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Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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I CAN DRIVE ANYWHERE

7/27/2020

 
Covered many times before, I would like to highlight what I believe is the most important aspect of the case with respect to locating and identifying the elusive Zodiac Killer (and because I've run out of material). This analysis is far from foolproof, but it relies on the instincts of a killer in the immediate aftermath of an attack or murder. I remember an episode of Dark Minds featuring M. William Phelps and John Kelly, in which an incarcerated serial killer stated his primary objective after the murder of a stranger, was to put as much distance between the victim and himself as soon as possible. Without any personal connection to his victim, there was no need for extensive concealment of the crime or interaction subsequent to the murder. The longer you linger in the near vicinity, the greater the risk of capture. This is exactly what happened at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 5th 1969, in which the Zodiac Killer failed to put the necessary distance between him and the crime scene that was available to him. He took 40 minutes to reach a payphone only 8-10 minutes away, effectively wasting 30 minutes in the interim. It has been suggested that the Zodiac Killer possibly parked up his vehicle and watched the unfolding events from a discreet location, or even went for a drink or bite to eat. While this is not impossible, is it the most realistic choice after a brutal attack near midnight on July 4th 1969?  

If you take a look at the Blue Rock Springs parking lot in the police report, it shows the bullet casings (slag) marked to the left of the passenger door, as though the bulk of the casings ejected to the shooter's left. Seven bullet casings were retrieved from this location, with two casings discovered on the back floorboard of the Corvair. This indicates that the killer must have leaned a considerable distance into the Corvair when returning and targetting Michael Mageau for the second time. At this juncture, Darlene Ferrin had been struck three times and Michael Mageau twice, having thrust himself backwards over the rear of the front passenger seat. There is a high probability that a killer leaning into the vehicle and over the front seat to sight Michael Mageau for the final two shots, would receive blood transfer from the vehicle interior onto his short-sleeved blue shirt. If the firearm continued to eject casings laterally, the gun would likely have to be some distance inside the vehicle for two of the casings to remain in the back passenger area of the Corvair. Any blood transfer from the seating to the perpetrator would now be a problem (whether the murderer has a jacket or not). Would a killer now choose to remain in the area 30 minutes longer than necessary in a public setting, seek refuge or place as much distance between himself and the crime scene as conceivably possible?         
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A killer living in San Francisco would greatly diminish his chances of getting caught by heading home immediately, and making any desired phone call to police from somewhere equidistant to the crime scene and his residence (such as Richmond or Novato), rather than linger in the near vicinity he was last seen heading by Michael Mageau. He risks vehicle identification, along with incrimination through blood transfer to his clothing and gunshot residue. Not withstanding, he may still be in possession of the firearm. If the killer had originally intended to make the phone call to police from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone immediately (before the crime had been discovered), then something changed those plans. He effectively took 40 minutes to accomplish a task that should have taken no more than 10 minutes. Visible blood transfer to his arms and clothing may have been the deciding factor. Head home and separate yourself from the vehicle, blood transfer, gunshot residue and clothing. Then, without any visibly incriminating evidence, head back to the nearest payphone to make the telephone call you so badly wanted to make. This is also not without risk, but significantly lower than being spotted covered in blood. 

Law enforcement would very likely have canvassed the area around the Springs and Tuolumne payphone for eyewitnesses to the call, and scoured the near vicinity for any vehicle identified by Michael Mageau. The Zodiac Killer probably used the appeal from Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz, who requested the writer to send a further correspondence "with more facts to prove it", as an opportunity to put distance between his residence and the payphone. He sent a correspondence to the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969 with some very useful information to help police. Having never mentioned any of his victims by name, or dwelled on their actual killings, before or since, he was extremely helpful in providing police with a extremely detailed and convenient eyewitness to his payphone call. Not only did this eyewitness see Zodiac make the telephone call, but he was very helpful in providing police with the color of the Zodiac Killer's vehicle. The problem is, the police don't seem to have any recollection of this "shabbily dressed negro male, about 40-45 years of age" in the police report, or in the subsequent 51 years. Despite the fact an admission of his existence and his contact with police, would place him in no jeopardy whatsoever in 2020, there has been no report or spoken word that this negro male ever existed. The over descriptive nature of this helpful eyewitness by Zodiac, seemed designed to convince the reader that Zodiac was driving around in a brown car 40 minutes after the Blue Rock Springs attack.       
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Why does a killer have to invent an eyewitness to his telephone call, if not to achieve a purpose? If law enforcement had been canvassing the local area, this was the perfect opportunity to redirect the police's attention. You first create a credible eyewitness by detailing his ethnicity, age range and what clothing he was wearing. Then your eyewitness can corroborate the testimony of Michael Mageau, who had on numerous occasions described his attacker's vehicle as brown. This adds validity to the claim of Zodiac, who is effectively cementing the notion of him driving around in a brown car. However, if police knew that no negro male had come forward with this information, then understandably they would have realized that the Zodiac Killer was selling them a story and justifiably have come to the conclusion that his vehicle wasn't brown at all. I highly doubt any serial killer voluntarily surrenders incriminating or helpful information to narrow the police search. In fact, the Zodiac Killer may have been doing quite the opposite.

It is my contention that the purpose of the section of letter highlighted above was primarily designed, not to throw police a curveball about the color of his vehicle, but to sell a story that he was still driving around in his vehicle. Why would a killer still be in this vicinity only 10 minutes from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot, 40 minutes later? Especially if he hadn't distanced himself from numerous pieces of incriminating evidence. The mention of my "car was brown" wasn't designed with the color of his vehicle in mind, it was designed to indicate that an eyewitness had corroborated he was still in possession of his vehicle through the testimony of Michael Mageau. The emphasis was placed on an eyewitness "walking by" to conveniently spot Zodiac as the phone rang, which drew his "attention to me + my car". The Zodiac Killer stated in the August 4th Debut letter, that "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". The mention of his car in this sentence is not required, other than to convince the reader he was still in tandem with his vehicle and could drive anywhere after the payphone receiver had been hung up. He chose his words carefully, so not to reveal he had walked to the payphone from a residence nearby. A residence he had to travel to immediately after the attack, because of blood transfer to his person from leaning inside the Corvair of Darlene Ferrin. The cries of Michael Mageau may have been his undoing. 
Shawn
7/27/2020 02:47:05 pm

"A killer living in San Francisco would greatly diminish his chances of getting caught by heading home immediately"

The path of least resistance does suggest that Zodiac lived in the Vallejo area with ALA as a good suspect.

I would also suggest Zodiac could have grown up in Vallejo or had deep family ties that made him comfortable being away from a home such as in San Francisco.

The fact that Zodiac used 4 stamps to mail the Vallejo Letter vs. 2 stamps for the Examiner and Chronicle from the Richmond District in S.F. suggest he was not sure how much postage would be needed to mail to Vallejo (even if he was purposely using too much postage.)

So does the Vallejo letter have more value to Zodiac because it is the first in the part of the cipher and has twice as much postage?

Maybe the Vallejo letter is a priority because the first two attacks occurred in the Vallejo area OR perhaps because he lived there.

I would think a person who lived in S.F. would be a little more concerned about getting the postage right for (the comparatively small town) of Vallejo than the average person living in Vallejo who would have more experience sending mail to the big Metropolis of San Fran.

Richard
7/27/2020 03:27:51 pm

I think the Vallejo letter was subconsciously chosen as part one and affixed with four stamps to indicate its importance above the others. The suggestion being it was his home town. Unless we adopt the approach it was a deliberate ruse by Zodiac. We know the percentages show that a serial killer's first crimes are predominantly within a 6 mile radius of their home, until they grow in confidence. Then we have the Benicia and Vallejo murders on possibly a working day with greater time constraints, as opposed to PH and LB.

After 51 years Shawn, I always prefer the path of least resistance or playing the percentages. There are always multiple other options, but in the case of where Zodiac lived, I see no benefit to take 40 minutes to make the call from a payphone 10 minutes away when you live 35-40 miles from the payphone, such as San Francisco. I find it extremely unlikely he avoided blood transfer to his clothing.

I believe Zodiac knew San Francisco fairly well, but likely worked there. I doubt you would post the vast majority of your letters from where you lived. I know I wouldn't. But then I'm not a psychopathic serial killer. Until I get a completely logical explanation of why a killer would lounge around in Vallejo at least 30 minutes longer than necessary, risking public exposure and the threat of capture, I see little reason to suspect a killer resident anywhere else but Vallejo. The Zodiac Killer certainly wasn't a halfwit - he had the mentality to fashion the 408 cipher, so he obviously would know the risk of hanging around on public streets for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Shawn
7/27/2020 04:12:00 pm

Vallejo Cold case Detective Poyser seems to be all in for ALA based on article written in the last few years.

There are reports that ALA (from Poyser) did not like to lick stamps (maybe envelopes too) and sometimes had neighborhood children lick them.

The unusual way Zodiac sealed the envelopes (not yet confirmed by source? Tom Voigt) is that he only licked? the tip (center) of the envelopes flap glue for sealing. So i guess the envelope was not sealed very well.

This bodes well for ALA as he did not like to lick the glue. So maybe he got the kids to lick the stamps and ALA would later just slightly dab the middle of the envelope flap for sealing.

Mo
7/27/2020 03:11:50 pm

Hey Richard,

Your theory definitely makes a lot of sense. However, this suggests that Zodiac may have been very close by, including possibly working at the gas station or even being one of the responding cops at the phone booth. However, below are some contrarian thoughts.

1. As you yourself stated before, police don't always publicly reveal everything about a crime. It is very possible that there was in fact a black witness. I doubt Zodiac would provide false information when it seems he was trying hard to prove to police, and the greater regional community, that he was in fact the murderer.

2. It's also possible that Zodiac observed a black witness to the ringing phone and his brown car and assumed that this witness would talk to police. However, this same black male may have left before the police arrived, or deliberately avoided speaking with law enforcement altogether (after all witnessing a ringing phone is not a big deal). Zodiac wouldn't have necessarily known this.

3. The part about the "damn thing ringing" is probably true given the fact that Zodiac did not hang the phone up after making a call following the subsequent killing at Lake Berryessa. It seems that after BRS Zodiac learned that the best way to ensure a phone doesn't ring is not to hang it up.

4. Remember that after the Stine killing, police mentioned nothing about a probable sighting/conversation with Zodiac. It was only after Zodiac himself wrote about it that SFPD finally came clean (partially at least) about the encounter. Therefore, I wouldn't automatically disregard what Zodiac said based on its absence from police reports.

5. While Zodiac's crimes and letters were brazen, he was calculating. He also took his sweet time after stabbing Cecilia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell before making the taunting call to David Slaight. It was over an hour later. Therefore, Zodiac likely made sure he discarded any possible evidence tying him to the crime scenes before making his calls just in case the police were able to trace his calls before he got away.Maybe he even changed cars.


Richard
7/27/2020 04:05:23 pm

To address point one first Mo, you are absolutely correct. There conceivably could have been a black witness at the payphone that police have never released to the public. I hope not, because that would ruin about ten of my articles gassing on about this. What I would say however, is how did Zodiac know what the black witness said to police. The suggestion is, that Zodiac assumed he told police of his brown car. But why would Zodiac assume that is what he said - after all - Mageau had been reported in the newspapers as stating the car was brown on numerous occasions prior to the August 4th letter (and we know Zodiac read the newspapers). Therefore it wasn't the black male who told police his vehicle was brown, it was Mageau. Zodiac couldn't possibly have overheard any conversation that night unless he was standing behind the black man. Zodiac may have observed the black witness and assumed he was going to report his brown car, but this would be helping the police if indeed his car was brown. The Zodiac was certainly attempting to prove he was the killer in the July 31st letters, but proving his car was brown when it was, seems a little over helpful. I would welcome any information on validating this eyewitness for my own sanity Mo, its just I don't like the over-selling of this eyewitness, describing him as shabbily dressed, about 40-45. Superfluous information, just like the "me + my car". I accept I could be over reading the August 4th letter, and I accept your points on other possibilities.

I will ask you a question Mo. Can you give me your best alternative to the 40 minute delay, without claiming police involvement? The gas station premise is one.

Mo
7/29/2020 11:33:44 pm

Hey Richard,

One possible alternative scenario is that Zodiac immediately headed home after the shooting, where he changed clothes, hid the gun and composed himself after shooting two people.

He then drove to the nearest pay phone (0.4 miles away) and made the call to Nancy Slover, but the ringing phone drew the attention of a nearby black male.

At this point, one of three things may have happened.

a. He assumes the cops will talk to the black witness.
b. He goes home and changes vehicles and drives back near the location of the phone booth, where he sees the cops talking to the black male.
c. He simply walks back from his nearby home and observes the cops talking to the black witness from afar.

I’m not saying any of these things happened, but I am reluctant to assume that Zodiac made the whole story up, especially since he was found to be truthful about encountering cops after the Stine murder. Also, identifying a witness by his race and clothes was likely meant to let the police know that he saw them questioning the witness.

Lastly, while there are no records of this witness in the police reports, the police never denied it either.

Richard
7/30/2020 01:14:32 am

Do you know what bugs me Mo, is the countless individuals who have had contact with the investigators down the years, particularly in interviews and documentaries. Why haven't they asked this pertinent question, or asked Nancy Slover when they had the chance "Do you know how long it took to ringback the phone"? Asked Pelissetti or Fouke why the timeline makes no sense? But every time I watch one of these shows, the same tired questions are broached. It cannot be that difficult to have discovered whether this negro male ever made contact with anybody.

The fact you and I have these pertinent questions after 51 years, suggests to me that somebody isn't doing their job correctly. Could you imagine if the negro male eyewitness question had been asked during the correct time period and the police categorically stated no such man contacted us or was interviewed, then we would know for certain Zodiac had an ulterior motive. If we knew how many seconds or minutes it took to ringback the payphone, it would be crucial in determining whether Zodiac was likely on foot or in his car. With very few living first hand people involved in the case left, time is running out. Along with memories.

Richard
7/30/2020 01:24:05 am

Also, why didn't they take footprint impressions of the man viewed by the 3 girls at Berryessa to compare with the footprint impressions at the murder scene. That would put a whole new light on the sketch supplied by the three girls and the vehicle they described. It would also have placed the PH sketch in a whole new perspective. If bootprints were left all the way down from vehicle to crime scene at Berryessa, then why wouldn't bootprints have been present everywhere the individual walked while "stalking" the three girls. But no such comparison was ever mentioned in the police report, despite the fact police found the girls testimony credible enough to include. Why didn't somebody ask one of the senior detectives this question?

Judith
7/28/2020 11:09:02 pm

So this is what I believe because I believe I know who he was. When the kids in San Francisco describe the killer calmly walking away, you can then understand how cool he was. I imagine after killing the kids at Blue Rock Springs he probably did sit there and watch the cops arrive from a distance, calmly smoking a cigarette. These are thrill killings for him as much as his other motivations. he was playing games with the police and therefore he would taunt them with clues and facts. Quit reading into his actions more than you need to. my suspect then would have made the phone call and then drove over the carquinez bridge his bronze corvair, to where he lived in El Sobrante. As the fog crept in. Good Night...

Mo
7/30/2020 01:55:39 am

I hear you Richard.

There seems to be only two things that are certain when reading about Zodiac. First, there were a lot of serial killings during that era; and 2. Law enforcement seemed to be much less trained, sophisticated or disciplined than they are today.

Mr Grumpy
7/30/2020 12:56:46 pm

There was also a dramatic spike in the number and percentage of unsolved murders in Calif, that began during that time. So 5 unsolved murders is an insignificant number statistically.


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