If it were possible somehow to dig up the letter which preceded the one posted in the summary thread (from Peterson to Toschi), that could possibly shed some light on the matter.

Peterson must have presented Ross as a suspect to Toschi in some form or other.

Similarly, you’d think he would have done the same to someone at RPD. Probably near impossible to get one’s hands on anything like that after all these years, though.

It could be as simple as the suggestion above, though: Peterson decided to ask around at the library, see if anyone had noticed anyone or anything – and then Ross came up.

If it were possible somehow to dig up the letter which preceded the one posted in the summary thread (from Peterson to Toschi), that could possibly shed some light on the matter.

Peterson must have presented Ross as a suspect to Toschi in some form or other.

Similarly, you’d think he would have done the same to someone at RPD. Probably near impossible to get one’s hands on anything like that after all these years, though.

It could be as simple as the suggestion above, though: Peterson decided to ask around at the library, see if anyone had noticed anyone or anything – and then Ross came up.

One would expect (or at least hope) that this was done by the RPD first thing Monday morning. It sure appears the librarians were well aware of Ross and would have certainly shared their concerns with detectives. And perhaps they did but the question is why did Riverside LE seeming dismiss Ross’ at this early stage in the investigation?

Yes, I was thinking the same thing.

It would be very odd if the cops didn’t talk to the staff – it’s an obvious thing to do. Ross seems to have sprung to mind right away when Peterson talked to the librarian (and she states they were all creeped out by Ross, etc., so it wasn’t just her). You’d think someone there would have mentioned him to the cops.

And, well – if I were a cop and someone told me roughly what the librarian told Peterson, I’d check the guy out. Would be pretty much negligent not to.

Don’t forget the re-enactment the police did in the library. The man with the beard was missing but I don’t think Ross had a beard. Was Ross in the library the day Cheri was murdered? Was he at the re-enactment?

I liked Ross as a poi at first but now wonder if the librarian didn’t rush to judgment mainly because of the creep factors surrounding Ross.

Imo, the Zodiac is more likely to be a ordinary looking man and would be the last person anyone known to him would suspect rather than someone like Ross who was noticeable because of his dress, odor, strange poem writing, etc.

A – His brother lied on his behalf (alibi)
B – Ross was investigated and his alibi was verified
C – Riverside PD did not do anything in regards to Ross

Ross as POI for CJB is hard to dispute..we know he was there..Ross as POI for being the Z..yea i can see some aspects but explicit link is lacking (as well for all others)..may be the Z was a kansas city A’s fan and when they left KC to oakland in 68 he followed determined to raise hell/havoc in the bay area..(ok i give a KC connection a 1% chance-for now)

I would bet Ross was not in the library that night. (I guess he could have been hiding outside). Would love to get a look at the list of kids who came to the meeting. Ross was a big guy – hard to miss.

Ross was checked by the Cops according to Joann Bailey, but he supposedly had an alibi. Could his alibi be a bogus one? Sure, but even if he didn’t kill Cheri and had an alibi, he could still be Z. Remember, as soon as the Librarians heard about Cheri, they thought of Ross, and sure enough, he was away from the Library in the days after the murder. Why was he away? He was a fixture in the library,so missing for days following the murder, was easily noticed.

A VERY important question IMHO is:

If Ross Sullivan couln’t drive, how could he possibly be the Zodiac Killer???

http://ratter.com/this-mans-brother-is- … 1702397797

Sullivan’s high school friend Allan Silliphant told me, Sullivan’s intellect matched that commonly associated with the Zodiac: while Silliphant read comic books as a child, Sullivan scanned the New Yorker.
But Silliphant, like others, is not at all convinced that his old pal is the Zodiac, even if Morford is sure. Sullivan couldn’t drive, and so he has a hard time believing Sullivan could have traveled across the Bay Area or escaped the scenes as easily as the Zodiac did. He was also far too fat, Silliphant said, to pull off these killings in the light of the day and not be caught.

A VERY important question IMHO is:

If Ross Sullivan couln’t drive, how could he possibly be the Zodiac Killer???

http://ratter.com/this-mans-brother-is- … 1702397797

Sullivan’s high school friend Allan Silliphant told me, Sullivan’s intellect matched that commonly associated with the Zodiac: while Silliphant read comic books as a child, Sullivan scanned the New Yorker.
But Silliphant, like others, is not at all convinced that his old pal is the Zodiac, even if Morford is sure. Sullivan couldn’t drive, and so he has a hard time believing Sullivan could have traveled across the Bay Area or escaped the scenes as easily as the Zodiac did. He was also far too fat, Silliphant said, to pull off these killings in the light of the day and not be caught.

Whether Ross drove a car is obviously a key fact, and needs to be verified by a second source of information before anyone can even think about making a decision about whether Ross was the Zodiac. Silliphant was Ross’s childhood friend, and probably didn’t know about where Ross was or doing in 1968-69. It all boils down to the evidence, of which there is not enough. However, there is enough information about Ross to keep him as a POI and justify making further investigations.

A VERY important question IMHO is:

If Ross Sullivan couln’t drive, how could he possibly be the Zodiac Killer???

http://ratter.com/this-mans-brother-is- … 1702397797

Sullivan’s high school friend Allan Silliphant told me, Sullivan’s intellect matched that commonly associated with the Zodiac: while Silliphant read comic books as a child, Sullivan scanned the New Yorker.
But Silliphant, like others, is not at all convinced that his old pal is the Zodiac, even if Morford is sure. Sullivan couldn’t drive, and so he has a hard time believing Sullivan could have traveled across the Bay Area or escaped the scenes as easily as the Zodiac did. He was also far too fat, Silliphant said, to pull off these killings in the light of the day and not be caught.

I am going to move this to the Pros/Cons section of Ross being Zodiac.

In the meantime, I will say as I have said a bunch here, Silliphant told me that Ross was 300 lbs in high school. We see pics of Ross in his Senior year, does he look 300 lbs???NO he does not, so a witness may see him and report him as being in the 200’s. Silliphant told me on the phone Ross was 300lbs, but he wasn’t a rolly-polly fat, but rather solid and he even used the word ‘AGILE’. Then he turns around in the interview for Ratter and states that he thought Ross may be too fat. Zodiac wasn’t running marathons or taking part in decathalons etc. He was pulling up to people and getting out and shooting them. Zodiac didn’t have to be in top shape, and my Hartnell’s account, he wasn’t. Hartnell himself said he had a belly hanging over his belt.

As far as not driving, Silliphant lost touch with him after 1962 or so. That’s 4 years before Bates was killed, and 7 years before Zodiac was attacking, so Ross could have been driving by then. Joann Bailey stated in 1966,Ross was driving a motorcycle. Also, somebody here said that they seemed to recall Gerald Katz mentioning Ross drove a VW like Cheri’s. I personally don’t remember reading that, but if somebody recalls that being mentioned, please point me in the right direction

A VERY important question IMHO is:

If Ross Sullivan couln’t drive, how could he possibly be the Zodiac Killer???

http://ratter.com/this-mans-brother-is- … 1702397797

Sullivan’s high school friend Allan Silliphant told me, Sullivan’s intellect matched that commonly associated with the Zodiac: while Silliphant read comic books as a child, Sullivan scanned the New Yorker.
But Silliphant, like others, is not at all convinced that his old pal is the Zodiac, even if Morford is sure. Sullivan couldn’t drive, and so he has a hard time believing Sullivan could have traveled across the Bay Area or escaped the scenes as easily as the Zodiac did. He was also far too fat, Silliphant said, to pull off these killings in the light of the day and not be caught.

Whether Ross drove a car is obviously a key fact, and needs to be verified by a second source of information before anyone can even think about making a decision about whether Ross was the Zodiac. Silliphant was Ross’s childhood friend, and probably didn’t know about where Ross was or doing in 1968-69. It all boils down to the evidence, of which there is not enough. However, there is enough information about Ross to keep him as a POI and justify making further investigations.

Allan definitely lost touch with Ross after 1962 or so,so yes, he didn’t know what Ross was up to in 1966 or 1969.

Ok-find the DL record for Ross..but even not locating a DL for Ross does not mean he could not drive..many boys (ok its 2015 so some chicks too) could drive cars well before 16 years of age..Ross with a VW is interesting (X connection) but we are again lacking proof he had/drove/owned a VW let alone a motor vehicle…Ross does fit my Z profile in that he was artsy..i still think Z was an artsy nut with anti war ties thru Berkley..still think Z’s high skol years were in Riverside and he went north to berkley and dropped out after a year or 2..course like anything Z the fog is thick and anything u think you know should be considered wrong

Ross COULDN’T drive or DIDN’T drive? Did he just not own a vehicle or was unable to get a license because of a medical condition? I used to steal my mom’s car when I was 14 and would drive with no license, so how do we know that Ross didn’t drive? It’s not that difficult to borrow a vehicle from someone. How do we know that the man from the sketch at Lake Berryessa wasn’t a friend of Zodiac that drove him there? How do we know Zodiac drove after the murder of Paul Stine? For all we know, he hid out at KQ’s house after the killing.

We can’t rule Ross out just because he MAYBE did not drive.

Ok-find the DL record for Ross..but even not locating a DL for Ross does not mean he could not drive..many boys (ok its 2015 so some chicks too) could drive cars well before 16 years of age..Ross with a VW is interesting (X connection) but we are again lacking proof he had/drove/owned a VW let alone a motor vehicle…Ross does fit my Z profile in that he was artsy..i still think Z was an artsy nut with anti war ties thru Berkley..still think Z’s high skol years were in Riverside and he went north to berkley and dropped out after a year or 2..course like anything Z the fog is thick and anything u think you know should be considered wrong

Interesting. I have always thought a Riverside H.S., Berkeley and being Anti-War were real possibilities as well, but I haven’t looked to close at those things because I have not seen a good POI that is a match to those things.