"DONNA" AND "ABRAHAM LINCOLN"

5/31/2024

The following is a fishing expedition of the type I don't like because it involves excessive interpretation and stretching the bounds of reality when examining the Zodiac case. But I'm going to do it anyway. Rubislaw32, a regular contributor to this site, highlighted the fact that the Zodiac Killer had used a 1962 UX48 Abraham Lincoln Postal Card on March 22nd 1971 when he mailed the Pines postcard, that most (but not all) believe was a cryptic reference to the disappearance of Donna Ann Lass on September 6th 1970. Why did the Zodiac Killer dig nine years into the past and select a postcard to mail a communication in 1971, unless it was chosen for good reason?

The pasted clues on the reverse side of the postcard included "sought victim 12", "Sierra Club", "Peek through the pines", "pass Lake Tahoe areas" and "around in the snow". But did the Zodiac Killer give us any extra clues on the front of the postcard that pointed toward the missing nurse? If the punch-hole on the reverse side of the card was depicting the burial or deposition site of Donna Ann Lass, could there be a clue to this on the front side of the card by the punch-hole, that somehow indicated her name?

The punch-hole on the front face of the postcard was positioned where you would normally place a name and return address, but the Bay Area murderer just wrote "Zodiac", with the letter "d" being touched by the north prong of the crosshairs. On the right side was the Abraham Lincoln 4c stamp. The initials of Abraham Lincoln are "AL". So reading from left to right we have "DAL", which are the initials of Donna Ann Lass. At the bottom of the postcard the Zodiac Killer wrote "attn. Paul averly = chronicLe". The two things that stood out were the use of the letter "L" in Paul Avery and the capitalized "L" in Chronicle. Therefore, from top down we have the "DL" of Donna Lass. Although this is probably another case of seeing patterns where they don't exist, I wanted to discover if there was any connection to the punch-hole (burial site) and the name of Donna Ann Lass. There is a way to get "DLF" (Donna Lass Fourteen) from the Halloween card envelope but I'm not going there, because that would almost certainly be seen as stretching the fabric of reality.

21 Comments

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 04:47:32 am

Some fascinating points of observation highlighted, Richard.

Despite my inclinations that the Pines Card alluded to Judith Hakari and sent in May 1970, as a swift follow-on from the Dragon Card selection - I don't dismiss the notion of Donna Lass outright.

First and foremost, the Zodiac made a material selection from his stamp collection - then ''victim'' interpretations ( 12 ? ) taken from there ?

The Zodiac may well have had a thing about Abraham Lincoln. It seems to me that in examining probable extortion of Teddy Kennedy over a sustained time (1968-1980), the Zodiac did at least, have good things to say about Dwight Eisenhower (8 good years of Ike, etc...).And, Zodiac sometimes used Ike postage stamps.

Just for now, '' att.Paul averly = chronicLe'' does seem to appear as '' Paul Averly = Chronic Law enforcement ''. The Zodiac already savvy to Avery in convenience bed with the FBI.

Richard

5/31/2024 05:03:02 am

Chronic Law Enforcement could be a further jibe at cops. He definitely altered that section of "Chronicle" deliberately. If you hadn't brought up the Abraham Lincoln postcard I would probably never have revisited the Donna Lass case over the previous 4 articles, so thanks for the prompt. While some will disagree with the 3-part analysis using measurements, I've enjoyed digging deeper into her case. One day we may get the answers. Whatever people say, the Zodiac Killer was no fool when designing his communications. And he had one foot in politics if you believe some of the disputed communication

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 09:37:54 am

This might be of interest to your readers, Richard:

Following Martin Luther King's assassination, Memphis April 4th 1968, and Bobby Kennedy's assassination, Los Angeles June 6th1968:

A letter to the SF Chronicle, July 24th 1968:

''Editor - I have an idea for Alcatraz. How about erecting a high TV tower in memory of the three K's ? Namely Jack (Kennedy), Martin Luther (King) and Bobby (Kennedy). KKK-TV in honour of those three men who died in vain. ABE HIRSON , San Francisco.''

A ''warped'' hoot, indeed. ''ABE HIRSON'' looks an interesting made-up name. ABE could be ABEL - the wayward Black Sheep brother of the good CAIN ? Or, ABRAHAM. HIRSON = ''HER SON'' ?

At the time, Dion's ''Abraham, Martin and John'' was getting much Radio airplay - becoming a big hit. America was is in a very reflective mood.

Richard link

5/31/2024 11:51:10 am

There was an Abe Hirson who died in San Francisco in 1983. I an edition of the San Francisco Examiner on October 16th 1973, columnist Prescott Sullivan wrote "A Mr. Abe Hirson, a gentleman from the composing room, thinks the winners of the World Series (baseball) have the nerve to call themselves the champions of the world when the competition is limited to the United States and a single city in Canada". It appears that this Abe Hirson worked for the San Francisco Examiner. The composing room of a newspaper was typically located at the top of the building and had large windows and high ceilings to maximize sunlight, making it easier for compositors to see and pick out the very small individual "sorts," or letters. I have found several articles of Abe Hirson, describing him as an employee of the Examiner newspaper.

On October 14th 1968 he was featured in the Dear Editor section writing about the controversy surrounding Jose Feliciano's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the World Series. Clearly this guy was a baseball fan. In the San Francisco Examier on November 26th 1971 he was commenting on the brutality of football. I have found loads of entries beyond these, all to the Examiner where he worked. I also found the story you are referring to in the Editor's Mailbox in the Examiner on August 11th 1968. I took a clipping for you. Click my name for link.

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 12:02:25 pm

Thanks for that information, Richard. Something else that can be chalked off then (?) as of Zodiac potential.

On the surface ''KKK-TV'' is an outrageous joke (?) - given the times, as well. One wonders what the Chronicle were doing, allowing such a letter to be published.

Richard

5/31/2024 12:11:38 pm

Well, he commented on baseball and worked for a newspaper, so he certainly had inside knowledge!!!

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 02:11:24 pm

So, at the time of the Zodiac's Bay area reign of terror, the SF Examiner and SF Chronicle had a business arrangement:

The SF Chronicle published in the mornings, Mon-Sat, and the SF Examiner in the afternoons, Mon-Sat. Then on Sundays, the SF Examiner only published - but with SF Chronicle-contributed articles.

The Times, which is referred to on the Pines card - one assumes is the Los Angeles Times.

Do you, Richard, have any opinions about why the Zodiac might have listed the three newspapers - as if perhaps, leaving it up to postal services to decide where the card should end up ? Although one assumes the Zodiac has added the ''att. Paul averly = chronicLe'' bit, before posting.

Is it conceivable the Zodiac had actually written or typed a specific three-line address - then the FBI masked over the address with the three newspapers' labels ?

Richard

5/31/2024 02:58:01 pm

This seems like the lazy way of getting three newspapers to feature your communication without the effort of manufacturing three postcards. It's rather strange because 9 days earlier he's writing to the Times as they don't bury him on the back pages and has seemingly backpedaled almost immediately. Is it conceivable the FBI masked over the address - I doubt it - and even if they did we could never prove it. So there isn't anything to be gained by going there. The Zodiac Killer clearly wanted maximum exposure for his cryptic message that would have required much more effort to produce in triplicate than a standard letter. Even though Abe Hirson is probably not the Zodiac Killer, somebody like him isn't out of the question - a voracious writer to the newspapers who wants to be heard, who has access to a vast newspaper archive to use clippings from newspapers possibly weeks or months gathering dust. I'm not saying Zodiac was a newspaper employee but it would explain his ability to source his material. And he knew the power of print media.

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 03:35:51 pm

Thanks - those three newspapers' names laid out like that, has always niggled me. Just on a basis of scale, I've tended to think that some typing took place first - then probably the Zodiac thought to place the labels on top. He may just have decided he wanted it to look all ''cut 'n paste''. Typing would give the card some formalism he didn't want to put across.

A good point about his possible ''laziness''. Although, to two newspapers in SF, and one in LA is a bit ''stretched out'' and strange (?).

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 03:45:06 pm

...looking at the card again - I could swear the ''equals'' sign at the bottom is typed. Any thoughts ?

Rubislaw32 link

5/31/2024 04:10:43 pm

Yes...the equals sign is typed. Now, is it likely the Zodiac would get his typewriter out - just to type an equals sign ? Unlikely.

There has been some jiggery pokery going on. Whether from Zodiac himself, or Intelligence processors FBI - who knows, and why ?

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 02:19:42 am

Indeed Richard - little doubt that the equals sign is typed (?). But, easy to fall into immediate extrapolated explanations for this being the case.

I do tend to think now that the Zodiac typed a specific name & address - hidden by the three newspapers' labels. And that ''att.Paul averly = chronicLe'' has been played with - representing something else, which involved an equals sign, also.

At the November 1970 LE summit called by case custodians CA DOJ - on account of CA DOJ & FBI being left out of the loop on knowledge of Bates-related correspondences: CA DOJ, as case custodians awarded custody of the Bates correspondences to case Intelligence processors FBI - who had to then retrieve the correspondences from the US Postal Services Fraud Department - where they had languished, after being deposited by Riverside PD, acting on their own whims.

The FBI, as appointed Intelligence processors, were in the service of CA DOJ, the Zodiac case custodians and case bosses. It could be that the Pines card is an instance of where the FBI have not been truthful to CA DOJ, in past reports. Something I would think, CA DOJ have always suspected, anyway.

Richard

6/1/2024 03:24:15 am

The pasted "Times" is first in the sequence bearing in mind his March 13th statement. I have magnified the equals sign and it doesn't look typed to me, but if you see otherwise that is fine. In terms of whether the pasted newspaper titles are covering anything, all I can say is "it is impossible to prove or negate", so I cannot speculate on the assumption there was subversion involved.

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 03:52:47 am

It can become a bit overly-analytical, granted. All I've been able to do is get various magnify glasses out on the equals sign. It really doesn't look simply hand-scribed, and is in keeping with conventional typewriter type size. Naturally, it would help if we weren't forever fobbed-off with photocopies (....ironic LOL).

I think underneath the three newspaper labels, it simply says in type: Paul Avery, c/o SF Chronicle, Mission Street SF - or something ''staid'' similar.

Food for thought ? But I do think CA DOJ are ''fed-up to the back-teeth'' with ''ex'' Intelligence processors FBI- who have recently been undermining the morale of local PD's. ''San Bernardino Delinquent-Man '' and ''Decommissioned Hell-Hole Helipad'', cases in point.

Richard

6/1/2024 04:15:11 am

"I'm writing to the Times is this, They don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others". Maybe when Zodiac pasted The Times, SF Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, he was metaphorically burying them beneath the Los Angeles Times newspaper and showing his annoyance at not receiving top billing from the Bay Area newspapers.

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 04:25:03 am

The order of things in the Zodiac's mind ? Certainly possible.

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 05:30:04 am

I'd settle for ''SF Chronicle = SF Examiner'' typed at the bottom of the card, instead of ''attn.Paul averly = chronicLe'', hand-written.

And, plain around the punch-hole, top-left. Zodiac has already put his crosshairs sign on the other side.

Rubisalw32 link

6/1/2024 06:43:48 am

Description of 13 hole postcard address side, Oct 5th 1970:

''Plain around the punch-holes. Zodiac has already put his crosshairs sign on the other side.'' .

thardu

7/25/2024 09:40:30 pm

Exactly R32,
It's always been my assumption that someone, somewhere has JIGGED something up somewhere. I, as have you, remain NIGGLED at this prospect. That being said, I'm quite certain there are those that are more NIGGERED than US.....Have a good one........thardu..

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 05:39:30 am

''Dressing-up'' an address side ? That's where the May 2nd 1978 Channel 9 envelope comes into its own.

And the FBI still turned a Mickey Mouse head into an apple (Beatles record label).

Rubislaw32 link

6/1/2024 06:08:05 am

Why (?), for the Channel 9 envelope: Mickey Mouse was the third of three ''kiddie-frighteners'' Zodiac, with the Anaheim postmark, and ''All good children go to heaven''. ''LAIC - a preacher man, might have been construed as a fourth. ''Pied Piper'' as such - but also clues within as a ''soothsayer''.

"DONNA" AND "ABRAHAM LINCOLN"

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