The S.F. Chronicle personal ad August 27, 1976

This personal ad was in the S.F. Chronicle August 27, 1976 - two days after suspect Fred Manalli was killed in an auto accident.



"ZODIAC your partner is in DEEP REAL ESTATE. You're next. The Imperial Wizard can save you. Surrender to him or I'll terminate your case. R.A."

There are dozens of things in the case that you can say "oh, that is a coincidence." To me, this is something that cannot be a coincidence. I hope to hear everyone's thoughts on this ad.

My thoughts on the ad? I dont know what to think really. If this 'partner' is really talking about Manalli then a bunch of people will have to admit they were wrong and they were foolish for not accepting that a 'Zodiac group' was a real possibility.

Agreed, Scott. I hope this thread gets a big discussion going once we get more people on the site. I would love to get more opinions.

imperial wizard has to be some sort of a klan reference

The Virus wrote:imperial wizard has to be some sort of a klan reference

The Klan are the only group I know of that used "Imperial Wizard," so it could very well be. A lot of Klansmen were also members of groups such as the Minutemen and John Birch Society.

Is there anything else an imperial wizard could be besides a kkk leader? That is the only time i have heard of it is in reference to the kkk.

Was there alot of kkk members in the bay area in the 60's and 70's?

Rocketman wrote:Was there alot of kkk members in the bay area in the 60's and 70's?

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think there were all that many. That angle has been looked it, but there could still be something to be found.

Trying to put a list together of all the bay area attorneys from the mid 60's until late 70's, but it's hard to find many. Haven't found any with the initials of RA just yet.

I wish I had more to offer on this as i do think it is extremely important clue to solving the case.

Rocketman wrote:I wish I had more to offer on this as i do think it is extremely important clue to solving the case.

I agree, but I don't think there is a way to know exactly what this message means or who it is from.

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but is there a clearer version of the ad?

R.A. = Ronald Allison??? Ronald Allison Miller obituary...

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pe/obituary.aspx?pid=176108127

RONALD ALLISON MILLER, born February 1, 1946, in Gettysburg, Pa., to Harold & Pauline Miller (both deceased), died September 25, 2015, of pancreatic cancer at the age of 69. He graduated from Gettysburg H.S. in 1964, and a year later followed his parents to Riverside, Ca. He attended Riverside City College for two years and then enrolled at San Diego State earning a BA in 1968. He was accepted to U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. During his second year at Hastings he was drafted into the US Army where he served as an M.P., spending two years on the 48th parallel between the two Korea's. After the army he returned to Hastings earning his Juris Doctor in 1973. He worked for attorney Everett Spriggs in Riverside, and in 1975 began working for Welebir, Brunick & Taylor in San Bernardino, Ca, where he practiced workers' compensation law becoming a certified specialist in that field. He accepted a partnership with the firm and remained there for 10 years and also served as Deputy City Attorney for the cities of Redlands and Rialto, Ca. He was a member of the San Bernardino and American Bar Associations, the State Bar of Ca, and the Greater Inland Empire Applicants' Attorneys Association. In 1984 he opened his own law firm where he successfully served the Inland Empire for 22 years. In 1975 he married Cheryl Oakes Mason becoming father to her two children and adopting them in 1983. He spent the next 40 years building a life of wonderful memories. He is survived by his loving wife Cheryl; two children Danny (Debi), Chrissy (Rick); and three grandchildren Riley, Gavin and Izabel. A memorial service will be held at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, October 16, at 2PM.


Hmmmm an attorney with R.A. initials, although it's his first and middle name. I think he may have been at RCC at the same time as Cheri Jo Bates, but this obit does not give specific dates.

This guy must have been at RCC in 1965 & 1966 (when Cheri Jo was there) and then San Diego State in 1967 and 1968, U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco from either 1968 or 1969 until he went into the Army, which was probably 1970 or 1971 and then came back to U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1972 or 1973.

If this is the guy that placed the personal ad, could he have heard about Manalli's death and placed the ad that quick from the Riverside area? Maybe Manalli's death was not an accident and Miller was up in the bay area at the time because Manalli had to be "taken out" for some reason?

My shift at work ends in 7 minutes so I will have to wait until tomorrow night to see if I can come up with anything else on this guy. I will ask Seagull if she can find any military records on him. I would like to see the actual date he enlisted in the Army to see exactly where he was at what exact times.

sorry if this has been answered before but is there any way to check with the chronicle as to who may have placed the ad?

Eric X wrote:sorry if this has been answered before but is there any way to check with the chronicle as to who may have placed the ad?

The Chronicle was contacted and they said they had no records, but a fake name was used anyways, guaranteed. I'm hung up on the 'Imperial Wizard' part of the personal ad. Who was the 'Imperial Wizard' amd in what way can they 'help' Zodiac?

Does anyone know if the police looked into people with a subscription to the Chronicle? Personal ads were a safe way to send messages back then and it wasn't an uncommon thing. So the person who placed the ad must have known Z would see the message.

Another thought..... the "Imperial Wizard" might not be KKK, although that is the only time I have heard of it. I was thinking of the possible MK Ultra experiments in the area and a lab guy, or whatever, who may have been conducting the experiments could have been wearing a white lab coat similar to a KKK outfit and maybe a patient started calling the guy "Imperial Wizard."

The R.A. initials, maybe resident advisor of the facility where the (possible) experiments were taking place?

Just a shot in the dark, really, but it is possible.

If we are to believe that this personal ad is legit, which I think it is, then we must believe there are at least 4 people involved; Zodiac, the "partner," the "Imperial Wizard" and this "R.A." person who placed the ad. Manalli would have to be toe partner, but who are the others and how do they all fit together? If this was the work of the MK Ultra program, then the whole Zodiac thing was probably an experiment as well. And the personal ad makes it sound like "R.A." and the "Imperial Wizard" could be Zodiac's handlers.



1871 KKK outfit:

The Imperial Wizard normally wears purple robes, sometimes blue.

Again, that is all just a theory and probably a far fetched one at that, but maybe not. Hell, maybe the ciphers even have something to do with the MK Ultra experiments. They do seem like they could be created by the CIA.

RH=Richard Helms?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Helms

The CIA were doing experiments in San Francisco in the 50's...
"In Operation Midnight Climax, the CIA set up several brothels in San Francisco, California to obtain a selection of men who would be too embarrassed to talk about the events. The men were dosed with LSD, the brothels were equipped with one-way mirrors, and the sessions were filmed for later viewing and study. In other experiments where people were given LSD without their knowledge, they were interrogated under bright lights with doctors in the background taking notes. The subjects were told that their "trips" would be extended indefinitely if they refused to reveal their secrets. The people being interrogated this way were CIA employees, U.S. military personnel, and agents suspected of working for the other side in the Cold War. Long-term debilitation and several deaths resulted from this. Heroin addicts were bribed into taking LSD with offers of more heroin."


And, of course, Ted Kaczynski participated in the MK Ultra experiments when he was at Harvard.

Hmmm, Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead (yes, THAT Robert Hunter) was an early volunteer of the MK Ultra experiments that were taking place at Stanford University. Stanford test subjects were paid to take LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, then report on their experiences. These experiences were creatively formative for Hunter:

"Sit back picture yourself swooping up a shell of purple with foam crests of crystal drops soft nigh they fall unto the sea of morning creep-very-softly mist ... and then sort of cascade tinkley-bell-like (must I take you by the hand, every so slowly type) and then conglomerate suddenly into a peal of silver vibrant uncomprehendingly, blood singingly, joyously resounding bells... By my faith if this be insanity, then for the love of God permit me to remain insane."

Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, who was a key figure in the experiments, was also known to be a Satanist.

i wan't aware that Robert Hunter took place in that testing, and he did so willingly lol strange.

i think rh=richard helms is a huge stretch but everything else i can kind of see.

damn so they CIA actually set up brothels, and they were drugging people and using electroshock therapy, so yeah i would say it is very possible they could come up with something like a serial killer who sends cryptic messages to police because even if by some miracle the cops can figure it all out, what the hell can they do about it? nothing!

I may have found an Imperial Wizard worth checking into. Bill Albers, Imperial Wizard in Modesto, CA, who was arrested in 1987...

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-07/news/mn-2262_1_counterfeit-money

He was 41 at the time of the article, so his DOB would have been 1936, give or take a year. Albers is a barrel chested, stocky guy. He has had a beard in every photo I have seen of him and I don't think he ever had a crew-cut, but if this theory is correct then he wouldn't be Zodiac anyways. IF he is the correct Imperial Wizard, then who knows what that could lead to. Also, Albers was an associate of Richard Butler of the Aryan Nation, and we already know of Butler's ties to the Minutemen.


Albers:

This article from 1966 says Albers is a trucker who resides in Salida, CA, just outside of Modesto, approximately 85 miles east of San Francisco.

http://www.recordnet.com/article/19960306/a_news/303069995

I kinda want to try to contact Albers, but not sure if that is such a good idea. If he is not the right Imperial Wizard, maybe he can point me in the right direction. He is the only Imperial Wizard I have found close to the bay area after several hours of research.

EDIT: Tom Metzger was an Imperial Wizard in California at some point, I guess. He was also a member of the Minutemen and the John Birch Society. He lived in southern California from 1964 until sometime in the 80's. Learn something new every day! I will reach out to Keith Gilbert and see if he can lend a hand with this.

My personal opinion about the add, is that it was Zodiac making up some cock and bull story for the attention he craved. There it wasn't a "imperial Wizard" connected to the Zodiac, only a love of attention is what I believe.