Zodiac Killer: Difference between revisions

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A letter to the ''Chronicle'', postmarked May 8, 1974, featured a complaint that the movie ''[[Badlands (film)|Badlands]]'' (1973) was "murder-glorification" and asked the paper to cut its advertisements. Signed only "A citizen", the handwriting, tone, and surface irony were all similar to earlier Zodiac communications.<ref name="ReferenceA">Flaherty 1993, p. 44.</ref> The ''Chronicle'' subsequently received an anonymous letter postmarked July 8, 1974, complaining of their publishing the writings of the [[Antifeminism|antifeminist]] columnist Marco Spinelli. The letter was signed "the Red Phantom (red with rage)". The Zodiac's authorship of this letter is debated.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
 
In 1976, several letters were sent to a San Francisco newspaper praising David Toschi's investigative work. These letters were eventually discovered to be written by Toschi himself. He was removed from the Zodiac case in 1978, and he later said he regretted writing the letters. Also in 1978, a letter was sent to ''Chronicle'' columnist [[Armistead Maupin]] that claimed to be from the Zodiac himself. It was alleged the Toschi wrote the letter, which he and the SFPD denied; Thethe SFPD had compared the handwriting of the letter with Toschi's handwriting.<ref name="Genzlinger-2018">{{cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=January 12, 2018 |title=David Toschi, 86, Detective Who Pursued the Zodiac Killer, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/obituaries/david-toschi-86-detective-who-pursued-the-zodiac-killer-dies.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180116153532/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/obituaries/david-toschi-86-detective-who-pursued-the-zodiac-killer-dies.html |archive-date=January 16, 2018 |access-date=February 19, 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 16, 1978 |title=Police Officials on Coast Deny Inspector Forged Zodiac Letters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/16/archives/police-officials-on-coast-deny-inspector-forged-zodiac-letters.html?searchResultPosition=47 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>
 
On March 3, 2007, an [[American Greetings]] [[Christmas card]] sent to the ''Chronicle'', postmarked 1990 in [[Eureka, California|Eureka]], was re-discovered in the paper's photo files by editorial assistant Daniel King. This letter was handed over to the Vallejo police.<ref>Williams, Lance. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/03/MNG37OETI71.DTL&hw=zodiac+christmas+card&sn=001&sc=1000 "Zodiac's written clues fascinate document expert"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916230629/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F03%2F03%2FMNG37OETI71.DTL&hw=zodiac+christmas+card&sn=001&sc=1000 |date=September 16, 2011 }} ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', March 3, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2007.</ref> Inside the envelope, with the card, was a photocopy of two [[United States Post Office]] keys on a magnet keychain. The handwriting on the envelope resembles Zodiac's print but was declared inauthentic by forensic document examiner Lloyd Cunningham; however, not all Zodiac experts agree with Cunningham's analysis.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2007/03/04/zodiac-did-killer-send-card-in-1990/|title=Zodiac: Did killer send card in 1990?|last=Freedman|first=Rich|work=[[Vallejo Times Herald]]|date=March 3, 2007|access-date=March 16, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125171929/https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2007/03/04/zodiac-did-killer-send-card-in-1990/ |archive-date=January 25, 2023 }}</ref> The discovery "electrified" Zodiac researchers; the letter, if it is real, disproves the theory that the Zodiac stopped killing due to his own death or imprisonment, and many theorized he could still have been alive.<ref name="Harris-2007" />