San Francisco Chronicle, November 12th 1969 Beginning on October 23rd 1969 and culminating on November 5th 1969, Daniel Williams (24), a Salesian High School teacher in the city of Richmond received multiple telephone threats from an individual claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, who stated he "had gone to a Martinez school in search of victims but left when he found police there". His residence at 1234 Bush Street in Martinez was broken into and his 7-Up drink was spiked with enough arsenic to kill him. Finally, on November 5th 1969, the same individual almost certainly rang the Martinez Police Department at 12:30 am stating "There's going to be a shooting at 1234 Bush Street", before immediately hanging the receiver up. These were prolonged threats of murder spanning two weeks, before the "Bus Bomb" letter arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle on November 9th 1969 threatening to blow up a school bus and likely identifying the Salesian High School of Daniel Williams as the next target (by way of X's on crosshairs).
However, this wasn't the first threat on a Richmond school, because four days before the first "Zodiac" telephone call to Daniel Williams on October 23rd 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer telephoned "The Independent" newspaper in Richmond twice on the night of October 19th 1969 and threatened to target the Peres Elementary School on 5th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue. He again called "The Independent" newspaper twice on October 20th 1969 at 7:01 pm and 7:16 pm stating "Keep the police away from Peres" and "Keep the police away from Peres. I was there today...there were too many police". Many concerned citizens contacted police, with one woman reporting hearing a prowler and was "sure it was him". Another reported seeing a man chasing a girl and asserted that "he looks like the Zodiac". Police cautioned residents not to automatically assume any suspicious person was the Zodiac Killer, having been whipped up by the newspaper coverage of the phone caller the previous day.
However, this wasn't the first threat on a Richmond school, because four days before the first "Zodiac" telephone call to Daniel Williams on October 23rd 1969, somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer telephoned "The Independent" newspaper in Richmond twice on the night of October 19th 1969 and threatened to target the Peres Elementary School on 5th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue. He again called "The Independent" newspaper twice on October 20th 1969 at 7:01 pm and 7:16 pm stating "Keep the police away from Peres" and "Keep the police away from Peres. I was there today...there were too many police". Many concerned citizens contacted police, with one woman reporting hearing a prowler and was "sure it was him". Another reported seeing a man chasing a girl and asserted that "he looks like the Zodiac". Police cautioned residents not to automatically assume any suspicious person was the Zodiac Killer, having been whipped up by the newspaper coverage of the phone caller the previous day.
This school was situated only 1.4 miles (by crow) from the Salesian High School where Daniel Williams taught. I highly doubt that two separate and autonomous individuals claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, within four days of one another, both began the sustained targetting of the Peres Elementary School in Richmond, and the subsequent and prolonged two-week attack on the school teacher Daniel Williams, who worked at Salesian High School in Richmond----although it's certainly feasible that one had been inspired by the "The Independent" newspaper stories about the Zodiac Killer days earlier and acted upon it.
This threat on Peres Elementary School is currently the earliest known threat on schoolchildren reported in the newspapers since the October 13th 1969 "Paul Stine" letter was made public. The threat on Peres Elementary School came just two days after the San Francisco Chronicle published the Zodiac message which promised to "wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out".
This threat on Peres Elementary School is currently the earliest known threat on schoolchildren reported in the newspapers since the October 13th 1969 "Paul Stine" letter was made public. The threat on Peres Elementary School came just two days after the San Francisco Chronicle published the Zodiac message which promised to "wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire + then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out".
THE INDEPENDENT, OCTOBER 20TH 1969
On November 9th 1969, the Zodiac Killer wrote "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people. I have grown rather angry with the police for their telling lies about me. So I shall change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc". If the Zodiac Killer was going to disguise his upcoming murders, clearly the intention---at this juncture---was to cease contact with the newspapers and remove or diminish the pseudonym "Zodiac" from being linked to any reported crimes. To continue writing to the newspapers under the guise of "Zodiac" and linking himself to future murders would have totally defeated the object of disguising them as accidents and robberies. The phone caller to "The Independent" newspaper on October 19th 1969 showed an earlier reluctance to be connected to the pseudonym "Zodiac", by stating "Don't call me Zodiac anymore". Was this the precursor to no longer announcing himself? Unfortunately for the Zodiac Killer, this commitment to future anonymity didn't last long.
Unsurprisingly, no attack transpired on Peres Elementary School, so if this was the Zodiac Killer targetting schoolchildren at a Bay Area location, why did he choose this specific school as his starting point? If you believe that the Daniel Williams attack was the Zodiac Killer, then there is good reason to believe that the person who delivered their threats to the Peres Elementary School via "The Independent" newspaper---all with links to Richmond--- was the Zodiac Killer too.
Unsurprisingly, no attack transpired on Peres Elementary School, so if this was the Zodiac Killer targetting schoolchildren at a Bay Area location, why did he choose this specific school as his starting point? If you believe that the Daniel Williams attack was the Zodiac Killer, then there is good reason to believe that the person who delivered their threats to the Peres Elementary School via "The Independent" newspaper---all with links to Richmond--- was the Zodiac Killer too.
RECORD SEARCHLIGHT, REDDING CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER 23RD 1969
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