John Franklin Hood (24) We certainly cannot take the early victim count of the Zodiac Killer as gospel, but bearing in mind the confidence of many regarding the murders of Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) on June 4th 1963 as possibly the precursor to the Lake Berryessa attack, the murders of John Franklin Hood (24) and Sandra Garcia (20) on February 21st 1970 appear a little under-reported. The Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969 indicated the Zodiac Killer may have been looking for a ninth and possibly tenth victim - so bearing in mind his propensity of searching for a couple, this double murder is certainly in the correct timeframe, exactly bisecting the Melvin Belli and 13 Symbol cipher letter on April 20th 1970. In addition, this letter would claim ten victims.
The young couple had traveled to East Beach, Santa Barbara, near East Cabrillo Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, with John telling his parents he was to spend the day with his fiancee. Sandra had informed her parents that they "wouldn't be gone long." When they didn't return home that night the families were understandably concerned. Their bodies were discovered early Sunday morning by beachgoers, fully clothed underneath a blanket. They had been brutally beaten and stabbed, predominantly in the back and face. John Hood had been stabbed eleven times, but it appears Sandra Garcia suffered far worse, not dissimilar to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Had the Zodiac Killer returned to a familiar method of execution after his venture into the heart of San Francisco, and was the Melvin Belli letter the foreboding of a man who had lost control once again.
The Oxnard Press Courier of John Franklin's home town reported the murders on February 23rd 1970: "Oxnard Man, Fiancee Murdered Victims. Bodies Found on Beach; Man was decorated veteran John F. Hood found slain with fiancee. The brutally stabbed and beaten bodies of a highly decorated Vietnam veteran from Oxnard and his attractive fiancee were discovered Sunday on an east side Santa Barbara beach just below a cemetery. Police identified the victims as John Franklin Hood, 24. who was discharged from the Army last month with the rank of staff sergeant after a combat-filled year in Vietnam, and Sandra Garcia, 20. of Santa Barbara. Early-morning beachgoers discovered the fully-clothed bodies under a blanket and hailed a passing patrolman. Police immediately closed off the area and later gave some brief details. However, they did not release some information for what they termed was a “good reason.” Detectives have questioned relatives and friends of the victims in an effort to trace the steps that led them to that beach".
The young couple had traveled to East Beach, Santa Barbara, near East Cabrillo Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, with John telling his parents he was to spend the day with his fiancee. Sandra had informed her parents that they "wouldn't be gone long." When they didn't return home that night the families were understandably concerned. Their bodies were discovered early Sunday morning by beachgoers, fully clothed underneath a blanket. They had been brutally beaten and stabbed, predominantly in the back and face. John Hood had been stabbed eleven times, but it appears Sandra Garcia suffered far worse, not dissimilar to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969. Had the Zodiac Killer returned to a familiar method of execution after his venture into the heart of San Francisco, and was the Melvin Belli letter the foreboding of a man who had lost control once again.
The Oxnard Press Courier of John Franklin's home town reported the murders on February 23rd 1970: "Oxnard Man, Fiancee Murdered Victims. Bodies Found on Beach; Man was decorated veteran John F. Hood found slain with fiancee. The brutally stabbed and beaten bodies of a highly decorated Vietnam veteran from Oxnard and his attractive fiancee were discovered Sunday on an east side Santa Barbara beach just below a cemetery. Police identified the victims as John Franklin Hood, 24. who was discharged from the Army last month with the rank of staff sergeant after a combat-filled year in Vietnam, and Sandra Garcia, 20. of Santa Barbara. Early-morning beachgoers discovered the fully-clothed bodies under a blanket and hailed a passing patrolman. Police immediately closed off the area and later gave some brief details. However, they did not release some information for what they termed was a “good reason.” Detectives have questioned relatives and friends of the victims in an effort to trace the steps that led them to that beach".
Sandra Garcia (20) Continued - Page 2 of above article: "by Oxnard police. After the bodies were moved police found a 9 inch bone-handled fish knife in the sand. Santa Barbara authorities said the knife, possibly the murder weapon, had a 4 inch blade. Hood was stabbed 11 times in the face and back. The girl had multiple stab wounds, and authorities said she was not sexually molested.
Both bodies were discovered face-down, apparently left that way to give the appearance that the victims were sleeping, authorities said.
The Hood family drove to Santa Barbara last night to be with Sandra's parents, Mr and Mrs Cruz Garcia, 3088 Calle Pinon, who were reported under heavy sedation. The families said "they had no idea" as to what happened at the beach. There were no difficulties and neither of the victims had any enemies as far as the families knew. Police said their investigation would continue.
The eldest of six children, Hood was born in Seattle. He came to California with his family in 1950. He attended El Rio Elementary School and graduated from Camarillo High School in June, 1965. After graduation, he worked at Wimpy's Drive-In in Oxnard and then joined the Army in January 1966. He spent two years in Germany with the 64th Armored Division after boot training in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then returned home for leave before being sent to Vietnam. While on leave, Hood met Sandra while they were both vacationing in Tijuana, Mexico. An expert marksman, Hood was sent to Vietnam on January 6, 1969 with the 64th Armored Division. Hood was closed-mouthed about the combat-filled year he spent there and about the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other medals he had received for valor. After returning to Oxnard, he went back to work for the drive-in eatery. Although Hood and Sandra were planning to be married, they had not set a wedding date.
Besides his parents, Hood is survived by his sisters, Mrs Linda Jean Ortiz, 19, Lauretta Ann Hood, 16, and Virginia Sue, 13; and two brothers Jerry Allen, 18, and Joseph William, 10. The elder Hood is employed with the Associated Concrete Co, Saticoy, and Mrs Hood drives a small school bus. Hood's fiancee had been an employee of the State Motor Vehicle Department in Santa Barbara. Her father is the owner of the Garcia Auto Wrecking Co, Besides her parents, she is survived by three brothers". Oxnard Press Courier, February 23, 1970.
Both bodies were discovered face-down, apparently left that way to give the appearance that the victims were sleeping, authorities said.
The Hood family drove to Santa Barbara last night to be with Sandra's parents, Mr and Mrs Cruz Garcia, 3088 Calle Pinon, who were reported under heavy sedation. The families said "they had no idea" as to what happened at the beach. There were no difficulties and neither of the victims had any enemies as far as the families knew. Police said their investigation would continue.
The eldest of six children, Hood was born in Seattle. He came to California with his family in 1950. He attended El Rio Elementary School and graduated from Camarillo High School in June, 1965. After graduation, he worked at Wimpy's Drive-In in Oxnard and then joined the Army in January 1966. He spent two years in Germany with the 64th Armored Division after boot training in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then returned home for leave before being sent to Vietnam. While on leave, Hood met Sandra while they were both vacationing in Tijuana, Mexico. An expert marksman, Hood was sent to Vietnam on January 6, 1969 with the 64th Armored Division. Hood was closed-mouthed about the combat-filled year he spent there and about the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other medals he had received for valor. After returning to Oxnard, he went back to work for the drive-in eatery. Although Hood and Sandra were planning to be married, they had not set a wedding date.
Besides his parents, Hood is survived by his sisters, Mrs Linda Jean Ortiz, 19, Lauretta Ann Hood, 16, and Virginia Sue, 13; and two brothers Jerry Allen, 18, and Joseph William, 10. The elder Hood is employed with the Associated Concrete Co, Saticoy, and Mrs Hood drives a small school bus. Hood's fiancee had been an employee of the State Motor Vehicle Department in Santa Barbara. Her father is the owner of the Garcia Auto Wrecking Co, Besides her parents, she is survived by three brothers". Oxnard Press Courier, February 23, 1970.
Click to enter East Beach February 24th 1970: "Police Hunt Pair In Twin Murders Santa Barbara. Detectives today were combing their city for two young men wanted for questioning in the vicious knife-slaying of an Oxnard Vietnam war veteran and his pretty Santa Barbara fiancee. Detectives said the pair, both in their early 20s, were seen “washing cut wounds” at an east beach area service station near where the bodies of the couple, John Franklin Hood, 23, of 460 Helsam Ave, and Sandra Garcia, 20, of 3088 Calle Pinon, Santa Barbara, were found. Witnesses told detectives the two men walked into the station about I a.m. with cut wounds they said they had received as the result of a fight in the east beach area. Detectives said one of the men had a vertical cut across the center of his forehead, extending from his hairline to an eyebrow. The other man had a wound on the back of his right hand. They were seen driving an early 1950 vintage light blue sedan with primer spots on the right side and trunk deck. Pathological tests revealed Hood and Miss Garcia were killed sometime between IO p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday. The tests were conducted by Dr. John P. Blanchard, pathologist there".
Oxnard Press Courier, February 24, 1970.
Oxnard Press Courier, February 24, 1970.
Click to enlarge Early details of crimes are usually withheld, though it later became apparent that the killer had murdered the young couple with a 4-inch bone-handled knife, partially buried in the sand underneath their blanket. Why the killer failed to take the knife with him can only be speculated upon. Whether this was the Zodiac Killer venturing south to commit this double murder may never be known, but bearing in mind the murders were in the correct Zodiac timeline the only reasonable approach with such limited information available is to examine his following correspondence - the April 20th '13 Symbol' cipher.
This correspondence and cipher has been analyzed with a view to the code giving us a name. However, the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is ------," leaves us with the possibility we are not looking for a name within the code, but were in fact supposed to fill in the blank. Later in the communication he states "I have killed ten people to date" and "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed", Was this a subtle clue - that we were supposed to be figuring out a date in order to unlock who his ninth and tenth victims were. By the sheer law of averages of his known victims, he attacked a couple 75% of the time. He also never claimed a ninth victim independently between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970.
The Zodiac Killer used symbols in his ciphers, so we will strip the 13 Symbol cipher back to basics in an attempt to uncover his intentions. He gave us three Taurus symbols and an Aries symbol reversed. He also gave us three circles. The 13 Symbol cipher was mailed on April 20th, which is the exact date the star sign switches from Aries to Taurus. The blank or white circle is the symbol for a full moon. See 1970 calendar. The astrological signs and full moon symbol are both relevant to the calendar. The Zodiac Killer has placed the Taurus symbols within the circles - so by simple wordplay we have 'full moon in Taurus'. The only 1970 full moon in Taurus is April 21st. If we are trying to figure out who he killed, the figure 21 isn't a bad place to start. The next thing to tackle is the reasoning behind the Zodiac Killer giving us three full moon symbols. Because he is challenging us to discover who he killed, it isn't unreasonable to assume the three full moons play a significant part in this game. The 13 Symbol cipher gave us the first full moon, so we will look back at the last two Zodiac events.
This correspondence and cipher has been analyzed with a view to the code giving us a name. However, the introduction of "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is ------," leaves us with the possibility we are not looking for a name within the code, but were in fact supposed to fill in the blank. Later in the communication he states "I have killed ten people to date" and "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed", Was this a subtle clue - that we were supposed to be figuring out a date in order to unlock who his ninth and tenth victims were. By the sheer law of averages of his known victims, he attacked a couple 75% of the time. He also never claimed a ninth victim independently between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970.
The Zodiac Killer used symbols in his ciphers, so we will strip the 13 Symbol cipher back to basics in an attempt to uncover his intentions. He gave us three Taurus symbols and an Aries symbol reversed. He also gave us three circles. The 13 Symbol cipher was mailed on April 20th, which is the exact date the star sign switches from Aries to Taurus. The blank or white circle is the symbol for a full moon. See 1970 calendar. The astrological signs and full moon symbol are both relevant to the calendar. The Zodiac Killer has placed the Taurus symbols within the circles - so by simple wordplay we have 'full moon in Taurus'. The only 1970 full moon in Taurus is April 21st. If we are trying to figure out who he killed, the figure 21 isn't a bad place to start. The next thing to tackle is the reasoning behind the Zodiac Killer giving us three full moon symbols. Because he is challenging us to discover who he killed, it isn't unreasonable to assume the three full moons play a significant part in this game. The 13 Symbol cipher gave us the first full moon, so we will look back at the last two Zodiac events.
Kathleen Johns One month prior, Kathleen Johns, accompanied by her 10-month-old daughter Jennifer, were traveling along Highway 132, west of Modesto, en route to Petaluma, California, when her routine journey turned upside down. She was to make the near fatal mistake of stopping on a deserted highway at approximately 11:15 pm at night, ushered to the side of the road by a passing motorist who was flashing his headlights and gesturing towards her 1957 Chevrolet. Believing he was indicating a fault with her vehicle, Kathleen Johns drew over to the side of the road. The man explained that her wheel appeared loose, offering to tighten it up for her, and she duly obliged.
This innocent error was to begin a chain of events that are still not fully understood to this day, and have initiated countless years of debate on whether the man who approached Kathleen Johns car that fateful night was actually the Zodiac Killer, and the 'proposed madman' responsible for unleashing terror in the Bay Area of Northern California, and bringing the 'Summer of Love' into the summer of fear just two short years later.
Kathleen Johns was abducted in the last hour before before midnight on March 22nd 1970 and escaped at approximately 1:50 to 2:00 am on March 23rd 1970. The date of March 22nd would become our second full moon. The third, with the figure 21 in mind, must be the date that Zodiac was asking us to "figure out". Therefore, we will travel back to the previous full moon. John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on February 21st 1970, to give us our third full moon as depicted in the 13 Symbol cipher.
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/1970
This innocent error was to begin a chain of events that are still not fully understood to this day, and have initiated countless years of debate on whether the man who approached Kathleen Johns car that fateful night was actually the Zodiac Killer, and the 'proposed madman' responsible for unleashing terror in the Bay Area of Northern California, and bringing the 'Summer of Love' into the summer of fear just two short years later.
Kathleen Johns was abducted in the last hour before before midnight on March 22nd 1970 and escaped at approximately 1:50 to 2:00 am on March 23rd 1970. The date of March 22nd would become our second full moon. The third, with the figure 21 in mind, must be the date that Zodiac was asking us to "figure out". Therefore, we will travel back to the previous full moon. John Franklin Hood and Sandra Garcia were murdered on February 21st 1970, to give us our third full moon as depicted in the 13 Symbol cipher.
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/1970
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