In regard to Bennallack, I thought I read somewhere that it was a band-aid. Furthermore, I thought I heard somewhere that he might have cut himself while stabbing her and left blood on the balcony as he was escaping??

Yes, I’d like to know more about what is going on there. If it’s all true, it seems like the best chance to find a suspect using DNA.

Per this January 2018 article….
https://www.kcra.com/article/47-years-l … d/14767070

"The suspect cut himself during the assault, Links said. Deputies have a DNA profile on the person who killed Bennallack and the DNA has been in the state and national databases for years."

Might be GedMatch Ancestory time for this case. Databases are not turning anything up.

I can almost guarantee you that they are as I had been in contact with Micky on matters regarding this. This is not to say that she feels this is a Z crime as she would not answer that question. Sacramento cold case detectives have been hard at work lately is my understanding and unlike the broke city of Vallejo, Sacramento definitely has the funding and resources to get this thing going with GED Match.

Still very curious as to what possible physical evidence they might have that leads them to truly believe that D/E is a Z crime.

Yeah, but I’m not sure there is any actual physical evidence, just educated guesses based on similarities. Something I found interesting from the press release about this by the Santa Barbara Sheriff…

http://www.zodiackiller.com/SBPressRelease.html

In this thread…

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=105

Traveller astutely noted this…

"We now have information that may place Zodiac in the Santa Barbara area during the period in question"

Not sure what would maybe place Zodiac in the area during that time. Another murder? They say "now", like that is new. They had been working with PD’s from other Zodiac attacks so it sounds like something developed from that. I wonder if other jurisdictions had a strong suspect and they could place that suspect in Santa Barbara around the time of the Domingo/Edwards murders? ALA maybe?

In regard to Bennallack, I thought I read somewhere that it was a band-aid. Furthermore, I thought I heard somewhere that he might have cut himself while stabbing her and left blood on the balcony as he was escaping??

Yes, I’d like to know more about what is going on there. If it’s all true, it seems like the best chance to find a suspect using DNA.

Thanks for that Rob!!. I do recall reading that somewhere. So just to be specific as to what I am talking about; Baker specifically states "considerable amount of evidence." That evidence IMO cannot just be simply a few circumstantial pieces. They have to have something physical.

For instance, one thing I had always speculated was that he said they spoke with "the other associated AGENCIES" Meaning to me, obviously I’m sure, they also spoke with Solano about their evidence. I speculate that since D/E and and F/J were both shot with .22 caliber bullets, and believed to have been a rifle at LHR, It makes me wonder if they found a sequence match on serial numbers on the bullet casings. OR, at least were able to determine the serial numbers came from the same batch/box etc.??? Perhaps they found some type of etched writing of a symbol similar to Z’s in what might have been left over of the burned shack, etc.

I just do not simply see that since there was pre-cut lengths of rope similar to the clothes line cuts at LB that they would link just by that.

Thanks for that Rob!!. I do recall reading that somewhere. So just to be specific as to what I am talking about; Baker specifically states "considerable amount of evidence." That evidence IMO cannot just be simply a few circumstantial pieces. They have to have something physical.

For instance, one thing I had always speculated was that he said they spoke with "the other associated AGENCIES" Meaning to me, obviously I’m sure, they also spoke with Solano about their evidence. I speculate that since D/E and and F/J were both shot with .22 caliber bullets, and believed to have been a rifle at LHR, It makes me wonder if they found a sequence match on serial numbers on the bullet casings. OR, at least were able to determine the serial numbers came from the same batch/box etc.??? Perhaps they found some type of etched writing of a symbol similar to Z’s in what might have been left over of the burned shack, etc.

I just do not simply see that since there was pre-cut lengths of rope similar to the clothes line cuts at LB that they would link just by that.

Agreed TT, they seem to have something rather solid. I wonder if he sent a letter or made a phone call after the D/E murders. Maybe he wrote something on their car? The Santa Barbara Sheriff are as tight lipped as Riverside or SFPD, we just don’t know.

TommyT said;
"Still very curious as to what possible physical evidence they might have
that leads them to truly believe that D/E is a Z crime."
"It makes me wonder if they found a sequence match on serial numbers
on the bullet casings."

Shell casings have brand and/or caliber information on them, not serial numbers.
If they have something that ties D/E to other Zodiac murders, I would have
thought it was a match of the firing pin impression on the rear of the shell
casing of the recovered .22LR shell casings (or some other microscopic match
of impressions from the chamber or an extraction claw/ejection post, or
barrel impressions on the recovered bullet slugs).

That KCRA link you gave makes it clear they do have DNA for the Nancy
Bennallack murder- Great!

Is it known if this DNA profile was at least compared to the supposed mtDNA profile from the 1966 Bates murder? Would be interesting to know if so and what the outcome was. If they match then that would be at least support for a link even though it is not enough to prove a link If they are not a match it could rule it out and indicate that the person who murdered Bates and the person who murdered Bennallack are not the same individual.

Regarding the excitement a week and a half ago, are we still waiting for something to be announced? And if so, are we waiting in vain or is there reason to believe there is truly something going on and there will be something forthcoming at some point in time?

Is it known if this DNA profile was at least compared to the supposed mtDNA profile from the 1966 Bates murder? Would be interesting to know if so and what the outcome was. If they match then that would be at least support for a link even though it is not enough to prove a link If they are not a match it could rule it out and indicate that the person who murdered Bates and the person who murdered Bennallack are not the individual.

Regarding the excitement a week and a half ago, are we still waiting for something to be announced? And if so, are we waiting in vain or is there reason to believe there is truly something going and there will be something forthcoming at some point in time?

Great question there. And now I’m forgetting, is the supposed DNA on Bates in Codis?? Even if there was a match, I can guarentee you that Sac and Riverside are not going to simply announce it until it’s solved. No sense in breaking that news at this point until they solve their cases related or not.

In regard to the excitement last week, whether it was a mistake or not, Morf where his source just simply says "pump the brakes." Best practice is just to let it run it’s course and wait til we hear it from the horses mouth.

TommyT said;
"Still very curious as to what possible physical evidence they might have
that leads them to truly believe that D/E is a Z crime."
"It makes me wonder if they found a sequence match on serial numbers
on the bullet casings."

Shell casings have brand and/or caliber information on them, not serial numbers.
If they have something that ties D/E to other Zodiac murders, I would have
thought it was a match of the firing pin impression on the rear of the shell
casing of the recovered .22LR shell casings (or some other microscopic match
of impressions from the the chamber or an extraction claw/ejection post, or
barrel impressions on the recovered bullet slugs).

That KCRA link you gave makes it clear they do have DNA for the Nancy
Bennallack murder- Great!

Cool, my bad. Someone else had speculated that and I thought there was a lot number somewhere. When I googled that, I see what you mean. But hell, you bring up a good point. I’m not as knowledgeable with ballistics, so tell us more about that.

You are correct that there was a ‘lot number’ for the ammunition, but it wasn’t
mentioned as being on the (fired) shell casings – it was marked on the box or
boxes of ammunition that were found in the shack;
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/zodiack … tml#p12324

Since we are on the subject of bullets and ballistics, Richard Grinell caught something in this documentary posted by Doranchak…

"But any doubts about the killer’s identity were dispelled the next day when a letter from Zodiac arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle. With it was a bloodstained piece of the driver’s shirt and a bullet from the same pistol that had killed Jensen and Faraday."

We had quite a long conversation about it here..

viewtopic.php?f=93&t=4306

it sort of got buried when the DNA news took off, but it’s equally big news, if true. That’s the key however, if true. The California DOJ said a ballistic match to the gun used at LHR might not be possible, and this was the first most heard about a bullet being mailed, that’s info that had been out there for years no one apparently noticed.

This could be another example of media getting things wrong, or, something pretty big.

<This could be another example of media getting things wrong,>

I agree with this. Information that comes from the media alone needs to find the bottom of the trashcan.

Tommy T, Bill Baker and his wife are friends of mine, he is very sure that it was Zodiac who committed the D/E murders, it had nothing to do with the rope in that case. There were many other reasons he believes that besides the 22 used.

My feelings have been it was Zodiac and that when he went to kill at Lake Berryessa, he made sure they were tied up much better than his victims in Santa Barbara.

Lets hope the results on Zodiac’s DNA comes back soon. I think we will all be surprised as to just how many he has killed and that he did not stop with Paul Stine. That he kept his word and continued to kill.

It would not surprise me to find out that the new round of testing has raised a discreet DNA profile from the stamps and led to the identification of a person who could not have committed the murders and, likewise, cannot be linked to any suspects. If such were the case, would we ever hear of that? Doubtful.

If DNA is not the agent that leads to identification, is the case basically unsolvable? Can anyone envision other evidence (aside from trophies or the long-lost LB video) that would be definite enough to satisfy the general public, the morbidly-interested like us, AND law enforcement?

Without the introduction of new evidence (someone finding a box of Zodiac related items in their dead uncle’s attic for example) I don’t see any way this case is solved without DNA/forensic genealogy.

The Riverside police should have the killer’s blood, assuming they retrieved samples from the blood trail from the crime scene to Terracina Drive. The ‘Inside Detective’ magazine revealed one crucial piece of evidence from the Riverside alleyway crime scene. It stated "The driveway adjacent to 3680 Terracina Street was so churned up it looked like a tractor had been over the ground. The girl, who was very athletic, put up a terrific struggle. At the murder scene, drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying."

The attack began adjacent to these empty buildings, approximately 100 feet from Terracina Drive. If the attack began in the vicinity of where her body was discovered, we are left with two possibilities: The blood trail to Terracina Drive was the victim’s blood, dripping from the killer, or the killer’s blood dripping from a cut hand. The blood trail, if significant enough to be noticed by detectives, and was continuous to the sidewalk of Terracina Drive, then it could be argued to be blood secreted from a continuously bleeding hand, as opposed to a killer having blood on his person (absorbed by his clothing) or a small knife. Presumably, the killer would have pocketed the knife in advance of reaching the street. This must have been considered by investigators who visited the crime scene. This may not be DNA from the Zodiac, but I would certainly be interested in this blood trail from the perspective of the Riverside killer.

The pattern or tail of the blood drops could certainly have determined the direction of the killer within the alleyway. Since detectives concluded that the "drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying," then it remains a possibility that the killer injured himself during the attack, allowing the trail of blood to extend the full 100 feet in distance, as opposed to the limited blood secretion possible from a small pocket knife or clothing.

Of course, the Zodiac killer may not have killed CJB.