Who do you think the Zodiac Killer actually is?

[bdsjr]

It has been a while since anybody posted about the gun used by him. There could be some real clues when
looking over the type of guns and brand of ammo used. In this part of the country a small town with One hundred people could have only 25 who have or had anything to do with guns. Of those probably 10 own or have had hunting guns, and
most of them will talk about their hunting trips openly with people they know.
So he must had a past with guns, and not just someone who was doing a prank.
But we still don,t know why he did the crimes.

This is obviously a very late response, since I am just now reading this but better late than never. Over the past couple of days, I have spent hours researching one particular firearm, a Sears, Roebuck, and Co. store brand J.C. Higgins, model 80, .22LR automatic pistol. The CA Bureau of Investigation ballistic reports of the ammunition and shells found at Lake Herman Road only matched what they had on file then for the J.C. Higgins Model 80. They stated that it did not mean it was exclusive to a model 80 but when checked against their previous tests on file, it only matched the model 80. They provided the specific findings of the barrel twists and all that other ballistic jazz. Solano County listed on their offense report that the weapon used was a J.C. Higgins Model 80 .22. Their Facebook post about cold case synopsis also mentions this specific pistol as the one used, that or a High Standard Duramatic 101, the same gun as the model 80. That's intriguing for two reasons: 1. the model 80 was only listed in their catalogs between the Fall/Winter of 1956 through the Fall/Winter of 1963. I have confirmed this with the Sears Catalogs digitally available on-line. Sears had a company policy of 21 years of age for handgun purchases (California law at that time was 18 minimum). If the killer bought the pistol brand new from Sears, his minimum age would have been 25 years of age on December 20th, 1968. Not groundbreaking info I know since witness accounts tend to confirm that. Secondly, I have researched the California statute in place regarding "The Dangerous Weapons Control Act" effective September 9th, 1953 and in place during the 1950's and 1960's (Previous to Federal Gun Control Act of 1968). The seller of that firearm, in this case if brand new, Sears Roebuck Co, was required to complete in triplicate, a full log of the transaction including the name, signature, address, occupation, and full physical description of the buyer. They were required to keep one for their records, send one to the Bureau of Identification and Investigation, and to the local municipal Chief of Police where the sale occurred, or if unincorporated to the County Sheriff or Clerk, sent on the date of the sale. Due to these requirements, Sears mandated buyers to come to their catalog departments in person to complete the sale. Whereas, in many other states, you could receive the handgun after sending in a little cut-out certification card, signed by a local "officer of the law." So, if, and that's a big if, the Zodiac killer purchased the Higgins Model 80 from Sears, or a used version from another vendor (like a pawn shop), his full identity was on a form required by the State of California and kept by three diffent entities. Wow! You'd think the cops would have checked it, maybe they did. Of course, he could have forged the form with fictitious info, which was only a misdemeanor crime then.

 

[bdsjr]

That really is interesting, reading about it now. And these weird calls to Peggy Trainer. Agreed, I mean that's very likely him. LE thought it was a hoax with the calls. Right, but I mean victim Leona lived right near Peggy Trainer. And if it had been some kind of prank... I can't picture the caller saying to Peggy-- not to hang up. That's not how a prankster thinks, that's how a murderer thinks, and it's a murderer's attitude, the "do as I say."

There are people that heard Zodiac's voice. I wish so, so badly I could get more information about like HOW his voice was distinctive because it clearly was. Sometimes I see it described as an "accent," once I saw a woman in an interview trying to describe it. She was trying to imitate Zodiac's pattern of speech, and at the end of the call, I guess he kind of trailed off in "upspeak" I'd love to know what Peggy Trainer noted (if anything) about the voice, other than the laughing.

I can in theory picture Zodiac (or some other bloodthirsty and simultanously raving and cunning SK) writing that letter but not because he was suicidal. Not saying he did, or that I think he did. But I could certainly picture him doing it if he found an opportunity He noted himself in a 1969 letter he wouldn't always be advertising his crimes.

You're right about the Peggy Trainor deal. Contrary to initial reporting, she did not live right next door but she lived not too far away, in a close by neighborhood is my memory. I think there is something else to consider and I don't think it really ever gets much traction. The Zodiac killer, IMHO, may have either known his victims, or he may have known about them somehow through other connections. In the case of the lover's lane type murders, each couple had some triangle stuff going on. In the case of Leona Roberts, a 16 year old girl living like a grown woman: no longer in high school, working a job, engaged to be married to a soldier in Vietnam, commuting over 25 miles to another boyfriend's house, she lived in two of the towns known to have confirmed Zodiac criminal activity: Vallejo as a child and then Napa as a teenager when she was kidnapped. Her fiance was from Vallejo and her boyfriend was a barber in Napa!

 

[bdsjr]

Or he didn’t take credit because he considered that crime imperfect and possibly leading back to him.

Bingo! If he didn't take credit, he knew there was something, however slight, that could lead police to him. That is my opinion.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

You're right about the Peggy Trainor deal. Contrary to initial reporting, she did not live right next door but she lived not too far away, in a close by neighborhood is my memory. I think there is something else to consider and I don't think it really ever gets much traction. The Zodiac killer, IMHO, may have either known his victims, or he may have known about them somehow through other connections. In the case of the lover's lane type murders, each couple had some triangle stuff going on. In the case of Leona Roberts, a 16 year old girl living like a grown woman: no longer in high school, working a job, engaged to be married to a soldier in Vietnam, commuting over 25 miles to another boyfriend's house, she lived in two of the towns known to have confirmed Zodiac criminal activity: Vallejo as a child and then Napa as a teenager when she was kidnapped. Her fiance was from Vallejo and her boyfriend was a barber in Napa!

Interesting! Are you saying Zodiac is a romantic of sorts? If some of these victims were two timing or being dishonest (I think that's what it sounds like?) did he take offense to that and feel they deserved to be punished?

Maybe I'm reading it wrong. I don't know all the details but read this thread and comment here and there as it's so interesting. Lots of knowledgeable sleuthers in here!

 

[bdsjr]

Interesting! Are you saying Zodiac is a romantic of sorts? If some of these victims were two timing or being dishonest (I think that's what it sounds like?) did he take offense to that and feel they deserved to be punished?

Maybe I'm reading it wrong. I don't know all the details but read this thread and comment here and there as it's so interesting. Lots of knowledgeable sleuthers in here!

Well, I don't think I would call him a "romantic" but I think there is a possibility (repeat: possibility) that he's some sort of lover's lane avenger. He might have been cheated on as a young man, maybe blaming another guy for stealing his sweetheart in high school or something. Something kind of interesting: He directly quoted Ko Ko the High Executioner from the Mikado in his letters (three separate times, including a very long one called the Little List letter). Ko Ko's job was to impose capital punishment on people who flirted with each other. He was doing a very poor job at that and was facing execution himself due to his ineptness. He survived by conning an unattractive, elderly, extremely powerful woman to marry him, thereby saving his own life. That's what the Titwillow song is about. The play uses marriage, capital punishment, flirting in a satirical way to attack the absurdity of aspects in British soceity.

Speaking of flirting:
Here are some facts about the victims: No judgment at all, just facts.
1. Betty Lou Jensen was being harassed by a jealous neighborhood teen from her high school, who she had gone "steady" with only on school grounds, for a couple of weeks (no dates). After she met David Faraday, the jealous boy had threatened to beat David up. He was said by others to be a loudmouth with very few friends. He called her repeatedly and was reportedly creeping around her yard.
2. Darlene Ferrin was a married woman with a small child, alone in a car with another man at midnight, while her husband worked, and babysitters watched her baby. The offense report indicated she had a lot of male friends.
3. Bryan Hartnell was cuddling with a former girlfiend, Cecelia Shepard at the Lake. He had a steady girlfriend back in Oregon and after he was recovered enough to give a full interview, he was worried about his girl finding out without him having a chance to speak with her first. Cecelia had been threatened by a jealous male student at Pacific Union the previous year, a current senior named Gary, over her relationship with Bryan. Bryan wasn't worried about him since Bryan was 6'7" tall and Gary was small statured.
4. Not a confirmed Zodiac murder but suspicious: Leona Robert's fiance Bernard was serving in Vietnam. While he was gone, she was spending a lot of time with their close friend Greg, a barber from Napa. Newspapers called him her boyfriend. Mom said just friends. A very reliable law enforcement source has indicated that Leona and Greg had crossed the line into the romantic realm.
Makes me wonder if the Zodiac killer was executing people for flirting, like Ko Ko was supposed to be doing in the Mikado.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Well, I don't think I would call him a "romantic" but I think there is a possibility (repeat: possibility) that he's some sort of lover's lane avenger. He might have been cheated on as a young man, maybe blaming another guy for stealing his sweetheart in high school or something. Something kind of interesting: He directly quoted Ko Ko the High Executioner from the Mikado in his letters (three separate times, including a very long one called the Little List letter). Ko Ko's job was to impose capital punishment on people who flirted with each other. He was doing a very poor job at that and was facing execution himself due to his ineptness. He survived by conning an unattractive, elderly, extremely powerful woman to marry him, thereby saving his own life. That's what the Titwillow song is about. The play uses marriage, capital punishment, flirting in a satirical way to attack the absurdity of aspects in British soceity.

Speaking of flirting:
Here are some facts about the victims: No judgment at all, just facts.
1. Betty Lou Jensen was being harassed by a jealous neighborhood teen from her high school, who she had gone "steady" with only on school grounds, for a couple of weeks (no dates). After she met David Faraday, the jealous boy had threatened to beat David up. He was said by others to be a loudmouth with very few friends. He called her repeatedly and was reportedly creeping around her yard.
2. Darlene Ferrin was a married woman with a small child, alone in a car with another man at midnight, while her husband worked, and babysitters watched her baby. The offense report indicated she had a lot of male friends.
3. Bryan Hartnell was cuddling with a former girlfiend, Cecelia Shepard at the Lake. He had a steady girlfriend back in Oregon and after he was recovered enough to give a full interview, he was worried about his girl finding out without him having a chance to speak with her first. Cecelia had been threatened by a jealous male student at Pacific Union the previous year, a current senior named Gary, over her relationship with Bryan. Bryan wasn't worried about him since Bryan was 6'7" tall and Gary was small statured.
4. Not a confirmed Zodiac murder but suspicious: Leona Robert's fiance Bernard was serving in Vietnam. While he was gone, she was spending a lot of time with their close friend Greg, a barber from Napa. Newspapers called him her boyfriend. Mom said just friends. A very reliable law enforcement source has indicated that Leona and Greg had crossed the line into the romantic realm.
Makes me wonder if the Zodiac killer was executing people for flirting, like Ko Ko was supposed to be doing in the Mikado.

Definitely interesting facts, thanks for summarizing!

And I guess 'romantic' isn't the best word I used. Maybe arrogantly intelletual or something is a better description, not sure.

With my very little knowledge (and I mean little, compared to the wealth of knowledge in this thread from others) of Zodiac... I guess for some reason I got this impression he considered himself sophisticated, maybe even saw himself as debonair.

But this side of him, the people he knew - didn't see it, almost like his alter ego. His secret side. In every day life he might've been seen as average but to himself with his secret he felt god-like, gradious and maybe oddly even morally superior and his victim's were below him.

Maybe it was all the letters and how perverse and almost amused he seemed that gives me that impression and some of the references I read about in them. No idea though, still like to hear all the ideas here on the thread.

 

[snooptroop88]

Well, I don't think I would call him a "romantic" but I think there is a possibility (repeat: possibility) that he's some sort of lover's lane avenger. He might have been cheated on as a young man, maybe blaming another guy for stealing his sweetheart in high school or something. Something kind of interesting: He directly quoted Ko Ko the High Executioner from the Mikado in his letters (three separate times, including a very long one called the Little List letter). Ko Ko's job was to impose capital punishment on people who flirted with each other. He was doing a very poor job at that and was facing execution himself due to his ineptness. He survived by conning an unattractive, elderly, extremely powerful woman to marry him, thereby saving his own life. That's what the Titwillow song is about. The play uses marriage, capital punishment, flirting in a satirical way to attack the absurdity of aspects in British soceity.

Speaking of flirting:
Here are some facts about the victims: No judgment at all, just facts.
1. Betty Lou Jensen was being harassed by a jealous neighborhood teen from her high school, who she had gone "steady" with only on school grounds, for a couple of weeks (no dates). After she met David Faraday, the jealous boy had threatened to beat David up. He was said by others to be a loudmouth with very few friends. He called her repeatedly and was reportedly creeping around her yard.
2. Darlene Ferrin was a married woman with a small child, alone in a car with another man at midnight, while her husband worked, and babysitters watched her baby. The offense report indicated she had a lot of male friends.
3. Bryan Hartnell was cuddling with a former girlfiend, Cecelia Shepard at the Lake. He had a steady girlfriend back in Oregon and after he was recovered enough to give a full interview, he was worried about his girl finding out without him having a chance to speak with her first. Cecelia had been threatened by a jealous male student at Pacific Union the previous year, a current senior named Gary, over her relationship with Bryan. Bryan wasn't worried about him since Bryan was 6'7" tall and Gary was small statured.
4. Not a confirmed Zodiac murder but suspicious: Leona Robert's fiance Bernard was serving in Vietnam. While he was gone, she was spending a lot of time with their close friend Greg, a barber from Napa. Newspapers called him her boyfriend. Mom said just friends. A very reliable law enforcement source has indicated that Leona and Greg had crossed the line into the romantic realm.
Makes me wonder if the Zodiac killer was executing people for flirting, like Ko Ko was supposed to be doing in the Mikado.

Definitely interesting facts, thanks for summarizing!

And I guess 'romantic' isn't the best word I used. Maybe arrogantly intelletual or something is a better description, not sure.

With my very little knowledge (and I mean little, compared to the wealth of knowledge in this thread from others) of Zodiac... I guess for some reason I got this impression he considered himself sophisticated, maybe even saw himself as debonair.

But this side of him, the people he knew - didn't see it, almost like his alter ego. His secret side. In every day life he might've been seen as average but to himself with his secret he felt god-like, gradious and maybe oddly even morally superior and his victim's were below him.

Maybe it was all the letters and how perverse and almost amused he seemed that gives me that impression and some of the references I read about in them. No idea though, still like to hear all the ideas here on the thread.

TOTALLY agree. Think Zodiac was perhaps a frustrated would-be casanova. This is why I'm pretty certain he murdered Cheri Bates. Those letters about Cheri Bates just seem so in line with someone who's playing Romance Avenger. They really do (jmo).

 

[ostruzionismo]

L'unico tampone del DNA prelevato in questo caso, di cui sono a conoscenza, proveniva dalla parte anteriore di un francobollo su una delle buste dello Zodiaco... dopo che la busta era stata maneggiata da un esercito di agenti delle forze dell'ordine... era inutile.

Sono giunto alla conclusione che la polizia di San Francisco non vuole sapere chi è l'assassino... non hanno mai tamponato i lembi delle buste per verificare la presenza di DNA nella saliva. Perché non l'hanno fatto?

Che sia un poliziotto? Forse per questo la polizia nn ha fatto indagini serie e nn ha approfondito

 

[bdsjr]

Definitely interesting facts, thanks for summarizing!

And I guess 'romantic' isn't the best word I used. Maybe arrogantly intelletual or something is a better description, not sure.

With my very little knowledge (and I mean little, compared to the wealth of knowledge in this thread from others) of Zodiac... I guess for some reason I got this impression he considered himself sophisticated, maybe even saw himself as debonair.

But this side of him, the people he knew - didn't see it, almost like his alter ego. His secret side. In every day life he might've been seen as average but to himself with his secret he felt god-like, gradious and maybe oddly even morally superior and his victim's were below him.

Maybe it was all the letters and how perverse and almost amused he seemed that gives me that impression and some of the references I read about in them. No idea though, still like to hear all the ideas here on the thread.

You are definitely on to him, persona wise. Some FBI profilers have come to that same conclusion. If you go back in this thread a couple of months, I summarized one of the retired FBI profiler's ideas about him. You can also find that podcast which is really good stuff. My opinion: he was a chameleon. Hiding right there in plain site, probably right on the east side of Vallejo CA where confirmed crimes originated. Just a quiet regular guy, with no arrest record to speak of, probably sober as a judge, M-F working man. Somebody's brother, son, uncle. Sweet, gentle guy to his family. Nobody suspected a thing because of his acting job. There's a reason this guy hasn't been caught in 57 years plus and it wasn't just all luck like some folks love to say.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

You are definitely on to him, persona wise. Some FBI profilers have come to that same conclusion. If you go back in this thread a couple of months, I summarized one of the retired FBI profiler's ideas about him. You can also find that podcast which is really good stuff. My opinion: he was a chameleon. Hiding right there in plain site, probably right on the east side of Vallejo CA where confirmed crimes originated. Just a quiet regular guy, with no arrest record to speak of, probably sober as a judge, M-F working man. Somebody's brother, son, uncle. Sweet, gentle guy to his family. Nobody suspected a thing because of his acting job. There's a reason this guy hasn't been caught in 57 years plus and it wasn't just all luck like some folks love to say.

That's wild! I am trying to think... do you or others think he was a cultured man? Or a small town simple kind of man?

I keep veering torwards intellectual and cultured but that might be more who he thinks he is, not actually who he is if that makes sense. Is he well read? Educated? I think military was discussed or is that a psuedo thing he wishes he was? And a theatre buff or movie buff possibly.

The psychology interests me most of the time on these threads! I always like to try to guess personality traits a lot of the times. It interests me more than the gory graphic details haha

 

[dianewms]

I've read several books on Zodiac. Books offer many possible suspects--like Graysmith's first edition, in which he pointed a finger at someone who was later cleared by DNA. But a lot of people (myself included) thought we knew after the Graysmith book came out. (Edited to clarify: Graysmith made it seem like an open-and-shut case; the book made it sound like the police just needed to find the evidence because this guy in the Graysmith book MUST have been guilty, the way it was written.) It was a good lesson for me--don't be in a rush to let myself be convinced by a book!

My entirely unqualified guess is: Somebody we've never heard of. Like Jack the Ripper, I think Zodiac was some deeply twisted person living in the area, and my guess is that we don't know who, nobody's written a book about this guy yet. And like Saucy Jack, I think it's very unlikely that we will ever know for sure.

As I said, my opinions are idiosyncratic, and are entirely untainted by any trace of knowledge or training in this area. Good luck with the project! --ken

Theodore Kazinskys brother thought it could be him

 

[bdsjr]

That's wild! I am trying to think... do you or others think he was a cultured man? Or a small town simple kind of man?

I keep veering torwards intellectual and cultured but that might be more who he thinks he is, not actually who he is if that makes sense. Is he well read? Educated? I think military was discussed or is that a psuedo thing he wishes he was? And a theatre buff or movie buff possibly.

The psychology interests me most of the time on these threads! I always like to try to guess personality traits a lot of the times. It interests me more than the gory graphic details haha

Good questions! Here is what I think below. It's only my opinion and worth what you pay for it but I've been living in Vallejo and Napa California in the years 1968 and 1969 for 13 months straight now. I have been sleeping, eating, and breathing everything Zodiac including on Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com. Lol.

I suspect the following:
- He had an abnormal relationship with either his mother or father or both.
- He was an unassuming average Joe with a regular blue collar job (God bless Blue Collar or we wouldn't have anything at all). I just don't see him as a business executive, lawyer, or an engineer type, something that would require a complete dedication to a profession. He needed to pay bills but his mind was on other things so he needed something else including up to skilled labor. We've seen that with Gary Ridgeway, Dennis Rader, and JJ Deangelo.
- He probably served in the military but briefly with no achievements, just like the three guys mentioned above.
- He participated in no extracurricular activities, clubs, or sports while in high school, as that took time away from fantasy land time.
- He had few friends or girlfriends as a young person, preferring to live in his own fantasy land. If he did, he felt betrayed or jilted by them.
- He had a bit of a Napoleon complex but not manifest in day to day interactions with other people.
- He was a bit of an underachiever, non-managerial, at work but highly capable and reliable. He probably liked his job and had a long tenure there.
- He was well read, spending copious amount of time at the library. Remember, libraries used to have a bunch of newspapers from different big cities. He probably went to the library everyday during his spree to see what all of the bigger cities were saying about him.
- Self-educated through reading and studying his interests. Strong writing skills. Every one of his misspelled words was on purpose, just him playing games with the press and police.
- He loved movies for its escapism, dating back to his childhood days
- As a child, his favorite thing in the world was comic books, very common for that day. He loved brilliant villains like the Riddler, his favorite I think. The Red Mask Tim Holt #30 from 1952 is chocked full of the stuff he loved, including death, outsmarting police, and villainy (you can access it at Comic Books Plus website).
- I believe he was a gambling man, at nearby racetracks in Albany and Belmont, and casinos in Nevada.
- He loved killing. Believe him when he said it was better than sexual activity. Right before he stabbed Cecelia Shepard, he was shaking. Bryan thought it was nervousness. He'd already shot a minimum of four people at close range before this. It wasn't nerves. It was his lust for killing that was kicking into overdrive causing his heart rate to skyrocket much like a romantic encounter. Killing was orgasmic for him like BTK. I guarantee you until the day he died, he thought about how much he loved it. He would have never felt even the slightest bit of remorse, only joy for what he did and what he got away with. He never told a single other human being what he did. No one, not a wife, child, friend. He was a psychopath in every aspect of that term.
- He got married sometime in the early 70's. He told us that with his "Titwillow" Mikado signature in 1974.
- He loved the outwitting of the police. He beat them. He gave them so much to work with and still won. I think he was alive in January of 2001 sending taunting cards to a SF newspaper (60 years old or older by then). I highly suspect he's been dead for a long time now though, and his last waking moment, he probably gave a little chuckle about all of it.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Nice work @bdsjr Love reading and hearing the psych profiles. I think you're bang on from what I gather about it all.

 

[snarast]

Good questions! Here is what I think below. It's only my opinion and worth what you pay for it but I've been living in Vallejo and Napa California in the years 1968 and 1969 for 13 months straight now. I have been sleeping, eating, and breathing everything Zodiac including on Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com. Lol.

I suspect the following:
- He had an abnormal relationship with either his mother or father or both.
- He was an unassuming average Joe with a regular blue collar job (God bless Blue Collar or we wouldn't have anything at all). I just don't see him as a business executive, lawyer, or an engineer type, something that would require a complete dedication to a profession. He needed to pay bills but his mind was on other things so he needed something else including up to skilled labor. We've seen that with Gary Ridgeway, Dennis Rader, and JJ Deangelo.
- He probably served in the military but briefly with no achievements, just like the three guys mentioned above.
- He participated in no extracurricular activities, clubs, or sports while in high school, as that took time away from fantasy land time.
- He had few friends or girlfriends as a young person, preferring to live in his own fantasy land. If he did, he felt betrayed or jilted by them.
- He had a bit of a Napoleon complex but not manifest in day to day interactions with other people.
- He was a bit of an underachiever, non-managerial, at work but highly capable and reliable. He probably liked his job and had a long tenure there.
- He was well read, spending copious amount of time at the library. Remember, libraries used to have a bunch of newspapers from different big cities. He probably went to the library everyday during his spree to see what all of the bigger cities were saying about him.
- Self-educated through reading and studying his interests. Strong writing skills. Every one of his misspelled words was on purpose, just him playing games with the press and police.
- He loved movies for its escapism, dating back to his childhood days
- As a child, his favorite thing in the world was comic books, very common for that day. He loved brilliant villains like the Riddler, his favorite I think. The Red Mask Tim Holt #30 from 1952 is chocked full of the stuff he loved, including death, outsmarting police, and villainy (you can access it at Comic Books Plus website).
- I believe he was a gambling man, at nearby racetracks in Albany and Belmont, and casinos in Nevada.
- He loved killing. Believe him when he said it was better than sexual activity. Right before he stabbed Cecelia Shepard, he was shaking. Bryan thought it was nervousness. He'd already shot a minimum of four people at close range before this. It wasn't nerves. It was his lust for killing that was kicking into overdrive causing his heart rate to skyrocket much like a romantic encounter. Killing was orgasmic for him like BTK. I guarantee you until the day he died, he thought about how much he loved it. He would have never felt even the slightest bit of remorse, only joy for what he did and what he got away with. He never told a single other human being what he did. No one, not a wife, child, friend. He was a psychopath in every aspect of that term.
- He got married sometime in the early 70's. He told us that with his "Titwillow" Mikado signature in 1974.
- He loved the outwitting of the police. He beat them. He gave them so much to work with and still won. I think he was alive in January of 2001 sending taunting cards to a SF newspaper (60 years old or older by then). I highly suspect he's been dead for a long time now though, and his last waking moment, he probably gave a little chuckle about all of it.

I don’t think Z was unassuming like Rader. He didn’t have the same gut wrenching sadism - his verified murders are all flashy - with focus on taunting - not the victims’ - but the police.

I’m guessing he talked a lot, seemed a bit full of himself and had an internally unstable personality that made him feel omnipotent when he was able to kill people and also have all of San Francisco shaking in their boots.