Post by Admin Horan on Mar 24, 2014 6:11:50 GMT -6
According to Robert Graysmith, the "Zodiac Killer" made a taunting phone call to Vallejo police about 45 minutes after the shooting of Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau at Blue Rock Springs park, then made several harassing phone calls to Darlene's family. This is how Graysmith describes this phone call in ZODIAC:
At exactly 12:40, a man placed a call through an operator from a pay phone to the Vallejo PD. Switchboard operator Nancy Slover answered. "I want," said the man, "To report a double murder. If you will go 1 mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye."
At 12:47, Pacific Telephone had traced the call to Joe's Union Station at Tuolumne and Springs Road, located right in front of the Vallejo Sheriffs Office and within sight of Darlene and Dean's little green house on Virginia. The stocky man may have looked in the house as he passed it after making his call. Dean was still working at this time, so the only occupants were Dena and the babysitter and her friend. (pp 32-33)
A crucial element of Graysmith's "Zodiac" myth is the claim that the caller relayed details to Vallejo police operators that only the killer could have known. However, the actual Vallejo PD files, which Graysmith claims he used as sources for his book, not only did the caller state WRONG information to police, VPD operator Nancy Slover probably conflated two separate phone calls when she typed her report—three days after the shooting.
According to newspaper reports immediately after the shooting and for the next couple of days, the caller supposedly said, "I shot them. I used a nine millimeter automatic." The call was also supposedly "traced" to a pay phone booth at the Texaco gas station next to the Dairy Queen on Springs Road [at Oakwood].
However, the July 7th evening edition of the Vallejo News-Chronicle reported a very different version: "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a nine millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye." According to this report, the call was "traced" to a phone booth at the Union 76 station at Springs and Tuolumne.
The first thing we notice in this second version is that the caller seems to be REPORTING the shooting at BRS, and NOT "confessing" to it. The second thing we notice is that he seems to think that Vallejo Police have not even responded to the shooting yet. The third thing we notice is that he's wrong about the location of the crime—VPD is over one mile from Columbus Parkway, and then, one would proceed about two miles NORTH along the parkway to BRS.
Why the sudden change in the "transcript" of the call? Curiously, Nancy Slover did not type her report (at the request of her commander, Captain Bird) until AFTER this version was published in the News-Chronicle. The other VPD reports that mention the phone call were also typed on July 8th. And Slover qualifies her report, a direct quote from the newspaper story, as "the substance of statement was a follows." In other words, she's not sure (three days later) exactly what the caller said.
Perhaps there were actually two separate calls at about the same time, and Slover simply got them confused. In any case, neither of these phone calls actually "proves" they were made by the killer. For one thing, he or they waited half an hour after the first police units were dispatched to the scene. For another thing, the call(s) only repeated information which had been broadcast by the VPD dispatcher in the twenty or so minutes after the first phone call from Debra, Roger, and Jerry at 12:10.
By July of 1969, several popular brands of portable radios capable of receiving police band radio transmissions were for sale from Heathkit, Radio Shack, Montgomery Ward, and others. High school student and cub reporter Tom Balmer, who had responded to the scene of the shooting on Lake Herman Road, had such a portable radio in December, 1968.
The original dispatch at 12:10 had sent units to respond to a report of two youths being shot in a brown Corvair at BRS.
When they arrived at the scene, police requested a fire truck and ambulance—who would have been directed to the scene from the Vallejo Fire Department station at the corner of Columbus and Ascott—exactly one mile west of BRS. They also asked the dispatcher to broadcast an APB for a heavy set white male driving a brown car and possessing a gun capable of firing 9mm Luger ammo. "9mm Luger" is the most popular type of ammo for most .356, .357, .38, and 9mm pistols, so any potential suspect possessing ANY of these would be of interest to police that night.
But, what about the (version of) caller who seems to think VPD haven't even responded yet? By 12:38, Darlene and Mike had already arrived at Kaiser Hospital. If the caller had been eavesdropping on police broadcasts, wouldn't he have known police had in fact responded to the scene? According to the very police department files Graysmith claims he used as his sources, VPD did receive a call, at about 12:35 to 12:45, from a man who called specifically because he thought VPD hadn't responded yet—Debra's brother in law, Bob.
Note that the kids were concerned that Slover considered their call to be exactly the kind of prank call that someone who owned one of those radios might have made. So, after a minute or so of debate, they decided to drive to Bob's house. Why drive? Why not phone? In those days, it was not unusual for young married couples to not be able to afford a home phone. On the other hand, even though at least 10 shots were fired (more on this in an upcoming thread), VPD officers only found 9 empty shell casings. When Debra and her friends were checking on Mike and Darlene, maybe one of them picked up one of the shell casings, and they drove to Bob's house to show it to him. Bog did, in fact, phone VPD, most likely at roughly 12:40, and again—he called because HE THOUGHT VPD HAD NOT YET RESPONDED TO THE SHOOTING. Just like the "second caller."
This video also illustrates exactly what happened between 12:10 am and 12:45 am the night Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau were shot at Blue Rock Springs park:
You can see ALL of the "Zodiac Killer" law enforcement agency files, newspaper clippings, and "Zodiac" letters for FREE here:
www.flickr.com/photos/112412867@N06/collections/
At exactly 12:40, a man placed a call through an operator from a pay phone to the Vallejo PD. Switchboard operator Nancy Slover answered. "I want," said the man, "To report a double murder. If you will go 1 mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye."
At 12:47, Pacific Telephone had traced the call to Joe's Union Station at Tuolumne and Springs Road, located right in front of the Vallejo Sheriffs Office and within sight of Darlene and Dean's little green house on Virginia. The stocky man may have looked in the house as he passed it after making his call. Dean was still working at this time, so the only occupants were Dena and the babysitter and her friend. (pp 32-33)
A crucial element of Graysmith's "Zodiac" myth is the claim that the caller relayed details to Vallejo police operators that only the killer could have known. However, the actual Vallejo PD files, which Graysmith claims he used as sources for his book, not only did the caller state WRONG information to police, VPD operator Nancy Slover probably conflated two separate phone calls when she typed her report—three days after the shooting.
According to newspaper reports immediately after the shooting and for the next couple of days, the caller supposedly said, "I shot them. I used a nine millimeter automatic." The call was also supposedly "traced" to a pay phone booth at the Texaco gas station next to the Dairy Queen on Springs Road [at Oakwood].
However, the July 7th evening edition of the Vallejo News-Chronicle reported a very different version: "I want to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east on Columbus Parkway, you will find the kids in a brown car. They were shot with a nine millimeter Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye." According to this report, the call was "traced" to a phone booth at the Union 76 station at Springs and Tuolumne.
The first thing we notice in this second version is that the caller seems to be REPORTING the shooting at BRS, and NOT "confessing" to it. The second thing we notice is that he seems to think that Vallejo Police have not even responded to the shooting yet. The third thing we notice is that he's wrong about the location of the crime—VPD is over one mile from Columbus Parkway, and then, one would proceed about two miles NORTH along the parkway to BRS.
Why the sudden change in the "transcript" of the call? Curiously, Nancy Slover did not type her report (at the request of her commander, Captain Bird) until AFTER this version was published in the News-Chronicle. The other VPD reports that mention the phone call were also typed on July 8th. And Slover qualifies her report, a direct quote from the newspaper story, as "the substance of statement was a follows." In other words, she's not sure (three days later) exactly what the caller said.
Perhaps there were actually two separate calls at about the same time, and Slover simply got them confused. In any case, neither of these phone calls actually "proves" they were made by the killer. For one thing, he or they waited half an hour after the first police units were dispatched to the scene. For another thing, the call(s) only repeated information which had been broadcast by the VPD dispatcher in the twenty or so minutes after the first phone call from Debra, Roger, and Jerry at 12:10.
By July of 1969, several popular brands of portable radios capable of receiving police band radio transmissions were for sale from Heathkit, Radio Shack, Montgomery Ward, and others. High school student and cub reporter Tom Balmer, who had responded to the scene of the shooting on Lake Herman Road, had such a portable radio in December, 1968.
The original dispatch at 12:10 had sent units to respond to a report of two youths being shot in a brown Corvair at BRS.
When they arrived at the scene, police requested a fire truck and ambulance—who would have been directed to the scene from the Vallejo Fire Department station at the corner of Columbus and Ascott—exactly one mile west of BRS. They also asked the dispatcher to broadcast an APB for a heavy set white male driving a brown car and possessing a gun capable of firing 9mm Luger ammo. "9mm Luger" is the most popular type of ammo for most .356, .357, .38, and 9mm pistols, so any potential suspect possessing ANY of these would be of interest to police that night.
But, what about the (version of) caller who seems to think VPD haven't even responded yet? By 12:38, Darlene and Mike had already arrived at Kaiser Hospital. If the caller had been eavesdropping on police broadcasts, wouldn't he have known police had in fact responded to the scene? According to the very police department files Graysmith claims he used as his sources, VPD did receive a call, at about 12:35 to 12:45, from a man who called specifically because he thought VPD hadn't responded yet—Debra's brother in law, Bob.
Note that the kids were concerned that Slover considered their call to be exactly the kind of prank call that someone who owned one of those radios might have made. So, after a minute or so of debate, they decided to drive to Bob's house. Why drive? Why not phone? In those days, it was not unusual for young married couples to not be able to afford a home phone. On the other hand, even though at least 10 shots were fired (more on this in an upcoming thread), VPD officers only found 9 empty shell casings. When Debra and her friends were checking on Mike and Darlene, maybe one of them picked up one of the shell casings, and they drove to Bob's house to show it to him. Bog did, in fact, phone VPD, most likely at roughly 12:40, and again—he called because HE THOUGHT VPD HAD NOT YET RESPONDED TO THE SHOOTING. Just like the "second caller."
This video also illustrates exactly what happened between 12:10 am and 12:45 am the night Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau were shot at Blue Rock Springs park:
You can see ALL of the "Zodiac Killer" law enforcement agency files, newspaper clippings, and "Zodiac" letters for FREE here:
www.flickr.com/photos/112412867@N06/collections/
