What do you guys think of History basically casting Sullivan aside because he has no military background?

I think it makes them look silly, like everybody they come across looks like ‘the guy’. Who’s next? Marshall, Gaikowski?

I think they were following a lot of military aspects so it simply led them to their next suspect.

What do you guys think of History basically casting Sullivan aside because he has no military background?

So they’re done with him now? They won’t revisit him at all?

What do you guys think of History basically casting Sullivan aside because he has no military background?

So they’re done with him now? They won’t revisit him at all?

I wouldn’t doubt if they come full-circle in the end, and back to Cheri. I don’t know though…

yea, I don’t think we can conclude definitely that Zodiac was military. Could have just liked the boots etc… I don’t think the Domingos/Edwards murder was necessarily a military tactic preventing their escape like they mentioned in the episode either. so yea, to dismiss Sullivan & move to Kane based on that makes no sense.

Ross graduated from high school in 1959 or 1960. In 1966 he would have been around 24 and yet he was still hanging around a college campus and doing a job that is usually performed by a student. It seems like he may have been veteran and spent 2 to 4 years in the military before going back to college. I was a veteran who went to college a bit later than most students and I remember joining a veterans’ club and they we were given extra grants. I wonder if there’s a veterans’ organization at Riverside College. I think these organizations were set-up for the veterans returning from WW2. It may also be possible to see if Ross Sullivan received G.I benefits at the time. He also perhaps resided in V.A hospitals later on when he was ill.

Ross graduated from high school in 1959 or 1960. In 1966 he would have been around 24 and yet he was still hanging around a college campus and doing a job that is usually performed by a student. It seems like he may have been veteran and spent 2 to 4 years in the military before going back to college. I was a veteran who went to college a bit later than most students and I remember joining a veterans’ club and they we were given extra grants. I wonder if there’s a veterans’ organization at Riverside College. I think these organizations were set-up for the veterans returning from WW2. It may also be possible to see if Ross Sullivan received G.I benefits at the time. He also perhaps resided in V.A hospitals later on when he was ill.

He wasn’t in the military

Thank you, Morf for clearing that up.

Tom Voigt put up a good post on his site where he stated that Zodiac didn’t necessarily have to be a former military man.

I think the final episode might discuss this…

My main problem with Ross Sullivan as Zodiac is his size. at 6′ 2" and over 250 lbs it seems everyone’s description of Zodiac would be "He was a big dude".

Everything else about him makes him a very viable suspect.

I don’t know how he can truly be viable when nobody has any photo or physical description of Ross Sullivan in the years Zodiac was active. Morbid obesity killed him at 36, just seven years after the Stine murder. That’s a closer walk than it is from his high school yearbook to the Presidio. The Ross in high school is a big kid, but nowhere near in danger of heart disease.

Right now, all that’s there is he worked near the scene of a crime that may or may not be Zodiac, and a few years later he lived in Santa Cruz, which is more than two hours from Berryessa and at least an hour from any other canonical crime. Oh, and he was ~300 pounds in 1968, which is noticeable on a 6’2" frame. Like, 250 is a beefy guy. 300 is a really big. He could still be solid at that weight, but it would still stand out more than it has in any witness description. It’s a disproportionate weight, particularly in the 1960s when it almost certainly wouldn’t mean muscle mass. If that was Ross, it was 300 on its way to a lot more, and therefore probably wouldn’t be disciplined weight at all, meaning it would look even worse.

Did he even have a crewcut in 1968? The world kind of changed after 1964; guys all over the place grew their hair long, or certainly out. I just don’t think photos from 10 years earlier really constitute even circumstantial evidence. Even if he kept his look, tons of guys still had crewcuts and those big plastic glasses. It’s certainly not unique to Ross Sullivan. None of what’s there bridges the gap between "weird guy who worked in the RCC library" and "serial killer who outsmarted the police for years and left behind scant evidence at crimes scenes, yet was also arrested naked within a year of the beginning of the attacks."

I don’t know how he can truly be viable when nobody has any photo or physical description of Ross Sullivan in the years Zodiac was active. Morbid obesity killed him at 36, just seven years after the Stine murder. That’s a closer walk than it is from his high school yearbook to the Presidio. The Ross in high school is a big kid, but nowhere near in danger of heart disease.

Right now, all that’s there is he worked near the scene of a crime that may or may not be Zodiac, and a few years later he lived in Santa Cruz, which is more than two hours from Berryessa and at least an hour from any other canonical crime. Oh, and he was ~300 pounds in 1968, which is noticeable on a 6’2" frame. Like, 250 is a beefy guy. 300 is a really big. He could still be solid at that weight, but it would still stand out more than it has in any witness description. It’s a disproportionate weight, particularly in the 1960s when it almost certainly wouldn’t mean muscle mass. If that was Ross, it was 300 on its way to a lot more, and therefore probably wouldn’t be disciplined weight at all, meaning it would look even worse.

Did he even have a crewcut in 1968? The world kind of changed after 1964; guys all over the place grew their hair long, or certainly out. I just don’t think photos from 10 years earlier really constitute even circumstantial evidence. Even if he kept his look, tons of guys still had crewcuts and those big plastic glasses. It’s certainly not unique to Ross Sullivan. None of what’s there bridges the gap between "weird guy who worked in the RCC library" and "serial killer who outsmarted the police for years and left behind scant evidence at crimes scenes, yet was also arrested naked within a year of the beginning of the attacks."

I agree getting photos of Ross in 1969-70 are important. But in terms of observations about his hair, didn’t he still have a crew cut in 1966-67 according to the RCC librarians?

Didn’t the accounts from the lake attack cite that Zodiac had a belly? He apparently weighed about 260 in 1959 per his draft registration papers. He doesn’t look fat in the 1959 photos. He looks solid. Not perhaps super lean, but stocky. His jawline is clearly defined and he is not sporting any extra double chins even at 260 pounds.

The 300 pound weight listed in the 1968 news paper article may have been an estimate. Unclear if the police weighed him. Regardless, even if he gained 40 pounds between 1959 and 1969, it would be distributed over a 6 foot 2 inch frame. 300 pounds could still be consistent with the belly that was observed during the lake attack.

He may have really ballooned up in the 1970s during his institutionalization. There’s no evidence the Zodiac ever ran up to or away from his victims. He wasn’t running marathons. I just don’t see how Ross can be ruled out with what is known to date.

Ross was investigated by police. It’s to what extent people want to believe he was looked at, is what keeps this discussion going.

Ross was investigated by police. It’s to what extent people want to believe he was looked at, is what keeps this discussion going.

Indeed. We know that a lot of people were ruled out by SFPD based on handwriting alone, which is problematic when you have fingerprint evidence too. I guess it was just quicker and easier to say "hey, write this stuff down" than it would be to get a warrant to roll someone’s prints.

Knowing this, I remain convinced that Z’s name is probably somewhere in those files as having been ruled out via handwriting. The question is, was Ross one of them?

What do you guys think of History basically casting Sullivan aside because he has no military background?

So they’re done with him now? They won’t revisit him at all?

I think like all things based on entertainment value the end result will be pure bull shit…the net positive is the show puts
Ross out there (amongst others) and it may stir a memory or handwriting sample in a year book (or other) or some 20 year old kid who inherited grandpas weird costume with weird symbols now thinks grandpa may be involved in other things besides being weird..the show is for ratings and entertainment value..it wont solve z

Ross was investigated by police. It’s to what extent people want to believe he was looked at, is what keeps this discussion going.

Indeed. We know that a lot of people were ruled out by SFPD based on handwriting alone, which is problematic when you have fingerprint evidence too. I guess it was just quicker and easier to say "hey, write this stuff down" than it would be to get a warrant to roll someone’s prints.

Knowing this, I remain convinced that Z’s name is probably somewhere in those files as having been ruled out via handwriting. The question is, was Ross one of them?

We don’t know why Ross was ruled out. Maybe he had a good alibi at the time of Zodiac killings ? I’m sure not all suspects was ruled out on handwriting alone.