This so-called poem, measuring in its entirety just under 5.5 inches in length, was found by a janitor in a storage room at the Riverside City College library in the December of 1966. It was later determined to have been written with a blue ballpoint pen on the underside of a folding plywood desk (see FBI file at foot of page), with the author apparently reminiscing in the present tense about a knife attack that occurred a year earlier on April 13th 1965.
The Press and Daily Enterprise newspaper covered the story of a young woman, Roslyn Irene Atwood (19), who survived being stabbed in the lower abdomen at the Riverside City College by Rolland Taft, who was ultimately arrested and jailed for the crime. He wasn't responsible for the desktop poem or the murder of Cheri Jo Bates because he was still incarcerated in 1966, but it's fairly clear that the author of the desktop poem drew inspiration from this crime. The Press and Daily Enterprise headline on April 17th 1965 was entitled Clean-cut Youth Sought In Stabbing, seemingly having been mirrored by the desktop author, when they began with the two words cut and clean. The author signed off the poem with the letters rh, believed by many to be the initials of the author. However, bearing in mind the author of the desktop poem is reminiscing in the present tense of how "she won't die, this time someone'll find her", they are quick to remind us that we wait until next time. That "next time" being rh, possibly Riverside, Halloween, and the date the body of Cheri Jo Bates was discovered in the dirt driveway by Cleophus Martin. The Riverside Desktop Poem has become inextricably linked to the murder of Cheri Josephine Bates on October 30th 1966, who may possibly have been murdered on Halloween in Riverside, had the perpetrator managed to convince her to enter his vehicle (if that was the intention). Just like the November 29th 1966 Confession letter, there remains skepticism as to whether this was the work of the Zodiac Killer, despite perceived similarities in the handwriting and the use of phrases employed in later authenticated Zodiac correspondence. Cheri Jo Bates was a graduate of Ramona High School, situated at 7675 Magnolia Avenue in Riverside, which boasts a nationally acclaimed band and color guard as part of its Creative and Performing Arts program that has been featured in major motion pictures, television shows and commercials worldwide. California questioned documents examiner, Sherwood Morrill, formed the opinion that the handwriting on the desktop was consistent with that of the Zodiac Killer, however, because handwriting is subjective and open to interpretation, other experts in the field would disagree. Cheri Jo Bates had received 6 to 9 stab wounds to her body, and her neck had been slashed transversely 7 times by a presumed short-bladed knife on October 30th 1966 in a dirt driveway just off Terracina Drive, 75 yards west of the Riverside City College library. The middle distributor wire of her Volkswagen Beetle had been torn out, effectively disabling her car. There were no direct eyewitnesses to the murder, although people living in close proximity to the library recalled hearing screams sometime between 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm, and shortly thereafter, the sound of an old vehicle driving off. However, nobody alerted the police and it wasn't until 6:30 am on Halloween morning that her body was discovered by Riverside City College caretaker, Cleophus Martin. SEE CHERI JO BATES MURDER |
THE RIVERSIDE DESKTOP POEM
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WORDING ON THE RIVERSIDE DESKTOP (1966)
There may be an explanation for the rh written at the foot of the Riverside Desktop Poem that doesn't include the author's initials :
The Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966 by a Riverside janitor and may very well have been written at about the same time as the Confession letter on November 29th 1966 (likely by the same author). By the addition of "Just wait till next time. rh". the author is reminiscing in the present tense the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on Halloween. This was the date widely reported in the newspapers of when Cheri Jo Bates was discovered in the dirt alleyway. The "r" and "h" signifying riverside, halloween.
A comprehensive transcript of the Confession letter was published in the Inside Detective Magazine in January 1969, but when the Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966, the author of the poem should have had no knowledge of the contents of the Confession letter unless they were the author of both (unless you know of an earlier release). So let us make a comparison between the Desktop Poem and Confession letter, both of which begin with a title. The title of the Desktop Poem was "Sick of living/unwilling to die". When we look at the Confession letter the author types two sentences carrying the similar wording of "She was then very willing to talk to me" and "she went very willingly". The Confession letter author also typed "I am not sick. I am insane". In other words, the Desktop Poem title is embedded in the story of the Confession letter. The Desktop Poem concludes with the wording "She won't die, this time someone'll find her. Just wait till next time", suggestive of an impending death - and mirrored in the Confession letter when the author types the word "time" on a further three occasions and utilizes the word "die" in the same string of wording, by stating "When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die".
The Desktop Poem is only 45 words in length (including the title), and the 3 Bates letters were only 8 words in length. Yet both these communications had one thing in common with each other and the Confession letter. They all contained the phrase "to die", suggesting that it would be very unlikely for two or three separate authors to have created these communications, in absence of these being published in the newspapers at the time.
Riverside Desktop Poem: "Sick of living/unwilling to die".
Confession Letter: "I said it was about time for her to die".
Bates Letters: "Bates had to die" and "she had to die".
The Zodiac Killer never wrote this phrase in his communications.
Read more.
The Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966 by a Riverside janitor and may very well have been written at about the same time as the Confession letter on November 29th 1966 (likely by the same author). By the addition of "Just wait till next time. rh". the author is reminiscing in the present tense the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on Halloween. This was the date widely reported in the newspapers of when Cheri Jo Bates was discovered in the dirt alleyway. The "r" and "h" signifying riverside, halloween.
A comprehensive transcript of the Confession letter was published in the Inside Detective Magazine in January 1969, but when the Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966, the author of the poem should have had no knowledge of the contents of the Confession letter unless they were the author of both (unless you know of an earlier release). So let us make a comparison between the Desktop Poem and Confession letter, both of which begin with a title. The title of the Desktop Poem was "Sick of living/unwilling to die". When we look at the Confession letter the author types two sentences carrying the similar wording of "She was then very willing to talk to me" and "she went very willingly". The Confession letter author also typed "I am not sick. I am insane". In other words, the Desktop Poem title is embedded in the story of the Confession letter. The Desktop Poem concludes with the wording "She won't die, this time someone'll find her. Just wait till next time", suggestive of an impending death - and mirrored in the Confession letter when the author types the word "time" on a further three occasions and utilizes the word "die" in the same string of wording, by stating "When we were away from the library walking, I said it was about time. She asked me "about time for what". I said it was about time for her to die".
The Desktop Poem is only 45 words in length (including the title), and the 3 Bates letters were only 8 words in length. Yet both these communications had one thing in common with each other and the Confession letter. They all contained the phrase "to die", suggesting that it would be very unlikely for two or three separate authors to have created these communications, in absence of these being published in the newspapers at the time.
Riverside Desktop Poem: "Sick of living/unwilling to die".
Confession Letter: "I said it was about time for her to die".
Bates Letters: "Bates had to die" and "she had to die".
The Zodiac Killer never wrote this phrase in his communications.
Read more.
