I agree PP–it’s always good to know about things at the time they happen–that library article was as close to that time as we have.
We just don’t know the facts behind it. We know the date on the magazine, but don’t know for sure when the photo was actually taken.
It would be nice to know who originally came up with the story. That photo being shared on Zodiac sites is obviously from that magazine—who originally falsely made the claim? We may likely never know.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Maybe we will know – maybe. Using Google reverse image search, and the internet archive "Wayback Machine" I’ve found that this image is attributed as Cheri as early as October 11 2002:
http://angelfire.com/fl5/zodiac_la w”> https://web.archive.org/web/20021011164 … zodiac_law
http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/zodiac_law/CheriJoBates.htm l”> https://web.archive.org/web/20030908172 … Bates.html
http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/zodiac_law/Cheri_At_Library.jp g”> https://web.archive.org/web/20151030124 … ibrary.jpg
I can’t say for certain that this is the earliest, but it is the oldest reference I have found so far.
-glurk
——————————–
I don’t believe in monsters.
Thanks Glurk. I know that photo has been around for years…
Just goes to show how wrong information plays such a role and gets spread in never ending falsehoods.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Her brother, Michael, is the person who told me it was Cheri, and that was back in 2001 or so.
Her brother, Michael, is the person who told me it was Cheri, and that was back in 2001 or so.
That needs to be considered. I dont have any position on this as there is no value to the photo which could lead to the person (or persons) responsible for for death….thanks for posting that up though
For what it’s worth: While digging into the Bates case in the early 90s, I encountered the now-infamous photo in a copy of the school paper at the RCC library. I shared the photo with, I believe, Howard Davis, and a couple of others interested in the case. All this was done by mail, understand. And, no, I can’t prove my claim as all the paperwork I accumulated has long since vanished. I still think the photo was of Cheri–or she had a twin sister.
Her brother, Michael, is the person who told me it was Cheri, and that was back in 2001 or so.
You didn’t mention that in the post at your site…and you changed the title above the link to the photo at ZodiacKiller.com. 
It used to read Cheri’s name.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/zodiack … 4-s10.html
This is not to say I don’t believe you…just never heard that before. All I can say is I offered him a few of the shots, one being the super-clear ones. He flat out just said, "Those are not of Cheri in the library".
He did acknowledge other photos he’d seen that were floating around, but I imagine he saw bad copies. So it’s certainly possible he thought it was…many have. Looking at clear photos that were large in front of his eyes…might have made it easier to identify it not being her.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Michael told me he thought it was Cheri back in our e-mail exchange from when he sent me boxes of her stuff. We just had the grainy pic to go on. I no longer think it’s Cheri.
If the girl in the picture wasn’t Cheri, who was she? And, as closely as she resembles Cheri, other patrons might have mistaken Cheri for her which would explain why no one saw Cheri in the library the night of October 30, 1966.
I sent Michael the pic because I was curious if the blonde guy facing the camera behind the mystery girl was the suspect I call Bob Barnett, and if Michael had seen him before. I didn’t tell Michael that I thought the girl was Cheri. He replied:
"The library photo was interesting, why was anybody taking pictures in there that night? Especially, right where Cheri was sitting. Looking at the person behind her, I don’t really recognize him."
Seems like an obvious question, but has "Bob Barnett" ever been considered for Zodiac by LE?
RPD and other LE considered BB the prime suspect in CJB murder for over 25 years until he was definitively cleared. His DNA didn’t match that collected from under her fingernail. CJB is not a case in the Zodiac canon, so no they didn’t consider him as Z.
The Bates murder as the work of Z is still up for debate but LE didn’t see it as the work of Z.
Interesting, I had my doubts when I first saw the picture. Thanks all for clearing it up.
RPD claimed in the 1980s that they had tracked Barnett’s whereabouts and that he was unavailable for Zodiac. They didn’t go into details.
RPD claimed in the 1980s that they had tracked Barnett’s whereabouts and that he was unavailable for Zodiac. They didn’t go into details.
Thanks for clarifying, I would be surprised if they hadn’t looked at him.
