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Post by ophion1031 on Aug 12, 2018 22:25:39 GMT -8
In late December 1947, a nine year old boy threw bamboo spears into the yard of his neighbor, a Mr. William J. Keating, with notes attached warning Keating to keep his cat "away from the house with the skylark flag." One note also said "beware, three clues will follow." That sounds very much like the Zodiac letters. Only this is 20+ years prior and it is a nine year old kid. The notes were signed "The Red Phantom," which, of course, is very interesting in regards to the zodiac case. This was mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 8, 1974: And here are some newspaper articles on the Albany incident: The identity of the nine year old boy has not yet been discovered, but it is an interesting connection to the Zodiac case, coincidental or not. It has been determined by researchers that William J. Keating lived at 918 Evelyn Ave, Albany, CA. in 1947. This gives us an area to work around. The only problem is that I cannot find a 1947 Albany directory. The best option was to use the 1940 census and hope that something would come of it. Within a 2 block radius, the only family I found with a son in the appropriate age range was the Verga family living at 914 Evelyn, 2 houses down from Keating's home. I must also mention that Keating was not listed at 918 Evelyn in 1940, so he must have moved there at some point between 1940 and 1947. At 918 Evelyn in the 1940 census was the Bruno family, who also had a son, Richard, who would have been the right age to be "Pigeon Boy," but the Bruno family would have had to move before 1947. They most likely moved out of the neighborhood, maybe even to another city or state. John C. Verga (still living) DOB: Nov. 30, 1938 (in San Francisco) Parents: Charles "Carlo" S. Verga (DOB: April 21, 1910) and Nellan Raffanti Verga (DOB: October 20, 1909) Siblings: Charlene Verga (DOB: Feb. 24, 1933 - married, I believe in late 1953, to Henry "Hank" Richard Tigri) and Barbara Marie Verga (DOB: Sept. 6, 1936) Spouse: Dawnita M. Verga Children: David C. Verga (DOB: April 28, 1964, died Nov. 5, 2007), John Christopher Verga Known addresses for our John Verga... John C Verga 176 Oak Creek Blvd Scotts Valley, CA 95066 John C Verga 1024 San Diego Rd Santa Barbara, CA 93103 John Verga 2902 Hidalgo Ct San Jose, CA 95125 John C Verga 15840 Old County Hwy Boulder Creek, CA 95006 John C Verga 2034 Colusa Way San Jose, CA 95130 John C Verga 5912 Valley Dr Felton, CA 95018 NOTE: Pigeon Boy most likely attended Cornell Elementary in Albany at the time of this incident. The school was right around the corner from the Keating house. I'm pretty sure this is the same John C. Verga. A daughter born April 9, 1971. He has a daughter named Dawnita so I'd guess this referring to her. This is a skylark flag:
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Post by ophion1031 on Aug 12, 2018 22:27:15 GMT -8
*Notice the spelling of "clews" in this article.
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Post by ophion1031 on Aug 12, 2018 22:28:47 GMT -8
According to morf over at zodiackillersite.com, "The threat was against a WILLIAM J. KEATING. Darlene Ferrin's Brother, Leo, is related somehow to a William J. Keating, age 60." This would be Keating's son, William Jr. And he worked at Union Oil in Vallejo in 1970. NAME: William J. Keating (this is the one that received the threat, not his son, William Jr.) BIRTH: 6 Jan 1925 DEATH: 17 Oct 1987 - Vallejo, Solano, California, USA CIVIL: California I found a Bill Keating in the class of '59 for Albany H.S., but there was no photo available. I'm 99% sure that would be William Jr. There was a William James Keating born July 5, 1941 in Alameda County. Mother's maiden name Perine. Has a sister named Linda Marie Keating born May 06, 1943. I'd assume that is the same guy that graduated in 1959 from Albany HS. Either the William J. Keating listed as being born in 1925 had a kid when he was only 16, or 1925 might not be accurate for his year of birth. Or he is not actually the father of William James Keating, which is unlikely. How many William J. Keatings could there be in Albany (population of less than 20,000). EDIT: Here is the 1959 Sr. photo of William James Keating. Albany is a pretty small city. I have a list of names I could find of Albany H.S. grads between 1954 and 1958. If Pigeon Boy was a genius, he could have graduated a year or two early. If he was a dumb shit, he may have graduated a year or two late, if at all. So I gave myself a 4 year window. He probably was born in 1938 as I mentioned previously, but also could have been born at the tail end of 1937. So I am going through this list trying to find DOBs on these people. I have crossed several names off the list because their DOB would make them too young or too old to be Pigeon Boy. I will post names of the ones I can verify were 9 years old at the time of the incident. If we can somehow find addresses on these guys then that would help a ton. I think anywhere within a half-mile square radius of the Keating house should be good. If we can place anyone within that area, and their age is a match, then we can go from there. Right now, John C. Verga is the only name we have and we are not positive he lived at that Evelyn Ave. address in 1947. We know he lived there in 1940, but his father died in 1941 so it's really hard to say if the widow and children stayed or moved. The house is only 822 sq. feet, so it may have been cheap and affordable for the family.
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Post by ophion1031 on Aug 12, 2018 22:28:54 GMT -8
There was a masked wrestler called Red Phantom (wrestling out of Fresno) during this time. He also used the names Red Scorpion, Red Hangman and Red Mask. His real name was Thomas C. Rice, born Feb. 19, 1914 in Bozeman, Montana and died Aug. 24, 1996.
I wonder if Pigeon Boy saw Tom wrestle and was inspired to use the alias of the Red Phantom. Tom may have been too old to be the Zodiac, but he was in excellent shape his entire life so he may have looked younger than he actually was.
Here's his obit: A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco for Thomas C. Rice, a retired insurance executive who led a long and colorful life as an athlete and a booster of the University of San Francisco.
Mr. Rice, who was 82, died in Santa Rosa on Saturday after a series of strokes.
He was a philanthropist who made a living for awhile as a professional wrestler who called himself "The Masked Marvel," a business executive who prided himself on physical conditioning.
Mr. Rice swam in San Francisco Bay every day, and when he was 63 he towed a 200-ton sailing vessel several hundred yards. At the age of 67 he was strong enough to pull a 120-ton San Francisco tour boat 200 yards using a backstroke and a harness. The boat was loaded with USF alumni; it was a stunt for the school's annual fund drive.
USF was one of his passions. He played football there in the late 1930s at the old Kezar Stadium. He was captain of the team and was good enough to make All-Pacific Coast as a tackle.
He served in the Coast Guard during World War II and after the war embarked on a 20-year long career as a pro wrestler. At first, he called himself "The Red Scorpion" and then "The Red Phantom." After awhile, however, he became "The Masked Marvel."
"He wrestled with all the greats, including Man Mountain Dean, Monte Montana and Strangler Lewis," said Al Alessandri, a lifelong friend. These were the days when pro wrestling, which featured matches between good guys and bad guys, was a big draw.
Tom Rice was a bad guy, and people loved to boo him. He wrestled all over the world, but one of his favorite matches came when he played so many dirty tricks, he was booed right out of the Stockton Civic Auditorium. Asked years later if the sport were fixed, he said, "How should I know? I always wore a mask."
"He always said you made more money as a bad guy," said Alessandri, "but underneath he was really a good guy."
At USF, Mr. Rice created the President's Ambassadors Club, fund-raising telephone campaigns, luncheons and dinners to honor sports teams old and new. He was named to the USF Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969 and was the school's alumnus of the year in 1981.
He was also a member of the board of directors of the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma, helped organize the Petaluma People's Service Center and was president of the Old Time Athletes Association and the National Foundation Football Hall of Fame, which supports Northern California high school sports.
"He was a tough guy," said Alessandri. "When he became ill, he said, 'I'm not afraid to die, just reluctant.' "
Mr. Rice was born in Bozeman, Mont., and attended high school in Visalia, in the San Joaquin Valley. He graduated from USF in 1939.
His wife, Irene, died some years ago. Mr. Rice is survived by his brother, Hugh Rice of Tulare; his sister, Ruby Bailey of San Francisco; a stepson, Mark von Tagen; and a grandson.
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Post by ophion1031 on Aug 12, 2018 22:30:38 GMT -8
William James Keating was born 1941 in Alameda Co. Mother's maiden name Perine. There was a Michael Robert Perine of Castro Valley who was busted in 1971 with $50,000 (estimated at 900 lbs) worth of marijuana that he and a friend (Michael Scott Kelly) were transporting from Mexico. The possible Keating-Ferrin link is interesting, maybe even more now. If Michael Perine was related to the woman who was the mother of William James and Linda Marie Keating, then we really need to examine Darlene Ferrin's possible tie to drug dealing. When I google "Michael Perine" guess what I find? This is a crazy coincidence. In 1916, there was a 24 year old man named Michael Perine who set his home on fire to collect insurance money because he was out of work and did not was to be evicted or for his family to starve. Guess where this home was located? At the corner of Evelyn and Dartmouth in Albany. A block and a half away from where William J. Keating received the threatening notes. Michael Robert PerineDOB: Nov 13, 1944 in Alameda Co., California Mother's Name: Moschetti Spouse: Jeannie Ann Griffin, married in 1962. Divorced in 1973. Jeannie's birth name was Shirley, but she legally changed it to Jeannie. Children: Sherry Ann Perine, born Feb. 19, 1963. Known addresses: 17344 Oscar Grass Valley, CA 95949 Age 71 (Born Nov 1944) (530) 477-0403 11930 Francis Dr Grass Valley, CA 95949 120 Juanita Incline Vlg, NV 89451 Age 71 (Born Nov 1944) (775) 833-0154 There is a Michael Robert Perine who got married in California to a woman named Cynthia Blodgett on June 12, 1985 in Nevada. If this is the same guy who was busted with 900 lbs of weed, this could get very very interesting. It would just be a matter of connecting a lot of dots. The last name Blodgett has been popping up a lot lately in my research. Cynthia has worked at Dickson Realty Inc. and Colwell Banker Select. Michael might actually be a lawyer in Incline Village, NV (located right on Lake Tahoe!), but I'm guessing not since he probably was charged with a felony in the marijuana bust. The Michael Robert Perine who is a lawyer in Incline Village was licensed in 1982.
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Post by zodius on Mar 10, 2021 22:21:18 GMT -8
So no one was ever able to ID this kid?
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Post by ophion1031 on Jan 28, 2022 18:00:37 GMT -8
Shane Vogt found a newspaper article that has pigeon boy's name as "Ronald Gilstrat." It's supposed to be Gilstrap, though. I researched the kid and posted info on the old site. I'll see if I can find that info to post here.
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