Zodiac Killer – See Him Inhale
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"As of yet I have left nofingerprints behind me contraryto what the police sayin my killings I wear trans-parent finger tip guards. All itis is 2 coats of airplane cementcoated on my fingertips - quiteunnoticible & very efective"
The text above was written by the infamous Zodiac killer, in a Nov. 9, 1969 letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Where did Zodiac get this idea of fingerprint obfuscation? Did he discover its unique epidermal adhesive properties while completing a scale model of his favorite automobile? Perhaps the Zodiac enjoyed building model airplanes on weekends where finding young couples to attack wasn’t very promising. You see, when he opens that tube, the glue comes rushing out. It gets on your fingers, if not at first, when you try to put the lid back on. Very messy stuff. Maybe he squeezed some out onto a rag or into a paper bag. Those fumes may have been pretty inviting, especially for someone who needed to escape his own dreadful existence.
Sniffing glue was a popular pastime in the 1960′s. Airplane glue was easy to obtain and it didn’t have the inhalant preventative irritants that are mixed in with today’s adhesives. The February 16 issue of Time magazine contained an article explaining the phenomenon:
The newest kick is glue sniffing. A 14-year-old snifferexplains: "You take a tube of plastic glue, the kind squares use to make model airplanes, and you squeeze itall out in a handkerchief, see. Then you roll up the handkerchief into a sort of tube, put the end in your mouthand breathe through it. It's simple and it's cheap.It's quick, too. Man!"
Robert Graysmith wrote in his best-selling book titled Zodiac that “When writing letters Zodiac was either smoking marijuana, drinking, or taking some kind of narcotics.” The author believed that the killer had been under the influence of some substance when he wrote his taunting missives to the police and press.
Also mentioned in Graysmith’s book was the view of Joseph DeLouise, a famous Chicago psychic known for the detalied accuracy of his predictions. DeLouise felt that the Zodiac took “speed and goofballs” before his attacks. Like Graysmith, the psychic also felt that the killer acted under an altered state.
This glue sniffing notion is sure to break the hearts of those who think the Zodiac was way too intelligent to blow his mind on model glue. Before you come unglued, this is only a suggestion. In an unsolved case, I find it unwise to ignore this possibility. None of us can say with all certainty that we know who the Zodiac is. The idea that Zodiac was a glue sniffer shouldn’t be ruled out just because someone has a certain picture in their mind that they just can’t shake.
While the Zodiac was certainly elusive, I cannot fully credit someone with intelligence who pretty much wallowed in forensic evidence at the sites of his crimes. He may have only sniffed the stuff while writing the letters. He may not have sniffed before he performed the actual attacks. He does admit to having the gunk on his fingers. I cannot rule out the strong possibilty that he sniffed cement. To say that he was too smart and methodical to abstain just doesn’t stick.
Of course, in the sixties, this kind of behaviour was not unusual. The August 13, 1962 issue of Newsweek Magazine told it like it was:
You're in outer space. You're Superman.You're floating in air, seeing double, riding next to God.It's Kicksville. Are these the fantasies of narcotics addicts on a pop? No. More disturbingly, these hopped-upreactions are those of teenagers hooked on goofballs,model airplane glue, and cough medicine.Across the nation, police last week reported case aftercase of this alarming trend.
The effects of sniffing glue include slurred speech, agitation, violent behavior, aggression, irritability, tremors, and a staggered gait. Bryan Hartnell stated in an interview: “I think he got rattled…very, very, nervous…his hands were shaking.” This was referring to the Zodiac just prior to his stabbing him and his date.
As far as long term damage, inhaling airplane cement can be fatal, causing kidney and liver damage, as well as heart failure. Toluene, the intoxicating substance in the cement causes a syndrome of distal renal tubular acidosis, with a resultant elevated anion gap. This can cause a rapid respiratory rate and an inability to hold one’s breath. Toluene is also ototoxic and can cause hearing loss.
Murderer Joseph Kallinger was an inhaler of the fumes of a leather treatment that contained Toluene. He tried to use this as an insanity defense to his crimes. Spree killer Russell Obremski was also a glue sniffer. Other serial killer/cement sniffers of note include Dean Corll, Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker), Angel Maturino Resendiz (The Railway Killer), and John Martin Crawford.
The Aug. 25, 1967 issue of Time Magazine cites a case where a judge allowed a defense of temporary insanity due to inhalant use by the defendant. Could it be possible that the Zodiac, if indeed he was a sniffer, saw his misuse of airplane glue as a possible defense had he been captured?
During the time of the Zodiac attacks the problem was so inherently obvious and problematic that legislation began addressing the issue. Manufacturers rushed to voluntarily deter misuse before the law could smack them down. Some glue makers began adding mustard oil to their formulations to deter the mind numbing practice.
Some of the less ethical cement manufacturers continued to stick to their old formula. They did not want to lose the profits that customers from around the world gave to their company. Never mind the fact that they were snorting the fumes up their nose instead of building models.
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