Being agile relates to relative strength. The strength you posses relative to your bodyweight. Which then relates to genetics and training; muscle fiber composition and the neural efficiency of recruiting these fibers.

Has anyone ever been in touch with Cheri’s boyfriend, Dennis Highland?

He was also reportedly her fiancé. He had gone to RCC and then transferred to San Francisco State College to play football.
The weekend before her death, Cheri and Highland’s parents had visited him in San Francisco.

Was Highland also at the SF wedding with Ross?

I have Dennis’ phone number. I managed to talk to someone from the reunion last year who, although he didn’t know Ross or Tim or any of them, did know Dennis real well. In fact, Dennis was also at the 50th reunion. That means he was also a student at Ramona in the same class as Timothy and Gerald Katz (’64).

Anyway, I have his phone number. According to the guy I spoke with, Dennis has a problem speaking these days.

I hate to say it, but it’s becoming increasingly harder and harder to stay impartial and neutral in regards to Suspects, which I have always tried to do. I feel it in my gut, Ross was Zodiac. I am 99% there. If I can prove that Ross was living or working in the immediate SF Bay area in 68-74,it would be case closed for me.

When you look at the evidence, it’s hard to not like Ross as Z. He wrote a morbid poem inside the RCC Library. The Zodiac was later linked to the RCC Library via a morbid poem on a desk. The Bates letters also were linked, and they were received up until mid 67 when Ross left to go to Santa Cruz. Later, when Z was spotted, he looked identical to Ross, right down to the widow’s peak hairline. What are the chances??? His Own Brother suspected him. Working from a lone low quality piece of writing sample of Ross, we are spotting similarities. There’s more that connects than does not.

With ALL due respect, because I too think Ross is interesting and I know a heck of a lot of good work as been put in to trying to find information about him, BUT…

What you list is not evidence. It would be information that would/should pursue someone to seek evidence. And I know morf, you are trying very hard to do so, and rightfully so. As always, you and others should be commended.

I say this because. Is there proof he wrote this morbid poem? Can we see it or is it just someone saying so? Zodiac or whomever wrote the poem "may" have been linked to RCC, but according to newspapers, LE searched the college for people with similar handwriting. Surely these folks who thought of Ross would have brought him up. ? Yes, visually he looked like the wanted poster–his face, but according to others, he was severely obese and over 6 ft. tall. That doesn’t match with the rest of the descriptions. One brother did not think he was capable of any such acts–and unfortunately, the other brother who allegedly stated he thought Ross was, is dead.

By all means, continue! I don’t say this to be discouraging, I’m just a realist.

It’s not evidence, and the only thing that will ever be ‘evidence’ as far as police are concerned, is PRINTS, DNA, or BALLISTICS, so short of that with this or any other Suspect, the case will never be solved.

‘Severely obese’, I don’t know what weight he was when he died,I don’t think anybody does. I just posted an interview with his classmate who said Ross was heavy about 280, but wasn’t sloppy fat.

I don;t have access to RPD police files, so i don’t know what they really did or did not do. I know they are flawed in their refusal to give up on Bob Barnett despite DNA not matching him, so a screwup along the way is not out of the realm of possibility.

For me it’s common sense, if you believe Zodiac wrote that desktop poem, and Sherwood Morrill was correct(like I do), then common sense kicks in and tells me that the odds of another stocky, heavy guy, with a widow’s peak hairline coming out of the RCC Library, and so closely matching the sketch are slim. I know that there’ not much of a chance of another guy like this who was in the RCC Library.

If like you, you doubt the desktop was Z in the first place, then there’s nothing that could be said here that would make you think Ross could be Z(maybe I am wrong)

There is a lot of evidence that Ross killed Cheri Jo, and maybe even some that Ross was Zodiac. It is not smoking gun forensic evidence, and definitely not enough evidence for any conviction. But there is circumstantial evidence. Some of it is hearsay, which would not be admissible in a court trial. But there are exceptions to the hearsay rule. And hearsay can also be used by investigators to find other evidence and build a case.

Some of the circumstantial evidence has more weight than that of other circumstantial evidence. But it needs to be weighed. It needs to be pursued and it needs to be found and it needs to be evaluated.

I really like that morf spoke with Allan Silliphant, a childhood friend of Ross.

Bailey said in her letter that Ross was a poet. Morf just spoke with Silliphant, who also says that Ross was into poetry. There was a poem about the killing of a woman scratched into the RCC library desk, found just weeks after Cheri Jo was killed. Ross worked at the library and knew Cheri Jo. Ross, of most people, would have had the time and opportunity to scratch a poem into a desktop in the library, which is usually a very quiet place where you would expect to hear someone scratching a poem into a desktop (did Ross have access to the library when it was not open to the public?). Ross knew Cheri Jo. One of the Riverside letters insinuated that Cheri’s killer knew her. Murder victims are typically killed by people who know them. Zodiac was also somewhat into poetry. Sherwood Morrill, a handwriting expert, says that Zodiac scratched the poem into the desktop. Ross is almost a dead ringer for the Stine Sketch. Ross had mental health issues. And there is a great deal more of this circumstantial evidence.

Maybe right now the circumstantial and hearsay evidence, standing alone, does not have much weight. But a lot of little pieces of evidence can add up to weigh a lot. Sometimes people are convicted of murder solely with circumstantial evidence. That sweet, loving husband of a man, Scott Peterson, for instance.

The case(s) have not been solved yet, but they still can be. Keep going. You are doing great. I would really like to see you do it.

Smokie

P.S. When independent sources corroborate information from the letter, that makes me feel a lot better about the letter.

Good points Smokie. But these are all pieces of a puzzle,still being put together.

I don’t have any doubt that Ross and Cheri knew each other, and I certainly believe Cheri would not have much interest in Ross in any fashion. I do wonder if Cheri would have been able to put up the fierce fight she did against a Guy the size of Ross.

I’m trying not to confuse the Bates murder with the Bates case letters, because it’s entirely possible, that Zodiac authored the letters & desktop, but did not kill Cheri. The police certainly feel Z did not kill Cheri, and tried to separate her case from the letters & desk.

I’m trying to focus on Ross was Zodiac, and as the Bates case letter/desk writer.

Moved to a new apartment soon after I joined here and took a while getting around to installing internet, it’s been great catching up on everything.

I just want to say to morf and all others involved.. You guys are doing amazing work. To spend time, money and resources trying to solve this thing like you guys do is quite noble. Keep it up, keep going, I feel like you’re on the right track.

Ross looked good 6 months ago, he looks even better now. This is truly compelling.

I think Ross started going to Glendale HS in 1958. He has a few pics in the 59 yearbook, but no listings for him in the 58 yearbook. However, theres a pic of a school play, and a Kid named ‘Ralph Sullivan’ playing the bad guy with guns blazing. I can’t tell if this is Ross, and they got his name wrong. I couldnt find any Ralph Sullivan in the book.

This is an article from the March 7, 1958 Glendale High School "Explosion", which discusses a talent show that included Ross (I think the article was mentioned early on in this thread). I’ve included a picture from the 1958 yearbook that shows a scene from the pantomime ("Baddy Billy" or "And the Piano Played On" – some confusion there) that they performed at the show. I believe the yearbook mistakenly identifies Ross as "Ralph Sullivan". Ross played "Bad Billy", who happens to be the guy with the guns. Not much, but at least it’s something.

Has anyone ever been in touch with Cheri’s boyfriend, Dennis Highland?

He was also reportedly her fiancé. He had gone to RCC and then transferred to San Francisco State College to play football.
The weekend before her death, Cheri and Highland’s parents had visited him in San Francisco.

Was Highland also at the SF wedding with Ross?

I have Dennis’ phone number. I managed to talk to someone from the reunion last year who, although he didn’t know Ross or Tim or any of them, did know Dennis real well. In fact, Dennis was also at the 50th reunion. That means he was also a student at Ramona in the same class as Timothy and Gerald Katz (’64).

Anyway, I have his phone number. According to the guy I spoke with, Dennis has a problem speaking these days.

Meaning Dennis has a physical speaking problem? Or he just won’t talk about the Z case?

Has anyone ever been in touch with Cheri’s boyfriend, Dennis Highland?

Was Highland also at the SF wedding with Ross?

I have Dennis’ phone number. I managed to talk to someone from the reunion last year who, although he didn’t know Ross or Tim or any of them, did know Dennis real well. In fact, Dennis was also at the 50th reunion. That means he was also a student at Ramona in the same class as Timothy and Gerald Katz (’64).

Anyway, I have his phone number. According to the guy I spoke with, Dennis has a problem speaking these days.

Meaning Dennis has a physical speaking problem? Or he just won’t talk about the Z case?

I think he has a problem speaking generally. I don’t think the guy I spoke to ever talked to him about Zodiac or Cheri (whose murder is the only one I ever bring up to people). The funny thing about it was that, according to the guy I spoke with, at one point the Riverside Police Dept. thought Dennis was the murderer and harassed him about it. I was mostly surprised by the fact that Dennis had been a student at Ramona. That was something I didn’t know. That he was in the same class at Timothy and Gerald Katz. Like Timothy, he had a girlfriend two years behind him as both Bonnie Bartlett and Cheri were class of ’66. If friends, it would make sense why Dennis and Cheri became engaged less than two weeks after Tim and Bonnie were married in San Francisco (where Dennis was living at the time).

I wonder if Dennis was friends with Timothy. Although Tim was friends with the early hippie types, and i’m pretty sure he adopted a hippie lifestyle once he moved to San Francisco, at Ramona Tim was on the swim team. Thus, he may have been friends with many of the jocks that Cheri was known to be friends with as well.

Edit: I spoke with Katz, he doesn’t remember Dennis.

Dennis Highland was a jock, and in Cheri’s crowd, he went to SF to play football. They likely didn’t hang out with hippies.

Dennis Highland was a jock, and in Cheri’s crowd, he went to SF to play football. They likely didn’t hang out with hippies.

Oh I get that. That’s something I think stands out to me. On the surface it’s clear that Cheri and Bonnie were part of different cliques, so you can dismiss them being friends at all. All of Bonnie’s friends were hippies and all of Cheri’s friends were jocks. But two things: 1) Katz said that Cheri and Bonnie were friends in high school. 2) if you look at Ramona High School year books (between 64 to 66) you’ll notice that both Cheri and Bonnie were heavily involved in activities. You’ll also notice that in photos they’re always standing close together, either side by side or standing one or two people apart.

What i’m thinking though is the whole "hippie" scene didn’t really arrive until 1966 or 1967. Timothy graduated in 1964. His class photo looks pretty clean cut to me. He was also on the swim team. Now, swimmers are not necessarily "jock types." But it is athletic. So it is possible that they knew each other and maintained a friendship outside their normal cliques, especially if Cheri and Bonnie already knew each other.

The timing of everything else is something that always stood out for me too. The fact Bonnie and Cheri are the same year, Timothy and Dennis are the same year. The fact that Bonnie and Timothy married on October 6th, 1966 and then Dennis and Cheri were engaged in mid to late October of 1966 and then Cheri died on October 30th. It’s all a weird coincidence.

I’m mostly wondering if Dennis was at that same SF wedding with Ross and Cheri. He might have photos.

Respectfully snipped for brevity>

I do wonder if Cheri would have been able to put up the fierce fight she did against a Guy the size of Ross.

I’m trying not to confuse the Bates murder with the Bates case letters, because it’s entirely possible, that Zodiac authored the letters & desktop, but did not kill Cheri. The police certainly feel Z did not kill Cheri, and tried to separate her case from the letters & desk.

I’m trying to focus on Ross was Zodiac, and as the Bates case letter/desk writer.

If Ross killed Cheri Jo, would that mean the 7-7.5 inch Timex watch was an unrelated artifact to the murder? Or else if Ross killed her he had a much smaller sized accomplice who lost the watch?

Also, the initials "r" and "h" used as a signature in the desk top poem wouldn’t fit Ross Sullivan (assuming r and h are signatory initials).

Respectfully snipped for brevity>

I do wonder if Cheri would have been able to put up the fierce fight she did against a Guy the size of Ross.

I’m trying not to confuse the Bates murder with the Bates case letters, because it’s entirely possible, that Zodiac authored the letters & desktop, but did not kill Cheri. The police certainly feel Z did not kill Cheri, and tried to separate her case from the letters & desk.

I’m trying to focus on Ross was Zodiac, and as the Bates case letter/desk writer.

If Ross killed Cheri Jo, would that mean the 7-7.5 inch Timex watch was an unrelated artifact to the murder? Or else if Ross killed her he had a much smaller sized accomplice who lost the watch?

Also, the initials "r" and "h" used as a signature in the desk top poem wouldn’t fit Ross Sullivan (assuming r and h are signatory initials).

Wrist would fit.
Also you are not required to use your real initials when you vandalize something.

Height and average wrist size

5’8" Tall
7 inches
5’10" Tall
7.1 inches
6′ Tall
7.27 inches
6’2" Tall
7.45 inches
6’4" Tall
7.62 inches

Patinky I love your rational comments, I wish you had more time to post. Very true about the watch! Ross was not average sized.