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Zodiac: The Manson Murder-for-Hire Organization

PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:03 pm
by proldic
Continued from previous thread...<br> <br>Napa Sentinel September 9, 2005<br><br>UNSOLVED MURDERS OF THE NAPA VALLEY: Zodiac <br><br>by Harry V. Martin<br><br>- pts 8 + 9 -<br><br><br>'Zodiac arrest tied to Charles Manson family<br>(Part Eight of the Zodiac Series)<br><br>There exists a sealed file in Southern California which indicates that a man surrendered to authorities who was involved in two murders. The 28-year-old man turned himself in to police in November 1970 after the murders of Cheri Jo Bates, Betty Lou Jensen, David Faraday, Darlene Ferrin, Cecilia Shepherd, Paul Stine and several other murders that may be linked to the Zodiac.<br><br>When the man surrendered he was not questioned in reference to the Zodiac killings. He surrendered when the leader of his group told him to do so. The man is still in prison for two murders. Normally, files of convicted murderers are not sealed. This man's file is sealed and actually has a false identity number associated with it.<br><br>While investigating the crimes of this man and his group, Southern California authorities came across a startling development - it was so startling that it required a secret conference with the District Attorney's office. What the law enforcement authorities found was irrefutable evidence linking this man with the Zodiac murders. The evidence included the carefully and professionally sewn hood worn in the Lake Berryessa murder of Cecilia Shepherd and weapons linked to Zodiac killings were also found.<br><br>The man who was arrested had a close association with the Mikado - lyrics from this musical play about the Lord High Executioner were found in Zodiac notes. The man was a former newspaper editor which might account for Zodiac's fascination with newspaper publicity. The man also had direct connections to a teletype through the newspaper - one of the clues in the Zodiac case.<br><br>The man also had two scars on his chin - exactly as described by Kathleen Johns after her two hour abduction on March 22, 1970. These scars were not well publicized. After the abduction of Kathleen Johns and after she reported these scars, this man grew a beard. He fits the exact description of a man seen with Darlene Ferrin before she was killed - a man she stated she had seen kill someone.<br><br>This man lived in Anaheim and worked on the campus of Riverside College in 1966 - where Cheri Jo Bates was killed. Within days of her body being found, he abruptly left Anaheim and moved to Washington State. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The man was not only a student of Scientology, but worked in the Scientology mail room in London. In the Zodiac notes, it indicates that man is the most dangerous animal of all - the same philosophy appears in Scientology literature.<br><br>The dangerous group that this man belonged to had connections with the highest circles of society and was able to attract financing from these circles.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>This man was arrested on October 12, 1969 and released on October 22, 1969. Paul Stein was murdered on October 11, 1969. Darlene Ferrin indicated that the man she saw kill someone and of whom she was afraid, had just returned from out-of-state. This man returned to the State of California right at the same time Darlene had made her statement. Records show he owned some vehicles which were described by victims or witnesses.<br><br>Much of the information fell into the hands of Southern California law enforcement - but they had a problem. They had the man dead-to-rights for two murder convictions and they felt the introduction of the Zodiac concept might jeopardize a guaranteed conviction. They also felt that he would be punished for murder so why take a chance in compounding the case. Southern California law enforcement officials did not consider the Zodiac a major priority - after all, most of the known murders took place in Northern California. But perhaps the most convincing argument the law enforcement agency used in hushing up the case was the fact that it would cost $2.5 million for a Zodiac trial in those days and several police jurisdictions would become involved. The Southern California law enforcement agency did not have a high regard for Northern California law enforcement, considering them local yokels.<br><br>Despite the evidence, the Southern California law enforcement agency made an arbitrary decision - to seal the Zodiac material and the files on this man. They decided to prosecute him for, two murders, get a conviction and have the man punished. This information was never communicated to Northern California or the State Attorney General's Office - and is virtually only known by a handful of officers and the FBI.<br><br>But this man was not alone in the killings and they were not just random murders - they had a specific purpose. Darlene Ferrin apparently knew what the purpose was because she associated with the man and his group. It was such a sinister and shocking purpose that she revealed to her sister the fact that soon she would be able to read about a very big story in the newspapers. That big story was the agenda of the TEAM ZODIAC and the invention of Zodiac was not even on the drawing board at the time - it was used for convenience to protect the cause for which 37 people eventually died. The 37 are not all the victims generally associated with zodiac - they include even a few famous names.<br><br>Who was this man? What was the plot? What group did he associate with? How does he tie in with some of the other suspects? What other proof exists?<br><br>The reason why the Southern California law enforcement agency decided to bury the Zodiac case and the evidence it collected, was to protect the case they were prosecuting. Some weapons and a professionally sewn hood, believed to be associated with the Zodiac murders were confiscated in an October 1969 raid of a Death Valley Ranch. <br><br>The Zodiac claimed 37 murders - and it was a team effort. But in tracing various murders, it has been learned that some of the suspected Zodiac killings may not have been Zodiac at all. While other murders that were not associated with the Zodiac case should have been.<br><br>The Southern California law enforcement agency had a different agenda than its Northern California counterparts. Northern California was the scene of the Zodiac murders, Southern California wasn't - or at least that was the perception. The Southern California law enforcement had an ironclad death penalty case on their suspect without the Zodiac case. The suspect's file was sealed and with it evidence in the Zodiac case. But there was another factor involved, as well. The law enforcement officials were exhausted and burned out having investigated another series of murders - they didn't need the additional details of the Zodiac case. Two detectives in San Francisco visited Southern California and may have been given the facts of the Southern California discoveries. The two detectives returned to San Francisco and remained mute about what they had learned in Southern California about the Zodiac case. This silence was not typical of these officers. At about the same time as their return to San Francisco it was announced the Zodiac investigation was closed.<br><br>Even Attorney General Evelle Younger, a candidate for Governor, agreed to keep the findings quiet.<br><br>The organization, which owned the evidence in the Zodiac case, ironically was sharing headlines with the Zodiac. The suspect focused on by the Southern California law enforcement was Bruce Davis, a 26-year-old man, who not only held the evidence seized, but who also had many matching features of the Zodiac. Davis was a principal disciple and member of the Charles Manson family.<br><br>In construction work in 1966, Davis lived in Anaheim and worked on a construction project at Riverside Junior College. Cheri Jo Bates was murdered on October 30, 1966 - during a full moon. Davis abruptly left the area within days of the murder and went to Washington State without leaving any forwarding address. At the time of Cheri Jo Bates' death, Davis was not part of the Manson family. It should be noted that no credit was taken for Bates' murder until 1969, after the death of Darlene Ferrin in Vallejo.<br><br>The Manson family was taught the concept of sex slaves in Paradise, which is exactly the verbiage used in the Zodiac letters. The reference to the Mikado in the Zodiac letters becomes more frightening as the Manson concept is interwoven. Not only did Davis participate in the Mikado, but so too did Manson. And the Manson family endeared themselves to the concept of the Lord High Executioner - the lead role in the Mikado. One of the more frightening aspects of one Zodiac note was the phrase "a little list of society's offenders". Some of Manson's targets were society characters. Manson also incorporated the Process in his work and was even featured in the Process magazine after his conviction for murder. The Process has been linked to Satanic rituals. The Process emblem is a cross in a circle - very similar to that used by the Zodiac and one in Manson's San Quentin cell and on his body. The symbol, under the Process definition, means, "Christ - Lord and Master of Death".<br><br>Davis worked in the London Mail Room of the Church of Scientology in 1968. He returned to California at the same time Darlene Ferrin indicated that a man, who came back after being out-of-state, was the man she saw commit a murder. She was afraid of him and told her sister that a major story would be printed in the newspaper very soon. That was on July 3, 1969. Manson's Helter Skelter Plan - a race war -was scheduled to be launched on August 1, 1969. Was this the story Darlene was alluding to.<br><br>Darlene was killed about the same time other drug dealers were slain. In order to launch the Helter Skelter Plan, Manson had ordered a tighter control of drug sales. Those dealers who did not cooperate were slain. Several months before her death, Darlene had run-ins with a man fitting Davis' description - but not necessarily him. The man questioned Darlene constantly about her source of funds. She was spending more than her waitress wages and was questioned about it. Several dealers who did not pay up or account for funding were killed by the Manson family around July 1969. Darlene could have been one of those victims.<br><br>A lot of the Manson family lived in Vallejo, Napa and Benicia. In fact, records at San Quentin, where Manson was on Death Row, show signatures of visitors from this area. The death of 18-year-old Robin Graham in November 1970 fit the pattern of the Ferrin murder and the Kathleen Johns abduction - a car would pull up behind, drive off, and return again parking in an angle similar to a CHP stop. A 1953 Corvette was reported at the scene of Graham's abduction - the same model and make owned by Davis. Davis also owned a 60 Chevy Impala in the 60s - another link to Zodiac.<br><br>All the Zodiac letters posted from San Francisco occurred while Davis was in the Bay Area. When he was once incarcerated at Pleasanton, a Zodiac letter was mailed. When he was in jail in Southern California, it again coincided to the exact dates the Zodiac letters were sent with the Southern California postmarks.<br><br>Davis was arrested the day after San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine's murder. He lived in Northern California from December 1968 to December 1969 - the same time zone as the Zodiac Northern California murders. He was in Lake Tahoe at the time of Donna Lass' disappearance.<br><br>The body of Charles Manson's uncle was found in London at the end of November 1969. Davis has always been the prime suspect in that murder. The body had many savage stab wounds - similar to these experienced by Cheri Jo Bates and Cecilia Shepard. The body and the area where the body was found all bore Zodiac symbols. The London Police never linked the California Zodiac case to the murder - probably because they were not aware of it.<br><br>The most compelling evidence in this case, besides Davis' physical features - after Kathleen Johns described her abductor as having two scars on his chin, Davis immediately grew a beard hiding two scars on his chin - dates and linkage to Zodiac crimes, is the fact that hard evidence was apparently seized by law enforcement in 1970. But Davis did not work alone - he had the help of the Manson Family. But who helped to finance the Manson Family? Who used them in murder-for-hire? Who supplied them with their drugs? What other hard evidence exists? And what does the house and the man at Washington and Maple streets have to do with all this?<br><br>(To be continued.)<br><br>ZODIAC: The Manson murder-for-hire organization<br>Unsolved Murders of the Napa Valley<br><br>by Harry V. Martin<br><br>(Part Nine of the Zodiac) <br><br>One of the strangest things about the Zodiac case is perhaps the origins of Zodiac, it self. On October 30, 1966 Cheri Jo Bates was brutally murdered in Riverside. No one claimed responsibility for her murder until 1969- after the death of Darlene Ferrin in Vallejo.<br><br>Nearly two months after the Bates murder, a teleplay was performed. These teleplays continued the next day and into January 1967. What was so remarkable about the teleplays is that events in the teleplay parallel signature activities of the Zodiac. The teleplay was the Batman series, starring Ceasar Romero and Burgess Meredith as the villains. Epode 65 was entitled The Puzzles Are Coming and episode 71 was entitled The Zodiac Crimes.<br><br>In the Zodiac Crimes, disguised maps were used, mysterious letters were sent to law enforcement, the Zodiac symbols were used, puzzling cryptograms were sent to the Police, and false clues were provided, even rhymes were provided as clues. But the Batman series was not the only influence used in the Zodiac case – lyrics from the Beatles and lyrics from the Mikado all became part of the Zodiac M.O.<br><br>These same M.O.s parallel the discoveries in the Charles Manson case - the same Zodiac symbols, the same lyrics from the Beatles and the Mikado. Murders were committed during full moons for both the Zodiac and the Manson cases. The Manson murders appeared scattered and unrelated. The Zodiac murders appeared the same. But each had a succinct pattern. Manson's Helter Skelter plan was to ignite a black-white Armageddon which would end ultimately in power for Manson and his Family. The Zodiac claims to have committed 37 murders. The Manson Family is believed to have committed between 35 and 40 murders.<br><br>Manson, like Zodiac, has been wrapped in a mystic of the occult - but the occult was a ruse. Manson spoke of sex slaves in Paradise, the Zodiac letters referred to sex slaves in Paradise. The Manson murders took place in the late 60 and early 70. The Zodiac murders took place in the late 60s and early 70s.<br><br>In both the Manson case and the Zodiac case, it has clearly been shown that there was a lack of liaison between law enforcement agencies. Manson used the coded message, generally from the Beatles' music or his selective prophecies of the Biblical revelations. The Zodiac used the same type of coded message.<br><br>Other experts say that Manson's Helter Skelter was not the motivation behind the Manson Family murders - the Family was simply an organization similar to Murder For Hire. In many of the cases believed to be associated with the Manson Family in Southern California, there are remarkable parallel features to the Northern California murders. In Sonoma County and in San Francisco, the victims' bodies were hurled into ravines – the same pattern emerges in Southern California. The body of Marina Habe was found on New Year's Day 1969-11 days after the Vallejo shooting of Betty Lou Jensen and David Farrady – Habe’s body was found hurled into a ravine on Mulholland Drive. Like the Sonoma County and San Francisco victims, Marina was missing for two-and-half days. At the Manson trial, links to Marina were drawn.<br><br>A national investigation was launched by Maury Terry, author of the Ultimate Evil, which involves law enforcement and investigators, claims that a team of killers has been established in New York, North Dakota, Houston and Los Angeles have "willingly put themselves in the services of others, drug lords and power brokers:, in need of reliable assassins. David Berkowitz, who was supposed to be the lone killer known as Son of Sam in New York, belonged to this group, as did Manson. And the group is run by a disciple of L. Ron Hubbard, the creator of Scientology. Part of the Manson family goal was the eradication of drug dealers.<br><br>If the Zodiac was an insane madman, much of the evidence sought would easily be found because serial killers keep mementos. But with the Zodiac letters virtually being a hoax, the writer was calculating and not a mad man. There would be nothing to collect. However, Bruce Davis, a Manson follower, had kept the weapons and the sewn costume worn in the Berryessa murder.<br><br>There were only nine "definite" victims of the Zodiac, according to law enforcement. Three of those victims sur¬vived, six died. But of those nine "definite" victims, there was not one killer, but perhaps as many as four - four seemingly unrelated murders. Only the Zodiac letters link the victims, but not the evidence.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The Zodiac case is one of the biggest con jobs in the annals of serial killing in the United States</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> and led to the most expensive criminal wild goose chase in American history. Next week, the conclusion to the series will be published, naming each of the victims and each of their assailants.<br><br>The myth of the Zodiac has perplexed the San Francisco Bay Area for 41 years. If the October 30,1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside is to be counted as part of the Zodiac crimes then the identity of the Zodiac has been a mystery for 43 years. Hundreds of theories and thousands of suspects have surfaced throughout this time - but no arrest has been made specifically in the Zodiac case. There was the arrest of Bruce Davis on two murder counts, but the startling evidence found in his desert abode were definitely linked to many of the murders claimed by the Zodiac, but Southern Californian law enforcement officials sealed the evidence to ensure a solid conviction on the two murder cases they had; they did not want to complicate a trial linked to the Zodiac when they had a sure conviction any way.<br><br>Nor is it likely that a Zodiac arrest will ever take place because law enforcement officials in all jurisdictions have lost interest in the case and do not wish to spend any time or money in reopening an investigation. Even the Napa County Sheriff'’s Department, usually very cooperative in these matters, will not allow access to their files on the Zodiac case. The San Francisco police officer once assigned to the case has virtually indicated that no one cares anymore. There is too much modern crime that requires full time attention.<br><br>But for people who have lived in California since the late 1960s and early 1970s, there is a morbid fascination about the Zodiac case. The colorful, horrible image of a serial killer has drawn audiences to Jack the Ripper, Son of Sam, the Night Stalker, the Boston Strangler and the Trailside Strangler cases, like it has the Zodiac case. Of all those cases, however, the Zodiac is a fake - it was a clever maturation scheme to decoy the main target.<br><br>A MYTH WAS BORN<br><br>The Zodiac myth was born on July 11, 1969-a week after the murder of Darlene Ferrin. Robert Graysmith wrote in his book Zodiac, "No killer since Jack the Ripper had written the press and taunted the police with clues to his iden¬tity. The letters strangeness ensnared me. Irretrievably hooked, immediately obsessed, I wanted to solve what I felt was to become one of the great mysteries." The letter claimed responsibility for the Betty Lou Jensen-David Faraday murders on Lake Herman Road on December 20, 1968 and that of Darlene Ferrin on Blue Rock Springs Road on July 4, 1969. There was no mention of the Cheri Jo Bates murder in Riverside on October 30,1966. The first letter did not even use the name Zodiac - it was an invention of a letter to the editor by someone who theorized the cross and circle mark was a Zodiac sign. After that, the writer of the letters to the media and police began to identify himself as the Zodiac.<br><br>The fifth letter from the Zodiac was mailed on the Monday after San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine was murdered. A piece of his blood-stained shirt was enclosed in the letter to provide authenticity to the entire Zodiac letters. The pattern of confusion began - different weapons, different jurisdiction, different types of victims, different suspect descriptions. But one universal theme in the Zodiac case prevailed - the letters. A Special Report from the California Department of Justice on the Zodiac Homicides states, "Pending receipt of any additional evidence, hand printing is the most positive method of identification or elimination of suspects." The entire Zodiac case hinged on the letters - nothing more because nothing matched from the various crimes. The last correspondence in the Zodiac case for a three year period was on March 13,1971 and March 21,1971. The last letter was presumed to be about Donna Lass, who disappeared on September 6,1970- perhaps the last traceable victim of the "Zodiac". Her body was never found.<br><br>Because evidence was conflicting, law enforcement officials in different jurisdictions rejected suspects from other jurisdictions. The case was too complex to solve because no agency could find the same composite evidence on any of their suspects - nor would they be able to. Even with the inability of law enforcement to focus on one suspect, most of them have rejected the theory that there was more than one killer. That inability to focus beyond the point of a sin¬gle "madman" theory is the reason the case has never been solved.<br><br>Examining the method of death and various relationships of the victim to the suspects, the following conclusions may be drawn:<br><br>VICTIMS AND ASSAILANTS<br><br>• The person who killed Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside also killed Cecilia Shepherd in Lake Berryessa, and was responsi¬ble for murders in Southern California and in London. This is the same person who abducted Kathleen Johns.<br><br>• The person who killed Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo was not involved in any other "Zodiac" mur¬ders¬<br><br>• The person or persons who killed Darlene Ferrin in Vallejo may have had association with the killer of Bates and Shepherd, but the crime was isolated from the "Zodiac" murders.<br><br>• The person who murdered Paul Stine was also associated with the abduction and probable murder of Donna Lass.<br><br>BRUCE DAVIS<br><br>For years the speculation surrounding the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30,1966, has run the gamut from a Satanic ritual murder to the Zodiac or a spurned lover. Because the Zodiac never identified the Cheri Jo Bates murder in his original letters, it is believed that the addition of her murder to the "Zodiac list" was an after thought designed to thwart law enforcement officials. But the Zodiac letter eventually claiming credit for the Bates murder - a letter written three years later - had to be based on a knowledge of the victim and the crime - but not necessarily from a killer's standpoint. This point will be addressed later in this article.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The method of death [Zodiac]...parallels the method of death for...the London slaying of Charles Manson's uncle in 1970.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Foot and heel prints from military shoes were found at the scene of both the Bates and the Shepherd murders. Evidence seized in the arrest of Manson disciple Bruce Davis included a hood and weapons associated with the Shepherd murder. In each of these deaths, the victims were stabbed many times - virtually butchered.<br><br>Davis, who is serving a life sentence for the Tate-La Bianca murders in Southern California, was also known to be involved in Shea's murder. The only loose end is the Cheri Jo Bates murder. However, Davis worked on the Riverside Community College construction project and may have made an advance toward Bates, which was rejected. The possible tie-in with Davis to the Bates murder is that he has been known to disable vehicles of lone females - and those females have disappeared. He matches the description given by Kathleen Johns, who was abducted for three hours on March 22,1970. Her car was also disabled, as was the Bates car and other cars of female victims that have disappeared and then found murdered. Johns even identified two scars on the chin of her abductor, which are identical to those of Davis. The fact that Southern California law enforcement officials have found a hood and weapons matching the Shepherd murder in Lake Berryessa is compelling evidence. Manson's uncle's slaying was while Davis was in flight from the law. The various symbols found on or near the body matched those of the other murders and Zodiac signs. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>He is still the prime suspect in the London case.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>But Davis could not be the murderer of Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on Lake Herman Road. Davis was working in the Scientology Mail Room in London from November 1968 to April 1969. Davis turned himself in on a murder charge on December 2, 1970 and has been incarcerated since. The Zodiac letter revealing the probable murder of Donna Lass was not mailed until March 1971- Davis was in prison at the time. In almost every murder Davis has been investigated along with the search for evidence that was either a knife or bayonet involved. Cecilia Shepherd was murder. <br><br>Davis, who can be directly tied to the evidence found by law enforcement officials to the Cecilia Shepherd murder, provides sufficient evidence that there is more than one killer involved in the Zodiac case. Of the seven incidents law enforcement officials related to the Zodiac case, Davis must be at least eliminated from two of them. Davis' handwrit¬ing, which the Sentinel has copies of, does not match that of the Zodiac letters. In the Cecilia Shepherd case, Davis apparently cashed in on the Zodiac letters, by writing the dates of the Jensen-Faraday, Ferrin and Shepherd murders. But the information provided was not detailed. It states "Vallejo 12-20-68 for the Jensen-Faraday murders, "7-4-69" and "Sept. 27-69-6:30 by knife". If Davis had full knowledge of the Jensen-Faraday and Ferris murders, he would have written times and method as he did with the Shepherd stabbing.<br><br>Davis did live in Northern California at the time of the crimes and, in fact, was living in Napa County prior to his surrender for murder. He surrendered himself on orders from Charles Manson. At the time of Bates' murder, Davis was not a member of the Manson Family. After the murder, Davis fled to the State of Washington.<br><br>How does this fit with Robert E. Hunter? And what other people are involved? Next week we will conclude the series.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.napasentinel.com/ArticleTemplate.php?id=237&pid=1">www.napasentinel.com/Arti...=237&pid=1</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>