You know, it kinda sounds like the much-maligned Toschi. I am just grasping at straws here, since any sort of real evidence is sorta thin on the ground. Coulda been Paul Avery for that matter, might have had a weird lead he wanted to scare up or something.

Tahoe found an article some time ago which is very interesting, published in the SF Chronicle the day before this ad appeared in the paper. It’s a general Zodiac piece, sort of a “where are they now?” thing, featuring mainly Toschi but also mentions the fact that his partner, Armstrong, is no longer on the case.

I personally think there’s a good chance that article made some nutter or prankster (not Z) put the ad in – as some sort of cryptic message to Toschi.

And the article itself may even be a ruse, i.e. an attempt on Toschi’s part to smoke out Z, who had been silent for a long time.

EDIT Here’s the article:

http://s254.photobucket.com/user/tahoe2 … 2.png.html

(Originally posted by Tahoe in a different thread).

Here’s Knute Qvale’s photo and obit.

Knute M. QVALE November 17, 1922 ~ March 11, 2010 Born in Trondheim, Norway, Qvale first saw his adopted country as the seven-year-old son of ship captain, Bjarne, and mother Signe, who immigrated to Seattle with their five children. Qvale attended Seattle’s Jefferson Elementary and James Madison Junior High Schools, and graduated in 1940 from West Seattle High, where he met his lifelong love, Gloria Alford. They married in 1941. Qvale attended the University of Washington and served in the South Pacific in World War II with the Army Air Corps. He returned to Seattle to work in the shipping supply company his father founded and later bought the firm. He and Gloria attended Fauntleroy Congregational Church and he supported the YMCA’s Camp Orkila on Orcas Island, where he set the record for a grueling swim/row/run event in his teens. In 1954, when he was 32, he moved to Portlandat the opportunity to import the Volkswagen Beetle. His distributorship grew to serve 83 dealers in five states: Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho; and led to Porsche and Audi distributions. Having learned to ski about the time he learned to walk, he remained an avid athlete and fitness enthusiast all his life. In sports, business or academics, he shared his expertise like a natural teacher and gave time and treasure anonymously to many organizations. Knute Qvale, the meticulously dressed man with the beaming smile, was welcoming to everyone. Survivors include wife Gloria; daughter, Karen Feiner; granddaughter Kristina Geary, great grandchildren Knute and Hannah Geary, and siblings Kjell Qvale of San Francisco and Bjarne Qvale of Rancho Mirage, Calif. A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 9 at First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder St. in Portland followed by a luncheon reception at the Arlington Club, 811 SW Salmon St., Portland. Suggested donations to the Seattle Kidney Center in memory of Maxine Alford: Northwest Kidney Centers Foundation, PO Box 3035, Seattle, WA 98114.

This probably constitutes thread hijack but to be completist, the obit and photo of Ragnar Qvale. I could not find any good photos of Ragnar, which is strange given that he was an actor:

Ragnar Qvale, 86; Actor, Led Architectural Firm

Ragnar Qvale, a prominent Los Angeles architect who designed the original Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas and was known as a preservationist of architecturally significant buildings, has died. He was 86.

Qvale died Sept. 20, 2001 of a cerebral hemorrhage in his home in Dana Point, where he and his wife, Mollie, had lived the last three years.

Born in Norway, Qvale immigrated to Seattle with his family at 13. He studied architecture at the University of Washington, where he joined the ski team and competed in jumping, downhill and cross-country racing.

While working as a ski instructor in Sun Valley, Idaho, in late 1939, he taught skiing to movie mogul Darryl Zanuck, who brought Qvale to Los Angeles for a screen test and signed him as a $75-a-week contract player at 20th Century Fox.

Qvale landed his first role–as a Nazi officer in the war drama "Four Sons"–the same day that the German army entered his native Norway.

"I’m grateful for the opportunity," he told United Press, "but they must think I’m a terrific actor to be able to play the part of a Nazi officer at this time."

Qvale also appeared in the Sonja Henie picture "Sun Valley Serenade," playing a small part and doing the stunt-skiing for Milton Berle. He had small parts in a few other films before World War II cut his fledgling acting career short.

After serving four years as a pilot, he returned to Los Angeles. Abandoning his acting career to pursue his first love, he established the architectural firm of Ragnar C. Qvale and Associates as well as Q.A. Architectural Arts, a firm that made watercolor renderings of buildings from blueprints.

Qvale’s projects also include Hughes Laboratories in Malibu, the rebuilt Wilshire Country Club and the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks.

Qvale’s interest in building preservation grew out of his first restoration project in the early 1970s: a ’20s-era San Francisco building designed by acclaimed architect Bernhard Maybeck that had been bought by Qvale’s brother, Kjell, to house his British Motor Car Co.

Qvale went on to restore an English Tudor home that he and his wife purchased in Hancock Park and another old home in Fremont Place that Mary Pickford once lived in and where the Qvales lived for 24 years.

"It became a passion with him," said Mollie Qvale.

Among the other buildings Qvale restored are the former Title Insurance & Trust Building on Spring Street in Los Angeles, which he and his brother had purchased, and the courthouse in St. Helena, Calif.

Qvale is survived by his wife; sons, Paul, John and Erik; daughter, Signe Kennedy; and four grandchildren.

So is there any evidence of his guy having a criminal record? Is there another thread mentioning him so I can fully understand the context of all this?

I have to say Riverside County is the place most people retire. It’s golf course/retirement central … Just felt the need to note that.

Edit: I just figured out how to follow links to threads for Mr. X. Still learning how to navigate the board. My apologies.

This stuff is just mindless, amateurish speculation. Does anyone mean to tell me that if a strong circumstantial case did not exist against KQ any of these brothers would have merited this type of scrutiny?
Of course, I’ve looked at all of them behind the scenes. The real case, however, is against KQ and KQ only. He is the one who wrote the letter to the Chron.
He is the one who lived near the PH crime scene and was spoken to by AP after the Stine murder. He is the one who lied to me about his whereabouts that night at our 2006 tete-a-tete.
He is the one who wrote to me TWICE on Monarch sized paper. (Again, I am begging someone to tell me which other suspect ever wrote
even one letter in their lives on Monarch sized paper, so I can end my delusion of thinking that NO OTHER suspect can be proven to have even known what Monarch sized paper was.)
KQ is the one who used to autograph cars in felt tip pen. KQ fits the power-assertive profile of Zodiac.

Mike

This stuff is just mindless, amateurish speculation. Does anyone mean to tell me that if a strong circumstantial case did not exist against KQ any of these brothers would have merited this type of scrutiny?
Of course, I’ve looked at all of them behind the scenes. The real case, however, is against KQ and KQ only. He is the one who wrote the letter to the Chron.
He is the one who lived near the PH crime scene and was spoken to by AP after the Stine murder. He is the one who lied to me about his whereabouts that night at our 2006 tete-a-tete.
He is the one who wrote to me TWICE on Monarch sized paper. (Again, I am begging someone to tell me which other suspect ever wrote
even one letter in their lives on Monarch sized paper, so I can end my delusion of thinking that NO OTHER suspect can be proven to have even known what Monarch sized paper was.)
KQ had the car entered in Riverside on October 30, 1966. KQ is the one who used to autograph cars in felt tip pen. KQ fits the power-assertive profile of Zodiac.

And as for KQ being an "Imperial Wizard" or some such thing, prove it! Saying someone *could* have been something is useless. Lots of people could be or could have been lots of things…

Mike

Mike R. is a pretty respected poster and researcher. He reports his findings and did some excellent research, more so then a lot of posters. He doesn’t play games & is very straight forward.

What he posts right here, explains why KQ aka Mr. X became an interesting POI.

( quote of Mike R’s :
He is the one who lived near the PH crime scene and was spoken to by AP after the Stine murder. He is the one who lied to me about his whereabouts that night at our 2006 tete-a-tete.
He is the one who wrote to me TWICE on Monarch sized paper. (Again, I am begging someone to tell me which other suspect ever wrote
even one letter in their lives on Monarch sized paper, so I can end my delusion of thinking that NO OTHER suspect can be proven to have even known what Monarch sized paper was.)
KQ is the one who used to autograph cars in felt tip pen. KQ fits the power-assertive profile of Zodiac.

Mike)

Mike R. is a pretty respected poster and researcher. He reports his findings and did some excellent research, more so then a lot of posters. He doesn’t play games & is very straight forward.

What he posts right here, explains why KQ aka Mr. X became an interesting POI.

( quote of Mike R’s :
He is the one who lived near the PH crime scene and was spoken to by AP after the Stine murder. He is the one who lied to me about his whereabouts that night at our 2006 tete-a-tete.
He is the one who wrote to me TWICE on Monarch sized paper. (Again, I am begging someone to tell me which other suspect ever wrote
even one letter in their lives on Monarch sized paper, so I can end my delusion of thinking that NO OTHER suspect can be proven to have even known what Monarch sized paper was.)
KQ is the one who used to autograph cars in felt tip pen. KQ fits the power-assertive profile of Zodiac.

Mike)

I don’t think anyone disputes the effort Mike has made. We all have to start our journey somewhere.

Can we all agree that there is a chance that Qvale hid Z at his house that night?

I don’t know what the guys sleep habits were like or anything, but it was a little late to be out walking the dog. I think he was scoping things out. Now… who was he hiding?

Could it have been one of his brothers? I’d say that is a pretty long shot, but yes it is possible. Mike R. has done more research on the Qvale family than anyone on this board though, so I think his opinion should definitely be respected.

But don’t you agree, Mike, that since there is NO physical evidence, at all, tying ANY suspect to Z, that circumstance is all we have? And that there are many suspects who have LARGER circumstantial evidence against them. There must be a reason why one person thinks their guy is Z and its really difficult to state definitively ANYTHING without a solid tie-in. For instance, ALA was supposed to go to LB the day of those murders, got caught with a knife in his car. But none of the physical evidence matched. But that’s a hell of a circumstance. And if it was KQ, then who is the partner?

I still say that when you look at the behaviors that made Z unique, KQ exhibited them all and he is the only suspect who exhibited all of them. In my previous post, I neglected to mention the fact that he showed that he liked front page publicity in the Bay Area newspapers as far back as 1947. I challenge one and all to look at those behaviors and tell me which other suspect exhibited all of them. You can’t even find another suspect who wrote on Monarch sized paper, let alone someone who autographed cars! Who autographs cars except KQ…and Z autographed a car that KQ had actually imported.

Richard Walter likes to point out that over 70% of major cases are tried on circumstantial evidence alone. Circumstantial evidence is not the "bastard child" of evidence; it is used to solve cases all the time. And he was willing to state based on my circumstantial case (and his profiling of Z) that KQ was Z. If you don’t care what Mr. Walter thinks, read The Murder Room or Google "Vidocq Society" to learn more about him. He works with scores of police departments behind the scenes on tough cold cases. Unlike you and me, that is his day job. And he prides himself on never being wrong!

Mike

mike_r

This is off topic– but under what topic is KQ’s handwriting samples? Plus is the letter/letters he sent you included?

Thanks bmichelle

I still say that when you look at the behaviors that made Z unique, KQ exhibited them all and he is the only suspect who exhibited all of them. In my previous post, I neglected to mention the fact that he showed that he liked front page publicity in the Bay Area newspapers as far back as 1947. I challenge one and all to look at those behaviors and tell me which other suspect exhibited all of them. You can’t even find another suspect who wrote on Monarch sized paper, let alone someone who autographed cars! Who autographs cars except KQ…and Z autographed a car that KQ had actually imported.

Richard Walter likes to point out that over 70% of major cases are tried on circumstantial evidence alone. Circumstantial evidence is not the "bastard child" of evidence; it is used to solve cases all the time. And he was willing to state based on my circumstantial case (and his profiling of Z) that KQ was Z. If you don’t care what Mr. Walter thinks, read The Murder Room or Google "Vidocq Society" to learn more about him. He works with scores of police departments behind the scenes on tough cold cases. Unlike you and me, that is his day job. And he prides himself on never being wrong!

Mike

I personally don’t like KQ as Z, but for the reasons you mentioned, and other reasons, I do think KQ played some sort of role in the entire thing.

Hi-

It is not for us to like or dislike suspects. It is for us to find the person who was Z. And only Z behaved like Z. If you don’t like KQ, who can you name who shared Z’s unique behaviors, like the ones I listed? I am waiting for that suspect to come along. I don’t think anyone can even name another suspect who they can prove (like I can) ever touched a piece of Monarch sized paper. When I can show that KQ shared those behaviors, you can say you don’t like him but who else did what Z did that makes an even better suspect?

There used to be a handwriting thread here that had KQ’s Soc Sec application but I don’t know if it is still up. He never hand printed anything he sent me.

Mike