i am invisible - investigation part 2

My long months of research into the unsolved murders of hundreds, quickly severed any connections I thought I might establish between the two Troy murders and the VIP's son. I started thinking more and more about the note. The very act of sending it seemed to be either a need for notice, or a glib attestation to his perceived invincibility.

For whatever reason, I think he was attempting to educate me about his destiny, and his note started me down a trail of death and transformation.

I began with "1968 capital city", and found that the date and location corresponded to the first in a series of killings dubbed the "Mad City Murders". The initial victim was attacked while jogging, and although the woman's personal belongings seemed to be intact and in place, a statement made by a friend of the victim made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The friend said that the victim always wore the same track jacket while jogging, which had attached to it a small blue angel given as a gift to "guide and guard" her. In an ironic twist of fate, it was this beacon of protection that was not to be found on the victim's jacket or anywhere within the crime scene. Police assumed it had been dislodged during the attack and lost. I searched for a glimpse of this tiny blue angel in the case files and photos of subsequent victims, to no avail.

The main problem, as I saw it, was that the police weren't looking for that sort of connection, especially in the beginning. The killer may have only taken that single item during that whole series of murders, as I believed him to be too intelligent to continue the game of "hide and seek" throughout a long and thorough engagement with the enemy. The other issue was that a lot of the victim's families could never tell for sure if something was missing from or added to the victim's personal possessions. I contacted the family of the second "Mad City Murder" victim, and described in detail the angel that was missing from the first victim's track jacket. Still no luck.

I moved on to "1966 san francisco". The date and location matched what is thought, by some, to be the initial attack of the Zodiac Killings. Some people express doubts that this particular murder is the work of the Zodiac Killer, but that is neither important nor relevant to my discussion of this case. Call him the Zodiac if you like, I believe him to be something far more sinister and long lasting.....

and he enjoys his knives.

In this case the victim's possessions, including purse and clothing, were undisturbed. She was attacked while trying to start her, already disabled, vehicle. As much as I wanted to, I found nothing of note in the case files or crime scene photographs. I talked to her family and friends about possible missing items, or unusual things found after her death. The only item of interest found by her family was a handmade bookmark found in one of the text books in her vehicle.

It read, in a choppy, unfamiliar script:

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)
adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi
ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!

They found it a bit odd as the victim did not write or speak Latin.

The translation is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book One, The Creation of the World:

Of bodies changed to various forms, I sing
Ye Gods, from whom these miracles did spring
Inspire my numbers with coelestial heat
Till I my long laborious work complete

So although the bookmark may not have been taken from a previous victim, and nothing was taken from this particular crime scene, I believe this was one of his "calling cards". It was placed unobserved in one of her textbooks to mark this murder as his handiwork. The concept of change, transformation, and metamorphosis is his signature.

I also found it interesting to note that a letter sent to the local police regarding this victim, and titled "The Confession" was signed:

"BY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"

Exactly twelve underscores.

He used the sentence "i am invisible" four times in his note to me and this is how I referred to him. And, however tenuous, it does fit.

"BY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _" 

    I A M I N V I S I B L E 
    I A M I N V I S I B L E 
    I A M I N V I S I B L E 
    I A M I N V I S I B L E

Although heavily researched, I found nothing of note in subsequent attacks. Again, in my mind, this didn't mean connections didn't exist, only that they had been overlooked and not documented.

Next came some of the more gory research, as I turned my attention to "1934 cleveland". I tied this date and location to the Cleveland Torso Murders, although the date itself was puzzling at first. The first victims were, in the beginning, thought to be two men, both beheaded and drained of blood. The police had been convinced, due to the evidence at hand, that they were dealing with a homosexual killer, and a particularly sadistic one at that. The victims had been emasculated and decapitated, one while fully conscious.

Following the discovery of a decapitated and dismembered female body, they not only realized they had to discard the theory of a homosexual predator, but it also brought to mind a cold case file from the year before.

In "1934" the partial torso of a "Jane Doe" was found on the shores of Lake Erie, and in 1935, renamed Victim Zero. I now had the date connection.

There wasn't much to investigate with regards to Victim Zero, her legs had been severed at the knees, and her bisected torso had been in the water for three or four months. Her skin coloration suggested that the body had been treated with a chemical or preservative, much like Victim One. The upper portion of the woman's torso was located 30 miles away, and the remainder never found.

It didn't leave much to search for in the way of personal effects.

So I began looking at the casefiles of Victim One and Two. I found nothing pertinent to my investigation.

Continuing with the subsequent victims, however, I happened upon an interesting bit of information that was not disseminated for public consumption. According to the coroner, Victim Four (otherwise known as the "Tattooed Man") had six distinctive tattoos. What they didn't say was that one of them had been administered after death.

Which one?

The butterfly.

No need to explain my thoughts here, we've already covered the affinity my "correspondent" showed for metamorphosis and transformation by one means or another. My understanding isn't clear on why the police kept this information private, but like much information kept "under wraps", it was probably hoped to be of use at a later date - if and when he was caught.

1912 is a rather long trip to take when hoping for accurate documentation of crime scene evidence. But when I started my journey to "1912 villisca" I was surprised at just how defined the files actually were.

In Villisca, during the night of June 9, 1912 an unknown assailant, entered the home of Josiah B. Moore and bludgeoned to death Josiah, his wife Sara, their four children and two neighbor girls who were spending the night. I found it intriguing that the initials of the first physician on the scene, were none other than J.C.

A coincidence? Probably. Eerily reminiscent of the etched letters on the locker key? Yes sir.

The only piece of evidence I located, that had possible bearing on my research, was a handwritten note found in the bureau of Mr. Moore, keeping in mind that this was one of many pieces of evidence recovered, that at the time probably seemed inconsequential. The police were seeking a mad axe murderer, not an intelligent psychopath with a flare for linguistics.

The note read:

Si la chaussure ne s'adapte pas, devons-nous changer le pied ?

Which translates roughly to:

If the shoe no longer fits, must we change the foot?

Odd. And not likely something that the Moore's would have hanging around. I think it very likely this note was written by the killer, and was his way of communicating that he was about to change his manner of operation.

To me "change the foot" is highly symbolic of the dismemberment of the victims in the "1934 cleveland" murders. I think he was telling us exactly what his next M.O. would be.

More to come...