7/9/69, Police check out a report of a woman, who’s neighbor relayed an interesting story.
Basically, the woman claims that her son in law was approached by a young man, described a stocky, individual with a brown car, that desperately needed a ride back to teh Santa maria area, where Beronio himself,along with his Wife lived. Supposedly, this stocky man had told Donald, that he was involved in some shootings over July 4th, and needed to get out of the area. Beronio supposedly rejected him, and did not give him a ride.

7/13/69 Police contact Beronio, and he claims he knows nothing of this story which he supposedly told his Mother in Law.

Something’s fishy here, but more interesting, BEFORE we have a description of zodiac, this guy is claiming a stocky guy,with a BROWN CAR, wants a ride back down to Santa maria,CA (close to the Domingos/Edwards crime).

I previously mentioned this incident before, but was hoping to dig into this a bit deeper, and get some ideas, theories, or opinions.

Either the Mother in law is lying, or the son in law, Beronio, is lying. Why would either lie? What are the odds that Beronio would describe a stocky guy with a brown car, BEFORE a description of zodiac was ever out there in the public? And, what are the chances this guy would be trying to get down to Santa Maria, near the D&E crime scene?

Mike….

I think the MIL already read the info in the paper, cause she cites the exact order that MM gave to RO of the description of Z, and yet she couldn’t remember the name given to her. It could be Beronio was told that by a buddy, and the buddy was a BSer, wanted to make himself involved in the big case in Vallejo (there was a lot of that going on in Vallejo then). It could be Beronio was BSing his MIL to somehow impress her, that he knew the bad guy.

Surprised that nobody is more interested in this.

Beronio, upon being questioned, stated that he had talked to nobody that weekend outside of his Family, with the exception of JAY R. KEITH. It’s hard to see from the report being faded. Keith was a 1968 Graduate of Vallejo HS, but I cant find a pic of him. Odd that Beronio denies that he and his Wife ever ran into a person claiming to have shot people on 7/4, yet his own Wife’s Mother stated that he DID say such a thing happened, and that both her Daughter and son in law witnessed it, and she even mentioned another family member that could verify it.

I originally thought he was protecting somebody, but then started thinking, he may be scared. Also, I thought he may have possibly been a z suspect himself since he had been living in SB County, but he was only about 16 when D&E were killed. Beronio died in 1992, and before he did, he and his Wife divorced. I wrote to her asking for her comment on the incident, and she never replied.

Mike….

I think the MIL already read the info in the paper, cause she cites the exact order that MM gave to RO of the description of Z, and yet she couldn’t remember the name given to her. It could be Beronio was told that by a buddy, and the buddy was a BSer, wanted to make himself involved in the big case in Vallejo (there was a lot of that going on in Vallejo then). It could be Beronio was BSing his MIL to somehow impress her, that he knew the bad guy.

Possible, but he claims he was approached by this Guy on 7/5. Not sure what day he told hi Mother in law, but if he told her the same day, how likely would either of them know that Z possibly was driving a brown car,and also, how could he know that the attacker was heavy/stocky? Beronio’s wife also was supposed to have witnessed this. Question is, at what point did the brown car being the possible attacker’s car come out? Also, find it interesting that the guy wanted to go to Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, close to the Domnigos/Edwards crime. If he was making it up, why choose that area?

Morf, amazing find…99% this is our guy,

possibly this one?

http://motelpostcards.blogspot.co.at/20 … ornia.html

http://www.death-record.com/d/n/Donald- … California

QT

Morf,

Great find, but a question, why if the unnamed party had his own car, would he need to catch a ride with a friend?

It is a curious situation and would have been more-so had the couple confirmed it. All the cops had to go on was he said, she said. It does seem like quite the elaborate tale having made it up completely. I could see why the couple might want to deny it–especially if they thought it could be the BRS shooter–not knowing of "Zodiac" at this point in time.

Would have been interesting if LE was able to get that entire family (the ones directly involved) in the room to see who it was who was bs-ing.

Morf, amazing find…99% this is our guy,

possibly this one?

http://motelpostcards.blogspot.co.at/20 … ornia.html

http://www.death-record.com/d/n/Donald- … California

QT

Donald Lance Beronio died in 1992. I reached out to his ex-wife, but she didnt reply.

Morf,

Great find, but a question, why if the unnamed party had his own car, would he need to catch a ride with a friend?

Not sure, that part’s a bit odd. I wonder if he would make this story up for some unknown reason. Then again, he supposedly told his Mother in law about this soon after it happened on 7/5/69- could he have had details from the papers? Did they immediately report that the suspect’s car was possibly brown, or that the attacker was heavyset & stocky?

It is a curious situation and would have been more-so had the couple confirmed it. All the cops had to go on was he said, she said. It does seem like quite the elaborate tale having made it up completely. I could see why the couple might want to deny it–especially if they thought it could be the BRS shooter–not knowing of "Zodiac" at this point in time.

Would have been interesting if LE was able to get that entire family (the ones directly involved) in the room to see who it was who was bs-ing.

I dont see any reason why the mother in law would make this up, and she stated another Family Member could verify this story. Maybe, Donald was afraid for his safety, or was covering for somebody he knew?

Morf, amazing find…99% this is our guy,

possibly this one?

http://motelpostcards.blogspot.co.at/20 … ornia.html

http://www.death-record.com/d/n/Donald- … California

QT

Donald Lance Beronio died in 1992. I reached out to his ex-wife, but she didnt reply.

Well, guess because she doesn’t know the name, might be old, too. Where did you get the document from? Wasn’t Lynch the officer, too?

QT

Morf Stated…

"Possible, but he claims he was approached by this Guy on 7/5. Not sure what day he told hi Mother in law, but if he told her the same day, how likely would either of them know that Z possibly was driving a brown car,and also, how could he know that the attacker was heavy/stocky? Beronio’s wife also was supposed to have witnessed this. Question is, at what point did the brown car being the possible attacker’s car come out? Also, find it interesting that the guy wanted to go to Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, close to the Domnigos/Edwards crime. If he was making it up, why choose that area?"

Real suspicious that the only info presented is info that was published, and in the exact order that MM gave to Hoffman. No other insider info given. I thought the guy wanted to get out of town, and because Beronio was heading to Santa Maria where he lived, that was good enough for this guy. So it would be Beronio deciding where this guy was going to be heading to, not the guy who claims he was involved in a shooting, he was just going along for the ride, to get out of town.

Morf Stated…

"Possible, but he claims he was approached by this Guy on 7/5. Not sure what day he told hi Mother in law, but if he told her the same day, how likely would either of them know that Z possibly was driving a brown car,and also, how could he know that the attacker was heavy/stocky? Beronio’s wife also was supposed to have witnessed this. Question is, at what point did the brown car being the possible attacker’s car come out? Also, find it interesting that the guy wanted to go to Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, close to the Domnigos/Edwards crime. If he was making it up, why choose that area?"

Real suspicious that the only info presented is info that was published, and in the exact order that MM gave to Hoffman. No other insider info given. I thought the guy wanted to get out of town, and because Beronio was heading to Santa Maria where he lived, that was good enough for this guy. So it would be Beronio deciding where this guy was going to be heading to, not the guy who claims he was involved in a shooting, he was just going along for the ride, to get out of town.

So, the million dollar question is, were articles published between 7/4/69 & 7/7/69, detailing the attacker’s car & physical description? If so, I could see Beronio getting this info from the paper and making it up, but if no articles were out detailing that info, it would be an awfully lucky guess on Beronio’s part to nail the physical description of z, and a brown car, which Z later mentioned.

Also need to point out, the report mentions that Beronio arrived in Vallejo, up from Santa Maria early in the morning 7/5/69, so he likely would not have been privy to any details yet. The police mention that they questioned the Mother on 7/8/69. Between 7/5 & 7/7, is likely when Beronio relayed this info to his Mother in law. That’s the days we need to see if articles were published mentioning the details, 7/5-7/7.

Also, again worth noting, his wife seems to be part of this ‘meeting’ as well, making it less likely Beronio is lying

So, the million dollar question is, were articles published between 7/4/69 & 7/7/69, detailing the attacker’s car & physical description?

Yes….July 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th,……. viewtopic.php?f=94&t=165

Starting with this one (thx zam)