So I am fairly new to this case. But believe me I’ve been doing a lot if reading up on this case, including reading up I each of the listed suspects. One thing I’ve learned is that ever listed suspect seems guilty as presented by their presenter. Another conclusion I’ve come to is that non of the suspects match the sketch from the Stine killing. Sometimes we say that our suspects don’t look like the sketch because he may have been in disguise, others discount someone’s suspects because he doesn’t match the sketch. But lets all face it, non of our favorite suspects match, some of them might match if we squint just right. Me, I favor Kane as the Zodiac. I know, I know he doesn’t match the Stine sketch. There are many reasons I think he’s the best suspect but the main reason is because of his behavior.

Since non them match "The Sketch" maybe it’s exactly that, "non of them."
Or maybe he’s that smart, that brilliant.

Even at the end of your post you are, I think, beginning to get a feel of this ‘hunt’. Yes, I agree that when it comes to POI’s people have, and probably still do, present their suspect as guilty or ‘the one’. That’s quite natural, although it can be offputting, but you have to consider that the things people find on their POI’s can be compelling in their own investigation so when it comes to presenting that information, it’s not strange to me that they would intimate those feelings and attach them to the stuff they post. In a way its like saying "I found this really interesting, how does anyone else feel about this?" It’s a subtle way of seeking validation for their claims, or at the very least, their feelings.

The Stine Composite is tricky. First we have to accept that it’s an approximation of what Zodiac looked like. We read into the details in that sketch but I’m not sure if that’s helpful or advisable. It’s not a portrait. Take the composite of TK as the unabomber. Other’s have used that as an example of how accurate a composite can be. Yes, it may well be a very well drawn depiction of how TK was seen on that occasion and subsequently translated into a police sketch. I myself am an artist and have, in my time practised and studied life drawing of people and faces. I can say that the ‘face’ in the TK composite looks nothing like TK actual face, to me at least. The comparison sketches in the, forgive me if I’m inaccurate here, Visalia ransacker and the EAR/ONS look way more like TK than the official composite. Because they include certain features like the shape of the mouth. That’s something we have to be mindful of when considering the Zodiac composite. Yes it might be official but how accurate is it? It’s a rough guide but not entirely rough, it’s a snapshot of a certain place and time filtered through at least two levels of interpretation, the witnesses and the artist. Even at that it was re-done.

That’s not to say it isn’t spot on. We don’t know that because we haven’t found the guy…yet. It is however what we have to go on and I don’t doubt that, at the time, those involved in creating it had only one motivation, to try and be as accurate as possible. Especially given the brevity of the situation.

So it’s always going to be ambiguous but I do think it serves the purpose it was intended for, as are all LE composites, to narrow down the suspect pool. Not matching the composite, I feel, can only be important when the not matching is something really obvious huge ears. Basically I see the composite as a blueprint in that respect. Huge ears, not included, really wide nose, not included, no eyebrows, not included. It’s probably a good use of the composite in that respect. If a POI has something facially obvious that’s not in the sketch then either it was missed by the witnesses or they don’t have it because it wasn’t them.

That takes us back to human perception. Just because we have a sketch doesn’t really tell us what the witnesses could have missed. We see what they saw at the time and then that’s translated into what might well be, portrait-wise, off the mark but what we see, I feel, is at least in the ballpark.

What I would love to hear is the witnesses’ feeling on it. Particularly the older witness who it was reported had an artistic way of thinking and was thus able to help refine the second sketch. You see that is interpretation at the very base level so it would be most interesting to hear what specific parts that witness had thoughts on. The chin, the eyes, the hairline. I would love to know what stuck in their mind most, even in a generic face something must have taken precedence.

So, in short, I feel , the composite is both useless and useful. It depends on how you view it. Even at that, your feelings about it can change over time.

One thing it tells us is that Zodiac wasn’t a 500lb Samoan. So it’s already useful in that regard lol.

So to answer your question more directly. It could be none of them but it could be any of them because they don’t fall outside of the ballpark. But maybe some do stray beyond the borders. That depends on other evidence as to whether or not the sketch is a deciding factor.

Just to finish on perception. We perceive what we do based on what we see. We don’t know Zodiac or see him in real life, someone has though, somewhere and to them that sketch might well be a portrait because they can tally the visual information in that sketch to an actual face. Something we don’t have the luxury of and as such, that’s why I can’t be dismissive of Kathleen John’s reaction to that sketch. That and Zodiac felt compelled to comment on it.

Do I think that the Zodiac didn’t look like the composite? Not exactly. More on that in a minute.

Next question: Do I think that the Zodiac isn’t any of the "popular" suspects? Probably not. But that’s just me.

Trav1 made great points about the usefulness, or maybe lack of, a composite. I’ve said many times that we need to keep in mind the point of a composite. It was designed to jog the memory of potential witnesses. It is not meant to be a reference for comparison to photographs of suspects by third parties.

It’s original purpose was for a time and place that is now past. For us it’s just a general description of what he might look like. If he looks nothing like that, then it’s probably not the guy.

I’d say there’s a very good chance Z is someone who has never even been mentioned on a forum before. The biggest handicap non LE investigators have, and one that grows with every year, is that the effectiveness of any investigation relies heavily on the POI’s social footprint. Nowadays we’d probably call it a digital footprint but fifty years ago it would have been things like yearbook photos, letters to friends, news articles etc – things of which normal, average, or particularly quiet solitary people may have very little remaining after so long.
It’s becoming the same as Jack The Ripper – if you think someone famous was the killer then you have a book’s-worth of data to write about. Think it was some poor Polish transitory worker? You might have a signature on a docking pass and nothing else….. so the trail goes cold. I can think of one or two Z suspects just off the top of my head that would be great to investigate if we just had more to work with, there must be a dozen more that have never been unearthed.
That said, some of the best suspects are known to us precisely because LE put the light on them at some point, so the community has benefitted from their help somewhat. I still think the odds sway in favour of an unknown, especially as the trend (and it is only a trend) for serial killers is to be more reclusive than the average person.

I don’t have a poi, so everyone’s poi is a poi to me. I don’t expect the police sketch to be an exact match, as they usually aren’t. As far as suspects go, I think Kasczinsky (sp?), Gaikowski, and Kane all make good suspects, but I’m far from convinced any of them are the culprit. I’m also keeping an open mind on Horan’s hoax theory. Really, I am. Hope that helps. LOL.

Thanks everyone for your responses. As I look at the Stine Sketch there are a few things that are for sure and a few things that are solid probables. Her’s my list. For sure: 1. He wore Glasses. 2. He was a white male (confirmed by four witnesses)

Solid probables: 1. his hair style

I will say this, Fouke seems to confirm most of the details of the sketch except that the sketch portrait him to be in thinner then he remembered. He may have said that he thought the perp. looked older then the sketch shows but I’m not sure of this.

I do have a few questions. Has anyone spoken to the the kid witnesses since the time of the Stine murder? Do we know who any of them are? I know at the times they were minors but have any of them come forward since then?

Thanks everyone for your responses. As I look at the Stine Sketch there are a few things that are for sure and a few things that are solid probables. Her’s my list. For sure: 1. He wore Glasses. 2. He was a white male (confirmed by four witnesses)

Solid probables: 1. his hair style

I will say this, Fouke seems to confirm most of the details of the sketch except that the sketch portrait him to be in thinner then he remembered. He may have said that he thought the perp. looked older then the sketch shows but I’m not sure of this.

I do have a few questions. Has anyone spoken to the the kid witnesses since the time of the Stine murder? Do we know who any of them are? I know at the times they were minors but have any of them come forward since then?

Mike R would the best person to ask and most probably he has already answered these questions in detail already.

Thanks everyone for your responses. As I look at the Stine Sketch there are a few things that are for sure and a few things that are solid probables. Her’s my list. For sure: 1. He wore Glasses.

He wasn’t wearing glassses when he attacked at BRS.

The thing with the composite, imo, it was as little as a disguise as possible. It’s always reminded me of Clark Kent and Superman. Did HE really fool everyone?

If you were going to disguise yourself, you would dress up…not down. But, sometimes the best disguise is looking like a million other men at the time.

I tend to think Zodiac is not any of the known suspects, and while the hoax theory has been around long before Horan, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if at least one of these crimes attributed to Zodiac was by a hoaxer…wanting Zodiac to take the blame. –and vice versa.

He did seem to have the same body size and shape as the other murders.

Me, I favor Kane as the Zodiac. I know, I know he doesn’t match the Stine sketch.

Kane is actually not a bad fit for the Presidio Heights sketch, if you slap a pair of glasses onto him.

Fouke is on hand as saying Kane looked a hell of a lot like the guy he saw that night.

Which isn’t to say, of course, that Kane WAS the guy he saw that night.

Hi-

Well, you can opine that "non of them look like the sketch" but my research went a bit further. My friend Jim and I were the only people who were able to speak to LR, one of the Stine eyewitnesses, and he almost had a meltdown when we showed him a photo of X with glasses on. He only knew him from his days after he had stopped wearing glasses. And after seeing that photo, he nearly went into a trance and he literally started mumbling to himself, he was so taken by how closely X resembled the man he saw that night. He found the comparison "disturbing."

Mike

Me, I favor Kane as the Zodiac. I know, I know he doesn’t match the Stine sketch.

Kane is actually not a bad fit for the Presidio Heights sketch, if you slap a pair of glasses onto him.

Fouke is on hand as saying Kane looked a hell of a lot like the guy he saw that night.

Which isn’t to say, of course, that Kane WAS the guy he saw that night.

Looks, body size and behavior makes Kane my top suspect.

Hi-

Well, you can opine that "non of them look like the sketch" but my research went a bit further. My friend Jim and I were the only people who were able to speak to LR, one of the Stine eyewitnesses, and he almost had a meltdown when we showed him a photo of X with glasses on. He only knew him from his days after he had stopped wearing glasses. And after seeing that photo, he nearly went into a trance and he literally started mumbling to himself, he was so taken by how closely X resembled the man he saw that night. He found the comparison "disturbing."

Mike

X of course is one of the few suspects that I can’t ‘look at’ and say "Oh, ok, I’m wrong."

Don’t you think that these to individuals look fairly simliar?

Forgot post the LB photo.