It isn't surprising that we never heard from the police dispatcher who took the call from the three teenagers on October 11th 1969, because the narrative was closely controlled by the San Francisco Police Department, who, could be argued, concocted a tissue of lies regarding the supposed misunderstanding in respect to the description of the suspect. One month after the murder of Paul Stine, their lack of transparency was compounded by an unnecessary memorandum written largely on behalf of Officer Donald Fouke in the third person. For reasons unknown, the San Francisco Police Department could have just denied the Zodiac Killer's claims of "two cops pulled a goof" in the November 9th 1969 letter, but decided to concoct a memorandum on November 12th 1969, underlining and seemingly inventing a reason why officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms didn't stop the white male adult. It was apparently because the dispatcher had radioed a description of a negro male adult to responding personnel. The closing of ranks to protect Officer Donald Fouke, because he stopped the suspect and let him on his way, ultimately left Donald Fouke twisting himself inside out during an uncomfortable interview in the 2007 Zodiac documentary, which accompanied the Fincher movie. Are we really to believe the dispatcher took a full description of the suspect from the three teenagers, and nobody, including the dispatcher and responding officers, thought it strange that a negro male adult in 1969 had a reddish-blond crew cut.
November 12th 1969 memorandum. Click to enlarge. Donald Fouke was approaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple Streets, when he observed a man matching virtually every characteristic passed to him over the radio by the dispatcher, apart from the skin color of the suspect, Despite the fact this man had a light-colored hair in a crew cut - the same as the description given to Fouke - he naturally didn't believe it to be the suspect because it wasn't a black male with a blond crew cut. Doesn't this seem rather strange? As Officer Donald Fouke approached the subject, the first thing he would have realized was the man was white. A cursory glance would have been all that was required to realize this wasn't the perpetrator of the attack on the taxicab driver. He could logically have asked the man in passing, had he seen a negro male adult in the area, but apparently he denied ever speaking to the shuffling man. This makes the memorandum even more unbelievable, when we consider the glossary of detail Officer Donald Fouke went into regarding the "man he wasn't looking for".
In the November 12th 1969 memorandum, Officer Donald Fouke was attributed the description of the subject, as "a WMA 35-45 years, about 5'10", 180-200lbs. Medium heavy build - Barrel chested - Medium complexion - light colored hair possibly graying in the rear. Crew cut - Wearing glasses - Dressed in dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue). Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up. Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown). May have been wearing low cut shoes". Amazing detail provided by Officer Donald Fouke, bearing in mind he was looking for a negro male adult. Not only describing the elasticated cuffs and waist band part way up, as well as the low cut shoes (later described as tan engineering boots), but took the extraordinary step of noticing the man possibly graying in the rear and having baggy pants in the rear also, despite knowing by now the man was white. One could be forgiven for believing they actually stopped the Zodiac Killer, to facilitate such clarity of detail. Officer Donald Fouke noticed all of this, yet was apparently unaware whether his partner Eric Zelms (who was seated closer to the sidewalk) saw anything. If Donald Fouke was able to provide such a vivid and clear description of the killer on November 12th 1969, then he was capable of providing this description the night of the crime. Do we really believe that neither Fouke or Zelms thought to report this sighting of a man on Jackson Street at the appropriate time - or that they were not interviewed by their superiors to what they saw that night? Are we to believe that no communication happened between Officer Donald Fouke and his superiors for one month until the belated memorandum? Officers Armond Pelissetti and Frank Peda (the first officers at the crime scene) countersigned a police report the following morning, yet inexplicably we heard nothing from the two officers who crossed paths with a killer. The whole story leaves a lot to be desired.
In the November 12th 1969 memorandum, Officer Donald Fouke was attributed the description of the subject, as "a WMA 35-45 years, about 5'10", 180-200lbs. Medium heavy build - Barrel chested - Medium complexion - light colored hair possibly graying in the rear. Crew cut - Wearing glasses - Dressed in dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue). Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up. Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown). May have been wearing low cut shoes". Amazing detail provided by Officer Donald Fouke, bearing in mind he was looking for a negro male adult. Not only describing the elasticated cuffs and waist band part way up, as well as the low cut shoes (later described as tan engineering boots), but took the extraordinary step of noticing the man possibly graying in the rear and having baggy pants in the rear also, despite knowing by now the man was white. One could be forgiven for believing they actually stopped the Zodiac Killer, to facilitate such clarity of detail. Officer Donald Fouke noticed all of this, yet was apparently unaware whether his partner Eric Zelms (who was seated closer to the sidewalk) saw anything. If Donald Fouke was able to provide such a vivid and clear description of the killer on November 12th 1969, then he was capable of providing this description the night of the crime. Do we really believe that neither Fouke or Zelms thought to report this sighting of a man on Jackson Street at the appropriate time - or that they were not interviewed by their superiors to what they saw that night? Are we to believe that no communication happened between Officer Donald Fouke and his superiors for one month until the belated memorandum? Officers Armond Pelissetti and Frank Peda (the first officers at the crime scene) countersigned a police report the following morning, yet inexplicably we heard nothing from the two officers who crossed paths with a killer. The whole story leaves a lot to be desired.
Officer Donald Fouke Had officers Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms simply passed the white male and continued onwards without stopping, then from their initial position when receiving the first radio broadcast (APB), they would have arrived at the crime scene in no more than 90 seconds (likely less). Officer Armond Pelissetti would still have been at the crime scene, supposedly retaking the updated description from the teenagers and updating all other units. This is not the story told in the 2007 documentary, which was littered with inaccuracies during the retelling of events from October 11th 1969. Officer Donald Fouke never turned into Cherry Street traveling west on Jackson Street. According to the 1989 Crimes of the Century documentary, he apparently received the second and amended description from Pelissetti while heading towards Arguello Boulevard. If we accept the negro male adult story, we still have the added problem of Officer Donald Fouke heading away from a crime scene he is supposed to be responding to. Had he headed to the crime scene directly from the first radio broadcast, he would have been receiving the updated description from the intersection of Washington and Cherry Streets, alongside Armond Pelissetti and Frank Peda (and certainly not at the top of Cherry as told in 2007). Instead, he was receiving it from near Arguello Boulevard. What is the reason for Officer Donald Fouke heading away from an assault and robbery on Washington Street? The obvious answer is, he was directed there by the Zodiac Killer, exactly as was described in the November 9th 1969 Bus Bomb letter, when he claimed "two cops pulled a goof". The reason Officer Donald Fouke was able to recall such detail about the Zodiac Killer, is because he stopped and questioned him - and thereby explaining why he didn't travel directly to the crime scene that night.
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