"The San Francisco Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly". The Zodiac Killer's claim only two days after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, in a letter he mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, that would also give up a gruesome reminder - a piece of the blooded taxicab driver's shirt. The theory that our killer may have been connected to the military has been well documented, including Zodiac suspect and once army medic Richard Gaikowski, on account of the swatch of Paul Stine's shirt being torn neatly by hand - a practice used in emergencies and combat zones for use as tourniquets, bandages and such like. To read more on this visit Tom Voigt's message board. It has been questioned by many, that had Zodiac actually entered the park and watched proceedings as he claimed, then his capture would have soon followed. However, did he travel north through the park toward the San Francisco Bay area to hole up, suggesting a familiarity with the area, along with the military facility of the Letterman Army Medical Hospital?
The new Letterman Hospital was completed by Halverson and McLaughlin in 1968, a 550-bed facility, 445,000 square feet of floor, employing close to 2,000 personnel. It was crucial in treating soldiers injured from the Pacific Theater and the conflict in Vietnam, that lasted from 1955 to 1975 and the fall of Saigon.
In 1970, Letterman employees totaled approximately 1100 officers and 750 civilians. Patients were also shuttled from the Travis Air Base in Solana County to the Letterman Hospital using the Crissy US Army Airfield. After World War II a paved runway replaced the grass landing field and the Sixth Army Flight Detachment used Crissy Field for light utility and passenger planes, and helicopter operations. During the Vietnam war the Army used Crissy Field for liaison flights and MedEvac flights to transport wounded Vietnam soldiers 40 miles from Travis Air Force Base to the Presidio's Letterman Army Hospital, a trip by ambulance on surface roads would take too long and possibly be delayed by traffic into San Francisco. At the end of the Vietnam war in 1974 the Army closed Crissy Field to airplanes, though helicopter operations continued for several years. From Wikipedia.
Could the Letterman Hospital or Crissy Army Airfield supply any connection to our killer, either as employee or patient? Had our killer served in Vietnam during his 'quiet' periods? Was the Travis Air Force Base relevant? It is located near Fairfield, California, an area that supplied two pieces of Zodiac correspondence on December 7th and December 16th of 1969. The December 16th letter contained the text "this state is in trouble..I will go for the Goverment life", suggesting more of a connection with the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, but in view of American intervention in Vietnam controversial with many, a threat towards officialdom would carry some weight with disgruntled servicemen and the like. The Wing Walker boots responsible for the footprints at Lake Berryessa were issued to military personnel, but were also sold as army surplus from the Travis Air Force Base at Fairfield.
In 1970, Letterman employees totaled approximately 1100 officers and 750 civilians. Patients were also shuttled from the Travis Air Base in Solana County to the Letterman Hospital using the Crissy US Army Airfield. After World War II a paved runway replaced the grass landing field and the Sixth Army Flight Detachment used Crissy Field for light utility and passenger planes, and helicopter operations. During the Vietnam war the Army used Crissy Field for liaison flights and MedEvac flights to transport wounded Vietnam soldiers 40 miles from Travis Air Force Base to the Presidio's Letterman Army Hospital, a trip by ambulance on surface roads would take too long and possibly be delayed by traffic into San Francisco. At the end of the Vietnam war in 1974 the Army closed Crissy Field to airplanes, though helicopter operations continued for several years. From Wikipedia.
Could the Letterman Hospital or Crissy Army Airfield supply any connection to our killer, either as employee or patient? Had our killer served in Vietnam during his 'quiet' periods? Was the Travis Air Force Base relevant? It is located near Fairfield, California, an area that supplied two pieces of Zodiac correspondence on December 7th and December 16th of 1969. The December 16th letter contained the text "this state is in trouble..I will go for the Goverment life", suggesting more of a connection with the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, but in view of American intervention in Vietnam controversial with many, a threat towards officialdom would carry some weight with disgruntled servicemen and the like. The Wing Walker boots responsible for the footprints at Lake Berryessa were issued to military personnel, but were also sold as army surplus from the Travis Air Force Base at Fairfield.
Donna Ann Lass, missing, presumed dead, since September 6th 1970. The Letterman Hospital connection is difficult to nail down without comprehensive employee records to cross check. One such employee was Donna Ann Lass, who worked as a nurse at the Letterman Hospital before relocating to South Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1970 to work at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel in Stateline, Nevada. She will forever be linked as a possible Zodiac victim because of the disputed Pines card correspondence received at the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22nd 1971, six months after her disappearance. Donna Lass went missing at the end of her shift on the Labor Day weekend of September 6th 1970. Her remains have never been found. However, there is another possibility regarding a second employee of the Letterman Hospital, murdered only 2 years and 9 months after Donna Lass disappeared.
Rosa Vasquez (20) of 834 Bush Street was discovered close to the Arguello Boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973, the day after Memorial Day. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. This area was just one mile from the corner of the Washington and Cherry intersection. The murder of Rosa Vasquez has not been generally considered to be Zodiac related, having been grouped into other similar murders - notably Angela Thomas (16), Yvonne Quilantang (15) and Nancy Patricia Gidley (24). See here for more info.
Rosa Vasquez worked as a Keypunch Operator. A keypunch is a device for precisely punching holes into stiff paper cards at specific locations as determined by keys struck by a human operator. Now that rings a bell with the Zodiac, in particular the Pines and 13-Hole postcards, the former of which is supposedly referencing the disappearance of Donna Lass. Could the killer have worked alongside both young women, bearing in mind we have two possible murders inside of three years with respect to employees of the Letterman Hospital - what are the odds? As it stands, this is still a weak association - and 'clutching at straws' comes to mind
Rosa Vasquez (20) of 834 Bush Street was discovered close to the Arguello Boulevard entrance of the Golden Gate Park on May 29th 1973, the day after Memorial Day. She had been strangled and thrown from the nearby road. This area was just one mile from the corner of the Washington and Cherry intersection. The murder of Rosa Vasquez has not been generally considered to be Zodiac related, having been grouped into other similar murders - notably Angela Thomas (16), Yvonne Quilantang (15) and Nancy Patricia Gidley (24). See here for more info.
Rosa Vasquez worked as a Keypunch Operator. A keypunch is a device for precisely punching holes into stiff paper cards at specific locations as determined by keys struck by a human operator. Now that rings a bell with the Zodiac, in particular the Pines and 13-Hole postcards, the former of which is supposedly referencing the disappearance of Donna Lass. Could the killer have worked alongside both young women, bearing in mind we have two possible murders inside of three years with respect to employees of the Letterman Hospital - what are the odds? As it stands, this is still a weak association - and 'clutching at straws' comes to mind
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