer had never previously dispatched his correspondence from.

The S.L.A symbol based on the serpent Naga. They are common and hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.

Mike Rodelli, avid Zodiac researcher and author of the book 'The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer-The Hunt for Zodiac,' examined his suspect Kjell Qvale. It is a thorough and comprehensive analysis of every aspect of the Zodiac crimes from the perspective of his suspect, as well as a valuable resource on the case as a whole.

Mike Rodelli considered the wording on the S.L.A letter pertinent to his suspect from a Scandinavian perspective. The S.L.A letter read "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend." Kjell Qvale was a Norwegian-American business executive and was one of the key figures in the creation of the Jensen-Healey. He became the first distributor for Jaguar on the Pacific West Coast.

The author of the S.L.A letter by referencing "sla" and "old Norse" was certainly indicating they may have had a Scandinavian connection, although stating "sla" meant "kill" rather than "strike" may have suggested a loose connection through family. Here is an English-Old Norse Dictionary. Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents, Elsie Soliah (née Engstrom) and Palmdale High School English teacher and coach Martin Soliah. Engström, Engstrøm and Engstrom are surnames of Swedish and Norwegian origin. Was she responsible for authoring the S.L.A letter on February 3rd 1974, one or two days before the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst, which she most likely had knowledge of?

"Kathleen Soliah was born in Fargo, North Dakota, while her family were living in Barnesville, Minnesota. When she was eight, her conservative Lutheran family relocated to Southern California. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Soliah moved to Berkeley, California, with her boyfriend, James Kilgore.
On April 21, 1975, SLA members robbed the Crocker National Bank in Carmichael, California, in the process killing 42-year-old Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four depositing money for her church. Patty Hearst, who was switch getaway driver during the crime, provided the original information that led the police to implicate the SLA in the robbery and murder; she also stated that Soliah was one of the actual robbers. According to Hearst, Soliah also kicked a pregnant teller in the abdomen, leading to a miscarriage. Several rounds of 9 mm ammunition spilled on the floor and found in Opsahl's body during the robbery bore manufacturing marks that matched that of ammunition loaded in a 9 mm Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistol found by police in Soliah's bedroom dresser drawer at the SLA safehouse on Precita Avenue in San Francisco. In 2002, new forensics technology allowed police to link these shells definitively to those found at Crocker Bank prior to charging the former members of SLA, including Soliah, with the crime. Prosecutor Michael Latin said that Soliah was tied to the crime through fingerprints, a palm print, and handwriting evidence. The palm print was found on a garage door from a garage in which the SLA kept a getaway car". Wikipedia.

The date the S.L.A letter was mailed changes the whole concept of what we can infer from its contents. On February 14th 1974 the Zodiac Killer is simply latching onto the publicity generated by the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst on February 4th 1974, but on February 3rd 1974 that whole dynamic changes. It now sheds much doubt on the Zodiac Killer being responsible for the S.L.A letter and a lot more besides.

S.L.A LETTER NOT ZODIAC - AND HERE IS THE FBI FILE TO PROVE IT

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THE S.L.A LETTER - FEBRUARY 3RD 1974

1/6/2019

3 Comments

The Exorcist letter bore the postmark 'U.S. Postal Service CA 940 AM 29 Jan', listed in the FBI files as documents Qc62 and Qc63 with a lab number of D-740208094. The following month, in the February of 1974, the S.L.A. (Symbionese Liberation Army) letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. This letter has been ascribed the date of February 14th 1974 on all major websites - and because it followed the Exorcist letter, it is listed in the FBI files as documents Qc64 and Qc65 (envelope and letter) with a lab number of D-740304063. The S.L.A letter stated "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend." The following analysis detailed below is my opinion only, and should not be regarded as fact. After reading this you can obviously come to your own conclusions.

In the FBI file below, it states "Enclosed for the Bureau is one photocopy and one xerox copy of letter and envelope received 2/26/74 from Inspector (redacted) Homicide Detail, San Francisco Police Department. Enclosed for Sacramento is one xerox copy of same letter. For the information of the Bureau, on 2/20/74, Inspector (redacted) advised that on 2/14/74 the enclosed letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle and (redacted), reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle brought the letter to (redacted) as a possible Zodiac letter. (Redacted) thereafter turned the letter over to (redacted) questioned document examiner, United States Postal Office, San Francisco. Mr (redacted) has advised (redacted) that he feels the letter is a Zodiac letter".

I don't believe this letter is from the Zodiac Killer - it was likely mailed by the Symbionese Liberation Army, or one of their members. In fact, it pours huge doubt on the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter as being mailed by the Bay Area murderer , rather somebody masquerading as the Zodiac Killer - and here's why.

What the above document doesn't tell you - is when the S.L.A letter was mailed or postmarked.
The above document read "that on 2/14/74 the enclosed letter was received by the San Francisco Chronicle." Received is not mailed. If we travel a little further in the FBI files we can find more information on the S.L.A letter and envelope, listed under Qc64 and Qc65, as circled in red on the above document.
The FBI files state on more than one occasion:
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the....."

It is believed that the Zodiac Killer by mailing the S.L.A letter, was piggybacking the media exposure regarding the kidnapping of Patricia Campbell Hearst, granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. "On February 4, 1974, 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley, California, apartment. She was beaten and lost consciousness during the abduction. Shots were fired from a machine gun during the incident. An urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) claimed responsibility for the abduction". Wikipedia.

According to the FBI files above, the S.L.A letter was mailed on or before February 3rd 1974 (postmarked 3 FEB 1974).
Therefore, it was likely mailed one day before the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping of Patty Hearst. This means one of four things:
[1] The Zodiac Killer was a member of the S.LA. and was involved in the kidnapping plot.
[2] The Zodiac Killer didn't belong to the S.L.A, but somehow knew of their plans to kidnap Patty Hearst.
[3] The Zodiac Killer just got extremely lucky, writing "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend", then mailing the letter on February 3rd 1974, just one day before Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. In other words, it was sheer coincidence. Or,
[4] The letter was written by the Symbionese Liberation Army and had nothing to do with Zodiac.

If this letter was mailed on February 3rd 1974, the day before the kidnapping, then it is highly likely it was mailed by the American left-wing militant organization themselves. Coming just five days after the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter, in which Kevin Robert Brooks decoded the Asian characters to spell "To Kill", it is yet another amazing coincidence that the author of the S.L.A letter would highlight the word "Kill".

The emphasis on the word "Kill" at the foot of both letters, within days of one another, leading me to believe they are connected. If the S.LA. letter was penned by the militant Symbionese Liberation Army on or before February 3rd 1974, then a good case can be argued, that they were responsible for the Exorcist letter too.

S.L.A LETTER NOT ZODIAC - AND HERE IS THE FBI FILE TO PROVE IT

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THE DEMON SLAYER

10/22/2018

73 Comments

Paul Avery, a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, covered many of the Zodiac stories during his reign of terror, and became the focus of the murderer's attention when the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Halloween' card to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper on October 27th 1970. The murderer responded to an article published on November 16th 1970 by Paul Avery, linking him to the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966. This would be followed nearly three years later, when the 'Exorcist' letter was mailed on January 29th 1974, closely followed by the 'SLA' letter on February 14th 1974, regarding the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping of Patty Hearst, a media heiress, on February 4th 1974.
"Paul Avery covered the Hearst case until the newspaper heiress-turned-bank robber was arrested in September 1975. Avery then holed up on his houseboat at Gate 5 in Sausalito with Boston writer Vin McLellan to write The Voices of Guns, a book on the SLA and the Hearst kidnapping." Wikipedia.

The 'Exorcist' letter has recently courted new attention with the publication of Mike Rodelli's new book 'The Hunt for Zodiac: The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer', pouring some doubt on the authenticity of this communication.
This letter, once again, appeared another response to a Paul Avery newspaper article, featuring the recently released Exorcist movie, an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The San Francisco Chronicle article entitled 'Weird Goings on at the Movies,' was published on January 11th 1974 and detailed the audience reaction to what they had just experienced. The opening lines of the article are extremely interesting when we consider the opening lines of the January 29th 1974 'Exorcist' letter, only 18 days later.

View Exorcist article

The article began "If these crowds queuing up three times a night for "The Exorcist" prove anything, it's that a lot of people are willing to go to a lot of trouble to get their wits scared out of them.
Since the day after Christmas, some 60,000 persons have endured a harsh winter's elements standing in lines - sometimes for as long as two hours - to see the see the current cinema rage playing at the Northpoint Theater near Fisherman's Wharf.
It is an experience that produces reactions ranging from vomiting to fainting, to one apparently jaded patron's demand for his money back because it was about as scary as Snow White".

The author of the 'Exorcist' letter apparently concurred with this disgruntled patron, beginning the letter with "I saw + think "The Exorcist" was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen,"
The author also made sure to place "The Exorcist" in quotation marks, just like the article. If this letter was the Zodiac Killer, he would go on to use quotation marks around words in his following two correspondences - something he had never previously done in his communications from 1969 to 1971.

The middle section of the 'Exorcist' letter is signed yours truley 'Ko-Ko Lord High Executioner' by means of Tit-Willow from The Mikado's On a tree by a river. The same can be said of the 'Little List' letter on July 26th 1970, which also featured Ko-Ko in A more humane Mikado.

Then we travel to the most interesting part of the 'Exorcist' letter at the bottom of the correspondence, and its comparison to the first letters mailed by the Zodiac Killer on July 31st 1969. The 'Exorcist' letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, so we will take a look at the July 31st 1969 letter mailed to the same paper. This is what the killer signed off with: "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend." It begins with a demand to print his material in the paper, and finishes with the threat "to kill" again if his instructions are not followed.

The foot of the 'Exorcist' letter begins with a demand to put this note in the paper, and finishes with a threat you know he is capable of. We know what the killer is capable of - it is "to kill" - as he threatened at the foot of the July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter if his demands to print the cipher were not met. Even the decoded cipher rammed home the message "To kill something gives me the most thrilling experience". Therefore, by logical deduction, the strange characters at the foot of the 'Exorcist' letter should read "to kill". Thanks to the great work of Zodiac researcher Kevin Robert Brooks, this is exactly what he showed. Even more importantly, the beginning of each word began with an upper case letter, just like "The Exorcist" - forming the words "To Kill" with significant emphasis on the 'K' of "Kill".

Click image to view full letter

This emphasis would be carried forward into the SLA letter, mailed on February 14th 1974, where he uses quotation marks to highlight the word "kill" once more. The murderer now appears to have slayed his demons, signing off the letter with "a friend" - albeit, a friend you wouldn't invite home for tea and scones with grandma.

His reformation now appeared complete in the May 8th 1974 'Citizen' letter, railing against the publication of advertisements for the "Badlands" movie starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, and based upon the real life events of spree killers Charles Raymond Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate.

His final consternation would be reserved for Marc H Spinelli in the July 8th 1974 'Red Phantom' letter, calling for the cancellation of his Count Marco column. The murderer now seemingly devoid of the Zodiac persona after exorcising his demons subsequent to January 29th 1974, along with his inability to spell.

Had the Zodiac Killer returned after an absence of nearly three years, or was the return of the Bay Area murderer a demon that had to be resurrected for the sake of publicity in an ever dwindling case.

73 Comments

NAME DROPPER

5/21/2016

19 Comments

On Monday October 12th 1970 the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac.' Just two weeks later the Zodiac Killer would respond, when he mailed the Halloween Card to Paul Avery, a prominent San Francisco Chronicle reporter. This card containing two skeletons, opened with the phrase 'I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name. And so I'll clue you in..' This on the face of it seems a direct response to the Chronicle article, but what clue was the Zodiac prepared to give us in this card regarding his identity or name. Before we tackle this problem, we shall fast forward to the Exorcist Letter, mailed to the Chronicle on January 29th 1974 and investigate any possible clues within this correspondence. This first part has been covered previously, however, this will be expanded upon as we delve a little deeper.
The Exorcist Letter appeared a curious blend of two productions; The Mikado (1885), a satirical portrait of Victorian England, and the horror classic The Exorcist (1973), ironically labeled "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen' by the Zodiac Killer. The Exorcist Letter appears a mismatch of genres, an unholy alliance of mixed messages, unless of course it was designed this way to provide us with a hidden clue to his identity or name.

On the left is an excerpt from the Exorcist Letter.
After a line such as 'Signed, yours truley,' one would expect the sender to provide us with a name, yet here the Zodiac Killer gives us a line from the Mikado's On a tree by a river, part of Act Two.
Is his name concealed within these lines?
In the article 'The Best Saterical Comidy,' this idea was explored. The name William can be abbreviated to Will, Bill, Billy, Willy, or Willie. It can be seen that these lines contain the names 'Bill and Will' several times. This of course is meaningless on its own, until you wrangle with the unusual alliance of The Exorcist and The Mikado.
The Exorcist is an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The Mikado was created by Gilbert and Sullivan, however, one half of the duo was Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, to effectively give us the three William's in the excerpt above, and tempt us with the phrase 'Signed, yours truley, William.' The inspiration for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist (1971) was the real life exorcism of Roland Doe, a 13 year old Maryland boy, in 1949. Father William S. Bowdern, S.J. was central to this exorcism, assisted by Walter Halloran and William Van Roo, a third Jesuit priest, bringing our total to five.
In the San Francisco Chronicle article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac,' Paul Avery wrote 'Sheriff's detective sergeant Kenneth Narlow of Napa County has fruitlessly followed up another 900 tips to Zodiac's identity since September 27th 1969." Did the Zodiac take this line and incorporate it into the Halloween Card, using the pumpkin fruit to effectively reveal his identity, deliberately placing the pumpkin over the groin and then removing it, to expose his identity. The groin becomes fruitless, yet reveals a name. I'm afraid you've guessed it, Willy.
This is highly improbable, although, the Zodiac Killer did present a rather immature element in much of his correspondence. In an attempt to reinforce this identity, we shall proceed. The Halloween Card is obviously a reference to the Western Christian celebration of All Hallows Day on October 31st, hence the use of the spiders web, skeletons and pumpkin within the card. The most notable addition to the card was the pumpkin, so other than its deliberate positioning, has it any further significance to the Zodiac Killer's identity. The pumpkin itself, is carved out on Halloween to create a spooky or ghostly face and lit on the inside to create a menacing glowing effect. This is termed a 'Jack o' lantern' or 'Will o the wisp', an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night.

Click image for full picture

The Zodiac Killer placed numerous eyes on the Halloween Card, accompanied by the words 'peek-a-boo you are doomed,' wrapped around the knothole in the tree. This, on the face of it, appeared a veiled threat towards San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, but was it yet another clue to his identity.
'Blind Bat', a member on the Zodiac Killer Site forum displayed an interesting connection to the Halloween Card, involving the 'peek-a-boo' phrase the author added to the greeting card. The picture on the right demonstrates this perfectly with the Zodiac-like letter K and the eyes and eyelashes eerily similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card itself.
William V Peekaboo Pennington Senior was a San Francisco private detective, described as a cattle man, private investigator, theater owner, building contractor, oil man and member of the Eastern Star, a freemasonry related order established in 1850 by Rob Morris. He moved to San Francisco in 1924 and performed investigative duties for prominent lawyers and attorneys, including Melvin Belli, who became closely embroiled in the Zodiac Killer case. The Halloween Card provides us with two full, and two abbreviations of William, when we consider the following.

Guy Williams as Zorro

The Halloween Card is the only time the Zodiac Killer used the letter Z on his correspondence, other than the Cheri Jo Bates letters of 1966, which has still not been definitively linked to the Northern California murderer.
He places the letter Z on the envelope and the inside of the card, but in addition to this, the Zodiac Killer places a Zorro style mask on the skeleton. Is this a further clue. Had the Zodiac spent his formative years in the 1950's, Zorro would have been a high profile television series, made into two Walt Disney films, The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959). The Disney television series ran from 1957 to 1959, and this, along with the two movies starred Guy Williams.
Revisiting the subject of Melvin Belli, the Zodiac Killer wrote a personal correspondence to the prominent lawyer on December 20th 1969. In this correspondence he stated "I will loose all controol of myself and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer." This phrase is remarkably similar to a message scrawled on the wall of a murder victim.
Frances Brown was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds, in fact a knife was found present in the victims neck, along with a bullet wound to the head. The killer had left a calling card, in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. See here.
It said: :For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself. The Zodiac Killer wrote (edited) I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer.
The killer William Heirens, known as the 'Lipstick Killer', was convicted of the murders of three females over a seven month period. Was the letter mailed to Melvin Belli a plea for help or just another subtle clue to his identity.

Patricia Campbell Hearst

Paul Avery extensively covered the Patty Hearst affair, along with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tim Findley, something the Zodiac was unlikely to miss. The killer mailed the 'SLA Letter' on February 14th 1974, only ten days after the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4th 1974. There are two links here, in that Patty Hearst was the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who gained control of the San Francisco Examiner from his father. But more importantly, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) leaders were Donald De Freeze and William Harris. One of its founding members was Willie Wolfe.
In the article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac', Paul Avery wrote "Zodiac is still at large today. And he is now claiming he has murdered thirteen persons. Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on December 20th 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims."
In chalk-like writing the Zodiac would now be claiming a potential fourteen victims in the Halloween Card, but was it revealing a lot more than initially thought.
The Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970 heavily featured two portions of The Mikado. The seventh line of Mikado Act One Part 5a As some day it may happen reads "All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat." The Zodiac Killer paraphrases this verse to "All children who are up in dates and implore you with im platt." It could simply be, that he was attempting to write the letter F, and accidentally formed the letter P, but if not.........

19 Comments

THE HALLOWEEN CARD WITHIN THE 340 CIPHER

4/12/2014

7 Comments

It has often been theorized that the 340 Cipher may have inspired the design of later communications, but equally, as time went by the Zodiac Killer dismayed that nobody was able to crack his masterpiece, dropped clues or keys in his subsequent cards and letters, particularly the later ones as he became more desperate to push people in the right direction.
An interesting article on Jos Kirps's Popular Science and Technology Blog, indicated some extremely close connections, that suggested the 'Halloween' card mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27th 1970 may have been the Zodiac Killer's biggest clue to date.
He observed that on the 'Halloween' card the Zodiac Killer had added the phrases By Fire, By Gun, By Knife and By Rope in four quadrants around the intersecting Paradice and Slaves. However, if the 340 Cipher was also separated into four quadrants, the word BY could be found in all four quadrants also. If that was not curious enough, he noticed the possibility that the word PARADICE ran down the center of the 340 Cipher, and the word SLAVES possibly across its midsection.
So in the following section we shall use this as the starting point and attempt to find some more connections to the 'Halloween' card and a few other letters.
So let us add the words FIRE, GUN, KNIFE and ROPE underneath the words BY on the 340 Cipher.
On the 'Halloween' card the Zodiac Killer places FIRE, GUN and ROPE underneath the letter B of BY. But the word KNIFE is placed under the letter Y of BY. (as the By runs vertically). In the diagram below Fire, Gun, Knife and Rope have been placed one column to the side so as not to obscure the original symbols.

If you take a look at the word KNIFE and ROPE, the letter E on both would fall over a > symbol on the 340 Cipher.
Taking the second diagram into account it is apparent the letter E in the word SLAVES would fall over a < symbol.
The E in the vertical word PARADICE would fall over a < symbol as well.
Therefore out of the five E's on the Halloween Card, four would fall over a directional symbol, either < or >.
If we transposed this E onto the fourth symbol of the entire 340 Cipher, the word HERE is formed.
This would now connect five directional symbols to the letter E.
It was always strange how his cipher began with an actual word, possibly this was intentional and not there by chance.
In the above example three E's are represented by > symbols and two E's are represented by < symbols. But it would be nice to have five the same.
Well, it may be possible.
The 'Halloween' card has many interesting features, but in terms of focusing in on individual alphabetical letters he does two things. He reverses the letter N in By Knife and underlines LAV in Paul Averly on the envelope.
If we rotate the reversed letter N, 180 degrees to form a correct N and therefore rotate all the symbols on the 17th line of the 340 Cipher along with it, the < (E) of PARADICE becomes >.
If we rotate the LAV, that would be present, in SLAVES shown on the 10th line of the 340 Cipher, the < (E) of SLAVES becomes >.
Therefore all five E's are now represented by the symbol >.
He later sent us the 'SLA' letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on February 14th 1974. Not only did the date of the 'SLA' letter, FOURTEENTH match the 4-TEEN of the Halloween Card, but the date of VALENTINES DAY was also relevant.
If VAL is reversed we get the LAV of PAUL AVERLY, present on the envelope..
The letter N is the FOURTEENTH or 14th letter of the alphabet and this letter is reversed on the 'Halloween' card also.
This is the reasoning behind rotating the symbols on the 10th line of the 340 Cipher.
The SLA reference is another link to SLAVES and the 'Halloween' card, along with the 10th line of the 340 Cipher.
The 'Halloween' card has the word BOO placed on the inside of the card. This is situated on the 14th line of the 340 Cipher. The number 14 is relevant to both the 'Halloween' card and 'SLA' letter and the word BOO is also reversed on the 340 Cipher.
There are possibly additional links from the 340 Cipher to the 'Exorcist' letter, shown by the blue squared section on the first diagram. See here.
Plus a further link to the '13 Symbol' cipher, shown at the bottom of the first diagram. See here.

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NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

2/24/2014

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At around 2am on the morning of October 22nd 1969 an unknown male called the Oakland Police Department, claiming he was the Zodiac and requested that Francis Lee Bailey should appear on a channel 7 talk show later that day, but if F. Lee Bailey was unavailable he would accept Melvin Belli instead. Both were high profile lawyers of the day.
Melvin Belli, known as 'The King of Torts' by many, but also referred to as 'Melvin Bellicose' in a less favorable light by some, accepted the invitation to the Jim Dunbar Show, eventually receiving a telephone call from a man claiming to be the Zodiac, but Nancy Slover, Dave Slaight and Bryan Hartnell, the only three people to have heard the killer's voice, all categorically stated that the man who had phoned into the show was not the Zodiac. It turned out to be a mental patient called Eric Weil.
However, the Oakland officer who took the original call believed that the voice from the channel 7 talk show did not match his mystery caller, leaving open the possibility that the Zodiac may have still been involved in events.

Melvin Mouron Belli photographed in 1967

Whether this was the Zodiac or not, it triggered a response nearly two months later on December 20th 1969 on the first anniversary of Lake Herman Road murders, when a letter was received at the home residence of Melvin Belli, authenticated by the inclusion of a third portion of the shirt removed from murdered taxi driver Paul Stine, callously executed by a single shot to the head in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969.
Again, four months later the Zodiac Killer appearing not to want to be kept from the limelight, sent his Button Letter on April 28th 1970, and in an apparent sideswipe to the prominent lawyer appealed for his audience to wear 'some nice Zodiac buttons', citing that everyone else has them, such as ones reading 'Melvin Eats Blubber'. Although spelled differently the intention appeared of a mocking nature, not unlike 'bellicose' that had been used in the derogatory previously.
The Zodiac Killer for whatever reason had closely affiliated himself with Melvin Belli, although it appeared that it may just have been as likely this affinity could have turned to attorney Francis Lee Bailey, had he originally put himself forward on the channel 7 show.

Francis Lee Bailey was a criminal defense attorney prominent in the retrial and subsequent release of Sam Sheppard, originally convicted for the murder of his wife Marilyn on July 4th 1954, who was found bludgeoned to death in her bed.
However, Francis Lee Bailey was not to be forgotten by the Zodiac Killer or at the very least it appeared that way.
After the questionable 'Pines' card of March 22nd 1971, the Zodiac Killer seemingly disappeared from prominence, either through incarceration, work commitments or simply by choice, having found a new pathway. But he was to reappear just shy of three years later heralding the Exorcist Letter on January 29th 1974, closely followed by the SLA letter on Valentine's Day of that year.
The letters of this period took a turn, and appeared less threatening, with the emphasis now shifting to a media driven fascination, citing the movies The Exorcist, Badlands, The Red Phantom, and indeed implied he was showing an avid interest in the current news of the day.
Throughout 1973 and 1974 breaking stories were pushing the Zodiac murders further from the front pages and in an apparent late rally the killer attempted to thrust himself back into prominence, allying himself to news articles, fearing his notoriety was beginning to dwindle. The Zebra murders in San Francisco spanning seven months from October 19th 1973 to April 16th 1974, and the Patty Hearst kidnapping from her Berkeley, California apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) on February 4th 1974 seemed to reignite the dormant Zodiac into a response, but with one key figure possibly still prominent in his thinking.

Attorney Francis Lee Bailey defended Patty Hearst, but suffered a rare defeat, with Hearst dissatisfied at his closing arguments in the case and suspecting he was under the influence of alcohol. Was the Zodiac Killer in any way connected to the justice system himself, in terms of employment, or possibly employed in the media or newspapers, spawning this allegiance.
The 'SLA' Letter was received at the San Francisco Chronicle on February 14th 1974, only 10 days after the Patty Hearst kidnapping, stating 'Dear Mr Editor, Did you know the initials SLAY (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell sla, an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend.'

The SLA Letter mailed on February 14th 1974

Patricia Hearst was the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, gaining notoriety during the latter years of the counterculture revolution on account of her seemingly complicit involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army.
William Randolph Hearst's beginnings started when he took charge of the San Francisco Examiner in 1887 and his life story was the inspiration that drove the lead character in the Orson Welles 1941 film Citizen Kane, in certain polls voted the greatest film of all time.

Charles Starkweather's final day of freedom in 1958

Was the Zodiac Killer to continue with the Francis Lee Bailey and Patty Hearst thread through to his next letter, when the 'Citizen' or 'Badlands' letter dropped onto the desk of the San Francisco Chronicle on May 8th 1974, just under three months later. The killer may have been compelled to write, as he stated "by the running of ads for the movie Badlands", a film written and directed by Terrence Malick in 1973, based on the real life events of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, who went on a killing spree in Nebraska and Wyoming in 1958. Zodiac would innocently sign off this correspondence with "A Citizen".
However, it has been suggested on many forums he was using the word citizen to imply a link to Citizen Kane. So we can therefore take it one step further and provide a backlink to his previous SLA Letter, with the Hearst name prevailing through both letters.

It has been noted previously that the 'Citizen' card mailed on May 8th 1974 was indeed the 33rd anniversary of the Los Angeles premier of the Citizen Kane film in 1941. And in a previous article, that the 'Exorcist' letter mailed on January 29th 1974 was the 16th anniversary of the demise and capture of Charles Starkweather back in 1958.
The 'Citizen' card criticized the glorification of Badlands in light of recent events, the 'Exorcist' letter was the notable anniversary of Charles Starkweather's arrest, and the 'SLA' letter can be associated with the Citizen card/Badlands letter through the Hearst family name, tying up all three pieces of correspondence into a neat bundle.
But if the Citizen Kane angle is not one you subscribe to, then the pack of cards we have just built is sitting on fragile ground.

Thanks to http://zodiackiller.fr.yuku.com/reply/68764#.UwuiYfl_tZl
http://zodiackiller.fr.yuku.com/topic/6105/Citizen-Card-at-33-yr-anniv-of-Citizen-Kane#.UwujGvl_tZl

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THE MONTANA CONNECTION

7/1/2013

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Although the last confirmed murder attributed to the Zodiac was the slaying of taxi driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, the killer continued his onslaught towards the citizens of Northern California and beyond in the form of threatening and taunting letters, the like of which authorities had never experienced previously, driven by an overwhelming desire to keep the fear factor well and truly alive in the psyche of everyday people.
Driven by the art of humiliation and misdirection he led the investigative bodies on a piece of string, complimented by an inordinate amount of good fortune, to elude capture throughout his manifesto of evil during the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Although his correspondence to the newspapers eventually dwindled away, it may be that two of his later letters despite being shorter by comparison, that held the biggest key to unraveling or at the very least guiding us into the very footprints of a killer.
The Exorcist Letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974 was closely followed just over two weeks later by the SLA Letter, and both letters seemed to offer very little in the way of clues- that is unless you know where to look.
Kevin Robert Brooks steps into the mind of the Zodiac killer, believing he is slowly drawing his suspect out of the shadows and into the light, as one and the same.
On the face of it, little can be gleaned from these two short messages, that is until you compare these two letters to others, and place them alongside articles sent by Donald Lee Bujok to the Billings Gazette in the 1970's.
In a previous post it was shown that Donald Lee Bujok sent numerous literary observations on various social issues of the day, thereby giving us a tantalizing glimpse into the psyche of what drove him, or possibly indicated that the author was luring us into a game of 'cat and mouse' and was toying with authorities, seeing if they could connect the dots between the Billings Gazette articles and the Zodiac paraphernalia that had streamed from the pen of a killer for virtually half a decade.

One of the most interesting letters he sent to the Billings Gazette was his reference to the Exorcist film dated June 2nd 1974, approximately four months after the Zodiac mailed the Exorcist Letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974.
In the article he ridiculed the idea of possession and thoughts of the supernatural, not unlike Zodiac's statement at the top of the Exorcist Letter, in which he wrote "I saw and think the Exorcist was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen."

In the Billings Gazette he opened up with the statement "I have been reading and hearing all about the Exorcist in Billings", very similar to his superfluity of words in the Exorcist Letter.
On March 22nd 1974 in another letter to the Billings Gazette he seemed irked by a Dick Tracy horror strip apparently promoting poor moral values, mirroring the Badlands/Citizen Letter, mailed by the supposed Zodiac on May 8th 1974 just one and a half months later, in which he chastised the running of advertisements for the Badlands movie in similar poor taste, as well as parallels to the attack on columnist Marco Spinelli in the Red Phantom Letter on July 8th 1974.
In another article he moralizes over the issues of hunting and the rights of landowners.

However, there is another more revealing piece of correspondence he mailed to the Billings Gazette, dated Monday March 17th 1975, entitled 'It could be the octane rating,' and provided further and more interesting parallels to the Zodiac case, as well as to the apparently insignificant SLA Letter, that will now become the centerpiece of our focus.
The Zodiac presented us with symbols at the foot of the Exorcist Letter, thought to be the words 'To Kill', as Kevin Robert Brooks surmised this was the most reasonable assumption based on what we know about the killer. He then, as a form of prompt to the police, sent us the SLA Letter shortly thereafter, and in trademark Zodiac style continued his art of toying with authorities by stating

"Did you know that the initials SLA spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "Kill". a friend", even stylizing his K in typical Mikado fashion.
The SLA Letter was postmarked February 14th 1974 and just over one year later on March 17th 1975 came more high octane correspondence, in the form of an article Donald Lee Bujok crafted on the subject of a haunted Volkswagen, that was headed:
'It could be the octane rating',
In the article he placed two interesting features that spiked interest.
Firstly he mentions 'Mr Kolchak', the lead character from the television series 'Kolchak the Night Stalker', the first episode of which, is about a serial killer who writes to newspapers, entitled 'The Ripper' (view on Youtube), and aired by ABC television on September 13th 1974.
The storyline is about a murderer who preys on women in Chicago, with Carl Kolchak played by Darren McGavin, strong in his belief that this was not a copycat but actually Jack the Ripper himself, a ruthless killer who slaughtered five women in the Whitechapel district of London, England in 1888. He was an intimidating and fast talking character, strong willed with a dark sense of humor, who worked as investigative newspaper journalist for Chicago's Independent News Service, going to any lengths to nail down a story.

SENT TO THE BILLINGS GAZETTE ON MONDAY MARCH 17TH 1975

A rival reporter Jane Plumb, who was also pursuing the story after receiving correspondence from the killer, felt she could arrange a meeting with 'The Ripper' for an exclusive.
Two pilots were made in 1972 and 1973 based on an unpublished novel, called 'The Night Stalker'.
The series also included 'They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be' released on TV September 27th 1974, 'Firefall' released November 8th 1974, 'Horror in the Heights' released December 20th 1974, 'Legacy of Terror' released February 14th 1975, exactly one year after the SLA Letter and ended with 'The Sentry' after twenty episodes on March 28th 1975, just 11 days after Donald Lee Bujok's most recent correspondence with the Billings Gazette.
The second interesting piece of the article is contained in only one word. Donald Lee Bujok signed the foot of the letter with the word 'Skoal', which is Danish Old Norse meaning cheers or good health, reminiscent of the SLA letter's unusual footnote, stating 'an old Norse word meaning "Kill".
On the face of it, these articles to the Billings Gazette appear insignificant, that is until you bear in mind their close proximity to known Zodiac correspondence and the subject matter involved.
This article is courtesy of Kevin Robert Brooks and this is the 'Montana Connection'.

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THE BREATH OF A KILLER

9/5/2012

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The Zodiac Killer mystery retains an unfaltering allure, that has managed to captivate a worldwide audience for more than four decades. When people become entranced with the case, there are many times upon reviewing the postcards, ciphers and wording, that the breath of the killer can almost be felt for a brief moment, when you spot something you think is significant, before it is cruelly snatched away. But it does not stop you trying, in essence to close the book on years of torment for the victims families and friends, which often has unfortunately become lost in the midst of this tragic affair.
Many suspects have been touted as the infamous Zodiac Killer, and most have been effectively eliminated from ongoing scrutiny. However, recently another name has emerged, that of Donald Lee Bujok, promoted from previous obscurity to the forefront of the discussion, by some detailed and extensive research by Zodiac enthusiast Kevin Robert Brooks, who can claim to have felt the breath of a killer more than most.

But can Kevin Robert Brooks convince us that Donald Lee Bujok is the killer. Well that is for you to decide.
As an introduction to this suspect, one must first acquaint themselves with the forerunner to this story, 'Donald Lee Bujok-Zodiac Suspect, which details the thought processes the killer used in the design of the Halloween Card.
Bearing in mind the killer is approaching his writings from a rationale different from the norm, the key to cracking his codes, may lie in unconventional thinking, held naturally by very few individuals.
Kevin Robert Brooks also dissects the Exorcist Letter and subsequent S.L.A Letter, which he believes are inextricably linked by the word "kill".
It is a widely held belief that the footnote of the Exorcist Letter stating Me-37 SFPD-0, is a reference to his murder count so far. If we believe that his 'tally' was progressive, who and where are all his victims, and why the three year period of inactivity in correspondence. If the killer was incarcerated during this period, then murder on this magnitude is frankly implausible, if we are to believe the Exorcist Letter as genuine Zodiac material.
However, there is an alternative, in that the killer is revealing his age of 37 years, this time attributing it to Me, and not the Zodiac symbol as in previous writings.

Donald Lee Bujok was born on July 6th 1936, which meant he was 37 on delivery of the Exorcist Letter. The strange symbols the killer placed at the foot of the letter having been dissected by Kevin Robert Brooks to reveal the words 'To Kill !'.
Kevin Robert Brooks has lived with dyslexia, which may have provided a unique perspective on the Exorcist Letter, enabling him to 'decode' the characters at the foot of the correspondence.
This unique perspective may have been shared with the Zodiac Killer.
In his follow up S.L.A Letter, just over two weeks later, he again emphasizes the word "kill", as a possible hint to the previous correspondence. Note the similarity of the letter K and its apparent detachment. The Zodiac was widely believed to have an affinity towards The Mikado, a two part comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, which opened to the public on March 14th 1885, and was hugely successful running for 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre in London. The similarities can again be seen with the Asian style K. (see Mikado attachment above).
Donald Lee Bujok's early life was beset with problems. He suffered from a bi-polar disorder, a form of depression punctuated by mood swings, along with a speech impediment to which in later years he gained some control over by speaking in a slow calculated tone, resulting in the young Bujok being bullied by

other schoolchildren, and ultimately becoming socially detached.
Determined to lay claim to some meaning in life, Donald Lee Bujok joined the army, where in 1954 he was stationed at Fort Ord on Monterey Bay. This posting, according to Kevin Robert Brooks, effectively became pivotal in his later correspondence, manifesting itself in the construction of The Halloween Card and envelope, detailed by Kevin Robert Brooks in a Youtube video and previous article on this site.
But another tantalizing clue lay in something Donald Lee Bujok could have retained from his brief spell at Fort Ord, before his medical discharge- this being the writing paper used at the military base.
This may possibly be the same paper used to author the Zodiac letter, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 31st 1969, described on page 446 of Robert Graysmith's 'Zodiac Unmasked'. That being, it was so thin, that the overleaf became visible, measuring exactly 7 and 1/8 inches by 10 and 1/2 inches, identical to the Fort Ord stationary Donald Lee Bujok would have had access to. But after his early contact to the newspapers, wisely switched materials, in order to protect his identity.
Kevin Robert Brooks, crafted by careful research, is steadfast in his belief that his suspect is the Bay Area murderer, and is now more confident than ever, that the breath of his killer, is the one that condensed in the chill of the Lake Herman Road air on December 20th 1968.

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