The tilt of the "g" and spacing between it and the "u". The "u" seems to pull away from the "g" at a sharp angle

Also, one is bound to find an individual letter that looks similar when you pick and choose the ones you like. I’d also only stick with the writings known, for sure, to be from Zodiac. I question that yearbook, but have faith in the SS paperwork.

Other people are going to question the yearbook too, but we can work on that. Ham, you should make a nice PDF copy of the yearbook, or maybe there is another way that we can all look at the whole thing. We can see who signed the yearbook and verify if they are students, and what clubs they belonged to. Maybe make associations. See Ross elsewhere in the yearbook, etc. The jury would want more evidence, even if circumstantial, so to speak.

I agree with Tahoe that someone could cherry pick letters from Zodiac letters and compare them to the SS paperwork and the yearbook. I am a little bit surprised that this find had not created the buzz that it probably should have. The comparisons that look the same are really very interesting and this ain’t done yet at all. Your presentation is beautiful and I don’t want to poo-poo it. It is awesome. But to convince a lot of people, there needs to be more. People want to take in a lot of information to make on objective opinion. Maybe presenting a lot of information and let people decide for themselves, whatever the results.

Someone did an excellent job at comparing the Eureka Card handwriting to Zodiac handwriting at zodiackiller.com. I have been trying to find it, but crap it is all different now on that site. But what they did was show several versions of each letter of the alphabet compared to the Eureka Card. It was more comprehensive. Some of the letters look the same, and some look different. Not to change the subject to that card, which I think is probably a hoax, but to give an example. The tables looked more similar to here: https://science.howstuffworks.com/handw … lysis1.htm. Can someone find that darn thread?

Maybe someone will do this at some point with the information and pictures that you provide. Thank you for what you have done so far.

Incredible similarities !

What are the odds there would be so many similarities with the very limited examples we have of Ross’ writing ?

Is this finally it, Ross = Z ?

Also, one is bound to find an individual letter that looks similar when you pick and choose the ones you like. I’d also only stick with the writings known, for sure, to be from Zodiac. I question that yearbook, but have faith in the SS paperwork.

Other people are going to question the yearbook too, but we can work on that. Ham, you should make a nice PDF copy of the yearbook, or maybe there is another way that we can all look at the whole thing. We can see who signed the yearbook and verify if they are students, and what clubs they belonged to. Maybe make associations. See Ross elsewhere in the yearbook, etc. The jury would want more evidence, even if circumstantial, so to speak.

I agree with Tahoe that someone could cherry pick letters from Zodiac letters and compare them to the SS paperwork and the yearbook. I am a little bit surprised that this find had not created the buzz that it probably should have. The comparisons that look the same are really very interesting and this ain’t done yet at all. Your presentation is beautiful and I don’t want to poo-poo it. It is awesome. But to convince a lot of people, there needs to be more. People want to take in a lot of information to make on objective opinion. Maybe presenting a lot of information and let people decide for themselves, whatever the results.

Someone did an excellent job at comparing the Eureka Card handwriting to Zodiac handwriting at zodiackiller.com. I have been trying to find it, but crap it is all different now on that site. But what they did was show several versions of each letter of the alphabet compared to the Eureka Card. It was more comprehensive. Some of the letters look the same, and some look different. Not to change the subject to that card, which I think is probably a hoax, but to give an example. The tables looked more similar to here: https://science.howstuffworks.com/handw … lysis1.htm. Can someone find that darn thread?

Maybe someone will do this at some point with the information and pictures that you provide. Thank you for what you have done so far.

One thing I can do if you’re interested is shoot a detailed video of the yearbook and post the link here for you. I can snap pictures of all the pages with student entries too if you want. Im not gonna scan the entire yearbook as most of it hasnt been written in and can be viewed online anyway. Its the Glendale High School Stylus 1959. Also, I have started putting together a file for Sullivan on my Facebook. I believe MOST of that stuff Ive posted here but maybe not all. I’ll be updating it again here soon. I will add all the letters in the alphabet individually there too. Heres a link. Says you dont need to even have a Facebook account to view it. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set … 6957e0019f

Incredible similarities !

What are the odds there would be so many similarities with the very limited examples we have of Ross’ writing ?

Is this finally it, Ross = Z ?

Thats exactly it; I have only 3 VERY limited sources to pull from and still was able to come up with the stuff I did. Definitely a testament if anything. I only used his selective service form once for the cursive "s"

One thing I can do if you’re interested is shoot a detailed video of the yearbook and post the link here for you. I can snap pictures of all the pages with student entries too if you want. Im not gonna scan the entire yearbook as most of it hasnt been written in and can be viewed online anyway. Its the Glendale High School Stylus 1959. Also, I have started putting together a file for Sullivan on my Facebook. I believe MOST of that stuff Ive posted here but maybe not all. I’ll be updating it again here soon. I will add all the letters in the alphabet individually there too. Heres a link. Says you dont need to even have a Facebook account to view it. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set … 6957e0019f

I personally do not need a video, but thanks. I can look at the yearbook online if I want to. Just suggesting ways to help people feel comfortable with the yearbook.

well folks. Here you go. After hours and hours of hard work and research, my alphabet is finally complete. Only missing 4-5 letters. I really had to truncate the file to post here so hopefully it”ll read ok. I can email it out if anyone wants. I havent tilted or rotated any of the letters except where noted. If you find any mistakes please let me know.

That’s incredible. Great work Ham.

My interest in RS is peaked, as is my suspicion.

Just stuck with one letter here. I didnt angle any of the letters…

1. Forgive me if I missed it, if so you can just direct me to it. But can you account in detail how you came across this year book, who you got it from, etc?

2. It’s difficult to compare cursive writing to print writing, but having said that, many of the similarities are quite interesting. But what can you offer in terms of concrete proof that this is actually Ross Sullivan’s handwriting? In other words, is there a reasonable chain of custody and independent evidence you can point to that verifies that this is Ross Sullivan’s book and that this is his handwriting?

1. Forgive me if I missed it, if so you can just direct me to it. But can you account in detail how you came across this year book, who you got it from, etc?

2. It’s difficult to compare cursive writing to print writing, but having said that, many of the similarities are quite interesting. But what can you offer in terms of concrete proof that this is actually Ross Sullivan’s handwriting? In other words, is there a reasonable chain of custody and independent evidence you can point to that verifies that this is Ross Sullivan’s book and that this is his handwriting?

There will probably be no way to prove that Ross actually wrote this and it’s a yearbook that was probably passed around. So a chain of custody would be impossible to establish.

The simple logical argument would be, if someone wanted to fake this in order to match Ross to Z, why would they use cursive and forge a small sample to pull from.

Like the SS app, the stimulates are not obvious at first look.

well folks. Here you go. After hours and hours of hard work and research, my alphabet is finally complete. Only missing 4-5 letters. I really had to truncate the file to post here so hopefully it”ll read ok. I can email it out if anyone wants. I havent tilted or rotated any of the letters except where noted. If you find any mistakes please let me know.

Ham you have outdone yourself. This was excellent. It’s unbelievably accurate. Who else could it have been? How can anyone explain this away?

Oh they will try to explain this away. But the "writing" is on the wall as far as Z being an unknown goes.

Great work Ham!!!!!!!!!!

Well, to my eye, and in my opinion, some things like the unique squiggly line on the Z, match so exactly, it seems possible that someone simply copied the squiggly Z on the Bates letter and put it into this yearbook.

If there’s absolutely nothing even approaching a chain of custody, or even a reasonable set of facts as to where the yearbook came from, and absolutely no evidence to show that Ross Sullivan is the actual writer, I would question the value of the writing. But that’s just my opinion. I’ll leave this post to those who want to discuss it more.

Again, I think you need to show some account of where this your book came from, who it came from and what evidence is available that Ross Sullivan did the writing. Otherwise there’s nothing to say that this isn’t a hoax, and since some of the writing seems an exact match, that’s what I’m inclined to consider. There must be some story as how the yearbook came into his possession and some reason he believes Ross Sullivan as the writer.

Without any account of where it came from, who it came from, some version of the chain of custody and some evidence to show the Ross Sullivan is the writer, it would have absolutely zero evidentiary value to the police or in a court of law. Or to me. So I will leave this thread to those who want to examine it more.

Well, to my eye, and in my opinion, some things like the unique squiggly line on the Z, match so exactly, it seems possible that someone simply copied the squiggly Z on the Bates letter and put it into this yearbook.

If there’s absolutely nothing even approaching a chain of custody, or even a reasonable set of facts as to where the yearbook came from, and absolutely no evidence to show that Ross Sullivan is the actual writer, I would question the value of the writing. But that’s just my opinion. I’ll leave this post to those who want to discuss it more.

I agree to a point.

I would say that as long as the writing was in that book before say 2014 when Ross became a well known suspect, it would be good enough.
It seems like the ink would be much fresher looking if it was a fake made in the past year.

*HAM, I in no way think you forged this.

Well perhaps he can just relate the story of how he came into the possession of this yearbook, and what is the reason he thinks Ross Sullivan is the writer.

Does Ed Knox give a statement that he was friends with Sullivan and that Sullivan indeed signed his yearbook? How did Ham come in possession of the book from Knox?

This book is from 1959. I’d like to see some of the other writing in it. The part in red believed to be signed by Sullivan, is bright, very legible and not faded at all. It does not, IMO, look anything like 60 year old writing. I looked at my yearbooks from 75 – 79 era, so just 40 years ago, and most of the writing is far less bright, much more faded and in some cases not even very legible. Of course writing will vary based on the ink used, force of application, how the book was stored, etc. I guess for me, and I think for police, you have to put weight only in writing you can definitely prove came from the POI.

Well perhaps he can just relate the story of how he came into the possession of this yearbook, and what is the reason he thinks Ross Sullivan is the writer.

Yes sir, no problem! I guess I should first start by saying I am in the hobby of true crime collecting; specifically yearbooks. After reading up on Sullivan my thoughts were something like "holy crap, this dude did it." So naturally I did some yb digging and came across a Glendale High School Stylus ’58 and ’59 for pretty cheap($40). It was not advertised as a "Ross Sullivan signed yearbook" or anything like that. It seemed obvious the seller had no clue what they had as the price tag was so low. Yes, $40 is considered fairly cheap for an original yearbook. These books were purchased by me on a website called Abebooks.com. Judging by the writing in the books, it seems they were owned by the Knox bros. ’58 was owned by older brother Al knox and ’59 was owned by younger brother Eddie. Eddie was a sophomore at the time and Ross a senior. Eddie was a member of the HAM radio club and is pictured twice in the yearbook. My guess is that either one or both of the brothers passed and a relative decided to clean out and sell some of their stuff. Im not certain though. When I spotted the signature/passage I knew I had something so I saved everything; the box they came in, the receipts, everything. It appears the name of the seller using Abe Books was S.C. Sumner. It’s a book store in Venice, Florida. I suppose I could try to contact them about it. I am going to go ahead and shoot a video of the yearbook. I hope that helps somewhat. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; im 100% on board with sending this thing off to the right people for analysis and authentication. I have ZERO doubts about its legitimacy. I want everybody else, people such as yourself, to be comfortable with this too- trust me. I am talking to a detective in Vallejo and am more than willing to send it off. There aren’t start/stop points all over it, it doesn’t look deliberate or slowly written, seems to match much of the other ink in the book, etc. Im not sure if you saw his signature that I posted alongside the sig on his ss form but its a dead ringer. Im here to cooperate, fellas!