Looking again at some of the post-‘Exorcist’ letters—for example, the 1974 ‘SLA’ letter (card?) and the ‘Red Phantom’ letter later the same year—my perception, as to possible authorship, appears to differ depending on whether I’m focussing on the letters or the envelopes. This is my personal view, but I do not see anything of significance in either the content or the handwriting in either of these letters that suggests Zodiac had anything to do with them. And it seems I can justify that to my own satisfaction pretty strongly.
However, when I come to look at the envelopes, I can absolutely imagine how, to recipients alert to past mailings, the two letters would stand out and produce a “we’ve got another one” on arrival.
I am sure that I’ve read something about this somewhere, only I can’t find where, but wasn’t there some (official) suspicion at some time that Zodiac might have been a postal worker? If so, is anyone able to give me a heads up as to what became of any such line of investigation?
It’s just a thought in my head, but I have been wondering about the possibility whether random letters that—like, say, the ‘SLA’ and the ‘Red Phantom’ letter—might have outwardly appeared ‘angry’ or potentially ‘belligerent’ (“Rush to the Editor, NOW!”) were not intercepted by Zodiac and then put in a new envelope and readdressed in a style that would get the recipient’s attention.
Also, was there ever any kind of elimination file containing fingerprints of postal workers that would automatically discount if their prints were found on letters? It’s crazy, but it’s interesting to think that Zodiac (if a postal worker) could in this way almost guarantee exclusion from suspicion even in regard to ‘authentic’ Zodiac mailings, because the lab would always come back “nothing, except a couple of known postal guys.”
I was then thinking, LE could in this way—if any such ‘file’ exists—actually have Zodiac’s fingerprints but, since they were only retained for exclusion purposes on mail, they don’t get compared against any crime scene prints or partials.
Okay, it’s not like me to get pulled this far down the ‘speculation’ route, but does anyone know if Zodiac being a postal worker was every officially considered and where that went?
“This isn’t right! It’s not even wrong!”—Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958)
Okay, it’s not like me to get pulled this far down the ‘speculation’ route, but does anyone know if Zodiac being a postal worker was every officially considered and where that went?
I have been finding myself more and more lately wondering if Z worked for the post office. Idk why, it just seems like it could fit. And what better way to throw people off than to affix too much postage? No postal employee would do that, right? Slightly off topic, but other professions I could see Z in are land surveying or law enforcement.
I grew up very poor and when I was younger and began mailing letters for for all kinds of different things, I always put more postage than necessary – because I just didn’t know what I was doing – I always assumed that if you put anything in an envelope more than a single sheet of paper, you would need more postage. To this day I still probably put too much postage on things 
I simply had a lack of familiarity with how the world worked because being poor can isolate you.
I often think this fits with Z’s seemingly very rich fantasy life – one of isolation.
Didn’t Tom Hanson’s suspect (possibly Van Best) work at the Daly City post office? I have to read the story again but I think that is correct.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
