Thanks Susie and the hotel sounds very good to me. If I go there, I’ll plan to stay there most definitely. The location is good and the streets are all pretty level around there too which is good.
Thanks Susie and the hotel sounds very good to me. If I go there, I’ll plan to stay there most definitely. The location is good and the streets are all pretty level around there too which is good.
Capricorn I sent you a pm
If Tarbox’s suspect is yet living that could be a problem.
Or a plus.
DNA, handwriting, etc.
I find it most interesting that Mr. Tarbox was the former owner or part-owner in a bar/nightclub and think maybe the seaman knew that and could have been why he was chosen.
Yes, that is interesting.
I also find it interesting that the consultation turned into 2 hours and that he had to get hammered afterwards.
On one hand, these events sound plausible.
Someone drops a bombshell in your lap like that, discussion goes longer than normal, it dawns on you the lifelong implications of what just happened.
A few stiff drinks needed.
But for some reason, aspects of this account, have got me wondering.
Despite the earthshattering content of the seaman’s admission, and I realise we’re talking major league earthshattering here,
Tarbox’s account, timewise, seems to cover about 15 minutes. So what was the rest of the hour plus discussion.
Perhaps the seaman knew something about him or someone he knew in the bar/nightlife scene and selected him on the basis that he could ‘lean’ on him somewhat. Perhaps he was outlining the way things were going to go down. I don’t know.
Tarbox sounds like a good man. A standup guy. And it wouldn’t be the first time a good guy had been put in a corner like that.
And then to have to live with that on your conscience for the rest of time, knowing that the victims families never got closure.
And that you could’ve possibly prevented further deaths from happening.
It’s a wonder the guy didn’t hit the bottle every day. 
The restaurant I told you about was named the Shadows. I Googled after posting to check and saw it no longer exists. There are some pictures of this old German restaurant and the bar there with the view of the Bay Bridge (I think is the bridge) is what I think attracted him mostly to this place as I remember sitting there upstairs in the lounge when we went together and he spent a long time telling me about the various bridges, where they connect and lead to and all sorts of other details about them.
This was just a little uphill from Julius Castle, both now closed, with a similar kinda feel to them.
Intimate but festive. Sort of old money, upscale Hofbrau-like.
Maybe you went to HS Lordships and Spengers Fish Grotto too, in the East bay.
The Bay area, you would think, would have more waterside restaurants, than say L.A., specially including those with bay views.
If your guy was Z, this water theme connection would fit the profile too.
Can you go into more detail about his hand situation?
Did he have arthritis?
Was there an accident he had at some point?
I think you mentioned hospitalisation.
Some of Z’s handwriting does look like that of someones whos hand muscles were getting tired and seemed like it was a struggle to get to the finish.
Was your guy into cryptography?
That to me has to be a big part of the culprits interest.
Did he ever discuss semaphore or perhaps, the Voynich manuscript?
He took me to Spenger’s Fish Grotto several times as that place was a favorite since his days at UCB and is still there. I remember we also went to a place called Solomon Grundy’s or he spoke of it and a couple of other nice places in Berkeley. He would speak of Jack London Square in Oakland and played lots of pool when he was a student. Oh and China Station which I think was in Berkeley.
I don’t know if he had arthritis in his hand or not. I never heard about any specific injury to his hand, just a bicycle/car accident with a head injury as a kid when he’d been riding his bike and got hit by a car. The hospitalization I referred to was five years ago I think and don’t feel I can mention any more about that than I already have due to confidentiality and respect for my friend and his rights. If the doctor had not made the off-the-cuff remark to me that he did, I would never ever had any suspicion at all nor started reading about the Zodiac after seeing the movie on tv and watched that movie just because I’d not seen it and there wasn’t anything else on and after it started thought that must be what this doctor could have been referring to but I will never know.
I guess I’m wondering where Mr. Tarbox is now in all this and that if the authorities were investigating anyone at this time, why they wouldn’t simply consult with him and Bryan Hartnell and possibly even Mike Mageau re. the suspect’s voice and whatever else would be pertinent. My friend’s voice has not changed at all or very little since I met him in 1970. Some people’s voices do however but at least there are these two men who claim to have spoken with the Zodiac so I guess I’m hoping Tarbox would at least speak up now and give some hints so the poor innocent men who have been falsely accused can be eliminated and people won’t waste anymore of their time commenting on Arthur Allen and all the others who are long gone and evidentally were not the Zodiac.
Yeah, I don’t see what Tarbox has to lose at this point, and is possibly even doing himself and reputation a disservice by not coming clean with everything, since the 2007 admission.
Cap, what was the off the cuff remark the doctor said?
Yeah, I don’t see what Tarbox has to lose at this point, and is possibly even doing himself and reputation a disservice by not coming clean with everything, since the 2007 admission.
Cap, what was the off the cuff remark the doctor said?
I remember the exact comment but do not feel comfortable posting it. Sorry, you’d have to understand the entire situation and circumstances and it is just too long and delicate to explain.
Suffice it to say and all anyone needs to know is that I wondered and still do WHY the dr. remarked as he did and what basis he had for saying what he did. In essence, if I posted his exact words most people would conclude he was suspicious of my friend based on the generic term he used in his remark. My friend had been there one month before I learned of his whereabouts and almost died. So who knows what he was saying or doing that would have caused any doctor to make the remark that he did? I was so taken aback and shocked that I wish now I’d thought to ask the dr. why he said what he did.
PM me and tell me a little something about yourself if you care to. There really isn’t any point going into this now as my point in mentioning this is ONLY to explain why I became curious about this case and wondered about my friend. The movie and reading on this board is what triggered all these flashbacks.
Do you think Mr. Tarbox follows this case and reads here? I would love to know more about him and his background to see if I can see any other possible connections my friend might have with him other than being the owner of this bar.
From the picture I saw of him and what little I have read, I would imagine he’s quite a great guy and very personable and would be easy to relate to and perhaps had a paternal quality about him or something else that would make this man feel safe enough to have consulted with him.
I just went over this entire thread. I see where Mr. Tarbox said he’d taken pre-med courses and psychology. Now that is another very interesting detail and something my friend and he could have had in common and easily have spent a lot of time talking about. I’d love to know more about Mr. Tarbox and his hobbies, etc. back then.
Merchant Marines are an interesting group. I chatted with a group of students from the Academy last December in the local train station for over an hour while we were waiting for the train headed south. They were from the San Diego/Oceanside area and had just gotten out and heading home for their Christmas vacation. They even demonstrated the "dead man carry" for me right there in the station!
Mr. Tarbox must be quite the man with loads of interesting stories!
I also see from the date of his contact with this guy that it could have been after I’d met my boyfriend. I can’t recheck now as I’m having computer problems and also with my connection and don’t want to lose this post.
My friend was the one who told me about the Zodiac and his crimes in great detail and was surprised I didn’t know more, but I had been in Europe for the month of August in 1969 so missed a lot of whatever would have been in the news and then didn’t spend much time watching it in those days. I remember him asking my opinion and what I thought he (referring to the Zodiac) should do and I told him I thought he should turn himself in and perhaps he would then be spared the death penalty and get life in prison which triggered a conversation about the death penalty and other cases in the news at that time. The Manson murders and Patty Hearst and DB Cooper were all during this time and would often be in the news (not only when they happened but as new things occurred and re-caps on anniversaries and slow news days). Millions of people discussed these cases around the water cooler and dinner table or tv trays so I certainly didn’t think there was anything at all unusual about his theoretical question but just surprised that he seemed to know so much about the murders and details of them which he said had been in the news.
We spent practically every weekend together and on holidays he’d be invited to my home for dinner but do recall once or twice when he’d gone to San Francisco and was very vague about the trip and said nothing much about it when he got back other than it was okay or all right and that he’d had a nice time but no details or postcard or phone calls while away which was a little odd and I thought he well could have gone there to see an old girlfriend. There was one he’d talk about whom he’d met at UCB so thought she could have remained single and still been in the area as I think he told me her home was in the bay area.
I thought if he’d been to visit any old male friends from UCB he would surely have told me all about that and what they did and where they went. One of these trips was one Easter and after we’d been dating for a couple of years so I guess I felt he just didn’t feel like coming for dinner as he knew the same people would be there. In recent years, he remarked how he didn’t like the way my uncle was always looking at him when they’d be talking so I wonder now if that is why he didn’t come this particular time as my aunt and uncle were always there.
Tarbox sounds like a good man. A standup guy. And it wouldn’t be the first time a good guy had been put in a corner like that.
Tarbox was disbarred in 1975…I’ll just link to this post from ZK:
Yes, I can remembering talking about or mentioning the manuscripts and other mysteries such as the Shroud of Turin, Rosacruscians, Masons, lots of talk about symbols and these secret societies and wondering about the kinds of people attracted to them.
He explained semaphores, I’m pretty sure, as well as SOS, Morse code and short-wave radios and knew more about all these things than I did.
We just talked about so many things as we were young and had attended similar colleges and had a lot in common. He was interested in travel and had been to Mexico but not Europe as had I so some of the ruins and things I saw sparked many of these conversations. We also really hadn’t been out of school all that many years at that time of course so those days were much fresher in our minds then.
After re-reading this, I see where Tarbox described the MM as having a full head of hair. Now that could be subjective but I wouldn’t describe my friend’s hair like that then. He wasn’t bald but his hair was thinning but perhaps wouldn’t have been noticeable then to someone whose hair may have been even thinner.
This is why Mr. Tarbox could be invaluable to consult with now before it is too late! What is his idea of a full head of hair? Was it long, short, etc. He could well sketch the hair style from memory I would think.
Now I might as well add that my friend has also said things like it is very easy to disguise yourself, especially for a guy (this when I’d try to bring up the subject of some unsolved case in the most general way, just asking his opinion) with wigs, toupees, glasses, moustaches and beards as well as hair dye. These are things most anyone would know so that is makes me think that the man could have disguised himself so well that Tarbox would not have suspected and why I wonder if the ID card had a picture and if so how carefully did he study the picture.
Anyone could fake the disguise and then fake a picture id so that is no proof of anything.
The details of his interview are what I’d like to know and don’t see why he could not tell about it, leaving out any name or other specific thing that would identify anyone. Did they chat first and about what topics? What was the alleged MM’S demeanor like? Nervous? Hand shaking? Tremor? Other body language? Any smoking during these two hours? What brand cigarettes? How was the guy dressed as someone else asked? Shoes? In two hours, you can be sure any lawyer would have been making very careful observations, especially one with a pre-med background! Has Tarbox ever represented any accused murders? Did the MM ask him about his background and success rate in working out plea bargains or interview Tarbox in effect?
Not sure if this has been posted previously, but this blog has a letter that Mr. Tarbox wrote regarding the Mayor Moscone/Harvey Milk killings.
Not sure if this has been posted previously, but this blog has a letter that Mr. Tarbox wrote regarding the Mayor Moscone/Harvey Milk killings.
Bandwith limit reached!
What’s that all about?
Are you able to view the link? I just clicked it on a minute ago, and it worked.
Tarbox sounds like a good man. A standup guy. And it wouldn’t be the first time a good guy had been put in a corner like that.
Tarbox was disbarred in 1975…I’ll just link to this post from ZK:
Ah, so Tarbox isn’t exactly all that clean after all.
Tarbox couldn’t be Z could he?
Seems a little bit above the age bracket required.
Although young at heart, I might suspect.
