Horan’s theory could hold a little water if he put out a one page summary of his findings. Instead he ruins all his credibility because his entire online/podcast world has turned into a HUGE conspiracy theory line of thinking. Instead of just showing proof that some of the cases had really good potential suspects but the police/media and a civilian troll created the Zodiac, Horan takes it all 20 levels deeper of conspiracy. He once posted that the letters to the newspapers were actually coded to send secret messages from the "zodiac" to his military friends across the country. And he is now stating that he has found the Madeleine McCann, Jack the RIpper was a Hoax, Hillary Clinton runs the youth sex trafficking ring, etc, etc, etc,
I think his heart was in the right place when he started investigating the police reports and finding evidence that didn’t quite match up with what the general public thought. But then – for some reason – his ego started to grow and grow and he started fancying himself as being a "leader" in the crime sleuthing world. If you listen to his podcast he acts like he’s getting millions of views/listens and how it’s blowing up more than he expected. Dude didn’t realize that even when amateur teenagers do a shitty crime podcast on the zodiac they get tens of thousands of views/listens
Are you saying that Horan, personally, has claimed that the Jack the Ripper murders never happened or that he claimed the letter writers weren’t the killer/killers? Big difference. Are you saying that Horan, personally, has claimed that Hillary Clinton runs a sex trafficking ring or that someone on Horan’s podcast claims that? Big difference. Please clarify. Just like Z websites, these podcasts tend to have guests that claim all sorts of things with which the host may or may not agree. I haven’t listened to them so I’m simply seeking clarification. That aside, I would like to focus on his positions regarding Z.
Having read Horan’s books (and being familiar with many Z theories/books), I find Horan to be a great researcher but not a good writer. His writing style gets in the way of disseminating information in a clear and concise manner. Nevertheless, he successfully dismantles Graysmith’s yellow book piece-by-piece using official documents that prove that Graysmith largely made-up things that are taken as gospel by far too many people (among them "This is the Zodiac Speaking" authors Kelleher and Van Nuys–my comment not Horan’s). Many zodiologists are confused by his unfortunate use of the word hoax (and have never bothered to read his books). Horan does not claim that the four canonical crimes did not take place. He claims that the letter writer(s) did not commit the crimes. Frankly, I tend to agree.
Where I am not yet entirely convinced that he is correct is in his speculation about who did write the letters. I am not a big fan of handwriting analysis which isn’t remotely a science, but I will say that Hal Snook’s handwriting is the only handwriting I’ve seen (other than a letter or word or two from other suspects) that is, in my amateur opinion, a spectacular match for that of the primary letter writer. Look at it and judge for yourself. Does it prove that Snook wrote some or all of the letters? No, but it does mean he shouldn’t be dismissed as the primary letter writer out of hand. That said, I think far too much emphasis is placed on handwriting, not to mention the Stine wanted poster sketches and, above all, the so-called ciphers. Note that I didn’t mention the LB sketch.
I do think Horan has some good suspects for the LB and BRS crimes. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of valid suspects for BRS. Ferrin played men and there’s a long list of those who probably wished her dead. Of course motive and the willingness/ability to kill are two vastly different things. I lean toward it being a personal killing as compared to a drug-related or random crime.
In summary, Horan is well worth reading. The serial killer fixation has, I believe, largely prevented the four canonical cases from being solved.
Does Horan mention the Yorkshire Ripper case by any chance? In that case there was "Wearside Jack" who fatally diverted LE resources by claiming to be the Ripper in Zodiac-style letters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearside_Jack
I don’t completely discount his theory, but he needs to explain why witness descriptions of the perpetrator are so consistent in each Zodiac case. viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4596
Does Horan mention the Yorkshire Ripper case by any chance? In that case there was "Wearside Jack" who fatally diverted LE resources by claiming to be the Ripper in Zodiac-style letters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearside_Jack
I don’t completely discount his theory, but he needs to explain why witness descriptions of the perpetrator are so consistent in each Zodiac case. viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4596
I don’t recall Horan mentioning the Yorkshire Ripper case in his books. His books are about the Zodiac cases. I have not listened to his podcasts.
The witness descriptions of the perpetrators are NOT consistent. As you know, there were no witnesses in the LHR case.
BRS: Based on the police report, Mageau described the suspect as
"White male, approximately 26-30 years old"
"Short, possibly 5’8""
"real heavy set, beefy build", "not blubbery fat, but real beefy, possibly 195-200, or maybe even larger,"
"short curly hair, light brown, almost blond"
"nothing ususual about his face, other than that it appeared to be large"
"wearing a short-sleeved shirt, blue in color"
LB: Based on the LE report, Hartnell described the suspect:
“possibly 20 to 30 years of age by voice concept".
"5’8” to 6’"
"225-230 lbs"
"dark brown hair"
"eyes unknown, sloppy dresser, stomach hanging over trousers"
"type of drawl, but victim stated it was not a Southern drawl, did not really know what type of drawl, but thought the man was not well educated, but did not feel he was illiterate either. Victim said suspect’s voice was moderate in sound, that is, not high or low pitched.”
Two young women described a strange man at Lake Berryessa the same day. (The young women noticed the man watching them from the edge of the trees. Although this was in a different location at Lake Berryessa, Hartnell saw his and Shepherd’s assailant emerge from behind a tree and elsewhere described him as having a gun on one hip, a knife on the other and precut lengths of rope hanging out of his back pocket or back of his pants.)
Description of strange man by first young woman taken from Napa County Sheriff’s Department Supplementary Crime Report page 9:
Approximately 28 years of age
6′ to 6’2"
200 to 225 lbs
"black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left"
"rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking"
"wearing black, short-sleeved sweater shirt, bunched up in front, and a white tee shirt hanging out the back, and dark trousers"
Description of strange man by second young woman taken from Napa County Sheriff’s Department Supplementary Crime Report page 9:
Approximately 30 years of age
6′
about 200 lbs
"straight dark hair neatly combed"
"medium skin color and was wearing glasses" "fairly nice looking with a round face"
"thought she saw a white belt around his back but it was possibly a tee shirt hanging out.
Stine:
Based on Pelissetti’s report, Robbins teens description of suspect:
WMA, early 40s
5’8"
"Heavy build" (no weight estimate)
Reddish-blond crewcut
Eyeglasses, dark brown trousers, dark (navy blue or black) parka jacket, dark shoes
Based on Fouke’s report (which was filed one month after the event and which Zelms did not sign):
WMA, 35-45 years
About 5’10"
"Medium heavy build, barrel-chested" 180-200 lbs
"light colored hair possibly graying in rear"
Medium complexion, wearing glasses, "dark blue waist length zipper type jacket (Navy or royal blue) Elastic cuffs and waist band zipped part way up." " Brown wool pants pleated type baggy in rear (Rust brown) May have been wearing low cut shoes."
"subjects general appearance to classify him as a group would be that he might be of Welsh ancestery(sic).”
First wanted poster, dated October 13, 1969:
WMA, 25-30 Years
5’8” to 5’9”
Reddish Brown Hair – Crew Cut
Heavy Rim Glasses, Navy Blue or Black Jacket.
Second wanted poster, dated October 18, 1969:
WMA, 35-45 Years
approximately 5’8”
Heavy Build
Short Brown Hair, possibly with Red Tint
Wears Glasses
Summary: Witness height descriptions range from "short", 5’8" to 6’2" (a 6" difference). Weight descriptions range from 180 lbs to 230 lbs (a 50 lb difference). Age descriptions vary from 20 to 45 (a 25-year difference) Hair color descriptions range from short and curly to crew-cut to straight and from almost blond to reddish-blond to brown to dark brown to reddish-brown to black. Glasses in some descriptions, no glasses in others.
As you can see, there is little consistency in descriptions across the four canonical crimes which suggests that the crimes were not committed by the same person. This is further complicated by the fact that the two young women at LB may not have seen the killer (although there is much to suggest that they did), Fouke has, in my opinion, no credibility, Pelissetti doesn’t have a great deal of credibility and the source(s) of the information on which the wanted poster descriptions and sketches in the Stine case are based is not known for certain. The differences in the descriptions in the two wanted posters include an age range of 20 years and a description of crew-cut reddish brown hair in one and short brown hair with red tint in the other (neither of which are the same color as reddish-blond). The Stine case wanted poster sketches do not match any known descriptions.
