Oh yeah, I Shall totally stands out! And if I ever hear it, I think of the Z.

Welcome, SwmpGrl…

It’s definitely a distinct usage of the word "shall", which makes its appearance in the Confession letter all the more interesting and perhaps relevant. I think of SHALL as a proclamation… an announcement of something that he plans to do and wants everyone to know about. It’s a subtle difference from the word WILL but Z seems to use it when he’s presenting something that he thinks should be newsworthy or important like changing his M.O. or taking responsibility for a murder. I’m not sure too much should be read into it but I wouldn’t be surprised if Z used the word SHALL in some aspect of his everyday life.

Good discussion!

The use of ‘shall’ (outside of legal language & reasons)is typically NOT used by Americans. In is more typical in England,etc. Writers, authors, people that are well read, and perhaps associated with writing or poetry backgrounds sometimes use the word. In the ‘suspects’ section, there is a lengthy thread for Fred Manalli. Manalli was quite fond of that word,and used it frequently. In fact, he used another word that Zodiac used, Saterical/satirical, which I would be willing to bet 90% of US residents have NEVER used in any way, shape, or form, so that could be a big clue. The fact Manalli & Zodiac both used that(along with many other clues)is what makes Fred one of my favorite suspects.

A caveat for Manalli using the word shall was explained to me by his sister. Manalli was a stutterer, words beginning with W would make him stutter so he substituted the word shall for will. This carried over to his writing as well as him using it while speaking. I think a case could be made from this information as to why someone who was raised in the US would use the word shall over will. Maybe Zodiac was a stutterer.

The Zodiac’s use of "shall" and "will" is interesting when considered against the grammatical "rules", too. Have a look at this:
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_c … l_will.htm
…and consider the difference between "I shall state some facts", and "I will go on a kill rampage".
Interesting. Did he know his stuff and was he using "shall" correctly? Hmmmmm……

Smithy I think he did know the difference when to use it. According to your attachment shall is used for first person I and we (pl)
will is used for he.she it and they
Im reading through the excerpts I posted and it’s all I shall
and then there is this:

Others shall have pine splinters driven under their nails + then burned. Others shall be placed in cages + fed salt beef untill they are gorged then I shall listen to their pleass for water and I shall laugh at them. Others will hang by their thumbs + burn in the sun then I will rub them down with deep heat to warm them up. Others I shall skin them alive + let them run around screaming.

he could be emphasing his point in a commanding way by using shall, but in one instance he puts an ‘I’ after others. You could actually do that after the other ‘others’ and it would make sense in the first person. I believe he knows his grammer…

was in the miltary- "On specifications and standards published by US DoD, requirements with "shall" are the mandatory requirements. (“Must” shall not used to express mandatory provisions. Use the term “shall.”) “Will” declares purpose on the part of the Government or simple futurity…Wikipedia

and the use of shall is derived from Old English…it’s interesting…something to keep in the back of the mind.

MORPH-Seagull !! I have never heard of Fred Manalli…I am actually excited I am going to read about something new in the case!!

I shall now go read about Fred Manalli Thank You

Good Luck SwampGirl…It will take a long while.

Now you are going to make me go back in there, and everytime I read the Manalli threads, I keep finding more stuff…

‘Shall’ seems to be more of a guarantee, more of a word of promise. Where ‘will’ is more of a contingency word…..If this happens I ‘will’ do this….. I thought of the Bible, so I looked it up….The word ‘Will’ is in the Bible 3,307 times, the word ‘shall’ is there 6,796 times Interesting….
So maybe by using this word, Z is saying, no matter what others do, I shall do this. It would be pretty heady stuff for a guy who couldn’t spell anything correctly. Sometimes I wonder if his misspelling was a bit of a put on.
I remember when the Belli letter first came out, my initial reaction was, "Oh you can write neatly when you want to." All his other writings looked like a homicidal maniac was writing them, which he was. But his Belli letter, while it still had misspellings, was much neater.

Interesting topic…..It would make an interesting book for some literary expert to go through each of Z’s letters, and dissect each sentence. Create an accurate profile from what he wrote. Don’t know if it’s possible with a maniac.

Smithy I think he did know the difference when to use it. According to your attachment …..

Swampy – it’s not the only site out there, the one I referred to, but it does seem to make some sense. (Even if the "promissary" future tense use of "will" does contradict what my mate Entropy said, a little. Sorry E.)
….And I agree with you, FWIW, he knew the difference with "Shall" and "Will" and when to use it.
What does that say about the kind of guy he was, I wonder? This shooter-of-kids-with-a-.22 guy? The madman-with-a-knife at Berryessa? Hmmmmm.

Smithy I think he did know the difference when to use it. According to your attachment …..

Swampy – it’s not the only site out there, the one I referred to, but it does seem to make some sense. (Even if the "promissary" future tense use of "will" does contradict what my mate Entropy said, a little. Sorry E.)
….And I agree with you, FWIW, he knew the difference with "Shall" and "Will" and when to use it.
What does that say about the kind of guy he was, I wonder? This shooter-of-kids-with-a-.22 guy? The madman-with-a-knife at Berryessa? Hmmmmm.

Murderers can’t use proper English? Kidding.

It does sound bit quirky though…some spooky serial killer coming across as some sort of proper gentleman with a British accent…almost being polite in his mannerisms. I imagine him talking to someone this way, and it makes me chuckle….just a little.

I don’t think that Z actually spoke this way in every day life…it’s more the fact that he would actually think to use the word…which points me to a British background? literary background? military background? Ha-can you imagine someone walking around in the sixties/seventies using the word shall in general conversation-then again-I’m hearing Manalli? hmmmmm

I don’t think that Z actually spoke this way in every day life…it’s more the fact that he would actually think to use the word…which points me to a British background? literary background? military background? Ha-can you imagine someone walking around in the sixties/seventies using the word shall in general conversation-then again-I’m hearing Manalli? hmmmmm

No…I agree with you…I don’t think he talked that way in everyday conversation. That is sort of what made me laugh…imagining it.

There have been several things brought up about the possibility of him having some British ties. "Happy Xmas", the use of "Deep Heat"….quite a few more things.

I also like your point about the use of it in the military. I wasn’t aware of that.

I remember reading somewhere (one of the boards) that certain Zodiacisms can be found in older English texts, his use of certain gerund forms, not least. The person pointing this out seemed to suggest that Z must have been familiar with texts from a certain period. The "shall" could be viewed in that light.

I don’t know if I buy the theory, though. Some of the forms he uses are commonplace enough for it to be just coincidence. The real question is to what extent his idiosyncratic grammar and spelling are intentional – or more precisely, if they are intentional, in what way are they intentional?

As an attempt to disguise himself as someone with little education it comes across as too damn obvious. Some of the "errors" in his missives aren’t of the kind a poorly educated person would make. Nobody spells "kid" with a "c", for instance, regardless of their education. It seems very much constructed. But to what end?

To me it seems like he is a) just playing around with the spelling, i.e. it’s a joke of sorts to him, he finds it amusing to purposely misspell certain words or b) it’s pathological (for lack of a better word), a kind of dyslexia, though certainly not the common kind.

Good Point Norse and I agree with you about his misspellings. Guess it’s all information we tuck away as we assess each suspect!