Troy Houghton: The Minuteman

Here's another. NOTE THAT THE FBI LABELS HOUGHTON AS TOO UNSTABLE TO BE RELIED UPON:

Here's an FBI document, in which TROY HOUGHTON IS CALLED A "SCREWBALL."

rand wrote:

BIG NEWS! I've found out from a most reliable source that Troy Houghton "did like the Mikado, though he was more into Glen Miller and jazz."

That's all I can say at this time. I'll fill in the details later.

I'm reposting this because it's pretty big news IMO.

Perhaps he wasn't an informant AGAINST the MM but for patriotic reasons he was an agent/informant to get info from the anti or pro castro agents or possibly "hate" groups. Clearly DePugh informed on such a hate group...but also allowed them to use the organization name since they had a common goal even if he didn't approve of their methods. I think TH could have been a loyal MM and willing to work against anti-communist. You have shown that there was a fair number of well placed military leaders on the MM mailing list...so obviously you can be a loyal government agent and a loyal MM patriot. Perhaps a FOIA for the FBI isn't the only place to look...maybe the ATF was involved.

Reason I say this. You posted a FBI report that TH contacted a pro or anti-castro or perhaps puerto rico group to offer assistance in the late 1950s BEFORE he joined the MM. Now say TH really did tell the truth that he had been a gun runner for the CIA in Guatemala in the 50's (assuming around the time 1953-1955). Obviously DePugh and others believed he did. He had 1.) explosives training 2.) weapons training 3.) radio training and 4.) ANTI communist. All very important tools used by the CIA in Guatemala to train the locals. He did not get this training in the Army. Maybe he was just a braggart or a guy with mental problems and delusions of grandeur...but obviously he had enough on the ball for DePugh to trust him with so much.

Guatemala is well known to have been used as a training location for anti-castro forces for the failed Bay of Pigs. There was a plan to do a coup in Guatemala earlier in the 50's by Truman/CIA but got canceled then re planned under Eisenhower. Who knows exactly what TH meant by saying he did gun running. It might have been a short excursion to Panama to assist transfer of arms or perhaps more. It is not too far a stretch to think perhaps TH who appeared to be extremely patriotic and anti communist would offer his services to a group who was fighting communist while also being true and loyal to the cause of DePugh. As I have learned there were alot of different Minutemen branches R and L of the spectrum.

It just that TH so completely disappeared IF he was not killed by DePugh. His life style was such that even his own family expected his long absences and when he disappeared everyone just assumed his true and loyal DePugh (who he would take a bullet for) had him killed. His wife didn't even TRY to get him declared dead from what I have read. Perhaps that is wrong. I don't know how long you have to try and find a long lost husband before you can divorce him.

BUT if he is the Zodiac...he did not disappear, he only appeared to disappear. Maybe it is easier to do than we know...but that would be very stressful to have to live that way...at least the first few years or a decade. IF he did have the history he said he had...CIA gun runner...MM, possible logistical involvement in assassinations, then having all the forces come down forcing you to go underground....well you can imagine how a person might snap.

Which goes to a motive. I don't know if TH is the Z...perhaps Ted K is. I just know you have some compelling evidence of a pretty interesting guy with a history and capability to do such crimes if the motive is to rub everyone's nose in how smart he is and the power (or lack thereof). Times back then were different and there was alot of political unrest and it does seem the Zodiac crimes had some political overtones and use of the media. It is hard to ignore the in your face symbolism of the SAO, the traitors beware mentality he had.

There has to be something somewhere to put him near a Zodiac crime??? How many other Zodiac suspects was known to have used a hood for his crimes in the past like TH? None that I have read so far.

rand wrote:

rand wrote:

BIG NEWS! I've found out from a most reliable source that Troy Houghton "did like the Mikado, though he was more into Glen Miller and jazz."

That's all I can say at this time. I'll fill in the details later.

I'm reposting this because it's pretty big news IMO.

If we round up every person that liked the Mikado, we would have a lengthy suspect list.

If that's all there was, you're right. It's another piece of the puzzle. A good one. If you'd asked about whether I liked the Mikado or had ever heard of it in 1969, I'd have said: huh? I don't know a single person who likes the Mikado or could tell me who wrote it. Of course, all of us who have been researching Z for years know about the Mikado. That said, I don't think the Mikado was even mentioned in the Fincher movie about the Zodiac. Was it?
So it strikes me as pretty big news. Like the cherry on top of the TH case for Z.

I knew about the Mikado before I knew about Z, when I was only a little kid, but, then again, I am a musician, too...

CHECK THIS OUT. ALL I DID WAS PRINT THE 340 AND CUT AND PASTE THE CHARACTERS ON TO A PIECE OF PAPER. I USED THE SAME METHOD AS MY SOLUTION TO THE MY NAME IS CIPHER: AKA MARY'S MONOTONE (see thread). HERE ARE THE FIRST 7 LINES (ALL I'VE HAD TIME TO DO SO FAR)

Only substitutions:
boxes = E
triangle = THE
^ = A
V = U
= N (See, it's an N with shaded areas)




I'M THE ONE WHO ROBBED AND KILLED PAUL FUCKING JEWBAG.
TO PROVE TO YOU I'M Z AND NOT FAKING AT Z,
I CLIPPED 1 PIECE OF THE TAXI-CAB DRIVER'S BLOODY TOP...

NOTE THE SIMILARITY IN ANTI-SEMITIC TONE WITH THESE LETTERS TO JACK RUBY MAILED FROM LA:

THIS VERSION USES ALL THE CHARACTERS FROM THE FIRST 7 LINES OF THE 340 EXCEPT FOR THE BACKWARD K (the one he crossed out and re-wrote). I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS YET. THE FIRST 7 LINES OF THE 340 SAY:

I'm the one who robbed and killed Paul fucking jewbag. Ok to prove to you that I'm the Zodiac and not faking it, I clipped one part of the taxi-cab driver's bloody top.


Only substitutions:
boxes = E
triangle = THE
^ = A
V = U
= N (See, it's an N with shaded areas)

D'oh on the 1961 photo of Houghton, Rand.

As I've made it clear before, I'm one of those people who think the 340 doesn't mean anything. But I have to say that your solution's really impressed me. It's one of the most creative ones I've ever seen (if not the most creative one). The only problem I have with it is the content - IF the 340 contained a message, I wouldn't expect that message to reiterate anything Zodiac had already said. Other then that, it's all great.

Thanks, Nacht. It's actually not creative at all though. I just cut the characters out and voila! Pasted them back together. Wherever there's a period in the 340, I stopped cutting, figuring that was the end of the sentence. When the characters hit the table, it became obvious. The u looked like an n. The 9s looked like bs. The z looked like an N on its side. The backwards L looked like an r.The backwards j fell on the table and looked like the numeral 1. The I with the dot on the right looked like an I', which I believe it is (for "I'm") So the trick is that Z wrote some of the characters upside down and some sideways (the z, for instance). When I got to taxi-cab driver's, I knew I needed an apostrophe. The backwards Q was a circled apostrophe. Simple.

Rand, what do you think of this threat letter sent to feminist, socialist and environmentalist Judi Bari, who was later car bombed, in re the Minute Man symbol? Or a Zodiac symbol? Or a rifle scope crosshair?

That's very interesting, AK. When did this happen?

She was car bombed and seriously injured in Oakland, CA on May 24, 1990. (She dies seven years later of cancer, which may have been brought on by the mental and physical stress of the bombing injuries).

Interestingly, "Zodiac" sent the Celebrity Cipher card on 9/25/90 from Oakland, CA and the Xmas card from North Cal (Eureka) in 12/90.

Sounds like something Troy would have done. Read the last paragraph.



AND HE WAS ARRESTED FOR TAMPERING WITH CARS:

rand wrote:

In his November 11, 1966 testimony, Troy Houghton said he had automatic weapons but did not keep them in the house. He kept them in the High Sierras, so if his house was searched they wouldn't be found.






Now I'm definitely not misreading the Pines card if I say that it implies that something is HIDDEN -- 'Peek through the pines.' We all assume it's Donna Lass, and maybe it is. But Troy Houghton most certainly HID things in the High Sierras: weapons. Another piece of the puzzle that fits.

And Z punched a hole in the crosshair symbol on the upper right hand side of the front of the card.



The hole punched would have looked exactly like a Minutemen crosshair (below)

A Repost. Probably got buried. Anyone find this as interesting as I do?

I just thought I would pass it along to you. She would be a target for anyone with minute man beliefs, and I thought you might find the crosshair interesting. Ted was found to have the same type of motion triggered bomb in his cabin, and I am 80% sure he did this, for reasons of a lot of evidence I won't get into here.

The card is thought to specifically apply to Donna Lass. She worked at the Sahara, so Sierra could be a play on that. And the Tahoe reference fits Lass.

TK was a member of the Sierra Club. And TK buried arms in the Sierra's and tested bombs there.

And Kane lived in Nevada.

The biggest problem you have, IMO, is that you can't show TH was alive after 67. He doesn't pop up at all. Of course he could be hiding out in the woods, but 40 years? Even Eric Rudolph got caught. I just don't see any evidence the guy was alive.

You have put together a good circumstantial case, but you need to take it to the next level. Get the FBI files. And put together a very brief summary of your best evidence and give it to law enforcement, so they can do a fingerprint check, TH vs. Z.

Troy testified that he hid weapons in the High Sierras. The card is about hiding something in the Sierras. Everyone's suspect is claimed to have buried things in Nevada or lived in Nevada, etc. But my suspect testified in November 1966 that the High Sierras was where he had a "hideout." Stands to reason that he might very well have sought victim number 12 there.

Regarding your skepticism of him because he disappeared, people do it all the time. There's a show called "Disappeared" about it. I watched one episode about a young woman who disappeared one day. Her family desperately searched for 20 years for her. It turns out, she was living in Portland OR with the same name and had no idea her family was looking for her. People can disappear and never be found in this country. It was incredibly easy prior to the Internet. Troy had so many aliases that LE said on two occasions, they'd never seen anyone with so many. Z was "crackproof"; he talked about "society's offenders going underground"; having "no address"; and about someone coming back from a "suicide's grave." Now why would he do that? Had to be a reason. The fact that Troy went underground and told everyone that he would do so isn't something that strikes me as a negative for him as Z. It's a positive. Again, it fits what Z himself hinted at.

You have put together a good circumstantial case, but you need to take it to the next level. Get the FBI files. And put together a very brief summary of your best evidence and give it to law enforcement, so they can do a fingerprint check, TH vs. Z.

I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH. Z SENDS A LETTER TO BELLI IN LATE 1969. WHO IS BELLI REPRESENTING AT THE TIME IN MARTINEZ, CALIF.? MINNE JUDD. WHO IS MINNIE JUDD? THE TRUNK MURDERER WHO HAD BEEN UNDERGROUND FOR OVER 30 YEARS AS RUTH MARION. THE ONLY REASON LE DISCOVERED HER IDENTITY WAS THAT SHE WAS SUSPECTED, WRONGLY, OF ANOTHER MURDER AND THEY GOT HER FINGERPRINTS. IS IT JUST COINCIDENCE THAT BELLI WAS REPRESENTING A MURDERER WHO HAD GONE UNDERGROUND AND THAT TROY HOUGHTON WAS UNDERGROUND? I DON'T THINK SO. BELLI HAD ALSO DEFENDED JACK RUBY.

" IS IT JUST COINCIDENCE THAT BELLI WAS REPRESENTING A MURDERER WHO HAD GONE UNDERGROUND AND THAT TROY HOUGHTON WAS UNDERGROUND? I DON'T THINK SO."

"Zodiac" asked for F. Lee Bailey, but if they couldn't get him "Belli would do." Once Belli was on the program (most likely because of a call from a fake Z), real Z capitalized on it by sending the Belli letter, pretending he wanted "help", etc. All misdirection IMO.

Belli mainly did medical malpractice and personal injury suits. He also defended mobster Mickey Cohen and mob linked Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.

So who knows why Zodiac picked him? He was also the most well known SF lawyer.

Again, you have shown a ton of circumstantial evidence. IMO it is time to take it to the next level - try to get some hard evidence, like a finger print check done.

Okay. But at the very least it shows that a person can go underground and not be found for over 30 years. Unless, of course, they're suspected of a recent murder.

Now I do think it IS interesting that Belli represented JACK RUBY, and that some of those Ruby letters look like Z's writing. But NONE of that ties to TH in my opinion.

How does it not tie to TH, Morf? We know that TH was investigated along with Mower regarding the Kennedy case. AND, I'm they hung out (met) in Lancaster, where Mower lived and where the Church of Jesus Christ Christian was located. And the Ruby letters were sent from LA. I most definitely think that TH wrote those letters.





As for Oswald's brother (if that's what you're hinting at), he had nothing to do with any of this, IMO.