The Hood / Garcia Murders

June 21, 1970 there was a full moon. And there was a partial eclipse of the moon. Sandra Garcia, 20, of Santa Barbara, California and a Department of Motor Vehicles employee and John Franklin Hood, 24, of Oxnard, California went to Cemetery Beach in the eastern section of Santa Barbara. They were engaged to be married. Hood had been with the 64th Armored Division in Vietnam and had won a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

As they lay on a blanket on the beach an attacker came upon them. Despite a violent struggle both victims were stabbed to death. The four inch knife had been lost under the blanket in the struggle and was recovered. Robbery was not a motive as Hood's wallet and Garcia's pocketbook were "undisturbed."

Sandra Garcia

John Hood

This unsolved case has been left untouched by Zodiac researchers. The similarities to the Santa Barbara couple murdered in June 1963 (see) and the Lake Berryessa attack by Zodiac (see) are there. A young couple stabbed to death on a weekend, near water, during a full moon and robbery was not the motive. The autopsy reports of this case will be posted in the future.

Of interest is the fact that Charles Manson and others had lived on Bath Street in Santa Barbara. Bruce Davis frequented this area.

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The Water Connection

Water held a very important place in the symbolic teachings of Celtic / Druid lore. Charles Manson studied these subjects and in at least one taped interview affirmed Druidism. Manson instructed the Family that, whenever possible, they were to conduct their "activities" near water or it's symbolic representation. As Manson went so went Bruce Davis - both believed alike.

Cheri Jo Bates was killed at Riverside City College in Riverside, California. The killer's car was parked on Riverside Drive. In a typed letter the killer indicated that Bates was not the first.

Go back to 1963 and a couple was killed in Santa Barbara near water. This case is unsolved. In 1964 the unsolved Seaside Honeymoon Murders in San Diego were committed right next to the ocean. In Zodiac's 1968 attack, the couple was murdered on Lake Herman Road, very near the lake itself. In 1969 Zodiac attacked a couple at Blue Rock Springs. He may have left the area using Lake Herman Rd. The killer made his phone call from the intersection of Tuolumne and Springs Road. In September of that year he attacked another couple at Lake Berryessa and made a phone call from near the Napa Car Wash. Came October and Zodiac murdered a cab driver in San Francisco on Washington St. very near to a fire hydrant. At least one suspected Zodiac killing took place in Lake County. Donna Lass (a possible Zodiac victim) was murdered near Lake Tahoe.

On at least one occasion the killer appeared in Navy-like clothing. Zodiac was also interested in astrology and when the attack dates and times are astrologically charted the three water signs and their associated planets figure prominently.

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