Logansdad
10-01-2003, 07:40 AM
The notorious San Francisco Zodiac Killer (search), who mysteriously dropped out of sight almost 30 years ago after a bloody reign of terror that left five dead, may have been "hiding" in plain sight - locked away in prison for two unrelated murders.
A Post investigation unearthed "compelling" links between 54-year-old killer William Mentzer (search) - who's serving life without the possibility of parole - and the police profile of the Zodiac Killer, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office says.
The new information has been turned over to the San Francisco Police Department, which for 35 years has searched for the fiendish killer.
"There appear to be some compelling parallels here," said Mark MacNamara (search), the public-information officer for the San Francisco DA. "We have given the information to the police inspectors for their review."
The Post developed the information after more than 20 hours of interviews with Mentzer at the California state prison in Lancaster.
The Post discovered two dozen links between Mentzer, who is from Los Angeles, and the Zodiac Killer.
For example:
The Zodiac randomly killed five people and severely wounded two others during his spree, which began in the Bay Area in the late '60s, police said.
But in letters and cryptograms sent to the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, the Zodiac boasted that he had committed more than 30 other murders.
He congratulated police for uncovering a 1966 murder in Riverside, Calif., about 45 miles east of L.A. But the Zodiac ominously said, "There are a **** of a lot more down there."
He also threatened to "pick off" children as they came bounding out of their school bus.
The psychotic killer mysteriously dropped out of sight in 1974, after a final letter to the press.
Mentzer is serving a life sentence for the L.A. murders of New York theatrical producer Roy Radin (search) in 1983 and of prostitute June Mincher (search) in 1984.
Radin was shot more than 20 times in the head. Mentzer then put a small stick of dynamite in Radin's mouth, lit it and blew off his face.
When Mentzer was asked if he shot Mincher seven times in the head, he told The Post, "No, I think it was eight."
One week after the initial interviews, The Post confronted Mentzer with the information linking him to the Zodiac Killer.
"I am not the Zodiac," he fumed. "I am not some crazed killer, but I think I know who he is."
Mentzer said he met the Zodiac while they were incarcerated at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi (search) in the early '90s. He described the Zodiac as a 240-pound black man. Police say the Zodiac is white.
After Mentzer was handed the Zodiac links, he began to read the document as his forearms pulsated. He spent about 15 minutes reviewing the information accusing him of being the Zodiac Killer, and made five minor corrections and one significant change.
Mentzer noted that in 1966, he was based at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., which is near Riverside.
The Riverside killing mentioned in the Zodiac letter took place a few months before Mentzer left for Vietnam. There were no reported Zodiac murders until Mentzer returned to California about two years later.
A Post investigation unearthed "compelling" links between 54-year-old killer William Mentzer (search) - who's serving life without the possibility of parole - and the police profile of the Zodiac Killer, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office says.
The new information has been turned over to the San Francisco Police Department, which for 35 years has searched for the fiendish killer.
"There appear to be some compelling parallels here," said Mark MacNamara (search), the public-information officer for the San Francisco DA. "We have given the information to the police inspectors for their review."
The Post developed the information after more than 20 hours of interviews with Mentzer at the California state prison in Lancaster.
The Post discovered two dozen links between Mentzer, who is from Los Angeles, and the Zodiac Killer.
For example:
The Zodiac randomly killed five people and severely wounded two others during his spree, which began in the Bay Area in the late '60s, police said.
But in letters and cryptograms sent to the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, the Zodiac boasted that he had committed more than 30 other murders.
He congratulated police for uncovering a 1966 murder in Riverside, Calif., about 45 miles east of L.A. But the Zodiac ominously said, "There are a **** of a lot more down there."
He also threatened to "pick off" children as they came bounding out of their school bus.
The psychotic killer mysteriously dropped out of sight in 1974, after a final letter to the press.
Mentzer is serving a life sentence for the L.A. murders of New York theatrical producer Roy Radin (search) in 1983 and of prostitute June Mincher (search) in 1984.
Radin was shot more than 20 times in the head. Mentzer then put a small stick of dynamite in Radin's mouth, lit it and blew off his face.
When Mentzer was asked if he shot Mincher seven times in the head, he told The Post, "No, I think it was eight."
One week after the initial interviews, The Post confronted Mentzer with the information linking him to the Zodiac Killer.
"I am not the Zodiac," he fumed. "I am not some crazed killer, but I think I know who he is."
Mentzer said he met the Zodiac while they were incarcerated at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi (search) in the early '90s. He described the Zodiac as a 240-pound black man. Police say the Zodiac is white.
After Mentzer was handed the Zodiac links, he began to read the document as his forearms pulsated. He spent about 15 minutes reviewing the information accusing him of being the Zodiac Killer, and made five minor corrections and one significant change.
Mentzer noted that in 1966, he was based at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., which is near Riverside.
The Riverside killing mentioned in the Zodiac letter took place a few months before Mentzer left for Vietnam. There were no reported Zodiac murders until Mentzer returned to California about two years later.