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Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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HEART OF THE DRAGON

3/9/2014

 
The Zodiac Killer appeared to have artistic leanings, not only in the design of his cards and ciphers, but also the possibility he was connected to the theater due to their content, as explained in the previous article Exit Stage Left. His interest seemed unconstrained by his age, having alluded to The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell, published on January 19th 1924, and The Mikado, released to the paying public on March 14th 1885. Furthermore, there have been suggestions of a Charlie Chan link, in the role of detective fiction, first put to film in 1926. The Dragon card mailed on April 28th 1970 appeared to depict the characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, created by author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605 and 1615. And finally, the subtle reference in the accompanying text to 'Melville Eats Blubber', pointed towards Herman Melville, an American novelist, famous for his penning of Moby Dick in 1851.. The Zodiac Killer placed the line "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my blast" on the card, in reference to his concealed bomb, and in the attached letter, implored the public to wear "some nice Zodiac buttons". The greetings card and text seemed to reveal little, but it is conceivable there was a lot more. 
The Zodiac Killer first mentioned the use of bombs in the 'Bus Bomb' letter on November 9th 1969. But what was his trigger? In 1969, eight bombs wreaked havoc in New York City, targeting government and commercial buildings. The perpetrator was Sam Melville, who justified his the reasons for the carnage on the United States involvement in the Vietnam War and US imperialism. The bombings, all in 1969, occurred on July 27th, August 20th, September 19th and October 7th, and culminated with a succession of four explosions in close proximity of one another, on November 11th and 12th. Sam Melville was born Samuel Joseph Grossman in 1934, but changed his name to Melville because of his admiration for Herman Melville's novel, Moby Dick. On March 7th 1970, Sam Melville attempted to escape from a federal courthouse, but was apprehended almost immediately. 
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The Dragon card was mailed on April 28th 1970 and the Button letter soon followed on June 26th 1970, both continuing the theme of bombing in the text. The Zodiac Killer also gave us a fourth code, along with a Phillips 66 route map, stating that together they would reveal the location of a 'hidden' bomb.
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The Dragon card text referred to Herman Melville by association. In fact, the text "melvin eats bluber" is considered by many an irreverent slight towards Melvin Belli. The prominent lawyer was the recipient of a previous Zodiac letter on December 20th 1969, that included a third piece of Paul Stine's shirt, the taxicab driver brutally gunned down in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. But next to "melvin eats bluber" on the Dragon card, the Zodiac refers to "black power". Sam Melville teamed up with Jane Alpert and other members during their bombing campaign, eventually aligning themselves towards the Weather Underground, Black Panther Party and Black Power movement.

Was the Zodiac Killer influenced in his actions, by reading about the New York bombings, determined to bring the fear it created into the heart of California and part influencing his style of writing within the Dragon card itself?
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Of course the Zodiac Killer never followed through on any of his explosive threats, and his later correspondence appeared more of an attempt to maintain his share of the headlines. He knew very well that the authorities would have to consider his threats as real and seemed to delight in the terror they created.
The novelist Herman Melville took elements from Don Quixote into the Captain Ahab character of Moby Dick, both driven in their desire to achieve their ultimate goal. Captain Ahab was gripped with his pursuit of the whale, whereas Don Quixote's pursuit of chivalry seemed boundless. Indeed, Herman Melville was a fan of Don Quixote, referencing the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra novel in his diary while writing Moby Dick. Herman Melville not only wrote novels, but published poetry in his later life and was the author of many short stories. Surprisingly, despite the worldwide recognition of Moby Dick today, it was not warmed to by the public at the time and effectively ended his career as a revered novelist.          
In the short story, The Piazza, by Herman Melville  Don Quixote was said to be 'the sagest sage that ever lived'. His uncollected poems included Marquis de Grandvin at the Hostelry, The Wise Virgins to Madam Mirror, Gold in the Mountain and Naples in the Time of Bomba. The latter of which, was finally published under this title by Raymond Weaver in 1924.

Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies succeeded to the throne in 1830, initially popular, he would later became a focus for rebellion - and when Sicily declared its independence under Riggeru Settimu, his response was brutal, sending a naval flotilla to shell the uprising for eight long hours, becoming synonymous with the nickname 'Bomba' or 'King Bomb'.  This features prominently in works by Herman Melville, who refers to this period in his writings. See here.
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The Zodiac Killer may certainly have been well read, with these influences, either  deliberately or inadvertently being incorporated into his own writing style during much of his correspondence over a five year period. Of course, the suggestion he took all of the above into account when designing his Dragon card is highly unlikely, nevertheless, it expands on an otherwise bland correspondence and any influences that may have led to its inception.   
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Novelist Herman Melville 1819-1891
"Then be called ten times a donkey, and a mule, and an ass, and begone, or I'll clear the world of thee."  Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1851).  
ophion1031
4/13/2015 05:34:26 pm

Great stuff. I have been looking into Zodiac's possible connection(s) to groups such as The Weather Underground and The Minutemen, and the Sam Melville - Melville Eats Blubber connection has always been interesting. Something that has been on my mind for a long time is how The Minutemen were very deceptive and could have intentionally made it look like Zodiac was a member of the WU. Sam Melville was sent to prison because of a Minutemen member infiltrating their the WU and was working with the FBI. The Minutemen did things like this all the time. I think there is a very strong chance that Zodiac was involved in or an admirer of one of these two groups.

Richard
4/13/2015 08:18:25 pm

Or a disgruntled ex member. The Zodiac Killer appeared to have a growing fascination with the use of bombs, from the 'My Name is Letter' sent on April 20th 1970, where he said "It just wouldn't doo to move in on someone else's teritory. But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back. I have killed ten people to date. It would have been a lot more except that my bus bomb was a dud. I was swamped out by the rain we had a while
back". He seemed adamant he would never move in on somebody else's territory, but by the same token appeared to want to claim murders he possibly didn't commit, such as Richard Radetich on June 19th 1970.. In the Button Letter map he gives us an indication of where the bomb is set, but clearly realizes the information he supplies us with is scant, so expands on this in the Little List Letter one month later, referring to SFPD = 0, the 0 in bold writing suggesting a location, to be placed on the Phillips 66 Map. Bearing in mind this statement "I hope you do not think that I was the one who wiped out that blue meannie with a bomb at the cop station. Even though I talked about killing school children with one", was the SFPD=0 a swipe at the police once again. The Upper Haight bombing at 1899 Waller St, occurred on February 16, 1970, when a pipe bomb filled with shrapnel detonated on the ledge of a window at the San Francisco Police Department's Golden Gate Park station. Brian V. McDonnell, a police sergeant, was fatally wounded in its blast. Robert Fogarty, another police officer, was severely wounded in his face and legs and was partially blinded. In addition, eight other police officers were wounded. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Investigators in the early 1970's said the bombing likely was the work of the Weather Underground, and not the Black Liberation Army". From Wiki. Richard Radetich was insinuated as his murder, by Zodiac, two months after this bombing and Richard Radetich was gunned down at 643 Waller St. Although this bombing was credited to the Weather Underground and possibly Bernardine Dohrn, the Zodiac certainly took full advantage of it in boosting his media profile.

ophion1031
4/13/2015 08:48:24 pm

The Minutemen also had a little list that I forgot to mention. It was even mentioned in a newspaper... the Chronicle if I'm not mistaken. I had a Zodiac forum for a while, but it was hacked and now I can't log in to it. Had a ton of great info on The Minutemen, Weather Underground, a guy named William Thoresen III and a bunch of other stuff. Thoresen is the guy I mentioned that lived a mile from the Stine scene. He was a murderer who sold weapons to The Minutemen. Interesting guy. I have a hunch that he was somehow involved in the Stine murder. Also, in 1969, The Minutemen were making preperations to overthrow the government AND to start a race war. I wish I could find a connection between them and Manson.

ophion1031
4/13/2015 09:00:04 pm

Thoresen used to hang out in the Presidio, and would often meet new people and have them over to his mansion to party until the sun came up. A thought I have had is that Zodiac was at one (or more) of these parties and maybe told Thoresen of his shenanigans and Thoresen had Zodiac murder Stine, for whatever reason. Thoresen often paid people to kill for him, although I know of only 1 hit that actually went through - the murder of Thoresen's brother. He hired a man to do the killing so he could get his brother's inheritance. The hitman asked Thoresen for more money and Thoresen killed him and dumped him in the ocean. Thoresen was a rich man, but he was stingy with his money.H e once broke a waiter's arm over a dispute with his bar tab. He broke a woman's nose in a Las Vegas hotel over something stupid that pissed him off once. I believe he may have been friendly with Kjell Qvale because they lived 8 blocks from each other, and Thoresen collected Ferrari's. And we know that Qvale imported sports cars from overseas. Did Thoresen have a dispute with Stine over cab fair and decide to have him killed over it? Thoresen's mansion was once raided by the ATF, who seized over 70 TONS of weapons. He was going through the trial process and still stockpiling more guns after being busted. Crazy! Oh yeah, he also was probably the murderer of Valerie Percy in Chicago a few years before the Zodiac killings. You should read up on this guy if you get a chance. Forgot one more thing. Thoresen had hired an architect to do some work on his mansion, and refused to pay this guy for his work. The architect lived at the corner of Washington & Cherry a couple years before the Stine murder, but had moved by 1969.

Richard
4/13/2015 08:22:57 pm

Was the 1899 Waller St and 643 Waller St a connection that ever passed the Zodiac's mind or is it coincidence.

Richard
4/13/2015 08:32:45 pm

Also a line drawn from the center of Mt Diablo through the bold SFPD=0, passes over 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco Police Department.


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    The Zodiac Killer may have given us the answer almost word-for-word when he wrote PS. The Mt. Diablo Code concerns Radians & # inches along the radians. The code solution identified was Estimate: Four Radians and Five Inches To read more, click the image.
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