ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
  • Home
    • Search This Site With Google
    • The Mount Diablo Map and Code Solution
  • Zodiac News
    • Zodiac News Archive
    • Santa Barbara Attack
    • Cheri Jo Bates
    • The Confession
    • Riverside Desktop Poem
    • Bates Letter
    • The Forgotten Victims
    • 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
    • Los Angeles Times Newspaper Articles
    • Zodiac Letters Real or Fake
    • Zodiac Documentary
    • Unsolved Mysteries
    • The Colonial Parkway Murders
  • Suspects
    • Arthur Leigh Allen
    • Rick Marshall
    • Lawrence Kane
    • Theodore Kaczynski
    • Richard Gaikowski
    • Gareth Penn
    • Jack Tarrance

THE ROBERT SALEM MURDER

4/13/2017

 
On December 20th 1969, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Melvin Belli letter containing a third piece of Paul Stine's shirt, taken from the murdered taxicab driver in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969. The Dripping Pen card and Bus Bomb letter were postmarked within a day of each other, so this was effectively the third confirmed mailing in a row harboring a sinister trophy. The Melvin Belli letter, whether a ruse or not, painted the picture of a Zodiac Killer going off the rails. In the correspondence he stated "I cannot reach out for help because this thing inside me wont let me. I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check. I am afraid I will loose all control again and take my nineth and posibly tenth victom. Please help me I am drownding," Later he continues "But if I hold back too long from no nine, I will loose all controol of my self and set the bomb up. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer".
Picture
This letter had very similar overtones to the murders attributed to William Heirens, known as the Lipstick Killer, who was convicted of three murders over a seven month period. Josephine Ross had been stabbed numerous times in her apartment at 4108 North Kenmore Avenue on June 5th 1945. Frances Brown was discovered on December 10th 1945 at her 3941 North Pine Grove apartment, again in Edgewater, Chicago. She had multiple knife wounds. In fact, a knife was found present in the victim's neck, along with a bullet wound to her head. But on this occasion the killer had left a calling card in the form of a message written in lipstick on the wall. It read: "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more I cannot control myself".

On January 7th 1946, six-year-old Suzanne Degnan disappeared from her 5943 North Kenmore residence. A ladder was discovered outside the girl's window, and a ransom note was also found by police. The misspelled note read: "GeI $20,000 Reddy & wAITe foR WoRd, do NoT NoTify FBI oR Police. Bills IN 5's & 10's". Later, an anonymous phone call was received instructing police to check the sewers, from which they found several dismembered body parts of Suzanne Degnan at various locations. Considering the Zodiac Killer's apparent fragile state of mind in the Melvin Belli letter and its mimicry of the William Heirens murders, was there a possibility the Zodiac Killer's next murder would carry any of these traits and be referenced in his following communication, such as the writing on the wall, the use of a knife in the murder, possible dismemberment and a San Francisco connection.

On April 19th 1970, the mutilated body of Robert Salem was discovered in his 745 Stevenson Street, San Francisco apartment. In an article by Paul Avery, entitled The Bloody Satan Murder, it reported that they didn't believe it to be a Zodiac murder, stating "The 40 year old designer of lamps had been repeatedly stabbed with a long-bladed knife. The killer had apparently tried to decapitate his victim and when that failed he cut off Salem's left ear, carrying it away with him when he fled. There was also this bizarre touch: scrawled on the wall in Salem's blood, were the words "Satan Saves."  The killer then in larger letters wrote "Zodiac" and drew a strange symbol resembling a crucified man. The same symbol had been drawn on Salem's stomach".  

Picture
Click image for link to article
Remember, we stated that based on the Melvin Belli and William Heirens murders, the next crime may contain components of these, such as ​writing on the wall, the use of a knife in the murder, possible dismemberment and a San Francisco connection. The murder of Robert Salem had them all, along with the Zodiac signature in blood. One curious feature in the crime scene, is the killer, had he wrote "Zodiac" similar in size to "Satan Saves", there would have been no need to write Zodiac in such fashion, split into two parts, so he could fit it onto the wall - unless it was intentional. In the article it stated "An autopsy yesterday morning showed Salem was slain sometime last Wednesday". This puts the murder on April 15th 1970, five days before the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'My Name is....' letter and 13-Symbol cipher, postmarked April 20th 1970.     
Picture
In a previous article, an avenue was explored that may connect the 340 character cipher and 13-Symbol cipher using the Zodiac's name. It is well recognized that the Zodiac Killer was an egotist who just may have given us his pseudonym at the foot of the 340 cipher as a form of signature. It is written slightly differently, but nevertheless, it is thought that this may have some significance by design.

When the correct spelling of Zodiac was placed under it and a numerical value was obtained, by alphabetically counting the difference between the six columns, it generated 0, 0, 0, 8, 8, 8. The three circled 8's he carried forward to his following 13- Symbol cipher. This effectively splits the pseudonym of Zodiac into two halves (shown by the pink line in the diagram on the right), in extremely similar fashion to that exhibited by the killer's writing in blood on the wall of Robert Salem's 745 Stevenson Street apartment. The murder site is situated a mile drive from Union Square, where it is believed Paul Stine picked up the Zodiac Killer shortly before his murder on October 11th 1969.

The number 888 in Christian numerology represents Jesus, or sometimes more specifically, Christ the Redeemer. In view of the killer writing "Satan Saves" rather than "Jesus Saves", is there any connection? In the April 20th 1970 'My Name is...' letter, the Zodiac signed off with  "PS I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed". Was that person Robert Michael Salem?​​​

The crucified image on the wall of Robert Salem's wall is the Egyptian ankh. The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy; this is thought to symbolize the act of conception. Wikipedia.

LATEST UPDATE, INCLUDING POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

Drew
4/14/2017 09:49:07 pm

Hi there, great site! As soon as I read "ankh" I thought of the My Name is Cipher, which untranslated appears to read as Aenk my nam.

Drew
4/14/2017 10:29:19 pm

Was the photo with the ankh symbol published April 19?

Richard
4/14/2017 11:51:52 pm

The article was published on April 21st 1970. To read the article you can click on it. Yes Drew, I looked at the cipher too regarding ankh. If the number 8 represented H, we would have our letter. But in all honesty the cipher can be interpreted thousands of ways, so proving any solution is not likely.

Drew
4/15/2017 09:39:20 am

Thanks for your time Richard. The Salem murder has always seemed like such a sloppy copycat crime to me. So elaborate and yet so unconvincing as a frame. How could the culprit screw up the simple zodiac logo and expect authorities to believe it? Reading this article is the first time I have considered that Z could be the killer.

I use to believe that astrology was irrelevant to the case because it is not alluded to in the Riverside letters, and that he likely just read Kahn's Codebreakers and learned enough to make a cipher intentionally laden with errors. Your articles are making it increasingly difficult for me to ignore the 13 Moons calendar and all of the math connections. How certain are you that Zodiac had a post secondary education?

Drew
4/15/2017 10:18:39 am

While I'm asking questions that are impossible to answer, do you believe there is a 4PI Cult / Process Church connection to Zodiac or Baker for that matter?

Richard
4/16/2017 02:53:24 am

Trying to discover the level of intelligence of the Zodiac Killer based on his ciphers and letters would basically be guesswork on my part. His ciphers show a fair degree of organization, but his letter writing is strewn with spelling mistakes, and carry a childish quality. In recent years the Zodiac case has become a magnet for just about every conspiracy theorist on earth, that has actually propelled the Zodiac case into the realm of fantasy, far from the true reality of the case. Despite the fact that real people were murdered here, the case has descended into a bit of joke, to be honest. This man wasn't a mad genius with superhuman powers, he was likely an average person, doing an average job, with average intelligence. He got extremely lucky, particularly at Presidio Heights, where he should have been caught. But my guess he is the guy mowing the lawn on Friday, killing on Saturday and going to church on Sunday. Just like Dennis Rader. You know Drew, the person that looks so ordinary and harmless that nobody ever notices, but when caught suddenly everybody notices the evil in their eyes, the empty gaze and the dark foreboding look. Funny how nobody notices these features until after they are caught. To answer your question, I don't believe he was highly educated, but he was certainly no fool. Had Donald Fouke stopped and detained the suspect on October 11th 1969, Zodiac would have been nothing more than another 'depraved' killer rotting in jail, Robert Graysmith wouldn't have been a millionaire and I would be running a website on the Golden State Killer or basket weaving. Donald Fouke has a lot to answer for.
It is very likely Zodiac used a book like Codebreakers, at least for inspiration. I think the fact the killer called himself Zodiac says it all, from the astrological standpoint.They seem to me to have relevance. All his murders fell on that first day of the 13 Moon calendar, as did so many over just a couple of years, but whether it happened by fluke or was designed, I certainly cannot say, and certainly don't get heavily protective of my theories. I am unsure of them myself Drew. But I will keep banging my head off the door. We may get there one day. We may crack a code or two, but unfortunately I believe it's too late to identify the killer.

Richard
4/16/2017 02:54:47 am

Sorry, as for the 4PI Cult / Process Church connection - No.

Drew
4/16/2017 08:43:49 pm

Yeah not a lot of solid earth to stand on as far the 4PI story is concerned and every reason to doubt.

I really appreciate your thoughts Richard. This case fascinates me like no other and its power to keep people obsessed for decades is certainly part of it. I am amazed at some of research that the Z community has unearthed over the years. I don't know what the hell to do with it but it's amazing to read!

It has been quite an undertaking trying to process all of the important points of contention, which are of course all of them. After several months of gorging on your site and Morford's forum I think I feel the same about the Zodiac - he was certainly as lucky as he was clever - but I still can't stop staring at the 340 even though I have none of code skills you guys exhibit, and I flip back and forth all the time.

I think your 13 Moons theory is terrific and agonizing and I mean that as a compliment! Thanks again for all your head banging!

scout
4/28/2017 10:36:07 am

No! ZODIAC KILLER DID NOT THIS MURDER, Salem was gay and was connected with the Satan Church ZODIAC knew him but never get connected was the job some else ZODIAC said, next the numbers mean something you will be impressed because no talk about God the person who kill Salem use ZODIAC KILLER name to disguise the police and confuse but never knew ZODIAC KILLER next ZODIAC did not kill gay people and ZODIAC is not GAY!

BB
8/8/2018 10:40:42 am

Was "Grand Chingon" the Zodiac?

http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baker-stanley-dean.htm

Christie
11/10/2024 08:40:10 pm

Hi


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
    Johnny & Joyce Swindle
    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
    Scorpion Ciphers
    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
    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

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    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
Photos from Marcin Wichary, zAppledot, vyusseem, Alex Barth, Alan Cleaver, jocelynsart, Richard Perry, taberandrew, eschipul, MrJamesAckerley