Chapter 21 Section five

During this period, only one person in the Bay Area was killed by a .38 bullet, and that was Police Officer Richard Radettes. On June 20, he was sitting in his car writing a traffic ticket when he was shot and killed by a black man with a criminal record, LeSev Johnson. When the "San Francisco Chronicle" received Zodiac's letter, Lesef Johnson had just been arrested by the police, and the media had not yet reported anything.Zodiak was apparently unaware that the police had solved the case. The map enclosed in the letter is a road traffic topographic map drawn and published by Phillips 66 Company, marking gas stations and other vehicle service facilities.There is a small square on the map somewhere on Devil's Head Mountain, about 20 miles east of San Francisco.With this square as the center, Zodiak drew a compass or clock dial transformed from the Zodiak mark, and wrote several sets of numbers on it.There are two lines of password attached to the end of the letter, which roughly means that the bomb is buried in this area.

Later, according to police investigation, the small square was a naval radio station.Indications are mounting that the serial killer appears to have some sort of connection to the Navy, perhaps being a Marine himself.It has even been theorized that during those periods of time when Zodiak disappeared or remained silent, he may have been on a warship. On Friday, July 24, 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle received a text message, or note, from Zodiak: This is Zodiak. I'm disappointed that none of you guys wear Zodiac badges.So now I've drawn up a blacklist, and at the top of the list is the woman with the baby.One late night a few months ago, I took them for a ride for more than two hours.In the end, she set her car on fire.

While several Bay Area newspapers reported on Katherine Jones' case, only one local tabloid, The Modesto Bee, mentioned her car being burned.So many people believe that Zodiak did kidnap Catherine and her daughter. Two days later, another letter arrived.This is the longest of all Zodiak's letters.He continues to vent his anger and disappointment.And increased the number of victims to 13. I will (first thing to do) torture all 13 slaves who are waiting for me in heaven.I'll tie some of them to the anthill and watch them writhe and squirm and scream.For others it was nails driven into their fingers.Others will be caged, fed lots of corned beef, and listened to as they beg for water...

Next, Zodiak adapted the lyrics of several songs in the popular Broadway operetta "Micado" according to his own meaning. The titles of the songs listed in the letter include, "I Have a Little List" ,etc.At the end of the letter, a huge Zodiac mark was drawn on half a page, and the last line read: Also, the codes and numbers of Devil's Head Mountain imply the inch values ​​of radians and radii. After a two-month hiatus, on Wednesday, October 6, 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle received a postcard postmarked October 5.The sender cut out the following passage from newspapers and magazines:

 Dear Editor: I know you don't like to hear it, but I have to tell you that I haven't slowed down.In fact, that number is a whopping 13. "Some guys tried to fight back and it was horrific." Below the number 13 is a cross painted in human blood.In Western culture, 13 is an ominous symbol.The so-called "huge 13", in addition to representing Zodiak's head count, also intends to give people a sense of terror.Another passage was pasted upside down on the postcard: There are reports that those police pigs are going to get me soon, fuck!I simply cannot be defeated.What is the price of your reward now?

Next to the "Zodiak" written in Roman in the lower right corner is a Zodiac mark with a cross overlapping a circle affixed with two pieces of adhesive tape. Police initially suspected that the letter was written by someone impersonating Zodiak.But some of the characteristic phrases, such as "impossible to defeat" and "fuck" (not the common English word Fuck, but shortened to Fk), etc., later appeared in other letters of Zodiak .Especially since the letter of July 26 had not yet been published, no one knew that the "Zodiak count" had risen to 13, except for the police and several editors and reporters of the "San Francisco Chronicle" who followed up and investigated the case.

In fact, the suspicion of the police is not unreasonable.Since the "Zodiak series of murders" caused a sensation in the United States and even the world, many criminals have imitated and impersonated this notorious murderer, leaving various related marks such as the Zodiak mark on the crime scene. In 1990, two serial killers who called themselves "Zodiak" appeared successively near New York and Tokyo, Japan. It's All Souls' Day again. On Wednesday, October 28, 1970, Paul Everly, the San Francisco Chronicle's chief writer for the case, received letter number 15 from Zodiak.To his surprise, the recipient of the letter was not the editorial department of the newspaper, but himself.

It’s a childish All Souls’ Day card with a dancing skeleton in a pumpkin dress on the cover.There is a line of white bold words on the upper right "from your special partner", and the small words on the lower left are: "I feel in my bones that you have racked your brains to know my name, so I will tell you..." On the inside page "But why ruin our game! Bang! Happy All Souls' Day!" followed by Zodiac's initial Z, Zodiac's logo and other symbols.The bottom of the card is a set of characters. The two words crossed into a cross in the center of the character array are "heaven" and "slave", and the four corners are "fire", "gun", "knife" and "rope". ".

Another dancing skeleton is cut out on the inside page of the greeting card.Zodiak added 13 ghost eyes to the card, and a combination of English and numbers 14 was written on the top of the skull. It may mean that he has killed 14 people, but it is more likely to mean that General Paul Everley was his 14th victim, because the card also included an adapted nursery rhyme: "Peek-a-boo, you die." Since that day, San Francisco police have granted Bao, a former Vietnam War correspondent and licensed private investigator, Bill Everly carried a gun, and he and the rest of the San Francisco Chronicle's Zodiak feature team each wore a badge on their chests: "I'm not Paul Everly."

On All Souls' Day, the San Francisco Chronicle ran the story on its front page and published the postcard in its entirety, along with a copy of it.This kind of blatant personal threat against individuals has aroused great repercussions in the society. People have sent letters and calls to the "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper and Paul Everly himself. Major newspapers and TV stations across the country have sent special personnel to the Bay Area for interviews. , Paul Everly found himself in the interviewee's seat for the first time. Among the hundreds of letters Bauer received was an anonymous letter (not in Zodiak's handwriting) from Livesay in Southern California:

I hope the contents of this letter will also be helpful to you, because we are both waiting for the day when the truth of the case will be revealed. Personally, please forgive me for not revealing my name, and I believe you will understand why. A few years ago, in Livesay, California, a young woman was killed.If I remember correctly, it was a "All Souls" night!I could write a long letter citing in detail some of the similarities between this murder of Levisy and the case of Zodiak.Even if the two cases were not committed by the same person, I bet the police will find striking similarities between them after comparative analysis... ... Please give Sheriff Koros a call, he knows "I will never give up". Mr. Everly, I will call you again in a while.Be sure to take the time to learn more about this case.The Liveside Police Department has a lot of material, as does the San Francisco Police Department.Let's hope they put down their airs and cooperate with each other, and if they're already working together, let's hope they exchange information on this case... Paul Everly quickly obtained the materials sent by the Riverside Police Department to the Napa Police Department more than a year ago, and made a special trip to Liveside to check the police files. Kiri Choo Bates was stabbed several times, much like Zodiak did to Cecilia Ann Shepard by Lake Beliesha.Like Zodiak, the murderer who killed Kiri Choo Bates also wrote to the local newspaper "Liveside Entrepreneur" after the incident, describing some details of the crime and providing some information that only the police and the murderer had. He didn’t know the clues until now, and like Zodiak’s letter, it was written in a half-true and vague manner, and at the end of the letter threatened the local residents, saying that he would continue to kill innocent people indiscriminately.The Livesey perpetrator also paid special attention to the anniversary. He wrote letters to the police, the media and the victim's family on the 6th month of the murder of Kiri Choo Bates, and double-posted the letter on the envelope. Stamps, etc., are very Zodiak-like.Especially the inscription on those letters, people did not know whether it was the letter Z or the number 2, but now it seems that it is undoubtedly the first letter of Zodiak. After careful and detailed investigation and analysis, the relevant authorities in Northern California, especially the Inspector General of the San Francisco Police Department, Bill Armstrong, believe that there is indeed some kind of connection between the two cases, and the perpetrator is very likely to be the same.More experts believe that Zodiak was indeed responsible for the Kiri Choo Bates murder, though perhaps not his first.California Department of Justice handwriting examiner Sherwood Morrill carefully verified the handwriting on the desk, as well as in envelopes and letters written by Kiri Choo Bates' killer, and concluded: "There is no doubt that Zodiak's work." On Tuesday, November 17, 1970, Paul Everly's investigative article on the Kiri Buckle Bates murder was published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Some experts deduced that if the murder of Kiri Choo Bates was really the first or one of the first cases of the Zodiak series of murders, then the cold-blooded killer was most likely from the Levesian family, and his early The modus operandi should be relatively naive, natural, and lacking in wisdom, and it is suggested that the police should first concentrate their forces to settle the case. In any case, Zodiak's communication methods with the media have changed drastically since the Livisey case became public as one of the Zodiak series of murders, and the frequency has gradually decreased. Nearly five months after the scene faded, on Monday, March 15, 1971, the sixteenth letter from Zodiak arrived in the Los Angeles Times.The letter was mailed from Prynton, 15 miles east of San Francisco.For the first time since the case was filed, the envelope does not have a San Francisco postmark. 〓 This is Zodiak. As I once said, I am "impossible to beat".If those blue pigs with sullen faces all day long really want to catch me, stop talking about it on paper, and take some real action.For the more they dawdle and hesitate, the more slaves I accumulate.I really should commend them for finally digging up the old debt I owed at Liveside a few years ago.But they only found the easiest and most obvious case.There are many crimes I have committed in that area.The reason why I am writing to your newspaper this time is because you will not bury me in the inner pages or at the end of the page like some people do. San Francisco Police Department - 0 (Zodiac Mark - Author Note) - 17+ A week later, on Monday, March 22, 1971, Zodiak sent a second postcard to Paul Everly of the San Francisco Chronicle. On the back of the postcard, a landscape painting drawn by the artist was clipped. According to later verification, it was the Lake Tahoe Pine Forest Tourist Village on the border between Nevada and California.Two days ago, the "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper first published the advertisement of this tourist village under construction, and the landscape painting appeared in the newspaper for the first time along with the advertisement.Affixed to the screen are bits and pieces of phrases cut out of newspapers, such as: "Search for 12th Victim," "Looking Through Pine Branches," "Passing through Lake Tahoe," "Serra (mountain name—author's note) ) Club" and "In the Snow", etc.The Zodiak mark appears in the lower right corner where it is named. As a summer resort, Lake Tahoe is rarely visited in winter.The only recent unsolved case in the area was the disappearance on September 6, 1970, of a beautiful 25-year-old, flaxen-haired nurse, Donna Russ, after her night shift.Dongna's car was still parked in front of the apartment, except for the clothes she was wearing and the handbag she was carrying, she hadn't lost anything.There was no sign of struggle in the car either.Afterwards, a man called Dongna's landlord and boss, saying that her family members were sick and asked for leave for her.But her family told police there was no such thing. After receiving the postcard, the San Francisco police and the San Francisco Chronicle, together with the Tahoe Regional Police Department, participated in the investigation of the case and found no clues related to Zodiak.In particular, Zodiak announced his 12th victim on June 29, 1970, stating that "I killed a man sitting in a car with a .38".However, Sherwood Morrill, a handwriting expert at the California Department of Justice, determined that the recipient's address on the postcard was indeed Zodiak's handwriting. Is this another "Zodiak joke"? After that, Zodiak disappeared again.This time, it lasted three years. By the time this "gaming master" surfaced again, it had been moved to 1974.In less than six months, he actually wrote to the "San Francisco Chronicle" three times in succession.All letters are mailed from the San Francisco Bay Area. Tuesday, January 29, 1974: I watched The Exorcist and I think it's the best comedy I've ever seen. Signed, Yours faithfully: (Zodiak mark - author's note) He throws himself into the raging waves, and an echo rises from the grave of suicide. Tick ​​Volo And again.If I hadn't seen this letter in your newspaper, I would have done something to upset you.You know, I mean what I say. "The Exorcist" was a recent release at the time.At the end of the letter, between "Yuji" and "Zodiak Count" is one or some strange symbols, which may be letters, or some kind of pattern. Wednesday, May 8, 1974: Gentlemen—I am astonished at your low taste and indifference to the people.It shows in the amount of space you spend advertising The Badlands.In 1959, many people were killing time (the English original is killing time - author's note), but Kate and Holly were killing people (English original is killing people - author's note).According to the latest opinion, the glorification of killing is deplorable (not to mention the injustice of glorifying violence). Why don't you remove the advertisement to show a little sympathy for the people? a citizen The letter was mailed on May 8th, but somehow it was not received until June 8th. Monday, July 8, 1974:  edit: Throwing Marco into hell - he suffers from a severe mental disorder - always feels like he's supreme. I suggest you guys let him shrink.At the same time, cut down the column of Duke Marco.But since that duke can continue to write anonymously even then, may I— red ghost (red means anger) Columnist Marco Sperry Duke is an anti-feminist who has been with the San Francisco Chronicle for 15 years.After receiving this threatening letter, Duke Sperry retired from his post and lived in seclusion in Hawaii. The only film about the "red ghost" is the silent film "The Phantom of the Opera" made in 1924.At the time, a silent movie theater in San Francisco was re-screening the old film, and a huge, almost Zodiac-like sign was erected in the dome of the theater. 〓 Zodiac was silent again. Nearly four years later, on Monday, April 24, 1978, Zodiak sent his 21st and final letter:  Dear Editor: This is Zodiak.I am back again.Tell Herb Ken I'm here, I've always been here.That bastard Tozzi was good, but I was smarter and better than him.One day he will give in and stop competing with me.I'm looking forward to a movie about me.Who will play me.Everything is under my control at the moment. your loyal: (Zodiak mark - author's note) - guess what San Francisco Police Herb Ken is a well-known chief columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He has reported on Zodiak's sending of greeting cards and postcards to Paul Everly, and has published several articles on Zodiac. Especially after Paul Everly left the San Francisco Chronicle.David Tozzi is a detective with the San Francisco Police Department's Homicide Division.He had chaired the Zodiak Special Operations Group a few years ago when the Zodiac murders were hitting the country.Now that the heat of the case is gradually cooling down, he is the only person in the entire police station who is still working tirelessly on the case.