Royce:
A Royce mentions that a Mrs. Jean (?) had mentioned that she knows about who did the killing (p. 60).
Mrs. Jean:
Mrs. Jean states that her children had named a 'Gary' having committed the crime. A 'Gary' with almost identical name had been stopped at the BRS scene only a few months later (p. 61).
Mrs. Peggie Your:
Her clock was about seven minutes fast. They got off Highway #21, which is probably meant to be the former California State Route 21 with an exit to Lake Herman Road, at approximately 11:00 PM. So in fact they arrived there at 10:53 PM, passing the scene probably EARLIER than 11:00 PM. Nevertheless, she saw the Rambler parked towards the fence. This might but must not be contradictory to the statement of the two racoon hunters as they insisted that the car was on the 'bank' when they passed by. If the racoon hunters left the Marshall Ranch gate earlier, too, the time of the Yours as well as Connely and Gasser passing by could actually have been before 11:10 PM. Only a few minutes later, the two racoon hunters pass the scene. It further is possible that Owen drove from his home in less than 20 minutes, e.g. 17 instead of 19, and would then have passed the scene at 11:12 PM to 11:13 PM, hearing the shot. Only one or two minutes later, Mrs. Borges passes by and finds the Jensen and Faraday lying on the ground. Overall, Owen can be placed at the scene rather in a two minute window than in a six minute window. If actually Owen or the racoon hunters did pass the scene first is a question that still remains to be open. Mrs. Your further stated a few days later, that she talked to three juveniles at Mr. Ed's who actually had claimed to having seen a car speeding with 90 mph towards Vallejo. This possibly was Mrs. Borges on her way to the police station. So according to Mrs. Your, there were three more kids in the area of Lake Herman during that night (possibly Darlene Ferrin?; p. 64). This is interesting as there obviously have been three additional witnesses at LHR that night (p. 63, 64, 75, 76).
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California ... oute_21#21)
Mr. Othis:
According to him, Mr. & Mrs. Burton, Ricky, Donald & Jewel as well their children Diane and Larry and Larry's wife Jannette were - including him and his son Ricky - at the Burton's house. When he left at around 10:45 PM to 10:55 PM, Mr. Othis mentions that only Mrs. Burton, Ricky, Larry, Jannette and Diane were still there. So the party started with 10 (!) people and ended with five people. According to him, the parents of Larry and Jannette had left earlier or are at least not mentioned in his police report.
Conclusion:
- Mr. Owen was at the crime scene at about the time the shooting happened
- Mr. & Mrs. Your as well as the racoon hunters passed the scene earlier than Mrs. Borges
- Mrs. Your states that there were possibly three additional witnesses in the area of Lake Herman Road
- A 'Pete' as well as a 'Gary' as well as a 'Rat' (Vallejo High school) might be possible persons of interest
- Multiple cars have been at LHR road, still to be analyzed, e.g. the brand new, foreign brand car
- The Faraday/Jensen Rampler possibly had moved before they got killed. Also they might have left the car and is there one sketch with a phone booth drawn in)
- Mrs. Yours statement is not necessarily contradictory to the racoon hunters' statement if 'on the bank' could mean 'towards the field'
- Helen's statement is coinciding with the statement of Mrs. Yours, regarding that she saw the car parked to the gate at around 10:15 PM. Bingo Wesher had not seen the Rambler at 10:00 PM (same gate?)
- Ricky Allen and especially his brother-in-law possibly had a motive (drugs, love & rock'n'roll) as well as access to various cars
- It remains unclear if Mr. Owen or the racoon hunters had passed the scene first.
There is no proof, even regarding the two minute time gap, that either Ricky, Owen, the Yours or one of the racoon hunters had committed the crime. Persons of interest however are:
Ricky - Contradictory statements (compared to his mother!), possibly a prowler, threatening Betty Lou, not having a water-tight but still an alibi, locker note of Betty Lou
Pete - Having access to both, a blue and a maroon car, similar to those seen at the scene. Further he owned a knife as well as a weapon.
Racoon Hunters - Possibly the last persons at the crime scene, had fired a shot shortly to or around the time of the murder
Rat - Tried to sell Larry a weapon and actually had fired a shot into a residence, too.
Owen - Possibly the last person at the crime scene but actually had no motive (not even hunting) and was willing to help the police although he was not required to
Ricky's brother-in-law - Possibly not only brother-in-law but also brother-in-crime, had access to a blue car with its paint coming off
Mr. & Mrs. Your - Different statements regarding the racoon hunters, weapon on their backseat although driving with their children, had no reason to stop at Marshall Ranch
Actually the Yours I'd rather rule out to having committed the crime (at least alone). The racoon hunters had definitely passed the scene later than the Yours, so they would have already seen the bodies, or actually were a.) involved in the crime or b.) passed by similar to the Yours without having seen something. Another point, however, is that in one of the police reports it is mentioned that Mrs. Yours did not tell the racoon hunters that the Yours' gun is bigger than theirs. So this might have been stated by one of the racoon hunters.
It furthermore is unclear if the blue car standing by the 'guard' with its driver actually being talking to him is either
a.) uninvolved
b.) the car of the Yours, taking the racoon hunter as a guard
c.) Pete's blue
d.) the Ricky's brother-in-law's blue car with the paint coming off
e.) the Olds' 2-door, blue H.T. 88 (Don) car that Stan had mentioned with two people inside, heading off to BRS at 10:30 PM
f.) the Robert Compls blue car of the prowler
Only if 'Pete' is identical with Ricky's brother-in-law (and possibly even the ex friend of Mrs. Compl), it would in fact create a rock-solid suspect.
And now here comes the most interesting part of all:
If most of the statements made by the witnesses are true, then we should look at the Yours statements again. Because if they had seen two people inside the red pick-up, one (the younger, exiting and seconds later standing by the pick-up) and another one (the older, exiting and possibly him shining to the Yours' car), Mrs. Yours statement - if true - becomes very important:
She mentioned a man in dark clothing standing next to the your's car. It is possible that her statement was made as good as she could - seeing two men AND a man in dark clothing. This man, she said, did not move nor talk nor point the gun at them - he just kept staring at her. This man must not necessarily be one of the hunters. She then mentioned to her husband to leave, which he actually did. It is therefore possible, that neither one of the hunters nor her husband had seen this man.
Also it is not stated that Mrs. Your meant this man to be one of the two hunters. Also a number of people she had seen is not mentioned in the police report. Although still some speculation in it, I think it therefore is absolutely possible that Mrs. Your saw this man and even gave it to protocol. With a blue car standing nearby, the driver waiting, it is therefore possible that a man (e.g. Zodiac) was walking from exactly this car to the crime scene, with the intention to keep the car away from the scene.
This person eventually was irritated by the confrontation with the Yours and therefore walked back to the car. However the crime was committed and therefore both supects (Pete and Rat? Brother-in-law and Ricky?) drove with their (dark) car to the scene instead of one person walking there alone. The passengers of the car then confronted David & Betty Lou, who possibly had waited for them to come (phone booth, call at Ricky's house) and had exited their Rambler.
It is unknown if they all had left, e.g. for a fight, drug deal or prostitution, over the fence or if they had hidden behind the cars.
The passenger of the dark/blue car, however, having already exited on the passengers' side or coming back from the fence, then fired his first shot, two more shots to come into the car to stop David and Betty Lou from fleeing. After talking to David at gunpoint, he shoots him at point-blank. Betty Lou, freaking out completely and trying to run away, gets five more bullets into her back.
It's not the easiest stuff, but according to the police reports it appears to me to be the most feasible version of what had happened during that night.
QT