ZODIAC CIPHERS
Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
  • Home
    • Search This Site With Google
    • My Interview on the Zodiac Killer Channel
    • The Mount Diablo Map and Code Solution
  • Zodiac News
    • Zodiac News Archives
    • Santa Barbara Attack
    • Cheri Jo Bates
    • The Confession
    • Riverside Desktop Poem
    • Bates Letter
    • The Forgotten Victims
    • Zodiac RSS Feed
    • 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
    • Zodiac Letters Real or Fake
    • Zodiac Documentary
    • Zodiac Killer Net Forum - Hot Topics
    • Unsolved Mysteries
    • The Colonial Parkway Murders
  • Suspects
    • Arthur Leigh Allen
    • Rick Marshall
    • Lawrence Kane
    • Theodore Kaczynski
    • Richard Gaikowski
    • Gareth Penn
    • Jack Tarrance

THE MURDER ON MONTE CRESTA DRIVE

1/20/2021

 
Picture
The following are a few extracts from the newspapers regarding the murder of Anthony Vincent Bruno on November 2nd 1975.

According to Police Captain George Stephenson, Bruno and his girlfriend (16 years) had been parked on Monte Cresta Drive, above Barclay Way in an isolated area of western hills when a man opened the driver's side door and apparently without saying anything fired the shotgun. The girl, who was not identified by police, pushed Bruno's body aside and drove the car to her home from where police were notified. She described the assailant as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds and wearing an Army green parka with hood, according to police. Stephenson said also that a late model brown pick-up truck, possibly a Dodge or Chevrolet, had been seen in the area at about the time of the shooting. The killer then ran south on Monte Cresta from the dark hillside area, past a streetlight 50 yards away, and then possibly to a late model Dodge or Chevrolet pick-up truck.

Belmont police today are attempting to find a man who shotgunned a 17-year-old Carlmont High School student to death in a parked car early Sunday morning. The youth, Anthony Vincent Bruno of 213 Bayview Drive, San Carlos, died instantly, his body sprawled on the seat of the parked car beside his terrified 16-year-old girlfriend. The killer then turned, dropped the sawed-off stock of his weapon on the ground, perhaps by accident, and fled. It was disclosed Wednesday that about an hour and a half before the brutal slaying, a man was seen struggling to drag a box about two feet long and 18 inches wide up a steep rise about 100 feet from the slaying site. A rod, or perhaps a rope, protruded from the box, according to police, and the dragging was being done by a man in mechanic's overalls with longish, dark brown hair. Stephenson also confirmed that police are searching for the driver of a maroon pick-up truck, equipped with blackwall tires and white wheels; a vehicle which they have information to believe may have approached the parked couple 15 minutes before the slaying, stopped a distance away, made a u-turn, and apparently drove off. The girl gave a follow up description "She saw a face but couldn't identify him. She couldn't see whether he was black or white, or anything other than he was 5'5", 140 pounds and wearing a green army-type parka". One has to consider that under the circumstances, this description may be less than reliable.  

Picture
"We've never had a case like this before. This is the bloodiest, most brutal killing I've ever seen", Belmont Police Chief William R. Singer said as he surveyed the scene of Belmont's first potential murder case in over two years. "It could be another Zodiac", he added.  Wednesday afternoon, Juvenile Division Detective Gary Sickman drove this reporter to the scene of the slaying and replayed what police have linked together about it so far. "This is a little-known lovers' lane", Sickman said. "Many of the kids I've talked with at Carlmont were unaware of it." Sickman drove the patrol car down a narrow dirt road connecting with Monte Cresta Drive; a chuckhole-pocked stretch traversing a ridge high above Belmont Canyon. At the end of the road, a half-mile from the slaying site, a teenaged couple embraced in a parked car. Sickman checked their identification and jotted their names in his notebook after giving them a little fatherly advice.

The image on the right shows Belmont Police Chief William Singer and Captain George Stephenson examining the scene of the crime. To visit the location, click the image to enter Google maps.  

Picture
The original image was poor quality, so I have superimposed a Stevens Model 124 12-guage shotgun into the newspaper article
This crime has similarities to the two attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, particularly the latter (highlighted above in blue). The couple in this instance were 16 and 17 years of age just like Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday, attacked on what was described as a lovers' lane area. The killer, without uttering a word, fired into the vehicle in similar fashion to the shooting at Blue Rock Springs, this time in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 2nd 1975. The assailant at Monte Cresta Drive may have driven up to the vehicle of the young couple just prior to the murder, driving away and returning a few minutes later, before unleashing his deadly assault. Had the gun not broke apart, we could again have been looking at a repeat of December 20th 1968.

The following day, on November 3rd 1975, it was reported by KGO-TV that a possible Zodiac letter was discovered near to the crime scene in a phone booth. Michael Morford, a researcher at the Zodiac Killer Site forum, also remembered a cassette tape accompanying the letter. The attack happened early Sunday morning, with the newspapers carrying the story on Monday, November 3rd 1975, so when the letter (and possibly tape) were placed in the phone booth is an important factor. If the letter was placed there in the minutes after the crime (or Sunday night) and not discovered until Monday morning, the greater the possibility that the letter was written by the murderer of Anthony Vincent Bruno, who hadn't read or heard any reporting of the crime.
Picture
Picture
The reporting in the San Mateo Times of a letter alleged to have been written by the Zodiac Killer appears to carry weight, when you consider the wording of Chief William R. Singer, who stated "It could be another Zodiac". If this letter existed, then it is fairly obvious that law enforcement and Chief William R. Singer would have been aware of it.

There are three main possibilities regarding the letter: [1] Somebody read or heard the details of the crime, noted the similarities to the Zodiac attacks, and decided to hoax a letter. [2] The person who murdered Anthony Vincent Bruno prepared a Zodiac-style letter to shift the emphasis away from the fact it was personal attack. [3] The person who committed the murder and wrote the letter was the Zodiac Killer, however unlikely this option may seem. The Zodiac Killer hadn't conclusively been linked to a murder for six years at this point, and hadn't written a confirmed letter for well over a year, which undoubtedly weakens the intent of a person attempting to shift the blame onto the Zodiac Killer. The last widely accepted letter from the Zodiac Killer was the Exorcist letter mailed on January 29th 1974, probably mailed from San Mateo County. If this was "truly" a Zodiac letter, it too would have a San Mateo connection.

Two and a half years later, a cryptic letter was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 19th 1978, in what can only be described as unintelligent ramblings. With respect to the 1975 letter (and possibly cassette tape) placed in the phone booth near the crime scene, a certain section of text in the July 19th 1978 was of particular interest. It may have no connection whatsoever to the Anthony Vincent Bruno murder, but read "I have my real name on a small metallic tape. You see, while you have it in your possession, I want you to know it belongs to me and you think I may have left it accidentally".  Was this "small metallic tape", a ferric cassette tape, which was deliberately placed in the phone booth and was now in the possession of law enforcement? The murder of Anthony Vincent Bruno in San Mateo on November 2nd 1975 is a difficult crime to connect to the Bay Area murders of the Zodiac Killer without access to this letter (and tape), but the broken stock of the shotgun found ten feet from the murder scene could contain valuable evidence if stored correctly.

Thanks to Zodiac Killer Site forum.


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
    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
    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
    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
    Picture

    Archives

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