1: He had a solid connection to the Vallejo/Benicia area. He lived there, worked there, or had done so previously for a substantial amount of time.
2: He planned on getting out on Washington/Maple. He escaped the area in his car, which was parked somewhere not too far from the latter intersection.
3: He was genuinely spooked by the Stine aftermath. He didn’t wear any elaborate disguise on the night.
Three doubts as well:
1: I doubt that he had anything to do with Bates/Riverside.
2: I doubt that he’s the author of the later letters attributed to him.
3: I doubt that he intentionally left any clues to his identity in any of his communications.
1: He had a solid connection to the Vallejo/Benicia area. He lived there, worked there, or had done so previously for a substantial amount of time.
2: He planned on getting out on Washington/Maple. He escaped the area in his car, which was parked somewhere not too far from the latter intersection.
3: He was genuinely spooked by the Stine aftermath. He didn’t wear any elaborate disguise on the night.
Three doubts as well:
1: I doubt that he had anything to do with Bates/Riverside.
2: I doubt that he’s the author of the later letters attributed to him.
3: I doubt that he intentionally left any clues to his identity in any of his communications.
1. I don’t believe the Riverside connection either,- additionally the signature Z is not a Z at all.
2. His last letter could easily have been the Little List letter.
3. Murder was his secondary focus. His murders were the conduit to his letter writing. In Zodiac’s first three crimes, all six victims were alive when he departed the scene.
1: He had a solid connection to the Vallejo/Benicia area. He lived there, worked there, or had done so previously for a substantial amount of time.
2: He planned on getting out on Washington/Maple. He escaped the area in his car, which was parked somewhere not too far from the latter intersection.
3: He was genuinely spooked by the Stine aftermath. He didn’t wear any elaborate disguise on the night.
Three doubts as well:
1: I doubt that he had anything to do with Bates/Riverside.
2: I doubt that he’s the author of the later letters attributed to him.
3: I doubt that he intentionally left any clues to his identity in any of his communications.1. I don’t believe the Riverside connection either,- additionally the signature Z is not a Z at all.
2. His last letter could easily have been the Little List letter.
3. Murder was his secondary focus. His murders were the conduit to his letter writing. In Zodiac’s first three crimes, all six victims were alive when he departed the scene.
Agree with both of you.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
1. I think Zodiac certainly committed several murders, but nowhere near the numbers he claimed.
2. I think Zodiac killed couples because (aside from being a psychopathic serial killer!), he was a failure with women–with life, actually–and he couldn’t stand the fact that there are happy couples in a world where he feels so alone. (I do not mean to sound sympathetic towards him!)
3. I think it’s highly likely that by now, Zodiac is dead, and I’m sorry he won’t get the punishment he so richly deserved. 
You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.~~Vladimir Nabokov
Murder is always a mistake. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.~~Oscar Wilde
1. One of my new clues is he left a map border and 6 clue on the fold of the map template for us to use as a map fold decoder. 2. Three of four ‘hits’ on the 66 map fold decoder are in a National Park. On my page I tell you how to make your own. 3. He’s an Ex-Military Park Ranger 4. The Zodiac Killer always is within 2-25 minutes of being in a National Park. Visit my page for my new theories and discoveries, thank you.
1. I think Zodiac certainly committed several murders, but nowhere near the numbers he claimed.
2. I think Zodiac killed couples because (aside from being a psychopathic serial killer!), he was a failure with women–with life, actually–and he couldn’t stand the fact that there are happy couples in a world where he feels so alone. (I do not mean to sound sympathetic towards him!)
3. I think it’s highly likely that by now, Zodiac is dead, and I’m sorry he won’t get the punishment he so richly deserved.
1. I think he lost his girlfriend when he was younger to some young steed and that put him right off and 2. plus maybe he had a stutter which made it difficult to have a conversation and he got teased maybe from school-mates as well and he didn’t know how to handle it and he had no one to trust in and to console and guide him , and that made him so self-conscious and so mad that they couldn’t understand his situation. 3. Maybe also as well his Dad and Mom divorced or he left her and he got the blame for it from his Mom when he was a younger child or early teen. Someone put a scare in him when he was younger.
1. 2 different killers LB not him.
2. Killed Bates
3. Killed Stine in San Fransisco in response to being labeled "gay".
1. A lot of questions that people have concerning the manner and timing of these events (like attacking right after a witness drove by) can be explained by compulsion.
2. The Halloween card was one of his writings.
3. He did not predict a world with the Internet, DNA analysis, or other modern tech. For example, never in a million years did he think anyone would read several "by ___" and see a red mask on a skeleton and actually be able to make the connection to the comic. (And if the Internet had never come around, or not come until all those old comics were lost forever to history, he probably would have been right.) He was careful, but no one can fully protect himself from future technology. This is why I think this case is still solvable.
1. Zodiac died or was incarcerated/institutionalized before 1990 (I cannot see any possible excuse for his silence during the NY Copycat Zodiac case when SFPD was called in by NYPD to consult on whether the Zodiac relocated to NYC, not to mention the Fincher movie or Graysmith’s books).
2. Tarbox’s client is the best POI because Tarbox had no motive to come forward with his story and it explains Z’s silence from 1971 to 1974 (though I don’t believe any of the 1974 letters were genuine).
3. Zodiac had an engineering or electronics background because his two schematics for the bus bombs demonstrate familiarity with schematic designs and the symbols for electronic components.
Bonus observations:
* Zodiac did not murder Bates. That was a crime of passion. Zodiac’s killings were especially dispassionate. Zodiac never actually attacked a victim capable of defending themselves and Bates clearly put up a fight.
* LB was a Zodiac crime. The phone call afterward tracks the BRS phone call. The change in MO and costume make sense in light of the surroundings (the costume was primarily to prevent blood spatter…the symbol was probably for Zodiac’s own personal enjoyment. He set out to use a knife, which makes sense in light of the location where gun shots would carry for miles on the water. Z knew there would be lots of ground to traverse to get back to the road, so a disguise would hide his identity and prevent someone from accosting him upon his escape…if you saw him in his get up leaving the crime scene, would you stop him?). He had no reason to reference the killings in later writings because his notes on Hartnell’s car door linked him to other crimes. I also think he considered LB a failure because he left both victims alive long enough to talk to police.
* If Johns was a Zodiac crime (I am of two minds on this subject), the fact that Johns recognized him so quickly after the crime based upon the composite provides the best explanation why he never had any confirmed kills after Stine. This also tracks with Tarbox claiming that his client was reevaluating his life choices.
* Zodiac didn’t know any of his victims and simply hunted in specific locations.
3. Zodiac had an engineering or electronics background because his two schematics for the bus bombs demonstrate familiarity with schematic designs and the symbols for electronic components.
Have I got a thread for you!
You’ll especially like the last few pages.
1. Traveling Ranch Hand
2. Some level of autism/aspergers
3. Likely adopted or lost both parents at a young age
1. That he was a master marketer
2. That he baited bullshit he knew people were willing to buy…hook, line and sinker
3. That he is dead
1. That he was a master marketer
2. That he baited bullshit he knew people were willing to buy…hook, line and sinker
3. That he is dead
Where’s the lie?
The lie, if you want to call it that, is in the presentation of his bait. I’ve seen your posts. You state that in semiotics an item can have more than one meaning. Which it can. A rose, for example, can be just a flower or it can be the virgin Mary. The Zodiac’s tactics I wouldn’t call a lie. To be a master at marketing you really have to know the public well to obtain the desires you seek in whatever your selling. If I called what he did anything I would say it was – well played.
1) He had schizotypal personality disorder (bizarre and eccentric behaviour, possible delusional beliefs)
2) He had a background in technical drawing (blueprints, drafting etc)
3) He did carry on killing after Stine
