The Zodiac gave his name
When the Zodiac killer mailed what has come to be known as the Halloween card to journalist Paul Avery, in response to the latter accusation that the Zodiac was a clumsy criminal, a liar, and a latent homosexual, the Zodiac, not only meant to terrorize Avery with his letter, but also intended to convey a message that I believe has been overlooked by Avery, as well as investigators.
The cover of the letter promises to reveal Zodiac’s identity by stating: you ache to know my name so I will clue you in. When the cover was turned over Avery was not only confronted by thirteen cartoon eyes, twelve of which were painted by Zodiac himself, but also proof of the sender’s identity – a piece of bloody shirt ripped from the dying body of recent victim Paul Stein placed between the covers. In particular, a series of cartoon “one-eyes” are shown. However, Zodiac intentionally chose to show only one of two eyes. The right one, not the left. The clue is not a subtle one, by showing so many “one-eyes” of various sizes, he appears to be focusing attention on a clue that he insists will reveal his identity.
Are we to take “one-eye” as a symbol for his name? If we are, there are three known surnames that yield this meaning. Two of them are uncommon in America: A French name, Leborgne; and an Italian nameOcchini, both of which mean: “someone with one eye.” The third, is a name that is common in America, and one that Zodiac scholars are very familiar with: Sullivan. Which comes from the Gaelic: Ó Súilleabháin, meaning “one-eyed”, as well as “black-eyed.”
As if to further draw our attention to the symbolism of the eyes, on the facing page, a skeleton has what appears to be two eyes shaded, or highlighted in red, that the Zodiac clipped from another card to produce the effect of two eyes shaded in red. Was this intended as a loose interpretation of two eyes violently struck to create the modern slang of a person who is “black-eyed”? If that is the case, the author appears to be drawing attention to both acknowledged name origins of “Sullivan.” In addition, could the twelve eyes that Zodiac painted on the card be the number of letters in his name? If so, one of the prime suspects, Ross Sullivan, has twelve letters in his name.