Sherwood Morrill Sherwood Morrill, Robert Prouty and Satoru C. "John Shimoda" were just three document examiners (of many) who had differing opinions as to the authenticity of Zodiac communications and the handwriting contained within them. For those interested in handwriting analysis need to read the principles of the Daubert Standard and the admissibility of expert testimony in a US court of law regarding such nonscientific methods as handwriting analysis, which is relevant to the Zodiac case.
In other cases, such as the JonBenet Ramsey murder, you can find many certified document examiners that will claim the 3-page ransom note found in the Ramsey household was written by Patsy Ramsey, while there are many others who will counter this argument. Therefore, the creation of a list of authenticated Zodiac communications, routinely trotted out by individuals such as Tom Voigt, can only be arrived at through percentages rather than complete agreement. In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument which is based on claiming a truth or affirming something is good because the majority thinks so. Just because the majority of people think the Fairfield letter or 148 character cipher & letter are obvious Zodiac hoaxes doesn't make it true. Conversely, the majority of people thinking the Fairfield letter or 148 character cipher & letter are genuine, equally doesn't make it true. These communications are either genuine or not - and this can only be ascertained through examination beyond handwriting analysis. The idea a defendant could be incarcerated for life based solely on the handwriting analysis of one document or letter is obviously preposterous, so claiming with utmost confidence that a Zodiac communication is genuine or otherwise, based solely on handwriting analysis is equally ludicrous.
Irrespective of these facts, individuals such as Tom Voigt continue to perpetuate this myth by constantly referring to his authenticated list of communications based on little more than handwriting and opinions formed many decades ago. New findings over the last 53 years, including the solving of the 340 cipher, has created new avenues to authenticate once believed hoaxes in the Zodiac case. And I reiterate, believed hoaxes based on nothing more than handwriting, the year the communication was mailed, and the tone of the letter. Nobody in good conscience can claim that the handwriting and tone of the July 31st 1969 letters and Melvin Belli letter are the same, yet both of these communications are from the Zodiac Killer. The Melvin Belli letter, if mailed in 1986, in absence of a shirt piece would be roundly dismissed by virtually everybody, just like the Paul Stine murder as being perpetrated by Zodiac in absence of his subsequent letter and shirt piece.
In other cases, such as the JonBenet Ramsey murder, you can find many certified document examiners that will claim the 3-page ransom note found in the Ramsey household was written by Patsy Ramsey, while there are many others who will counter this argument. Therefore, the creation of a list of authenticated Zodiac communications, routinely trotted out by individuals such as Tom Voigt, can only be arrived at through percentages rather than complete agreement. In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument which is based on claiming a truth or affirming something is good because the majority thinks so. Just because the majority of people think the Fairfield letter or 148 character cipher & letter are obvious Zodiac hoaxes doesn't make it true. Conversely, the majority of people thinking the Fairfield letter or 148 character cipher & letter are genuine, equally doesn't make it true. These communications are either genuine or not - and this can only be ascertained through examination beyond handwriting analysis. The idea a defendant could be incarcerated for life based solely on the handwriting analysis of one document or letter is obviously preposterous, so claiming with utmost confidence that a Zodiac communication is genuine or otherwise, based solely on handwriting analysis is equally ludicrous.
Irrespective of these facts, individuals such as Tom Voigt continue to perpetuate this myth by constantly referring to his authenticated list of communications based on little more than handwriting and opinions formed many decades ago. New findings over the last 53 years, including the solving of the 340 cipher, has created new avenues to authenticate once believed hoaxes in the Zodiac case. And I reiterate, believed hoaxes based on nothing more than handwriting, the year the communication was mailed, and the tone of the letter. Nobody in good conscience can claim that the handwriting and tone of the July 31st 1969 letters and Melvin Belli letter are the same, yet both of these communications are from the Zodiac Killer. The Melvin Belli letter, if mailed in 1986, in absence of a shirt piece would be roundly dismissed by virtually everybody, just like the Paul Stine murder as being perpetrated by Zodiac in absence of his subsequent letter and shirt piece.
Satoru C. "John Shimoda" It is not difficult to destroy the arguments presented by individuals such as Tom Voigt, when he lists the SLA , Citizen card and Red Phantom letter as genuine Zodiac communications (particularly the SLA and Red Phantom letters). They sit proudly in his list of authenticated Zodiac communications based on what? Even the handwriting and tone argument is weak in both cases. Maybe he can explain why the Los Angeles letter mailed on March 13th 1971 is on his list without saying "handwriting and tone", or why the Sierra Club communication is genuine based on "att. Paul averly = chronicle". Therefore, his claim for these being Zodiac communications is based solely on "someone told him they are genuine", in absence of any research he has conducted himself.
This drives to the heart of the problem: that he does no meaningful research into many of these communications (with the exception of the Eureka card), just smears people who do. Unfortunately, this has become a trait of people like Tom Voigt, whose first impulse is to attack and straw man people in the Zodiac community, to rally the blinkered and partisan followers who fester on his forum. He cannot tackle the points raised for claiming certain communications are genuine, so just reverts to smears and condescension, commonly used by politicians who lack policy ideas and substance. Not only won't he tackle the counter-arguments to his position on certain communications - he often doesn't know them. Anybody that wants to make serious inroads into the Zodiac case should visit forum threads such as "Reddit/Youtube Zodiac Nonsense" on Tom Voigt's forum: an uninformative and unproductive series of comments that achieves nothing, other than showing how spending your time moaning about everyone else in absence of countering credible and raised points, takes time away from doing anything meaningful and productive. The more you comment here, means the less you have to offer to the Zodiac case.
This drives to the heart of the problem: that he does no meaningful research into many of these communications (with the exception of the Eureka card), just smears people who do. Unfortunately, this has become a trait of people like Tom Voigt, whose first impulse is to attack and straw man people in the Zodiac community, to rally the blinkered and partisan followers who fester on his forum. He cannot tackle the points raised for claiming certain communications are genuine, so just reverts to smears and condescension, commonly used by politicians who lack policy ideas and substance. Not only won't he tackle the counter-arguments to his position on certain communications - he often doesn't know them. Anybody that wants to make serious inroads into the Zodiac case should visit forum threads such as "Reddit/Youtube Zodiac Nonsense" on Tom Voigt's forum: an uninformative and unproductive series of comments that achieves nothing, other than showing how spending your time moaning about everyone else in absence of countering credible and raised points, takes time away from doing anything meaningful and productive. The more you comment here, means the less you have to offer to the Zodiac case.
RSS Feed
