Nice Episode.

I like the conversational parts between Richard and Morf. It is interesting to hear each person point of view. Whether in agreement or not.

I did notice the new Morf suspect plug….hahaha

My ears will be on it!

Quick thought on

"sorry no cipher…"

When he created this letter, was he away from from his den (basement?) where he went to create his ciphers? The place where his pens, grids and references are? Hence he could not create a new cipher?
He was away from the den long enough for him to need to write & mail the letter without a cipher. Where was the psycho going? Where was he stopping?

And no I do not believe the perp was pretending to be in the UK at this time and secretly plagiarizing and publishing UK tabloid press under his own byline to concoct an alibi should he ever be suspected of be the killer. I rule that out probably forever.

For the sake of argument, the Donna Lass abduction is a different type of crime than even the known five, or possible 7+ assaults attributed to Zodiac.
His known crimes involve the perp ambushing, killing, and then disappearing. The Donna Lass disappearance presumably involves abduction, kidnapping, implied sexual motive and disposal of the victim’s remains. With snow on the ground. All those things are ‘new’ to Zodiac’s criminal MO up to that point.

If one allows that Kathleen Johns was abducted by Zodiac, one could suppose that kidnapping is not beyond him. Perhaps he was growing ever confident in his behaviors. And if one and same, perhaps he had similar intentions for Kathleen Johns?

For the sake of argument, the Donna Lass abduction is a different type of crime than even the known five, or possible 7+ assaults attributed to Zodiac.
His known crimes involve the perp ambushing, killing, and then disappearing. The Donna Lass disappearance presumably involves abduction, kidnapping, implied sexual motive and disposal of the victim’s remains. With snow on the ground. All those things are ‘new’ to Zodiac’s criminal MO up to that point.

If one allows that Kathleen Johns was abducted by Zodiac, one could suppose that kidnapping is not beyond him. Perhaps he was growing ever confident in his behaviors. And if one and same, perhaps he had similar intentions for Kathleen Johns?

Although the Pines card is almost certainly a Zodiac communication, there is very little to suggest the Zodiac Killer had anything to do with her disappearance. Even Phillip Arthur Thompson was a better candidate for the abduction of Donna Lass. He was convicted of the murder of Betty Cloer, whose body was discovered lying in Cameron Park, El Dorado County on June 19th 1971. He lived in the epicentre (Sacramento) of the abduction site of Judith Hakari, the disappearance of Denise Anderson, the area where Betty Cloer was last seen, and the last sighting and body dump site of Carol Beth Hilburn. Judith Hakari was found buried alongside Ponderosa Way, near Weimar, just 24 miles north of where Betty Cloer was discovered. Phillip Arthur Thompson had previously lived with his wife at Kings Beach, on the south tip of Lake Tahoe, which sits alongside Incline Village. However, Rick & Gavin on the Solve Crimes Youtube channel identified a very good suspect for the murder of Carol Beth Hilburn.

For the sake of argument, the Donna Lass abduction is a different type of crime than even the known five, or possible 7+ assaults attributed to Zodiac.
His known crimes involve the perp ambushing, killing, and then disappearing. The Donna Lass disappearance presumably involves abduction, kidnapping, implied sexual motive and disposal of the victim’s remains. With snow on the ground. All those things are ‘new’ to Zodiac’s criminal MO up to that point.

If one allows that Kathleen Johns was abducted by Zodiac, one could suppose that kidnapping is not beyond him. Perhaps he was growing ever confident in his behaviors. And if one and same, perhaps he had similar intentions for Kathleen Johns?

Although the Pines card is almost certainly a Zodiac communication, there is very little to suggest the Zodiac Killer had anything to do with her disappearance. Even Phillip Arthur Thompson was a better candidate for the abduction of Donna Lass. He was convicted of the murder of Betty Cloer, whose body was discovered lying in Cameron Park, El Dorado County on June 19th 1971. He lived in the epicentre (Sacramento) of the abduction site of Judith Hakari, the disappearance of Denise Anderson, the area where Betty Cloer was last seen, and the last sighting and body dump site of Carol Beth Hilburn. Judith Hakari was found buried alongside Ponderosa Way, near Weimar, just 24 miles north of where Betty Cloer was discovered. Phillip Arthur Thompson had previously lived with his wife at Kings Beach, on the south tip of Lake Tahoe, which sits alongside Incline Village. However, Rick & Gavin on the Solve Crimes Youtube channel identified a very good suspect for the murder of Carol Beth Hilburn.

What evidence is there that the Pines card is a legit Zodiac communication?

For me, the Pines card is genuine because of its connection to the Monticello card, which itself links through a 4-year span of communications, a phone call and newspaper articles dating back to August 6th 1969 and up to August 1973. This will be covered in the next episode.

About the "government life" letter …. I think that was discussed in this episode ….. after that letter, most of the best possible Zodiac activity (Santa Rosa excepted) happened near state capitals:

1) Sacramento Nightingale Murders
2) Donna Lass (South Lake Tahoe is 20 miles from Carson City)
3) Albany letter
4) Hello It’s Me letter (Atlanta)
5) Webster weirdness (Boston and Austin involved)

For the sake of argument, the Donna Lass abduction is a different type of crime than even the known five, or possible 7+ assaults attributed to Zodiac.
His known crimes involve the perp ambushing, killing, and then disappearing. The Donna Lass disappearance presumably involves abduction, kidnapping, implied sexual motive and disposal of the victim’s remains. With snow on the ground. All those things are ‘new’ to Zodiac’s criminal MO up to that point.

If one allows that Kathleen Johns was abducted by Zodiac, one could suppose that kidnapping is not beyond him. Perhaps he was growing ever confident in his behaviors. And if one and same, perhaps he had similar intentions for Kathleen Johns?

Although the Pines card is almost certainly a Zodiac communication, there is very little to suggest the Zodiac Killer had anything to do with her disappearance. Even Phillip Arthur Thompson was a better candidate for the abduction of Donna Lass. He was convicted of the murder of Betty Cloer, whose body was discovered lying in Cameron Park, El Dorado County on June 19th 1971. He lived in the epicentre (Sacramento) of the abduction site of Judith Hakari, the disappearance of Denise Anderson, the area where Betty Cloer was last seen, and the last sighting and body dump site of Carol Beth Hilburn. Judith Hakari was found buried alongside Ponderosa Way, near Weimar, just 24 miles north of where Betty Cloer was discovered. Phillip Arthur Thompson had previously lived with his wife at Kings Beach, on the south tip of Lake Tahoe, which sits alongside Incline Village. However, Rick & Gavin on the Solve Crimes Youtube channel identified a very good suspect for the murder of Carol Beth Hilburn.

the land owner where Judith hakari’s body was found witnessed 3 males who claimed to be digging for bottles which he found strange considering how well dressed they were and when he approached the men’s vehicle one of them closed the boot (trunk) indicating something or someone was inside, this was the location where judiths body was found in a shallow grave, Richard do you think these 3 men with shovels were a coincidence or do you think Phillip Thomson really did murder Judith?

I really cannot be sure if Phillip Arthur Thompson had anything to do with the Judith Hakari murder, but I think those three men were certainly involved in her burial. Judith Hakari was savagely beaten about the face, strangled and raped. Her injuries were devastating, with her nose smashed to a pulp, her jaw broken in two places, several teeth had been knocked out and her hyoid bone fractured.

In the case of Phillip Arthur Thompson and Betty Cloer, the prosecution presented evidence regarding two prior incidents in which petitioner had sexually assaulted young women, the first involving Sharon S. on December 2, 1970, and the second involving Melinda M. on March 9, 1972. Sharon S. and Melinda M. were both, like Cloer, young white females who appear to have been chosen by random encounter. Both Sharon S. and Melinda M. alleged that they had agreed to go somewhere with petitioner and another man, then were taken by car to a different location where they could be rendered helpless. Petitioner physically assaulted both women, and threated to kill them. He put a gun to Melissa M.’s head. Petitioner had sexual intercourse with both women. Petitioner and Mark Masterson (who operated the car sales and service company with Thompson) were tried for the Sharon S. assault in 1971.

Testimony from the preliminary hearing in that case, including the victim’s testimony, was read into the record of the instant case. The jury also heard live witness testimony regarding the Sharon S.case. Mark Masterson testified that he and petitioner had both raped Sharon S. and that petitioner had persuaded another employee, John Mays, to falsely testify at the 1971 trial that both men had been with him at the auto shop on the night of the rape. Petitioner and Masterson were both acquitted in the Sharon S. case. Petitioner had been charged in the Melinda M. matter and eventually entered a negotiated plea to assault, with the sex offense charges being dropped. Melinda M. testified at petitioner’s trial that he had raped her in 1972 after he and James Allen picked her up when she was hitchhiking.

This seems extremely pertinent information when we have the testimony of a landowner on Ponderosa Way, who described three men at the gravesite where Judith Hakari would ultimately be found, acting suspiciously. He described the trunk of their vehicle open while digging into the earth. When he approached they closed the trunk and stated they were looking for bottles. A vehicle description could be extremely important with respect to vehicles owned by each of the men in the above case.