The Tape Recordings

I thought it would be interesting to look at the taped recordings that have been made by Law Enforcement of both the East Area Rapist calls alongside the Zodiac's call into the Jim Dunbar Show with Melvin Belli on October 22nd 1969. I have been listening to them for a while now and think the two recordings sound similar, to me there is the same tonality in the voice at certain times.

I found it interesting that in the recent solution to the Z340 Zodiac would state that it was not him who had called in to the Jim Dunbar Show that day and that he was not afraid to die. The reason it caught my attention is it made me think of Joseph James DeAngelo and when he was cornered by Police 3 months after the murder of Professor Claude Snelling in Visalia September 1975.

A Police Officer had been crouched in a residents garage one night watching a house he believed the Visalia Ransacker had been casing when he seen him prowling, the Officer startled the prowler and ran after him firing a warning shot. DeAngelo stopped and turned to face the Police Officer, pulled his mask off while holding his hand in front of his face, the other hand still in his pocket he said to the officer "Oh my god, don't hurt me", see my hands are up" he then pulled his hand out of his pocket with gun and fired, the bullet hit the Officer's flashlight propelling him backwards giving DeAngelo time to run off.

As you will hear in the TV interview, Melvin Belli with the Zodiac calling himself Sam, Sam says "I don't want to get hurt". The Police Officer who cornered DeAngelo stated that the caller had a juvenile effeminate voice which is also what many of JJD's victims also said about his voice and I find the voice of Sam within that same range, quite light and effeminate, listen to how Sam initially says "I have headaches". I will pop up the recordings here which you can find on youtube, the video's here are uploaded by the following users BelievewhatisREAL, True Crime Magazine and ZodiacKillerIdentified. Another point of interest is that Joseph James DeAngelo's Grandfather was named Samuel.

On the three recordings of the East Area Rapist, 4 days after the last call in 1978 a caller rang the Contact Counselling Service and said " I have a problem. I need help because I don't want to do this anymore". Could it have been the East Area Rapist and if so it is very similar to Zodiac's calls for help from Melvin Belli.

Although the Z340 tells us that it was not Zodiac that called in that day to speak with Melvin Belli I do think Zodiac was good at using real truths in his letters as well as red herrings so it's not without possibility that Zodiac may have not cared at the time that his voice was being recorded but maybe he got cold feet and as an afterthought sent the Z340 so that if anyone said you know that sounds like a guy I know? there would always be uncertainty. Hearing is a difficult thing to gauge as we all hear things differently and we all like different kinds of music but most of us can tell when a certain singer comes on the radio etc. I know voice recognition is something that may be looked into regarding these recordings but until then we can only theorize.

I have also uploaded a video of Eric Weill's voice against that of Sam's (Zodiac), Eric Weill was a man who had called Melvin Belli's home claiming to be Zodiac in January 1970'. Law Enforcement had traced the call to a Mental Institution, Eric was staying there at the time and it was determined by Law Enforcement that it was Eric who had also called into the Dunbar Show. Survivor Bryan Hartnell, Vallejo Police Dispatcher Nancy Slover, and Napa Police Dispatcher David Slaight all agreed that Sam was an imposter and did not sound like the Zodiac they had heard before but there is the possibility Zodiac tried to disguise his voice previously.

Eric Weill is an interesting guy and could be another suspect to add to the pool regarding the Zodiac's crimes, you can read about him on sites such as zodiackillerfacts.com and https://zodiackiller.forumotion.com/t44-eric-weill-x, it makes for interesting reading and although my main suspect is still Joseph James DeAngelo I like to keep an open mind and look into all avenues. I have said it before and will say it again I may be totally wrong in suspecting Joseph James DeAngelo as the Zodiac and I question my reasoning constantly but I feel it's important to keep reading, sharing, discussing and to not write off information too easily as somethings are found in the most unexpected places.