A heck of a stretch to think that they knew each other, based on the apparent timeline.
Z hails a cab downtown in a major city . . . and what do you know, it just happens to be Stine? And Z just happens to have his gun with him?
Or Stine after getting the Richmond district call just happens to drop into a bar for a quick beer first, and Z just happens to be there and asks for a ride, and just happens to have his gun with him?
And Z just happens to have parked his car outside the Presidio so he can escape after he kills Stine, who he’s going to be able to find downtown no problem, either by hailing his cab or running into him in a bar?
While it is interesting about him riding in the front seat, imagine you’re a day-to-day cabbie. A strange man hauls you and immediately sits in the front and tells you he’s going 4 blocks. How hard do you protest? I don’t think it’s too likely you tell him "no buddy, back seat only."
Do we know for certain he rode in the front seat? i thought that was debatable?
A heck of a stretch to think that they knew each other, based on the apparent timeline.
Z hails a cab downtown in a major city . . . and what do you know, it just happens to be Stine? And Z just happens to have his gun with him?
Or Stine after getting the Richmond district call just happens to drop into a bar for a quick beer first, and Z just happens to be there and asks for a ride, and just happens to have his gun with him?
And Z just happens to have parked his car outside the Presidio so he can escape after he kills Stine, who he’s going to be able to find downtown no problem, either by hailing his cab or running into him in a bar?
Yeah, the only way I can see it happening was if Zodiac and Stine knew each other and had arranged beforehand that Stine was to pick him up there at a certain time.
How would THAT work? That you could get a cabbie to know in advance that he could meet you at a certain place at a certain time?
And Stine would accept the 9th Ave call?
While it is interesting about him riding in the front seat, imagine you’re a day-to-day cabbie. A strange man hauls you and immediately sits in the front and tells you he’s going 4 blocks. How hard do you protest? I don’t think it’s too likely you tell him "no buddy, back seat only."
Do we know for certain he rode in the front seat? i thought that was debatable?
The kids who saw him claim they saw him in the front seat before exiting the vehicle. There were also a pair of gloves on the front seat floorboard, believed to may have been Z’s. It’s annotated in the police report of the murder.
While it is interesting about him riding in the front seat, imagine you’re a day-to-day cabbie. A strange man hauls you and immediately sits in the front and tells you he’s going 4 blocks. How hard do you protest? I don’t think it’s too likely you tell him "no buddy, back seat only."
Do we know for certain he rode in the front seat? i thought that was debatable?
Everything points to a rear passenger shooting by a right-handed assailant. When they extricated Paul Stine from the taxicab, the road map was underneath his body and fell onto the road (shown in the photographs). This was underneath his upper torso on the passenger side. If Zodiac had been occupying the front passenger seat, are we to assume Zodiac sat on it for the entirety of the journey, or isn’t it more likely that if Zodiac had traveled in the front, Stine would have logically taken it off the passenger seat before the customer entered the taxicab. This goes a long way to dispelling the front passenger claim, despite what any investigators hypothesized.
That map could have easily been on the seat between Stine and Zodiac, at the ready if he needed it.
There is no evidence Zodiac ever entered the back of the cab at any point.
How would THAT work? That you could get a cabbie to know in advance that he could meet you at a certain place at a certain time?
Zodiac – "Hey buddy, can you pick me up at the corner of Mason and Geary around 9:30 or so? I’m going to need a ride."
Stine – "I can’t promise you, but if I’m in the area and available I will".
I’m not saying that’s what happened, I don’t think that’s what happened, I’m just saying it could happen.
And Stine would accept the 9th Ave call?
But yet he stopped for Zodiac. I’m assuming he though Zodiac a sure fare and took him over a possible fare.
Everything points to a rear passenger shooting by a right-handed assailant.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve always understood.
To me, Z in the rear seat makes most sense. Too much chance of an altercation and failure if seated beside Stine. Much easier in terms of surprise, and to press the gun barrel to Stine’s temple from the rear. A scene the Fincher movie probably got right.
So someone in the front- passenger seat couldn’t have shot Stine in the same manner? Why, exactly?
Sure he could have. But if you were Z, surely you would go for the best odds in this gamble. If seated next to Stine, he’s got to get that pistol (with his right hand, we assume?) across his own body and against the cabbie’s head and bank on Stine not fighting back or jerking his head/body away and causing a ruckus and maybe sounding the horn. In boxing/martial arts terms, Z in front is giving away an unnecessary advantage as he is putting himself off balance in having to turn and reach over. So, I just think the odds are MUCH better from the rear.
But yeah, there are no eyewitnesses to the actual shooting. And we don’t know what cock and bull story Z laid on Stine, that maybe gave PS hopes of not getting shot and feeling that he had no need to fight this guy off.
If Zodiac knew Stine it would have been weird for him to get in the back.
Zodiac – "Hey buddy, can you pick me up at the corner of Mason and Geary around 9:30 or so? I’m going to need a ride."
Stine – "I can’t promise you, but if I’m in the area and available I will".
I’m not saying that’s what happened, I don’t think that’s what happened, I’m just saying it could happen.
That’s a fair point. But then Z runs the risk of someone else being privy to it.
Another patron in a bar overhearing him ask Stine, for example.
Or Stine telling his dispatcher, "Hey my friend Rich needs a ride tonight at 9:30, if you can work me over to Mason and Geary around then."
Zodiac – "Hey buddy, can you pick me up at the corner of Mason and Geary around 9:30 or so? I’m going to need a ride."
Stine – "I can’t promise you, but if I’m in the area and available I will".
I’m not saying that’s what happened, I don’t think that’s what happened, I’m just saying it could happen.
That’s a fair point. But then Z runs the risk of someone else being privy to it.
Another patron in a bar overhearing him ask Stine, for example.
Don’t know why the conversation would have had to happen in a bar.
Or Stine telling his dispatcher, "Hey my friend Rich needs a ride tonight at 9:30, if you can work me over to Mason and Geary around then."
That is true, but most likely Stine wouldn’t have said anything.
