On January 29th 1974, a letter was mailed from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County to the San Francisco Chronicle by the Zodiac Killer for the first time. The letter (minus the Asian symbols) was published in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper on January 31st 1974, but the envelope was not released into the public domain prior to the arrival of the April 24th 1978 letter. Up to 1978, every single Zodiac communication that carried the *Please Rush to Editor" message on the reverse side of the envelope was either written in diagonal fashion or not contained on one line - except for one - which was written using a single line and was parallel to the upper and lower edges of the envelope. That was the Paul Stine envelope (containing the shirt piece) mailed on October 13th 1969, which was also withheld from the public domain prior to April 24th 1978.
The only available envelope addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper that the 1978 letter author had available for them to mimic, was the November 8th 1969 envelope released in a newspaper article on November 16th 1970. This newspaper article clearly shows the front and back of the envelope, with "Please Rush to Editor" written in level fashion on the front of the envelope and in diagonal fashion on the rear of the envelope. The author of the 1978 envelope seemingly did an excellent job mimicking the handwriting on the front side of the November 8th 1969 envelope, yet inexplicably failed to write "Please Rush to Editor" in level fashion on the front of their 1978 envelope. Additionally, the author of the 1978 envelope failed to write "Please Rush to Editor" in diagonal fashion on the rear of the envelope, again failing to mimic the November 8th 1969 envelope - instead opting to mimic the Paul Stine letter which was never released into the public domain. In fact, the 1978 envelope was the only communication connected to the Zodiac Killer with the writing "Please Rush to Editor" in diagonal fashion on the front of an envelope. This copycat certainly wasn't very observant - apparently losing his train of thought from one side of the envelope to the other. Also, according to investigators, the author of the 1978 letter managed to mail the communication from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County, just like the Exorcist letter, four years earlier. Strange how he apparently never forgot that.
The only available envelope addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper that the 1978 letter author had available for them to mimic, was the November 8th 1969 envelope released in a newspaper article on November 16th 1970. This newspaper article clearly shows the front and back of the envelope, with "Please Rush to Editor" written in level fashion on the front of the envelope and in diagonal fashion on the rear of the envelope. The author of the 1978 envelope seemingly did an excellent job mimicking the handwriting on the front side of the November 8th 1969 envelope, yet inexplicably failed to write "Please Rush to Editor" in level fashion on the front of their 1978 envelope. Additionally, the author of the 1978 envelope failed to write "Please Rush to Editor" in diagonal fashion on the rear of the envelope, again failing to mimic the November 8th 1969 envelope - instead opting to mimic the Paul Stine letter which was never released into the public domain. In fact, the 1978 envelope was the only communication connected to the Zodiac Killer with the writing "Please Rush to Editor" in diagonal fashion on the front of an envelope. This copycat certainly wasn't very observant - apparently losing his train of thought from one side of the envelope to the other. Also, according to investigators, the author of the 1978 letter managed to mail the communication from either San Mateo or Santa Clara County, just like the Exorcist letter, four years earlier. Strange how he apparently never forgot that.
Published in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970
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