NAME DROPPER

5/21/2016

On Monday October 12th 1970 the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article entitled Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac. Just two weeks later, the Zodiac Killer would respond when he mailed the Halloween Card to Paul Avery, a prominent San Francisco Chronicle reporter. This card, containing two skeletons, opened with the phrase "I feel it in my bones, you ache to know my name. And so I'll clue you in..' This on the face of it seemed like a direct response to the Chronicle article, but what clue was the Zodiac prepared to give us in this card regarding his identity or name. Before we tackle this problem, we shall fast forward to the Exorcist Letter, mailed to the Chronicle on January 29th 1974 and investigate any possible clues within this correspondence. This first part has been covered previously, however, this will be expanded upon as we delve a little deeper.
The Exorcist Letter appeared a curious blend of two productions; The Mikado (1885), a satirical portrait of Victorian England, and the horror classic The Exorcist (1973), ironically labeled "the best saterical comidy that I have ever seen" by the Zodiac Killer. The Exorcist Letter appears a mismatch of genres, an unholy alliance of mixed messages, unless of course it was designed this way to provide us with a hidden clue to his identity or name.

On the left is an excerpt from the Exorcist Letter.
After a line such as "Signed, yours truley", one would expect the sender to provide us with a name, yet here the Zodiac Killer gives us a line from The Mikado's On a tree by a river, part of Act Two. Is his name concealed within these lines? In the article 'The Best Saterical Comidy,' this idea was explored. The name William can be abbreviated to Will, Bill, Billy, Willy, or Willie. It can be seen that these lines contain the names 'Bill and Will' several times. This of course is meaningless on its own, until you wrangle with the unusual alliance of The Exorcist and The Mikado.

The Exorcist is an American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and adapted for screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 book. The Mikado was created by Gilbert and Sullivan, however, one half of the duo was Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, to effectively give us the three William's in the excerpt above, and tempt us with the phrase "Signed, yours truley, William". The inspiration for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist (1971) was the real life exorcism of Roland Doe, a 13-year-old Maryland boy, in 1949. Father William S. Bowdern, S.J. was central to this exorcism, assisted by Walter Halloran and William Van Roo, a third Jesuit priest, bringing our total to five.

In the San Francisco Chronicle article Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac, Paul Avery wrote "Sheriff's detective sergeant Kenneth Narlow of Napa County has fruitlessly followed up another 900 tips to Zodiac's identity since September 27th 1969". Did the Zodiac take this line and incorporate it into the Halloween Card, using the pumpkin fruit to effectively reveal his identity, by deliberately placing the pumpkin over the groin and then removing it, to expose his identity. The groin becomes fruitless, yet reveals a name? I'm afraid you've guessed it - Willy. While this is highly improbable, the Zodiac Killer did present a rather immature element in much of his correspondence. In an attempt to reinforce this identity we shall proceed. The Halloween Card is obviously a reference to the Western Christian celebration of All Hallows Day on October 31st, hence the use of the spiders web, skeletons and pumpkin within the card. The most notable addition to the card was the pumpkin, so other than its deliberate positioning, has it any further significance to the Zodiac Killer's identity? The pumpkin itself is carved out on Halloween to create a spooky or ghostly face and lit on the inside to create a menacing glowing effect. This is termed a 'Jack o' lantern' or 'Will o the wisp' - an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night.

Click image for full picture

The Zodiac Killer placed numerous eyes on the Halloween Card, accompanied by the words "peek-a-boo you are doomed", wrapped around the knothole in the tree. This, on the face of it, appeared a veiled threat towards San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, but was it yet another clue to his identity?

'Blind Bat', a member on the Zodiac Killer Site forum displayed an interesting connection to the Halloween Card, involving the "peek-a-boo" phrase the author added to the greeting card. The picture on the right demonstrates this perfectly with the Zodiac-like letter K, with the eyes and eyelashes eerily similar to the depiction on the Halloween Card itself. William V Peekaboo Pennington Senior was a San Francisco private detective, described as a cattle man, private investigator, theater owner, building contractor, oil man and member of the Eastern Star, a freemasonry related order established in 1850 by Rob Morris. He moved to San Francisco in 1924 and performed investigative duties for prominent lawyers and attorneys, including Melvin Belli, who became closely embroiled in the Zodiac Killer case. The Halloween Card provides us with two full, and two abbreviations of William, when we consider the following.

Guy Williams as Zorro

The Halloween Card is the only time the Zodiac Killer used the letter Z on his correspondence, other than the Cheri Jo Bates letters of 1966, which has still not been definitively linked to the Bay Area murderer. He places the letter Z on the envelope and the inside of the card - but in addition to this - the Zodiac Killer places a Zorro style mask on the skeleton. Is this a further clue? Had the Zodiac spent his formative years in the 1950s, Zorro would have been a high profile television series, made into two Walt Disney films, The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959). The Disney television series ran from 1957 to 1959, and this, along with the two movies starred Guy Williams.

Revisiting the subject of Melvin Belli, the Zodiac Killer wrote a personal correspondence to the prominent lawyer on December 20th 1969. In this correspondence he stated "I will loose all controol of myself and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer". This phrase is remarkably similar to a message scrawled on the wall of murder victim Frances Brown, who was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds, with the actual knife found protruding from the victim's neck, along with a bullet wound to the head. The killer had left a calling card, in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. See here. It said: "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself". The Zodiac Killer wrote (edited) "I will loose all controol of myself. Please help me. I can not remain in control for much longer". The killer William Heirens, known as the 'Lipstick Killer', was convicted of the murders of three females over a seven-month period. Was the letter mailed to Melvin Belli a plea for help or just another subtle clue to his identity.

Patricia Campbell Hearst

Paul Avery extensively covered the Patty Hearst affair, along with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tim Findley, something the Zodiac was unlikely to miss. The Zodiac Killer has been credited with the 'SLA Letter' mailed on February 3rd 1974, the day before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4th 1974. There are two links here, in that Patty Hearst was the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who gained control of the San Francisco Examiner from his father. But more importantly, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) leaders were Donald De Freeze and William Harris. One of its founding members was Willie Wolfe.

In the article 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac', Paul Avery wrote "Zodiac is still at large today. And he is now claiming he has murdered thirteen persons. Homicide detectives who've been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is as much an enigma now as he was on December 20th 1968, when he chalked up his first two victims". In chalk-like writing, the Zodiac would now be claiming a potential fourteen victims in the Halloween Card - but was it revealing a lot more than initially thought?

The Little List letter mailed on July 26th 1970 heavily featured two portions of The Mikado. The seventh line of Mikado Act One Part 5a As some day it may happen reads "All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat". The Zodiac Killer paraphrases this verse to "All children who are up in dates and implore you with im platt". It could simply be that he was attempting to write the letter F, and accidentally formed the letter P - but if not.........

19 Comments

Alex

5/21/2016 08:31:03 pm

Hey Rich Never saw this before but the My Name Is line of cipher seems to have a clear anagram that reads:

"My Name Is. . . K A N E O F M A N Y or maybe even K A N E, O N E O F M A N Y.

2nd Objective Opinion on this as a possibility?

Richard

5/22/2016 02:06:01 am

Hi Mr Welsh, have you had a Zodiac sabbatical. Anything is possible Alex. The 'Kane Cipher', despite being short and potentially unsolvable, to me is the most intriguing, particularly regarding the symmetrical 8's or Taurus symbols. This is certainly not random, and these three symbols by themselves have meaning. I cannot help thinking they contain a religious element, particularly in view of the Celtic Cross moniker and horoscope element. I don't believe Lawrence Kane was the Zodiac Killer, despite your excellent work on him, but then again I don't believe in any of the mentioned suspects in the case. If I were the Zodiac Killer and Lawrence Kane, I certainly wouldn't create a cipher with my name so easily identifiable, although having said that, even a full name is not enough for a conviction without corroborating tangible evidence, so you never know. Kane was certainly one of many aliases he had, that is for sure. In favour of Kane has always been 217 Eddy Street and the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, these two things alone are worthy avenues to pursue, my only problem was the letters that were posted in San Francisco, long after Kane moved away. But hey Welsh keep on exploring, you never know.

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 02:31:28 pm

" I don't believe Lawrence Kane was the Zodiac Killer, despite your excellent work on him,"

That's OK mate because neither am I sure at all of Kane's guilt, I just wrote the site laying out the case against Him to air a Personal Point of View that of the top 4 or 5 suspects, Kane, for me, is the most likely.

Now there are sites where to disagree with the Site's Creator will see a temper tantrum and your immediate dismissal, but seen as you and I are adults and who are not mentally 6 - 10 years of age, then we can more than accept and respect other peoples opinions even when they may be different to your own. I do believe it's called being members of a 'Democratic Society.' :-)

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 02:42:38 pm

"Hi Mr Welsh, have you had a Zodiac sabbatical."

Yes and it lasted 17 minutes and 39 seconds. I am pinning my hopes on there being an After-Life Richard so I can tell the Zodiac what a completely annoying, yet overly addictive, He is!

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 03:01:06 pm

Rich you've always wondered why the initial sketch was suddenly amended and on who's description or account. Well, I have always just assumed it was Donald Fouke and this clip seems to suggest that is exactly who helped to amend the original . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujxg2Olsekc

Richard

5/28/2016 03:11:13 pm

Yes I have always believed it was Fouke and his description was clearly taken into account on page 2 of the Stine report, where it describes a man in his early forties. A description that tallied with Fouke more than the teenagers. It could never have been given by Zelms, as a month later Fouke was still unaware of whether Zelms had even seen Zodiac and stated as much in his memorandum.

Richard

5/28/2016 03:19:51 pm

The Alphabet murders were interesting:
Carmen Colon in Churchville November 16th 1971
Michelle Maenza in Macedon November 26th 1973
Wanda Walkowicz in Webster.April 2nd 1973.

Amazingly separate to this case Joseph Naso killed four people in California in 1977,1978,1993,1994.
Carmen Colon (not the Rochester, New York, victim of the same name)
Pamela Parsons
Roxene Roggasch,
Tracy Tofoya.

A Carmen Colon twice, hardly a common name.

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 05:44:03 pm

"It could never have been given by Zelms, as a month later Fouke was still unaware of whether Zelms had even seen Zodiac and stated as much in his memorandum."

Yes but Rich that's likely just for the Eric's protection more than the actual truth. There isn't a doubt in my Rich Eric saw that white guy, otherwise we'd have to believe that there are two men travelling in the same vehicle looking for a suspect. The passenger is on the same side of the sidewalk as the offender as the two parties head straight toward each other and Eric is looking to His left keeping a watchful eye on Don side of the street and completely misses Him. Meanwhile, the Driver of the car, Mr D Fouke, He observes elasticated jacket cuffs and remembers remarkable detail. But the two occupants of this vehicle don't talk and as such, Don never bothers telling Eric or alerting Him when He spots the WMA with "Look! turning up them steps there!"

I would really advise caution before you believe them cops Rich just because they are cops, they are cops who have an agenda to be less than totally Honest. If it were not for Z Himself forcing their hand, then Don wouldn't have come forward to say He had seen a WMA either.

Richard

5/22/2016 02:12:32 am

See if you can dig up any extra info on Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane for me, using your investigative powers, after all William Blatty fits in the cipher perfectly. Shame the three 8's weren't three 6's, we may have something then.

Greg H.

5/21/2016 10:36:11 pm

Very interesting, Richard. A few nights ago I began thinking about an approach somewhat opposite to the hyper-analytical methodology that has been employed in many keen, searching Zodiac investigations. What happens when we take a considerable step back from the case and, at least for a moment or two, are able to have a different insight in which we may be able to see the proverbial 'forest for the trees,' as it were? There certainly may be value in doing this even just for a short-lived thought experiment. What if these letters were merely off-the-cuff musings from no one particularly important that we, as attentive observers of the case, have vested with far more eminence than they deserve?

When I mute my personal fascination and look at the Zodiac killer for what it is I sometimes question if I've fallen victim to a self-induced drowning through this unsolved mystery, taken down by the perplexing oddities and coincidences this case provides in no short supply. But I wonder if that's my fault. Did I allow this to happen? Surely in the scope of 20th century history the Zodiac killer is barely a blip on the radar: a briefly active, not terribly prolific serial killer who rifled off a handful of letters to the press and then disappeared into the black corridors of the unknown. Have we made him into something much more than he actually was? That is the question I've been asking myself of late. It seems the sum total of time and effort Zodiac himself put into crafting this legacy is massively disproportionate to the scrutiny and regard he has received in consequence. It is truly a rather masterful, if not unintended, accomplishment that this killer has managed to inspire the one-of-a-kind synergy response and relationship that's taken place between he and his audience.

At times, though, I think he was just some enormously unpopular guy, maybe dwelling in his mother's basement who snuck out a few nights and shot a few people and then filled his bored hours writing some letters to the papers to see how far how he could take it. Needless to say, he pushed the envelope quite appreciably. But I think there's an aspect of the Zodiac killer that perhaps a good many of us might identify with. That feeling of being overlooked and invisible is something most of have dealt with at some stage of our lives. I think Zodiac's acts and especially his correspondences were ways of desperately seeking the attention he so lacked in his own life. The reason he was never caught could be because he was so much of an outsider and was largely incapable of being noticed. And I think we see, from time to time, people in life who fit that description; criminally shy lost souls are everywhere when we truly open our eyes and look. No one noticed him -- not even an entire city who turned over every stone in their quest to find the person responsible.

Richard

5/22/2016 01:49:45 am

That is a very hard question to answer Greg. If you look at communications such as the Bus Bomb Letter, the Zodiac seemed to put a lot of effort into this correspondence, went to great lengths with his Little List Letter and Phillips Map/Button Letter. In addition, if the 340 Cipher is genuine, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, then the Zodiac spent a disproportionate amount of time on his correspondence, as opposed to his murders, not withstanding the Lake Berryessa attack. It is without doubt he appeared to make his letter writing the primary focus, the murders almost took a back seat, as the means to an end. Undoubtedly many people, including myself read far more into his correspondence than is likely warranted, as the above article demonstrates, but we are a pattern seeking animal, who like order in a world of chaos. I am not convinced by my own argument above, I just spotted some coincidences and put it forward. I am certainly not protective of my theories and accept ridicule, as has been thrown at me before, but it doesn't deter me from putting an idea forward. I would put the likelihood of William being his name at a very small percentage, but you never know. Do I believe though, that the Zodiac correspondence holds hidden messages, the answer is yes, but how many and which I cannot answer. But it is this intrigue and mystery that drives us forward.

Chris F

5/22/2016 11:42:29 am

I post is info Friday on article titled "The Shadow of Old Montana State Prison
On the website https://welshchappie.wordpress.com/
Four documents below the document titled "Employee Request For Change In Records"
There is the document titled Master, 1-4b(Rev-7-19-77)
United Stated Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On the bottom of this form is Lawrence Kane's 116 Pondersoa Drive, Skyland, Nevada address.
Look this address up on Google Maps Satellite image below.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/116+Ponderosa,+Glenbrook,+NV+89413,+USA/@39.0203941,-119.9517646,143m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80999b4279a9a433:0x2b09df025f959258!8m2!3d39.02039!4d-119.951137?hl=en

Notice that LARGE pile of rocks/ boulders behind Kane's house.
Between Pondersoa Dr. and Skyland Dr. there are several natural rock formations.
There are several small piles of rocks at the end of Skyland Dr, but it is unusual to have this large of a pile in the back yard of a suspected killer.
I wonder What is under that pile of rocks?

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 09:41:36 pm

Hey Chris, not sure if you know or not but that site your referencing in regard to Kane and the documents is mine, I should comment under my pseudonym Welsh Chappie I suppose.

I had never google mapped that address, don't know why I had never thought of it. I was only saying to Sandy yesterday that I've never been to The California or the States in General for that matter and yet I've walked down Cherry and then Jackson streets a Hundred times on Google map street view :-)

Interesting find.

Richard

5/22/2016 01:08:38 pm

That is an extremely large amount of boulders. It is unlikely to conceal a body, as it just draws attention to itself. Trouble is we cannot get to street level to get a closer look. I know the form has Kane's address as 116 Pondersoa Drive, Skyland, Nevada. Are we sure that is Kane's house. This is what came up on Google Maps for me, slightly different.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/116+Ponderosa+Dr,+Glenbrook,+NV+89413,+USA/@39.0201071,-119.9506891,99m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80999b69e0825f57:0xd09be287d5371a71!8m2!3d39.0200564!4d-119.9506777?hl=en

Furthermore how does a petty criminal like Lawrence Kane afford a 953,000 dollar house. I will pass this over to Welsh Chappie Chris.

Alex Lewis

5/28/2016 09:58:50 pm

How did Kane afford to move around so much from place to place, moving costs are not cheap when many times you hopping from State to State. How did He afford luxury Lake front Condo's in Lake Tahoe? You need to be an awfully good real state salesman to buy places such as these.

I've suspected for A while He was a paid informant for the FBI. I base this on a press article stating the State had dropped Federal charges against Lawrence which would have seen Him with a chunky stretch inside, reduce the charges that were left remaining and this, the article reports, was because Kane had agreed to help cops out. Then He seemed to move around all over the place and always manage to turn up places under new names.

Richard

5/22/2016 01:14:38 pm

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/116-Ponderosa-Cir-Glenbrook-NV/7238993_zpid/

Richard

5/22/2016 01:16:50 pm

This is a Single-Family Home located at 116 Ponderosa, Zephyr Cove, NV. 116 Ponderosa has approximately 3,193 square feet. The property has a lot size of 1 and was built in 1977. The average list price for similar homes for sale is $1,787,695. 116 Ponderosa is in the 89448 ZIP code in Zephyr Cove, NV. The average list price for ZIP code 89448 is $1,182,892.

Chris F link

5/28/2016 10:05:32 am

Richard the information You found on Zillow is more accuracy than the stuff I found on Google Maps.
Richard ask "Furthermore how does a petty criminal like Lawrence Kane afford a 953,000 dollar house?"
Makes one wonder if Kane or His wife could have inherited money or land from their parents.

Ray Jenkins

10/24/2017 05:06:48 pm

Here is something a bit left of centre to consider. The California Libertarian Alliance (CLA) was founded in Oct. 1969. It is interesting that Stanford did not use the logical name Stanford Libertarian Alliance for their chapter, possibly because the initials SLA were too much like Symbionese Liberation Army. So this chapter added "Radical" to the title to differentiate it, making SRLA.

The student groups were mostly non-violent and peaceful, but some of their more extreme advocates preached "Subversion, Libertarianism and Anarchy". It occurs to me that these words also make the initials SLA.

So was the Zodiac asking us to "connect the dots" (ie. to "think logically as well as laterally")? Was he actually hinting at the Stanford Libertarian Alliance, by way of the SLA hint?

NAME DROPPER

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