S.F. Police Department Holds Up Zodiac Case

CBS13--CBS13 has uncovered a major roadblock in the FBI's investigation into the legendary Zodiac case. It's a lack of cooperation, not from a person, but from a police department.

The FBI began collecting DNA evidence last year, and now CBS13 knows why there are no results. The police agency that has most of the original evidence isn't sharing. There may also be another roadblock. The FBI has in their possession a copy of a report alleging someone made changes to what are supposed to be authentic Zodiac letters.`

The changes are subtle.

The Zodiac had seven victims in Northern California. In numerous letters, the psychotic killer revealed details of the attacks, taunted police and threatened to carry out more murders.

Dennis Kaufman claims his efforts to prove his late step father, Jack Tarrance, is the Zodiac uncovered changes to what are supposed to be copies of authentic Zodiac writings.

"They are different significantly," says Kaufman.

The theory is now capturing the interest of the FBI.

CBS13 has learned agents are looking at a report complied by Nanette Barto.

Barto is a forensic document examiner. She believes she identified dozens of similarities in the writings of Jack Tarrance and the Zodiac, and discovered the changes.

Barto believes an entire Zodiac letter was painstakingly traced.

"At the bottom of each of these letters, where you see these heavy little dots, indicators of somebody writing slow and coming to a stop, almost as if they didn't want to overshoot it or add anything extra to it," explains Barto.

The tracing, Barto believes, is an effort to make the ink throughout the letter consistent, trying to hide a single alteration.

"I believe the 'a' in watch was altered, this previously had a bell top 'a'," says Barto.

The lines blend together, but when compared to an older copy, the bell top or hood over the 'a' appears to have been removed.

Barto claims to have uncovered several cases of altered a's.

Changing a single letter may not appear significant, but in the world of handwriting analysis it can be crucial.

"One missing similarity can outweigh all similarities found," according to Barto. Meaning, Jack's Tarrance's a's were so distinctive, most containing that extra line above that never finding one could create doubt.

"Does it look like someone intentionally altered the letters," asked CBS13 reporter Kris Pickel.

"Absolutely," says Barto.

Dennis claims the changes began to appear after he showed his stepfathers handwriting to the San Francisco police department in 2001, and posted samples on the internet.

Who made the changes is unknown, but where they showed up is clear.

"We know in Graysmith's books they've been altered as well as Tom Voight's website," claims Kaufman.

An author and a webmaster, Tom Voight runs Zodiackiller.com. The site says it's committed to archiving all case related material.

The changes are also found in print.

Robert Graysmith wrote two books, 'Zodiac' and 'Zodiac Unmasked.' The books were the basis for the 2007 movie "Zodiac."

Both books contain the same Zodiac letter, but are clearly not the same. Numerous markings were removed.

The text could have been cleaned up to make the letter easier to read, but why change the 'a'? Was it intentional or perhaps improvements in the quality of the copies?

CBS13 made calls and emails to inquire which is the true text to Voight, but did not get a response. CBS13 was unable to contact Greysmith.

Handwriting is one piece of a much large puzzle the FBI is assembling to determine if Jack Tarrance and the Zodiac are one in the same.

Last August, the agency began running DNA tests on multiple items turned over by Dennis Kaufman, including a hood similar to one worn by the Zodiac.

If handwriting plays an important role, why wouldn't the FBI go straight to the originals?

CBS13 has uncovered what has been slowing down the FBI investigation: The San Francisco Police Department.

The FBI has been asking since the year 2000, nine years, to view the police department's evidence, so far they've been shut out.

Only one Zodiac murder was committed in San Francisco, but the department has the majority of the Zodiac letters and the only partial DNA profile of the killer.

The San Francisco Police Department denied our multiple phone and email requests for an interview, specifically asking if they will allow the FBI to examine their evidence.

And although the department has shown the evidence to reporters in the past, our requests to see what evidence still exists were shot down.

Roll Of Film Could Hold Answers In Zodiac Case

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― The picture is graphic; A dead, bloody body. Dennis Kaufman says the picture came from a roll of film he found in his stepfather's belongings after he died.

Dennis Kaufman agreed to show CBS13 several photographs.

The pictures are difficult to look at, but Kaufman says if just one family finds answers about a loved one who was murdered, the last 9 years he's dedicated to this case will be worth it.

Last year, Dennis Kaufman began supplying the FBI with evidence attempting to prove his stepfather, Jack Tarrance, is the zodiac killer.

The evidence included envelopes for DNA testing and a hood resembling one worn by the zodiac in 1969 during an attack.

The FBI also took rolls of film but Kaufman did not hand over all the film. "When you give something to the FBI you never know what they are going to show or reveal to you," explained Kaufman.

Kaufman says the picture of the tattooed man was on a single roll of film he developed prior to giving evidence the FBI.

He gave three rolls to the FBI and the remaining 16 rolls he turned over to Stephen Dewhurst, a professor at Northern Arizona University.

"These are colloquially called snuff films. They are films documenting the death of someone," explains Dewhurst.

Dewhurst began working with Kaufman two years ago after reading his website www.therealzodiackiller.com

Dewhurst himself has been long fascinated by the zodiac case, believing a family friend could be one of the serial killer's victims.

"She was stabbed 31 times and sexually assaulted," says Dewhurst.

Gladys Gresham was killed in Vallejo in 1971. Her case was never connected to the zodiac.

The psychotic killer is known to have attacked seven people, but in taunting letters the zodiac claimed 37 victims.

Of the 16 rolls he developed, Dewhurst believes one reveals disturbing images of murder.

Dewhurst says the pictures are graphic, but the film is deteriorated and many images appear to be a haze of colors.

The first picture on the roll is the clearest. A stained baseball cap near what could be blood spatter.

The rest of the images are blurry, but Dewhurst believes they show two people being murdered.

"There are two victims apparently on the film. Both of whom are minors. There are pictures of them before and after their deaths," says Dewhurst.

In one photo Dewhurst believes he see the face of a young woman who disappeared from San Francisco in the 1970's.

"The pictures are open to interpretation. With how cloudy they are, why do you think she was tortured? What kind of mutilation do you see?" asked cbs13 reporter Kris Pickel.

Dewhurst responds, "She was cut up. She was decapitated. Body parts were cut off."

In one hazy photo, Dewhurst believes he see a woman's naked, decapitated body from the stump of her neck to her mid torso.

He says he is able to see that her right breast has been removed and a knife is being held above her left breast.

"The film proves in my mind Jack Tarrance was a serial killer," says Dewhurst.

He adds, "This is a monster in human form that went out and did horrible things to people for pleasure."

In another photo you can see the image of a boy.

Dewhurst says other pictures show the child's murder.

"The little boy was strangled," says Dewhurst.

Even the clearest image leaves a haze of questions.

Is the tattooed body with a peace sign the victim of an unsolved murder?

Do the ghostly images show the murders of a girl and boy or are they just hazy images?

Perhaps the biggest question: if Jack Tarrance took the pictures could he be a previously unknown serial killer or one of the most infamous in history.

Dennis Kaufman believes the evidence is overwhelming. "I know my stepfather is the zodiac. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever," says Kaufman.

The FBI told Kaufman the three rolls he gave them had nothing but family pictures on them.

They currently have the photos developed by Dewhurst and may be able to make the images shaper.