Sunday, August 3rd 1969 San Francisco Examiner Have you ever wondered who inspired the Zodiac Killer to mail in a piece of Paul Stine's bloody shirt after the murder in Presidio Heights in 1969? The same member of law enforcement who influenced the arrival of the Zodiac pseudonym on August 4th 1969. The only reason the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter was ever sent to the San Francisco Examiner is because Vallejo Police Chief, Jack E. Stiltz requested the writer of the July 31st letters to prove he was the killer, asking the murderer of three to write another letter "with more facts to prove it". This request by Vallejo Police Chief, Jack E. Stiltz was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 2nd 1969, followed by the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle on August 3rd 1969.
The Zodiac Killer's response was swift, sending a letter to the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969, replying directly to Jack Stiltz and stating "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". Without this prompt by Jack Stiltz, the pseudonym of "Zodiac" may never have come to pass - at least not by August 4th 1969.
The next communication was mailed just over two months later, on October 13th 1969, admitting to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights only two days earlier. But the Zodiac Killer hadn't forgotten that Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz had doubted his involvement in the attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, by stating he required "more facts to prove it". So, the Zodiac Killer in advance of the taxicab driver's murder, decided to remove a piece of the victim's shirt and leave law enforcement in no doubt he was the true killer at Presidio Heights. Two days later, he mailed the Stine letter, stating "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt". The Zodiac Killer was responding to law enforcement who doubted him previously, but primarily to Jack Stiltz's comments in the newspapers back on August 2nd and August 3rd 1969.
The Zodiac Killer's response was swift, sending a letter to the San Francisco Examiner on August 4th 1969, replying directly to Jack Stiltz and stating "In answer to your asking for more details about the good times I have had in Vallejo, I shall be very happy to supply even more material". Without this prompt by Jack Stiltz, the pseudonym of "Zodiac" may never have come to pass - at least not by August 4th 1969.
The next communication was mailed just over two months later, on October 13th 1969, admitting to the murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights only two days earlier. But the Zodiac Killer hadn't forgotten that Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz had doubted his involvement in the attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, by stating he required "more facts to prove it". So, the Zodiac Killer in advance of the taxicab driver's murder, decided to remove a piece of the victim's shirt and leave law enforcement in no doubt he was the true killer at Presidio Heights. Two days later, he mailed the Stine letter, stating "I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St + Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt". The Zodiac Killer was responding to law enforcement who doubted him previously, but primarily to Jack Stiltz's comments in the newspapers back on August 2nd and August 3rd 1969.
In his next descriptive letter on November 9th 1969 the Zodiac Killer would continue this theme, with Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz still in the back of his mind. The Zodiac Killer was angry with the San Francisco Police Department for "telling lies" about him, threatening to change his way of collecting slaves for the afterlife. He would finish this communication by warning San Francisco law enforcement not to bluff him, by stating "To prove that I am the Zodiac, Ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves." Jack Stiltz was the "Vallejo Cop" that the Zodiac Killer addressed on August 4th 1969 when he wrote to the San Francisco Examiner and described his "small pencel flash light (taped) to the barrel of (his) gun".
Therefore, Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz was instrumental to the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter in which the pseudonym "Zodiac" was revealed to the world, as well as the inspiration for the Zodiac Killer to decide in advance of his San Francisco murder, that something from the victim (a shirt piece in this instance} had to be mailed with his next correspondence, "to prove" undeniably he was the killer.
Therefore, Vallejo Police Chief, Jack Stiltz was instrumental to the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter in which the pseudonym "Zodiac" was revealed to the world, as well as the inspiration for the Zodiac Killer to decide in advance of his San Francisco murder, that something from the victim (a shirt piece in this instance} had to be mailed with his next correspondence, "to prove" undeniably he was the killer.
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