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THE DEFIANCE OF GRAVITY

4/29/2015

9 Comments

 
Again we shall revisit the crime scene photographs of the Paul Stine murder from every angle to hopefully blow the myth of the Presidio Heights shooting of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969, namely that the murder took place near the intersection of Washington and Cherry Street, in direct contradiction to all the evidence, in particular blood pattern analysis. The Zodiac claims of a Washington and Maple murder in his October 13th letter was in all probability correct and hopefully the following with show this to be the case. Then hopefully you can shoot down every argument you are about to read and make a case to return the murder back to 3898 Washington Street. To pick up on the argument thus far, it may be necessary to read this article first, to avoid running over old ground. http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/presidio-heights-the-final-chapter.     
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In the 2007 movie Zodiac it re-enacts one widely held belief, that after Paul Stine is shot he falls immediately over onto his right side. Whether he collapsed to his right side or onto his back is not the point, lying across the seat complying to the camber of the road, blood cannot run against gravity. Imagine where Paul Stine's head would have been and the blood pattern on the shirt. Blood is not and never going to run horizontally from a head wound anterior to the right ear, upwards and more importantly against gravity to produce the pattern shown on the front left side of Paul Stine's shirt, never mind the right. The back of Paul Stine's shirt shown here also shows a distinct separation, with the majority of blood on the right side, with very little on the left, whereas the front of the shirt shows equal amounts on both sides down to the first blue line. However at the first blue line it stops abruptly on the left side, but continues on the right, despite there being almost equal amounts of blood above this. Greater blood transference from a right sided head wound should produce increased staining to the right side of the shirt if the victim is perfectly upright, however if you take a look at the collar of the shirt, marked C on the diagram, the staining is extremely high on the left side as well. This high left sided staining, the majority of the blood being on the right rear side of the shirt as opposed to the left, considering the near equal distribution on the front, and the blood stopping abruptly on the front left side of the shirt can all be explained in one simple scenario, along with the two patches of blood marked A and B on the left and right arm of the shirt. Only one sitting position can explain all these blood patterns and point to a Washington and Maple murder. And later, blood marks on the handle of the door will hopefully be the final piece of the jigsaw. The following is a quick refresher from the above linked article just to lead into the final part of this one.

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After the Zodiac Killer entered the taxicab, it pulled away from the intersection of Mason and Geary on it's short journey to Washington and Maple. As they approached the corner, the driver, Paul Stine knowing he was en route to a scheduled fare, possibly failed to place the taxicab into park to facilitate a quick exit and started to turn to the right to request payment. At the same time the killer had raised his 9mm semi-automatic towards the right side of Paul Stine's face. In a split second realizing the uncomfortable truth and with his right arm wedged between his body and the seat rear, instinctively raised his left hand in a desperate bid to block, deflect or grab the assailants gun, however he was unfortunately a fraction too late, as the muzzle ejected it's deadly contents. This may explain the dark mark found on the dorsal side of Paul Stine's left hand at autopsy. The killer believed his task was complete. but Paul Stine's foot had broken contact with the vehicle's brake pedal and the taxicab was now motioning forward out of control. In an instant the killer had to react to prevent an imminent crash, alerting the neighborhood and drawing unwanted attention to himself. We may never know if his intention at this point was to preserve his master plan of securing a section of Paul Stine's shirt and was not to be denied or having possibly used a silencer, was determined not to place in jeopardy his quiet exit away up Maple Street to his waiting vehicle somewhere close by. Whatever the case he had to make his decision now.    
The Zodiac Killer hastily exited the left rear door, possibly injuring himself in the process (Donald Fouke described a man later spotted on Jackson Street as having a shuffling lope, like a semi-limp) and entered the front driver side door and in doing so deposited either normal or blooded  fingerprints on the panel between the doors. Then bracing himself on the front driver side compartment area, stepped over the lifeless body of Paul Stine to gain some limited control over the runaway vehicle. He now had to support Paul Stine's body in an upright position, pressing it against the driver side door with his left side, so as to access the taxicab pedals with his left foot and coast the taxicab away from the Washington and Maple Street intersection to the corner of Washington and Cherry, where it was found positioned in the above photograph.  

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Imagine, Paul Stine is now lifeless being pushed against the driver side door and more importantly the driver side arm rest. He is only ever so slightly tilted to his left side, so the right side of his back marginally lifts away from the seat as Zodiac pushes against him, and both of Paul Stine's arms are squeezed into his body. The journey from Washington and Maple Street to Washington and Cherry Street begins. The blood runs down and outwards around the chest, but because Paul Stine is tilted slightly to the left, blood from the right side runs around the neck to the collar on the left side and down this side of the body, as well as the right. As he is pushed against by the Zodiac, the right side of his back lifts marginally away from the seat allowing blood to stain the right rear section of his shirt, however his back left side is virtually untouched, as this is pressed firmly into the seat, preventing the blood from reaching this area. Paul Stine's arms are squeezed in at the armpits, meaning the red circled areas in the upper photograph are blood free, however the shirt arms have two distinct patches A and B, which slightly touch the blood as it rounds the chest. The blood continues downwards staining the shirt as it goes, but stops almost linearly on the left side, two thirds of the way down, exactly where the arm rest of the door is positioned. With Paul Stine's body pressed firmly against this door rest the blood is prevented from reaching the lower portion of the shirt on the left side, where it gets channeled away, but pools slightly in this area. You will notice in the above photograph the streaks of vertical blood on the arm rest highlighted. When the Zodiac Killer brings the taxicab to rest at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection he shuffles over to the right side of the front seat and pulls Paul Stine's body away from the left door and arm rest into a lying position to secure his trophy. The blood streak across the arm rest now is subject to gravity and forms the patterned blood striations downwards, depicted in the photograph above. This is not blood spatter from the initial shooting, as the rest of the door remains relatively untouched. The Zodiac Killer is spotted by three teenagers from the house opposite in the mid to right of the front passenger seat in all likelihood removing the rear section of Paul Stine's shirt. He then likely pushes Paul Stine's lifeless body over to the floorboard section of the front passenger seat, where heavy blood pooling is noticed in the crime scene photographs. The final resting position of Paul Stine is partially hanging out of the car door, likely pulled into that position by the attending medical crew. 
The time period between the two intersections allows for the blood pattern to form on the shirt, something that is simply not feasible if Paul Stine had been killed at Washington and Cherry and had slumped over immediately. More importantly no shots were ever attested to by the three teenagers across the street and the blooded prints on the external driver side door should simply not have been there if the order of events had unfolded as we were lead to believe.

9 Comments
Greg H.
4/29/2015 04:13:12 pm

Good article.. But I'm slightly unconvinced about the blood streaking on the arm rest being indicative of anything particular.. According to Dave Toschi, who along with his partner Bill Armstrong were the first inspectors on the scene, the inside of Stine's taxi was littered with blood in virtually every crease and crevice.. They initially believed the shooting was the work of an amateur who fled the scene covered and dripping in his victim's blood.. Because there was such massive spillage, I think it becomes difficult to formulate hypothetical scenarios with great confidence.. I don't believe he'd have the ability to step over Stine's lifeless body, as the vehicle is already moving, and gain control of the foot pedals.. Stine was a relatively large man, as well, around 6 feet and 180 pounds.. His body, especially deceased, would have effectively been too much to move and reposition--while the car moved no less--in such tight quarters as the front compartment of a car, with a steering wheel being in the way to further complicate matters.. More likely scenario is that Zodiac initially told Stine to take him to the first intersection, but, it's been said, noticed someone on the street who could become a witness, so instead instructed Stine to take him one block further where he sensed better privacy.. Perhaps I'm giving him too much credit, but I'd think he would've made sure Stine had put the car in park before shooting him, realizing the impact that not doing so would have.. As far as the fingerprints on the door, that is the ultimate question.. Was he just absent-minded?.. Were they intentionally planted through some surreptitious means?.. He was apparently wiping down the rest of the car for prints, but amid the chaos he certainly could have missed a spot.. My main point here is that the blood spillage was said to be massive.. I've also read that the photographs taken of this scene, perhaps due to the atmospheric conditions or otherwise, gave a distorted view of the body in respect to its surroundings, so the inspectors relied on sketches they drew as well as measurement tape and the like...

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Richard
4/29/2015 05:20:12 pm

I accept there are of course alternatives, just not the official one. It leaves too many unanswered questions, namely no gunshot heard, ok the gunshot may have been muffled by the close contact wound or a silencer employed. The driver side door prints could have been deposited later if the teenagers were not totally accurate or even the killer clambered from the rear seats to the front without exiting the cab, although with a heavyset man, mobility may be the key. But for me it always comes down to one question, the shirts blood pattern. We would have to assume two scenarios 1. After he shot Paul Stine, the blood gushed out at such an enormous rate the blood pattern on the shirt occurred in probably less than a second before he slumped over and the pattern does not look right for this or 2. After he shot Paul Stine he just sat in the back of the taxicab doing nothing for a measurable period of time and that makes little sense either. Also if the teenagers were correct that he was wiping down the driver side compartment area, he had to of touched the area for a reason. This is why I believe he took the keys, he had touched them, possibly restarting the taxicab after stalling it in his attempt to regain control of the vehicle, otherwise taking them was superfluous, as he took the swatch of shirt instead. But again it boils down to the shirt, the pattern has to be explained by an alternative hypothesis, unless of course it is believed this could have been produced in very short time. The three teenagers never mention ever seeing Zodiac in the rear of the taxicab and Stine never allowed customers to travel in the front seat and assuming Stine knew his assailant is one hell of a stretch.

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John Corbin
12/14/2018 10:23:05 am

Since the police don't really share all they have and are usually very guarded with what they do have, it could very well be the prints on the side of the cab are simply those of other individuals having handled the cab before. Keep in mind in those times there weren't the data bases of fingerprints like today and even today if you've never been printed then they wouldn't whose prints they had once they collected them. I think it makes the most sense to believe the Zodiac when he said he never left prints at any of his crimes. The airplane glue thing would be easy to carry off. I remember having that glue on my hands as a kid and it has to either wear off or be scrubbed. Also WHY do we assume the kids/witnesses saw the whole thing from start to finish? There's nothing in the report that they saw Stine's cab pull up and then they began to watch the taxi. It's most likely the Zodiac killed Stine from behind, moved to the front, and some moments after that, maybe the sound of a closing door or just timing, they looked out to notice movement in the front seat of the cab. We CANNOT assume they saw every minute of the crime unfolding. Not unless you've got official reporting to contradict my assertions here.

Charles Pruett
12/14/2018 10:14:53 am

Excellent comments.

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Richard
4/29/2015 05:38:45 pm

Also take a look at this image http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=816&fullsize=1
Maybe I am wrong but you can see extensive blood pooling to the back of the driver side seat, yet no blood pooling to the back of the front passenger seat, suggesting again he was upright for a considerable period in this position. Note how the seats slant from right to left. Had Paul Stine keeled over immediately with his head resting on the seat, blood would with gravity be channelled right to left to collect in the join of the front passenger seat, but there is none. How is this possible. He could have immediately slumped over to the passenger floorboard area, but how did the pooling occur in the rear join of the driver seat, confined to only that section.

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Greg H.
4/29/2015 05:49:27 pm

I get what you're saying, but my only issue is in how he would fit or get himself into the vehicle with Stine's body occupying the frontseat.. It also assumes the front door was unlocked to allow himself to enter, which is no guarantee--especially if Stine was a stickler for following rules such as not allowing passengers to ride up front.. Are you 100% convinced that those dark streaks which seem to be darkest only on the lowest part of the arm rest is indeed blood?.. The picture is slightly ambiguous, not the HD stuff we're accustomed to seeing nowadays.. If you recall the Budd Dwyer footage, a gun wound such as this can produce copious blood loss in a matter of seconds.. Could, in fact, explain the stains of the shirt.. Will continue this later...

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Richard
4/29/2015 06:21:17 pm

Entering the vehicle may be awkward, it may be unresolved as to this scenario, I believe it's possible but I certainly accept your counter argument, which is what I wanted and like. Debate can challenge even my preconceptions, believe it or not. Yes I remember us talking about the Budd Dwyer footage before and you are right about the massive blood loss in seconds, but without knowing the caliber of weapon and the anatomy of the different entry points, it is possible Zodiac shot Paul Stine from the rear at Washington and Cherry, he didn't slump over and by the time Zodiac had exited the right rear passenger door and entered the front right passenger door, blood staining like shown is possible. But this of course is only part of the story we have the blooded prints in the unusual position, assuming they were blooded and were the Zodiac's, as for the keys, they may have been taken for a trophy and not used, albeit a bit bulky for Zodiac's conventional letter writing. As for the blood stripes on the door handle you are right, I certainly could not say 100% they are blood, they could be tea stains for all I know, but I took a few directional markers and found they tallied at the exact point of the blood cessation on the left side of the shirt and the door rest. Hey I know there are alternative, just looking for one size fits all to tie it all together, but I will keep on thinking and as always Greg value your input mate.

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Alex link
5/25/2015 12:06:51 am

Hey Rich....

Don't know if you remember going back a little while ago I said (several times on ZKS thread) that I thought it was actually Armond who had spoken with Zodiac and not, as is implied, Don Fouke and listed many reasons why what Armond said just made no logical sense (Such as, going after armed and extremely dangerous suspect on foot at night in a area that, from his own mouth acknowledged 'Using every Techneque I know so I didn't get my head blown off as there is innumerable alcoves and parked cars.' Well, I cannot think of any cop or or police force that would train Officers to pursue a suspect in a way which increases the likelyhood of Officer coming to serious harm by a factor of x2 while also taking mucbh longer to close a gap on any fleeing suspect. Make's no logical sense at all what-so-ever! For me, Armond is lying and he's saying he went on foot so he can discount himself as being the unit that stopped Zodiac. Anyway....

In the one book I bought the author seems to make a clear distinction between the two responding units of Armond & Frank vs Don & Eric on Oct 11th. The author does not name Armond by Name as being the unit that called Zodiac over but, the implication is unmissable as the author writes that a unit came upon a Male at the intersection of Jackson & Cherry and called him over and The Guy told the cops that he'd just seen aman running on Washington St with a Gun. Then, 30 seconds or so behind this first unit, Fouke and Zelms are approaching Jax & Maple Intersects when they too, see a lumbering white guy but they do not stop or speak with him because He's White and they have been given suspect description as Black.

Interesting to say the least!

Reply
glen
4/26/2018 08:10:00 pm

Can someone explain to me the perfectly cut portion of Mr. Stein's shirt? Is that the portion that was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle? If so, could it be that the unusual Zodiac murder in SF is exactly what it is, an outlier. Perhaps, the person who sent the evidence to the San Francisco Chronicle is a forensic employee within the San Francisco police department. The murder of Mr. Stein was a zodiac crime outlier. Hence, the Zodiac could have been someone reading the police scanners and claiming credit.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Marcin Wichary, zAppledot, g_kat26, vyusseem, Alex Barth, Alan Cleaver, cwwycoff1, V31S70, jocelynsart, mendhak, Richard Perry, taberandrew, telmo32, Maxwell GS, eschipul, MrJamesAckerley, Steve A Johnson