Zodiac Killer Research
Robert Melvin Higgins murdered people in my presence
He killed three men in a farmhouse when I was 4 years old. I was not supposed to notice.
He killed a farmer by driving a tractor over him. I was not supposed to notice.
He killed the cab driver in Oceanside, the couple in San Diego, and the couple on Gaviota Beach while he was on work or vacation trips that I was not supposed to notice.
He killed Cheri Jo Bates and I did not notice the evidence for years. But when I did, I recognized his watch and his habitual ways.
He killed the Zodiac victims while he was on sudden trips to visit his 'folks and friends' in Modesto.
He wrote the codes and letters and wanted me to notice his skills, but he never imagined I would realize he used his skills to brag about his murders.
He was a complicated man who wanted me to feel crazy and disoriented after he revealed his crimes to me.
I have spent many years trying to understand what really happened and not feel crazy when I think about him.
Here are some of the observations and opinions I have about Robert Melvin Higgins- The Zodiac Killer.
Recommended Reading
I am reading the Zodiac Killer: Just the Facts Book by Tom Voigt.
https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-killer-a-timeline
This timeline is really easy to read
America's Jack the Ripper by Søren Roest Korsgaard
I am reading this as well. It is a compilation of police reports and the author's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Photos from Higgins family collection.
top: Higgins family circa 1964.
upper center: War College class circa 1955, Robert Higgins center.
lower center: widely circulated wanted sketch
Cooper sketches (bottom left) at:
https://www.fbi.gov/image-repository/cooper-sketches.jpeg/@@images/image/high
Robert in coat and glasses/longer hair (ca. 1972)
Substack:
https://substack.com/@randall1?utm_source=feed_sidebar
Contact:
346-978-8283
Tik Tok:
@R9H999 and @zodiac.and. db.coo
Facebook:
Randy9
Z-13 Cipher
Decoded and unscrambled to read:
ROBERT M MACAFEE
The symmetrical features are the eight-balls in the center and Ns near each end.
DNA Evidence
There are some reports of DNA evidence existing. These are related to the stamps in Vallejo and Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside.
My y-linked DNA is nearly identical to Robert's.
I have located a small group of cousins in the Sacramento area that share mitochondrial DNA with Robert. Basic mtDNA testing will be necessary to link them to Robert and the maternal line.
My familial DNA profiles is very likely to match DNA evidence collected from unsolved murder crime scenes. Specifically Cheri Jo Bates and Zodiac letters, but possibly others as well.
Z-32 Cipher
Decoded as:
HIGH SCHOOL 94114 CHURCH MISSION
uses 32 symbols and 16 letters of the alphabet for symmetry (2x16=32) The only significant elements needed to interpret this cipher is the numbers of symbols in each word (4-6-5-6-7).
The 4-6-5-6-7 arrangement shows a preference for symmetry, although it is not perfectly symmetrical. The Zodiac appears to have placed asymmetrical elements at the beginning and/or end of the code, but enjoyed the symmetry in the middle.
Map with symbol on Mt. Diablo
Instructions to set to Magnetic North is reminiscent of Robert's WWII service as radar operator.
Zodiac=13 SFPD=0
This letter mentions radians. The 'zero' is placed in the relative position of Mission High School if expanded to cover the map. These are trivial features and seem to be used to dramatize the map. A radian of any typical size would cover the area of the 'zero'.
Zodiac locations
1945
USS Sheliak liberty passes offered while docked at Port Chicago Naval Magazine gave Robert time to explore Benicia, Vallejo, and Napa Valley.
December 20, 1968
Betty Jensen and David Faraday killed on Lake Herman Road, Benicia.
July 4th, 1969
Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau shot in Blue Rock Springs Park, Vallejo.
September 27, 1969
Cecelia Shepherd and Bryan Hartnell stabbed at Lake Berryessa, Napa area.
October 11, 1969
Paul Stine shot and killed 2.5 miles from Mission High School in San Francisco.
Port Chicago and Mount Diablo appear to be more prominent in the Zodiac's mind and activity than San Francisco.
[Screen shots to the left from Google Earth]
Modesto Abduction of Kathleen Johns
On March 22, 1970 Robert was driving to George and Katie Higgins home on Woodland Ave. and/or Florence Millard's home on 3rd Street. Kathleen was driving to her mother's home in Petaluma. It was Palm Sunday. They both got off the 99 in Modesto onto Kansas Ave. Robert would have gone right on N. Carpenter to get to what is now Rettig Bros. on Woodland Ave. Kathleen would have turned left on N. Carpenter to get to Maze Blvd./132.
Did they meet? I believe Robert spotted a young woman in a 1957 Chevy and followed her. Only after she stopped would he have noticed her child. She was also pregnant.
Why didn't he kill her if he was the Zodiac? He wasn't prepared. He didn't have a knife or gun. She jumped out and ran. He told his family he was going to see George, as George had terminal cancer. He wanted drugs as well. He may have been unable to form a plan to kill Kathleen as he had arrived before her, started using his drug of choice, and was already too impaired to think about the possibilities. He usually bought drugs in his old neighborhood near his Aunt Florence's, Modesto High School, and César E. Chavez Park. He had lived there and maintained some connections with friends and acquaintances in the neighborhood.
Z 408 cipher
Contained in three letters postmarked July 31, 1969
Deciphered by Bettye and Donald Harden
The first cipher was mailed in three parts and deciphered within a week or two. The last line of the third section has not been clear. I interpret it as an anagram.
E B E O R I E T E M E T H H P I T I
I immediately noticed P I T I and began to read it as 'pity'. I then noticed E T H and assembled the word 'pitieth'. Pitieth is used in the King James Version of the Bible so I suspected the writer might have had a Bible reference in mind. I was also aware that Robert M. Higgins cherished his collection of C. H. Spurgeon sermons in leather bound volumes.
Further examination of the last eight letters of the anagram show that pitieth is a seven letter word. There is an extra H not needed to complete the word. However, H could be combined with the initial E or the IE combination to read 'he' or 'hie'. I focused on hie because it is rarely used in modern or 19th century texts. I felt that it would only be included if it was copied from a unique text.
E and M are prominently placed at the center of the line. There are eight letters before and after the E and M. This placement drew my eyes and thoughts to 'me'. Choosing the arrangement 'hie me pitieth' sounded like a quotation. Only six letters remained. The British sound of the phrase made me think the initial E would be the word 'he' with the silent 'h' omitted from the written text.
'E HIE ME PITIETH' gave me confidence that I could enter the words and remaining five letters into my search browser and get a result. I was not disappointed. Two meaningful references were on the first page of results. Psalm 103:13 and a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon using the psalm were obviously worth examining. I read the sermon and psalm and I was convinced these were the sources the anagram was pointing to.
Psalm 103:13, King James Version
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
C. H. Spurgeon used this reference in this sermon.
God’s Fatherly Pity
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
March 2, 1882
Scripture: Psalms 103:3
From: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 28
After reading the sermon and Psalm 103 I reorganized the anagram to read.
'E PITIETH ME
HIE TO
REB
After reflecting on all I then knew I interpret the anagram to mean.
He pitieth me,
I must hie to the mercy seat.
signed,
Rebel
Robert once told me to read the sermon. I picked up the book off his shelf and asked him how to find it. He told me to open the book at the marker he had placed in it. The half sheet of paper had something like this written on it and I asked him why the word rebel was on it. He said, "that's me, I'm a rebel". I was conflicted because he worked very hard to assure I was well behaved and had never made any statements inviting me to rebel against anyone. I had not seen him rebel in any way so I told him I couldn't understand why he would say that. He told me he was a rebel and ended the conversation.
Knowing what I know now, I see the sermon as his chosen manifesto. He believed God had allowed him to murder people as 'folly' and believed God would welcome him to the mercy seat as his loving father.
David Oranchak and Z 340
I am continuing to learn what my father did and what his influences were.
David Oranchak knows the Zodiac better than anyone else in the world, including myself. David's Youtube channel has been invaluable to me. I have learned how significant Robert's time in San Francisco was and how Charlie Chan at Treasure Island influenced him. Robert was a big movie and graphic novel fan. I knew he loved 20th Century Fox movies when they were twenty five cents ('two bits' as he said) and I knew he had been aware of Sally Rand, the fan dancer, but I had not been aware that all these personalities and their performances had coincided with Robert's time in San Francisco.
I noticed that David solved Z 340 while working with Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke but with all the chaos I was discovering in my family I didn't have the time or energy to watch his Youtube videos until my mind cleared a bit. When I binged through the videos I saw Robert learning and imitating Dr. Zodiac, Batman, and each citation David cites. David is clear and correct in tracking the pop culture influences Robert immersed himself in .
DB Cooper
Dan Cooper was a character in a graphic novel published in Canada. It was never translated into English. The series started in 1954, Robert was in French speaking Sidi Slimane, Morocco from time to time in 1955. I suspect he got the comic book there. There wasn't much entertainment at the radio station camp in the mountains on the eastern border of Morocco.
Early in 1955 he attended jump school at Ft. Benning, Georgia. On a single occasion, there was a vehicle collision far enough from Sidi Slimane that the first response, including Robert, was a parachute jump onto the highway. The squad rendered aid and waited for ground transport to take the patient to a hospital. The DB Cooper jump was insanely dangerous. But if Robert was suicidal (as he sometimes was) he may have been looking for narcissistic supply, even in death. He would have handled it like an ordered mission. Do it and if you get hurt, get patched up and get ready to do it again. Successful or not, his character, Dan Cooper, would get the attention he wanted.
The Cooper letters are very similar in tone to the Zodiac letters and Roberts grievances and style. I can only believe he used his training and experience to add the Dan Cooper character to the dystopian fantasies he was acting out. I saw a parachute after 1971. It had more or less 'appeared out of thin air'. George had a pilot's license but flew biplanes. I think it is more dangerous to jump from a biplane than a 727. The parachute was almost certainly the one Robert used in the DB Cooper jump. He denied it was his and claimed it was an old one 'George left laying around'.
Robert hid some twenties in a black medical bag (like a doctor might carry), I saw them there. He 'found' a large amount of twenty dollar bills in the pantry/work room of the house on Woodland in Modesto. He tried to persuade a businessman he knew to exchange the twenties for the smaller bills from the man's safe. I don't know if they completed the exchange. I overheard their conversation and was ordered to stay out of the room sometime in 1972.
Check out my Substack for more details.
https://substack.com/@randall1?utm_source=feed_sidebar
My Condolences to Survivors and Families of the Victims
It is with deep sadness that I publish this information. Robert Melvin Higgins was my father. I knew he had a very dark side throughout my life. I witnessed three murders he committed in Stanislaus County in 1964, when I was four years old.
I continue to grieve for those men. I was in their house the day before and in their yard when they were killed. My mother came to know what had happened. I told her what I could and asked questions until my father confessed to her. He told her she could live with him and have his income or live without him and figure out how to raise their children alone. She chose to stay with him.
I believe Robert invented the Zodiac as an alibi for those murders in Stanislaus County and others he had committed. His goal was to create a scapegoat. If anyone ever investigated him for the murders I knew about, he would blame the Zodiac. His sudden attacks on people he had no relationship to insulated him from suspicion.
As far as I can tell, Robert is responsible for many more murders than I and the police have ever thought. He seemed to kill regularly due to his delusions and bipolar disorder. He was addicted to amphetamines, barbiturates, and alcohol which provoked even greater cycles than his disordered thinking alone.
I wish to extend my condolences to each victim and their families, friends, and communities. Murder leaves a scar on each of these. I can't imagine the anguish people have experienced from his senseless acts.
May each victim rest in peace and each survivor experience healing and live in peace.
Randy Higgins
Zodiac/DB Cooper
Calendar and Information
Robert Melvin Higgins
April 9, 1921—February 18, 2009
SSN: 558-16-8013
Service: AF430849
Resided at:
615 Third St. Modesto, CA
316 Locust St. Turlock, CA
1195 Sycamore Dr. Simi Valley, CA 93065
Married to:
Barbara Mae Higgins
April 1, 1928—September 12, 2022
Married: January 21, 1956
Son-Randall Mark Higgins
July 1, 1958
Contact info:
346-978-8283
Zodiac.Macafee@gmail.com
Other Family:
RLB (declines to discuss the story)
SRH (declines to discuss the story)
Melvin Russell Davis (biological father: DNA linked to Randall Mark Higgins)
March 19, 1902—April 6, 1985
Hilda Margaret McAfee (birth mother)
June 29, 1898—February 28, 1944
George Edwin Higgins (adopted Robert from Mater Misericordiae in Sacramento)
October 24, 1897—February 12, 1971
Katie Irene Turl
July 19, 1892—March 16, 1982
Verne Higgins
1918—August 25, 1921
about 1937-1938--Robert expelled from Modesto High School
about 1938-1939--attended Mission High School in San Francisco
1939 and 1940-- Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island
August 31, 1939-- Charlie Chan at Treasure Island released by 20th Century Fox
Dr. Zodiac was the villain in the movie. Charlie Chan diagnoses Dr. Zodiac with pseudologia fantastica or pathological lying behavior. Robert seems to have adopted Dr. Zodiac's skills with disguises and lying as a typical expression of his personality.
September 6, 1939
killed Mrs. Joie Redman’s dairy cow while driving roadster with (Miss) Tibbetts in the car
1939/1940 Enlisted in United States Coast Guard (Portland)
Service Record:
Portland
general duties
San Pedro
fishing boat inspections
North Star (North Atlantic convoy escort)
30 days leave in London during 1943. Purchased complete works of Gilbert and Sullivan, personal copies of C.H. Spurgeon's sermons, and toured Jack the Ripper locations. He read and reflected on these as his voyages continued.
Gen. Black (from London to Sicily and through the Panama Canal)
crossed Equator in Atlantic and passed through the Panama Canal to the Pacific
Sheliak
crossed the Equator with 250 Army troops en route to Okinawa
1944 invasion of Okinawa
1945 liberty in Port Chicago
February 28, 1944
Hilda McAfee died from cervical cancer. Robert didn't know this and continually fantasized he would 'find' her and reconcile with her.
July 17, 1944
320 men killed while loading ammunition in Port Chicago
Robert sees this incident as indicative of Navy officers' incompetence
1945
Robert leaves USCG and drifts up and down West Coast from LA to Portland
1946-1950
whereabouts unconfirmed but his stories were diverse. Murders during these years cannot be ruled out.
Los Angeles
mortuary services
Amy Semple McPherson conversations
Pasadena
Pasadena playhouse gigs
Black Gospel group records as bass singer
1950-1954
Portland
Jim Elkins and pinball halls
Robert worked for Jim Elkins and/or his organization
Multnomah School of the Bible
1954-1961
1954 Met and began dating Barbara at Multnomah School of the Bible
1955 Enlisted in the United States Air Force
Service Record:
1955 Ft. Benning Georgia- Jump School
1955 Morocco; Sidi Slimane and radio station in eastern Morocco
began using amphetamines and barbiturates heavily
bought Dan Cooper graphic novels
parachute jump to rescue soldier injured in auto collision
1956/1957 Castle AFB, Merced
began using Thalidomide heavily
1958-1960 Torrejon AFB, Madrid
continued using Thalidomide heavily
1958 Randall born with Thalidomide damage
Robert leaves Randall to die in hospital
‘Crib death’ attempted by covering with blankets
‘Crib death’ attempted by smothering with pillow
Randall plans and injures himself by jumping into the overstuffed chair and window ledge
1961 Castle AFB Merced
reenlistment denied due to discipline record (1958 insubordination and ?)
30% VA disability granted due to pressure of job and a 'meltdown', battle fatigue, nervous breakdown. He was unable to work for days or weeks.
1962
April 9th--Robert's birthday fishing trip in Oceanside
April 10/11, 1962
Ray Davis shot in his taxi, Oceanside
day after Robert’s birthday
Robert on ‘fishing trip’ he told Barbara he ‘just needed to get away’
September 1962 Barbara begins teaching first grade at Ballico School
More 1962
September or October three men murdered with shotgun Robert borrowed from George Higgins for protection on farm in Stanislaus County in Randall's presence.
November +/- Farmer killed with tractor in Randall's presence.
Myrt (Beulah Covenant Church secretary) gaslighted and harassed resulting in hospitalization for mental illness.
January 1963
Salida bank robbery and 5 others
descriptions match Robert's appearance, known disguises, and car
February 1963
Edwin Fagundes pleads guilty to bank robbery at Salida and others and is eligible for immediate parole
June 4, 1963
Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards killed on Gaviota Beach
Robert took the car and went to a farm on the ‘west side’ of the San Joaquin Valley
He claimed a farmer was going to be working to prep his fields for the new planting
February 5, 1964
Johnny Ray Swindle and Joyce Swindle killed in Ocean Beach
Robert was looking for a job and house to buy. He was planning to move to Southern California. He told Barbara he was going to start looking in San Diego.
1964/1965
Glen Curtis cited for improper practices/ dispensing medications without a prescription from Mid Valley Pharmacy
Robert bailed him out and made monthly payments to ‘encourage’ his business
As a result, Robert's drug supplies are minimized.
September 1965
‘Nervous Breakdown’ and hospitalization in VA hospital LA
October 28/29 1965
discharge from VA hospital
diagnosis: depression, delusions of grandeur, electroshock therapy
October 28-30, 1966
Robert ‘ordered to appear in uniform’ for one year check-up. He fabricated requisitions and orders.
October 30, 1966
Cheri Josephine Bates killed at Riverside City College
Summer 1967
Robert’s appendix removed and drugs prescribed
1968
Robert meets Charles Manson at Spahn Ranch and becomes acquainted with family members while riding horses there.
December 20, 1968
David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen killed on Lake Herman Road in Benicia
Our family was in Kingsburg for Christmas
SRH birthday December 24
July 4, 1969
Michael Mageau was shot and Darlene Ferrin was killed at Blue Rocks Spring Park in Vallejo.
Our family was in Kingsburg
Randall’s birthday July 1, Elsie Peterson’s birthday July 2.
1969 Zodiac letters mailed and received. All were postmarked in San Francisco
Robert lent car to Terry to drive to visit girlfriend north of San Francisco. Instructed Terry to leave 'these three letters in mail boxes on the way north, and this one in the mail box on the way south'.
September 27, 1969
Bryan Hartnell was stabbed and Cecelia Shepard was killed at Lake Berryessa
Howie Stevenson divorce was pending and Robert visited him in San Jose
October 11, 1969
Paul Stine was shot and killed in his taxi. Washington and Cherry streets in San Francisco.
Howie Stevenson divorce was pending and Robert visited him in San Jose
Lamplighter's Music Theatre presented The Mikado three or four miles from murder scene
December 1969
Melvin Belli letters and phone calls ‘it’s my birthday, I have to kill someone’
March 22, 1970
Kathleen Johns and daughter abducted near Modesto
Robert ‘visiting’ parents on Palm Sunday but didn’t ever go to the house
1970 Zodiac letters continue
Robert was taking frequent trips to Modesto by himself.
September 6, 1970
Donna Lass letters received after extensive coverage and facts disclosed in news
detailed description of encryption received by police. Directions followed by Sal La Barbera lead to Donner Pass. Code was probably an attention getting joke using Donna Lass/Donner Pass as the punchline as in Cockney rhyming.
February 12, 1971
George Higgins died from colon cancer leaving Robert to manage the financial affairs of Katie with his savings and Social Security.
March 13, 1971
Los Angeles Times letter mailed from Pleasanton on the day after George’s funeral.
Spring 1971
George’s lawyer’s office burglarized and burned by Edwin Fagundes. Accusations in letter destroyed, all of the contents of the box intended for George’s grandchildren were destroyed or stolen.
Robert narrates story to Randall while driving from Modesto to Simi Valley, he thinks Randall is sleeping.
November 24, 1971
Dan Cooper hijacked NORJACK plane while Robert was traveling in Northern California
Robert still had Dan Cooper graphic novel on book shelf in Simi Valley.
Spring 1972
Robert ‘finds’ box full of twenties in Woodland Ave house and deposits $10-20,000 in Katie’s accounts
Parachute found in closet at Woodland Ave
‘Doctor’s bag’ twenties are found in Simi Valley
January 11, 1973
Olive Brown missing
Robert assists in search and smokes marijuana while 'searching'
Spring 1973
Randall ordered to bury a skeletal hand and fetal skeleton desiccated by lime on a Saturday
January 28, 1974
Olive Brown’s remains found
January 29, 1974
Zodiac ‘Mikado’ letter received
1974
Remainder of Zodiac letters received