This topic has been covered before on the Zodiac Killer forums, but it deserves another airing after receiving minimal attention.
On December 26th 1973, The Exorcist film, directed by William Friedkin and based on a novel by William Peter Blatty, was released over the festive period to an eagerly anticipated American audience, who were both shocked and amazed in equal measure. Reactions ranged from laughter and enjoyment, to vomiting, fainting, suicide, miscarriage, the clutching of rosary beads and the inevitable response of the church, who for the most part, found the movie ill-timed and offensive. However, this was no deterrent to a voracious public, quite prepared to queue around the block for hours in freezing weather. The Exorcist became the second most lucrative film that year behind The Sting, grossing $66.3 million during its initial run. It played to captivated audiences at the Northpoint Theatre, 2290 Powell Street, San Francisco, with quite possibly one person in attendance who was less than impressed.
January 12th 1974 newspaper article The film and its audience reaction was covered by San Francisco Chronicle reporter, Paul Avery, who released an article entitled Weird Goings-On At the Movies on January 11th 1974. One person had a fixation with the San Francisco Chronicle and Paul Avery, having addressed the reporter personally on at least two occasions. Therefore, despite the Zodiac Killer story having largely vanished from the newspapers, it seems rather unusual that later on that night, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer would ring the San Francisco Police Department and several newspaper outlets, making a chilling claim that would cause police "to run all over town with".
The caller claimed to have murdered a woman and placed her body inside a Daly City church. Despite the police suspecting it was the usual hoax, the storyline of The Exorcist film and the publication by Paul Avery just hours earlier, makes the premise of the caller being the Zodiac Killer appear much more likely, when one considers the arrival of The Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974, just over two weeks later. The phone calls and letter, seemingly with The Exorcist film the common thread, after barely, if any Zodiac activity for two years, could be argued as having originated from the same responsible.
When we also consider that The Exorcist letter was mailed from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County, of which Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, one could be forgiven for believing the mailing location of The Exorcist letter was deliberately chosen because of the threat of murder bestowed upon the churches of Daly City.
The phone calls to the San Francisco Police Department and newspaper outlets occurred eighteen days prior to the postmarked date of The Exorcist letter, so either they are bound by the real Zodiac Killer, a hoaxer was responsible for both phone calls and letter, or quite possibly, the hoax phone calls reinvigorated the authentic Zodiac Killer from hibernation into action once again. But if the Daly City wild goose chase was connected to the January 11th 1974 newspaper article by Paul Avery and The Exorcist film, why would a phone caller playing games with police, need to invoke the name of the Zodiac Killer after very little newspaper publicity regarding the case during the last two years? For somebody to make several phone calls on January 11th 1974 claiming to be Zodiac Killer, shortly followed by a similar inference in The Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974, may lend credence to the authenticity of this later communication.
The caller claimed to have murdered a woman and placed her body inside a Daly City church. Despite the police suspecting it was the usual hoax, the storyline of The Exorcist film and the publication by Paul Avery just hours earlier, makes the premise of the caller being the Zodiac Killer appear much more likely, when one considers the arrival of The Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974, just over two weeks later. The phone calls and letter, seemingly with The Exorcist film the common thread, after barely, if any Zodiac activity for two years, could be argued as having originated from the same responsible.
When we also consider that The Exorcist letter was mailed from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County, of which Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, one could be forgiven for believing the mailing location of The Exorcist letter was deliberately chosen because of the threat of murder bestowed upon the churches of Daly City.
The phone calls to the San Francisco Police Department and newspaper outlets occurred eighteen days prior to the postmarked date of The Exorcist letter, so either they are bound by the real Zodiac Killer, a hoaxer was responsible for both phone calls and letter, or quite possibly, the hoax phone calls reinvigorated the authentic Zodiac Killer from hibernation into action once again. But if the Daly City wild goose chase was connected to the January 11th 1974 newspaper article by Paul Avery and The Exorcist film, why would a phone caller playing games with police, need to invoke the name of the Zodiac Killer after very little newspaper publicity regarding the case during the last two years? For somebody to make several phone calls on January 11th 1974 claiming to be Zodiac Killer, shortly followed by a similar inference in The Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974, may lend credence to the authenticity of this later communication.
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