Eduard Versluijs brought to the attention of the Zodiac Killer Site forum a threatening letter directed toward Harland David Sanders,  best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was titled 'Colonel' Sanders, although this was not an official rank, merely an honorary title. The envelope was addressed to Shelbyville, Kentucky. This letter was discussed with regards to the Zodiac Killer, but in actual fact it was almost certainly mailed by - you've guessed it - the Symbionese Liberation Army. The letter signed off with 'The General', which could be interpreted as a play on words, bearing in mind the 'Colonel' title of the recipient. However, it probably had more to do with the sender of the letter, or somebody sending it on his behalf. 

The SLA began as a collaboration between convicts and prison activists. Led by DeFreeze, an escaped convict and initially the only black member of the group, the seven other members, who were white middle-class men and women, adopted Swahili names and took up arms for the self-styled Symbionese Federation. The group’s motto, “Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people,” was included on each of their communiqués. The Symbionese Liberation Army were a small group of multiracial militant revolutionaries based in California during the 1970s that owes nearly all its notoriety to the kidnapping and subsequent indoctrination of Patty Hearst, the newspaper heiress. Founded in the Berkeley, California-area in 1973 by Donald DeFreeze, he was known to the group as General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume. This alone, would not be proof that the Symbionese Liberation Army mailed this communication, so we will dig a little further. 

Michael Morford unearthed a similar threatening letter mailed to Sammy Davis Jr in Las Vegas, Reno, Nevada, also signed off with 'The General'. There was an additional pink sheet of paper enclosed with a typewritten message beginning "Dec. 4, 1973..." and signed "Der Fuhrer". Both this and the Colonel Sanders threat were written on paper with the pre-printed address of Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, California, indicating they were almost certainly mailed by the same individual or group. 

The 'Colonel' Sanders threat was dated by the sender as January 14th 1974, and the Sammy Davis Jr threat was dated January 19th 1974. It is my contention that these two threats were probably mailed under the shortened pseudonym of General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume, aka Donald DeFreeze. The Symbionese Liberation Army were prolific letter writer's to the newspapers, radio and television stations, high profile individuals, along with the FBI and police. They used handwritten and typewritten communications - the latter of which is something the Zodiac Killer never did in any of his confirmed correspondence subsequent to July 30th 1969. These two threats were mailed to Shelbyville, Kentucky and Las Vegas, Nevada, and both were self-dated in January, 1974. So, you wouldn't be too surprised to hear that the Symbionese Liberation Army, led by a 'General', also mailed letters to Kentucky and Las Vegas in the same timeframe. 

Three letters from the Symbionese Liberation Army were mailed in February, 1974 to the 'Kentucky State Police in Henderson, Kentucky' (return address Henderson, Kentucky) and 'City Police Department, Berkeley, California' (return address Henderson, Kentucky). They also mailed a letter to the FBI in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 14th 1974. 'In early 1960s, the city of Las Vegas was growing rapidly, and the Bureau’s caseload there was rising right along with it. As a result, FBI Headquarters ordered the transfer of all cases and files pertaining to Nevada from the Salt Lake City Division to Las Vegas. In December 1960, John H. Williams was designated Special Agent in Charge and in February, 1961, the opening of the new division was announced. The new division was first housed in an office at 300 Fremont Street, but moved into a new federal building at 11th and Bridger Streets in May 1961'. FBI. In other words, the Symbionese Liberation Army were mailing to Kentucky and Las Vegas within one month of 'The General' mailing letters to 'Colonel' Sanders and Sammy Davis Jr, in Kentucky and Las Vegas respectively.  

The Symbionese Liberation Army appeared to target wealth (as they did with Randolph Hearst), in line with the seemingly anti-capitalist or anti-greed agenda they had built for themselves. Below are the four relevant envelopes mailed by the militant group, outlining their agenda.

In the last article we focused on the 1978 Channel Nine letter as a product born from the Symbionese Liberation Army, and highlighted the very real possibility that all the 1974 'Zodiac' communications were in fact authored by people connected to this militant organization. We discussed how the Symbionese Liberation Army specifically targeted the Hearst Corporation, not only by the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst on February 4th 1974, but by mailing the S.L.A. letter on February 3rd 1974, along with the subsequent Badlands and Red Phantom correspondences, all of which were designed with the Hearst family in mind. But it doesn't stop there. The Channel Nine letter stated "You people in LA are in for a treat. In the next three weeks you are finally gona have something good to report. I have decided to begin killing again". The August 1st 1973 Albany letter began in similar fashion: "You were wrong. I am not dead or in the hospital. I am alive and well and I am going to start killing again". This familiar trope of the Symbionese Liberation Army mimicking Zodiac correspondence may have possibly extended through a five year period, from August 1st 1973 to May 2nd 1978. The widely questioned Albany letter, I suggest, is another letter penned by this militant group for one specific reason - their hate of corporate greed and the Hearst family's apparent stranglehold on the narrative through their newspaper collective. The biggest question that has to be asked regarding the Albany letter is, why would the Zodiac Killer randomly pluck the Albany Times Union newspaper out of a hat when choosing to write his first correspondence in nearly two and a half years? What connection did the Zodiac Killer have with this newspaper? Many have put forward the notion of Richard Gaikowski and Darlene Ferrin as a connection, but this is a real stretch four years after her death. The Albany letter arrived at the Times Union only five months before the sequence of 1974 letters - it has been argued - were a subtle rebuke of the Hearst Corporation. So why should this correspondence be any different. The Symbionese Liberation Army had every reason to target this Hearst run newspaper, and may explain why it was chosen, despite being nearly 3,000 miles away from San Francisco.  

'The Times Union is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The paper was founded in 1857 as the Morning Times, becoming Times-Union by 1891, and was purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1924'. Wikipedia.

George Randolph Hearst III (born 1955) is the Publisher and CEO of the Times Union newspaper in Albany, New York, and a director of the Hearst Corporation.
He is the second child of George Randolph Hearst, Jr. and Mary Astrid Thompson and great-grandson of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was previously the Director of Operations of the Times Union and then its Associate Publisher and General Manager. He is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Albany Institute of History & Art, a member of the board of directors of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center  and St. Peter's Health Care Services, a hospital in Albany.

The threat issued to the Albany Times Union newspaper was the forerunner to the attack on the Hearst Corporation in at least three of the four 1974 communications, that sandwiched the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst on February 4th. Below are some communications mailed by the hand of the Symbionese Liberation Army to New York, including Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).  

In a series of recent articles it was shown that the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A. letter was mailed by the Symbionese Liberation Army, as likely were the other three 1974 communications purportedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer. The S.L.A. or Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) were thrust into the spotlight after the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, a media heiress, on February 4th 1974. They were a short-lived urban militant group, operating from 1973 to 1975. The S.L.A. letter was mailed from Los Angeles County - the location  of a deadly shootout between Symbionese Liberation Army members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974 at 1466 East 54th Street, resulting in the deaths of six urban militants. The Symbionese Liberation Army had its main headquarters in San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, despite the militant group effectively fragmenting in 1975, not all members or allies of the group were apprehended. The group mailed numerous letters and cassette recordings to the newspapers, and to radio and television stations during the height of their operations. It is certainly conceivable that all the 1974 'Zodiac' letters were in fact written by the Symbionese Liberation Army, with the January 29th 1974 specifically designed to mimic previous Zodiac correspondence. The proof for this militant group's involvement in posing as the Zodiac Killer would come approximately four years later, when the Channel Nine letter was mailed to KHJ-TV in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978. Arriving just one week after the April 24th 1978 "I am back with you" letter, widely considered a hoax, it may indicate the Symbionese Liberation Army's involvement in both 1978 letters. There was little motivation for the Zodiac Killer to reappear in 1978 and threaten [1] Daryl Gates [2] Edward Davis [3] Pat Boone, and [4] Eldridge Cleaver, all of which had no relevance to him whatsoever. But the Symbionese Liberation Army certainly had every reason to threaten numbers 1 & 2 on the list - Daryl Gates and Edward Davis.

Patricia Hearst was convicted in March 1976 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. 'Hearst suffered a collapsed lung in prison (the beginning of a series of medical problems) and underwent emergency surgery, which prevented her from appearing to testify against the Harrises on eleven state charges including robbery, kidnapping, and assault; she was also arraigned for those charges. Hearst, who was being held in solitary confinement for security reasons, was granted bail for an appeal in November 1976, on condition she was protected on bond. Dozens of bodyguards were hired by her father. Saying he considered that Hearst's actions had not been voluntary, Superior Court judge Talbot Callister gave her probation on the sporting goods store charge when she pleaded no contest. California Attorney General Evelle J. Younger said if there was a double standard for the wealthy it was the opposite of what was generally believed, and though Hearst had no legal brainwashing defense there was a good deal of equity favoring her in the essential point that everything started with her kidnapping. Hearst's bail was revoked in May 1978 when appeals failed and the Supreme Court declined to hear her case'. Wikipedia.

Her appeals had failed and the Channel Nine letter arrived on May 2nd, threatening to kill both Daryl Gates and Edward Davis. But why were these names top of the letter's hit list?

Daryl Gates was born Darrel Gates (as the Channel Nine letter stated).
​
'While not the first to use specially trained units, the LAPD was the first to form a police tactical unit, and originally created the term, "Special Weapons And Tactics". John Nelson was the LAPD officer who came up with the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. In 1967, Nelson's CO, then-Inspector Daryl F. Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, for a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits. They were required to attend special monthly training. This unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during times of civil unrest.

In 1971, SWAT personnel were assigned on a full-time basis to Metropolitan Division to respond to continuing action by subversive groups, the rising crime rate and the continuing difficulty of mustering a team response in a timely manner. Metropolitan Division, which had a long-established reputation as the tactical unit of the Department, was reorganized into 6 units: "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", and "K-9" Platoons. The Special Weapons And Tactics Unit was given the designation of "D" Platoon, and at the same time formally adopted the acronym SWAT.

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panthers. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of a group which called itself the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily armed leftists, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. In response, more than 400 LAPD officers, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers, and Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters surrounded the residence. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Law enforcement units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and fully automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,772 rounds fired by the SLA, no civilians or sworn personnel sustained injury from gunfire.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds and perished in the ensuing blaze.
By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons was a sniper rifle (apparently a .243-caliber bolt-action, judging from the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. The normal gear issued them included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. In fact it was a change just to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles, at a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns. The encounter with the heavily armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and fully automatic weapons of various types'. Wikipedia.

'The public became aware of SWAT in May of 1974, when a shoplifting incident at an Inglewood sporting goods store led investigators to a South Los Angeles home on 54th Street. The Symbionese Liberation Army and heiress Patty Hearst, who were barricaded inside, exchanged gunfire with tactical officers for two hours before surrendering. Six SLA members were killed, as thousands of rounds of ammunition was used. The incident, which unfolded on live television, brought home the usefulness of SWAT to Gates, who was the field commander of that incident'. Policemag.com

Edward Davis was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978. He instantly became well-known internationally in 1969 when he held a press conference announcing the arrests of Charles Manson and his followers for what are known as the Tate and LaBianca murders. His role is well-documented in the book Helter Skelter, written by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor in the case. Wikipedia.

In an NBC News article reporting his death in 2006, it led with the words "Ed Davis, the tough-talking former Los Angeles police chief who led the department during its shootout with the Symbionese Liberation Army and the arrest of Charles Manson, died Saturday, a family spokesman said. He was 89".

You don't have to search hard on the internet to discover that Daryl Gates and Edward Davis were instrumental in the demise of the Symbionese Liberation Army and the deadly shootout on May 17th 1974 which resulted in the deaths of six of its members. The Zodiac Killer had never crossed swords with either of these two law enforcement officers and had absolutely no reason to want to threaten them with death, as displayed in the Channel Nine letter. On the contrary, an ex-member, close associate or sympathizer of the Symbionese Liberation Army had every reason to want to see these two LAPD servants dead. The author of the Channel Nine letter held them personally responsible for the slaying at 1466 East 54th Street.

On April 24th 1978, the author of the 1978 letter wrote "I am waiting for a good movie about me, who will play me". Eight days later, the Channel Nine letter was mailed to ​KHJ-TV in Los Angeles on May 2nd 1978, stating "Hey you actors, this is your lucky break. Whoever plays me has his work cut out for him". There is every chance that, if the Channel Nine letter was mailed by an associate or somebody sympathetic to the S.L.A cause, then the 1978 letter (widely regarded as a hoax anyway) was also mailed by somebody in and around the Symbionese Liberation Army circle. This wouldn't be the first time that somebody connected or loosely affiliated with the militant group mailed a letter pretending to be the Zodiac Killer. The 1974 S.L.A letter was almost certainly unconnected to the Bay Area murderer, and the remaining three 1974 letters are widely questioned.   


https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/sla-letter-not-zodiac-and-here-is-the-fbi-file-to-prove-it

Unless something extremely important surfaces in the coming weeks, this will be the final installment regarding the 1974 communications, and the distinct possibility that none were authored by the Zodiac Killer - effectively stripping just over three years from his perceived reign of terror. Changing this perception will inevitably generate fierce resistance from the hierarchy of 'Zodiac researchers', who have built a comfortable and reinforced narrative over the last fifty years. This has been my experience with many aspects of the Zodiac case, and the S.L.A letter is just another example of circumnavigating the truth to keep a lie afloat. Faced with tearing a chapter from a prized book, will certainly galvanize the mind into sailing around the facts and ultimately create an alternative reality. It started when Tom Voigt unwittingly announced a new Zodiac letter on his website, labelled the S.L.A letter - mailed on February 14th 1974 and postmarked "unknown". Neither of which are true. Unfortunately however, nearly everybody has embraced this narrative, and will likely carry on believing it, no matter the truth.  

The S.L.A letter was postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974". This tells you unequivocally that the S.L.A letter was mailed from Los Angeles County, and was likely posted on February 2nd or February 3rd - a day or two before the Patricia Hearst kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army, on February 4th 1974. 

What you will be told by the 'narrative keepers' is that a postmark is not visible on the S.L.A envelope, despite its obvious nth generation appearance. However, what they won't tell you - is they must therefore believe that the two FBI files have been created with malintent. They must believe the FBI files have simply been manufactured - just purposely created to deceive - despite the fact the general public had no access to them. Regardless of the fact that the Zodiac Killer mailed nearly all of his communications from San Francisco, the FBI (according to the doubters of a February 3rd postmark) must have apparently sat round a table and concocted both of these files, including the date and origin of the mailing. The idea that the FBI just chose, or 'plucked from thin air' the February 3rd 1974 date and zip code 913, from Los Angeles County, even though the Zodiac Killer had never mailed a correspondence from this location before, would be patently absurd. The 'narrative keepers' have two choices: If they have a book heavily reliant on a February 14th 1974 mailing, possibly involving a suspect, they can [1] Admit they are wrong and rewrite the chapter, or [2] Kill the messenger and destroy the credibility of the evidence presented. I think you know which number they will choose. This deliberate massaging of the facts to keep a narrative on track rears its ugly head throughout the Zodiac scene, evidently demonstrated in the Robert Graysmith Zodiac book, riddled with contradiction. Many have put faith in a DNA resolution to this case in the near future. But does anybody believe this will result in a mass book burning orgy by renowned Zodiac researchers, finally admitting their passionate fervor was flawed, or another round of circumnavigating reality? For many, the answer is set in stone and nothing will steer them away from the impervious cocoon they have built for themselves. 

I hope that the 'narrative keepers' maintain a February 14th 1974 mailing for the S.L.A letter, because then they have to explain how the Zodiac Killer reappeared after nearly three years of hibernation, to then write a letter about the Symbionese Liberation Army, beginning the correspondence with "Dear" and ending with "a friend", only four days after the actual Symbionese Liberation Army mailed a letter (not publicized) to the Hearst family on February 10th 1974, beginning the correspondence with "Dear" and ending with "A friend". Now that is one hell of a coincidence.  

Then we take a look at the Exorcist letter, mailed on January 29th 1974, which hopefully was not doctored by the FBI.
Kevin Robert Brooks created an extremely credible solution to the Exorcist letter symbols in the form of the words "To Kill". In view of the preceding paragraph, his solution is incredibly convincing: "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". Whether this is the answer or not, it is certainly a powerful argument, when we consider the S.L.A letter was entirely geared to giving us the word "Kill". This seemed the only purpose behind the S.L.A communication - as though the letter was designed to give us an answer. The fact that the Exorcist letter symbols were withheld from the January 31st 1974 San Francisco Chronicle publication, may have been the inspiration for the February 3rd 1974 correspondence. It was certainly very fortunate that "Kill" could even be created by the symbols at all, and subsequently highlighted in quotation marks, a matter of days later. 

After the February 10th 1974 Hearst letter, ending with "A friend", another Symbionese Liberation Army communication quickly followed (shown above). Both were intercepted at the Burlingame, California, U.S. Postal Annex and both were addressed to Santa Inez Avenue in Hillsborough. The February 10th letter was postmarked CA 940 - so could have been mailed from Burlingame in San Mateo County, or Santa Clara County. The February 11th letter was postmarked Palo Alto, CA 943. Palo Alto is situated in the northwest region of Santa Clara County. Just shy of two weeks earlier, the Exorcist letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, postmarked CA 940. The FBI determined that the Exorcist letter was mailed from either San Mateo County or Santa Clara County, just like the two letters above. Probably another coincidence?     
​ 

We are coming towards the end of the series of articles examining the 1974 letters. This article will be a continuation of 'The Hearst Family Connection' with one final piece of the jigsaw regarding the May 8th 1974 Citizen card to look at. Here is a brief recap of the previous article: "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 article argued that the Citizen card had been targeted at William Randolph Hearst Sr, who had previously forbade his newspapers running any ads for the Orson Welles Citizen Kane movie, released in Los Angeles on May 8th 1941. Hence the context of the card and the signing off with "A citizen". 

The day after the Symbionese Liberation Army mailed the February 10th 1974 typed communication to the Hearst family, another typed communication arrived stating:
Hearst Family, 
(Second Commandment: "For I the Lord as a jealous God and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.)
No, we are not religious nuts, but we hate you for your father's part in starting the Spanish-American War, and also for his later, cheap liason with the trollop Marion Davies."
Our male ancestors were killed in your father's war and their wives were left with pensions of $25 to $50 a month for life. We wonder how you can hold up your heads in decent society, and why your contemporaries can stomach your presence. Our once proud families were destroyed by your father's war.....which he started to boost his circulation 
                                     HERE IS WHAT WE DEMAND;
Before we release your daughter Patricia, you must show proper humility by acknowledging the guilt of William Randolph Hearst (in regard to starting yellow journalism and instigating the Spanish-American War. You must publicly beg the forgiveness of your country. This must be done on ALL media and must be expressed in terms of abject humility.
When we are convinced you are showing abject humility for the sins of your father and his papers, we will release Patricia, whose only sin is that she carries the genes of William Randolph Hearst.
                                                                                        The SLA   

The February 11th 1974 Hearst letter focused on the "yellow journalism" employed by William Randolph Hearst regarding the Spanish-American War and called for his forgiveness to be "expressed with abject humility". The following purported Zodiac communication on May 8th 1974 "expressed consternation at the lack of concern for public sensibilities" and demanded some action regarding the "yellow journalism" of murder-glorification that featured in the paper. Yellow journalism is described as exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism, designed to boost a newspapers circulation and increase sales - which includes the sensationalizing of murder. Exactly what the Citizen letter was calling out.

"The term was coined in the mid-1890s to characterize the sensational journalism that used some yellow ink in the circulation war between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. The battle peaked from 1895 to about 1898, and historical usage often refers specifically to this period. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalizing the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well. An English magazine in 1898 noted, "All American journalism is not 'yellow', though all strictly 'up-to-date' yellow journalism is American" Wikipedia.

"During the Gilded Age, yellow journalism flourished, using fake interviews, false experts and bogus stories to spark sympathy and rage as desired. Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World published exaggerated crime dramas to sell papers. In the 1890s, plutocrats like Randolph Hearst and his Morning Journal used exaggeration to help spark the Spanish-American War. When Hearst’s correspondent in Havana wired that there would be no war, Hearst — the inspiration for Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" — famously responded: “You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.” Hearst published fake drawings of Cuban officials strip searching American women — and he got his war". Politico.

We now have a May 8th 1974 Citizen card mailed on the same day as the Los Angeles release date of Citizen Kane, calling for advertisements not to be run about the Badlands movie, just like William Randolph Hearst insisted his paper do with the Orson Welles movie Citizen Kane, and an insistence in both cases that "yellow journalism" was not acceptable, beginning on February 11th 1974 and ending on May 8th 1974.

We could include the January 29th 1974 Exorcist letter featuring the much sensationalized William Friedkin movie "The Exorcist", in which the author plays down its impact, claiming it "the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen." In the final correspondence of 1974, on July 8th, the author complains about the "superiority complex" of Count Marco, who gave outrageous advice to women in a San Francisco Chronicle column geared towards sensationalism - the presentation of stories in a way that is intended to provoke public interest or excitement, at the expense of accuracy. The emphasis exhibited by the author of these three communications, was of somebody clearly irked by the newspapers coverage of events current and past, in the form of "yellow journalism." It certainly brings a new perspective to the phrase "red with rage." 

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.  

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".

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 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".  

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. 

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.      

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.

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 began with the word "Dear" and 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 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, four days prior, beginning the letter with "Dear" 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 (which wasn't published), beginning the letter with "Dear" and signing off 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].

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.

"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.

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. 

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. 

​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?       

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.  

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

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

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.     

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".

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.

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.    

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.

​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.

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.........