Purple Haze and The Purloined Book
Tom Voigt, the Site Administrator of zodiackiller.com has introduced a new suspect, Richard Gaikowski, mostly based on the word of Purple Blaine. Blaine claims to be an extraordinary insider. The Forrest Gump of the Zodiac case who even claims to have witnessed a Zodiac killing.
Click here to read Blaine’s accusations: http://zodiackiller.21.forumer.com/
It is also interesting that all of this ‘evidence’ comes from Purple Blaine via Tom Voigt. Keep an eye on how clueless (or ruthless) Voigt must be to believe Purple’s prose.
1. Purple Blaine (via Tom Voigt) alleges that the mugshot of Gaikowski came from an altercation with the second female victim. Members of the forum (not Tom Voigt) discredited that story. In reality, the mugshot was part of a staged newspaper assignment. No one other than Purple Blaine (via Tom Voigt) has ever claimed there was a link between Gaikowski and the second female victim. Voigt still has the misleading mugshot posted on the first page.
2. Purple Blaine (via Tom Voit) claims he stole a book from Gaikowski that was signed by Paul Stine. Purple Blaine claims to be in possession of the victim’s book. Although being a thief doesn’t make you a killer, if the book is authentic, you have to wonder how he really got the book.
3. Purple Blaine (via Tom Voigt) reveals a published article addressed to Zodiac. He claims that Gaikowski was the actual author of the article, and Gaikowski forced Blaine to sign his name to it. The article, published in some unaccredited newspaper, sympathetically urges Zodiac to lay low. Blaine starts sounding like Son of Sam when he blames “Gyke” (probably the name of Blaine’s dog) for writing the letter to Zodiac and making him sign it.
So far, every charge made by Blaine (via Tom Voigt) that has been investigated has proven to be untrue. We now know that Blaine made up the primary charges leveled against Gaikowski. We know by Blaine’s own admission, that he is a thief. Why is Tom Voigt naming Gaikowski as a suspect and not Purple Blaine? At the very least, Blaine’s misdirections are impeding this effort to bring the killer to justice.
More faulty circumstantial evidence
In the first post of the “Best suspect” thread, Site Administrator Tom Voigt writes: “Gyke instructed staffers at his San Francisco newspaper to write stories about the Zodiac, etc, and told them specifically what to write.” Later, we find out (via Tom Voigt) that the staffer Gaikowski allegedly instructed was Purple Blaine. Blaine is not listed as a writer for the Good Times newspaper that Gaikowski edited. Tom Voigt never tells us where (or if) the article was published.
Tom Voigt goes on to state “Gyke’s mugshot allegedly stemmed from an altercation with Darlene Ferrin.” Again, much later in the thread we find out that Blaine was the source of that lie. Gaikowski has no known arrest record. The allegation was loosely based on a fact that one of Ferrin’s previous boyfriends had been involved in an altercation with the victim. Tom Voigt, a decade(s) long expert in the killings, must have known about that from the beginning.
In the Questions forum Tom Voigt states “As the story goes, the book was originally in the possession of Gaikowski.” Several days after introducing “new facts”, the language has morphed into “as the story goes”. Now it is a story? The story he created about a purloined book? As a storyteller, Purple is no Poe.
On Easter, Tom Voigt accused Gaikowski of another killing via Purple Blaine: “According to Purple Blaine, he and Gaikowski knew Smith, and Gaikowski killed Smith ” If Blaine is a constant witness to the Zodiac’s killing spree, why didn’t Gaikowski (if he is the Zodiac) kill Purple Blaine?
What’s the motive?
The decade-old website has been getting fewer visitors over the last two years. Inspector Voigt’s dreams of becoming the hero who cracks the case are slowly diminishing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a new witness named Purple Blaine comes forward to introduce “the best suspect you’ve never heard of.”
Tom Voigt wanted something big to happen by the tenth anniversary of his site. It’s hard to believe Voigt didn’t quickly figure out that Purple Blaine’s sensational stories about Gaikowski were fictional, yet he published them on the first post of the thread, aggressively swaying the reader toward an impression of guilt. The reader is overwhelmed by the evidence and only finds out gradually that the primary ‘facts’ are all untrue.
Crime and Punishment
There is much renewed interest in Voigt’s aging site and all is well. Except for the falsely accused dead, who, conveniently, can’t fight back.
Did Tom Voigt intentionally commit libel* by accusing someone of heinous crimes based on flimsy, implausible evidence? Or, is Tom Voigt just dimwitted and easily fooled by Purple Blaine’s highly improbable “story”?
-Bystander
Please leave a comment.
*A commenter has informed this lowly lumberjack that you can’t libel the dead so the firm answer to my question is that he did not legally commit libel.
You forgot to ask for handwriting samples on your list.
If his dad is also named Tom, that would make his name 13 letters! Thomas Voigt Jr. Or his middle initials could be PB, also giving him 13 letters.
-K3
I’ve followed the Zodiac case for years. First, and I’m not defending Tom Voigts motivations, but he’s not old enough to be the Zodiac. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t even born in 1969 and if he was he would have been an infant. At any rate he’s definitely manipulating the leads and info he has. I’ve always questioned his tactics.
Second - I have a very close friend who has indeed spoken with “Purple” Blaine - many people familiar with the Zodiac case are familiar with him and have written him off as unreliable.
Tom and his moderators have the difficult task of promoting intelligent, relevant discussion while weeding out disruptive posters. Tom is also very quick to curtail posts concerning discredited information, even when he was the original source. He provides the most comprehensive public source of information concerning the Zodiac case in a forum where anyone can participate. Compared to the one sided, mass marketed mediums of books and films which generate hundreds of thousands of dollars, I’d say it’s a pretty good bargain as Tom presents it all for free.
You are clearly headhunting here and your implications that Tom and/or Blaine should answer to your demands are simply absurd. I too have doubts concerning Blaine’s credibility but the majority of subsequent information found thus far seems to tie Richard to the case. He is not the first suspect and probably will not be the last. You seem to think that only proven, factual information be presented. If such information existed, the case would already have been solved.
Using your thinking, we should exonerate every criminal or suspect every implicated by anonymous or less-than-bulletproof sources. Then we should go on to require the guilty law officials who encouraged and investigated such leads to prove that they themselves are not the criminals in question.
Of course, this is all just my opinion and I’m always willing to consider that I could be wrong.
Here’s another question for him. What’s the difference between a catfish and Tom Voigt? One is a bottom dwelling scum sucker and the other is a fish.
Gaikowski also clearly did not write the orgasm and death article that Blaine insists he wrote for reasons of talent. Blaine is a better candidate for that article, just as Blaine wrote the letter to the Zodiac article.
Gaikowski is allegedly one of Tom Voigt’s first suspects. Tom Voigt is not stupid. The focus on Gaikowski may be a means to another end, but that end may not justify the possibility of harm by hundreds of casual readers.
You can’t defame the dead.
You really should have contacted me before posting this nonsense, as you are making a fool of yourself.
You could try for the rest of your life and never have site or blog that could rival that of ZodiacKiller.com. Your puerile rantings and half truths are actually comical–the best saterical comidy I have ever read, in fact. I look forward to seeing you in the funny papers.
Obviously you were cruelly influenced by the Teletubbies in your youth. My sincerest condolences.
what a shame - i really thought Tom was a stand up guy and I really enjoyed the last year or so I have been apart of the board.
what is life coming to .. . .
There is so much more information that implicates Gaikowski that you’re conveniently leaving out. How about Gaik’s voice, which Slover says is the same as Z’s voice. How about ALL of the Richard and Gaik and Gaikowski’s found in the ciphers? The 340 has recently been solved and he’s in it. How about the recent find of handwriting from a July 10, 1969 issue of Good Times that is spot on compared with Z’s known writing? And it appeared on the TRIPS page, which he wrote. Why did Gaikowski have a Zodiac symbol on his website? How do you explain that, in an issue of Good Times the same week as the Lake Berryessa murders, where Z wrote on the door of Hartnell’s car, there was an article about Mexican guerrillas writing (in felt tip pen) on the doors of buses? Rather coincidental, and hard to explain away. There’s much, much more. I understand why people who knew Gaik would be upset by what’s happening on Voigt’s website. But one has to consider all the evidence dispationately. There’s a heap of it. Some you may agree with, other parts you may disagree with. But it’s simply unfair to think that all of us who visit and contribute to Tom’s website are just gullible fools. That’s hardly the case. There’s alot of information out now. If you would consider each piece of it, rather than simply selecting a few items, you’d be more credible. And you also make claims that are unsubstantiated, most important, that the FBI finger-printed Gaik and exonnerated him. That’s not on the page you provide the link to. We’ve looked at that page — indeed we found it. We’re looking for any piece of evidence to exonnerate Gaik; none has been found yet. Also, you say Gaik was in Europe at the times of the murders. No evidence of that. In fact, when asked by the FBI, he said he lost his passport. Hmmmm. He also said he was in Europe during the crimes, when we know he was the editor of Good Times. You agree with that right? Dick Gaik is Richard Gaikowski, correct?
What a phoney
I appreciate what Tom has done and will continue to support his sight as an excellent resource for zodiac information, but truly he has been something of a prick lately. He’s been really aggressive with people who disagree with him, to the point that it brings down his own credibility and keeps people from contributing to the discussion. Having a great site (which his without question is) to share information with other people is one thing, but how useful is it if there isn’t an an honest and civil exchange of information and opinion permitted?
Let’s face it, like it or not most of the Gaikowsky information is circumstantial and it should be treated that way. Several years ago Tom was cheerleading this hard for Arthur Leigh Allen and look what that turned up… The man isn’t infallible
Tom is a jerk…
i paid money to tom voights site and he never let me into the site, hes a jerk he isnt no authority on zodiac hes rippin people off. i woudnt go to his sight if it was free
, tom voight is ajerk and hes trying to take peoples money
, tom your site aint shhhhh, your a fool,and ripping people off,you havent got a clue who the zodiac is, just like nobody else knows,me myself i think its has to do with a cult called the process and one robert g*********n,look into that and you might find some answers,othere wise go back-to-hell-hole from whence you came
I find it striking that alot of the “Tom Haters” are the ones commenting and not using capital letters and correct puncuation. While on the other hand the most intelligent, thorough posts are by zodiackiller.com backers. Wonder what that says….?
I find it odd if his site is so wrong about everything, why the membership has soared to over 6,000 users. It is by far the most comprehensive zodiac-related site on the internet, and most probably any where, including print. I would venture a guess that his website has more information than any of the investigating law enforcement agencies. That is not to discredit the work they have done. It’s probably a by-product of having better hind-sight at this point, and more time to work on the case over the years.
That being said, I agree with the comment above who posted that you are just head-hunting. Wonder why someone would devote such time and energy to a rediculous cause. GET A HOBBY!
This is really a nice blog,i always come here and read the articles
you rock my world!!!
I like how people on Tom’s forums were calling another guy on youtube who was talking about his father being the Zodiac and just trying to get money out of it, while he is making people pay a fee of $5 to read forums. What the hell is that?
You are smart,only smart person can do such a smart job.
there is something very wrong with that site at this time. It’s called his band of moderators. Do not insult any of them, I cant even nvaigate the site anymore because I talked back to a couple of them. And it wasn’t even about the case itself. That’s sad considering that there are posts of mine in the archives from back in 2003. I suggest everyone just ignore that board.