THE DMV LETTER, PAUL AVERY AND HERB CAEN

Seemingly inspired by the Confession letter mailed on November 29th 1966 and published in the Inside Detective magazine in January 1969, the Zodiac Killer used the words "twich", "sqwirm" and "victom" in his Little List letter on July 26th 1970, followed by the Halloween card on October 27th 1970, in which he used the words "by" and called himself "Z" for the first time. Cheri Jo Bates was found murdered on Halloween morning. with three letters arriving five months later on April 30th 1967, of which, two were described in the newspapers as carrying the signature "Z". Phil Sins and Paul Avery would explore the notion that the Zodiac Killer may have dropped some clues to investigators and deliberately fashioned these communications to force a conclusion that he was the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 in Riverside. Some investigators concluded that the Halloween card was a direct threat towards journalist Paul Avery, who he addressed on the envelope of the correspondence. In fact, it would only be five months before the Zodiac Killer again addressed the journalist, when he wrote "att. paul averly = chronicle" on the Pines postcard on March 22nd 1971.

​An exclusive report by Paul Avery, sandwiched between the Halloween card and Pines card, was released by the San Francisco Chronicle on November 16th 1970 (and covered by the Riverside Press-Enterprise) detailing the forged connection between the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates and the Zodiac Killer case in Northern California. It's without doubt that the Zodiac Killer was heavily focused on the San Francisco Chronicle and Paul Avery at this moment in time, because in addition to the November 16th 1970 Chronicle article, a column authored by Herb Caen on November 25th 1970, described how Paul Avery had communicated with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requesting the "personalized" license plates reading "ZODIAC". As Zodiac researcher Jibberjabber pointed out, this is one of the rare occurrences where "Paul Avery", "Zodiac", "Herb Caen" and a request to the "DMV" would arise in one newspaper publication. If there was ever a time when the Zodiac Killer would have written to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, this was it. There has been much speculation on what may have inspired the yet to be seen DMV letter, allegedly mailed by the Zodiac Killer on an undetermined date during his reign of terror. Paul Avery requesting a "personalized" license plate from the DMV using the pseudonym "ZODIAC" during the height of his activity, would have been the perfect time. Had the Zodiac Killer's response been prompt, then we have the possibility of the mysterious DMV letter being mailed by the Bay Area murderer in late November or early December 1970.  

Unless there has been crossed wires, and the communication by Paul Avery requesting "ZODIAC" license plates from the Department of Motor Vehicles is the mysterious DMV letter, then a yet to be unearthed letter mailed by the Zodiac Killer in late 1970 is a distinct possibility.

A big thanks to Zodiac researcher Jibberjabber, who suggested this as a realistic inspiration for the elusive DMV letter. Also, I would like to thank Jarett Kobek for his assistance in allowing me to use a screenshot from his book, Motor Spirit: The Long Hunt for the Zodiac, and for sending me the newspaper cutting from Herb Caen's column on November 25th 1970. Jarett Kobek's book, How to Find Zodiac, can be found by clicking the link provided. The personalized license plate article provided is courtesy of Cragle.