The S.L.A letter with the wording "Dear Mr Editor, Did you know that the initials SLAY (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill". a friend" was postmarked one day before the kidnapping of media heiress Patricia Campbell Hearst by the urban militant group Symbionese Liberation Army. The FBI files state:
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the.....".
The postmark of CA 913 indicates it was mailed in north Los Angeles, an area the Zodiac Killer had never previously mailed a communication from (the S.L.A had headquarters in Los Angeles). The same applied to the two subsequent 1974 mailings - the 'Badlands' card postmarked Alameda County on May 8th 1974 and the 'Red Phantom' letter postmarked San Rafael on July 8th 1974. The city of Los Angeles would become headline news for the 1466 East 54th Street deadly shootout between S.L.A members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974, leaving six members dead.
Qc64 Photocopy of envelope postmarked "U.S. Postal Service, CA 913 PM 3 FEB 1974", bearing the hand printed address "Editor San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco, California".
Qc65 Accompanying photocopy of sheet of paper bearing the hand printed message beginning "Dear Mr. Editor, Did you know that the.....".
The postmark of CA 913 indicates it was mailed in north Los Angeles, an area the Zodiac Killer had never previously mailed a communication from (the S.L.A had headquarters in Los Angeles). The same applied to the two subsequent 1974 mailings - the 'Badlands' card postmarked Alameda County on May 8th 1974 and the 'Red Phantom' letter postmarked San Rafael on July 8th 1974. The city of Los Angeles would become headline news for the 1466 East 54th Street deadly shootout between S.L.A members and law enforcement on May 17th 1974, leaving six members dead.
| The S.L.A letter was postmarked February 3rd 1974, but was only received by the San Francisco Chronicle eleven days later on February 14th 1974. This becomes all the more unusual when the following communication, the 'Badlands' postcard, was also delayed by twenty-seven days. It was postmarked May 8th 1974, but was received by the San Francisco Chronicle on June 4th 1974. Chronicle reporter Duffy Jennings wrote "In a postcard sent to the Chronicle on June 4, Zodiac - signing himself only as "a citizen" - urged the paper's editors to "show some concern for public sensibilities" by dropping an advertisement for a motion picture dealing with mass murder. The postcard, | |
although received on June 4, was mailed in Alameda County nearly a month earlier, on May 8. There was no explanation for its delayed arrival at the Chronicle offices".
Although we cannot say for certain who mailed the S.L.A letter, it was the second letter in a matter of five days after a three year 'hibernation' by the Zodiac Killer. If the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, it shows astonishing timing having been postmarked one day before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, undoubtedly the Symbionese Liberation Army's most daring escapade thus far. But why was both this letter and the 'Badlands' postcard delayed in transit by a total of 38 days? Had somebody at the San Francisco Chronicle not realized the significance of these two mailings because of their lack of identifying features?
For those believing the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, we have a letter mailed from Los Angeles to San Francisco, something the Zodiac had never done before - areas of California where the Symbionese Liberation Army had their headquarters. The Zodiac Killer then got lucky, writing about the Symbionese Liberation Army the day before Patty Hearst's kidnapping in Berkeley - all after a three year hiatus. The S.L.A letter signed off with "a friend", the 'Badlands' postcard signed off with "A citizen" and the 'Red Phantom' letter signed off with "the Red Phantom (red with rage)", none had the menacing introduction of "This is the Zodiac Speaking", none had the Zodiac crosshairs, none had a running victim count and none had any spelling errors. Were these three communications piggybacking off the return of the Zodiac Killer on January 29th 1974, or were all four communications in 1974 the work of somebody other than the Zodiac Killer?
For those believing the S.L.A letter was mailed by the Zodiac Killer, we have a letter mailed from Los Angeles to San Francisco, something the Zodiac had never done before - areas of California where the Symbionese Liberation Army had their headquarters. The Zodiac Killer then got lucky, writing about the Symbionese Liberation Army the day before Patty Hearst's kidnapping in Berkeley - all after a three year hiatus. The S.L.A letter signed off with "a friend", the 'Badlands' postcard signed off with "A citizen" and the 'Red Phantom' letter signed off with "the Red Phantom (red with rage)", none had the menacing introduction of "This is the Zodiac Speaking", none had the Zodiac crosshairs, none had a running victim count and none had any spelling errors. Were these three communications piggybacking off the return of the Zodiac Killer on January 29th 1974, or were all four communications in 1974 the work of somebody other than the Zodiac Killer?
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