Keep dangling the carrots!

This delay is so very unfair to all those who have had fingers pointed at them as well as their friends and family!

The very few remaining victims such as Hartnell and Mageau are rarely if ever heard from nor are their families.

It seems some very general aspects of these "secret" "inside" disclosures could/should be revealed! At least it would serve to stir the pot and keep some interest going here rather than more "stay tuned" posts!

And tip off a living Zodiac to destroy evidence or plan a suicide (or worse) when the police arrive at his doorstep? I don’t think so.

If Z was still alive up until recently he probs has killed himself or destroyed any evidence because them working on trying to get DNA is one of the worst kept secrets in LE. They literally went out and told the US and world press their intentions to try and catch Zodiac by finding new DNA and they even said they might try and use the same method which caught Earons if they got a full z dna profile.

If Zodiac was still alive in 2018 he would no doubt have been tipped off by LE announcing their plans via the media.

The DNA work is NOT dead, but it’s no slam dunk….stay patient, and stay tuned for updates

What would happen if, for example, the Zodiac (who was unmarried with no children or immediate ) wrote a letter of confession and placed that in an envelope to be opened after his death. He places said envelope in a safe deposit box in a bank. There might have been information regarding any evidence he still had and instructions on where to find it in order to prove that he was the perpetrator!

Zodiac falls ill and is placed under conservatorship with two conservators (one in charge of his person and the other of his estate). They take control of all his property and assets. They go to the bank and open the box finding the letter along with any other items he may have placed there!

What action would they take, if any? (These conservators or one of them is a lawyer). Obviously the Zodiac would be in no condition to withstand a trial. Would any charges be filed? Would any public disclosures be made? What would they do with this evidence.

Eventually after some eight years, Zodiac dies and is cremated. What would happen then in such a situation?

The DNA work is NOT dead, but it’s no slam dunk….stay patient, and stay tuned for updates

Been patiently waiting for updates for years.

Each day that passes makes me more and more dubious.

Based on what Alan Keel said in the early 2000s or so to Lyndon Lafferty and to me in 2007, combined with how LOOOOOOOONG is is taking to get DNA that isn’t even a "slam dunk" using today’s extremely sensitive methodologies, I think it is safe to say that Z did not just casually lick his stamps and envelopes, as many people still wish to believe. And I’ve been saying this for many years now.

What would happen if, for example, the Zodiac (who was unmarried with no children or immediate ) wrote a letter of confession and placed that in an envelope to be opened after his death. He places said envelope in a safe deposit box in a bank. There might have been information regarding any evidence he still had and instructions on where to find it in order to prove that he was the perpetrator!

Zodiac falls ill and is placed under conservatorship with two conservators (one in charge of his person and the other of his estate). They take control of all his property and assets. They go to the bank and open the box finding the letter along with any other items he may have placed there!

What action would they take, if any? (These conservators or one of them is a lawyer). Obviously the Zodiac would be in no condition to withstand a trial. Would any charges be filed? Would any public disclosures be made? What would they do with this evidence.

Eventually after some eight years, Zodiac dies and is cremated. What would happen then in such a situation?

It’s funny you should mention this. I’m a lawyer, and I’ve had many conversations with colleagues about this very issue.

Client confidentiality survives the death of a client. Thus, if a client tells me he is Zodiac,  I could never reveal that to anyone else.  If a conservator had an attorney-client relationship with Zodiac under your scenario, that conservator could not reveal the information. If he/she did reveal the information then bar discipline could be imposed, all the way up to disbarment (this is partially why I do not believe the story of the merchant mariner told by Robert Tarbox). 

Assuming no attoeny-client relationship I would imagine the conservator(s) actions would be compelled by the domonant motive they feel: to be famous personally, to protect Zodiac as a loved one, or to seek justice.  I suspect the first or last would result in releasing the information. The middle motive would result in destruction of the letter. Just my take.

IthinkIknow, Robert Tarbox had by then already previously had his licence
to practice as an attorney in California revoked (for apparently not paying
his licencing fees to the California attorney licencing authority [=’a client’?]).
I assume he may have been licenced to practice in Nevada at some time
(from what is known of his later life).
Therefore, why should he fear disbarment in California when he was no
longer licenced there? Also, he chose not to reveal the name of that client
who he alleges made that claim to him, and who he alleges he gave a
receipt to – strictly speaking, nobody can point to any specific client of
his, to prove that he broke Client Confidentiality with.
From guild1995‘s report of discussions with Tarbox, it appears believeable
to me that Tarbox took out that [Vallejo Times Herald] newspaper notice
(this was around the time of the Zodiac 2007 movie) from an apparent
sense of outrage that (by then long dead) Arthur Allen had been singled
out as the Zodiac, thereby responsible for numerous unsolved murders.
Neither guild1995 or Paul_Averly, who both spoke to Tarbox, related
anything particularly negative about him.
guild1995 communicated to me he was not aware of any next of kin of Tarbox
– it appears Tarbox does not have any, and if so, there is no-one to claim the
contents of Tarbox’s BANK OF AMERICA NT & SA safety deposit box,
the value of which is recorded as zero (unknown if this means it is
empty or if this means that anything found in the box was judged as
having no intrinsic monetary value).

If I had to speculate ….. Tom’s statement in the past year or so about the Nancy Bennallack letter seems prescient. Because they supposedly have a full DNA profile from that crime.

I would guess that some of the delay might be tying other cases to Z, especially if Nancy B turns out to be a Z crime. Once you’re out of the canonicals, who knows how far it goes? If you are Nancy B, then you’re at Hakari. If you are at Hakari, then you might be at Donna Lass. There are a handful of other missing women in Sac-Town in the Seventies.

Also …. Hakari might have been buried by three men. Which raises the possibility that even if Z is dead, some possible accomplices might or might be. And might or might not be identified.

Also, since spy stuff has been mentioned a little bit in this thread, I am fond of a military intelligence solution, noting that Joyce Walker worked for a quasi-government organization related to the spy satellite system. And it’s notable that a certain government contractor

It’ll just be a partial match that has lead to his great great great great great great great grandfather in Timbucktoo and we’ll all have to wait while they trace it all back and dig up the body and check… it’ll be a whole thing.

IthinkIknow, Robert Tarbox had by then already previously had his licence
to practice as an attorney in California revoked (for apparently not paying
his licencing fees to the California attorney licencing authority [=’a client’?]).
I assume he may have been licenced to practice in Nevada at some time
(from what is known of his later life).
Therefore, why should he fear disbarment in California when he was no
longer licenced there? Also, he chose not to reveal the name of that client
who he alleges made that claim to him, and who he alleges he gave a
receipt to – strictly speaking, nobody can point to any specific client of
his, to prove that he broke Client Confidentiality with.
From guild1995‘s report of discussions with Tarbox, it appears believeable
to me that Tarbox took out that [Vallejo Times Herald] newspaper notice
(this was around the time of the Zodiac 2007 movie) from an apparent
sense of outrage that (by then long dead) Arthur Allen had been singled
out as the Zodiac, thereby responsible for numerous unsolved murders.
Neither guild1995 or Paul_Averly, who both spoke to Tarbox, related
anything particularly negative about him.
guild1995 communicated to me he was not aware of any next of kin of Tarbox
– it appears Tarbox does not have any, and if so, there is no-one to claim the
contents of Tarbox’s BANK OF AMERICA NT & SA safety deposit box,
the value of which is recorded as zero (unknown if this means it is
empty or if this means that anything found in the box was judged as
having no intrinsic monetary value).

Good post, I’m sure tarbox and one of the zodiac killers did have a conversation, zodiac was testing the water so to speak,

IthinkIknow, Robert Tarbox had by then already previously had his licence
to practice as an attorney in California revoked (for apparently not paying
his licencing fees to the California attorney licencing authority [=’a client’?]).
I assume he may have been licenced to practice in Nevada at some time
(from what is known of his later life).
Therefore, why should he fear disbarment in California when he was no
longer licenced there? Also, he chose not to reveal the name of that client
who he alleges made that claim to him, and who he alleges he gave a
receipt to – strictly speaking, nobody can point to any specific client of
his, to prove that he broke Client Confidentiality with.
From guild1995‘s report of discussions with Tarbox, it appears believeable
to me that Tarbox took out that [Vallejo Times Herald] newspaper notice
(this was around the time of the Zodiac 2007 movie) from an apparent
sense of outrage that (by then long dead) Arthur Allen had been singled
out as the Zodiac, thereby responsible for numerous unsolved murders.
Neither guild1995 or Paul_Averly, who both spoke to Tarbox, related
anything particularly negative about him.
guild1995 communicated to me he was not aware of any next of kin of Tarbox
– it appears Tarbox does not have any, and if so, there is no-one to claim the
contents of Tarbox’s BANK OF AMERICA NT & SA safety deposit box,
the value of which is recorded as zero (unknown if this means it is
empty or if this means that anything found in the box was judged as
having no intrinsic monetary value).

Unless he intended to give up his license forever, Tarbox would have every reason to avoid further discipline from the California Bar. I’ve heard multiple reasons for his troubles with the Bar: temporary suspension for non-payment of dues, temporary or permanent disbarment for converting client funds to personal use, and temporary suspension for some other disciplinary infraction. If he intended to practice law in California in the future, then he had to keep client confidences. If he were admitted to practice law elsewhere, he could be disciplined in that state/jurisdiction for violating ethical duties to another state’s bar. So, unless he was fully retiring from the practice of law, permanently and irrevocably, he was subject to discipline for revealing client confidences. Even under those circumstances it’s hard to imagine a lawyer who took his craft seriously who would be willing to blab about what a client told him.

It seems more plausible to me that he sought (and achieved) more notariety than he would otherwise have by linking his name to Zodiac.