IMO its not that easy. Z, if it was him, was disturbed by the fact that KJ excited the car and a lorry driver came by, too. She then reacted hysterically, recognizing her adaptor. In addition to that, Z wrote about the interesting ride he gave a young woman and her baby. IMO this is a clear Z event.

QT

Thank you QT. I am one of the people who believe that K Johns was one a few who lived to give the best description of Zodiac than anyone else. He had to know where she lived, to mail her a Halloween card and to call her telling her he knew she had another daughter.
The man I got away from in 1968 and who I have seen over these many years, is a perfect match to what she said about her abductor. Even the car that I saw was the same as the one she described.
As I have said before, it was a light golden brown/ tan. I felt the car I saw was a early 60’s Mercury Comet. I found out that that model of car did have bucket seats and had a center console like what she said she saw.
She described his voice and said that he had a rubber band holding his glasses on.
My suspect wore the same rubber band when he came into my work, wearing the shinny shoes and dark blue wool bellbottom pants that she said her abductor was wearing. He spoke in a slow deliberate manner
I doubt that my suspect went looking for the pants , shinny shoes, rubber band, to match her description.
Some might say that this could just be a coincidence , but when you go back and see that the "real" Lake Berryessa killing costume was put in my car in Napa right after the stabbing and my white hollow core plastic clothesline was taken from my side yard in Napa ,just before the crime. I don’t see how the conclusion could be a coincidence. This same suspect offered a ride to one of my friends, she didn’t take it thank goodness. Another young woman did get a ride from him and she barely made it out of his truck alive, he pulled a long knife on her! Just because we haven’t heard of other victims being in a car with Zodiac, doesn’t mean that it never happened.

Oculus: I’ve always contended that witness descriptions are untrustworthy, especially those connected with a homicide. When you’re face to barrel with a pistol (or, alternatively, face to blade with a knife), you concentrate on the weapon, not the perp. I mean, few of us exit our homes every morning with the thought that, " Today I might have my life threatened, so I should remember to eyeball my assailant closely."

Very true.

I have confidence in Kathleen’s description. She spent a lengthy amount of time with this guy and took note of a lot of things about him and his car.

My problem lies with 90% of the male population looking like that face on the wanted poster.

Also curious about this guy’s intention.

We know by the very tight timeline Z had little conversation at LHR. We know from Mageau there was no conversation at BRS. From the length of the cab ride, there couldn’t have been a lengthy conversation at PH. For those who believe LB was the "same Z", there was a conversation, but it was not that long and purely business-like.

The notion that Z would drive around for a couple hours with a prospective victim is very uncharacteristic compared to the known crimes. And then, why would the ever boastful Zodiac admit being outwitted by a woman with her baby? For this killer, the KJ saga would’ve been an embarrassing failure.

Furthermore, with a witness left behind who would be able to describe him, his car, and so on… it was extremely dangerous for him to claim. Unless of course he had nothing to do with it, in which case he sets LE off looking for the wrong guy in the wrong car. This scenario is extremely plausible.

I strongly think Z had nothing to do with the Kathleen Johns "interesting ride."

Do we know more about Kathleen Johns? Such as the address where she lived or where she worked?

QT

Do we know more about Kathleen Johns? Such as the address where she lived or where she worked?

QT

Kathleen Johns timeline: http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?p=8405#p8405

Address also listed on Patterson police report: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=178

If I remember correctly, Johns and the POI "Zode" both lived in San Bernardino, CA. Don’t know if they lived there at the same time, though.

Thanks, this is valuable information.

QT

QT–Where KJ lived has been known for years and years. I know it’s news to you, but hey, have at it!

Yeah..so I wonder why the latents found on KJ’s hub haven’t been compared to the ones on Paul’s cab or the ones found on CJB’s Beetle.

QT

I haven’t read all the comments on this one, yet. I personnal feel confident thinking this was Z’s work. I just dont kmow why he would cop to it if it wasn’t him. It also just feels like something he would do too. Especially the whole torching the car after he wasnt able to do what he wanted to her…

I suppose it could happen that she saw a picture of a man who looked very much like her abductor, who just happened to be the Zodiac’s composite. It gets a small mention in one or two papers, Zodiac reads about it and makes claim to that abduction. Somehow later, the Zodiac finds where she is living and sends her a Halloween card, then makes phone calls to her, letting her know he is watching her and knows that her new baby is another girl. (She recognises his voice as her abductor.)
I certainly do believe that her encounter was with the Zodiac.
Carol Stine on the other hand says she is on that same road that night and has an encounter very much like Kathleen had. But her story is a taller man in a different car. I think Carol was mistaken on the date , were there were two men on the same road close to the same time, doing the same things? Or like what has happened to many other people, she mistakes the make of the car and what the person who was driving it looked like.( I haven’t seen a police report on Carol’s encounter that night.) As you know, she said that Joe Stine never lived in Vallejo, yet there is proof that he did. Could her memory have faded over time ?

I think the subsequent communications (call and Halloween Card) make it very likely it was Zodiac. Zodiac knew Harnell and Mageau got away but never seemed to care (at least I have no information that Hartnell or Mageau have ever been contacted by anyone that could be Zodiac). Maybe it is because she was a woman. Serial killers evolve. I can’t imagine that Johns made up the whole incident. It’s not logical for a mother to put both her infant and unborn child in harm’s way for no reason. I am sure she had better things to do at 2 a.m. than sit in a strange police station. If it was Zodiac, and I think it was, it explains why he might go dark for a bit. If 6 months after his last public appearance and 100 miles from his last crime scene, he can be identified by the PH sketch, that means that the sketch was accurate and he could be identified anywhere in NorCal (and possibly SoCal, too). I bet that really scared him.

Do you thin Z uses his own car? I would steal or borrow a car.

KJ sat next to Z..KJ’s description of Z is in my mind without a doubt the most accurate..

Accurate for that time. He could have changed his appearance very drastically in six months.

One of the reasons that Kathleen Johns is discounted is because Z only gave details that were already in printed articles. What further details could he have given to prove he did this? Other than to describe what Johns and the baby were wearing, what other details might he provided? The make and model of Johns’ car? I’m sure that was in newspapers. The fact that he mentioned it at all and no other suspects have been identified is good evidence for me that it was Z. If he took credit for something someone else did, his credibility could have been destroyed if: 1) another serial killer is convicted of similar crimes and confesses to the murder; or 2) Johns’ real abductor writes a letter calling out Z. For similar reasons, I don’t buy the LB copycat theories. Wouldn’t Z call out a copycat? I would think so.

Wouldn’t Z call out a copycat? I would think so.

He did in the 340 cipher, "that wasn’t me on the TV show".