Yes.

Trav.

Yes.

Trav.

Thats why they think Z was poor, because tire tracks right behind Bryan’s car indicated poorly worn mismatched tires

Thats why they think Z was poor, because tire tracks right behind Bryan’s car indicated poorly worn mismatched tires

..Or he used someone else’s car for that day, a friend’s, a relative’s.

-Nin

Find their killer and proof he drove that car and I’ll believe those were his tracks 20 ft. behind Bryan’s car.

Many cars pull in and out of those areas. They don’t mention tracks to and from Bryan’s car and I find that a bit odd. IF it was their attacker, and if those were his tire tracks, I’d say more likely is that he pulled in and saw them, then parked up the road somewhere.

Or, as Nin said…it simply wasn’t his car, but, imo, what if someone else pulled in while they were both there and saw this guy as he came walking up to "his" car? I still say it would be a risk to park there.

Just my take.

Yes.
Trav.

Ah, the new "minimalist" Trav!

Bentley and I could never find a sensible car to match the supposed track width, (I’m too lazy to read the reports again, m’excuse.)
Don’t they insist something odd, like one tire’s 4 1/2 inches wide and one’s a 5 or something?
I suppose I should go look….

Isn’t that the same spot where they found the Wing Walker prints or at least some of them ? Maybe the tire prints looked fresh also to investigators.

Tee hee hee. Couldn’t help myself. Thanks for getting the humor and Nin for the inspiration.

With regards to the question in the title of the thread, Smithy, are you asking because of the google earth images that T posted on the ‘right handed’ thread? It’s just that it struck me how, if that’s the right location, little of a clear view to the shore there was. Now it’s not rocket science once you’re there I suppose to know where to go to possibly stumble on the occupants of the car but what I’m wondering is – could they be seen from a little further back on the road, then he comes upon a single vehicle and knows it’s only 2 people or…..did he see the car then further on along the road was able to see them and then went back?

Could they be seen at all from the road? I mean would it be more likely to discourage him if there was clear view of them from the road. If he could see them then so could someone else and if they witnessed what was happening and decided to intervene would he be cornered? The spot was obviously known, wasn’t it? Bryan and Cecelia had been there the year before. Was it well known? Had Zodiac been there before and knew that, from the point of view of the road and the parking spot, it was secluded? Did he already know that if he came upon a car parked there that he would have cornered victims?

The first Cecelia saw of Zodiac was coming out from behind the tree. We have seen many photos of the area and it appears that there was not much brush or low growing vegetation on that spit of land. So how did Zodiac get into position behind that tree without being seen approaching the area? There did not seem to be the type of vegetation where one could sneak from bush to bush to get there. Could he have been laying in wait behind the tree for anyone to come along?

The first Cecelia saw of Zodiac was coming out from behind the tree. We have seen many photos of the area and it appears that there was not much brush or low growing vegetation on that spit of land. So how did Zodiac get into position behind that tree without being seen approaching the area? There did not seem to be the type of vegetation where one could sneak from bush to bush to get there. Could he have been laying in wait behind the tree for anyone to come along?

IF he made his approach from the road I would suggest topography shielded his approach and maybe it says something if he used that to mask his approach. Actually I do think topography did play a part for at least that last part because not only were they lying down but Cecelia herself relays to Bryan at one point that he disappears from view and that has to be due to being masked by the rise/mound that the trees are elevated on.

On the other hand, the possibility that he may have already been there somewhere waiting is interesting and I don’t think its been mentioned before. The only problem I can think with that is that his car wasn’t there before Bryan and Cecelia arrived otherwise that would have been mentioned. He had to have a car otherwise he couldn’t have made it Napa to make the phonecall in the time he did and it’s probably likely that he did park at their vehicle – not definite but probably likely. I assume LE decided that the tracks left by the other vehicle were made after they had parked as they were probably undisturbed by the ghia’s tracks.

With regards to the question in the title of the thread, Smithy, are you asking because of the google earth images that T posted on the ‘right handed’ thread?

Yep.

With regards to the question in the title of the thread, Smithy, are you asking because of the google earth images that T posted on the ‘right handed’ thread?

Yep.

You sneaky fecker. Is living in a beautiful place as the Cotwolds not enough?

Hee hee, Trav, nothing is ever enough!

Re: spotting him coming out from behind a tree, (and going behind it, hoodless, in the first place), the Fincher video is very helpful.
Yes, the topography was such (and they were lying on the bank of the lake which itself had a slope which helped conceal them) that he came upon them from a dip in the ground from the other side of the trees. When he got that close, that is. Before then? I don’t know…..

I’m really more about the "did he walk down from the road?" aspect, since I’ve "virtually" driven the Knoxville road and couldn’t find a viewpoint that he might have seen them from – unless of course he was in a boat on the lake, ho hum. (The Google view is quite representative, apparently, since the roads which lead to the car parking areas off Knoxville weren’t open to the public back then. They weren’t metalled.)
Which takes me back to the original question, yes, did he see the car, think "Ah, that’s a likely vehicle for a young couple to be driving. A young couple who are probably now in a nice secluded spot next to the shoreline, where I can approach them from a handy hollow so as to come upon them quickly, but still have enough time to be able to get my hood on first..".

See what I mean? Current thinking: At the very least he’d have had to know the place well, and possibly didn’t come down to check from the road.
Maybe.
Or maybe he got verrrrrrrrrry lucky, Again.

..or he followed them from the rummage sale in St Helena. Not far fetched, especially as Bryan initially left Cecilia at the sale to transport a TV set he had just bought. If we consider this possibility, the question is (hypothetically) did Bryan talk to someone when delivering the TV set, perhaps needing help unloading? Or was Cecilia observed by someone at the sale and then followed the couple to LB?
If someone helped Bryan unload the TV set and that someone was to be our attacker, he would not have to be worried about any finger prints he left at Bryan’s vehicle, just saying.
To me LB has the same characteristics as the 1963 killings: Mainly that the attacker seemed to know exactly where he was going and why. In both cases the cars of the victims were visibly parked, kind of conveying the message " Hey, that spot is taken." In both cases someone ignored their privacy and seemed to actually been aiming just for that.

-Nin