Zodiackillersite.com

Here's an archived post from ZK.com

"What about the so called "dry run" that Graysmith mentioned on TV yesterday an also in "Unmasked". Has anyone interviewed the cabbie from that incident? Graysmith said the cab driver was robbed, tied up and gagged then put in the trunk of the car. With all that happening on a busy SF street someone must have seen something. Maybe Tom also has a copy of the police report from that particular incident. Wasn't there a string of cab robberies going on at the time anyway? Could Stine have actually recognized Z as Allen since they were once neighbors. Another question is by looking at Stines fare log or actually calculating the amount that was left on the meter in the cab couldn't one figure out where else he may have been that evening before picking up Z? Or if they may have gone somewhere else before getting to Cherry? The "dry run" incident occurred at Washington and Locust about a week before according to Graysmith"

Here's an article from early October 69

This sounds like something else, an unrelated cabbie robbery.

I am interested in the robberies referenced in the wanted poster, which says other robberies in the Presidio area were committed which were very much like the Stine case. At least one of those cabbies must've survived, because details of what happened are mentioned, that only the cabbie would've been able to relate, and it says "In one case victim was shot in head..." Implying, in other cases, the cabbie was not killed.

Can anyone clarify this apparent discrepancy: In the article the day after the Stine murder, it's reported that the cab's engine was still running. In the Wanted poster, it says the taxi cab keys were missing (as I had always thought.) How can a cab remain running with the keys removed?

Suppose the cabbies had been talking about the previous Presidio Heights robberies, and had a general description of the robber, including the MO that he got in the front seat... If Paul knew this, he might have suspected robbery as soon as Z got in the cab. Perhaps this led to him being shot.

Marshall wrote:

I am interested in the robberies referenced in the wanted poster, which says other robberies in the Presidio area were committed which were very much like the Stine case. At least one of those cabbies must've survived, because details of what happened are mentioned, that only the cabbie would've been able to relate, and it says "In one case victim was shot in head..." Implying, in other cases, the cabbie was not killed.

This might help to narrow down which robberies were referred to on the first composite.

Here's a screen capture of the case numbers from the drawing.



Paul Stine's case number is the first one, that defines it as a homicide. #696314

The next two for the robberies are #692995 and #687697. The first two numbers of the case numbers denote the year, so the homicide and one robbery were committed in 1969. The other robbery was committed in 1968.

Case numbers are assigned as each case is opened regardless of the type of crime. Stine's case number 6314, the last four numbers, was opened October 11, 1969. The one robbery case from 1969 has a much lower number, 2895, and was probably committed in the spring or thereabouts of 1969. The 1968 robbery has a number, 7697, that is higher than the October 1969 number assigned to the Stine murder. Not knowing how many crimes overall were committed in each year makes it impossible to be precise but it's likely that the 1968 robbery happened towards the end of that year.

Seagull wrote:

Zodiac case numbers 1st composite.PNG

Paul Stine's case number is the first one, that defines it as a homicide. #696314

The next two for the robberies are #692995 and #687697. The first two numbers of the case numbers denote the year, so the homicide and one robbery were committed in 1969. The other robbery was committed in 1968.

I just called the SFPD public records department. The lady said their records only go back to 2000. I asked about records older than that and she said, "Purged and destroyed."

Would there be any other place these reports might still exist? Would anyone working on the Stine case have made the connection and retained them, for instance?

I think that the only recourse would be to look through the SF Chronicle and see if any stories were printed about cabbie robberies around the time I think they might have occurred. I don't know of any alternative.

Marshall wrote:

Seagull wrote:

Zodiac case numbers 1st composite.PNG

Paul Stine's case number is the first one, that defines it as a homicide. #696314

The next two for the robberies are #692995 and #687697. The first two numbers of the case numbers denote the year, so the homicide and one robbery were committed in 1969. The other robbery was committed in 1968.

I just called the SFPD public records department. The lady said their records only go back to 2000. I asked about records older than that and she said, "Purged and destroyed."

Would there be any other place these reports might still exist? Would anyone working on the Stine case have made the connection and retained them, for instance?

Makes sense they would be destroyed for robberies...murder cases would still exist of course.