"People kill because they don't like their ZIP code." Really?

Factual Questions
1

I recently watched an episode of The Rockford Files (season 3, episode 1, “The Fourth Man,” originally aired 24 September 1976). One exchange between Jim and Dennis stood out. Sharon Gless plays an airline reservation clerk who accuses a passenger of trying to kill her twice, for no obvious reason.

You can watch the episode online for free (with ads). The relevant scene is at 14:58.

It could be hyperbole, but something about the way they talk suggests to me they’re referring to a real case. Was there a real murder or attempted murder in the news related to ZIP codes sometime between their introduction in 1963 and the episode air date in 1976?

2

I’m guessing it’s either ‘don’t like the cut of your jib’, that is, just random or when he says ‘don’t like their zip code’ he’s not talking about the killer not liking his own zip code, but rather the killer not liking the victim’s zip code, mostly likely the victim being in a higher class neighborhood and the killer killing them as a general/random/jealousy inspired fuck you.
In either case, I’m guessing it’s just a random act of violence.

3

“Sketches outline of new show/series; The Zip Code Murders.”

4

My first thought was that it might be a gang territory thing. That is, a gang member didn’t like the fact that the victim was from a neighborhood controlled by a rival gang.

5

I think it’s just a rhetorical way of saying that people are are nuts, and they commit murder for bizarre & trivial reasons.

But the “once is all it takes” followup does give me slight pause, I agree. It’s a slightly odd thing to say if its just rhetorical.

6

It’s a perfectly logical answer. It is not saying it ever happened.

7

I wonder if it’s a reference to poverty or inequality of wealth.

I read a book where a character tried to get a job, and always failed. It turned out he was being rejected from being from the “poor” area of town. He became a criminal, although of course that wasn’t the only reason for that. So this reminded me of that.

8

Sounds like an Ellery Queen mystery but didn’t those stories predate ZIP codes?

9

Reminds me of The A.B.C. Murders, by Agatha Christie. It’s not zip codes, but the railway time table element is similar.

10

That was my first guess. All those rich people living in 90210…

11

Think of those poor devils who live in ZIP code xx666. ZIPs of the Beast, by yimini!

12

My first thought too. I do believe it’s a real thing.

13

Wow! Spoiler alert.

14

Maybe it’s a reference to the Manson killings? They still loomed large in 1976.

15

This just in: Multiple deaths in Agatha Christie book, more at 11.

16

I remember Mike Royko relating how two guys got into a fight over how to cut up a watermelon. One guy killed the other guy with the cutting knife, and then used the cutting knife to slice up the melon the way he wanted.

No word on whether he washed the blood off the knife first or not.

17

Yes, I would say that’s probably the reference.

18

Now that you mention it, I really dislike my zip code at work because, for some reason, it is very hard to remember. It’s really annoying … :mad:

19

That is very much a thing in London nowadays. We call them postcodes rather than ZIP codes, but either way being in the wrong area can get you knifed to death by the local gang if you fit the gang demographic.

20

It was just a way of saying “people will kill for the slightest of reasons”. He could just as well have said “People kill because someone’s shoes are the wrong color.”