THE ANONYMOUS PHANTOM

1/12/2019

In a previous article entitled 'The Symbionese Liberation Army and the Zodiac Killer', an S.L.A member was considered as the possible author of the February 3rd 1974 S.L.A letter because of the "Old Norse" reference. Sara Jane Olson (born Kathleen Ann Soliah on January 16, 1947) was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Norwegian-American parents. So, can we wipe away any preconceived notions about the S.L.A letter, Badlands card and Red Phantom letter with respect to the Zodiac Killer, and view them from the perspective of having been written by a woman, or at the very least, a member or affiliate of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Here is the text from the three communications:
[1] The S.L.A letter: Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend.

[2]The Badlands card: Sirs -- I would like to expression my consternt (crossed out) consternation concerning your poor taste + lack of sympathy for the public, as evidenced by your running of the ads for the movie "Badlands," featuring the blurb: "In 1959 most people were killing time. Kit + Holly were killing people." In light of recent events, this kind of murder-glorification can only be deplorable at best (not that glorification of violence was ever justifiable) why don't you show some concern for public sensibilities + cut the ad? A citizen.

[3]The Red Phantom letter: Editor: Put Marco back in the hell-hole from whence it came- he has a serious psychological disorder- always needs to feel superior. I suggest you refer him to a shrink. Meanwhile, cancel the Count Marco column. Since the count can write anonymously, so can I----the Red Phantom (red with rage).

Other than the psychological connection we touched upon in the Edward C. Adams article, what other possible reasons would the Zodiac Killer have for addressing Count Marco, a columnist who gave outrageous advice to women via the San Francisco Chronicle for 15 years. A murderer, who didn't give a second thought to shooting two women a total of 10 times, before also ruthlessly stabbing Cecelia Shepard in the back and abdomen 10 times, was now, just a few years later, objecting to "murder-glorification" and bigoted advise to women. A man devoid of empathy and driven by an insatiable ego had now become the proverbial "snowflake", quivering and upset because of an advice columnist and a film advertisement. Had the Zodiac Killer really achieved a complete transformation in just a matter of three years. If we believe the Exorcist letter as genuine Zodiac material, stating "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing", then the transformation had occurred in just over 3 months.

The Zodiac Killer could have been toying with the newspapers, disingenuously feigning concern while laughing at the authorities - or he was simply not the author of these banal communications that surfaced in 1974.

The Symbionese Liberation Army didn't have unrealistic ideals, but unfortunately used contemptible means to achieve them.

View on Wikipedia

"In his manifesto "Symbionese Liberation Army Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program", Donald DeFreeze wrote, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body. "This political symbiosis DeFreeze describes means the unity of all left-wing struggles, feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and others. DeFreeze wanted all races, genders, and ages to fight together in a left-wing united front, and to live together peacefully". Wikipedia.

With many female S.L.A members aligned with feminist ideals, would it be that difficult to believe, that the Red Phantom letter was aimed at Marc H. Spinelli (Count Marco) and his San Francisco Chronicle column because of its often belittling or denigrating comments towards women?

"Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is credited with reviving the feminist movement, originally called the strike at the conference of the National Organization for Women in March. As head of the hastily assembled National Women's Strike Coalition, she had predicted an impressive turnout. Inevitably, the women had their detractors. The San Francisco Chronicle's Count Marco called the strike "a day of infamy and shame" and urged his supporters to wear black armbands "mourning the death of femininity." link.
"Count Marco was an extremely popular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle with an outrageous persona; this book of advice (Beauty and the Beast) on how to please a man was mainly for the ladies of "The Greatest Generation" and pre-boomers, whom it surely shocked and annoyed with its sexual frankness and its assumption that American women had everything to learn from European women; feminist readers now would be shocked by his assumption that women's lives are empty without masculine love and their main goal in life should be to please their "beasts." link. In other words, the Red Phantom letter was authored by a female member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (or a male member with a belief in feminism) in order to confront the opinionated columnist.

I am not a staunch advocate of handwriting analysis due to its subjective nature and the fact it can be disguised, but here is the Red Phantom letter next to an extract taken from a Symbionese Liberation Army notebook - written before the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst on February 4th 1974.

Judith

1/11/2019 08:43:22 pm

Yes. I have never really thought the count Marco letter was a Zodiac missive. Do we know why this is always been considered a zodiac letter? I'm also pretty certain the Zodiac Killer was not involved with the SLA based on my own reading and research. I can't imagine Bill Harris taking credit for the acts they did perform as the SLA and not mention that he was the Zodiac Killer, or that one of the members was the Zodiac Killer.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/12/2019 04:02:48 am

If we examine the ''addresses'' and ''signatures'',of the four 1974 letters,in order,we find the following :

Exorcist :

Address : None
Signature : Postscript,''me 37,SFPD 0''

SLA :

Address : Mr.Editor
Signature : a friend

Badlands :

Address : Sirs
Signature : A citizen

Count Marco :

Address : Editor
Signature : the Red Phantom [red with rage]

With the Exorcist letter,and unless there is a ''first page'' [...unlikely,because Zodiac refers to it,as a ''note''...],then much of the perceived intention,is to ''communicate'' a strange doodle.

Though research,it is possible,that there was a ''Lewis Carrol'' link.''SLA'' stands for ''Second Language Acquisition'',and is a highlighted feature of ''Applied Linguistics'',with Lewis Carrol's Alice books,employed as ''first choice'' examples,for study.

Carrol was a close to a compulsive letter writer,like the Zodiac,and particularly with those for whom he was intimate.His signatures included : ''Your sincere friend'',''Your affectionate friend'',''My dear friend'',and ''Always your friend''.Then,''CLD'',which stood for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

For the Badlands letter,I discovered,precisely,''A citizen'' as linked to a letter published in the New York Tribune....which caused a scandal of ''Victorian'' proportions.

The letter was from a witness to the flogging of a female slave,by General Robert E.Lee,then a colonel.Slaves were under corporal punishment,for escaping their masters...but the punishment was supposed to be carried out,by the local constable.In this specific case,it was claimed that the local constable refused to administer a flogging,to a woman....so,Lee did it,himself.

With the Count Marco letter,there appear to be an array of suggested solutions for the derivation of ''Red Phantom'',There is some evidence,that points to the Zodiac,having employed this before,in letters to Count Marco...possibly from Chicago.

Richard

1/12/2019 04:17:23 am

Yes Rubislaw, the Chicago link on the Zodiac Killer Site forum was a nice connection, whether coincidence or not, dating back about a decade I believe. Certainly something not to be dismissed, after all everyone has a history in which their early characteristics are forming. Especially in the context it was used. Whether the Red Phantom letter was mailed by Zodiac, the S.L.A or another, finding the inspiration for choosing 'Red Phantom' might tell us who authored it. It can certainly point us in the right direction.

" a friend in need is a friend indeed".

Richard

1/12/2019 04:19:58 am

The irresistible urge to put pen to paper has spawned some of the greatest literary giants of the nineteenth and twentieth century, including Edgar Allan Poe, a master of the Gothic macabre who had a penchant for cryptography, along with Fyodor Dostoevsky, a prolific novelist and keeper of diaries, who was often plagued by epileptic seizures and impending doom and depression, occasionally manifesting itself as periodic outbursts of rage.
Both these novelists, as well as Stephen King, Lewis Carroll, Isaac Asimov, poet Sylvia Plath, along with post impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh all have one thing in common, hypergraphia- the compulsion to express themselves through writing. This affliction can have underlying causes such as temporal lobe brain injury, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy, routinely affecting the subject's normal pattern of behavior.
In one form, this results in the subject authoring text that means everything to the writer, but very little to the observer, as has been found in many of the letters and cards mailed by the Zodiac Killer over a five year period, between 1969 and 1974.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/12/2019 06:21:25 am

Indeed,it's a curious ''affliction''....with the era of ''Internet Social Media'',encouraging it,if anything [?].

''Nights in White Satin'' 's ''Letters I've written,never meaning to send'',puts it well,really.

I wonder if the Zodiac regrets any of it ?

It just seems astonishing that,he could not be stopped when,any one of his many letters,could have been his undoing.

Tom1

1/12/2019 06:53:20 am

“Red” as in communist? Perhaps to obvious an inference.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 03:37:43 am

Interestingly noted,Tom 1.

I see now that one of the symbols of the SLA,was ''RAF'',which stood for ''Red Army Faction''.

Also,that ''RAF'' can be viewed on the grid,that represents the cipher text of the Zodiac's ''340'' cipher.

Possibly,giving us a clue that Zodiac was becoming aware of the SLA,earlier than we might have previously thought [?].

Zodiac did appear to pick up on developing ''current affairs'' early,because he seems to have been,such an avid newspaper reader.

And,probably,homed straight into editorials [?].

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 05:14:08 am

I see now that the Red Army Faction,started circa 1970,and focused initially,at least,to American intervention,in Vietnam and Liberation for Palestinians.

Organisations,like SLA,were sympathisers.

''Western Revolution'' among mostly young intellectuals,really started with ''Black Power''....since it became apparent that a disproportionate amount of young men,losing their lives in Vietnam,were Black unemployed.[....''Cannon fodder'',one could argue [?]..].And yet,American Blacks weren't being offered full civil rights.

The Palestine problem,as a legacy of WW2,and the Biafran War,then became additional causes of perceived injustices,that gave rise to other movements,such as ''RAF'' and ''SLA''.

Judith

1/12/2019 09:10:08 am

Indeed schizophrenic. No answers as to why the Count Marco letter has been thrown in with the known Zodiac letters? Forensic handwriting analysis?

From my own personal story with regards to the citizen letter, Peter and his mother both told me in 1978 in her kitchen together, that Peter wrote that letter to the editor of the chronicle and she was present when it was written. that might lead to the formality used in the little letter. Helen subscribed to the SF Chronicle, it came to his mother's doorstep every morning. they had a symbiotic relationship and I believe Peter was speaking to her through the newspapers frequently. He may have confessed to her. She had saved a very large sum of liquid cash by the time of her death. I feel like she thought she might have to hire an attorney to defend Peter at some point in time. They lived very simply in a one bath 2 bedroom house. Yet she had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. She and Peter also describe to me a time when the FBI came to their home because a case had been opened up on Peter. She tried to say it was because he organized a protest with another friend at the local high school. she describes Agents from the FBI sitting in their house interviewing Peter.
Helen would defend Peter's Behavior to her death. He was King God to her. He had to control her as an adult.
For me The Exorcist letter is a yes the citizen letter is a yes
count Marco is a no

Drew

1/12/2019 03:41:32 pm

Fantastic freaking work finding Feb 3 on the SLA letter Richard! It's amazing that we can all look at the same documents for years and not pick up on something as fundamental to the letters investigation as this. I surely have no reason to doubt this 'new' info, and Feb 3 being one day before the Hearst kidnapping makes your SLA wrote the letter theory 100% for me.

The handwriting comparison between the Marco letter and the SLA notes is very compelling, almost startling considering the alignment of politic concerns. The 'To Kill' link between the partly redacted printing of the Exorcist and SLA letters is undeniable as well, but also curious. The whole theory is a slam dunk for me except for the motivation behind the SLA writing the Exorcist letter. The close timing of their deliveries is persuasive but do you have any ideas to throw at an explanation as to why the SLA would write a letter implying that the Zodiac Killer had returned? It got everyone's attention, but what would be their gain? Why not direct attention towards the SLA itself or one of their social concerns?

At any rate the theory is obviously coming along very nicely and I can't say enough about how bloody satisfying it is to read about new discoveries in this case. I hope some of the Zodiac-lifers recognize the significance here and place a feather in your cap. As always Richard, you're kung fu is the best!

Richard

1/12/2019 08:01:54 pm

Me too have been looking over the FBI files for years without noticing the Feb 3 part. Being on PDF 4 of the files it gets viewed slightly less than 1,2 and 3 but this time I noticed it for some reason. The question of why the S.L.A would write a letter implying that the Zodiac Killer had returned is a good one and at the moment I don't have a satisfactory answer. Possibly one of their members was absorbed by the Zodiac case as we are, and simply took it upon themselves to resurrect the killer, unless of course Zodiac was now a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. I can see a sort of purpose behind the S.L.A letter, hinting that they were going to do something without revealing their true intentions, in a form of game, but the Exorcist letter (if they were responsible) is more difficult and I shall have to give that one more thought Drew. If you have any ideas let me know.

Richard

1/12/2019 08:48:16 pm

See Ransom Note above.

1/12/2019 07:07:37 pm

Richard

According to Lyndon E. Lafferty's "The Zodiac Killer Cover-up"

The number and placement of Cecelia Ann Shepard's stabs are not correct here-

"A murderer, who didn't give a second thought to shooting two women a total of 10 times, before also ruthlessly stabbing Cecelia Shepard in the back and abdomen 10 times"

The true number and placement of stabbings were of a sexual nature to Cecelia Shepard 24 frenzied stab wounds three include one to each breast area and one to the vagina.

Just like the graphic nature of Riverside The Confession letter - The Killer says - BUT I SHALL CUT OFF HER FEMALE PARTS AND DEPOSIT THEM FOR THE WHOLE CITY TO SEE. That is exactly what Riverside's Bill Suff did to some of the 20 plus girls that they can definitively tie him to (Many had the name Cheri or Sherry or a similar sounding name).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqC88NFNywc
The proof is non exit-ant but there are tales that he may have started killing as early as 12 or 13. Bill cut off breasts of women, and deposited them for all to see. Though I went to school here and still live in the area I never heard about any of this. They seem to want all this to just magically go away. I guess it is bad for business. Out of sight out of mind thing. If Bill did kill CJB though, he would have been only 16 years old at the time. But, we now know that most serial killers begin at an even younger age. No serial killers say everything was normal until I turned 27 or 28 or so then I just suddenly took up killing. The military takes youth in at age 18 or even younger in earlier times - for a reason. People don't start killing after getting a mature brain. They start killing when they are younger - acting out from their typically abusive situation. As a result, it is a real possibility that Bill killed many times before his first known in 1973.

Richard

1/12/2019 08:09:08 pm

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/william-lester-suff

Did a piece on William Suff and certainly a candidate worthy of consideration for the Bates murder bearing in mind the nature of his later crimes, removing body parts on some of his victims as threatened in the Confession letter, and his name fits the 12 underscores with a gap between the M and S. The author of the Confession letter did state she wouldn't be the last.

Richard

1/12/2019 08:12:38 pm

According to the autopsy of Cecelia Shepard there were 10 stab wounds, none of a sexual nature.

http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=79

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 03:20:48 am

Fascinating,Richard,that you have added the SLA threat note to your presentation.

I had not seen it,before.

On a minor point of handwriting comparison,I have to admit that I was finding it difficult,to get past the word ''initial'' on [presumed] Zodiac's SLA letter....as a comparison to some words,in the June 1977 ''Steve McQueen '' letter of treat.

But,that was a single word.

This [actual [?]] SLA threat note,does throw in more for rumination.

And,indeed,perhaps the ''Steve McQueen'' letter,also [?].

Nice find.

Richard

1/13/2019 03:34:16 am

https://vault.fbi.gov/HEARNAP

Richard

1/13/2019 03:56:42 am

I have added an S.L.A envelope from 1975 above - notice the question mark in the same position as the R.P on the Red Phantom note.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 04:26:25 am

Thanks for the addition....and yes,note the top left hand ''curiosity''.

As a general consideration,Zodiac seemed to put something on his envelopes ''top left''...Pines Card,Halloween Card,Marco letter...

Could be a topic,on its own [?].

I wonder if it was a fashionable thing to do in those days....to,perhaps,add some personal identity [?].

Or,just an eccentricity of the Zodiac.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 09:08:03 am

Just as an additional thought....the Badlands letter,really points to a distinct possibility that,the earliest ''possible'' correspondence,from the man that became the Zodiac,is 1959,with the ''glorification'' link to a Hollywood journal.

Personally,I am claiming ''S5'',''Scorpion'' 's final cipher,and circa 1994,to be,possibly Zodiac's last recorded correspondence.

But,the FBI and CA DOJ may know different [?].

''1959'' would suggest that ''Zodiac'' started early,and was,more than likely,still at High School.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 09:43:51 am

Just as I post the previous comment,I see that Kevin Fagan of the SF Chronicle put forward a New Years Card,from 2001,last month.

''You thought I was dead ? No Way !''

1959-2001 [?].

It's getting better,all the time....to quote,the Fab Four.

Carl Karas link

1/13/2019 11:12:26 am

Well done! What really sold me was the handwriting match to the SLA notes. Spot on, in my untrained opinion. And the idea that the 3 letters were written by a woman- now the Count Marco Letter makes perfect sense. Maybe somehow the letters imitated something in the Exorcist Letter- glomming onto it in order to gain the publicity- but also to disguise that SLA was the real source

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 12:08:09 pm

Well yes,Carl...we will all take out of it,what we perceive.

And yours is an interesting interpretation.

In looking at this ''demand'' note,that Richard has just posted,it seems to me that the note offers a new possibility :

That although it was the Zodiac's inclination,to ''piggyback ride'',he was also looking to actually ''intervene'' in a news story,that was ongoing [?].

He wouldn't have known members of the SLA,personally,''from Eve''....but it is,albeit remote,that he may have been responsible,for the Patty Hearst demand note [?].

There are already suspicions that the Zodiac might have created at least one ''D.B.Cooper'' note.And,personally,I have him down,for attempting to mess,with meetings between various LE representatives,over the Joan Webster disappearance.....through impersonating Ms.Webster's father,and ex CIA employee,George.

You could be right,Carl....but I think that other angles,are still worth exploring.

To actually ''intervene'',by impersonation...is something that I believe that the Zodiac sought.To become,surreptitiously,part of news stories,that he otherwise,had nothing to do with....would have given the Zodiac.....the greatest thrill of all.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/13/2019 02:05:22 pm

This is all very interesting,with respect to Mr.Fagan's offering,on December 21st.The 2001 New Years Card,purportedly received around the 7th of January 2001.

Perhaps,this ''our'' present from the authorities,to mark the 50th anniversary of LHR [?].We just didn't realise it,since our expectations were that much higher [?]....like ''an arrest'',perhaps [?].

Mr.Fagan informs us that it is ''a likely hoax''....but then doesn't qualify this statement,in any shape,or form.In addition,we can read all the text enclosed,in the card....but are not permitted to see Zodiac's signature which,we are nevertheless informed by Mr.Fagan,that ''Zodiac'' did leave.

Much handwriting on offer.....and all the usual syntax employed.The lower case ''t's'' are no longer ''telegraph pole'' in appearance...though in one case,a ''telegraph pole 't' '' does ''slip through'',with the word ''with''.

The ''d's'' and ''b's'' are all upright,and the ''w's'' are hard and sharp.Zodiac has employed these forms of lower case alphabet letters,before.

The one underlined word is ''never''.This,we might compare with ''ever'' in the Badlands letter.

The composition content,is ''very much'' Zodiac,in his contrived ironic manner.On the one hand,he wants us to believe that he is familiar with local terminology,like ''Muni'',for municipal....but really,he seems to give away,that he is re-visiting San Francisco,after a good while away.

Most thoughts,seem to keep coming back to motorcars and driving.And,what he clearly finds amusing is,that an Asian car company,has taken over a village size piece of land,close to Twin Peeks. Yes,Honda !....who have done some re-naming,on account of paying for a new hospital and school.

A new expression,perhaps,when he uses the profanity ''bast*rd'' as an adjective,as in ''those bast*rd Muni drivers''.This,I believe,is an ''Anglicised'' manner of speaking....and suggests that he may have become more this way,according to where he has actually been living.

Though the ''2001 New Years Card'' has barely been given a mention....I believe that it is authentic Zodiac...who wrote it,just a little ''tipsy''....probably in a hotel room,in San Francisco....having purchased the card,locally.

What I believe is more certain is.....that Kevin Fagan has promised his Editor,that he will divulge no further details,about the card.

''.....but likely a hoax.'' [?].One could say that about the majority of Zodiac correspondences...both ''confirmed'' and ''unconfirmed''.

It's a ''thumbs up'' from me,on ''Real Zodiac''.

Judith

1/14/2019 04:17:20 pm

This New year's card looks legit. MUNI is the name for the Bus Line. Very racist. Peter was still alive when this was sent. He would die in Oct 2001. From Alcoholism.

Rubislaw 32 link

1/14/2019 07:05:51 pm

Very interesting,Judith.

Seeing as you are closer to San Francisco,than most of us,is there anything else,that you feel that you could add,with regard to the contents of the ''2001 New Years Card'' ?

I was there,for a week,in 2003,and the cab drivers were,either of Asian descent,or white ex-Vietnam Vets.

Just on observation,and conversation.

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