I read Hodel’s book recently. There is no way that he was the Zodiac. Hell I don’t even think he murdered Beth Short.

Personally I do think a Robert Coffman with heavy rimmed glasses might be a good poi, especially if coming from San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside or Vallejo area?

QT

Hey Sandy, I did read MK-Zodiac a while back and it did more to dissuade me that Z murdered Domingos and Edwards. That said, I have to admit that I’m not so sure anymore about Gilmore being responsible.

I’ve also become more certain that Fouke saw the same guy the kids witnessed wiping down Stine’s cab. I have no doubt now.

As for Hodel, all I can say is I feel duped for buying that book, and I want my money back, Steve!

Hey Sandy, I did read MK-Zodiac a while back and it did more to dissuade me that Z murdered Domingos and Edwards. That said, I have to admit that I’m not so sure anymore about Gilmore being responsible.

I’ve also become more certain that Fouke saw the same guy the kids witnessed wiping down Stine’s cab. I have no doubt now.

As for Hodel, all I can say is I feel duped for buying that book, and I want my money back, Steve!

Bill Baker who worked the Santa Barbara case is pretty sure it was the Zodiac . Maybe the 22 shells were a match to Lake Herman rd ? The Det’s can’t tell everything, so there must be something that makes him feel that way. I know Bill and trust his judgenent. Lake Berryessa Zodiac made sure he didn’t make the same mistakes that he did in the Santa Barbara case is what many think. ( Making sure this time they were both tied up and that one tied the other)

I didn’t buy Hodel’s book because there was nothing that I felt had anything to do with whom I believe was Zodiac. I have bought many other Zodiac books, because they did have what I believe to have Zodiac related information in them.

As for Gilmore being in Calif. I would like to see some proof of that. He was someone who couldn’t go a few weeks without commiting a crime and seemed to get caught most of the time.

I’m really not certain at all anymore about the Domingos/Edwards case. What I find interesting is that Z takes credit for Bates and Johns, but is silent when LE brings up a possible connection to Santa Barbara. Leads me to believe that he was either lying about bates and johns, but responsible for killing Domingos and Edwards, or vice versa. I guess the question is Can we trust the Zodiac?

I think we can all agree that there is one thing way can categorically say is absolutely certain and accurate in regards to Zodiac and that is that nothing is known for certain and fact when it comes to Zodiac.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised though that if he was unmasked tomorrow via successful DNA match or whatever that people who knew him would come out with stories just like they normally do regarding serial killing lunatics, such as "I was shocked, still don’t believe it. Lovely chap." and "He was a volunteer who spent a minimum of 20 hours a month Helping old ladies across the street. Can’t believe he’d then execute a few teens on is way home from helping the elderly folk."
I don’t think Zodiac would stand out in a crowd, he’d probably look like your average everyday man.

Serious though, you have to admire, well I do anyway, the irony and humour shown by some serial’s. Bundy was asked by a female work colleague late one night would he walk her to her car as she was concerned about the mad man killing women that was on the loose. Bundy: "Sure, be happy to. You can’t be too careful these days, there are a lot of sick people out there." In his head I bet he followed that with "Your asking one to walk you to your car as it happens."
That is irony in it purest form, I mean what are the chances that if your a woman and ask a male colleague to accompany you through the dark deserted multi level car park on account of being fearful of the psychopathic serial killer currently loose and the male colleague you ask is actually the very man from which your seeking protection and asking to accompany you.

Yes that can happen. I for one invited my suspect to my home, thinking he was a woman who needed a place to get away from a dangerous man who was harassing her.
I will never know why he didn’t take me up on that, except perhaps he was married and couldn’t ? He came into my work place more than once dressed as a woman, that night when he got up and walked out, was when I realized by his walk ,that he was my suspect in drag ! She /He spoke very few words and it was in a whisper, so I couldn’t tell by his voice that he was a man.

There is one certainty that many people may contest but from Z’s symbol/Odin’s cross to the concept of "slaves in the afterlife" to the runic symbol on the Avery card to the word "Thing" to the word "karmann" to the Norwegian word for the "basement" where Z stored his "bus bomb" (and finally the "sla" letter), this case screams out someone very familiar with Norse/Viking culture. Norse culture is the only common thread that links all of the above items, many of which taken in a vacuum can have multiple explanations absent that common thread.

Mike

There is one certainty that many people may contest but from Z’s symbol/Odin’s cross to the concept of "slaves in the afterlife" to the runic symbol on the Avery card to the word "Thing" to the word "karmann" to the Norwegian word for the "basement" where Z stored his "bus bomb" (and finally the "sla" letter), this case screams out someone very familiar with Norse/Viking culture. Norse culture is the only common thread that links all of the above items, many of which taken in a vacuum can have multiple explanations absent that common thread.

Mike

Mike, can you elaborate on this – sorry if it’s been done to death before! I’m interested in "thing", "karmann" and the word for "basement".

The "sla" thing struck me a long time ago. It is obvious that whoever wrote that had some knowledge of Old Norse. However, there are some points to make here. I’m not an expert in Old Norse but as far as I know – and I’ll be happy to admit it if somebody proves me wrong – the Old Norse "sla" works pretty much like the modern Norwegian "slå": in modern Norwegian "slå" means "strike" or "hit", not "kill". In order to make a kill, so to speak, you need to add something: "slå ihjel" means literally "to strike dead". But "slå" in itself does not mean "kill". The verb is used in many different ways: "slå gress" = cut grass. "Det slo [past tense] meg at…" = "It struck me that…" So, in short, the most obvious translation for "kill" is definitely not "sla" – and as far as I know that holds true for Old Norse as well. Old Norse for "to kill" is "drepa", whereas "sla" would require "i hel" in addition: "sla i hel", literally "to strike into the netherworld", "hel" referring to the netherworld, the world of the dead, the – obvious – etymological source for the English term "hell".

So, would someone intimately familiar with Old Norse claim that "sla" means "kill"? Probably not, I’d say. It would be equivalent to someone claiming in, say, Spanish that the English word "strike" means "kill".

Just an observation. And if what I’m – sort of – suggesting here is true, it might indicate that Z wasn’t an Old Norse expert, just someone who had picked up a few things here and there.

Hi-

Well, a "Thing" was a gathering of men who made laws and meted out punishment in Viking days. Sort of like the "judge, jury and executioner" concept from "The Mikado." Notably, "Thing" has a capital T, and if you look closely, Z changed the word on the card from a lower case "T" to a capital letter.

If you look in a Norwegian dictionary, "karmann" means "man." The point is, it is a Norwegian/Norse word.

I’ll let you look up "basement" or "cellar" in a Norwegian dictionary.

Mike

I just looked it up, Mike. WOW!

Hi-

The point is that taken in a vacuum, there is enough uncertainty about the "sla" letter that there seems to be room to doubt the "Norse connection" to the case. But given that there are apparently other references, it seems that "whoever Z was," he had ties to Norway/Norse culture. Of course, for any given example, I can’t prove that it is a Norse connection. However, taken collectively, they strongly hint at a common origin.

Seagull, given that there is no proof that a "bus bomb" ever existed except in the mind of the person who created it, the root of that word is kind of interesting. BTW, that is the only word in that language with that root that I’ve been able to locate.

Mike

Hi-
But given that there are apparently other references, it seems that "whoever Z was," he had ties to Norway/Norse culture. Of course, for any given example, I can’t prove that it is a Norse connection. However, taken collectively, they strongly hint at a common origin.
Mike

It could also be that Z was well-read,afterall, he mentions ‘slaves in the afterlife’, which is a reference to beliefs that are foreign to most American’s beliefs, but that does not necessarily make Z a foreigner,he could have read it in a book

slatr … means "slaughter/slaughtering" in old norse. Maybe that is where Zodiac got that "sla=kill" idea?

Karmann … does not mean man.

kar … means "man"

mann … means "man" or "husband"

And FYI I´m half norwegian, half swedish living in Denmark, and I do speak all 3 languishes, not old norwegian though

Hi-

Thanks for the clarification. In the Norwegian dictionary I copied years ago, "karmann" was translated as "man." That is all I know.

Regardless, it is comprised of Norwegian words and not words that are native to, say, South Dakota or Vallejo.

Mike