# "People kill because they don't like their ZIP code." Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158 "2019-10-22T21:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/1 "2019-10-22T21:38:34Z")
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. > [@](#): > > Becker: Well, airline passengers don’t kill reservation clerks because they said hello or because they couldn’t get a window seat. > > Rockford: Well now, what police manual says that? People kill because they don’t like their ZIP code. > > Becker: Oh, come on, how often? > > Rockford: Once is all it takes, Dennis. You can [watch the episode online for free (with ads)](https://www.imdb.com/tv/watch/tt0688067?ref_=tt_wo_fdv). 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? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/2 "2019-10-22T22:07:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/3 "2019-10-22T22:09:35Z")
“Sketches outline of new show/series; The Zip Code Murders.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/4 "2019-10-22T22:32:56Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/5 "2019-10-22T22:36:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/6 "2019-10-22T23:00:04Z")
It’s a perfectly logical answer. It is not saying it ever happened. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/7 "2019-10-22T23:21:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/8 "2019-10-22T23:48:05Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > “Sketches outline of new show/series; The Zip Code Murders.” Sounds like an Ellery Queen mystery but didn’t those stories predate ZIP codes? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/9 "2019-10-23T00:00:23Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > “Sketches outline of new show/series; The Zip Code Murders.” > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Sounds like an Ellery Queen mystery but didn’t those stories predate ZIP codes? Reminds me of [The A.B.C. Murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A.B.C._Murders#Plot_summary), by Agatha Christie. It’s not zip codes, but the railway time table element is similar. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/10 "2019-10-23T00:48:39Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I wonder if it’s a reference to poverty or inequality of wealth. That was my first guess. All those rich people living in 90210… ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/11 "2019-10-23T03:52:10Z")
Think of those poor devils who live in ZIP code xx666. ZIPs of the Beast, by yimini! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/12 "2019-10-23T03:54:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > 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. My first thought too. I do believe it’s a real thing. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/13 "2019-10-23T03:56:31Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Reminds me of [The A.B.C. Murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A.B.C._Murders#Plot_summary), by Agatha Christie. It’s not zip codes, but the railway time table element is similar. Wow! Spoiler alert. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/14 "2019-10-23T05:02:00Z")
Maybe it’s a reference to the Manson killings? They still loomed large in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/15 "2019-10-23T12:05:26Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Wow! Spoiler alert. This just in: Multiple deaths in Agatha Christie book, more at 11. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/16 "2019-10-23T12:33:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/17 "2019-10-23T12:45:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Maybe it’s a reference to the Manson killings? They still loomed large in 1976. Yes, I would say that’s probably the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/18 "2019-10-23T12:49:17Z")
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: ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/19 "2019-10-23T14:04:48Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158/20 "2019-10-23T14:37:14Z")
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.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-kill-because-they-dont-like-their-zip-code-really/842158.md?page=2)