The "Channel 9" letter mailed to the KHJ-TV Studios in Los Angeles by the Zodiac Killer on May 2nd 1978, was a response to the Oscars yearly special run by the station on the eve of the award ceremony, which used public voting to determine the potential Academy Award winners. Hence the Zodiac Killer's wording of "Hey-you actors-this is your lucky Break. Remember-whoever plays me has his work cut out for him" and "please hold the applause". This phraseology was also present in the April 24th 1978 letter which stated "I am waiting for a good movie about me". The Channel 9 letter's primary targets were "Chief piggy Darrel Gates" and "Ex Chief piggy Ed Davis", who were selected in positions (1) and (2) of five targets. This wasn't particularly unusual for the Zodiac Killer to focus his attention on law enforcement, but why did he target Pat Boone, Eldridge Cleaver and Susan Atkins? The answer likely lay in the religious wording "theocratic" and "Judas".
Pat Boone grew up in the Church of Christ. In the 1960s, Boone's marriage to Shirley Lee Foley nearly came to an end because of his use of alcohol and his preference for attending parties. However, after coming into contact with the Charismatic Movement, Shirley began to focus more on her religion and eventually influenced Pat and their daughters to have a similar religious focus. At the time they attended the Inglewood Church of Christ in Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, before being excommunicated in 1971
The 20th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23rd 1978, in which his daughter, Debby Boone, won the award for "Best New Artist", which she followed up by singing the "Best Original Song" winner at the April 3rd 1978 Academy Awards ceremony, called "You Light Up My Life" from the film score. At the same time, the Boone family began a series of specials on television covering their life and religiosity, which was regarded extreme by some. Clearly the Zodiac Killer was one such person, who slammed Pat Boone by writing "Pat Boone-his theocratic crap is an obscenity to the rest of the world". A Theocracy relates to or denotes a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.
Susan Atkins (part of the Manson family) published her autobiography, "Child of Satan, Child of God" in 1977, but it was reissued on May 1st 1978, one day before the Channel 9 letter was postmarked in Anaheim, California. From 1974 onward, Atkins said she was a born-again Christian after seeing a vision of Jesus Christ in her cell. No wonder the Zodiac Killer called her the "Judas of the Manson Family",
Pat Boone grew up in the Church of Christ. In the 1960s, Boone's marriage to Shirley Lee Foley nearly came to an end because of his use of alcohol and his preference for attending parties. However, after coming into contact with the Charismatic Movement, Shirley began to focus more on her religion and eventually influenced Pat and their daughters to have a similar religious focus. At the time they attended the Inglewood Church of Christ in Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, before being excommunicated in 1971
The 20th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23rd 1978, in which his daughter, Debby Boone, won the award for "Best New Artist", which she followed up by singing the "Best Original Song" winner at the April 3rd 1978 Academy Awards ceremony, called "You Light Up My Life" from the film score. At the same time, the Boone family began a series of specials on television covering their life and religiosity, which was regarded extreme by some. Clearly the Zodiac Killer was one such person, who slammed Pat Boone by writing "Pat Boone-his theocratic crap is an obscenity to the rest of the world". A Theocracy relates to or denotes a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.
Susan Atkins (part of the Manson family) published her autobiography, "Child of Satan, Child of God" in 1977, but it was reissued on May 1st 1978, one day before the Channel 9 letter was postmarked in Anaheim, California. From 1974 onward, Atkins said she was a born-again Christian after seeing a vision of Jesus Christ in her cell. No wonder the Zodiac Killer called her the "Judas of the Manson Family",
The third person (other than law enforcement) to be named by the Zodiac Killer was Eldridge Cleaver, an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Marxist Black Panther Party. Once a radical, in later years he regularly spoke of his conversion to Christianity despite the many dissenting voices who doubled his sincerity. On the right is an excerpt from Eldridge Cleaver's visit to LC's Gunn Auditorium on April 11th 1978.
Susan Atkins and Eldridge Cleaver both belonged to groups that dealt in murder before claiming their conversion to Christianity, with Pat Boone becoming heavily influenced by his wife Shirley's religious beliefs that governed his decision making when choosing film and television roles. All three were publicly announcing their Christian beliefs to a wider audience through the media, which to the ordinary churchgoer and non-believer may have been perceived as the fanatical preaching of religious zealotry. This sort of virtue signalling, prevalent in the society of today, may have been the reason why these three individuals were chosen by the Zodiac Killer, who ironically led us to believe that killing people was a requirement for his afterlife.
On the envelope of the Channel 9 letter the Zodiac Killer added 1234567 A, G, C, G, T, H. (All good children go to heaven) from the lyrics of "The Beatles" song "You Never Give Me Your Money". Paul McCartney stated that "it's basically a song about no faith in the person". It appeared that the Zodiac Killer had no faith in Eldridge Cleaver, Susan Atkins and Pat Boone, whose religious proclamations through the media possibly got under the skin of the Bay Area murderer - a killer who bragged and rejoiced in claiming several children for his own version of heaven.
If the Zodiac Killer singled out these three individuals because of their overt religiosity, it would appear hypocritical of a killer, who himself distorted religion to sell us a story through the power of the media.
Susan Atkins and Eldridge Cleaver both belonged to groups that dealt in murder before claiming their conversion to Christianity, with Pat Boone becoming heavily influenced by his wife Shirley's religious beliefs that governed his decision making when choosing film and television roles. All three were publicly announcing their Christian beliefs to a wider audience through the media, which to the ordinary churchgoer and non-believer may have been perceived as the fanatical preaching of religious zealotry. This sort of virtue signalling, prevalent in the society of today, may have been the reason why these three individuals were chosen by the Zodiac Killer, who ironically led us to believe that killing people was a requirement for his afterlife.
On the envelope of the Channel 9 letter the Zodiac Killer added 1234567 A, G, C, G, T, H. (All good children go to heaven) from the lyrics of "The Beatles" song "You Never Give Me Your Money". Paul McCartney stated that "it's basically a song about no faith in the person". It appeared that the Zodiac Killer had no faith in Eldridge Cleaver, Susan Atkins and Pat Boone, whose religious proclamations through the media possibly got under the skin of the Bay Area murderer - a killer who bragged and rejoiced in claiming several children for his own version of heaven.
If the Zodiac Killer singled out these three individuals because of their overt religiosity, it would appear hypocritical of a killer, who himself distorted religion to sell us a story through the power of the media.
San Francisco Examiner, April 22nd 1978
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