Thanks, Mike.

P.S. I believe there’s something wrong with your link. Here it is:

https://www.spreaker.com/user/11688200/ … and-poison

The poisoning case reminds me that one of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murder victims (Carolyn Davis) was killed by strychnine poisoning.

The poisoning case reminds me that one of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murder victims (Carolyn Davis) was killed by strychnine poisoning.

Its funny that you say that because I immediately thought of the Santa Rosa murders when I read about the poison. I am a firm believer that the Zodiac committed the Santa Rosa Murders (sorry Seagull) and that Cragle was right in that the Exorcist letter marked an announced change for him.

Soze

The poisoning case reminds me that one of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murder victims (Carolyn Davis) was killed by strychnine poisoning.

Always thought this too Jacob, it’s also striking that Williams (victim) and manalli (suspect in Santa Rosa murders) were both teachers, I wonder if they ever crossed paths at some point?

I listened to it immediately after the link was posted……provides an excellent timeline of z’s correspondence and thoughts about his possible state of mind and things that may have influenced him and his actions…can’t wait for the next episode….keep up the great work Morf and Richard!

The poisoning case reminds me that one of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murder victims (Carolyn Davis) was killed by strychnine poisoning.

Its funny that you say that because I immediately thought of the Santa Rosa murders when I read about the poison. I am a firm believer that the Zodiac committed the Santa Rosa Murders (sorry Seagull) and that Cragle was right in that the Exorcist letter marked an announced change for him.

Soze

At least one of the Santa Rosa victims was raped and the murders were extremely sadistic. If Zodiac was responsible for all of them then it would contradict a core criminological assumption about him: that he was just an attention-seeking thrill killer with no sexual motive.

The Santa Rosa killings are reminiscent of Lake Berryessa, with the victims being hog tied, but diverge in the victims being bludgeoned, strangled or poisoned. Assuming Zodiac is responsible this would be true to a pattern of escalating violence and cruelty. His letters describe fantasies of torturing "slaves" and in Santa Rosa he may have acted out these fantasies, just as he acted out his costumed fantasy at Lake Berryessa.

I had largely taken a break from Zodiac for a year or so (other than catching up on the brilliant z340 news), being completely blown away that there was such a big part of the story waiting for me on my return. Having never heard of the Daniel Williams events, the addition of poisoning immediately made me think of the Tylenol murders and therefore a possible link to Ted K.
Since reading the Yellow Book in the 1990s I never would have believed that relatively new information is still being discussed. Great work Mike and Richard.

Another deviation from the canonical Zodiac crimes is that the poisoner of David Williams broke into the household. If Zodiac was responsible this suggests that he was capable of committing home invasion killings, such as the 1970 murder of Nancy Bennallack in Sacramento, or the 1968 Robison family murders in Michigan.

Poisoning MO sounded somewhat similar to the case of George Trepal, a mensa member. Trepal poisoned the soda pop of a family who lived near him and annoyed him. My point is that the poisoning MO just does not seem same as the offender MO in the Zodiac case. Poisoning almost always implies the offender knows the victim(s). Zodiac’s MO clearly sought random strangers.

Poisoning MO sounded somewhat similar to the case of George Trepal, a mensa member. Trepal poisoned the soda pop of a family who lived near him and annoyed him. My point is that the poisoning MO just does not seem same as the offender MO in the Zodiac case. Poisoning almost always implies the offender knows the victim(s). Zodiac’s MO clearly sought random strangers.

If the poisoner knew the victim, wouldn’t ringing him numerous times risk exposing his identity. Also, if you were somebody who hated Daniel Williams enough to kill him, wouldn’t you just do it. Why would you advertise yourself by making numerous phone calls, stalking the residence, threatening a woman in a blue house, threatening a school and making a call to a police department promising to shoot Daniel Williams, all over a 2 week period. Additonally, we have three of the four canonical attacks, vastly different from one another, so attributing an MO to this case in terms of the attacks cannot be justified. His first two attacks, in particular, were governed by opportunity rather than victim choice. He even admitted in his July letters he was prepared to kill lone or stray people in the night, in addition to couples. The fact the first two sets of victims were young couples, is more a product of location and opportunity. Had two women/men been parked up in the Lake Herman Road turnout, or one man, or one woman, do we think the Zodiac Killer would have said "Damn, I hate heterosexual couples, and they aren’t here. I’m going home now". This supposed hatred of the Zodiac Killer towards heterosexual couples because he was jealous and couldn’t form a relationship, is not backed up by any of the evidence. There is always a propensity to want to attach sexual or emotional reasoning to every crime, even when one doesn’t exist. Could it have been part of his reasoning – yes – but the evidence for such reasoning is lacking.

What’s interesting is, that Zodiac or not, the person tormenting Daniel was capable of murder. We know that. So was it just someone who wanted Daniel dead and saw an opportunity to try it and blame Zodiac in the process?
Or did the real Zodiac have some sort of beef with him? Daniel just got married a month or so before his troubles started. Could this have been a jealous EX? Did someone see a wedding announcement??
The Tim Holt ‘Wheel of death’ did not have Poison on it for what it’s worth

What do we know about Daniel’s wife?

"Damn, I hate heterosexual couples, and they aren’t here. I’m going home now"

Definitely that to consider. MO for Zodiac is only same in two known assaults.
Many do not believe Kathleen Johns encountered Zodiac, but if you suspend disbelief and listen to her description of him & his car interior, you start to think that this guy is much more "disturbed" than even his crimes hinted.
Certainly torching Kathleen Johns’ vehicle is in the same ball park as terrorizing and poisoning.

What do we know about Daniel’s wife?

Not Much