In the Melvin Belli letter mailed on December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer stated he was afraid of "losing control again and taking his ninth or possibly tenth victim". Bearing in mind that three of his four attacks thus far were on couples, and his threat of claiming two victims in one letter, it is hardly surprising his next correspondence on April 20th 1970 had a total of ten proclaimed victims. But had he actually killed anybody, or was it again a case of idle bragging? The 'My Name is..'.letter contained a 13 symbol code, where the central focus was seemingly three circled eights positioned symmetrically in its design. These have been interpreted as Taurus symbols, due to the fact the Zodiac Killer had also apparently added an Aries symbol within the code (albeit upside down). The Zodiac Killer may have circled the characters so they could be interpreted as both. Since the Zodiac horoscope is prominent in astrology, the use of these symbols by the Zodiac Killer cannot be regarded as unusual.
The author of the correspondence would sign off with the words "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed". Was this a subtle clue using the misspelled 'figgure' to shunt us in the right direction? He gave us three circled figure of eights and an extra 'g' in figgure. In addition, the symbol for a full moon is a circle
The 13 Symbol cipher was mailed in April - and a quick look at the entire moon cycle for San Francisco in April shows a full moon on April 21st. A Waxing Gibbous denotes 95% illumination approaching a full moon and a Waning Gibbous denotes 95% illumination as we leave the full moon, while everything in between can be regarded as varying degrees of a full moon. These are the four key phases in April. Considering the Zodiac used the Taurus symbol in his code, it is therefore not surprising that the date of this letter, April 20th, is the exact date that Taurus takes over from Aries in the Zodiac horoscope, with the varying degrees of the full moon (from waxing to waning) are in exactly the same 3:1 ratio as the 13 Symbol cipher code. This is displayed below, placing the dates from the calendar above onto the cipher.
The center of the cipher is where we shall focus. It is the 21st and a full moon. These are our first two clues.
The Zodiac Killer stated "I have killed ten people to date". So was this date the 21st on a full moon? Considering the Melvin Belli letter was mailed on December 20th 1969, any double murder would have to fall on December 21st 1969, January 21st 1970, February 21st 1970 or March 21st 1970. The attack on Kathleen Johns on March 22nd fell on a full moon, but does not fit the criteria There is only one month that follows the exact four lunar phases as above, waxing and waning from the 19th to the 22nd, where the full moon falls on the 21st - and that is February 1970.
Let us return to the phrase "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed". We have the figure 21 for the date, but what about the circled eight and the letter 'g' from figgure. The 13 Symbol cipher begins with an A and ends with an M, which is half the alphabet. The cipher showed perfect symmetry when the alphabet was placed alongside it here. When the identical technique is used here, the letter G falls over the central 8 (and the 21st). Even the three 8's total 21, if we take their numerical position on the cipher.
The Zodiac Killer stated "I have killed ten people to date". So was this date the 21st on a full moon? Considering the Melvin Belli letter was mailed on December 20th 1969, any double murder would have to fall on December 21st 1969, January 21st 1970, February 21st 1970 or March 21st 1970. The attack on Kathleen Johns on March 22nd fell on a full moon, but does not fit the criteria There is only one month that follows the exact four lunar phases as above, waxing and waning from the 19th to the 22nd, where the full moon falls on the 21st - and that is February 1970.
Let us return to the phrase "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed". We have the figure 21 for the date, but what about the circled eight and the letter 'g' from figgure. The 13 Symbol cipher begins with an A and ends with an M, which is half the alphabet. The cipher showed perfect symmetry when the alphabet was placed alongside it here. When the identical technique is used here, the letter G falls over the central 8 (and the 21st). Even the three 8's total 21, if we take their numerical position on the cipher.
Putting everything together, we are looking for possibly a double murder, perpetrated on a young couple (similar to other Zodiac attacks), on February 21st 1970, during a full moon, where the two letters G and H may feature.
On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armored Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, where unfortunately they fell victim to a knife wielding assassin. John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia were shortly to be married and were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when a man armed with a bone-handled 4" blade approached them and shattered their dreams. Despite apparently fighting back against their attacker, both unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on the remote Santa Barbara beach. John Hood suffered eleven knife wounds, the majority inflicted to the face and back, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack, leaving her almost unrecognizable, in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. There appeared to be no sexual interference and robbery was ruled out.
The couple were discovered the following day, Sunday 22nd February, lying face down on their blanket. The bone-handled fish knife used in their murder was retrieved from beneath the blanket, partially buried in the sand. These murders came five months after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 - and the similarities have not gone unnoticed - with the use of a knife the age of the couple, the apparent lack of motive and the beach location.
On Saturday February 21st 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armored Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, decided to visit the quiet retreat of East Beach, Santa Barbara one evening, where unfortunately they fell victim to a knife wielding assassin. John F. Hood and Sandra Garcia were shortly to be married and were enjoying the evening tranquility lying on a blanket under a full moon, when a man armed with a bone-handled 4" blade approached them and shattered their dreams. Despite apparently fighting back against their attacker, both unfortunately had their lives cruelly snatched away on the remote Santa Barbara beach. John Hood suffered eleven knife wounds, the majority inflicted to the face and back, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack, leaving her almost unrecognizable, in what appeared a senseless and motiveless crime. There appeared to be no sexual interference and robbery was ruled out.
The couple were discovered the following day, Sunday 22nd February, lying face down on their blanket. The bone-handled fish knife used in their murder was retrieved from beneath the blanket, partially buried in the sand. These murders came five months after the Lake Berryessa attack on September 27th 1969 - and the similarities have not gone unnoticed - with the use of a knife the age of the couple, the apparent lack of motive and the beach location.
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