Title: In the Shadow of Mt. Diablo : The Shocking True Identity of the Zodiac Killer
Author: Mike Rodelli
Publisher: Indigo River Publishing
Release Date: May 11, 2021
Page Count: 496
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Read book blurb here
As a child of the 70s, I recall seeing a list of amazing coincidences between the JFK and Lincoln assassinations such as ages they married, years they were each first elected to Senate and then White House, Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth each had three part names, etc. The list was perhaps 15-20 items long.
However, you can apparently also find similar amazing coincidences between Kennedy and former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón. So, is this something extraordinary, or is it "data dredging" which Wikipedia says is: "the misuse of data analysis to find patterns in data that can be presented as statistically significant, thus dramatically increasing and understating the risk of false positives."
Reading Mike Rodelli's work also brought up the same sort of questions for me. Has he truly cracked the criminal case of the century, or is he just finding strands of vaguely similar coincidences and using that to weave together the supposed identity of the Zodiac Killer? Well ... in some instances I think Rodelli has brought up some startling evidence, such as his belief that the SFPD determined right away that the Zodiac was a loner, low-economic class psycho, rather than even entertaining the idea that he might have been wealthy, well-read, crazy smart and twisted.
He also points out that the SFPD did not really question the two true eyewitnesses to the Paul Stine murder, nor follow up with other clues or evidence that clearly appeared to be new avenues of investigation. Their DNA handling is also very suspect.
If you are at all interested in the Zodiac, I would definitely recommend you read this book and decide for yourself if Rodelli is correct. I'm still pretty much on the fence, but I appreciate his dedication and the level of his research. 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.