The Toschi “fan letters” were pretty innocuous. I think Toschi never thought a moment that sending self-promoting fan mail was a bad thing. Toschi enjoyed reading the stories about himself to his kids and wanted the series to continue.
It is a very big jump to presume Toschi wrote the 1978 Zodiac letter because of the existence of the “fan letters.” There is zero evidence for that conclusion. Very bad appearances, yes, but not evidence that he faked a Zodiac letter.
If the 1978 letter is a fake, it must have been faked by someone who had intimate knowledge of the actual Zodiac letters because of the mimicry it contains.
That was too much!
Toschi had access to unreleased Zodiac material and expert analyses so it should be expected that he could do a convincing job in form and content of hoaxing the April 24, 1978, ‘I’m back with you’ letter and whoever did send it was successful, if temporarily. Someone mentioned earlier that Toschi likely would not have run the risk of suspiciously inserting his own name into the letter, especially in this clumsy manner (“Toschi is a good cop”) just for the thrill. I agreed with that and the idea that he likely would have been careful to include an unreleased case detail or mimic unreleased material rather than what we see in the letter. When I saw his rather embarrassing fan letters and how fake they appear, the matter became less clear.
Looking at these typed letters that Toschi wrote and sent to Maupin (posted here by Tracers within a 1978 Maupin article) makes me question how thorough his approach to forging a Zodiac letter would have been. Presumably he would have taken more care with the murder note than with the fun fan mail but this Maupin ruse was really transparent. Either Toschi believed that the playfully disguised letters were an obvious inside joke or he was not as skilled at crafting forgeries as one might assume.
With the fan letters to Maupin, Toschi didn’t seem to be trying very hard. He makes an effort to add personal details and alter writing voices but it seems he spent little time on the language. He could have varied the fictitious observations but instead he presented the theme of Maupin’s character Tandy needing help from Toschi in all three. He may well have thought that Maupin would know it was him right away pretending to be a group of college girls and did so as a joke but there is little evidence to support that theory.
I’m still mulling over whether I believe Toschi actually wrote one or more Zodiac letters. One stand out indicator that these fan letters were written by the same person beside the fact that it is from the same typewriter is that he used virtually the same indentation on every correspondence from the fake fans as he did in his letters to Maupin as himself. This should be of particular interest because the use of an indentation (which Zodiac had not used previously) is also an indicator that the I’m back with you letter is potentially fake. It is an error that no careful hoaxer would have overlooked. A hoaxer risking their career over it should not have made that mistake. If it was Zodiac then it wasn’t a mistake. If it was Toschi, the fan letters show that it is a mistake he has made before.
There was a Herb Caen column in 1976 that briefly addressed Toschi and Zodiac. That would explain the mentions of Caen and Toschi; I mean, the letter reads like a straight-up reply to it.
What isn’t clear is why a crank, with no personal investment in the matter, would bother with such a belated reply, or why they painted Toschi in such an ego-boosting light. Publicly, April 1978 was hardly a hot time in the Zodiac case.
And these days, we know there was exactly one serious suspect — the one who got a search warrant from SFPD. He just happens to be the only one who fits the letter’s narrative. How many people knew about Allen in 1978?
The writing is clearly copied from Zodiac’s. Handwriting had been published, but the last Zodiac letter was in 1974. Kooks usually crawl out of the woodwork when the case is getting hype. So, the author was (IMO) either a hardcore Zodiac buff or an insider.
What’s worth mentioning here is that Graysmith quoted that Herb Caen column on page 179 of the original paperback YB. He also defended the 1978 letter and came up with the hokey projector theory to explain it. He was sitting in Toschi’s living room when the scandal was all over the news. He worked at the Chronicle, was obsessed with the case, and knew what Zodiac letters looked like.
So, I can see this leaning both ways. I can also see other options. SFPD likely knows the answer by now.
When I dug through the FBI files last year, I was confused that the 1978 re-evaluation of authenticated Zodiac letters had apparently begun before Maupin came forward. IF those dates were right, that’s another twist. I can’t remember (again, assuming the dates were right) if we figured out why they were doing it. My best dumb guess right now would be that Riverside was throwing a fit, or LE was ahead of Maupin.
A hoaxer risking their career over it should not have made that mistake.
Toschi, a hardened city murder detective who had seen all the kinds of evidence in the world, would be the last person to submit hoax material that was so obvious. It would be a very clever fake were Toschi the forger. Toschi would be intentionally gambling his career on this wild long-shot and he had the access to inside information to make it work. Work better than the forgery we see, anyway.
And what is Toschi’s motive, given that his career is on the line and there is no financial payoff for this weird prank?
That was too much!
A hoaxer risking their career over it should not have made that mistake.
Toschi, a hardened city murder detective who had seen all the kinds of evidence in the world, would be the last person to submit hoax material that was so obvious. It would be a very clever fake were Toschi the forger. Toschi would be intentionally gambling his career on this wild long-shot and he had the access to inside information to make it work. Work better than the forgery we see, anyway.
And what is Toschi’s motive, given that his career is on the line and there is no financial payoff for this weird prank?
I think it’s easy to say that this letter was “so obviously” a fake in retrospect. It fooled several experts in the case including handwriting experts at the time.
I also think it’s disingenuous for some people to make conclusions on Toschi’s mindset, personality, and character when they know little to nothing about him. People do weird, crazy things all the time that seem out of character.
“Murder will out, this my conclusion.”
– Geoffrey Chaucer
I think it’s easy to say that this letter was “so obviously” a fake in retrospect. It fooled several experts in the case including handwriting experts at the time.
Correct. At the time it did indeed appear authentic. Withdraw “so obvious” and submit “so careless”.
That was too much!
I am still divided. There is a lot to suggest that he would and did forge one or more letters including testimonies from people who would know and would not have any obvious motivation for lying several times to authors. There are also reasonable explanations for why police would keep it quiet if they knew that he did.
On the other hand there are good theories about why he wouldn’t do it at least in the manner that it was done. In terms of motivation the idea that he was trying to keep the case alive is a little mysterious to me. If SFPD had plans to close the case in 1978 then I would see why an obsessed detective might so such a thing… but including his name would be done for another purpose. Toschi may have been the kind of person that would take a risk for attention but this choice was sure to raise flags. Beyond keeping the case active I don’t see how another letter would help the investigation. He could have written it in a way that would suggest Allen’s culpability or that a particular avenue of inquiry should be pursued but I don’t see anything like that.
I’ve read that Zodiac had an unusual method of sealing envelopes but I do not know what that method was or whether it was known during the 70s. I also haven’t learned yet whether there were any fingerprints or palm prints found. For me further research should be done.
The most convincing argument that Toschi likely wrote the 1978 letter is on Richard’s site. LINK TO ARTICLE. They obtained a DNA sample from the letter in the 1990s LINK TO DNA CHART and more than two decades later they are still looking for ZDNA.
To elaborate on how this evident lack of faith in the 1978 DNA sample seems to implicate Toschi… in the absence of confirmed ZDNA the only way that they could know that the 1978 sample wasn’t from Zodiac as indicated in the chart is if the sample was female or if they were able to determine exactly who it belonged to and knew that that person (Toschi) couldn’t have been the Zodiac.
Well, if SFPD wanted Toschi’s DNA, that would probably rule out the female writer theory.
Toschi may have been worried about his job security more than anything else. SFPD’s comments were pretty brutal. And there’s the mystery of why he fell out with Armstrong. Maybe Toschi felt this was the only way he could save his career. If the real Zodiac followed up and said “that wasn’t me,” Toschi still gets what he wants — a new Zodiac letter. The documents examiners take the fall, not him.
If the real Zodiac followed up and said “that wasn’t me,” Toschi still gets what he wants — a new Zodiac letter. The documents examiners take the fall, not him.
Good point. Attempting to lure Zodiac out of hiding could have been a motive.
If the real Zodiac followed up and said “that wasn’t me,” Toschi still gets what he wants — a new Zodiac letter. The documents examiners take the fall, not him.
Good point. Attempting to lure Zodiac out of hiding could have been a motive.
I just do not see Toschi having that sort of criminal mentality. He was a detective with a huge caseload, did Toschi ever forge evidence in any of his other cases? Is he even suspected of manufacturing evidence elsewhere? If no, then Toschi committing this rash act would be extremely outside his known character.
Hypothetically, one could argue that Toschi could have forged the 1978 letter. But that is a long way from demonstrating that Toschi actually did. The ersatz motives are weak to the point of improbable. The execution of the forgery is not up to the skills of s seasoned pro that could fool his colleagues. And Toschi’s known prior behavior prior that argues against it.
That was too much!
Another thought: if Toschi were to cook up evidence, he would want to manufacture evidence that pointed to a specific suspect. Toschi is Homicide and his job is catch the bad guy and that is how he is measured.
The 1978 letter does not point to any suspect. And it was later deemed false. Toschi would want to cook up something that pointed to his suspect, if any. The 1978 letter was good for Zodiac PR but lead nowhere to handcuffing anyone. The letter did not even generate an arrest, or a major lead, or seem to function in that capacity at all. A detective willing to forge evidence would surely forge evidence that caught someone.
Knowing that, why would Toschi forge this 1978 letter, and inevitably bring the heat upon himself? He would have known the charade could not last long term. He got sent to pawn shop detail over the whole matter.
That was too much!
If the real Zodiac followed up and said “that wasn’t me,” Toschi still gets what he wants — a new Zodiac letter. The documents examiners take the fall, not him.
Good point. Attempting to lure Zodiac out of hiding could have been a motive.
I just do not see Toschi having that sort of criminal mentality. He was a detective with a huge caseload, did Toschi ever forge evidence in any of his other cases? Is he even suspected of manufacturing evidence elsewhere? If no, then Toschi committing this rash act would be extremely outside his known character.
Hypothetically, one could argue that Toschi could have forged the 1978 letter. But that is a long way from demonstrating that Toschi actually did. The ersatz motives are weak to the point of improbable. The execution of the forgery is not up to the skills of s seasoned pro that could fool his colleagues. And Toschi’s known prior behavior prior that argues against it.
No one has claimed to have demonstrated that Toschi wrote the letter, except forensic examiner Alan Keel who has stated this to multiple authors regarding his experience with the material in the late 90s.
I just do not see Toschi having that sort of criminal mentality. He was a detective with a huge caseload, did Toschi ever forge evidence in any of his other cases? Is he even suspected of manufacturing evidence elsewhere? If no, then Toschi committing this rash act would be extremely outside his known character.
Hypothetically, one could argue that Toschi could have forged the 1978 letter. But that is a long way from demonstrating that Toschi actually did. The ersatz motives are weak to the point of improbable. The execution of the forgery is not up to the skills of s seasoned pro that could fool his colleagues. And Toschi’s known prior behavior prior that argues against it.
Yet, when Maupin confronted SFPD, they had no trouble believing that Toschi could do these things. He was cleared because examiners couldn’t match his writing, not because of his character.
