Traveller, I have a limp as well due to back problems and I’ve also had problems with my feet and getting shoes to fit properly so I agree with everything you are saying about that. I guess I’m thinking of the comments made about the limp and thought Bryan was the one who mentioned it.

I was just thinking that if he really wanted to disguise himself, wearing the wrong size shoes could have been part of that. He could have anticipated leaving footprints and if he had the wrong size shoes, it would be almost impossible for anyone close to him such as a spouse to suspect him (at least not likely at the time these events transpired). If he really had a limp, that would have made his identification much more likely by employers, family, friends and even acquaintances.

He probably just faked that when he knew he’d been seen by Foukes.

Now the bees would be out in the daytime and conditions such as probably existed at Lake Berryessa. At the other times, they probably weren’t out (nighttime) but I am not an expert on bees and usually just see them during the daylight hours.

I’ve had attacks of hay fever and know now that histamines are taken to control that and again they are seasonal and worse at certain times of the day and evening when the pollen count is the highest.

Zodiac certainly seemed to plan his deeds so if he might have had allergies, could have selected locations and times with this in mind? Nevermind me, these are just thoughts that occurred in response to the question and they’ve probably been discussed elsewhere.

instill fear I believe as reason for the hood…i do think Z was artsy and prolly in H.S. and may be even college plays as an actor..ive tossed around the hood used for a previous play and may be even his momma sewed it up..i kinda suspect at times he was some artsy major at berkley

Traveller, I have a limp as well due to back problems

You have my understanding and sympathies. I passed out once lifting an empty box because my back decided to have a spectacular fail. Never a dull moment lol.

That hood was creepy and it would have scared me…bigtime. But why not SAY he was Zodiac. Wouldn’t that have instilled the most fear of all?

While I do agree it was to scare them, I also think disguise and there was some nutty thing in it for himself.

I think it could be all of the above and then more. He could have easily been in a play at high school and had a well-developed interest in the arts perhaps because one or more of his family members worked in them. His mother probably had a sewing machine as many women used to sew, especially in those post-war years. Mothers of the generation grew up during the Depression (as mine did) and everybody in the USA experienced shortages of goods due to rationing that took place during WWII. I remember my mom talking about nylon stockings for women were in short supply. I also remember a darning egg that was used to repair holes in my dad’s socks.

My mother like many others was an excellent seamstress and could knit and crochet very well. So many of those skills have been lost as the economic conditions improved and people had more disposable income and access to stores, etc.

If Z were an only child for instance, he could have observed and learned lots of things about patterns and sewing from his mother and even how to use a sewing machine.

His mother could have made his Halloween costumes when he was little and who knows what he dressed up if he even did but maybe it was as Spiderman or Superman or whatever was the rage then other than cowboys, Indians and ghosts. Most kids carried plastic pumkins for trick-or-treating and there were those glasses with big noses and the big red wax lips.

Z certainly seems to have had a vivid imagination so it probably did not just develop in his late twenties or early thirties!

The use of the symbol and creative elements of his letters in communications makes me think that Zodiac definitely was in a creative field. Possibly graphic design. I think he used his symbol as some sort of twisted brand. An instance of this would be his request for people to wear those zodiac buttons. I know you have done a ton of research on the subject and a ton of evidence points to that he may have been some sort of creator.

That pretty much rounds it up. I am a graphic designer by trade and was fortunate enough to have had a career that spanned manual artwork and then the advent of computers being the norm. There are some things that appear to be designer traits in Zodiac’s missives but it’s not enough for me to say yes, he was a graphic designer. He may have been near or around such processes which is why the whole college/education aspect appeals to me. It’s a forum where you can draw inspiration from many sources. A place where you also would have access to a myriad of tools from graphic items such as lightboxes to sewing machines and so on. That’s just the physical tools but it’s also a melting pot for inspiration from threatening missives to bomb making or art/literature and chemistry as it was most likely advertised as lol.

The graphic side of things just won’t go away. ZGen picked up on it recently. http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtop … =97&t=1452

I think I mentioned it before somewhere. Might even have been back on ZKF.com but his symbol is actually a registration mark (as pointed out by Smithy on ZGen’s thread. That’s just one more element that harks towards him being near processes where it would have been used. I couldn’t tell you how many times I used that symbol over the years. Mostly I would have drawn it by hand with a rotring pen on to artwork layers but if I had time on a project I would have used the registration marks from the Letraset sheets (rubbing transfers for designers).

I have an experience gap though when it comes to college. I never went. I did some but that was on placement from my place of work for a few years and not proper art college/college as such. I joined a design firm straight from high school and was taught inhouse. Even the designers commented that I had learned more in my first year on placement than they had in four years of college because my experience was first hand, relevant and real world. That’s why I’m cautious about saying Z was a designer. There’s a lack of refinement there that, given his assumed age range, doesn’t fit. What is does fit though is college level experimenting and variation.

As you say, some sort of creator and as one myself inspiration is found from wherever you can find it. If that happens to be a college setting then it’s abundant, especially art college. Like I said I didn’t have the ‘normal’ route to my career but I did have some experience of art college, a kinda art college lite and the things I saw there and in later years as a qualified designer, going to final shows at the local art colleges, were myriad in their subject matter as you can imagine.

Sorry the post is so long. I’m just working through my own thoughts on this matter. I’m thinking about my own experiences and those Z might have had that could explain the hood and why he branded it. A criteria that would satisfy why he designed it like he did and why he branded it.

There’s also the ‘why’ he choose it. Actually maybe that’s not the right question, maybe it’s not a questions but more an observation. ‘How he used it’. He used it as a signature, a sign off, an apparel brand, a compass, a space filler (on the 340). There’s an adaptability implementation there that, to myself at least, is a graphic trait, he was making his brand modular. Not least the request to see it on badges as you mentioned. He wanted his brand implemented, rolled out. Doesn’t mean he was a designer but it does suggest that he was at least aware of that process/thinking.

At the very least, IMHO, he was in real life around such processes. He could well have been the sandwich guy who showed an interest when delivering his lunchtime orders or hung out in or worked in a bar frequented by creative industry types of the time. There are ‘clews’ a-plenty but are they runners or dead ends? I do think though that some of the things he did where not necessarily common knowledge. Sure you could say he could have looked it up in a book but even that betrays an interest in such matters (graphic/design/printing matters). The different handwriting styles not withstanding.

Bottom line is our guy was creative and I’m not convinced it was entirely amateurish. Some things you just can’t learn from books, well you could but you wouldn’t necessarily know to look for them. He also seems to employ graphic techniques that although we are familiar with them now, they weren’t necessarily common knowledge back then. Maybe most aren’t even familiar with them now. Registration marks, eh, eh? Oh and they’re called that because they were used to ‘register’ or line up the different plates in printing to produce a full colour image or even single colours.

He designed, created and branded that hood. He was the designer and the art director on that project.

Just my thoughts based on my own experiences in life and thoughts about this stuff over the years. Doesn’t mean I’m right, just offering my thoughts but I do find myself coming to the same conclusions. This guy was creative and not necessarily on an amateur level, just not sure yet if he was a creative professional. Not sure I ever will be until he’s identified.

Ok, I’m done lol. Apologies to M48 for such a long post on your thread. I guess subconsciously I was filling you in on a lot of the thinking over the years. I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts about LHR. Fascinating to read about your experiences from that time. So well written, with dates and all. Little snapshots into the past and the times, especially for a foreigner like me. Many thanks.

No worries on the long post. I have some experience with graphic design and I went to college for game design, all of my friends are designers. As grim and juvenile as his Halloween card was it points to some one with definite design skills. The care and time it took to create that card shows. As strange as it sounds I wonder sometimes if these murders were some elaborate art piece only know to Z.

2 reasons: First, to frame the Process Church, a squirrel and therefore a Suppressive Group.
Second, he knew the victims and they knew him.

2 reasons: First, to frame the Process Church, a squirrel and therefore a Suppressive Group.
Second, he knew the victims and they knew him.

Cecelia saw him without his hood, and didn’t say anything to Bryan about recognizing him. Also, he assumed they had both died (his phone call) so how would the hood frame the Process Church?

Indeed. If you intend to leave a witness, stabbing said witness multiple times with a big old knife doesn’t seem prudent. I think everything about LB points to the "costume" being something the killer donned for his own satisfaction, so to speak – it wasn’t meant to end up in the records.

Cecelia saw him without his hood, and didn’t say anything to Bryan about recognizing him. Also, he assumed they had both died (his phone call) so how would the hood frame the Process Church?

Indeed. If you intend to leave a witness, stabbing said witness multiple times with a big old knife doesn’t seem prudent. I think everything about LB points to the "costume" being something the killer donned for his own satisfaction, so to speak – it wasn’t meant to end up in the records.

Setting aside the whole "process church" thing, wouldn’t the wearing of a hood suggest that the Zodiac had some reason to believe that the possibility existed for, a victim to live? His last episode didnt go to well since Mike lived.
When he made that call, he may have hoped, they would be dead. He had them tied up and, perhaps, expected them to be dead when someone arrived to check out the call. Would he have expected someone would row by and find the scene just in enough time to save Bryan Hartnell (I exclude Cecilia because we know she doesn’t ultimately make it.). If the Zodiac is wearing a hood because he considered the possibility that, a victim may live, then, it would show that the Zodiac had some expectation that everything would end up in the records. Based on his call, it would appear as though the Zodiac thought, he had it all figured out.

Soze

It seems to me that Z is getting something experiential out of each step in the process of all of this, the hood included. The ritual of hog-tying and laboriously stabbing the victims (instead of shooting them outright); the hood, even the interaction/conversation.

I mean, he certainly mapped a lot of things out, don’t get me wrong. And it would seem from the writing on the car door, he did expect this to be a killing. But whether he was concerned about being seen seems secondary to the satisfaction he seemed to get, increasingly by way of the phone calls and letters, from the "power" he derived by creating fear. Otherwise I think he might have just put a plain old potato sack on and called it good.

It seems to me that Z is getting something experiential out of each step in the process of all of this, the hood included. The ritual of hog-tying and laboriously stabbing the victims (instead of shooting them outright); the hood, even the interaction/conversation.

All of what you mentioned above, with exception to the interaction/conversation, falls within the concept of Modus Operandi:

1. The offenders need to complete the crime
2. The offenders need to escape
3. The offenders need to avoid capture

The interaction/conversation, as well as the following:

And it would seem from the writing on the car door… the satisfaction he seemed to get, increasingly by way of the phone calls and letters….

All fall within the concept of offender Signature:

1. Signature Aspect:

Concerns motive. Its his reasons for committing the crime, such as, a monetary profit.

2. Signature Behaviour

Concerns motive also, but, only with regards to his emotional state. It is why the offender goes above and beyond what’s necessary to commit the crime.

Both, Modus Operandi and offender Signature, are used collectively to distinguish one crime from another.

Sometimes, as is the case with the hood, an item can be both a Modus Operandi and an offender Signature.

As a Modus Operandi, the hood, is used to conceal his identity

As a Signature, the hood coupled with the symbol, is used to instill fear. This fear can only be realized if the symbol is assumed to be well known.

In the case of the zodiac, especially if you look at the crimes both before and after Napa, the "fear" you mention becomes clearly incidental. Anyone, including the media, can take a crime and instill fear in the hearts and minds of the public.

Fear alone is not enough. What’s behind the fear? What’s driving him?

Just my opinion.

Soze

Thank you, Soze — solid logic.

I think, beyond the fear itself, it is the total control Z is able to exercise by instilling this fear. He is the master of all aspects of these activities. Beyond that, I don’t have a deep understanding or working theory of what might motivate Z.

Since he used a knife instead of a gun, perhaps he was anticipating lots of blood and so the "Hood" was designed to keep the victims’ blood off.

M Howard….

I’ve always thought the entire outfit Z wore at LB was to invoke fear. to most in the Bay Area at that time, if someone had approached them with that gunsight emblem sewn onto his outift, most would have freaked realizing who they were dealing with. I really think that was his intention in wearing the outfit. He had to be really disappointed when neither Cecilia or Bryan reacted to his outfit, but they’d both been out of the area, and into their school studies and had apparently missed the Z saga.