Troy Houghton: The Minuteman

Yes, that is definitely Harold E. Houghton. The Paramount pictures connection is what Bettie told me about. And that is definitely a sister or half-sister of TH. Harold Eugene Houghton's father was Eli. This is Seagull's research. The comments and insights are Seagull's:

Name: Harold Eugene Houghton
Social Security #: 553208619
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 18 Jan 1908
Birthplace: California
Death Date: 16 May 1957
Death Place: Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name: Manhard
Father's Surname: Haughton

Harold Eugene Haughton AKA Houghton
(this is what it says on the DC)
Date of death-May 16, 1957 1:10 am
Male
Cauc.
Married

Begining with Eli K Houghton, Harold Eugene Houghton's father and Troy's grandather I figured out that Jessie Haughton who was Harold E's wife when he died didn't know much about her husband. She seems to be the third wife and apparently Harold lied about his age and changed the spelling of his last name. This must be why Troy used both spellings of the name.

1910 Federal Census

Eli K Houghton- birthplace Utah age 37
Sylvia Houghton/wife Birthplace Utah age 33

Home in 1910- Fairview, Bingham, Idaho

Children-
Ned M Houghton age 12
Harold E Houghton age 9
Don C Houghton age 4

Voter Registration

Los Angeles City Precinct #599
LA,CA 1930

Eli K Houghton 809 W 11th St , carpenter, D
Don C Houghton 809 W 11th St, laborer,R
Sylvia Houghton 809 W 11th St, Housewife,D

Los Angeles City Precinct #1289
LA,CA 1934

Eli K Houghton, 5669 Saturn St, D
Harold E Houghton, 5669 Saturn St., D
Mrs. Vahl Houghton, 5669 Saturn St., D

This is the same address that is on Troy's birth certificate at the time of his birth in 1933.

El Monte Precinct #11
Los Angeles County, CA 1936

Eli K Houghton, 2926 Rush Ave, farmer, D
Sylvia E Houghton, 2926 Rush Ave, housewife,D

The exact same info appears for the 1938 voter registration.

California Death Index

Eli Kelsey Houghton
DOB- Nov. 8, 1873
Birthplace- Utah
Death Date- Dec. 3, 1941
Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name- Ferguson

Very good, this seems straight forward enough. Eli and wife Sylvia had son Don C living with them in 1930. By 1934 Eli was listed as living with son Harold E and Harold's wife Vahl, where little Troy was born. Then by 1936 Eli was again listed with wife Sylvia. And in 1941 he died in LA.

Okay, then I looked for information on Don C. Houghton. Don Alderman was an alias that Troy used. Kinda makes sense now.

I found a CA death index record for:

Don Carlos Houghton
SSN- 561-03-2350
DOB- Dec 16, 1905
Birthplace- Idaho
Death Date- Nov. 4, 1943
Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name- Manhart

The MMN is similar to Harold's MMN of Manhard, I'm chalking this error up to Jessie Haughton.

I also looked up Harold E's brother Ned. I wanted to determine if he might be Nedra Houghton's father. Nedra does sound like it could be the feminine form of Ned.


Idaho Marriages, 1842-1996
about Ned M. Houghton
Name: Ned M. Houghton
Gender: Male
Spouse: Gievlieta A. Hilman
Spouse gender: Female
Marriage Date: Jul 19, 1919
Marriage Location: Idaho Falls, Bonneville Co., Idaho
Source: This record can be found in the marriage book at the County Courthouse located in Bonneville Co., ID in Volume 2 on Page 199.


Social Security Death Index
about Ned Houghton
Name: Ned Houghton
SSN: 560-10-7257
Last Residence: 83401 Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States of America
Born: 1 Mar 1898
Died: Sep 1969
State (Year) SSN issued: California (Before 1951)


Register of Voters
Los Angeles City Precinct # 1727
Los Angeles County CA 1954

Ned M. Houghton 1017 N Hudson Ave. D
Gievileta Houghton 1017 N Hudson Ave. D

Date of Birth- Jan. 18, 1908
Age- 49

Usual Occupation- Chief Gunner
Kind of Business- US Navy

Birthplace- California

Name and birthplace of father- Eli K. Haughton Utah
Maiden name and birthplace of mother- unk-Manhard-unk

Name of present spouse-Jessie Haughton

Was deceased ever in the armed forces-yes
Date of service -WWII
Social security number- 553-20-8619
Informant-Jessie Haughton

rand wrote:

Tahoe, I've added things to the above post.
Physical evidence, like fingerprints and DNA, ID people by odds. The odds that two people share DNA or fingerprints is astronomical (leaving out twins for DNA). That's how it works. So tell me where my reasoning goes wrong here:
How many people have talked about putting a pencil light on the barrel of a gun? (1 in 500?)
How many people have shot the tires out of a car with a woman still inside? (1 in 1000?)
How many people are fascinated by paper? (one in 1000?)
How many people are fascinated by ciphers and talk about it? (one in 100?)
How many people talk about ammonium nitrate as an explosive to kill people? (1 in 500?)
How many people have had a nationally syndicated column about them saying in the title that they "Have a Little List" of people they're going to assassinate? (1 in a million?)
How many people have been convicted twice of flashing 4 TEENs in total? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people had an explosives license issued in CA? (1 in 500?)
How many people owned a company with BLAST in the title? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people had a front page LA Times article about them regarding giving a speech at the Jolly Roger Inn? (1 in 10000?)
How many people were major figures in an organization represented by a crosshair symbol? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people have an obsession with aliases? (1 in 1000?)
How many people look just like the Z composite and lived in Southern California in the early 1960s (1 in 100?)
How many people were arrested several times for tampering with vehicles? (1 in 500?)
How many people were arrested for tampering with a library book? (1 in 10000?)
How many people have a shortwave radio and teletype machine? (1 in 1000?)
How many people are on record hating the press and LE? (1 in 100?)
How many people wrote newsletters exhorting people to write Letters to the Editor? (1 in 1000?)

The odds that any one person would have all these characteristics is astronomical. Either TH was the most unlucky person on earth, or he's the guy.

I know you've asked a lot of people why they haven't addressed your little list of TH. Here is my take on the matter:

Pencil light - attaching a light onto a gun at night is not something unique. The police even do it. It makes total sense to do this if you are going to use a gun at night. I confess, I did it with my Daisy BB gun when I was 12.

Shot at tires - when did Zodiac do this?

Fascinated by paper - How do we know Zodiac was fascinated by paper? What should he have written on? It's likely he even used found paper for some of his letters.

Fascinated by ciphers - TK actually used ciphers.

Ammonium nitrate - TK made bombs and used them against the public. ALA had ammonium nitrate in his basement apartment.

Have a little list - Gilbert and Sullivan as well as Groucho Marx. Zodiac never invented the term little list. It's from a musical.

4-Teen - It's total conjecture to assume that Zodiac meant flashing teens when he wrote this on the Halloween card. What evidence is there that Zodiac was a flasher?

Explosives license - how do we know Z had an explosives license? Even if he was going to blow up a bus, I don't think he would have popped into his local cop shop and asked for a license to do so.

Company with Blast - again, how is this relevant. Blast is a common term for having a good time and if Z were talking about blowing something up, this would be the obvious choice of word to convey a double meaning. There are a lot of companies with 'The' in the title. Z used 'The'. Maybe we should check all of them out?

LA Times article - Huh?

Crosshair symbol - How do we know that Z's symbol is a crosshair? He call himself the Zodiac so presumably it's more likely to be a Zodiac wheel or the Zodiac sign for the sun?

Aliases - Just about every single POI has used aliases including TK, ALA, LK etc. It's a pretty common thing with criminals. On the other hand, Z used a pseudonym - we don't know if he actually used an alias or not.

Z composite - Sorry, I have never seen a composite of Z with two chins.

Arrested for tampering with vehicles - OK, I'll give you that one, even though it's not confirmed that Z ever tampered with vehicles.

Shortwave radio and teletype machine - seriously, how is the relevant?

Hating press and LE - most criminals do but yes, that is a relevant point.

Exhorting people to write to editor - I don't know if Z ever asked other people to write to the editor.

Handwriting - I don't buy it either. The 8's are totally different. On the last stroke, one is convex and the other concave. That requires a totally different hand action.

Luke68 wrote:

rand wrote:

Tahoe, I've added things to the above post.
Physical evidence, like fingerprints and DNA, ID people by odds. The odds that two people share DNA or fingerprints is astronomical (leaving out twins for DNA). That's how it works. So tell me where my reasoning goes wrong here:
How many people have talked about putting a pencil light on the barrel of a gun? (1 in 500?)
How many people have shot the tires out of a car with a woman still inside? (1 in 1000?)
How many people are fascinated by paper? (one in 1000?)
How many people are fascinated by ciphers and talk about it? (one in 100?)
How many people talk about ammonium nitrate as an explosive to kill people? (1 in 500?)
How many people have had a nationally syndicated column about them saying in the title that they "Have a Little List" of people they're going to assassinate? (1 in a million?)
How many people have been convicted twice of flashing 4 TEENs in total? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people had an explosives license issued in CA? (1 in 500?)
How many people owned a company with BLAST in the title? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people had a front page LA Times article about them regarding giving a speech at the Jolly Roger Inn? (1 in 10000?)
How many people were major figures in an organization represented by a crosshair symbol? (1 in 10,000?)
How many people have an obsession with aliases? (1 in 1000?)
How many people look just like the Z composite and lived in Southern California in the early 1960s (1 in 100?)
How many people were arrested several times for tampering with vehicles? (1 in 500?)
How many people were arrested for tampering with a library book? (1 in 10000?)
How many people have a shortwave radio and teletype machine? (1 in 1000?)
How many people are on record hating the press and LE? (1 in 100?)
How many people wrote newsletters exhorting people to write Letters to the Editor? (1 in 1000?)

The odds that any one person would have all these characteristics is astronomical. Either TH was the most unlucky person on earth, or he's the guy.

I know you've asked a lot of people why they haven't addressed your little list of TH. Here is my take on the matter:

Pencil light - attaching a light onto a gun at night is not something unique. The police even do it. It makes total sense to do this if you are going to use a gun at night. I confess, I did it with my Daisy BB gun when I was 12.

Shot at tires - when did Zodiac do this?

Fascinated by paper - How do we know Zodiac was fascinated by paper? What should he have written on? It's likely he even used found paper for some of his letters.

Fascinated by ciphers - TK actually used ciphers.

Ammonium nitrate - TK made bombs and used them against the public. ALA had ammonium nitrate in his basement apartment.

Have a little list - Gilbert and Sullivan as well as Groucho Marx. Zodiac never invented the term little list. It's from a musical.

4-Teen - It's total conjecture to assume that Zodiac meant flashing teens when he wrote this on the Halloween card. What evidence is there that Zodiac was a flasher?

Explosives license - how do we know Z had an explosives license? Even if he was going to blow up a bus, I don't think he would have popped into his local cop shop and asked for a license to do so.

Company with Blast - again, how is this relevant. Blast is a common term for having a good time and if Z were talking about blowing something up, this would be the obvious choice of word to convey a double meaning. There are a lot of companies with 'The' in the title. Z used 'The'. Maybe we should check all of them out?

LA Times article - Huh?

Crosshair symbol - How do we know that Z's symbol is a crosshair? He call himself the Zodiac so presumably it's more likely to be a Zodiac wheel or the Zodiac sign for the sun?

Aliases - Just about every single POI has used aliases including TK, ALA, LK etc. It's a pretty common thing with criminals. On the other hand, Z used a pseudonym - we don't know if he actually used an alias or not.

Z composite - Sorry, I have never seen a composite of Z with two chins.

Arrested for tampering with vehicles - OK, I'll give you that one, even though it's not confirmed that Z ever tampered with vehicles.

Shortwave radio and teletype machine - seriously, how is the relevant?

Hating press and LE - most criminals do but yes, that is a relevant point.

Exhorting people to write to editor - I don't know if Z ever asked other people to write to the editor.

Handwriting - I don't buy it either. The 8's are totally different. On the last stroke, one is convex and the other concave. That requires a totally different hand action.

Your responses strike me as contrived and tortured merely to refute every individual point. And you don't consider the totality of what I've presented. Like most circumstantial cases, it's not the individual trees that make the case; it's the forest that convinces me.

Let me explain.

You say in response to TH having shot out the tires of a car with a woman in it: when did Zodiac do that? Zodiac didn't do it; he threatened to do it.
Surely you're aware that Zodiac said: maybe I should shoot out the tires of a bus and pick off...
Show me another serial killer who threated to shoot out the tires of a vehicle.

You say the shortwave radio and teletype are as important as a washing machine. Yet, many have pointed out that THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING suggests a shortwave radio operator. Surely you're aware that the bomb diagram was thought to be based on a teletype machine. So I think your dismissal of this is a bit tortured.

You suggest that TH doesn't look like the composite. TH's best friend told me that TH was a deadringer for the composite. Who would know better? Both Bettie and TH's best friend made a point of telling me that TH's weight fluctuated wildly.




You dismiss the crosshair symbol as being something other than a crosshair symbol: it's a Zodiac wheel. Whatever? He used the crosshair without calling himself the Zodiac. He also put a crosshair symbol next to a Z on the HC. I suggest that it is relevant that TH's identity was linked to a crosshair symbol and so was Zodiac's identity. Call the symbol whatever you want. It's the symbol that's important, not the name you call it. My pointing this out is out of line? A stretch? I beg to differ with you.

Two things about the LA article on the front page: TH appeared many times on the front pages of the LA Times. Z said he was writing to the LA Times because they don't bury him on the back pages like the other papers. Here, I think Z is referring not to his Zodiac persona but his actual identity. As for the Jolly Roger Inn, Z sent a Jolly Roger card. Blast was written prominently on it. TH owned a business called: Trojan Mining and Blast Co. Is this relevant? I think it's, at least, coincidental and worth mentioning. Alone, it means absolutely nothing. But taken together with everything else, I think it adds another small piece to the puzzle. Another piece that fits.

As for the HC image and everything else on it, if it's not a flasher image, what is it? Tell me. What don't you see that leads you to conclude it's not a flasher image? PEEK-A-BOO! As for the 4-TEEN, it fits. That's my point. Can I prove it, not yet. But it fits my POI. When you have the right person, things fall in place. Things you didn't understand or see reveal themselves. This is another case of that phenomenon when TH is put under the lens of analysis.

I never said that Zodiac had an explosive license. But TH did. Zodiac made a bomb diagram that LE said would work. Again, the fact that TH had an explosives license is relevant. It fits. TH taught and was fascinated by ciphers, was a miner with an explosives license, exhorted people to send letters to the editor (Z certainly did that), taught recruits how to mail letters without being traced, and talked about attaching a pencil light to the barrel of a gun, among other things. I think all of those points are worth making. I have never personally met anyone with all of those traits.

You slough all of the points off. Anyone can do that. 12 people thought that OJ was innocent. They sloughed off all the evidence againt him because "the gloves didn't fit." Obviously, they thought that this logic made sense. I didn't and still don't. So you don't see the links that I've outlined above (there are many others I didn't list). Okay. I can't understand your logic, but it's your opinion.

Rand, my opinion is also that TH is a very interesting POI. It's also my opinion that a lot of the items in your list are coincidental (as you point out). More than that, some are tenuous e.g. the Little List example. Yes, I understand that it is the culmination of facts rather than each one but each one still needs to stand on its own. Weak arguments destroy strong ones. And, there are facts that are powerful than those in the list. Z (possibly) wrote 'it's about time' in the Confession letter. That would be a good link to MM.

Yes, I agree with you that weak arguments destroy strong ones. I hope I haven't done that. I'm not understanding why don't you think the Little List is strong. Z writes a letter about having a Little List of victims. The link seems strong to me: TH said he had a list of victims, and there was a nationally syndicated column about him and the MM (but TH was specifically mentioned) that accuse the organization of having a little list. The article was entitled: The Minutemen Have a "Little List" -- And Guess Who's on It." I think that's a strong circumstantial point. Btw, TH's friend told me that they discussed the column and, it's worth noting, Paul Coates died under rather strange circumstances a couple of years later. At 46, I believe, he had a massive stroke, and he died two years later from it. TH taught recruits how to kill without being detected. See top of page below:

Only because Z didn't actually say 'little list' himself. He quoted it from the Mikado. He might only have talked about a 'list' but 'little list' is what happens to be the lyrics. Anyway, I agree it's petty.

So far I think the most compelling facts are:
- the time and date aspects of the case (linking to Minutemen)
- the .22 High Standard ownership
- I've seen some people criticize the flashing aspect, saying it's out of place. Actually, I think it's relevant, especially if the guy watching the 3 girls at LB was Z
- the younger photo of TH. One thing that bothers me about many POIs and the composite is that (as you point out) the composite has a really small nose. Just like TH in the 1961 photo.

By the way (I can't remember the details offhand) Troy (especially in the context of Helen of Troy) came up a lot over on the Opord forum. The team there seemed to find quite a few references to that name.

They did?! That's encouraging news.

Troy had a very controlling and eccentric mother, whose name was VALERIE ALDERMAN/BOYLE. She went by the name, VAL.

Back to the Halloween card (as usual). Z tells us: "You Ache To Know my Name, And So I'll Clue You In..."

Note that Z underlines LAV in AVERLY and there is a prominent "LAV" in SLAVES from the figure on the back of the card:



Z seemed to want us to see LAV. LAV backwards is, of course, VAL.

You have alot of good information on TH, Rand.
I guess the importance of different "clues" is different depending on who you ask.
We all have our own "picture" of what the Zodiac(s) is/was.
I think for example "the little list" Zodiac and Minutemen connection is really good. And the fact he had the Blast company.
And the part when he shot out the tires seems to confirm that he not only were a flasher. (and the Halloween card is a flashing skeleton.(or could be))
He appearantly didn´t care if it was a man or a woman inside that car. And pretty crazy starting to shoot out the tires.
I´ll read a little bit closer on your research and give you my input.
Good work.

rand wrote:

Troy had a very controlling and eccentric mother, whose name was VALERIE ALDERMAN/BOYLE. She went by the name, VAL.

Back to the Halloween card (as usual). Z tells us: "You Ache To Know my Name, And So I'll Clue You In..."

Note that Z underlines LAV in AVERLY and there is a prominent "LAV" in SLAVES from the figure on the back of the card:



Z seemed to want us to see LAV. LAV backwards is, of course, VAL.

Something else worth pointing out. Several people have mentioned that Z placed the skeleton inside the card in such a way as to highlight the word OIL. Notice that the skeleton's right hand is pointing towards the B in But. B-OIL. BOIL - BOYLE. VAL BOYLE was his mother's name.




Moreover, if we look at a horizontal from BOO! to the skeleton itself, which is shaped like a Y, to the "e!" at the end of "game," it reads: BOO-Y-El or BOYEL = BOYLE.

Cool Stuff guys but as for the Halloween card those little dots mean to rotate the figures they are representing. I read a book awhile back on ciphers and those are a type of a cipher.

Usually rotate them clockwise and you would get Fl . Just trying to help guys and great job guys. Oh one dot means to turn them one spot clock words. The Z only having one dot think I would call it a M! Again great work guys and hope my input helps.

My Bad the Z might become a N instead of the Z it normally was. Those truly are a type of cipher on the HC card but few know it.

Interesting, Stitch, very interesting. As I've posted, I believe the symbol is an fl for Flasher and the four dots, while they may mean rotate (which is fine with me), stand for the 4-TEENs that Troy flashed in his two convictions (two in 1957 in LA, two in 1967 in Cheyenne WY).
Troy's friend told me that TH's sexual deviance and rage was most likely connected to his controlling mother, VAL.
So in light of the various flasher clues on this card, it doesn't surprise me that Z also featured VAL as well by underllining lav on the envelope and putting sLAVe on the back in the figure -- all just my opinion, of course.

Here's an FBI doc about her and JFK:

Thanks Rand and what you posted is very interesting and could be the meaning behind the HC card.

The body of Lynda Kanes was found wrapped in an American flag. That's interesting. Minutemen-American Flag.

MINUTEMEN-TIME-WATCH CLUE

Z leaves a watch at CJB murder.

Z says: I SAID IT WAS ABOUT TIME....I SAID IT WAS ABOUT TIME FOR YOU TO DIE.

On Hartnell's door, Z leaves dates and a time:


Notice the way Z makes dates: 12-20-68
Compare with TH's style of making dates:



Notice that Z put a CLOCK stamp on the Exorcist letter:

On a card that says he is going to clue us in about his identity, Z puts three symbols where his signature would go and two where the return address would be. Surely, he is signaling that he has three identities. So I ask: how do those identities fit other POIs? Here's how they fit TH:

Cross hair symbol: put on the three initial Z letters without reference to Zodiac. Crosshair symbol - Minutemen symbol.

Z - that's obvious: Zodiac

strange symbol containing FL and four dots. FL = flasher. The HC is an image of a flasher. 4-TEEN. TH was convicted of flashing four teens on two separate occasions (2 in LA, 2 in Cheyenne).

Notice how the symbol itself mimics/mirrors the position of the hands on the "flashing skeleton"




What other suspect was convicted of flashing?

Now consider the dates of the murders.

Dec. 20, 1968 (Friday): The night before Troy, Jr.'s birthday

July 4, 1969 (Friday): Minutemen

Sept. 27, 1969 (Saturday): Troy was born on Sept. 30, but that would be Tuesday and Z killed on weekends.

Oct. 11, 1969 (Saturday): His wife's (Bettie's) birthday

Very coincidental. Z killed on only 4 days out of 365. Yet, three of the murders occur either on the date of or within days of his first son's birthday, his birthday, and his wife's birthday. The other is on July 4th (the Minutemen connection).

Now consider that TH:
Fits the composite to a tee (his best friend said that TH was a dead ringer for the composite)
Spoke in a soft, monotone voice
Talked about putting a pencil light on the barrel of a gun
Shot the tires out of a car with a woman still inside
Was fascinated by odd paper
Was noted to wear political buttons
Drove around for weeks at a time with a gun in his car without letting anyone know where he was or why
Was fascinated by ciphers and talked about it all the time
Talked about ammonium nitrate as an explosive to kill people
Interested in astrology
Had a nationally syndicated column about him with the title: The Minutemen "Have a Little List" And Guess Who's on It?
Was convicted twice of flashing 4 TEENs in total
Had an explosives license issued in CA
Owned a company with BLAST in the title
Was on the front page of the LA Times article about his giving a speech at the Jolly Roger Inn
Was a major figure in an organization represented by a crosshair symbol
Was obsessed with aliases and going underground (indeed, it's the first thing mentioned in the Look 1966 article about him.
Lived in Southern California up until 1967
Was arrested several times for tampering with vehicles
Was arrested for tampering with a library book
Had a shortwave radio and teletype machine, which he considered his lifeline to the outside world (THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING)
Hated the press and LE
Exhorted members of his organization to write Letters to the Editor

Add to this that the newspapers reported Minutemen (or a Minuteman) in the hills of Montana at the time of the prison break by inmates at Deer Lodge in the summer of 1968.

All this and much more rules TH in. What rules him out? That a known liar and con-artist was alleged to have murdered him -- and the plot followed precisely a prior one, in which the Harrell family (Minutemen members) were alleged to be dead but turned up in a small town in the South in cognito to avoid the IRS?
If TH wasn't Z, he was truly one of the most unlucky people on earth.


Btw, there is a TROY HOUGHTON living in San Francisco. I don't know his age or anything more about it. I just see a listing for a TROY HOUGHTON with an address in San Francisco (I don't know the address, but could find out).

You are probably correct in the "FL" standing for"flasher" as that makes sense.

However, I wonder if it could mean flourine. I just googled it and the atomic number is 9, it is green and a poisonous gas.

For those who think it's impossible to disappear in America, here's another (the second one in several weeks) story about a guy who disappeared in 1979 and was just found:
http://news.yahoo.com/ex-chicago-trader-pleads-guilty-fraud-over-disappearance-214458385.html

Here is the Zodiac code key sent to Vallejo PD 8/10/69










This, I believe, was sent by Z and if you use it then:

(1) Z correctly spelled DANGEROUS, so the E actually stands for an S.
(2) Z correctly spelled SLOW, so the triangle actually stands for an I

Now IF the hand drawn crosshair at the end of the 408 message is actually another character, then we have an additional D

Making these three substitutions for the last 18 characters plus the handwritten crosshair at the end, I get an anagram for:

ROBERT DE PEW: IT IS ME, TH

Notice that DEPUGH is spelled DEPEW. Okay, now look at the way DePugh is spelled in this LA Times (nationally syndicated column) which mentions Depugh and Haughton, and I know Troy read it (his friend told me):

Correct in that IMO it was sent by Z and those are switches.

What's interesting is that I figured that the Harden code key was incorrect PRIOR to seeing this new anonymously sent code key for the 408. I believed that Z spelled DANGEROUS and SLOW correctly, so the code key that the Harden's provided was incomplete (wrong) regarding the S and W. My hunches were made independent of the new anonymously sent code key, which simply verifies what I figured all along. The message I got was ROBERT DEPEW: IT IS ME, TH.

The bottom line, for me, is that the anonymously sent code key is, IMO, correct. Moreover, Z said his identity was in the 408, and I believe him. Of course, if my translation is correct, Z still managed to maintain plausible deniability for the murders, e.g., Depugh is spelled Depew and all he gives are his initials: TH. Neverthless, I feel this is perfectly in keeping with Z's cautious nature regarding his ID and not getting caught.

I hope Kevin is correct that Bujok was Z. But let me explain why I think it's almost statistically impossible that Z wasn't TH.
The Halloween Card smacks of one person: TH. Everything on it tells me that Troy wrote it. The image is of a flasher. The weird symbol is composed of an FL (remember, people thought it was a wide FLange beam). It's FL for flasher, and the four dots are the 4-TEENs that TH flashed. The eyes (LOOK magazine). The figure is composed of a TH, etc. etc.

But consider this: The dates of the murders match Troy Houghton's significant dates. There was ONLY one that I didn't have a solid reason for: October 11. So a few months ago I asked Seagull to look up the date when Betty Houghton was born: She wrote back: October 11. Consider that: I ask her for the birthdate of TH's wife, and it's a match for Stine's murder. How can that have happened if TH wasn't Z? Let me repeat this: I didn't have a great reason for Oct. 11, so I asked what was Bettie's birthdate and it turned out to be Oct 11. I could give so many other incredible coincidences like this. But just read this thread.

If it's not TH, then I'm just astounded. There are far, far too many coincidences here. But for everyone's sake, I just want the case solved one way or another.

What I simply ask is this: for all those who have read this thread (and there are thousands of views of this thread, so someone's reading it), if you disagree with my analysis, please post what you find unconvincing. I just want to discuss this with anyone who will take the time to write. I think my analysis is unassailable, but I'm always eager to find out what's not connecting with people. What are you not seeing.
Conversely, of course, if you've been reading and agree with the analysis, I'd love to hear that as well.

Please, however, don't mention that I can't prove that TH was alive or in the Bay Area. I know that. If TH was Z, he went undercover, just as he said he would. I don't know what identity he assumed. I don't know where to begin to find out how to track him down. It's as if he became a ghost or phantom (a Red Phantom). My only strategy is to show beyond a reasonable doubt that all the clues point to one person: TH. If so, then I know he was alive and well and in the Bay Area in 1969.

rand wrote:

I hope Kevin is correct that Bujok was Z. But let me explain why I think it's almost statistically impossible that Z wasn't TH.
The Halloween Card smacks of one person: TH. Everything on it tells me that Troy wrote it. The image is of a flasher. The weird symbol is composed of an FL (remember, people thought it was a wide FLange beam). It's FL for flasher, and the four dots are the 4-TEENs that TH flashed. The eyes (LOOK magazine). The figure is composed of a TH, etc. etc.

But consider this: The dates of the murders match Troy Houghton's significant dates. There was ONLY one that I didn't have a solid reason for: October 11. So a few months ago I asked Seagull to look up the date when Betty Houghton was born: She wrote back: October 11. Consider that: I ask her for the birthdate of TH's wife, and it's a match for Stine's murder. How can that have happened if TH wasn't Z? Let me repeat this: I didn't have a great reason for Oct. 11, so I asked what was Bettie's birthdate and it turned out to be Oct 11. I could give so many other incredible coincidences like this. But just read this thread.

If it's not TH, then I'm just astounded. There are far, far too many coincidences here. But for everyone's sake, I just want the case solved one way or another.

What I simply ask is this: for all those who have read this thread (and there are thousands of views of this thread, so someone's reading it), if you disagree with my analysis, please post what you find unconvincing. I just want to discuss this with anyone who will take the time to write. I think my analysis is unassailable, but I'm always eager to find out what's not connecting with people. What are you not seeing.
Conversely, of course, if you've been reading and agree with the analysis, I'd love to hear that as well.

Please, however, don't mention that I can't prove that TH was alive or in the Bay Area. I know that. If TH was Z, he went undercover, just as he said he would. I don't know what identity he assumed. I don't know where to begin to find out how to track him down. It's as if he became a ghost or phantom (a Red Phantom). My only strategy is to show beyond a reasonable doubt that all the clues point to one person: TH. If so, then I know he was alive and well and in the Bay Area in 1969.

rand,

the only problem I have with TH is the motive as why killing young folks in lovers' lanes ( or lovers' spots ) aside from Paul Stine. Why that? The minutemen were politically motivated, why "degrade" onself into hanky panky motive?

-Nin

Yes, there's no real political motive in Z's killings, and one would imagine that TH would have had one if he were Z. I don't subscribe to that logic, however. Serial killers tend to be very compartmental in their internal workings. TH certainly didn't have any political motive when he was flashing teenage girls. So I don't think that everything TH did, esp. the anti-social things, were driven by politics. I think he compartmentalized his life and needs. He seemed to have a need for domination over others...it's what got him off, apparently. Flashing teenagers to serial murder of lover's lane couples doesn't strike me as a huge leap, esp. in terms of what the perpetrator gets out of the experience: power over, and the degradation of, young people.