Both the Zodiac Killer communications mailed outside of California carried small Zodiac crosshairs on the address side of the envelope, thereby drawing attention to the sender by the receiver. These two letters were mailed to the Albany Times Union, Albany, New York on August 1st 1973 and to the television station WXIA-TV "11 Alive" in Atlanta on March 8th 1981.
Later that month, on March 18th 1981, a letter addressed to the "Editor of the Washington Post" was received (but postmarked February 17th from Prince George's County, Maryland), claiming to have information on the Atlanta killings - and requested that the editor place an advertisement in the newspaper stating "Daniel Please Call Home" - promising they would initiate further contact with the editor of the Washington Post if the request was fulfilled. The newspaper clipping on the right is from the Indianapolis Star on November 29th 1980, stating: Darron Glass, one of four missing black children who have been the subject of widespread searches here, may have tried to contact his foster family recently, police said Friday. "We are investigating someone calling the foster parents and hanging up", said Atlanta Public Safety Commissioner Lee Brown. It is fairly clear that the author of this suspicious letter has borrowed their wording from the newspapers and was meant to read "Darron Please Call Home".
On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". The Zodiac Killer was almost certainly responsible for the March 8th 1981 letter to the WXIA-TV station, so he must be under consideration for all three communications mailed over a span of nineteen days. If he was insinuating his involvement in the disappearance of Darron Glass in November 1980, who was he referring to in his March 8th 1981 letter?
Later that month, on March 18th 1981, a letter addressed to the "Editor of the Washington Post" was received (but postmarked February 17th from Prince George's County, Maryland), claiming to have information on the Atlanta killings - and requested that the editor place an advertisement in the newspaper stating "Daniel Please Call Home" - promising they would initiate further contact with the editor of the Washington Post if the request was fulfilled. The newspaper clipping on the right is from the Indianapolis Star on November 29th 1980, stating: Darron Glass, one of four missing black children who have been the subject of widespread searches here, may have tried to contact his foster family recently, police said Friday. "We are investigating someone calling the foster parents and hanging up", said Atlanta Public Safety Commissioner Lee Brown. It is fairly clear that the author of this suspicious letter has borrowed their wording from the newspapers and was meant to read "Darron Please Call Home".
On March 2nd 1981, a business reply envelope postmarked Cleveland, OH, bearing the press printed address "The Danbury Mint, Richards Avenue, P.O. Box 5260, Norwalk, Conn" was mailed with the message: "Please stop forced bussing or I will kill 3 more black boys in Atlanta in March". The Zodiac Killer was almost certainly responsible for the March 8th 1981 letter to the WXIA-TV station, so he must be under consideration for all three communications mailed over a span of nineteen days. If he was insinuating his involvement in the disappearance of Darron Glass in November 1980, who was he referring to in his March 8th 1981 letter?
It stated "Hello its me. Haven't you people figured out who is killing these little people yet. I'll give you a hint, I used to be in San Francisco. I used to stalk women, but I like to kill children now. At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle. So I guess I'll have to tell you. I'll (to) kill children because they are so easy to "pick off: Buy the way, if you still have letters from the other murders, I am not writing in the same hand writing". See letter. Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer drew his inspiration from the newspapers he read, I focused on one line of this letter reading "At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues, but I guess it's too much for you Rebels to handle". The Zodiac Killer began to emphasize the phrase "certain clues", so I needed to find a newspaper article that referenced "certain clues" in the preceding days or weeks to the March 8th 1981 letter, that was possibly accompanied by the word "Rebels" (which began with an upper case "R").
Mark Lester in "Oliver" (1968) The above article in The News and Observer on February 22nd 1981 told of the missing Patrick Baltazar (11) whose body was found dumped adjacent to a parking lot on February 13th 1981, with "police working on the assumption that more than one person was involved in the crimes, but they have also found certain clues linking some of the murders. "It's the old Oliver Twist story" said Felton. "If you're out there and available, trouble will find you". The author of the letter, writing "At all my victims bodies I have left certain clues" is unsurprising as a response to the above statement, but why did the Zodiac Killer then use the word "Rebels"?
The next wording in the statement read "It's the old Oliver Twist story", so I looked for a connection between "Rebels" and "Oliver Twist". In the novel "Oliver Twist", written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century, he referred to Oliver as the "small rebel". It featured in the film's most remembered scene, when Oliver approached Mr Bumble in the orphanage, begging 'Please, sir, I want some more". The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear. 'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more". I suppose this film theme played into the context of the letter, claiming he was targeting children now, with a subtle play on words by invoking the word "Rebels". It may be just a coincidence, but by using the mirrored phrase "certain clues" from the newspaper, was the Zodiac Killer latching on to the fact that police believed the murders were linked by evidence found on the bodies? In this instance, the murder of Patrick Baltazar.
The next wording in the statement read "It's the old Oliver Twist story", so I looked for a connection between "Rebels" and "Oliver Twist". In the novel "Oliver Twist", written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century, he referred to Oliver as the "small rebel". It featured in the film's most remembered scene, when Oliver approached Mr Bumble in the orphanage, begging 'Please, sir, I want some more". The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear. 'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more". I suppose this film theme played into the context of the letter, claiming he was targeting children now, with a subtle play on words by invoking the word "Rebels". It may be just a coincidence, but by using the mirrored phrase "certain clues" from the newspaper, was the Zodiac Killer latching on to the fact that police believed the murders were linked by evidence found on the bodies? In this instance, the murder of Patrick Baltazar.
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