She knew Ross, as far as I know up until the mid 60’s.,65-66

Ross’s Friend Allan stated that Ross was 300lbs. Allan knew Ross up until about 1963. In Feb 1968, Ross was arrested for the phonebooth incident, and he was 300lbs. It’s safe to say, if he was about 300lbs in 1963 & 1968, that he was about the same weight in 69-70. One thing to remember about Ross’s weight, Allan said that Ross was solid,beefy fat,NOT rolly polly fat. In the pics we see of Ross in his 59 yearbook, he was about 300lbs. He doesn’t look that heavy. Also, at Lake Berryessa, the police had the heaviest Cop,who weight about 210lbs, stand in the soil that Z stood in, and that cop did not sink down "nearly as much as Zodiac did". That’s a quote from Napa investigators. They felt, that based on that clue, Z was much heavier then 210lbs. If they are right, that only strengthens the possibility that Ross could be Z

and another thing no one ever seems to consider. sometimes people
lose weight. i had a friend from high school that weighed almost
400 lbs. we are still friends 50 years later. he has gone on diets before
that saw him lose 100 lbs or more. and of course, he would gain it back.
maybe being institutionalized caused Ross to lose weight?

and another thing no one ever seems to consider. sometimes people
lose weight. i had a friend from high school that weighed almost
400 lbs. we are still friends 50 years later. he has gone on diets before
that saw him lose 100 lbs or more. and of course, he would gain it back.
maybe being institutionalized caused Ross to lose weight?

Pictures of some of those mental institution patients,often showed them to look thin,malnourished etc. On the other hand,I think some of the psych drugs may have caused weight gain. Until I see a pic of Ross in 69-70 that says otherwise,I will assume he was 300 as listed in the 1968 arrest article

I would be willing to bet that Ross was right around 300 lbs until around 1973 or 74 and then he started to gain more weight which probably was the cause for him going to live in an assisted living home. I bet he was up close to 400 lbs when he died.

Just spoke by phone to somebody that knew Ross circa 1970. Wow, some really good info which i will post about today. They gave me info that left me thinking Ross could be Z, and other info which makes me think,Ross may very well not have been Z. Again, I will post more shortly as time permits.

Talked to a Guy that lived at the 512 Address that Ross lived at. This Guy is one of the names we established lived there in the same building late 60’s /early 70’s,I will not share his name.

He relayed the following:

*The info he is relaying is from circa 1970

*He did not know Ross as a Friend or from living in the building.

*Circa,1970, Ross showed up to this house. There were several people living in this building, that was more like a house with rooms called apartments,as opposed to a Apartment bldg.

*Ross, was recognized by a couple people in the house, as a local ‘weirdo’.

*The informant thought Ross lived around on the streets or in a ‘halfway house’,or YMCA, or something similar.

*The informant stated that Ross freely came into the house, and in to one of the ‘apartments’

*While there in the apartment, Ross became irrational, and was caught eating a stick of butter. When confronted, he pulled a knife from the drawer and came after one of the residents,and tried to stab him. He wound up embedding the knife in the doorway frame. The Resident was barely able to get out and they all made it outside, and called police.

*When Police came, they knew Ross,as if he was a regular with them. They asked Ross to go with them,and he did not resist.

*This man mentioned that Ross was also singing Beatles songs the whole time.

*Physically, he said, he thought Ross was less than 300 pounds, maybe more like 250-260, but he said that Ross definitely had a belly or gut.

*He said that Ross looked identical to the photos I sent of him(the ones we have from the yearbook that we have)

*He said that Ross, in his opinion, was completely mentally gone. He had a general knowledge of the Zodiac case, and thought that Z would have to have some faculties to write letters to the police,etc,something he did not think Ross had.

*His entire experience with Ross,before & after the knife incident, was over a period of about 3 weeks. He did not know that Ross had lived in the same apartment building until he got my letter and we talked. He felt that Ross may have come back there because he knew the place.

*He said he never saw Ross drive,only walk around town

This was all aprox circa 1970.

Not too long after,not sure of a date, this person went to visit a Friend who had schizophrenia at Agnews Hospital,and was shocked that he ran into Ross there. Hospital Staff wasked him if he wanted to visit with Ross,and even though he didn’t really know Ross he said yes. He said that he thought Ross might be more coherent with care & meds,but he wasn’t. He was still singing Beatles songs and banging on a piano,etc. That was the last time he saw Ross.He also told me that the Friend he knew with Schizophrenia, when on meds, would have periods of normalcy, and clarity

This info leaves me wondering if Ross could be Zodiac. If he was really that far gone and out of it, could he author the Z letters. This informant thought the year he met Ross was in 1970,and if he’s right,could Ross be mentally out of it in 1970,walking around Santa Cruz, and still be writing letters in San Fran from April to October,as Zodiac did?

I think this is a blow against Ross being Zodiac. I am not ready to write Ross off, but this info has to be considered.

The couple things we learned from this is, Ross did look exactly the same as the photos we have from 1959, and he may have been south of 300lbs. Also, the knife incident proves he wasn’t a ‘harmless’ teddybear.

By the way, I just mailed out letters to 3 women & 3 men who worked at Terry’s in Vallejo during the 1969-70 timeframe to see if there is a chance they remember Ross. I think it’s a longshot.

This all has me thinking,in regards to Ross not being a Santa Cruz resident for 3 years prior to his death, if he was really mentally out of it as much as it appears, maybe he was a resident of Agnews for years and thus,another county

All very interesting morf, you certainly know how to shake a tree… If you ever discount Ross as z.. It does not automatically discount him from Cheri’s murder.

All very interesting morf, you certainly know how to shake a tree… If you ever discount Ross as z.. It does not automatically discount him from Cheri’s murder.

Possibly true, but if his alibi was legit, then that likely would discount him. In the end, I want to see Cheri’s case solved, but my primary goal is to see the Z case solved, so i want to rule Ross out as Z first & foremost

All very interesting morf, you certainly know how to shake a tree… If you ever discount Ross as z.. It does not automatically discount him from Cheri’s murder.

Possibly true, but if his alibi was legit, then that likely would discount him. In the end, I want to see Cheri’s case solved, but my primary goal is to see the Z case solved, so i want to rule Ross out as Z first & foremost

There are pluses and minuses in regards to Cheri too.

Good you talked to this person morf.

All very interesting morf, you certainly know how to shake a tree… If you ever discount Ross as z.. It does not automatically discount him from Cheri’s murder.

Possibly true, but if his alibi was legit, then that likely would discount him. In the end, I want to see Cheri’s case solved, but my primary goal is to see the Z case solved, so i want to rule Ross out as Z first & foremost

There are pluses and minuses in regards to Cheri too.

Good you talked to this person morf.

If I can hear from enough People that can help rule Ross out,based on knowing him or experiences with him, that’s all I want to do. I don’t want to rule him out based on assumptions or guesses. Ross looked exactly like the sketch, and was in the RCC Library where Zodiac’s writing was found, and that’s pretty strong, but we need more than that. If we get stuff to rule him out, it would be time to write Ross off and chalk the fact he was in the RCC Library & looked exactly like the Z sketch,as perhaps, the greatest case of zyncronicity we have seen in a long line of zyncronicity in the zodiac case

you’re a solid dude morf. thanks for always going the extra mile and for being unbiased in your assessment of this thpe of information.

you’re a solid dude morf. thanks for always going the extra mile and for being unbiased in your assessment of this thpe of information.

Thanks, I Try to give the straight and narrow info as it comes in

Great job as always!

This clears up that – Ross looked like the heavy set description of Z, even in 1970. – Ross could be violent at times.

This also fits in well with the timeline. If Ross got treatment in 1968, he could have been in clear state to commit the crimes. Only thing Z did in 1970 was write letters that got more and more crazy as the year went on. Little List was not the work of a sane person. Then Ross seems to go downhill and be set to an asylum in late 1970.

It just so happens, that is the start of the large gap in the Z letters.

Still begs the question, what was Ross up to in 1969? Also, Santa Cruz PD must have had a file on Ross from around then.