A man was seen running into Julius Khan playground shortly after the murder of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, detailed by author Robert Graysmith, who stated "The detectives heard from neighbors that a stocky figure was seen dashing across Julius Khan playground and into the dense undergrowth of the Presidio. The dog patrol units, seven of the best search dogs in the country, gathered at the front entrance of the Presidio and were deployed one at a time in various directions. Armstrong and Toschi considered the possibilities. Had the killer gone quickly through the dark woods and emerged from the Presidio at Richardson Avenue, and taken Highway 101 past Fort Point onto the Golden Gate Bridge and vanished into Marin County".

It was speculated whether the Zodiac Killer had exited the Presidio Park on its eastern edge to a waiting vehicle, with his escape via the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County a matter of minutes away, providing separation from the San Francisco area. If the Zodiac Killer worked in San Francisco (near Presidio Heights), but commuted from Vallejo, then he may have used Highway 101 on a regular basis, passing through Marin County. Highway 101 straddles Shoreline Highway by just 724 meters, which we will return to shortly.

Here is an excerpt from Websleuths by Steph54 "On 28 December 1969, a man searching for driftwood on the beach at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County found the nude body of Leona Roberts. It was later determined that a unique wristwatch was missing from the girl's wrist, but a Napa High School class ring given to her by a neighbor still remained on her finger. The tan dress she wore when last seen, along with two pairs of bell-bottomed pants, a blouse, a black purse and wallet, a key chain with car and house keys were also reported missing. There were marks on the wrists and ankles indicative of binding, but the coroner was unsure whether they occurred before or after death. The cause of death was reported as "due to viral infection of an unidentified species." It was also reported that there was "evidence of choking which could probably be linked to the virus." link. 

Leona LaRell Roberts had been abducted on December 10th 1969 from 749 Tormey Avenue in Rodeo. At about 5:50 pm a neighbor, Susan Clark, heard the sound of a girl screaming, followed by somebody running from the rear of the apartment. A suspicious male was observed many times between the front door and a blue station wagon, before he eventually drove away. The man was described as 25 years old, 5'8", short blond hair and wearing brown trousers and a jacket. A while later her boyfriend arrived home to find a disturbance inside the apartment, scuff marks near the back door and her red Volkswagen parked outside.

The same day, a potential Zodiac correspondence arrived at the Sacramento Bee newspaper containing a horoscope page with pasted wording. This communication entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Cancer was pasted with the wording ZODIAC, WATCH, FLT 555 and BIRDS FLY SOUTH. The day after the Leona LaRell Roberts abduction, on December 11th 1969, a communication entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo arrived at the San Francisco Newspaper Printing Company at Rincon Annex, again  with many pasted words, including FLT THREE OF A KIND. It was thought that the Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo may have been a sinister play on words for Day-By-Day Forecast For Leona Roberts, considering the date of her abduction and the mailing of this communication the following day.

A day-by-day forecast may have been an appropriate message considering her abduction on December 10th 1969 to the eventual discovery of her body eighteen days later at Bolinas Lagoon in Marin County. This is where Shoreline Highway comes into play, being just 724 meters from Highway 101, and a route that the Zodiac Killer may have commuted to and from work. Shoreline Highway runs alongside Bolinas Bay to Bolinas Lagoon where Leona Robert's body was discovered. When we consider the December 10th 1969 communication containing the words ZODIAC and BIRDS FLY SOUTH, coupled with the December 11th 1969 Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo and her body being discovered at Bolinas Lagoon, the following information may become relevant.

Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately 1,100 acres in area, located in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States, adjacent to the town of Bolinas. The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in America, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or travelling to overwintering sites. Along the Pacific Flyway, there are many key rest stops where birds of many species gather, sometimes in the millions, to feed and regain their strength before continuing. Some species may remain in these rest stops for the entire season, but most stay a few days before moving on. Wikipedia.     

Four months later, on April 19th 1970, Pat Tan, a woman of Eurasian descent was discovered hanging by rope and electrical cord from an oak tree near Bootjack Campground on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. She was identified because of a key found in her pocket by Coroner, Keith Craig, which he traced to a Greyhound bus terminal and the eventual discovery of her address book. The question remains as to whether the death of Pat Tan was suicide or murder.

Bootjack Campground is located 553 meters from the Pantoll Campground along Panoramic Highway, which joins Shoreline Highway at its southern tip, Pat Tan's body was discovered hanging just 2.5 miles from the dump site of Leona Roberts at Bolinas Lagoon. Leona Roberts abduction was paralleled by two communications entitled Day-By-Day Forecast For Cancer and Day-By-Day Forecast For Leo, along with the pasted pseudonym of ZODIAC, as was the untimely death of Pat Tan, when the following day on the April 20th 1970, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 13-Symbol cipher containing THREE OF A KIND. However, this time it would be 888 instead of 555.

Two years later, on April 7th 1972, Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972, and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9.00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home, but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection, that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, around 40 years of age, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson. Pine Hill Road, where the attack occurred, joins Shoreline Highway at its southern edge, just 4 miles from the Bootjack Campground and 7 miles from Bolinas Lagoon. Shoreline Highway joins Panoramic Highway only 1 mile from Pine Hill Road. So, had the attacker of Isobel Watson managed to lure her into his vehicle, would we have found her near Bootjack Campground or Bolinas Lagoon, just like Pat Tan and Leona Roberts? Of course, we don't know whether the Zodiac Killer had anything to do with the unfortunate events that befell these three women, but the location of Marin County and the proximity of Pine Hill Road, Bootjack Campground and Bolinas Lagoon is worthy of further investigation.     

In a case where every crime and confirmed correspondence has been covered extensively, it is always refreshing to examine some of the dubious outlier communications - ones that are often regarded as more questionable Zodiac material. This brings me to the threatening letter received on June 29th 1972 by Ed Salmina, a sports editor of the Novato Advance newspaper for 33 years. Ed Salmina was a staunch baseball fan, who funded and managed the Novato Knicks team, while also having served as a sports correspondent for The Examiner newspaper.

On June 30th 1972 the San Rafael Daily Independent stated that "Edward J. Salmina, sports editor of the Novato Advance, reported to Novato police yesterday he had received a death threat yesterday in a letter signed "Zodiac". The hand-printed letter said: "If you leave your house past 3:13:47 on the next ten Saturdays, you will be killed". In the lower left corner under the heading "message" were a series of symbols. Salmina of 25 Crescent Lane told police he didn't know who or why anyone would send him such a letter. Police said a copy will be sent to the homicide division of the San Francisco Police Department to determine if the note was printed by the Zodiac Killer". 

Below I have placed the time 3:13:47 onto a clock face and marked the 10 Saturdays the author of the letter demanded that Ed Salmina remain in his house. His first Saturday of freedom, had he complied, would have been September 9th 1972. I have performed a cursory search regarding the numbers stipulated on the letter, but other than sections of Bible verse and Crown Prince Waterford (using 03:13:47) little else seems of note. Bearing in mind some code was inserted at the bottom of the message, only 63 (3+13+47 = number of characters in the 340 cipher) sprang to mind. Whoever wrote this message seemed rather specific with the time, giving the impression that it held some significance to the author of the correspondence, so hopefully a more logical suggestion can be discovered.       

It is without doubt that many Zodiac letters were hoaxed, particularly during the height of the murderer's activities from December 20th 1968 to July 13th 1971. One would expect the number of fraudulent Zodiac correspondences to have dwindled after his campaign of terror reached its conclusion sometime in 1971, which only goes to make these outlier letters all the more curious. It is likely that many will be unconvinced by this letter, but it doesn't do any harm in analyzing them, just in case something is unearthed by a reader of this article. 

Linked by U.S. Route 101, north of San Francisco, the residence of Ed Salmina at 25 Crescent Lane, Novato is only 20 miles (25 minutes driving time) from the scene of the attack on Isobel Watson along Pine Hill Road in Mill Valley. Approximately 3 months prior to the Novato threat letter being mailed, Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972, and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9:00 pm, when a light-colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home, but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

​Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection, that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, in his early 40s, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson   

The author of the Novato threat letter may have been primarily targeting Saturdays to keep Ed Salmina away from coaching the Novato Knicks baseball team, that one would have thought played over the weekend, but there could be any number of reasons. The only other purported Zodiac communication that was connected to baseball, was mailed to Gerald Tagert of 1423 Roleen Drive, Vallejo on June 18th 1970, just over two years prior to this correspondence. On that occasion the letter stated "gift from Zodiac" and contained two tickets for the June 20th 1970 Oakland A's game at the Coliseum. One letter attempting to encourage the recipient to visit a baseball game, while the other seemingly attempting to separate Ed Salmina from his love of baseball. But were either of these two letters from the hand of the Zodiac Killer?  

The Zodiac Killer or a copycat, mailed a letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald on Tuesday October 27th 1987 claiming he would be driving around on Halloween night in his "death machine" looking for some "kiddies" to run over and that "cars make nice weapons". He also made reference to the movie The Car, directed by Elliot Silverstein and released in 1977, about a satanic, driverless car that embarks on a series of hit and run deaths. Here is a review of The Car.

The Zodiac modus operandi, if any can really be established,  involved attacks where he tended to seek out couple's in cars, the only deviation being the Presidio Heights slaying of taxicab driver Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, yet still a vehicle was integral to the crime. In searching for crimes based upon the threats outlined in the 1987 letter, where the author had used his car as a potential weapon, we shall examine the murder of a young girl in Wichita on October 31st 1987. But first, we will take a look at the brutal attack on a lone woman in Marin County who had a terrifying encounter one dark night in 1972

Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972 and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9:00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene. She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack.

Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection - that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, in his early 40s, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson - and that April 7th 1972 once again fell on a Friday. ​The Zodiac crimes of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights were on Friday, Friday, Saturday and Saturday respectively.

It is believed by some that the Zodiac Killer murders and correspondence were part influenced by an occultist theme. The Church of Satan was founded by author and occultist Anton Szandor LaVey, almost to the day, six months prior to All Hallows Eve on April 30th 1966 at the Black House, 6114 California Street, San  Francisco, California, close to the Presidio Heights district where Paul Stine was killed on October 11th 1969.  The building has since been demolished (in 2001). It was also exactly six months later that Cheri Jo Bates was murdered outside the Riverside City College library on October 30th 1966. The San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times ran articles on Anton LaVey calling him "The Black Pope". Anton LaVey knew the Tamalpais Valley area well, having attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley until the age of 16. He died on October 29th 1997 but curiously his death certificate stated his passing on Halloween morning. 

Was the Zodiac Killer an integral member of the Church of Satan, or was he part influenced by the Anton LaVey movement and the resulting press coverage? In a television interview, reporter Paul Avery, who had become the subject of the Zodiac Killer's Halloween card received a phone call from Anton LaVey stating that he thought the Zodiac Killer may have attempted to become one of his parishioners, subsequently providing Paul Avery with some material. This created a comical response from Paul Avery who stated that the "Zodiac was so bad even the Church of Satan didn't want him". As stated earlier, the Zodiac Killer mentioned the 1977 film The Car, about a satanically possessed vehicle that embarks on a murderous rampage, Anton LaVey was awarded  the title of Creative Consultant in the movies credits with a quote from his Satanic Bible.

The murder of Shannon Olson may be unlikely a Zodiac crime - with many people suggesting the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader as the possible murderer - as his crimes were committed in the area of Wichita, Kansas between 1974 and 1991 where he claimed 10 victims. However, the majority of his murders involved strangulation or suffocation, with only one of his victims, Kathryn Bright, having been stabbed. Dennis Rader has never confessed to the murder of Shannon Olson and the case remains unsolved to this day. 

​Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection, that of a man with heavy-rimmed black glasses, in his early 40s, 5' 9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. Napa County homicide detective Kenneth Narlow believed in a greater than 50-50 chance of a Zodiac connection, bearing in mind the description given by Isobel Watson - and that April 7th 1972 once again fell on a Friday. ​The Zodiac crimes of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park, Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights were on Friday, Friday, Saturday and Saturday respectively.

There may be many crimes associated to the Zodiac Killer that we are unaware of, if we believe his boasts of ME-37 SFPD 0 in the 'Exorcist' letter on January 29th 1974, but equally there may be none. Isobel Watson fortunately rejected the offers of the 'good Samaritan' and lived to tell the tale. ​