In an article by Paul Avery in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 22nd 1969 entitled 'The Search for Zodiac's Four Murder Weapons', Chief of Inspectors Martin Lee confirmed that ballistics had proved Zodiac used a different gun in three of the attacks, where he discharged his weapon. One of the murder investigators stated "It's part of the pattern, that there's no pattern at all". Another remarked "It may be that Zodiac has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal." Investigators checked gun registration from stores, including handwriting in an attempt to identity the Zodiac, but failed to unearth any viable leads. Many people believe the Zodiac thrived on risk - the question though - is how much risk was he prepared to take?
When Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz questioned whether the author of the trinity of letters on July 31st 1969 was the same person as the killer, Zodiac's response was immediate in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter the following morning, supplying more details of the first two crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs to the police chief.
When Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz questioned whether the author of the trinity of letters on July 31st 1969 was the same person as the killer, Zodiac's response was immediate in the 'Debut of Zodiac' letter the following morning, supplying more details of the first two crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs to the police chief.
Chief of Police Martin Lee stated in the San Francisco Chronicle article on October 18th 1969 entitled 'Zodiac Called a Clumsy Criminal,' that Zodiac possibly left his fingerprints on the taxicab, allowed himself to be spotted by three teenagers, and failed to kill all his victims. He went on say "His boast of being in the area we were searching is a lie. We had the whole area flooded with lights. We had seven police dogs and a large number of patrolmen searching the area tree by tree and bush by bush. The dogs are the best in the country. A mouse couldn't have escaped our attention." Zodiac again responded in the 'Bus Bomb' letter three weeks later, annoyed they were lying about him and giving details about his observations in the park. He challenged Chief of Police Martin Lee not to doubt him, referring back to his 'Debut of Zodiac' letter on August 4th 1969; "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."
To prove his link to the murder of Paul Stine, he brought the crime scene to his correspondence by mailing a section of Paul Stine's blooded shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969 and November 9th 1969. The Zodiac did the reverse at Lake Berryessa two weeks earlier, taking his writing to the crime scene, and detailing his previous crimes in marker pen on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Karmann Ghia. The Zodiac Killer clearly took risks in every crime he committed, in particular, placing two phone calls after the Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa attacks, wandering around Lake Berryessa in an executioner's outfit and tearing a section of blooded shirt from the dead taxicab driver in the heart of San Francisco, to name but a few. Many people have questioned his involvement in each of the crimes and the Zodiac Killer obliged every time, either by providing details only he and the police knew, placing his handwriting at Berryessa, or mailing a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt to the newspapers. For some people, there is nothing the Zodiac could have done to prove the letters and murders were linked. But he didn't have to claim any of the crimes after the Lake Herman Road murders to prove he was the killer. The answer lies in the words of Chief of Police Martin Lee who said "ballistics had confirmed a different weapon was used in three of the attacks."
All Zodiac had to do was use the same weapon at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and Presidio Heights, and ballistics and shell casing analysis would have confirmed that the three attacks were inextricably linked, or at the very least left little doubt. He could have taken something from the previous crime scene and deposited it at the following. This would have saved the Zodiac Killer the effort of proving he was the killer in all four attacks. Yet the Zodiac Killer changed his weapon every time, casting doubt on all the crimes being linked. This left the Zodiac having to ultimately prove his association with each crime via his correspondence.
To prove his link to the murder of Paul Stine, he brought the crime scene to his correspondence by mailing a section of Paul Stine's blooded shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969 and November 9th 1969. The Zodiac did the reverse at Lake Berryessa two weeks earlier, taking his writing to the crime scene, and detailing his previous crimes in marker pen on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Karmann Ghia. The Zodiac Killer clearly took risks in every crime he committed, in particular, placing two phone calls after the Blue Rock Springs Park and Lake Berryessa attacks, wandering around Lake Berryessa in an executioner's outfit and tearing a section of blooded shirt from the dead taxicab driver in the heart of San Francisco, to name but a few. Many people have questioned his involvement in each of the crimes and the Zodiac Killer obliged every time, either by providing details only he and the police knew, placing his handwriting at Berryessa, or mailing a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt to the newspapers. For some people, there is nothing the Zodiac could have done to prove the letters and murders were linked. But he didn't have to claim any of the crimes after the Lake Herman Road murders to prove he was the killer. The answer lies in the words of Chief of Police Martin Lee who said "ballistics had confirmed a different weapon was used in three of the attacks."
All Zodiac had to do was use the same weapon at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and Presidio Heights, and ballistics and shell casing analysis would have confirmed that the three attacks were inextricably linked, or at the very least left little doubt. He could have taken something from the previous crime scene and deposited it at the following. This would have saved the Zodiac Killer the effort of proving he was the killer in all four attacks. Yet the Zodiac Killer changed his weapon every time, casting doubt on all the crimes being linked. This left the Zodiac having to ultimately prove his association with each crime via his correspondence.
The Zodiac was prepared to take risks, but evidently was not prepared to use the same gun that would link himself with each crime. How risky is hiding the same weapon under the floorboards of your residence or burying it inside a container in the woods, to be retrieved before each new crime? Not a great risk, when you compare it to his Lake Berryessa antics or the removal of the taxicab driver's shirt on Washington Street in the heart of San Francisco and exiting the crime scene on foot. Yet he never used the same weapon twice.
So what can we take from this? Zodiac was prepared to take risks, but was not prepared to extend this risk for weeks or months between his crimes, despite the fact that hiding the weapon away from his home residence would seem to be foolproof if the gun was not registered or had not possessed any identifying features.
The overarching belief is that the Zodiac Killer disposed of each weapon immediately after each crime. The quicker you can separate yourself from the 'smoking gun' the better. But we still have the conflict of a killer quite prepared to take innumerable risks in the commission of his crimes, but wastes not a second in the disposing a weapon he could easily conceal.
In all probability, even if the Zodiac Killer had used the same weapon at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park, Presidio Heights, and had also shot both Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa with the same gun, you can guarantee that some internet sleuths would still find a way to circumnavigate the evidence and cast doubt on one or more of these crimes once again.
So what can we take from this? Zodiac was prepared to take risks, but was not prepared to extend this risk for weeks or months between his crimes, despite the fact that hiding the weapon away from his home residence would seem to be foolproof if the gun was not registered or had not possessed any identifying features.
The overarching belief is that the Zodiac Killer disposed of each weapon immediately after each crime. The quicker you can separate yourself from the 'smoking gun' the better. But we still have the conflict of a killer quite prepared to take innumerable risks in the commission of his crimes, but wastes not a second in the disposing a weapon he could easily conceal.
In all probability, even if the Zodiac Killer had used the same weapon at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs Park, Presidio Heights, and had also shot both Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa with the same gun, you can guarantee that some internet sleuths would still find a way to circumnavigate the evidence and cast doubt on one or more of these crimes once again.
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