The girls at LB said the guy they saw was about 28-30. Pretty much exactly the same as Mageau, the kids at Presdio Heights and Kathleen Johns (if indeed it was Z she encountered). Fouke’s the only one that said 35-45.

Berryessa Police Report:

"Dean _____ advised that three young ladies, students at the college, might possibly have information as to a suspect in the Lake B. attack. The young ladies were Miss Joanne ____, Miss Linda ___ and Miss Linda ____. Dean ____ advised that the girls had been in the Lake B. area from about 3:00 to 4:30pm the previous Saturday. They had observed a lone male subject in a late model, silver blue Chevrolet. Dean ____ advised that the girls told him that they were observed out of the car by the suspect while they were sunbathing on the beach. They described the subject as approx. 40 years old, 6 ft tall, and dressed in dark clothing."

That’s the collective statement, and if memory serves me, in their individual statements they subsequently gave, one girl estimated his age to be approx. 28, another estimated it to be 40, and I can’t remember the third.

I can’t remember what each of the ages given were but definitely remember that they didn’t decide on the suspect being in his 40s. I seemed to remember the girls saying 28,30 and 40 & that police agreed that probably about 28-30 was the higher probability but my memory might be letting me down here! All I could find after a quick search were these links:

http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/Descriptions.htm

http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport28.html

Perhaps someone else can provide some more info..?

After a bit more digging, here’s the second witness who put the suspect as about 30:

http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport10.html

"I can’t remember what each of the ages given were but definitely remember that they didn’t decide on the suspect being in his 40s."

Well they definitely did say he was in his 40’s because it is recorded in the official police report.

"I seemed to remember the girls saying 28,30 and 40 & that police agreed that probably about 28-30 was the higher probability."

Where does It say that the police agreed with the late 20’s age range? I have never seen that.

Anyway, his age is, like his identity, a matter of opinion. But the basis for my being of the opinion that Zodiac was in his late 30’s/early to mid 40’s is, above all else, Don Fouke’s witness description. As I have previously stated, the man Don saw on Jackson St was almost certainly the Zodiac because he was wearing pleated trousers, a navy blue derby type jacket with flap down collar and wearing engineering type boots, which is an identical clothing description given by Bryan Hartnell of Zodiac’s attire at Berryessa. Don Fouke is a trained observer, it’s essential as part of the job he does and he stated that the White Male he saw that night on Jackson St was between the ages of 35 and 45. Don even made a point of telling Dave Toschi that the sketch released of the offender is similar to the man he saw, but that the man was older and heavier than he appears in the sketch.

This is getting a little off the topic of James Owen, but I think the question of Zodiac’s age is interesting so I started a seperate topic here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1419

Lets leave this topic for Owen, and if anyone has anything more on age please post it there.

Anyway, back to Owen.

Morf….

I have found a photo of Owen from 1950, taken on his wedding day. . Have you already got this photo?

This topic is for OWEN issues only. Anything on age go to my new topic thread. WC I put your post there. Lets continue the discussion on age there at viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1419 . This is for Morf’s interview with Owen only.

Anyway, back to Owen.

Morf….

I have found a photo of Owen from 1950, taken on his wedding day. . Have you already got this photo?

I don’t know if Morf has, but I don’t think I have. Can you post it?

Anyway, back to Owen.

Morf….

I have found a photo of Owen from 1950, taken on his wedding day. . Have you already got this photo?

I don’t know if Morf has, but I don’t think I have. Can you post it?

It’s thumbnail size, tiny, and if I enlarge it at all it is so pixelated that it becomes a blur. You want me to see if I can post the small version of it?

Photo of Owen, 1950:

Photo of Owen, 1950:

Thanks. Yeah wish it was bigger. And that we had one from 1969.

Looking at that and this one from Morf of an older Owen, I think he is in the general parameters of what we look for in Zodiac.

The one thing I would say is problematic is he has what I would call a very long face – a longer more narrow face, whereas both the SF and LB sketches show a more round face person with the length and width of the face seem the same. But I wouldn’t DQ on that basis alone.

Sorry for being slow to respond, lots of snow here on the east coast to clean up, been busy all day.

I have had that pic of Owen and his Wife for over a year, from when he first died. I don’t have any from the late 60’s,but I do have some from when he was older,within the last 10 years probably. Not much I can say. I don’t know if he wore glasses in 1969, I knoe he wore them when he was older. Face has overall shape of Zodiac perhaps, but not sure I put a ton of stock in the sketch. I try not to dwell on zodiac’s physical descriptions too much, because after 40+ years, that has gotten us no place. If I had to say Owen clashed in any way, it would be that Owen was 6ft3,taller than most accounts, although I think one of the descriptions of the mystery guy at Berryessa was 6ft2.

I look more at what does fit about Owen.

* He was ex-Air Force (Wing Walkers)

*He liked to hunt

*He owned multiple guns

*He had a job that would put him driving around late at night

*He worked at Humble Oil, and the skill sets he used there matched up with some of what is thought to be known about Zodiac.

*He was at the crime scene at almost the exact time of a murder, and had alot of inconsistencies in his statements

*Timing wise, he moved to Vallejo just before the murders started

*Zodiac always wrote letters or made phone calls immediately after his crimes, with the exception of LHR. Why? I think there’s a real possibility that Zodiac,whomever he was, had possibly dealt with or been questioned by police, and may have been a bit nervous, feeling the need to lay low. Once 7 months goes bym and he felt he was in the clear,or not really a suspect, he felt free to strike again, and write letters. Owen could fit this scenario.

First & foremost, I wish there was something I could find to take him off of my POI list. From all public accounts, he was a Family man, military man, and supervisor at Humble Oil. I am not actually accusing him of anything, I just think he should have been cleared properly by police. That did not happen.
When they asked for his rifles, he turned them over. When police later found out a rifle was not used, did they come back to him asking for his hand guns? Nope. Although they felt the need to test his guns(meaning they must have felt like he could be a suspect),they never felt the need to ask him for writing samples or prints. Despite the inconsistencies in his statements, they never caught those. They allowed him to act on their behalf and question a fellow co worker who was a possible witness. Simply put, that’s no proper procedure. Most times, the person known to be at a crime scene between the victims being seen alive, and being found dead, are treated as a suspect until ruled out. Not Owen, despite being asked to turn over his gun, as if he would turn over the murder weapon if he was the killer.

The biggest issue I have against Owen being Zodiac, is that I strongly believe that Zodiac was a Riverside resident in 66-67, and there is no evidence that Owen was ever there.

All in all, this is likely a dead end, unless some more materials could be turned up to rule him in or out as a Z suspect.

There is this photo also that appears, along with the previous wedding photo I posted, on James Owen’s Obituary. As with the wedding photo, this also is tiny and any attempts I make to enlarge renders it too pixelated to see any detail:

Some pics enlarged,

How old is he in that 2nd photo Morf? Is it another taken at his wedding? Looks like it from what he’s wearing.

Owen was born in 1930, got married at age 20 in 1950, which would mean Owen was 39/40 in 1969.