I don’t see how he could possibly say "for sure". Seems like Stine is the only "for sure" and even Conway from the VPD said he doubted that one.

I don’t see how he could possibly say "for sure". Seems like Stine is the only "for sure" and even Conway from the VPD said he doubted that one.

Maybe they had something that they did not release.

a pot bellied man about 6 ft tall

That’s interesting, I would like to hear comment from the Riverside police on this article.

Maybe they had something that they did not release.

There must be something. In fact, to me the unreleased SFPD material is one of the biggest X factors in this case – and I hope we all get to see it someday soon.

As for six victims, that’s interesting to see – but hardly surprising. Toschi and Armstrong clearly bought the Riverside connection – they tried pretty hard at one point to connect Allen to it too, IIRC.

Doesn’t mean they were right – they were clearly NOT right about other things, after all.

I am not sure how or why I feel that Z left something behind deliberately from each murder scene. But if he did it may well answer the question of why they are so sure of the victims, do the Police/FBI have that something that has not been released yet. Are all the cards on the table?

I am not sure how or why I feel that Z left something behind deliberately from each murder scene. But if he did it may well answer the question of why they are so sure of the victims, do the Police/FBI have that something that has not been released yet. Are all the cards on the table?

Well, RPD swears up & Down that Bates is NOT A Zodiac Victim, so I doubt there was a memento left at her scene.

Except a watch

Except a watch

Yeah, but unless there was a watch left at every Z scene, it would be hard to link all the cases

I have swung back and forward on this being a Zodiac crime, but feel the Confession Letter and Riverside Desktop Poem, despite the vile content they contain, come across as an immature teenager and empty threats, whereas his later material does not give me this impression. He appears to be addressing peer to peer in the Confession Letter, unlike his reference to boy, girl and his condescension in later material.

I have swung back and forward on this being a Zodiac crime, but feel the Confession Letter and Riverside Desktop Poem, despite the vile content they contain, come across as an immature teenager and empty threats, whereas his later material does not give me this impression. He appears to be addressing peer to peer in the Confession Letter, unlike his reference to boy, girl and his condescension in later material.

Looking at Riverside all the way to the 1974 letters, one can really see the evolution of Zodiac. I think if you look at the full communication and it’s progression, you can see, not so much the similarities, but the evolution.

I agree with both of you, there seems to be an evolution in the letters from Riverside to those of Zodiac(assuming they were all authored by the same Guy),also, don’t forget the Confession letter mention of ‘making that call’, which further matches Zodiac’s habits. I don’t know if Z killed Cheri, but looking at all of the Bates writing evidence when compared against Zodiac, seems hard to not think the same person did all of the writing.

Progression or development of some kind is likely, and has to be taken into consideration. So, yes – it would be foolish to rule out an earlier, possible communication simply because it didn’t match the later ones on certain points.

The question is precisely what points, however.

The Confession author is intimate, personal. He talks about the warmth and firmness of breasts – and goes into disturbing details about body parts.

If this author is Z, he completely changes his style in later communications. This level or degree of intimacy and explicitness is NEVER reached again. The author of the "confirmed" Z letters hardly says a word about his victims beyond purely technical information.

Is this a likely development? From an abundance of "emotion" (for lack of a more precise or appropriate term) to an absence of the same?

I don’t know – honestly. I’m just a rank amateur when it comes to this – but the difference is patent.

If this author is Z, he completely changes his style in later communications. This level or degree of intimacy and explicitness is NEVER reached again. The author of the "confirmed" Z letters hardly says a word about his victims beyond purely technical information.

Interesting observation. Perhaps, if the confession writer knew Cheri, he regretted giving clues that might show a personal connection to Cheri, and later as Z decided that the less info the better