THE 1987 LETTER- DEATH ON FOUR WHEELS

3/10/2018

"Evil has visited the earth in many forms.....now it returns as 'The Car'. A car possessed. Who knows what it wants. They all know nothing can stop the car. There's nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide, no way to stop 'The Car'. What evil force drives the car." The Car (1977) Official Trailer.

On October 28th 1987, a letter was mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald stating "This is the Zodiac speaking. I am crackproof. Tell herb caen that I am still here. Tell the blue pigs if want me I will be out driving around on Halloween in my death machine looking for some kiddies to run over. Cars make nice weapons. The pigs can catch me if They can find me out there. Just like in the movie The Car. Tell the kiddies watch before they cross the street on Halloween nite. Tell Tochi my new plans". It is unknown whether this correspondence is a genuine Zodiac communication, and the content of the letter is vague. However, we will attempt to discover the inspiration behind this correspondence and the location of where the threat was intended or inferred to have been carried out, even though it never materialized.

Click to enlarge

The Zodiac Killer mailed the 'Exorcist' letter on January 29th 1974, just over one month after the USA release of 'The Exorcist' movie on December 26th 1973. He then mailed the 'Badlands' letter on May 8th 1974, just over one month after the Los Angeles, California release date of Badlands on March 29th 1974.

The Car was released on May 13th 1977, so this time the Zodiac (or a hoaxer) would take 10 years to reference this movie in the 1987 letter. Was this really the primary inspiration for this letter, or had the author read something in the newspapers far more recently that triggered his recollection of the 1977 film, bearing in mind the tone of the letter and his threat of running over kids in his vehicle.

Just over a month before the arrival of this correspondence, on September 12th 1987, Jose Santo Bugarin (26) and Rodolfo Alvaro (31) were traveling on King Road, San Jose, California when their car slammed into four children playing on the front lawn of a residence, killing three and injuring one. The driver then backed over the bodies and left the scene. Both were apprehended a short time later. "Bugarin was arrested on three counts of second-degree murder. Alvaro also was arrested on murder charges". Chicago Tribune. This was covered extensively in the newspapers.

"SAN JOSE (AP) A man who ran over and killed three children entered a plea bargain on Wednesday, pleading no contest to second degree murder and two vehicular manslaughter charges. Jose Santos Bugarin, 26, of San Jose, had two of the original murder charges filed against him changed to manslaughter. He will be sentenced to 21 years and eight months in state prison. Bugarin was the driver of a car that plowed through a front yard on King Road in San Jose on Sept. 12, killing three children".
San Bernardino Sun- December 3rd 1987.

Did the Zodiac Killer or the author of the 1987 letter read the news stories of this senseless crime and callously draw inspiration from this tragedy (Cars make nice weapons), compelling him to write the above correspondence, piggybacking off newspaper articles in not dissimilar fashion to his early communications?

The Car movie featured a satanic driverless car running people over in the fictional desert town of Santa Ynez in Utah. IMDB. However, Santa Ynez is not so fictional in California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It is situated just 20 minutes or 12 miles (as the crow flies) from the site of the Robert Domingos (18) and Linda Edwards (17) murders on June 4th 1963, widely touted as an early Zodiac crime. Anton LaVey was awarded the title of Technical Advisor in the movies credits, with a quote from his Satanic Bible.

Analysis of the 1986 'Zodiac' letter.

18 Comments

Shawn

3/10/2018 05:40:22 am

Is this one of the letters that considered to be a hoax?

I find it odd that this letter was addressed to the Vallejo Police Department.

Seems like Halloween night (many kids out trick or treating at night) getting hit by by a car would be more likely than most nights even though drivers might be more cautious Halloween night.

I wonder if there had been any car accidents involving kids on Halloween nights in Vallejo?

Shawn

3/10/2018 05:53:38 am

Here is a recent Fortune Article link below quote....

"historical data shows that kids out trick or treating are far more likely to die in car accidents on Halloween night"

http://fortune.com/2017/10/31/halloween-2017-trick-or-treat-safety/

Richard

3/10/2018 06:33:10 am

I haven't found any Shawn. The letter was mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald, hence the VPD=0. In the murders of Koy Ien Saechao and Choy Fow Salee in Sacramento in 1986, the author stated SFPD=0, despite claiming the murders in Sacramento. So it wasn't unusual for Zodiac or the hoaxer/s. Since these child deaths were in San Jose, not too far from San Francisco, it may very well have come to Zodiac's attention. For Ross Sullivan aficionados, only 30 miles from Santa Cruz.

Rubislaw 32 link

3/10/2018 07:27:55 am

In the surface,the 1987 letter ''does'' seem,such a fake [?].

The composition content,is ''extraordinary'' in its richness in apparent parody of the Zodiac,that we believe that we know,from the past.

References to ''a film'',Crackproof,kiddies,Herb Caen,Pigs,Halloween.....and ''Toschi'',who had no longer been in the case....and,for the last nine years.

But,here's the strangest one of all....''Death Machine''.Originally,Zodiac referred to this,as a bomb,that he was constructing.And now,it's his car [!].

Bomb...to car...what happened to Zodiac's memory ?

Though I feel I must add,that a year beyond this letter,the possibility remains that Zodiac was the author of the New Canaan Letters.And,as recently,I claim to have solved the riddle,within the cipher [Z263]...and have informed ''the authorities'',that I know that those letters were addressed to ''George'',as in George Webster,father of ''unconfirmed'' Zodiac victim,Joan.

The main point of mentioning this is,that the inference is that the author of the New Canaan letters was giving Mr.Webster,his ''greatest hits''.

In this case,and because of accuracy,throughout,as well as the credulity of the riddle solution,then ''Zodiac authenticity'' looks promising.[....plus strangely,a matter of wood logs....].

But,with the 1987 letter,we are looking at a relatively short letter,with everything just ''chucked in''....and not even accurate [!].

The portents for authentic Zodiac,then,do not look good [?].

Shawn

3/10/2018 07:49:21 am

Graysmith book "Zodiac" was originally published in 1986.

Enough information in this one book to write a nice 1987 Hoax Zodiac letter.

Rubislaw 32 link

3/10/2018 08:28:10 am

Now,that's interesting Shawn.

On balance,I have tended to warm to Mr.Graysmith's efforts,despite inaccuracies.

But,as ''Fake news'' has become a tool for projecting personal ''needs'',recently.....perhaps ''Fake mail'' was once considered,of similar value [?].

Drew

3/10/2018 10:48:43 am

Hi there, all of the "Zodiac" letters arriving after the February 1, 1986 publication of Graysmith's first book Zodiac are tricky to analyze because as Shawn has pointed out all of the information a hoaxer would need was in there, including two examples of envelopes for the Nov 8 '69 Dripping Pen card and Mar 13 '71 LA letter (plus the Apr '67 Riverside letters).

The 1978 letter seems to be the most specifically referenced material in the 86 and 87 letters. Even though the 86 book chronicles the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the letter and the downfall of Toschi's career after accusations that he forged it Graysmith also provides reasons why he believes the 78 letter is authentic.

While it seems a bit odd that a hoaxer would choose a controversial letter to reference or that Zodiac would choose to recycle his own material and suddenly start throwing names into his letter the official status of the 1978 letter remains complicated and mysterious to me. It went from authenticated to not authenticated in 1978 and seemed to remain in the fake category. However recently I have read that Mike Rodelli was told by LE sources that the 78 provided a partial DNA match to one of the four 1974 letters (probably Exorcist because we know cells were found on it and that is the one they used to test Allen's palm print).

If the Exorcist and 78 letters are the only correspondences known to have yielded (partial) DNA that could potentially corroborate a number of theories including that A) Exorcist and 78 are both authentic; B) Zodiac never left DNA and Exorcist and 78 were done by the same hoaxer; C) there was DNA on other Zodiac letters but by the time of testing the only remaining samples that could be obtained were from Exorcist and 78.

I fear my focus may have slid off the rails with this post here because I'm confused about current views on the 1978 letter. If it is considered authentic maybe these other ones should be as well but if it isn't I think they may all be bogus. The 1986 one is the most convincing for me but I remain less than 50/50 even on it. Does anyone have thoughts on whether the 1978 letter is authentic?

Shawn

3/10/2018 11:25:22 am

I have the tendency to believe any letters outside the ones we known as confirmed are hoaxes.

Below are some interesting reading and watching on the 1978 letter...

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/the-1978-letter.html

http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/graysmith3.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfW8RmEoubY

Drew

3/10/2018 11:38:43 am

Thanks Shawn!

Richard

3/10/2018 12:20:52 pm

I've had a look the two of the 78 letters in the next article. While I believe they aren't from Zodiac, they could be from somebody trying to keep the case alive, or somebody trying to throw suspicion Allen's way, likely Don Cheney has done for years.
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-1978-letters-a-convenient-fall-guy

Drew

3/10/2018 02:43:57 pm

That sounds interesting. Cheers

Drew

3/11/2018 12:48:38 pm

That envelope for the 1987 letter with the double Please Rush to Editor sure gives theories of its authenticity a boost! While it remains dubious for me and like the 1986 seems like it must have been informed by or a reaction to Graysmith's Zodiac book, the Rush to Editor as far as I can tell was discussed very little if at all by Graysmith. He wrote a lot about double postage and showed an envelope for the Dripping Pen card with Please Rush to Editor written twice (top left diagonal & Bottom centre) but I don't think he mentioned it and in the only other (non-Riverside) envelope sample the book provided the LA Letter there was no Rush to Editor note.

Drew

3/11/2018 01:03:33 pm

In terms of book inspiration I guess Gareth Penn's "Times 17" had also been published (April, 87) and could have provided the necessary information for a hoaxer to compose the letter. I have the book but as slow as Zodiac news is these days I still haven't found the time to read it, but considering the monumental importance that Penn aficionado Ray Grant has attributed to Rush to Editor I wouldn't be surprised if the first edition of Times 17 did include a passage regarding this phrase (though it doesn't seem like Penn had the same level of access as Graysmith).

Richard

3/11/2018 01:38:47 pm

That is key Drew- does the Rush to Editor twice validate this letter more. How many references to this, other than the Dripping Pen card envelope in the book.

Drew

3/12/2018 02:47:53 pm

My final tally of Graysmith references to "Please Rush to Editor" in (my 2007 abridged edition) of his first book is three references.

P.101 He writes the text of the Stine letter envelope:
"S.F. Chronicle
San Fran
Calif.
Please Rush to Editor
Please Rush to Editor"

P.108-09 Illustration section, he shows the dripping Pen card envelope with the double "Please Rush to Editor"

P.119 He writes of the Dripping Pen card/340, "As before, the envelopes were simply addressed to the Chronicle, "Please Rush to Editor"."

It is not a slam dunk as clearly a dedicated hoaxer could have observed these mentions, but it remains strong evidence of the 1987 letter's authenticity.

Rubislaw 32 link

3/10/2018 01:34:46 pm

I believe that the April 1978 letter is still officially authenticated,Drew.

But,under ''murky'' conditions.

Having originally been authenticated,it was ordered to be re-examined by 3 working examiners,and ''retired'' Sherwood Morril .This time the 3 working examiners came up with ''undecided'',with Morril remaining convinced.

So,a decision on it,was never actually ''overturned''...therefore ''officially'' still authentic.

The implication though,was that the 3 had been pressured into changing their position,in order to send out a message,as to how seriously,the senior police and judiciary,were taking the ''fan mail'' scandal with Toschi.

In essence,to publicly justify,removing Toschi,from the Stine case.

I agree...it can all get a bit confusing with the ''unconfirmed's''...and particularly with regard to which are linked,by forensics.

I don't really believe that anyone outside ''officialdom'',knows for sure [?].

We as amateurs must just try to be discerning.Some ''unconfirmed's'' are authentic...and some are not.

But,as sure as ''eggs are eggs'' not all ''unconfirmed's'' are forgeries.

Judith

3/11/2018 09:12:54 pm

Wow. Well here he is talking about killing children again. Oct 28th 1987 was our little boy's 6th birthday. I write in my book about the strange story of Darlinjune Cromer, who my sister recently confirmed was a girlfriend of Peter's, who was convicted of killing a 5 year-old boy who was buried by the Bay in Pinole CA. Peter visited her in jail. We lived in Pinole for 20 years. This is the same town where Amber Schwartz Garcia, the little girl, was taken from her front yard never to be seen again.

3/24/2018 04:32:32 pm

Did they ever catch anyone in that case?

THE 1987 LETTER- DEATH ON FOUR WHEELS

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