I have no idea. I did not personally have any contact with the person. I was merely asked to find them because they had the letter. If Tom was able to get the letter he has not told me and I haven’t asked.

I did some research and found on zodiackillerfacts.com some info that seems to be about the DMV letter info in question.

It seems to be an email Tom V supposely have sent June 26, 2010 to somone (does not say who), where Tom V is saying that he has just returned from San Francisco and that he had been to City Hall and was alowed to photograph the DMV letter.

Here is a copy of the email + a link to where it was posted
(I only post a quote from the email, the part about the DMV letter, the rest you can read in the link) :

http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/forum/ … f=96&t=905

—– Original Message —–
From: tomvoigt@zodiackiller.com
To: info@zodiackiller.com
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 11:54 AM
Subject: Greetingz from Zan Franzisco

Just a quick update. My San Francisco trip has been amazing. I just got back from the Hall of Justice where I was allowed to photograph the DMV letter, which is definitely a Zodiac letter IMHO. Was also allowed to copy a bunch of police reports from late 1969.

Now, wheter this is true or not, I dont know.

Does anyone know when this letter is supposed to be from? I’m especially skeptical if it’s say… post 1975. Also seems strange that they would allow Tom to photograph it but refuse to release it. I realize that our desire to analyze it is not top priority that that just seems weird.

After reading these posts, I’m again struck by the frustration "we" experience with LE–and vice-versa. Face it, folks: among our ranks are wackos who not only make us look foolish, but also alienate LE to the extent it simply ignores "us". It’s a lose-lose situation for all concerned, but Z.
Let me run an idea past you. How about compiling our RATIONAL deductions into discrete subjects, e.g., Known Zodiac Murders; Probable/Possible Zodiac Murders; Theories; POIs–you get the drift. Maybe have the various site Mods do some judicious weeding, and present the results in book format. Also include an open letter to LE, asking it take a serious look at work done by serious (if lay) investigators.
I suspect such a book would interest publishers. Further, publication might light a fire under LE, and warm up the nation’s most notorious "cold case".

Does anyone know when this letter is supposed to be from? I’m especially skeptical if it’s say… post 1975. Also seems strange that they would allow Tom to photograph it but refuse to release it. I realize that our desire to analyze it is not top priority that that just seems weird.

Tom has not seen a copy of this letter, and never photographed it, or at least that’s what he told me. In his defense, it’s not impossible to fake an email.
I could see a situation in which the police say to take a photo,but then realize that they want to keep it secret,and ask the person not to post it, sort of like police do with newspapers. Not sure what to think, other than I think the letter is real, and it supposedly has been authenticated.

FWIW, in the audio interview doranchak posted, Tom indicates that the DMV letter was sent to the Chairman of the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento and authenticated by the state document examiner. This document examiner presumably would have had access to other original letters since the letters were forwarded to the CA Dept. of Justice in Sacramento. Tom was asked about the content but, of course, interrupted by the caller and host before he could give an answer. He did indicate that he’s been unable to see the letter but is still attempting to do so.

https://soundcloud.com/groundzeromedia/2013-10-11 (@1:48:20)

I don’t think there’s an question a letter exists but count me skeptical about its authenticity.

FWIW, in the audio interview doranchak posted, Tom indicates that the DMV letter was sent to the Chairman of the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento and authenticated by the state document examiner. This document examiner presumably would have had access to other original letters since the letters were forward to the CA Dept. of Justice in Sacramento. Tom was asked about the content but, of course, interrupted by the caller and host before he could give an answer. He did indicate that he’s been unable to see the letter but is still attempting to do so.

https://soundcloud.com/groundzeromedia/2013-10-11 (@1:48:20)

I don’t think there’s an question a letter exists but count me skeptical about its authenticity.

Any info on what date/year this DMV letter was sent to the Chairman of the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento ?

Any info on what date/year this DMV letter was sent to the Chairman of the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento ?

That’s what I’d be most interested to know, foreigner. In the interview, Tom is asked about the letter by the host and then interrupted by the caller. Frustrating… it was the only question that I really wanted to hear the answer to! For me, the later the letter the higher degree of skepticism I have about it. Zodiac certainly could have continued to write but random letters 15 or more years after any confirmed ones (like the 1990 Eureka card) have to be considered with an extra grain of salt, IMO.

Any info on what date/year this DMV letter was sent to the Chairman of the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento ?

That’s what I’d be most interested to know, foreigner. In the interview, Tom is asked about the letter by the host and then interrupted by the caller. Frustrating… it was the only question that I really wanted to hear the answer to! For me, the later the letter the higher degree of skepticism I have about it. Zodiac certainly could have continued to write but random letters 15 or more years after any confirmed ones (like the 1990 Eureka card) have to be considered with an extra grain of salt, IMO.

Agree… maybe somone could contact Tom V and ask him the questions he was not able to answer in the radio interview?

Hi-

Tom asked me several years ago if I had ever heard of this letter. I had not. But for years we have all observed that whoever Zodiac was, he seemed to have a strong level of comfort/obsession with cars. Pulling up to a crime scene in a car is no big deal but writing a message on a car door and making a cab a "mobile crime scene" shows that Z had some sort of special relationship with automobiles.

Although I’ve never seen this letter, its existence makes PERFECT sense to me in that it fits seamlessly into the context of the case. It is sort of the culmination of Z’s ties to cars and was apparently written at a time when he may have felt fairly safe from capture after having gotten away with his crimes for over twenty years. The question is: What, if anything, did he reveal of himself in the letter that may be useful in capturing him, other than reinforcing his ties to cars?

If there is some special symbol in the letter, I can see them holding it back. But in the interest of identifying the killer, I wish the DOJ or somebody would at least release a transcript of the letter. In the EAR/ONS case, they are releasing new info that might help the public identify the killer. It would be nice to see them do the same thing here.

Mike

Hi-

To clarify what I am getting at when I say that the letter to the DMV fits into the the "story" of the Zodiac killer, let me elaborate. I was speaking to profiler Richard Walter late last month. I said to him that all of the cases surrounding the major suspects in the case were circumstantial in nature, so why was one circumstantial case superior to another? He explained that over 70% of major cases are tried on circumstantial evidence alone. 70%! He cited Scott Peterson as just one example.

Walter went on to explain that the job of the prosecution in a circumstantial case is to tell the story of the killer/crimes using that evidence. The better the evidence, the more of the story of the crimes the prosecution can tell. The defense then has to take the same set of circumstances and construct a story that explains why the suspect is innocent.

Here is the basic story of the Zodiac (and I know some people will disagree with it):

According to Walter’s profile (and he has solved or helped solve more cold cases than anyone on this board), Z was a wealthy and powerful man. He strongly craved public attention. He had a strong association with cars. (He actually autographed a car in black felt tip.) His likeness was captured by credible eyewitnesses on the night of the Stine murder. He wrote letters to the editors of the local papers. He wrote those letters on Monarch sized paper. He was described as having an unusual, slow manner of speaking. He killed on certain dates. He showed influences in his writing from England and also knew an obscure word in the Old Norse language. He killed in an off-the-beaten-path intersection in an outlying part of SF that, according to retired SFPD Insp. Vince Repetto, "95%" of San Franciscans would not be able to find on a map. After the Stine murder, he was able to prove that he had stayed in the area by describing the sounds, not the sights, of the search. He was familiar with the area around Napa/Lake Berryessa and the back roads of Vallejo/Solano. He showed right from the start that he was adept at manipulating the media, as opposed to someone like BTK, whose early efforts showed a need for a learning curve. He seemed to have a Naval background. He claimed that when you solved the three-part cipher, you’d "have him."

Now there are many suspects out there who share some of these traits. For instance, maybe I’ve missed something but I’ve never seen any evidence that the "most popular" suspect today ever wrote on Monarch sized paper or had any background in Old Norse. But when you find someone who fits all of these traits, whose life story tells the life story of the killer, that makes the job of the defense in coming up with an innocent explanation for the circumstances nearly impossible. There are simply too many to explain away!

So the so-called DMV letter seems to fit right into the story of the Zodiac killer and re-emphasizes his ties to automobiles.

Mike

A special association with cars, to me, is like the water association. Is there one? Or is it inevitable. A cab driver is murdered in a cab. A love of cars? Adding writing on a car door does a car lover make? I don’t know…

**
What I DO find curious is the fact that Paul Stine’s wife worked at the DMV is SF…very close to their home at the time.

IF the letter was written near the time of Paul’s murder (and possibly contained Stine’s driver’s license as some, like Sandy, have mentioned in the past) I would say there was a closer connection to Paul.

Hi-

I agree that the water connection is tenuous, especially in PH.

Had Z simply driven to various remote places and killed people the tie to cars would not be strong. But when you go so far as to write on one and use one as a mobile crime scene, I think that there is something to the connection to cars. Just IMHO.

Mike

A special association with cars, to me, is like the water association. Is there one? Or is it inevitable. A cab driver is murdered in a cab. A love of cars? Adding writing on a car door does a car lover make? I don’t know…

**
What I DO find curious is the fact that Paul Stine’s wife worked at the DMV is SF…very close to their home at the time.

IF the letter was written near the time of Paul’s murder (and possibly contained Stine’s driver’s license as some, like Sandy, have mentioned in the past) I would say there was a closer connection to Paul.

That is curious T. Certainly gives a possible context for the letter having existed.

As for connection / ties to cars. I was and probably still am (technically) in agreement there too. I wasn’t seeing it ….. which is really odd given this case. Maybe it’s in the language i.e ties to or connects with. We’re thinking personally about Z here but step back a little and look at the case. The humble car is one of the most central characters.

Cheri Jo, car disabled. LHR attacked whilst in their car, same for BRS. LB (as Mike R points out) killed away from car but then the car is written on pulling it right back to being central. Paul Stine, the cab. K. Johns, car disabled, talk of driving. Then there’s the bus bomb threats, against a vehicle. The "I shot a man sitting in a parked car" statement or "cruse around". Even one of the hoax letters made it the central character and there’s probably more peripheral stuff.

So, special connection between Z and automobiles? No idea but they are quite a strong, central theme running through the case.

Thank you for pointing out the other car references. Not all may be relevant depending on who was responsible for Bates and Johns but still there are numerous references to cars in the case. Obviously, not everyone agrees on everything in this case so it is what it is but…

Mike