The Knoxville News Sentinel The March 13th 1971 and March 22nd 1971 communications were effectively claiming murders from October 1966 and September 1970. However, the next murder Zodiac would ultimately claim, occurred just four days after the San Francisco, California release of Tom Hanson's "Zodiac Killer" (April 7th 1971). This movie was advertised extensively in the San Francisco Chronicle the week before, and several days after the murder of Kathy Bilek on April 11th 1971 "in the woods" of Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. The movie poster and advertisements carried the wording from the Confession letter, mailed on November 29th 1966 after the Cheri Jo Bates murder, a month earlier. It read "Keep your sisters, daughters and wives off the streets", Or Zodiac Says "I lay awake nights; thinking of my next victim" (see foot of article).
Two days after this movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 13th 1971, a "Zodiac" letter was received at the San Jose Sheriff's Office dated "Thursday", which was April 15th 1971. It was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector". On the same day the movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle (April 13th 1971), newspaper reports from around the country asked the question of whether Zodiac was responsible for the murder of Kathy Bilek (including The Riverside Press), stating "the teenager might be another victim of the Zodiac Killer".
Therefore, we.have the San Francisco Chronicle and The Riverside Press newspapers using the phrases "next victim" and "another victim" on the same day. Followed two days later by a suggested Zodiac letter on April 15th 1971, which the local San Jose newspaper reported as a communication that spoke of "Zodiac" and "another victim". The newspaper also mentioned that the letter told of a girl who works in a hospital, who could be his "next victim". It appears that the author was incorporating phrases from the newspapers into his correspondence, which could demonstrate attentiveness to any story related to the Zodiac Killer. The letter was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector", whereas the threat of a "next victim" in one of the Confession letters from 1966, was addressed to "Homicide Detail". This letter was mailed one month after the Zodiac Killer admitted to "riverside activity" on March 13th 1971, which included a promised "next victim" in Riverside in 1966.
Two days after this movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 13th 1971, a "Zodiac" letter was received at the San Jose Sheriff's Office dated "Thursday", which was April 15th 1971. It was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector". On the same day the movie was advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle (April 13th 1971), newspaper reports from around the country asked the question of whether Zodiac was responsible for the murder of Kathy Bilek (including The Riverside Press), stating "the teenager might be another victim of the Zodiac Killer".
Therefore, we.have the San Francisco Chronicle and The Riverside Press newspapers using the phrases "next victim" and "another victim" on the same day. Followed two days later by a suggested Zodiac letter on April 15th 1971, which the local San Jose newspaper reported as a communication that spoke of "Zodiac" and "another victim". The newspaper also mentioned that the letter told of a girl who works in a hospital, who could be his "next victim". It appears that the author was incorporating phrases from the newspapers into his correspondence, which could demonstrate attentiveness to any story related to the Zodiac Killer. The letter was addressed to the "Homicide Inspector", whereas the threat of a "next victim" in one of the Confession letters from 1966, was addressed to "Homicide Detail". This letter was mailed one month after the Zodiac Killer admitted to "riverside activity" on March 13th 1971, which included a promised "next victim" in Riverside in 1966.
APRIL 13TH 1971
THE LETTER MAILED TO THE SAN JOSE SHERIFF'S OFFICE ON APRIL 15TH 1971
KATHY BILEK, "IN THE WOODS DIES APRIL" The April 15th 1971 letter wasn't the first time a claimed Zodiac Killer wrote to San Jose law enforcement. A letter was mailed to the San Jose Police Department on November 21st 1969 threatening a widow in San Jose, which resulted in police providing the woman with 24 hours of protection. This current author would not have been aware of that threat, because the November 21st 1969 communication has never been released into the public domain. Unless of course, the current author was the Zodiac Killer - and he wrote both letters.
Another curious feature of the April 15th 1971 letter, is the suggestion that the "next victim" could be a girl who works in a hospital. On August 1st 1973 the Zodiac Killer seemed to confirm this wish by writing a letter to the Albany Times Union newspaper and threatening that the location of his "next victim" would be the Albany Medical Center in New York. The letter read "You were wrong I am not dead or in the hospital. I am alive and I'm going to start killing again. Below is the name and location of my next victim. But you had better hurry because I'm going to kill her August 10th at 5:00 PM when the shift change". The thought being that the Zodiac Killer was promising to murder a female nurse.
It really is no surprise that in May 1971 and on July 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer would mail a further two communications laying claim to the murder of Kathy Bilek (18), alongside his previously claimed victims of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14), murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. And that he would link the May 1971 and August 1st 1973 cryptograms together through ciphertext and plaintext similarities.
Another curious feature of the April 15th 1971 letter, is the suggestion that the "next victim" could be a girl who works in a hospital. On August 1st 1973 the Zodiac Killer seemed to confirm this wish by writing a letter to the Albany Times Union newspaper and threatening that the location of his "next victim" would be the Albany Medical Center in New York. The letter read "You were wrong I am not dead or in the hospital. I am alive and I'm going to start killing again. Below is the name and location of my next victim. But you had better hurry because I'm going to kill her August 10th at 5:00 PM when the shift change". The thought being that the Zodiac Killer was promising to murder a female nurse.
It really is no surprise that in May 1971 and on July 13th 1971, the Zodiac Killer would mail a further two communications laying claim to the murder of Kathy Bilek (18), alongside his previously claimed victims of Kathie Reyne Snoozy (15) and Debra Gaye Furlong (14), murdered in San Jose on August 3rd 1969. And that he would link the May 1971 and August 1st 1973 cryptograms together through ciphertext and plaintext similarities.
THE OMEN OF DEATH On Sunday, April 11th 1971, Kathy Bilek (18) visited Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, having planned to read a paperback book (The Gabriel Hounds) and engage in a spot of bird watching in the seclusion of a remote, wooded portion of the park, near a small stream. Her body was found the next day by her father, Charles, while Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies searched nearby. She had been stabbed 17 times in the back and 32 times in her chest and stomach.
The Gabriel Hounds is a romantic mystery by Mary Stewart, set in Lebanon. The "Gabriel Hounds" are spectral hounds in folklore, believed to foretell death or misfortune to those who hear their howls, and are associated with the crumbling palace of Dar Ibrahim in the Adonis Valley of Lebanon.
A FOUR YEAR JOURNEY TO TOMBSTONE
ANOTHER "ZODIAC" LETTER ON APRIL 15TH 1971
The Gabriel Hounds is a romantic mystery by Mary Stewart, set in Lebanon. The "Gabriel Hounds" are spectral hounds in folklore, believed to foretell death or misfortune to those who hear their howls, and are associated with the crumbling palace of Dar Ibrahim in the Adonis Valley of Lebanon.
A FOUR YEAR JOURNEY TO TOMBSTONE
ANOTHER "ZODIAC" LETTER ON APRIL 15TH 1971
A POEM BY ERNEST M'GAFFEY FROM 1888
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, APRIL 13TH 1971