During the aftermath of the Paul Stine murder in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969, five witnesses were party to the events that night. Three teenagers overlooked the crime scene from a residence across the street and two police officers passed the Zodiac Killer a few short minutes later on Jackson Street as they were heading westwards in their patrol car. However, a sixth witness recently became the subject of much scrutiny, when Alex Lewis was able to procure an unredacted version of an FBI document. The 8-year-old witness identified Xenophon Lusby Anthony 'as a possible subject in the matter'. The matter being the murder of Paul Stine. One vital question remained: where was the residence of the 8-year-old when they made this identification? Was it near the location of the murder or elsewhere? If it was close to the crime scene, then change the title of this article to The Seventh Witness on Spruce Street, but if the 8-year-old was a resident of north Spruce Street then everything is fine as it stands.
The three teenagers overlooking the crime scene are one party, Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms are the second party, the third party we will get to in a minute or so. Donald Fouke is on camera on two occasions, stating he saw the Zodiac Killer motion towards a residence along Jackson Street. In the 2007 Zodiac documentary that accompanied the David Fincher movie, he details the suspect heading up a stairwell to 3712 Jackson Street. See here. In an earlier documentary, he again mentions the suspect heading into the courtyard of a house on Jackson Street, stating "He came down the north side of the street, and turned and went up a flight of stairs into a courtyard." This of course makes a mockery of the Donald Fouke memorandum issued on November 12th 1969, that stated "The Zodiac Killer was observed walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turning north on Maple Street". No mention of turning into any house - and considering that he supposedly passed the Zodiac Killer in "5,10,15 seconds tops" - it is actually physically impossible for the killer to walk up the stairs to a residence, walk down and then travel to the end of Jackson Street from the aforementioned address in 15 seconds. So one story is fiction. Unless of course, the two police officers were parked up for a set duration of considerably longer than 15 seconds, which is something that Donald Fouke has always denied. But before we move on, please note that the observation in the memorandum was a final sighting of Zodiac, heading north on Maple and his other sightings were at residences on Jackson Street, neither of which mention the Zodiac running or wearing a grey jacket and trousers. In fact, he never mentions seeing Zodiac enter the park either.
The three teenagers overlooking the crime scene are one party, Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms are the second party, the third party we will get to in a minute or so. Donald Fouke is on camera on two occasions, stating he saw the Zodiac Killer motion towards a residence along Jackson Street. In the 2007 Zodiac documentary that accompanied the David Fincher movie, he details the suspect heading up a stairwell to 3712 Jackson Street. See here. In an earlier documentary, he again mentions the suspect heading into the courtyard of a house on Jackson Street, stating "He came down the north side of the street, and turned and went up a flight of stairs into a courtyard." This of course makes a mockery of the Donald Fouke memorandum issued on November 12th 1969, that stated "The Zodiac Killer was observed walking in an easterly direction on Jackson Street and then turning north on Maple Street". No mention of turning into any house - and considering that he supposedly passed the Zodiac Killer in "5,10,15 seconds tops" - it is actually physically impossible for the killer to walk up the stairs to a residence, walk down and then travel to the end of Jackson Street from the aforementioned address in 15 seconds. So one story is fiction. Unless of course, the two police officers were parked up for a set duration of considerably longer than 15 seconds, which is something that Donald Fouke has always denied. But before we move on, please note that the observation in the memorandum was a final sighting of Zodiac, heading north on Maple and his other sightings were at residences on Jackson Street, neither of which mention the Zodiac running or wearing a grey jacket and trousers. In fact, he never mentions seeing Zodiac enter the park either.
This article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle one day after the murder, before anybody was aware it was a Zodiac crime. It states "Later reports indicated someone was seen running into the Julius Kahn playground in the Presidio, and all seven police dog units were pressed into the search." Who was this 8-year-old witness? The first thing to note is its specificity, detailing the Julius Kahn playground in the Presidio. It doesn't say the man just ran into the Presidio; it makes a point in emphasizing the playground in the Presidio. Julius Kahn playground is one block east from the upper region of Maple Street, so this eyewitness could not have been Donald Fouke, because he describes the Zodiac's clothing in great detail in the memorandum as "Dressed in dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue). Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up. Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown)." No mention of dark grey trousers and jacket expressed in the Chronicle article. This, coupled with the fact, that Donald Fouke had no line of sight on the Julius Kahn playground as he initially responded to the radio broadcast, and described the Zodiac Killer as moving with a shuffling lope, slightly bent forward, head down, in direct contradiction to the article of a subject "running into the playground." The witness in the Chronicle article certainly wasn't the three teenagers, so it had to be a third party who viewed the subject run into the playground, either in passing or from a residence nearby.
The road heading towards the Julius Kahn playground from Jackson Street is Spruce Street, which has relevance. The Zodiac Killer on October 13th 1969 claimed he entered the park. He then backed this up by mailing the Bus Bomb letter on November 9th 1969, in which he stated one crucial thing: "2 cops pulled a goof abot 3 min after I left the cab. I was walking down the hill to the park when this cop car pulled up + one of them called me over + asked if I saw anyone acting suspicious or strange in the last 5 to 10 min + I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again."
The supposed sighting of the Zodiac Killer by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms was at either 3712 Jackson Street, or a Zodiac walking east on Jackson, before turning north on Maple. Either way, Zodiac was somewhere just short of the Jackson and Maple intersection. So when the Zodiac described "disappearing into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again," this would place him at Spruce Street, the only clean thoroughfare to the Presidio Park he had so far passed, and the exact location of the eyewitness (or eyewitnesses) in the Chronicle article, thereby corroborating Zodiac's claim of entering the park where he said he did. The two closest residences overlooking the Julius Khan playground are 1 and 2 Spruce Street, so it's likely the witness was either a resident living at the north end of Spruce Street overlooking West Pacific Avenue and the playground location, a passing motorist or pedestrian, or for that matter, the unidentified 8-year-old witness, detailed in the FBI report in connection with Paul Stine's murder. But above all, we likely have a sixth or possibly more witnesses.
The supposed sighting of the Zodiac Killer by Donald Fouke and Eric Zelms was at either 3712 Jackson Street, or a Zodiac walking east on Jackson, before turning north on Maple. Either way, Zodiac was somewhere just short of the Jackson and Maple intersection. So when the Zodiac described "disappearing into the park a block + a half away never to be seen again," this would place him at Spruce Street, the only clean thoroughfare to the Presidio Park he had so far passed, and the exact location of the eyewitness (or eyewitnesses) in the Chronicle article, thereby corroborating Zodiac's claim of entering the park where he said he did. The two closest residences overlooking the Julius Khan playground are 1 and 2 Spruce Street, so it's likely the witness was either a resident living at the north end of Spruce Street overlooking West Pacific Avenue and the playground location, a passing motorist or pedestrian, or for that matter, the unidentified 8-year-old witness, detailed in the FBI report in connection with Paul Stine's murder. But above all, we likely have a sixth or possibly more witnesses.
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