Those letters are about 8 years apart too… So hard to compare, but I do see some similarities. It actually looks kinda like the ATLKID Atlanta letter too though…

To me, the only thing similar about the handwriting is the circled i’s.

I was taking into consideration all of the Bates case writings, the desktop poem, the Bates had to die letters,the confession
letter and it’s envelope (with the little circles) the identical misspellings in the confession letter, Morrill’s certainty all of the
above was written by Zodiac.
To me when all of this is considered in it’s entirety it seems highly improbable it was all just a coincidence and Zodiac had
nothing to do with it.

I’ve posted this before, I think it’s convincing evidence that Zodiac wrote the confession letter envelope,if so then the odds that
he also wrote the desk top poem seem astronomically high considering all the other handwriting similarities.

My point being what are the odds that two people with strikingly similar handwriting would use little circles to dot the I’s ?

Agreed that if Zodiac was the author of those Riverside letters, it’s only logical he was the desktop writer too

Many arguments have revolved around whether the desktop poem was homicidal in inspiration, or suicidal. Either way, it’s violently psychotic. I doubt the RCC campus hosted, in 1966, two violently psychotic individuals with compulsions to advertise their wackiness. Occam’s Razor again: one individual was responsible for all the psychotic literary output; and that individual evolved to become Zodiac.

Here is what I wrote yesterday about the subject (in a thread where it was off topic, sorry) :

If I was presented by the desk top poem and had no knowledge of the Zodiac case whatsoever and someone asked me what that poem was about and what kind of person wrote it I would say:

It was written by a girl torn between the desire to die and to live.
The poem is about herself.
This girl once tried to commit suicide by cutting herself, but it was a half hearted attempt and she was found and saved.
She still have thoughts of suicide and plan to do it again at least in her thoughts.

Sick of living/unwilling to die
cut.
clean.
if red /
clean.
blood spurting,
dripping,
spilling;
all over her new
dress
oh well
it was red
anyway.
life draining into an
uncertain death.
she won’t (smudge)
die.
this time
someone ll find her.
just wait till
next time.
rh

Completely agree, FWIW. The "/" or "I" between red and clean is probably a "/" because the author does not use a capital I anywhere else in the poem.

I’m inclined to think it’s about suicide because of the title.
I also don’t see anything in it specifically pointing to murder. That interpretation seems to have come more from when and where it was found, rather than the text itself. So I’m not convinced that it’s anything more than a coincidence that this poem was written around the time of CJB’s murder.

I read it as someone fantasizing about committing murder and just wait till next time is a threat of it not being a fantasy.

Also, I saw somewhere that rh could be Riverside Halloween. Any thoughts?

I read it as someone fantasizing about committing murder and just wait till next time is a threat of it not being a fantasy.

Also, I saw somewhere that rh could be Riverside Halloween. Any thoughts?

I don’t think it was written after Cheri Jo’s murder I think it was most likely written before she was murdered.
I think the author was simply writing his sick fantasies down on the desk while daydreaming.
I’m certain the author(if he’s Cheri’s killer) never thought for a moment the poem would be found and linked to Cheri’s murder.

I’ve been reading through The Mikado as we know it influenced Zodiac. We see it in his later letters and I wondered when exactly the influence on Zodiac began, so looked through his earliest letters but there isn’t much there, other than the use of "shall" which is used a lot in the Mikado.

I then read through it with a mind towards the desk top poem, and I know I’m making a big leap here, but there might be some Mikado influence on the desk top poem.

The poem seems to be about a girl wanting to die, and there is act in the Mikado about the same, a woman wanting to die.

This opening line from the desk top poem…

Sick of living/unwilling to die

seems very similar to the opening of this act here…

Alone, and yet alive! Oh, sepulchre!
My soul is still my body’s prisoner!
Remote the peace that Death alone can give —
My doom, to wait! my punishment, to live!

It just seems to me to be the same sentiment, tired of life and wanting to die. "alone, and yet alive!" is also the title of this act.

There is also this in the desk top poem…

she won’t die.

which seems very similar to this line in The Mikado.

But do not die,
Though with each breath
They long for death

Here it is a link to the entire act so everyone can compare for themselves…

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mika … _yet_alive

In another act from the Mikado, "The criminal cried as he dropped him down" this stood out..

As the sabre true
Cut cleanly through
His cervical vertebrae,

as it is also in the desktop poem…

cut.
clean.

Link to this act…

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mika … d_him_down

There is more I found that relates to the "Confession letter" which I will post elsewhere.

Curiouscat, really enjoyed and appreciated your analysis above. Very compelling.

I’ve been reading through The Mikado as we know it influenced Zodiac. We see it in his later letters and I wondered when exactly the influence on Zodiac began, so looked through his earliest letters but there isn’t much there, other than the use of "shall" which is used a lot in the Mikado.

I then read through it with a mind towards the desk top poem, and I know I’m making a big leap here, but there might be some Mikado influence on the desk top poem.

The poem seems to be about a girl wanting to die, and there is act in the Mikado about the same, a woman wanting to die.

This opening line from the desk top poem…

Sick of living/unwilling to die

seems very similar to the opening of this act here…

Alone, and yet alive! Oh, sepulchre!
My soul is still my body’s prisoner!
Remote the peace that Death alone can give —
My doom, to wait! my punishment, to live!

It just seems to me to be the same sentiment, tired of life and wanting to die. "alone, and yet alive!" is also the title of this act.

There is also this in the desk top poem…

she won’t die.

which seems very similar to this line in The Mikado.

But do not die,
Though with each breath
They long for death

Here it is a link to the entire act so everyone can compare for themselves…

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mika … _yet_alive

In another act from the Mikado, "The criminal cried as he dropped him down" this stood out..

As the sabre true
Cut cleanly through
His cervical vertebrae,

as it is also in the desktop poem…

cut.
clean.

Link to this act…

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mika … d_him_down

There is more I found that relates to the "Confession letter" which I will post elsewhere.

I noticed the correlations between the desktop poem and the Mikado as well. It definitely carries the same tone.

I do believe the desktop poem was written by the same person who wrote those Z letters. When you really think about it, what are the chances of a poem like this being found at this specific college, where a girl was brutally murdered? The poem could have been found at any college, but it wasn’t! It was found at this one! What are the odds?
We have to use some commonsense and reason here.

Another thing, I believe those words on the desktop could pertain to murder. I have to wonder if Cheri Bates wasn’t a bully. Just because she seem sweet, popular and innocent doesn’t mean she was! In fact, most popular, goody miss shoes girly girls are sometimes the biggest bullies of them all. Sure, ppl may defend her and act as if she was just a saint, but big deal… means nothing. I mean, other than she was popular.
If it were Ross Sullivan that did kill her, then maybe she exchanged some hateful words with him, or she could have bullied him. If she did bully him, makes it easier for him to kill her without remorse. Sometimes, bullies push ppl too far, and blood is the result! I think many school related killings and murders are sometimes (if not all) related to bullying. People need to learn, it’s never okay to bully someone. In fact, it’s a very dangerous game to play.

I can totally understand why a victim of bullying would have a desire to be a cold blooded killer. Society makes them who they are. Is it okay to kill if bullied? From a psychological standpoint, yes, it is . . . in the mind of someone who means well, yet gets pushed around for no reason. Perhaps, Zodiac was bullied by the popular, sweet, pretty ones during school years. Perhaps, it’s why he targeted couples and that popular angel… Cheri Bates.

Who knows . . .

I was told by Bud Kelly, who investigated the Bates murder, that Cheri had "a sharp mouth." Such people make enemies.

When you really think about it, what are the chances of a poem like this being found at this specific college, where a girl was brutally murdered? The poem could have been found at any college, but it wasn’t! It was found at this one! What are the odds?
We have to use some commonsense and reason here.

There are such poems at every college and university. High schools, too. It’s the age for that sort of thing.

I was told by Bud Kelly, who investigated the Bates murder, that Cheri had "a sharp mouth." Such people make enemies.

I have no doubt in my mind, Cheri was a bully to some people. Of course she was. Lol, pretty and popular don’t come without hard work to keep up with the crowd.

She was brutally murdered without remorse… she pissed someone off.