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RICHARD GRINELL, COVENTRY, ENGLAND
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CHERI JO BATES: RE-EVALUATING THE CRIME SCENE [PART TWO]

9/27/2017

 
Here we will take an even deeper look into the events of October 30th 1966, partially using the excellent timeline of Ray Grant from his book 'Zodiac Killer Solved.' We may disagree on certain aspects of the crime, but he makes extremely interesting observations regarding the movements of Cheri Jo Bates that evening, and the fact that the young woman would never have willingly left her prized Volkswagen Beetle in the state it was found the following morning. 

We can agree that Cheri Jo Bates left her 4195 Via San Jose residence at approximately 5:05 pm. The next important sighting was from a Mexican-American student, who later stated that "he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her in the library the night in question. He said he saw the girl "writing something with a ball point pen" in her blue spiral school notebook. The boy told us he was outside about 5.30 pm, waiting for the library to open at 6, and it was then he saw the girl." This statement can be interpreted in two ways. He either saw the girl at 5:30 pm or 6:00 pm. But on this occasion we will opt for around 5:30 pm for reasons explained in 'Zodiac Killer Solved,' while adding a further component from the 'Inside Detective' Magazine.
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​The journey time from her residence to Terracina Drive, where her vehicle was ultimately found 'abandoned,' is a journey time of about 12-15 minutes. She parked her vehicle 30 yards east of the library annex, as explained in the previous article, on the right hand side of the road. The time now is 5:20 pm. She walked the short distance to the library where the Mexican-American student noticed Cheri Jo Bates "about 5:30 pm." It was likely a few minutes before, because as Ray Grant pointed out, she would eventually notice she wasn't in possession of her bibliography and ventured off to place a payphone call to her co-worker Donna at the Riverside National Bank at 5:30 pm who said she hadn't seen the bibliography. This call probably lasted for approximately 5 minutes, because the next sighting of Cheri Jo Bates was at 5:40 pm when she returned back to her vehicle by the library. This eyewitness was not 100% sure of the girl's identity, but there is a high probability it was Cheri Jo Bates, as she was returning to her vehicle to make the journey back home to retrieve her bibliography.                
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This is where the 'Inside Detective' Magazine comes in handy. It stated "The participants in the reenactment at the detectives' request, wore the same clothing and sat in the same seats that they had occupied the Sunday night of the murder. They were also asked to park their cars in the same places they had on the night of October 30. It had been determined that Cheri Jo (or a girl resembling her and in similar clothes) had arrived at the library about 5:40 pm and waited for about 20 minutes for the doors to be opened. The girl apparently entered the library as soon as the doors were opened at 6:00 pm, and checked out the books she had come for." This seemingly near corroborates everything before it - the sighting of the Mexican-American student just before 5:30 pm, the phone call to Donna at 5:30 pm, and her return to the library at 5:40 pm. There is one big problem however, pointed out by Ray Grant in 'Zodiac Killer Solved.'
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Cheri Jo Bates was spotted by two eyewitnesses (a March Air Force Base man and a friend of Cheri's driving on Magnolia Avenue) that evening, arriving toward Terracina Drive at 6:10-6:15 pm. How could she be arriving at the college at 6:15 pm when supposedly she was entering the library at 6:00 pm, having earlier arrived at the college library around 5:20 pm? If she had arrived at the college twice, then she must have returned home at some point to search for her bibliography. 
If we take the 5:40 pm eyewitness sighting as Cheri Jo Bates, this may corroborate her Volkswagen Beetle parked only 90 feet east of the library entrance. She was returning from the payphone heading west to east, toward the library entrance, to consider a journey back home. Had her vehicle been parked 360 feet west of the library or 75 yards west of the alleyway, as asserted by Robert Graysmith, then this eyewitness would not have assumed Cheri Jo Bates was "arriving at the library at 5:40 pm." The magazine stated that apparently she entered the library at 6:00 pm, and had waited 20 minutes from arriving. It is highly likely this is supposition on behalf of the investigators, based upon the 5:40 pm sighting. As Ray Grant suggested, Cheri Jo Bates likely entered her vehicle at 5:40 pm or thereabouts, and drove the 24 minute journey to and from her residence to collect her bibliography. Allowing for the turnaround and locating her bibliography, 30 minutes is a reasonable estimate, placing her arriving back on Terracina Drive at 6:10 pm where she was spotted by both the March Air Force Base man and her friend.

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In one newspaper article it stated, "Some of her friends were at the library between 7 and 9 pm, but none can recall seeing Cheri. She had been there, however, because three books stamped that day were found in the front seat of her yellow-green Volkswagen found parked on Terracina, near the annex. Someone else was there too. Someone who police believe knew Cheri- knew her well enough to recognize her car. The distributor had been tampered with and there was evidence that the man had been in the car with her. The keys were still in the ignition when the car was found the next day. Both windows had been rolled down and the right door was ajar." ​​
The 'Inside Detective' Magazine added that "the keys were in the ignition, but the car had been disabled and would not start. It was found that the distributor coil and condenser had been ripped out. Greasy finger and palm prints were discovered on the door of the car. Two school books and a notepad were found in the front seat." 
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Ray Grant believes that Cheri Jo Bates was abducted from her Volkswagen Beetle shortly after arriving at the library at 6:10-6:15 pm, indicating she never entered the library that night. Had the Mexican-American student only spotted Cheri Jo Bates at "about 5:30 pm" outside the library, then no eyewitnesses at all that night had recalled Cheri Jo Bates inside the library. Ray Grant believes it wasn't Cheri Jo Bates that checked out the library books, but the perpetrators of the crime. We may disagree on the events from 6:15 pm onward, but an abduction cannot be ruled out, as the young woman was 'missing' for just over 4 hours, until screams were heard coming from the alleyway where Cheri Jo Bates would ultimately be found by groundskeeper Cleophus Martin the following morning. She was almost certainly forcibly removed from her vehicle, particularly so, if only one assailant approached her vehicle that evening or night. If, as the 'Confession' letter intimated, she walked willingly away from her vehicle, then it is extremely unlikely a conscientious woman who prided her Volkswagen Beetle, would leave the keys in the ignition, with both windows rolled down and the doors unlocked, with one possibly ajar. The state of her vehicle clearly indicated she was under duress at this point.​  

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We have to emphasize the fact that both her vehicle windows were rolled down. 'In October 1966 the average high temperature in Riverside, CA was 80.7°F, and this was 0.2°F cooler than the average of 80.9°F. The hottest day in October 1966 was 31 October when the temperature reached 91.9°F. Overnight the average temperature in October is 51.8°F.' Had Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle been sitting idle for an extended period of time in front of her 4195 Via San Jose residence earlier that day, then the temperature inside her Volkswagen Beetle would have been stifling. This certainly would have necessitated her rolling down both windows before her journey. On either journey, it's highly likely one would roll down both windows to circulate the air in temperatures exceeding 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This fact alone may support her abduction or forcible removal from her vehicle as she parked up on Terracina Drive, before she had chance to roll up the windows and exit the vehicle. It may also explain the keys still in the ignition and the doors unlocked, with one not fully closed - especially if more than one assailant was involved. This however, is where the library books come into play in Ray Grant's diversion theory, in 'Zodiac Killer Solved'. It is an extremely interesting read. 
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If on the other hand she was forcibly removed, let's say under gunpoint or knife, shortly before 10:30 pm when she arrived back from her 'missing' 4 hours and then coerced into the alleyway, before being murdered, we have to ask ourselves the question -. would Cheri Jo Bates have arrived back at her vehicle at approximately 10:25 pm at night and rolled down both windows of her vehicle before attempting to drive away? Or had she rolled down the passenger side window for the sole purpose of conversing with somebody on the sidewalk, who was offering her assistance with the stricken vehicle? Were the unlocked doors, greasy fingerprints and "evidence that the man had been in the car with her," a sign that she initially felt comfortable with the good Samaritan - or that it was somebody she knew? All the evidence suggests that Cheri Jo Bates was forced from her vehicle that night, but was it around 6:15-6:20 pm, or shortly before 10:30 pm? Or is there another scenario, that may yet shed light on the events of October 30th 1966? 

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/cheri-jo-bates-re-evaluating-the-crime-scene
 
Zodiac Killer Solved by Ray Grant.  

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Lemonboy
9/27/2017 05:52:35 pm

Richard what about her last meal I've read an article that said the her last meal didn't fit in with the estimated time of death at 10:30. What if in the missing 4 hours she had maybe went out to eat with her killer. Although I know this can easily be dismissed since there would've been at least one witness.

Richard
9/27/2017 11:58:18 pm

At autopsy it was concluded that 'the gastric contents suggested she had eaten a supper type meal probably not more than 2 to 4 hours before death. If we take this as fact (having eat 4.30 ish), then she was murdered no later than 8.30 pm, or as early as 6.30 pm. It waa turning dark in Riverside circa 6.00 pm, but it takes some believing that for 2 and one half hours, 65 students and the public would fail to have noticed the stricken woman. There was allegedly also a female eyewitness to a man in the alleyway, smoking a cigarette around 9.30 pm. She reported no body. Then obviously screams at around 10.30 pm by at least two separate earwitnesses. These three people would all have to be dismissed to allow an earlier, and far riskier murder at 6.30-8.30 pm. Ray has stated that when under stress, as Cheri Jo Bates would have been if abducted, her digestion rate would have slowed, skewing the autopsy findings. This would be true, as bodily functions are diverted from tasks such as digestion, to the muscles and brain, in that flight or fight response. In times of great stress digestion slows. There are however many reasons for slower rates of digestion, which a cursory search on Google will show. Pinpointing the time of death using body temperature and stomach analysis, is not an exact science, down to the minute. Even Rene Modglin stated 2-4 hours. Time of death from autopsy is to be taken as a guide. Weighing up the evidence- 10.30 pm seems most likely to me. We would have to dismiss the screams heard by at least two independent people and further dismiss the woman walking the alleyway at 9.30 pm. Then assume with many people milling around, and traveling to and from the college between 6.30-10.30, nobody saw Cheri lying there for 4 hours. It's not impossible, but unlikely. The author of the Confession letter certainly is hinting at a 6.30 pm murder. Maybe that was a deliberate diversion to center the focus on the students and college.

Drew
9/28/2017 11:11:31 am

We don't know for sure on autopsy alone when she ate, but we know it was roast beef, so that sounds like food from home. The couple she met at the library who didn't come to the reconstruction could have made her dinner I suppose.

I think she took the books out and left before her 7pm friends. Her work likely wasn't completed by this time though. It seems like it was a small packed library on a warm night and although she had an evening of work to do, she already had her books so maybe she did her studying outside nearby in a quiet spot where someone evil may have noticed her, disabled the VW and waited.

No one has mentioned a sporting event happening on that night that I am aware of so the bleachers could have been a reasonable place. Of course we can't imagine her reading outside after dark unless she was studying in her car. I doubt there was sufficient ambient light on the street for that though. The four young workers would have to have left by that point as well.

I guess she had to be away from the college and returned at 10:30 to her disabled car with her books, and then the good samaritan approaches and stabs her to death. The handbag under her body not containing her library books is curious... yeah I have no answers!

You've done a great job going through this Richard. Lots to consider. I hope we learn something about that cigarette butt some day. I also hope Ray will join the discussion here.

Richard
9/28/2017 12:29:55 pm

As Ray pointed out, it is possible the 4 young men saw her at 5.20 pm pulling into Terracina and because nothing happened at this point, noticed nothing untoward. They left the area, then Cheri traveled back home at 5.40 pm. When she returns at 6.15 pm approximately she is abducted, or her vehicle tampered with (whichever you believe). The 4 men return sometime after and are seen by Walter Siebert and friends when they travel on Terracina to visit the library at 7.15 pm. It's a bit convoluted. If however the 4 men were sitting opposite her vehicle on the only occasion she pulled up to the library, (in other words she never returned home), then she couldn't have been abducted when she parked up. It certainly is an interesting case. It depends on how many of the recollections are accurate.

Richard
9/29/2017 12:54:16 am

Not withstanding that I believe a different version to Ray, the bibliography timeline makes a whole lot of sense. Where we differ is that Cheri never entered the library. I believe she entered around 6.15-6.20 and left almost immediately. The statement by the Mexican-American student is telling. He said "he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her IN the library the night in question."
My interpretation of the entire statement is that he was outside the library "around 5.30 pm". The library opened at 6.00 pm. Effectively, once inside the library "it was then he saw the girl." He isn't specific about the time he saw the girl. It's my contention it was circa 6.15 pm. But like I said the wording can be interpreted two ways. It's a matter of how you read the quote. Ray would disagree with my interpretation of the said quote, but I find it difficult to misinterpret the fact the Mexican-American student, who said "he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her in the library the night in question." In doesn't mean not in.

Drew
9/29/2017 09:36:43 am

I think we have to start with the idea that CJB was in the library even if the killer and his beard and lady friend were not. Even if she was followed to the library there is no compelling reason beyond Ray's confidence to believe otherwise. Is it a certainty that the hairs they found in CJB's hand were white male facial or could they not determine those three things?

What will always be strange to me is that far from trying to distance himself from the crime he writes to the police. Fine, but if he is so cocksure of himself why fictionalize the library narrative? Like the Zodiac he was in the clear when he started to screw with police. I don't think he was a student, library worker, bank worker, or anyone close enough to CJB's life that he could be found. It doesn't fit that he is trying to divert attention from the police checking bus stations and hotels and so forth because a month has passed.

I may forever be on the fence about whether Zodiac was responsible, but someone brought up a good point on Morphs site. Zodiac did say that his collection of slaves began in Benicia.

Thanks Richard

Richard
9/28/2017 03:04:21 am

The only thing I cannot get over, is regarding the library books being checked out of the library by the perpetrators, to squarely affix the crime around the college. Hopefully Ray will one day elaborate on this scenario, but sadly I'm not in his good books at the moment. Sorry for the pun. Hopefully we can put these disagreements to one side and move on. This is my take on this element of the crime.
I believe Riverside had never had an unsolved murder, and this was high profile, unprecedented in the man hours and suspects fingerprinted. The library reconstruction was testimony to the desire to leave no stone unturned. Every one of the 65 attendees were fingerprinted, along with hair samples being taken. Her Volkswagen Beetle, my guess, would equally have be scrutinized top to bottom for fingerprints on the steering wheel, doors, seat, dashboard, engine compartment etc. Assuming this to be the case, I see no reason that the 3 library books would be exempt from this process. The Riverside Police at this point were looking for an attacker, who could easily have carried Cheri Jo Bates' books for her, or at the very least touched them. Every angle must have been explored. Had these library books been checked out by another person in a team (possibly the 2 who didn't return for the reconstruction), who had then planted the books on her front seat, to make it appear Cheri had entered the library, when she hadn't, then I wouldn't have expected CJB's fingerprints to be on the library books. Obviously it depends on the surface of the library books. But if fingerprint lifts were possible from the books, I am sure police would have done so. Had they found none of Cheri Jo Bates' finger or palm prints on the books, then it would be clearly evident to them she had never entered the library to remove the books herself. They did however keep on insisting she entered the library. But was this suggestive of the fact, that they did find her fingerprints on the 3 library books. The only way round this, for the planting of the books scenario, is if the abductors forced Cheri Jo Bates to press her fingers on to each of the books, before planting them on the seat. I cannot believe these books were not fingerprint tested, due to the aforementioned effort police expended in the search for her killer/s. This library book scenario I cannot hurdle over when it comes to her being abducted at 6.20 pm, and somebody else checking her books out. If the books were unable to yield prints, because of the book cover material on all three books, then all bets are off. But if they found her prints on one or more of the books, this may explain why they were sure she entered the library early, despite none of the 65 attendees ever recalling seeing her. Hopefully Ray can offer an answer.

Lemonboy
9/28/2017 10:21:36 am

If she was taken by force near her car wouldn't there have been more signs of a struggle by the vw?although I agree that her leaving her car in the state it was doesn't add up. I also agree that they most likely looked at the book for fingerprints so I think the books being checked out by the killer can be ruled out. Weather it's a zodiac case or not it's a really interesting case.


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