How about a holster on a belt? A belt could hold the gun & holster, a knife & sheath, and rope tucked in. Maybe he held the hood in one hand

Well I think that we have an obvious choice of two scenarios here when it comes to his hood, gun, knife etc. Either he had it concealed on him as he disappeared behind the tree or he had left it behind that tree earlier in the day and was waiting for the right victims to inhabit that area before he walked down the slope and went behind the tree.

How thick was his jacket? I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that Hartnell said something along the lines of "He seemed to be a big man under that costume. But then again, he had one of those thick type of jackets on that make you look big anyway. He could have been a thin guy under there for all I know"

IIRC it was a windbreaker type jacket, quite thin I think. Bryan also stated that his stomach was hanging over his belt/trousers.

Slightly off topic I know but, the description of attacker and what he was wearing at Lake B does seem to match the description given around 6 weeks later by Fouke in his memo. Pleated pants, cotton jacket with collar, 5 ft 10 and heavyset. But the man who shot Paul Stine seemed totally relaxed as he took his time to wipe down the cab both inside and out, before casually walking away down Cherry. The man at Lake B was literally shaking as he tightened Hartnell’s binds. That’s always struck me as odd and just one of the many differences between the two attacks.

To be fair, he was about to stab Bryan and Cecelia, the act of which probably provokes an adrenaline rush far more extreme than that produced when you’re merely shooting somebody.

Perhaps the calmness Zodiac displayed at Presidio Heights was a result of lessons learned from Berryessa; he could have popped a relaxant drug of some sort to steady his nerves.

Well I wouldn’t know this obviously due to never having been a serial Killing lunatic (lol) but I would have thought, maybe just even assumed that the method of murder is not going to make a whole lot of difference to a killer in terms of nervousness, but the situation or risk element of that murder may. I can’t know this as I said, but I would Imagine that preparing to shoot someone in the head at point blank range knowing the result is going to eject blood absolutely everywhere inside that confined area and therefore all over yourself, is not any easier or less nerve racking that preparing to stab two people. If he was nervous at Lake B, then he should be terrified at P.H because he’s in a very affluent area of the city, which means Police patrols are likely to be higher than the average city street. He’s does not have the advantage of being in a secluded, lonely area allowing him time to escape before someone realises what’s happened. He does not have the cover of darkness to conceal himself with while making his escape. And basically he’s confined within a cab with it’s interior light illuminating the scene inside with him leaning over a slumped driver, then exiting the cab and now in full view of anyone who happens to be in the area, and calmly goes about wiping down the cabs exterior as if he is in no rush and there’s nothing to be concerned about at all and casually walks away.

I think it’s likely that his nervousness at Lake B would be the result of it being light, day time hours, and the potential for someone in a fishing boat to cruise past any moment while he is standing there pointing a gun at two people while wearing a hood. He has just as much, probably even more chance of being seen, on the corner of a busy street by someone either passing in a vehicle, on foot, or in a residence at the scene because this wasn’t 3am when the likelihood was that residents would be asleep and traffic be at it’s lowest rate, this was 10pm when many people may have been finishing work and driving home, and many residents would still be in their homes very much awake.

One thing that Bryan did report in his statement though that did seem odd and does seem to indicate the man beneath the hood was, to put a plainly, a psychopathic nut case was Bryans comment stating when Zodiac knelt down to tighten his binds, he made some sort of noise like "WOOOOSSSSH." And his comment of hearing Zodiac grunting and panting as he attacked Cecelia. Seems like he was in a psychotic frenzy.

One thing that Bryan did report in his statement though that did seem odd and does seem to indicate the man beneath the hood was, to put a plainly, a psychopathic nut case was Bryans comment stating when Zodiac knelt down to tighten his binds, he made some sort of noise like "WOOOOSSSSH." And his comment of hearing Zodiac grunting and panting as he attacked Cecelia. Seems like he was in a psychotic frenzy.

I thought the "WOOOOSSSSH" noise and grunting were weird, too, when I read about them and started coming up with a list of reasons why a person would do things like that or how they could be otherwise explained. Here’s what I came up with off the top of my head:

"WOOOOSSSSH"

• The noise was created by air rushing out of a windbreaker jacket as he knelt quickly[/*:m:54bg9h8b]
• The noise was created when Zodiac quickly pulled a piece of clothesline from his belt[/*:m:54bg9h8b]
• Zodiac suffered from Tourette’s syndrome and the "woosh" was a simple phonic tic, his "measured" manner of speaking could have been a conscious attempt to override of his symptoms[/*:m:54bg9h8b][/list:u:54bg9h8b]

Grunting

• Zodiac was breathing heavily due to the amount of clothing and/or disguise elements he was wearing[/*:m:54bg9h8b]
• Zodiac was physically injured (long or short term) in such a way that the motion of stabbing was painful to him[/*:m:54bg9h8b]
• Zodiac was out of shape and the act of killing physically tired him to the point of hyperventilating[/*:m:54bg9h8b]
• Zodiac was sexually aroused by the act of killing[/*:m:54bg9h8b][/list:u:54bg9h8b]

I had more but I don’t have my notes in front of me. The "WOOOOSSSSH" noise is the most interesting to me assuming BH didn’t mishear a naturally occurring noise and misattribute it to Z.

If Z did make the noise, he either did so voluntarily or involuntarily and both options provide us with insight. If he made the noise voluntarily, it is possible that he made it because he felt that he had to make it… due to some kind of psychological impetus. If he made the noise involuntarily, the most likely reason is some form of medical condition that limits his ability to control his vocal output; this, specifically, is interesting because it leans towards explaining his controlled and "measured" manner of speaking.

 

One thing that Bryan did report in his statement though that did seem odd and does seem to indicate the man beneath the hood was, to put a plainly, a psychopathic nut case was Bryans comment stating when Zodiac knelt down to tighten his binds, he made some sort of noise like "WOOOOSSSSH." And his comment of hearing Zodiac grunting and panting as he attacked Cecelia. Seems like he was in a psychotic frenzy.

Hi WC
Could you please post a link to where BH said that Zodiac said this sound?

TF it is at the bottom of this page of the Hartnell interview.

http://www.zodiackiller.com/HartnellInterview3.html

Say – how would Dilbert look with a hood on? Just sayin’.

I think it is fair to say: case closed.

You – must – be – kidding..honestly

QT