Benicia Herald: "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene". It is reported that Stella Medeiros was the only eyewitness to see the stricken couple lying on the turnout floor, who then raced off to Benicia and flagged down Captain Daniel Pitta, recorded in the Benicia Police report at 11:25 pm. It was estimated that Stella Medeiros passed the turnout at approximately 11:20 pm. Captain Daniel Pitta would have then radioed into the Benicia Police Department reporting the details and requesting possible assistance. Coming from a experienced officer over the radio, it is difficult to understand how this could be interpreted as a "crank call". A call indicates a telephone call, and not a radio message. This opens up the possibility that somebody other than Captain Daniel Pitta called the Benicia Police Department at around the same time and reported something that was interpreted as an accident on Lake Herman Road. The last reported eyewitness to have passed the turnout prior to Stella Medeiros was James Owen, who was traveling to his graveyard shift at Humble Oil in Benicia.
How many times have we passed a certain area and seen somebody lying on the ground and made the assumption that the person has had too many drinks or taken drugs, and just continued on our way, reluctant to get involved. Is it possible that James Owen was driving to work that night and noticed one or both victims lying on the turnout floor and just assumed it was teenagers worse for wear? In other words, his initial reaction was different to that of Stella Medeiros. He continued on to Humble Oil in Benicia and parked up at around 11:18 pm to 11:19 pm. He then entered his place of work, and upon refection, considered that the wise decision was to ring the Benicia Police Department and report that he had seen a "woman lying outside a car" in a turnout. The time of any such phone call would have been very close to 11:25 pm (possibly slightly before) with the unsure nature of the phone call possibly resulting in the police dispatcher considering it a crank call. If a phone call was received by Benicia Police Department reporting a "woman lying outside a car", we only know of one other eyewitness who passed the turnout immediately prior to Stella Medeiros, who could possibly have made this call at around the same time as Captain Daniel Pitta's radio message. That person was James Owen.
In an interview with Michael Morford in 2012, he stated "As I was getting ready to leave work the next morning, a worker on the morning shift came in talking about the crime. When I left work, I passed the scene, and there were police there working, so I stopped and told them what I had seen.”
Having now been informed of the gravity of the crime, he did the dutiful thing by informing the police of his recollection of the second vehicle in the turnout, but how would it have been received in light of the double murder, had he now admitted seeing the young girl lying on the turnout floor and just drove on past without seeking the immediate help of police, and making what was described as a "crank call" (possibly lacking urgency). Was James Owen reluctant to admit what he saw in the turnout that night because of his misinterpretation of the crime scene on his way to Humble Oil, and how it may have been viewed by police? Is it possible he saw one or both victims on the turnout floor and didn't make the phone call, making him even more reluctant to reveal the whole truth to police?
In the police report James Owen stated 'that just before he approached the scene, a vehicle passed him going in the opposite direction toward Vallejo. He could give no description of this vehicle. This occurred near the Borges Ranch'. The occupants of this vehicle never came forward - which leaves the possibility that this vehicle could have played some part in the crime. James Owen's gave a second statement on 12.24.68: "He definitely saw two cars, a station wagon and another vehicle, parked approximately three or four feet to the right of the station wagon. He did not see anyone in the cars or around them. He stated as he traveled approximately one quarter of a mile beyond, he thought he heard a shot." It is this statement that makes little sense from the standpoint of other eyewitnesses.
The couple were spotted in their vehicle shortly after 11:00 pm by Peggy and Homer Your, but 10 minutes later, according to James Owen, they had completely vanished from the turnout. He didn't mention the doors of either vehicle being open. So, if the Zodiac Killer had driven the young couple from the Rambler, but noticed James Owen approaching the turnout and hidden David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen out of sight, we would have to assume he closed the door of his vehicle and the Rambler, and then later reopened the passenger side door of the Rambler for some unexplained reason - because this is how it was discovered by responding officers. The actual crime makes much more sense if the couple had already been shot when James Owen approached the turnout and simply misinterpreted what he saw. Had there been a second vehicle present at that time, then James Owen would have passed the turnout with Zodiac still on scene, but possibly out of sight. If there was no second vehicle, then the car traveling toward Vallejo by the Borges Ranch could have been the Zodiac Killer.
But the bottom line is, that had a phone call been received by Benicia Police Department - described as a "crank call" - then the person who made this phone call had to have passed the turnout very close to the time of Stella Medeiros. If it wasn't James Owen, it may have been the Zodiac Killer himself.
Having now been informed of the gravity of the crime, he did the dutiful thing by informing the police of his recollection of the second vehicle in the turnout, but how would it have been received in light of the double murder, had he now admitted seeing the young girl lying on the turnout floor and just drove on past without seeking the immediate help of police, and making what was described as a "crank call" (possibly lacking urgency). Was James Owen reluctant to admit what he saw in the turnout that night because of his misinterpretation of the crime scene on his way to Humble Oil, and how it may have been viewed by police? Is it possible he saw one or both victims on the turnout floor and didn't make the phone call, making him even more reluctant to reveal the whole truth to police?
In the police report James Owen stated 'that just before he approached the scene, a vehicle passed him going in the opposite direction toward Vallejo. He could give no description of this vehicle. This occurred near the Borges Ranch'. The occupants of this vehicle never came forward - which leaves the possibility that this vehicle could have played some part in the crime. James Owen's gave a second statement on 12.24.68: "He definitely saw two cars, a station wagon and another vehicle, parked approximately three or four feet to the right of the station wagon. He did not see anyone in the cars or around them. He stated as he traveled approximately one quarter of a mile beyond, he thought he heard a shot." It is this statement that makes little sense from the standpoint of other eyewitnesses.
The couple were spotted in their vehicle shortly after 11:00 pm by Peggy and Homer Your, but 10 minutes later, according to James Owen, they had completely vanished from the turnout. He didn't mention the doors of either vehicle being open. So, if the Zodiac Killer had driven the young couple from the Rambler, but noticed James Owen approaching the turnout and hidden David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen out of sight, we would have to assume he closed the door of his vehicle and the Rambler, and then later reopened the passenger side door of the Rambler for some unexplained reason - because this is how it was discovered by responding officers. The actual crime makes much more sense if the couple had already been shot when James Owen approached the turnout and simply misinterpreted what he saw. Had there been a second vehicle present at that time, then James Owen would have passed the turnout with Zodiac still on scene, but possibly out of sight. If there was no second vehicle, then the car traveling toward Vallejo by the Borges Ranch could have been the Zodiac Killer.
But the bottom line is, that had a phone call been received by Benicia Police Department - described as a "crank call" - then the person who made this phone call had to have passed the turnout very close to the time of Stella Medeiros. If it wasn't James Owen, it may have been the Zodiac Killer himself.
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