Just a quick recap of the article 'The Riverside Prophecy.'
The Zodiac Killer finished many of his communications with the running victim total. The Dripping Pen card gave us the time, in the form of a month, and the total. The Bus Bomb letter stated "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people."
The July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter warned us of future murders "If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night." The Halloween card is also believed by many to be a future threat towards Paul Avery.
What if we apply the same model to the Riverside Desktop Poem, where he signs off the poem with "Just wait till next time. rh." The Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966. But it might very well have been written prior to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, and the warning of "Just wait till next time. rh." was referring to the time and place of his next murder. Remember, the author of the Confession letter had suggested he was trying to lure Cheri Jo Bates into his vehicle. This may possibly indicate he had planned to murder Cheri Jo Bates later than the believed 10.30 pm, when screams emanated from the alleyway, likely on Halloween Day itself, but something clearly had resulted in the unplanned struggle in the alleyway and her 'premature' murder from the perspective of the killer. Had he achieved his objective in luring the young woman into his vehicle, the likely prediction of the Riverside Desktop Poem would have come true. "Just wait till next time. riverside, halloween."
The Zodiac Killer finished many of his communications with the running victim total. The Dripping Pen card gave us the time, in the form of a month, and the total. The Bus Bomb letter stated "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people."
The July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter warned us of future murders "If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night." The Halloween card is also believed by many to be a future threat towards Paul Avery.
What if we apply the same model to the Riverside Desktop Poem, where he signs off the poem with "Just wait till next time. rh." The Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966. But it might very well have been written prior to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, and the warning of "Just wait till next time. rh." was referring to the time and place of his next murder. Remember, the author of the Confession letter had suggested he was trying to lure Cheri Jo Bates into his vehicle. This may possibly indicate he had planned to murder Cheri Jo Bates later than the believed 10.30 pm, when screams emanated from the alleyway, likely on Halloween Day itself, but something clearly had resulted in the unplanned struggle in the alleyway and her 'premature' murder from the perspective of the killer. Had he achieved his objective in luring the young woman into his vehicle, the likely prediction of the Riverside Desktop Poem would have come true. "Just wait till next time. riverside, halloween."
Click to enlarge The 'Confession' letter ended with a threat: "Beware I am stalking your girls now." The Riverside Desktop Poem equally ended with a threat: possibly "Just wait till next time. riverside, halloween." If it was the time and place of the next murder, what is the chance that the Bates letters mailed to Joseph Bates, the Riverside Press Enterprise and the Riverside Police were also threatening a date and place of a further murder, but not necessarily one that came to fruition.
Many have speculated the author of the Bates letters signed off two of the communications with the letter Z. However, they have a misshapen upper portion, leading to the idea they could again be two letters, in similar vein to the Riverside Desktop Poem. Despite being joined, the nearest they resemble is the letter M followed by an L.
Bearing in mind the Riverside Desktop Poem may have been written in the early part of October, before the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, it was thought that the letter H possibly represented Halloween, thereby presenting an imminent threat.
The Bates letters were mailed on April 30th 1967. An imminent threat in this case, bearing in mind April was drawing to a close, would have been the month of May. This would provide the time or date, but what about the location.
Many killers will employ a 'buffer zone' to their residence, or a distance they can afford to travel without raising suspicion. Using the most basic form of geographical profiling, we shall look for a home location equidistant from the crime scene of the Cheri Jo Bates murder on Terracina Drive, and an area targeted in the month of May with the letter L.
Many have speculated the author of the Bates letters signed off two of the communications with the letter Z. However, they have a misshapen upper portion, leading to the idea they could again be two letters, in similar vein to the Riverside Desktop Poem. Despite being joined, the nearest they resemble is the letter M followed by an L.
Bearing in mind the Riverside Desktop Poem may have been written in the early part of October, before the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, it was thought that the letter H possibly represented Halloween, thereby presenting an imminent threat.
The Bates letters were mailed on April 30th 1967. An imminent threat in this case, bearing in mind April was drawing to a close, would have been the month of May. This would provide the time or date, but what about the location.
Many killers will employ a 'buffer zone' to their residence, or a distance they can afford to travel without raising suspicion. Using the most basic form of geographical profiling, we shall look for a home location equidistant from the crime scene of the Cheri Jo Bates murder on Terracina Drive, and an area targeted in the month of May with the letter L.
Cheri Josephine Bates One thing to consider first, is the evidence discovered in the alleyway close to Cheri Jo Bates' body.
The Department of Justice report described the heel prints at the Cheri Jo Bates crime scene as "those worn by Air Force personnel" and "was identified as a B.F. Goodrich waffle design, men's four-eighths inch washer type half heel. The B.F Goodrich Products Division of Akron, Ohio, reported that this type heel is only sold to the Federal prison industries at Leavenworth, Kansas. It was subsequently learned that Federal prison industries made low quarter military type shoes and supplied them to all the armed services using black dress shoes. The measurement of the heel indicated that it would have been attached to an eight to ten size shoe. Shoes bearing the same type heel were issued and sold at the PX at March Air Force Base in Riverside." In fact the Riverside Police Department would sum this up by stating "Physical evidence found at our crime scene indicated that heel prints found by the body were made by a heel that was manufactured for military and other government agencies, including prisons."
So let us look at March Air Force Base. This base is 14 miles from Terracina Drive, and is located 12 miles from Lakeview, almost equidistant between the two. Did our suspect reside at the March Air Force Base, and was setting his 'buffer zone' around this location. Lakeview is bordered by the Upland Game Hunting Area.
Leading to the the slim chance the threat on the Bates letters may possibly be "BATES HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE. MAY LAKEVIEW".
This is highly unlikely, because the author would then have joined two letters, something he didn't feel the need to do on the Riverside Desktop Poem, so if anybody can suggest another possible answer, please do not hesitate in offering your ideas in the comments section below.
The Department of Justice report described the heel prints at the Cheri Jo Bates crime scene as "those worn by Air Force personnel" and "was identified as a B.F. Goodrich waffle design, men's four-eighths inch washer type half heel. The B.F Goodrich Products Division of Akron, Ohio, reported that this type heel is only sold to the Federal prison industries at Leavenworth, Kansas. It was subsequently learned that Federal prison industries made low quarter military type shoes and supplied them to all the armed services using black dress shoes. The measurement of the heel indicated that it would have been attached to an eight to ten size shoe. Shoes bearing the same type heel were issued and sold at the PX at March Air Force Base in Riverside." In fact the Riverside Police Department would sum this up by stating "Physical evidence found at our crime scene indicated that heel prints found by the body were made by a heel that was manufactured for military and other government agencies, including prisons."
So let us look at March Air Force Base. This base is 14 miles from Terracina Drive, and is located 12 miles from Lakeview, almost equidistant between the two. Did our suspect reside at the March Air Force Base, and was setting his 'buffer zone' around this location. Lakeview is bordered by the Upland Game Hunting Area.
Leading to the the slim chance the threat on the Bates letters may possibly be "BATES HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE. MAY LAKEVIEW".
This is highly unlikely, because the author would then have joined two letters, something he didn't feel the need to do on the Riverside Desktop Poem, so if anybody can suggest another possible answer, please do not hesitate in offering your ideas in the comments section below.
The extreme left image is the Latin letter Z with a swash tail.
In 1931, it was adopted into the orthography of Shona for a 'whistled' z, but it was dropped in 1955 due to the lack of the character on typewriters and fonts. Wikipedia.
The image in the middle is the character rotated through 180 degrees, similar to the method Zodiac employed in his '13 Hole' and 'Pines' card, mailed on October 5th 1970 and March 22nd 1971 respectively. The Image on the immediate left is one of the Bates symbols.
Shona: "According to Shona tradition, the afterlife does not happen in another world like Christian heaven and hell, but as another form of existence in the world here and now. The Shona attitude towards dead ancestors is very similar to that towards living parents and grandparents." link.
THE RIVERSIDE PROPHECY [PART ONE]
In 1931, it was adopted into the orthography of Shona for a 'whistled' z, but it was dropped in 1955 due to the lack of the character on typewriters and fonts. Wikipedia.
The image in the middle is the character rotated through 180 degrees, similar to the method Zodiac employed in his '13 Hole' and 'Pines' card, mailed on October 5th 1970 and March 22nd 1971 respectively. The Image on the immediate left is one of the Bates symbols.
Shona: "According to Shona tradition, the afterlife does not happen in another world like Christian heaven and hell, but as another form of existence in the world here and now. The Shona attitude towards dead ancestors is very similar to that towards living parents and grandparents." link.
THE RIVERSIDE PROPHECY [PART ONE]