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.

Dan Quayle…now that is a name that takes me back!!!

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.

Dan Quayle…now that is a name that takes me back!!!

Haha and guess I age myself with this post.

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.

No. Honestly, the sketches are pretty irrelevant in terms of my original post. The spreadsheet I created takes the eyewitness descriptions and makes it possible to compare them all at once. Looking at the descriptions (not necessarily the sketches) can provide a mental image of the guy.

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.

No. Honestly, the sketches are pretty irrelevant in terms of my original post. The spreadsheet I created takes the eyewitness descriptions and makes it possible to compare them all at once. Looking at the descriptions (not necessarily the sketches) can provide a mental image of the guy.

Yeah, I would recommend to anyone to read your spreadsheet rather than looking at any sketches!

No. Honestly, the sketches are pretty irrelevant in terms of my original post. The spreadsheet I created takes the eyewitness descriptions and makes it possible to compare them all at once. Looking at the descriptions (not necessarily the sketches) can provide a mental image of the guy.

Or guys.

No. Honestly, the sketches are pretty irrelevant in terms of my original post. The spreadsheet I created takes the eyewitness descriptions and makes it possible to compare them all at once. Looking at the descriptions (not necessarily the sketches) can provide a mental image of the guy.

Or guys.

The "guys" were heavyset with crew cuts and glasses. Must have been twins.

No. Honestly, the sketches are pretty irrelevant in terms of my original post. The spreadsheet I created takes the eyewitness descriptions and makes it possible to compare them all at once. Looking at the descriptions (not necessarily the sketches) can provide a mental image of the guy.

Or guys.

The "guys" were heavyset with crew cuts and glasses. Must have been twins.

Three times the MOs are quite similar. The other time, completely different. Must be the same guy??

But… didn’t the guy under the hood have long hair? Never mind, they all had to be the same guy.

This is why Chaucer’s spreadsheet is so useful. Other than the hair, the witness descriptions of Zodiac’s appearance are consistent in terms of his build and height.

There is reasonable speculation earlier in this thread on why his hair looked long and greasy at Lake Berryessa. An obvious one is that he grew it out in the months prior.

This is why Chaucer’s spreadsheet is so useful. Other than the hair, the witness descriptions of Zodiac’s appearance are consistent in terms of his build and height.

There is reasonable speculation earlier in this thread on why his hair looked long and greasy at Lake Berryessa. An obvious one is that he grew it out in the months prior.

I agree 100%, it is great work and I am not running it down in any way. I’m just saying, looking at the descriptions, I think it’s a lot safer to make sure you’re for certain looking at the same guy (like the PH witness statements, for instance) and realizing that when you combine descriptions from different crime scenes, there is a chance you’re looking at different people and if that’s the case, then descriptions that may be very accurate independently, would get muddled, if incorrectly combined.

There is reasonable speculation earlier in this thread on why his hair looked long and greasy at Lake Berryessa. An obvious one is that he grew it out in the months prior.

Depends on how short the hair was from Mageau’s description to Hartnell saying he could see it through the eye holes at LB.

In the just under three months between the attacks, the average hair growth would only be 1 1/2 inches.

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.

When we really only have 2 sketches to work with associated with this case its worth a try. Especially when the PH sketch is at odds with the general consensus of other witness descriptions.

When we really only have 2 sketches to work with associated with this case its worth a try.

Berryessa was not a sketch. A sketch is made by hand using a writing utensil.

Now that I see it all lined up I can see a clear pattern with the hair. Up until LB it’s described as reddish light brown, almost blond and then suddenly at LB it’s much darker. But now that I can see it all laid out on the spreadsheet I think I can see something else, the style changes. At LB it’s neatly parted and greasy. I think that explains the color change. He was wearing pomade, or a similar product.

As a long time user of various greasy hair products I’ve often noticed the way my medium brown hair looks almost black with certain types of pomade. It effects the light refraction. A similar effect is produced just by wetting the hair with water, but my observation has been that particularly greasy pomades achieve a much stronger darkening effect.

Just reupping this observation.

Now that I see it all lined up I can see a clear pattern with the hair. Up until LB it’s described as reddish light brown, almost blond and then suddenly at LB it’s much darker. But now that I can see it all laid out on the spreadsheet I think I can see something else, the style changes. At LB it’s neatly parted and greasy. I think that explains the color change. He was wearing pomade, or a similar product.

As a long time user of various greasy hair products I’ve often noticed the way my medium brown hair looks almost black with certain types of pomade. It effects the light refraction. A similar effect is produced just by wetting the hair with water, but my observation has been that particularly greasy pomades achieve a much stronger darkening effect.

Just reupping this observation.

You can go through these speculations to try to make it the same guy witnessed at BRS and PH, but the bottom line is:

This is one of a couple dozens ways LB is an outlier.

Now that I see it all lined up I can see a clear pattern with the hair. Up until LB it’s described as reddish light brown, almost blond and then suddenly at LB it’s much darker. But now that I can see it all laid out on the spreadsheet I think I can see something else, the style changes. At LB it’s neatly parted and greasy. I think that explains the color change. He was wearing pomade, or a similar product.

As a long time user of various greasy hair products I’ve often noticed the way my medium brown hair looks almost black with certain types of pomade. It effects the light refraction. A similar effect is produced just by wetting the hair with water, but my observation has been that particularly greasy pomades achieve a much stronger darkening effect.

Just reupping this observation.

You can go through these speculations to try to make it the same guy witnessed at BRS and PH, but the bottom line is:

This is one of a couple dozens ways LB is an outlier.

The hair looking different, but the rest of killer’s physical appearance matching other sightings of Zodiac, hardly suggests it was a different person. I’ll leave it at that.