Zodiackillersite.com

Could be it was a little bit of both. Had he started with "by knife" and then ended up shooting them...well....

Maybe he wrote the majority of it then came back up and wrote the time and the weapon used.

But as mentioned--if he wasn't able to pull it off, that would be a really big goof. I think it probably came after. He thought they were dead. No hurries.

vasa croe wrote:
And the above poster said the call came in at 7:13? I thought it was 7:40. Is 7:13 correct?

Two different calls: Z himself called the police at 7:40, but they were informed about the attack (after Fong had contacted the park people) at 7:13.

The time would be a good piece of evidence for a letter writer to supply. Much better than the rather generic "by knife", and I'm surprised that is what they held back instead.

duckking2001 wrote:The time would be a good piece of evidence for a letter writer to supply. Much better than the rather generic "by knife", and I'm surprised that is what they held back instead.

Yes, that's a good point. "By knife" is a bit of a puzzle in many ways. Odd thing to write, arguably - odd thing to hold back for the cops too, arguably, when the much more particular and individual "6:30" was made public straight away.

Anyway, on the topic of the time: If the latter indicates the time of writing, Z seems to have taken his sweet time driving from LB to the Napa phone booth (there is an interval of something like 20 or 25 missing, going by how long it should have taken him to cover the distance in question).

If - which is the other possibility - the time indicates the time of the actual attack, we can shave a good part off that interval (it would have taken him some time - I don't have the estimate before me - to get back up to the road from the crime scene).

And then there's a third possibility which could account for the missing interval: He was parked somewhere else, further down the road, meaning that he had to move from BH's car to his own on foot after having completed the writing.

Norse wrote:

duckking2001 wrote:The time would be a good piece of evidence for a letter writer to supply. Much better than the rather generic "by knife", and I'm surprised that is what they held back instead.

Yes, that's a good point. "By knife" is a bit of a puzzle in many ways. Odd thing to write, arguably - odd thing to hold back for the cops too, arguably, when the much more particular and individual "6:30" was made public straight away.

Anyway, on the topic of the time: If the latter indicates the time of writing, Z seems to have taken his sweet time driving from LB to the Napa phone booth (there is an interval of something like 20 or 25 missing, going by how long it should have taken him to cover the distance in question).

If - which is the other possibility - the time indicates the time of the actual attack, we can shave a good part off that interval (it would have taken him some time - I don't have the estimate before me - to get back up to the road from the crime scene).

And then there's a third possibility which could account for the missing interval: He was parked somewhere else, further down the road, meaning that he had to move from BH's car to his own on foot after having completed the writing.

RE: Missing Time
Maybe Z stashed his knife & gun, and changed his clothes, then went out to make the call.

Yep, morf - that could be as well.

And a variation on that theme: He made an actual pit stop somewhere (in theory he could even have swapped cars, if we want to take it in that direction).

It has been proposed as something Mr X could have done (given that he owned property in the area) but it goes for anyone. Mr X had a ranch - but the plot works just as well if Z simply had a place of some kind, a one-room shack, some kind of hunting cabin, anything.

It's a bit fanciful all things said and done, but not impossible. It's interesting, at any rate, that we have these missing intervals (potentially at least) both for LB and BRS.

Tahoe27 wrote:Curious...

Would the writing on the car door be enough to convict Zodiac had he been caught for one of the other Zodiac murders?

How admissible is handwriting in court? I know for things like forgery, etc., it is quite common...but to prove murder? And let's say the man's shoe print size didn't match up to the prints found. What then?

Not unless he confessed hence LE has his finger prints?

Does anyone know why LE never looked in the public records for Z's handwriting?
Like department of public safety, or probation records.
I mean after all.
That's how Kidnapper John LaMarca 1956 was caught.
Sound logical?
The FBI thought so.
Be sure to look for those double LL's.