ZODIAC CIPHERS
Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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WHAT LIES BENEATH

5/7/2018

 
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If the Zodiac Killer touched the stamp or envelope inner while sealing either, even if he didn't lick the glue, there remains a slim probability of securing a full DNA profile of the Bay Area murderer in the coming weeks, so long as the evidence has been stored correctly in a controlled temperature and humidity. However, this may not be the case with the July 31st 1969 letters, which were apparently kept in the private files of a "retired police source." If the numerous Zodiac letters have been treated in a similar manner to other cases around the world, then just a few cells would be needed.

​The amount of cells required can be as small as a millionth the size of a grain of salt. This DNA can be harbored from skin cells stuck to the back of the envelope or stamp, or from the pasted newspaper cuttings from the 13-Hole postcard, the Pines card or the Halloween.card  This has been achieved before in cold cases.

Low Copy Number (LCN) was developed in 1999 by the UK Forensic Science Service, but has not been adopted by all countries due to the risk of contamination in the sample. The amount of material or DNA required is so microscopically small the results achieved are effectively non-reproducible, but with so many Zodiac letters available, the possibility of a match between letters could produce corroborative proof. This technique has led to the successful apprehension of numerous individuals in the UK. One such case, was the conviction of Paul Hutchinson in 2010, who raped and strangled Colette Aram (16) in Nottingham, England in 1983, despite the case being cold for 27 years. "After the murder, Hutchinson, a psychology graduate who had also been a youth worker, returned to the village to watch the police investigation unfold and later sent a letter taunting officers that he was still free."No one knows what I look like. That is why you have not got me," he wrote, also claiming he was wearing a Halloween mask. "You will never get me." The Guardian. A DNA profile was generated using 'Low Copy Number' taken from the letter and matched in the nationwide database to one of his relatives, ultimately leading to his arrest and conviction. Remarkably a fingerprint from the letter was also matched to Hutchinson.

​This extremely small sample size offers hope in the Zodiac case. Even if the results are questioned due to the risk of contamination - once a suspect has been identified, further comparisons could be then implemented using the bloody fingerprint from the taxicab of Paul Stine or the palm print from the Exorcist letter, as two simple examples. This would then be followed up by looking at all aspects of the subject identified, in order to validate or refute the credibility of the DNA results.  

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In 2017, Osmond Bell was eventually convicted 36 years after the murder of Nova Welsh in Birmingham, England in 1981 by saliva retrieved from chewing gum he had used to seal the door of a cupboard he had hidden her body in. "The 60-year-old killer also left traces of DNA on the envelope of a letter he sent after the killing in an attempt to frame an innocent man for the crime. Jurors acquitted the pensioner of murder, opting instead to convict him of manslaughter by an 11-1 majority verdict following a six-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday." The Sun.

DNA retrieval after 27 and 36 years was successful in both cases, resulting in conviction. This gives us the hope that correctly preserved evidence can without doubt generate a full DNA profile in the Zodiac case, whether through saliva or skin cells in the smallest of samples.

Rubislaw 32 link
5/7/2018 03:26:09 pm

Some interesting examples given,Richard.

With the EAR/GSK case,in the headlines,it has brought the forensic topic,back to the fore,in the case of the Zodiac Killer.

And probably,a ''knee jerk'' reaction,facilitated by the Vallejo Police [?].Which might give away slight desperation for more DNA samples,from the CA DOJ.

Bitching aside,are ''full'' samples the only answer,that would satisfy a court of law ? How about plentiful ''partials'',that cannot be mistaken.

Time,in many respects,for lawyers and scientists,to start banging heads.

Lyndon Lafferty did succeeed in persuading the CA DOJ,to take a look at his suspect,William Grant's DNA.And the CA DOJ came back to him,on this.

The upshot being that Grant's DNA did not match,on three out of five crucial areas.Lafferty bemoaned this conclusion,wondering if perhaps,a match on two of the five might be something positive.

Doubtful,even to a complete layman [?].

But,perhaps we can glean something,from Lafferty's dealings [?].

That,the CA DOJ do have DNA,accounting for the Zodiac Killer.

John
5/7/2018 04:04:33 pm

Rubislaw, from my understanding partial profiles do not satisfy the court of law. You need a complete profile that says: this DNA can only belong to X person, no one else.

John
5/7/2018 04:08:20 pm

Let me add something else: The police can use "partial DNA" to zero in on a suspect but they will need to get his "full DNA" if they want to use it in court.

Rubislaw 32 link
5/7/2018 04:23:49 pm

Yes,I was just ''hitting ad hoping'',John.

There seems to be all the focus on DNA,that would be presumed to be sealed,and encased.

Do you think that there are any opportunities,with correspondence subjected to sneezing,coughing,dribbling or scratching ?

In a ''self-seal'' fashion,perhaps....that could be unearthed by the more modern techniques.

John
5/7/2018 04:36:10 pm

Rubislaw, the problem with this case is evidence contamination. So many people have handled the evidence carelessly, especially in the beginning, that there are probably many different DNA profiles on the stamps and envelopes. It's a tall order to sort through all that. That is why they are focusing on the saliva found behind the stamp-- only one person licked the stamp, that is certain.

John
5/7/2018 03:46:43 pm

Excellent article, Richard. DNA is the only method left that will identify the Zodiac. The SFPD has a partial DNA profile taken from a stamp...but a few months ago they said the DNA was taken from outside the stamp rather than behind it. That was the DNA the SFPD used the eliminate Arthur Leigh Allen in 2002. Anyhow, there is enough "material" in this case that could be tested for DNA but the $64 million question is: will they be able to get enough of it to generate a profile.

Judith
5/8/2018 07:05:08 am

It's just a kiss away

shawn
5/8/2018 07:09:08 am

We do know a piece of hair was found under the stamp from the envelope mailed after the Stine Murder. The hair was reddish brown and match the hair color given by the witnesses. Hair picture below.

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/uploads/4/9/7/1/4971630/years8.gif

Tech is advancing to identify people through protein sequencing via hair.

Richard Wrote....

"So far scientists have detailed 185 protein markers and hope to focus in on 100, enough to identity an individual from the world's population. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09"

In article....

https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-zodiac-killers-dna-part-two

So maybe a simple hair could be Zodiac's eventual downfall.

Richard
5/8/2018 07:34:50 am

There was another interesting article I read years ago about fingerprints. This would not mark points on a specific fingerprint before entering it into the database, but actually analyze the fingerprint side on, like looking at a mountain range in the distance. It can literally be examined like a graph giving differing height detail across the fingerprint. Just like the retina of an animal and spots on a leopard, so many things are unique to an individual, and I see hair samples being no different. Soon breath may be another crime fighting tool- not only from shed cells being breathed out and present on a victim or bathroom mirror, but in the unique make up of chemicals and microbes within it.
"To discover these unique “breathprints,” ScienceNOW reports, scientists recruited volunteers to blow into a mass spectrometer, a machine often used in chemistry to separate chemical components of different samples. Within seconds, the mass spectrometer spit out results for each person. These breathprints not only vary between individuals, the researchers found, but also change throughout the day within individuals in reflection of shifting chemical reactions within the body. But a unique core signature always underlies a person’s breath, to the point that it could be used to identify the individual participants in the study."
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-breath-is-as-unique-as-your-fingerprint-16068566/

Shawn
6/11/2018 02:41:54 pm

Tom Voigt is claiming DNA results are due any time with this new webpage at his site....

"When I get the call, I'm prepared to drop everything on a moment's notice so I can get to Zodiac Ground Zero."

http://zodiackiller.com/DNA.html

Karen C
6/11/2018 05:19:32 pm

My name is Tom Voigt and I am THE leading world expert on the Zodiac case, since I have sacrificed my entire life to cracking it wide open, and only I inhabit the fantasy land now called "Zodiac Ground Zero". I know everything about the case, as fast as the leading experts and detectives on the case do, sometimes I know even before they do, I am so good, because I have eyes and ears everywhere. I am ubiquitous, omniscient and unstoppable!

Sheesh, this guy has clearly been doing this stuff for far too long. He is even starting to sound like the Zodiac's correspondence for Pete's sake!!! My Name Is.... Tom Voigt.

I mean, seriously?!!!!

Rubislaw 32 link
5/9/2018 05:57:30 am

Just taking this opportunity,Richard,to refer to the Dripping Pen Card [November 8th 1969],and it's possible link to the ''Bleeding Knife'' illustration,in the Fairfield letter [December 16th 1969].

Potentially,a great spot from you,with the ink drips and the blood drops.

Reservoir and Sea Dagger metaphors,and the pen to knife ''penknife''.

These two correspondences,coming in the wake of Zodiac's successfully accomplished ''projects'' at Lake Berryessa and Presidio.In effect,part of Zodiac's celebration of himself.

It might interest your readers,to check out the poem ''Bleeding'' by May Swenson.She,Elizabeth Bishop and Marianne Moore,are considered the triad of 20th Century feminist poets.

''Bleeding'' is one of May Swenson's most famous works.

Exert : ''I can't stand the bleeding,said the knife,and sank in further.I hate it too,said the cut,I know it isn't you...''.

The poem is essentially about the relationship between the ''cut'' and the ''knife'',with the resulting ''bleeding'' produced.

A bit of content influence,to the Desk Top poem,going on,there,perhaps also [?].

In addition,the chosen Marianne Moore postage stamp,for the 1990 Celebrity Cipher.

Zodiac,influenced by feminist poets,and ''Bleeding'',in particular [?].

One possible surmise is that the ''Bleeding Knife'' illustration was a substitute for not having a real blood sample available,in the shape of a Paul Stine shirt swatch.

In Autumn 1972,Zodiac may have extended the theme,with a blood smearing made,on the Benicia High School note.

''Guess who This Hiz Blood Off ----- YOU DIE ZODIAC''

Rubislaw 32 link
5/9/2018 06:23:45 am

In addition,I have found that ''The Bleeding Knife'' is the name of a traditional 20th Century Halloween novelty kit,available to children at ''Joke Factory'' outlets,for use to scare unsuspecting parents [!].

Richard
5/9/2018 08:57:23 am

Some nice connections there Rubislaw. Have you any links to the material, particularly the novelty Halloween kit. Cheers, Richard.

Rubislaw 32 link
5/9/2018 09:20:02 am

Yea,I just picked it up from Google images,under access title : ''The Bleeding Knife''.

Probably not as well known,as ''The disappearing coin'',and ''The false finger'',but goes back to the sixties,at least.

I will try to research ''The Bleeding Knife'' trick,more.

Rubislaw 32 link
5/9/2018 04:48:15 pm

.....to add,I note that in Halloween ancient and traditional verse,regular expression to :

''Clap !,clap !,snap !''

''Boo !,boo !,boo !''

and

''Ha !,ha !,ha !''

Accompanying the ''Bleeding Knife'' illustration is the ''This state is in trouble'' letter,with ''shopping list'' of Zodiac's proposed future kills.

And,at the very bottom of the letter :

'' ha ! ha ! ha ! ''.

Jack Sprat
5/14/2018 05:30:39 pm

Hopefully that "retired police source" didn't let his pet cat sleep on the folder while it was sitting on his desk, or store the files in his garage where there were mice. The results could be interesting, to say the least. "We found a number of stray ginger hairs... non-human." "Sticky residue that we thought was semen turned out to be mouse urine." lol!

Greg H.
5/18/2018 11:53:00 am

One thought I had about the arrest of the Golden State Killer involves the paradox of him being nabbed for shoplifting in the mid-70s, resulting in the end of his career as a cop, while he was concurrently getting away with multitudes of far more serious offenses, i.e. rape and eventually homicide. If he'd not been captured (and if he wasn't already thought to be one), due to the volume of crimes GSK committed, he might be considered an excellent candidate for the 'master criminal' monkier--a label some have been inclined to annoint of Zodiac.
Yet it could easily be the case that Zodiac, like GSK, had a rap sheet for other violations, ones that were relatively minor in comparision to serial murder. As we know, even some of the major Zodiac suspects do have a police record for miscellaneous arrests.

So I think the identification of GSK and what we've learned about him, may decimate the whole 'master criminal' notion across the board when we consider true crime. It could very easily be the case that getting away with murder--for some, and particularly at periods prior to widespread advances in forensics--proved less challenging than avoiding detectiion for committing misdemeanors. Nothing especially 'masterful' about these people.

Howard Miller
5/18/2018 04:17:29 pm

Very well written Greg H. I agree entirely. Yes indeed, the Zodiac has taken on legendary status in the minds of many people. Even when reading through some of the blog posts on this website I sometimes get the nagging feeling that the posters think of him in legendary terms. As with GSK, in reality he was probably just a petty criminal dabbling in many things, who by sheer luck managed to avoid detection for his more serious crimes.

Still I cannot help wonder about the fact that if GSK had a rap sheet for minor violations, surely his fingerprints would have been taken? At least this was sufficient to match him up to a cop and the cop was subsequently suspended. But his fingerprints were never sufficient to tie him to the GSK??? I would suggest, this was a case of "sheer luck" rather than "criminal mastermind"! And the question remains, if anyone in LE did suspect him of greater crimes, why was this suspicion never acted on? In other words, were others in LE covering for him, for some reason such as fear and duress or merely because they did "not want to rock the boat"? Or were his fellow police officers totally oblivious to his nefarious criminal "hobbies", in which case the lack of detection was indeed due entirely to "sheer luck"? I guess some of these questions will, in time, become apparent to us.

Rubislaw 32 link
5/18/2018 04:12:25 pm

Some interesting observations,Greg,and no doubt,a GSK conviction will add knowledge to our general understanding of serial killers.

Based only on what has appeared in print,it seems that Mr,DeAngelo's conviction for shoplifting,became the tipping point for him,in that he was outraged at being found guilty.The pivotal moment in his career,as a serious criminal,if you will.

I have little doubt that,if Zodiac is exposed and convicted.....that we will find a number of traffic violations,and perhaps,some ''delinquency'' misdemeanours [?].

But,I suspect that lack of actual adult criminal convictions,has assisted him,to pass under the noses of L.E.,on a number of occasions.

Howard Miller
5/18/2018 04:43:25 pm

I was once told by a D.A. that fingerprints for all historic and modern crimes are now on a state-wide database that anyone in LE can access, and that includes crimes that were committed by juveniles and petty offenses. This includes automatic data matching using complex computer algorithms. So how the GSK could have escaped detection for so long is surprising. I can only guess that when he committed more serious crimes he took extra precautions e.g. wore gloves to conceal fingerprints. Or any prints left behind were so bad that any attempts at matching them failed. I suspect the Zodiac's prints may be similarly bad. Possibly they do already have a match in their database, but the prints are just too incomplete of fuzzy to allow a match. And as there are virtually millions of prints on the database, it would take several lifetimes for humans to scrutinize each in turn.

blue belly
5/24/2018 11:37:59 am

DeAngelo sketch was very close

BB
5/23/2018 12:37:08 pm

The Axeman of New Orleans was an American serial killer active in New Orleans, Louisiana from May 1918 to October 1919. Press reports during the height of public panic about the killings mentioned similar murders as early as 1911. from Wikipedia

This one is also unsolved - but the main reason maybe because the killer never took anything to tie himself to the crime. He usually killed multiple people - usually couples. The similarities with the z also include writing letters and taunting people.

ZZ link
1/21/2019 09:18:08 pm

Since there remains the possibility that Dr Geo Hodel,, once a suspect in the Black Dahlia case could have been the Zodiac killer, why not run the DNA from the stamp or licked envelope Zodica sent the newspapers against Hodel's DNA ? Is son Steve Hodel is still alive, run it against his if there isn't any on file from father George. According to reports, they had handwriting experts compare the two men's handwriting and Hodel could also be the Zodiac killer among others


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