I have been looking at the attack through Zodiacs detailing of events (ignoring the Maple reference). I have often wondered if perhaps some of his comments could have been reconciled. The below image will perhaps explain better than I ever could with words.
Totally credible location, imo. Zodiac liked to be accurate with his cardinal directions and measurements. I had fancied the car park of Paul Goode baseball field at the end of Portola Street as the closest exit point from the playground, if Zodiac was looking to park a vehicle. Those houses you’ve highlighted on Ligget Circle seem to be Presidio officer’s houses. The Presidio Parkway isn’t far away and makes for a convenient exit route from the city. The Presidio wasn’t a sealed base then, and in fact during the mutiny in 1968, two of the mutineers simply hopped out of a window at the Main Post and "jogged off the base". Aerial photos from around that time show the layout has changed little. However, it does make me wonder whether Zodiac knew the base and was comfortable parking there. It would be useful to know what the parking regs were like, back then.
What’s interesting to me about the area you’ve highlighted, is the amount of tall foliage there. Also if you check on Google maps, there’s small hidden road below the circle called Sibley Road, that’s a little more remote and hidden, while providing an alternate route out. As such, the circle isn’t a cul de sac. Sibley Road has a row of garages on it, and only a couple of houses. It’s very discrete. And there’s also another somewhat hidden parking area, where Clark St joins Lover’s Lane pathway.
These are interesting maps. One issue is it would have been difficult for a civilian back then to park a vehicle in the Presidio for an extended period of time, without a military-issue sticker on the vehicle. The MPs would have taken note of the vehicle and likely ticketed and/or towed it.
I discuss the subject in a video I made a couple years ago and recently updated, if you are interested.
I discuss the subject in a video I made a couple years ago and recently updated, if you are interested.
Thanks, this is a really helpful aid for visualising the geography and you share some detailed local knowledge. I like how you demonstrate Washington and Maple was a far more suitable destination for Zodiac.
Thank you. You’ve presented some nice research on the Presidio, and I learned a few things.
I’m surprised neither Toschi/Graysmith nor the SFPD profiler considered the Broadway Gate as an exit point. I believe Toschi/Graysmith have the killer exiting via the Lombard St gate, which would have been impractical for many reasons.
Would there be risk going onto the Presidio, a military base, after a murder, and particularly planning that exit beforehand? It seems to me you would heading into a potentially high security place. Wouldn’t another option be better?
Yes, that’s what one would think, but the Presidio was surprisingly low-security, and aside from the main base area, was raw and rugged and very dark. The only security in the vicinity of the escape route was the occasional MP vehicle passing by on West Pacific or Presidio Boulevard. There were no buildings or personnel that an escaping killer would have encountered between JK and the Lyon Street exit.
