- AK Wilks wrote:
- Rand
I was glad you joined here, and glad I helped you post some of your early TH pictures.
I have read all of your material with interest.
I have a strong belief that the evidence shows Kaczynski was likely the Zodiac. Yet I try to keep an open mind and I read about other suspects, and have even passed along info on other POI's to law enforcement, and privately helped other researchers with POI's different than mine.
You make a good case that TH should be considered a legitimate suspect. Certainly I would say the evidence you present makes a case that LE should at least check out TH. To that end, if you have any ability to get the DNA of TH - which could come from a letter or stamp he sent, or even a comb he used - I can talk to you via PM and let you know what I have learned about the process, and would probably even share my contact info (which I mostly refuse to give out) on LE so you could perhaps get this done. I assume TH has prints on file because of his arrest. I can also share my experience and info about how you may start the difficult porocess of trying to get LE to do a fingerprint check. Though, if TH's prints were placed in the FBI computer system, they should have already been automatically compared to the possible Z prints which should be in the system. Still, given the variables, there is no substitute for an expert making a visual comparison.
You have shows TH has a basic similarity to the Z Sketch, a paranoid angry mind, a surpressed sexual deviancy, interest in guns, some knowledge of bombs and some circumstantial evdience that he could be Z. As I said, enough to make me think he should be checked out.
But do I think it is likely TH is Z? No. Here are some of the major problems I see, and I think some in LE would see:
1. There does not seem to be ANY evidence, even a whisper, a hint, a sighting, ANYTHING, to show TH was alive from 1968 on. I find it very hard to think - if TH were alive - he never encounters police for 40 years. Never pops his head up. Even when Bircher hero Reagan was elected in 1980, even after the cold war ends, the militia movement starts in the 1990's, nothing.
2. TH was motivated by his beliefs in anti-communism, anti-liberalism, anti-hippies and anti-federal government. Yet none of this matches what Zodiac did. Zodiac blew away clean cut college kids in lovers lanes. How does that match up with TH and the MM? I see no match up there. If TH was going to become overtly violent, I see him trying to kill a communist, a federal official, a radical, a Black Panther.
3. Other than the car shooting incident - for which some might say he had a legitimate motive - we don't see much of a record of actual violence with TH. To go from indecent exposure to a serial killer is a pretty big leap, and we don't see anything in between.
4. The indecent exposure incident - was he nude sunbathing with his wife? If so, that is not much of a sex crime.
5. While MM had codes, I don't see much evidence that TH himself was known to be a code expert, or have an interest in circles, math and symbols that Zodiac had. No known interest in Norse. Any interest in theatre?
6. Overall, a right wing political oddball like TH does not seem (IMO) to fit or feel like Zodiac.
7. Timing wise wouldn't it be almost impossible for him to have killed Bates?
8. A basic similarity to the SF Z sketch is there, but Johns description of 150 pounds and 30 years old would not fit, not would Mageau's first description of 25 to 30 years old. TH was 35 and 36 in 1969 and 1970, but he looked about 5 years older IMO, and he must have been at least 200 pounds.
Those are my thoughts. But as I said, I stand ready to help you if you can get something going on the DNA front.
AK: No disrespect, but how in the world could you summarize what I've found in such a cursory and misleading way. Here's what you condense all of my findings to:"You have shows TH has a basic similarity to the Z Sketch, a paranoid angry mind, a surpressed sexual deviancy, interest in guns, some knowledge of bombs and some circumstantial evdience that he could be Z."
Huh?!!
What about the Little List connections? the Gilbert and Sullivan? the Jolly Roger, the by gun, by knife, by rope, by fire...
Here's my list (below). Please go through each item and tell me how all these SPECIFIC connecions can be explained away.
It's incredible to me that I can make a list of 50 or more items, very specific things, and it appears that people don't read it or won't directly confront what I've presented. It's frustrating as heck.
But I'm not angry with you, so please don't read this as anger. You like TK. But he's already been checked out and no matches.
As for TH not being alive -- how can you say he was dead? Where's the body? I know the stories about his supposed death inside out and backwards. The stories don't add up. If you want, I'll go through all the details with you. The plain truth is: he simply disappeared. My guess -- and it's an educated one -- is that, after he did the crimes in SF, he went to Canada. Either Canada or Nebraska. Look, I spoke with his wife, Bettie, and she said she didn't remember anything about LE finding his car on the side of the road or where. Yet, she put this information in the papers (not where, she wouldn't say. Why?). The story of his death stinks to high heaven. And (I'm going to bold here for emphasis not anger): HE SAID HE WAS GOING UNDERGROUND TO LEAD A GUERRILA DEATH SQUAD IN APRIL 1967, RIGHT BEFORE HE DISAPPEARED. WHAT'S NOT TO BELIEVE ABOUT HIS DISAPPEARANCE UNDERGROUND? HE WAS BROKE; HE COULDN'T PAY HIS LAW BILLS, AND HE WANTED THE KILLING TO BEGIN.
You're wrong about nude sunbathing. He was flashing two young girls on horseback in 1957. Then, right before he disappeared, he flashed two young girls outside a mall (Jan. 1967).
The skeleton flasher on the HC tells it all: LET ME CLUE YOU IN.
Here's the list again (yesh!)
TH shot out the tires of a woman's car in 1964; Z talked about shooting out the tires of a school bus.
TH targeted young girls to flash; Z talked about targeting "kiddies"
*******************
DAYS OF THE MURDERS: SIGNIFICANCE TO MM AND TH
December 20: LHR. 4 years to the day that TH shot out the tires of the woman's car while she was in the car. The day prior to TH's first son's, Troy's, 13th birthday.
July 4th: Blue Rock Springs murder (Darlene Ferrin). Independence Day.
Sept 27th: Lake Berryessa murder. Samuel Adams was born on Sept. 27, 1722. Paul Revere's ride was to warn Adams and Hancock.
"Although Gage had evidently decided against seizing Adams and Hancock, Patriots initially believed otherwise. From Boston, Joseph Warren dispatched Paul Revere to warn the two that British troops were on the move and might attempt to arrest them. As Hancock and Adams made their escape, the first shots of the war began at Lexington and Concord. Soon after the battle, Gage issued a proclamation granting a general pardon to all who would "lay down their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects"—with the exceptions of Hancock and Samuel Adams. Singling out Hancock and Adams in this manner only added to their renown among Patriots, and, according to Patriot historian Mercy Otis Warren, perhaps exaggerated the importance of the two men."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams Oct. 11th: Stine murdered. It was Columbus Day weekend and the murder happened at Washington and Cherry.
*******************
TH was written about in a nationally syndicated column with Little List in the title
The MM were compared to G&S in a series of articles on the MM in the Arizona Republic in 1968. DePugh thought this expose was important enough to respond to with a letter when he was a fugitive in NM.
TH fits the composite in terms of height, weight, stocky, widow's peak, age, brownish curly hair
TH was speaking at the Jolly Roger Inn, CA when guns were drawn and this incident appeared in the LA Times and other papers. Z sent a Jolly Roger greeting card.
TH's wife and father-in-law owned art supply companies; the MM did their own publishing
TH was convicted twice of flashing. The image on the HC is, IMO, of a flasher
The by gun, by knife, by rope, by fire image forms a tH. The MM decal has by knife, by rope, by fire and a crosshair symbol. By fire: Houghton committed arson at age 14. His lawyer died in a fire after failing to get him an
appeal -- a lawyer who TH claimed sold him up the river
TH had a class A license in explosives. He owned a company called Trojan Mining and
Blasting Co. Z used the word BLAST.
A mysterious letter was sent after CJB murder from a
Patricia Hautz...Troy HAUGHTON.
In The Minutemen, Harry wrote: "Houghton sported a button on his coat reading 'S.O.B.' -- for 'Sweep Out Brown.'"
So TH wore snarky buttons, while Z insisted people wear his button and spoke of silly buttons like Melvin Eats Bluber
TH was a member of the White Knights of the KKK.
A Dragon is portrayed on the original KKK flag (Dragon card). The Good Citizen was a KKK publication. 5 of the 7 elements of the KKK are water, hood, robe, sword, cross (represented as a Celtic cross in a circle). All elements present at LB. The other two are god and country.
The MM decal talks about a poison pen. The dripping-pen card may be a poison pen letter.
Most of the murders were committed on days and/or in places that are symbolic of the Revolutionary period.
TH talked about 13 bullet holes in his car. The postcard has 13 holes punched in it.
The MM flag was a Betsy Ross flag with 13 stars. 13 eyes on the HC.
The FBI suspected the Minutemen were in the hills in Deer Lodge MT when the escaped Deer Lodge convicts were up there as well. Z claimed to be an escaped convict from Deer Lodge prison.
The MM were trained in codes, ciphers, mail deception, letters to the editor, making bombs, how to use a rifle, and other guerilla tactics. All of these are consistent with what we know about Z.
TH had a shortwave radio in his office that he relied upon for his safety. (THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING).
TH was a regional coordinator for the Minutemen. Z placed a clock-stamp on the envelope of the Exorcist letter:
http://www.zodiackiller.com/ExorcistEnvelope.htmlTH's name can be found in the 408; and +he Minutemen can be found in the code when the last 18 letters of the translation are recoded.
The Minutemen(crosshair symbol) fits the My Name Is cipher in terms of letter and symbol distribution.
TH's voice was described as "toneless" in the Look Magazine article.
Z put 13 eyes on the inside of the HC. TH was featured in LOOK magazine.
TH says in the Look article in 1966 that he and the MM were apolitical -- beyond politics, which had let them down too many times to care about anymore.
TH was on the front page and pages of the LA Times dozens of times. Z said that he was writing to the LA Times because they don't bury him on the back pages like some of the others.
TH said right before he disappeared that he had a list of people who would be murdered.
TH was arrested on a concealed weapons charge and a Federal weapons charge for using a silencer.
TH was accused of harrassing Mosk, who in response to these and other MM activities introduced a bill to ban mail-order guns in CA. The bill was successful. Z talked about acquiring one of his guns prior to the mail-order ban.
The MM put decals of a crosshair on cars. Z put a crosshair and wrote on Hartnell's door.
TH drove a beatup white car. Z was said to be driving a light-colored or white car; there were four different tires on his car at LB.
BRS occurred on July 4th, LB was on Adam's birthday (Paul Revere's ride to warn Adams); Stine occurred on Columbus Day weekend; LHR occurred 4 years to the day when TH shot out the tires of the woman's car and was the night prior to TH's first son's, Troy's, 13th birthday.
The San Diego Honeymoon murders seem very similiar to Z's murders. TH lived in San Diego.
CJB's murder occurred on the very night when a large MM bust occurred in NY. A watch (Minute man) was found at the scene. The teletyped letter reads very much like the MM decal (Harry noticed this). TH was most probably in LA with DePugh that afternoon at a MM fundraiser. The CJB murder and the MM bust appeared together on the front pages of the Southern California newspapers.
TH was booked for malicious destruction of property for clipping out two pages from a library book in 1966.
CJB was murdered when she left the RCC library in 1966.
In July 1969, Belli represented a murderer (the trunk murderer) who had gone underground using a fake identity for over 35 years, and this appeared in all the California newspapers, esp. Bay Area ones.
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img96/6051/houghtonbellifugitive19.jpghttps://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img651/6051/houghtonbellifugitive19.jpgBelli was also Jack Ruby's lawyer. The MM were implicated in the JFK assassination TH said he immediately went underground after the assassination. Oswald himself mentioned the MM several times in his writings.
Eleven days after the JFK assassination, a letter postmarked Lancaster CA was sent to Dallas that looks very much like a Z letter:
http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/04/0403-002.gif Houghton's right-hand man, Dennis Mower, lived in Lancaster, CA. JFK can be seen in the backwards letters in the Diablo code.
And while the TH handwriting is inconclusive because it's cursive and Z didn't write much in cursive, there are some very compelling, IMO, comparisons:
Haughton's TH
TH from Bates Letter:
Troy's T with distinctive curl at the end:
The R in Riverside on the Hautz envelope with distinctive curl at the end:
This is from this envelope
Another very odd and characteristic similarity is that Troy makes his t's without crossing them. He comes back at the end of the word and crosses it.
Notice that in the Hautz envelope, the writer started Enterprise but then crossed it out. The t was made just as Troy makes it: a loop but there is no cross, as if that would be made at the end of the word coming back.
THE POISON PEN:
THE GUN, THE ROPE, THE KNIFE
THE FIRE
LIBRARY CRIMES AND RH:
Cheri Jo Bates was murdered on Oct. 30, 1966. The MM had a huge bust in NYC that afternoon and Troy and DePugh were in LA earlier in the day. Bates was murdered outside Riverside Community College Library, where she had been before meeting her killer. Houghton was arrested in 1966 for tearing out pages of a library book.
The Riverside Desktop Poem, found by a janitor months afterwards, is signed rh. Obviously, h could be for Houghton. What's the r? Z signed a letter in 1971, the Red Phantom (red with rage). Could the r be red with rage? Could it mean red with rage Houghton? I assume that writing on the underside of a library desktop would also qualify as malicious destruction of property.
GREETING CARDS: Here is a letter written to Troy Houghton in 1965. Notice Cook, the sender, says: "your 'greeting card' has stimulated my curiousity"
Like Z, Troy used Greeting Cards in his mailings. This is very odd, though I know you don't agree. I did a search of 10s of thousands of FBI documents, and the only greeting card was sent by Troy Houghton. Greeting cards are sent all the time. But both Zodiac and Houghton sent greeting cards for reasons that had nothing to do with holidays, illness, sympathy, birthdays, etc. That is odd. Here is Troy's greeting card:
The significance of Z's claim that the LA Times "don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others" In the March 13, 1971 letter to the LA Times (click here:
http://www.zodiackiller.com/LATimesLetter.html ), Z said that he was writing to the LA Times because "they don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others." During my research of the Minutemen in the newspaper archives, I've noticed that The LA Times featured many stories -- far and away the most stories of any newspaper -- about Houghton (virtually anything he did that was mildly newsworthy) and the Minutemen. The Bay Area papers ignored both Houghton and the Minutemen; and when they did run stories about them, they were buried on the back pages. Everyone thinks that Z's comment about burying him in the back pages was a complaint about not getting coverage for his activities. But this makes no sense: the Bay Area papers gave the Zodiac far more coverage than any other newspapers in the country (for good reason). So there's been lots of discussion about what Z could have meant by this strange statement that the LA Times "don't bury him on the back pages." The confusion arises from the assumption that Z was a nobody in his everyday life. Once that preconception is jettisoned, the seemingly odd statement seems to be a clue that Z was known not just for being Zodiac but for his everyday identity. I think it's Houghton pointing out that the LA Times covers his exploits more than any other paper.
The Necessary "Montana Connection":From the LA Times, Paul Coates, "New Revere On Horseback," Oct. 5, 1965: "Haughton suggest that members could obtain 'survival' books from a firm called Pilgrims Torch in Colorado. He said that Poor Richard's Book Shop in Hollywood had moved to Montana during the recent Watts riot and had taken all their material with them." Montana is important because, when Z killed Shepard and stabbed Hartnell at Lake Berryessa, he claimed to be an escaped prisoner from Deer Lodge Prison in Montana (here's Hartnell's interview soon after the attack where he mentions this:
http://www.zodiackiller.com/HartnellInterview2.html ). So Z would have had to be somewhat familiar with Montana. The move of Poor Richard's Book Shop and Houghton's mention of this in 1965, provide a significant connection between Houghton and Montana.
More important: Z mentioned that he was an escaped convict from Deer Lodge prison in July 1969. So I research it, and voila: there were 12 escaped convicts from Deer Lodge in July 1968. They were all returned, but there was still an armed mystery man in the mountains. The FBI suspects that the mystery man or men in the mountains -- who clubbed a woman on the head, stole her car, ammo, and three high-powered rifles -- was a Minuteman or Minutemen. Why would Z say he was an escaped convict from, of all places, Deer Lodge prison? It makes little sense, unless he was in the mountains when they escaped. Z's own words got me researching Deer Lodge escapees. And then the research leads directly to (of all the groups and people in the world) the Minutemen. Just another coincidence, I suppose.
The Citizen Card, May 8, 1974: A Clue to Z's "Minuteman identity":Back:
http://www.zodiackiller.com/CitizenCard1.htmlFront:
http://www.zodiackiller.com/CitizenCard2.htmlNotice Zodiac chose a Samuel Adams stamp for the Citizen letter (the signature, "a citizen," also smacks of the Revolutionary period). The purpose of Paul Revere's famous "Midnight Ride" from Boston to Lexington was to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the movements of the British Army, which was beginning a march from Boston to Lexington, ostensibly to arrest Hancock and Adams and seize the weapons stores in Concord. And, get this: Adams was born on the September 27, the same date as the murder at Lake Berryessa/Monticello. And Paul Revere died May 10, 1818. The Citizen Letter was sent on May 8, 1974.
The±Minutemen
How? The letter distribution of the cipher is the same as for The Minutemen:
The My Name Is cipher code:
AEN±8K8M8^NAM
2 As
2 Ms
2 Ns
3 8s
1 E
1 K
1± (crosshair symbol)
THE±MINUTEMEN
2 Ms
2 Ns
2 Ts
3 Es
1 H
1 U
1 ± (crosshair symbol)
So you can get The±Minutemen from the My Name Is cipher as an anagram.
TROY HOUGHTON WAS, IMO, A FUGITIVE WHO WENT UNDERGROUND. WAS Z UNDERGROUND?
Little List letter: Z made this line up. Why?
As someday it may happen that a victom must be found. I've got a little list. I've got a little list, of society
offenders who might well be underground who would never be missed who would never be missed.
Examiner letter:
BusBomb Letter, p. 3:
+ I said yes there was this man who was runnig by waveing a gun & the cops peeled rubber + went around the corner as I directed them + I disappeared into the park a block + a half away
never to be seen again.
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