Why is it called the "DMV" letter? Was it mailed to the DMV? Or about the DMV and mailed to someone else?

Why is it called the "DMV" letter? Was it mailed to the DMV? Or about the DMV and mailed to someone else?

All I know is it was mailed to the chairman of the California DMV, and was authenticated. Don’t know the contents or any postmark info.

Hmm, well, that’s curious. I wonder what it was about. Looks like they’d release the damn thing.

All I know is it was mailed to the chairman of the California DMV, and was authenticated. Don’t know the contents or any postmark info.

Are you allowed to say who authenticated it?

yes subterfuge-ill buy that-ciphers, disguises, bombs, but subterfuge in showing just how smart, crafty and devious he is. and showing/writing out his fantasies. but not subterfuge in the political sense.

At the time of the Zodiac crimes, the counterculture in the San Francisco Bay Area was a prime target of law enforcement. Business owners were fed up with dirty hippies clogging the sidewalks and quickly turned to Mayor Aliotto for help, who then leaned on the San Francisco Police Department to fix the problem. Then came the influx of unconstitutional arrests, which prompted the Good Times newspaper to successfully sue the city of San Francisco. During that period of time, the Zodiac was busy doing his best to not only make the police look like idiots, but to also keep them extremely busy with a much bigger problem than dirty hippies.

The more you know.

Thank you for this articulation Tom – this is exactly the kind of insight I scour these boards for.

Spiderhawk, I totally see the apt comparison to the 1970s Son of Sam killings and I agree that we can’t be certain that Zodiac was motivated by anything other than evil.

Hi Druzer
If you want to see truly what the culture of late 60s SF area hotbed produced in terms of "domestic terrorists" with a political motive, google the zebra killers/death angels. Its a fascinating case.

I assumed Gaikowski had some link to a hippy cult of some kind given the radical nature of Good Times. Do you know if he had ties to the Diggers or any group specifically? These groups seemed to cross paths judging by the proximity of the SF locations they have been said to have frequented but the sources on this stuff can be so sketchy it’s hard for theories to gain traction. I don’t have all of the claimed addresses at my disposal but it seems like The Process Church, The Diggers, Church of Satan, Manson, distinct as they all were, must have at least brushed shoulders, but ultimately it is difficult to surmise whether any of this spirituality business had anything to do with Zodiac. I am clearly no expert on San Francisco counterculture so I’m looking for a veteran opinion. Do you believe there was any witchy-warlock influence on the Zodiac?

Hi Druzer
there is no evidence that the Zodiac was involved in any of this type of thing. Its a good question though, and one I often think about with what type of serial killer we are dealing with.

Zodiac has a lot of similarities more to the thrill killer, lovers lane shooter type. Think son of sam (but less bat shit crazy).

these types, like son of sam, tend to be loser, loner, mad at the world types with varying degrees of delusion. Howver, they tend not to be the cult type like manson. More personal issues and motivations (not religious). and with the zodiac seems like:

narcissism-I’m smarter than everyone else
anger and frustration
the thrill of killing for thrills sake
sexual frustration
need to feel important

I think the Zodiac was definitely a hedonistic killer but to what extent? I don’t know that there is any evidence to suggest the zodiac, actually or literally, derived pleasure from the act of killing. Oh sure, he stated killing was better than getting his rocks off with a girl, but was that really what he thought or something that he created to fill in the blanks regarding his lack of providing a name? The Zodiac sent letters, seemingly taunting, and he did craft and wear a hood. One can’t help but think that this was to induce fear. But was this induction of fear a primary motivation for him, as it was or is for thrill killers or, was it secondary to his ultimate goal?

The one constant is his letter writing campaign and the need to feel important (clear as day). I can’t help but feel that comfort was more of a primary motivation with hedonistic taking a secondary backseat.

Soze

Why is it called the "DMV" letter? Was it mailed to the DMV? Or about the DMV and mailed to someone else?

All I know is it was mailed to the chairman of the California DMV, and was authenticated. Don’t know the contents or any postmark info.

Do you have a list of chairmen for that time period?

Soze

I assumed Gaikowski had some link to a hippy cult of some kind given the radical nature of Good Times. Do you know if he had ties to the Diggers or any group specifically? These groups seemed to cross paths judging by the proximity of the SF locations they have been said to have frequented but the sources on this stuff can be so sketchy it’s hard for theories to gain traction. I don’t have all of the claimed addresses at my disposal but it seems like The Process Church, The Diggers, Church of Satan, Manson, distinct as they all were, must have at least brushed shoulders, but ultimately it is difficult to surmise whether any of this spirituality business had anything to do with Zodiac. I am clearly no expert on San Francisco counterculture so I’m looking for a veteran opinion. Do you believe there was any witchy-warlock influence on the Zodiac?

Hi Druzer
there is no evidence that the Zodiac was involved in any of this type of thing. Its a good question though, and one I often think about with what type of serial killer we are dealing with.

Zodiac has a lot of similarities more to the thrill killer, lovers lane shooter type. Think son of sam (but less bat shit crazy).

these types, like son of sam, tend to be loser, loner, mad at the world types with varying degrees of delusion. Howver, they tend not to be the cult type like manson. More personal issues and motivations (not religious). and with the zodiac seems like:

narcissism-I’m smarter than everyone else
anger and frustration
the thrill of killing for thrills sake
sexual frustration
need to feel important

I think the Zodiac was definitely a hedonistic killer but to what extent? I don’t know that there is any evidence to suggest the zodiac, actually or literally, derived pleasure from the act of killing. Oh sure, he stated killing was better than getting his rocks off with a girl, but was that really what he thought or something that he created to fill in the blanks regarding his lack of providing a name? The Zodiac sent letters, seemingly taunting, and he did craft and wear a hood. One can’t help but think that this was to induce fear. But was this induction of fear a primary motivation for him, as it was or is for thrill killers or, was it secondary to his ultimate goal?

The one constant is his letter writing campaign and the need to feel important (clear as day). I can’t help but feel that comfort was more of a primary motivation with hedonistic taking a secondary backseat.

Soze

Hi soze
excellent questions and observations! Ive heard that serial killers most basic motive boils down to simply that they like it-it gives them pleasure. but more and more I’m seeing and hearing (sometimes from the killers themselves) that its to release an urge (like they have to do it to rid the pain). But could that basically be the same thing? need to ruminate on it a bit more.

However, to me, at this point, the zodiacs prime motivation was that the killing, and/or the hunting simply he enjoyed it. with the letter writing, ciphers, taunting as secondary motivation.

good post.

to me, at this point, the zodiacs prime motivation was that the killing, and/or the hunting simply he enjoyed it. with the letter writing, ciphers, taunting as secondary motivation.

Zodiac wrote at least 18 confirmed letters that have been made public. Zodiac wrote six ciphers. 24 total written messages, at least.

Zodiac only had seven confirmed victims.

24 vs 7.

But you want to lump him in with traditional serial killers and force-fit the traditional motives.

Do you have a list of chairmen for that time period?

For what time period? I posted everything I know about it. Have no idea the postmark date.

I probably should have left off the "time period" part as I read what you said about the post marks. I was just looking to see if any digging had been done regarding who that councilman could have been.

Soze

I assume when Tom refers to the "chairman" of the DMV, it is synonymous with "director".

This site has a list of former directors of the CA DMV:

http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/department … gencyid=53

Joan Borucki, 2004 – 2005
Chonn Gutierrez, 2003 – 2004
Steven Gourley, 2000 – 2003
Ed Snyder, 1999
Sally Reed, 1996 – 1998
Frank Zolin, 1991 – 1996
A.A. “Del” Pierce, 1987 – 1991
Doris Alexis, 1977 – 1985
Herman Sillas, 1975 – 1977

Digging into old newspapers, I found the directors prior to 1975:

Robert Cozens, 1970 – 1975
James W. Chapman Jr., 1969 – 1970 (as interim director)
Verne Orr, 1967 – 1969
Tom Bright, 1961 – 1967
Robert McCarthy, 1958 – 1961
Paul Mason, ??? – 1958

I assume when Tom refers to the "chairman" of the DMV, it is synonymous with "director".

I was told chairman was the title used.

I couldn’t find references to any DMV chairman, but the New Motor Vehicle Board program within the DMV has various committees that are headed by chairmen.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detai … 16/2016_05

The program was formed in 1967.

Thank you Doranchack for the dig.

I believe there is a distinction between a director and a chairman and, given that, im rather suspect that the list provided is what’s needed to learn more about Z’s DMV communication. However, I wouldn’t delete or disregard the information either. I started looking at some of the directors listed, beginning at about the time the Zodiac name took center stage, and found a name that might have some bearing (no pun intended). James W Chapman, interim director from 1969 to 1970, was a Brigadier General in the air force during world war 2 and had setup dealings (don’t quote me as I’m going from memory) with a navigational system known as LORAN. You might recall Mr. Lowes work on JASON. From that I developed a theory that involved navigation in deciphering the Phillips 66 map and code that came out in June of 1970. My thoughts were that trilateration was needed to map the location for the bomb. LORAN is within the same family of navigation but is not part of trilateration. It’s known as multilateration. Anyway, I’m sort of left wondering if the letter sent to the DMV had something to do with the Phillips 66 map and code.

Soze