Here we will touch on some of the claims by Thomas Horan, author of several books including The Myth of the Zodiac Killer. The following will examine the claim that the author of the August 4th 1969 Debut of Zodiac letter may have acquired his information directly from the Blue Rock Springs police report and not the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper, as the August 4th letter stated. If this were true, it could mean that [1] The Zodiac Killer had access to the police reports, or [2] The author of the Debut of Zodiac letter was not the killer, but somebody laying claim to the two attacks thus far under the Zodiac pseudonym. Either way, this would have major ramifications regarding the Zodiac story as a whole. Below is a newspaper cutting from the Vallejo Times-Herald on July 6th 1969 (two days after the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park).
George Bryant lived just 800 feet from the parking lot at Blue Rock Springs and recalled the firecrackers and gunshots that night. As the murderer's vehicle left the scene, George Bryant described "the car take off at a high rate of speed, peeling rubber and cutting corners. He wasn't sure, but he thought it was headed to the freeway". The author of the Debut of Zodiac letter claimed this is where he read about the version of events by George Bryant, retorting "I did not leave the cene of the killing with squealling tires + raceing engine as described in the Vallejo paper. I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car".
There is a subtle difference between the two accounts, in that the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper article refers to peeling rubber, whereas the Debut of Zodiac letter alters this to squealling tires. When we take a look at page 15 of the Blue Rock Springs police report regarding George Bryant, it states that after the gunshots ceased "he then heard a car take off at super speed and it burned rubber and was squealing its tires as it sped along the road".
It can be seen that the "Zodiac Killer" in the August 4th 1969 Debut letter described squealling tires, while the police report on July 7th 1969 described the car as squealing its tires. Is this an unfortunate coincidence of common phraseology, or did the author of the Debut of Zodiac letter inadvertently use the language he had read in the Blue Rock Springs police report?.
There is a subtle difference between the two accounts, in that the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper article refers to peeling rubber, whereas the Debut of Zodiac letter alters this to squealling tires. When we take a look at page 15 of the Blue Rock Springs police report regarding George Bryant, it states that after the gunshots ceased "he then heard a car take off at super speed and it burned rubber and was squealing its tires as it sped along the road".
It can be seen that the "Zodiac Killer" in the August 4th 1969 Debut letter described squealling tires, while the police report on July 7th 1969 described the car as squealing its tires. Is this an unfortunate coincidence of common phraseology, or did the author of the Debut of Zodiac letter inadvertently use the language he had read in the Blue Rock Springs police report?.
