I find it hard to believe Zodiac would stick around in the dark with a flashlight picking up bullets, shells maybe and even doubt that.

It’s equally hard to believe that statement could be misinterpreted in the documentary. That doesn’t seem the sort of thing you just make up.

It’s equally hard to believe that statement could be misinterpreted in the documentary. That doesn’t seem the sort of thing you just make up.

The same logic (too specific to make up) could be applied to the Butterbach souvenir explanation as well, although the proposition represents such an egregious disregard of protocol that it seems unlikely even for a young small town investigator. I do agree though Richard that the Stine letter with the shirt piece enclosed and school kids threat doesn’t exactly seem like a story point most tv producers would feel required additional drama. However, if police were not initially able to establish the precise model of firearm used at Lake Herman Road could they later confirm that the bullet sent with the letter was a match?

It’s equally hard to believe that statement could be misinterpreted in the documentary. That doesn’t seem the sort of thing you just make up.

I do agree though Richard that the Stine letter with the shirt piece enclosed and school kids threat doesn’t exactly seem like a story point most tv producers would feel required additional drama. However, if police were not initially able to establish the precise model of firearm used at Lake Herman Road could they later confirm that the bullet sent with the letter was a match?

Same here, I’m thinking there is some truth here.

I doubt they could make an exact match of the bullet but I doubt Zodiac knew that. Or maybe he did. I always figured the guns he used were immediately tossed into the bay, if he still had it he might not have been concerned about it being matched to a crime.

I’d like to know exactly what he sent though. Was it just a casing? A fired bullet? An entire bullet?

Hey Cat, the TV doc is pretty explicit in their claim that it was "a bullet from the same pistol that had killed Jensen and Faraday." Their information may be incorrect but the charge put forth sounds like a fired bullet, presumably though not necessarily taken from the scene. If the story was that it was a shell I think they would have stated that. If it was merely a bullet that could be fired from the same type of weapon as used at LHR they likely would have just stated that it was the same type of ammunition, but I don’t think that would qualify as proof because I believe this information was published in August, 69 with the debut of Zodiac letter. The "same pistol" claim if applied to an unfired round would presuppose that the police were able to verify the precise model used at Lake Herman Road, and the police reports state that they were not able to accomplish this.

‘All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 Long Rifle bullets. Each of these was microscopically compared with the others, but in no case was an absolutely positive identification possible. This is apparently due to the condition of the rifle barrel, which does not leave coarse structures on bullets fired therein, as well as the effect of the copper coating on the bullet. From our examination it appears that a conclusive identification of the responsible weapon, will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, even if it should be recovered.

Bullets can be compared to one another to identify if they were discharged from the same weapon, but Zodiac wouldn’t have been aware of the ballistics results, so by sending in a bullet with the Stine letter (if he did), he may have believed he was inextricably linking himself to the murders of the "people in the north bay area." After all, he was questioned by Vallejo Police Chief Jack E Stiltz on whether he was the responsible in the Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs attacks, asking him for more details. Zodiac provided more details in the ‘Debut of Zodiac’ letter. The Stine letter was his following communication – so maybe this time he didn’t just provide words to prove he was the killer – he provided a bullet to link him to these crimes as well. It may not even have been a bullet from the crime scene – he could have just fired one off at a later date, collected and mailed it.

Hey Cat, the TV doc is pretty explicit in their claim that it was "a bullet from the same pistol that had killed Jensen and Faraday." Their information may be incorrect but the charge put forth sounds like a fired bullet, presumably though not necessarily taken from the scene. If the story was that it was a shell I think they would have stated that.

The Stine letter was his following communication – so maybe this time he didn’t just provide words to prove he was the killer – he provided a bullet to link him to these crimes as well. It may not even have been a bullet from the crime scene – he could have just fired one off at a later date, collected and mailed it.

Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. It was a fired bullet and he did it the way Richard mentions.

The "same pistol" claim if applied to an unfired round would presuppose that the police were able to verify the precise model used at Lake Herman Road, and the police reports state that they were not able to accomplish this.

Yes, but in my mind, viewing the DOJ ballistic report Richard quoted…

All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 Long Rifle bullets. Each of these was microscopically compared with the others, but in no case was an absolutely positive identification possible. This is apparently due to the condition of the rifle barrel, which does not leave coarse structures on bullets fired therein, as well as the effect of the copper coating on the bullet. From our examination it appears that a conclusive identification of the responsible weapon, will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, even if it should be recovered.

That sounds more like a maybe than an absolute no. I’m thinking they were able to match the fired bullet from the letter to one from LHR through ballistic testing.

If so, that’s rather big news as it would establish the letter writer as both Stine’s killer and the LHR killer and put to rest any theories that LHR was not the Zodiac’s work beyond doubt. Rather exciting news that’s been out there for years. I don’t know about the rest of you but this is the first I have heard of this.