As the debate continued on the Internet, Davis then posted more information concerning the conspiracy. These statements, and the growing scrutiny surrounding the controversial claims, led this author to telephone Davis in an attempt to determine whether any evidence existed to support the tales of a cover-up at the LADA’s office. [Howard Davis and I met in person for the first time at the screening of Zodiac documentary titled HUNTING THE ZODIAC in March of 2007. The event was billed as a "task force meeting," promoted by notorious Zodiac con man Tom Voigt of the website Zodiackiller.com. Read more about my encounter with Howard Davis, and his twisted relationship with Voigt, in the ZodiackillerFACTS.com article AFTERMATH: The Rest of the Story.]

Davis was at first cooperative, and said, “Everything to tell, nothing to hide.” He offered the same information he had given Scott Bullock, and repeated the same details he had posted on the Internet. Davis explained that his brother-in-law trusted him, and had chosen to confide his cover-up secret to him. Davis admitted that he had never attempted to report the cover-up story to the proper authorities and had never attempted to verify the information provided to him during the conversation with his brother-in-law. He also stated that he had never attempted to contact his brother-in-law to discuss the 1974 conversation, or the ethical, moral and legal problems created by his continuing silence about the true solution to the still unsolved Zodiac crimes. He refused to provide the name of his brother-in-law, but did agree to consider revealing the name, and promised to call back soon with his decision.

Weeks passed without further word from Davis, and emails and telephone calls to the silent theorist went unanswered. At one point, a secretary called to explain that Mr. Davis was too busy to take any more phone calls. In an email to Davis, this author stated that a search of public records would produce the maiden name of his former wife and that this information would lead to the identity of her brother. Mr. Davis then responded with the name of his brother-in-law. However, he provided only the middle and last name, further complicating attempts to track own the individual in question and confirm his involvement in the Manson cases. Davis then provided the man’s first name and this author was able to confirm that an individual by that name had worked at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as a deputy district attorney in early 1974, but that this employment had lasted only for a few months.

The trial of Davis’ suspect, Bruce Davis, took place in 1972. If Davis’ brother-in-law was not a member of the DA’s office until 1974, it seemed doubtful he could have participated in the prosecution of Manson, Davis and others. When informed of this apparent discrepancy, Davis said that his brother-in-law could have been an investigator for the sheriff’s office. Efforts to locate and contact the brother-in-law were unsuccessful.

In an attempt to determine whether Davis’ brother-in-law was actually involved in the Manson trials, this author sought the help of noted author and famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. This writer believed Bugliosi was entitled to know that his colleagues had engineered a massive conspiracy to obstruct justice. After all, if the story told by Howard Davis was true, in fact, true, then the Zodiac murders were solved more than 30 years ago by a handful of individuals who have perpetrated one of the most nefarious and inexcusable crimes in American history.

Mr. Bugliosi did not respond to the first message left with his answering service, a request to discuss the Zodiac/Manson “connection.” Several days later, a second message asked to discuss the possibility that members of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office had conspired to conceal a Manson solution to the Zodiac case. Bugliosi responded within one hour of the second message.

After the traditional introductions, Mr. Bugliosi admitted he had “heard allegations” regarding the Zodiac/Manson theory, but said, “I’ve never heard of anything to support that allegation.” Bugliosi went further, and stated, “I doubt it very much. I think it would have come out by now.”

Bugliosi’s assessment seemed logical given the fact that the Manson family members were originally identified, captured, prosecuted, and convicted when several members confessed to other prisoners, cooperated with the police and testified for the prosecution. The family that, according to Howard Davis, has concealed the Zodiac crimes for more than three decades was unable to keep a secret for more than three months in 1969.

In later conversation, Bugliosi stated that he was unable to remember how he had first learned of the Zodiac/Manson theory. While he did remember meeting “Manson buff” Bill Nelson at “two book signings” and speaking to him on the phone a “few times,” Bugliosi did not recall discussing the Zodiac/Manson theory with him, and was surprised to learn the Nelson had been associated with the theory.

Bugliosi inquired as to the source of the theory and this writer explained that many people had speculated regarding this connection for many years, but a man named Howard Davis was the chief purveyor of the theory and had written a book on the subject. The name did not ring a bell with Bugliosi.

Comments attributed to Bugliosi by Davis were read to the former prosecutor, and, upon learning that he reportedly believed a Zodiac/Manson connection was “possible,” Bugliosi, obviously surprised and amused, said, “Really?” He added that the word “possible” was “overused.”

Bugliosi was baffled by the statements and opinions attributed to him, and, although he did not deny that he may have spoken to Davis, he had no memory of doing so. Bugliosi explained, “I don’t even remember talking to the guy … I’m sure if he spoke to me I’d have wished him the best,” and said that it was customary for him to do so when contacted by “any young writer starting out writing a book.”

The subject of the alleged conspiracy was of great interest to Bugliosi, and he asked for the name of the source of the story. When told that Davis claimed his brother-in-law had “helped to prosecute Manson and others,” Bugliosi was incredulous. He explained that he routinely encounters strangers and fans who claimed a friend or relative had worked on the Manson case in some respect, but “ninety-nine times out of a hundred there’s nothing there,” and that those making such claims wished “to attach themselves so feverishly to case because it’s a big case.” Bugliosi stressed that if the name of the individual in question did not appear in the book HELTER SKELTER then the individual was most likely not involved in the prosecution of the Manson family members.

Citing the names of what he described as the “small” staff that assisted him in the prosecution of Manson and his followers (including those who handled the prosecution of Bruce Davis), Bugliosi dismissed the notion that any one of them would keep such a secret from him, let alone participate in such a conspiracy. Bugliosi burst into laughter when told that the then-District Attorney Evelle J. Younger and others allegedly orchestrated the conspiracy and withheld the information from him.

After obtaining the name of Davis’ brother-in-law, this author asked Bugliosi whether the man had been involved in the prosecution of the Manson clan, and although Bugliosi thought the name sounded familiar, he did not recall anyone by that name working in his office at the time of the trials.

Informed of the details of the conspiracy, as described by Davis, Bugliosi proceeded to characterize the tale as “pure, unadulterated insanity,” and said that the scenario described was “preposterous on its face and obviously 100% wrong.” Unquestionably disturbed by the story, Bugliosi unequivocally stated, “I reject it completely out of hand.”

Understandably perplexed, Bugliosi asked, “If Manson committed more murders than the Manson murders, why would anyone want to protect him on that? … It makes no sense … what you’re talking about is a crime, obstruction of justice … a massive conspiracy of many, many people being involved, for no believable reason.”

Read the list of reasons given by Davis to justify the conspiracy, Bugliosi summarily dismissed each as implausible, illogical and without merit. “It would serve no end that would help the perpetrators (of the conspiracy).”

Davis’ suspect, Bruce Davis, was convicted of murder in 1972. Evelle Younger was elected Attorney General for the state of California in November of 1970, and took office in 1971. If Younger “knew” of and condoned the conspiracy in 1972 he was acting as Attorney General, and not as District Attorney, when he did so. The District Attorney in 1972 was Younger’s former assistant and successor, Joseph P. Busch.

Claims that a lack of funds or concerns regarding the cost of a trial could convince Evelle Younger or Busch to commit such a crime were laughable to Bugliosi. “The notion that the LA DA’s office would be covering up a massive crime up in San Francisco, for financial reasons, I mean, my God. The DA could never run for office again - forget about that, he’d be behind bars if he participated in a felony like this.”

Bugliosi explained that any trial concerning the Zodiac crimes would take place in Northern California, and, therefore, authorities and agencies in Southern California would not carry any financial burden.

As one familiar with the workings of the criminal justice system and the difficulties in prosecuting criminals in tough cases, Bugliosi scoffed at the claim that authorities feared “they could possibly lose (Bruce Davis) on the two 187’s they already, but barely got him on…”

The “two 187’s” Howard Davis referred to were the two crimes for which his suspect, Bruce Davis (and family member Steve Grogan) were convicted in 1972; the murders of Shorty Shea and Gary Hinman. Common sense and the law prove that these convictions could be not be overturned by any attempt to prosecute Davis for the Zodiac crimes. Absent the discovery of exculpatory evidence or procedural error, only proof of prosecutorial misconduct – or other criminal acts such as the conspiracy described by Howard Davis – could cause legal action that might result in the courts overturning Davis’ convictions.

The last consideration regarding the stress to the “girlfriends and wives” of those involved in the Manson case caused Bugliosi to laugh aloud, but he apparently found this reason unworthy of further comment.

Amused by the claims of a “secret” and “sealed file” on Davis or the conspiracy, Bugliosi exclaimed, “Oh my God, that’s preposterous.” After explaining that only a judge could order a file to be sealed, Bugliosi stated that such an action would make the judge a co-conspirator and a criminal. Furthermore, the judge, by making his participation in the conspiracy a matter of record, would assume full responsibility and liability for the actions of the other conspirators.

Howard Davis’ illogical and implausible tale did not impress Bugliosi, who said, “I just find the allegation absolutely inconceivable.”

As a recognized authority on the controversial debate surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Bugliosi has been working on a new book that he hopes will refute the many conspiracy claims which haunt that case. The allegation of a cover up in his own office reminded Bugliosi of similar tales told by those who claim the government has concealed the solution to the President’s murder. “I’m accustomed to dealing with this type of stuff on the Kennedy assassination … all I am doing on a daily basis is dealing with unbelievable allegations by the conspiracy theorists, and putting them down, and now they’re starting to come into the Manson case.”

Davis claimed that the Zodiac “hood, knife and other evidence” were discovered as authorities “were going through the personal effects” of an unidentified “male member of the Manson family.” Authorities allegedly made this explosive discovery during a search of a ranch “in Death Valley.”

Manson and his minions stayed at three ranches in Death Valley – the old Spahn Movie Ranch, Barker Ranch and Myers Ranch.

Los Angeles Police Department Sergeants Michael Nielson, Philip Sartuchi, Michael McGann, and Gene Karmodi, along with S.I.D. forensic chemist Joe Granado participated in the searches of Barker Ranch, along with Inyo County District Attorney Frank Fowles, his deputy district attorney Buck Gibbens and investigator Jack Gardiner. The search was supervised by Vincent Bugliosi, who conducted a similar search of Spahn Ranch.

Bugliosi and others traveled five miles into the treacherous terrain of the Panamint mountain range to reach Barker Ranch. There they set about searching for guns, knives, blood stained clothing and other evidence.

Myers Ranch was located approximately one quarter of a mile away from Barker Ranch, and was more accessible. If Bugliosi and others went to such lengths to travel to Barker Ranch in search of evidence it would seem reasonable that Bugliosi, and/or others also traveled to Myers Ranch for the same purpose.

Frank Fowles had conducted previous raids and searches of Barker Ranch and had confiscated many items that were catalogued and transferred to Bugliosi along with Manson-related documents and files. Bugliosi then examined the items in search of evidence that could link Manson and others to murder.

Unless authorities conducted another secret search for some inexplicable reason, these are the only searches of the Manson ranches in Death Valley. (Spahn Ranch burned down in September of 1970.) Since authorities did not realize the significance of the Zodiac evidence they allegedly uncovered they would have no reason to conceal its discovery.

By all accounts, all of the evidence available at the ranches for use in the prosecution of Manson, BruceDavis or anyone else was searched, collected, confiscated, catalogued, transported and held by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Inyo County District Attorney’s office, Vincent Bugliosi, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office by the end of the year 1969.

Authorities seized hundreds of items during the searches of the ranches. Bruce Davis and more than two dozen other members of the family used these items. It is doubtful that Davis affixed his name to all of his possessions, let alone the “hood, knife and other evidence” related to the Zodiac crimes. Unless Davis and/or others somehow identified these items as belonging to Davis, authorities would have no way of knowing who owned or used the evidence in question. If police identified the items as belonging to Davis using fingerprint comparisons or other evidentiary techniques, it is unlikely they would choose not to prosecute Davis with such strong evidence.

Howard Davis claimed that this “evidence” was “analyzed and sealed,” yet “did not go into the Evidence Room.” Mysterious and qualified evidence and lab technicians would be necessary to “analyze” the “evidence,” and would therefore become co-conspirators.

If authorities discovered the evidence in question in late 1969 but not connect these items to the Zodiac crimes until after Bruce Davis’ conviction in 1972, and this evidence “did not go into the Evidence Room,” one is left to wonder where this evidence was stored in the two year interim.

One of the many mysteries surrounding Howard Davis’ story is the disturbing disappearance of this secret yet crucial evidence. Destruction of this evidence would be a serious crime and storing it away (along with sealed files detailing the conspiracy) would leave a direct link to the conspirators that could expose the conspiracy. If the hood, knife and “other evidence” actually was actually discovered and suppressed by officials working for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, one if left to wonder what happened to this important evidence and solution to the greatest unsolved serial murder investigation in American history.

As described by Howard, this conspiracy has continued for more than 30 years and has remained undetected to this day. This list of possible conspirators is as follows:

- Attorney General Evelle Younger

- District Attorney Joseph P. Busch

- Others in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office

- Brother-in-law of Howard Davis

- An unidentified yet experienced legal “expert”

- Members of the Los Angeles Police department

- Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office

- Members of the Inyo County District Attorney’s office

- At least one judge

- One or more evidence technicians

- Bruce Davis and others in “the family”

- Howard Davis

Howard Davis once wrote, “Humans lie! And … professionals as well as Officers have proven to be liars, too! Lawyers lie as well! … My ex-brother-in-law DA has lots of stories about how honest the authorities are …”

This author was interested in the one story that mattered, and finally contacted Howard Davis’ brother-in-law to hear his side.

(The man in question did not ask to remain anonymous but is referred to here as BIL LAW.)

BIL LAW answered the phone and was friendly and cooperative. After learning that the caller was a writer in search of information regarding his employment at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, BIL LAW confirmed that he had worked for the office in early 1974, but left to pursue other opportunities after approximately six months. He explained that he had previously worked for the office as an investigator while he had attended law school, but had taken a job as a deputy district attorney after passing the bar exam and earning a license to practice law. He later became a prominent prosecutor and worked for the United States Department of Justice for many years until he recently retired.

When asked if he had ever been involved in the investigation or prosecution of any of the members of the Manson family, BIL LAW confirmed that he had been involved in the early investigations of several killings, including the 1969 murders of victims Rosemary and Leno LaBianca as well as the murders of Gary Hinman and Shorty Shea. He stated that this was the extent of his involvement in the cases and accurately reminded this author that the trials had been long over by the time he became a deputy district attorney.

This author then informed BIL LAW that a story had circulated for years that claimed members of the LADA’s office discovered evidence to link the Manson family to the Zodiac crimes, but that these individuals had conspired to conceal this important discovery. BIL LAW seemed genuinely surprised to hear such a sensational claim, and said, “I can’t believe that whoever suggested it has any credibility whatsoever.”

When he learned that his former brother-in-law, Howard Davis, had made this claim and cited a source within the DA’s office, BIL LAW sounded shocked and replied, “Is he claiming I said something like that?” When told that Howard had cited him as the source of the story, BIL LAW was not amused, and replied, “He’s a nutjob.”

BIL LAW stated that the conversation described by Davis had “never happened.” According to BIL LAW, those who had known Howard Davis did not consider him a credible person, and explained that Davis also “had some extraordinarily bizarre and fanciful so-called investigative insight into the Mormon church.”

In fact, Davis and other researchers had published such a book in 1977. Titled WHO REALLY WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON BOOK?, the book claimed that Joseph Smith used a manuscript written by Congregational minister and writer Solomon Spalding as the basis for the Book of Mormon. A 1977 article in TIME magazine stated that Davis and his co-authors had relied “on the sometimes shaky science of handwriting analysis,” and had responded “somewhat lamely” to criticism of the book’s conclusions. The article ended with the note that the Mormon Church remained “unruffled” by the sensational claims of Howard Davis and his fellow conspiracy theorists.

During an appearance at a Sunday Bible Class at the Melodyland Fellowship Center in Anaheim, California, July 10, 1977, Howard Davis reportedly told the audience that he and his co-authors had received death threats. “I'm dead serious about this ... But our lives are definitely in danger ... Please don't think we're afraid … We are not afraid ... trying to fight a multi-billion dollar organization that is trying to take over the economy of the United States - they're right on time-and we are operating with very, very limited funds."

BIL LAW saw a similar pattern in Howard’s career as a Zodiac/Manson conspiracy theorist. “He has no credibility,” he said. “I think he’s kind of a harmless guy, [but] a responsible journalist would not use Howard [as a source].” He scoffed at the notion that he trusted Howard and would choose to confide in him. “Do you think I would confide anything to Howard Davis?”

When asked whether he had ever discussed the Zodiac case with Howard, BIL LAW said that he could not recall any such conversation. He stated that, if Howard had asked him to speculate as to the reasons for the disappearance of the Zodiac, he would have cited the usual explanation that the killer was most likely in prison, or dead.

BIL LAW denied any knowledge of a discovery of Zodiac evidence by the LADA’s office and denied that he had ever told Howard such a tale. He also said that Howard’s ex-wife, BIL LAW’s sister, had never confronted him about the cover-up story, and he encouraged this author to contact her to confirm his story. Disturbed by the allegations, BIL LAW said that Howard Davis had invented the fantastical story, and added, “He’s delusional.”

Davis had promised that he would submit to a polygraph examination if BIL LAW would do so as well. BIL LAW considered this challenge little more than empty grandstanding. He told this author that he had nothing to prove to Howard, and he would let the public decide who had more credibility.

This author then contacted Howard Davis to report that BIL LAW had refuted his story. Davis did not respond to the first email, but, after a second, he later wrote, “I am unable to discuss some matters about my information.” He stated that he would not stop his “work” on the so-called Zodiac/Manson connection and declared that his conspiracy “project is all that counts.”

Howard Davis continues his attempts to convince the world that Charles Manson and his murderous family were responsible for the Zodiac crimes, via Internet message boards and his website, www.zodiacmurders.com. He remains undeterred by the lack of evidence to support his theory and seems unaware that he has presented none.

During his appearance on a UFO conspiracy radio show, Howard Davis told listeners, “As a researcher, I want to look at black and whites. I don’t want to fool myself.”

If Howard Davis believes that he has fooled this author with his conspiracy claims, he is only fooling himself.