Phillips 66 map with clue included in June 26, 1970, San Francisco Chronicle letter. Envelope postmarked San Francisco.
Letter referring to Kathleen Johns incident. Sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, July 24, 1970.
Pages 1 and 2 of Mikado letter with clues. San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 1970.
Pages 3 and 4 of Mikado letter with clues.
Page 5 and envelope of Mikado letter with clues.
“I’m crackproof” postcard (note the thirteen hole punches). Sent to San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 1970.
Front and back of Paul Avery Halloween card sent to San Francisco Chronicle, October 27, 1970.
Inside of Paul Avery Halloween card (note symbols at bottom).
Mention of “Riverside” by Zodiac in this letter. Postmarked Pleasanton, CA, March 13, 1971.
“Peek through the pines” postcard (note hole punch in return address area and Avery’s name misspelled). Sent to Paul Avery, San Francisco Chronicle, March 22, 1971.
The Exorcist letter and envelope (note symbols at bottom of page). Postmarked San Francisco, January 29, 1974.
WARREN EARL ESTES
A.K.A. ZODIAC
Warren Earl Estes: Date of Birth/November 5, 1926 Riverside, CA
Date of Death/January 19, 1978 Joshua Tree, San Bernardino, CA
51 years of age—aortic aneurysm at home
no siblings, no children
FATHER:
Fred Earl Estes Date of Birth: June 27, 1902 Arkansas
Date of Death/ January 28, 1977 Riverside, CA
74 years of age—heart attack at home
MOTHER:
Florence M. Estes Date of Birth: March 12, 1903 Riverside, CA
(nee:Miller) Date of Death: February 16, 1987 Boulder, CO
83 years of age—natural causes
EDUCATION/EMPLOYMENT/TITLES
BA from University of Redlands, CA (Education)
Attended UCLA
Attended University of Hawaii
Fields of Study: Mathematics, science, chemistry, biology, English, astronomy
Teacher—Mission School District, San Bernardino. Teacher—Alvord School District Outdoor Science Curriculum Lab director, Riverside. Teacher—Riverside Community College, astronomy A and B adult education noncredit classes.
Teacher, professor, amateur astronomer, chief observer, inventor, Riverside herpetologist, spider wrangler, ant coordinator, and “collector.”
FAMILY HISTORY
Warren lives with his parents until age fifty. His father, Fred, dies in January 1977. Two months later, Warren, age fifty, marries a twenty-three-year-old girl. They live in Joshua Tree on the family property. Nine months later, Warren’s made-for-TV movies are televised. Twenty days later in January 1978, Warren dies from an aortic aneurysm. His young wife of ten months moves from the Estes family property in Joshua Tree to Riverside. His mother remains alone in the Riverside family house until all properties are liquidated, then relocates to Colorado.
ESTES FAMILY TIME LINE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was made possible by so many people who sincerely responded to my questions and requests for interviews, pictures, information, and documents … most offered more than what I knew was available. The librarians and archivists I approached were relentless in searching every available resource they had to provide me with the most obscure bits of information they mysteriously uncovered. They are all truly dedicated keepers of the knowledge.
But this project’s physical start came in a beautifully wrapped box with a big red bow on top. The box contained a retirement gift to me from my thoughtful grandchildren: a very powerful computer loaded with all the programs I needed to produce this undertaking. After four years, the bow still clings to the side of the CPU as a constant reminder of their faith in me and this work. Several of these same smart young people were also involved in the creative setup of the book. Charlotte McWade sketched the cover art of the Zodiac in his hooded disguise. Working from surviving victim Brian Hartnell’s description of his attacker and from Police Officer Donald Fouke’s description of the suspect he encountered the night of the Paul Stine killing, she was able to bring the mysterious killer’s image to life. My grandson Patrick Sauber worked with his sister Charlotte to develop the actual graphic lettering, coloring, and final cover style. Another granddaughter, Pamela Mical, added her design expertise and enhancement to the cover with layout design suggestions and subtitle development.
Charlotte became my research assistant and traveled two thousand miles to California to obtain records and photo graphs. Pamela worked long hours giving up her days off and Sunday evenings to convert ninety-seven photos and documents for insertion into the book and still found the time to read and edit the manuscript, making suggestions all along the way.
And, of course, there are the rest of my family and friends, who allowed me to call on their various specialties when I was brainstorming and hit a dead end. They always pulled me through, especially my brother, Bob Lopardo, always at my side, encouraging me to keep going from the very beginning of the project and leading me to Adam K. Sacharoff, the gracious attorney whom I offer a grateful thank you for reading the manuscript, answering my questions, and addressing my concerns.
A further thank you is due to my daughter Cathy, who converted files to photos so I had more time to write. And to my friend Betty, who kept checking in on me to make sure I was moving along with the project.
A grateful thank you is due to Tom Voigt, who operates the Zodiackiller.com Web site. His positive assistance to my requests and his dedicated mission to discover the identity of the Zodiac have kept this case workable.
And a special thank you to the women who were involved in Warren Estes’s life for offering so much sincere insight and important information about him. Sorting out and sharing old memories can be painful and healing at the same time. We have become friends by taking a most unique walk through lives past, all the way respecting each other’s opinions.
—the author
SOURCES & REFERENCES
Newspapers
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Examiner
Los Angeles Times
Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA
Times-Herald, Vallejo, CA
The Associated Press ReleasesYGS Group
Redlands Daily Facts, CA
Police Reports
FBI Extortion File No. 9-49911
Riverside County Coroner, CA
Riverside County Department of Public Health, CA
Vallejo Police Department, CA
Napa County Sheriff’s Department, CA
San Francisco Police Department, CA
Solano County Sheriff’s Department, CA
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, CA
Property Records
Riverside Historical Society, CA
Riverside County Assessor’s Office, CA
San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office, CA
Riverside Metropolitan Museum (Old Post Office), CA
Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery, Riverside, CA
Internet Resources
Ancestry.com
Newspaperarchives.com
Wikipedia.com
zodiackiller.com
USPostoffice.com
NASA Astrophysics Data System, nasa.gov
Riverside Astronomical Society, rivastro.org
Academic
Riverside Public Library, CA
Alvord Unified School District, Riverside, CA
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA
Riverside Community College, CA
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, CA
UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA
Historical & Pioneer Society, San Bernardino, CA
Documents/Interviews
Kathleen Johns—1998 Int. Det. J. Smith, Dr. H. David
Ken Middleham—1980 Int. Don S
hay
Brian Hartnell—1969 Int. Napa County Sheriff’s Department, CA
Daniel T. Drinnon, AZ
Richard Lomanto, CA
Acquaintances & Associates Documents & Interviews
Riverside Public Library, CA
The Henry E. Huntington Library & Art Gallery, San Marino, CA
Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia, MO
Zodiac Letters, Tom Voight
Veteran’s Administration Records, US Gov.
Obituaries
Books & Magazines
Animal Happiness, Vicki Hearne, Skyhorse Publishing, 2007
Nothing Is Strange with You, James Jeffery Paul, 2008
The Care of Reptiles and Amphibians in Captivity, Chris Mattison, Blandford Press, 1987
Apollo, The Race to the Moon, Murray & Cox, Simon and Schuster, 1989
Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, Berkley Books, 2007
Zodiac Unmasked, Robert Graysmith, Berkley Books, 2007
Sky & Telescope magazine, Nov. 19, 1959
Inside the Mind of BTK, Douglas and Dodd, Jossey-Bass, 2008
Recorded Media
TV Guide magazine, Dec. 1977
Mikado—Bell Telephone Hour CD, Columbia, 2007
IMDb.com
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, 1939, Twentieth Century Fox
Charlie Chan at the Race Track, 1936, Twentieth Century Fox
Getty Images
Zodiac Cracked: The Manifestation of a Killer Page 12