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Post by Admin Horan on Feb 24, 2014 9:44:25 GMT -6
In 1986, Robert Graysmith (born Robert Smith, Jr) published a book in which he revived the myth of the so-called "Zodiac Killer," a tabloid news sensation of the late 1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area. The myth was created with the help of a series of letters and cryptograms which had been mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, a sensationalist and often "vigilante" newspaper which, thanks to the tireless efforts of tabloid managing editor Scott J Newhall, had risen to become the second biggest newspaper on the West Coast, behind the Los Angeles Times. The letters and cryptograms purported to be a series of "confessions" to three shootings and a knife attack in the Bay Area between December, 1968 and October, 1969. Area newspapers, led by the sensationalist Chronicle, reported that links indeed existed between these attacks—even though, as in the cases of Chicago's "Lipstick Killer" and Boston's "Mad Strangler," these "links" existed primarily in the imaginations of journalists. Biographer Gerold Frank, in his book "The Boston Strangler," had successfully framed—at least in literary form—serial rapist Albert DeSalvo for all of the Boston strangling murders of women (although he had only strangled one or two of his last rape victims in copycat style according to what he had read in the papers about the Mad Strangler) and Chicago Tribune reporter Jack Mabley had successfully railroaded 18-year old William Heirens straight into Joliet penitentiary for being the nonexistent "Lipstick Killer", where Heirens died after serving 63 years, a record in the modern world. Graysmith, in his 1986 book, very nearly succeeded in framing a convicted sex offender, Arthur Leigh Allen, for being the fictional "Zodiac" killer, until DNA and other physical evidence started unraveling Graysmith's claims in 1999. Unfortunately, even though Graysmith's credibility has slowly and inexorably deteriorated over the last 15 years, everything every published or televised about the "Zodiac" is still based almost entirely on his book. Until recently, that is. The original law enforcement agency files detailing the investigations into these four attacks (on which Graysmith claimed to have based his book) have now made their way into the public domain, exposing Graysmith as a fraud and the "Zodiac Killer" himself as a hoax. On this website, we will read Graysmith's book page by page, and compare his claims against the actual law enforcement files, newspaper articles, and "Zodiac" letters. As a result we shall see that the "official" story of the Zodiac Killer: 1. A serial killer was responsible for the murders of at least five (or six) young people in California in the late 1960s: David Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Darlene Ferrin, Paul Stine, (Cheri Jo Bates), and wounding at least two others: Mike Mageau, and Bryan Hartnell. 2. The person responsible for these attacks wrote letters to the newspapers proving that he was indeed the attacker, as verified by the police. 3. Robert Graysmith's 1986 book, ZODIAC, is a more or less accurate account of these events, based on the actual law enforcement agency files and interviews with key witnesses and victims. Even though fingerprints, handwriting, and DNA all cleared Graysmith's Arthur Leigh Allen of being the "Zodiac", he is, nevertheless, still considered the most likely suspect in these attacks. is not only a myth, but in fact, a deliberate hoax. As we will see, a careful and detailed reading of all the relevant documents in simple chronological order will reveal: 4. There is no actual evidence linking any two of these attacks. Although the modi operandi of the two shootings in Vallejo does suggest a possible connection there (and a likely suspect), the distinctly different modi operandi of the other attacks actually rules out a so-called "serial killer" overall. Survivors and witnesses described the assailant in three of these attacks, and the descriptions were all widely different. Furthermore, there are, in fact, very good suspects in each of these attacks. And each of those suspects can be ruled out in the other attacks. 5. Contrary to what Robert Graysmith has claimed in his books, the actual law enforcement files not only show that the author of those letters could NOT have been directly involved in any of these crimes, they in fact show that Robert Graysmith systematically misrepresented the contents of those files in his books. The contents of the letters, and the handwriting, actually show that they were a hoax—and reveal the identities of the hoaxers. 6. Not only is Robert Graysmith's book ZODIAC a shoddy attempt to frame Arthur Leigh Allen for being the nonexistent "Zodiac Killer", the entire book is, in fact, a hoax itself. There never was a "Zodiac Killer" and Robert Graysmith knew this at the time he published his book. While this website/discussion board is underway, you can listen to a lengthy discussion of this topic on The Generation Why podcast (and excellent program, BTW) here: www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-generation-why-podcast |
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Flying Tiger Comics
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Post by Flying Tiger Comics on Jul 1, 2014 2:49:37 GMT -6
re Thrill Kill club or cult- that would make it more like Son of Sam then, a single patsy for the activities of a whole group...
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Post by Admin Horan on Jul 1, 2014 6:48:03 GMT -6
Tiger: Thanks for joining, and for commenting!
Well, I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm only saying I can't find any evidence for it. For example, "forgetting" to tell both the victims and Napa PD, "I'm the Zodiac! Bwhah-ha-ha-ha!" is kind of a dead giveaway that he was not connected to the person writing the letters.
Was it a lucky coincidence for Dennis Land that "Zodiac" apparently struck again? Sure looks lucky. But then again, maybe that's why Dennis became a suspect—because his old buddy, Hal Snook, was a suspect for writing the letters.
Out of aaaaaaaaalllllll 2500 pages of LE files released by the FBI, only ONE has the date redacted—Dennis Land's affidavit. Now, why the hell, after all these years (it was released in 2012) would the DATE of the affidavit need to be kept a secret?
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Post by interested on Jul 18, 2014 23:00:10 GMT -6
Have any of the other zodiac sites... such as voights, butterf, morf, etc... have they even discussed the possibility that Land was the killer/ door writer? surely you are the only zodiac hunter who considers him an intriguing suspect?
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Post by Admin Horan on Jul 19, 2014 9:51:15 GMT -6
Interested: My experience with Voigt and Butterfield is that they are flat out dishonest. Morf is at least honest, and always shares everything he finds. In fact, he's the one who obtained the new FBI copies in summer 2012 in which I noticed the additional pages about Dennis Land. Did he read them? We'll see.
One of the reasons I've studied this so extensively is to note the effect that preconceived notions have on our ability to read new information. Everything everybody "knows" about Zodiac comes straight from Graysmith. And they've "known" it for years. So, when an actual police file happens to contradict something they "know" that thoroughly, they just look right through it. My daughter's mother has a particular talent for that.
And, of course, if there is no "Zodiac Killer," these guys are out of business.
Graysmith only ever discussed the "suspects" who obviously weren't Zodiac. He had never discussed any of the real suspects, but he has an excuse for that—it was technically illegal for him to do that. That's why I don't name "Big Red" publicity (that, and I like my head attached right where it is. He's still alive and still dangerous.) But since Dennis Land is dead . . .
I had known that Dennis's brother, Ray, was considered a suspect. So did someone else, I'm not sure who, and I thought for a while that they were trying to claim Ray was the Zodiac, and were leaving clues for me find so they could claim "confirmation." But even I was surprised to see that his brother Dennis Land was considered an even better suspect, for very, very good reasons. Several members of LE were NOT surprised in the least when I brought up Ray Land, but only one source (at the FBI) was unsurprised when I pointed out that the letters were a hoax. Coincidentally, less than two months after I brought up Ray Land, those additional pages about Dennis Land were finally released.
But the biggest reason, I think, is simple. We're talking about a couple thousand pages of material, and it's not like there's a one-page report clearly stating, "This is a hoax." And it's five separate homicide investigations involving 7 LE agencies. It's easy to overlook, especially if you're not used to reading files like these. It's not like TV, where the "detective" forms her own theory of the case. They do NOT do that. That's the job of the prosecuting attorney. All the "detective" does is gather facts and statements and pass them on to the prosecutor. They do NOT report their own theories, hunches, or conclusions in their files.
So, even though Chief Stiltz in Vallejo noticed that "Zodiac" had access to the exact same police reports that a certain reporter from the Chronicle had seen, he didn't type up a report saying so. But he did repeatedly tell reporters he had doubts about the letters.
In Napa, Undersheriff (second in command) Tom Johnson told reporters that fingerprints from BRS, the Stine murder, and the Shepard murder, appeared to match. A few days later, he received a report from the FBI saying they DIDN'T match. Johnson told reporters he couldn't comment further—he did NOT correct his earlier statement. It was reported in the papers that handwriting experts had matched the writing on the car door to the Zodiac letters. The funny thing is, one report in the files mentions SENDING photos of the message to Morrill, but there is ZERO mention anywhere of Morrill's actual opinion. Ditto for the Bates had to die letters. And for every other "expert" opinion attributed to Morrill—these official reports of his are nowhere to be seen.
Guess whose word we have to take for Morrill and his "conclusions?"
Voigt and the rest hang their hats on Graysmith's claim that a copycat had no way of copying Zodiac's handwriting, and especially the circled crosshair symbol, so only the person writing the letters COULD have written that message on Bryan's car door. Guess where I got my copy of the News-Chronicle front page of August 4, where they published a photocopy of the entire first letter, including the symbol? From Voigt's old website. It's not on his new website. Funny, that.
Do the "experts" have a motive for ignoring Dennis Land? Sure. But the biggest surprise I got when I first started discussing this stuff with these guys was how little they actually knew beyond what they'd read in Graysmith's books. It became obvious in a short time how little they knew, even though Voigt and Butterfield had had copies of these files for years, so they ended up banning me from their websites. The ones they invited me to participate on.
Don't take my word for it. Go to their websites and ask them, "Why does Dennis Land claim in his affidavit that he was with Bill White when he heard the radio call at 7:10, but everyone else, including the radio operator himself, and Bill White, claim he was nowhere near the Pope Creek bridge at that time?" Don't snicker when you ask. They'll think it's me. They won't answer your question. They'll just say something like, "No one takes Horan seriously. He has a bad reputation. He's a jerk. He's an idiot. Etc." But they won't answer your question.
You know what else is funny? Out of 2500 pages of LE files, only ONE has the DATE redacted. Dennis. Land's. Sworn. Affidavit. Why on earth would the DATE that Land was asked to swear out a statement be a secret?
Thanks for posting!
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Post by captainobvious on Aug 15, 2014 7:31:37 GMT -6
Is it true that Toschi was writing fake note cards and letters?
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Post by Admin Horan on Aug 15, 2014 20:46:14 GMT -6
Captain:
It's difficult to say. Toschi admitted writing fake fan letters to himself, but on the other hand, he has told some pretty tall tales about other things, so who knows?
The number one person who really benefited from the 1978 letter is Robert Graysmith. It showed up as he was negotiating his first deal with WW Norton. He is also the most likely suspect for writing the Belli letter (at one time, he claimed Belli received a second Zodiac letter, a claim he dropped at the last second.) Considering what Toschi lost by the 1978 letter, it seems terribly unlikely that he wrote it.
When Norton cancelled Graysmith's first book (at the last minute, if not the last second) Zodiac supposedly wrote another letter. It's difficult to say precisely which thing happened first, but a source at the FBI has claimed that at the same time, higher ups suddenly took the Zodiac letters away from him. Why? They didn't tell him, but it ended up taking Graysmith five more years to get St Martins to publish his revised, Arthur Allen version of ZODIAC.
Graysmith claimed that Toschi's old partner, Bill Armstrong, would never talk about Stine/Zodiac with reporters or producers. That's not true. At least one producer talked to Armstrong, but buried whatever information or comments Armstrong gave her. And apparently there were others who also pretended not to have talked with Armstrong. And Terry Cunningham.
Every article ever published by the Chronicle about which letters came with pieces of Stine's shirt told a different story—and the Chronicle staff are the ONLY witnesses. There is zero credible evidence that Toschi ever lied or obfuscated about Stine/Zodiac, but lots of evidence that the Chronicle deliberately and repeatedly fictionalized major parts of the story—including the Toschi fake letter allegations. Our only "source" for those allegations is, you guessed it, Maupin, who was working at the Chronicle.
Before publishers like Murdoch started luring away all the star investigative reporters in the early 1970s, the Chronicle was right up there with the New York Sun as a leading tabloid paper. Herb Caen wrote fake letters to himself, Stanton Delaplane at the Examiner wrote phony postcards from fictional trips while sitting the whole time at the piano bar at the Washington Square Bar and Grill, and many others flat out fabricated news. Avery even exposed an Examiner reporter who filed made up stories about Nixon's trip to China, and yet, Avery's Zodiac "Case Resume" itself is highly fictionalized. As is his reporting of the Zodiac "Riverside Connection."
Except for one letter to the Examiner and one to the LA Times (where Avery was trying to get a job by publicizing the "Riverside Connection") Zodiac wrote exclusively to the Chronicle. Some editors get all the luck.
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Post by Admin Horan on Jan 2, 2015 22:29:48 GMT -6
I'm not sure David Ott is responsible for any of the "Zodiac" murders. But his MO went more or less like this: He'd buy/trade for meth from his contacts in the Hells Angels running meth and other drugs from Mendicino through Napa and Vallejo into San Francisco. He would either sell the drugs directly to certain customers, or he would trade it for stolen radios, etc, brought to him by young delinquents just like Mike Mageau, who had no fences of their own.
Some "witnesses" have claimed that Darlene knew Ott's parents and that Ott had been pressuring her to join his little circle of operators. Other friends of Darlene's thought she might have been playing both sides of the street, helping cops like Hoffman bust associates of Ott's—like Mageau. How reliable are these stories? About as reliable as the stories of Darlene having affairs with half the cops in Vallejo. I think the most believable scenario along these lines is simpler than that—she went to BRS park to get "party supplies" for her sister and brother (and whoever else) and Hoffman and Villareal just happened to stop by the park, recognized Darlene's car, and left her alone. But, unfortunately, Ott or one of his associates just happened to notice Darlene apparently talking to Hoffman and jumped to a deadly conclusion. Or, since Mike seemed to be the number one target, they jumped to the wrong conclusion about Mike. Mike was dressed to commit burglary on a night when half the population of Vallejo just happened to be out of their houses on a hot night when they left their windows open. And as an employee of a exterminator service, he would have known a lot of houses where the back doors were habitually unlocked.
But the funny thing is, the description Mike gave police doesn't fit Donald Warren Porter—but it sure as sugar fits Darlene's ex-husband, Jim Crabtree, to a T. What's even funnier is, even though he should have been the first suspect police thought of, they didn't even look for Jim until January, after they got a "tip" from "psychic" DeLouise. And the funniest thing of all is, out of all the Zodiac "suspects," Jim had actually had both code training and demolition training in the Army and served in Vietnam in some capacity attached to Special Forces. The guy "back from out of state, checking up on" Darlene, was undoubtedly Jim. I don't think Jim was the "Zodiac," but I do think he's the number one suspect in the shooting of Mike and Darlene. But, and this is my area of interest, I think the "Zodiac" letters were an attempt to call attention to Ott and his gang. I don't think "Zodiac" knew about Jim at the time the letters were being written.
So, what about Ott? It's clear that somebody set up "Warren" to show up at Ott's house with the BRS murder weapon in his pocket at precisely a time when Ott wasn't answering the door, but Villareal was waiting for someone to knock on it. And "Warren" knew immediately that's exactly what he had been set up for. Did he know Jim Crabtree? Well, maybe someone SUGGESTED to "Warren" that he ought to make friends with Darlene. But, why would Crabtree shoot Darlene, and then give the gun to Warren? Why not throw it in the Bay? And if he wanted it back, why not just get it straight from Warren? Well, if you were a criminal who wanted to set up someone else to take the fall for shooting your ex-wife, the easiest way to do it would be to have him walk into a setup at the house of VPD's most reliable informant . . .
Convoluted? In August 1969, David Perry wrote a letter to Benicia PD accusing his "friend," Rockey Dixon, of shooting Mike and Darlene.
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Post by Phillips 66 on Feb 26, 2015 10:30:28 GMT -6
I think you are absolutely right that Crabtree should be the #1 suspect in Darlene's murder.
-airborne cryptographer & expert sharp shooter
-he is a newspaper man and adopted father was CHP officer
-drifter event today moves constantly
-when traveling around the country with Darlene he brought a Royal portable typewriter
- today still has anger and resentment towards Darlene
-changed his name with a month or two of her murder
-after he was questioned by LE he left his wife and child and went into hiding and lived in tipi in Oregon or BC for 2 years
- his own daughter thought he might be a serial killer
The list goes on and on,
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Post by Admin Horan on Feb 27, 2015 8:16:57 GMT -6
Phillips66:
Thanks for commenting! It's more than a little odd that no one in Darlene's family initially suggested Crabtree to police. We're they afraid to? Vallejo PD didn't even look for him until DeLouise the psychic "tipped" them. Did Darlene's family put him up to it? Not terribly shrewd, but then again, the Suennens were not terribly shrewd people.
All the lies Graysmith tells about Allen—the military code and demolition training, art of disguise, etc—are true about Crabtreee. IF there was a "Zodiac," he'd be suspect 1, for sure. But the files clearly show there was no "Zodiac."
But he's still the best suspect in the Ferrin murder. Darlene went to BRS to meet SOMEONE at midnight. Assuming Mike more or less told the truth, Darlene didn't say why they went to the park, but his description of her behavior does suggest she was waiting for someone. If she was waiting for Crabtree, why bring Mike along? Why not Dean? Why would Crabtree be more jealous over Mike than Dean? DID HE NOT KNOW WHAT DEAN LOOKED LIKE? Crabtree never showed up at the pancake house or Terry's to bother Darlene, and Bobbie Ramos thought that Crabtree was sending packages to Darlene via a "courier," so maybe he didn't know what Dean looked like, but he does match the description of the guy Karen the babysitter said she noticed watching the Ferrin home from his car. (That was probably Richard Moncur, who LIVED across the street, but Karen's description, "remembered" in 1977, matches Phillips.)
To me, the big mystery is, why did everybody supposedly ignore Crabtree as a suspect? Or is it like the Dennis Land situation, where the really incriminating files on Crabtree have not been released yet, because he's still alive? If I'm wrong somehow, and there was a "Zodiac," then Crabtree fits that frame better than ANYONE.
Linda thought the "presents from Mexico" were from the family of a WOMAN named Lee Proctor in Texas, who had befriended Linda and later Darlene when Linda lived in Texas. But that doesn't mean Crabtree wasn't the one DELIVERING the packages to Darlene's house. Donald Warren Porter told police the P38 he was delivering to SOMEONE at "Willie's" house—at midnight—belonged to a "friend" in SF. Where Crabtree lived at the time. Porter does NOT resemble the description Mike gave, and clearly, he had no reason to show up at "Willie's" house with the munder weapon if he was guilty. But he clearly knew that he had been successfully set up and that he was going to be immediately booked for Darlene's murder. The fact that the ballistics check on "his" P38 has never been released indicates that it incriminates someone—but it's not Porter.
Remember—THE PAINTING PARTY NEVER HAPPENED. So, it's not necessary to explain how Crabtree could be there and not be recognized by Darlene's family.
BTW, I hadn't noticed the timing of him changing his name from Phillips to Crabtree. Maybe that's one reason it took a while for VPD to locate and question him?
And then there's this bizarre mess of Hoffman AND Villareal putting themselves at BRS at the time of the shooting. Was Darlene setting up CRABTREE to get busted? I mean, how else did he support himself? He didn't have a job. At the very least, Hoffman had to be the guy who pulled into the lot behind Darlene's car and then left a couple of minutes before the shooter arrived. But he claims he never saw Darlene's car there. Then, he's the first officer to arrive at the scene after the dispatch. Did he and Villareal set up Darlene? Who, exactly, was Ott's supplier? Was it Crabtree? Did Darlene know that? Some sources have claimed that Darlene knew Ott's parents, and that Ott was pressuring Darlene somehow. Her friends thought that Crabtree had gotten her involved in something dangerous and illegal when they were briefly married. They assumed it was narcotics related. The Virgin Islands were and are certainly a smuggler's port.
It's just weird that he apparently wasn't considered much of a suspect. Unless, of course, those pages are still withheld, as they would be, since he's still alive.
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Post by Phillips 66 on Feb 27, 2015 23:03:21 GMT -6
You bring up a lot of interesting points. The exact motivations and relationships between individuals would be pure conjecture with the information available. I don't know if there was an individual that is/was the Zodiac or not. I just thought trying to find a single POI that has connections to all the murders was the wrong tactic, because we don't know if all the victims actually had the same killer. Better to look at one murder, and I think Darlene's murder is the most important in the chain events that created Zodiac. And if you take a look at all the suspects, at least in comparison - he looks like a hell of a fit. I mean it's crazy.
When Buzz Gordon was interviewed Crabtee was this man that was following her around Vallejo that she traveled around the country with -occult etc. She is clearly talking about Crabtree, unless Dee traveled with some one else across the country while she was in high school! And then did the same thing with Crabtree. Not likely.
I think the psychic's publisist Chris Harris interviewed Dee's mom before the psychic arrived, and when she told him about Crabtree he passed it on to the psychic. Perhaps it was the events that followed Dee's murder that made it more clear to her family that the killer might be Crabtree with the cryptograms and what not. Where as right after her murder, having not seen him in a while, it might not have occurred to them right away. What with all the other boys running around in her life.
It struck me in the crime scene reports when they wrote down the motive as Jealousy - Revenge. But then after the phone call and letters LE decided that it was a psycho killer.
Why did everyone ignore him? I don't know. Why are people still ignoring him? I mean her is guy the was married to the victim, who according to Dee abused her, made her feel like she was living the life a fugitive. People are were scared of him, he carried a gun. He clearly was extremely angry with her for cheating on him multiple times. I couldn't believe when they got him on the forum, even 40 years after Dee's brutal murder he still was calling her a tramp. Not a single kind word about her, except that she was a good liar. You would think that after decades of reflection and the tragic nature of her death that Crabtree might have forgiven her. But no he still hates her - publicly! He establishes his own motive.
He wouldn't have looked so suspicious if he had not denied that it was him in the photo with Dee. Maybe he is not "the unknown man" but her sure as hell looks like him. If had said ya, that's me. It would have been no big deal. A picture of man with his wife. Move on. But for some reason he says it's not him. Why?
Why did he claim that he didn't even know Dee was dead until the police told him, when Dee's Mom told police she saw him at the funeral. I might believe that she was lying or mistaken if she didn't say that he was with a pregnant woman. While Crabtree's new wife was in fact pregnant at that time.
Why did he tell "Skip" in 1980 that he was the Zodiac?
But obviously there is no hard evidence. Just suspicious stuff. I don't know if he killed Dee, but if I had to pick from all the suspects. I'd pick the armed angry X with PSTD, that was a military cryptographer, a drifter, a news paper man, a competitive marksman, was locked up in the presidio, who changed his name right after the murder, and then after being questions by LE vanishes and lives in tipi for a couple years. It should warrant at least investigation. Maybe run his DNA against the cold case database.
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Post by Admin Horan on Feb 28, 2015 8:30:18 GMT -6
Phillips:
Another thing to remember is how many "witnesses" have lied over the years. Howard "Buzz" Gordon isn't the young Vallejo cop who claimed to have had an affair with Darlene—that was, according to the actual Vallejo PD report, Gordon Spence. Buzz isn't the only VPD liar. Steve Baldino claimed he was on "motorcycle" patrol the NIGHT Darlene was shot. Nancy Slover herself said Baldino was lying about that and was a habitual liar. Baldino also claimed to have been at the "painting party" that Dean Ferrin himself has always insisted never happened.
None of Darlene's siblings could possibly be described as "reliable" witnesses. Pam and Leo both have admitted (correctly or not) that they were "not exactly honest" with police about their own activities the night of the murder. Leo has said (correctly or not) that Darlene definitely went out that night to buy him a bag of weed. With what? Neither she nor Mike had any money on them. But, according to Mike, they first drove to Mr Ed's then turned around and headed for the park. That would certainly be a good way to let anyone in that parking lot know that Mike and Darlene were on their way to BRS to do some business. With Mike wearing three pairs of pants and Darlene supposedly wearing a jumpsuit, they certainly were NOT on a hot date. Mike was dressed EXACTLY like a window burglar. On a night when half the town were down at the Marina, with their front doors locked and their windows open. Mike said a car pulled in behind them for a minute, then left. That would sure be consistent with someone picking up Mike's haul of hot radios for the night and then returning five minutes later with his "payment." It's five minutes from BRS to the parking lot of the Benicia pumping station and back. That spot was used frequently for passing small amounts of drugs to "retail" pushers from bigger time traffickers. It was too risky to try and do bigger deals in town. And Ott's day to day MO was to trade pot and meth for stolen goods with local young people.
Hoffman and Villareal both put themselves at the scene of the crime at the precise time of the shooting (11:55 pm). Both worked on the extensively corrupt Solano County Narcotics Task Force. Ott was a protected informant for that Task Force. Donald Warren Porter was trying to deliver the murder weapon used at BRS to Ott (or someone at his house) the night he was set up to get busted by Villareal with said P38 in his pocket.
I don't see any "mystery" at all. Someone please point to the mystery. No, the mystery begins when Porter is arrested and booked for Darlene's murder. While he's in jail, with the world's best alibi, SOMEONE ELSE starts mailing letters to the Chronicle claiming to be the murderer. Those letters are clearly a hoax, but VPD quietly let Porter go, anyway (he didn't match Mike's description anyway.)
Porter's arrest was cleeeeeeaaaaarly a set up. The informant was cleeeeeaaaaaaarly Ott, and Ott's handler Villareal was cleeeeeeaaaaaarly in on it—and his personal bacon was covered by Porter's arrest. How convenient. Now, why would Porter go along? Assurances that his "This gun? Oh, it belongs to someone else" excuse would magically stick. And it did.
So, what's the connection between Lynch's "jealousy/revenge" theory and my "another snitch bites the dust" theory? Why, Ott, of course. More to the point, Ott's supplier. Crabtree was suspected pretty loudly by his in-laws of being a drug trafficker. Darlene's friends sure thought he was. And boy, did he match the description of the shooter given by Mike.
Darlene picks up Mike at his house with a hot radio or two. They drive to Mr Ed's so Ott (or his associates) can see them turn around and head for BRS, the usual spot for making small deals. Ott or whoever shows up, Mike hands him the goods, and he heads out to make HIS trade with Crabtree. He tells Crabtree, "Hey, guess who's sitting in her car at BRS with another dude? Your (ex) old lady. You know, the one you keep talking about blowing away." And the rest is history.
Now, why would Hal Snook help these people get away with murder? Well, he had failed—TWICE—at being a legitimate entrepreneur. Then, suddenly, he becomes OBSESSED with being the World's Greatest Narcotics Cop. Working closely with Villareal, et al. His specialty as a chemist, by the way, was to identify which lab, legitimate or not, had manufactured which batch of meth or H or whatever. And where they had bought their makings. In other words, the cop most likely to have tracked down Ott's supplier(s). Who were never (officially) tracked down.
Funny, that.
Snook had access to the files used to create the first two Zodiac letters. I don't think he created the ciphers. It looks like someone else did that. Decoded, they certainly seem to reflect a completely different personality. Snook had been on Mindanao, home of the Tad-Tad cults alluded to in the 408. But Crabtree probably had more knowledge of them, and seems more likely to have believed in such things. But that sure would give the two of them something to shoot the shit about over a couples of beers.
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Post by Phillips 66 on Mar 1, 2015 23:35:24 GMT -6
"In my early years, I was proud to serve my country through the Vietnam Era. During that time I was a U.S. Army Cryptographer, holding a Top Secret Security Clearance. I was also Airborne qualified, graduated from extended special leadership training and was a member of the U.S. Army Pistol Team. Although I am a native of Siskiyou County, I completely enjoy everything the beautiful Oregon Coast offers, including bow hunting, fishing, camping, sailing, kayaking and exploring." This is what he wrote on his property management page in Lincoln Oregon, but the page went down after he lost his license and left town. www.oregon.gov/rea/docs/OREN-J/OREN-J_June_2014/Crabtree_Jim_2014.pdfYou know the awful thing is that the Zodiac is it's like a virus. It gets in you and sucks you down the rabbit hole. How many peoples names and personal histories have been dragged out through the mud because of our obsession? Amateur sleuths half crazed turning in their fathers, brothers, friends, stanrgers - publicly. If Tom Voigt could travel back in time 20 years, would he tell his younger self to stop, just stop, would he? How many hours of your life has the Zodiac taken? I know he has taken many of mine. Perhaps turning me into a cyber stalker, looking for ever suspicious digital detail of some POI's digital trail. For me it's Crabtree. But everybody has their own. Maybe one of the dozens of people that has been accused of being the zodiac is him, maybe more than one, maybe none of them. I keep telling myself I'm going to stop, and I some times I do for months, a year perhaps, but then with a simple google search I'm back in. Looking for that ultimate eureka moment, smaller tantalizing ones come, but never definitive proof. The game that will never end. I really don't think we will ever know unless the police stumble into some physical evidence. You have creatively uncovered some great finds, as have others, but I think at this point it is possible that even if some one went to the SFP with right man and convincing info that they would just be brushed aside through the spam filter. They have heard it way too many times. Anyhow just some random thoughts. I think you have found some really interesting stuff, I don't know if all your theoretical stuff is right or not obviously. But clearly you have annoyed the others. lol Well they are a snarky bunch. Decades with out a home run will do that to you. Especially if you snicker too much. Good luck with Snook! He might be the key. Or not. Perhaps Crabtree is murdering a couple in the woods right now. Perhaps he is tracking my ip address and is on his way here right now. |
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Post by Admin Horan on Mar 2, 2015 8:57:56 GMT -6
Phillips 66:
I won't ask how, or why, you have been so effectively kept tabs on Crabtree. I will, however, congratulate you on your efforts and express my sincere hope that you somehow get some kind of reward for it.
Now then. The Snook connection. First of all, there doesn't seem to be any doubt that that's his handprinting on the first three Zodiac letters. There's no doubt that Graysmith has covered up some of his connections to Snook. The question is, WHY did Snook write those letters? He had help from Graysmith's coworker at the Chronicle, Keith Power, another person whose connection to Graysmith has been covered up by Graysmith. Okay, they're all connected to each other. But, WHY would they do it?
I can think of only two reasons: 1. To call attention to some funny business going on in regards to the Solano-Napa Narcotics Task Force 2. To give someone an alibi for murder. Is there any evidence for 2? Well . . .
There is most certainly a long time connection between Snook and prime Berryessa suspect Dennis Land. As the north Bay Area's top narcotics cop, he was intimately familiar, if not friendly, with Ott's gang, and his handlers. Bizarrely enough, Snook himself was a dead ringer for the description and composite of Stine's killer. And when he first graduated from San Jose State on the GI Bill with a degree in journalism, his first entrepreneurial enterprise was taking over as publisher and managing editor of two small town Northern California newspapers at the same time that a man, wearing a Zodiac-like hood, was assaulting and terrorizing women over in the next county. So, is there a connection between Crabtree and Snook? Maybe. Crabtree grew up in that exact same neck of the woods. And Snook maintained an active interest in young recruits for the Outdoorsy He-Man Woman Haters Club.
So, what? Well, the Solano council of the Boy Scouts did not, in 1969, have an actual, official Explorer Scout program. If they had, then David Faraday would have joined like a shot. Of course, any Scoutmaster who happened to be an experienced lawman could have personally mentored any boy like David who had an active interest in such a career. Like Snook. And according to David's own mother, he apparently had no interest in girls until the night he took Betty Lou—not exactly a "sure thing," date-wise—out and got her shot. In other words, David seems to have been an awful lot like the teenaged Dennis Land. What did they, as rugged, young, badge-happy "bachelors" have in common? Hal Snook?
How much of that is EVIDENCE? Well, consider this: Graysmith himself was no Don Juan. And for some bizarre reason, he kept his own membership in the Boy Scouts a deep, deep secret. What's funny about that is, at the time Graysmith was in the Boy Scouts picking up the skills he needed to get his first job (at the age of 12!) at the Stars and Stripes newspaper, the Tachikawa (Japan) Marauder, guess who, with a degree in journalism and four years experience as a newspaper editor and publisher, also just happened to be stationed at Tachikawa? Because he had reenlisted as a second lieutenant in the Air Force after he'd failed as a newspaperman? Graysmith himself admitted he was stunned that Jake Gyllenhaal, while researching the script for the 2007 movie ZODIAC, had discovered Graysmith's time in the Boy Scouts while he lived in Japan. Gyllenhaal didn't get it from Graysmith's family. Graysmith claimed "no one" else knew. Well, of course, other members of his troop would have known. On the other hand, there is no likely way Gyllenhaal would have bumped into any of them. One more person knew, of course—his old Scoutmaster. Now, how on earth would Gyllenhaal have crossed paths with Graysmith's old Scoutmaster? When watching the credits at the end of the movie, one can't help noticing that one of the "consultants" who worked on the film was . . . WAS . . . Hal Snook.
So, what? Well, there's one more, deep, dark secret Graysmith kept about Snook for some reason. Every cop who ever sneezed on a piece of paper related to any "Zodiac" murder gets his name in Graysmith's book. Hell, the coroner's deputy who signed in the personal effects and clothing from the Stine shooting into the evidence locker, George Schultz, gets his name in the book. Except ONE. The cop who collected the infamous "Wing Walker" shoe prints? The fingerprints on the Napa phone booth? The little green bottle? The soil samples from the tree where "Zodiac" took a leak before he put on his hood (the one that looked exactly like the hood worn by the Northern Caifornia Phantom?) etc? Hal. Snook.
That's awful, awful, awful funny. Awful.
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Post by Phillips 66 on Mar 27, 2015 11:22:17 GMT -6
Any of your guys have a connection to this paper started in 1966?
Before his news service days, Crabtree was among the first reporters for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, an alternative weekly known for its disdain for anything corporate
Curious What was it you think Buzz Gordon was lying about? I think he was telling the truth, he just didn't know that Dee was talking about Crabtree.
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