Brought to the attention of the Zodiac community by Lyndon Lafferty's book 'The Zodiac Killer Cover-Up: AKA The Silenced Badge', Shiri-Dine Bana (19) was reported missing by her mother on May 10th 1979. Her body was discovered at noon on Friday May 18th 1979 by a Solano County employee, lying in weeds less than a quarter of a mile south of Lake Herman Road, on the west side. I have estimated the location using the newspaper reports, to the area of Reservoir Road shown below. This location is just 860 meters from the turnout where David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were murdered by the Zodiac Killer on December 20th 1968.
Her 1969 light blue Ford Torino was first spotted at the Blue Rock Springs parking lot on May 12th by a Solano County Sheriff's Deputy and later on Monday May 14th by a caretaker (parked across three parking stalls). It was ticketed as abandoned on May 17th by a Vallejo Police Department officer, only to eventually be identified as Shiri-Dine Bana's vehicle on the 18th. The young woman disappeared on her way to Napa Community College (now Napa Valley College) from her residence at 260 American Canyon Road No 4 in Napa. View on Google maps. Her clothed body was lying on its stomach, badly decomposed. However, at autopsy they determined she had been stabbed at least 25 times, and possibly struck over the head and strangled. One clue surfaced from her trouser pocket - a registration form for the Napa Community College listing one name. The Ford Torino was hauled away to the Department of Justice crime laboratory in Sacramento, but after a thorough examination of the vehicle they found no traces of blood present in the car, or anything significant pertaining to Shiri-Dine Bana.
Shiri-Dine Bana Detective Bob Fletcher speculated 'that Bana was murdered at the Reservoir Road site where the body was found. He partially based the assumption on the fact the woman's eyeglasses were still on her head when she was found. Eyeglasses would most likely have been jarred loose in transport had she been killed elsewhere and later dumped along Reservoir Road. "The facts show she was murdered where she was found" he said. The car was apparently returned to the park and abandoned. Fletcher was seeking assistance in the murder investigation: "Does anyone remember seeing this car parked at Blue Rock Springs between the evenings of May 11 and May 12?" he asked.'
The idea painted by the above passage, could be interpreted as: Shiri-Dine Bana headed off to Napa Community College on May 10th and met her assailant at this location, whether known or unknown. She was then either forced under duress, or she willingly drove to the area of Reservoir Road where she was murdered. The killer then drove her vehicle west to Blue Rock Springs Park, abandoned it, and made his escape on foot or by use of a second waiting vehicle.
The analysis of Detective Bob Fletcher, however, seems questionable, when we consider Shiri-Dine Bana was stabbed 25+ times in the neck, chest and back, along with the possibility of a blow to the head and strangulation. They must have been extremely sturdy eyeglasses to have remained on the young woman's face throughout such a ferocious attack (with no mentioned damage), in which Shiri-Dine Bana would have offered sustained resistance over a lengthy period against her attacker. If the murderer had committed this brutal murder in a grassy field, how did he manage to avoid any blood transfer to his body and/or clothing, and therefore the vehicle of Shiri-Dine Bana when he drove it the four miles to Blue Rock Springs?
If the young woman had been murdered elsewhere, the eyeglasses could have easily been transported along with the body to Reservoir Road and placed back on her head a few feet into the field (or had remained on her head throughout the journey). The fact that the body was discovered just six feet in from Reservoir Road by a Solano County employee responsible for trimming the roadside weeds, could be more suggestive of a dump site rather than the location of her murder. The killer could have placed the victim's glasses back on her head to give the impression she was murdered here (but if he did, made an error in doing so). The extent of the injuries inflicted on the young woman, in what was obviously a brutal assault, makes it almost unbelievable that her eyeglasses could have remained on her head throughout. If Detective Bob Fletcher surmised that her "eyeglasses would most likely have been jarred loose in transport had she been killed elsewhere", then how could he square this with her eyeglasses not being "jarred loose" after a viscous and prolonged attack of 25 or more stab wounds. The Solano County deputy coroner Mark Berto stated that "it would take a lot of strength to first force a knife through the sternum, and then be able to remove the blade as well." This strength would have come in useful when the perpetrator was required to remove the body from a second vehicle and carry it six feet into the field. If we take a look at the location of the first quarter of a mile into Reservoir Road, there doesn't appear any accessible parking areas to pull over, and with virtually no coverage from a tree line, a killer attacking a woman just six feet or thereabouts into the field for a prolonged period of time, is taking an inordinate risk in the commission of the crime. With the body being discovered so close to the roadside edge, it gives the impression the murderer literally carried the body just two or three steps into the field.
The idea painted by the above passage, could be interpreted as: Shiri-Dine Bana headed off to Napa Community College on May 10th and met her assailant at this location, whether known or unknown. She was then either forced under duress, or she willingly drove to the area of Reservoir Road where she was murdered. The killer then drove her vehicle west to Blue Rock Springs Park, abandoned it, and made his escape on foot or by use of a second waiting vehicle.
The analysis of Detective Bob Fletcher, however, seems questionable, when we consider Shiri-Dine Bana was stabbed 25+ times in the neck, chest and back, along with the possibility of a blow to the head and strangulation. They must have been extremely sturdy eyeglasses to have remained on the young woman's face throughout such a ferocious attack (with no mentioned damage), in which Shiri-Dine Bana would have offered sustained resistance over a lengthy period against her attacker. If the murderer had committed this brutal murder in a grassy field, how did he manage to avoid any blood transfer to his body and/or clothing, and therefore the vehicle of Shiri-Dine Bana when he drove it the four miles to Blue Rock Springs?
If the young woman had been murdered elsewhere, the eyeglasses could have easily been transported along with the body to Reservoir Road and placed back on her head a few feet into the field (or had remained on her head throughout the journey). The fact that the body was discovered just six feet in from Reservoir Road by a Solano County employee responsible for trimming the roadside weeds, could be more suggestive of a dump site rather than the location of her murder. The killer could have placed the victim's glasses back on her head to give the impression she was murdered here (but if he did, made an error in doing so). The extent of the injuries inflicted on the young woman, in what was obviously a brutal assault, makes it almost unbelievable that her eyeglasses could have remained on her head throughout. If Detective Bob Fletcher surmised that her "eyeglasses would most likely have been jarred loose in transport had she been killed elsewhere", then how could he square this with her eyeglasses not being "jarred loose" after a viscous and prolonged attack of 25 or more stab wounds. The Solano County deputy coroner Mark Berto stated that "it would take a lot of strength to first force a knife through the sternum, and then be able to remove the blade as well." This strength would have come in useful when the perpetrator was required to remove the body from a second vehicle and carry it six feet into the field. If we take a look at the location of the first quarter of a mile into Reservoir Road, there doesn't appear any accessible parking areas to pull over, and with virtually no coverage from a tree line, a killer attacking a woman just six feet or thereabouts into the field for a prolonged period of time, is taking an inordinate risk in the commission of the crime. With the body being discovered so close to the roadside edge, it gives the impression the murderer literally carried the body just two or three steps into the field.
1969 Ford Torino The Vallejo Times-Herald stated "she was reported missing by her mother on May 10 after she disappeared on her way to classes at Napa Community College." The wording appears to suggest she never arrived at her classes. She may very well have been abducted while parking up or shortly thereafter, by use of a second vehicle, murdered elsewhere and dumped along Reservoir Road. The need to then relocate her vehicle after the fact, away from the college, could suggest a perpetrator known to the victim and possibly somebody studying at the same college. The fact that the vehicle was dumped in the vicinity of the body deposition site, could have specifically designed to focus attention in the Vallejo/Benicia area. "Benicia Police Chief Pierre Bidou said Tuesday that despite the woman being a Napa resident, the investigation is solely Benicia's responsibility because the body was found here." The Napa Community College registration form found in the dead woman's pocket may hold the answers to her last known location, and center the focus back on the area of the college - the direction she was presumably heading before she disappeared.
The obvious Zodiac connections have been drawn, with the body and vehicle having been found at virtually the same locations of Zodiac's first two attacks on December 20th 1968 and July 4th 1969. Napa Community College is also less than two miles from the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone, where the Zodiac Killer confessed to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969.
The obvious Zodiac connections have been drawn, with the body and vehicle having been found at virtually the same locations of Zodiac's first two attacks on December 20th 1968 and July 4th 1969. Napa Community College is also less than two miles from the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone, where the Zodiac Killer confessed to the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard on September 27th 1969.
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