Zodiackillersite.com

Hi-

This is some very interesting stuff. I have considered the code being in Norwegian. I had a Norwegian cryptographer look at it but he didn't come up with anything. Maybe I have to give him the "sla" clue. I had never looked at the "sla" letter in that way but that is what fresh eyes on the case can do!

Interesting observations about the DNA. I've been trying to convey that it is a red herring for a long time but nobody seems to listen. The infallibility of DNA is very deeply ingrained in peoples' minds; they can't get past the belief that because the Zodiac case took place in the 1960s, it was impossible for him to avoid licking stamps and envelopes, etc. SFPD even said that their sample "may not be reliable" in 2009. It is a combined sample and even more than that, KQ would have known of saliva testing in the 1960s.

Mike

themysterymachine wrote:Norse? Do you speak any of these Northern Euro languages?

I do indeed.

The possibility of the 340 plain text being Old Norse was probably the first "theory" I had as far as the Z case is concerned. It was based on some pretty vague ideas (which originally came from Penn, I think, but I didn't know anything about him at the time) about a "Nordic" Z connection - but nothing ever came of it. Then I learned of Mike's suspect - and was very intrigued, to say the least. If KQ was Z, then the possibility of him using his native language in some way or form should definitely be considered.

As an aside I might repeat what I've suggested elsewhere (regarding "sla"): There is no reason to assume that a Norwegian born in the 20th century would be very familiar with Old Norse (a language which is very different from modern Norwegian). Then again, as Penn correctly pointed out in his bizarre book, the author of the "sla" letter is mistaken: the word can't be translated as "kill". So perhaps the "sla" author was just vaguely and not very familiar with Old Norse.

Hi-

The interesting thing is that when I interviewed KQ in 2006, he did not protest Z's statement that sla meant "kill." He only corrected the spelling because of that "little "o" that goes over the "a". But he did not say to me and Jim that the killer got the definition wrong. So it seems that he may have had the same misconception about the meaning of the word that Z did.


Mike

It's pretty much the same word in modern Norwegian and Old Norse, only the diacritic mark is different: slå (MN) versus slá (ON). It means (Penn was right about this, as mentioned above) to "strike" or to "hit" when standing alone. If you add the adverb "í hel" (MN "ihjel"), however, you get "slá í hel" which may be translated as "to strike dead" or "to kill". The phrase "ihjel"/"í hel" literally means "into hell", to strike someone into hell (hel = the netherworld, same as the English world "hell").

Mike, do you know precisely where KQ's stud farm was located?

As we know, Z drove from where he was parked on Knoxville Rd to the car wash in Napa. Is it plausible to "swing by" KQ's farm given what we know - or would this be too much out of the way?

PS I'm not saying this is crucial to the theory - Z may have driven straight to the car wash regardless of who he was. But I think it's an interesting angle nonetheless. IF KQ's farm is actually more or less on the way, that would be a definite "pro" on the list, I think.

Hi-

The farm was in Oakville.

And BTW, it goes without saying that a guy like Richard Walter, who has an international reputation to uphold and who rarely even entertains (much less endorses) the ideas of "amateur investigators," is not going to stick his head in a noose for me if the *only* connection between KQ and the Z case is the fact that he lived near the Stine murder scene.

Mike

horse ranches in Napa Valley area and Sebastopol, CA..exact address i dunno...X was also involved in tennis in the late 60's after a meeting with billie jean king..im not sure what any of this means in the greater picture but LB might have put him in close proximity to his ranch???..i just do not know..for some reason the tennis angle seems weird to me.. the tornaments were only female with most in the Los Angeles area and southern Calif area...damn X had a life and there is no question about that..his only failure i know of was Jensen Auto..he lost a lot of money on that..may that explain why Z stopped and letters slowed???/..X was losing so much cash after purchase of Jensen in 1970 he may have been preoccupied and the thrill of being Z took a backseat..all unsubstantiated trash I know with 0% plasibility but damn after X sold Jensen after 1975 seems Z letters started back up?????...

whoops see MIke R posted the town

Hi-

Z didn't kill because of losses or failures in his life. According to Richard Walter, he killed for power. Had it already and wanted more of it.

Oakville would have allowed Z to go to ranch, change clothes, change cars and go to Napa. A horse ranch is a place where you might keep junkers around with mismatched tires for the farm hands to run errands.

Mike

mike_r wrote:Hi-

The farm was in Oakville.

And BTW, it goes without saying that a guy like Richard Walter, who has an international reputation to uphold and who rarely even entertains (much less endorses) the ideas of "amateur investigators," is not going to stick his head in a noose for me if the *only* connection between KQ and the Z case is the fact that he lived near the Stine murder scene.

Mike

Thanks, Mike - very interesting.

And for the record I don't take Walter's endorsement lightly, far from it. As far as I know no other researcher can lay claim to something similar and I personally consider that significant.

I seem to recall that there are certain facts pertaining to KQ which you haven't shared online (but which Walter is no doubt aware of). I'm not going to pester you about these facts, but rather ask whether you plan on writing a book about the Z case? I'd say you are more than qualified to do so.

My interest in the Z case has by and by become - also - an interest in the various theorists and researchers who have put their stamp, for better or worse, on the case. For what it's worth my opinion of your own work and character is very high. I consider you a fact orientated, rational researcher whose integrity I don't doubt for a second. That is more than I can say for many of the more prolific theorists out there - people who have shouted much more loudly about their so-called suspects than you ever have.

Just wanted to say that - and thanks again for the farm info!

Note: The endpoint here is just downtown Napa, not the exact location of the car wash.

Hi-

Just saw in an article in the Daily Racing Form from the early 1960s that Qvale was an avid water skier. Berryessa was the water skiing capital of Northern California and yet KQ said he had never even been there. Wish someone could talk to some of the old-timers out there today to see if the name rings a bell. Shouldn't forget it once you have heard it.

Mike