I am late to this but have binge watched and read a lot over the last week.
I don’t think Z killed CJB. I think his ego was such that he wanted to take credit when it was suggested. Remember he only claimed at Berryessa the two other killings/attacks that are known. Why not reach back and claim more?
Also what is going on with SFPD=0 Z= business? There was just the one murder of Stine in SFPD jurisdiction and the other attacks were not. This makes me feel like he was trying to big note himself.
I think Z was local to Vallejo as a teen and knew the area well. He knew where kids would park and that there would be no one around.
The cipher that Donald Harden and his wife Bettey were able to break was fairly simple plus there were some spelling mistakes. Donald was a amateur cipher from childhood and also a high school teacher used to reading teen essays. Further there were transcription errors in the cipher. eg a half coloured square instead of a full one, which when corrected would spell the word (there were still spelling mistakes eg Christmass). This tells us that a) Z was probably not a good student and b) did not pay attention to detail. I am amazed at some of the really convoluted theories involving someone with a high education. Seems there is a Groucho Marx version of the Mikado. Not everything is necessarily high brow.
Lets assume that the drawing is a pretty good match. You can search high school year books online. You can find them at Classmates.com Unfortunately not all year books are there but you can get a broad enough view of all kids since they have 4 years of photos. Anyone got some spare time on their hands?
I think given that Z was not a good student he went into the service and did a few years. There was an interview with Robert Tarbox, a lawyer who worked for the Seaman’s Union. He reported someone admitted to him that he was Z. If this is real and it seems that he only revealed this information when they kept pointing the finger at Arthur Leigh Allen. Allen always denied he was Z. What few palmprints they were able to get did not match Allen. Tarbox did not know Allen. This theory would tie in with the wing tip boots that were military issue.
So if Z was a seaman, can we assume that he had been in the Navy? Is it possible to get records of enlistments?
The most curious thing for me is the hood. Who has the skills to do that? Did he do it himself? Did someone make it for him? Ask yourself do you have the skills to make it? It is really hard to keep that sort of secret and take it to the grave.
At the Berryessa Lake attack, he had a convoluted story about needing money and a car since he had escaped from prison according to Bryan Hartnell "a two word prison in either Colorado or Montana". The police determined that it was most likely Deer Lodge Prison in Montana. It was BS as there was at that time no escapee. As it happened there had been a riot there in 1959 and it did make national news. However, ask yourselves how many prisons do you know the names for and what states they are in. Obviously there was no prison escape as the police investigated that. But what if Z had a family member that had been in the prison? What if he had? The really interesting thing is that Deer Lodge has a garment manufacturing facility that uses prison labour.
Also you can search Montana correctional facility offenders and the records go back prior to 1959 https://app.mt.gov/conweb/Search If Z made his own mask then he might be listed there.
There is an interview on youtube that is with a witness that was driving his girlfriend’s new sportscar. They had been parked in the place of the first attack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHSHa0vVL2I . Most interesting is that it being a rural area that most people knew other people’s cars. That would imply that Z had moved from the area.
If you happen to be a member on Ancestry.com California has a lot more records than other states giving information about voter enrolment and other information. This gives the profession of the voter. Again anyone got time to cross reference the year book images to what is online at Ancestry?
"I don’t think Z killed CJB. I think his ego was such that he wanted to take credit when it was suggested."
Cheri’s killer took credit within one month after the Bates murder and again six months later. All that was missing was the "Zodiac" moniker. And credit was again taken within months of the 1970 "Zodiac/Bates connection."
"Most interesting is that it being a rural area that most people knew other people’s cars. That would imply that Z had moved from the area."
Or he never lived on Lake Herman Road in the first place.
I think Z was local to Vallejo as a teen and knew the area well. He knew where kids would park and that there would be no one around.
Not necessarily agree with the teen but that he was able to leave the scene, return few minutes later, most likely getting his gun, is indeed a point.
Also seems he knew the lovers lane spots, which is known to locals, preferably.
QT
*ZODIACHRONOLOGY*
He could easily have found out where these parking spots were by asking around at such places as the local bars!
If he was local I think he would have been found in all this time!
He could easily have found out where these parking spots were by asking around at such places as the local bars!
If he was local I think he would have been found in all this time!
I agree. He doesn’t seem to have been the type of guy to have frequented these type of parking spots himself (when he was younger) so his knowledge of them, if any, would’ve been from asking around, or just cruising around and occasionally following young couples to see where they would go. This would not require living in the area or having a great knowledge of the area.
The only crime scene he must’ve had some good knowledge of was PH, as he had the confidence to escape on foot, presumably with a plan, and transportation, to exit the area without capture. It was the riskiest attack and the most complicated escape by far.
Not necessarily agree with the teen but that he was able to leave the scene, return few minutes later, most likely getting his gun, is indeed a point.
Also seems he knew the lovers lane spots, which is known to locals, preferably.
QT
My shop was robbed by someone with a knife. Across the rd was a gas station. They mentioned after the event that the man was walking up and down in front of the pharmacy for some time (up to an hour) Maybe he was waiting to be sure no one was coming in at the same time and maybe he had to prepare himself mentally. We gave him all the money. I had two staff with me that day. We had suffered some cash grab and run events where they try to get everyone away from the till or wait for the till to open and grab what they can. We had taken a cap gun from the toy stand and had it on the pos computer in anticipation of scaring the next one. This time the robber actually picked it up and looked at it and put it down. Beside our shop was a laneway to a council carpark. We suspect he went there. I was going to follow him out of the shop when one staff member said not to. He got to the door and looked around at us. We rang the police and they came with enough squad cars so that each staff member would not talk to another. We were taken to different interview rooms. We gave wildly different descriptions of what he looked like. What we all concurred on was that the knife was 30cm long. I spoke with the police again and they said it was quite usual for witnesses to give very different accounts. They just hope that one of the items of clothing can be found at a suspects home. One employee noticed he had very nicely pressed clothes. The men from the service station also noticed that.
He could easily have found out where these parking spots were by asking around at such places as the local bars!
If he was local I think he would have been found in all this time!
I agree. He doesn’t seem to have been the type of guy to have frequented these type of parking spots himself (when he was younger) so his knowledge of them, if any, would’ve been from asking around, or just cruising around and occasionally following young couples to see where they would go. This would not require living in the area or having a great knowledge of the area.
The only crime scene he must’ve had some good knowledge of was PH, as he had the confidence to escape on foot, presumably with a plan, and transportation, to exit the area without capture. It was the riskiest attack and the most complicated escape by far.
In one letter he said that he remained in the park for the period of time while the police tried to check every vehicle leaving the area. He said he was in the park. https://www.zodiackiller.com/StineLetter.html
