How to find a good POI

I enjoy researching the suspects that everyone knows about to see if I can find anything else that nobody has found before. It's fun and could be helpful. I also like to try to find new POI's, but those are a little hard to come up with for the most part. Most of these people should be listed in the "secret suspect" section. So what are some things I look for?

-Times & Locations: Placing a POI in certain areas at certain times is pretty crucial. To me, this is the top thing to look for. If a guy was in jail during a Zodiac crime, cross him off your list.
-Appearance: This is not as important, because we don't really know how accurate the descriptions of Zodiac are. If a POI looks like a composite, great. If he doesn't look like the composite, don't count them out. A Zodiac letter did state that he changed his appearance when he "did his thing." If your POI is black or Asian, then you can probably cross him off your list, but don't put much stock into certain things like glasses. We don't know if he wore glasses in his everyday life or if he wore them as part of a disguise.
-Handwriting: If you are able to gain access to a POI's handwriting, that is fantastic, but a difficult task. Personally, I am not sold on the killer himself writing the letters and believe that Fred Manalli wrote them, but it is always fun to compare other people's handwriting to the letters. If your POI's handwriting does not match the Zodiac letters, don't worry about it.
-Background info: You have probably noticed that sometimes I post random crap about a POI that may seem insignificant, but any small detail about a person's background could lead to other information being found. I normally look for date of birth, date of death (if they are deceased), parents info, siblings, spouse(s), children etc. Even grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles... anything could help, you never know.
-Education: Times & locations of a POI's time and both High School and college (if they attended college) can be valuable information to have. Anyone how was a classmate of a victim is always good. Anyone who was a classmate of ZODE (find the thread on him if you're not familiar with him) could be good as well.
-Military: Most people believe Zodiac was a military man. If your POI had military training in codes, that is important! Any other info you can find on a POI's military records are definitely worth posting.

Basically, the more info you have, the better. Obituaries normally provide some good background on a person and can point you in the right direction of where to look for more info on a person. Feel free to add to this list of what to look for in a POI.

Another thing to look into is how much freedom a POI would have had to move around unsuspected. A guy with no family or no friends would probably be able to accomplish this quite easily, whereas a guy who is married and has kids might not be able to get around as much. But then again this was the 60's and people were a lot different back then.

I had never thought of searching through obits but that does make plenty of sense.

Divorces are very telling, one of my suspects was arrested for beating his wife and teenage daughter. He threatened to kill both of them.
That I read in the divorce papers. Sometimes the husband will write in his own words and you will then have his handwriting.
If you go to the recorders office look your poi up there, you will be surprised what you find. If they own a business they have to file for a license, that information is public. I was able to get many hand writing samples that way.
Go to the court house and look for any arrest records civil and superior court. Don't believe people when they say that the records are gone after 10 yrs. I found them going back to the 50's. If you have a account with any of the Newspaper.coms enter the name of your poi to see if he was ever in the paper. Not everything can be found on line, gum shoe it. I have driven to all of the recorders offices , libraries , court houses, where possible Zodiac crimes took place. I have gone as far south as San Diego and north to Eureka and all of the ones in between , as well as Lake Tahoe many times looking up Larry Kane. It is a lot of work, but some day I hope it will pay off.

Are divorce papers easy to get a hold of?

Dunderhead99 wrote:Are divorce papers easy to get a hold of?

Not so much from the internet. Like Sandy said, you have to physically go to places who have documents, court houses or and buildings that hold such records.

Dunderhead99 wrote:Are divorce papers easy to get a hold of?

Very easy to get, it is all public information. It helps if you have the dates of the divorce, the court house in the county where they lived is where I find them. When you look up their name, get the date and the file number, write all the numbers down. Then you go to the desk or counter with all of those numbers and ask for that file. They will have clips for you to attach to any pages you want copies of. Some charge 50 cents , others charge $1.00 per page. I have gotten death certificates for only a $1.00 instead of $18.00. That is when a spouse has died , the living spouse has to go to the recorders, to show proof of that death, so it is recorded. Almost anything that has been recorded , you can get a copy of. In some cases the judge will write that a certain document has to be kept confidential. That is the only time you can't get it.
If your POI has a business , he/ she has to have a license , they have to re-new every 5 yrs or at least that is the way it was. They fill the application by hand, so you can get their hand writing. I found 3 apps. from one of my POI's, that covered 15 yrs of hand writing, to see if it change at all.

Shame on me , but when I start dating someone who I want to know more about and he had been married, I read his divorce. If he is a wife beater or cheater, all you can see is the dust behind me LOL.

I'm kinda glad I don't live in California. This case would probably take over my life. Right now it is just something I do while I'm at work and I don't even bother with it outside of work. It makes the time fly by and it is fun! Living in California, I think I would be at it non stop.

But even from a computer at my work, it's cool to find something online that could contribute to solving the case.

Sandy, very smart thinking doing a background check!

Thanks, You can become obsessed even not being in Calif.
Trust me, I have met people from far far away who are into it non stop. Its just a matter of time and you will be like the rest of us. I take a break when I sleep LOL.

Haha that is true. There have been times where I have had to stop myself from doing research from home.

I go to sleep and wake up everyday wondering what I might be missing that could be the smoking gun?

sandy betts wrote:I go to sleep and wake up everyday wondering what I might be missing that could be the smoking gun?

I do that sometimes too. On the ride home from work I think about certain things, usually what I was researching that night, and then I think about it when I'm laying down. Once I wake up I am in kid mode until I come back to work.

Been there. But work keeps me so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to think about the case. I guess it is good to get a break from it at times and then dive back into it refreshed.

Well someone put an ocean between myself and the shores of America and they did this on purpose because they knew If I was allowed to walk across land and straight into America, then I would have the Zodiac case solved within 45 minutes of stepping foot on American soil at a maximum. 7 - 10 mins in all probability. So, Conspiracy to threat WelshChaps arrival by putting a big puddle in my way!

It isn't fair because unfortunately, I have yet to master the Jesus walking on water thing. Every time I try to do it I disappear under water.

I've gone to plan B instead. I'm going to ask God to part the waters so I may arrive in the states as a modern day Moses. No, no Pharaoh's and armies charging behind, just me this time.

Won't be long Chad, I've taken the liberty to carry an emergency inflatable boat with paddle incase Yahweh doesn't feel like parting the Ocean for me. If I have to paddle in an inflatable boat to get there then, ETA: 4 years with with the tide / current. If one is rowing against the tide: ETA, approx. 123 years & 4 months. See you soon lld Chada Chap!

I know that you won't fly, because I have offered to put you up at my home if you came to Calif. But a boat cruise would get you here faster.( I love your sense of humor by the way) Being you said you could solve the case with in minutes of arriving here, perhaps I could do what ever you need to solve it here for you? Just let me know what I can do to help? Have you read my new thread at the place you dread to look at ? It is under General Zodiac discussions, then "The Sandy Betts Story". Or put it in the search. I know that you would find it very interesting.You don't have to log in to read. Tom V thank goodness boots the mean trolls off,who love to try and sabotage my story. So it is a easy read with new pictures of my Z evidence.

In all seriousness Sandy ..

I would love to come over to the States and go walk along Cherry & through onto West Pacific & Presidio ground in person hun.

God knows how many time I've wandered, virtually obviously , up & down Jackson Street via Google Map & it's Street view feature.

I wouldn't hesitate to take you up on your kind offer Sandy if I did ever come over there it's just, as I explained to you before, I don't have a natural fear of Flying, this is not why I will not get on a Jet. . .

The thought of Flying I am fine with, it's the crashing bit I don't like the idea of!

I mean, did you know for example, it's not just mechanical failure and pilot error and Hijacking nutcases that tbrings jets down, no!

According to an episode I recently watched of Air Crash Investigation (Which I think I may watch too many of & too often) airlines have decided to employ the most competent of ground crews who are so competent in their role as the refueling team that they could not understand the refueling sheet that had instructions as to what quantity of Jet Fuel this specific Flight was to be refuled with.

Not a problem for Dumb & Dumber, they will simply make a wild assumption! They decided to assume the metric weight of A on their refuel sheet must be a mistake & it actually must mean metric weight B. Successful & Spectacular way to totally miscalculate the fuel needed & issued.

So .. the Jet gets half way across the Atlantic Ocean when a warning light flashes that alerts the pilots that the fuel tanks are running low, then critically low, then engine No.1 flames out & shuts down, quickly followed by the second and final one which cuts all power & lights in passengers cabin. There is now a ominous silence without the engines working and a passenger cabin without lighting or power. Fear not, here comes the pilot to reassure the passengers by making an announcement over the inflight speaker system...

"Ladies & Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking! We are encountering a small technical issue and will be making an unscheduled stop. We are diverting to land the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Ty for choosing Mayday and Mayday Airlines!"

If having run out of fuel & having no engines thus now slowly losing altitude as huge multi ton chunk of gliding metal is A "small technical issue" then fk me I hate to think what a big & serious one looked like!

It wouldn't make a difference to me at that stage tbh.
I'd have long ago collapsed Into complete unconsciousness at the first hint of mild turbulence. Obviously, I would conclude in 1.3 seconds flat, we are being shot down by ISIS! They've hit us with that heat seeking ground to air missile that they just launched! We are going down, and I've already passed out!.

Quite how & why ISIS would be out in the middle of the Atlantic to disable any jets that happen to fly by
won't be of any relevance to me. I will let other people worry about that. I'll be preoccupied and concerned with the fact that the jet is doomed and we are all DEAD!!

Logic & Rationality? Sorry, I Left both on the Airport Runway.

As special Celebrity Guest Air Stewardess Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read once noted for passengers during the emergency pre flight instructions:

"And when the cargo door rips itself off in mid flight and takes one of the wings off along with it and we start a nose dive toward the ocean at 500MPH then don't just assume the crash position... Assume the f*@#׶g worst!

"And if you happen to survive impact by some miracle, don't worry as you have your inflatable life vest and whistle! Toot f"@*@@g toot! Shit lot of good that will do you when Bobbing up and down in the middle of the bloody Pacific!"

LOL, Thanks for starting my day off with so much laughter. I am not laughing at you , just the way you describe everything.
I have someone coming to visit me soon and see all of the Z sites. He has a real fear of flying as well, but he is going to chance his first flight. I hope he won't read your posts above and change his mind. I know that the next time I board a plane, I will be thinking of your words. From now on I will be packing a snorkel and fins just in case!

Well I tell you what I can do for your friend who, like myself, has a fear of flying and is facing that fear by boarding a flight...

As he arrives and is approaching the entrance to the jet itself, I can have the standard air stewardess who is usually there to greet passengers and show them left or right to their seats, replaced with the far more reassuring presence of a Catholic Priest. He will be holding a crucifix and asking passengers as they board would they like to confess their sins now because "My Child, you never know when. . . . When it's YOUR time!"

Then he will appear again just as the jet is taxying to the runway for takeoff...

"Passengers... Let us prey!

"Yay though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death...."