On April 30th 1967 the supposed killer of Cheri Jo Bates mailed three handwritten letters to Joseph Bates, the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Riverside Police Department. All effectively carried the same message "Bates had to die there will be more." These letters bore resemblance to the Zodiac Killer's first three letters, mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, Vallejo Times-Herald and San Francisco Examiner.on July 31st 1969. Not only did both sets contain three constituent parts, they exhibited double postage and both carried the threat of more victims. In the July 31st 1969 mailings, the threat was to "cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend."
The two sets of letters were also accompanied by a symbol at the foot of the correspondence. The crosshairs of the Zodiac Killer are all too familiar, but what were the strange symbols at the foot of the Riverside Police Department and Riverside Press-Enterprise correspondence. They do not appear to be a regular letter Z, as both have an elaborate tail off the left side, as shown in the above image.
The Zodiac Killer was not averse to placing his running total of victims at the foot of each letter, and this may be the case in the Bates letters. In one of Zodiac's mailings he sent us the 'Halloween' card addressed to Paul Avery, but possibly replaced the victim count with an elaborate symbol on the inside of the card. We know he was inferring 14 victims over the entire card, so why should the symbol be any different. Below is a depiction of one possible interpretation.
The two sets of letters were also accompanied by a symbol at the foot of the correspondence. The crosshairs of the Zodiac Killer are all too familiar, but what were the strange symbols at the foot of the Riverside Police Department and Riverside Press-Enterprise correspondence. They do not appear to be a regular letter Z, as both have an elaborate tail off the left side, as shown in the above image.
The Zodiac Killer was not averse to placing his running total of victims at the foot of each letter, and this may be the case in the Bates letters. In one of Zodiac's mailings he sent us the 'Halloween' card addressed to Paul Avery, but possibly replaced the victim count with an elaborate symbol on the inside of the card. We know he was inferring 14 victims over the entire card, so why should the symbol be any different. Below is a depiction of one possible interpretation.
The four dots are harder to interpret, but by joining three alphabetical letters together 'Zodiac Victims Fourteen' is realized. Was this a 'modern' twist on his earlier, yet more rudimentary version on the Bates letters.
On first glance the Bates symbol could be interpreted as a joined 3 and V, indicating three victims. After all, the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates was claiming previous victims, apparent in the 'Confession' letter he mailed one month after her murder. It stated "She is not the first and she will not be the last. I lay awake at night thinking about my next victim." The question is, were his next victims that of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968, just two years later.
The Zodiac Killer first gave us a running total of seven on the 'Dripping Pen' card, mailed on November 8th 1969. The Zodiac claimed "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7" at the foot of the card. At this point in time we knew of five Zodiac murders, that included David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in December, Darlene Ferrin in July, Cecelia Shepard in September, and Paul Stine in October. We were missing two.
If we also included Cheri Jo Bates into October, then we would be missing only one victim in August. If the Zodiac Killer was the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates, then was his first victim just two months earlier in August 1966 and Cheri was "not the first and was not to be the last." This would give us the total of seven victims the Zodiac was referring to in the 'Dripping Pen' card. Is it possible the Zodiac Killer had already adopted his pseudonym as early as 1967, bearing in mind the symbol on the Bates letters does not conform fully.
One interpretation of the Bates symbols could have inspired his design on the 'Halloween' card, shown below. The number 2 (or possibly 3) tagged onto the left side of the arrangement, as opposed to 'fourteen' on the 'Halloween' card, tagged onto the right side. However it may be a little convoluted, and would presuppose his use of the pseudonym Zodiac in 1967, which could not be backed up with anything tangible.
On first glance the Bates symbol could be interpreted as a joined 3 and V, indicating three victims. After all, the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates was claiming previous victims, apparent in the 'Confession' letter he mailed one month after her murder. It stated "She is not the first and she will not be the last. I lay awake at night thinking about my next victim." The question is, were his next victims that of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on December 20th 1968, just two years later.
The Zodiac Killer first gave us a running total of seven on the 'Dripping Pen' card, mailed on November 8th 1969. The Zodiac claimed "Des, July, Aug, Sept, Oct = 7" at the foot of the card. At this point in time we knew of five Zodiac murders, that included David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in December, Darlene Ferrin in July, Cecelia Shepard in September, and Paul Stine in October. We were missing two.
If we also included Cheri Jo Bates into October, then we would be missing only one victim in August. If the Zodiac Killer was the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates, then was his first victim just two months earlier in August 1966 and Cheri was "not the first and was not to be the last." This would give us the total of seven victims the Zodiac was referring to in the 'Dripping Pen' card. Is it possible the Zodiac Killer had already adopted his pseudonym as early as 1967, bearing in mind the symbol on the Bates letters does not conform fully.
One interpretation of the Bates symbols could have inspired his design on the 'Halloween' card, shown below. The number 2 (or possibly 3) tagged onto the left side of the arrangement, as opposed to 'fourteen' on the 'Halloween' card, tagged onto the right side. However it may be a little convoluted, and would presuppose his use of the pseudonym Zodiac in 1967, which could not be backed up with anything tangible.
Assuming the Bay Area and Riverside killer are the same person, it is conceivable that the murder of Cheri Jo Bates was one of his earliest crimes, possibly the second. The 'Confession' letter stated "She is not the first and she will not be the last," and the 'Dripping Pen' card total, if to be believed, left only one victim in August.
Had the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates killed a second victim, only two months earlier in August. His murders may have displayed much less organization back in 1966, exemplified by the brutal stabbing in the grounds of the Riverside City College, only yards from the library annex. His letter writing may equally have looked amateurish, after all, he was in the infancy of his terror.
On the right may be an early example of the Zodiac Killer's running victim total, inferring '2 victims' (or possibly '3 victims').
However, we were two murders short on the 'Dripping Pen' card, so this coupled with the five murders in the Bay Area brings us to the correct total of seven, by November 8th 1969. The total on the 'Dripping Pen' card may only be crimes under the Zodiac umbrella, which he adopted in 1969, which do not include any of the Riverside attacks. Nevertheless, the Bates symbols may still be an early example of a running victim count, which he refreshed when he became Zodiac. If this is the case, then the hunt for victims six and seven will have to start again, maybe somewhere other than Riverside.
On the right may be an early example of the Zodiac Killer's running victim total, inferring '2 victims' (or possibly '3 victims').
However, we were two murders short on the 'Dripping Pen' card, so this coupled with the five murders in the Bay Area brings us to the correct total of seven, by November 8th 1969. The total on the 'Dripping Pen' card may only be crimes under the Zodiac umbrella, which he adopted in 1969, which do not include any of the Riverside attacks. Nevertheless, the Bates symbols may still be an early example of a running victim count, which he refreshed when he became Zodiac. If this is the case, then the hunt for victims six and seven will have to start again, maybe somewhere other than Riverside.