Donna Lass Pines Card, 13 Hole Card, Exorcist Card and Eureka Card Solve in One

[BDHOLLAND]

You will find the solves to each of these Zodiac killer cards/mailings using a single theme. Golf.

Here are the solves. Click on the headers. You can skip the Halloween Card solve for now and go back to it later if you wish.

There is a limit to how many images I can show here as it is an image-heavy solution but extremely easy to follow.

Here are some images that will see you on your journey through it. So go make a cup of tea and a sandwich and then prepare for a good 15 minutes or more of looking at it all because it's a clean sweep of the lot.

There is also some bonus material on The Northern California Dog Poisoner (1960 - 2000) and the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders (1972 - 1973) and what could be a new Zodiac letter sent to the newspapers about it. Those who know about serial killers will obviously be alerted to the similarities with what BTK and EARONS did to dogs and also how the SRHM crimes involved one girl poisoned with strychnine.

If you have any questions, please ask them. Everything is freely given.

Enjoy it.

 

[BDHOLLAND]

Here is a tip that Toschi knew and also why he didn't believe that any of the main POIs were the Zodiac especially because they didn't match the evidence.

Some Facts:

1. The Zodiac mostly (95+%) mailed from San Francisco during the whole week.
2. The Zodiac did not attack workdays, only weekends and holidays.

Deduction:

If the Zodiac lived in Vallejo or Napa then there is no explanation for why he didn't kill Mon-Fri. He had to wait for the weekend because he needed to travel.

Most probable conclusions:

• The Zodiac works Mon-Fri.
• The Zodiac worked in or near San Francisco.
• The Zodiac drove out to Napa and Vallejo.
• Job was probably menial (working class).
  
• There is no reason to believe that the Zodiac thought there would be some question over him living in or near San Francisco.
• This practically clears POIs from the Napa and Vallejo area if they worked there Mon-Friday.

 

[CaMan60]

Hi Bdholland i read your post and checked the links
This Tip , Tosci knew can be shown to be correct. There are more clue,s in the form of a map. Showing where the zodiac letters were mailed from and dropped in mailboxes within San Fransisco.
He could have dropped them off while on his regular routine. And not be noticed by any Friends or Family.
He was able to drive north of San Fransisco and not be Noticed afterward as being gone on those nights. Even on a weekend night.

Probably he was not living at his home base while in San Fransisco. But was very familiar with the roads and knew how to get around.
This pattern of driving North of the city changed with the Stein cabby attack. Did he get Noticed by Somebody close to him..?

 

[BDHOLLAND]

There are more clue,s in the form of a map. Showing where the zodiac letters were mailed from and dropped in mailboxes within San Fransisco. This pattern of driving North of the city changed with the Stein cabby attack. Did he get Noticed by Somebody close to him..?

Do you have a link to that map?

I have a working theory that Fred Manalli may have known the Zodiac and because Manalli had a background in literature that he may have recognized his friend's traits and handwriting as the Zodiacs. Manalli worked in San Quentin as an English teacher. It is possible Fred Manalli may have been framed for the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Crimes. He was killed in an automobile accident. Sadistic drawings of an SRHM victim were found in a search.

The reason why the Zodiac escaped attention is because of who he was. I believe Zodiac was likely law enforcement.

Disclaimer: I don't think JJD is Zodiac for a whole pile of reasons. However, he can be helpful.


VREARONS (Visalia Ransacker/East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker) was a cop working 9-5. All the limitations put on LE (law enforcement) and military for that guy evaporate just like they did for Russel Williams also. Basically working 9-5 is not mutually exclusive with working as LE or being in the military.

So if there is evidence pointing at LE, then what is it?

It's the red herrings that appeal to me most and they are also in the VREARONS case. Zodiac is painting himself as a cop-hating villain who can't even spell simple words. So we are supposed to believe in this uneducated, cop hater who is hiding the shadows with a cloak and dagger. So what should we do with that?

Find the Zodiac in the opposite like we can with VREARONS. You know what? It works. The Zodiac investigation has also looked at cops and the military. So there is another clue for us.

Ferrin thought the Zodiac was a cop. So did Mageau and his witness statement includes that Ferrin thought he was a cop. Not some guy she knew or anything like that for this second car encounter. That is why Mageau had his ID out. So that's two Zodiac targets, one who survived, who thought he was a cop. One VREARONS target thought she felt a police belt on him.

The Zodiac uses ruse words like 'pig' which was also used by Joseph James DeAngelo as VREARONS to misdirect.

Zodiac understood cut-off techniques.

Zodiac understood jurisdictional problems and exploited them. He understood switching up m.o. helped him. VREARONS did the same.

Zodiac knew fireworks would delay police responses to gunshots.

Zodiac knew how to escape mostly without being seen. EARONS also knew his escape routes.

Zodiac understood ballistic reports and the first letters are like them.

Zodiac made phone calls. So did EARONS.

Zodiac ordered Hartnell and Shepard to their knees and then went rear just like an arrest. VREARONS had figured out ways to subdue and tie up also.

Zodiac understood that saliva on envelope seals could be used to identify blood type. VREARONS started taking away evidence with him as ONS.

Zodiac uses terminology in his letters associated with LE commands. VREARONS also did this verbally.

Zodiac used his flashlight to blind Ferrin and Mageau. VREARONS also did this.

Zodiac 'reports'. VREARONS asked his targets to report things to law enforcement for him.

Zodiac was calm around LE when they showed up and got away. VREARONS also got away several times from LE including the FBI.

Zodiac jumped into Presideo Heights according to news reports. VREARONS jumped fences.

Zodiac seemed to avoid stakeouts at Vallejo. So did VREARONS. It is believed he has inside knowledge and a police radio.

Zodiac wrote a letter about how he would never blow up a police station and then he said in the next letter he would kill a cop. I think he contradicted himself because he maybe thought his sympathy was too revealing.

The tight-clustered groups of shells on the ground meaning he holds his position before firing. Moves and stops and shoots some more. That's training. VREARONS was very effective at shooting to kill also.

I also believe if we include the non-canonical Zodiac crimes that we shall find the Zodiac leaves his victims to face down if he interacts with them. I think that also speaks to training. Having them on their front and approaching from the rear. Especially at Lake Berryessa.

So I think with everything we learned about BTK and VREARONS that the Zodiac fits the same sort of association with LE in the air. I would also add LISK to that list of four.

Nothing is concrete about what the Zodiac's profession is but things lean towards military experience first and then possibly some connection with LE after.

 

[CaMan60]

The clues are there. And point in the right direction.
I find the map on the old Z.K. site. The links no long work but on the new Z.k. net there is a search icon on the right of the black bar that starts with Forums. Once the window opens try, Locations letter drop.
One of these was found before it went to the main sorting plant. So they are sure that's where the letter was dropped off.
There have been posts, that suggest a Crooked Cop was our suspect. But how rare is that? He would have been suspected by someone near to him.
More Likely he had the resources to have things like guns and fast cars and booze or drugs to fuel his Ego like he was showing off.

 

[BDHOLLAND]

The clues are there. And point in the right direction.
I find the map on the old Z.K. site. The links no long work but on the new Z.k. net there is a search icon on the right of the black bar that starts with Forums. Once the window opens try, Locations letter drop.
One of these was found before it went to the main sorting plant. So they are sure that's where the letter was dropped off.
There have been posts, that suggest a Crooked Cop was our suspect. But how rare is that? He would have been suspected by someone near to him.
More Likely he had the resources to have things like guns and fast cars and booze or drugs to fuel his Ego like he was showing off.

Serial Killers as law enforcement is rare. It is an outlier. However, the Zodiac case, like many of these old serial killers' cold cases is also rare. The case is an outlier because of the abundance of evidence and that he was never caught. So introducing outlier explanations, such as him being law enforcement, can explain why these types of outlier cold cases have gone on so long without identification of the perp.

For example, VREARONS was law enforcement. It explains the sheer volume of crimes that plummet when he was kicked off the force. Dennis Rader was a law enforcement wannabe and eventually became a dog catcher and compliance officer. The fact they target dogs is also what got me thinking about the Northern California Dog Poisoner and is how I found a potential Zodiac communication not discovered before.

I pulled the map from the site by doing a search.

Presideo Golf Course is what stands out there to me again.

Lake Merced Park also has Golf courses.

Fishing is also what stands out with Fisherman's Warf. Fishing is what seems to stand out at Lake Berryessa as a recreational activity there.

BTW, the hidden trait of the Zodiac I would go for, is that he is a gambler and has a gambling problem. This connects back to Donna Lass working at a Casino.

 

[CaMan60]

Not just a gambler a high roller.
In a Card game a Player may play his high card or like in poker go all in and bet all he Has. When the zodiac started his letter writing he was willing to go all in with police and the law.
He had played a strong high card by choosing the evening of July 4 1969 A national holiday for usa. And to commit sure a ugly crime is a insult to the national government. He had the Ego of a High Roller and needed to find power and reassurance.
He was very independent and could choose to a degree when he did his crimes. i don,t think he was in law enforcement for this reason.
He must have been working out of a residence in San Francisco.
A base from where he operated, a place only He controlled .
He had the vehicle to drive north day or night.
He had many guns and knew about ammo, he had quality writing paper and pens. When he wrote words like Iam mildly curious as to how much money is on my head now.
Its show us he knows. he can play a High Stakes game.

 

[BDHOLLAND]

He was very independent and could choose to a degree when he did his crimes. i don,t think he was in law enforcement for this reason.

I wanted to actually this address again and forgot to do so in my last reply. If you go back to list of law enforcement traits, at the start you will notice I cover the topics of EARONS (DeAngelo) and Russell Williams. There is a reason for this.

When I was studying the EARONS case, before he was caught, there were many posts critical of the law enforcement angle. The position was that being in law enforcement meant that the offender was very restricted to the times they could offend and the places they could go, including all the recon needed. So the vast majority of people ruled this out.

They were wrong (myself included).

We should have paid more attention to Russell Williams who was Air-Force (ex now). Well as it turns out Russell Williams as a Colonel had a media relations job on top of needing flight time. This allowed him to travel around the country. He was not fixed on base. He just had to do some duties there and then he was off to various conventions doing the media relation thing. So had plenty of time to offend and do recon. Which he did.

DeAngelo was a part-time officer. Meaning he worked some days (when someone was absent) and was free on others.

These finding have completely upended the notion that law enforcement or military can't be free to carry out some of these cold case crimes. The idea of constraints and limitations there for law enforcement and the military went up in vapor. It is no longer a constraining factor. This is a key point that opened new avenues of research for me.

Also don't forget that LE were also investigated for the Zodiac crimes, in particular those connected to Darlene Ferrin for the Blue Rock Springs attack. In fact both Darlene and Mike said they believed the Zodiac was a cop. It is in the official files. So that is another reason why detective took law enforcement seriously.

Also in addition to this, modern law enforcement assigned the Zodiac case have revealed they are also interested in Zodiac being law enforcement. The article with Detective Terry Poyser appeared in 2018.

Even if Allen doesn't prove to be the Zodiac, Poyser said he believes it was someone familiar with Vallejo, and perhaps with a law enforcement or military background. - https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article210320689.html

So if they think its possible, then I think this line of reasoning is valid.

 

[CaMan60]

A new Avenue of research may help or bring up even more questions. The idea of the zodiac having training in police work, only to go to the low level this man went to. Would never happen before a repeat offender, thought of it first.
He Knew enough about how police responded to a crime scene. So that he had the nerve to call them from down the street and report his own crime. AS a way to add insult to injury and add,s to the overall story of his own nasty crime.
Did he plan this In, a previous jail term? The letters express a level of False Bravado that show he didn,t care about what would happen in the future. He was very mad at the system and the Law. But knew if he pushed it to far he would be arrested.
Like he Wrote in his letter The S.F. police could have caught me last night... if they parked their car... and quietly waiting for me to come out of cover. He was full of something more than False Bravado...

 

[BDHOLLAND]

The idea that the Zodiac is failed law enforcement is actually an old idea because it explains a whole pile like many of things you mentioned and the list of law enforcement traits he displays.

Also by being caught he thinks he further diminishes law enforcement because it becomes known he was one. So its a win win situation for him. Getting caught though is something he doesn't want to happen but if he was, he still thinks he scores a final blow to the system that rejected him. He was one them all along! sort of thing.

I think Zodiac wanted to be detective but didn't even make pawn shop detail. I think there is a good chance he worked in corrections (projected he killed a prison guard, when he was actually one, while have his conversation with Hartnell at Lake Berryessa). BTK the dog catcher, compliance officer is a good example. He was obviously a cop wanna-be and instead worked a menial job although it gave him some degree of power over people.

Criminals who taunt law enforcement are rare. Most criminals do their utmost not to engage law enforcement. The Zodiac was the opposite. He needed to contact them to show superiority. Phoning them up and writing letters involving them and speaking to them. That sounds like someone spurned by them because he wanted to be them.

Also I think he had inside knowledge through his connections to law enforcement. Remember how he use a certain phrase in his communications? Your Secret Pal.

 

[CaMan60]

Absolutely he had some inside knowledge through his connection to law enforcement. He may have been a career criminal and knew who he was and where this was taking him.
A couple of ideas you wrote of are good common sense. Like the point about the zodiac did just the opposite. We know he had a Big Ego, but when he writes By the way it could be rather messy if you try to bluff me. he use,s a command and he is able to do great harm.
A couple of points that are more challenging relate to him being a Ex-Con. we know he had a Vehicle, his style of phrasing and use of words, may point to a white collar criminal. Doing (again) just the opposite.

To Navigate the information on this case it needs to be narrowed down. To see what is important look at each zodiac crime and only the things that directly relate to the crime.
Just the original letters contain a lot of clues. Here we read someone who starts out making sense, but than makes no sense at all. He wrote about attaching a flash light to his gun so it could be used under the cover of darkness. When all he did was shine a flashlight and point the gun.

 

[BDHOLLAND]

Just the original letters contain a lot of clues. Here we read someone who starts out making sense, but than makes no sense at all. He wrote about attaching a flash light to his gun so it could be used under the cover of darkness. When all he did was shine a flashlight and point the gun.

Yes.

Second August 1969 letter reads:

What I did was tape a small pencel flash light to the barrel of my gun.

He talked about an electric gun sight attached to his gun in another letter. November 9th 1969 reads:

To prove that I am the Zodiac, ask the Vallejo cop about my electric gun sight which I used to start my collecting of slaves.

Both 'pencil' flash lights and electric gun sights existed at the time. Law enforcement as per your regular patrol officers, did not use these. Electric gun sights were for sport use mainly. So he obviously wanted to misdirect us away from the fact he is carrying a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. Which we know he did because Mike Mageau survived and told us as much.

So why is it such a big issue for him to need to mislead us there? The answer I think is as straightforward as it gets. A certain kind of person in an official capacity has been taught to carry a flashlight in one hand and gun at the ready in the other, when approaching a vehicle at night. That official is none other than a police officer.

 

[CaMan60]

He wanted to be Known
It is almost like he was taking the lead in his own criminal investigation, when he writes I shall be more than happy to supply even more material. We know he was rotten to the core, which lead to his mistakes.
Looking at who he wrote the letters to, The Editor of the City Newspaper. He is leading them on to print what He Says
the story is about.
Than after starting with his Happy Thoughts at the beginning of
the letter. He ends with just the opposite.
I was unhappy to see that i did not get front page coverage.
In the second august 1969 letter..

 

[BDHOLLAND]

The twins I am looking at have a lot of newspaper coverage from sports related material. One of them actually married into the newspaper industry after the crimes. My hypothesis is that when their sports careers became non-sports careers and then those careers in law enforcement became correctional officer and tire salesman that they sought that attention as a way of getting back at society, in particular law enforcement, for giving them a raw deal. Their father was head jailer of Sonoma County and he was often in the papers. In some articles it said he died of a heart attack while on the job. His second while on the job. So I think their status took a hit. I wonder if there was some beef between their father and whoever was in charge of appointing new recruits into positions and decided to downgrade their options out of spite and they knew it. It's really strange that you have these twins who are like first class material for important positions in law enforcement (one was Navy trained at Vallejo, the other Air Force elsewhere) with the connections (masonic lodges and their dad) but ends up the way it did. It echos of disappointment.

What's even more interesting is the possibility that the Zodiac called the Santa Rosa police department. Which is where these twins are from.
PROOF: OCTOBER 15TH 1969 SANTA ROSA CALLER WAS THE ZODIAC KILLER

 

[BDHOLLAND]

SLAVES IN PARADISE/AFTERLIFE IS COP SLANG!

This is documented.

THE ZODIAC SUMMERLAND

Apparently, some cops have been caught using the phrase 'slaves in the afterlife' to refer to someone they kill on duty. They have typed this on their computers during communications.

Here is a book quote.

It was brought up with regards to Rodney King.

It also makes an appearance in the movie Training Day (2001).

What are the odds this slang was in use in California in 1969 if it was even being used in the 90s?

The phrase slaves in paradice/afterlife appears in several Zodiac communications.

Slaves and Paradise is on the cover of the Zodiac Halloween card.

It is in both the Z408 and the Z340 solves.

Afterlife is used in the Z408 (see bottom two rows).

Z340

Zodiac letters. This one has it midway down.

 

[Richard]

The term "paradice" existed long before Zodiac came down the pike. A lot of his phrases were common sayings of various types - many of them quite out of date/use by the 1970's.

A short while ago, I posted the following about "paradice" on the 340 thread:

--------------------

It has been suggested that Zodiac was a big fan of old movies, and plays. I wonder if his use of the term "Paradice" might have been borrowed from the title of this 1930 movie:

 

[BDHOLLAND]

Military training. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1930s to 1940s.

E. C. Kropp made a lot of humor postcards like this.

 

[Richard]

Donna Ann Lass

Donna Lass has a thread dedicated to her in the Missing Persons (1960's) topic area of Websleuths:

CA - CA - Donna Lass, 25, South Lake Tahoe, 6 Sept 1970

 

[BDHOLLAND]

Donna Ann Lass

Donna Lass has a thread dedicated to her in the Missing Persons (1960's) topic area of Websleuths:

CA - CA - Donna Lass, 25, South Lake Tahoe, 6 Sept 1970

Thanks for finding this.

 

[Richard]

Donna Ann Lass, age 25, went missing from Lake Tahoe, CA on 6 September 1970 has been identified through DNA.

A skull found along a highway in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains decades ago has been identified as that of a woman who went missing in 1970, police said Wednesday.

The DNA match solved the mystery of whether Donna Lass was alive or dead but not what happened to her, and officials continued to ask for any information in the case.

A sheriff’s deputy found the skull in 1986 along Highway 20 and Interstate 80, 45 miles northwest of South Lake Tahoe, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said. It was preserved at the coroner's office as an unidentified person.

Lass was reported missing to South Lake Tahoe police in 1970, and the investigation exhausted all leads, officials said.

She was 25 years old, had just rented an apartment in South Lake Tahoe and was a nurse at a casino in nearby Stateline, Nevada, when she vanished, according to a news article from the period shared by the sheriff’s office. Left behind were her car, clothes and a bank account.

The DNA match was done through a cold case team that was recently formed in Placer County, the sheriff's office said.

Anyone with information was asked to contact South Lake Tahoe police detectives at crimetips@cityofslt.us and refer to case 0070-6436.

LINK:

Skull found in California mountains ID'd as that of woman who vanished in 1970

Donna Lass was 25 years old when she disappeared and was reported missing to South Lake Tahoe police. The skull was found in 1986.

www.nbcnews.com