#2.The teenagers who viewed the crime across the street "The suspect then appeared to be wiping on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment. The suspect then exited the cab by the passenger side front door, also wiping with a white rag, possibly a handkerchief. The suspect then walked around the cab to the driver's side and proceeded to wipe the exterior of the left door area. The suspect then fled north on Cherry Street."
#3. The teenagers interviewed at a later date "At this time, Lindsey went downstairs to get a better look at what was happening, while one of the kids upstairs called the police. Downstairs, the lights were off, so Lindsey knew he could not be seen from the outside. He got close to the window and watched his actions. He was shortly joined by Rebecca. They both watched and observed in silence as Zodiac pushed the driver to an upright position behind the steering wheel, exited the car and walked around the rear of the car and opened the drivers door. Stine had fallen over onto the seat and Zodiac pulled him back up into the seated position and had some difficulty keeping him upright. Once upright, he was seen to have a rag, or something like a handkerchief and began to wipe down the door area and leaning over the driver, part of the dashboard. When he was finished, Zodiac calmly walked to Cherry St. and walked north." Extract from this thread http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=402
We have a killer that supposedly murdered Paul Stine at Washington and Cherry from the rear of the taxicab, exited the right rear passenger door, entered the right front passenger door, removed a section of Paul Stine's shirt and left the scene. With this scenario there is absolutely no need for the killer to wipe down the driver side compartment, he would never have come into contact with it. The same applies to a front seat shooting.
Had the murder unfolded as our minds perceive it, then clearly the actions of the killer make little sense. If we use simple supposition, we could conclude the Zodiac wiped the driver area to remove fingerprints, therefore at some time in the night's proceedings he was located in close proximity to the driver side seat and compartment area. The interior view of a Ford Galaxie 500 taxicab shows there is little of significance on the driver side to have been searched from the Zodiac perspective. If he was removing fingerprints, then he had either leaned on the dashboard, touched the shift, or handled the steering wheel at some point in the course of events. But again, he should have been nowhere near this area from the standpoint of a Washington and Cherry murder.
The Zodiac Killer exited the taxicab and headed north on Cherry Street and east on Jackson Street, in what appears an unnecessary route, placing himself at greater risk for two minutes as he traversed Jackson Street parallel to the crime scene.
tt was to prove a near costly mistake, as two responding police officers crossed his path en route. The Zodiac Killer's obvious exit plan would have been to travel directly north, away from the crime scene to a waiting vehicle, or into the park. The Zodiac claimed in his October 13th 1969 letter mailed two days after the murder: "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington Street and Maple Street last night." Had this been the case, then his actions of traveling east on Jackson Street makes sense to his original true intentions of traveling north on Maple Street after murdering the taxicab driver at this location. He would have been heading toward the region of the Jackson and Maple intersection in both instances. However, circumstances forced a change of plan, which may have necessitated the Zodiac Killer commandeering the vehicle and traveling one block further, resulting in the subsequent unscheduled journey along Jackson Street, to his original destination.
The claim of the teenage witnesses that the Zodiac Killer opened the driver side door is supported by the location of these fingerprints, deposited onto the dividing panel by the right hand of the killer, using his right hand as a supporting mechanism.
The absence of a heard gunshot is often touted as a reason the shooting may have occurred one block earlier at Washington and Maple, although no audible gunshot was described at this location either. The close contact wound to Paul Stine may have suppressed the propellant gases of the firearm, subduing the audible sound levels, or the killer may have attached a suppressor to the gun itself. It can be shown that even guns with suppressors attached can still give a high decibel reading.
The log entry of Washington and Maple, the Zodiac's claim of a murder 'over by Washington and Maple', and the taxicab parked askew to the sidewalk, begs the question of who was in control of the taxicab as it approached the Washington and Cherry intersection on the night of October 11th 1969.