Dec. 20, 2006) Now that the trailer to the upcoming Zodiac movie is finally in theaters, I’ve decided to publish some new documents relating to Arthur Leigh Allen, the movie’s main Zodiac suspect. Guilty or not, Allen was a fascinating guy:
— Allen’s Last Will And Testament | More of Allen’s Favorite Recipes —
Reading his recipes, it’s interesting to note the intentional misspellings Allen frequently used, similar to what the Zodiac did. Of particular interest to me was Allen’s habit of frequently spelling “water” as watter (see the Dec. 1, 2006 update below for significance).
> Today is the 38th anniversary of the Zodiac’s double murder at Lake Herman Road in Vallejo, Cal. For those of you who missed it, click here for my special 2003 update.
Oct. 31, 2006) Today is the 40th anniversary of the murder of Cheri Jo Bates.
—–> Click here for a huge 
update
Oct. 11, 2006) Add the “Zodiac Shack” to the list of Zodiac-related places to change drastically in recent times. As seen in this overhead picture, the shack has been destroyed by fire. Even the barn is gone.
Sept. 27, 2006) On this date in 1969, the Zodiac murdered Cecelia Shepard and wounded Bryan Hartnell at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, Calif. For almost 38 years, the crime scene changed little. However, the last remaining tree recently toppled. Additionally, all picnic tables and barbecue grills have been removed. The scene is now barren.
> The Lake Berryessa crime scene wasn’t the only major Zodiac-related site to recently face drastic changes. The Vallejo (Calif.) Ace Hardware store, long-time workplace of Zodiac suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, was torn down just a few days ago.
July 4, 2006) On this 37th anniversary of Zodiac’s murder of Darlene Ferrin in Vallejo, Calif., here’s an audio message from Darlene’s sister, Pam Huckaby.
June 12, 2006) After years of searching, I’ve finally found and interviewed Nancy Slover, the former Vallejo Police Dept. switchboard operator who spoke with the Zodiac early in the morning of July 5, 1969. Believe it or not, our 90-minute conversation was the first time Nancy had been interviewed about the Zodiac case in more than 36 years. It was quite an interesting discussion, to say the least. I’m thrilled she is now willing to go on record for the first time about her roll in the Zodiac mystery.
Much more info is on the way and will be posted asap. For now, here are a few of the more interesting details Nancy provided:
*The call was absolutely not recorded by police
*Zodiac’s taunting “Goodbye” at the end of the call was very bizarre and over-the-top
*The operator who patched the call through to the police station was on the line with Nancy for at least the first few seconds of the call. However, the phone company refused to cooperate with the police and identify the operator
*At the time of the shooting, Nancy was living on the same street as the male victim
Here’s a message from Nancy to all the visitors of Zodiackiller.com. (100K/MP3)
Questions and media inquiries for Nancy can be submitted to nancy@zodiackiller.com.
> Last week’s Zodiac chat with author Mike Kelleher went great, as Mike spent a little more than two hours answering questions from the 60 or so total participants. Hopefully we can schedule another chat in the near future.
June 1, 2006) Mike Kelleher, author of This Is The Zodiac Speaking, will be a special guest in the Zodiackiller.com chat room on Wednesday, June 7 @ 7 p.m. (Pacific Time). For those of you who can’t make it into the room, feel free to send me your questions/comments for Mike and I’ll do my best to pass them along.
April 13, 2006) I’m sad to announce that Wilma Shepard, mother of Zodiac victim Cecelia Shepard, died on March 11, 2006, in Redding, Calif. She was 82. (Read the obituary.)
In 1999, I had the good fortune to speak with Wilma at length. She provided me with many vintage newspaper stories about Cecelia’s murder, as well as other helpful research materials.
Wilma outlived her daughter by more than 35 years and never learned the identity of her killer. I know she wouldn’t want us to stop searching now.
— Wilma and Cecelia | A letter from Wilma —
April 4, 2006) After some technical difficulties, the Zodiackiller.com Info Line is back in action. If you have any Zodiac-related information to share, call (415) 267-4818. Meanwhile, here are a few of the more interesting/entertaining calls I’ve received over the last year or so, all in MP3 format:
Call 1 (157 KB) | Call 2 (69 KB) | Call 3 (173 KB) | Call 4 (106 KB) | Call 5 (102 KB)
March 17, 2006) Today marks the first time in 35 years that a film about the Zodiac case is in theaters. (See the Feb. 17, 2006 update below for info about where The Zodiac is playing. I’ll be screening the film shortly and will provide a review.)
*1971 saw the release of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, which was based on the Zodiac case, although the villain was called Scorpio
*1971 was also the year of the ultra-low budget The Zodiac Killer, which played in just one theater
Feb. 17, 2006) ShadowMachine Films has provided its much-anticipated theatrical release date for The Zodiac: Opening night is March 17, 2006 in these cities/theaters:
*San Francisco Area — San Francisco (Presidio); Vallejo (Vallejo 14); San Jose (Century 25); Daly City (Daly City 20); Union City (Union City 25)
*Los Angeles (Sunset 5)
*Houston (Greenway Grand 24)
*Dallas (City Place 14)
*Atlanta (Atlantic Station)
