This can only be answered by the staff at the newspaper that received it and (subsequently) the law enforcement officers that examined it, I’d say.
Personally, I think it’s the most important communication we have; what do I know.

I suppose the thing to consider is that on Jan 29th of that year we had the ‘exorcist letter’ turn up followed by the ‘SLA card’ Feb 14th so with that there would have been a heightened sense of alertness to the possibility of others.

The SLA card used the same type of stamp as the exorcist letter so that may have aided and been listed as a possible thing to be aware of. Having said that though I could see handwriting coming into play even on the envelopes here so it may be that a bulletin board of sorts could have been issued to newspapers with examples of things to look out for. Even having the exorcist envelope as reference would, IMHO, been enough to flag the SLA card.

As for the ‘Badlands letter’. It’s a bit less, immediately recognizable but it was a card like the SLA preceding it so maybe that played a part. With that in mind there is also the ‘size’ of Z’s writing. I suspect that is something that was also noticable – i.e quite small.

Finally, like it or loathe it, the Citizen letter/card was sent on the same type of postcard as the ‘Lake Tahoe Card’. Again, if there was a reference resource supplied to newspapers and if that was included then it may also have helped flag the citizen card.

Whatever the exact reason it worked. As smithy has already intimated, a good catch IMO.

I suppose the thing to consider is that on Jan 29th of that year we had the ‘exorcist letter’ turn up followed by the ‘SLA card’ Feb 14th so with that there would have been a heightened sense of alertness to the possibility of others.

The SLA card used the same type of stamp as the exorcist letter so that may have aided and been listed as a possible thing to be aware of. Having said that though I could see handwriting coming into play even on the envelopes here so it may be that a bulletin board of sorts could have been issued to newspapers with examples of things to look out for. Even having the exorcist envelope as reference would, IMHO, been enough to flag the SLA card.

As for the ‘Badlands letter’. It’s a bit less, immediately recognizable but it was a card like the SLA preceding it so maybe that played a part. With that in mind there is also the ‘size’ of Z’s writing. I suspect that is something that was also noticable – i.e quite small.

Finally, like it or loathe it, the Citizen letter/card was sent on the same type of postcard as the ‘Lake Tahoe Card’. Again, if there was a reference resource supplied to newspapers and if that was included then it may also have helped flag the citizen card.

Whatever the exact reason it worked. As smithy has already intimated, a good catch IMO.

Thanks for a great roundup up all correspondences for that year. I definitely agree with you and smithy that that is an extremely important card which was why I was curious. Was the "Lake Tahoe Card" the same as the "Peeking Through the Pines Card"? I was not aware that they were the same. That could definitely be an interesting tidbit (or purely a coincidence). I guess it’s hard to tell with this case…

Considering what was going on with the SLA (and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst) and also taking into account the SLA was writing newspapers, I could see how mail at that time would have been flagged. The Citizen letter pretty much fit the theme.

Trav–I don’t think Zodiac was known for writing small. Most of his known letters seemed like normal printing size, or even quite bold and large for that matter.

Considering what was going on with the SLA (and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst) and also taking into account the SLA was writing newspapers, I could see how mail at that time would have been flagged. The Citizen letter pretty much fit the theme.

Tru Dat.

Trav–I don’t think Zodiac was known for writing small. Most of his known letters seemed like normal printing size, or even quite bold and large for that matter.

Yeah I think that too occasionally but then there’s the desk poem with it’s scale rule and indeed the very letter we’re discussing. It looks like a full letter when you take it in isolation but then it’s written on the back of a post card. Maybe some stuff was small? (shrug).

If I may (as I posted elsewhere) – how do we know this was posted in "Alameda County, (which contains) Albany"?

I’ve never questioned that – I still don’t, since I see the postmark is clear enough – but I’ve never checked to see what the relationship is between the postcode and the location, and I actually don’t see any way to do so on the dear old interweb.
Can someone help out the poor foreigner?
The card says "CA 945" on the address side.

Smithy…I think the original envelope probably had an additional two numbers, because it’s unlikely the PO would stamp the letter 945 only, not when 945 covers such an enormous distance.

http://www.payphone-project.com/mailbox … e/945.html

Vallejo is on that list, btw.

If I may (as I posted elsewhere) – how do we know this was posted in "Alameda County, (which contains) Albany"?

I’ve never questioned that – I still don’t, since I see the postmark is clear enough – but I’ve never checked to see what the relationship is between the postcode and the location, and I actually don’t see any way to do so on the dear old interweb.
Can someone help out the poor foreigner?
The card says "CA 945" on the address side.

Scroll down about halfway to Seagull’s fine post here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=862&start=20

She explains why "945" (and "940") were used.