A sketch artist on reddit made this composite based on all the witness descriptions.

A sketch artist on reddit made this composite based on all the witness descriptions.

Yeah, have seen this before.

What really intrigues me about that Reddit sketch is, for the most part, police sketches are terrible inaccurate up to 90 percent of the time according to most studies.
Yet some studies have shown you can drastically increase the accuracy of the police sketch if you combine and overlay 2 or more sketches of the same suspect.

If you only have one sketch you have to hope the eyewitness got everything right. Yet if you combine/overlay the sketches you can realize the consistencies and the incontinencies between the sketches. Which gives you a much better chance of producing a sketch which is accurate.

I think the LB guy was Zodiac, So I have no doubt that Reddit sketch is probably more in line with what the Zodiac looks like.

That reddit sketch has always looked a bit like Tom Voigt to me. Then again, I think Tom looks a lot like Paul Stine. Maybe I have a thing for Tom…

A sketch artist on reddit made this composite based on all the witness descriptions.

Yeah, have seen this before.

What really intrigues me about that Reddit sketch is, for the most part, police sketches are terrible inaccurate up to 90 percent of the time according to most studies.
Yet some studies have shown you can drastically increase the accuracy of the police sketch if you combine and overlay 2 or more sketches of the same suspect.

If you only have one sketch you have to hope the eyewitness got everything right. Yet if you combine/overlay the sketches you can realize the consistencies and the incontinencies between the sketches. Which gives you a much better chance of producing a sketch which is accurate.

I think the LB guy was Zodiac, So I have no doubt that Reddit sketch is probably more in line with what the Zodiac looks like.

Police sketch artists can be incredibly accurate and helpful to an investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Gibson

Ideally more artists would take a shot at drawing Zodiac (or commissioned) based on the witness descriptions, which could then be overlapped.

A sketch artist on reddit made this composite based on all the witness descriptions.

Yeah, have seen this before.

What really intrigues me about that Reddit sketch is, for the most part, police sketches are terrible inaccurate up to 90 percent of the time according to most studies.
Yet some studies have shown you can drastically increase the accuracy of the police sketch if you combine and overlay 2 or more sketches of the same suspect.

If you only have one sketch you have to hope the eyewitness got everything right. Yet if you combine/overlay the sketches you can realize the consistencies and the incontinencies between the sketches. Which gives you a much better chance of producing a sketch which is accurate.

I think the LB guy was Zodiac, So I have no doubt that Reddit sketch is probably more in line with what the Zodiac looks like.

Police sketch artists can be incredibly accurate and helpful to an investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Gibson

Ideally more artists would take a shot at drawing Zodiac (or commissioned) based on the witness descriptions, which could then be overlapped.

Yeah, they are wrong and inaccurate most of the time as I say. If you went out and found the best sketches on the internet I guarantee I could find 10 bad ones for every good one you could find.

Yeah, I am actually very familiar with her work. She estimates every 3 out of 10 sketches she does leads to an arrest. Which I still consider pretty low. Granted that she is probably the best in the business.

Of course, they can be useful. But let’s not forget Sketches have sent innocent people to jail for decades for crimes they did not commit.

“Persons viewing a sketch of a suspect should realize that the sketch is likely not very accurate and should not view it too literally.” Captain George W. Babnick Portland Oregon Police Burea

As long as people understand they are wrong most of the time, hence they should be taken with a pinch of salt that’s all I care about.

I just want to make clear that this thread isn’t necessarily about the sketch. It’s about ALL of the eyewitness’s verbal descriptions compiled into one spreadsheet. Of course, one sketch isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Neither will one eyewitness description. But when you begin to view these descriptions together, a mental picture of the suspect becomes much more clear.

I just want to make clear that this thread isn’t necessarily about the sketch. It’s about ALL of the eyewitness’s verbal descriptions compiled into one spreadsheet. Of course, one sketch isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Neither will one eyewitness description. But when you begin to view these descriptions together, a mental picture of the suspect becomes much more clear.

In any case, the reddit sketch is much closer to my mental image than the Presidio composites. This guy wasn’t slender faced, that’s for sure.

I just want to make clear that this thread isn’t necessarily about the sketch. It’s about ALL of the eyewitness’s verbal descriptions compiled into one spreadsheet. Of course, one sketch isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Neither will one eyewitness description. But when you begin to view these descriptions together, a mental picture of the suspect becomes much more clear.

Yeah sorry, we got a little sidetracked.

I think when you look at all the witness descriptions though it does become clear the PH sketch does not fit with how the Zodiac was constantly described.

I think that PH sketch wrongly gives many people the impression Zodiac was thin or more slender than what he actually was.

That’s why the work you did with the spreadsheet is so good in my opinion it helps dispell such myths and wrong impressions that some people have over the Zodiac appearance.

I just want to make clear that this thread isn’t necessarily about the sketch. It’s about ALL of the eyewitness’s verbal descriptions compiled into one spreadsheet. Of course, one sketch isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Neither will one eyewitness description. But when you begin to view these descriptions together, a mental picture of the suspect becomes much more clear.

In any case, the reddit sketch is much closer to my mental image than the Presidio composites. This guy wasn’t slender faced, that’s for sure.

For sure.

A sketch artist on reddit made this composite based on all the witness descriptions.

Yeah, have seen this before.

What really intrigues me about that Reddit sketch is, for the most part, police sketches are terrible inaccurate up to 90 percent of the time according to most studies.
Yet some studies have shown you can drastically increase the accuracy of the police sketch if you combine and overlay 2 or more sketches of the same suspect.

If you only have one sketch you have to hope the eyewitness got everything right. Yet if you combine/overlay the sketches you can realize the consistencies and the incontinencies between the sketches. Which gives you a much better chance of producing a sketch which is accurate.

I think the LB guy was Zodiac, So I have no doubt that Reddit sketch is probably more in line with what the Zodiac looks like.

Police sketch artists can be incredibly accurate and helpful to an investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Gibson

Ideally more artists would take a shot at drawing Zodiac (or commissioned) based on the witness descriptions, which could then be overlapped.

The new composite looks pretty good. The guy looks a little funny though. San Francisco funny, if you get my drift. A little fruity.

Chaucer suggests we overlap composite sketches. I have done this with the Presidio and Reddit composites. The Reddit one helpfully adds the full face described by witnesses to the famous sketch.

Chaucer suggests we overlap composite sketches. I have done this with the Presidio and Reddit composites. The Reddit one helpfully adds the full face described by witnesses to the famous sketch.

I wish I could like or upvote this. Looks very good. In my opinion, this has a much better chance of depicting what Zodiac actually looked like.

Chaucer suggests we overlap composite sketches. I have done this with the Presidio and Reddit composites. The Reddit one helpfully adds the full face described by witnesses to the famous sketch.

I wish I could like or upvote this. Looks very good. In my opinion, this has a much better chance of depicting what Zodiac actually looked like.

So in your mind, it makes sense to use descriptions of someone who might not have been the Zodiac, to create a sketch of what Zodiac looked like?

Wow.

I just want to make clear that this thread isn’t necessarily about the sketch. It’s about ALL of the eyewitness’s verbal descriptions compiled into one spreadsheet. Of course, one sketch isn’t going to be 100% accurate. Neither will one eyewitness description. But when you begin to view these descriptions together, a mental picture of the suspect becomes much more clear.

It doesn’t hurt to try, but some people act as if the composite sketches are photographs. They are not. For example, the SF drawings were made by a man who never even saw Zodiac’s face. And the Berryessa composite wasn’t even a sketch, it was prepared by an Identi-Kit, which was essentially a Mister Potatohead.

Dang it Tom and now you got to pick on Mr. Potato Head. That was a great toy growing up in the 70’s! To bad Dan Quayle didn’t have one growing up.