
The Zodiac Killer appeared to be inspired by the comic, either before or after his canonical crimes began on December 20th 1968, writing the words "by knife" on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. He may have hinted towards this comic when designing a crude code and drawing on the Fairfield letter, mailed on December 16th 1969. However, on October 27th 1970 the Halloween card contained a design depicting the four methods of death, all of which mirrored the cover of the Tim Holt comic book. In total, the twelve methods of death ran around a Zodiac styled wheel:
"In medieval and ancient philosophy the Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna (Greek equivalent Tyche) who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel: some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. Fortune appears on all paintings as a woman, sometimes blindfolded, "puppeteering" a wheel. The origin of the word is from the "wheel of fortune" - the zodiac, referring to the Celestial spheres of which the 8th holds the stars, and the 9th is where the signs of the zodiac are placed".
Nevertheless, the Zodiac Killer only chose four - death By Gun, By Rope, By Knife and By Fire. He also added a strange symbol to the card that has perplexed many an observer over the years - a symbol that has prompted many suggestions, including cattle branding, a depiction of Mount Diablo and a form of victim running total. The symbol may possibly be a joined Z and F, indicating that Zodiac is claiming fourteen victims, or maybe a joined Z, V and F symbolizing Zodiac Victims Fourteen. However, the four dots accompanying the symbol have always been difficult to explain with any degree of confidence. We have four methods of death chosen by Zodiac, therefore the possibility exists that the four dots are somehow related. What we may be looking for, could be Zodiac Victims Fourteen By Gun, By Rope, By Knife and By Fire. The Zodiac Killer in all likelihood drew inspiration for his 'methods of death'/Paradice and Slaves configuration from the Tim Holt comic book, so why should the strange symbol be any different.