Zodiackillersite.com

We do know the Chronicle's editor's name, it's the Examiner editor that is in question.

The Examiner was owned by William Randolph Hearst back then.

Edited to add-

It looks like William Randolph Hearst Jr. was the editor and publisher of the Examiner. He is not to be confused with William Randolph Hearst II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R ... _Hearst_Jr.

When I mentioned contacting the Chronicle I was thinking of the merger, etc, and thought maybe (probably too big of a hope) they would have the answer.

Last night before bed I went to respond with the above and noticed the bit about William Randolph Hearst Jr. That left me in a bit of shock and awe. I'm thrilled we have the answer now and thank you for your help in finding it. A little bothered by the answer because it is so obvious. Not knocking it. It's clearly the right answer.

Depending on, how one views the time period in which the Zodiac wrote his letters, we could also add Randolph Apperson Hearst. I read last night he edited the paper from 1973 and at a time when his daughter Patty was kidnapped.

Soze

Yes, I was surprised at how obvious the editor of the Examiner answer was, too. Both papers had very socially prominent family heirs as their editors. The Examiner was especially confusing as the Hearst Corp. owned the paper and the corporation was run by non family members as per WRH wishes in his 1951 will.

Read this SF Gate article, it might answer a few of your questions.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Hear ... 936534.php

And read this one, too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/18/us/he ... apers.html

Read both articles. The one about the heir suing was shocking. What in the world was Hearst thinking when he drafted his will? I would assume he wanted his paper to live on but, dang, that was a recipe for disaster.

Soze