ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
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EN ROUTE TO SAN FRANCISCO

11/6/2016

 
PictureKathleen Johns
The Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns on March 22nd 1970 is a crime that divides the Zodiac community, despite the Bay Area killer confirming his involvement in the abduction in a letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 24th 1970.

If the Zodiac Killer was a resident of San Francisco, Vallejo, Benicia or some nearby location, then his actions of traveling 160 to 180 miles round trip, solely for the purpose of abducting a woman at 11:15 pm at night, may appear a little extreme. This lays down a buffer zone of at least 90 miles from Vallejo. The idea of cruising around Highway 132, west of Modesto primarily for the purpose of hopefully encountering a suitable vehicle and occupant, at near midnight, appears a bit random for a killer who targeted locations. Unless of course, this wasn't his primary reason for being in the area that night and his abduction of Kathleen Johns was secondary and spur of the moment. This article will explore further the military angle and the premise that the Zodiac Killer was returning back to the Bay Area on March 22nd 1970, before chance intervened and the night took on an unexpected turn, as Kathleen Johns vehicle drove right across Zodiac's line of sight.

I recently contacted the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act to release the names held on this document, involving a suspect stationed in either the US Army or US Air Force in San Francisco, Riverside and Patterson. Unfortunately it was denied "The one page document that was released on the Vault was processed pursuant to the current Attorney General guidelines, therefore do not qualify for reprocessing at this time. For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA".

The following is an extension to the article Crows Landing and the Modesto Abduction expanding it just a little further. In particular, regarding the Alameda Naval Air Station bordering the eastern side of San Francisco. (shown here on Google Maps in relation to Pleasanton, which is located in Alameda County)    

PictureAlameda Naval Air Station
The vast bulk of the Zodiac Killer correspondence was postmarked San Francisco and mailed to the Chronicle newspaper, however, this changed in the later correspondence, particularly in 1974. Whether a change in profession initiated this deviation, or it was simply down to the Zodiac getting careless is open to speculation. After all, by this time he definitely believed he was "crackproof".

Almost everybody, including the Zodiac Killer, employ what is known as the least effort principle, that suggests a person will take the option of using less energy to accomplish a necessary task. In the case of mailing his correspondence, the killer certainly does not want to reveal key information about his home or work location from a standpoint of geographical profiling, but over time complacency and laziness can kick in, and mistakes can be made.

On March 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Los Angeles' letter from Pleasanton, Alameda County. The SLA letter was mailed on February 3rd 1974 from Los Angeles County. The following correspondence on May 8th 1974 was the 'Citizen Card', postmarked again from Alameda County, and finally came the 'Red Phantom' letter, postmarked San Rafael, Marin County on July 8th 1974. It is open to debate whether the later mailings were from the Zodiac Killer, but the 'Los Angeles' letter and 'Citizen Card' were both mailed from the same county despite a three year hiatus. But they all have another thing in common - that being Interstate 580 - which passes through Pleasanton, Alameda, the Naval Station and San Rafael in a direct route. It is almost as though the Zodiac Killer mailed them for convenience on his travels. See here on Google Maps.  

Crucially though, Interstate 580 (an 80 mile highway) travels down alongside Tracy, California and the area where it is claimed the Zodiac Killer drove Kathleen Johns around for 1 or 2 hours, before she finally managed to escape near the vineyards  alongside Bird Road. Interstate 580 joins up with Interstate 5 by Patterson, California, shown here on Google Maps, and the location of the police station where Kathleen Johns was taken after her apparent abduction. Kathleen Johns would recall that within the car, described as messy, she had noticed men's and children's clothing scattered about, books and papers, a black rubber handled flashlight and two colored plastic scouring pads on the console dashboard. Kathleen estimated that the smaller patterned T-shirts were of the age range 8 to 12 years. She described her abductor as white, about 30 years, 5'9" in height, 160 lbs, dark hair and clean-cut, having the traits of a serviceman. During her ordeal in the car she recalled his highly polished shoes that reflected the yellow lights from the car interior, likening them to Navy shoes. Not only is the area of Patterson mentioned in the FBI files above, but the military connection may be crucial regarding the abduction of Kathleen Johns, as well as the I-5 and ​I-580, and the Alameda Naval Air Station, that also has a connection to Patterson.              

PictureAerial view of NASA Crows Landing
NASA Crows Landing Airport in Stanislaus County was previously known as Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Crows Landing. It was an auxiliary military facility linked with Alameda Naval Air Station, as was Vernalis Auxiliary Airfield. Both are shown here along California State Route 33, only 21 miles apart and bordering Interstate 5. After World War 2, Vernalis Airfield briefly remained open; however, Crows Landing would eventually take over its duties, on account of its concrete runways. 

Running right by NASA Crows Landing is Interstate 5, which then intersects with Highway 132 only 24 miles north (a journey of 22 minutes by car). In fact, Interstate 5 joins Highway 132 (the route Kathleen Johns fatefully took that night) only 0.8 miles shy of where she was abducted and ultimately where her car was found burnt out, near Bird Road. The quickest route from NASA Crows Landing back to the Bay Area using main transport links, would be to travel north on Interstate 5, taking Interstate 580 on the western edge of Tracy, head west to Pleasanton, northwest to Alameda, passing Alameda Naval Base and continuing northwest to San Rafael. The latter of which all skirt the San Francisco Bay Area and more importantly, where the Zodiac Killer mailed three of his letters from 1971 onward. ​View on Google Maps.

​
If the Zodiac Killer was of military persuasion, responsible for the abduction of Kathleen Johns, and linked to the Patterson area via an auxiliary base, then it is easy to see how the Zodiac Killer, believing he was "crackproof", may have employed the least effort principle and mailed his correspondence en route to and from work, via the areas he passed through. Or was the Zodiac Killer trying to throw investigators off the trail by mailing his correspondence, outside of San Francisco, from different areas, but inadvertently had left a trail of breadcrumbs along Interstate 580? In respect to the later mailings and Interstate 580, a possible connection exists - but it was brief and possibly too small a sample to draw anything conclusive.

The Halloween card mailed on October 27th 1970 threatening a fourteenth victim, coincided with the disappearance of Phyllis O'Brien Carson (32), from the Francis Truck Stop, French Camp, San Joaquin County, California. French Camp lies only 15 miles from Tracey and 23 miles from Interstate 580. Unfortunately, Phyllis O'Brien Carson's body was discovered just over three weeks later on November 21st 1970. ​http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/east-of-pleasanton

Greg H.
11/6/2016 07:52:04 pm

Richard, I think a few letters were sent from the Richmond district as well. I know for sure this is where the Stine letter was mailed, on the afternoon of Monday, October 13th. The 580 highway goes straight through Richmond.
Some military personal may be employed in the Reserves. Which is to say they'll only occasionally venture off to bases for training or work, while they maintain a stable civilian life in a fixed location. This could be a possible explanation for what appears perhaps a loose association with varied Naval districts scattered here and there.
Let's also not forget the Merchant Marine narrative initiated by lawyer Robert Tarbox. As you know, he claims to have been visited personally by Zodiac the Mariner. It might be worthwhile for us to try identifying any outlets which housed or specfically trained US Merchant Marines in the Bay Area or its outskirts. Johns could have very easily confused a Mariner with a Navy man.

Another angle that just occurred to me is to consider the 24-36 hours between the Stine murder and his mailing of the letter on Oct. 13 from the Richmond district, just to the north of San Fran. Richmond is smack in the middle between Vallejo and San Francisco, which might seem important in terms of geographic profiling regarding a residency.
Even if he fled San Fran late Saturday night, October 11, he didn't go far since he we can place him in Richmond a day and a half later. What's curious in terms of trying to hide his residence is that he never mailed a letter from Vallejo / Benicia, the most obvious place we'd expect him to live. Yet he clearly read the local Vallejo newspaper and even named the city outright on Hartnell's car door. In a sense, he may have overcompensated in trying to protect his location by sending nothing from Vallejo. It could have actually muddied the waters had he done so. Instead, the absense of a Vallejo letter is noteworthy and maybe even telling.
But, before I digressed, I think a reimagining of where Zodiac was and what he did on Sunday October 12th, other than writing the following day's Richmond-sent letter, is an interesting thought experiment. I was just wondering, too, whether Monday October 13th 1969 was Columbus Day, and therefore a national holiday--he might have had the day off? I will check on this.

Richard
11/6/2016 11:22:18 pm

Hi Greg, I will respond in more detail later, but I am sure the Stine letter was mailed in the area of Richmond District, San Francisco, the area where Donald Fouke was patrolling on October 11th 1969, as opposed to the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County, shown here on Crackproof.com. http://crack-proof.com/zodiac-killer/stein/3

The Merchant Marine Academy is an interesting find, worth looking at, although at the moment, without downloading, I cannot get any information on the attendees. I will have a root round later.

The Vallejo avoidance may yet be the biggest indicator of all and of course may suggest he only traveled to San Francisco for work purposes. I'll be back.

Greg H.
11/7/2016 10:37:30 am

Thanks Richard. By the way, the 'downloading' option of the Vallejo Mariner Academy is misleading. It doesn't require you save these massive yearbooks to your computer's hard drive. I clicked on 'download' at the archive page and it gave me the option to 'open' or 'save'.. Click the 'open' option and you can view any year without burdening your computer with unwanted new (and huge) files. I would not have downloaded it myself if this was the case. But you have my word it's safe to open the yearbook file from the provided link.

Greg H.
11/6/2016 07:57:32 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University_Maritime_Academy
Have you seen this, Richard? The Cal State Merchant Marine Academy is located in Vallejo.

Greg H.
11/6/2016 08:28:04 pm

Any idea where one might be able to locate yearbooks or alumni listings from the Cal. State Maritime Academy, circa the late 60s to early 70s? This facility is literally minutes away from the first two murder scenes at Lake Herman and Blue Rock. Coupled with Tarbox's Merchant Marine claim it seems intriguing.

Greg H.
11/6/2016 08:36:18 pm

Check this out:
Full yearbooks of Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo, from the 60s and 70s...

Greg H.
11/6/2016 08:36:58 pm

Link:
http://csum-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/73931

Greg H.
12/14/2016 09:25:09 pm

Richard, Had an idea related specifically to the sort of work he may have done within the Navy or perhaps in training at the Maritime Academy in Vallejo. Since he wore wing walkers, I reckon there are particular jobs along the lines of 'air wing maintenance personnel' that might help zero in a bit better on search criteria. I'm going to go back and look through the yearbooks I linked above to check if any of the graduates majored in anything associated with wing maintenance and repair.

Richard
12/15/2016 09:03:27 am

That's a good idea Gregory and worth a shot. Some profession where radians may be implemented. Let me know if you unearth anything.


Comments are closed.
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