Payphones Past

When a serial murderer calls… from a payphone

Here is an interesting story about one reporter’s involvement in the infamous Zodiac serial murderer case. In September, 1969, the Zodiac called police from a payphone, bragging about his most recent murder. Unable to track payphones to exact locations, police fanned out to try and find a payphone with its receiver off the hook.

“This reporter jumped into action. After a brief stop at the Sheriff’s Department, I drove north on Main Street. Driving past a car wash and the historic Sam Key Laundry Building, I spotted a pay phone, but thought the call must have come from closer to the lake, nearly 30 miles away. At the last second, though, I swerved my car toward the phone booth and was shocked to find the receiver off the hook. Could this be the phone, I wondered?”

Read more at the Napa Valley Register

the payphone project

Recent Posts

Payphones and Payphone Vestiges at a Rego Park Subway Station Today

[gallery link="none" size="large" columns="1" ids="14629,14630,14631,14632"]

5 months ago

Dead Phones in Jamaica, Queens. February, 2025.

These charmers are a recent discovery for me.

6 months ago

Payphone Project on the TODAY Show, 1999

https://youtu.be/ajkLQ3RJrsY I procured a VCR for the purpose of digitizing some of my old VHS…

1 year ago

A Bronx and Marble Hill Payphone Stramble [Video]

https://youtu.be/0tUj9-TonbY Starts at the Fordham Road subway, where one of the phones I looked at…

2 years ago

Unexpected Payphone Find on Atlantic Avenue in Queens

An unexpected payphone find in Ozone Park, Queens, led to a trip through its Streetview…

2 years ago