The Riverside police should have the killer’s blood, assuming they retrieved samples from the blood trail from the crime scene to Terracina Drive. The ‘Inside Detective’ magazine revealed one crucial piece of evidence from the Riverside alleyway crime scene. It stated "The driveway adjacent to 3680 Terracina Street was so churned up it looked like a tractor had been over the ground. The girl, who was very athletic, put up a terrific struggle. At the murder scene, drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying."

The attack began adjacent to these empty buildings, approximately 100 feet from Terracina Drive. If the attack began in the vicinity of where her body was discovered, we are left with two possibilities: The blood trail to Terracina Drive was the victim’s blood, dripping from the killer, or the killer’s blood dripping from a cut hand. The blood trail, if significant enough to be noticed by detectives, and was continuous to the sidewalk of Terracina Drive, then it could be argued to be blood secreted from a continuously bleeding hand, as opposed to a killer having blood on his person (absorbed by his clothing) or a small knife. Presumably, the killer would have pocketed the knife in advance of reaching the street. This must have been considered by investigators who visited the crime scene. This may not be DNA from the Zodiac, but I would certainly be interested in this blood trail from the perspective of the Riverside killer.

The pattern or tail of the blood drops could certainly have determined the direction of the killer within the alleyway. Since detectives concluded that the "drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying," then it remains a possibility that the killer injured himself during the attack, allowing the trail of blood to extend the full 100 feet in distance, as opposed to the limited blood secretion possible from a small pocket knife or clothing.

Richard, Again you have brought to my attention something that I missed. Of course the blood dripping to the street has to be from the killer, could that be where the scar came from on the bloody print in the cab? I hope that they took some of that blood and put it into evidence? Even though there was plenty of DNA in her hand, they are keeping that information close to their vests. I can’t imagine that they are still sitting on that DNA and haven’t tried to put it into GED Match? I would like to know either way ,if it is a match to other Zodiac DNA? I strongly believe she was a Zodiac victim and that he was in Riverside working construction at that time, or he actually worked with her father at March Air Force Base.

Sandy, from what I understand, they only have mitochondrial DNA in Bates. That cannot be submitted to GEDMatch.

Sandy, from what I understand, they only have mitochondrial DNA in Bates. That cannot be submitted to GEDMatch.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on that. Mitochondrial DNA provides haplogroup, which defines deep ancestry such as European, African, Asian and Native American . it is a very good source of DNA that you get from your mother.

If you are talking about the hair which has no root , that can not be entered into GED Match. But the blood found should be a very good sample.

Sandy, from what I understand, they only have mitochondrial DNA in Bates. That cannot be submitted to GEDMatch.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on that. Mitochondrial DNA provides haplogroup, which defines deep ancestry such as European, African, Asian and Native American . it is a very good source of DNA that you get from your mother.

If you are talking about the hair which has no root , that can not be entered into GED Match. But the blood found should be a very good sample.

Just saliva is used for sites like 23andme and AncestryDNA, so blood must be extremely useful forensically.

Sandy, from what I understand, they only have mitochondrial DNA in Bates. That cannot be submitted to GEDMatch.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on that. Mitochondrial DNA provides haplogroup, which defines deep ancestry such as European, African, Asian and Native American . it is a very good source of DNA that you get from your mother.

If you are talking about the hair which has no root , that can not be entered into GED Match. But the blood found should be a very good sample.

Did they preserve the blood? It was my understanding that they only got DNA from the hair, which is why it was only a mitochondrial profile. I stand to be corrected. If they preserved the blood then they definitely have a full nuclear DNA profile by now, which CAN be used in GEDMatch, etc.

The Riverside police should have the killer’s blood, assuming they retrieved samples from the blood trail from the crime scene to Terracina Drive. The ‘Inside Detective’ magazine revealed one crucial piece of evidence from the Riverside alleyway crime scene. It stated "The driveway adjacent to 3680 Terracina Street was so churned up it looked like a tractor had been over the ground. The girl, who was very athletic, put up a terrific struggle. At the murder scene, drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying."

The attack began adjacent to these empty buildings, approximately 100 feet from Terracina Drive. If the attack began in the vicinity of where her body was discovered, we are left with two possibilities: The blood trail to Terracina Drive was the victim’s blood, dripping from the killer, or the killer’s blood dripping from a cut hand. The blood trail, if significant enough to be noticed by detectives, and was continuous to the sidewalk of Terracina Drive, then it could be argued to be blood secreted from a continuously bleeding hand, as opposed to a killer having blood on his person (absorbed by his clothing) or a small knife. Presumably, the killer would have pocketed the knife in advance of reaching the street. This must have been considered by investigators who visited the crime scene. This may not be DNA from the Zodiac, but I would certainly be interested in this blood trail from the perspective of the Riverside killer.

The pattern or tail of the blood drops could certainly have determined the direction of the killer within the alleyway. Since detectives concluded that the "drops of blood leading from the body to Terracina Street indicated to the detectives, that the murderer had walked back to the street following the slaying," then it remains a possibility that the killer injured himself during the attack, allowing the trail of blood to extend the full 100 feet in distance, as opposed to the limited blood secretion possible from a small pocket knife or clothing.

Richard, Again you have brought to my attention something that I missed. Of course the blood dripping to the street has to be from the killer, could that be where the scar came from on the bloody print in the cab? I hope that they took some of that blood and put it into evidence? Even though there was plenty of DNA in her hand, they are keeping that information close to their vests. I can’t imagine that they are still sitting on that DNA and haven’t tried to put it into GED Match? I would like to know either way ,if it is a match to other Zodiac DNA? I strongly believe she was a Zodiac victim and that he was in Riverside working construction at that time, or he actually worked with her father at March Air Force Base.

It would seem unimaginable that they wouldn’t collect samples, and I find it difficult to believe anything other than a continuously dripping wound could create such an apparent trail. Remember, the author of the Confession letter (if the killer) alluded to the knife breaking. Could this have been the kernel of truth that ended the attack, causing the hinge mechanism of the knife to fail and causing the injury to his right hand. Cheri Jo Bates’ blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3.4% of the American population. It therefore, even in 1966, wouldn’t have been difficult to identify the murderer’s blood from the victim’s.

This blood trail extended from the churned up section of alleyway towards the road, showing clearly it was subsequent to the attack and not prior. Easily distinguishable by examining the tail of the blood drops to give us the direction of movement by the killer.

It would seem unimaginable that they wouldn’t collect samples, and I find it difficult to believe anything other than a continuously dripping wound could create such an apparent trail. Remember, the author of the Confession letter (if the killer) alluded to the knife breaking. Could this have been the kernel of truth that ended the attack, causing the hinge mechanism of the knife to fail and causing the injury to his right hand. Cheri Jo Bates’ blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3.4% of the American population. It therefore, even in 1966, wouldn’t have been difficult to identify the murderer’s blood from the victim’s.

This blood trail extended from the churned up section of alleyway towards the road, showing clearly it was subsequent to the attack and not prior. Easily distinguishable by examining the tail of the blood drops to give us the direction of movement by the killer.

Given the fact Riverside LE was so certain the killer was Bob Barnett, would it be a safe assumption the killer and BB had the same blood type? For that matter, couldn’t a DNA test clear him/convict him now?

with DNA we will be the last to know

It would seem unimaginable that they wouldn’t collect samples, and I find it difficult to believe anything other than a continuously dripping wound could create such an apparent trail. Remember, the author of the Confession letter (if the killer) alluded to the knife breaking. Could this have been the kernel of truth that ended the attack, causing the hinge mechanism of the knife to fail and causing the injury to his right hand. Cheri Jo Bates’ blood type detailed at autopsy is rare in the USA population. It was AB RhD positive, which accounts for only 3.4% of the American population. It therefore, even in 1966, wouldn’t have been difficult to identify the murderer’s blood from the victim’s.

This blood trail extended from the churned up section of alleyway towards the road, showing clearly it was subsequent to the attack and not prior. Easily distinguishable by examining the tail of the blood drops to give us the direction of movement by the killer.

Given the fact Riverside LE was so certain the killer was Bob Barnett, would it be a safe assumption the killer and BB had the same blood type? For that matter, couldn’t a DNA test clear him/convict him now?

They had DNA in the case a long time ago and it was compared against BB but it didn’t match. LE think he possibly had an accomplice and it could be the accomplice’s blood.

That is their wishful thinking, they need to remove their blinders and move on with the DNA that they should still have.

I hope they took some of the blood that lead away from the crime scene? Find that person and hope he tells who he was with if that is the case.

Pretty sure they do not use 23 and me or other sites like that one, then put it into GED Match. They get the results from their lab and from there it go’s to GED Match.

They had DNA in the case a long time ago and it was compared against BB but it didn’t match. LE think he possibly had an accomplice and it could be the accomplice’s blood.

Suppose LE is right and there was an accomplice. A plausible scenario could be that one guy restrained Cheri while the other stabbed her. In the struggle, the guy restraining her could have been cut severely, maybe in the arm or upper body.

My point is, that whole thing about the knife breaking could be a false narrative set up to make people think the blood left at the scene was from an injured hand of the stabber – and that LE should be focusing on someone with a cut hand; in fact, maybe that was the purpose of the Confession Letter. The blood could have come from an injured shoulder of the restrainer. I wonder if LE took that into consideration during their investigation, or if they were focused on looking for hand injuries of the people they talked with… or people without hand injuries (who were possibly under suspicion) might be more easily eliminated as suspects.

Good points Marshall. There were supposedly witness reports of two men searching around the crime scene in the dark with a torch in the early hours. Looking for their watch which came off?

RPD had Bennett’s friend in for questioning too and he allegedly couldn’t pass a lie detector test as he failed to answer questions specifically about his involvement. I think this is why RPD are convinced Bennett’s the attacker even though DNA doesn’t seem to match him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he got a friend along to restrain her whilst he stabbed her but cut his friend in the process as she was struggling so wildly.

If the friend was restraining her from behind it would usually be in a headlock or bear hug and the first thing a victim would usually do in this situation is to grab and claw at the restrainer’s wrists to try and break the grip. There’s a good chance this is how a watch would snap off and how she’d have skin, hair, etc under her nails. Obviously all that DNA would then be the restrainer’s not the attacker with the knife.

Good points Marshall. There were supposedly witness reports of two men searching around the crime scene in the dark with a torch in the early hours. Looking for their watch which came off?

RPD had Bennett’s friend in for questioning too and he allegedly couldn’t pass a lie detector test as he failed to answer questions specifically about his involvement. I think this is why RPD are convinced Bennett’s the attacker even though DNA doesn’t seem to match him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he got a friend along to restrain her whilst he stabbed her but cut his friend in the process as she was struggling so wildly.

If so, the Confession Letter was brilliant. It points to one attacker with a hand wound from a broken knife. It may have been two attackers, one with an upper body (non-hand) injury.

As I understand it, the coroner did not find any evidence of a broken knife blade. I’m also unaware such an item was found at the crime scene (unless it was and that info was not released.) So, if the killer(s) searched the area, are we to believe they found the broken blade but missed the watch? if so, why? The broken blade would not have incriminated them.

I wonder if LE compared BB’s friend’s blood type to their crime scene sample. Had it matched, a strip-search may have revealed the wound, which could’ve been anywhere on his body. Even today, I wonder if there might be a telltale scar that a forensic expert could identify as having been made by a knife similar to the one that killed Cheri. But then, if they were looking that close at a suspect, a DNA test would be far more direct and conclusive. I wonder if they will/have revisited that friend of BB’s since DNA test methods became available.

One of the bloody prints from Paul Stine’s cab, shows a deep vertical scar. Not sure but I thought it was the right middle finger of the killer?

I was looking at all of those bloody prints and saw some words written about the one finger with the scar and that they compared it to a suspect who was a seaman, who also had a scar on his finger, it was not a match.
Could that scar be caused from the knife wound in CJB case? I have a strong feeling the answer is yes! Proving that she was a victim of the Zodiac.

Lets hope we hear something fairly soon about the DNA sent in from VPD. The top Det. on that case is Terry Poyser, I understand he has been in the hospital. Lets wish him a speedy recovery!

I know I am going to receive heavy criticism for this statement Sandy, but have the authorities in Vallejo or San Francisco ever considered outsourcing the Zodiac letters from the USA to countries where DNA testing is not only far quicker, but far less expensive, particularly considering the horrendous backlog of DNA related rape and murder cases experienced by many police forces throughout the USA. There are a possible 20+ letters available for testing, and it appears to me that focusing on just a select few letters is limiting the chances of success. One and a half years to swab letters, secure a DNA fingerprint and run it through a familial genealogy platform is excessive by any reasonable standard – and leads me to believe there has been little, if any progress.