NEW IMAGES OF THE LAKE HERMAN ROAD CRIME SCENE

3/26/2017

Dave Oranchak unearthed some new videos of the Lake Herman Road crime scene from the San Francisco Bay Area news archives. Below are some relevant new images of the crime scene, showing the positions of the stricken couple within the turnout. The fourth image has been manufactured from two independent still frames, but nevertheless is a totally accurate representation, showing the position of David Faraday and the Rambler in the foreground, to Betty Lou Jensen at the western edge of the turnout. Some have been colorized to add clarity.
Here is the link to the video https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/231064 and to the thread on Zodiac Killer Site forum, where another new video featuring Paul Avery can be viewed.
Credits to Broadcasting of San Francisco, Inc and Alex Cherian.

To assess the distance from the right rear taillight of the Rambler to Betty Lou Jensen's head, two still frames have been used, capturing two white dots on the turnout floor. We know the approximate position of the rear of the Rambler next to David Faraday's outline, shown by the green dot in the below left image. Therefore when the camera pans to the right, shown in the below right image, the rear of the Rambler can still be estimated to a high degree. The orange line now gives us an unbroken image, showing the distance of the widely quoted 28 feet, from the Rambler to Betty Lou Jensen. The car in the distance is approximately 14 feet in length. The man approximately 5'8". This gives us a comparison of distances, despite the foreshortening of the camera angle.

7 Comments

Alex Lewis

4/18/2017 09:02:17 pm

The image where You've super-imposed the rambler into it shows why I still believe, for numerous reasons, Zodiac was not in a vehicle that night, certainly not pulled in where the assumed Z Car was parked anyway! The Real Vehicle in this same photo is stationary some 20ft away from Dave's rambler down the other end of the turn-out, kinda where James Owen's second and amended second vehicle position is claimed to have been.

OK, let's assume it was. Then Betty would have ran in that direction knowing full well that Her assailant's vehicles is what She's running toward with no idea if a second accomplice is inside. If Zodiac is within arms length when Betty takes off running why run into the open space without protection and toward a potential second waiting passenger in the Shooters car? I know this is all questioned with no threat imminent and using hindsight but why not use the thing Bettys is standing adjacent to and use it to shield herself from the shots,, namely, Dave's Car? Run around to other side then sprint for Humble Oil gated entrance right there because that's where people are that can help, not out on L.H Road.

I really believe He, The Zodiac, came from Humble Oil direction and sucked under the barrier which is why Faraday had no time to pull away as He certainly would have if Z parked 20 ft away when He arrives. This could also explain why Betty didn't run for Help from the factory staff because She knew 'He' had come from that very direction. You then have Pierre Bidou stating: "And again We turned onto that Road (Lake Herman) and on our way I am pretty sure that We did not pass any other vehicles going in the opposite direction."

FBI statistics prove that Serial Killers first strike will always be, almost without exception, the closest crime scene to their actual residence or a place they feel comfortable enough in to kill and have a sense of familiarity within that area or feel they have a safety net.

Can the FBI's evidence backed data ebe applied to LHR Crime scene also? I believe so. In both the first and the second Zodiac attack there is one singular common denominator, and it's Columbus Parkway. He traveled down that road before turning onto Lake Herman Road and probably parking in The Grounds of Humble Oil of On foot when He surprised Dave and Betty, or if He was in a car then just drove straight there off Columbus Parkway, and Blue Rock Parking Lot can only be accessed from the road by Columbus Parkway which, as Mike affirmed, is the road Zodiac came down before He turned into their parking lot.

Zodiac Himself is vague elsewhere in relation to street names such as announcing "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington streets and Maple streets last night" giving the suggestion to us as the reader that this writer does not know the actual name one street over from Maple which is Cherry. Again this suggests He picked Maple as a destination and knows that street because He will need to give a location to the cabbie and then when He ends up one block further claims ignorance of street name because, He want's to suggest, He isn't familiar at all with that general area. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the very sole reason He deliberately went one block further to Cherry st was to enable Hi to them write and suggest He has no idea what the actual name of the street is where He killed the taxi driver and can only offer us that it is "Over by Washington st and Maple streets'. Like Myself visiting South Korea and wishing to infer that I know not the Countries actual name and can only offer "I am the visitor to that Country over By North Korea but . . South a bit!

Alex Lewis

4/18/2017 09:24:27 pm

I meant to add that while vague about Presidio Heights actual Scene of Crime's street name being Cherry street, which in My mind there is no doubt He knew exactly where He was and at which specific intersection it was,but wanted to use suggestion and misdirection to ask readers to assume that He didn't, He nonetheless not only knew The Name of Columbus Parkway, He told Nancy that this was the road they'd need to be on and proceed to the public park where they'll find kids in a brown car, both shot with a 9mm luger.

He gets worse as time goes on in terms of claiming not to know names and places and in the end can only offer and recall "I am the same Man who did in the people in the N. Bay area." I am the murderer of the two Teenagers last Christmas out on Lake Herman Road and the girl on the 4th of July" is specific in that He is clearly aware that the two He killed 'Last Xmas' were 'Teenagers' and they were killed out 'on Lake Herman Road' to appearing clueless and not know or have the ability to offer now the 'victoms' Age, Race, Gender, or specific location where they were killed.

"The Teens" becoming "The People" and Lake Herman Rd morphing into a massively generalised 'North Bay Area.'

John Corbin link

6/4/2018 07:37:08 am

The Zodiac originally told Stine to take him to Washington and Maple, as it was logged as such with dispatch. We don't know why the Zodiac had him stop at Washington and Cherry.

John Corbin link

6/4/2018 07:34:39 am

A lot of your reasoning here centers around the assumption that two 16 year-old kids (Lake Herman Road scene), facing [but not really seeing because it was PITCH BLACK out there and 20 degrees or thereabouts--COLD] a gunman that they would react in a logical manner. Do you really think a 16 yr-old girl, running from her where her boyfriend was just shot in the back of the head, would think, "I better not run towards that other car. This guy might have someone with him!" ? Really?

Richard

4/19/2017 01:59:29 am

Hi Alex, there are multiple ways this crime could have gone down, but although I am not a 'team Zodiac' fan, I cannot rule out at least two shooters, and neither can the ballistics. Even the DOJ report cannot definitively link the casings or bullets. We know that the bullet that entered David Faraday didn't exhibit the same right hand twist characteristics as the others "'All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle bullets, although some were damaged, it was possible to determine ALL but Item [1] had 6 right hand groove class characteristics." The police report states 8 bullets were recovered, 5 from BLJ, 1 from Faraday and 2 from the car. But this isn't true, only 7 bullets were recovered. Betty Lou had three exit wounds, but only two were detailed in the police report,
http://www.zodiackiller.com/LHRPR9.html
If there were three exit wounds, why were only two of these bullets described in the police report on page 9 and only two detailed in the Department of Justice report. On page 9 of the police report it clearly states under #2, #3 and #8 the following;
#2 Two pellets removed from victim, Betty Lou Jensen, during autopsy.
#3 Pellet found in pants of victim Betty Lou Jensen, at mortuary, during examination of the deceased. The pellet had entered the lower back, coursed through her body, emerging under the waist band elastic of her panties, where it was found.
#8 Pellet recovered near victim Betty Lou Jensen in blood spattered path on her attempted escape route. Pellet entered her body in the back and emerged from the center of her stomach and dropped to the ground without penetrating the front of her dress.
The DOJ and police report also only mention 9 casings. So we have one missing casing and one missing bullet. This to me is very significant, particularly in a double murder, where preservation of evidence is imperative. I cannot be sure where Zodiac parked in the turnout, or be 100% certain of the reliability of James Owen, or totally rule out the on foot crime, but from the words of the police and forensic analysis, in the DOJ report and police report, there should have been 18 pieces of ballistics evidence and two are missing. This to me is bigger than the goof at Presidio Heights. Mislaying critical evidence in the highest profile crime Benicia had ever encountered in 1968, should be addressed, if anybody wants to take the police department's claim they are seriously trying to solve this.

Richard

4/19/2017 02:18:26 am

I cannot prove this, but I have long believed that Zodiac stated he killed the taxicab driver at Washington and Maple, not because he didn't know the names of other adjoining streets like Cherry, but because this is actually where he killed Paul Stine. The blood staining on the shirt, blood on the driver side door, removal of the car keys and lack of gunshot heard at Washington and Cherry, if not all, but collectively point away from the believed crime scene. If Zodiac lived close by, let's say Xen in Jackson as an example, then he certainly knew Cherry St. His mentioning of streets or the lack of mentioning of particular street names, I don't believe can indicate whether he knew an area well or not. His Stine letter was mailed on October 13th, two days after the shooting. All he had to do was look at a map subsequent to the crime and reel off the correct names. He clearly knew Washington and Maple, he directed Stine there. All he had to do was look at a map Sunday and thumb over one block and find Cherry. It is easy to fake a good knowledge of the area, and it is equally easy to play dumb. I don't think personally we can glean any particular knowledge of residency or otherwise, simply from what streets he chose to mention in his letters. The same applies to the Blue Rock Springs phone call.

Charles P link

2/21/2018 09:29:32 am

Excellent commentary, as usual.

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NEW IMAGES OF THE LAKE HERMAN ROAD CRIME SCENE

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