Zodiac Killer

morf13 said:

Gotta agree,i think alot of Zodiac obsessed people will be really bored if the identity of Zodiac is revealed(myself included) But he is a criminal and if he's not dead,deserves to be punished to give the families of his victims closure.

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Like most Z-nuts, I have a POI. But if my POI is actually Zodiac, his identity will be far from boring. As a matter of fact, it would be Watergate levels of shaking the foundation of government in the US.

How would people react if Zodiac had been a Nixon White House operative and had been involved in running guns to the Contras and smuggling cocaine back to the States during the Carter and Reagan eras? My POI did both (provable) and also has been convicted for a murder that was suspected to have been a possible Zodiac killing at one time. He probably was the perp in several of the Santa Rosa Hitch-hiker murders and is a good suspect in the disapperance of Donna Lass. Throw into the mix that he was also arrested for a machine gun murder in 1975 that was linked at the time to the Symbionese Liberation Army. All I am missing is linking him to the Zodiac crimes themselves, though he certainly was in the right places at the right times to have committed the murders.

His name is Philip Arthur Thompson. I have posted a lot about him at Zodiackiller.com but I believe that you must be a member there to see the site. If you do your own research into this guy, be careful about info gleaned from the site newsmakingnews.com - the two woman who write there have questionable motives and much of what they post is misinformation or disinformation.

Interesting guy is Thompson! I have read on him some as well. Do you have any known handwriting/printing samples of him?

I do like how every can research,and come up with their own persons of interest. I had one too,but i hit a roadblock with the background digging on him,and I am at a standstill. One person who I have previously mentioned,has a LOT of circumstancial evidence that seems to not neccessarily link him to the Z crimes directly,but makes it plausible that it COULD be him. The more reading i do,the more interesting facts i find,and he fits the profile of what many people think would be a good Zodiac suspect.The photos i have seen do not neccessarily match Z,and i would need to find some pics of him in and around 1969.I cant say that this guy was close to 6FT or 220 lbs.

Of all the suspects connected to this case my vote goes for Richard Gaikowski .
I think the circumstantial evidence concerning him is every bit as compelling as Arthur Leigh Allen....more so in many cases.
In addition Nancy Slover the Valejo dispatcher flat out said his voice was the one she talked to on the phone the night of July 4th ,1969.
And she's listened to voice recordings of every suspect out there.
Michael Maguae who was wounded in that attack, 20 some years later did pick ALA out of a line up of photos however he is somewhat of a burnout case.
He did also said recently that Darlene reffered to her attacker as 'Richard' this was way before Giakowski was a well known suspect,so take your pick there.
The switchboard for the underground magazine Gaikowski was editor for was also located virtually next door to murdered Cab Driver Paul Stine's apartment.

morf13 said:

~~ snip

[...] a person that believes that Zodiac was not a single man,but rather a team,pointed out that as a Zodiac team,they could have committed both murders,in 2 different areas. I am not personally into the idea that there was a Zodiac "team",but anything is possible i guess,and it actually could explain the differences of appearance in the zodiac sketches.

snip ~~

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Interesting. For an analysis that also posits multiple, or a team of, perps for a crime series, see Maury Terry's "The Ultimate Evil," about the Son of Sam murders and other crimes possibly related.

Gaikowski is an interesting POI. The one thing that bothers me is that after all of the scrutiny that he has received, the worst offense that he has been shown to have been involved in was the sending of a prank letter claiming that the governor of his state had died. He seems to have been a respected member of the SF alternative art community. Only one acquaintance (the mysterious "Purple Goldcatcher") seems to believe that Richard was Zodiac.

According to zodiackiller.com, Gyke's DNA is currently being tested against the Zodiac letters. Jack Tarrence is also being tested, but it has been many months since that test was initiated and it is suspected that a negative match has already been told to Kaufman but he has not announced the results in an effort to keep his fifteen minutes of fame going. Hopefully, someone's DNA will match and settle this thing once and for all.

Dr. Doogie said:

Gaikowski is an interesting POI. The one thing that bothers me is that after all of the scrutiny that he has received, the worst offense that he has been shown to have been involved in was the sending of a prank letter claiming that the governor of his state had died. He seems to have been a respected member of the SF alternative art community. Only one acquaintance (the mysterious "Purple Goldcatcher") seems to believe that Richard was Zodiac.

According to zodiackiller.com, Gyke's DNA is currently being tested against the Zodiac letters. Jack Tarrence is also being tested, but it has been many months since that test was initiated and it is suspected that a negative match has already been told to Kaufman but he has not announced the results in an effort to keep his fifteen minutes of fame going. Hopefully, someone's DNA will match and settle this thing once and for all.

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GYKE strikes me as a Hippie,counter culture type,into art,etc. Just cant see him being Zodiac,and ill bet the ranch that his DNA will not be a match.Then he can go in the drawer with ALA,and Mr.X,and everyone else that doesnt have definitive evidence linking them as Zodiac. That's the problem with this case. There are a ton of suspects,and "persons of interest",and they all seem to have some promise,but all lack solid conclusive evidence.


I don't know what type of person Zodiac was,but i tend to agree with most that he was pretty smart,had some interest or background in military,or was a wannabe. If the suspect description from the Stine murder is correct,then he would fit the Military conservative style vs . the GYKE hippie type.

I also am of the opinion that Zodiac stopped writing,or killing altogether after Stine's murder,because he realized how close he was to getting caught. There was a skectch,and witnesses,possibly even the police themselves saw him. They had possible finger prints from the Stine scene.Sure Zodiac said it was some rubber cement or whatever on the tips of his fingers,but why wouldnt he say that? Think about it.You realized that you made a big mistake and now they have your prints,he probably told them that his prints were fake to try to get them to discount the print they found. The kids that saw him said he was wiping down the cab.Why would he need to do that,if he wore gloves,or had fake fingertips on? I really believe that was a mistake on his part,and he got scared. So what i want to know is,did the SF police ever enter the print off the cab into a database anywhere? If Zodiac ever applied for certain ID's,licenses,gun permits,military,or was arrested,his prints may have been taken,and could be on file some place.

Here's an interesting theory,that someone else on another board brought up.Since Zodiac had military issue type boots,and possibly had a military style haircut,and military type glasses,and was thought to have some sort of military background,perhaps in code training,and was perhaps seen near the Presidio military base after the Stine murder,theres a strong possibility that he could have been military.In addition,at the Cheri Jo Bates crime scene,a mens watch was found,and it was found that this type of watch was sold at military Px's(although the Bates murder isnt a confirmed Zodiac attack)

Going on this possible military connection,and the fact that Zodiac seemed to be especially comfortable in the area of Vallejo,how about the possibility that Zodiac worked at,was stationed at,or trained at the California Maritime Academy at Vallejo?
"Located in Vallejo, California, The California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) is a unique and specialized campus of The California State University that offers students bachelor’s degrees in international business and logistics, facilities engineering technology, global studies and maritime affairs, marine engineering technology, marine transportation, and mechanical engineering. Cal Maritime is one of only seven degree-granting maritime academies in the United States — and the only one on the West Coast." The drive from this academy to the Vallejo murder scenes would have been very short.

And some of the men coming thru there may have trained on boats made by a company called "Zodiac". The company called "ZODIAC" states, "Zodiac is the global leader for military and professional RIBs and inflatables"

Keeping up with the military angle here,a man named Robert Tarbox(a former attorney)announced that a man had come to him to seek legal advice,and claimed that he was the ZODIAC. Mr. Tarbox goes on to say that the man claiming to be Zodiac,produced as identification a MMD (Merchant Marine Document). ...so that's another piece that could put Zodiac in the miltary.Of course i dont know how true this is,and i have even heard that Mr. Tarbox was disbarred.But anyway here is a link to his story:
http://zodiackillertruth.com/tarbox.htm

In addition, I also found a ship with ties to the San fran area.Guess what the name of the ship is..yep,it's called "ZODIAC". Heres a little history on the ship
"Originally designed by William Hand Jr. as an ocean racing yacht, the Schooner Zodiac was built with painstaking care in 1924 in East Boothbay, Maine. Robert Wood Johnson and J. Seward Johnson of the Johnson & Johnson family were her first owners.
In 1931 the Zodiac was purchased by the San Francisco Bar Pilot Association and renamed California, beginning her long service as a bar pilot schooner. Her new responsibility was transporting harbor pilots to ships through shallow and dangerous waters off San Francisco's Golden Gate.
Retired in 1972, she was purchased by the Vessel Zodiac Corporation. Through the efforts of hundreds of dedicated volunteers, the vintage wooden schooner has been restored to her original beauty. In 1982, she earned a spot in the National Register of Historic places, and on her 60th birthday in 1984 was given back her maiden name."


Some people have assumed the name ZODIAC was picked by the killer because of the watch,and the fact the watch had a crosshair logo.But the above refernces for the name ZODIAC,directly in the area of Vallejo & SanFran,certainly makes it possible that he chose the name based on the local connection,vs the watch.

I am of the opinion that Zodiac stopped writing as frequently to police,and may have stopped killing altogether after the murder of Paul Stine,because he was scared,and he knew he made some mistakes.

October 11,1969,Paul Stine is murdered. Zodiac is spotted by witnesses,and possibly even police.Sketches are made. In addition,there is a print found at the crime scene,but Zodiac doesnt know this yet.

October 13,1969,Zodiac mails a letter boasting to police that he killed Stine,and includes a piece of his shirt as proof. He states that the cops could have caught them had they searched the park properly.He makes NO mention of a patrol car stopping him,and he still doesnt know that they have witnesses and a print.

November 8,1969,Zodiac mails the DRIPPING PEN card.Makes no mention of the Stine killing,nor the witnesses that saw him,or the prints they have,nor the police stopping him.(By the way,this dripping pen card could be a big clue in itself.It was mailed postmarked San Fran. I dont know if police did this,but they should have contacted every Hallmark store,drug store,etc,any place that sold cards,and found out which ones within the San Fran-Vallejo areas carried this card. The card companies name and logo is right on the card. Then they could try to see if they could narrow down where it was sold,and if sucsessful,then interviewed clerks,and review any possible surveillance videos)

Here's about the time that Zodiac gets nervous i believe,and gets scared.

The very next day,November 9,1969,he mails the BUS BOMB letter. He says ,that he has grown angry at the police for spreading lies about him,so he would change the ways he collected souls,and not announce his murders. TRANSLATION: Ive been seeing in the news that you have clues about me and i almost got caught,now i am scared,so i am not going to be writing for a while. He goes on to say,that he looks like the description passed out only when he kills. TRANSLATION: You know what i look like now,but i want you to think that i dont really look like that.He further says,that the prints they found were simply airplane glue over his fingerprints and they dont have his real prints. TRANSLATION: You have my prints,but i want you to think that you dont.If Z used fake prints,or had gloves,why spend the extra few seconds wiping down the cab? He said he wiped it down to leave fake clues,and that the police didnt have any valuable info.I think he did that to make police think that the evidence they had was worthless and not worth pursuing.He also says finally that the police mad a goof,and stopped him that night after the murder.

Another thing he says,which i think is a big clue or mistake by Zodiac,is that his "killing tools" (not sure if he means guns,disguises or what,but i assume its guns)were purchased thru mail order outfits before the BAN went into effect(that's why i believe he means guns). Heres a 1968 GUN BAN link: [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Control_Act_of_1968[/ame]

This is a slipup by Z. There are two possibilties here:

A- He is tellling the truth.If he is telling the truth,and bought it thru the mail before a gun ban was in effect,police have a date to work with.Simply try to track down purchases thru mail order companies of the specific model guns used by Z prior to the ban.
OR
B-He is lying and he bought his guns locally but doesnt want the cops trying to track him via local gun dealers.

So here you have 2 letters that were sent on back to back days.WHY? Why wouldnt he have just sent one letter.I think he sent the 1st letter,and that day,found out somehow the details of evidence police had against him,and got scared.That is what led him to write the second MISINFORMATION letter the next day trying to convince police that they had nothing.

On December 20,1969(also the anniversary of the faraday/jensen murders),Z sends his next letter to Melvin Belli.This in my opinion,is after a paranoid month getting rid of evidence and waiting for the police to knock on his door. He wants to get a defense in place,as he awaits the police to knock on his door. He reaches out with a nice letter wishing Melvin a HAPPY CHRISTMASS to be pleasant,and even takes the time to write nicely with nice print for a change instead of the sloppy stuff he normally sends(maybe this is even his true handwriting for a change)

Obviously,the police never knocked on his door(unless they did and we dont know it)but Zodiac felt the heat was off,and then wrote again feeling safe a few times in 1970.The next time he sends a confirmed Z letter is the 1974 Exorcist letter.So 4 years with no confirmed letter? What happened during this time. Was he in jail? If he was military,was he shipped out for a while to another base? Had the police finally knocked on his door,and questioned him,thus scaring him so bad that uldnt write for 4 years?

Is this a possible Zodiac influence?
Possible Zodiac influence?
-1969 Prophetron Zoltan Fortune Teller- Take a look:

http://marvin3m.com/arcade/zoltan.htm

This is one of those old mechanical fortune teller machines that you used to see at fairs,carnivals,etc.As a matter of fact,if you ever watched the movie BIG starring Tom Hanks,it was similar to the type of machine that Hanks used that made him big.

You put in your money,the machine comes to life and usually starts out with "this is Zoltan speaking" Sounds familiar huh? like "this is the Zodiac speaking" In addition,the 12 signs of the ZODIAC are laid out on the front of the machine. Between the name Zoltan sounding like Zodiac,and the similar greeting of "this is Zoltan speaking" vs. "this is the Zodiac speaking",it seems possible that this could be a Zodiac influence.


Heres a video of it:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBUL6Z5RZZU&feature=related"]YouTube - Re: My Audition, YouTube + 312 other subjects... 8/14/07 2:4[/ame]

ZODIAC Letter to the FBI...Take a look,do you think this is authentic?
The first letter is a verified letter from Zodiac. The second letter is a letter to the FBI that i found in their declassified files,along with a copy of the return envelope.The return address is blacked out,but the city it is post marked from is there,but hard to read.

I personally believe that the lower case letter "d" is a spot on match in both letters.The way it leans to the right,and has a bit of a loop at the top. In addition,in the letter to the FBI,he crosses out a word that looks like the word PUTTING,and writes over top of it the word ESTABLISHING. Zodiac on more than one occasion crossed out a word,and wrote another word over top of it.I also went on to read the following from the FBI regarding this letter:
"These are letters received in the Zodiac case.It has not been definately established that all of these letters were written by the Zodiac"
Also if you look on the envelope that the letter was sent in to the FBI,the lower case letter "f" looks alot like Zodiac's as well. The envelope was addressed and mailed to the FBI office in Boston. And the return address as i said is blacked out but the postmark is visible,but hard to read.If anyone here is computer savy and could enlarge it and clean it up,it would be much appreciated.I wish i could determine who the letter is from.From the subject matter in the letter,it almost sounds like an investiagtor communicating with the FBI office, or a citizen trying to give the FBI some info,but there is no way to determine where/who sent it with the return address blacked out.I wish i could make out the postmark.Since it is 11 years after the last confirmed Zodiac attack,the postmark could be important if it is from another city or state,showing that perhaps Zodiac moved.

I think i know why the letter may have been sent to the office in Boston,and that makes me think of one person that may have written it to the Boston FBI,but i will not comment on it here at this time.

Please give your opinions on the samples when compared to each other. Do we have any hand writing experts here?

morf13 said:

GYKE strikes me as a Hippie,counter culture type,into art,etc. Just cant see him being Zodiac,and ill bet the ranch that his DNA will not be a match.Then he can go in the drawer with ALA,and Mr.X,and everyone else that doesnt have definitive evidence linking them as Zodiac. That's the problem with this case. There are a ton of suspects,and "persons of interest",and they all seem to have some promise,but all lack solid conclusive evidence.


I don't know what type of person Zodiac was,but i tend to agree with most that he was pretty smart,had some interest or background in military,or was a wannabe. If the suspect description from the Stine murder is correct,then he would fit the Military conservative style vs . the GYKE hippie type.

I also am of the opinion that Zodiac stopped writing,or killing altogether after Stine's murder,because he realized how close he was to getting caught. There was a skectch,and witnesses,possibly even the police themselves saw him. They had possible finger prints from the Stine scene.Sure Zodiac said it was some rubber cement or whatever on the tips of his fingers,but why wouldnt he say that? Think about it.You realized that you made a big mistake and now they have your prints,he probably told them that his prints were fake to try to get them to discount the print they found. The kids that saw him said he was wiping down the cab.Why would he need to do that,if he wore gloves,or had fake fingertips on? I really believe that was a mistake on his part,and he got scared. So what i want to know is,did the SF police ever enter the print off the cab into a database anywhere? If Zodiac ever applied for certain ID's,licenses,gun permits,military,or was arrested,his prints may have been taken,and could be on file some place.

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Hey morf, have you seen Michael Butterfield's site recently? He now has a section for Gaikowski 'The Worst Zodiac Suspect Ever'. Interesting...

morf13 said:

Some people have assumed the name ZODIAC was picked by the killer because of the watch,and the fact the watch had a crosshair logo.But the above refernces for the name ZODIAC,directly in the area of Vallejo & SanFran,certainly makes it possible that he chose the name based on the local connection,vs the watch. [/COLOR]

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I'm torn on this. Regarding where Zodiac lived, I definitely think he lived in Vallejo, I'm almost 100% sure of it. Based on the geographic profiling and the epicenter of the crimes, etc. Also, I think the motivation for killing Stine was to gain attention in "the big city". I don't think Z was a city dweller.

When you think about the fact that only several thousand (maybe less) white males of the appropriate age lived in Vallejo, and even way less than that fit the profile of Z... hmm. Penny for your thoughts?

Yeah Obsessed,i did see that.He has some things going on,and i am sure he is busy now,but will update the GYKE section on his site soon

morf13 said:

Is this a possible Zodiac influence?
Possible Zodiac influence?
-1969 Prophetron Zoltan Fortune Teller- Take a look:

http://marvin3m.com/arcade/zoltan.htm

This is one of those old mechanical fortune teller machines that you used to see at fairs,carnivals,etc.As a matter of fact,if you ever watched the movie BIG starring Tom Hanks,it was similar to the type of machine that Hanks used that made him big.

You put in your money,the machine comes to life and usually starts out with "this is Zoltan speaking" Sounds familiar huh? like "this is the Zodiac speaking" In addition,the 12 signs of the ZODIAC are laid out on the front of the machine. Between the name Zoltan sounding like Zodiac,and the similar greeting of "this is Zoltan speaking" vs. "this is the Zodiac speaking",it seems possible that this could be a Zodiac influence.


Heres a video of it:
YouTube - Re: My Audition, YouTube + 312 other subjects... 8/14/07 2:4

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I tend to think no, on this. I think the name Zodiac either came from the watch or your military connection, as laid out above. I also think Z was definitely either then active military or just recently discharged military (circa 1968-1969). That's why the escape root through the Presidio was so effortless (as he mentioned in his letter after the Stine killing).

morf13 said:

Please give your opinions on the samples when compared to each other. Do we have any hand writing experts here?

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No expert, AT ALL, but the writing looks very good to me. My question is, does the author of the letter mention the "Harvard Police"? Or am I just having trouble reading this.

I think about one person associated with Harvard and Zodiac, Michael O'Hare. But, I don't think about Mr. O'Hare...I'm thinking about his accuser.

Okay, we all know Z said he looked "different' when he "did his thing". Simple question...which one of these gentlemen was Z:



Or



The first one is based on the children from the house across the street where Stine was shot. As well as David Foulke and Eric Helms account of the person the encountered that night.

The second one is the suspect that was seen hanging around Lake Berryessa (I think). The two really look nothing alike, IMO.

My long time question has been, which one is Z? If sketch number one isn't Z, then could the person that the person everyone thinks is Z truly isn't? What I mean is..for instance.. Mike Rodelli says Mr. X looks like a dead ringer for the composite, in 1969. As does (IMO) the author of Times 17.

But what if Z was the second composite...then what?

The Zodiac has always intriqued me so Im enjoying reading this! PLEASE KEEP POSTING!
I have nothing to contribute as Im just a casual observer but I am interested in suspects/theories beyond Graysmiths (Ive tried reading on some Zodiac sites but its to "clique-y" for the unintitated).

VespaElf said:

The Zodiac has always intriqued me so Im enjoying reading this! PLEASE KEEP POSTING!
I have nothing to contribute as Im just a casual observer but I am interested in suspects/theories beyond Graysmiths (Ive tried reading on some Zodiac sites but its to "clique-y" for the unintitated).

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I hear you Vespa and too agree with your opinoin about the Zodiac sites. But, most boards are like that.

Zobsessed said:

No expert, AT ALL, but the writing looks very good to me. My question is, does the author of the letter mention the "Harvard Police"? Or am I just having trouble reading this.

I think about one person associated with Harvard and Zodiac, Michael O'Hare. But, I don't think about Mr. O'Hare...I'm thinking about his accuser.

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BINGO! That's what i thought too.
Penn authored an article for the California’s magazine New West, written under the pseudonym “George Oakes,” and titled, “Portrait of the Artist as a Mass Murderer.” In the story, Penn described his theory that the Zodiac used a combination of binary numbers and Morse code to disguise his identity in the text of his letters. Binary numbers are used to compress language into a code of sorts.(this paragraph borrowed from Micahel Butterfields site Zodicakillerfacts.com-great site check it out)

Did you also notice in the leter where it says "binary theory"?

VespaElf said:

The Zodiac has always intriqued me so Im enjoying reading this! PLEASE KEEP POSTING!
I have nothing to contribute as Im just a casual observer but I am interested in suspects/theories beyond Graysmiths (Ive tried reading on some Zodiac sites but its to "clique-y" for the unintitated).

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Some of the Zodiac sites are very political too,and if you dont agree with the common beliefs of try to think for yourself,you get banned,or deleted.I dont need that childish stuff.We are all adults,and are entitled to our own ideas,thoughts and beliefs.