1967 CHEVROLET IMPALA On September 27th 1969, three girls from Pacific Union College in Angwin, California noticed a suspicious man at approximately 3:30 pm at Smittle Creek, close to the shoreline of Lake Berryessa. They had left Angwin at 2:45 pm. They told investigators that the man had pulled up behind their vehicle in what they described as a late model silver blue Chevrolet with California license plates, and assumed the man had remained in his vehicle for about 30-45 minutes, before heading to their location and watching them sunbathing from a distance, for another 30-45 minutes. One of the girls described a white belt around his back, but thought that it may have been a tee shirt hanging out. Many have considered this observation significant, because the Zodiac Killer when he later approached Bryan Hartnell & Cecelia Shepard just after 6:00 pm, had some cut lengths of white clothesline cord seated in the rear of his trousers.
The approximate times given by the three girls has the man departing Smittle Creek at anywhere between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm. However, the time given in the police report for the girls leaving that area was 4:30 pm, with the man's vehicle gone from the car park. So if this was the Zodiac Killer, he likely left the area shortly before 4:30 pm. He may have seen the girls packing up their belongings and decided to abandon what intentions he had envisaged. The journey time from Angwin to Smittle Creek is about 45 minutes, so this tallies with their initial departure time of 2:45 pm, to arrive at Lake Berryessa at 3:30 pm.
The approximate times given by the three girls has the man departing Smittle Creek at anywhere between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm. However, the time given in the police report for the girls leaving that area was 4:30 pm, with the man's vehicle gone from the car park. So if this was the Zodiac Killer, he likely left the area shortly before 4:30 pm. He may have seen the girls packing up their belongings and decided to abandon what intentions he had envisaged. The journey time from Angwin to Smittle Creek is about 45 minutes, so this tallies with their initial departure time of 2:45 pm, to arrive at Lake Berryessa at 3:30 pm.
One of the girls advised the responding officer (see above) that "she and her two girlfriends parked their vehicle at a location two miles north of the A & W Root Beer stand on Knoxville Road" (located at 5100 Knoxville Road). But why had they clarified the position of their location with respect to the A & W Root Beer stand and not any other significant area? Knowing that they were going sunbathing on a pretty hot day (about 75 degrees Fahrenheit), did they briefly stop off to pick up some cool drinks at the Sugar Loaf Park general store at 5100 Knoxville Road, selling A & W Root Beer, refreshments, sandwiches, hamburgers, fishing tackle and an array of other items? It would have added barely 2 minutes to their journey - and explained why they mentioned the A & W Root Beer stand to interviewing officers.
1969 SPRITE BOTTLE If the Zodiac Killer had traveled by car to Lake Berryessa from either Vallejo (40 miles) or San Francisco (70 miles), knowing that he was going to trawl the hillsides on a hot day looking for victims, he may have thought exactly the same as the three girls. As he was passing the Sugar Loaf Park general store, he had the option to stop off and purchase several cool A & W Root Beers or any other bottled soft drink, These specific Root Beers were usually manufactured in a brown bottle, but I have been unable to confirm if this product was also manufactured using green glass in the 1960s. Regardless, on a hot day, it is certainly plausible that the Zodiac Killer chose to enter this general store and purchase some fluids (which may have been a combination of beer and soft drink).
It is at this location that the Zodiac Killer possibly crossed paths with the three girls, trailed them to Smittle Creek and pulled up behind their vehicle (bumper to bumper). Later, with the clothesline firmly nestled in his back pocket or waistband, he may have considered an attack on the three girls a little risky, and ultimately departed the scene when he saw they were packing up for the day. Two hours later, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed just 0.8 miles south. A green bottle, determined by investigators to have two latent fingerprints of value, was found near the stump of a tree, close to the crime scene. Obviously, this green bottle could have been disposed of by anybody visiting the lake that day, but there also remains a possibility that it was purchased by the Zodiac Killer at the Sugar Loaf Park store at approximately 3:25 pm, when he latched onto the three girls several hours earlier. If only they had CCTV in 1969.
It is at this location that the Zodiac Killer possibly crossed paths with the three girls, trailed them to Smittle Creek and pulled up behind their vehicle (bumper to bumper). Later, with the clothesline firmly nestled in his back pocket or waistband, he may have considered an attack on the three girls a little risky, and ultimately departed the scene when he saw they were packing up for the day. Two hours later, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed just 0.8 miles south. A green bottle, determined by investigators to have two latent fingerprints of value, was found near the stump of a tree, close to the crime scene. Obviously, this green bottle could have been disposed of by anybody visiting the lake that day, but there also remains a possibility that it was purchased by the Zodiac Killer at the Sugar Loaf Park store at approximately 3:25 pm, when he latched onto the three girls several hours earlier. If only they had CCTV in 1969.
LATENT FINGERPRINT IMAGE FROM THE GREEN BOTTLE [DATED OCTOBER 1ST 1969]
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