DISCLAIMER : This thread does not suggest that the zodiac killer is the killer of Cheri Jo Bates. Neither does it suggest that the writer of the confession letter is the killer of Cheri Jo bates. Its just to compare the similarities between these two cases.
This is the Zodiac speaking ..
i think it’s beneficial to compare tone and message vs simply comparing similar words or phrases –
both the bates writer and the zodiac writer are using murder (whether they committed it or not) as a pulpit – write those letters without a connected murder and no one publishes them or pays attention. with a connected murder you now have the attention of police and the local news.
both writers are cruel in their descriptions, threatening, demanding (both demand publicity), and yet oddly pointless. bates and zodiac writers both spend time describing the attacks (makes sense, it helps prove they are who they say they are) but beyond that the rest is pointless. zodiac creates a cipher (408) that, when decoded, is a bunch of horseshit about slaves. that’s a lot of effort and risk to what end? the bates writer basically describes other people he’d like to attack. so what’s the point in writing the letter? kaczynski had enviro-whatever-ism as his point, the dc snipers wanted a ransom, zodiac wants what – buttons? bates writer wants what? nothing. "hey i killed her. i might kill other people."
i think they write for a similar reason – "be scared of me. boo, i’m out here." to me, the descriptions of the crimes, request to be published, threats toward others as a means to "be scared of me" are pretty compelling similarities.
