ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
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THE 'FICTITIOUS' NEGRO MALE

7/23/2017

 
The following is nothing new, but is a further re-examination of the critical period after the Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Herman Road attacks, focusing in on 'two phone calls' made shortly after each crime. It will place particular emphasis on the area around the Springs/Tuolumne payphone, and the possibility the killer's residence on foot, was mere minutes away. We shall also look again at the wording of the Zodiac Killer in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter received by the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969. Here is what we noted in a previous article:
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'In the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter received by the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated; 
"The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car." This negro male was never traced and did not feature in the police report. The details of his age range and what he was wearing, on the face of it appear unnecessary, unless of course the Zodiac Killer was deliberately creating a fictional character who just so happened to observe his brown car. Bearing in mind Zodiac had likely read newspaper reports of Michael Mageau detailing a brown car in the parking lot of Blue Rock Springs, what better way to corroborate his sighting by further implanting the seed of a brown car into the minds of investigators, by the hand of this fictional eyewitness. If Zodiac's vehicle was 'Ermine White' then clearly this is to his advantage. Voluntarily offering the color of his vehicle as brown, if in fact it was brown, must be viewed with suspicion'.
      
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Two other things strike you about this section of correspondence. The Zodiac's willingness to accept he made an error of judgment when he hung up the phone, unless of course he had an ulterior motive for it. In his communications to police the Zodiac would never refer to his victims by name, calling them boy, girl, people, teenagers or taxicab driver. He only expanded on their descriptions when attempting to verify he was the killer, or in this case to verify he was spotted in his "brown car", by a "40-45 year old shabbily dressed negro male". Indeed, very helpful descriptions by the murderer, yet somewhat unnecessary. What had the killer to gain by adding this superfluous information, other than to benefit himself? He made specific reference to "that drew his attention to me + my car", when he could simply have said "that drew his attention to me". The killer appeared to be emphasizing, that not only was he in his car, but it was also brown, just like Michael Mageau had previously described.

By placing himself at the payphone in his vehicle approximately 40 minutes after the attack, when it was only 10 minutes from the Blue Rock Springs parking lot, may have suggested to police that he drove to the payphone and could live almost anywhere. Or was that what he wanted them to believe, by being so utterly unselfish and extremely forthright, in adding in the detailed description of the eyewitness and his brown car parked nearby. When in fact he was on foot - and had placed the phone call after returning home, ditching his weapon, vehicle and clothing (which may have received blood transfer from the shooting).  
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The downside of a killer resident in downtown Vallejo, American Canyon or Benicia, is that, had he driven home to these locations to ditch his clothing and weapon, he would effectively be driving back towards or nearer to the crime scene to place the phone call. What killer would make a phone call after a murder extremely close to his residence? A killer who was implanting the seed of a brown car, when in fact it was probably white and not present at the payphone.

The content of the phone call may also be telling. The directions he gave were correct, apart from the distance. He stated
"I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". This appears incorrect on first reading - whether from the payphone or the police station - but by inserting one break or comma, the directions make perfect sense: "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east..... on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". Or by changing one word regarding the recollection of Nancy Slover: "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east..... on Columbus Parkway by a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". However, is the killer playing down his familiarity with this particular payphone by placing it one mile west of Columbus Parkway, when its true distance is 2 miles.  

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Let us consider the Zodiac Killer lived in a residence extremely close to the payphone - but how close? If he drove to a residence ten minutes from Blue Rock Springs, would he be prepared to walk 20-30 minutes to the payphone, and place the call, knowing he had the equivalent journey back home? In distance terms, one mile from the payphone. Or would he more likely venture 5 or 10 minutes? Could the 'crank call' made after the Lake Herman Road double murder help us - and did the Zodiac Killer place this phone call on foot from the exact same payphone? This much shallower timeline may place his residence yards from the Springs and Tuolumne intersection.

The timeline of Lake Herman Road is debatable, but it is fairly certain that James Owen passed the turnout at 11:08-11:10 pm and heard a shot 30 seconds later. This being the case, it puts the killer in the turnout at around 11:10 pm. Stella Medeiros spotting the bodies in the turnout, raced off to Benicia and flagged down Captain Daniel Pitta. This has been argued between 11:19-11:25 pm (Captain Daniel Pitta's police report states 11:25 pm), with his radio call to Benicia Police Department shortly thereafter. It is widely believed to be around 11:28-11:30 pm.

"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". But why, in the plural, had "police at first suspected it was a crank call". What gave them this idea, after all, this incident was radioed in by an experienced officer? Was the report of a crank call, which police "first suspected," allayed when the radio message arrived moments later from Captain Daniel Pitta? ​Had this mystery call been issued by Zodiac? Had this been called in from the payphone at Springs and Tuolumne, just like the phone call after the Blue Rock Springs attack some six and a half months later? If police first suspected this was a crank call, then it was likely called in before Captain Daniel Pitta radioed the Benicia Police Department - whose confirmation would effectively quash the idea it was an accident, as police first suspected.

The journey time from the Gate #10 turnout to the Springs and Tuolumne intersection is approximately 12 minutes. Had the Zodiac Killer left the turnout at approximately 11:10 pm or shortly thereafter (let us say 11:11-11:12 pm), then the killer was able to place the phone call 12 minutes later at 11:23-11:24 pm, just before Captain Daniel Pitta radioed in, leading to the initial confusion experienced by police officers and the assumption it was a crank call. The Zodiac Killer may even have had a small window of extra time to travel home, ditch his vehicle and weapon, and walk to the payphone. Whatever the case, the author of the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter was seemingly eager to sell us a false narrative.   

Shawn
7/23/2017 06:11:02 am

Hello,

"40-45 year old shabbily dressed negro male."

I think Zodiac usually inserted hidden meanings into his statements.
Whether the statement was true or false. A Witness by that description was never found.

Mageau claimed to have seen the Zodiac but gave a younger age...somewhere in his thirties. The bright light from Zodiac's flashlight obscured his view.

I think Zodiac could be giving a clue to his real age. The age 40-45 falls within the age range of 35 to 45 given by Foukes a few months later at the Paul Stine crime scene.

Ironically, Foukes was first looking for a Negro male at the Paul Stine crime scene.

Thanks,

Shawn

Richard
7/23/2017 09:10:43 am

He certainly played a bit of cat and mouse Shawn. I always believed the Zodiac was between 30-35, but it's nothing I would be extremely confident about. Donald Fouke likely got the best view of all, even above the three teenagers, and being a trained police officer should be fairly observant. Certainly, if we believe the detailed description of the suspect's clothing, the man observed could be at least 5 years older. I don't really consider Mageau's estimate, bearing in mind the circumstances he encountered that night. With a flashlight in his face and being pumped full of bullets, he had more pressing things on his mind. I cannot state of fact whether the negro male was real or concocted, but he was certainly convenient. A witness supplied by Zodiac if you will.

Richard
7/23/2017 09:19:01 am

Pierre Bidou: "But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene."
This almost suggests they responded to the crime scene from the initial crank call, rather than a radioed message of Pitta. I cannot believe that Pitta would have radioed Benicia PD about bodies lying in a turnout and Benicia PD thought it was a joke. This was an official radio message, not a phone "call" or "crank call".

Richard
7/23/2017 09:22:22 am

In contrast to the 2007 documentary "I was pulling into the lot in the police department, we heard the Benicia Police Department dispatch about a call of a possible shooting and victims on Lake Herman Road, and described the location".

Richard
7/23/2017 09:27:46 am

I understand he is recalling memories from many years before, so things become intertwined, but this "crank call" could easily have been Zodiac, especially considering his actions after BRS and LB. There was little need at PH, he had the ultimate proof lying in wait for the Chronicle.

Drew
7/23/2017 11:56:54 am

Richard these observations and theories are starting to convince me that Zodiac was not so local after all. He definitely had to have known the area but his preparation and his later letters now lead me to think he was residing in the safety of crowded San Francisco. If he was really concerned about pointing the investigation away from Benicia and towards Vallejo then that makes the entire campaign seem too risky. Where does the Zodiac's confidence come from? If he did not have a criminal record in the area I guess that may explain it, but at the moment I am more inclined to return to SF residence arguments. The profile for American Canyon is fantastic work but the level of preparation that all of this disinformation campaign implies suggests to me that the killer was employing a great deal of effort. Crank call theory, not a brown car, no phone call witness, all of this sounds bang on to me. Thanks man

Richard
7/23/2017 09:46:01 am

Remember the 1986 'Zodiac' letter. The mysterious hitchhiker directed the police to an automobile accident, much like Bidou recalled, only for the April 22nd 1986 shootings to be discovered. A crime scene that somewhat mirrored LHR, and certainly mirrored BRS, a couple shot through the front windows of their vehicle with small caliber rounds.

Shawn
7/23/2017 10:33:38 am

Hello,

It is interesting that many cold case murders in the Sacramento area have Zodiac like qualities and Zodiac has been a suspect.

I notice one of the 1986 murder victims is from Yuba. Yuba is about an hour north of Sacramento and home to a large Air Force base.

Yuba is found written vertically within John Rose 9x9 340 solution.

Thanks,

Shawn

Andrew
7/24/2017 01:22:43 pm

I've wondered if the insult directed at the "shabbily dressed negro" was to make people think any race was a potential target when Zodiac was targeting young, white couples almost exclusively.

Richard
7/24/2017 02:15:49 pm

I think everybody was a target Andrew. Had the opportunity arose in the first two crimes in particular, I don't believe he would have hesitated. They probably thought at first this was the case in Jan 1970, until a couple were arrested for the murder of Charles Jarman.
Oakland Tribune: "A 28-year-old cab driver was found shot in the head early yesterday in San Francisco, 10 blocks away from where another cab driver was fatally shot Oct. 11 by a killer who calls himself Zodiac.
Charles Jarman, of Daly City, was found slumped behind the wheel of his Yellow Cab by police on routine patrol. The cab was parked near the intersection of Jackson and Broderick streets with the lights on and engine running.
Police said Jarman was unconscious with a bullet wound in front of his right ear. He underwent surgery at San Francisco General Hospital and was reported in critical condition today.
Homicide inspector William Armstrong said the department is investigating the possibility Jarman was shot by the man called Zodiac who has been linked with the fatal shooting of another Yellow Cab Driver, Paul Stine, 29.
Armstrong says he doesn't believe the same man committed both shootings, but he added "There is always a possibility"
Police said $35 was missing from Jarman's taxi. Armstrong said the similarities between the Stine and Jarman shootings included the fact that both are Yellow Cab drivers, both were shot in the head, robbery was apparently the motive in both cases, and they occurred 10 blocks apart."

Alex Lewis
8/20/2017 03:30:05 am

May have completely made the shabbly dressed negro man up deliberately to antagonize the police into refuting that claim which could be construed as racist or certainly a deliberate attempt at racial profiling which in the late Sixties the Black Community were protesting against as a large number of white cops used that very thing to stop and search people on the street.

Then again, maybe He was stating a belief as He truly thought it to be and that He did see, while He was on the payphone, a Black Man walk past fairly close by who, given the time and place, may have been a vagrant who was dressed what He believed to be in a shabby style or wearing shabby clothing. Not like Himself and the fashionable pleated trouser that went out with the end of WWII,

People have said in other places and thread that the fact Z made this comment about a Black Male who was witness to him on the phone that dressed shabby....the fact this Black Guy did not and has not come forward despite the publishing of the letter and press coverage of it tends to lean toward this man not existing. One possibility yes. But if He is or was a homeless man then should we all be expecting Him to see the news at 6 or be a daily buyer of The San Fran's Chronicle Newspaper?

After all, He saw two white males in blue meanie uniforms who pulled up in a prowl car to beckon him over and interrogate Him: "Evening White Man, now.....have u seen any human being who look like psychopathic lunatics in the past 5 or 10 mins?" Helpful Citizen Zodiac: "Well it's funny you should mention a man frothing at the mouth going RARRRR! and of course when He got up there to Arguello and looked right to see that Golfer Tee off only to slice His drive into the sand trap down the right well that was it. . . then He went completely bez......Oh ok bye bye (waves meanies off). SFPD Patrol Officers Armond Alcoves and 2nd arriving Responding Car with Donald Foukeinell.

Z saw Don Foukeinell but He didn't tell anyone nor did SFPD Prowling Dpt. either! Not for a Month, anyway!

Andrew
7/24/2017 01:31:20 pm

It's interesting how the following dates line up. Officer O'brien had been boating at Lake Berryessa with friends on the afternoon of Sept 29, 1968, and later shot and killed an African-American man downtown on the same day.


Sunday, September 29, 1968 -- George Baskett shot and killed by Officer Michael O'brien

Saturday, September 27, 1969 -- Hartnell and Shepard attacked by Zodiac at Lake Berryessa

Wednesday, October 9, 1968 -- Officer O'brien charged with the murder of George Baskett

Saturday, October 11, 1969 -- Paul Stine shot and killed by Zodiac


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