Sorry, guys, but this is going to be quite lengthy. Please bear with me.

I’m going to try to approach this post with a little discretion because Dave Toschi is now dead, and I don’t take casting aspirations on a dead man lightly.

Still, in regards to the Zodiac case, I think it’s important to look at all the facts and information and more importantly from WHERE and from WHOM those facts and information are coming from.

For many years, up until his death in 2018, Toschi was seemingly gracious enough to offer information and insights about the case – much of which was previously unknown and behind-the-scenes sort of stuff. He assisted Greysmith on his book. He helped Harvey Hines in his research. He has spoken to Tom Voigt and Sandy Betts among other amateur sleuths. Full disclosure: I never met Toschi, and I have never spoken with him.

However, I think it’s time to question whether Toschi was as honest and upfront as he seems. In isolation, some of the questionable things he has said and done are easily ignored and explained. Taken as a whole, I think it demonstrates a pattern of…let’s call it “less than honest” behavior.

I’ll start off by saying that Dave Toschi – even before the Zodiac case – had a reputation of being eccentric. His bow tie, his long trenchcoat, his upside down holster, his affinity for animal crackers all lent toward his colorful character. Much has been made about how Steve McQueen modeled his character in the move Bullit on him, and how Dirty Harry was based on him. He never found a camera or microphone he didn’t like. It’s safe to say he was the most well known cop in San Francisco and arguably the most well known detective in America. Taken at his best, he was publicity hound. Taken at his worst, he was an attention whore. Either way, there’s no doubt Toschi was an interesting, colorful guy who loved the adoration he got from his fellow cops, the press, and the citizens of the Bay Area. I also don’t think there is any doubt that he worked tirelessly on the Zodiac case and was a good, competent cop.

However, I think there’s a darker side to Dave Toschi. A side that is so narcissistic that he was willing to “make up” facts in order to sensationalize things and make sure his name was always centrally involved. I think Toschi rode a fine line between attention seeker and fraud. I think it’s time to question the veracity of some of his statements over the years.

Here are some examples that I believe prove my point:

1. It is a fact that Toschi sent pseudonymous fan mail about himself to Armistead Maupin in 1976. This is something Toschi himself has publicly admitted.

2. It was the tone and diction of these fan letters that led Maupin to suggest that it was Toschi who authored the controversial 1978 “City Pig Toschi” letter. That letter was originally believed to be authentic, but has been widely discredited as a fake. Toschi denied to the press that he wrote it, and publicly the SFPD cleared him. But privately, implications were made and Toschi’s career was irreparably damaged.

3. Mike Rodelli spoke with SFPD DNA guy Alan Keel in 2007. At that time, Keel told Rodelli that the 1978 letter and an unknown 1974 letter were both eliminated by DNA. Using deductive reasoning, Mike came to the conclusion that the 1974 letter in question was the famed Exorcist letter. If Toschi forged the 1978 letter, then the DNA on the 1974 letter would have to be identical. This would seem to indicate that Toschi forged both the 1978 letter AND the Exorcist letters. Keep in mind that both of these letters were written years after the originals and immediately put both the Zodiac AND Toschi on the front page again. Richard Grinnell does a fine job of explaining these discrepancies on his website here: https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-ne … ontroversy

4. Moreover, in Lyndon Lafferty’s book, he transcribes an admittedly rambling phone message that he received from Alan Keel in which Keel states, “…he [Toschi] actually admitted writing it [the 1978 letter]”.

5. Allegedly, Harvey Hines once stated that Toschi admitted to him that he created the Pines card in 1971. It seems odd that Hines would make this up as it undermines his case for Kane. Why would Toschi lie to Hines about this as it makes him look terrible? Also, the Pines Card would be the last “authentic” Zodiac correspondence until…yes, you guessed it – the Exorcist letter nearly 3 years later.

6. Toschi also allegedly told Hines that Zodiac didn’t randomly hail a cab at Mason and Geary, but that they had traced the call to the cab company to a pay phone at Union Station. This contradicts every other official police report on the incident and begs the question of how the police would “trace” a call well after the call was made – to a public pay phone in busy urban area no less…

7. Allegedly, Toschi also told Hines that Zodiac could be “50 years old or even older”. He said this despite all public information regarding the Zodiac’s description stating that the oldest he could be is 45 years old. Where does Toschi get the information that he could be older? Worse, if this information is true, then why is he keeping a key piece of identifying evidence to himself?

8. Sandy Betts has posted publicly that Toschi told her that Zodiac was laughing as he killed Cecelia Shepherd. Again, there’s no evidence of this in the police report. Bryan Hartnell has never once mentioned that detail, nor have any other Napa law enforcement officials. Moreover, why is Toschi privy to details about the Lake Berryessa murder? To me this seems like Toschi making up details to sensationalize the case or show off how much he knows and others don’t.

9. Sandy has also posted that Toschi told her that he was convinced that Zodiac masturbated while he wrote his letters. How would Toschi know this detail? What would make him make such a claim? Again, it sounds like Toschi is sharing a salacious detail for no other reason than to grab attention.

10. Sandy has also intimated that Toschi told her something “unusual” about the way the Zodiac sealed his envelopes. I have since followed up on this and spoken with others close to the case. At least one other person close to the case has been told something similar by Toschi. However, if this detail that Toschi shared is true, then it casts doubt on an entire line of inquiry that law enforcement been not shy about discussing publicly. It’s also a detail so unusual – even for Zodiac – that it also seems to be made up for salacious or sensational purposes.

11. Lastly, on Tom Voigt’s website he stated that he heard that “something extremely gross” was including in the Halloween card that tied Zodiac to the Nancy Bennallack murder. Tom, as is his right, refused to divulge what that “gross” thing was. However, in my research I believe I have discovered what that thing was, and more importantly, where that “fact” originated from: Dave Toschi. Tom has gone on record denying that Toschi was the source of this information. Still, if this detail is true (I am dubious), then it creates many more questions than it answers, and if Toschi isn’t the source of this dubious detail then that means someone else in law enforcement was. That opens a whole new can of worms.

12. In the FBI files (p. 122 of Vol. 5) it states that "…Toschi had actually written three letters himself to gain publicity for the Zodiac case". THREE Zodiac letters. Which three?

What does this all mean? It means that we have someone known for his over the top personality and thirst for attention and publicity being tied to not one, not two, but three Zodiac forgeries. It means that after retirement, Dave Toschi delighted in sharing wild, scandalous, salacious “secrets” about the case with wide-eyed researchers – details and facts that barely withstand scrutiny when in retrospect, and which often contradict official police documentation. It means that Dave Toschi unilaterally decided to share details about cases outside of his jurisdiction – details that, if true, make no sense to the case at large.

I know Dave Toschi is a beloved figure in the Zodiac community, and my suggestion that he might play fast and loose with the facts or at worse is an outright fraud, might cause outrage. But I have tried to lay out the facts as best as I know them. In doing so, I think I have shown a pattern of behavior that calls into question the honesty and reliability of an ostensible font of Zodiac information. If Toschi’s information that he has shared with others cannot be trusted, if he has seeded this case with misinformation, then that needs to be recognized and called out so that we are sure that all of us seeking to solve this case are not being misled.

As always, I appreciate any and all feedback, and if anything I have said is inaccurate or untrue, please let me know so that I can immediately correct it. Also, if there are other instances of Toschi’s flexible relationship with facts that I have left out, please let me know.