Armond Pelissetti stated in the 2007 Zodiac documentary about the murder of Paul Stine "It seemed Officer Fouke in that amount of time felt that he had stopped the Zodiac. Well it's very hard to say whether he did or not, it would be a point of conjecture at this point, and he seemed quite upset. Fouke was also very clear as to what the person was wearing, well it just so happens that area is extremely well lit and I cannot imagine him not seeing the shine of blood on the clothing if it had been Zodiac". There is much debate on whether Officer Donald Fouke stopped the Zodiac or not, but either way, he seemingly got a good view of the unidentified white male, describing the suspect in great detail, right down to his tan- engineering boots and elasticated cuffs. Armond Pelissetti stressed that the area was well lit in 1969 - and Officer Donald Fouke was certainly able to give a detailed description of the suspect's clothes, so why was he unable to notice any blood? This is often used, as Pelissetti inferred, to promote the idea that the unknown white male was not the Zodiac Killer. If we believe the credibility of the three teenagers and Officer Donald Fouke, then this white male walking along Jackson Street was, with near certainty, the Zodiac Killer.
We know for certain that the man described by the three teenagers in the composite sketch, was the man observed in and around Paul Stine's taxicab. He then proceeded up Cherry Street in the direction of Jackson Street. Donald Fouke passed the white male and described the suspect as 35-45 years, about 5'10", 180-200 lbs, medium to heavy build, barrel chested, medium complexion, light colored hair, crew cut and wearing glasses.
Officer Donald Fouke also stated in the 2007 documentary, that "One month later when the composite drawing came out at Richmond Station and was posted on the wall, it looked similar to the man that I had seen on October 11th. I then wrote a scratch, err, interdepartmental memorandum to my lieutenant to forward to homicide division so that they would have the additional information about the appearance of the suspect". He went on to say "It is purported in Zodiac Unmasked that I tearfully told Inspector Toschi - You know Dave we could have been killed that night, I never spoke to Toschi that I personally know of or remember, he may have been the inspector who came out and asked me about the composite drawing and I told him the suspect was older and heavier, beyond that I had no further contact with the investigation".
Officer Donald Fouke's description of the Zodiac Killer was very similar to the three teenagers, so much so, that his only deviation from the three teenagers, was that the suspect was likely "older and heavier". The rest was pretty much in tandem. What we can take from this, is that Donald Fouke is pretty much in agreement that the unknown white male he saw, is the same man observed by the three teenagers at the intersection of Washington and Cherry - particularly from a facial standpoint - because he did not disagree with the composite drawn from the recollection of the teenagers. Therefore, the notion of the man walking down Jackson Street not being the Zodiac Killer, can effectively be ruled out. In addition, the timeline of "about 3 minutes" from Zodiac leaving the taxicab and Donald Fouke reaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple from his position when receiving the initial dispatch, is on a collision course for this intersection.
Officer Donald Fouke also stated in the 2007 documentary, that "One month later when the composite drawing came out at Richmond Station and was posted on the wall, it looked similar to the man that I had seen on October 11th. I then wrote a scratch, err, interdepartmental memorandum to my lieutenant to forward to homicide division so that they would have the additional information about the appearance of the suspect". He went on to say "It is purported in Zodiac Unmasked that I tearfully told Inspector Toschi - You know Dave we could have been killed that night, I never spoke to Toschi that I personally know of or remember, he may have been the inspector who came out and asked me about the composite drawing and I told him the suspect was older and heavier, beyond that I had no further contact with the investigation".
Officer Donald Fouke's description of the Zodiac Killer was very similar to the three teenagers, so much so, that his only deviation from the three teenagers, was that the suspect was likely "older and heavier". The rest was pretty much in tandem. What we can take from this, is that Donald Fouke is pretty much in agreement that the unknown white male he saw, is the same man observed by the three teenagers at the intersection of Washington and Cherry - particularly from a facial standpoint - because he did not disagree with the composite drawn from the recollection of the teenagers. Therefore, the notion of the man walking down Jackson Street not being the Zodiac Killer, can effectively be ruled out. In addition, the timeline of "about 3 minutes" from Zodiac leaving the taxicab and Donald Fouke reaching the intersection of Jackson and Maple from his position when receiving the initial dispatch, is on a collision course for this intersection.
It is fairly certain that the three teenagers and Donald Fouke saw the same man, and the assertion by Armond Pelissetti of it not being Zodiac was a misguided one - as was the claim that Donald Fouke would have noticed the "shine of blood". If Officer Donald Fouke was able to give great detail about the man's clothing, he almost certainly would have seen blood on the man, if there was any.
Officer Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 documentary that the man walking on Jackson Street was "dressed in a three quarter waist length jacket, with elastic at the waist". Armond Pelissetti said this area was well lit (and it was). So, if Officer Donald Fouke saw enough detail to describe the "elastic at the waist", one would like to think he would also have seen the shine of blood on the clothing. The three teenagers in the police report, stated "the suspect was in the front seat of the Yellow cab, mid to passenger side, with the victim slumped over his lap.". If this observation was accurate, then Officer Donald Fouke could not have failed to see blood all over the Zodiac's mid-section, as Paul Stine was bleeding profusely from a devastating head wound - yet he failed to do so.
Knowing this was the killer of Paul Stine, the only logical conclusion that can be drawn, is that the Zodiac Killer did not have Paul Stine resting over his lap. What killer, knowing he had just shot a man in the head and knowing he would be escaping on foot in a built up area, would then proceed to deliberately place the victim's head in his lap and effectively cover himself in copious quantities of blood. There may be a case for the Zodiac Killer being devoid of empathy, but he wasn't stupid. If his intention was not to get caught that night, then there is absolutely no way he placed the head of the victim in his lap - and there was no need to ever perform such an action. The three teenagers were observing from a raised vantage point, approximately 50-60 feet away, and in all likelihood, saw the Zodiac Killer leaning over the stricken taxicab driver and removing a piece of his shirt. Had Paul Stine slumped, or been pulled into the front passenger seat footwell, then the only blood the Zodiac Killer needed to get on himself, was on his hands, which could easily be wiped away with a handkerchief. The handkerchief seen by the three teenagers as the Zodiac Killer emerged from the taxicab that night.
Officer Donald Fouke stated in the 2007 documentary that the man walking on Jackson Street was "dressed in a three quarter waist length jacket, with elastic at the waist". Armond Pelissetti said this area was well lit (and it was). So, if Officer Donald Fouke saw enough detail to describe the "elastic at the waist", one would like to think he would also have seen the shine of blood on the clothing. The three teenagers in the police report, stated "the suspect was in the front seat of the Yellow cab, mid to passenger side, with the victim slumped over his lap.". If this observation was accurate, then Officer Donald Fouke could not have failed to see blood all over the Zodiac's mid-section, as Paul Stine was bleeding profusely from a devastating head wound - yet he failed to do so.
Knowing this was the killer of Paul Stine, the only logical conclusion that can be drawn, is that the Zodiac Killer did not have Paul Stine resting over his lap. What killer, knowing he had just shot a man in the head and knowing he would be escaping on foot in a built up area, would then proceed to deliberately place the victim's head in his lap and effectively cover himself in copious quantities of blood. There may be a case for the Zodiac Killer being devoid of empathy, but he wasn't stupid. If his intention was not to get caught that night, then there is absolutely no way he placed the head of the victim in his lap - and there was no need to ever perform such an action. The three teenagers were observing from a raised vantage point, approximately 50-60 feet away, and in all likelihood, saw the Zodiac Killer leaning over the stricken taxicab driver and removing a piece of his shirt. Had Paul Stine slumped, or been pulled into the front passenger seat footwell, then the only blood the Zodiac Killer needed to get on himself, was on his hands, which could easily be wiped away with a handkerchief. The handkerchief seen by the three teenagers as the Zodiac Killer emerged from the taxicab that night.
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