Ross Sullivan, Zodiac Suspect Quick Study-
This is done to save you from sorting thru 100+ pages (although I recommend you do that). I will be updating it over the next few days until it’s complete.This will be a locked thread, not meant for replies, but instead, it’s just introducing people to Ross.

On October 30, 1966, Cheri Jo Bates is murdered in Riverside, CA. outside of the Riverside College Library.

30 Days later, a typed ‘confession letter’ was mailed by somebody claiming to be her Killer. viewtopic.php?f=79&t=71

2 Months later, a morbid poem etched on a desk in the library was found by a Custodian. Finding it so creepy and morbid, it was turned over to the Riverside PD in case it was connected to the Bates case. viewtopic.php?f=80&t=18

6 Months after the murder, anonymous handwritten letters stating, “Bates had to die”, were mailed to the newspaper, the police, and to Cheri’s Father.
viewtopic.php?f=79&t=153

Police scoured the Library, the college, students, and staff, not to mention people in Cheri’s life. They came up with a Suspect that they think killed Cheri, but did not have evidence to charge him. (48 years later, despite crime scene DNA not matching him, they still suspect him)

Fast-Forward to 1970. The Zodiac Murders are making headlines in San Francisco, 6 hours north of Riverside. A story on the threat by zodiac against SF Chronicle reporter, Paul Avery, makes the papers in the Riverside area. A man named Phil Sins reaches out to Paul Avery, and lets him know that the Bates case may be the work of Zodiac due to the similarities in the letter writing in her case compared to the Zodiac case. Avery headed down to Riverside and met with police, and after being allowed to discuss the case and see the evidence, came away thinking Zodiac really may be responsible. Avery was allowed to actually take the letters north to have them examined by Sherwood Morrill. Morrill was head of questioned documents for the CA DOJ, and was the lead Guy in examining all of the Zodiac case letters, and documents. Morrill determined that the Bates case letters, and the desktop poem, were “unquestionably” the work of Zodiac.
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=88

The connection made news in the SF Bay area, and Zodiac went silent for months before finally breaking his silence. Zodiac wrote a letter stating that he had to give the police credit for stumbling across his "Riverside Activity", and that "they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there".

This was a major clue because if Morrill was right, the Zodiac Killer had lived or worked in Riverside, CA between 1966 & 1967. This would dramatically shrink the Suspect pool, and finding somebody that had been connected to Riverside, and specifically to the library where the desk was found would be important. Additionally, police had a potential major lead to aide their Riverside search. Zodiac had been witnessed by multiple people, including a Police officer, following his murder of Cabbie, Paul Stine in October, 1969. The Police officer described great details of Zodiac, right down to a specific ‘widow’s peak’ hairline. As a result, a sketch was made of the Zodiac. So, in addition the Riverside connection and writing link, they had a face to work with.

The RCC Library Staff picks their best Suspect in the Bates case–

Dave Peterson of the Vallejo Times Herald, was an expert on the Zodiac case. Wanting to follow up on the Riverside clue, he contacted the Riverside College Library staff to see if they had anything to offer, and as it turns out they did…a Suspect, Ross Sullivan, and he worked right in the Library. I think this happened in the 1970’s.

viewtopic.php?f=106&t=1441&p=15609&hilit=library+staff#p15609

The Library staff immediately suspected Ross of being involved in Cheri Jo Bate’s murder. Ross was very odd acting, strange, and creepy. He had written a morbid poem which made the staff uncomfortable. The Librarians stated that the day after Cheri’s murder, Ross did not show up, and was out for several days. This made them even more suspicious. Ross Sullivan, in the middle of 1967, transferred to northern CA to go to college in Santa Cruz.

Dave Peterson did some digging into Ross, and found an arrest for him in Feb,1968 in Santa Cruz.
viewtopic.php?f=106&t=1820

In the mid to late 1970’s, Peterson contacted SFPD Inspector, Dave Toschi who was in charge of the Zodiac investigation there, and asked him to look into Ross Sullivan.

Peterson had knowledge of Ross Sullivan’s February,1968 arrest in Santa Cruz,as seen here:

It is not known at this time just how much Ross was checked into by Police, or if his Prints were ever compared to Zodiac’s.
In the 1990’s, Zodiac researcher Howard Davis contacted both Dave Peterson, and the RCC Librarian who had told Peterson about Ross Sullivan. He did some digging, but not much came from it, and Ross as a Suspect got set pushed aside, and essentially forgotten.

About 2 years ago, I did some ‘house cleaning’ sorting thru every bit of Suspect info I had in the Zodiac case. I was determined to try and check and clear as many names as possible. I went back thru the list and found Ross Sullivan’s name. I was familiar with it, but I too had overlooked it. I determined Ross Sullivan died in Santa Cruz in 1977.

After a bit more digging, I determined that Ross had gone to Glendale High School, class of 59 in Glendale CA. One of the members of this site found the yearbook photos, and when I finally laid eyes on Ross, I was speechless. He was the closest match i had ever seen to the Zodiac sketch, right down to the very specific widow’s peak hairline described in detail by the police Officer that saw Zodiac.

This started a mission to find out as much as possible about Ross Sullivan, and to see if he could be the Zodiac. So far, all we knew was he was connected to the RCC Library, and looked remarkably like the Zodiac sketch. To this point, there had never been a suspect that could be positively placed in the RCC Library, and the fact he looked exactly like the sketch seemed very promising.

The search for info on Ross Sullivan–

Next to nothing was known at this point about Ross Sullivan at this point. There was practically nothing on the net about him, and he had been dead for over 35 years. Posts were made on various Zodiac related sites, and luckily, a man that had attended High school with Ross’s Brother, Tim, came forward. This Man was able to provide us with very detailed information about Ross, and it all checked out, and what we found certainly caught our attention.

It turned out that Ross’s Brother Tim, married a Girl named Bonnie. Bonnie was good Friends with possible 1966 Riverside Zodiac Victim, Cheri Jo Bates. It was also learned, that allegedly, Ross’s Brother Tim, believed that Ross was the Zodiac Killer. No other details about Tim’s beliefs is available, and Tim is now deceased so we can’t ask him.

We verified that Ross was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been in mental institutions at various times. In 1973, a mental conservatorship was put in place for Ross in Santa Cruz. This meant that due to his mental illness, Ross could no longer take care of himself. Ross died of natural causes in 1977 in Santa Cruz, CA.

Much more information is needed regarding Ross, which we are trying to find. The Zodiac Killer killed Victims in Vallejo, Napa, And San Francisco, CA from December, 1968 to October, 1969. Additionally, he mailed letters to newspapers from August 1969 until July, 1974. All of these letters were postmarked in the SF or Alameda County areas. It’s important to note, Zodiac wrote letters on a fairly regular basis from August 1969 until March, 1971. His letters then stopped without warning until his next letter was received in January, 1974.

Verified links to the areas of Vallejo, Napa, or San Francisco will likely be important in linking Ross to the Zodiac case. Additionally, verifying Hospital stays, etc may also be of help, especially any that may have kept him from writing letters between March, 1971 and January, 1974.

Just this Month (March, 2015), I made contact with a good Friend of Ross’s from High School, and I hope this will lead to additional clues that may be able to exclude Ross as being the Zodiac killer, or help prove he was. If you knew Ross, or have additional information about him, please contact this website using the contact link here-

http://www.zodiackillersite.com/contact.php