There has been much debate on which intersection the Paul Stine murder on October 11th 1969 was actually committed, but on this occasion we will make a case for Washington and Cherry being the site of the shooting, taking only the police report and fingerprint evidence as our guidelines. The two page Stine report states "The suspect then appeared to be wiping on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment. The suspect then exited the cab by the passenger side front door, also wiping with a white rag, possibly a handkerchief. The suspect then walked around the cab to the driver's side and proceeded to wipe the exterior of the left door area. The suspect then fled north on Cherry Street." This would suggest that the killer had previously touched both the driver and front passenger side doors with ungloved hands, to seemingly negate his claim of using transparent fingertip guards, however, he was not observed wiping down either of the rear doors.
In fact, he was never seen in the rear of the taxicab by the three teenagers. This may have generated speculation that the killer could have traveled in the front of the taxicab and may have been known to Paul Stine, but for that to have been the case we would have to explain why the killer after shooting Paul Stine and removing a piece of his shirt, he would then travel around the exterior of the taxicab and deposit bloody fingerprints on the post of the driver side door, if he had never opened either at this particular juncture.
There have been reports quoting the three teenagers saying the killer opened the driver side door and attempted to prop Paul Stine up behind the steering wheel before exiting the scene - but here we will be concentrating on the facts only contained within the police report.
There is a possibility that the Zodiac Killer wasn't wiping down either the front passenger door handle or the driver side door, as the front passenger door handle was not visible from the three teenagers position across the street, and the driver side door handle area may have been obscured by the Zodiac himself, with the three teenagers just having interpreted his actions based upon him holding what was considered to be a white rag or handkerchief. It could simply have been the Zodiac carrying the section of Paul Stine's shirt. After securing a piece of shirt and exiting the front passenger side door, the Zodiac Killer could have immediately left the crime scene up Cherry Street, but he didn't. The fact that he traveled around the taxicab to the driver side door, without opening it, does not leave many options as to why he performed this action, other than wiping away fingerprints - and suggests the interpretation of events by the three teenagers was in fact correct.
There have been reports quoting the three teenagers saying the killer opened the driver side door and attempted to prop Paul Stine up behind the steering wheel before exiting the scene - but here we will be concentrating on the facts only contained within the police report.
There is a possibility that the Zodiac Killer wasn't wiping down either the front passenger door handle or the driver side door, as the front passenger door handle was not visible from the three teenagers position across the street, and the driver side door handle area may have been obscured by the Zodiac himself, with the three teenagers just having interpreted his actions based upon him holding what was considered to be a white rag or handkerchief. It could simply have been the Zodiac carrying the section of Paul Stine's shirt. After securing a piece of shirt and exiting the front passenger side door, the Zodiac Killer could have immediately left the crime scene up Cherry Street, but he didn't. The fact that he traveled around the taxicab to the driver side door, without opening it, does not leave many options as to why he performed this action, other than wiping away fingerprints - and suggests the interpretation of events by the three teenagers was in fact correct.
If the Zodiac Killer rode in the rear of the taxicab did he also wipe down these doors? Did he wipe down the rear door he exited at the time he moved to the front section of the taxicab and prior to the three teenagers looking out of their window? But for that to happen the Zodiac may as well have used the white rag or handkerchief on his person to prevent placing fresh fingerprints on the front passenger side door as he entered it. The fact he was later seen wiping it down suggests to the contrary.
Fingerprints were in fact discovered on the rear doors and any attempt to wipe these either failed or were never performed. Would fingerprints on the rear passenger doors prove to be incriminating evidence? - after all it was a taxicab. However, fingerprints on the front doors, in view of a piece of the taxicab driver's shirt being torn off, may have been a little harder to explain.
There is a logical course of events that may explain a murder at Washington and Cherry Street, explain the blood pattern on Paul Stine's shirt and crucially the bloody fingerprints on the post to the rear of the driver side door. As Paul Stine parked up at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection, the Zodiac placed the gun close to Paul Stine's head and fired. Back spatter from the wound would have struck Zodiac's hand and gun, depositing blood onto both. At this point, he could have just left the scene - but his objective was to secure a trophy - so he now had to access the front of the taxicab. In view of the bloody prints on the left post of the taxicab, this may suggest his possible route.
Fingerprints were in fact discovered on the rear doors and any attempt to wipe these either failed or were never performed. Would fingerprints on the rear passenger doors prove to be incriminating evidence? - after all it was a taxicab. However, fingerprints on the front doors, in view of a piece of the taxicab driver's shirt being torn off, may have been a little harder to explain.
There is a logical course of events that may explain a murder at Washington and Cherry Street, explain the blood pattern on Paul Stine's shirt and crucially the bloody fingerprints on the post to the rear of the driver side door. As Paul Stine parked up at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection, the Zodiac placed the gun close to Paul Stine's head and fired. Back spatter from the wound would have struck Zodiac's hand and gun, depositing blood onto both. At this point, he could have just left the scene - but his objective was to secure a trophy - so he now had to access the front of the taxicab. In view of the bloody prints on the left post of the taxicab, this may suggest his possible route.
CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR EXTENDED VIEW If Paul Stine had slumped immediately to the right side of the front passenger seat or passenger well, and the Zodiac Killer wanted to access Paul Stine's pockets or the rear of his shirt, the logical move would have been to exit the right rear passenger door and enter the front passenger door, where he could seat himself on the passenger side of the taxicab. The problem with this scenario, is not only the blood pattern on the shirt, but more importantly, there would be no reason for any blood to have been transferred to the driver side panel of the taxicab. There is another possible order of events but it is by no means conclusive.
After Paul Stine was shot he may have remained upright behind the steering wheel and the killer's quickest route to secure a trophy was to exit the left rear passenger door and access the driver side door. He opened and closed the left rear door with his blood free left hand. He then opened the driver side door with the same hand, but as he leaned into the taxicab to search through Paul Stine's pockets he may have supported himself by resting his bloody right hand on the taxicab panel/post between the two doors, inadvertently depositing his fingerprints into evidence. He then removed the wallet of Paul Stine. The idea of securing a piece of material from the rear of the driver's shirt was either preconceived or an afterthought, however, Paul Stine was upright, so he needed to push the taxicab driver over to the passenger side in order to facilitate access to his back of his shirt. He now closes the driver side door and travels around the taxicab to enter the front passenger side door. Enter the three teenagers at this point as they begin to observe the suspect from the upper window of their residence. Knowing fingerprints on the front doors of the taxicab could be interpreted as incriminatory, the Zodiac Killer, once he has secured the swatch of Paul Stine's shirt, then uses this material to wipe down the front passenger door before finally wiping down the driver side door and exiting north along Cherry Street. Crucially though, he forgot all about the driver side door post and the bloody fingerprints remained.
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