No mention is made to the taxicab trip sheet anywhere in the police report, and despite few people having seen the entry that night, it has long been accepted by many that it documented the destination of the Zodiac Killer as Washington and Maple, the intersection he highlighted in his October 13th 1969 letter, stating "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington Street and Maple Street last night".
A wanted poster was circulated regarding this crime and recent taxicab attacks in the San Francisco area, using supposition and apparently less than accurate details. The poster bearing the name Chief of Police Thomas J. Cahill stated "Suspect takes cab in downtown area at 9.30 pm and sits in front seat with driver. Tells driver destination is Washington and Laurel area or area near park or Presidio. Upon reaching destination, suspect orders driver to continue on at gunpoint into or near park where he perpetrates robbery". Considering the gravity of the crime, it seemingly manages to create an amazing piece of fiction. There is no evidence whatsoever that the killer traveled in the front seat, or that he ordered the taxicab driver under gunpoint - and certainly not into the park. However, the mention of a destination of Washington and Laurel is very curious indeed. To actually pull a street name out of thin air, which is a full three blocks east of the supposed trip sheet destination, and then place it on a wanted poster could be regarded as a remarkable oversight, if in fact, it was a mistake at all.
Keith Power authored an article entitled 'Astrologer Joins Hunt for Killer' in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 17th 1969, just six days after the murder, quoting "When he was picked up by the cab driver about 9.30 pm Saturday at Geary and Mason Streets, Stine noted the destination on his way bill (trip sheet) as Washington and Maple Streets".
The question is, where did he get this information from. Was it second hand information from a police officer or had he seen the trip sheet himself - and was the information he 'garnered' correct? Without actually seeing the elusive trip sheet, we only know what we have been told, that the destination was supposedly noted as Washington and Maple.
Responding officers would later notice the taxicab meter read $6.25 at 10.46 pm, allowing them to backtrack the meter reading and calculate that Paul Stine had most likely picked up his second fare somewhere in the vicinity of the Mason and Geary intersection, with many different pick-up points suggested. Robert Graysmith highlights the Westin St Francis Hotel at Union Square, along with the Pinecrest Restaurant in his book 'Zodiac', whereas the article in the San Francisco Examiner on October 23rd 1969 stated "The search also took police to Nob Hill, where the Fairmont Hotel became involved again in the manhunt. This was because: Cabbie Paul Stine, 29, the Zodiac's latest victim is believed to have picked up his fare on a street near the famed hotel. A waitress in the hotel candy shop-fountain told police she served coffee during the television show (Jim Dunbar/Melvin Belli) to a man who resembled composite drawings of Zodiac. She saved the cup and saucer for a fingerprint check".
A wanted poster was circulated regarding this crime and recent taxicab attacks in the San Francisco area, using supposition and apparently less than accurate details. The poster bearing the name Chief of Police Thomas J. Cahill stated "Suspect takes cab in downtown area at 9.30 pm and sits in front seat with driver. Tells driver destination is Washington and Laurel area or area near park or Presidio. Upon reaching destination, suspect orders driver to continue on at gunpoint into or near park where he perpetrates robbery". Considering the gravity of the crime, it seemingly manages to create an amazing piece of fiction. There is no evidence whatsoever that the killer traveled in the front seat, or that he ordered the taxicab driver under gunpoint - and certainly not into the park. However, the mention of a destination of Washington and Laurel is very curious indeed. To actually pull a street name out of thin air, which is a full three blocks east of the supposed trip sheet destination, and then place it on a wanted poster could be regarded as a remarkable oversight, if in fact, it was a mistake at all.
Keith Power authored an article entitled 'Astrologer Joins Hunt for Killer' in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 17th 1969, just six days after the murder, quoting "When he was picked up by the cab driver about 9.30 pm Saturday at Geary and Mason Streets, Stine noted the destination on his way bill (trip sheet) as Washington and Maple Streets".
The question is, where did he get this information from. Was it second hand information from a police officer or had he seen the trip sheet himself - and was the information he 'garnered' correct? Without actually seeing the elusive trip sheet, we only know what we have been told, that the destination was supposedly noted as Washington and Maple.
Responding officers would later notice the taxicab meter read $6.25 at 10.46 pm, allowing them to backtrack the meter reading and calculate that Paul Stine had most likely picked up his second fare somewhere in the vicinity of the Mason and Geary intersection, with many different pick-up points suggested. Robert Graysmith highlights the Westin St Francis Hotel at Union Square, along with the Pinecrest Restaurant in his book 'Zodiac', whereas the article in the San Francisco Examiner on October 23rd 1969 stated "The search also took police to Nob Hill, where the Fairmont Hotel became involved again in the manhunt. This was because: Cabbie Paul Stine, 29, the Zodiac's latest victim is believed to have picked up his fare on a street near the famed hotel. A waitress in the hotel candy shop-fountain told police she served coffee during the television show (Jim Dunbar/Melvin Belli) to a man who resembled composite drawings of Zodiac. She saved the cup and saucer for a fingerprint check".
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco As stated earlier, one thing investigators did, knowing that Paul Stine was returning to the theater district from San Francisco Airport having dropped off his last fare, was calculate the origin point of the journey based on the taxicab meter reading, the time of the murder and the time the meter was read, having sat idle since 9.55 pm. This gave investigators an area around the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets in the theater district.
Let us compare two distances, [1] Washington and Cherry, the place the taxicab came to rest from the Fairmont Hotel, and [2] Washington and Laurel, the destination marked on the wanted poster and the corner of Mason and Geary. The distances are virtually identical. The distance between the taxicab at Washington/Cherry and Washington/Laurel is exactly 570 meters (0.354 miles). The distance between the Fairmont Hotel and the intersection of Mason and Geary is 584 meters (0.363 miles). Only 14 meters difference.
If one person was calculating backwards using the taxicab location from Washington and Cherry, they would arrive at the Fairmont Hotel. However, somebody sitting at a desk reading the trip sheet destination of Washington and Laurel would arrive further away, at the corner of Mason and Geary. The margins are relatively small.
The reason Washington and Laurel catches the attention is twofold. The Zodiac Killer, if he gave Washington and Laurel as the destination in the trip sheet, then it would make sense if he had left a 'getaway' vehicle somewhere along Laurel (possibly at the intersection with Jackson Street or slightly beyond) - as this street actually joins with Pacific Avenue providing a relatively speedy exit route away from the area. Or, he resided in this area. The problem is, the Zodiac Killer actually ended up four blocks further west at Washington and Cherry. Did something go wrong, forcing him to abort his plan? In the 'Bus Bomb' letter mailed on November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer revealed some key information. He stated that "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".
The meeting with patrolmen Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms took place just short of the Jackson and Maple intersection, therefore 1 1/2 blocks later would have Zodiac entering the park at Spruce Street. In the San Francisco Chronicle article dated October 12th 1969, eyewitnesses recalled seeing a man fitting the earlier Zodiac description running into Julius Khan playground: "Later reports indicated someone was seen running into the Julius Khan playground in the Presidio, and all seven police dog units were pressed into the search". This thoroughfare is adjacent to Spruce Street. Dog units congregated by the Julius Khan playground - and Zodiac would mention this in the 'Bus Bomb' letter as he advanced east along the park perimeter.
Let us compare two distances, [1] Washington and Cherry, the place the taxicab came to rest from the Fairmont Hotel, and [2] Washington and Laurel, the destination marked on the wanted poster and the corner of Mason and Geary. The distances are virtually identical. The distance between the taxicab at Washington/Cherry and Washington/Laurel is exactly 570 meters (0.354 miles). The distance between the Fairmont Hotel and the intersection of Mason and Geary is 584 meters (0.363 miles). Only 14 meters difference.
If one person was calculating backwards using the taxicab location from Washington and Cherry, they would arrive at the Fairmont Hotel. However, somebody sitting at a desk reading the trip sheet destination of Washington and Laurel would arrive further away, at the corner of Mason and Geary. The margins are relatively small.
The reason Washington and Laurel catches the attention is twofold. The Zodiac Killer, if he gave Washington and Laurel as the destination in the trip sheet, then it would make sense if he had left a 'getaway' vehicle somewhere along Laurel (possibly at the intersection with Jackson Street or slightly beyond) - as this street actually joins with Pacific Avenue providing a relatively speedy exit route away from the area. Or, he resided in this area. The problem is, the Zodiac Killer actually ended up four blocks further west at Washington and Cherry. Did something go wrong, forcing him to abort his plan? In the 'Bus Bomb' letter mailed on November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer revealed some key information. He stated that "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again".
The meeting with patrolmen Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms took place just short of the Jackson and Maple intersection, therefore 1 1/2 blocks later would have Zodiac entering the park at Spruce Street. In the San Francisco Chronicle article dated October 12th 1969, eyewitnesses recalled seeing a man fitting the earlier Zodiac description running into Julius Khan playground: "Later reports indicated someone was seen running into the Julius Khan playground in the Presidio, and all seven police dog units were pressed into the search". This thoroughfare is adjacent to Spruce Street. Dog units congregated by the Julius Khan playground - and Zodiac would mention this in the 'Bus Bomb' letter as he advanced east along the park perimeter.
Click for full article "The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me + they were to the west".
Two blocks east of Spruce Street is Laurel Street. Is this where Zodiac exited the park to access his vehicle, parked either on Pacific Avenue or the north end of Laurel Street, having taken the advantage of cover in the park, as opposed to traveling two further blocks on Jackson Street - especially considering his near miss with Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, possibly sending them on a wild goose chase. His directional movement eastward from the Washington and Cherry intersection, was always suggestive of a killer backtracking from the westward direction he had arrived in the taxicab, with something having interrupted those plans. If the Zodiac had ended up 2 blocks further east of Julius Khan playground, he would in fact now be four blocks east of Jackson and Cherry Street, where he was last seen heading by the three teenagers - and therefore reinforcing the notion he had overshot his original destination.
The only reason to believe the Zodiac Killer held Paul Stine under gunpoint, as detailed in the wanted poster, is if the destination was marked as Washington and Laurel in the trip sheet. Yet the taxicab was ultimately found four blocks further west, giving rise to the notion that the Zodiac Killer had drawn his 9mm automatic on Paul Stine in excess of one minute earlier, and thereby dispelling the notion of a taxicab driver unaware of anything until the deadly shot was delivered.
The alternative, however, is far more simple - the wanted poster is basic human error, just like the police dispatcher two days earlier, when patrolmen were given the wrong description of the suspect as he calmly walked away from Washington and Cherry.
Two blocks east of Spruce Street is Laurel Street. Is this where Zodiac exited the park to access his vehicle, parked either on Pacific Avenue or the north end of Laurel Street, having taken the advantage of cover in the park, as opposed to traveling two further blocks on Jackson Street - especially considering his near miss with Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms, possibly sending them on a wild goose chase. His directional movement eastward from the Washington and Cherry intersection, was always suggestive of a killer backtracking from the westward direction he had arrived in the taxicab, with something having interrupted those plans. If the Zodiac had ended up 2 blocks further east of Julius Khan playground, he would in fact now be four blocks east of Jackson and Cherry Street, where he was last seen heading by the three teenagers - and therefore reinforcing the notion he had overshot his original destination.
The only reason to believe the Zodiac Killer held Paul Stine under gunpoint, as detailed in the wanted poster, is if the destination was marked as Washington and Laurel in the trip sheet. Yet the taxicab was ultimately found four blocks further west, giving rise to the notion that the Zodiac Killer had drawn his 9mm automatic on Paul Stine in excess of one minute earlier, and thereby dispelling the notion of a taxicab driver unaware of anything until the deadly shot was delivered.
The alternative, however, is far more simple - the wanted poster is basic human error, just like the police dispatcher two days earlier, when patrolmen were given the wrong description of the suspect as he calmly walked away from Washington and Cherry.
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