Canonical cipher 4: Z32 vol.2. Canonical crime scenes

 

Canonical cipher 4_Z32 vol_2_Canonical Crime Scenes

1.                       Google Earth and the Bay Area

The purpose of this article is to study and evaluate the canonical crime scenes based on select action:

1. Employ Mount Diablo as a meridian, as per the killer’s Z32 map instructions.
2. Incorporate all crime scenes in a singular topological graph.
3. Insert the shift of “MAG N” as per the killer’s instructions.
4. Evaluate the outcome and draw conclusions.

To this end, I have utilized both Google Earth (GE) [1] and Google Maps (GM) [2]. More specifically, with Google Maps I locate the coordinates of the crime scenes in a broader context of fast-track clustering of murder sites and other “locations of interest”. This is a dataset which is easily exportable and manageable.

With Google Earth, one can have access to calculating tools as well as altitude data, which allows for two different “distance metrics”: map length and ground length. In addition, relative angles between two locations are provided on the basis of “Grid North” with a clockwise direction for the azimuth angle. Two out of the three coordinates of the spherical system are thus provided by the software.

Figure 1 provides the depiction of the broader area of the killer’s activity on GE.

Figure 1. Macro scale of the Bay Area (canonical murders area) as per GE

2.                       Lake Herman Road

The coordinates assumed for the LHR first canonical crime scene are: 38°05'41.6"N 122°08'38.2"W.

On Google Maps (GM) this is pinpointed as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. LHR crime scene on GM

Based on those coordinates and the South Peak of Mt Diablo I have calculated the distance and Grid North angle of LHR with regard to Mt Diablo as shown in Figure 3.

 

Figure 3. LHR distance and angle from Mt Diablo on GE

 

3.                       Blue Rock Springs

The coordinates assumed for the BRS second canonical crime scene are: 38°07'33.6"N 122°11'27.9"W.

On Google Maps (GM) this is pinpointed as shown in Figure 4. I have made sure to confirm the validity of the crime scene from Michael Butterfield’s piece where he strictly attacks Gareth Penn’s calculations [3].

Figure 4. BRS crime scene on GM

Based on those coordinates and the South Peak of Mt Diablo I have calculated the distance and Grid North angle of BRS with regard to Mt Diablo as shown in Figure 5.

 

Figure 5. BRS distance and angle from Mt Diablo on GE

 

4.                       Lake Berryessa

The coordinates assumed for the LB third canonical crime scene are: 38°33'48.3"N 122°13'54.4"W. As a source for these coordinates, I have used [4]. 

On Google Maps (GM) this is pinpointed as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. LB crime scene on GM

Based on those coordinates and the South Peak of Mt Diablo I have calculated the distance and Grid North angle of LB with regard to Mt Diablo as shown in Figure 7.

 

Figure 7. LB distance and angle from Mt Diablo on GE

 

  

5.                       Presidio Heights

The coordinates assumed for the PH fourth canonical crime scene are: 37°47'20.1"N 122°27'20.2"W.

On Google Maps (GM) this is pinpointed as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. PH crime scene on GM

Based on those coordinates and the South Peak of Mt Diablo I have calculated the distance and Grid North angle of PH with regard to Mt Diablo as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. PH distance and angle from Mt Diablo on GE

For the above calculations, the corner of Washington and Maple has been utilized as the “launch” of the murder attack. Regardless of the exact sequences of events in the brief timeframe until the stopping of the cab across the Robbins residence, we can assume a near-identical angle for the corners of Washington and Maple and Washington and Cherry. Even more so, I took into consideration the corner of Mason and Geary as the “start” of the Stine “death route” which I refer to in a previous article (“Canonical murder 4_Presidio Heights vol_1_From MAG_Union Square_to_Washington and Maple_a Wells-Fargo connection and other outliers”). Moreover, Zodiac Theory admin and researcher SolidSnake has suggested Mason and Geary- North as a possible interpretation of MAG N.

The coordinates of Mason and Geary north corner are 37°47'14.0"N 122°24'35.6"W. Based on those coordinates and the South Peak of Mt Diablo I have calculated the distance and Grid North angle of MAG N with regard to Mt Diablo as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10. MAG N (Mason and Geary – North) distance and angle from Mt Diablo on GE

 

6.                       Discussion

Table I features the canonical crime scenes sorted in “chronological order”, along with coordinates, distance in km and miles from South Peak of Mt Diablo and the angle in degrees. The table also provides the respective astrological sign correlated to each crime scene.

Table I. Canonical crime scenes distance and angle from Mt Diablo

It is noted that the first two Solano County crime scenes fall into the Aquarius sign angle region [5] (300-330 degrees). The LB crime scene (Napa County) falls into Pisces [6] (330-360 degrees), whereas both “start” and “end” of Stine’s “death route” fall into Sagittarius [7] (240-270 degrees).

If we sort the canonical crime scenes into an “angular order”, starting from Grid North and moving clock-wise from “0”, we get the chain of Figure 11.

Figure 11. Grid-North-clockwise angular sorting of canonical crime scenes

 

I find it very interesting that in this sorting, MAG N as Mason and Geary (north corner) leads to the contextual equivalent of Magnetic north without upsetting the order of the sorted chain. On the contrary, it seems like “Magnetic North” is a second substitution for MAG N acronym (the first being Mason and Geary – North), with Substitution-2 being the contextual transposition of Substitution-1. This expands the method first discussed in vol.1 (PUC acronym) into the methodology of Figure 12.

Figure 12. MAG N acronym as a code solved with substitution and transposition

On such a basis, I think we can understand the killer’s suggestion to “Set 0 to MAG N” not simply from a point of shifting from Grid North to Magnetic North, but as a guideline that is first identified by the order of the Figure 11 chain, which is conceived on the basis of considering the “start” of the “Stine death route” as important as the “space-frame” of the murder attack (Washington and Maple towards Washington and Cherry). In my opinion this validates the discussion I had developed in the aforementioned piece on the fourth canonical crime. SolidSnake’s suggestion confirms that Mason and Geary – North is a plausible substitution “solution” if MAG N is considered an “acronym code”.

In “Canonical cipher 4_Z32 vol_1_State-of-the-art” I discussed the review of Foxon on various Z32 proposed solutions [8]. Foxon confirms that the mag North at the time of the Z32 was at 17 degrees (closest integer) between a range of 16.3 and 17.7 degrees [8]. Thus, Richard Grinell is correct in assuming a MAG N shift of 17 degrees [9].

Table II. Canonical crime scenes distance and angle from Mt Diablo – MAG N shift

Table II features the canonical crime scenes shifted by 17 degrees clockwise (migration from Grid North to Magnetic North). It also features the new attributed astrological signs based on the new angle as per the 360 Zodiac Circle. Only LB maintains its original sign. With the introduction of the 17 degrees MAG N shift, all three canonical crime scenes where the victims were couples are aligned into the mutable water sign of Pisces [6]. This reminds of the history of the Pisces and the association to water and lovers (the myth of Aphrodite and Eros). For the fourth canonical crime, the killer breaks two patterns: the “couples attack” and the “Sabbath time frame”, since Stine’s murder took place after the sundown of Saturday October 11, 1969. Both MAG N and PH shift into Capricorn [10].

This opens the way for the angular analysis of canonical crime scenes, which is part of the upcoming vol.3, discussing, among others, the applicability of the “radian theory” but also the hints provided by the killer in the letter accompanying the map on June 26, 1970.

SDS

June 24, 2025

References

1. https://earth.google.com/static/multi-threaded/versions/10.83.0.1/index.html
2. https://www.google.com/maps
3. https://zodiackillerfacts.com/radian.htm
4. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarius_(astrology)
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces_(astrology)
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_(astrology)
8. https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/982.pdf
9. https://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/december-27th-2020-the-day-the-z32-was-solved
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capricorn_(astrology)