ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
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THE SPOTLIGHT ON VALLEJO

12/15/2016

 
It has been often stated that many serial killers begin their activity close to home, before gaining in confidence and venturing further afield, so it may be the case that the crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park may reveal the most about the Zodiac Killer. Many, if not most people, believe the killer to be a native Vallejoan, or at the very least have strong ties to the area. But what are the clues. Some have questioned the Zodiac Killer's inability to name Blue Rock Springs Park during the first phone call as an indication of his lack of knowledge of the area, yet his directional sense in the first three letters he mailed to the newspapers and the directions he issued in the Blue Rock Springs phone call, were in essence correct. The caller after BRS spoke the following words in a monotone, rehearsed fashion, "I wish 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 have been shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye".

Many Zodiac enthusiasts and police officials have questioned the directional accuracy of the Zodiac phone call. Read or heard without breaks, gives the impression that the directions spoken by Zodiac are incorrect. However, despite his distances being off slightly, simply adding a comma or pause changes the whole meaning of the phone call. Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher, attempted to talk over Zodiac to acquire details - and in addition had to recall the phone conversation word for word, in context, at a later time - so we can assume it may not have been the original message verbatim.
Let us add the breaks or pauses into the passage, which other than 'one mile east', which should be approximately 1.39 miles east on Springs Road,  the rest is pretty much correct: "I wish 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 have been shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye". The Zodiac was either not a master of the English language or toyed with authorities - so unless Nancy Slover recalled the message slightly incorrectly, then ideally the phrase should have read "on Columbus Parkway 'by' the public park, you will find the kids in a brown car". Considering Zodiac's compass accuracy at Lake Herman Road and Presidio Heights (Bus Bomb letter), it is highly doubtful he was was suggesting Blue Rock Springs Park was east on Columbus Parkway and the likely answer can be found in a misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the phone call under stressful conditions.
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Bearing in mind Zodiac likely had a map at his residence, to add compass directions in his July 31st 1969 letters and to give rudimentary directions to Nancy Slover from the payphone, is not an indicator either way on his links to the area, as is his failure to describe Blue Rock Springs by name.

Having prior knowledge of Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs Park as a magnet for courting couples, apparently suggests a connection with the area - and while that may be true - it may be a historical one and not applicable to his current residency.

However, the phone call itself is confounding, relayed to Nancy Slover at 12:40 am, 40 minutes after the Zodiac left the crime scene- despite the journey time to Springs and Tuolumne being only 10 minutes by car. The police departments located in Vallejo in 1969 and early 1970, were situated extremely close to where the Zodiac Killer placed the call at Springs and Tuolumne. The Sheriff's Office was located at the junction of Virginia and Tuolumne Street, and the Vallejo Police Department at 111 Amador Street. So, if the Zodiac was giving directions in relation to these, then the distance east to Columbus Parkway is marginally over 2 miles. 

The Zodiac Killer could have made this phone call from anywhere, but decided to place himself only 667 meters from the Sheriff's Office (only 0.5 miles or one minute journey time by police car). Evidently a strange choice, unless your sheer bravado outweighs your fear of capture. Ironically, the Springs and Tuolumne payphone exactly bisected in distance the Sheriff's Office and the home of Arthur Leigh Allen at 32 Fresno Street, which sat 667 meters away. The choice of payphone could be argued as a reason for the Zodiac not being a Vallejo resident, as he appeared unaware of a police station only yards from the intersection of Springs and Tuolumne. Or that he didn't do his homework. One can't help thinking that this payphone was chosen for a reason.​                   

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Could it have been chosen to center police focus on Arthur Leigh Allen, similar in fashion to Don Cheney's attempts to implicate Allen to investigators. Or had the Zodiac Killer dumped his vehicle, weapon and possibly clothes at home nearby and walked to the payphone, thereby explaining the 40 minute time delay. His claim in the Debut of Zodiac letter, "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car," may have been phrased in such a way as to not suggest he was on foot and had a residence nearby, deliberately tagging 'my car' to the end of the sentence, when totally unnecessary.  Again this could bring our focus back to Vallejo.

​The Zodiac Killer throughout his correspondence enjoyed needling the police, "Hey pig doesnt it rile you up to have your noze rubed in your booboos?
Curiously though, he missed the perfect opportunity, to not only embarass the police, but to make them public enemy number one, that would have likely surpassed all his other 'achievements'.

On July 17th 1969, only 13 days after the Blue Rock Springs murder, an almost unprecedented event occurred, when police and firefighters simultaneously went on a five day strike in Vallejo, with the city's streets patroled by a skeleton crew of non union police. This seemed tailor made for a killer who apparently kept up with current affairs and read the local newspapers for articles about himself. Bearing in mind Zodiac's first two attacks were on a Friday, here he was presented with Thursday through to Tuesday to stalk the dark streets almost unchallenged. Imagine the backlash toward police had he claimed a fourth or fifth victim during this period.

Was the killer closely allied with Vallejo, did he track the papers religiously or was he simply on holiday, returning fourteen days later to mail his first three letters on July 31st 1969. Either way, it seemed a missed chance to taunt the police.

Greg H.
12/18/2016 09:16:19 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWdu7yNX5K8

For the sake of comparison, here is the call Dennis Rader made to police after the murder of Nancy Fox. His call is probably a bit more concise than Zodiac's, but of note is Rader's extreme precision in relating her address; his overall tone is formal and very business-like.
Obviously we now know Rader was a resident of the Wichita, KS area so it's understandable that he'd be acutely familiar with street names and perhaps even addresses. Despite Nancy Slover's feelings that Zodiac was from out of town, I don't know if there's anything in his words that would necessarily lead us to believe this must be the case.
I actually think Zodiac does well in conveying the location of the victims, and especially under the circumstances. My belief is that in the aftermath of murders such as this, the individual responsible must be experiencing a flood of various emotions and adrenaline. In short, he's probably not thinking with great clarity. I'm unsure off hand when, in relation to the time of Nancy Fox's murder, Rader made his call, but he definitely sounds nervous. Perhaps he's making a concerted effort to gain control over himself and suppress his excitement mixed with his fear of being caught.
What's interesting about both is the compulsion they feel to receive attention for their acts. Both also sent letters expressing their disappointment in not receiving the press coverage they feel they warranted. Despite different M.O.'s I really think we can learn a lot about Zodiac by studying Rader...
Something else interesting about Rader--he only restarted his "BTK" persona in 2004 after word got out that a book on him was being published, with the presumption he was dead. If there's anything to this rule I think we can be fairly certain Zodiac has long been expired considering all the media that's being devoted to him, beginning at least in 2007 with the big movie. Not that anyone for a long time has ever really thought otherwise...

Richard
12/19/2016 08:55:13 am

Yes Gregory the two were very similar in many ways, and although I don't believe Zodiac to be sexually driven, it is not inconceivable he somehow acquired sexual stimulation by reliving his crimes after the event. Many serial killers get aroused by non sexual acts, that is in our understanding. Some person get turned on by shoes, underwear feet, you name it, so what Zodiac's thought processes were in his own home is anyone's guess. We know the murders he committed were the forerunner to what he enjoyed most, the taunting, the fear he elicited. I personally don't believe the Zodiac could resist not only the two movies in 1971, the two books by Graysmith and the 2007 Zodiac film without so much of a peep. This would mean an alive Zodiac showing immense restraint or he was dead, the latter of which I believe. After all how risky is sending a threatening letter, using gloves and water to seal it. He simply was too egotistical to resist. Rader's only mistake was being traced by using his church computer to generate a disc, leaving a digital fingerprint.

Greg H.
12/19/2016 10:28:10 pm

I know you've theorized, Richard, that there's a strong possibility Zodiac was locked up at points in the early 1970s thus explaining his absence and sporadic letters. We seem to have hit some dead ends in attaining prisoner records from San Quentin, but it might be worthwhile to see what the archive base is for Folsom State Prison, northeast of Sacramento. I was reading a book recently called "23/7" about the modern phenomenon of solitary confinement lockdown in American supermax jails. They talked about the rampant violence in California prisons during the late '60s and '70s, deadly riots spearheaded by the likes of George Jackson and other supposedly oppressed revolutionaries. In the discussion, Folsom State Prison seems to be every bit the equal of San Quentin in terms of housing the hardened "worst of the worst" bunch. Might be worth a search in any case, I'll see what I can find...

Re: Zodiac and Rader--I think the binding he employed at Lake Berryessa is interesting in terms of possibly exploring psycho-sexual motivations. Whether or not this was only practical or was there something more involved.. I have to say, reading up on Rader, I think he may be unmatched in utter depravity. There is him and another known as "The Gainesville Ripper," Danny Rolling, whose acts almost make Zodiac seem like a chior boy.
But you're right as to the mystery of Zodiac's thought processes. It's odd to think what reward or personal gain he could have achieved from these quick, hit-and-run style attacks with no tangible sexual motive. Perhaps, as you say, it was the afterglow that he lived for.


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