ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
  • Home
    • Search This Site With Google
    • The Mount Diablo Map and Code Solution
  • Zodiac News
    • Zodiac News Archive
    • Santa Barbara Attack
    • Cheri Jo Bates
    • The Confession
    • Riverside Desktop Poem
    • Bates Letter
    • The Forgotten Victims
    • Welsh Chappie - Zodiac News
  • Lake Herman Murders
    • Blue Rock Springs Attack
    • Vallejo Times Letter
    • Examiner Letter
    • Chronicle Letter
    • Complete 408 Cipher
    • Vallejo and Benicia Map
    • Kathie Snoozy and Debra Furlong Murders
    • Debut of Zodiac Letter
  • Lake Berryessa Attack
    • Presidio Heights Attack
    • Call to Chat Show
  • 340 Cipher
    • Bus Bomb Letter
    • Betsy Aardsma Murder
    • The Fairfield Letter
    • Melvin Belli Letter
    • Santa Barbara Murders 1970
    • Modesto Attack
    • My Name is Cipher
    • Dragon Card and Button Letter >
      • Phillips Road Map
    • The Sleeping Bag Murders
    • The Little List Letter
  • The Halloween Card
    • Lake Tahoe Disappearance
    • Los Angeles Times Letter
    • The Monticello Card
    • The Exorcist Letter
  • SLA Letter
    • Red Phantom Letter/American Greetings Card
    • The 1978 Letter
    • Los Angeles Times Newspaper Articles
    • Zodiac Letters Real or Fake
    • Zodiac Documentary
    • Unsolved Mysteries
    • The Colonial Parkway Murders
  • Suspects
    • Arthur Leigh Allen
    • Rick Marshall
    • Lawrence Kane
    • Theodore Kaczynski
    • Richard Gaikowski
    • Gareth Penn
    • Jack Tarrance

THE MENTAL MAP OF A KILLER

7/14/2019

 
Picture
Geographic profiling ia an invaluable tool for mapping the probable location where an offender most likely lives. This offender, like all of us, has areas of familiarity with respect to their profession and personal life that governs one's comfort zone, and therefore the commuter routes they opt for. These are factored into their way of thinking when considering any crimes that are to be committed or the areas where an offender may conceal a body. There is a delicate balance to be struck between the least effort principle (expenditure of the least amount of effort to accomplish a task) and the buffer zone (where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their home). In other words, they don't want to focus the attention around the place they live, but may equally not want to expend the effort in traveling a great distance, thereby creating a mental map of a target zone - usually somewhere with which they have a familiarity. Of course, factors such as their working week will affect the distance they are prepared to travel on any given day.

​This mental map was considered in the article Seventy One Days of Terror from October 11th 1969 to December 20th 1969, analyzing confirmed and unconfirmed letters, phone calls, murders and proposed murders during this time period. It became apparent that the locations targeted during this period, that included Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose, all have 
Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 running directly through them. This may give us a clue to the areas where the Zodiac Killer was most comfortable. If he frequented these areas regularly in his profession, then this could very well influence the newspapers he read and the stories he became interested in. The case of murder victim Reet Jurvetson in a previous article, another example of a crime conforming to the above criteria. He may not have murdered this young woman, but was familiar with the area in which she was murdered, which ultimately governed his decision to choose her as victim number eight - allied to his new found fascination of knife crime. She too was brutally stabbed 157 times and unceremoniously dumped down a ravine off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Her body was discovered just 2 miles from U.S. Route 101.           

Picture
When the Zodiac Killer failed to acquire the "front page coverage" he craved, he may have drew inspiration from the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed and murdered on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose. They each had suffered in excess of 100 knife wounds that can only be described as savagery. In less than two months he would arrive on the shores of Lake Berryessa armed with a 12-inch bayonet. The killer wrote on the car door of victim Bryan Hartnell "by knife". On November 8th 1969, he claimed his involvement in the Snoozy-Furlong murders by the addition of "Aug" on the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card, followed by the November 21st 1969 San Jose letter possibly suggesting that Reet Jurvetson was another one of his knife victims. Then came the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" mailed from Fairfield on December 16th 1969, followed by the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969, stating he was losing control and looking for victims nine and ten.  

On April 20th 1970 he was claiming a victim count of ten - so if we are to determine the murder victims or proclaimed murder victims of the Zodiac Killer, then we must take all of the above into account. Based on three of the four attacks to date, victims nine and ten may have been a couple. They would have been murdered between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970, in a non-sexual attack that involved numerous knife wounds. It is also critical (whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible or claiming to be the responsible) that they would would be found close to 
Interstate 80 or U.S. Route 101.
​

On February 22nd 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armoured Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, were discovered brutally stabbed on a beach close to Santa Barbara Cemetery and East Cabrillo Boulevard. This crime in some ways mirrored the stabbings at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack. The beach where their bodies were found, lies only 500 meters from U.S. Route 101. The mental map of the Zodiac Killer is starting to take shape.

Picture
art
7/15/2019 12:55:22 pm

I'd like to cast a vote for a nice package that combines 1) geographic profiling and 2) a modern whole body + face sketch that captures all of the verified eye witness descriptions. What are the number of Vallejo males of the correct age range from that time period, approx?

Richard
7/15/2019 01:18:02 pm

This is what I posted on Zodiac Killer Site forum Art.

There were 52,000 white people classified in 1970. Roughly 25,000 would be men.
http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Vallejo70.htm

Age range 25-45 make up about 30% of the population based on USA population today.
https://www.infoplease.com/us/comprehen ... istics-342

Therefore 30% of 25,000 gives us 7,500 white males between 25-45.
Narrow that further using what we have learnt about Zodiac, driving license, possibly make of car, hand writing (assuming it wasn't disguised), height, weight, hair (not bald), criminal record, profession, my guess it wouldn't be too difficult to find him, as Kim Rossmo pointed out. If the investigation was in full swing today, and Zodiac was a resident of Vallejo in 69/70, I don't doubt for a second he would be identified.

Shift the age range to 35-45, or 25-35 and the field narrows considerably. Start with the narrow age range first, then move out.

Richard
7/15/2019 01:21:02 pm

Using a 10 year age range, just a few thousand.

art
7/15/2019 01:58:53 pm

Wow that is fantastic. Is it possible to make a list of names based on records from back in the day? And if we then had a color computer graphic sketch to compare to DMV photos of that shorter list to narrow down even further??

Richard
7/15/2019 02:15:33 pm

That is the problem Art, I have no way in the UK of securing such records. I wouldn't know if any regular citizen of America could achieve this either. A bunch of DMV licenses would be very handy.

OH
7/15/2019 02:37:02 pm

Great stuff as usuaI

Richard
7/15/2019 03:29:04 pm

Cheers, much appreciated.

Michael
7/21/2019 08:17:22 am

Douglas Oswell followed such a statistical approach in his book years ago. It yielded Ted Kaczynski....

Tom Moen
7/24/2019 06:41:15 am

I believe his brother tipped the the FBI

BB
7/28/2019 12:48:58 pm

Ted's CIA code name is "lawful"
His code name begins and ends with an L
The double L is a put-in by The Zodiac
12th victim sought = Lass
Lass starts with an L.
L is the 12th letter of the alphabet.
12 signs in the Zodiac.
Lass was the Zodiac's 12th
Don Harden solved the cipher w/the double LL
The code has a large double L
Hartnell's car had Vallejo on it w/two L's
PauL AverLy w/line connecting the two L's
Darlene was just divorced from Jim Phillips (w/double L)
Lake Herman Investigation was headed by Detective Leslie Lundblad
Stine's cab had Yellow Co. on it
A year later of 10/27/70 he sent the Apollo 8 letter, two L's
There are dozens of these L's encoded into this
case from the Little List to Phillips 66 map
The connections to Ted's Cabin in Lincoln an hour north
of Deer Lodge are numerous. Other than Bruce Davis,
and Donald Lee Bujok though Ted is the only one of the top suspects
to actually kill people. I wonder if he had contact with Bujok?
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia" ... "I'm the one that did it". This statement sounds like it was made by a professional. The Zodiac liked to commit double murders. Double L in kill - The Lamp Lighters were the actors to perform the Mikado. He liked to kill couples at lovers lane.
Was it Ted? I don't know. He was asexual.
Some believe the Zodiac was asexual as well.
But of the suspects that do not have a kill on record. Jim Phillips has many circumstantial connections. Besides divorcing Darlene in 1966 he apparently confessed to being the Zodiac to his roommate. Then he changed his name to James Crabtree. His suspicious brother Rick was at the painting party. The two of them could be the Zodiac. I think that the case is much too vast to be the work of a single man. The killer knew Dee according to Michael Mageau his name was Richard. Rick is a derivation of Richard. Nov 23 1965 Rick shot his brother Paul.1965 Jim spends 6 months in The Presidio jail then Aug 1965 Jim met Dee on Larkin street. Lake Tahoe both worked at Harrahs. Dee worked as a waitress a block from where Donna Lass later vanished.

BB
7/23/2019 11:38:20 am

Ted Kaczynski as a felon should have forfeited his rights - and therefore they should be able to get his DNA for a comparison with Zodiac DNA. If not they should change the law so that that could happen. There a ton of guys with felonies that we need to look at for many cases. Once you commit a felony you lose your rights. There are many cons sitting prison for other offences that we need to look at. To protect a murderer from legal jeopardy is crazy.

Sully link
7/25/2019 11:30:19 pm

Kaczynski wasnt even close to the Zodiac profile... as Mark Hewitt and other fiction writers before him have fabricated for that nice fat paycheck.

BB
7/28/2019 06:14:06 pm

Sully
I have a relative that was hardcore criminal.
There is a killer/dirty cop
https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/scully-anthony.htm
His real name is Jack Sully
but murderpedia has him down as Anthony Scully
Who knows?
Have you ever heard of this Anthony "Jack" Sully?

Rubislaw 32 link
7/23/2019 02:14:51 pm

That's an interesting propostion.

So is it my understanding that,the ''terms and conditions'' of Ted Kaczynski's plea deal was,that the prosecution would not press for the death penalty,if he came clean,on all his crimes.

Part of the ''terms and conditions'' were,that if Ted was later found to be guilty of a serious crime,then the death penalty was ''back on the table''.

Both in relation to the previous crimes that he had committed.....and any future ones,regardless of whether he plead guilty to those ''extra'' ones,for which he had not previously admitted,or not.

Though I don't know for certain...one presumes that,as a convicted felon,his DNA and fingerprint information would automatically be placed in various database ''banks'',including some international ones.

So,it does seem most unlikely that Ted would be foolish enough to have been involved,in any aspect of the Zodiac case....without having already admitted to it.

In addition,Ted K,as a sufferer from Aspergers syndrom....a form of Autism,struggled to even identify such nuances as irony,sarcasm and ''deadpan'' humour,that we have come expect in the Zodiac....let alone ''appreciate'' these warped forms of ''charm''.

If you read Ted K's letters,he comes across as highly intelligent,but charmless.....and dull,as ditch water.

For ''timeline'' and geographic placement,there seems to be a lot going for Ted K,as a Zodiac suspect.But that is information,''on the surface''.

Dig just a little ''below''....and there is nothing there.And I would suggest that law enforcement....already know this,as a fact,beyond reasonable doubt.

Richard
7/23/2019 02:39:20 pm

All criminals should have their DNA taken, although this varies from country to country, and state to state. But you don't need Ted Kaczynski's permission to get his DNA. It is already available on the multiple letters he mailed during his bombing campaign.

Rubislaw 32 link
7/23/2019 08:47:44 pm

It is certainly an interesting aspect to criminal law,in some States of the United States,that have the death penalty.

In effect,that although the concept of the death penalty,is in place as the ultimate deterrent and punishment....that,because it exists on those State's statutes....it can be used also as a plea bargaining tool,to fascilitate the whole truth out of a guilty defendant,more readily.

I believe that Dennis Raider [BTK] agreed to a similar deal,as Ted Kaczynski.

A ''one-off'' offer for their lives spared,in return for ''nothing but the truth''.

Empty optimism,perhaps,but if the Zodiac can be nailed for one murder conclusively....then his whole despicable story might be revealed.

Now,how many sleuths can honestly say that they wouldn't be happy about that [?]....even though their attitudes to the morality of the ''ultimate deterrent'',might vary.

BB
7/24/2019 09:32:17 am

Deterrent?

Of course you know the notion of
the death penalty deterrent has been
well disproved? The death penalty is
an archaic vestigial organ of the legal
system. It is a vile broken disgrace.
It is meet out unequally and is proven
to be used on innocent men. There are
many examples of DNA forensics saving
men off death row in the nick of time.
Just think of all those that did not have the
DNA to prove them truthful saying "Not Guilty".

Rubislaw 32 link
7/24/2019 03:36:06 pm

Well articulated BB....over what is an extraordinarily contentious issue.

One certainty is,that there is no such thing as a ''humane'' death [?].

''Curious'' perhaps,how opinion varies so much,across the USA [?].

The State of Texas remains the ''busiest'' advocator of the death penalty....more than the rest of the USA combined.

No.1 ''condition'' for joining the European Union is,to agree to outlaw capital punishment.Therefore,it never even becomes a subject for debate.

The U.K. is leaving,in October....so it might be back on the table,for discussion.

Tom1
7/27/2019 10:00:59 am

A great reason not to join.

Tom1
7/28/2019 05:44:49 am

Not sure what a political rant has to do with this case. I am constantly exposed to left wing progressive propaganda on a daily basis, so I don't really need to read it on this site.

Rubislaw 32 link
7/24/2019 12:20:12 pm

I wonder if you might be able to shed any light,Richard,over an ''unconfirmed'' Zodiac correspondence,from 1963....with postmark,apparently ''Palmdale'',California,near Lancaster [?].

The writer refers to the Kennedy assassination....I've seen it before,a few years ago...but cannot re-find it.There is a thread at zodiackiller.com ,but their access references are too old,to still be active.

It does seem to me,that the Zodiac was quite well versed about the assassination,and the subsequent ill-fated attempts,by Belli to defend Jack Ruby,after Oswald's ''lynching'',in custody.

This,in effect,why the Zodiac approached Melvin Belli,in December 1969.Belli,as someone who might understand the Zodiac's concerns,if he gave himself up.

Rubislaw 32 link
7/25/2019 04:15:56 am

Yes...supposedly,a December 3rd 1963 postmark.Just 10 days following JFK's death.

The only words,ever recorded by Ruby,officially,were : ''I got the call,and then knew what I had to do.''.

Ruby owned a small nightclub and,never a good businessman,was facing closure,through debt.He was known as a ''double snitch'',though associations with both federal agents and criminals.It is assumed that ''the call'' came from federal agents.A ''showcase''trial of Oswald,was not something,as perceived,that the nation needed,at that time....dragging ''Jackie'' through the mire,and public gaze.

Personally...the most ''believable'' of perceptions.

Rubislaw 32 link
7/25/2019 05:52:41 am

Just a ''tit-bit'' for the pot....

Bearing in mind,the Zodiac's predilection to puerility,the antics of the ''North Hollywood Hoaxer'' tends to suggest that he was targetting ''Robert Strange McNamara'',as well as a number of celebrities of influence,including Randolph Hearst.

I note that Belli's full name is ''Melvin Mouron Belli''.

A few ''titters'' in certain quarters,over ''that'' middle name [?].

Toots
7/24/2019 05:29:28 pm

This is off topic...but I believe important regarding the Equinox letter.

I did some research on 'Full Aries Moon', which occurs 2 days after the Autumn Equinox, so on 9/24/1972 the full moon was in Aries. The Full Aries Moon is also called the Harvest Moon.

In Astrology, the Moon takes a little over two days to move through a Zodiac sign. Your Sun sign (horoscope) dictates your zodiac personality, while your Moon sign, the second most important influence in your horoscope chart after the Sun, represents your emotions, your inner mood.

Yes, Phil G. was born under the Aries (April) horoscope, but I believe this letter is more about a hint of a "disaster" that occurred on 9/24/72, and not written by Phil G.

Another attempt, I believe, that Zodiac tried to either implicate Phil G. or leek a connection between Phil G and E Salmina.


Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    All
    13 Hole Postcard
    148 Character Cipher
    1978 Letter
    1986 Letter
    1987 Letter
    2001 Happy New Year Card
    Albany Letter
    Allan/Peyton Murders
    Arthur Leigh Allen
    Atlanta Letter
    Betsy Aardsma
    Blue Rock Springs Attack
    Bus Bomb Letter
    Button Letter
    Call To Chat Show
    Carol Beth Hilburn
    Channel 9 Letter
    Cheri Jo Bates
    Cipher Theories
    Citizen Card
    Concerned Citizen Card
    Confession Letter
    Daniel Williams Poisoning
    Debut Of Zodiac Letter
    Deep Real Estate Ad
    DMV Letter
    Domingos/Edwards Murders
    Donald Lee Bujok
    Donna Lass
    Dragon Card
    Earl Van Best Jr
    Eureka Card
    Exorcist Letter
    Fairfield Letter
    Fingerprint Evidence
    Forecast For Cancer
    Forecast For Leo
    Gareth Penn
    General News Articles
    Gilbert And Sullivan
    Good Citizen Letter
    Halloween Card
    Hood/Garcia Murders
    Internet Articles
    Joan Webster
    Johnny & Joyce Swindle
    Judith Hakari
    Kevin Robert Brooks
    Lake Berryessa Attack
    Lake Herman Road Murders
    Lake Tahoe Disappearance
    Larry Kane
    Leona Roberts Murder
    Los Angeles Letter
    Melvin Belli Letter
    Mike Morford (Morf13)
    Modesto Attack
    Molina/Rodriguez Murders
    Monticello Card
    My Name Is Letter
    Nancy Bennallack
    New Canaan Letters
    Novato Letter
    Oakland A's Letter
    Pines Card
    Possible Zodiac Attacks
    Possible Zodiac Letters
    Presidio Heights Murder
    Radians
    Red Phantom Letter
    Richard Gaikowski
    Riverside Desktop Poem
    Robert Salem Murder
    Ross Sullivan
    Saechao/Saelee Murders
    San Jose Code Letter
    Santa Claus Card
    Scorpion Ciphers
    Scotch Tape Letter
    Sla Letter
    Tamalpais Valley Attack
    Ted Kaczynski
    Telegraph Avenue Incident
    The 340 Cipher
    The 408 Cipher
    The Celebrity Cypher
    The Little List
    The Mikado
    Thomas Horan
    You Are Next Letter
    Zodiac Letters Poll
    Zodiac Postage
    Zodiac Theories

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    The Zodiac Killer may have given us the answer almost word-for-word when he wrote PS. The Mt. Diablo Code concerns Radians & # inches along the radians. The code solution identified was Estimate: Four Radians and Five Inches To read more, click the image.
    Picture
    Picture
    The Zodiac Atlas: The Zodiac Killer Enigma by Randall Scott Clemons. Click image for details.
    Picture
    The Zodiac Killer Map: Part of the Zodiac Killer Enigma by Randall Scott Clemons. Click image for color version
    For black and white issue..
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    January 2012

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Photos from Marcin Wichary, zAppledot, vyusseem, Alex Barth, Alan Cleaver, jocelynsart, Richard Perry, taberandrew, eschipul, MrJamesAckerley