I think possibly a failed reporter or small town newspapaperman craving by- lines and mass circulation of his “ message” ?
How I picture Chaucer’s POI:
how I picture Nick, no Nora’s POI:
How I picture Mike R’s PIO:
How I picture morf’s PIO:
how I picture Tom V’s PIO:
That’s just a light hearted spoof, I know in truth that’s not what anyone really thinks, but sometimes in minds eye, that’s truly what I see.
What I see in my minds eye is someone a little bit outside of mainstream society. Someone who is perhaps not unintelligent, not unsuccessful, but that doesn’t feel they have received their dues from society. Someone who feels marginalized and ignored.
Was he blue collar, white collar? Well educated, lower class? I get a whiff of a bit of everything. I don’t think he was from an exclusive upper-class background, he seems to be aware of the more mainstream society. I don’t think he was poorly educated, he was exposed to some interesting hobbies and past times, more interesting than those you would encounter growing up in rough neighborhoods. I can’t imagine him knocking of work down the mill and heading off for a pint with the boys followed by a night of light opera and amateur cipher making. He’s actually quite a well rounded fellow. I see an autodidact, a person who did a lot of self educating, at least in his own hobbies and pursuits.
Did he have a job? Based on the timing of his attacks, he did appear to. What kind of job? It could be damn near anything. I don’t think he would have been a successful person throughout his life. He may have done OK at work, he may have held down a job, but sooner or later bizarre behavior will have a negative impact on your success in life. Even Ted Kaczynski’s early success in life didn’t last long.
I think whoever he was, he was likely employed in a fairly ordinary job. Nothing exceptional. Maybe in an office, or any number of middle of the road occupations.
1) An engineer with a defense/aerospace contractor. Possible specialties of aerospace or electrical engineering.
2) An early computer/IT guy.
3) An intelligence officer.
3) nuclear physicist/weapons expert.
3) Outside of employment in that military-industrial/aerospace/intelligence sector and outside of engineering, I would go with school teacher as the best option.I doubt Zodiac had the education and/or intelligence necessary for these types of jobs.
I have come to the conclusions that Zodiac was more blue collar, working class sort of guy. No education beyond high school or trade school. Worked a trade as a mechanic, plumber, carpenter. Perhaps worked on a land survey crew. Something along those lines.
Survey job is my bet but would not exclude an early computer guy.
I think possibly a failed reporter or small town newspapaperman craving by- lines and mass circulation of his “ message” ?
DING DING DING!!!
I like this too.
Psychopaths have less inhibition and think more highly of themselves. That’s bound to be reflected in their lives outside of the "hobby." Serial offenders like to maintain proximity with potential victims and often choose professions accordingly. Some manufacture a bogus respectable image as a cover. All of which I think has to be factored in.
Trying to divine his profession from the dubious content of the letters is a rabbit hole I try to avoid these days.
Stine, in that wealthy neighborhood, in the middle of the night, obviously didn’t think, "No way I’m giving THAT guy a ride." Based strictly on superficials…if I had beheld this vision of crewcuts and pleated pants at my old factory job, I would have assumed he was a higher-up, an auditor, or an engineer. That the 8 year-old witness suspected he was a local rich guy must be telling, on at least some level.
Having said all that, if I were in charge of the investigation, I’d first want to look into all the cops from and around the Bay area. Simply because the case is rife with police imagery and "late night beat cop" would practically be a rehearsal for Zodiac.
The one thing I noticed that I’ve not seen mentioned, when they described his car, it was a different one every time. You would have thought the police would check all the local cars like Z’s.
In the UK we have a long running joke that all long distance lorry drivers kill prostitutes. Every time we have a serial killer who kills prostitutes, it’s a lorry driver.
If Z had a job driving a car transporter, he could take a car off the back, use it to kill someone and then put it back on the transporter and get it well away. If he moves cars from far north of the murder scenes to far south of them, the police would never check cars so far away. If the murder scene was in the middle of his journey, they would never be able to trace him.
It would also explain how he knows how to disable cars, he could be a former mechanic or someone from the car trade.
The one thing I noticed that I’ve not seen mentioned, when they described his car, it was a different one every time. You would have thought the police would check all the local cars like Z’s.
In the UK we have a long running joke that all long distance lorry drivers kill prostitutes. Every time we have a serial killer who kills prostitutes, it’s a lorry driver.
If Z had a job driving a car transporter, he could take a car off the back, use it to kill someone and then put it back on the transporter and get it well away. If he moves cars from far north of the murder scenes to far south of them, the police would never check cars so far away. If the murder scene was in the middle of his journey, they would never be able to trace him.
It would also explain how he knows how to disable cars, he could be a former mechanic or someone from the car trade.
You wouldn’t need to be a mechanic to know how to pull a coil wire, to remove a distributor cap perhaps you would need to have some mechanical knowledge. In my case, there were many different cars used. He used stolen plates so the car couldn’t be traced to him. Only one plate lead me to my RH suspect. Others lead me to Gentry’s and to the Duarte family. As far as an occupation, Construction, plastering, and concrete work. "Honcho" aka Tony worked for a company out of Benicia and lived there at one time. I suspect he or his buddy may have had a connection to real estate, simply because I do believe he had access to William Grant’s car for several days, to play road games with Lyndon Lafferty in the Vallejo area.
Mixed employment, professional student/autodidact/teacher, car enthusiast, sailor, aviator, amateur engineer (uncredentialed), film and musical buff, some printers skills.
Someone with a lot of time on their hands.
Did I miss anything?
The one thing I noticed that I’ve not seen mentioned, when they described his car, it was a different one every time. You would have thought the police would check all the local cars like Z’s.
In the UK we have a long running joke that all long distance lorry drivers kill prostitutes. Every time we have a serial killer who kills prostitutes, it’s a lorry driver.
If Z had a job driving a car transporter, he could take a car off the back, use it to kill someone and then put it back on the transporter and get it well away. If he moves cars from far north of the murder scenes to far south of them, the police would never check cars so far away. If the murder scene was in the middle of his journey, they would never be able to trace him.
It would also explain how he knows how to disable cars, he could be a former mechanic or someone from the car trade.
Maybe he owned a car dealership…
how I picture Nick, no Nora’s POI:
Obscure reference, but this is how I imagine him:
The one thing I noticed that I’ve not seen mentioned, when they described his car, it was a different one every time. You would have thought the police would check all the local cars like Z’s.
In the UK we have a long running joke that all long distance lorry drivers kill prostitutes. Every time we have a serial killer who kills prostitutes, it’s a lorry driver.
If Z had a job driving a car transporter, he could take a car off the back, use it to kill someone and then put it back on the transporter and get it well away. If he moves cars from far north of the murder scenes to far south of them, the police would never check cars so far away. If the murder scene was in the middle of his journey, they would never be able to trace him.
It would also explain how he knows how to disable cars, he could be a former mechanic or someone from the car trade.
Maybe he owned a car dealership…
Or worked at one. I guess anything is possible.
Removing a distributor cap or loosening a wheel nut on a 1960’s car hardly requires auto mechanic training. A large proportion of young males back then would have known how to do this.
I’d look beyond the details about the devices he used or the knowledge he displayed and look at who he (predominantly) targeted. Young couples. To me, that’s what he despised. He despised them because, for whatever reason, he couldn’t have what they had.
To despise them he needed to (in his own words) have ‘his nose rubbed in’ it often. Be exposed, day in, day out to the thing he despised (or even coveted).
Therefore, my best guess is he was a freshman/senior high school/college teacher/student or someone who worked in that environment. I’d then overlay training/experience with geography/mathematics/science. Perhaps these are the fields he taught. Then, another overlay of likely in the military – air force or navy prior to that.
The one thing I noticed that I’ve not seen mentioned, when they described his car, it was a different one every time. You would have thought the police would check all the local cars like Z’s.
In the UK we have a long running joke that all long distance lorry drivers kill prostitutes. Every time we have a serial killer who kills prostitutes, it’s a lorry driver.
If Z had a job driving a car transporter, he could take a car off the back, use it to kill someone and then put it back on the transporter and get it well away. If he moves cars from far north of the murder scenes to far south of them, the police would never check cars so far away. If the murder scene was in the middle of his journey, they would never be able to trace him.
It would also explain how he knows how to disable cars, he could be a former mechanic or someone from the car trade.
Maybe he owned a car dealership…
Or worked at one. I guess anything is possible.
Didn’t Larry Kane or am I mistaken?
