Bryan and Cecelia, I believe this crime scene was staged,in other words,it was planned in advance.
The murderer had a costume and also rehearsed lines. The kill was personal he wore the costume,because he did not want to be recognized. What trinkets did he remove from both of them?

None. Bryan lived to tell about it.

But Cecilia could have known him..a good reason to wear a mask.

QT

But Cecilia could have known him..a good reason to wear a mask.

Cecilia got a look at her attacker before he put the mask on and gave no indication that she recognized him.

As I’ve mentioned before, if CS was the killer’s true target, he went about it in a positively idiotic manner.

He could have targeted her at any time, but opted to do so while she was on a weekend trip (he must have followed her from where she stayed at the time), and on a picnic with a male companion (a fact he couldn’t possibly have foreseen, as it was coincidental that CS and BH went to LB that day).

It makes very little sense.

As I’ve mentioned before, if CS was the killer’s true target, he went about it in a positively idiotic manner.

He could have targeted her at any time, but opted to do so while she was on a weekend trip (he must have followed her from where she stayed at the time), and on a picnic with a male companion (a fact he couldn’t possibly have foreseen, as it was coincidental that CS and BH went to LB that day).

It makes very little sense.

Not only that, according to Hartnell, the trip to Berryessa was made spur of the moment. If the Zodiac knew Cecelia and was targeting her specifically, then he would had to have been privy to that conversation between her and Bryan. Otherwise, there’d be no way for him to know she’d be there that day.

As you said, it makes very little sense.

In a way, this line of reasoning is clarifying. An analysis of LB helps to define Z’s MO as focused on couples and not necessarily certain inividuals. I agree, Brian’s statements make it clear that the decision to end up at LB was rather spontaneous. Their couple status at that point in time put them within the window of opportunity for Z.

I don’t think that Z knew any of them, really. Having been a young teen, many years ago, LOL, things are spontaneous and often random. You might ask a girl, "hey, wanna go to the lake and hang out," and the answer could be anything between "sure" and "oh, hell no!" This is true even with dating couples.

And Bryan even saw Z, and spoke to him, and did not recognize him in any way.

The likelihood of Z knowing the victims, and exactly where they would be, and at exactly what time is ZERO for me.

-glurk

Just looking at the locations, it seems far more likely to me that it was the latter (the locations, not the people) he was keeping tabs on. He chose a suitable location and kept trolling until a suitable target arrived.

Stine wasn’t supposed to work that night, allegedly. If that’s the case, it would seem pretty much impossible that Z stalked him (or whatever one wants to call it) in advance. It looks like pure happenstance that it was Stine, and not some other cab driver.

I think he knew CJB even as a loose acquaintance …

I’m sure killing in a small town like Riverside lessened the pool of POIs and increased his likelihood of being caught. He wasn’t dumb and I think he knew carrying on murders in the Bay Area would lessen the likelihood of his being caught in the future. i believe the zodiac stalked his victims in the minutes/hours before the murders…. Watching them from afar behind trees or by the lakeside and driving by once to check the scene before coming back to
Murder – but I don’t think he long term knew/stalked any victims (except for perhaps CJB).

Just looking at the locations, it seems far more likely to me that it was the latter (the locations, not the people) he was keeping tabs on. He chose a suitable location and kept trolling until a suitable target arrived.

Stine wasn’t supposed to work that night, allegedly. If that’s the case, it would seem pretty much impossible that Z stalked him (or whatever one wants to call it) in advance. It looks like pure happenstance that it was Stine, and not some other cab driver.

I totally agree. And his attack upon BH and CS was planned out. He had a costume even and parked his car somewhere further from the scene to make it more difficult for a surviving victim to ID what ride he was in. Plus how he likely was staking out the lake earlier when watching the 3 girls swim. It was about location/setting for Z, not who the victims were specifically (except they had to be a couple). I suppose it would take a bit of staking out a location sometimes before a couple would come along at the right time with no one else around in order to murder them. Who has time to just stake out a location and not have other responsibilities i.e. Wife/kids, job, etc. for that long?

Still sometimes I do wonder if he had been stalking DF and BLJ somehow…whether through seeing them interact at church or something else… It is interesting he mentions Christmass so much and the kids were at a Christmas production that night. Also I’ve had an opinion that the zodiac was probably into stage productions and theater and wonder if the play and teenage couples likely in attendance peaked his interest. Who knows maybe he liked to go to plays and then stalk people after it – whether they had been in the audience or in the play. I kind of feel like this was the case with CJB possibly given she had performed on stage in a theater production at Ramona High.

"On the night of Friday, December 20, 1968, 17-year-old David Faraday, Eagle Scout and member of the high school wrestling team, arrived at the home of his new girlfriend, Betty Lou Jensen, age 16, in the small northern California city of Benicia. The teenagers had met two weeks earlier while attending a church function and it was love at first sight. As the youngsters departed for a high school Christmas concert in Vallejo, on what was to be their first official date, David promised Mr. and Mrs. Jensen he would return with their daughter by no later than 11 p.m. The proud parents watched as Betty Lou and her new suitor climbed into the Rambler station wagon that belonged to David’s mother and drove away."
http://whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread … onely-road