Maybe I should Clarify.
I am not saying, nor is the intent of this thread by me intended to, that I believe Rick was Zodiac. The only point I wished to make was that the writing on the poster (assuming it was written by Ricks hand) is the closest to Zodiac’s I can personally recall seeing. But I will be the first to admit that I have not made a point of looking at an extensive amount of other suspects writing, nor I am anywhere near qualified to determine if someone’s writing is deemed a match or a close likeness. This is just my own, Layman Opinion

Put me down for another "no". I’ll give you the "r"s, but that’s really all I can see. The "e" difference really jumps out at me, even on the Belli letter.

Produce RM’s letter k!

Put me down for another "no". I’ll give you the "r"s, but that’s really all I can see. The "e" difference really jumps out at me, even on the Belli letter.

Produce RM’s letter k!

Duck I disagree. The d’s both have very similar back vertical loop’s to them. One thing I have noticed thought recently is, Zodiac’s handwriting itself is often inconsistent. I’ll post some examples below:

In the letter below, Zodiac’s lower case d’s all have one, single vertical back to them. While in a lot of other letters, the appear to be slanted with a loop.

Zodiac’s confession letter to Paul Stine’s murder see’s him again revert back to the looped d’s, and also the ‘slightly tilted to the right’ writing style.

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Again below, Zodiac seems to be writing more neatly and the more neat and tidy d’s have returned. This letter seems to start off with writing appearing like the Belli letter and not slanted but fairly vertical. Then as he gets about one third of the way through writing, he seemingly slips back into is natural tendency to slope the words to the right slightly.

I wonder if the far more untidy, scribble like letters he wrote while in a rush for some reason, and the others that appear far more neat and appear as if more time and attention has been given them, are letters he wrote when he had hours to just sit and write them.

I see what you are saying about the "d"’s and how Z has this neat, straight vertical line, then loop "d", and his sloppy slanted looped vertical "d", and his mix of the two.

To me it looks like Rick’s "d"’s start with the upward line and then loop around to close on the front, wheras Z’s are reversed. Reminds me of the "mirrored" writing that we’ve seen before. Or maybe I’m just imagining things. Also the "i’s" have this same thing with Z’s dots slanting to the right and Rick’s all on the left. Any thoughts?

I’d have to say "don’t rule this suspect out on the basis of handwriting."

I don’t think Rick was Zodiac myself. The several people that attended Rick bedside as he lay dying, One of which was one of officers involved on the case….Was it Ken Narlow? If anyone knows for sure, please let me know and i’ll edit this post accordingly. Anyway, they went to see Rick, who had very short time left to live, and asked him straight out "Well Rick, now that you are about to meet your maker and there is no chance of you facing charges, anything you may wish to admit to?" (Words to that effect were used, I am paraphrasing from memory). Rick said there wasn’t and they asked him whole looking him in the eye "Rick, are you the Zodiac Killer"? The answer Rick is said to have given is to me, telling. He said (and again, i’m paraphrasing but it is not far from the actual words)…

"No it isn’t me… If I was Zodiac I honestly would admit it and tell you at this point of my life as I have nothing to lose, I really would tell you if I was….but I am not the Zodiac."

Something about that seems very genuine to me, and the fact that it is coming from a man on his deathbed.

Anyway, before I put this next suggestion/question into writing, I want to first say that we are all entitled to at least one rather whacky, off the wall theory or idea annually so this one may come under that heading lol.

Rics writing shows many similarities with Z’s and that is both in the letter’s themselves resembling Z’s, as well as both Ric and Zodiac appearing both to have a tendency to write with the slightly right sloping slant. Now, if Rick isn’t the author, then what about the idea that Zodiac used Ricks handwriting as a blueprint for his Z characters hand. I only put this forward for one reason. We know Rick worked at a theatre as a projectionist. We also know Z seemed to be very fond of theatre and movie scene from his quotes of Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera ‘The Mikado’, and gives is his verdict on The Exorcist being the best satirical comedy he had ever seen. Could Z have helped himself to something Rick had written for one of the shows/films being released?

Now, if Rick isn’t the author, then what about the idea that Zodiac used Ricks handwriting as a blueprint for his Z characters hand. I only put this forward for one reason. We know Rick worked at a theatre as a projectionist. We also know Z seemed to be very fond of theatre and movie scene from his quotes of Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera ‘The Mikado’, and gives is his verdict on The Exorcist being the best satirical comedy he had ever seen. Could Z have helped himself to something Rick had written for one of the shows/films being released?

If you consider this more generally then I would say possibly. By that I mean drop specific names and locations. Z to me was a borrower and that included his writing. Maybe not all of it but there is evidence of character selection. ie "I’ll use this n here", "I’ll use another version there". Sometimes in the same letter or mixed across different ones but it is definable.

Someone like Rick, in his job, is certainly interesting in that respect although I don’t think he was Z either. The fact that he had a job that required him to write in different styles certainly suits what I can see in the Z communications. What I can’t prove yet, even to myself, is if Z just had an artistic affinity or if there was a professional capacity behind what we see in his choices in the letters. My gut feeling is it was a mix. Might have worked as X for a year, Y for a few months on and off and then he became Z for a while. Lol that last sentence worked quite unintentionally clever.

Well I have flirted with this idea before but I just couldn’t really see it. That not to say it isn’t still a point of interest. It is this…

There is one condition, very rare that it is, that you are more than probably well aware of, that being Dissociative Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder) see the suffer take on a separate personality/Identity not only in the way they speak, act and behave, but this ‘Alter’ also has completely different handwriting to that of the people as their own self. I even watched one person years back on tv who had th condition and the woman’s ‘Alter’ was able to do things that were amazing to watch. For example, one personality of this woman, say her name was "Diane" for sake of this. When Diane took over ‘she’ could write fluently backwards in English and I don’t mean slowly to think about what she may have been doing, she literally wrote backward English faster than you and I probably write English the normal way. They put a mirror on the centre of her writing book and it was quite amazing to watch as she wrote so fluently backwards and the camera was showing you the actual sentence as it was forming in the mirror and just to rule out she hadn’t simply practised a few sentences she had member of the audience randomly shout out sentences and she did it exactly the same.
Now I am not suggesting that is what Zodiac had lol. I think if the handwriting Zodiac was writng in was forced and was not his normal style, then there would be evidence of that easily available to spot surely. I mean if he was writing the Zodiac letters in a 2nd style then he had been able to do it for many years before he used the writing for ZZodiac I would say because his writing seems fluent in the sloping right, aswell as appearing on the whole very consistent. I mean you would see it if any of the letters were written with stop, start, slow and deliberate attempts to mask. I am looking at copies of his letters now and it just seems to be so natural written out. Well I will say this at the very least. If that handwriting is not his natural, then he is an expert at doing what we are told by experts is such a difficult feat to achive, writing consistently in a style not your own. He

I would agree. The fluidity is perplexing at best. I’m not sure yet though if it is fluidity. I think it could be as close as to almost make no difference though. Which, if that is the case…clever boy. I’m working on a complete writing investigation at the moment and there might be a pattern emerging. IF it’s there at the very least he had a loose system of character selection.

It’s quite confusing because on the surface the letters in and of themselves look ‘complete’ or ‘fluid’ but when you start to disassemble them you start finding patterns, even a style. Unfortunately it’s a jigsaw style and ‘possibly’ designed to be so. A handwriting style composed of different elements that work together to give the impression of being natural.

At times looking at it I’ve thought, nah, this is too convoluted and, as you referenced, difficult to achieve without it looking forced. That’s what I thought. There are things I’ve found that annoyingly contradict that and add weight to the notion that he could have disguised at least 70% or above of the writing.

DD, MPD and mirror writing and all of that I’ve considered, throughout looking at Manalli’s writing compared to Zodiac. It’s not impossible that these things might be at play but here’s my problem, I’m starting to see, as I said a pattern and in the context of Zodiac’s writing it’s implying conscious choices. This throws the notion of a disorder out the window for me.

Like I said, I’m working on it but it’s gonna take forever. Not like this case is going anywhere soon but hey if it gets solved in the meantime it’ll save me a lot of work.

I would agree. The fluidity is perplexing at best. I’m not sure yet though if it is fluidity. I think it could be as close as to almost make no difference though. Which, if that is the case…clever boy. I’m working on a complete writing investigation at the moment and there might be a pattern emerging. IF it’s there at the very least he had a loose system of character selection.

It’s quite confusing because on the surface the letters in and of themselves look ‘complete’ or ‘fluid’ but when you start to disassemble them you start finding patterns, even a style. Unfortunately it’s a jigsaw style and ‘possibly’ designed to be so. A handwriting style composed of different elements that work together to give the impression of being natural.

At times looking at it I’ve thought, nah, this is too convoluted and, as you referenced, difficult to achieve without it looking forced. That’s what I thought. There are things I’ve found that annoyingly contradict that and add weight to the notion that he could have disguised at least 70% or above of the writing.

DD, MPD and mirror writing and all of that I’ve considered, throughout looking at Manalli’s writing compared to Zodiac. It’s not impossible that these things might be at play but here’s my problem, I’m starting to see, as I said a pattern and in the context of Zodiac’s writing it’s implying conscious choices. This throws the notion of a disorder out the window for me.

Like I said, I’m working on it but it’s gonna take forever. Not like this case is going anywhere soon but hey if it gets solved in the meantime it’ll save me a lot of work.

Well Trav I would be very Interested to know what your finding are when you have them ready. One or two questions, well, comments more than questions I have for you on the ‘Jigsaw Element’ point. I can’t quite grasp the concept of that because if I understand it correctly it would involve using many different styles of writing to attempt to create a letter that will appear as though written by one flowing, fluent and very consistent hand?. I am not doubting what your saying At all Trav but I just struggle to see how this would work because you would think that the outcome of that type of writing would be the exact opposite of appearing fluent and consistent and you’d end up with a paragraph all over the place. Hypothetically it Sounds Counter-Intuitive. Again, I am not saying I don’t believe it because I take your word for it and believe you based on your obvious far better knowledge and understanding of the subject that I. What I am trying to say at, on the surface and at face value at least, the idea sounds like the end result of the letter should be the opposite of fluent and natural In appearance.

Yes it should WC seem that way and you’re probably right. Don’t pay too much attention to words like jigsaw and so on. I just use them at a moments notice to try and explain what I’m thinking. I’m just at the start of this and it started as a look at one letter then it became a comparison with another letter and at that point it started to throw up some of these elements.

Truth is I don’t know what it means or how to interpret it yet. Even when I’ve finished it, it might not be any clearer but it will show the things I’m seeing in regards character selection. What I’m working on will be the ground work for a whole lot of arguing and speculation lol. I just want to find a way to present it to show what I’m seeing without really making any assumptions about it. I will offer my thoughts on it eventually but at the moment its tricky enough to settle on a way to present it because it’s a comparison of all the letters against each other and that is showing a pattern. I have to complete one before the other.

I’ll need a lie down afterwards lol. I would love to complete it and present it now but even working on it 24/7 wouldn’t allow that and there are parts I will need to take breaks at an consider how to proceed. It could all turn out to be nothing new but I think it will bring a little clarity to some of the letters, and maybe a few surprises.

Basically I have to account for every character in every letter and explain how they relate to each and why it’s almost certain that they written by the same person. Every little curve and tick and space, across the whole gamut of the canonical letters. The information is there so in that respect I’m not chasing ghosts, I know what I’m seeing but for the purpose of doing it properly I need to not only explain every little thing but I need to explore it as I work to be sure I’m seeing what I’m seeing. I could easily fill a page on the curves in the characters alone. Expand that to every other little nuance and habit across all the letters. That’s what I’m up against but what I have seen early on has pulled me into this so I feel compelled to do it.

At the very least I hope it will provide a more stable platform for everyone to discuss matters like, did he write in his own handwriting, did he trace etc etc. My interest is purely in presenting what I think I can see. Then it’s up to you guys as to what you think it means or implies.

Well that is why writing is a fascinating and complex art and I have heard It said by some in Law Enforcement and specifically Forensic Science that A persons handwriting in terms of evidential value is as good as a finger print. And I wouldn’t like to argue against that because the style and general way in which a person writes is completely unique to them alone. I know that Graphologists say that when we are young and learning to write, we will all have our own unique style and preference. I don’t know if the claim is that we consciously decide on how we construct each letter or if it is a natural thing that we have no control over but I would hazard a guess that the way in which we write is something that we will do naturally and not something we can decide or manipulate. I say this because if we were able to decide how we would like to write and chose how to construct each letter then it wouldn’t be such a difficult thing to do to write in another style with any degree of consistency.

Anyway Trav, I have something I would like your opinion on. I shall post it in a new post below this one..

So, here is what I would like your opinion regarding….

When it comes to Zodiac letters, I have always assumed that they are written in one style, by one person, in a fluent free style of natural pace. I will admit that I had never even really considered or thought about the possibility of any alternative’s. Now I should know better than to assume anything with Z or take anything he said or did as it seems at face value. So, I will start by saying I myself have never attempted to write anything at all in a style that was not my natural simply because I have never been in a situation that called for me to do so and so I have no idea of just how difficult it is to achieve. But, from what I understand from knowing the basics of Graphology, the main difficulty in writing a letter in a style not your own, as I understand it, is the issue of consistency. I have seen the ‘experts’ say that this feat is so difficult to do because our instinctive way of writing is almost impossible to not have influence and that without us even being aware of it, we unconsciously slip back into little habits we have always had and our natural instinct will end up wining the battle against the artificial. In some of Z’s letters, this sort of thing can clearly be seen as it takes place such as in the Little List letter:

Zodiac starts out attempting to write more neatly than normal, and his characteristic sloping right tilt has been amended and his trademark opening statement see the letters standing vertical and neat. As the letter progresses you can see how the unconscious habit of writing with style that tilts the words slightly to the right is forcing it’s way to the surface. By only the 4th line it is becoming very evident and the slope continues to get worse until by the letters end it’s unavoidable to notice it.

So, do you think then that if there is evidence that shows Zodiac attempting to write differently to appear more neat and presentable but simply does what experts say we would all do and revert back to the more instinctive natural style (in this case, the tilted sloping effect), would it really be plausible to think that he would not also do the same with the words and letters themselves if they were not written naturally? To me the progressive slant that gets worse as the letter progresses a strong indication that he is writing naturally.

Yes.

He probably is writing naturally most of the time. Sherwood certainly thought so. But he isn’t writing naturally all of the time across all the letters though. is he? That’s what I find interesting because it betrays a level of skill which, if there, puts some of the contentious letters/writings into context. I’m not disputing that most of the letters are in his own hand, that’s a whole other kettle of ball games. I know nothing of graphology BTW.

Yes.

He probably is writing naturally most of the time. Sherwood certainly thought so. But he isn’t writing naturally all of the time across all the letters though. is he? That’s what I find interesting because it betrays a level of skill which, if there, puts some of the contentious letters/writings into context. I’m not disputing that most of the letters are in his own hand, that’s a whole other kettle of ball games. I know nothing of graphology BTW.

Well never the less you inspired me to look closely at the Z letters for things that are out of place and you I found something of real interest. Here is the thread I started on it….

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