Here’s a download link for the entire article
https://imgur.com/a/mNcjhnr

(Cleaning this up for clarity’s sake.)

After the original post, I found that "By knife" had also appeared in an article from the November 2nd, 1969 New York Daily News. So, this might be the first-ever mention of "by knife" in the media.

This same article also ran in the Nov. 16th Pennsylvania Times-Tribune. Here are the links:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/531232050
https://www.newspapers.com/image/395304859

Edit: these are "clippings" for the Daily News version that don’t require a subscription:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48231594/daily-news/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48156149/daily-news/

A teaser for the New York Daily News piece:

And it appears that the writer has already attracted some attention…
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/zodiack … t8055.html

Exactly what Z wanted :/

So much for the holdback.

December 14th, 1969 edition of the Dayton Daily News.

The article is really large, so I’m just linking to the original page and including an excerpt for now. The title is "Will Publicity Kill Zodiac?"
https://www.newspapers.com/image/404733021/

Was the cross painted or stitched?

This other article appeared in the Nov. 16th, 1969 Pennsylvania Times-Tribune, as well as the Nov. 2nd New York Daily News.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/531232050
https://www.newspapers.com/image/395304859

I suppose it is doubtful that Zodiac was reading the coverage he received in New York but it’s interesting to me that the writer discusses "the score" only four days before Zodiac sends his first of many correspondences with a death tally, Z=7 SFPD=0.

Regarding the "by knife" leaks it seems like it only appears in out-of-state publications so it may not change much about our perception of what the public knew in the Bay area at that time but still good to know.

Thanks for posting!

PS- Hartnell said the symbol did not appear painted, it was neatly done and proportional. I would infer that it was stitched by hand or machine.

Here is a later article by Jaediker:
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtop … 882&p=7388

Jaediker was a New York writer, not a good candidate for Zodiac. Not sure why the ZKdotcom poster thinks he wrote for the Chronicle.

I suppose it is doubtful that Zodiac was reading the coverage he received in New York but it’s interesting to me that the writer discusses "the score" only four days before Zodiac sends his first of many correspondences with a death tally, Z=7 SFPD=0.

Regarding the "by knife" leaks it seems like it only appears in out-of-state publications so it may not change much about our perception of what the public knew in the Bay area at that time but still good to know. .

That’s just what I’ve found so far. Plenty of newspapers aren’t archived yet. Plus, you can look for "zodiac killer" and it’ll miss dozens of articles mentioning "zodiac killer," so you have to get creative with the search terms. This latest piece surfaced when I searched for "cipher killer," I was definitely not looking for another mention of "by knife."

My takeway is that somebody in LE simply didn’t know better and was freely discussing the holdback. Although, it’s possible that the Ohio writer got it from Jaediker, and the door wasn’t that big of a secret if you had journalist or LE acquaintances in the area.

My takeway is that somebody in LE simply didn’t know better and was freely discussing the holdback.

Looks like it.

And if this was published before the infamous Halloween Card (as seems to be the case) – well, there you go.

As someone who has taken a long break from the Z case – thank you. This is new info for me.

To be clear: if the "by knife" detail was made public prior to Avery receiving the Halloween Card, this is obviously of great significance for anyone discussing/debating whether said missive is legitimate (or not).

Thank you, CT.

Good to see you again, Norse.

Yes, these articles predated the HC by a year. (Took me a minute to remember everything. )

The sheer amount of media interest in this case must’ve caught a lot of LE off guard. Combined with multiple jurisdictions = ridiculous number of cops and reporters. Whoopsies were probably inevitable.

(Cleaning this up for clarity’s sake.)

After the original post, I found that "By knife" had also appeared in an article from the November 2nd, 1969 New York Daily News. So, this might be the first-ever mention of "by knife" in the media.

This same article also ran in the Nov. 16th Pennsylvania Times-Tribune. Here are the links:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/531232050
https://www.newspapers.com/image/395304859

Edit: these are "clippings" for the Daily News version that don’t require a subscription:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48231594/daily-news/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48156149/daily-news/

New Yorkers…always ahead of the game…

Jaediker writes that "the sign of the Zodiac is death". The 340 cipher would eventually reveal the message "life is death".