Many are wondering why Z would not sprint away from the scene and I have a theory that many others have voiced. I’m thinking that maybe he figured his fleeing the scene quickly would bring even more attention to him. Let’s say you murder someone and within 2-3 minutes different police units are responding to the area. If he ran he would look obviously guilty. just an opinion. He must have also had an added dose of brazen confidence to think acting calm/not running would confuse the police as to his guilt in the matter – where would this confidence that he could trick them come from, something he planted at the specific event that would throw police off anyways OR did the confidence source itself to Zodiac’s overall brazen "I can get one over on you" attitude in general? Perhaps a bit of both? Again theory and opinion here as to why he would "take his time" and then casually duck out without talking to the cops.

Any dispatcher worth their salt would ask for the details and if the teen couldn’t recall what he had just seen 30 seconds ago…

Aha. I see.

You know for a fact that a dispatcher worth his or her salt would demand details pertaining to ethnicity, height and hair color, in 1969, in San Francisco, when a scared kid * called the cops and told them that someone had killed a cab driver just outside their house?

Fair enough. If you know it, you know it. I wouldn’t mind something solid to back it up with, though. Genuinely interested – I’m not saying you’re wrong.

* Who lived in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city.

Any dispatcher worth their salt would ask for the details and if the teen couldn’t recall what he had just seen 30 seconds ago…

Aha. I see.

You know for a fact that a dispatcher worth his or her salt would demand details pertaining to ethnicity, height and hair color, in 1969, in San Francisco, when a scared kid * called the cops and told them that someone had killed a cab driver just outside their house?

Fair enough. If you know it, you know it. I wouldn’t mind something solid to back it up with, though. Genuinely interested – I’m not saying you’re wrong.

* Who lived in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city.

Unfortunately, even today, there are dispatchers who should have been fired before they even started.

People will always look for someone to blame, and the fact of the matter here is someone did "goof"….BIGTIME. And that is one way Zodiac got it right. I have a feeling there might have been something other than blood stains in those pants!

^ lol on whatever else was in his pants also agree on the 911 dispatcher angle. Goofs happen often. Have seen many a sad and ridiculous cases of dispatchers not following protocol, especially in very intense situations like assault/homicide. Also agree on people always wanting a scapegoat.

Man it would be difficult to stay calm when all you can do is help someone from the phone and not actually in person. Must be a tough job. My heart goes out to them. But that is besides the point and I’m going OT so I digress.

A few things. Police are also there to protect the public, so if you saw a guy walking, and we’ll assume they didn’t think it was their POI because of an inaccurate description. Wouldn’t you at least let the guy walking know there was a serious crime a block away and he should be careful and get somewhere safe quickly, at the very least…

And I don’t know how well police were trained back then in behavior, but I would sense some suspicion if I saw a person just idling along who tells you he just saw a man with a gun running up a street. I would wonder why the person wasn’t freaked out- the behavior clearly doesn’t match whats normal, especially as many have said, in a wealthy neighborhood. Gun- run!

I don’t know, just thinking out loud.

Also, I would assume dispatch would have had a written record of calls that came in? Maybe that could be FOILed if the records were saved. I am assuming they were not taping calls back then.

-m

Zodiac may have not said a thing to them Marie, so in turn, the cops wouldn’t expect anything from the (white) man they saw.

Should haves, would haves, could haves, abound…

I would of thought two key witnesses or possible suspects stopped only a few hundred yards from a murder, particularly Jackson Street would have at least been detained, after all Zodiac was heading towards Jackson Street. And if Fouke saw a suspicious white male entering a stairwell to 3712 Jackson Street, how come this residence was not revisited later, after all even Fouke when he met Pelissetti realized he may have come across Zodiac. Surely then you head back to 3712 Jackson Street, not the park, but no, he doesn’t even mention it in the report. In the words of John McEnroe "You cannot be serious".

Fouke reasoned – so he says – that Z would have headed into the park.

Which isn’t unreasonable. So, it’s not surprising he didn’t go back to 3712.

After the immediate search? Did he go back to inquire at 3712? No, he did not – because, as he suggested, the sort of people who live there aren’t to be bothered for no good reason.

Good enough? Hardly, from our perspective.

From his perspective, though – again: They weren’t hunting Zodiac. That’s what we keep coming back to. It wasn’t the possibly immensely interesting and important event it is today – it was just another street crime.

Goes for Fouke, goes for Pelissetti, goes for the dispatcher, goes for the whole damn SFPD. Just the way it is.

We have to treat it for what it is. A pretty shabby deal as far as criminal investigations involving a serial killer goes. But I don’t blame Fouke or Pelissetti – or the dispatcher – for that.

I find it far more worrying that the people who actually investigated the Z case in SF, after they knew damn well who they were dealing with, apparently neglected to talk to Fouke – or the teen witnesses. That’s incomprehensible. It’s…just, I don’t know. I find myself hoping it simply isn’t true.

You know Norse, maybe that is why Fouke sort of scoffs at the "investigators" when asked why he didn’t tell them about how Zodiac walked up to the house on Jackson…."let them figure it out" he said. Maybe he too (along side us) thought it was ridiculous (if true) they never bothered with him and Zelms. It just seems like an important piece of info for that evening…it also seems like it should have been mentioned in the scratch/memo. Nada.

Also you know something is a little off when you get pages and pages of police reports on Lake Herman, Blue Rock Springs and Lake Berryessa. The police report for the Stine murder is where, 2 pages on Voigt’s site.

But if the description really was correct and the BMA was made up after the fact, how do you explain F and Z NOT stopping the guy walking who fits the description?

I don’t remember what the report says. Is it possible that no suspect information was given out on the radio, just that there were shots fired at the location? So Fouke would have been heading to the location, not looking for a suspect fleeing from it. I don’t think that police officers are going to be stopping and asking people what they saw on the way to a crime scene. People at the scene, yes, but not people just walking around in the area when they are responding, unless they are told to be on the lookout.

You know Norse, maybe that is why Fouke sort of scoffs at the "investigators" when asked why he didn’t tell them about how Zodiac walked up to the house on Jackson…."let them figure it out" he said. Maybe he too (along side us) thought it was ridiculous (if true) they never bothered with him and Zelms. It just seems like an important piece of info for that evening…it also seems like it should have been mentioned in the scratch/memo. Nada.

Its very frustrating that’s for sure

Like I was trying to express, its just not logical (Love pop ultra- Judge Judy "If is doesn’t make sense, its usually not true.)

I know they were on the chase for a black man. If I’m a cop and someone says- yes, I saw him run up that street waving a gun, you NEEED to fully interview that witness.

At the very least, get his name (even if its fake) and ask him to come in for a statement.
He was a witness. And who would not increase their pace after seeing a man with a gun. Like I said, I am trying to make sense of it all, reconcile opinions, learn- but he should have been tagged and interrogated as a witness.

I also want to say "I have no idea what it means., or why.

If they had stopped z they may very we’ll have been gunned down. I think they drove right by z and never stopped him. Z was very lucky to escape, Palissetti was seconds behind him. He encountered the "man walking his dog" very quickly who witnessed nobody, and to me it’s clear that man was not z as he was not covered in blood, and really would not have had time to clean up or get his dog

Everyone seems to think Zodiac should have been smothered in blood. Had the Zodiac shot Paul Stine from the rear of the cab, he may have received a modicum of back spatter onto his hand, evidenced later by the noting of blooded fingerprints on the panel between driver and rear passenger door. Had the Zodiac entered the front right passenger door and Paul Stine had fell or been pulled into the right front well, where Pelissetti observed Stine when arriving at the scene, his head wound would have been bleeding into this well, shown in the photographs. The rear of the front passenger seat is noticeable by the absence of much blood, so had Zodiac sat on the edge of this seat, with Paul Stine’s back area now exposed (as his heads in the well), he now has to tear the shirt, probably receiving a little more blood on his hands, but not a lot, as the rear of the shirt is less stained. There would be minimal, if any, blood visible on his dark trousers, his hands he wipes with the shirt and off he toddies up Cherry. The observations of the three teenagers from 60 feet is a rough recollection of an event they didn’t understand at the time. They thought he was wiping down the front passenger side door handle, which they couldn’t see from their angle (they saw white rag and door and filled in the blanks), he was understood to be wiping around the driver side door, which in all likelihood was masked by his body, they thought the Zodiac had Paul Stine’s head in his lap. You have just shot a man in the side of the head, blood is pouring out, so you rest his head in your lap. No chance. The point being he could quite easily have little to no blood on him whatsoever, if we choose to accept the Washington and Cherry murder scenario.

Everyone seems to think Zodiac should have been smothered in blood. Had the Zodiac shot Paul Stine from the rear of the cab, he may have received a modicum of back spatter onto his hand, evidenced later by the noting of blooded fingerprints on the panel between driver and rear passenger door. Had the Zodiac entered the front right passenger door and Paul Stine had fell or been pulled into the right front well, where Pelissetti observed Stine when arriving at the scene, his head wound would have been bleeding into this well, shown in the photographs. The rear of the front passenger seat is noticeable by the absence of much blood, so had Zodiac sat on the edge of this seat, with Paul Stine’s back area now exposed (as his heads in the well), he now has to tear the shirt, probably receiving a little more blood on his hands, but not a lot, as the rear of the shirt is less stained. There would be minimal, if any, blood visible on his dark trousers, his hands he wipes with the shirt and off he toddies up Cherry. The observations of the three teenagers from 60 feet is a rough recollection of an event they didn’t understand at the time. They thought he was wiping down the front passenger side door handle, which they couldn’t see from their angle (they saw white rag and door and filled in the blanks), he was understood to be wiping around the driver side door, which in all likelihood was masked by his body, they thought the Zodiac had Paul Stine’s head in his lap. You have just shot a man in the side of the head, blood is pouring out, so you rest his head in your lap. No chance. The point being he could quite easily have little to no blood on him whatsoever, if we choose to accept the Washington and Cherry murder scenario.

i mostly agree with this. there’s no reason to think he would have done anything intentionally to cover himself with blood. back splatter could’ve been incidental but i don’t see him sitting in blood or positioning stine in a way to get blood on himself. i really think the estimates of the amount of blood he’d have on himself are overboard.