I will say this, we should not write people off just because of their history or because we see them as being crazy.

No, we should totally take serious the rantings of little weirdos who live in vans down by the beach, weirdos who smear dead men as killers without even a shred of substantive concrete proof.

Get real already.

I will say this, we should not write people off just because of their history or because we see them as being crazy.

No, we should not. But we should be highly skeptical of any unconfirmed information provided by such people. That’s not prejudice, it’s common sense. People who talk an insane amount of shit are less trustworthy than people who don’t talk an insane amount of shit. Doesn’t mean they’re lying in particular, isolated instances – but it means we should never take anything they say at face value.

ETA:

With regard to this particular person, it is interesting to note the following:

Even after Blaine had written several seriously flawed “reports” to LE, presenting his theory about Gaikowski (writings that were of a nature which could easily lead anyone to conclude that he was nothing but a crackpot), his particular attempt at solving the Z ciphers was examined by FBI experts in the early 90s. They concluded that his “solution” had no merit, but the point – in this context – is that they didn’t simply dismiss him as a loon: His work was assessed, his theories considered, even though they had every reason to simply dismiss him without further ado.

As for his viability as…anything, my take on Blaine is this:

His original theory was largely based on the work of Graysmith (that’s a huge, red flag right there). And like that author of “true” crime, he treated the testimony of Darlene Ferrin’s sisters with none of the skepticism of a genuinely critical researcher or investigator. His code work was based on Graysmith too, more precisely – and all the more damnable – on the erroneous assumption that Graysmith’s 340 solution had merit. Add to this his truly bizarre – and completely unsubstantiated – claims that Gaikowski had threatened him, and even killed several people (including an alleged lover of Blaine’s) in order to intimidate him, and it becomes impossible to take him seriously.

Which leads us to the possible baby-and-bathwater scenario alluded to above (as I read it, anyway): Is it possible that Blaine was involved with people who are – somehow – genuinely interesting in a Zodiac context? Yes, I suppose that is possible. Anything is possible. And given that Blaine lived in the right place at the right time, and undoubtedly knew many people, including criminals and nutjobs of sundry kinds, well…sure, it’s not unthinkable at all that there may be a connection of some kind between him and…something. It’s anything but solid, though. And it doesn’t alter the fact that Blaine’s actual claims are preposterous and that his theories are nonsensical.

There may well be more to Blaine than meets the eye. However I do not accept that Gaikowski was the Zodiac nor do I accept any of Voigt’s associated ramblings on the subject.

I am quite sure if Manson had never been caught or had somehow managed to cover his tracks well enough that there was insufficient evidence against him, nobody would have ever believed his wild stories and allegations today. He would have been just accepted as that nutjob who lives out in the desert somewhere and nobody would have taken any notice of a thing he had to say by default.

This is all I am saying. There is no need for people to get nasty.

I will say this, we should not write people off just because of their history or because we see them as being crazy.

No, we should not. But we should be highly skeptical of any unconfirmed information provided by such people. That’s not prejudice, it’s common sense. People who talk an insane amount of shit are less trustworthy than people who don’t talk an insane amount of shit. Doesn’t mean they’re lying in particular, isolated instances – but it means we should never take anything they say at face value.

ETA:

With regard to this particular person, it is interesting to note the following:

Even after Blaine had written several seriously flawed “reports” to LE, presenting his theory about Gaikowski (writings that were of a nature which could easily lead anyone to conclude that he was nothing but a crackpot), his particular attempt at solving the Z ciphers was examined by FBI experts in the early 90s. They concluded that his “solution” had no merit, but the point – in this context – is that they didn’t simply dismiss him as a loon: His work was assessed, his theories considered, even though they had every reason to simply dismiss him without further ado.

As for his viability as…anything, my take on Blaine is this:

His original theory was largely based on the work of Graysmith (that’s a huge, red flag right there). And like that author of “true” crime, he treated the testimony of Darlene Ferrin’s sisters with none of the skepticism of a genuinely critical researcher or investigator. His code work was based on Graysmith too, more precisely – and all the more damnable – on the erroneous assumption that Graysmith’s 340 solution had merit. Add to this his truly bizarre – and completely unsubstantiated – claims that Gaikowski had threatened him, and even killed several people (including an alleged lover of Blaine’s) in order to intimidate him, and it becomes impossible to take him seriously.

Which leads us to the possible baby-and-bathwater scenario alluded to above (as I read it, anyway): Is it possible that Blaine was involved with people who are – somehow – genuinely interesting in a Zodiac context? Yes, I suppose that is possible. Anything is possible. And given that Blaine lived in the right place at the right time, and undoubtedly knew many people, including criminals and nutjobs of sundry kinds, well…sure, it’s not unthinkable at all that there may be a connection of some kind between him and…something. It’s anything but solid, though. And it doesn’t alter the fact that Blaine’s actual claims are preposterous and that his theories are nonsensical.

Thanks Norse. That is basically what I was trying to say. We cannot forget that Blaine lived on Cherry Street at one time, which was basically just around the corner from where Stine was murdered. I am not suggesting anything by this. It is just that he was certainly in the vicinity and it is not a great stretch of the imagination that during some extremely vague, drugged out period in his life he did move into the same circles as Manson and perhaps even the Zodiac.

Just a final point on Blaine – and one more reason to treat his actual claims with what I consider a natural degree of skepticism:

After his initial attempts at convincing LE that Gaikowski was Zodiac failed, he very soon went down an all too familiar road: He began accusing official investigators of deliberately ignoring what he considered compelling evidence in order to cover up the truth about the Zodiac killer. This is classic behavior, one could say, and it obviously undermines any possible credibility Blaine may have had from the onset (but he had none, one has to say: he accused Gaikowski without presenting a shred of evidence, and largely based his own theories on those offered by Graysmith, a source he evidently took as gospel in so far as the infamous Yellow Book supported his own ideas).

But enough about him as a theorist. I agree that he is an interesting character in a general way. And I personally have long entertained the – admittedly vague – idea that Z was in some shape or form connected to the counter culture scene. In some shape or form being the operative term here: I don’t think he was necessarily a part of that scene in any obvious way, but that some connection or other may be a possibility. That’s why someone like Blaine – or someone like Gaikowski himself, for that matter – is of some interest to me: While having nothing to do with the actual Z case, these characters may nevertheless – possibly – point us in the right direction. It’s why I find – say – Allen interesting too: While not being Z, he may nevertheless share some characteristics with the actual perpetrator.

There are a few things about Blaine that I would dearly love to post but will refrain from doing so just yet. Suffice to say they have nothing to do with the Zodiac, but more to do with Blaine’s character.

There are a few things about Blaine that I would dearly love to post but will refrain from doing so just yet. Suffice to say they have nothing to do with the Zodiac, but more to do with Blaine’s character.

Eagerly i await responses and expect to provide you with accolades…predicating any chance of finding z by way of blain is an exercise in futiliy

snooter, facetiousness will get you nowhere. I simply said it would not surprise me if Manson, Blaine and a whole stack of other counter-culturalists somehow and at some point in time crossed paths with the Zodiac. So if you are waiting for accolades, you will be waiting forever. I study the Zodiac killer from the point of view of his symbolism. Blaine was also a symbolist, so I had no choice but to study him, considering he had drawn an association between himself and the Zodiac.

With Blaine and his symbolism, it is a case of "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" i.e. was his symbolism influenced as a result of his life coinciding with the Zodiac’s, or was Blaine merely reflecting Zodiac-isms because of his personality type. I strongly suspect the latter.

I generally agree with comments about Blaine but refrain from calling him names. I recall someone saying Blaine was a successful real estate agent at one time in his life. I cannot believe this because Blaine went to Crete in artistic self-exile in the 1980s. He despised the "establishment" and "corporations", so the whole idea of him suddenly "working for the man" seems totally out of place with his artistic idealism. He has always lived the nomadic, "starving" artist life as far as I can ascertain… and still does to this day. Most times he is in some kind of self-exile; but occasionally he comes out of the shadows to make some radical proclamation. Then like the mythical "man with no name" he melts back into the desert wilderness again. He may have had something to do with Vae R Etal Studios at one time in his life, or this could be a coincidence. The symbolism for the psychic hotline associated with Vae R Etal Studios is so similar to Blaine’s trademark symbolism that it kind of gives him away. I believe he based the name on the Mayan or Aztec words "Vae r’etal" from an old book on American mythology. The translation to French is “Voici le gage”, to English “Here is the pledge”. Blaine used the words Vae R Etal after his signature on the huge portfolio that he delivered to the FBI, which was rejected by them after just 6 days, and so Blaine sought out another "voice piece" for his radical allegations, and the rest is, as they say, history!

If anyone is interested in looking at Blaine Thorman Smith (aka Blaine T. Blaine) in more detail, in order to gain a glimpse of his personality, they cannot go past reviewing this correspondence from the distant past. The letters speak for themselves and require no additional commentary.

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A48490/

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A48491

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A48493

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A48492

Im not against blain being of some use…could he have crossed paths with manson, z and the like ilk..well sure..what i would debate is his usefullness hence forth in solving the z case…blain has reportably talked of photos in his possession of gaik circa 69-70..if this is the case he needs to present those photos.

I recall someone saying Blaine was a successful real estate agent at one time in his life. I cannot believe this because Blaine went to Crete in artistic self-exile in the 1980s. He despised the "establishment" and "corporations", so the whole idea of him suddenly "working for the man" seems totally out of place with his artistic idealism.

Yes, that looks like a mismatch. Possible case of mistaken identity: Larry Kane (another figure associated with the Z case) was – supposedly – a real estate agent, and there was some discussion on the boards about this particular detail. Perhaps the poster in question mistook Blaine for Kane (they do rhyme!).

I recall someone saying Blaine was a successful real estate agent at one time in his life. I cannot believe this because Blaine went to Crete in artistic self-exile in the 1980s. He despised the "establishment" and "corporations", so the whole idea of him suddenly "working for the man" seems totally out of place with his artistic idealism.

Yes, that looks like a mismatch. Possible case of mistaken identity: Larry Kane (another figure associated with the Z case) was – supposedly – a real estate agent, and there was some discussion on the boards about this particular detail. Perhaps the poster in question mistook Blaine for Kane (they do rhyme!).

Quite possibly Norse.

Okay snooter, I do see your point. Thanks.

Sorry all, still catching up, but the info on Blaine being a realtor may have come from this in the Blaine Blaine, Goldcatcher or is it (Z aka tarious) thread under Top Secret suspects:

I forgot to mention that When I read the description of Blaine, that I did some investigating on him, because he fit somewhat the description of my suspect. ( The bad eye, the slight spiting when he talks)
Blaine sold a lot of real-estate in the Berkeley/Oakland areas, he was well off at one time. His Middle name is Thurman , he has a high IQ.

I took it as truth, but have found nothing confirming this anywhere unless someone knows of a good source of Real estate licensing from the times.

To believe his own article in the Tribe, which he also wrote for besides GT, I don’t know how he would’ve gotten out of prison in 66, become a successful realtor, then decided to work for counterculture papers?

He also wrote Cop Watch for GT, with some pretty cushy insider info, down to the undercover car descriptions from the police including license plates.

What he has devolved to now is almost irrelevant, at the time Z was going on, he knew his sh*t, or was somehow charming enough to get it. So who he knew and his circle of cohorts may be entirely relevant to the Z story.

Mental illness could evolve, senility, drug burnout, etc. Many serial killers also refer to their acts in the third person (BTK or Son of Sam I think), so by placing the blame on Gaik, he may be avoiding the real killer, perhaps protecting a friend or relative, or himself. Or his crazy Golden Calf cult following.

I do think at one point he had charm, I cannot speak for his current ramblings. A lot of us are more than happy to put it on Ross who was mentally ill. If he has lived longer, there is no telling what he would now be saying or doing. And there, at present, two general yet overlapping forms of serial killers- sociopaths and psychopaths. I think its the sociopath that we would all describe as the weirdo on the fringe of society. A psychopath can make attachments to certain people like a family, and easily blend into normal society.

-Marie

Thanks Marie, You’ve basically said what I was trying to say only more succinctly. I too would be very surprised if Blaine had ever been a successful realtor. However I have wondered how he got enough money to live, especially considering that he made at least one extended trip to Crete. He had spent time in prison for grand theft auto before moving to SF and the only job we know he had for certain is as a press journalist on underground and counterculture newspapers and journals.

Note how in the letters he sent about the tragic death of O’Toole, he is: 1) easily riled to anger/retaliation and 2) very quick to point blame on those who he feels have wronged him personally, and 3) quick to align himself as a "victim" with someone who actually was a tragic and talented artist, and 4) all while actively attempting self-promotion.

His affected/anachronistic style of writing and love of symbolism and mysticism also interests me greatly. And in case anyone is wondering, no I am not suggesting that Blaine was the Zodiac.

During his stint as Zakatorious, Blaine was described by a contemporary as being of brilliant mind, articulate, but prone to wild exaggerations, emotionally-charged language and rhetoric. He had two close friends/followers. One was called Richey (aka Rainbow Richey, Ritchie, Richie, Paul E. Ritchie) who was a young, thin, good looking and very overtly gay man, who admired Blaine greatly back in the day. The other was a fellow called Amanon the Barker, who was short and very slovenly. Both of these guys can be ruled out as the Zodiac. Richey was too young and thin, Amanon was so slovenly he would have been unable to walk down to Lake Berryessa without disappearing in a pool of his own perspiration or having a coronary. I note that some people have previously claimed that Amanon was Gaikowski. Not true! The suggestion is laughable in fact. If anyone has ever seen the covers of "The Barker" comic books, they will know what I am talking about.

Blaine was also associated with the one-time mayoral candidate Al Dzuik, who used the name Al Verdada. That guy was a character unto himself!

During a time when Blaine was absent from SF, his Golden Calf cult gained momentum and the new leader recruited more followers. They had even started a Church of the Golden Calf. I have no doubt that this part of the story is true. Nobody today seems to know who the followers were, or are perhaps too embarrassed to talk about their involvement today. Blaine claims that it was Richard Gaikowski who ran away with the movement in his absence, and this angered him greatly. Blaine told the members to cease and desist. The movement then folded up. We only have Blaine’s word that Gyke became the leader of the movement in his absence. There is no evidence to suggest this. The real members of this bizarre cult and their leader may never be known. Whether the movement ever had any real plans of committing human sacrifices as Blaine claims is also unknown. True to form, Blaine was quick to blame Gyke for suggesting they commit murder in the name of the Golden Calf religion. Originally, it had been Richey who had entertained the idea of taking the Golden Calf on the road and traveling campus to campus, but according to Blaine’s account, Richey had returned to the UK before that time. As with many of Blaine’s accounts, this cannot be verified, nor can Richey’s identity. But the fact is this strange cult really did at one time exist. Oh and in case anyone is wondering, I have already verified that "Richey" was not Richard Gaikowski.

Blaine had evidently been accusing his friend Gaikowski of being the Zodiac since at least 1969 (from what I can ascertain). During part of the 80s Blaine was living in a van in Crete in artistic self-exile. He had possibly already been there for a period during the 70s. There had been a large hippy population there on the coast, but this would have been dwindling by the early 1980s. He apparently took his extensive library of books with him. He continued his allegations on his return, not relenting even when Gyke warned him about the dangers of having such delusions (Gyke had himself been hospitalized for similar mental health reasons). Undeterred, Blaine ramped up the allegations in Gyke’s old age and then went public with the accusations after Gyke’s death. And so his new identity "Goldcatcher" was born.

We also cannot forget the account of a satanic torture and sacrifice of alleged victim “Pussycat” in Ed Sander’s “The Family” book about Manson. Sander’s source was (correct me if I am wrong) none other than Blaine, aka Blaine Blaine, Purple Blaine, Blaine T. Blaine, Zakatorious the Pantheist, etc.

Making associations and allegations are evidently par for the course for Blaine. But still, we cannot deny the fact that the Golden Calf movement was real. Whether or not it ever actually intended to harm people cannot be proven (as we only have Blaine’s word on this at present time), but it is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. We cannot, for instance, dismiss the idea that one of the Golden Calf’s followers was a bit kookier than the rest and decided to take the whole idea to a new and more sinister extreme. When you have an environment in which people with pre-existing mental illnesses were taking mind-altering drugs cooked up by some backyard chemist and possibly also drinking alcohol excessively at times, while lacking adequate nutrition and basic hygiene, this could have provided a recipe for disaster in some cases. Manson and his followers are perhaps an extreme example of this.

As for Blaine he went on to build a giant paper machet phallus, which he erected (pardon the pun) in the park for all to see. He apparently enlisted the help of a next door neighbour to carry the thing there and stand it up. The press didn’t show, a few hippies commented, nobody applauded. The giant phallus fell flat and disappeared soon after.

sandy betts wrote:
I forgot to mention that When I read the description of Blaine, that I did some investigating on him, because he fit somewhat the description of my suspect. ( The bad eye, the slight spiting when he talks)
Blaine sold a lot of real-estate in the Berkeley/Oakland areas, he was well off at one time. His Middle name is Thurman , he has a high IQ.

Oh and his middle name was Thorman, not Thurman.

There is no record of him ever being a realtor, let alone a successful one. This seems impossible given what we know about him. How could he have been a successful realtor when he was living in self-exile in a van in Crete?

It is however possible that Blaine had a friend or partner or relative at some time who was a successful businessman.

Ok. The Barker was too portly to chase people down, but you’re talking Blaine’s 1972+ friends, right?
What about, before 1970?
Blaine and his friends couldn’t be "Zodiac", because that was someone else’s fictional persona. But there really were savage attacks on couples, in various places throughout California during the 1960’s, and cultesque movements don’t just pop into being overnight…it takes time to grow them.
Perhaps someone ought to ask Blaine and Sanders about sodomizing "puppies" in the backroom-office of "Tuesday’s Child". The "pussycat" story is a fantasy, but what does it say about the fantasizer?
I warned Sanders that I was going to do this – expose Blaine and his other sources – years ago. I gave him lots of time to make any public statements he might choose to, so no question of ‘blind-siding’ here. I told him, he could only blame himself for what McGowan et.al., were doing to Wavy Gravy – the inevitable blowback from cozying up to conspiracy whackos like Ted Gunderson.