Zodiac - convicted murderer?

[Quicktrader]

In the LB report it is written that Z had mentioned he was sent to a ... Lodge Prison for a killing.

http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport24.html

If that is true, there must have been a trial and conviction sometime earlier..I doubt the info is correct as the report is from 10-4-69..

QT

[entropy]

Zodiac apparently told Hartnell that he escaped from prison and "had to kill a guard to get out".

http://www.zodiackiller.com/HartnellInterview3.html

Your question about a trial and conviction makes sense IF Z was telling the truth about this. BIG IF, IMHO.

[Tahoe27]

A lot of folks over the years have looked into people who may have been in those same circumstances.

[traveller1st]

In the LB report it is written that Z had mentioned he was sent to a ... Lodge Prison for a killing.

http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport24.html

If that is true, there must have been a trial and conviction sometime earlier..I doubt the info is correct as the report is from 10-4-69..

QT

Interesting.

These transcripts are hard to interpret sometimes because they are of interviews and it's hard to clarify exactly what is meant because it's presented verbatim so unless a clarifying questing is asked we can't know. At that point in the interview it would have been good to have a clarification as to whether the killing refers to the guard during escape or also the reason for incarceration.

Now as far as reading it, well, it says just that. As pointed out by QT, good catch BTW, "...for a killing". There's not even a question mark there so maybe that suggests no need for clarification. Maybe it is what it is?

As morf says though, and I feel myself, the whole story is probably fiction anyway but even at that this is a part of it that has mostly gone unnoticed, that being he possibly and apparently did include why he was in prison as well.

[entropy]

On second read, I quite honestly think this is probably an innocuous misstatement by investigators since Hartnell doesn't make any mention of it in his interviews (despite clearly stating that Z claimed to have killed a guard escaping). It's the kind of detail that is easy to confuse when you're reporting eyewitness testimony after the fact. I would tend to stick with the actually eyewitness testimony when there's a discrepancy unless there's something else to back it up.

[pittsburgh_phil]

I have always thought and still think that anything that Zodiac said to Hartnell and Shepard was a lie. I don't see him telling them the truth. It seems out of place with his previous actions.

[vince]

I understand why you guys suspect Z of not telling the truth; though why would he feel the need to lie to people he is about to kill?

He reported a "double murder" after this crime, so in his mind they were both dead.

If you felt like he probably did, and wanted to confide in anyone; surely the safest option is to open up to a person you are about to kill. Regardless of what you tell them, they will not be able to "snitch", so again why would he feel the need to lie under these circumstances?

[Tahoe27]

I understand why you guys suspect Z of not telling the truth; though why would he feel the need to lie to people he is about to kill?

He reported a "double murder" after this crime, so in his mind they were both dead.

If you felt like he probably did, and wanted to confide in anyone; surely the safest option is to open up to a person you are about to kill. Regardless of what you tell them, they will not be able to "snitch", so again why would he feel the need to lie under these circumstances?

Submission.

[Quagmire]

I understand why you guys suspect Z of not telling the truth; though why would he feel the need to lie to people he is about to kill?

He reported a "double murder" after this crime, so in his mind they were both dead.

If you felt like he probably did, and wanted to confide in anyone; surely the safest option is to open up to a person you are about to kill. Regardless of what you tell them, they will not be able to "snitch", so again why would he feel the need to lie under these circumstances?

Well, assuming that it was Z at Lake Beryessa, it's been proven that he lied. His story was that he had escaped from prison in Montana and was on the run, so was passing through California and needed Bryan's car to get to Mexico. After trying to stab them to death, he then conveniently totally ignored Bryan's car keys and then obviously wasn't off to Mexico as he nonchalantly turns up in San Francisco 2 weeks later with a completely different ruse.

IMO, his whole story was a complete load of bollocks from start to finish and was just a vehicle for controlling his victims before ambush killing them. Wouldn't surprise me if he had a gun to Paul Stine's head for a lot of the journey too, telling him that he wouldn't harm him and just needed a lift to PH where a car would be waiting for him. Of course we all now how that ended too.

[Soze]

I understand why you guys suspect Z of not telling the truth; though why would he feel the need to lie to people he is about to kill?

He reported a "double murder" after this crime, so in his mind they were both dead.

If you felt like he probably did, and wanted to confide in anyone; surely the safest option is to open up to a person you are about to kill. Regardless of what you tell them, they will not be able to "snitch", so again why would he feel the need to lie under these circumstances?

Submission.

Exactly. But I wouldn't say it was all inclusive.

Soze