On October 20th 1969, nine days after the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights, somebody made a threatening phone call to the Palo Alto Times newspaper saying he intended "to pick the kids off as they get on the school bus". The San Bernardino County Sun reported on the threat, stating "Patrol cars convoyed school buses around Palo Alto yesterday after a telephoned murder threat by a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer of five persons. The weird slayer who signs himself "The Zodiac" made a similar threat in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle last week after the Oct 11 shooting of a taxi driver. The district transportation supervisor said an armed guard might ride with each of the system's 25 buses. Officers in Napa and Vallejo, areas of the first three murderous attacks, some 45 miles north of Palo Alto, have been convoying police officers. Palo Alto Police Chief William Hydie called the new threat "extremely serious," but warned against over reaction to what might be a crank call".
Saturday, December 20th 1969 On November 8th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Dripping Pen' card and 340 cipher to the San Francisco Chronicle claiming the "Aug" murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose.
On November 21st 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer wrote to the San Jose Police Department threatening the life of a widow, accompanied by the words "There's no doubt I will do my Thing". The brief text in the letter clearly contained enough information for police to identify the woman and implement 24-hour surveillance on her residence.
On December 7th 1969, a letter was mailed from Fairfield stating "I just need help. I will kill again, so expect it any time the will be a cop".
On December 16th 1969, another letter arrived from Fairfield threatening to kill "government life" and "cops" in Sacramento, Fairfield, Napa, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. A future geographic profiling technique was applied to the locations in which he 'threatened murder' (as detailed in the Fairfield letter), and noted that "Interstate 80 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in San Francisco, and then crosses the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into Oakland. It then heads northeast through Vallejo, Fairfield, Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada mountains before crossing into Nevada". The idea was to identify the areas the Zodiac Killer was prepared to target, based on their accessibility to him using a main commuter route he regularly traveled. If he regularly used the I-80 for his profession, then six of these seven destinations are directly passed by the I-80, with Napa only a few miles off route.
On December 19th 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer again threatened cops, making a phone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol (see article above), stating "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". This threat towards San Jose police and a family of five was issued on a Friday, exactly as was the November 21st 1969 letter, mailed to San Jose police threatening harm on a widow. After the threat on the widow was thwarted by 24-hour police surveillance on her residence, was this the response, to once again instigate fear in the San Jose community? Were the widow and 'family of five' of the same residence? We know he was threatening the lives of numerous police officers, but the threat on five members of a family appears rather specific.
On November 21st 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer wrote to the San Jose Police Department threatening the life of a widow, accompanied by the words "There's no doubt I will do my Thing". The brief text in the letter clearly contained enough information for police to identify the woman and implement 24-hour surveillance on her residence.
On December 7th 1969, a letter was mailed from Fairfield stating "I just need help. I will kill again, so expect it any time the will be a cop".
On December 16th 1969, another letter arrived from Fairfield threatening to kill "government life" and "cops" in Sacramento, Fairfield, Napa, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. A future geographic profiling technique was applied to the locations in which he 'threatened murder' (as detailed in the Fairfield letter), and noted that "Interstate 80 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in San Francisco, and then crosses the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into Oakland. It then heads northeast through Vallejo, Fairfield, Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada mountains before crossing into Nevada". The idea was to identify the areas the Zodiac Killer was prepared to target, based on their accessibility to him using a main commuter route he regularly traveled. If he regularly used the I-80 for his profession, then six of these seven destinations are directly passed by the I-80, with Napa only a few miles off route.
On December 19th 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer again threatened cops, making a phone call to Sergeant Robert Rengsdorff of the San Jose Highway Patrol (see article above), stating "I am going to kill five of you officers and a family of five between now and Monday". This threat towards San Jose police and a family of five was issued on a Friday, exactly as was the November 21st 1969 letter, mailed to San Jose police threatening harm on a widow. After the threat on the widow was thwarted by 24-hour police surveillance on her residence, was this the response, to once again instigate fear in the San Jose community? Were the widow and 'family of five' of the same residence? We know he was threatening the lives of numerous police officers, but the threat on five members of a family appears rather specific.
On December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Melvin Belli' letter containing a piece of murdered Paul Stine's shirt, effectively proving the author was the murderer of the taxicab driver on October 11th 1969. This letter mimicked the December 7th 1969 Fairfield letter by stating "please help me", which in some way helps to authenticate both Fairfield letters not released to the newspapers.
The purpose of this article is to show the targeted areas of the Zodiac Killer (if responsible for these letters and phone calls) from the standpoint of geographic profiling. These events spanned from the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine, to the mailing of the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969 (71 days). The areas shown in red above, highlight the locations the Zodiac Killer targeted by murder, proposed murder, as well as by his threatening phone calls and letters - and they are all connected by one direct route of travel.
During these 71 days in October, November and December the Zodiac Killer focused his attention on Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose. Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 provide one seamless journey from Sacramento to San Jose. Was the Zodiac Killer a traveling salesman which took him through each of these locations - and therefore he had a familiarity with? Do these commuter route tell you anything about his home residence during this time period?
When you commit, or intend to commit these acts, accessibility to and from a main commuter route could be invaluable.
Equidistant (as the crow flies) to Sacramento and San Jose is the waterfront city of Vallejo, believed by many to be the home residence of the Zodiac Killer. It is 53 miles from Sacramento and 57 miles from San Jose. The Springs and Tuolumne payphone, where Zodiac placed a call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover on the morning of July 5th 1969, sits 728 metres from Interstate 80.
The purpose of this article is to show the targeted areas of the Zodiac Killer (if responsible for these letters and phone calls) from the standpoint of geographic profiling. These events spanned from the October 11th 1969 murder of Paul Stine, to the mailing of the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969 (71 days). The areas shown in red above, highlight the locations the Zodiac Killer targeted by murder, proposed murder, as well as by his threatening phone calls and letters - and they are all connected by one direct route of travel.
During these 71 days in October, November and December the Zodiac Killer focused his attention on Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose. Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 provide one seamless journey from Sacramento to San Jose. Was the Zodiac Killer a traveling salesman which took him through each of these locations - and therefore he had a familiarity with? Do these commuter route tell you anything about his home residence during this time period?
When you commit, or intend to commit these acts, accessibility to and from a main commuter route could be invaluable.
Equidistant (as the crow flies) to Sacramento and San Jose is the waterfront city of Vallejo, believed by many to be the home residence of the Zodiac Killer. It is 53 miles from Sacramento and 57 miles from San Jose. The Springs and Tuolumne payphone, where Zodiac placed a call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover on the morning of July 5th 1969, sits 728 metres from Interstate 80.
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