I feel very sorry for Ross and his family, especially after reading this.

I have completely eliminated him as a suspect. I also feel very badly for all the other poi’s who have been named.

All these people claiming to know who the real Z is and have gone so far as to write and publish books are looking only to make money imo. Otherwise, why on earth couldn’t they at least wait until LE charged their poi with even one Z crime?

The more I think about it, I think the real Z is very likely to have been looked at by LE as a possible poi and dismissed. All these authors have only added to the confusion and may have well harmed the case rather than helped anyone. I almost quit reading altogether when Lafferty came out with his book thinking surely a HIGHWAY PATROL officer would have credibility.

Well the explanation that "his Brother Tim was sick too" (for thinking Ross was Z), is pretty weak. So we just accept that Tim was ‘sick’ for thinking Ross was Z, without knowing his reasons to suspect his own Brother?

Forgive me for arguing semantics, but in what world is indecent exposure not violent? It is an act of sexual assault and in any discussion of assault, violence or the threat thereof is a given. While I don’t have the exact context of Ross’ alleged crime, I’d hardly say such behavior qualifies him as a "gentle soul" by any stretch of the imagination.

Forgive me for arguing semantics, but in what world is indecent exposure not violent? It is an act of sexual assault and in any discussion of assault, violence or the threat thereof is a given. While I don’t have the exact context of Ross’ alleged crime, I’d hardly say such behavior qualifies him as a "gentle soul" by any stretch of the imagination.

While indecent exposure might be pervy, it’s certainly not violent. He could have simply been drunk and ran naked into the ocean.

This is part of them problem. Taking something mentioned WITHOUT knowing the exact content and placing judgement.

morf–the comments from Ross’s brother Tim are what I am talking about when I write "hearsay"…it’s coming from others. While it is interesting, it’s an interpretation…like Zode. Tim is no longer around to clarify what he may have said/meant and that is unfortunate.

I dont care that his living family dont think he was the Zodiac, doesnt have to mean anything, but if his height 6,3 is correct it almost certainly rules him out.

I agree that he should not be ruled out based on his brother. Don’t get me wrong, I feel for his brother, but how often are the relatives (even the ones living with serial killers) shocked when it’s proven that the person is a killer. I also found it interesting that his brother did not deny that his other brother thought he was Z. He simply said that Tim was sick too. It would make more sense if he said that it was ridiculous to assume Tim thought that. Even if he did think Ross was guilty he may figure he’s been gone for so long that it’s not like he could still hurt someone. I wonder if Tim’s wife is still alive. She may be the key.

I dont care that his living family dont think he was the Zodiac, doesnt have to mean anything, but if his height 6,3 is correct it almost certainly rules him out.

I haven’t seen any official documents stating this height, which is why I wanted to get his coroner report

I’m sure this is all hard for the brother to deal with. Again, one brother saying Ross is Z and the other saying Ross is innocent means nothing at this point. I don’t think either one was around Ross in the late 60’s or had any proof one way or the other. The one did seem to confirm Ross new Cheri and was in the bay area durring the Z time frame or else he wouldn’t have suspected him.

As for the height and hair, I feel like Ross still fits based on Fouke:
“Fouke reportedly described this suspect as being as tall as 6 feet or even 6’2" and weighing 200 lbs, with blond, receding hair.”

It is very interesting that Vallejo Times Reporter, Dave Peterson seemed to have looked into Ross. He also seemed to follow up on many leads so it might just be that he looked into everyone.

Hi. Ross was arrested for ‘public indecent exposure’ in Santa Cruz 3/5/68. A ‘drunk and disturbing the peace’ charge in L.A. in 1969 July I think.

If Ross was arrested, that means prints are on file! Might be all SFPD would need…

People can be skeptical, that’s fine. But he’s a worthy person to look into. He’s as good a suspect as anyone, vastly better than most.

Things I find interesting…

1. That he was in LA and was charged with drunkenness in JULY 1969. If he was in LA for all of July then that rules him out; however, if he still lived in northern California and suddenly shows up in LA for a prolonged period, then that is very suspicious. So he just shows up in LA, after the murders, and is walking around drunk and getting into trouble? This could be biggest key of all the new information. If this occurred on July 6th or 7th (or shortly after the Farren murder) then he might have been trying to establish an alibi.

2. Jon’s family seems very defensive. I doubt Jon would have ever thought Ross could do this, since he was never around when this was happening, and he still doesn’t want to think it. The statement about Tim is weird. They don’t deny or even doubt that Tim thought this.

3. Public indecent exposure is huge. This is big news. We need to look into this. Stories in the Santa Cruz newspapers? Do you think this would have been made public and there would be a story in a newspaper or something? How would we get access to those? It must be easier than getting hospital records.

Note: on the color of hair. The FBI report said the hair was BROWN, not DARK BROWN. We already knew this. However, wasn’t one of the reasons the Riverside Police Department kept holding on to their favorite suspect that he was BLONDE and the hair sample was BLONDE?

Also, the Zodiac was fat. If you read the official police reports of all the people who saw him, they all describe him as heavy. If he’s 6’3, 250 lbs would be about right. Hartnell described him as 225 lbs to 250 lbs. Now, for the height itself, it’s been described as everything from 5’8 to 6’2, it could be anything.

On the net whole, nothing here disqualifies him and we have major new information. This is exciting information. Great job Morf.

The only thing i’ll suggest, we should all agree to leave their family alone from now on.

Here is one Zodiac description that seems to verify Z height as over 6′ tall. It was the description given by Cecelia Shepard before she passed away from her wounds.

At about 1 hour 5 min in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI0jnsbZwys

This is my thought on the height, Mike saw him while sitting in a car looking up and Bryan saw him while laying on the ground and him walking towards them. Both under very strenuous circumstances. Please explain how you can accurately state someone’s height?? The cops probably got the best look, but even that was sitting in a car, either talking to the person or not. So we can rule out a short person but that’s it. There are so many mistakes in this case. I think we can all agree on that. I’m sorry for Ross’s brother (and I’m not saying I agree that Ross is Z) but I feel this needs examined further.

Even Fouke once estimated Zodiac’s height to be as tall as six foot two.

Even Fouke once estimated Zodiac’s height to be as tall as six foot two.

The girls at Lake Berryessa also estimated the person they saw as being 6’2. The only thing everyone agrees on is that the person was overweight.

I’m sure this is all hard for the brother to deal with. Again, one brother saying Ross is Z and the other saying Ross is innocent means nothing at this point. I don’t think either one was around Ross in the late 60’s or had any proof one way or the other. The one did seem to confirm Ross new Cheri and was in the bay area durring the Z time frame or else he wouldn’t have suspected him.

As for the height and hair, I feel like Ross still fits based on Fouke:
“Fouke reportedly described this suspect as being as tall as 6 feet or even 6’2" and weighing 200 lbs, with blond, receding hair.”

It is very interesting that Vallejo Times Reporter, Dave Peterson seemed to have looked into Ross. He also seemed to follow up on many leads so it might just be that he looked into everyone.

Hi. Ross was arrested for ‘public indecent exposure’ in Santa Cruz 3/5/68. A ‘drunk and disturbing the peace’ charge in L.A. in 1969 July I think.

If Ross was arrested, that means prints are on file! Might be all SFPD would need…

Prints are likely not on file from these minor arrests

I agree, it seems that the one common thing across the board is that Zodiac was heavyset/fat/overweight, however you want to phrase it. The height thing is all over the place.

I still think, Ross needs to be looked at more until he can be ruled out positively. I also agree, his Family should be left alone, they have made it clear where they stand