I understand "Happy Christmas" is British in origin. Meaning Z (or his parents) might be from England or one of its former colonies.

I understand "Happy Christmas" is British in origin. Meaning Z (or his parents) might be from England or one of its former colonies.

People make that inference a lot and while it’s an understandable avenue of inquiry, I’d caution against reading too much into it. I recall seeing something similar in the Son of Sam case, where the "ugh, my hoot, it hurts" line in the Capt. Borrelli letter led to speculation that the killer might have been Scottish. (He wasn’t.) There’s also the bit about the "stage Irish" accent in the Jack the Ripper "From Hell" letter which hasn’t really led anywhere.

My take is that the formalized language and careful lettering in the Belli correspondence indicates that the Zodiac tailored his writing to specific audiences. By adopting this tone, he’s most likely attempting to put himself on par with a well-known and highly-regarded society man. By contrast, in his newspaper letters where he addresses the police, he uses a decidedly saltier tone ("fiddle and fart around," "bullshit") and makes numerous pop-culture references ("Blue Meanies"), perhaps in a nod to his adversaries’ blue collar, everyman background. The rest of his signed, general "Zodiac" communications are boyish and immature; however, when he writes anonymously ("Badlands," "Count Marco") he’s proselytizing, paternal – positively Pat Boonish.

In internet parlance, there is a word for a person who engages in this kind of behavior. Were he just getting started today, Zodiac would no doubt be an internet troll.

Were he just getting started today, Zodiac would no doubt be an internet troll.

Know what? I think that’s an excellent description for him. Brava!

Re: Happy Christmas – speaking as a Brit (I’m a Brit – I don’t go on about it) – I’ve heard both "Merry" and "Happy" used many times. I think we use Merry, more often than not. (There’s perhaps an intimation regarding strong drink being involved, in that message. "Let’s get Merry". That may be why some prefer "Happy". Yes – that’s complete speculation.)

Re: the thread and "Independent Press Telegram" – is this excerpt from a UPI story syndicated out to the Long Beach newspaper? This one?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press-Telegram
That’s very interesting.

Were he just getting started today, Zodiac would no doubt be an internet troll.

Know what? I think that’s an excellent description for him. Brava!

Re: Happy Christmas – speaking as a Brit (I’m a Brit – I don’t go on about it) – I’ve heard both "Merry" and "Happy" used many times. I think we use Merry, more often than not. (There’s perhaps an intimation regarding strong drink being involved, in that message. "Let’s get Merry". That may be why some prefer "Happy". Yes – that’s complete speculation.)

Re: the thread and "Independent Press Telegram" – is this excerpt from a UPI story syndicated out to the Long Beach newspaper? This one?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press-Telegram
That’s very interesting.

Happy Birthday + Merry Christmas = Happy Christmas? Indeed, Happy Christmas is quite unusual..there was a 1969 Beatles song called ‘Happy Christmas’, too. Song was new by then, so i guess he might refer to that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatle … stmas_1969 .

QT

Happy Christmas is quite unusual..

QT – you’re in Vienna, aren’t you? I’ll be there on the 20th December; I’ll look you up for a schnapps.
I’m in the South West of England – where Happy Christmas is reasonably usual, I’m sure, although Merry Christmas is perhaps MORE usual.
I’ll tell you what – I shall count the occurences I hear of each between now and the new year. Scientific study!

Happy Christmas is quite unusual..

QT – you’re in Vienna, aren’t you? I’ll be there on the 20th December; I’ll look you up for a schnapps.
I’m in the South West of England – where Happy Christmas is reasonably usual, I’m sure, although Merry Christmas is perhaps MORE usual.
I’ll tell you what – I shall count the occurences I hear of each between now and the new year. Scientific study!

Hi Smithy,

let’s do that one..great idea, let’s take the time for a schnaps together – looking forward to it as it is a long way to join the US Zodiac conferences..so I guess it’ll be the first Zodiac conference in Europe, at least in Austria!

QT