There has been much discussion about the November 29th 1966 'Confession' letter, typed and sent by the alleged murderer of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside on October 30th 1966. The author may have sent two different versions of the Confession letter to the Press-Enterprise and the Riverside police. The Department of Justice (DOJ) produced a completely different version of the 'Confession' letter on October 3rd 1969, comprising 31 lines of text. This appears to contain many mistakes, and differs markedly from the versions shown below. I have magnified the photographed version from the Argosy magazine (sent to the Press-Enterprise and shown at the foot of this article) and retyped it below. The photographed version definitely states minutes not minuts, brunett as opposed to brownett, and victom (or victon) as opposed to victim. There are many other differences. Is it possible the author of the Confession letter sent two different versions of the same message to the press and police, or did law enforcement personnel retype the original Confession letter incorrectly and made public this version.
63 Comments
Drew
4/24/2018 08:07:10 am
Thanks Richard, this is great! That bizarre DOJ version really confused me yesterday. I think it must have been dictated and not proofed. How else could the DOJ writer have actually written out the word "period".
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Richard
4/24/2018 01:49:36 pm
Yes, the DOJ version doesn't sound correct, especially the "period" part, which is superfluous in the context its written. It's a pretty poor effort for a DOJ document. Unless somehow two letters were sent by the author. But realistically it has been reproduced incorrectly, missing the critical link to the Little List letter. So, it's not in the interests of anyone who believes a Zodiac connection to Riverside.
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4/24/2018 03:15:04 pm
Good to see all versions displayed,Richard,and thanks for your efforts.
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Richard
4/24/2018 04:11:44 pm
Got a link to the note Rubislaw?
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4/24/2018 05:18:11 pm
You have highlighted another ''conflict of sharing'',Richard.
Lemonboy
4/24/2018 04:50:06 pm
Richard any thoughts on the difference of how sexual this letter is,if I’m fact it is Zodiac,and the other letters aren’t?Most people tend to say the Zodiacs murders weren’t sexually motivated and I disagree.I think Zodiac did get off on killing people. When he said killing was better than”getting your rocks off with a girl”I believe he was referring to how he couldn’t get sexual gratification anymore from sex. If this was Zodiac this could’ve been the beginning of that. In the confession letter I believed he struggled with still being somewhat in tune with regular sexual feelings when he referred when he grabbed her breast. But when he killed her he got a different form of arousal he liked even more maybe?I don’t know it kinda makes sense the evolution of a sexual predator looking for revenge that turns into someone that kills for sport and finds it the ultimate sexual thrill.
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Richard
4/25/2018 12:18:55 am
I have always thought that this letter exhibited a sexual immaturity or sexual component to it Lemonboy. Much more than the Zodiac letters. He starts the Confession letter referencing how beautiful the women are, then cutting off female parts, feeling her breast and stalking primarily women, not couples. The author revels in her struggling and penetrating the knife into her, not dissimilar to sexual sadists who get sexual gratification from the act of penetration with a knife. The whole tone of the letter differs to Zodiac from my non-psychological credentials. The letter primarily focuses on her and her suffering, whereas the Zodiac only mentions the murders he committed from an evidentiary standpoint, trying to prove the killer and letter writer were the same. He did talk about torturing slaves in the afterlife in the Little List letter, but this was once they were dead, and were only third party quotes from The Mikado. It is the way the Confession letter is written that makes me think it is not Zodiac, but I'm still totally undecided on the Riverside/Zodiac connection. I once considered the Confession letter could have been written by a woman based on the language used (who was not the actual killer).
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Drew
4/25/2018 09:27:37 am
Well done! A worthy query and a great analysis.
Drew
4/24/2018 05:53:17 pm
Hi there, I have a few questions which probably are not answerable. Those are my favourite kind of questions as you well know.
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Richard
4/24/2018 11:35:55 pm
During the library reconstruction it was determined two individuals present in the library on the evening of the murder did not return upon request for the reconstruction. The two you mentioned - spotted inside the library. In the 1969 Inside Detective magazine it quoted that during the reenactment Captain Cross "was seeking a heavyset man with a beard". The man had been placed in the library by witnesses the night of the murder but had failed to appear for the reenactment.
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Drew
4/25/2018 09:45:27 am
Richard this is loads more info than I had before I asked and clearly I was mixed up on key aspects so thank you! I don't see how one can remember a beard but not what colour it was, so RPD may well know that this guy had the hair colour they were looking for. Still nothing much to follow up on but theoretically if the Riverside killer had a female accomplice that could certainly help explain how a plot to temporarily gain Cheri's trust was accomplished.
In an article in the Riverside Enterprise in referring to the library reenactment it says the young heavy set man had “brown” hair.
Judith
4/24/2018 08:43:55 pm
Hi Richard. The number of spaces in the "By" is very important.They seem to vary with the different versions. Which one is correct? How many spaces for the name implied?
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Richard
4/24/2018 11:02:27 pm
The number of underscores for the name varies dependent on who you ask, but the suggestions are 13 to 19.
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Richard
4/25/2018 02:38:11 am
I have analyzed the underscores on the photographed version and it shows 12 underscores. I have placed a visual depiction at the bottom of the article Judith.
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Richard
4/25/2018 02:48:52 am
With 12 underscores that would mean a (two word) name of 11 alphabetical characters. Fortunately for you Judith, PETER PLANTE is 11 characters long.
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Richard
4/25/2018 03:53:54 am
Or the name could be 10 characters in length if there is a space after "BY".
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Richard
4/25/2018 04:11:09 am
Because the "BY" is offset from the underscores, my bet is on 11 alphabetical characters.
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In interviewing Kathleen Johns she never said it’s about time or even near that phraseology. She told me after they chatted at the beginning of the trip very briefly she asking him where he worked he said he would ‘work for three or four months then drive a great deal even at night.’ Then frustrated after passing one or two stations do you always help people in this Way? He responded by saying, ‘when l help someone they don’t need help anymore.’ This scared her to some degree. She noted for the first time there were several gum wrappers on the drivers floor board area. It was a full mon so there was more light and she took in all she could.
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Richard
4/25/2018 04:46:50 am
CORRECTION TO the Photographed version retyped. It reads "Blue eyed brunett that said XXX no when I asked her." With the addition of the three X's.
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Drew
4/25/2018 09:51:33 am
So the DOJ made up "brownett", the original letter cursed, and the retyped version censored that curse?
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Richard
4/25/2018 10:12:06 am
The brownett or brunett is very blurred, so cannot be totally sure what it is. But think it's the latter.
Richard
4/25/2018 10:17:23 am
I don't think the letter was censored Drew, I believe the author placed the three X's there. Just a guess, but the author could have began to write "Maybe she will be the shapely blue eyed brunett that said she", but corrected it to "Maybe she will be the shapely blue eyed brunett that said xxx no when I asked her for a date in high school."
Richard
4/25/2018 10:18:46 am
I meant I didn't censor it either.
Lemonboy
4/25/2018 05:39:24 am
Hey Richard not sure if you’re up to speed on news here in California but there are reports saying the east area rapist has been caught. Kinda gives me hope Zodiac will one day be caught as well
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Richard
4/25/2018 06:10:56 am
Yes, great news. Michael Morford and Michael Ferguson were doing a podcast on the whole story. Wonder what they'll do now.
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Drew
4/25/2018 09:53:39 am
I bet the Q man is full of mixed emotions today as well!
Drew
4/25/2018 09:56:48 am
Apparently Michelle McNamara had this guy in her notes. What a tragic loss her death was to cold case studies and the world of course.
Judith
4/26/2018 07:04:29 am
So just a few words about the capture of the East area rapist. It turns out he's been living in the same town that I live in about 4 miles away from me, for the last 30 years. This would be very close to the geographic profiling I noted on some of the sites. They actually had him in Carmichael, during the actual crimes, which is a nearby City. I have people that I know who apparently worked with him for 28 years and had no idea. All kinds of local people whose lives were affected by the rapes coming out and speaking out now.
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Judith
4/25/2018 07:02:13 am
Wonderful news about the East Area Rapist. He operated in my hometown community. It looks like he was a cop. Thank God for DNA.
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Shawn
4/25/2018 09:47:21 am
Yes, looks like he was a cop for 6 years. I wonder if any other cops knew what he was up to and kept quiet? Cops protecting cops.
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Karen C
4/26/2018 05:01:53 am
One hypothetical scenario is that the Zodiac could have been another cop, perhaps a bit older and a friend of DeAngelo?
Howard_Miller
4/26/2018 05:13:48 am
Shawn, I am wondering about those people who have, for many years, been pushing various suspects, each claiming their suspect is the only Golden State Killer. Will they desist and be satisfied with the findings, or will they remain in denial and not relinquish their grip on their theories? I guess this will be inevitable. I am sure, for instance, if DNA and prints can show by at least 65% that one individual suspect was the Zodiac, and this is enough to satisfy the courts, I can guarantee that many people will not be satisfied. The conspiracy theorists will remain in force with alternative explanations and there will still be those with online pages claiming LE got it wrong and it was actually Donald Harden, for instance. DNA is pretty persuasive, but often some people will continue to argue against it. This will especially be the case if the suspect is deceased. Generally when living suspects are convicted and thrown in jail, there is a consensus that they were the guilty person. Of course there will always be those who firmly believe the person is innocent, despite the overwhelming evidence, e.g. Manson's followers.
Shawn
4/25/2018 09:55:50 am
Morf will have a booth at CrimeCon May 4 - May 6. He will probably be mobbed by people.
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Richard
4/25/2018 12:13:11 pm
Because Brownett and Brunett are different length words Shawn, I was able to compare it to the first line, which I counted the letters, breaks and two double breaks. If the 1st line had letters all the way across it would be be 75 letters long. The 5th line being the same length, I could therefore calculate whether it was brownett or brunett. If it was brunett, the 5th line should equal 75, as opposed to 76 if brownett. It was 75, therefore the word is brunett.
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Richard
4/25/2018 12:57:52 pm
90% sure it's VICTON Drew.
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Drew
4/25/2018 06:12:01 pm
Looking really close at this slightly higher resolution photo from the Enterprise Press https://www.pe.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/og5/og5e5v-b88825961z.120161104193926000gmjjre76.10.jpg?w=810 4/25/2018 03:28:32 pm
Interesting how a numerical count might determine whether,for example,''Brownett'' or ''Brunett'',may have been entered.
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4/25/2018 03:56:52 pm
I note that one of Vincent Price's most famous films was ''Masque of the Red Death'' [1964].
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Howard_Miller
4/26/2018 05:22:52 am
For some reason I also hear echoes of William Dozier's forceful and overly dramatic narration style from the Batman TV series.
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4/26/2018 05:42:47 am
Yes,Howard....and with the coincidence of regular appearances of the villain,''Egghead'',as played by none other than Vincent Price. 4/25/2018 04:59:12 pm
Just to add further,I am entirely respectful of anyone not convinced by the Zodiac authenticity of the Confession Letter.
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Howard_Miller
4/26/2018 04:32:34 am
On this matter Rubislaw, I agree with you entirely.
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Karen C
4/26/2018 04:48:22 am
Well, with Golden State Killer and his many pseudos now in custody, I guess we can rule out about 175 crimes as being the possible work of the Zodiac. DeAngelo was prolific and despite his humble beginnings in the mid-70s as a voyeur and petty thief, he quickly progressed to rape and killing. He was a Zodiac copycat to some extent. He wrote obscure letters and intelligent-sounding yet eccentric poems. He also had a penchant for wearing a mask. At 72, he was around about the right age to be the Zodiac. If we presume 1946 as his birth year, he would have been 20 in 1966. Matches the sketches well for Lake Berryessa. Feels right up until the Presidio sketches where he suddenly seems a bit too young. Prints and DNA? Probably not a match unfortunately.
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Judith
4/26/2018 07:18:25 am
That Remains our main question for today. Was the East area rapist also the Zodiac Killer? This is something I have pondered and researched in the past. I was told some years back that our son's DNA did not match the East Area Rapist. However the California DOJ thought it was important enough to come visit me where I live in Sacramento regarding the Zodiac Killer. At that point they should have had our older son's DNA in CODIS, as he is a felon. Thinking that maybe it matched whatever partial DNA they did have for Zodiac. The big difference here is that the Zodiac was not a rapist. The Zodiac was not a thief. The Zodiac attacked people out in public, not in their homes. Yes, I think they still need to figure out who the Zodiac Killer was.
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Judith
4/26/2018 09:27:21 pm
Not sure if you read my earlier post about the East area rapist living in my own town. I have heard through the grapevine that the way they found him was because someone in his family had taken an ancestry.com DNA test. It came up as a hit. Then the sheriff's backtracked and staked him out and collected evidence from discarded materials to confirm. Wow.
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4/26/2018 11:26:14 pm
Yes Judith,I think the reality of the arrest is still sinking in,with many Zodiac enthusiasts.
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Judith
4/27/2018 06:22:49 am
Now I'm reading that law enforcement simply entered this DNA as though he were a member of ancestry.com himself. And that is how they got the hit. For a minute, I thought that ancestry.com was somehow connected up to CODIS. I'm not sure, but the first way makes more sense. Personally I believe everybody's DNA should be entered into a system, it would solve many crimes, it would solve many paternity issues. It would clear out the courts.
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mistersmilee
4/28/2018 10:06:01 am
Use 23andMe, Ancestry or gofundme!!! Find this Zodiac!!! If he’s dead, unearth his body and let the wild eat him and turn him into the piece of shit he was.
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4/28/2018 12:52:13 pm
I admire your style, mistersmilee,and I'm sure that your sentiments are shared.....if not,perhaps,in precisely the same words.
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Judith
4/29/2018 04:30:20 pm
I would be interested to see this Benicia High School letter. This phrasing is similar to Peter's response to me the last days of our marriage. I complained about the oder of death coming from underneath his parents mobile home, upon our arrival at Shasta. He said, "Shut up! The ants should have eaten them by now". The next night he would go out into the dark and wait quietly. I then heard him go under the home and drag something out through the woods.
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4/29/2018 05:14:12 pm
Hi Judith.
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Richard
4/30/2018 12:36:46 am
Here is the original copy
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4/30/2018 04:33:30 am
So I take it that you might be able to show the note,at some point,Richard ?
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Richard
4/30/2018 05:14:29 am
This is the actual note Rubislaw
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4/30/2018 05:55:39 am
Thanks for the information,Richard.
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Judith
5/1/2018 12:38:14 pm
I must not be seeing the full "poem" for Benicia High. Just looks like he claimed another murder...
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5/1/2018 05:34:38 pm
The fundamentals of the note is the inference that Zodiac was in cohorts with someone else.
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Judith
5/1/2018 08:08:27 pm
Ughhh. I will dig to find the whole thing. Just read some stuff on the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders. They described a white man with an afro and two guys shoving a victim into a van. This fits the description of Peter's best friend, also my brother-in-law, Mike. He is the one that was arrested for molesting our daughter. I have photos of the Van and Mike with the afro hairdo during those years . Mike is still alive. He was at the camp site in Vancouver with Peter when the young couple were shot to death in their sleeping bags. They were very very close and I believe they had a homosexual relationship.
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5/1/2018 11:37:55 pm
Just become a member of zodiackillermystery.freeforums.net
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Frosty
5/21/2018 01:59:10 pm
It's way more JTR than Zodiac, the descriptive detail doesn't marry up either and there's an obvious motive to this one.
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Michael Scott
5/29/2020 07:34:34 am
Richard can you explain how you magnified it and were able to read it properly? I am very skeptical you could do that.
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