Just to be clear there is no evidence to suggest Bruce McGregor Davis, or anyone connected to Charles Manson, was involved in the Zodiac case. However, I do wonder if Zodiac’s violence was worsened by high-profile murders that also instilled terror in the California populace, and received international attention.
Zodiac’s first two definite murder cases, Faraday/Jensen and Mageau/Ferrin, were shootings. On August 8-9 1969, the Manson Family perpetrated the Tate–LaBianca murders, most infamously killing Sharon Tate and her unborn child. Brutal stabbings after which they wrote on the victims’ walls with blood. Then on September 29 1969, Zodiac perpetrated the Lake Berryessa attack. Brutal stabbings after which he wrote on the victims’ car (not with blood, but signing off on property).
Zodiac, a keen media observer, was very likely aware of the Tate-LaBianca case. Perhaps he was jealous of the attention. A month later he took his murders up a notch in horror and attention-grabbing, with a drastic switch from shooting to stabbing. Are the extreme parallels coincidental?
Some further thoughts.
Zodiac never murdered a celebrity, but he did threaten Paul Avery and Ed Toschi.
The Manson Family, a gang of brainwashed hippies, managed what Zodiac did not. Not only did they dominate the newspapers and news reports, but they received global media attention (Zodiac has global attention as a cold case, but was it ever reported in foreign newspapers at the time?)
The theory that Zodiac was involved with Manson is intriguing but baseless. But the theory that Zodiac was jealous of the Manson Family, and incited to escalate violence by their murders, I think is plausible.
He could have efficiently carried out the Lake Berryessa attack with a firearm, but opted for gory knife murder instead (less reliable to the extent of leaving a survivor). Targeting victims in the open daylight being more brazen than targeting victims in their homes in the dead of night.
Just to clarify, I realize this theory does not answer anything about the case, but I do think it is a potential insight into Zodiac’s psychology.
I also can’t help but wonder if the Manson Family were aware of the Zodiac murders and if so what they made of Zodiac and his persona. (They may have been too off the grid and preoccupied with Charlie’s schemes to have followed the case).
I independently came to the same conclusion.
Though I think nobody will ever know for sure except Z himself.
Unrelated, but I always found that the RFK polka dot dress story had a Mansony feel to it. I have always wondered if The Family were involved in that.
Unrelated, but I always found that the RFK polka dot dress story had a Mansony feel to it. I have always wondered if The Family were involved in that.
They did try to get Gerald Ford.
Are you suggesting polka dot lady thought someone from the Family had killed RFK ("we got him!") but it was actually Sirhan?
Unrelated, but I always found that the RFK polka dot dress story had a Mansony feel to it. I have always wondered if The Family were involved in that.
They did try to get Gerald Ford.
Are you suggesting polka dot lady thought someone from the Family had killed RFK ("we got him!") but it was actually Sirhan?
I have no idea if they are associated with the RFK thing, but never underestimate those Manson girls. They were totally brainwashed and used their womanly wiles on many men.
‘Name/Description’, age, sex, region, incident, status, date
A ‘Simi’ woman n/a female Los Angeles / West Valley
A ‘Conoga Park’ woman 20 female Los Angeles / West Valley
Rose Tashman 19 female Los Angeles / Beverly Hills
Cindy Lee Mellin 19 female Los Angeles / Ventura
Kathleen Johns 22 female San Francisco / Modesto
Anne Marie Robinson (aka Jane Doe 1371UFCA?) 41 female Los Angeles / Gardena
Ernestine Frances Terello 43 female Los Angeles / Agoura
X (wobbling tire)
X (wobbling tire)
X (flat tire)
X (flat tire)
X (wobbling tire)
X (flat tire)
X (flat tire)
Attack
Attack
Victim
Missing
Attack
Missing
Victim
08.11.1967
21.11.1967
18.05.1969
20.01.1970
22.03.1970
03.01.1972
30.04.1972
Simi woman and Conoga and Rose Tashman (Mulholland Drive) rather Manson. Kathleen Johns same MO, another incident (was it Santa Rosa?) with a tire, too. Same MO not necessarily some connection but worth to have a look at.
QT
*ZODIACHRONOLOGY*
Unrelated, but I always found that the RFK polka dot dress story had a Mansony feel to it. I have always wondered if The Family were involved in that.
They did try to get Gerald Ford.
Are you suggesting polka dot lady thought someone from the Family had killed RFK ("we got him!") but it was actually Sirhan?
I have always thought there was a chance polka dot lady was from The Family and that Sirhan was a fall guy. Which doesn’t mean he played no role.
One of the items of evidence in the Manson case that has remained mysterious was a pair of eyeglasses found at Sharon Tate’s house the morning after the murders, found next to Sharon’s steamer trunks. The glasses look very similar to what the Zodiac was wearing on the wanted poster. According to Mae Brussell, on her Sept. 28, 1980 Dialogue Conspiracy program, the man who left his glasses in the Tate house was none other than the Zodiac Killer, and his name was Robert LInkletter, son of Hollywood celebrity Art Linkletter.
Interesting that the Linkletter and Manalli crashes have somewhat similar circumstances.
One of the items of evidence in the Manson case that has remained mysterious was a pair of eyeglasses found at Sharon Tate’s house the morning after the murders, found next to Sharon’s steamer trunks. The glasses look very similar to what the Zodiac was wearing on the wanted poster. According to Mae Brussell, on her Sept. 28, 1980 Dialogue Conspiracy program, the man who left his glasses in the Tate house was none other than the Zodiac Killer, and his name was Robert LInkletter, son of Hollywood celebrity Art Linkletter.
Here are the glasses and a family photo with Robert Linkletter on the left. I wonder, are those glasses in storage? Could there be DNA on them?
