The widely accepted account at Blue Rock Springs is based upon the account of Michael Mageau, where we have a killer, who without uttering a word and carrying a flashlight and 9mm Luger approached the passenger side door, and unleashed a barrage of gunfire through the open side window. This apparently was his second crime, however during the first attack at Lake Herman Road he was believed to have fired warning shots to coerce the couple from the car. Despite this having possibly been his first crime he seemingly had gone there to taunt, humiliate and hunt down his victims, albeit on slightly more loaded odds than the ‘Most Dangerous Game’. In the ‘Debut of Zodiac Letter’ he states What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun. If you notice, in the center of the beam of light if you aim it at a wall or ceiling you will see a black or darck spot in the center of the circle of light about 3 to 6 inches across. When taped to a gun barrel, the bullet will strike in the center of the black dot in the light. All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights.
He could have just shot the couple through the window similar to Blue Rock Springs, but the apparent pre-preparation of taping a flashlight to the gun barrel was suggestive that this was never his intention, similar to the pre-preparation shown at Lake Berryessa. His lack of interaction at Blue Rock Springs was maybe indicative of a killer who had learnt from his mistakes at Lake Herman Road, remembering that during the first crime David Faraday’s class ring was dislodged from his finger and the wound behind David Faraday’s left ear was just that, a contact wound that could only occur if the muzzle of Zodiac’s gun was pressed beneath the lobe of the ear, not through the ear into the head as shown in the autopsy photographs. Bearing in mind this was possibly Zodiac’s first crime there was never any need to put himself in danger in his commission of the crime by getting this close to David Faraday willingly, suggesting a struggle may have ensued. If the Zodiac was right handed as we possibly believe then they would have been grappling face to face, Faraday attempting to grab the gun or deflecting it, until the Zodiac managed to press it in and behind his left ear.
The Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attack were tied up into one neat bundle by the Zodiac in the July 31st and July 4th letters and because of their close proximity, approach direction of the killer to the passenger side door on both occasions, similar shots fired, both during the last hour of the night and both on a lone couple, we, along with the crimes portrayal in films and documentaries make certain assumptions. That is, that the Lake Berryessa costume driven attack was a marked deviation from the norm, with some speculating it may not have been a Zodiac crime at all.
Michael Mageau recounted the events of the Zodiac at Blue Rock Springs, Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa and the three teenagers at Presidio Heights, but no direct eyewitnesses remain for Lake Herman Road. The fact Zodiac took the time to tape a flashlight to his gun was more suggestive of a killer determined to ‘stalk’ his victims before killing them, ‘All I had to do was spray them as if it was a water hose; there was no need to use the gun sights’. His intentions were that of a hunter, not content with just firing through the passenger side window, he wanted to instill fear. At Lake Berryessa he did just that, instilled fear and a sense of hopelessness, before brutally stabbing the couple. The question remains, was this also his intention at Lake Herman Road. Did he coerce David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen from the car and engage them in conversation similar to Lake Berryessa, before things went awry. Whatever the case, before we place the Lake Berryessa attack so far distant from the first two crimes, we have to rule out any possibility that he could have been wearing a costume at Lake Herman Road and as there were no surviving eyewitnesses we cannot, anymore than we know, that he was not in possession of a knife on December 20th 1968. Documentaries outlining the Zodiac unleashing his gun and chasing down Betty Lou Jensen across the gravel turnout, have been roundly ruled out, as the bullet casings are grouped by the passenger side door of the Rambler, what else have these documentaries influenced. The Zodiac without a costume, maybe…..