Post by ophion1031 on Aug 6, 2018 23:07:53 GMT -8
The murder of Paul Stine in Presidio Heights on October 11th 1969 has been covered several times on this site, but here we will run with one possible chain of events that night, using blood pattern analysis and distribution to explain the story, as it unfolded from the moment the killer requisitioned the taxicab in the theater district of San Francisco, to the last possible sighting of the murderer as he traveled east along Jackson Street towards the Julius Khan Park, never to be witnessed again.
There are three key ingredients to unveiling what actually happened in the late hours of October 11th 1969 and all three can be found by examining firstly the fingerprints on the taxicab, allied with the actions and movements of the killer, secondly the blood pattern analysis of the shirt and finally the blood pattern in and around the taxicab as it was sequentially photographed by responding personnel. Blood does not lie, it follows the law of time and gravity and can be used to help us understand the position Paul Stine's body was situated throughout and therefore unlock a plausible course of events, starting with the Zodiac Killer's claim in a letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969 stating that 'I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St and Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt'.
Many of the Zodiac Killer's claims, particularly in this crime do not stand up to scrutiny, but what possible motive, unless he was mistaken, could he have for claiming the murder at the wrong intersection, it serves little purpose and crucially the blood stains exhibited on the Paul Stine shirt (shown here) tell us that he was likely telling us the truth. Had Paul Stine been shot at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection and slumped over to his right immediately into a horizontal position, either onto his back or right side, then the blood from the wound anterior to his right ear could not have created the blood pattern seen here on the right. Not only would Paul Stine have been laying flat, but as you will notice from the rear photograph of the taxicab, roads have a natural camber, convex in design and the taxicab is conforming to this tilt. See here. Blood will not flow against gravity and most certainly could not produce the pattern shown on the right.
The second alternative is that after Paul Stine was shot he remained upright for a prolonged or measurable amount of time. But for this hypotheses to work, we would have to assume the Zodiac Killer after he shot Paul Stine just sat in the rear of the taxicab doing nothing for a notable length of time. We know that the three teenagers who observed the crime scene stated they saw the assailant in between the driver and passenger seat, with the head of Paul Stine over his lap, so we know he was in a lying position as the killer proceeded to remove a large rear section of Paul Stine's shirt. In other words if the murder took place at Washington and Cherry, the logical order of events is that the killer shot Paul Stine, whether in the rear or front of the taxicab and then immediately proceeded to negotiate Paul Stine into a lying position, if he was not already in one and remove the swatch of shirt, before wiping down the interior of the taxicab. He then exited the front passenger side door and motioned round to a position somewhere between the left rear passenger door and driver side door, appearing to wipe down the taxicab, presumably to remove any incriminating fingerprints.
However, there are four major flaws with this scenario. Firstly, if Paul Stine had been in a horizontal position within seconds or a very brief time after being shot then the blood pattern on the shirt could not have happened. Secondly, the three teenagers never saw the killer at any point in the interior rear of the taxicab. Thirdly, a gunshot was never heard, although it could have been muffled by the close contact wound or the killer may have used a suppressor. And finally, why on earth was the killer wiping down the front driver side door, what reason could he ever have for touching either the panel or handle of this door.
When the killer hailed the taxicab at Mason and Geary Street, wanting to travel to Washington and Maple, presumably he did this from the sidewalk and entered the vehicle by the rear right passenger door. It has been speculated he may have leaned on the driver side door, talking to Paul Stine, before entering the taxicab. But why. He could have made conversation with the driver from the safety of the sidewalk. Additionally, if this crime was premeditated why would he feel the need to splash his fingerprints all over the door panel and handle, knowing that in a little over 10 minutes he was to murder the driver in cold blood, thereby having to waste valuable time removing the fingerprints he had just planted there, it makes little sense. On Crimelibrary.com it states 'SFPD crime lab technicians developed dozens of prints in and on the cab. Among these were several that, according to an SFPD memo show traces of blood and are believed to be prints of the suspect. Most of these came from the post between the driver side front and rear doors'. So why had the killer touched either of these doors, whether with blooded hands or not. There was no reason whatsoever, that is, unless the Zodiac Killer's meticulous planning had encountered a problem somewhere along the way.
The taxicab pulled away from the intersection of Mason and Geary on it's short journey to Washington and Maple. As they approached the corner, the taxicab driver Paul Stine knowing he was en route to a scheduled fare, possibly failed to place the taxicab into park to facilitate a quick exit and started to turn to the right to request payment. At the same time the killer had raised his 9mm semi-automatic towards the right side of Paul Stine's face. In a split second realizing the uncomfortable truth and with his right arm wedged between his body and the seat rear, instinctively raised his left hand in a desperate bid to block, deflect or grab the assailants gun, however he was unfortunately a fraction too late, as the muzzle ejected it's deadly contents. This may explain the dark mark found on the dorsal side of Paul Stine's left hand at autopsy. The killer believed his task was complete. but Paul Stine's foot had broken contact with the vehicle's brake pedal and the taxicab was now motioning forward out of control. In an instant the killer had to react to prevent an imminent crash, alerting the neighborhood and drawing unwanted attention to himself. We may never know if his intention at this point was to preserve his master plan of securing a section of Paul Stine's shirt and was not to be denied or having possibly used a silencer, was determined not to place in jeopardy his quiet exit away up Maple Street to his waiting vehicle somewhere close by. Whatever the case he had to make his decision now.
The Zodiac Killer hastily exited the left rear door, possibly injuring himself in the process (Donald Fouke described a man later spotted on Jackson Street as having a shuffling lope, like a semi-limp) and entered the front driver side door and in doing so deposited either normal or blooded fingerprints on both. Then bracing himself on the front driver side compartment area, stepped over the lifeless body of Paul Stine to gain some limited control over the runaway vehicle. He now had to support Paul Stine's body in an upright position, pressing it against the driver side door with his left side, so as to access the taxicab pedals with his left foot and coast the taxicab away from the Washington and Maple Street intersection to the corner of Washington and Cherry, where he pulled up in the position shown in the photograph above.
This is where the three teenagers come into play. They said they saw the 'suspect in the front of the Yellow cab, mid to passenger side, with the victim slumped partially over his lap. The suspect appeared to be searching the victim's pockets. The suspect then appeared to be wiping on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment. The suspect then exited the cab by the front passenger side door, also wiping with a white rag, possibly a handkerchief. The suspect then walked around the cab to the driver's side and proceeded to wipe the exterior of the left door area. The suspect then fled north on Cherry Street'. They never saw him exit the rear of the taxicab and the bloodstained shirt, along with all the aforementioned actions would explain why the Zodiac Killer did what he did, as described by the three teenagers.
He exited the rear left passenger side door at Washington and Maple to enter the driver side door, therefore had to later wipe down both these surfaces. The bloodstained shirt exhibited a continuous and measurable time period in which Paul Stine was propped up by the killer between the two intersections, with the blood flow downwards and outwards around the chest area. He wiped down the driver side compartment, the area in which he braced himself entering the driver side door and stepping over Paul Stine's body. And finally, no gunshot was heard.
Composite sketch of Stine's killer:
There are three key ingredients to unveiling what actually happened in the late hours of October 11th 1969 and all three can be found by examining firstly the fingerprints on the taxicab, allied with the actions and movements of the killer, secondly the blood pattern analysis of the shirt and finally the blood pattern in and around the taxicab as it was sequentially photographed by responding personnel. Blood does not lie, it follows the law of time and gravity and can be used to help us understand the position Paul Stine's body was situated throughout and therefore unlock a plausible course of events, starting with the Zodiac Killer's claim in a letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 13th 1969 stating that 'I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington St and Maple St last night, to prove this here is a blood stained piece of his shirt'.
Many of the Zodiac Killer's claims, particularly in this crime do not stand up to scrutiny, but what possible motive, unless he was mistaken, could he have for claiming the murder at the wrong intersection, it serves little purpose and crucially the blood stains exhibited on the Paul Stine shirt (shown here) tell us that he was likely telling us the truth. Had Paul Stine been shot at the Washington and Cherry Street intersection and slumped over to his right immediately into a horizontal position, either onto his back or right side, then the blood from the wound anterior to his right ear could not have created the blood pattern seen here on the right. Not only would Paul Stine have been laying flat, but as you will notice from the rear photograph of the taxicab, roads have a natural camber, convex in design and the taxicab is conforming to this tilt. See here. Blood will not flow against gravity and most certainly could not produce the pattern shown on the right.
The second alternative is that after Paul Stine was shot he remained upright for a prolonged or measurable amount of time. But for this hypotheses to work, we would have to assume the Zodiac Killer after he shot Paul Stine just sat in the rear of the taxicab doing nothing for a notable length of time. We know that the three teenagers who observed the crime scene stated they saw the assailant in between the driver and passenger seat, with the head of Paul Stine over his lap, so we know he was in a lying position as the killer proceeded to remove a large rear section of Paul Stine's shirt. In other words if the murder took place at Washington and Cherry, the logical order of events is that the killer shot Paul Stine, whether in the rear or front of the taxicab and then immediately proceeded to negotiate Paul Stine into a lying position, if he was not already in one and remove the swatch of shirt, before wiping down the interior of the taxicab. He then exited the front passenger side door and motioned round to a position somewhere between the left rear passenger door and driver side door, appearing to wipe down the taxicab, presumably to remove any incriminating fingerprints.
However, there are four major flaws with this scenario. Firstly, if Paul Stine had been in a horizontal position within seconds or a very brief time after being shot then the blood pattern on the shirt could not have happened. Secondly, the three teenagers never saw the killer at any point in the interior rear of the taxicab. Thirdly, a gunshot was never heard, although it could have been muffled by the close contact wound or the killer may have used a suppressor. And finally, why on earth was the killer wiping down the front driver side door, what reason could he ever have for touching either the panel or handle of this door.
When the killer hailed the taxicab at Mason and Geary Street, wanting to travel to Washington and Maple, presumably he did this from the sidewalk and entered the vehicle by the rear right passenger door. It has been speculated he may have leaned on the driver side door, talking to Paul Stine, before entering the taxicab. But why. He could have made conversation with the driver from the safety of the sidewalk. Additionally, if this crime was premeditated why would he feel the need to splash his fingerprints all over the door panel and handle, knowing that in a little over 10 minutes he was to murder the driver in cold blood, thereby having to waste valuable time removing the fingerprints he had just planted there, it makes little sense. On Crimelibrary.com it states 'SFPD crime lab technicians developed dozens of prints in and on the cab. Among these were several that, according to an SFPD memo show traces of blood and are believed to be prints of the suspect. Most of these came from the post between the driver side front and rear doors'. So why had the killer touched either of these doors, whether with blooded hands or not. There was no reason whatsoever, that is, unless the Zodiac Killer's meticulous planning had encountered a problem somewhere along the way.
The taxicab pulled away from the intersection of Mason and Geary on it's short journey to Washington and Maple. As they approached the corner, the taxicab driver Paul Stine knowing he was en route to a scheduled fare, possibly failed to place the taxicab into park to facilitate a quick exit and started to turn to the right to request payment. At the same time the killer had raised his 9mm semi-automatic towards the right side of Paul Stine's face. In a split second realizing the uncomfortable truth and with his right arm wedged between his body and the seat rear, instinctively raised his left hand in a desperate bid to block, deflect or grab the assailants gun, however he was unfortunately a fraction too late, as the muzzle ejected it's deadly contents. This may explain the dark mark found on the dorsal side of Paul Stine's left hand at autopsy. The killer believed his task was complete. but Paul Stine's foot had broken contact with the vehicle's brake pedal and the taxicab was now motioning forward out of control. In an instant the killer had to react to prevent an imminent crash, alerting the neighborhood and drawing unwanted attention to himself. We may never know if his intention at this point was to preserve his master plan of securing a section of Paul Stine's shirt and was not to be denied or having possibly used a silencer, was determined not to place in jeopardy his quiet exit away up Maple Street to his waiting vehicle somewhere close by. Whatever the case he had to make his decision now.
The Zodiac Killer hastily exited the left rear door, possibly injuring himself in the process (Donald Fouke described a man later spotted on Jackson Street as having a shuffling lope, like a semi-limp) and entered the front driver side door and in doing so deposited either normal or blooded fingerprints on both. Then bracing himself on the front driver side compartment area, stepped over the lifeless body of Paul Stine to gain some limited control over the runaway vehicle. He now had to support Paul Stine's body in an upright position, pressing it against the driver side door with his left side, so as to access the taxicab pedals with his left foot and coast the taxicab away from the Washington and Maple Street intersection to the corner of Washington and Cherry, where he pulled up in the position shown in the photograph above.
This is where the three teenagers come into play. They said they saw the 'suspect in the front of the Yellow cab, mid to passenger side, with the victim slumped partially over his lap. The suspect appeared to be searching the victim's pockets. The suspect then appeared to be wiping on the interior of the cab, leaning over the victim to the driver's compartment. The suspect then exited the cab by the front passenger side door, also wiping with a white rag, possibly a handkerchief. The suspect then walked around the cab to the driver's side and proceeded to wipe the exterior of the left door area. The suspect then fled north on Cherry Street'. They never saw him exit the rear of the taxicab and the bloodstained shirt, along with all the aforementioned actions would explain why the Zodiac Killer did what he did, as described by the three teenagers.
He exited the rear left passenger side door at Washington and Maple to enter the driver side door, therefore had to later wipe down both these surfaces. The bloodstained shirt exhibited a continuous and measurable time period in which Paul Stine was propped up by the killer between the two intersections, with the blood flow downwards and outwards around the chest area. He wiped down the driver side compartment, the area in which he braced himself entering the driver side door and stepping over Paul Stine's body. And finally, no gunshot was heard.
Composite sketch of Stine's killer: