Paul Stine Hanging Out the Door
Paul Lee Stine - Born: 1940. Died: October 11, 1969. (Age: 29)
On October 11, 1969, Paul Stine, a Yellow Cab driver, picked up a man between Mason and Geary Street, whose intend to go to Washington and Maple Street. For some unknown reason, the Cab ended up at Washington and Cherry Street. It is here that the passenger took out a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, different then that from the Ferrin murder, and shot Paul Stine in the right cheek.
This attack differed from the other Zodiac attacks for various reasons. Firstly, the Zodiac took Paul's wallet, keys, and a rather large piece off the back of his shirt. This was the first and only definite Zodiac case in which he took something from the victim. Secondly, in no other case has there been fingerprints. The Zodiac was careless in the aspect on this case. There were bloody fingerprints on the car itself. The Zodiac was very tricky and hid his fingerprints, so this situation alone pulls this event away from the others. Lastly, the Zodiac actually left something here. In the Cheri Jo Bates case, a 7 inch banded watch was accidentily left there, but it was broken. According to police records, a pair of men's size 7 black leather gloves were found. This similarilty to the fact that the watch from the Bates case was "Zodiac" watch, which could be tracked down, this case also had those gloves and the fingerprints. Obviously, the Zodiac was in a rush.
In this case, unlike the others, there are 3 definite witnesses. They were throwing a party, and one just happened to look out the window. That person called to 2 others. They were the ones who called the police to report the incident. They reported the attacker was a black man. The police arrived on the scene and found a man nearby. When asked if he had seen the attacker, he told sent them in another direction. Little did those two officers realize that who they were talking to was the Zodiac. This was the closest the police have ever come to coming in contact with him. Had the 3 witnesses, who were quite young, reported the attacker to be white, the Zodiac may have been caught.
Yet again, the Zodiac wrote to police, claiming credit for Paul's death. To prove it was he who did it, he included a piece of Paul's blood stained shirt. This throughly convinced the police that the Zodiac was Paul's killer.
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