We could always run an ad…

“Seeking mediocre poets with initials R.H. No husky males with shuffling lopes need apply.”

To the most interesting part of the desk poem-the fact it was scrawled on the underneath part. That’s a side mystery all its own. Is it possible desks were turned upside down during class? Who likely would have access to write under the underside of the desk while it was turned upside down? Not sure, staff, or faculty of some sort?

It would be very helpful if we could establish precisely what sort of desk it was, i.e. whether the top was flippable or not. If it was flippable, it would have been considerably easier to get the poem done without drawing attention to yourself.

If it was not flippable, I would say the likeliest explanation is that the writer came across the desk while it was turned. It doesn’t seem likely that someone would have turned it himself/herself simply in order to write the poem. Not impossible, of course, but unlikely.

Another point (back to the printing again): It would be pretty hard to write on that surface in/from anything like a natural position: Either the top is flipped up and you write on an angled or perpendicular surface. Or the (non-flippable) desk is turned on its side – in which case you write on a perpendicular surface. Or it’s turned on its head and you write on a flat surface – but sitting down, crouching over it, or something of that nature.

Or – of course – you could crawl underneath it and write from below. But that’s even worse/more unnatural, you’d think.

Anyone think it’s worth contacting a new forensic hand writing expert to look over the desk top poem and get their opinion..
Even better to get three of them. Would need some credentials as you can do an on line course and become an "expert"

A letter drafted along the lines of…we are seeking the services of three forensic handwriting experts to give us three independent reports on the penmanship of the desk top poem for a comparison to the zodiacs known writings"
Payment will Be in the form of an inclusion into morfs book if he ever gets around to it.. Or a hug.

Anyone think it’s worth contacting a new forensic hand writing expert to look over the desk top poem and get their opinion..
Even better to get three of them. Would need some credentials as you can do an on line course and become an "expert"

A letter drafted along the lines of…we are seeking the services of three forensic handwriting experts to give us three independent reports on the penmanship of the desk top poem for a comparison to the zodiacs known writings"
Payment will Be in the form of an inclusion into morfs book if he ever gets around to it.. Or a hug.

The issue is, top quality docs examiners want the original document(or desk in this case)to work with, not 2nd generation copies from the net, etc, and we can’t get that

Anyone think it’s worth contacting a new forensic hand writing expert to look over the desk top poem and get their opinion..
Even better to get three of them. Would need some credentials as you can do an on line course and become an "expert"

A letter drafted along the lines of…we are seeking the services of three forensic handwriting experts to give us three independent reports on the penmanship of the desk top poem for a comparison to the zodiacs known writings"
Payment will Be in the form of an inclusion into morfs book if he ever gets around to it.. Or a hug.

The issue is, top quality docs examiners want the original document(or desk in this case)to work with, not 2nd generation copies from the net, etc, and we can’t get that

We would be asking for an opinion from them nothing else..one of them may pick up something that has been missed.

Anyone think it’s worth contacting a new forensic hand writing expert to look over the desk top poem and get their opinion..
Even better to get three of them. Would need some credentials as you can do an on line course and become an "expert"

A letter drafted along the lines of…we are seeking the services of three forensic handwriting experts to give us three independent reports on the penmanship of the desk top poem for a comparison to the zodiacs known writings"
Payment will Be in the form of an inclusion into morfs book if he ever gets around to it.. Or a hug.

The issue is, top quality docs examiners want the original document(or desk in this case)to work with, not 2nd generation copies from the net, etc, and we can’t get that

Mr Lowe

I like your idea. I would appreciate some new blood and their expert opinions. But they would have to be "top notch" for me to have faith in their findings and for them to "sway me" one way or another.

RH could be someone inspired by William Randolph Hearst. I doubt it, but with the Zodiac case you just never know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst

"Citizen Kane is one of the most influential films of all time and is loosely based on Hearst’s life"

I see some phrasing similarities between some of Z’s verbiage with the use of "oh well" from the desktop poem and "well nevermind" in one of his letters. Put these together and you have "oh well nevermind". So I do think this could come from the same person regarding their melancholic views. And possibly a depressive state of mind.

I think it might be helpful if we divorced the Bates case from the "official" Zodiac murders. In any event, solving Cheri Jo’s murder is, in itself, a worthy goal. She was a lovely, talented young lady robbed of a promising future.
IMO, solving the Bates case has always been a rather straightforward enterprise. Conjoin "The Confession" to the desktop poem, and you are led to suspect a male with the initials, RH, who attended Ramona High at the same time as did Cheri. Unfortunately, RPD’s fixation on their favorite suspect, "Bob Barnett" has muddied the waters.
As a champion of Occam’s Razor, I can’t believe that Cheri’s murder, and the gory desktop (actually, bottom) poem are unrelated. It’s more logical to assume the two are connected, and beat Ramona High’s bushes for a "suitable" RH. So, dig out your Ramona High yearbooks for the years 1961-1966, and jot down male RHs. Almost surely, Cheri’s killer is one of them.

I think it might be helpful if we divorced the Bates case from the "official" Zodiac murders. In any event, solving Cheri Jo’s murder is, in itself, a worthy goal. She was a lovely, talented young lady robbed of a promising future.
IMO, solving the Bates case has always been a rather straightforward enterprise. Conjoin "The Confession" to the desktop poem, and you are led to suspect a male with the initials, RH, who attended Ramona High at the same time as did Cheri. Unfortunately, RPD’s fixation on their favorite suspect, "Bob Barnett" has muddied the waters.
As a champion of Occam’s Razor, I can’t believe that Cheri’s murder, and the gory desktop (actually, bottom) poem are unrelated. It’s more logical to assume the two are connected, and beat Ramona High’s bushes for a "suitable" RH. So, dig out your Ramona High yearbooks for the years 1961-1966, and jot down male RHs. Almost surely, Cheri’s killer is one of them.

What about Morrill saying this desktop poem being Zodiac’s writing….

kdz: It’s entirely possible that RH and the Zodiac are one and the same. My interest is primarily in the Bates case, and I’m concerned that too much time and effort have been expended in proving/disproving a connection between her murder, and those generally accepted to be Zodiac’s.

I think it might be helpful if we divorced the Bates case from the "official" Zodiac murders. In any event, solving Cheri Jo’s murder is, in itself, a worthy goal. She was a lovely, talented young lady robbed of a promising future.
IMO, solving the Bates case has always been a rather straightforward enterprise. Conjoin "The Confession" to the desktop poem, and you are led to suspect a male with the initials, RH, who attended Ramona High at the same time as did Cheri. Unfortunately, RPD’s fixation on their favorite suspect, "Bob Barnett" has muddied the waters.
As a champion of Occam’s Razor, I can’t believe that Cheri’s murder, and the gory desktop (actually, bottom) poem are unrelated. It’s more logical to assume the two are connected, and beat Ramona High’s bushes for a "suitable" RH. So, dig out your Ramona High yearbooks for the years 1961-1966, and jot down male RHs. Almost surely, Cheri’s killer is one of them.

Or…he’s an RH at RCC that didn’t go to Ramona HS, or a custodian, etc in RCC. Investigators looked at lots of RH people

I think it might be helpful if we divorced the Bates case from the "official" Zodiac murders. In any event, solving Cheri Jo’s murder is, in itself, a worthy goal. She was a lovely, talented young lady robbed of a promising future.
IMO, solving the Bates case has always been a rather straightforward enterprise. Conjoin "The Confession" to the desktop poem, and you are led to suspect a male with the initials, RH, who attended Ramona High at the same time as did Cheri. Unfortunately, RPD’s fixation on their favorite suspect, "Bob Barnett" has muddied the waters.
As a champion of Occam’s Razor, I can’t believe that Cheri’s murder, and the gory desktop (actually, bottom) poem are unrelated. It’s more logical to assume the two are connected, and beat Ramona High’s bushes for a "suitable" RH. So, dig out your Ramona High yearbooks for the years 1961-1966, and jot down male RHs. Almost surely, Cheri’s killer is one of them.

I believe the desktop poems date of creation isnt exactly known? Ie if it was before or after the cjb murder? ‘Zodiac MO’ would be to boast after the murder is commited. Then one can imagine this poem was created after the murder therefore the murderer would be one bold mother*** to sign his real initials? Rh is just a bit of fun to the author. Not his name.

I feel the RH poem was written before Bates’ murder, and is a product of a mind considering homicide, but not quite ready to act out. I don’t think the female in the poem was meant to be Cheri; she was a generic female, so to speak. The poem’s initials were, I believe, the "maturing" murderer’s who, as yet, was afraid to disclose his identity. Combine the initials with THE CONFESSION, and you find an RH who attended Ramona High when Cheri did. Sounds reasonable to me, anyway.

His conclusion then prompted a request for the FBI to examine the exemplars (again? I was under the impression that they’d already done this), which they did – and came up with (yet another?) “inconclusive” verdict.

I get the impression that "inconclusive" is part forensic opinion and part legal strategy. Imagine the FBI announces that they are 100% positive that a document was not written by the killer. Then the police arrest a suspect and discover his handwriting matches the document. The defendant’s defense attorney would gleefully point to the FBI’s report as proof his client wasn’t the killer.