Andrew I’d like to start with your research on this topic is impressive. Running things down is no easy job.

Tbh it’s just collating what various other people have researched.

A lot of people, myself included, don’t know how this guy got dragged into this.

Yeah, I don’t think he was a suspect, but I do think Zodiac did attempt to purposefully sully him.

So, I’m highly curious as to why he was implicated by the Eureka Card (quite clumsily) and how it was that his keys ended up potentially in possession of Zodiac. Part of this mystery, pertains to the fact the card was sent in ’90, yet CCK didn’t move to Eureka until ’93, after his wife as killed in a tragic accident. It’s all very strange.

I think that’s why above, Cragle is suggesting that perhaps Chester crossed paths with Zodiac through some kind of property or insurance dealings (if I read the inference correctly).

And his son was killed in an accident too, right? Poor guy

Tom has promised us that he would explain it on his own time. I would hate to see you waste countless hours researching an individual who has apparently already been checked out by LE. (?)

DNA taken from Klingel’s trash didn’t match the SFPD partial profile. If there was more to it, I have no idea.

I think the whole Sam thing or the Eureka card generally would be worth a video for Tom V, to summarize and wrap up. Tom does a very nice job with those. And a review of what happened would be interesting.

It perhaps misses out a family address on 1045 Lake St. nr. the Presidio and a later address 2428 Union St, which I’m trying to confirm, atm.

I followed up with the woman who originally found this connection to the Klingel family, but she said it’s likely that these properties belonged to Chester’s father, who shared the same name. It’s a bit confusing since three generations of Klingels are all called Chester.

Chester himself had some bad luck it seems, his first and second wives were killed in car accidents and then in 1986 his son similarly died in a crash. It’s likely however that Chester Klingel III, who was a Marine, is the one with the link to Camp Pendleton and Oceanside, on account of Pendleton being a USMC bootcamp. During the 60s Chester Snr. lived in the Bay Area, working for North American Aviation and so, didn’t have links to So. Cal.

The obituary mentions that Chester’s "second marriage was short". However, I did discover was that while Klingel was living at 366 Marin Ave, Mill Valley between ’61 and ’74, his third wife Blandina originally lived at 209 Cardinal Rd., Mill Valley, only a 10 minute or so walk away. She lived there with her first husband Eshmael Sarkis. When Chester and Blandina married and moved to the Turlock to start a walnut farm and hulling business, of the children, they only took Sandra to live with them, while the other children from previous marriages (Candy, Chester III & Kim) stayed behind.

Hi Andrew. I’m a little confused here. Did multiple Chesters work for North American Aviation? Or just the keys one? And when? It says 1960s. Is that correct?

Ah, I was momentarily confused, this is Chester C. Klingel I, the father (born 1881). Interesting detail, many thanks. Which means, that by my estimation Chester "Chet" Klingel moved to 366 Marin Valley in ’61, three-four years after his father’s death.

Ah, I was momentarily confused, this is Chester C. Klingel I, the father (born 1881). Interesting detail, many thanks. Which means, that by my estimation Chester "Chet" Klingel moved to 366 Marin Valley in ’61, three-four years after his father’s death.

I suspected father but didn’t know and thought you might. Anyway masons in the family and that could be the ticket to Eureka explaining why the keys end up mailed from there taken during a lodge meeting down below somewhere. That’s my guess.

I suspected father but didn’t know and thought you might. Anyway masons in the family and that could be the ticket to Eureka explaining why the keys end up mailed from there taken during a lodge meeting down below somewhere. That’s my guess.

It tends to be written as Chester C. Klingel when referring to his father, whereas the son is often called "Chet" to distinguish him. I wonder if they were Jewish, since Presidio Heights is somewhat a Jewish heritage area in San Francisco, and they had a family home on Lake Street. Freemasonry accepts all religions, however there is a branch of York Rite that is for Christians only. The Bay Area has a huge number of fraternities. Richard Nixon was famously a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West who do a a lot of preservation work in the city.

Ah, I was momentarily confused, this is Chester C. Klingel I, the father (born 1881). Interesting detail, many thanks. Which means, that by my estimation Chester "Chet" Klingel moved to 366 Marin Valley in ’61, three-four years after his father’s death.

Wonder if younger Chester(the one with the keys)was involved in 1960’s-90’s w/ Masonic Lodge? could be connection to recent suspect

I worked on masons/lodges and Eureka connections in 2020.

Here is the sort of thing I was digging up.

Eureka is a popular holiday spot by the coast and there are all sorts of auxiliary groups there.

You can be sure that the same people probably attended more than one event on the list.

There are (at least) two ways to look at it.

One is: Current person was a Mason, Chester Klingel might have been a Mason. That means that current person might have known him and had access to the keys!

The other is: Klingel might have been a Mason. That could be a better explanation for all the possible Masonic connections that we’ve been finding!

Or it might mean absolutely nothing.

It is interesting. The Presidio connection, the North American Connection, and the Masonic connection seem like the three reasonable avenues at this point.

Just a reminder… the ONLY WAY “Sam” is connected is with those keys, more specifically, the key numbers. And does anyone know how that happened? It’s a simple question. Anyone? Anyone? It’s a story that NO ONE HERE knows. Because one man said “I said so” shouldn’t be a reason to believe it. Maybe a few bridges were burned with LE during this goose chase?
More than likely Sams connection to the keys was based off BAD RESEARCH and now the lie has lived to long. And an ego is too big to admit the mistake. Maybe the Eureka card, the keys, magnet, should be looked at without the baggage of this mistake? Why continue wasting man hours on researching an individual before a connection can be made? … or someone make the connection between the keys and Sam. LE ruled him out.

If I’m way off, if I’m way out of line, I’ll eat crow.

Ah, I was momentarily confused, this is Chester C. Klingel I, the father (born 1881). Interesting detail, many thanks. Which means, that by my estimation Chester "Chet" Klingel moved to 366 Marin Valley in ’61, three-four years after his father’s death.

Wonder if younger Chester(the one with the keys)was involved in 1960’s-90’s w/ Masonic Lodge? could be connection to recent suspect

Given that his obituary doesn’t mention lodges or membership, it seems unlikely he was a mason, but not impossible. it’s usually something that’s celebrated in detail, although there might be some professions were explicitly being mason is discouraged.

I also see that the father was a member of the Episcopal Church in Mill Valley (so not Jewish, then). I had wondered if anti-semitism was a motivation, because of the family name.

It’s a head scratcher.

What seems unequivocal to me is that: If Zodiac did purloin Chester’s keys, he must’ve lifted from him personally. Otherwise there would be no way for Zodiac to link Chester with the unique post-office in Eureka. It’s not like he could’ve just found them in the street. Zodiac has to know they belong to Chester and that Chester owns a PO Box in Eureka, despite not living there at the time.

Chester owns a PO Box in Eureka, despite not living there at the time.

Andrew, the keys can’t be confirmed to Chester AND neither of the keys can be confirmed to work at any Post Office in Eureka! These are two MAJOR issues. Both of which have to be true in order for Chester to be viable.