Hi

Long time reader (maybe 3 years or so) but first time poster. I live in the U.K. and have been fascinated by the Zodiac ever since I read Graysmith’s books. I read the “black cover” version of the Yellow book in 2006/07, which was republished due to Fincher’s movie.

The book, especially the murders themselves, I thought at least, were very well written. The cold description of the Lake Herman Road and Lake Berryessa murders were incredibly chilling. Once I had finished that I immediately bought the follow up and read about Arthur Leigh Allen. At first I was sold, (yep, it’s clearly Arthur), but I think the longer the book went on the more I wavered. Today I’m of the opinion that whilst ALA probably wasn’t a very nice person whatsoever, he probably wasn’t the Zodiac.

THEN I watched Fincher’s movie and thought it was a masterpiece. I think Jensen & Faraday should have been the prologue, but other than that – marvellous.

I’ve listened to the Criminology podcast and thought that was excellent. I’ve also been a long time lurker at Tom Voight’s site, never posted there either. I prefer this site as it seems to entertain a wider, disparate set to theories and POI’s, whilst Voight seems eager to sandbag theories and POI’s which aren’t his theories and POI’s. That got a little tiresome and hence I started looking at other Zodi-Forums and found this one.

Saying that though, in the past year it would appear Voight is getting very excited/sure that this case is going to be solved soon, and I am inclined to agree. On the Criminology podcast Tom said he had seen files and notes and also the amount of stuff the police held back (something which over the years of being intrigued by this case myself is something I figured must be the case). I think the case has been solved myself, and they are putting the proof together.

I don’t have a POI, and am personally of the opinion the Zodiac was random killing. Maybe not completely random, maybe he knew one victim, tops, maybe. But other than that I think he’s a random, lucky, opportunist.

I see a lot of people on here who have their own POI’s, people who have done some excellent work and come up with a POI who is a circumstantially nailed on for it perp for one crime. However the amount of times I then read “but if I could just link my POI to this or that…” which more and more makes me think he’s a random opportunistic killer. I don’t think you can link them. I think they’re random.

I think he very well could have done Cheri-Jo Bates, I do, but I’m not completely sold. Too much “hoping the evidence fits” for me to be more than open minded on it. Saying that, gun to my head, I like to think he did it. I’m 75% he did it.

I do think he did Domingos and Edwards. All I’ve seen is what I’ve read online, so I’ve no hot new slice of evidence or anything, but yeah I do think he did those two. That scene just seems very Zodiac-y.

And whilst I’m here, some random thoughts:

Lake Herman Road
– random, opportunist, incredibly lucky with timings
– 6 minutes is a HELL of a lot of time do do what he did

Blue Rock Springs
– also random I feel. Probably.
– I think he found his target, checked the coast was clear, came back and shot them

Lake Berryessa
– the weirdest of the lot. Still a random killing but one where he spent plenty of time scoping out the area, and being spotted by people all day
– and THAT’s why he wore the costume IMO. He’d been there all day. He may even had conversed with people? Buying water, soda, or just said hello back to friendly passers by
– to me a couple of the murders were done with the pretence of a robbery. As awful as it sounds, if you’re not a very good shot with a gun, you need to get close to your victims. Well, you can do if you say you’re robbing them.

Stine
– I think this was his “showpiece”. He did this one for the infamy, for the shirt, for the big city, and to make clear that he can kill and get away with it. This one was for the press attention.
– I think Foukes and Zelms spoke with him
– I think the teens in the house helped compose a very accurate sketch
– I think he had some almost obscene fortune that evening – as in not getting caught
– I also think this is the one that gave him a scare too. I think he stopped being Zodiac at this point. Maybe not stopped killing, but stopped being Zodiac. Only if he was certain he could get away with something did he post and communication and even then the post-Stine stuff was obtuse.

Did he know any of the victims?
– I think Bates was random
– Domingos & Edwards random
– Faraday & Jensen was random
– Mageau & Ferrin random
– Hartnell & Shepherd random
– Stine random
– Johns (I think this is genuine) random
– Lass (I think this is genuine) random

As for my speculations as to where Zodiac lived, I’d say San Francisco. I don’t think he’s particularly sophisticated, more like lucky. I think he’s had some extraordinary luck throughout all this and would be apprehended within a week if he committed those crime today. His letters, by and large, were from SF.

The ciphers? I don’t think he had talent or training or interest in ciphers. I really do think he just thought one day, “hey a cipher would be creepy”. Maybe the letter he sent to Riverside about Bates wasn’t enough for him. He had to make them memorable and a cipher would be cool so he gave that a go. The 408 was solved easily enough, because it was a simple cipher made by a novice. The 340, to me anyway, is a novice being too clever and failing to make a decipherable cipher. There probably is meant to be a message in there but the guy hit his coding peak in the 408 and that was solved by a regular married couple.

The one thing I would say, and this is largely guesswork, is that if I could guess what Zodiac did for a job, I’d venture he was a cab driver. The reason I say this is because he seemed to have an almost innate knowledge of the area. The roads, the lovers lanes, the escape routes, and where there are pay phones. To a cab driver with a grudge, 6 minutes on Lake Herman Road is acres of time. Same with BRS, same with LB, he got more daring.

Stine was his most daring and it is no coincidence that it took place in a cab. Did he know Stine? No I don’t think so but I do think he knew cabs and he knew fares and the info that can be gleaned from fares. I’m no cab driver, and this is just guesswork and speculation on my part, but I think there’s something in the whole Maple to Cherry thing. I don’t know what exactly, but it mattered to him.

Also, I say cab driver due to a murder that happened in my home town, Swindon, a few years back. Made national headlines. Sian O’Callaghan was sadly murdered by a cab driver. Nothing in the MO was Zodiac btw. But what is is the lingering thought after Chris Haliwell went to prison is that he could have been a massive, prolific serial killer. Like Zodiac, there are cases in the U.K. of missing and murdered women, which all mirror Sian. They go back years. Where Sian was found the Police found a “trophy room” of sorts with over 90 pieces of “memorabilia”. He got away with it for so long, partly, maybe, because he was a cab driver. He knew every blind corner, every traffic camera, every quiet spot, all the bus routes.

Anyway, hi, waves to everyone, hopefully my post wasn’t too ridiculous and I’ll see you around the boards here and there.