The murder of Sunny Lyn Dagowitz on December 16th 1970 in Los Angeles has been compared to the Riverside City College library murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966. Four years separate the crimes, yet both have some lines of similarity, although certainly not enough to draw any firm conclusions. Any connection to the Zodiac murders is tenuous, there is a composite drawing in this case, as there was at Presidio Heights, and there is a fleeting remark in the Los Angeles letter mailed by the Zodiac Killer on March 13th 1971, three months after this murder. In the letter, Zodiac was believed to be responding to the finding of Paul Avery, a San Francisco journalist, who forged a possible connection between Zodiac and the brutal stabbing of Cheri Jo Bates. The letter stated "This is the Zodiac speaking Like I have allways said, I am crack proof. If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses + do something. Because the longer they fiddle + fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my after life. I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there. The reason I'm writing to the Times is this, They don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others."
Sunny Lyn Dagowitz (18) was a sophomore in psychology and worked as an assistant to Raymond Orbach, vice chancellor for academic change at UCLA, Westwood. See area on Google Maps. It is situated 70 miles west of Riverside.
Sergeant Thomas Rogers stated that Miss Dagowitz, wearing capris and a blouse, had left the Foreign Students Center on the campus at 4:45 pm, less than half an hour before she was killed, estimated at shortly after 5:00 pm. She was attacked on the third tier of the campus parking structure,
Miss Dagowitz was stabbed with a large knife at least 15 times, after a violent struggle resulting in wounds to her chest, arms, hands and back. She had succumbed just eight feet from her car. Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi, Chief Medical Examiner for Los Angeles performed the autopsy, concluding she died from massive hemorrhaging. Two foreign students witnessed the attack and described how they heard a scream before seeing the assailant stabbing and slashing the young woman. One student tended to Miss Dagowitz while the other chased down the suspect to an exit in the parking structure. The man waved his knife at the student yelling "Get Back ! Get away", then disappeared. Unfortunately Miss Dagowitz died at the scene before help could arrive.
The suspect was described as in his early 20s, having neatly trimmed brownish-blond hair in a pompadour style, 5'6" to 5'8", 155-160 lbs, large framed glasses, wearing dark slacks and a light blue shirt. Detectives were impaired logistically because the campus was on finals schedule and many students had already begun their vacations - but irrespective of this hurdle - the ongoing task of searching and locating further eyewitnesses continued. Los Angeles Police sketch artist Ector Garcia created a composite sketch of the suspect and it was released to the public, along with the Daily Bruin newspaper who published two sketches (one with and one without glasses).
Sergeant Thomas Rogers stated that Miss Dagowitz, wearing capris and a blouse, had left the Foreign Students Center on the campus at 4:45 pm, less than half an hour before she was killed, estimated at shortly after 5:00 pm. She was attacked on the third tier of the campus parking structure,
Miss Dagowitz was stabbed with a large knife at least 15 times, after a violent struggle resulting in wounds to her chest, arms, hands and back. She had succumbed just eight feet from her car. Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi, Chief Medical Examiner for Los Angeles performed the autopsy, concluding she died from massive hemorrhaging. Two foreign students witnessed the attack and described how they heard a scream before seeing the assailant stabbing and slashing the young woman. One student tended to Miss Dagowitz while the other chased down the suspect to an exit in the parking structure. The man waved his knife at the student yelling "Get Back ! Get away", then disappeared. Unfortunately Miss Dagowitz died at the scene before help could arrive.
The suspect was described as in his early 20s, having neatly trimmed brownish-blond hair in a pompadour style, 5'6" to 5'8", 155-160 lbs, large framed glasses, wearing dark slacks and a light blue shirt. Detectives were impaired logistically because the campus was on finals schedule and many students had already begun their vacations - but irrespective of this hurdle - the ongoing task of searching and locating further eyewitnesses continued. Los Angeles Police sketch artist Ector Garcia created a composite sketch of the suspect and it was released to the public, along with the Daily Bruin newspaper who published two sketches (one with and one without glasses).
The composite sketch of the suspect (center) Just for comparison I have placed the eyewitness description in this case alongside the Presidio Heights sketch from October 18th 1969. Nothing astounding can be drawn from a comparison such as this, with the age range estimated at considerably younger in the Dagowitz case and the weight estimation at least 10 to 20lbs lighter than Officer Donald Fouke and the eyewitnesses by Julius Kahn playground described the Zodiac at Presidio Heights.
The suspect in the UCLA murder may very well be connected to the campus, or at the very least familiar with it. The modus operandi in Los Angeles does have more in common with the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates, although there is no eyewitness description of the suspect in the Cheri Jo Bates case, so if the Riverside murderer and Zodiac are separate individuals (which seems likely), then the door remains open. The murder of Sunny Lyn Dagowitz and Cheri Jo Bates both occurred on campus grounds, both killers were seemingly oblivious, or simply didn't care to the great risk of detection, both women were in close proximity to their vehicle when attacked and both were stabbed numerous times. The murder of Cheri Jo Bates and Sunny Lyn Dagowitz were separated by 70 miles and 4 years.
"I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game. This letter should be published for all to read it. It just might save that girl in the alley. But that's up to you. It will be on your conscience. Not mine. Yes I did make that call to you also. It was just a warning. Beware....I am stalking your girls now." The Confession Letter November 29th 1966.
The Sunny Lyn Dagowitz case is unlikely connected to either the Zodiac Killer or Cheri Jo Bates cases, but it is a crime that receives little coverage, so if you have any information regarding this December 16th 1970 cold case, please contact the Los Angeles Police Department. http://www.lapdonline.org/
The suspect in the UCLA murder may very well be connected to the campus, or at the very least familiar with it. The modus operandi in Los Angeles does have more in common with the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates, although there is no eyewitness description of the suspect in the Cheri Jo Bates case, so if the Riverside murderer and Zodiac are separate individuals (which seems likely), then the door remains open. The murder of Sunny Lyn Dagowitz and Cheri Jo Bates both occurred on campus grounds, both killers were seemingly oblivious, or simply didn't care to the great risk of detection, both women were in close proximity to their vehicle when attacked and both were stabbed numerous times. The murder of Cheri Jo Bates and Sunny Lyn Dagowitz were separated by 70 miles and 4 years.
"I am not sick. I am insane. But that will not stop the game. This letter should be published for all to read it. It just might save that girl in the alley. But that's up to you. It will be on your conscience. Not mine. Yes I did make that call to you also. It was just a warning. Beware....I am stalking your girls now." The Confession Letter November 29th 1966.
The Sunny Lyn Dagowitz case is unlikely connected to either the Zodiac Killer or Cheri Jo Bates cases, but it is a crime that receives little coverage, so if you have any information regarding this December 16th 1970 cold case, please contact the Los Angeles Police Department. http://www.lapdonline.org/
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