After the Berryessa attack, Riverside Police Chief Kinkead felt Zodiac was probably the Bates killer and that’s why he reached out to the Zodiac detectives in October 1969. In November 1970, there was a joint task-force meeting in Riverside and all jurisdictions compared evidence and info, then concluded Bates was a Zodiac victim. (This meeting was not portrayed factually in the Fincher film, which incorrectly makes it look like Riverside PD never thought Zodiac was involved. That is 100% incorrect — the entire Bates/Zodiac connection was initiated by the Riverside Police Chief.)

Here is a link to Kinkead’s three-page report: https://zodiackiller.com/RiversideMemo1.html
The results of the task-force meeting prompted this: https://zodiackiller.com/CJBDZV1.html
and this: https://zodiackiller.com/DOJ1.html

Thank you, yes, I’ve read those reports, although not for some time.

What strikes me re-reading them is how much Kinkead’s letter, and even the task force report, focuses heavily on the letter writing as the basis for their belief that Bates may be a Zodiac victim. Although Kinkead’s letter opens with a specific reference to a "similar MO", and despite his statement that “there are numerous similarities”, the thrust of the letter leans toward the writings.

The line of logic goes like this: “The person who wrote the confession letter is aware of facts about the homicide that only the killer would know [therefore] there is no doubt that the person who wrote the confession letter is our homicide suspect." Thus, because the confession letter would be matched to the Zodiac letters, the natural conclusion is the killers are one and the same.

However, this entire premise relies entirely on the veracity of the statement that the Bates letter writer "is aware of facts about the homicide that only the killer would know". If this statement is not 100% accurate, the most we can say is that the Zodiac is the letter writer -not necessarily Cheri’s killer. There is a consensus in some quarters (E.G. Morf’s "Criminology" podcast, Korsgaard’s "Ripper" book) that this can’t be true due to the unprecedented reporting of facts in newspapers at the time. If one subscribes to this then that would just leave the reported circumstantial evidence – which is a whole other discussion.

Are you saying the confession-letter writer may have picked up factual information from newspapers? If so, do you have links to those articles? Would that apply to LHR as well?

"Ignition wiring yanked loose" (L.A. Times)
"Engine had been tampered with so it wouldn’t run" (S.F. Examiner)
"Distributor and coil wire had been torn loose" (Sacramento Bee)
"Coil wire had been yanked loose" (San Bernardino County Sun)
"Wire to the coil from the distributor had been pulled" (Chicago Tribune)

Confession letter: "I first pulled the middle wire from the distributor."

Whether "middle wire" could be inferred from the above, I have no idea. There’s also the matter of the phone call that has never been clarified.

LHR, you wouldn’t have gotten the precise positioning of the bodies, or Super X, from just the newspapers. At least one did report the caliber.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2390386 … -killings/

Are you saying the confession-letter writer may have picked up factual information from newspapers? If so, do you have links to those articles? Would that apply to LHR as well?

Thanks Coffee Time. Some other notes of interest:

"She was young & beautiful" – Press-Enterprise:"18 year old student and former cheerleader"
"when we were walking away from the library" – Press-Enterprise: "The police believe Bates either walked to the rear of the house with her slayer or was followed there"
"a small knife at her throat" – Daily-Enterprise: "a slender-bladed knife at least three inches in length"
"She let out a scream" – reported in multiple news reports.
"She did not put up a struggle" – In fact differs from the reporting as the LA Times referenced the autopsy and the "tremendous struggle".

As Korsgaard also notes in his book, the confession letter writer could have described numerous aspects only known to the police. E.G. the watch.

Most of this information comes from Søren Roest Korsgaard’s "America’s Jack The Ripper: The Crimes and Psychology of the Zodiac Killer"

Thanks Coffee Time. Some other notes of interest:

"She was young & beautiful" – Press-Enterprise:"18 year old student and former cheerleader"
"when we were walking away from the library" – Press-Enterprise: "The police believe Bates either walked to the rear of the house with her slayer or was followed there"
"a small knife at her throat" – Daily-Enterprise: "a slender-bladed knife at least three inches in length"
"She let out a scream" – reported in multiple news reports.
"She did not put up a struggle" – In fact differs from the reporting as the LA Times referenced the autopsy and the "tremendous struggle".

As Korsgaard also notes in his book, the confession letter writer could have described numerous aspects only known to the police. E.G. the watch.

Most of this information comes from Søren Roest Korsgaard’s "America’s Jack The Ripper: The Crimes and Psychology of the Zodiac Killer"

So, in other words, the Confession Letter could have been a hoax? When I read the Confession Letter, it reads to me like a guy who is not a serial killer desperately trying to sound like one. I’m not saying Bob Barnett killed CJB, but if he did, I could see him writing the Confession Letter as a ruse to make it appear there was a serial killer to cover his tracks.

The watch was definitely reported in the papers. "Watch Is Only Clue In Coed Killing" from the Nov. 1st Sacramento Bee, and many more.

And I stumbled across this just now:

"Cross said his office has received numerous crank calls since the murder, but nothing that could be linked to this letter." (San Bernardino County Sun)

So…taken at face value, the call never happened, or it was dismissed as a prank at the time. I wonder if they zeroed in on anything later.

The writer certainly seems to be a Jack the Ripper fan. Yet, the letter reeks of Napoleon complex, which seems odd for a hoax where the author has nothing personal at stake. He mentions a strangulation attempt, then presumably omits that he failed because it made him look weak.

I’m not saying Bob Barnett killed CJB, but if he did, I could see him writing the Confession Letter as a ruse to make it appear there was a serial killer to cover his tracks.

DNA ruled out Barnett.

Thanks Coffee Time. Some other notes of interest:

"She was young & beautiful" – Press-Enterprise:"18 year old student and former cheerleader"
"when we were walking away from the library" – Press-Enterprise: "The police believe Bates either walked to the rear of the house with her slayer or was followed there"
"a small knife at her throat" – Daily-Enterprise: "a slender-bladed knife at least three inches in length"
"She let out a scream" – reported in multiple news reports.
"She did not put up a struggle" – In fact differs from the reporting as the LA Times referenced the autopsy and the "tremendous struggle".

As Korsgaard also notes in his book, the confession letter writer could have described numerous aspects only known to the police. E.G. the watch.

Most of this information comes from Søren Roest Korsgaard’s "America’s Jack The Ripper: The Crimes and Psychology of the Zodiac Killer"

So, in other words, the Confession Letter could have been a hoax? When I read the Confession Letter, it reads to me like a guy who is not a serial killer desperately trying to sound like one. I’m not saying Bob Barnett killed CJB, but if he did, I could see him writing the Confession Letter as a ruse to make it appear there was a serial killer to cover his tracks.

The "Confession" also mentions "The Brush Off’s During The Years Prior" This would indicate somebody she knew and
therefore likely someone related to her high school inner circle, So I doubt "Bob Barnett" would include that if it was his
intent to steer Detectives away from him.

The "Confession" also mentions "The Brush Off’s During The Years Prior" This would indicate somebody she knew and
therefore likely someone related to her high school inner circle, So I doubt "Bob Barnett" would include that if it was his
intent to steer Detectives away from him.

That is a fair point. But, the comment about multiple brush offs seems to intimate that her killer knew of her but not well, as if he’s the secret admirer who never was noticed. That would still point squarely away from Barnett who did appear to have some sort of relationship with her, if not a romantic one.

DNA ruled out Barnett.

Well, to be fair, DNA only ruled him out as the contributor of the hairs found in her nails. There were reports of two men searching for something at RCC at 2 a.m. So, it’s still a possibility that Barnett had an accomplice. That hasn’t been ruled out. Without knowing more about Barnett, I can’t offer an opinion on whether he’s Bates’ killer or not.

I’m not saying Bob Barnett killed CJB, but if he did, I could see him writing the Confession Letter as a ruse to make it appear there was a serial killer to cover his tracks.

DNA ruled out Barnett.

Yeah. DNA that was actually worth the paper it was printed on unlike that crap from 2002.

Yeah. DNA that was actually worth the paper it was printed on unlike that crap from 2002.

But it’s only mitochondrial DNA. It can only trace one side of his lineage.

The confession writer did admit a phone call to the police, which was not shared with the press.

Barnett had blonde hair. The four hairs found in a blood clump in Cheri Bates hand were brown. And mtDNA conclusively ruled out Barnett as the contributor of those hairs.

For years RPD stated that the hair found in a blood clump in Cheri Bates hand was "sandy blonde", matching their favored local suspect Barnett. In fact the FBI report clearly states the hairs found in Bates hand were "brown".

Even more importantly, thanks to the FBI reports uncovered by Morf, we know that the FBI mtDNA comparison clearly showed that RPD favored suspect Barnett was eliminated as the source of the four hairs found in Cheri Bates hand in a blood clump, which were surely from her killer.

For years Riverside PD passed along info that the hair found in Cheri’s hand was "sandy BLONDE", which was the hair color of the "local suspect" RPD favored. Thanks to Morf we now know the hairs were described by the FBI as "BROWN."

I have heard some argue this, and it must also be the position of Riverside PD, that the hairs may not be from the killer. Perhaps they came from a police officer or evidence tech, or perhaps were already on the ground. But this FBI report states that the hairs were on a blood clot in her hand. That IMO makes it more likely they were indeed from the killer and were pulled off in the struggle.

Also the report indicates FOUR hairs found on the blood clot in Cheri’s hand. IMO there could be a very small chance that it is possible ONE hair came from a police officer, lab tech, reporter or was present on the ground prior to the crime. But not FOUR hairs on a BLOOD CLOT. IMO these hairs are surely from the killer, and the killer was almost certainly Zodiac. Based on public posts from Tom V. and Morf, apparently it may be the case that new (2021) DNA info provides even stronger links between the Bates murder and Zodiac.

I see that a person claiming the whole Zodiac case is a hoax says the mtDNA used to compare to RPD local suspect ‘Barnett was "aged and faulty". These reports show that is false as they show a good sample was obtained and Barnett was conclusively cleared as a non-match. Also for those who say the hair in Cheri’s hand could have come from a cop that seems highly unlikely as these reports show it was actually FOUR hairs in a blood clot.

Given that hair color changes over time, and with exposure to sunlight, and given the problems of subjective perceptions of color and word meanings, one can perhaps give a little slack to RPD for saying the hair was "sandy blonde", which happens to match local suspect "Barnett", while the FBI report says it is "brown." It is still wrong, but if one is so inclined, giving them the benefit of the doubt perhaps it was just a mistake.

Far more troubling is that even after the mtDNA comparison which decisively excludes Barnett, the RPD still kept the focus on him as a suspect, and refused to pursue the possible Zodiac connection to the case. I can personally state that in 2009 and 2010 Detective Steve Shumway of the RPD refused to look at or even consider evidence pointing to the Zodiac as the killer of Cheri. They were relying on a jailhouse informant, who are notoriously unreliable as they are utterly self-interested to tell police what they want to hear in order to get time off a sentence, and disregarding the mtDNA evidence, plus all the handwriting, word usage, MO and other evidence pointing to Zodiac. I do not know if the new (2021) DNA evidence has finally changed RPD.

Judging from the photo’s of "bob Barnett’s" high school yearbook pictures it appears his hair
color is quite dark, I would doubt his hair was blonde.

I don’t know whose picture you looked at in the high school year book. What I do know is that the time RPD issued a statement that the hairs found in Cheri Bates hands were sandy blonde, which happened to match their description of the hair of the leading local suspect, Barnett.