Z was all over the place….nice, neat, well organized letters & ciphers, sloppy letters with very bad penmanship, artistic, and stylish letters.If he was the Riverside writer, having one set of handwritten letters, and a typed letter, may not be out of the ordinary.

I think the Riverside letter/desk writer, and Zodiac, are all one and the same, and any changes in writing style,or subject matter, is a sign he evolved in some way. I also think that typing the letter was a way to hide his writing and keep himself from being identified, but later, he felt more brazen and wrote the Bates letters but obviously tried to hide his true writing.

I am curious about opinions on one thing, if the confession letter writer took the time to type out a letter, why did he not type out the envelope? Anybody have any theories?

my gut is the "riverside connection" Z refers to is a lie by the Z..i think sfpd may have known this and i think they do know Z is most probable not responsible for CJB..Z was an image builder and if the lie needed to be told he did..Z also seems to have gotten rather upset that the cops may have been aware he was not exactly what he professed to be..there is good reason Z sent in part of the stine shirt..he was wanting to make sure that sfpd could not dispute his involvement in the crime..summary I do think the confession letter is highly likely genuine Z but it just as easily could be from the perp who committed the homicide..as if that makes any sense

morf that is interesting..may be he (author) had run out of envelopes and mailed it on his way back to his residence after purchasing some envelopes at woolworth..I guess the other possibilty is is he could not type worth a darn so he dictated the letter and when sent he simply hand wrote the address on the envelope..as a dude I hate to type..never even used a typewriter till early 20’s in age..who took typing in skol back in the day..99% female..I think we had 1 guy in home-ec as well..i shoulda took home-ec..could made cupcakes plus the grilled real meat (not the stuff the cafteria call meat) for lunch quite often..id start checking for dudes who were in typing/secretarial and home-ec classes at riverside high skols and the college..may be something there

I remember trying to type on an envelope, back in the day. A total pain. I mean, if he typed his own letter as opposed to dictating it — I think that was the case, he typed it — then maybe he became impatient at some point and did not attempt to type the envelope. Or he could have messed up the envelope attempts and possibly ran down to his last one. But I agree, he probably was someone who was interested in typing.

I know the letter writer used care and took time to hide his identity by using multiple carbon/pages so the typewriter could not be identified. I wonder if this was harder to do with an envelope? Also, still curious how he knew he could use multiple carbons to hide his typewriter ID?

As murray says, it’s much harder to type on an envelope.

My dad used a typewriter regularly back in the pre-PC days but he never typed his envelopes – just left them with a secretary who had that particular trick down.

It’s not rocket science, of course, but it’s much more awkward than typing on a sheet of paper, much easier to make a mess of it, etc.

Of the many typed papers I mailed out over the years, I think I only typed out one envelope. Too much trouble for me to want to type them out.

I remember trying envelopes. The original paper jam.

Why do you guys think it was difficult to type an envelope? Never had that problem. I’m wondering what some of the issues might have been.

Well, for me, I couldn’t seem to get it straight, particularly with smaller envelopes. And as Trav pointed out, the thickness of the envelope tended to make it jam and/or crinkle. Then again, my typewriter kinda sucked.

Well, for me, I couldn’t seem to get it straight, particularly with smaller envelopes. And as Trav pointed out, the thickness of the envelope tended to make it jam and/or crinkle. Then again, my typewriter kinda sucked.

For me it was the rolling aspect, and trying to get the keys to land in the center of the envelope. Always hard to roll the envelope to the right spot.

I can see it now, mean, evil, super villain typing a dark & sinister confession letter, and then failing miserably to type the envelope finally giving up after going thru 5 or 6 envelopes, and hand writing it

Thanks Seagull.

So there is a chance Zodiac (if not the Confession letter writer) read this.

I’ve been thinking about this and what strikes me is that while the contents of the Confession Letter were published before Zodiac began his letter writing campaign the envelope that it was mailed in was not disclosed to the best of my knowledge. Zodiac was known for not putting the complete street address when mailing a letter. He usually just wrote the name of the newspaper and the city and state. Sometimes he wrote ‘Rush To Editor’ but not always.

The Confession Letter envelope was addressed similarly, the name of the newspaper and city and state along with a directive as to who the letter should be delivered to, "Attn: Crime." I don’t know how Zodiac would have known those details.

Absolutely correct Deb!

I don’t know how Zodiac would have known those details.

Fair point and well worth noting.

But these details, non-specific addresses (when writing to newspapers, i.e. where the address couldn’t really be misunderstood) and the “attn: editor” detail, really isn’t exclusive to Z by any stretch. They’re common traits.

Again, it’s well worth noting and it adds to the “pro Z” argument, but it’s not compelling, IMO.

I totally agree that it’s not compelling, Norse. I am actually in the camp that believes that CJB was not a Zodiac murder. I’ve done a lot of wobbling about the letters over the years though. I can not deny the similarity between the way the envelopes were addressed.

The late ’60’s were a time when the US Postal Service was pushing for accurate addresses being used including adding the zip code. The advent of computers and automated sorting machines made this requirement necessary.

I have seen many postcards and letters for sale on Ebay that have just a person or business name along with a city and state but more often than not they are very old, pre 1930. The practice was falling out of favor by the time Zodiac was writing letters, particularly in large cities where mail went to a main sorting facility. A directive on the envelope as to where a letter should be delivered within a business is still used today occasionally though more often it is in the address proper under a business or agency name.

It seems like an old fashioned way of mailing a letter, in both aspects, even for those days.

Well, for me, I couldn’t seem to get it straight, particularly with smaller envelopes. And as Trav pointed out, the thickness of the envelope tended to make it jam and/or crinkle. Then again, my typewriter kinda sucked.

For me it was the rolling aspect, and trying to get the keys to land in the center of the envelope. Always hard to roll the envelope to the right spot.

I can see it now, mean, evil, super villain typing a dark & sinister confession letter, and then failing miserably to type the envelope finally giving up after going thru 5 or 6 envelopes, and hand writing it

I’m thinking he had a reason for using carbon copies/paper (whatever it was) and he could not achieve that same effect with an envelope.