Michael Mageau was struck by four bullets on July 5th 1969. One was removed from his left thigh during surgery by Dr. Shirai. One bullet had exited his hip and was noted on the ground by his side when responding officers arrived at the crime scene, which had likely trapped in his clothing and fell to the floor when he exited the Corvair. The remaining 2 bullets exited his jaw and right shoulder (through skin), and had struck Darlene Ferrin seated to his left.
The first responding officer to the Blue Rock Springs parking lot shortly after 12:10am noted that it was evident Michael Mageau was in pain, with blood visibly running from his mouth and lower left leg, Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the air to all police units. Sometime around 12:25am an ambulance arrived, extricated Darlene Ferrin from the Corvair - and along with Michael Mageau - departed the crime scene with both victims around 12:30am and headed to Kaiser Foundation Hospital at 2600 Alameda Street in Vallejo, where Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon arrival at 12:38am. Officer Richard Hoffman was also present, having traveled with both victims.
Michael Mageau was initially attended to by Dr. Jantzen, before he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition. However, during this time he was still being questioned regarding the attack at Blue Rock Springs, recalling that "A white man drove up in a car, got out, walked up to the car, shined a flashlight inside and started shooting. Man was older than me, window was down. After (he) stop shooting I got out of car. I tried to get the people to come over but they drove off. After finally ten minutes the policeman came". Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at about 12:45am. Despite Michael being described as critical, he was extremely fortunate that no major organs were struck, and his femoral and popliteal arteries in his legs were not severed. Otherwise, he could have been dead within minutes. This means that Michael Mageau was lucid and conscious for at least 45 minutes after the shooting. When the Zodiac Killer described these events in the parking lot in his letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper on August 4th 1969, he wrote "When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".
The first responding officer to the Blue Rock Springs parking lot shortly after 12:10am noted that it was evident Michael Mageau was in pain, with blood visibly running from his mouth and lower left leg, Officer Richard Hoffman, who immediately summoned an ambulance upon his arrival, described Michael Mageau as coherent, before asking him a series of questions and acquiring some limited information about the shooter and his vehicle, which was broadcast over the air to all police units. Sometime around 12:25am an ambulance arrived, extricated Darlene Ferrin from the Corvair - and along with Michael Mageau - departed the crime scene with both victims around 12:30am and headed to Kaiser Foundation Hospital at 2600 Alameda Street in Vallejo, where Darlene Ferrin was pronounced dead upon arrival at 12:38am. Officer Richard Hoffman was also present, having traveled with both victims.
Michael Mageau was initially attended to by Dr. Jantzen, before he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition. However, during this time he was still being questioned regarding the attack at Blue Rock Springs, recalling that "A white man drove up in a car, got out, walked up to the car, shined a flashlight inside and started shooting. Man was older than me, window was down. After (he) stop shooting I got out of car. I tried to get the people to come over but they drove off. After finally ten minutes the policeman came". Michael Mageau would have arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at about 12:45am. Despite Michael being described as critical, he was extremely fortunate that no major organs were struck, and his femoral and popliteal arteries in his legs were not severed. Otherwise, he could have been dead within minutes. This means that Michael Mageau was lucid and conscious for at least 45 minutes after the shooting. When the Zodiac Killer described these events in the parking lot in his letter to the San Francisco Examiner newspaper on August 4th 1969, he wrote "When I fired the first shot at his head, he leaped backwards at the same time, thus spoiling my aim. He ended up on the back seat then the floor in back thrashing out very violently with his legs; that's how I shot him in the knee".
The two dynamic verbs used by Zodiac to describe Michael Mageau's actions immediately prior to him leaving the crime scene, were "leaped" and "thrashing". In fact, the Zodiac Killer noted that Michael Mageau was "thrashing about very violently" when he shot him in the back seat of the Corvair. Not the descriptors of a young man teetering on the edge of death, despite the braggadocio exhibited by the Zodiac Killer when making the payphone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover, in which he claimed a double murder.
"Thrashing about very violently" as Zodiac shot him in the knee does not equate to somebody who is dead. Far from it. Michael Mageau was answering questions up to 45 minutes later. This is why it makes no sense that the Zodiac Killer would drive away from Blue Rock Springs and park his vehicle on the street in the local area for close to 40 minutes, before making the payphone call from the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolomne Streets (with his car in tow). A limited description of him and his vehicle was broadcast to all police units shortly after Officer Richard Hoffman arrived at the crime scene (about 12:15am). The Zodiac Killer, in his vehicle, in possession of the gun and possibly stained with blood from leaning into the Corvair, is extremely unlikely to have sat in his parked car for nigh on 40 minutes, before driving to a payphone just 819 meters (by crow) from the Vallejo Police Department.
Zodiac researchers will claim that the Zodiac Killer probably thought that Michael Mageau would likely die from his wounds before being discovered, so didn't worry about remaining in his vehicle for this length of time. This would have been an extremely risky and unnecessary gamble when your entire future rests upon it - and totally flies in the face of Zodiac's own words, describing Michael Mageau as very much alive when he departed the crime scene. The Zodiac Killer was a psychopath, but he was certainly no fool. A phone call made nearly 40 minutes after he left Blue Rock Springs, from a payphone that should have only taken 9 minutes to reach, strongly suggests a killer who had access to a residence within a mile radius of that payphone (quite possibly a lot closer). From which he likely walked to the payphone. There are numerous other reasons to support the idea of a killer living close to the intersection of Springs & Tuolumne. See below.
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1] WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3] WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
"Thrashing about very violently" as Zodiac shot him in the knee does not equate to somebody who is dead. Far from it. Michael Mageau was answering questions up to 45 minutes later. This is why it makes no sense that the Zodiac Killer would drive away from Blue Rock Springs and park his vehicle on the street in the local area for close to 40 minutes, before making the payphone call from the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolomne Streets (with his car in tow). A limited description of him and his vehicle was broadcast to all police units shortly after Officer Richard Hoffman arrived at the crime scene (about 12:15am). The Zodiac Killer, in his vehicle, in possession of the gun and possibly stained with blood from leaning into the Corvair, is extremely unlikely to have sat in his parked car for nigh on 40 minutes, before driving to a payphone just 819 meters (by crow) from the Vallejo Police Department.
Zodiac researchers will claim that the Zodiac Killer probably thought that Michael Mageau would likely die from his wounds before being discovered, so didn't worry about remaining in his vehicle for this length of time. This would have been an extremely risky and unnecessary gamble when your entire future rests upon it - and totally flies in the face of Zodiac's own words, describing Michael Mageau as very much alive when he departed the crime scene. The Zodiac Killer was a psychopath, but he was certainly no fool. A phone call made nearly 40 minutes after he left Blue Rock Springs, from a payphone that should have only taken 9 minutes to reach, strongly suggests a killer who had access to a residence within a mile radius of that payphone (quite possibly a lot closer). From which he likely walked to the payphone. There are numerous other reasons to support the idea of a killer living close to the intersection of Springs & Tuolumne. See below.
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT1] WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT2]
WHEN THE BLACK MAN WAS WALKING BY [PT3] WATCHING THE POLICE AT THE PAYPHONE
CLICK IMAGE TO ENTER GOOGLE MAPS
RSS Feed
