Inspector William Armstrong Here is a current description of the Financial Crimes Unit at the San Francisco Police Department: Tasked with the investigation of financial crimes including but not limited to: access card fraud, Bunco cases, check fraud, counterfeit currency, counterfeit trademark, embezzlement, false financial statements, forgery, identity theft, internet fraud, elder financial abuse, non-return of rental property, real estate and notary fraud, and theft by false pretense or deceit. This is the equivalent department that long time partner of Inspector David Toschi transferred to after leaving homicide detail. The transfer of William Armstrong to fraud detail was mentioned on August 26th 1976 in the San Francisco Chronicle on the same day an advertisement was placed in the personal column of the same newspaper, reading "ZODIAC, Your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A."
The use of "You're next" has been highlighted in several potential Zodiac communications, so it's not unusual to find it yet again appearing in a personal advertisement headed by the pseudonym "ZODIAC". The standalone use of the "Zodiac" pseudonym was allied to the pasted wording "YOU ARE NEXT" in the Edward C. Adams communication on October 17th 1970, and a letter postmarked Montclair, California (near Riverside) on November 10th 1969, addressed to an individual in Clarinda, Iowa, that carried the message "Mr. (redacted) Your Next. The Zodiac". Neither of which had been released into the public domain by 1976. Therefore, the author of the advertisement in the personal column was somewhat mirroring two communications they could never have seen, unless they were the same individual.
The use of "You're next" has been highlighted in several potential Zodiac communications, so it's not unusual to find it yet again appearing in a personal advertisement headed by the pseudonym "ZODIAC". The standalone use of the "Zodiac" pseudonym was allied to the pasted wording "YOU ARE NEXT" in the Edward C. Adams communication on October 17th 1970, and a letter postmarked Montclair, California (near Riverside) on November 10th 1969, addressed to an individual in Clarinda, Iowa, that carried the message "Mr. (redacted) Your Next. The Zodiac". Neither of which had been released into the public domain by 1976. Therefore, the author of the advertisement in the personal column was somewhat mirroring two communications they could never have seen, unless they were the same individual.
The wording in the personal advertisement was clearly borrowing from the newspaper article about the Zodiac Killer, mentioning that David Toschi's partner was in DEEP REAL ESTATE. William Armstrong had transferred to fraud detail, which dealt in real estate and mortgage fraud (as shown above). It appears that the threat to "terminate your case" was a direct threat towards David Toschi, who was the only San Francisco detective currently investigating the Zodiac Killer case in 1976.
Inspector David Toschi was also assigned to the "Zebra murders" investigation in the years prior to the placement of this advertisement. These racially motivated murders on white people in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974 were perpetrated by black muslims. On April 28th 1974 many arrests were made, with Mayor Joseph Alioti releasing a statement that read in part "The San Francisco police, under the leadership of Chief Donald Scott, have pierced the veil of a vicious ring of murders called "DEATH ANGELS." The local group is a division of a larger organization dedicated to the murder and mutilation of whites and dissident Blacks. The pattern of killing is by random street shooting or hacking to death with machete, cleaver or knife. Decapitation or other forms of mayhem bring special credit from the organization for the killers. Hitchhikers are a particular prey. "DEATH ANGELS," a kind of reverse Ku Klux Klan, is based on the muddled aberrations clearly outside the mainstream of Islamic religions. In my opinion, it represents as much a potential threat to Blacks as to whites. Members are usually characterized by trim, neat appearance, and purport to live by a puritanical code of moral conduct. They are fanatical believers in Black separatism. The training of young boys fourteen years of age and over in what they call "martial arts" is a practice of this group. It consists of teaching manual methods and techniques of killing or incapacitating".
Inspector David Toschi was also assigned to the "Zebra murders" investigation in the years prior to the placement of this advertisement. These racially motivated murders on white people in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974 were perpetrated by black muslims. On April 28th 1974 many arrests were made, with Mayor Joseph Alioti releasing a statement that read in part "The San Francisco police, under the leadership of Chief Donald Scott, have pierced the veil of a vicious ring of murders called "DEATH ANGELS." The local group is a division of a larger organization dedicated to the murder and mutilation of whites and dissident Blacks. The pattern of killing is by random street shooting or hacking to death with machete, cleaver or knife. Decapitation or other forms of mayhem bring special credit from the organization for the killers. Hitchhikers are a particular prey. "DEATH ANGELS," a kind of reverse Ku Klux Klan, is based on the muddled aberrations clearly outside the mainstream of Islamic religions. In my opinion, it represents as much a potential threat to Blacks as to whites. Members are usually characterized by trim, neat appearance, and purport to live by a puritanical code of moral conduct. They are fanatical believers in Black separatism. The training of young boys fourteen years of age and over in what they call "martial arts" is a practice of this group. It consists of teaching manual methods and techniques of killing or incapacitating".
The Zebra murders investigation was heavily criticized by many black community leaders and the public alike, drawing comparisons to the Zodiac Killer case in the Bay Area. This was evident from KRON-TV News footage on April 18th 1974, in which Reverend Cecil Williams likened the actions of police to a race war and argued that innocent black individuals were being stopped by the police - often several times - based on nothing more than their skin color. He stated "When, in fact, the Zodiac Killer and his picture came out in the newspapers, as well as television, a print of what they thought the Zodiac Killer to look like, they did, in fact, not begin to create a dragnet and a police state as it relates to white participants. So it's inherently discriminatory".
I think it is unlikely that the Zodiac Killer was not aware of the Zebra murders, his name being brought up by comparison, and the involvement of Inspector David Toschi in the investigation, in a climate described as a race war. The Zodiac Killer wasn't averse to implementing newspaper and television coverage into his later communications, so the personal advertisement that threatened "The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case", could have carried a racial element pertaining to a perceived war on black people. The Zodiac Killer may have been suggesting to Inspector David Toschi that he needed to submit to the teachings of the Imperial Wizard and Ku Klux Klan as his savior or he would be terminated from his current case. This is the only feasible connection I could find to link Inspector David Toschi to the Ku Klux Klan, who were described by Mayor Alioto as the reverse of the "Death Angels".
If the personal advertisement was placed by the Zodiac Killer on August 26th 1976, one has to question how he could draw inspiration from a newspaper article that was published on the same day. To fashion an advertisement based upon this article he would had to have had advanced knowledge of its contents, which could only be realistically achieved if he was somehow connected to the newspaper or law enforcement.
Greetings to Mo from Egypt.
I think it is unlikely that the Zodiac Killer was not aware of the Zebra murders, his name being brought up by comparison, and the involvement of Inspector David Toschi in the investigation, in a climate described as a race war. The Zodiac Killer wasn't averse to implementing newspaper and television coverage into his later communications, so the personal advertisement that threatened "The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case", could have carried a racial element pertaining to a perceived war on black people. The Zodiac Killer may have been suggesting to Inspector David Toschi that he needed to submit to the teachings of the Imperial Wizard and Ku Klux Klan as his savior or he would be terminated from his current case. This is the only feasible connection I could find to link Inspector David Toschi to the Ku Klux Klan, who were described by Mayor Alioto as the reverse of the "Death Angels".
If the personal advertisement was placed by the Zodiac Killer on August 26th 1976, one has to question how he could draw inspiration from a newspaper article that was published on the same day. To fashion an advertisement based upon this article he would had to have had advanced knowledge of its contents, which could only be realistically achieved if he was somehow connected to the newspaper or law enforcement.
Greetings to Mo from Egypt.
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