My original "Best suspect"; even *he read some police info and remarked that the comments sort of pointed toward him.
I liked the motion picture theater angle. Also, he seemed like a Gilbert and Sullivan sort of guy; Toschi’s lot was not a happy one.

Of all the suspect’s I have seen, Rick’s handwriting is the closest match to Zodiac’s of them all IMO. The poster below illustrates this point…

Rick’s lower case r’s are identical to Z’s. I suppose most memeber here can look at something Z wrote, even if it’s just a word, and instantly recognize it as having come from his hand. In fact, if i’d never seen this poster before, and someone cut & cropped it and gave me only the word ‘reeler’ (Left Center of poster), i’d probably feel confident in identifying it as something that Zodiac had written in a newly discovered letter.

But, as a disclaimer I will say, I am no Sherwood Morill lol. But even from a layman’s point of view, the similarities between Rick’s printing and that of Zodiac’s are clear to see!

Chappie, Marshall’s handwriting is one reason why he is still on my list. The problem with using handwriting exemplars now is the samples are so familiar to Zodiac buffs that a blind or double-blind study is impossible. Without a blind study I’m afraid bias has crept in.

Marshall had lots of things that pointed to him. Youtube videos suggest he even drawled his words, which Bryan Hartnell stated the LB subject did. Unfortunately, if we are to believe Marshall has been cleared on fingerprints and DNA then he’s no longer a viable subject and that’s what the cops said in their last Q&A with him.

Chappie, Marshall’s handwriting is one reason why he is still on my list. The problem with using handwriting exemplars now is the samples are so familiar to Zodiac buffs that a blind or double-blind study is impossible. Without a blind study I’m afraid bias has crept in.

Marshall had lots of things that pointed to him. Youtube videos suggest he even drawled his words, which Bryan Hartnell stated the LB subject did. Unfortunately, if we are to believe Marshall has been cleared on fingerprints and DNA then he’s no longer a viable subject and that’s what the cops said in their last Q&A with him.

Yeah I did hear about LE even attending his death bed shortly before he passed away to ask him point blank, basically asking "Now that you know your time’s almost at an end, anything you would like to get off your chest and confess?" And Rick was absolutely adamant to the last day that No, he was most certainlly not the Zodiac.

I had to giggle at Rick in his interview in one of the Zodiac documentary’s. First thing out of his mouth regarding him being a Z suspect and his striking resemblance to Zodiac’s description is "Well I feel sorry for the guy (Zodiac), I hope the poor fella doesn’t look like me" Lol.

If the DNA didn’t match then i’d tend to accept that as pretty conclusive.

I had to giggle at Rick in his interview in one of the Zodiac documentary’s. First thing out of his mouth regarding him being a Z suspect and his striking resemblance to Zodiac’s description is "Well I feel sorry for the guy (Zodiac), I hope the poor fella doesn’t look like me"

To me, that self-deprecating humor does not seem consistent with the Zodiac, whom I see as someone who is constantly trying to inflate his own ego. And there doesn’t seem to be any anger or resentment issues with Marshall, like there was with ALA, or the criminal history of a guy like Kane.

That, and Marshall’s folksy, calm voice in that interview, and his deathbed denial, make me think it isn’t him – but if it turns out it WAS him… then his deception, to the end, was absolutely brilliant.

As a suspect Rick Marshall has little going for him.

Odds and ends…..

Marshall had an amateur radio license, too.

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/LicArch … Key=735973

Great stuff Seagull Thanks for posting it. Never seen this much Marshall stuff

I know that LE spoke with Marshall on his death bed . But what has truly cleared him as a suspect ? Has anyone really said he was cleared of being zodiac by facts ?

I know that LE spoke with Marshall on his death bed . But what has truly cleared him as a suspect ? Has anyone really said he was cleared of being zodiac by facts ?

That’s not how it works. The burden of proof is on the accuser, evidence and facts need to be presented to point toward him being Zodiac first, and there is only very little "evidence" against him.

It’s an unfair request, basically. For instance, had anyone ever cleared you from being a Z suspect by facts?

Maybe i did not ask the question the right way .
Why is rick marshall dismissed by so many on the forums as being a strong zodiac suspect.
his writing , proximity to the area of the killings and fitting the size description are very good reason to suspect him.

Maybe i did not ask the question the right way .
Why is rick marshall dismissed by so many on the forums as being a strong zodiac suspect.
his writing , proximity to the area of the killings and fitting the size description are very good reason to suspect him.

Look at how many subjects we have on this forum. Every single one of them arguably has similar writing, they all lived in the area in some capacity, and they all "kinda look like" whichever sketch you want them to look like. To be blunt, Marshall’s "evidence" is broad enough to convinct him and about 1000 other guys in California in the 70’s

Maybe i did not ask the question the right way .
Why is rick marshall dismissed by so many on the forums as being a strong zodiac suspect.
his writing , proximity to the area of the killings and fitting the size description are very good reason to suspect him.

Good question..

http://zodiackiller.com/SuspectMarshall.html

The problem is that there is nothing solid. Just because he worked at a cinema (‘Red phantom’ or not) or lived close to a Z crime scene doesn’t make him suspicious. Instead, he looks even more than ‘stocky’. Also no crew cut hair style. The KTIM letters being similar to the strange Z symbol is rather vague than solid, too. Age only fits to Fouke’s description (not KJ or the girls at Lake Berryessa).

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/rick-marshall.html

QT

Rick Marshall is the dumbest Zodiac suspect. Do you know why he was a suspect? Because he invited members of his HAM radio group over to his house and showed them gay porno, so they called the police and reported he was the Zodiac.

I’m almost positive that those were the same people who called Robert Graysmith and tried to turn him onto Marshall as a suspect. I loved the part where he showed Bob Vaughn the poster and said, "Look at Marshall’s handwriting. Morill said it looks exactly like Zodiacs!" and Vaughn says, "That’s my handwriting."

BTW, one thing I found very interesting is that he says Morrill told him he got a call about Marshall from a guy named "Wallace Penny". Penny Wallace was one of Graysmith’s best friends that he said he met while working on Zodiac, and she became his research assistant. Is this the person who made Marshall a suspect, or is it just Graysmith’s bad job of providing an alias? Like when he wrote that Kathleen Johns was an alias and not her real name.