The Riverside Police Homicide Cold Case Unit has issued a statement detailing a 2016 anonymous letter postmarked from San Bernardino, later revealed through DNA to have been mailed from a man who claimed he was a "troubled teenager" in 1966 and penned the three Bates letters as a sick joke. However, there is no supporting evidence presented by the police to validate that this individual is telling the truth. See One Hoaxer in 1966 and 1967.
On December 3rd 2025, dozens of FBI files were acquired in the case of Cheri Jo Bates (55 in total) by the excellent work of Zodiac researcher, Dion Walker (from New Zealand), who has given me access to them. The entire files can be viewed by clicking the image on the right.
On December 3rd 2025, dozens of FBI files were acquired in the case of Cheri Jo Bates (55 in total) by the excellent work of Zodiac researcher, Dion Walker (from New Zealand), who has given me access to them. The entire files can be viewed by clicking the image on the right.
Cheri Josephine Bates
Three lined letters measuring 8.5" by 11" were mailed on the six month anniversary of the slaying of Cheri Josephine Bates (18). The young college student was murdered on Sunday, October 30th 1966 in an alleyway close to the Riverside City College library, brutally stabbed and slashed numerous times with a short-bladed instrument. The killer had sabotaged her Volkswagen Beetle car by tampering with the middle wire of her distributor, with the intention of luring the young girl to her death. Read more...
The letters were mailed with two 4c Abraham Lincoln stamps (double postage) to the following addresses on April 30th 1967: Almost certainly a response to a newspaper article about Cheri Jo Bates on the same day (see below). The article mentioned the Confession letter mailed November 29th 1966 and stated "The letter told of how Cheri struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". The three Bates letters all contained the wording "There will be more".
1. Sent to her father, Joseph Bates, at 4195 Via San Jose, Riverside, California.
2. Sent to the Riverside Press Enterprise at 3512 14th Street, Riverside, California.
3. Sent to the Riverside Police.
ALL LETTERS AND ENVELOPES CAN BE VIEWED BELOW (WITH SUPERIMPOSED STAMPS).
Only the letter sent to the victim's father had been adapted to read SHE HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE. Like the Confession letter, mailed on November 29th 1966, a fingerprint was retrieved, but to this day no suspects have been identified. The letter Z, or something resembling it, was placed at the foot of the Riverside Enterprise and Riverside Police Department letters. The phrase "There will be more" was very likely created by using the words in the Press-Enterprise newspaper cutting below, which stated on the same day the letters were mailed "The last major piece of evidence came November 30 in the form of a confession letter sent to both the Riverside police department and the Press-Enterprise. The letter explained in detail how the writer allegedly tampered with Cheri's car, waited for her to return from the library and coaxed her away on the pretense of giving her a lift. The letter told of how she struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come".
The letters were mailed with two 4c Abraham Lincoln stamps (double postage) to the following addresses on April 30th 1967: Almost certainly a response to a newspaper article about Cheri Jo Bates on the same day (see below). The article mentioned the Confession letter mailed November 29th 1966 and stated "The letter told of how Cheri struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come". The three Bates letters all contained the wording "There will be more".
1. Sent to her father, Joseph Bates, at 4195 Via San Jose, Riverside, California.
2. Sent to the Riverside Press Enterprise at 3512 14th Street, Riverside, California.
3. Sent to the Riverside Police.
ALL LETTERS AND ENVELOPES CAN BE VIEWED BELOW (WITH SUPERIMPOSED STAMPS).
Only the letter sent to the victim's father had been adapted to read SHE HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE. Like the Confession letter, mailed on November 29th 1966, a fingerprint was retrieved, but to this day no suspects have been identified. The letter Z, or something resembling it, was placed at the foot of the Riverside Enterprise and Riverside Police Department letters. The phrase "There will be more" was very likely created by using the words in the Press-Enterprise newspaper cutting below, which stated on the same day the letters were mailed "The last major piece of evidence came November 30 in the form of a confession letter sent to both the Riverside police department and the Press-Enterprise. The letter explained in detail how the writer allegedly tampered with Cheri's car, waited for her to return from the library and coaxed her away on the pretense of giving her a lift. The letter told of how she struggled while she was being stabbed to death and the writer said there would be more killings to come".
1. Mailed to Joseph Bates
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2. Mailed to the Riverside Press Enterprise
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3. Mailed to the Riverside Police Department
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Riverside Press Enterprise
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Riverside Police Department
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FBI files, Zodiac 5, page 50/249
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