There remains a widespread misconception that the Zodiac Killer's directions in the phone call after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack were incorrect, even though the police report clearly specified that the recollection of police dispatcher Nancy Slover was in effect the 'substance of the statement', not a verbatim transcription. The Zodiac Killer likely planned the payphone call and location, yet we assume his directions to the crime scene were horribly wrong based on the version remembered by Nancy Slover. There is no evidence to support such a conclusion based on the wording of the call shown below. Nancy Slover even recalled that the Zodiac Killer was speaking in a rehearsed, monotone fashion, as if reading from a script - which is a perfectly reasonable hypothesis. If we conclude he had prepared a written script, then this would seemingly fly in the face of him getting his directions completely wrong.
The Zodiac Killer was correct when he placed Betty Lou Jensen's feet facing west, along with his apparent knowledge of the the infrequently traveled Lake Herman Road as a location for courting couples, yet somehow became completely disoriented when making one turn off Columbus Parkway to the payphone at Springs Road and Tuolumne Street. When Zodiac made the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa phone calls, he rang the police. Therefore, it follows logically, that any directions given would be to direct the police to the crime scene from their location. In these cases, the Sheriff's Office was located at the junction of Virginia and Tuolumne Streets, the Vallejo Police Department at 111 Amador Street, and Park Headquarters at Lake Berryessa.
The Zodiac Killer was correct when he placed Betty Lou Jensen's feet facing west, along with his apparent knowledge of the the infrequently traveled Lake Herman Road as a location for courting couples, yet somehow became completely disoriented when making one turn off Columbus Parkway to the payphone at Springs Road and Tuolumne Street. When Zodiac made the Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa phone calls, he rang the police. Therefore, it follows logically, that any directions given would be to direct the police to the crime scene from their location. In these cases, the Sheriff's Office was located at the junction of Virginia and Tuolumne Streets, the Vallejo Police Department at 111 Amador Street, and Park Headquarters at Lake Berryessa.
If you were calling the police at 12:40 am on July 5th 1969, issuing them with directions to Blue Rock Springs, then your first statement would be to tell them to go east, which is exactly what the Zodiac Killer did. Then take Columbus Parkway to the crime scene. Police dispatcher Nancy Slover was certainly not prepared for the call she was about to receive, crucially interrupting the caller and asking him for his details as he began his message. In other words, she spoke over the killer while simultaneously having to register what he was saying. She may have been a trained police dispatcher, but little prepares you for a serial killer ringing in, claiming the murder of four people in total. She often recalled how unnerving the phone call was.
In the aftermath of the call, she then had to remember its totality, word for word, along with the exact sequence of the message and any pauses or sentence breaks within it, so as to fully transcribe the message delivered in its correct context.
The message shown above was composed of 46 words, delivered in approximately 20 seconds. The chances of recalling this amount of words in exactly the correct order and context, one could suggest is extremely unlikely and unrealistic. There is often the false assumption that the Zodiac Killer was incorrect in his delivery of the message, whereas, it is a far more credible proposition that Nancy Slover simply recalled the message incorrectly or in the wrong context. We have previously shown that by inserting one break into the message it reads perfectly from a directional standpoint, although possibly incorrectly regarding the distances given. Here is the message with the break or pause inserted "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". This message now makes sense regarding a killer directing police from 111 Armador Street to Blue Rock Springs Park. However, there are many alternatives.
In the aftermath of the call, she then had to remember its totality, word for word, along with the exact sequence of the message and any pauses or sentence breaks within it, so as to fully transcribe the message delivered in its correct context.
The message shown above was composed of 46 words, delivered in approximately 20 seconds. The chances of recalling this amount of words in exactly the correct order and context, one could suggest is extremely unlikely and unrealistic. There is often the false assumption that the Zodiac Killer was incorrect in his delivery of the message, whereas, it is a far more credible proposition that Nancy Slover simply recalled the message incorrectly or in the wrong context. We have previously shown that by inserting one break into the message it reads perfectly from a directional standpoint, although possibly incorrectly regarding the distances given. Here is the message with the break or pause inserted "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". This message now makes sense regarding a killer directing police from 111 Armador Street to Blue Rock Springs Park. However, there are many alternatives.
You can see from the map above, it is impossible to direct anybody to the crime scene traveling "one mile east on Columbus Parkway" You would be traveling "one mile north northeast" or "one mile southeast". Additionally, you would be traveling to the crime scene from effectively nowhere of any note - least of all a police station. It can be seen that responding officers heading away from the police station would be traveling along Solano Avenue, before joining Springs Road, then traveling 1.39 miles east to Columbus Parkway (as opposed to the one mile east given in the phone call). So it can be seen that the Zodiac simply approximated the distance east.
The widely portrayed message reads ""I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". The Zodiac Killer wasn't going to deliver fractions of distances in his payphone call, so rounded 1.39 miles east to 1 mile, now giving us a perfectly reasonable set of directions and distances in his message to Nancy Slover. Unfortunately, yet understandably, it was recalled incorrectly through memory and talking over the killer during the first part of the message. We must not make the blind assumption that the "substance of the statement" was in fact a perfect transcription of what the Zodiac Killer actually said that night. If it was a perfect transcription, then it makes little sense regarding a call directing the police to the crime scene. If it makes little sense - one can argue it wasn't spoken.
Footnote:
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia ...... I'm the one that did it".
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. There are two people one mile north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia ...... I'm the one that did it".
The widely portrayed message reads ""I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". The Zodiac Killer wasn't going to deliver fractions of distances in his payphone call, so rounded 1.39 miles east to 1 mile, now giving us a perfectly reasonable set of directions and distances in his message to Nancy Slover. Unfortunately, yet understandably, it was recalled incorrectly through memory and talking over the killer during the first part of the message. We must not make the blind assumption that the "substance of the statement" was in fact a perfect transcription of what the Zodiac Killer actually said that night. If it was a perfect transcription, then it makes little sense regarding a call directing the police to the crime scene. If it makes little sense - one can argue it wasn't spoken.
Footnote:
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia ...... I'm the one that did it".
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. There are two people one mile north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia ...... I'm the one that did it".
RSS Feed
