To date, I’d conclude that Z made zero errors.

The "Riverside activities" might me a lie – we know he lied.

The biggest mistake of all was making a phone call forty minutes after the attack at BRS, when it was only a 10 minute journey from the crime scene. This was the biggest clue in the entire Zodiac case.

What exactly do you mean by this? I can see that it might indicate he had a place in the area to stash his stuff and then make the call but is that what you’re saying or am I missing something? Interesting thread idea. Thanks!

I think the biggest mistakes Zodiac made was leaving survivors as witnesses.

That might be disturbing, but without Hartnell and Mageau, our clues would be few and far between.

The biggest mistake of all was making a phone call forty minutes after the attack at BRS, when it was only a 10 minute journey from the crime scene. This was the biggest clue in the entire Zodiac case.

What exactly do you mean by this? I can see that it might indicate he had a place in the area to stash his stuff and then make the call but is that what you’re saying or am I missing something? Interesting thread idea. Thanks!

Yes, that is what I’m suggesting, especially considering he leaned into the Corvair to fire the two shots at Mageau on the back seat.

Although there are no witness accounts to the LHR murders I find that if you look at his patterns from his next attack/attacks (BRS,LB,SF) one can start to paint a picture of sorts of what possibly happened at the previous attacks and the adjustments he makes do to his mistakes. For instance mike mageau stated he thought it was a cop that pulled up behind him and Darlene at first and even started to get his ID therefor in my opinion it is not unlikely that this is exactly what he did on LHR months prior because why would he change what has been working up until that point. However I do believe he made some adjustments at blue rock springs which is why he didn’t say a word and immediately started firing at the kids while they where sitting in the car and didn’t order them out like he did on LHR. I believe the fact that betty lou made a run for it and gained a little distance might have made him nervous so to avoid that again he just fires while they are sitting in the vehicle.

So what happens next? what adjustments does he make moving forward? At both the LHR and BRS attack zodiac drives his vehicle to the actual scene of the attacks but after blue rock springs he no longer does this. From then on he parks away from the crime scene and finds other means to the attack point (walking, cab). You can see where he messes up or has some close calls based on what he does different next time and if you find those small changes whether in his actual attacks or his letters you can start to put together the real full picture in my opinion. So based on those observations and also mike mageau’s statement of his encounter with Z I think that the first two crime scenes (LHR,BRS) share a very cop vibe as far as fooling the victims into thinking it was a police officer pulling up on them which then buys him some time to get close to them without them fleeing. The next two crime scenes he plays out a robbers roll (LB, SF) based on the statements of the victim at lake Berryessa and we know paul stine was missing items from his cab. I think he was able to think very fast on his feet and correct a lot of errors due to his ability to remain calm. He was rapidly evolving as a predator.

The biggest mistake of all was making a phone call forty minutes after the attack at BRS, when it was only a 10 minute journey from the crime scene. This was the biggest clue in the entire Zodiac case.

Indeed! that always made me wonder as well.

He could have been in a state of shock or feeling remorse at what he’d just done and was driving aimlessly around debating what he would do next. At some point he might have thought he should notify the cops so that phone booth could have just been there as he passed by and he stopped to make the call.

In those days, phone booths were very commonly found outside gas stations and other public places.

He could have been in a state of shock or feeling remorse at what he’d just done and was driving aimlessly around debating what he would do next

The same guy who would go on to write wickedly cruel and mocking letters about his victims? I doubt it.

I not saying he was a criminal genius but he certainly wouldn’t have drove straight towards that pay phone as it would have meant driving directly toward oncoming police vehicles from the station, thus meaning that if he walked to the pay phone, the area from which this could have been done (taking into credit the long way around which he could have taken) would be relatively low.

I not saying he was a criminal genius but he certainly wouldn’t have drove straight towards that pay phone as it would have meant driving directly toward oncoming police vehicles from the station, thus meaning that if he walked to the pay phone, the area from which this could have been done (taking into credit the long way around which he could have taken) would be relatively low.

As a matter of interest would it have been theoretically possibly that after Lake Berryessa Zodiac returned home (assuming a Vallejo residence) and then travelled back to the Napa phone booth. ? Sorry if it’s a daft question but obviously not being familiar with the area it’s hard to calculate.

With Zodiac pulling in, leaving for approx 5 minutes before returning, do you think he may have lived right next to BRS and went home for a gun as he saw an opportunity? Or do you think he drove around with his gun? We know he had his gun when he went to LHR, LB, and also had it on him when he hailed the cab in SF. I think at BRS, he either initially had second thoughts, or he saw someone else around there or a passing car that spooked him and made him leave.

Zodiac knew about the phone ringing even though this fact wasn’t reported in the newspapers. If there was really a negro male spotting ‘him + his car’, he would have got immediately back in his vehicle and would have left the vicinity of the payphone as quickly as possible, in a matter of around 10 seconds. When he hung up the phone, it is highly unlikely Nancy Slover in tandem with the AT & T operator managed to ring-back the payphone in such short time. So, if Zodiac heard the payphone ring after 20 seconds to 1 minute, then he was clearly walking away from the payphone within earshot. Had he been in a vehicle he wouldn’t have heard it ring – he would have been out of audible range.

I agree with this in principle. Certainly my sense is that he was on foot. However, it is quite possible that the ring back was instant. On pay phone, if you hang up first and the other person hasn’t, it can immediately ring.