Wayne Williams, convicted of two murders On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". This business envelope came with an advertisement for miniature pewter models of classic automobiles, placed inside eighteen major Sunday newspapers on March 1st 1981 (see below). One of the newspapers this advertisement and business reply envelope was placed inside, was the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Bearing in mind that the sinister message threatening murder was written on an advertisement and postmarked Cleveland, it is extremely likely that the author of this message sourced their pre-printed envelope from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.
Six days later, on March 8th 1981, a letter was mailed to the WXIA-TV station in Atlanta. It was signed "Zodiac" and carried the message "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet. I'll give you a hint, I used to be in San Francisco. I used to stalk women, but I like to kill children now. At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle. So I guess I'll have to tell you. I'll (to) kill children because they are so easy to "pick off: Buy the way, if you still have letters from the other murders, I am not writing in the same hand writing". View letter.
The author of this letter made references associated with the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, by mentioning "I used to be in San Francisco", wrote that he would "pick off children" just like the October 13th 1969 letter from the Zodiac Killer, and had "left certain clues with his victims bodies", as he did when he wrote "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with". So it is particularly noteworthy that the Atlanta envelope contained small crosshairs in the upper left corner just like the October 13th 1969 envelope, which was not publicly available in 1981. These are the only two envelopes mailed in California carrying the "Zodiac" pseudonym, with these small crosshairs on the envelope. I doubt this was a fluke by the Atlanta author. Investigators believe that the March 2nd 1981 letter (from Cleveland) and March 8th 1981 letter (from Atlanta) are from the same author. I believe they are both from the Zodiac Killer.
Six days later, on March 8th 1981, a letter was mailed to the WXIA-TV station in Atlanta. It was signed "Zodiac" and carried the message "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet. I'll give you a hint, I used to be in San Francisco. I used to stalk women, but I like to kill children now. At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle. So I guess I'll have to tell you. I'll (to) kill children because they are so easy to "pick off: Buy the way, if you still have letters from the other murders, I am not writing in the same hand writing". View letter.
The author of this letter made references associated with the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, by mentioning "I used to be in San Francisco", wrote that he would "pick off children" just like the October 13th 1969 letter from the Zodiac Killer, and had "left certain clues with his victims bodies", as he did when he wrote "If you wonder why I was wipeing the cab down I was leaving fake clews for the police to run all over town with". So it is particularly noteworthy that the Atlanta envelope contained small crosshairs in the upper left corner just like the October 13th 1969 envelope, which was not publicly available in 1981. These are the only two envelopes mailed in California carrying the "Zodiac" pseudonym, with these small crosshairs on the envelope. I doubt this was a fluke by the Atlanta author. Investigators believe that the March 2nd 1981 letter (from Cleveland) and March 8th 1981 letter (from Atlanta) are from the same author. I believe they are both from the Zodiac Killer.
If the Zodiac Killer had accessed the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in 1981 and used material within it to mail one of his threatening letters, had he ever previously sourced from this newspaper in any his letters from July 31st 1969 to March 22nd 1971, which covered the bulk of his letter writing? Were there any key Zodiac phrases borrowed from the Cleveland Plain Dealer during the height of his terror? I managed to find the longest phrase yet (10 consecutive words) in a Zodiac letter that matched some wording from this same newspaper. I typed a phrase from the August 4th 1969 "Debut of Zodiac" letter into the newspaper archive and found it in only one newspaper in 334 years. Whether it has any relevance, or was a matter of chance, I really don't know.
In three lengthy consecutive communications on November 29th 1966, July 31st 1969 and August 4th 1969, I found the quote "it was about time for her to die" from 1888, "man is the most dangerous animal of all" from 1932, and "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" from 1942. A newspaper article on November 24th 1966 mentioned Jack the Ripper and Cheri Jo Bates, and five days later in the Confession letter we had a Ripper style communication with "it was about time for her to die" from 1888 (found only once prior to 1966). The July 31st 1969 letters appeared to reference the movie "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932, with the quote "man is the most dangerous animal of all" being uttered by Merian C. Cooper, the associate producer of the film, discovered in only three 1932 newspapers. The quote "darck spot in the center of the circle of light" was only found in one newspaper previous to August 4th 1969, spanning 279 years (see below).
The "Debut of Zodiac" letter was referencing the targeting of kids with a pencil flashlight attached to a gun, whereas the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from 1942 was referring to the targeting of cities with bombs. Both the Zodiac letter and Cleveland Plain Dealer also mentioned "the code". I fail to see why the Zodiac Killer would ever plagiarize such a newspaper article from June 17th 1942 about wartime precautions for an air raid, but I thought it was worthy of mention because of the seeming mimicry previously exhibited on November 29th 1966 and July 31st 1969. A trait, one could argue, that was specific to one individual and one mind.
The "Debut of Zodiac" letter was referencing the targeting of kids with a pencil flashlight attached to a gun, whereas the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from 1942 was referring to the targeting of cities with bombs. Both the Zodiac letter and Cleveland Plain Dealer also mentioned "the code". I fail to see why the Zodiac Killer would ever plagiarize such a newspaper article from June 17th 1942 about wartime precautions for an air raid, but I thought it was worthy of mention because of the seeming mimicry previously exhibited on November 29th 1966 and July 31st 1969. A trait, one could argue, that was specific to one individual and one mind.
THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, JUNE 17TH 1942
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