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Did Zodiac kill in Oceanside? Police re-test 1962 evidence

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ophion1031
(@ophion1031)
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This is from 1968, but Joseph Alito is listed living as living there, literally a 5 minute walk from Paul Stine. That basically cements that this is an early zodiac crime for me.

Killing a cabbie any closer to the Mayor’s House in San Francisco might have been too risky for Zodiac. I would imagine with all the violence in San Francisco in 1969 there was high police presence near the Mayor’s house or at Presidio Terrace with few escape options.

@37.7880571,-122.4603444,297m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x808587301b6b6cc5:0x8ad56b1d3e042f1!2m2!1d-122.4572667!2d37.7886934!1m5!1m1!1s0x80858724d80c3eb9:0x8377c47aea5c7601!2m2!1d-122.4609438!2d37.7885915″> https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Washing … 37.7885915

Speaking of escape options.. take a look at that block. There is only one road that enters there. Zodiac would have been on foot so maybe that doesn’t matter, but just looking at the layout of the neighborhood it seems like killing any closer to the mayor’s house would have been very risky.

Now here is something worth looking into. Maybe… Was there someone that worked for the mayor of Oceanside and the mayor on San Fran? I seriously doubt it would be an employee, as that would highly increase the chances of getting caught, but it is possible. If this is the same killer, there has to be a reason why these killings took place in the locations that they did. Finding a link will probably be a difficult task.

A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….

 
Posted : March 23, 2020 11:31 am
(@sandy-betts)
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The link that I have mentioned ,is there was construction very near each Z murder, except at Lake Berreyessa. There was construction on Jackson st Oct 69 , two home were being renovated . In 1962 a home at 1120 so Pacific was under construction. If the killer was a construction worker and worked at all of these places at the time of each murder, he would know the area well enough to pull it off and each being random, is extremely hard to solve.

 
Posted : March 23, 2020 11:06 pm
(@capricorn)
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Have the results of the re-test been released yet? It seems like there has been plenty of time.

 
Posted : March 24, 2020 12:41 am
(@sandy-betts)
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Have the results of the re-test been released yet? It seems like there has been plenty of time.

"If" it was entered into GEDmatch before they stopped helping LE and the person had many relatives, it could take even longer than it did to catch the Golden State killer.
VPD is the one doing this from what I understand. If one investigator is doing all of the work by himself and in his spare time, not like Paul Holes and his 5 or 6 helpers working full time, figure on it taking 6 times or more longer to solve the Zodiac case. If Zodiac died they have to get the ok to dig him up and test his DNA to make sure they have the correct person. If he was cremated not sure what they can do with ashes? They would have to get a close relative to give their DNA to test. This isn’t like TV or the movies, it takes a long time. And if they found out there were more involved , it will be longer.

 
Posted : March 24, 2020 5:23 am
ophion1031
(@ophion1031)
Posts: 1798
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The link that I have mentioned ,is there was construction very near each Z murder, except at Lake Berreyessa. There was construction on Jackson st Oct 69 , two home were being renovated . In 1962 a home at 1120 so Pacific was under construction. If the killer was a construction worker and worked at all of these places at the time of each murder, he would know the area well enough to pull it off and each being random, is extremely hard to solve.

The killer may have been a city worker. Probably not, but who knows.

A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….

 
Posted : March 24, 2020 11:33 am
(@nick-no-nora)
Posts: 541
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Isn’t there always construction nearby? That’s kind of like when I used to read that GSK always struck in neighborhoods with houses for sale. Don’t most neighborhood have a house for sale?

 
Posted : March 24, 2020 3:15 pm
(@sandy-betts)
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Isn’t there always construction nearby? That’s kind of like when I used to read that GSK always struck in neighborhoods with houses for sale. Don’t most neighborhood have a house for sale?

I am talking about on the same block where Zodiac was last seen after the Stine Shooting.

The library and other buildings being worked on, at RCC Riverside in "Oct 1966" when Cheri Jo was murdered. .

The high school cafeteria under construction where Domingo’s and Edwards went to. Which was also a straight shot within eyes view of where Linda Edwards lived a block away.

I am not talking about in the same town, neighborhood, or a few blocks away or even nearby ,that would be stupid. That many that close to the victims at the same time as the murders, can not be just a coincidence.

The under construction at 1120 Pacific could be or maynot, we don’t know for sure if Ray Davis was a Z crime yet or not.

It’s something that could be important to look into when you are looking at suspects.

 
Posted : March 25, 2020 12:04 am
(@sillybilly)
Posts: 93
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I am suprised that the case of Ray Davis was not mentioned (at least to my knowledge) in the last decades as a possible Zodiac victim, that the authorities in Oceanside did not noticed the simillarities between it and the killing of Paul Stine. (maybe they were to busy to simply notice it? or maybe, they did contact SFPD, but we don´t have the documents to prove it?)

Could the local press from Oceanside or from the San Diego County noticed those same simillarities during the "Zodiac Killer craze" in 1969 and in the early 70´s, and mentioned it? That could be something worthy of investigating for those who live in San Diego County to look upon.

 
Posted : October 13, 2020 1:14 am
(@sandy-betts)
Posts: 1375
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I am suprised that the case of Ray Davis was not mentioned (at least to my knowledge) in the last decades as a possible Zodiac victim, that the authorities in Oceanside did not noticed the simillarities between it and the killing of Paul Stine. (maybe they were to busy to simply notice it? or maybe, they did contact SFPD, but we don´t have the documents to prove it?)

Could the local press from Oceanside or from the San Diego County noticed those same simillarities during the "Zodiac Killer craze" in 1969 and in the early 70´s, and mentioned it? That could be something worthy of investigating for those who live in San Diego County to look upon.

It is obvious that they didn’t consider it, Riverside still doesn’t consider Cheri Jo Bates a Zodiac victim, because they are still fixated on BB as her killer. I adore the police and detectives, they have very tough jobs, but some are not as smart as we hope they would be. Example here in northern Calif., we had over a dozen murders in Pittsburg and Antioch during the 80’s and 1990’s. The killer "told them he was the Zodiac", they didn’t believe him. They thought it was a hoax, he left notes from what I was told by a few of his survivors. The young detectives today do not know anything at all about the Zodiac, or his past murders and what he is capable of doing.

I found one detective who is very good at his job and is interested in my suspect, who happens to fit the description of their killer. His hands are somewhat tied because we don’t know what his full name is and have only a first name he goes by. He uses the name Anthony aka Tony , who knows if that is his real name or not?

From what I know Oceanside has been told about the similarities, we do not know what they may be doing? The detectives do not have to keep us informed about a open case. At least they have been told that there is a good possibility Ray Davis could be a Zodiac victim. I am sure that there are other unsolved murders in Calif.,that Zodiac is responsible for, we need to try and find which ones they are!

 
Posted : October 13, 2020 4:45 am
ConcernedCitizen
(@concernedcitizen)
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https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/did-the-zodiac-kill-in-oceanside-police-re-test-evidence-in-cold-case

Did the Zodiac kill in Oceanside? Police re-test evidence in cold case
1962 killing uncovered by Oceanside historian

Posted: 7:44 AM, Feb 03, 2020 Updated: 8:24 PM, Feb 03, 2020

OCEANSIDE (KGTV) — An Oceanside historian was scrolling through microfilm, researching the city’s most luxurious neighborhood, when she stumbled on something unexpected: a decades-old unsolved murder.

The more Kristi Hawthorne examined the 1962 shooting of a cab driver and the cryptic phone threats surrounding it, the more similarities she noticed to arguably the most infamous unsolved serial killing case in American history.

A question began to nag Hawthorne: Did the Zodiac killer claim his first victim in Oceanside?

She brought the case to the Oceanside Police Department’s attention. Last month, the department’s cold case unit submitted ballistics and fingerprint evidence for re-analysis through modern forensic databases for the first time.

Although a crime lab determined no further testing was possible on the nearly 58-year-old ballistics, OPD is still waiting for the results of the fingerprint analysis, said Cold Case Investigator Sylvia O’Brien.

Still, O’Brien said there were enough similarities to the Zodiac case to warrant follow-up, and she was in the process of reaching out to the appropriate agencies.

The Zodiac terrorized Northern California in the late 60s and early 70s with at least five confirmed murders, taunting messages to newspapers written in cyphers, and phone calls to police. In one letter, the Zodiac claimed to have 37 victims.

The Oceanside case is a long way from being conclusively linked to the infamous serial killer, but the 1962 shooting of Ray Davis has quickly enthralled some of the amateur sleuths that closely study the Zodiac.

“When you compare the really unusual similarities between the killer of Ray Davis and the Zodiac, you get these really bizarre, rarely seen characteristics,” said Tom Voigt, creator of zodiackiller.com.

“I think it’s the same guy doing all the killings,” he said.

And there’s a chance, Voigt said, the Zodiac is still alive today.

The killing of Ray Davis

Hawthorne, the president of the Oceanside Historical Society, became so hooked by the Ray Davis murder that she spent two years researching the case.

According to her research, on April 10, 1962, a 29-year-old taxi driver named Ray Davis radioed his cab dispatcher that he was taking a fare to South Oceanside. The radio call from the recent Michigan transplant came in at 11:10 p.m.

The next day, a police officer found Davis’ body dumped in an alley near some of Oceanside’s most influential — directly behind the homes of the city’s current and former mayors.

The body was found in the St. Malo neighborhood, an enclave for Southern California’s rich and famous that continues to be the city’s most upscale community, Hawthorne said.

Police concluded Davis had been shot by his last passenger, once in the back through the driver’s seat and once in the head.

“Ray Davis was not robbed. He was simply murdered, seemingly for sport,” Hawthorne said.

Investigators later revealed that the previous day, an unidentified caller had phoned Oceanside Police with a threat: “I am going to pull something here in Oceanside and you will never be able to figure it out.”

Days later, before the mysterious call had been reported publicly, there was a second call to Oceanside police that prompted authorities to take unprecedented safety measures, Hawthorne said.

According to the city’s police chief, the caller stated, “Do you remember me calling you last week and telling you that I was going to pull a real baffling crime? I killed the cab driver and I am going to get me a bus driver next.”

In the small town of Oceanside, with a population in that era of less than 25,000, police put armed guards on city buses and armed military police on buses heading to Camp Pendleton.

“Nothing like this ever would have happened in the history of Oceanside,” Hawthorne said. “It was quite terrifying to the residents.”

Similarities to the Zodiac

Hawthorne presented her findings to Voigt, a prominent figure in the amateur Zodiac community who has been featured in several documentaries.

The Zodiac “had training somewhere to be a serial killer. And I do believe it was in Southern California and he worked his way north,” Voigt said in an interview.

In a blog post detailing the similarities, he said both cases involved attacks on cab drivers in wealthy neighborhoods, threats against buses, and cryptic messages expressly aimed at baffling investigators.

Both killers took the highly unusual step of reporting their own crimes to police and warning of future attacks, he said.

“The Zodiac wanted to leave the biggest trace he could,” he said. “And that’s exactly what the killer of Ray Davis did.”

Davis was killed with a .22 caliber gun with long rifle ammunition, the same type of gun and ammunition used in the first confirmed Bay Area Zodiac case less than 7 years later, Voigt said.

Voigt said there are several unsolved killings in Southern California that he considers candidates for the Zodiac, but the Ray Davis murder would be the earliest.

There’s already some evidence the Zodiac may have operated in Southern California. Someone claiming to be the Zodiac took credit for the 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside County. Based on several other letters, investigators at the time linked the attack to the Zodiac.

While Voigt considers the Southern California killing a settled Zodiac case, others have disputed the link.

Then there’s the famous Zodiac composite sketch where the suspect has a crew cut.

“Some folks believe he might have been in the military. Would he have been stationed here at Camp Pendleton, committed the murder, then to Riverside and then up north?” Hawthorne said.

“I’m not saying it’s the Zodiac, I’m just saying there are enough compelling similarities to consider,” she said.

Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

"Investigators later revealed that the previous day, an unidentified caller had phoned Oceanside Police with a threat: ‘I am going to pull something here in Oceanside and you will never be able to figure it out.’"

Doesn’t exactly sound like some sniveling, pathetic loser, now, does it?

Sounds rather…assertive.

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 2:56 am
ConcernedCitizen
(@concernedcitizen)
Posts: 95
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Hi,

If this is a Z crime, it is interesting that he seemed to have an affinity for cab drivers and wealthy neighborhoods. In his autobiography, I Never Look Back, KQ talks very early on about his special relationship with a cab driver and he obviously was wealthy in 1962, as he was in 1969. So wealthy neighborhoods were his comfort zones. So there is a cab and the mention of a bus. Z seemed to be all about vehicles, sort of like KQ.

The first name of the protagonist of the book that was found on the front seat of the cab is certainly interesting…in a black comedy sort of fashion.

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 3:30 am
 egg
(@egg)
Posts: 144
Estimable Member
 

Didn’t know about the Davis case, but then that phone call about a bus certainly starts to link it to the Zodiac.

I just wrote this about the Stine case viewtopic.php?f=30&t=5171

My feeling is he had wanted to steal a cab to pick up people and kill them.

In the case of the bus driver threat, this could have been him planning to do even worst; pass himself for a bus driver, driver the bus picking people up, and then kill a large number of people onboard. And we see that maybe, he is conflicted about carrying the attacks through. After the Stine attack, he moves on to bus threats. Similarly to the Davis case.

It does bring some hope that if there is a connection, they could somehow get closer to figuring out who it was through the Davis case.

Where was the car found in the case of Davis’ murder? Nearby to the body?

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 4:36 am
(@sandy-betts)
Posts: 1375
Noble Member
 

The cab was returned to the area very close to where the killer was first picked up, so not near where he dumped the body. My guess is he lived near the area he was picked up from or had his car parked near one of the theaters? Zodiac did say there is a hell of a lot more victims down south that we only found the easy ones! I do believe Ray Davis is one of his early victims. As well as the Swindle Case!

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 5:00 am
 egg
(@egg)
Posts: 144
Estimable Member
 

The cab was returned to the area very close to where the killer was first picked up, so not near where he dumped the body. My guess is he lived near the area he was picked up from or had his car parked near one of the theaters? Zodiac did say there is a hell of a lot more victims down south that we only found the easy ones! I do believe Ray Davis is one of his early victims. As well as the Swindle Case!

The cab->bus in both cases is certainly compelling, on top of the behavioral aspect. The Stine and bus threats could be him going back to plans he had made years ago but had never followed through due to their relative complexity (assuming he wanted in both cases to impersonate a cab driver and bus driver to kill people), now feeling emboldened by his newfound fame and increased confidence.

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 5:02 am
(@theforeigner)
Posts: 821
Prominent Member
Topic starter
 

Hi,

If this is a Z crime, it is interesting that he seemed to have an affinity for cab drivers and wealthy neighborhoods. In his autobiography, I Never Look Back, KQ talks very early on about his special relationship with a cab driver and he obviously was wealthy in 1962, as he was in 1969. So wealthy neighborhoods were his comfort zones. So there is a cab and the mention of a bus. Z seemed to be all about vehicles, sort of like KQ.

The first name of the protagonist of the book that was found on the front seat of the cab is certainly interesting…in a black comedy sort of fashion.

Hi ConcernedCitizen

I have some questions:

1.What book was found on the front seat of the cab, title and name of the author ?
2.What was the name of the protagonist ?
3.Were did you find the info about the book found on the front seat of the cab? link please .

Hi, english is not my first language so please bear with me :)

 
Posted : December 29, 2020 5:17 am
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