The location seems strange for the crime. Surely Zodiac could have pulled the gun, told Stine to drive somewhere a bit more secluded, ordered him out of the cab, shot him, cut the shirt pieces off, and then driven away in the cab. Was the cab manual or something? It just seems like a strange location to do the things he did.
I read somewhere on another site, but cannot find the police report for this, that one of the officers who attended was told the direction Zodiac had walked off, and he ran after him. He then encountered someone but this man wasn’t Zodiac (I assume he wasn’t covered in blood, and later determined not to match the description, although they were looking for a black guy) and that this man has not come forwards or been identified. Is it possible there were 2 in the car, and one got out at the first stop and then Z got out a block later. This would could be used as a sort of misdirection, as they may have believed police would end up with 2 descriptions?
Nope, didn’t run.
https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-conflicting-stories-at-presidio-heights
As for the man Pelissetti encountered, there are numerous threads about him in the Mr. X subforum.
Nope, didn’t run.
I am in the UK. When we say “ran after him” it doesn’t necessarily mean actual running, it can mean go after someone at a brisk pace. So when I say ran after him i mean made after him briskly.
It’s just that his comments in 2007 would indicate that he was proceeding in a very deliberate fashion, perhaps the opposite of “running.” It would have taken 2-3 minutes to reach the dog walker’s residence at a normal pace.
The dog walker was a rich and famous resident who would not have been considered a likely suspect in a cab shooting.
It’s just that his comments in 2007 would indicate that he was proceeding in a very deliberate fashion, perhaps the opposite of “running.” It would have taken 2-3 minutes to reach the dog walker’s residence at a normal pace.
The dog walker was a rich and famous resident who would not have been considered a likely suspect in a cab shooting.
You make it sound like he strolled after the guy like he was on a Sunday afternoon stroll. He can’t go too fast as the guy is armed and dangerous, but by the same token he can’t go too slowly or he is letting an armed and dangerous murderer get away. There is a fine line which he has to walk here. He ran after him, but not too fast as to endanger himself and not too slow as to avoid allegations of letting him escape. Even though they didn’t know it was Zodiac, he is still a dangerous criminal at large.
“The kids had told me that whoever had done this crime left the cab and was ambling or walking down Cherry Street in a northerly direction, kinda towards the Presidio. I walked that way myself, I did not run, because there are innumerable alcoves and parked cars. So, I went down following every technique I knew so I didn’t get my head blown off. Got down to the corner of Jackson Street – had to make a choice – I was on the east side of the street so turned right to the east and went up in that direction.”
Again, it was not a long distance to the dog walker, he didn’t need to run or speed-walk to bump into him a few minutes later.
However (yes, I came back 2 hours later to add this), there are other things that have to be taken into consideration: first, Pelissetti checked out the cab, talked to the witnesses, and radioed the corrected description (not necessarily in that order). During all of this, Zodiac was escaping. So there was practically zero chance of Pelissetti coming anywhere near Zodiac, especially if he emphatically wasn’t running.
Second, Lindsey went outside to watch Zodiac leave, and Zodiac disappeared around the time Pelissetti and Peda arrived. Lindsey, distracted by the police, didn’t see which way he turned after he reached the corner. So this whole notion of defensive tactics sounds slightly risible to me. He would have known Zodiac was, at the very least, a couple of blocks away.
I’ve always believe that the dog walker was in the vicinity of Maple and Cherry when the cab got there, and that forced Zodiac to proceed on another block.
“Murder will out, this my conclusion.”
– Geoffrey Chaucer
I believe the exact location of the dog walker has jumped around over the years, which makes it harder to nail down his significance. I’d like to think there was a report about him that hasn’t been lost.
@coffee-time my understanding is that there are many more SFPD reports about the Stine murder and subsequent Zodiac investigation that have not been released to the public. Perhaps the answers are there.
“Murder will out, this my conclusion.”
– Geoffrey Chaucer
