ZODIAC CIPHERS
Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
  • Home
    • Search This Site With Google
    • My Interview on the Zodiac Killer Channel
    • The Mount Diablo Map and Code Solution
  • Zodiac News
    • Zodiac News Archives
    • Santa Barbara Attack
    • Cheri Jo Bates
    • The Confession
    • Riverside Desktop Poem
    • Bates Letter
    • The Forgotten Victims
    • Zodiac RSS Feed
    • Welsh Chappie - Zodiac News
  • Lake Herman Murders
    • Blue Rock Springs Attack
    • Vallejo Times Letter
    • Examiner Letter
    • Chronicle Letter
    • Complete 408 Cipher
    • Vallejo and Benicia Map
    • Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong Murders
    • Debut of Zodiac Letter
  • Lake Berryessa Attack
    • Presidio Heights Attack
    • Call to Chat Show
  • 340 Cipher
    • Bus Bomb Letter
    • Betsy Aardsma Murder
    • The Fairfield Letter
    • Melvin Belli Letter
    • Santa Barbara Murders 1970
    • Modesto Attack
    • My Name is Cipher
    • Dragon Card and Button Letter >
      • Phillips Road Map
    • The Sleeping Bag Murders
    • The Little List Letter
  • The Halloween Card
    • Lake Tahoe Disappearance
    • Los Angeles Times Letter
    • The Monticello Card
    • The Exorcist Letter
  • SLA Letter
    • Red Phantom Letter/American Greetings Card
    • The 1978 Letter
    • Zodiac Letters Real or Fake
    • Zodiac Documentary
    • Zodiac Killer Net Forum - Hot Topics
    • Unsolved Mysteries
    • The Colonial Parkway Murders
  • Suspects
    • Arthur Leigh Allen
    • Rick Marshall
    • Lawrence Kane
    • Theodore Kaczynski
    • Richard Gaikowski
    • Gareth Penn
    • Jack Tarrance

IF THEY WERE LICKED, THEY WILL MATCH

8/17/2020

 
Picture
On November 21st 1983 and July 31st 1986, the bodies of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth were found raped and strangled in Narborough and Enderby in Leicestershire, England. These were the first murder cases ever solved using DNA technology.

The crimes were initially believed to have been committed by a mentally challenged 17-year-old by the name of Richard Buckland, who under questioning admitted the murder of Dawn Ashworth. That is until Alec Jeffries, who along with Peter Gill and Dave Werrett, developed the science of DNA fingerprinting - and with the cooperation of Leicestershire Constabulary - mass screened 5,500 men over a six month period. The perpetrator was not identified, because the guilty man had commandeered one of his work colleagues to stand in for him.

Ian Kelly admitted to fellow workers in a pub that he had given blood under the assumed identity of his colleague and was subsequently reported to police by a woman who overheard his admission. This ultimately led to the arrest of bakery worker, Colin Pitchfork on September 19th 1987, whose DNA fingerprint matched the semen samples recovered from both girls. It also exonerated Richard Buckland. Colin Pitchfork was sentenced to a minimum term of 30 years, later reduced to 28. 

Ironically, the murder of Dawn Ashworth would come on the seventeen year anniversary of the trinity of Zodiac letters mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969 - and the subject of DNA speculation to this day. The Zodiac letters have undergone much scrutiny with regards to securing DNA from behind the envelope seals and stamps. But to this day, the case appears as cold as the night when David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were callously murdered in Benicia, California on December 20th 1968. There has been a raging debate on whether any Zodiac DNA exists on the letters from 1969 and 1970, either because of degradation, mishandling and bad storage. Or whether the Zodiac Killer ever licked the stamps and envelopes at all. This argument could be put to bed once and for all, by testing the 1986 and 1987 Zodiac letters. Incorrectly labelled as hoaxed letters, both communications can be linked by one author, as well as to the 1969 Vallejo Times-Herald envelope, which we know was mailed by the genuine Zodiac Killer.                

Picture
These letters were mailed on May 6th 1986 and October 28th 1987, when police forces in America should have been well aware of the potential of DNA evidence after the two cases in England. Timothy Spencer became the first American murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence in 1988. Law enforcement at this juncture must have known the importance of evidence storage and preservation, that included both the 1986 and 1987 letters. Whether or not they initially ruled them out by the unscientific approach of handwriting analysis thirty-three years ago, this is not good enough reason to rule them out in 2020. Rather than flogging the 1969 and 1970 envelopes to death, which so far has generated little headway, these letters (which should have been stored correctly) have a greater potential for the discovery of DNA. Law enforcement should have been well aware of these latest advances in DNA technology by the close of the 1980s, but a common criminal may not have been up to speed. Both of these communications were mailed just prior to the conviction of Timothy Spencer.

Testing both letters would finally answer the crucial question to the satisfaction of everybody, of whether [1] The 1986 and 1987 letters were licked by the same author and sender, and [2] Whether either letters were licked at all. These communications should have been stored correctly (despite being deemed inauthentic by handwriting experts) - and if so - should be the first port of call in the search for DNA from the Zodiac Killer. But they won't be.      
Mo
8/17/2020 06:09:35 am

Another interesting post Richard.

It appears that DNA can also be extracted from fingerprints left on fabric. Therefore, it's possible to extract DNA from the one of the several samples of Stine's shirt that were mailed by Zodiac.

https://www.in-the-loop.net.au/fingerprints-lifted-fabric/

https://www.cnet.com/news/police-researchers-lift-fingerprints-from-fabric/#:~:text=%22Fingerprints%20left%20on%20fabric%20and,Crave

Richard
8/17/2020 07:47:21 am

That is right Mo. I used to think that maybe one day forensics would develop so that investigators could vacuum the air of a crime scene in a confined space, in order to isolate exhaled cells and water vapour from the process of breathing. But obviously within a limited time period subsequent to the crime. If not from the air, from the victim themselves, over which the perpetrator had to breathe.

Touch DNA from garments and fabric unfortunately are not likely to exist after 50 years, and even after days. Much smaller trace evidence such as touch DNA is extremely susceptible to degradation over smaller periods of time than sealed areas such as stamps and envelopes, and much more likely to have become contaminated. The inside of gloves likely a better option than say a shirt piece or bullet cartridges. But all extremely vulnerable to the passage of time. Even if they had dismissed the 1986 and 1987 letters originally, that should be no barrier to testing them, as it wasn't for the 1978 letter. What have they got to lose, other than their own prejudices towards these communications. I don't expect this is high priority with the hideous backlog of DNA cases in the USA (including rape kits), underfunding and incompetence from elected officials, current murder cases a higher priority and the Covid19 pandemic raging. The Zodiac case wasn't high priority 2 years ago, and certainly won't be now, unless undertaken through private investment.

BB
8/17/2020 08:00:46 am

Mo and Richard - excellent points

Shawn
8/17/2020 07:43:02 am

I think if there was any shred of usable DNA the authorities would have followed the evidence to an end. Given how important this case is.

Since we have not heard anything regarding the DNA I presume they have nothing significant.

Seems like only shows found on the History Channel/FX have the ability to squeeze any info related on what is going on with DNA....good or bad.

I do not know if authorities would go outside the confirmed? letters to follow any DNA lead. To them, at this point, it might be a waste of time and potentially embarrassing to have waste resources to trace down a hoaxer.

Just my 2 cents.

Richard
8/17/2020 08:02:13 am

I believe the later letters should be the most productive Shawn, because (in theory) they should have been handled and stored in the correct manner, as opposed to how evidence was treated in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Remember the Lake Herman Road crime scene, when they stuck an old blanket over the body of Betty Lou. If you had done that in 1986 or beyond, you should have been run out of town. That became apparent with the red trilobal car fibres in the Atlanta Child murders of the late 70s, early 80s. Many might not agree with my opinion regarding the 1986 and 1987 letters, but when the first person put forward the notion of a spherical earth, he was probably the only person in the world to believe he was right. This isn't anywhere near this significant, but if investigators aren't prepared to step outside the box, or even accept the notion of testing letters they had previously dismissed, then nothing will be gained. What is there to lose?

Shawn
8/17/2020 07:50:28 am

By the way...

It seems like your comment sections are not searchable on Google like with other Zodiac message boards.

Is there a reason for this?

Richard
8/17/2020 08:05:08 am

No they're not Shawn. That is a question for Weebly. Probably because they are standalone forums and not websites with comments attached.

Richard
8/17/2020 08:12:12 am

Also Shawn, if somebody posts a ridiculous, inflammatory or conspiratorial comment, it would be attributed under the title of any Zodiac news article I wrote. It could therefore affect the likelihood of somebody clicking on that article, if they believed the text under the article on Google was attributable to the author of the article. A forum on the other hand doesn't conflate the two, it's totally composed of opinions, without the prefix of an article.

Shawn
8/17/2020 10:00:32 am

Ok,

There are lots of important comments contributed by commentators here that other Zodiac Killer researchers might find very useful.

Several times I have found very useful information on the Zodiac Killer Site using Google.

U do not have moderators which helps. I also notice one cannot even search comments using this site search.

Richard
8/17/2020 10:15:44 am

I agree Shawn, many good comments by contributors to this site. If I had my way, I would incorporate them into a Google search, but unfortunately I don't have control of the functionality of the website, as it is controlled by a third party, ie: Weebly.

Comments in Google pertain to separate threads, and people know they are forums, not attributable to the moderators of that forum. Only the author to each individual post on that thread. But if you take the same scenario and call the title of this article a thread, Google will post the title of this article, then would attribute a random comment to it. Even if that comment was excellent, it would be placed under the title of this article on Google, that people reading on Google could mistakenly attribute to the website and hence me. Rather than an independent contributors. There is no such conflict in a forum, because the format is understood.

Richard
8/17/2020 10:21:04 am

Also you are correct, that the search doesn't pick up comments, which is a shame. But again, I have no control over this. The only way I could achieve this, is build a website from the ground up, and not rely on a third party. Unfortunately, it's a little bit late for that.

Richard
8/17/2020 10:23:54 am

You can type in Zodiac Ciphers Shawn.

Search Results
Web results

Zodiac Admitted 340 Not a Real Cipher - ZODIAC CIPHERS
www.zodiacciphers.com › zodiac-news › zodiac-admitt...
4 Jun 2018 - Many have questioned whether the November 8th 1969 340 cipher was ... Shawn. 6/4/2018 06:27:14 am. Do not forget John Rose 340 solution ...

THE UNION CIPHER DISK - ZODIAC CIPHERS
www.zodiacciphers.com › zodiac-news › the-union-cip...
27 May 2020 - Yes Shawn, it's the first time I've ever seen 888 connected to a form of coding, other than the 13 symbol cipher, so I thought was worth covering.

Zapoleon
8/17/2020 09:05:58 am

I kinda feel them being deemed inauthentic probably saw them letters get bundled with the no doubt countless other hoax letters they have gotten down the years. Sadly probably not practical for them to properly store every possible one they got. Especially if the experts never really thought they were legit.

Even if they matched the DNA from those letters to some one like ALA, They vast majority of people would just claim ALA wrote those ones to insert himself into the case. It's probably difficult to justify spending money on something which doesn't really resolve a 50 year old case.

Richard
8/17/2020 09:34:00 am

I remember the James Hanratty case (A6 murder) Zapoleon, where John Gregston was murdered and Valerie Storie was raped and left paralyzed. Hanratty was executed in 1962, but family, friends and high profile celebrities for years claimed he was wrongfully executed. DNA was recovered from Valerie's underwear and off a gun, which matched. Family and friends petitioned that DNA be used to exonerate James Hanratty. Eventually he was exhumed and DNA taken. It proved conclusively that James Hanratty was the murderer and rapist. But guess what, the family/friends now claimed the DNA had been contaminated. If the DNA had exonerated Hanratty, they would have accepted it with open arms, but because it showed he was guilty they didn't accept it. This is hypocrisy at its finest.This proves that the only result they ever would have accepted, is one that went in their favour. Now apply that to the Zodiac case such as Robert Graysmith. When DNA initially ruled Allen out, what did Graysmith say. Degradation, cross contamination and Allen didn't like licking stamps. Proof positive that DNA will only resolve the Zodiac case, if you have honest actors, rather than excuse-mongers.


Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    All
    13 Hole Postcard
    148 Character Cipher
    1978 Letter
    1986 Letter
    1987 Letter
    2001 Happy New Year Card
    Albany Letter
    Allan/Peyton Murders
    Arthur Leigh Allen
    Atlanta Letter
    Betsy Aardsma
    Blue Rock Springs Attack
    Bus Bomb Letter
    Button Letter
    Call To Chat Show
    Carol Beth Hilburn
    Channel 9 Letter
    Cheri Jo Bates
    Cipher Theories
    Citizen Card
    Concerned Citizen Card
    Confession Letter
    Daniel Williams Poisoning
    Debut Of Zodiac Letter
    Deep Real Estate Ad
    DMV Letter
    Domingos/Edwards Murders
    Donald Lee Bujok
    Donna Lass
    Dragon Card
    Earl Van Best Jr
    Eureka Card
    Exorcist Letter
    Fairfield Letter
    Fingerprint Evidence
    Forecast For Cancer
    Forecast For Leo
    Gareth Penn
    General News Articles
    Gilbert And Sullivan
    Good Citizen Letter
    Halloween Card
    Hood/Garcia Murders
    Internet Articles
    Joan Webster
    Judith Hakari
    Kevin Robert Brooks
    Lake Berryessa Attack
    Lake Herman Road Murders
    Lake Tahoe Disappearance
    Larry Kane
    Leona Roberts Murder
    Los Angeles Letter
    Melvin Belli Letter
    Mike Morford (Morf13)
    Modesto Attack
    Molina/Rodriguez Murders
    Monticello Card
    My Name Is Letter
    Nancy Bennallack
    New Canaan Letters
    Novato Letter
    Oakland A's Letter
    Pines Card
    Possible Zodiac Attacks
    Possible Zodiac Letters
    Presidio Heights Murder
    Radians
    Red Phantom Letter
    Richard Gaikowski
    Riverside Desktop Poem
    Robert Salem Murder
    Ross Sullivan
    Saechao/Saelee Murders
    San Jose Code Letter
    Santa Claus Card
    Scotch Tape Letter
    Sla Letter
    Tamalpais Valley Attack
    Ted Kaczynski
    Telegraph Avenue Incident
    The 340 Cipher
    The 408 Cipher
    The Celebrity Cypher
    The Little List
    The Mikado
    Thomas Horan
    You Are Next Letter
    Zodiac Letters Poll
    Zodiac Postage
    Zodiac Theories

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    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.
    Picture
    Picture
    The Zodiac Atlas: The Zodiac Killer Enigma by Randall Scott Clemons. Click image for details.
    Picture
    The Zodiac Killer Map: Part of the Zodiac Killer Enigma by Randall Scott Clemons. Click image for color version
    For black and white issue..
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    January 2012

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from Marcin Wichary, zAppledot, vyusseem, Alex Barth, Alan Cleaver, jocelynsart, Richard Perry, taberandrew, eschipul, MrJamesAckerley