5 – THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS

According to the hoax theory, other viable suspects were identified in each of the four “Zodiac” crimes. However, each of the four law enforcement agencies involved in the Zodiac case still consider the unknown “Zodiac” to be the best suspect. Police investigated many individuals and these names appear in the police files. The fact that these names appear in the police files is not evidence connecting them to the crimes.

Horan suggests that the absence of a ballistics report on a weapon belonging to an individual somehow indicates that the ballistics tests matched that weapon to the weapon used in the murders on Lake Herman Road. Most of the police files and other official documents available to the public were collected by various researchers over the years. No one has ever presented a “complete” set of the files, so there are pages missing from the collection available to the public. Horan’s theory of an alleged weapons match is not the most logical explanation. A ballistic match which identified the murder weapon would be direct evidence linking the gun to the crime which could be used in the prosecution of the killer regardless of previous theories blaming the Zodiac for the murders. The available evidence indicates that the Zodiac remains the most logical suspect.

Horan names the ex-husband and an alleged boyfriend of victim Darlene Ferrin as suspects in her murder. Horan has not presented any credible evidence that either man was involved in the murder or that they had any motive for killing Ferrin. The available police files contain no information which would lead any objective observer to conclude that these two men were responsible for the shooting at Blue Rock Springs Park. The available evidence indicates that the Zodiac remains the most logical suspect.

Horan mentions Dennis Land and others as “suspects” in the stabbing at Lake Berryessa but he has not presented any credible evidence to implicate them in the crime. Without such evidence, there is no reason to consider them suspects. The available evidence indicates that the Zodiac remains the most logical suspect.

Concerning the last “Zodiac” murder of cabdriver Paul Stine in San Francisco, Horan mentions that some cabdrivers were robbed in the area. Cabdrivers are often the victims of robbery but there is no evidence connecting Stine’s murder to any robberies. The evidence indicates that the Stine murder was the work of the individual who sent a letter in an envelope containing a piece of Stine’s blood stained shirt. The writer of the Zodiac letters claimed to be responsible for the murders on Lake Herman Road, at Blue Rock Springs Park, at Lake Berryessa, and in San Francisco. The most likely explanation is that the individual who killed Stine sent the letter accompanied by the piece of Stine’s shirt. According to the hoax theory, someone else murdered Stine and then a hoaxer or hoaxers took a piece of Stine’s shirt and created a fake “Zodiac” letter which falsely claimed responsibility for the murder. This hoax theory is not the most logical explanation for these events.

NEXT: Part VI – NO RESEMBLANCE

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Pt. 1 / Pt. 2 / Pt. 3 / Pt. 4 / Pt. 5 / Pt. 6 / Pt. 7 / Pt. 8