I doubt that it means anything, but…. My "POI" appears in his high school annual behind the steering wheel of a late model convertible. And he wears a grin wide as the Grand Canyon.

He explained that over 70% of major cases are tried on circumstantial evidence alone. 70%! He cited Scott Peterson as just one example.

Funnily enough I was just watching a documentary on the Casey Anthony case and apparently pretty much everyone except the defense team thought that the circumstantial evidence alone was enough to convict. And I must say it sure looks that way so I can see how it would be useful wherever it’s available.

Regarding the profile, i’d say Mr X is the closest match from the usual suspects. Does anyone know if he was known to love or otherwise have a strong interest/link to cars?

LOL! I won’t comment on that but you must be new to the case. When you find out the answer, it may raise your eyebrows.

Mike

What, about Zodiac, screams that he loved or had a fascination with cars? Did I miss that?

Hi-

Well, if you are looking for proof like Z saying in a letter, "I have a strong affinity with automobiles," then no. But if you think about all the crimes and how they were committed PLUS the fact that Z wrote a message on a car door AND used a car as a mobile crime scene, then yes, it appears he felt very comfortable in and around cars and used them in sundry unusual ways. And if Johns is a Z crime, there is yet another example. He spoke about shooting a man in a parked car. In fact, is there one Z crime that does NOT involve cars in some way? And as someone else pointed out, even his bomb threat even had to do with a vehicle.

And he took credit for the Bates murder, which was also very strongly car related.

But if you are going to say that this is not enough proof and you need more, then I can’t go any further to convince you and you may feel free to remain a skeptic.

Mike

I guess this is a matter of opinion, everybody drives cars. Kids necking in cars make easy targets, just ask Zodiac & Son Of Sam. You need to get from point A to B, you drive a car. You want to get to Lake Berryessa, you drive a car. Using this logic, anybody with a car could be a Z suspect. Maybe Z was walking back up the hill to leave Berryessa, and decided to write a shocking message and get some shock value, so he wrote on the door, and maybe he did it on the side away from the road as not to be seen. If Z attacked Johns, he was driving a car, so what, how else could he attack lone women driving at night unless he too has a car? And as far as Bates goes, if he simply wanted to delay her, and force her to stay there for a longer time, and to use his good samaritan routine, what’s the easiest way to get her to stay? Disable her car,which wouldnt take any special car skills or knowledge. Z wrote that he shot a man in a parked car, does that mean that because he said that, he had some link to cars?

I personally don’t see the link between cars and Z, and seems like a reach,but to each his own.

I can give you an example of something that would be a specific link to Zodiac, and something meaningful, and its just an example, but let’s say for a second, it was proven that Zodiac mailed that questioned letter that mentions "chess sets all over CA", that would be something specific that Z pointed to in his writing, a lead to go on, a line to follow up, nowhere as generic as ‘cars’. Another line of potential investigation would be if every surviving witness of Zodiac, stated that Z had a strong smell or scent of oil, or gasoline, etc, then thise would be possible clues.

In regards to the angle you are searching, if every single victim was attacked in a VW for example, and Z was only targeting VW’s, then that would be a specific,and direct line to follow, as opposed to the obtuse, and wide open ‘car’ angle.

LOL! I won’t comment on that but you must be new to the case. When you find out the answer, it may raise your eyebrows.
Mike

Well, I’ve been reading up on this case for a couple of years now on and off, and I know enough to know I’m far from an expert. Having been familiar with Mr X and also the general consensus that his name wasn’t going to be released for fear of litigation I had previously given up looking. But it turns out some people are more than happy to risk that kind of thing so it didn’t take much googling to find out. My eyebrows are indeed raised. Some other interesting zynch related to him turns up the more one reads…..

there was that one letter that said, "cars make good weapons"… I believe it was in the 1980’s, out of Sacramento… I’m just saying.

there was that one letter that said, "cars make good weapons"… I believe it was in the 1980’s, out of Sacramento… I’m just saying.

NOT a confirmed Z letter

What I’m extremely concerned about; if this DMV letter is genuine, that I wasn’t asked to look into its authenticity. I have been researching these types of letters for years and I’m confident of what I know… to establish whether or not the letter is real.
Daniel

I am confused, why would you be asked to look into this letter if it exists?

Daniel–

Nobody has seen the DMV letter unfortunately.

I also think the only one who knows for sure what Zodiac meant was Zodiac.

While I think some good cases have been made, I am one who believes the 14 was written on the skeleton simply to represent 14 victims.

Dose anyone know if Robert GraySmith has seen the DMV Letter
After all…location, S.F. City Hall right or wrong? And what about
David T. He was a cop at the time. Do you think he has:shock:seen the Letter?
Can someone on this site make a phone call and ask GraySmith or David T.
(Thinking outside the box )

P.S. Hello, Daniel aka Dg9

I think it’s important to remember that this letter was apparently sent to a government agency rather than the media. Big difference… The media (e.g. the SF Chronicle) will always be motivated to disseminate information to the public- that’s what they do. Government agencies (e.g. the CA Dept. of Motor Vehicles, the CA Dept. of Justice, which apparently houses previous Zodiac letters in Sacramento, or any police department for that matter) will usually be motivated to keep information to itself- that’s what it is prone to do. The whole NSA business is a good example of that dynamic. I would vote for Daniel and the rest of us to be able to analyze this letter but I’m guessing that’s not high on the CA Dept. of Justice’s priority list.

I think it’s also important to consider that law enforcement approaches have changed over the years toward carefully controlling what information is offered to the public in these kinds of cases. Not so much in 1969. In the BTK case, for instance, there was a constant push and pull between the media entities that received communications wanting to make them public and Wichita P.D. wanting them to be concealed. In the end, Wichita P.D. was given full authority to withhold communications and gave out only what information they saw fit (much of which was garbage or false information provided by BTK himself). The fact that this letter (real or fake) was sent to a government agency and probably late in the game, makes me tend to think that it will never see the light of day here.

Hi-

It is always a double-edged sword to withhold these letters. Sure, you want polygraph keys. But in 1969 LAPD withheld the fact that "Healter Skelter" (sic) had been written in blood on the LaBianca fridge. Had the police released this information, a guy named Greg Jacobson would have probably immediately recognized who was behind the murders. And as we’ve seen this year the detectives in the EAR/ONS case have been releasing new info in the hope that the public can help them find the killer.

My hope is that some twenty years after the murders, the killer may have felt over confident and revealed something incriminating about himself that may be used to identify him.

Mike

Hi-

It is always a double-edged sword to withhold these letters. Sure, you want polygraph keys. But in 1969 LAPD withheld the fact that "Healter Skelter" (sic) had been written in blood on the LaBianca fridge. Had the police released this information, a guy named Greg Jacobson would have probably immediately recognized who was behind the murders. And as we’ve seen this year the detectives in the EAR/ONS case have been releasing new info in the hope that the public can help them find the killer.

My hope is that some twenty years after the murders, the killer may have felt over confident and revealed something incriminating about himself that may be used to identify him.

Mike

I completely agree Mike. I think there are reasons for and against releasing certin things. I am glad so much of Zodiac’s writing was released, there was always a chance somebody may recognize it. I think Zodiac altered his writing by slanting, or turning the pen or paper as he wrote, but not totally hiding his true writing. Someebody out there read personal letters that Zodiac wrote, or letters to the editor(before he wrote as Z,and maybe used his real name),or accepted personal checks Z wrote to them, or read reports perhaps at work along side Z, but still, it never got anyplace, a real shame.

Another example is the Domingos/Edwards case, they withheld info there too, that makes them think Z may have been the killer. Rumor has it, that wingwalker tracks at the scene is what they held back, but seriously, 50+ years later, does it matter anymore? So what, the killer wore wingwalkers. If the killer is alve today, and got caught, is he going to still have those boots? Very,very unlikely, so no real point in holding it back any longer.
In the case of the DC sniper, they got a tip early on that a Caprice with 2 black males in it was seen close to an attack, but it was dismissed because they didnt fit the ‘profile’ of a white guy they thought they should be looking for. I realize, thats a bit different, but the public CAN help in some of these cases. And speaking of DC sniper case, they also left a black tarot card at the scene of the crime, and a note,and it helped them eventually get caught.