During the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968, one car, above all, was spotted by numerous eyewitnesses that night, including Bingo Wesner, Robert Connelly, Frank Gasser and William Crow, who saw the vehicle up close and personal, either in the turnout or adjacent to it, described in more detail in the police report as a white 1959 or 1960 4-door hardtop Chevrolet Impala. Just under seven months later, the second attack would occur at Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th or 5th 1969, again involving a young couple. Unfortunately, this time the surviving witness Michael Mageau was less than confident on the description of the assailant's vehicle. He stated in the police report "He could not see the car too clearly, however the shape of the car looked similar to the car that Dea owns, a Corvair. He could not see the color or anything as it was very dark out there". The killer clearly could have changed vehicle in the preceding months, but what is the likelihood Michael Mageau saw a white Chevrolet Impala?
The assailant's vehicle left no tracks at Lake Herman Road because the ground in the turnout was frozen solid under 22 degree Fahrenheit conditions. At Blue Rock Springs, the parking lot was Macadam paved, so in both instances this avenue of investigation was unable to generate any linkage between the two crimes. Michael Mageau described the assailant's vehicle as similar in shape to Dea's, and Darlene Ferrin drove a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair. The track width of a Chevrolet Corvair of the respective year, front and rear, is 54.5 to 55 inches. The track width being the distance from the center of one tire, to the center of the corresponding tire. This may be relevant, if any connection can be made to the tire tracks discovered to the rear of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia at Lake Berryessa just under three months later, unless we assume the killer simply kept swapping cars.
The assailant's vehicle left no tracks at Lake Herman Road because the ground in the turnout was frozen solid under 22 degree Fahrenheit conditions. At Blue Rock Springs, the parking lot was Macadam paved, so in both instances this avenue of investigation was unable to generate any linkage between the two crimes. Michael Mageau described the assailant's vehicle as similar in shape to Dea's, and Darlene Ferrin drove a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair. The track width of a Chevrolet Corvair of the respective year, front and rear, is 54.5 to 55 inches. The track width being the distance from the center of one tire, to the center of the corresponding tire. This may be relevant, if any connection can be made to the tire tracks discovered to the rear of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 White Karmann Ghia at Lake Berryessa just under three months later, unless we assume the killer simply kept swapping cars.
1960 Chevrolet Impala The factory specifications show this 1960 model of Chevrolet was produced in Ermine White. The color has a distinctive brown hue, which is further enhanced under reduced light (see above). In respect of Blue Rock Springs, the glare of the assailant's headlights and carry handle flashlight, and Mageau's position throughout, makes it highly unlikely any worthwhile comparison can be made between Darlene Ferrin's vehicle and the killer's from the perspective of Michael Mageau, before or after the shooting.
The third attack at Lake Berryessa, on September 27th 1969, yielded a further description of a vehicle. However, whether it is connected to the murder of Cecelia Shepard and attempted murder of Bryan Hartnell is unknown. Three young women in the preceding hours to the crime itself, painted a description of a young male hovering around the area as they were sunbathing. Their recollections are as follows;
#1. "A subject driving a late model silver-blue Chevrolet, 2-door sedan. This subject was described as 6' tall, weighing 200/210 pounds, muscular build, rather nice looking".
#2. "Vehicle described as a 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet with California plates. Witness believes the vehicle was a 2-door sedan and described the headlights as long rather than round".
#3. "Subject was described as approximately 28 years of age, 6'1" to 6'2" tall, 200/225 lbs, black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left, rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking".
#4. "Vehicle was described as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. The rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round. She described the subject as 6' tall, stocky build, about 200 lbs, black short-sleeved sweater shirt, dark blue slacks, and straight dark hair neatly combed. She guessed his age at approximately 30 years".
Was this the Zodiac Killer's first attempt that day, ultimately abandoning the idea, before finally settling on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard just two hours later? The descriptions of the young girls sound promising, but could the vehicle described as a late model Chevrolet be tied to the scene of the eventual crime, and the tire tracks behind Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia?
Or can we link the white 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala spotted around Lake Herman Road to the murder and attempted murder on September 27th 1969 at Lake Berryessa?
The third attack at Lake Berryessa, on September 27th 1969, yielded a further description of a vehicle. However, whether it is connected to the murder of Cecelia Shepard and attempted murder of Bryan Hartnell is unknown. Three young women in the preceding hours to the crime itself, painted a description of a young male hovering around the area as they were sunbathing. Their recollections are as follows;
#1. "A subject driving a late model silver-blue Chevrolet, 2-door sedan. This subject was described as 6' tall, weighing 200/210 pounds, muscular build, rather nice looking".
#2. "Vehicle described as a 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet with California plates. Witness believes the vehicle was a 2-door sedan and described the headlights as long rather than round".
#3. "Subject was described as approximately 28 years of age, 6'1" to 6'2" tall, 200/225 lbs, black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left, rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking".
#4. "Vehicle was described as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. The rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round. She described the subject as 6' tall, stocky build, about 200 lbs, black short-sleeved sweater shirt, dark blue slacks, and straight dark hair neatly combed. She guessed his age at approximately 30 years".
Was this the Zodiac Killer's first attempt that day, ultimately abandoning the idea, before finally settling on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard just two hours later? The descriptions of the young girls sound promising, but could the vehicle described as a late model Chevrolet be tied to the scene of the eventual crime, and the tire tracks behind Bryan Hartnell's Karmann Ghia?
Or can we link the white 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala spotted around Lake Herman Road to the murder and attempted murder on September 27th 1969 at Lake Berryessa?
This is what it states in the Lake Berrryessa police report: "Reporting officer observed one set of tire impressions approximately 20 feet to the rear of the victim's vehicle. The suspect track nearer the fence measured approximately 4 1/2 inches in width and showed a parallel tread design. This tread design was photographed by Sgt T Butler and then a plaster cast was made by reporting officer. The tire impression furthest from the fence measured approximately 5 1/2 inches in width. The distance between the inside of the left tread to the inside of the right tread measured approximately 52 inches".
Track width is a measurement from tire center to tire center.
If you look at the specs of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala, the tire width is 205 mm or 8.07 inches. This would mean that the center of the tire is situated at roughly 4 inches. It would be nice to think, that if we added the 4 inches of both tires to the 52 inches in the police report (measured to the inside of the tread above), we would get 60 inches track width, which happens to be the exact front width shown here of the 1960 Chevrolet Impala (although 59.3 in the rear). However, tire width and tread width are not the same (shown in the photograph above), where the rubber cambers off on the edge of the tire, meaning the tread width is often smaller than tire width. This is often different bearing in mind the aspect ratio of a tire, given as 75% on a 1960 Chevrolet Impala, in respect to rim size. Here is a brief explanation on Youtube. If we take the median value of the tread impression widths (5 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches) stated in the police report above, we have an approximation of 5 inches tread width. This can vary front and back.
Track width is a measurement from tire center to tire center.
If you look at the specs of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala, the tire width is 205 mm or 8.07 inches. This would mean that the center of the tire is situated at roughly 4 inches. It would be nice to think, that if we added the 4 inches of both tires to the 52 inches in the police report (measured to the inside of the tread above), we would get 60 inches track width, which happens to be the exact front width shown here of the 1960 Chevrolet Impala (although 59.3 in the rear). However, tire width and tread width are not the same (shown in the photograph above), where the rubber cambers off on the edge of the tire, meaning the tread width is often smaller than tire width. This is often different bearing in mind the aspect ratio of a tire, given as 75% on a 1960 Chevrolet Impala, in respect to rim size. Here is a brief explanation on Youtube. If we take the median value of the tread impression widths (5 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches) stated in the police report above, we have an approximation of 5 inches tread width. This can vary front and back.
The police report gave us 52 inches to the inside of the tread (left and right), depicted here on the left. The tread value of each tire is 5 inches, which is 2 1/2 inches to the center of each tire (excluding the camber shown in yellow). With two tires, that amounts to 5 inches. Therefore, the total track width (measured to the center of each tire) is 57 inches. This would suggest that the suspect vehicle, if it is related to the Berrryessa tire impressions at all, is not a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair with a track width of not greater than 55 inches - and shy of the 60 inch track width of a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Impala - seemingly ruling both vehicles out as being responsible for the impressions discovered by responding officers. Even taking the actual values of tread width of 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches, the track width would fall in between the specifications of both vehicles.
The three girls descriptions, suggested a 1966 or 1967, late model blue Chevrolet, 2-door, with one highlighting long taillights. The question being, could this description be enough to provide a match to the tire impressions found close to Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. We are looking for a Chevrolet somewhere in the range of 57 inch wheel track width. Here are examples of the Chevrolet II Nova, beginning with the 2-door '66 model.
The three girls descriptions, suggested a 1966 or 1967, late model blue Chevrolet, 2-door, with one highlighting long taillights. The question being, could this description be enough to provide a match to the tire impressions found close to Bryan Hartnell's vehicle. We are looking for a Chevrolet somewhere in the range of 57 inch wheel track width. Here are examples of the Chevrolet II Nova, beginning with the 2-door '66 model.
Chevrolet II Nova 1966 Supplemental to this, is the Chevrolet Nova II SS 327. Here is a Youtube video of a 1967 marina-blue Chevrolet Nova II 327, featuring front, side and rear views. It is 2-door, with long, rather than round taillights.
If we take the median value of the tire impressions from the police report, then as already stated, we have a track width of 57 inches. If we take the low end estimate of the tire impressions of approximately 4 1/2 inches, this gives a track width of 56.50 inches. Here are the complete specs of the Chevrolet Nova II from two sources. Here and here.
The track width for the front is 56.80 inches, very close to the 57.00 inches estimated from the police report. The track width for the rear is 56.30 inches, very close to 'the suspect track nearer the fence, measured at approximately 4 1/2 inches in width.' This was the closest fit I could find, matching as many specifications as possible, including the color, make, year, taillights, door and track width, and combining both scenes at Lake Berryessa. It would have been highly advantageous to have a more positive identification of the vehicle at Blue Rock Springs, however, if it were a Chevrolet Corvair, we would have at least one running theme throughout the first three Zodiac crimes - that of make.
If we take the median value of the tire impressions from the police report, then as already stated, we have a track width of 57 inches. If we take the low end estimate of the tire impressions of approximately 4 1/2 inches, this gives a track width of 56.50 inches. Here are the complete specs of the Chevrolet Nova II from two sources. Here and here.
The track width for the front is 56.80 inches, very close to the 57.00 inches estimated from the police report. The track width for the rear is 56.30 inches, very close to 'the suspect track nearer the fence, measured at approximately 4 1/2 inches in width.' This was the closest fit I could find, matching as many specifications as possible, including the color, make, year, taillights, door and track width, and combining both scenes at Lake Berryessa. It would have been highly advantageous to have a more positive identification of the vehicle at Blue Rock Springs, however, if it were a Chevrolet Corvair, we would have at least one running theme throughout the first three Zodiac crimes - that of make.
Fremont Assembly, California As a footnote, one major Chevrolet manufacturing facility was the Oakland Assembly situated in Elmhurst. 'It was the first automobile plant established in Northern California to build Chevrolet vehicles. In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry's first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland. Production of the Chevrolet Series 490 began on Sept. 23, 1916, while World War I was taking place (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918). The plant remained in continuous service until the summer of 1963, when it was replaced by Fremont Assembly'. Taken from Wikipedia.
See locations on Google Maps.
The Chevrolet may have been integral to this story in some small way - and if so - was it from a standpoint of either work, or simply a love for one of America's most cherished automobiles. I'll let you decide.
http://www.novaresource.org/production.htm
See locations on Google Maps.
The Chevrolet may have been integral to this story in some small way - and if so - was it from a standpoint of either work, or simply a love for one of America's most cherished automobiles. I'll let you decide.
http://www.novaresource.org/production.htm
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