thedrifter
02-25-07, 05:48 AM
Suspect wasn't Zodiac, says buddy
By Matthias Gafni/Times-Herald, Vallejo
Article Launched: 02/24/2007 06:56:57 AM PST
The best friend of the Vallejo man long suspected of being the Zodiac serial killer said Friday he's fed up with his former diving buddy being fingered as the infamous slayer.
Glenn Rinehart says he's frustrated with media, police and book authors who have singled out his friend Arthur Leigh Allen as the Zodiac whose killing spree and chilling letters haunted the Bay Area in the late 1960s.
Allen died in 1992 while on a visit to relatives in Texas.
Next Friday the gruesome unsolved case hits the big screen in an $85 million Paramount Pictures film that also pins the slayings on Allen.
"I'm not going to read anymore about the Zodiac,' said Rinehart on Thursday from his Pacific Northwest home.
"My honest feeling is that the newspapers and police killed Leigh Allen. You can't believe the emotional strain he went through," said Rinehart, who called Allen by his middle name.
While much of Allen's life has been documented in timelines, police reports and court documents, featured in books and online Web sites about the Zodiac, Rinehart offers a human side to the man he considered a "big brother."
Rinehart said he has never spoken publicly about their relationship, and only once was interviewed by two retired Vallejo detectives between 1985 and 1995, he said.
"I was his best friend," Rinehart said. "I can tell you for a fact that he couldn't kill a chipmunk, let alone a person."
Always the eccentric, Allen actually kept wild chipmunks as pets, Rinehart said. A detail played up in the new movie.
"He was a sweetheart with animals. I've never seen animals take to a person like they took to Leigh," Rinehart said.
Rinehart first met Allen when Rinehart's sister attended grammar school with him. A young Rinehart messed with one of Allen's textbooks.
"I colored in one of his books and he held a grudge," laughed Rinehart.
By high school, the two became inseparable, said Rinehart, three years younger than Allen.
The pair were on the Vallejo High School and Vallejo Junior College diving teams together. Rinehart calls Allen his "diving mentor."
The pair left Vallejo after junior college, but didn't lose touch. Allen left to dive for Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, while Rinehart attended Cal State Los Angeles, as a member of the football and diving teams.
In 1957, Allen enlisted in the Navy, and Rinehart the Marines.
In the military testing, Allen scored a 135 on his IQ test, five points below genius, and Rinehart's was 126.
During the highly publicized Zodiac killings, three of which occurred in Vallejo, the pair rarely spoke about the crimes.
"He and I read about the Zodiac things when they were happening, so we must have talked about it, but I don't remember," Rinehart said.
After the killings in 1968 and 1969, Rinehart said he believes Allen first became a suspect while living alone in a Santa Rosa mobile home.
"The first time I heard Leigh talk about being a suspect was in Santa Rosa," Rinehart said.
Rinehart said he believes police first targeted Allen after a trailer park neighbor, whom Allen had confronted about beating a dog, phoned police about his eccentric neighbor.
In response to other circumstantial evidence long used to point to Allen as the killer, Rinehart offered explanations.
"He was really left-handed. There's no way he could write some of the stuff the Zodiac wrote," Rinehart said.
He added that the composite sketches of Allen were "no comparison" either, saying Allen never wore glasses.
Rinehart and his best friend stayed close even as Allen's health began to fade, as diabetes gave him foot sores and cataracts.
"That takes a toll on a person," he said.
Rinehart would occasionally take Allen to Kaiser Vallejo to get dialysis treatment.
In 1991, Allen began conducting interviews with the media.
"He was trying everything he could to absolve himself," Rinehart said. "He did the best to tell his side of the story."
By 1992, Rinehart was living in Martinez. In August, he traveled to Texas to visit family, when he received a message from Allen hoping to meet up when he returned, Rinehart said.
Later that trip, Rinehart received a call from his sister about Allen's death.
A girl renting a room in his mother's house, who had looked after the ailing Allen, found him, Rinehart said.
Allen had died from a heart attack at age 58.
Rinehart said the family quietly buried Allen.
"I don't even know where he's buried," he said.
Ellie
By Matthias Gafni/Times-Herald, Vallejo
Article Launched: 02/24/2007 06:56:57 AM PST
The best friend of the Vallejo man long suspected of being the Zodiac serial killer said Friday he's fed up with his former diving buddy being fingered as the infamous slayer.
Glenn Rinehart says he's frustrated with media, police and book authors who have singled out his friend Arthur Leigh Allen as the Zodiac whose killing spree and chilling letters haunted the Bay Area in the late 1960s.
Allen died in 1992 while on a visit to relatives in Texas.
Next Friday the gruesome unsolved case hits the big screen in an $85 million Paramount Pictures film that also pins the slayings on Allen.
"I'm not going to read anymore about the Zodiac,' said Rinehart on Thursday from his Pacific Northwest home.
"My honest feeling is that the newspapers and police killed Leigh Allen. You can't believe the emotional strain he went through," said Rinehart, who called Allen by his middle name.
While much of Allen's life has been documented in timelines, police reports and court documents, featured in books and online Web sites about the Zodiac, Rinehart offers a human side to the man he considered a "big brother."
Rinehart said he has never spoken publicly about their relationship, and only once was interviewed by two retired Vallejo detectives between 1985 and 1995, he said.
"I was his best friend," Rinehart said. "I can tell you for a fact that he couldn't kill a chipmunk, let alone a person."
Always the eccentric, Allen actually kept wild chipmunks as pets, Rinehart said. A detail played up in the new movie.
"He was a sweetheart with animals. I've never seen animals take to a person like they took to Leigh," Rinehart said.
Rinehart first met Allen when Rinehart's sister attended grammar school with him. A young Rinehart messed with one of Allen's textbooks.
"I colored in one of his books and he held a grudge," laughed Rinehart.
By high school, the two became inseparable, said Rinehart, three years younger than Allen.
The pair were on the Vallejo High School and Vallejo Junior College diving teams together. Rinehart calls Allen his "diving mentor."
The pair left Vallejo after junior college, but didn't lose touch. Allen left to dive for Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, while Rinehart attended Cal State Los Angeles, as a member of the football and diving teams.
In 1957, Allen enlisted in the Navy, and Rinehart the Marines.
In the military testing, Allen scored a 135 on his IQ test, five points below genius, and Rinehart's was 126.
During the highly publicized Zodiac killings, three of which occurred in Vallejo, the pair rarely spoke about the crimes.
"He and I read about the Zodiac things when they were happening, so we must have talked about it, but I don't remember," Rinehart said.
After the killings in 1968 and 1969, Rinehart said he believes Allen first became a suspect while living alone in a Santa Rosa mobile home.
"The first time I heard Leigh talk about being a suspect was in Santa Rosa," Rinehart said.
Rinehart said he believes police first targeted Allen after a trailer park neighbor, whom Allen had confronted about beating a dog, phoned police about his eccentric neighbor.
In response to other circumstantial evidence long used to point to Allen as the killer, Rinehart offered explanations.
"He was really left-handed. There's no way he could write some of the stuff the Zodiac wrote," Rinehart said.
He added that the composite sketches of Allen were "no comparison" either, saying Allen never wore glasses.
Rinehart and his best friend stayed close even as Allen's health began to fade, as diabetes gave him foot sores and cataracts.
"That takes a toll on a person," he said.
Rinehart would occasionally take Allen to Kaiser Vallejo to get dialysis treatment.
In 1991, Allen began conducting interviews with the media.
"He was trying everything he could to absolve himself," Rinehart said. "He did the best to tell his side of the story."
By 1992, Rinehart was living in Martinez. In August, he traveled to Texas to visit family, when he received a message from Allen hoping to meet up when he returned, Rinehart said.
Later that trip, Rinehart received a call from his sister about Allen's death.
A girl renting a room in his mother's house, who had looked after the ailing Allen, found him, Rinehart said.
Allen had died from a heart attack at age 58.
Rinehart said the family quietly buried Allen.
"I don't even know where he's buried," he said.
Ellie