This is extremely interesting.  First, it appears that they found out about the hoax thanks to DNA analysis conducted by the FBI Investigative Genealogy team in LA, from samples taken from the stamp.  So they found out about this the same way as GSK, with the family tree climbing.

Even more interesting, now they’ve got a $50k reward for further information, but the offer is only valid for the next year, expiring in 2022.  I don’t know if that’s a policy thing, but it sort of sounds like they are sending out a hint that they may have more DNA to work with in the CJB case, even if that is ultimately just a bluff.  

EDIT: They also say the FBI Investigative Genealogy team is continuing to work specifically on the Zodiac case, and from the sounds of it they are being careful to make a distinction between Zodiac and CJB.  That should come as no surprise since they have had their pet suspect since forever as far as I’m aware, but it is the first public confirmation of active DNA work being done by the FBI on the Zodiac case in a few years.  Again, could be true or not.  Oftentimes they just shake the tree to see if anything falls out, but fingers crossed that they’ve got the samples to back it up.

EDIT 2: Okay, for my own sanity, let me get this straight.  2016, person sends an anonymous letter, I guess to Riverside PD, apologizing for writing the letters back in 1966.  That letter had stamps on it.  That’s how they got the sample.  Then in 2020, they sent that sample to the FBI lab and found the guy, who then confessed to writing the letters back in the day.  So that means that they did not use any DNA samples from the original 1966 letters to figure this out.  DNA tree-climbing leads to suspect leads to interview leads to follow-up investigation leads to disqualification as the murderer of CJB.  Also means that the letters are no longer valid for disqualifying other suspects, so if that was a problem for their investigation before, it isn’t now and, according to them, that applies to ALL the letters in the CJB case. 

Moreover, this, according to Riverside, also disjoins the CJB and Zodiac investigations, so if they were able to get to an indictment and prosecution, the defense is going to have an impossible time using the ‘Zodiac’ narrative as an alternative hypothesis to sew reasonable doubt in a jury trial.  Consequently, the real perpetrator has fewer complicating elements between them and the investigators, and that puts pressure on both the guilty party and anyone who is aware of their guilt but remained silent, or anyone who was suspicious before but potentially had those suspicions suppressed by the distraction of the fake evidence.  

So now they are turning up the heat.  4 months, $50,000 for someone to come forward with information.  Could be good, won’t hold my breath, but will definitely cross a finger or two

Shumway was openly skeptical about all of the letters associated with this case, including the Confession, way back in the ’90s. So it sounds like they are doubling down on that philosophy.

Still scratching my head over the foggy allusion to fake Zodiac letters, tucked away in there like some trivial footnote. Why drag Toschi into this, unless they’re accusing him of writing the LAT letter? Did the 2016 DNA match the Herb Caen letter, thus proving the kid was a serial forgery writer? The mind boggles.

This is wild.

So now Riverside PD is confirming that this person who wrote the Bates letters is also responsible for some Zodiac forgeries as well? 

Which Zodiac letters? Massive implications here!

Posted by: @chaucer

So now Riverside PD is confirming that this person who wrote the Bates letters is also responsible for some Zodiac forgeries as well? 

Hmmm.  I don’t see anything about Zodiac letters listed in the Riverside PD Press Release.  I was sort of under the impression that they found out that the Riverside letters were fake, and that those letters were the key evidence that made them think CJB was a Zodiac victim.  Consequently, proving the Riverside letters were hoaxes basically nixes the idea that CJB was a Zodiac crime, at least as far as Riverside PD and the FBI are concerned. 

Unless I missed something, which unironically is possible.

A lot of people are confused about whether they’re talking about the kid or someone else. Especially since “wanted to keep the investigation alive” is usually mentioned in relation to Toschi and the 1978/Exorcist letters. I just can’t imagine why RPD would be digging into Zodiac forgeries if it wasn’t connected to Bates.

Not sure the Fairfield letters are a good candidate, because he (the kid) was allegedly in his early teens in 1966, and Fairfield is a long ways from Riverside.

Posted by: @tegean

Posted by: @chaucer

So now Riverside PD is confirming that this person who wrote the Bates letters is also responsible for some Zodiac forgeries as well? 

Hmmm.  I don’t see anything about Zodiac letters listed in the Riverside PD Press Release.  I was sort of under the impression that they found out that the Riverside letters were fake, and that those letters were the key evidence that made them think CJB was a Zodiac victim.  Consequently, proving the Riverside letters were hoaxes basically nixes the idea that CJB was a Zodiac crime, at least as far as Riverside PD and the FBI are concerned. 

“Additional information was developed regarding a separate set of letters sent to Northern California police agencies. The author claimed to be the ‘Zodiac Killer,’ but the author ultimately admitted to sending the letters to keep the investigation going.“

@coffee-time Okay, I’m seeing the problem here.  What a rhetorical disaster.  None of the Riverside letters from the 1960s say anything at all about Zodiac, right?  I mean, I’ve read them and none of them say ANYTHING about Zodiac.  Zodiac did not exist in 1967 as a persona in any public periodical.  Holy god, I am really annoyed with this PR, now.

[EDIT] Okay, regardless, their premise is that, as a result of this development, there is no longer sufficient evidence to include the murder of CJB in the broader investigation of the Zodiac killer.  Now they screwed up and started off talking about a single letter that was sent to Riverside PD in 1967, and in the next paragraph they are, for some reason, referring to letters (plural), and I don’t know how to interpret that other than to say that the whole Riverside letter writing campaign was done by one person who had nothing to do with anything.  

The author of this press release either lost their train of thought and forgot to point out that their original supposition that CJB’s murder might have been committed by Zodiac was based off of these letters and that this premise was not based off of any overt statements to that effect in any of the actual Riverside letters.  Consequently, there is no reason for them to further submit that the hoaxer denied being Zodiac, right?  Unless our boy ALSO sent letters to other places that are outside of the canon of confirmed OR unconfirmed letters from Zodiac.  Jeez

They refer to the Bates hoaxer as “the author,” and the Zodiac hoaxer as “the author,” so either the kid was a royal weirdo who kept writing hoax letters, or these are two different people and the article needed another proofreading pass.

@coffee-time I think what they’re trying to say is that CJB was never a Zodiac case and all this tomfoolery got out of hand and it’s everyone else’s fault.  This is how they open:

“In 1967, Riverside Police Department received a hand written letter in the mail. This letter initially led investigators to believe the murder of Cheri Jo Bates may be associated with the murderer known as the “Zodiac Killer.” The letter and the interpretation of the signature on the letter generated much attention to the investigation and fueled many theories and much speculation regarding the case. In addition, sensitive information was released to the media which added to the curiosity and conjecture.”

So, in other words, Zodiac is not Riverside’s problem and we don’t care about the other stupid letters.  We’re not obligated to speak on that subject with any clarity and if you don’t like it go bother the FBI with it.  The first Riverside letter was fake, the guy said he was sorry about ALL the letters, meaning he wrote all the letters (presumably regarding Riverside) and we know who did it, we just can’t prove it yet.  I think that is the best interpretation I can make regarding their point.  

[EDIT] and I was wrong about the reward (not reading closely enough).  It’s not Riverside’s 50k it’s someone else’s.  A private citizen.  

Why do people think The Confession Letter is no longer valid?

It is the one with the Zodiac misspellings, inside knowledge (head wound) and certainly not written by Barnett because it is far too self-incriminating by pointing at someone who knew her enough to try advances on her but got pushed away.

Look at the evidence. It’s a military person and probably the Zodiac.

1. PX watch at crime scene.

2. Size 10-ish military footwear.

3. Teletype used in the Confession letter.

4. Same misspelled words twitch and squirm.

5. Phone call made to police.

6. Good Samaritan car routine (okay non-canonical).

7. Victimology.

She fits the chronology also.

Remember it was Zodiac who first sent in the Halloween Card and since CJB was murdered near Halloween this is what got Avery and Sins both thinking this was an anniversary card.

Obviously they are still convinced Bob Barnett did it despite all the evidence pointing away from him. Who incriminates themselves in a letter from someone who said they knew CJB and that she brushed him off?

John Douglas correctly asserts that the reference to other strangers all over the letter is probably no different with CJB. A stranger killing.

Ah the 2016 thing must have been the tip Mains wanted to share.

As I’ve be pointed out elsewhere there is still the desktop poem. Whether this has any bearing on both the Zodiac and Bates case is still open for debate.

Can we entertain the possibility that for RPD to definitely rule out the hoax writer to both cases they must have some marker to cross reference the DNA to.

@tomvoigt 

Now that this information has come to light Tom do you still maintain that Riverside was a definite Zodiac attack ?

There was a 2 cm oblique ragged edge fresh non gaping laceration of the upper lip on the left side, some discoloration and some abrasions to her face, which could suggest a blow from a blunt object such as a fist or foot – or impact with the dirt alleyway. Although the Confession letter author described kicking her in the head, this cannot unequivocally be linked to the autopsy findings to the exclusion of all other possibilities.

The Confession letter author typed “She squirmed and shook as I chocked her. And her lips twiched”.  The Little List letter author wrote “Some I shall tie over ant hills and watch them scream + twich and sqwirm”. Twiched and Twich are obviously similar but the word squirm is spelled differently in the Confession and Little List letters, not withstanding the Confession letter was already published prior to July 26th 1970. While it’s not impossible that the Zodiac Killer could have been in the military (as could the author of the Confession letter or killer of Cheri) the watch and bootprints don’t prove he was. There were numerous calls to police, but only three can be definitively linked to the Zodiac Killer on July 5th, September 27th and October 15th. Everything in the Confession letter could be gleaned from the newspapers, something that the Zodiac Killer was determined to override when he was claiming the four canonical crimes.  

Posted by: @richard-grinell

While it’s not impossible that the Zodiac Killer could have been in the military (as could the author of the Confession letter or killer of Cheri) the watch and bootprints don’t prove he was.

This may also not be as discriminating a piece of evidence as it may otherwise seem.  I assume this survey of RCC freshmen who did not return for the fall semester in 1966 has probably circulated on the forums.  https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED014987.pdf

over 30% of those surveyed went into the armed forces.  That appears to have been a very common path for students at the school during that time.