ZODIAC CIPHERS
RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
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THE SUNOL PARK SLAYINGS

4/15/2018

 
Michael Morford wrote an excellent article on the June 8th 1967 murders of Enedine Molina (35) and boyfriend Fermin Rodriguez (36) near Pleasanton, California. This was covered on this site and discussed on Zodiac Killer Site forum.
​Below I shall detail this double murder using a visual from Google Maps and only the newspaper reports that covered the story, to sequence the order of events that night. Here is a layout of where the victims were found in relation to the March 22nd 1970 abduction of Kathleen Johns on Highway 132, west of Modesto, and the city of Pleasanton where Zodiac mailed the Los Angeles letter on March 13th 1971.    

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Click visual to enter Google maps
PictureClick for Zodiac Killer Site forum
"According to detectives Regional Park Naturalist Richard Angel called the Santa Rita sheriff's substation last night (Thursday June 8th 1967) and reported hearing two shots in the park area at 10:05 pm. The woman's body was discovered about 11:00 pm just outside the remote Sunol Regional Park. The body was found by Deputy George Robinson, the first man to arrive at the park. Mrs Molina had been shot in the back (and possibly left wrist). It appeared she had been running when she was shot, deputies reported.
On his way back to the substation about 2:30 am (Deputy George Robinson) spotted a station wagon parked along Vallecitos Road about six miles from the park, stopped to check it and found Rodriguez's body. He had been shot in the left breast and shoulder bone. The bullets entered his body from the front deputies said. The murder weapon was believed to be a .22 caliber revolver. No gun was found". 


Detectives ordered weekend roadblocks to canvass individuals. "The weekend roadblocks were in the areas of Geary Road and Calaveras Road. Captain Tom Houchins said officers questioned persons between 10:00 pm and midnight, believed to be the timespan when the two were killed. Houchins said there is the possibility that another car was involved.

A Mountain View man, Joe Martinez of 1819 Birch Street (ex-husband of
Enedine Molina), turned himself in at the Sunnyvale Police Station this morning after hearing he was wanted for questioning. He was later released by Sunnyvale Police and Alameda County sheriff's officers. Captain Tom Houchins, in charge of the investigation said "as of now we have no suspects".

Detectives investigated suspicious events in the run-up to the double murder: "Investigation of the two June 8 murders in Sunol has disclosed that each of the victims had been followed several times by an unidentified driver. Each also received mysterious phone calls over a period of many months, according to reports from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies." The daughter of Molina "told detectives the family had been receiving disturbing telephone calls at her mother's residence since July. She said that whoever called didn't speak and that all that could be heard over the phone was heavy breathing (reminiscent of the 01:30 am calls on July 5th 1969, after the BRS attack). The daughter said the calls usually were made between 10 and 11 am, or between 7 and 8 pm, and that her mother was usually not home when they were received. Detectives also reported that the daughter told them she had overheard her mother say that a car followed her when she was out. Substantially, the same story was given detectives by Mrs Lydia Rodriguez, widow of Fermin Rodriguez, who was found murdered in his car parked along Vallecitos Road. Mrs Rodriguez said her husband had also complained about a car following him. On another occasion, she said, her husband had told her he had seen the strange car parked in front of his house, but could not describe the driver".

PictureCalaveras Road entering Geary Road
This was a couple attacked while parked up in their vehicle, not dissimilar to the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attack. The obvious connection is apparent with respect to the abduction of Kathleen Johns just 28 miles east of where the vehicle of Molina and Rodriguez was discovered. These murders were one and a half years prior to the double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, who were also killed using .22 small caliber ammunition. Then there is the menacing silent phone calls to the 1300 Virginia Street residence of Darlene Ferrin. Yet, these murders also have the trait of jealousy, in the form of a previous partner or husband unable to move forward. What evidence was given to discount Joe Martinez or fail to implicate him we may never know. ​Detectives stated that "officers questioned persons between 10:00 pm and midnight, believed to be the timespan when the two were killed." They also believed "another vehicle was involved".

The indications from the newspaper reports seem to suggest the murder occurred at approximately 10:05 pm when Enedine Molina was attempting to flee from her assailant after leaving his vehicle. Fermin Rodriguez had likely already been murdered at this point in time - when the killer approached in his vehicle, murdered him and abducted the woman. His body was discovered in his vehicle 6 miles north on Vallecitos Road. The time of his murder was likely 10 minutes earlier at 9:55 pm, assuming the two murders were one continuous sequence of events. Another alternative, could be the killer approached the couple on foot as they were in their vehicle on a dirt turn off, just alongside Calaveras Road (by Geary Road), proceeded to shoot the woman, before forcing the male victim to drive north to Vallecitos Road, murdering him and then fleeing on foot. However, this seems the less likely scenarios of the two. 

Whether these murders have any connection to Zodiac is likely never to be proved or disproved half a century on, but being only 38 miles south of Vallejo (as the crow flies) it is worthy of consideration. 
Thanks to Michael Morford.   

Drew
4/15/2018 03:02:02 pm

I thought this was an interesting one too. I haven't ventured beyond Mike's thread so I don't really have much to add, but when looking for outlier Zodiac crimes it is good to consider the pattern developed over the four cannon crimes, as well as the two most prominent ones he took credit for, Lake Tahoe and Riverside. All of these crimes were obviously in different jurisdictions and to me this was a key aspect of Zodiac's strategy to hamper the efficiency of the investigations. This is only to say that if we do find additional Zodiac murders they are likely to be outside the known strike locations.

Richard
4/15/2018 03:45:43 pm

That is a good point regarding the jurisdictions. Whether it was done intentionally we cannot be sure, but it certainly would present the problem we have read about, with some complaining of the willingness of other police departments to share information, hence the task force meetings. I am still unsure whether Zodiac was aware at the point he killed David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, or afterwards for that matter, that they were murdered in Benicia, as he attributed them to Vallejo. Nevertheless, they came under the jurisdiction of Solano County. Mike did a good article-I just wanted to add the image. It always makes it easier to understand when contemplating the crime and its sequence-I hope.

Richard
4/15/2018 03:48:35 pm

Sorry- attributed them to Vallejo on the car door.

guest
4/15/2018 03:35:54 pm

"Zodiac mailed the 'Los Angeles' letter on March 13th 1971."
Please source official LE records where they are (even reasonably)confident the L.A. letter is canonical Zodiac killer correspondence.

Richard
4/15/2018 04:01:03 pm

Handwriting experts confirmed the March 13th 1971 letter quickly. Here is a newspaper clipping. http://i.imgur.com/wBwCi01.png
But handwriting analysis is not an exact science, so realistically the authenticity of all the communications could be argued, other than ones that contain facts only known to the police, or ones that contained the bloodied shirt pieces. If we used this template for authenticity, then there is possibly seven correspondences from the killer- 3 July 31st 1969 letters, the Debut letter, the Paul Stine letter, the Bus Bomb letter and the Belli letter. The rest, take your pick.

guest
4/15/2018 07:27:49 pm

My bad, I confused it with the 1978 'Channel Nine' letter from L.A.
I don't disagree with the obvious Zodiac killer handwriting similarities to the March 13th 1971 letter.

Drew
4/15/2018 04:24:15 pm

Is there a compelling theory about why the LA letter may be inauthentic? The Zodiac sleuth community seems to have widely accepted it as cannon.

Rubislaw 32 link
4/16/2018 03:06:57 pm

One,of course,can't say definitively,Drew,but My take is that,that March 13th 1971 letter,represents an acknowledgement,by Zodiac,of some sort of responsibility,in the Bates case.

We go back to November,four months prior,when Paul Avery received the ''slow boat to China'' letter.Avery heads down to Riverside,and returns with copies of the Bates correspondences,that Sherwood Morrill then confirms as Zodiac authentic [....unofficially...].

But,we know that the FBI didn't get a toe in the door,on the Bates case....despite Morrill's findings....which would have put Zodiac ''in the dock'' on suspicion of extortion,in the Bates case,at the very least.

So,unless the 1971 letter,is an FBI hoax,on order to strengthen their claims,that they should be allowed into Riverside,then that letter is,more than likely,authentic.

Personally,I believe it to be authentic Zodiac....with Zodiac's guilt as ''extortion'' in the Bates case.

Rubislaw 32 link
4/17/2018 04:23:17 am

Looking back on that March 1971 letter,from a presumed Zodiac,it probably represents the culmination of the greatest element of intrigue and L.E. political infighting,that was going on behind the scenes,in the Zodiac case.

November 1969 sees a phone conference between Napa police,and Riverside police,over possible similarities between Lake Berryessa,and Riverside College.This appears to have never seen the light of day,with any other police force,related to the Zodiac case.

Then,a year on,when Avery receives the ''slow boat to China'' letter.He contacts Riverside,and finds that Riverside have been talking with Vallejo,over a possible Zodiac connection.

It would seem that when Morrill unofficially authenticated the Bates correspondences,only then did the FBI start hearing things....and it was then,that the FBI had had jurisdiction,in the field of investigations,for a year and a half.

In addition,we know that when the Bates correspondences originally surfaced,and exclusively in the hands of Riverside Police...they handed them over to the official post office fraud department....when they,the Riverside Police,would have known that they should have given them,to the FBI.

It does seem like ''everyone'' outside the FBI,were holding things back from the FBI [?].

When the FBI eventually ''caught wind'' of a possible Bates connection....naturally they wanted a piece of the action....they had,at that point,been a year and a half into the case,with no success....an extra case,such as the Bates one,could be the case that cracked the whole Zodiac conundrum.

About five years ago,the Riverside Police named Phil Sins,as the man who wrote Paul Avery the ''slow boat to China'' letter.An elderly Phil Sins denied vehemently,that he had written this letter.....bringing in to question,whether the Riverside Police,themselves,had tipped of Paul Avery,in the first place.....and having been,by implication,the hoaxers of the ''slow boat to China'' letter.

There seem to be a myriad of possibilities...including the Zodiac authenticity of the March 1971 letter.

But,many roads do appear to lead to a ''ganging up'' of a sort,by California police departments....against the involvement of the FBI.

Mike Morford link
9/2/2018 08:17:06 pm

Just saw that you had done some further work with this case Richard, very helpful with photos.

Corey Hagler
12/6/2019 04:41:05 pm

The names of the streets where this crime happened lead me to want to believe that the zodiac was responsible for this.

Corey Hagler
12/7/2019 07:06:46 am

Vallecito is a small community in Calaveras County. And of course Geary is where The Zodiac picked up the cab.

Corey Hagler
12/7/2019 07:52:59 am

I personally believe the Zodiac’s crimes were not random at all. The True Zodiac had a connection to these crimes in one way or another. Each of the crimes had layers to them, layers of a personal connection not exactly to the victims but to the “Event” he was experiencing. Especially an Event in relation to the “Fourth Dimension” that Einstein had discussed.

Teresa
6/5/2020 10:56:42 am

I would like more info on the June 8 1967 murder

Richard
6/5/2020 11:36:46 am

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/the-forgotten-victims.html


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