When I first saw the letter and I first recognized the handwriting, a very calm feeling came

over me.

That's Retire Deputy Chief Joseph Herbert.

On June 18, 1996, he was a detective sergeant working at Brooklyn North Homicide when he

was called to his very first hostage job.

For three hours, he stood behind a bulletproof barrier and led negotiations with an agitated,

heavily armed man.

The man had surrendered.

Now, in a mind-boggling turn of events, Herbert was reading the man's confession and his

handwriting looked like the squirrel of the serial killer who had evaded police for six

years.

All the nights that Herbert had fallen asleep studying the zodiac letters, he never could

have dreamed this up.

The handwriting in the confession was so familiar to him, he said that it was like seeing

his wife's shopping list.

There was a tinge of excitement because I knew Adam.

But I also knew, me saying he's the zodiac doesn't mean nothing.

I have to prove he's the zodiac.

I'm Retire Detective Sergeant Wally Zients and you're listening to Break in the Case, a

true crime podcast written and produced by the New York City Police Department and supported

by the New York City Police Foundation.

In the previous episode, an Easter York man named Herberto Eddie Seda is arrested for the

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