In the words of zodiac writing expert Sherwood Morrill, the Bates letters are "unquestionably" the work of zodiac. Right or wrong, Morrill believed Z wrote the Bates letters

RPD has been shady for years in the CJB case. The Questions is why ?

Hi-

I’m trying to get the PE interested in digging into some of the forensics issues in the Bates case. In case you believe they are salivating about having an opportunity to shed light on the issues of whether DNA was ever obtained from the "Bates had to die" letters or if they ever tested those letters for impressed writing using the latest (non-destructive, I might add) techniques, think again. It is like pulling teeth to even get them to reply. Been trying since April.

It always staggers me how little interest the press has in these high profile cases. Wouldn’t these stories be riveting for the local readers? I guess not…

Mike

I applaud your efforts Mike, but it does not surprise me about the PE not being cooperative, they don’t want to burn any ins that they have for news from within the PD

Are we even sure the DNA recovered by analysts is consistent in the supposed confirmed letters of the Zodiac ie that DNA is a match between one letter and another. If not you can understand the reluctance of authorities to release this info, as they may well not know the actual perpetrators genetic fingerprint and the lack of clarity about what has been tested or discovered is almost Roswell in its contradictions and secrecy. I do not believe they have a confirmed ident for the killer, hence the apparent cloak and dagger show. Or is it possible they are waiting for advancements in DNA technology because of the limited samples they possess and the fear they may only get one chance to test for fear of destroying the samples without attaining the desired outcome.

RPD has been shady for years in the CJB case. The Questions is why ?

Probably the same reason the SLTPD wouldn’t share squat about Donna. It’s still an open case, and really….who are we?

I don’t believe because they don’t share their info publicly doesn’t mean they are shady. Might just mean they are careful.

The five confirmed murders and four attacks of the Zodiac involved no sexual interference and in all his correspondence since the Lake Herman Road murders made no overt statements about sex, with many people believing the Zodiac was a thrill killer and not a sexual sadist.
Also some believe a connection to the Cheri Jo Bates murder, and maybe the Confession Letter, although these two events may not be linked. But if we are to believe that the Zodiac was not sexually motivated, (after all he had ample opportunity to portray this in his crimes if he was that way inclined), then the Confession Letter appears unZodiac like because it clearly states "But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see", which implies a sexual motivation and a different author and if the typed letter and murder were undertaken by the same person, then the Zodiac is most unlikely to be the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates.

I’m not so sure. I know a lot of people think that the confession letter is un-zodiac like and I can see why and the reasoning is logical. I tend to read it in a slightly different way though. I don’t know if it’s the right way to go about it but given the other circumstantial and physical evidence (regardless of strength) I think of this as Z and in that respect I can read the confession letter in that context.

Z’s clearest MO was misdirection and disguise IMO. Even his handwritten material reflects that. Not just the content but also the construction method. So with that in mind I have no problem reading the stuff about cutting off female as fantastical misdirection. Just like the bus bomb. Giving the cops some busy work. That’s how these bits in the confession letter feel to me. The thing seems littered with vague and slightly too contrived and poetic attempts to interject a sexual nature and the writer himself even admits that this was not the driving force behind the attack "….but only one thing was on my mind". It reads like he’s trying to create a subtext that doesn’t exist for him in reality. That being one of empathy on a normal emotional/sexual level.

So, in a way that sounds contradictory to what I’ve just said, I agree that this doesn’t read like what we assume is Z’s attack MO but it does read very much like his BS and misdirection MO.

EDIT: Just to add. He does it again later – "even better than getting your rocks off with a girl". The devil is in the detail in the ‘confession letter’ – it’s the details that he’s getting off on, the details of what actually happened, the ‘thrill’ of the kill. The rest is just filler IMO.

Judith,

Regarding the handwriting. I was skimming through the FBI files last night and I think the chronology of events was this. Sherwood authenticated the letters and the desk, Shimoda then said the opposite. The DOJ then requested the FBI analyse them and they came back with inconclusive due the amount of distortion/disguise used to create them. Actually drop the desk from that for now, I’m not so sure it was mentioned in that particular report but the letters were requested for re-analysis.

There is no sexual attack either in the Bates OR Domingos/Edwards cases. Sex,or sexual assault is not the motive for the crimes, no matter what the confession letter author put in his letter. Some experts mention that the murder act itself is the sexual release,so actual sex is not the motive. They said that such killers would later think back on these events, and masturbate (yuk )

Also, I don’t know enough about Jack the Ripper to have an opinion, but I have read that terms like… "But I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see"…are borrowed from,or sound similar to,Jack The Ripper’s writing,indicating that the confession letter author may have been inspired by Jack’s writing.

Sorry if I am going off topic, but in some true crime shows i have seen, serial killers sometimes revisit the scenes of their crimes. I wonder if the police ever staked out LHR? I know they staked out BRS,and actually questioned a couple people

I’m concerned about the age of the DNA testing on the Cheri Jo Bates evidence, if it is even able to be loaded into CODIS.
Does anyone know if the DNA recovered from the cigarette butt matches the DNA from the Timex, or are they different?

I contacted Riverside recently , let’s see if they respond. I have forwarded DNA evidence to them. The FBI files indicate evidence tested for DNA to be placed into refrigeration once sent back to Riverside. That was 1999/2000. What has Riverside done with this evidence? Can anyone tell me if they have loaded it into CODIS?
The hair recovered from Cheri Jo Bates is the hair of her Killer, brown. If Zodiac killed Cheri Jo, then we have his identity.
Handwriting up until recently is a subjective art. But they now have forensic programs which can analyze handwriting. They look to where the pen picks up and lets down,the slant of the writing, measurements are taken. Did Zodiac write the Bates letters? That and the Riverside DNA are my questions.
I wish one of our computer wizards could create a handwriting program which compares the Zodiac letters to other samples…
by the way IMO Zodiac was not a sexual sadist, he was a terrorist. He kills, does not rape, and sends a letter or makes a phone call.
How many unsolved crimes in CA match that MO?

RPD has been shady for years in the CJB case. The Questions is why ?

To disassociate themselves from the zodiac and solve the case. Even if I thought he did it, i would publicly want to get as far away as I could from the zodiac to solve the case. He’s too big of a mystery and too many people are interested. Just my opinion.

Soze

Not a bad theory and makes some sense.

Here’s my approach: First, include/eliminate Cheri Bates’ killer as Zodiac. Is there a suspect who:
1. Is a male Caucasian with brown hair?
2. Once attended Ramona High school?
3. Joined the service, particularly the Navy?
4. Attended Riverside City College at the same time as Cheri?
5. Has the initals, RH?
6. Later (say, in 1968-9) moved to the Bay area?
For the benefit of Law Enforcement, Morf knows of one such individual; so do I. And, of course, there may be more. I can’t speak for Morf, but I am willing to forward what info I have to authorities should they so request.

Here’s my approach: First, include/eliminate Cheri Bates’ killer as Zodiac. Is there a suspect who:
1. Is a male Caucasian with brown hair?
2. Once attended Ramona High school?
3. Joined the service, particularly the Navy?
4. Attended Riverside City College at the same time as Cheri?
5. Has the initals, RH?
6. Later (say, in 1968-9) moved to the Bay area?
For the benefit of Law Enforcement, Morf knows of one such individual; so do I. And, of course, there may be more. I can’t speak for Morf, but I am willing to forward what info I have to authorities should they so request.

You should forward the info to police,but who knows if any attention will be paid to it