THE TRIGGER THAT BEGAN THE BELLI CODE?

1/17/2025

Melvin Mouron Belli

After the failed attempt of the Zodiac Killer to make contact with Melvin Belli on the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, his next attempt to arrange an appointment with the flamboyant attorney likely took place on December 7th 1969, when the Zodiac Killer mailed a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle from Fairfield, stating "I just need help". This plea for help predated the Melvin Belli letter by thirteen days, and coincided with a phone call to the commercial radio station KTOK, in which the caller identified himself as the Zodiac Killer and did an "awfully good impression" of the man who rang the Jim Dunbar Show, according to KTOK news director Larry Lamotte. The Jim Dunbar Show had taken place 46 days earlier, so what triggered the Zodiac Killer to refocus on this missed opportunity in early December. Let us have a look at Melvin Belli's itinerary in the days previous.

On December 5th 1969 at noon, Melvin Belli was due to speak in the Speakers Podium in the West Tower Mall at the University of California in Riverside. If the Zodiac Killer had kept abreast of Melvin Belli newspaper articles (or the Riverside papers), he may have come across this story from the Riverside Daily Enterprise on December 3rd 1969. On the day Melvin Belli was scheduled to visit Riverside, on December 5th 1969, his residence at 1228 Montgomery Street in Telegraph Hill caught fire, causing S20,000 worth of damage. Firemen believed the blaze was caused by defective wiring. The font design of the "1228" numbers by his front door were used by the Zodiac Killer on his Melvin Belli envelope fifteen days later. However, it turned out that he cancelled his speaking engagement at the Riverside University campus citing an ear infection - and with advice given to him by his physician - decided not to fly..

Mick Jagger, 1969

Remembered as rock's darkest hour, the Altamont Speedway debacle headlined by the Rolling Stones on December 6th 1969 attracted between 200,000 and 500,000 music fans, who occupied a stretch of land 50 miles east of San Francisco. The concert, badly organized, was literally thrown together overnight by attorney Melvin Belli, who obtained permission from Altamont. Policed by the Hells Angels and awash with drugs, the concert oversaw the deaths of four people. Two men, Richard Salov (22) and Mark Feiger (22), died in a hit and run car accident, one man drowned in a canal running from police, and Meredith Hunter (18) was stabbed twice by Hells Angel Alan Passaro after he brandished a gun and attempted to climb onstage. Organizers such as Melvin Belli received heavy criticism from certain quarters in the following days.

Therefore, it wasn't much of a surprise that Melvin Belli was possibly in the forefront of Zodiac's mind when he hurriedly fashioned a short letter and 38 character code on December 7th 1969. The letter began "I just need help", pre-empting the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, which stated "please help me" three times. Both of these letters were clearly mocking the phone call received by the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969, with a phone call to the KTOK Oklahoma radio station later that day continuing this theme of derision. The letter on December 7th 1969 mimicked the wording used by the impostor on the Jim Dunbar Show, while the Oklahoma caller mimicked the voice.

Coinciding with the Jim Dunbar Show on October 22nd 1969 was the challenge issued to the Zodiac Killer by Joe Stine (brother of Zodiac's last victim Paul Stine), who encouraged the Bay Area murder to visit his workplace in Modesto. Five months later, Kathleen Johns claimed she had been abducted from Highway 132, having been trailed by a vehicle from Modesto, and taken on a 1 1/2 to 2 hour journey on the outskirts of downtown Tracy. Her burnt out vehicle was found just east of South Bird Road The area of Tracy, California was the location of the Altamont Speedway, chosen by Melvin Belli 3 1/2 months earlier. Altamont Speedway was situated 13 miles northwest of South Bird Road on the outskirts of Tracy.

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Bearing in mind the S20,000 fire damage at Melvin Belli's 1228 Montgomery Street residence, his ear infection and the debacle witnessed at Altamont Speedway in the space of two days, it may have been the trigger for the Zodiac Killer to mail his Fairfield letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on December 7th 1969, finding common ground with the attorney by stating "TRYING TIMES. SO I NEED APPOINTMENT TO GET HELP" in his 38 character code (if the solution is correct). There is a distinct possibility he was also reaching out to Melvin Belli using previous newspaper articles about the Jim Dunbar Show to compose his letter and 38 character code. If this was the case, the Zodiac Killer changed "I don't want to give myself up" into "I will turn myself in". Then changed "I want help" into "I just need help", before requesting an "appointment" with Melvin Belli which the Jim Dunbar caller didn't keep.

FURTHER READING: A VIABLE SOLUTION TO THE 38 CHARACTER CODE

EdEdwardsCiphers

1/21/2025 06:52:51 am

Dearest Richard,

I do remember the connection between the font used by the Zodiac and the matching of the address of one of these 2 flamboyant and fame chasing attorneys.

Based on my own research, I would have no trouble believing this as a real taunt. Why?

I've come to the conclusion that not only do most people not understand what drives, or drove the Zodiac, most don't understand what he was.

I intend to hopefully show, in time, most people believe this serial killer to be like other serial killers in the past. But what I don't believe most people understand is that this person, had multiple intelligences.

What I mean by that is, take for instance the characters from the tv show Star Trek; Mr Spock, and Captain Kirk. These characters if you do the research on the show, as most stories are constructed, are meant to show the 2 sides, as it's assumed, that most people have within them. A logical side, possibly one that is overly so, and an emotional side -- which would explain Kirk's over acting ;-)

What am I saying?

Most people believe the Zodiac was something like a loner, or an incel, or someone who was antisocial. Someone who would not fit into society.

I immediately did not see it that way. This person to me was the opposite of that. This was someone who glided in and out of social situations -- with almost too much ease. Case in point, after just killing someone, this person stood in front of a cop car and 2 cops asking him about a crime. He was cool as a cucumber.

In my opinion, most are believing one side of this character that was the Zodiac.

I believe, especial when you stop to think for a second, that this person hand wrote all of those symbols. All of those homophones. This was a painstaking activity.

He would have had to create the tables first and a key. My guess is that is accompanied or preceded by a gathering first, of all of the sources for materials to create the key, and then the tables.

He would then have to encode the homophones to the clear text.

This is someone who very much enjoys this activity. To me, this would be the equivalent of seeing someone explain that they love to read and relax with a good book. I've always felt this was the safest space where Zodiac felt he was really in control of all things. Because this was a world of his own making.

I've come to the conclusion that writing is an art form that this person has elevated in his mind, as a transcendent activity. It brings him peace. He is in the flow of creation when he is pressing pen to paper.

This is a person that enjoyed the art of creating. He was a writer.

EdEdwardsCiphers

1/21/2025 07:08:41 am

(Cont.)

In saying that he was a writer, and that writing was his safe space -- the language of writing is LANGUAGE, but the art that is in writing are FONTS.

I've studied the writing of one of the suspects. Pretty extensively. I believe I've found a few things. Things that others may have missed. Time will tell.

I believe that this person was very familiar with the language and art of writing. Fonts and calligraphy. Understanding flows, script, and block lettering. Spacing especially is important.

I've studied multiple letters and believe I've picked up on themes, that most have missed. Except a very few.

(Shakedog I see you)

All of this is to say, the Zodiac using a font that was similar to the address of one of his "GAME" adversaries, would be absolutely on brand.

You can additionally think of it in cryptographic terms. Which in my opinion is how he thought.

That style, of using the same font, is a way to encode a message. A secret message.

You have decoded that message, and possibly so did Belli, because the implied message is, I know where you live, I have studied it so much that I have memorized the font, and can recreate it.

This is analogous to when an artists asks to "paint" someone. To study a face, or a posture so intimately, is usually a heady experience for the subjects. They are so enamored by someone studying their every line, it's why so many muses become entangled with their artisan patrons.

I have no doubt that the Zodiac did use that font on purpose, because as I mentioned, what I think many don't understand is he would always be thinking in terms of cryptography and secret messages. Secret and hidden communications.

Many believe the cryptograms were just cryptograms without regressing through the logic of what it might take to be someone that creates them. It's possible that to be able to do that, you would first need to understand cryptology concepts. Perhaps deeply.

This would allow someone to speak and think in a way that would be hidden from those who do not understand that he would be thinking in just this very way.

For example, I'm sure that although you wrote about the font, it is probably not a thing that you think about deeply or in terms of how it would be processed. But I do.

This person was a writer, and an artist. He had multiple intelligences. He was not just a killer, or a psycho. He was not one dimensional. He was multi dimensional in his thinking.

Very much so in my opinion..

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THE TRIGGER THAT BEGAN THE BELLI CODE?

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