Back in ’91 when I was playing Sherlock Holmes, I lived in Redlands, CA, not far from Riverside. I phoned everyone and anyone I thought might have info re Cheri Bates’ murder. A lady I spoke to claimed she was Cheri’s cousin, and had been attacked one evening, outside her home. "It was a nice evening, and I was admiring my mom’s roses. Some guy–I never saw him, really–came up behind me, and started strangling me. I never saw his face, and he never said anything. I was starting to lose consciousness when someone came out of our house. This must have scared whoever it was who was strangling me; he ran off, and I never knew who it could have been. I know one thing, though: he was doing his best to kill me, and would have, if he hadn’t been scared off."
I destroyed my files long ago (my Zodiac snooping had threatened my marriage), so I don’t know the woman’s name. I do remember, however, that she was insistent that she was Cheri’s cousin. "We weren’t real close, or anything, but I knew her and, once in awhile, we’d get together."
There you have it, for what it’s worth. Admittedly, it’s hearsay, and legally inadmissible. At the time she told me her experience, I felt she was telling the truth. But, that’s just my take….
That’s freaky. I think this clue is more than worth re-investigating. If we can look up Cheri’s surviving relatives, maybe we’ll be able to locate this lady and interview her once again.
Dag, do you remember when she said the attack took place?
No, I don’t, Nacht But I do think she associated her experience with Cheri’s murder, so I’d guess this incident happened near the time of Bates’ murder. Again, it’s an IMHO.
Interesting, wish you could recall more Dag!
A lesson for all, never destroy your Z research files! It’s best to pass your findings off to another Z friend if you give up the hunt.
Zam
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If Zodiac ever joined a Z forum, I’m sure he would have been banned for not following forum rules. Zam’s/Quote
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MODERATOR
Didnt Cheri move from out of state? Was this a Family member already in CA?
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
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Cheri’s family had moved from Nebraska to California in 1957/58. Her father was from New York state and her mother was from South Dakota, the most likely reason for the move was her fathers job which was with a defense contractor. The most likely relative in California would have been from her mothers side of the family, Karolevitz. Therefore the cousin would have had this last name or if it was her mothers sister an unknown name. I would think that her brother Michael would be able to answer this question.
Jeckyl,
Please post which defense contractor Cheri Jo’s father worked for. This could be a link to my POI. Also, do you know who his previous employer in Nebraska was?
Thank you for your help.
According to newspaper reports Cheri Jo’s father worked for Naval Ordinance Laboratory in Corona as a machinist.
There’s a Christi Karolevitz in Fountain Valley, CA
Note: I was faulted for having trashed my Zodiac documents in the early Nineties. There was a reason for this. In those days there were no computers and, thus, no zodiackillersite.com. I did my research in a vacuum, depending on phone calls and snail mail. This took up much of my time, and provoked a great deal of strain between my wife and me–so much so that she consulted an attorney. I’m happy to say that my participation in a Zodiac Forum is much less threatening to my wife and, therefore, to our marriage. I grieve the loss of my records. I believe I’m the one who discovered the ("Cheri in the RCC Library") photo, originally published in the RCC school paper. But, my marriage is too precious to me to jeopardize by going on another Zodiac safari.
That’s too bad you through all your research away.
Dose anyone Know if CJBates Had a weekend job
For that summer?. Besides working at the Bank.
She may have mentioned it at work or to a friend.
There may be no record, because it was cash under
The table.
