So what I want to figure out is, if the marks on the Stine letter and envelope and the Belli are blood. Primarily to discover, if it is blood, how is it blood and where did it come from. As I mention above, how could it be transfer the shirt piece over two months later?

Here’s the items in question. Now as far as I know the envelopes are only in b&w and the Belli one doesn’t appear to have any unexplained marks on it so this will probably focus on the letters.

FWIW at a glance the marks on the Stine envelope ‘look’ to me like dusting marks.

Closer bit off the Stine letter that I assume most assume may be a blood mark.

…and the Belli letter.

Could he have written these letters the night he killed Stine? Maybe while the blood was still wet? I could see him on some sort of high immediately afterwards and highly pumped up,motivated to write

The letters of Nov. 8th and 9th came in between the Stine and Belli. The Nov. 8th was a card but it did have the 340 on a page of notepaper. The Nov. 9th was an epic long letter on notepaper. I would think that if blood had leaked from the Stine onto a piece of notepaper that it would have been used in either the Nov. 8th or 9th letters but maybe not. Zodiac could have had a couple of notepads.

The only other alterative I can think of is that Zodiac moistened the swatch of shirt before he put it in the Belli envelope.

The trouble I have with thinking that the Belli was written at the time of the Stine letter is that I do not think that Zodiac had ever considered writing to Belli until after the Dunbar phone calls. Also, had F. Lee Bailey showed up on the Dunbar Show instead of Belli I think that Belli letter would have gone to Bailey . Remember that the caller asked for F Lee Bailey or Belli.

I think that it starts with Merry Christmass is also a clue as to when it was written. I know he could have done it earlier but at the same time as the Stine letter then trying to remember that he would have to change any relevant parts to keep up that ruse of it having being written at the time it was sent. I can’t see it myself.

As for wetting the blood before putting it in the envelope. I’m no expert in blood but I would imagine that dried blood doesn’t turn back into wet blood just by adding water to it, it just turns into wet, dry blood which I think would be more like flakes of dry blood suspended in water which wouldn’t stain paper in the way that fresh blood would.

That’s why I’m wondering if it even is blood or accidental staining from some LE examination. I’m gonna check that now.

It would be handy if he got a paper cut putting it in the envelope. I wonder, if it is blood, did LE check it to confirm it cam from the shirt.

There is similar staining on the bus bomb bomb letter.

It’s on all the pages in varying degrees in the top right corner which could be staining from staples but it’s all over the diagram page.

The ‘Dear Melvin’ letter is one that people interpret in one of two ways. A. Author is genuine and suffering a sudden attack of conscience or, B. He’s full of Sh*t and believes he may soon be caught and wants to plant the seeds of the ‘Mentally ill’ alibi in advance!

Even though he appears to be talking responsibility for what he’s done and reaching out for help so he can stop, he is actually doing the complete opposite.

"I cannot reach out for help because this thing in me won’t let me." Which means "I want to tell you who I am but there this thing that won’t let me so outa my hands I’m afraid."

"I am finding it extremely difficult to hold it in check. I am afraid I will loose control again and take my ninth, and possibly tenth, victim." Which means "I cannot help myself, I don’t want to do these things but I can’t stop it from happening when this things in me takes over. So as we can see, this isn’t my fault, I am not responsible for my actions because as I think we can see, I am mentally ill."

"Please help me, I am drowning." AKA "Poor me, I am also a victim here, as much as those I shoot and stab to death are. *Sniff Sniff*"

"At the moment the children are safe because the bomb is too massive to dig in & the trigger mechanism needs much work." Which means "It’s not because I am able to control myself and actions and refrain from blowing children up that I have not done it yet, no no, as we have established, I cannot stop myself as I am not in control of my own actions and thus, the only reason the children haven’t been blasted with a device yet is because the device itself isn’t working."

"But if i hold back too long from Number Nine then I will loose all control once again and set the bomb up." Or in plain English "I can only fight this for a limited time and in the end after a certain inactive period the thing in me will take over and i will once again loose all and every bit of self control and blow a bus full of kids up."

"Please help me, I cannot remain in control much longer" is his way of claiming "I want you to help me and do so before I loose control again and do something which will not be my fault because my actions are not something i can control and therefore, take responsibility for."

It’s highly amusing to me that he is able to write this letter appearing to admit responsibility for multiple murder before reaching out for professional help when he is, in fact, absorbing himself of responsibility because he has no choice other than to do what his little thing demands he do, and as such, he is simply a helpless vessel.

I would think that if Zodiac wanted to use an analogy to describe he and his actions it would be along the lines of he himself is simply like a vehicle on the street. A car in and of itself is not a threat to citizens nor is it a weapon that can cause harm by its own will. However, when the car has someone behind it’s wheel doing 80MPH while deliberately swerving to hit a pedestrian, then even though the citizen is now dead, we cannot hold the vehicle responsible and prosecute it because it’s "that thing" inside it, or person as the case may be, that is the guilty force behind this act of evil, not the poor old car.