Could there be some meaning in the Skylark flag, as to the identity of the family/boy? Maybe that was a common ensignia in 1947 — I don’t really know. But if not, maybe it contains a clew to the background of the boy and his family.

Morf, I’m not sure how much research you have done on William Keating, but would you happen to know if he was related to this guy? Edward M. Keating…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramparts_(magazine )

A friend and I were discussing the Draft Board letter and the possibility of Zodiac being a draft dodger. There were protests in Berkeley in the mid-60’s where nearly 40 young men burned their draft cards. Perhaps Zodiac was there. A lot of other protests took place in NY as well. Maybe a connection of some sort.

You can move this to the Draft Board thread if it would be more appropriate there.

Not sure if he’s the same Keating or related to him. I doubt the William Keating in the Pigeon article was a draft dodger, since he was likely 30+ yrs old during the height of the Vietnam draft.

Whomever mailed the draftboard letter hailed from Syracuse NY(Ross Sullivan makes sense since he was from Syracuse).

I’ve been toying around with the idea of contacting Family members of the cop that discovered the ID of the Pigeon kid

I’ve been toying around with the idea of contacting Family members of the cop that discovered the ID of the Pigeon kid

You should!! Or even contacting anyone who lived on that block at the time that may recall the incident.

That other Keating guy I posted about got me thinking about the whole draft dodging thing. The magazine he wrote for, most of his staff went on to become successful writers in different parts of the country. One of them I swear I have seen the name before in my Minutemen/JFK assassination research, but I can’t seem to find out where I saw his name before. I think the protests that took place in Berkeley are interesting because I have always felt that Zodiac lived in Berkeley (at least for a time). If Ross wrote the draft board letter, maybe he was into the protests that were going on. I have been looking at a bunch of pics from the protests just to see if any familiar faces popped out, but nothing.

I noticed a speaker at the May ’65 protest when they burned the draft cards was a math professor at UC Berkeley who worked with Ted Kaczynski.

Found something interesting, in the mid 1960’s(and possibly after)a William J. Keating JR was the Vacaville Prison superintendent at the CA Medical Facility at Vacaville, Solano County. I may have pointed this out earlier in this thread. In 1969, in Vallejo, there was a William J. Keating at 219 Hampshire St, he worked at Union Oil,the prison Guy’s son??? Confusing but, in the 1974 Directory, at same address, is William J. Keating & Hilda Keating(the Union oil Guy),and William J Keating JR-student. If either of these Guys is related in any way to the Guy that got the threat from the Kid, that’s pretty powerful. I think one of these is the same Guy that is related to Leo Seunnen, Darlene Ferrin’s Brother.

The older one would be 89 years old right now, the younger one is 60. Leo is indeed related to these Guys in some way, Leo is the same age as the younger William.

Found something interesting, in the mid 1960’s(and possibly after)a William J. Keating JR was the Vacaville Prison superintendent at the CA Medical Facility at Vacaville, Solano County. I may have pointed this out earlier in this thread. In 1969, in Vallejo, there was a William J. Keating at 219 Hampshire St, he worked at Union Oil,the prison Guy’s son??? Confusing but, in the 1974 Directory, at same address, is William J. Keating & Hilda Keating(the Union oil Guy),and William J Keating JR-student. If either of these Guys is related in any way to the Guy that got the threat from the Kid, that’s pretty powerful. I think one of these is the same Guy that is related to Leo Seunnen, Darlene Ferrin’s Brother.

The older one would be 89 years old right now, the younger one is 60. Leo is indeed related to these Guys in some way, Leo is the same age as the younger William.

So the Union Oil guy would be William III? I thought that William J. (married to Hilda) was Sr.

Ok. Does anyone on here have either of those things? Can’t seem to find them online.

Alameda County libraries are best bet

I really just have internet at my disposal, but I will keep looking around… Still can’t find a single thing about John Verga. I agree with what you said about the saying "the house with the skylark flag" because he was not an immediate neighbor.

Well, here is a pic of a John Verga who was an attorney in Sacramento from Nov 25, 1975 which would put the Verga in question at around age 37….pic seems to reflect someone about that age I think. From San Bernardino County Sun Nov 25, 1975. He was Lynette Fromme’s (Squeeky of Manson fame) attorney in the case against her threatening to kill President Ford….what are the odds right? Wonder how he was appointed or how she got him on the case?

"Well, here is a pic of a John Verga who was an attorney in Sacramento from Nov 25, 1975 which would put the Verga in question at around age 37….pic seems to reflect someone about that age I think. From San Bernardino County Sun Nov 25, 1975. He was Lynette Fromme’s (Squeeky of Manson fame) attorney in the case against her threatening to kill President Ford….what are the odds right? Wonder how he was appointed or how she got him on the case?"

Wow, that pic looks nothing like the Z sketches. I haven’t done any research on the whole Pigeon Boy thing in months, but I do remember running across the attorney that defended Fromme and I’m pretty sure I found out that he is not the same John Verga. I think the middle initial didn’t match or something like that. I will see if I saved any info I had on Verga and double check just to be certain. Good find on the pic though!

The attorney had the middle initial of E., while the one we are looking for had the middle initial of C. It’s damn near impossible to find anything on Verga, even with his DOB. Must be a hermit.

His sister Charlene is married to a Henry "Hank" R Tigri. Pretty sure they now live in Lafayette, CA.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/p … h_1954.pdf
Halfway down you will see her name as a new employee and mentions she is a bride of 5 months, so her and Henry must have married in late 1953, when she would have been 20 years old. Maybe we can find out if she has children or grandchildren that we can reach out to and ask about John. Not sure why, but I have a feeling he was Pigeon Boy.

Looking again now. 916 Evelyn is Frank Bennett, you’re right. His wife and a 14 year old daughter are listed, but nobody else.

Take a look… http://1940census.archives.gov/search/? … &year=1940

Right under them is the Bruno family at 918 Evelyn. The Verga family at 914 Evelyn is listed just above the Bennetts.

The kid, John Verga is a head scratcher. I assume his name is indeed John Verga,as listed in the census. I know for sure, his DOB is 11/30/38, and he was born in San Fran, but I can not find any activity or records of him as an adult. Indeed, he would defintely been 9 yrs old at the time of the Pigeon letter. There are zero records of any John Vergas ever living in Solano County.

Now, the Richard Bruno kid-he’s a bit more interesting. Bruno, living at 918 Evelyn, was likely born late 1938, or sometime in 1939. How about this guy as a possible hit-
Name: Richard C Bruno Jr
Birth Date: 10 Oct 1937
Address: 142 Brockton CT, Vacaville, CA, 95687-6703 (1982)
[796 Scottsdale Dr, Vacaville, CA, 95687-5162 (1985)]
[1372 Callen St Apt B, Vacaville, CA, 95688-3050]

Like the 1940 census, he WAS a Richard Jr. BUT, his age at the time of the census does not line up. This kid would have been at least 2 during the 1940 census.

Also, his Dad’s age is close to the 1940 census, but also does not lineup:
AME: Richard C. Bruno
BIRTH: 10 Jul 1911
DEATH: 28 Apr 2004 – Pinole, Contra Costa, California, USA
CIVIL: California

Close,but no cigar I think

Concerning John Verga born in 1938, this is the guy IMO, the age is a match:

VERGA, JOHN C (Age 74)

Associated names:

VERGA, J
Phone: Available(4)
Address: Available

CAMPBELL, CA
SAN JOSE, CA
LOS GATOS, CA

Possible Relatives:

VERGA, DAWNITA (Age 50)
VERGA, NICKI K
VERGA, GLORIA
VERGA, DAWNITA M (Age 76)
VERGA, DAWN M
VERGA, NICKI K (Age 52)
VERGA, TAWNY (Age 29)

Why is this thread called "Skylark" ?

Why is this thread called "Skylark" ?

That was what was on the flag at the house that the kid wrote the letter from.

Why is this thread called "Skylark" ?

That was what was on the flag at the house that the kid wrote the letter from.

Thanks Vasa Croe

Looking again now. 916 Evelyn is Frank Bennett, you’re right. His wife and a 14 year old daughter are listed, but nobody else.

Take a look… http://1940census.archives.gov/search/? … &year=1940

Right under them is the Bruno family at 918 Evelyn. The Verga family at 914 Evelyn is listed just above the Bennetts.

The kid, John Verga is a head scratcher. I assume his name is indeed John Verga,as listed in the census. I know for sure, his DOB is 11/30/38, and he was born in San Fran, but I can not find any activity or records of him as an adult. Indeed, he would defintely been 9 yrs old at the time of the Pigeon letter. There are zero records of any John Vergas ever living in Solano County.

Now, the Richard Bruno kid-he’s a bit more interesting. Bruno, living at 918 Evelyn, was likely born late 1938, or sometime in 1939. How about this guy as a possible hit-
Name: Richard C Bruno Jr
Birth Date: 10 Oct 1937
Address: 142 Brockton CT, Vacaville, CA, 95687-6703 (1982)
[796 Scottsdale Dr, Vacaville, CA, 95687-5162 (1985)]
[1372 Callen St Apt B, Vacaville, CA, 95688-3050]

Like the 1940 census, he WAS a Richard Jr. BUT, his age at the time of the census does not line up. This kid would have been at least 2 during the 1940 census.

Also, his Dad’s age is close to the 1940 census, but also does not lineup:
AME: Richard C. Bruno
BIRTH: 10 Jul 1911
DEATH: 28 Apr 2004 – Pinole, Contra Costa, California, USA
CIVIL: California

Close,but no cigar I think

Concerning John Verga born in 1938, this is the guy IMO, the age is a match:

VERGA, JOHN C (Age 74)

Associated names:

VERGA, J
Phone: Available(4)
Address: Available

CAMPBELL, CA
SAN JOSE, CA
LOS GATOS, CA

Possible Relatives:

VERGA, DAWNITA (Age 50)
VERGA, NICKI K
VERGA, GLORIA
VERGA, DAWNITA M (Age 76)
VERGA, DAWN M
VERGA, NICKI K (Age 52)
VERGA, TAWNY (Age 29)

Dawnita M is John’s wife. Nicki Kay (maiden name Bogdanoff) is their daughter in law, who is the mother of Tawny and was married to David Verga (deceased). Tawny is in her early-mid 20’s, not 29. Kinda funny. A friend of mine spoke to her on facebook to see if she would ask her grandpa (John) if he had any memory of the incident, but she thought my friend was joking I think.