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THE RIVERSIDE PROPHECY [PART TWO]

10/10/2017

7 Comments

 
Just a quick recap of the article 'The Riverside Prophecy.'
The Zodiac Killer finished many of his communications with the running victim total. The Dripping Pen card gave us the months of his attacks and a total of seven victims. The Bus Bomb letter stated "up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people." The July 31st 1969 San Francisco Chronicle letter warned us of future murders: "If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night." The Halloween card, is also believed by many, to be a future threat towards Paul Avery as his fourteenth victim.

What if we apply this same model to the Riverside Desktop Poem, where he signs off the poem with "Just wait till next time. rh." The Riverside Desktop Poem was discovered in the December of 1966, but there is every possibility that it could have been written prior to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966, and the warning of "Just wait till next time. rh" was referring to the time and place of his next murder. Remember, the author of the Confession letter suggested he was trying to lure Cheri Jo Bates into his vehicle. This may possibly indicate he had planned to murder Cheri Jo Bates later than the believed 10.30 pm, when screams emanated from the alleyway - likely on Halloween Day itself - but something clearly had resulted in the unplanned struggle in the alleyway and her 'premature' murder from the perspective of the killer. Had he achieved his objective in luring the young woman into his vehicle, then the likely prediction of the Riverside Desktop Poem would have come true: "Just wait till next time. riverside, halloween." 


PictureClick to enlarge
The 'Confession' letter ended with a threat: "Beware I am stalking your girls now." The Riverside Desktop Poem may have been exactly the same: "Just wait till next time. riverside, halloween." If he was predicting the time and place of his next murder, what is the chance that the Bates letters, mailed to Joseph Bates,  the Riverside Press Enterprise and the Riverside Police were also threatening a date and place of a future murder -  one that ultimately failed to materialize.

Many have speculated the author of the Bates letters signed off two of the communications with the letter Z. However, they have a misshapen upper portion, leading many to believe they could again be two letters, in similar fashion to the Riverside Desktop Poem. Despite being joined, the nearest they resemble are the letters M and L.
​
Bearing in mind the Riverside Desktop Poem may have been written in the early part of October, before the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, it was considered that the letter "h" possibly represented Halloween, thereby presenting an imminent threat. The Bates letters were mailed on April 30th 1967. An imminent threat in this case, bearing in mind April was drawing to a close, would have been the month of May. This would provide the time and date, but what about the location? Many killers will employ a "buffer zone" to their residence or workplace - a distance they can afford to travel without drawing unwanted attention to their home location. Using the most basic form of geographical profiling, we shall look for a home or work location equidistant from the crime scene of the Cheri Jo Bates murder on Terracina Drive, to an area targeted in the month of May, beginning with the letter L.
 But first, we will look at the evidence discovered in the alleyway close to body of Cheri Jo Bates.         

PictureCheri Josephine Bates
The Department of Justice report described the heel prints at the Cheri Jo Bates crime scene as "those worn by Air Force personnel" and "was identified as a B.F. Goodrich waffle design, men's four-eighths inch washer type half heel. The B.F Goodrich Products Division of Akron, Ohio, reported that this type heel is only sold to the Federal prison industries at Leavenworth, Kansas. It was subsequently learned that Federal prison industries made low quarter military type shoes and supplied them to all the armed services using black dress shoes. The measurement of the heel indicated that it would have been attached to an eight to ten size shoe. Shoes bearing the same type heel were issued and sold at the PX at March Air Force Base in Riverside." In fact the Riverside Police Department would sum this up by stating "Physical evidence found at our crime scene indicated that heel prints found by the body were made by a heel that was manufactured for military and other government agencies, including prisons." 

So, let us look at March Air Force Base. This base is located 14 miles from Terracina Drive and  12 miles from Lakeview, almost equidistant between the two. Did the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates reside at the March Air Force Base and was setting his "buffer zone" around this location? Lakeview is bordered by the Upland Game Hunting Area.  "BATES HAD TO DIE THERE WILL BE MORE. MAY LAKEVIEW". 

This above interpretation is highly speculative and extremely unlikely, so if anyone can offer another possible answer to the two symbols at the foot of the Bates letters, please do not hesitate to add your comments in the section below.

Picture
The extreme left image is the Latin letter Z with a swash tail. 
​In 1931, it was adopted into the orthography of Shona for a 'whistled' z, but it was dropped in 1955 due to the lack of the character on typewriters and fonts
. Wikipedia.
The image in the middle is the character rotated through 180 degrees, similar to the method Zodiac employed in his '13 Hole' and 'Pines' cards, mailed on October 5th 1970 and March 22nd 1971 respectively. The Image on the immediate left is one of the Bates symbols. 


Shona: "According to Shona tradition, the afterlife does not happen in another world like Christian heaven and hell, but as another form of existence in the world here and now. The Shona attitude towards dead ancestors is very similar to that towards living parents and grandparents." link.

​THE RIVERSIDE PROPHECY [PART ONE]

7 Comments
Rubislaw 32 link
10/10/2017 04:56:29 am

Some fascinating insights and information given,Richard.

Just on the subject of military attire,it has been the case,and for many years now,that the largest manufacturers of US military attire,has been US prisons.

Military surplus stores,though accounting for civilian acquirement of military attire,rarely are able to sell any products ''newly released''.

Beyond the military,itself,the most usual outlets for new attire,is through officially organized cadets,and military affiliated colleges and universities.....the largest ''feeder'' for officer rank personnel to the US military.

Texas A&M University traditionally holds military affiliation,at up to 90% of enrolled students,and I am aware that they received a huge order of ''Wingerwalker'' boots and shoes....which ordinarily would have ended up at official military bases.

Reply
Richard
10/10/2017 05:18:34 am

Cheers Rubislaw, the U.S prison angle is an interesting one, as our charge may well have previous, or of course be a serving military man, either at March Air Force Reserve or the naval facilities situated in Corona. Dragging this from elsewhere on my site: "it was noted that the father of Cheri Jo Bates worked as a machinist at the Corona Naval Ordnance Laboratory. The north of Corona (Norco), underwent massive redevelopment, to become a resort area. In September–October 1941, the United States Navy purchased the resort, and on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, the resort was commissioned the United States Naval Hospital in Corona. The hospital was located in the city of Corona at that time, but when the City of Norco was established in 1964, the hospital was officially located in Norco as well as the post office which is now called the Norco Post Office. The naval hospital was eventually closed, and five years later in 1962 the area was commissioned by the State of California to be used as a narcotics addicts rehabilitation center, and later as a prison. The naval facilities have continued to the present day."
The ML is a stretch, but the March Air Force Base cannot be overlooked regarding the heel impression. With little tangible evidence in this case other than possibly the fingerprints of the killer, and a partial DNA sample, this military angle will not relent, bearing in mind Lake Berryessa.
Wiki-PF Flyers is a brand of athletic shoes that are currently manufactured by New Balance. In 1933, canvas footwear pioneer BF Goodrich patented the Posture Foundation insole, and began adding the new technology to its action shoes. Goodrich shoes with Posture Foundation became known simply as "P-F" in 1937. Fashion trends in the Forties and Fifties saw PF Flyers expand from gyms and ball fields to become fashionable active footwear. "Everything you do is more fun with PF" read one 1947 magazine ad. PF styles ranged from high- and low-top sport shoes to oxfords and moccasins "for work, relaxation and play." By the 1960s, PF was one of the most popular shoes in America, but struggled with industry changes in the early Seventies.
I also considered the Bates symbols to be L2, L3, for simply page 2 and 3 of a three part correspondence. But again a little weak.

Reply
Rubislaw 32 link
10/10/2017 06:44:15 am

Interesting information on the Wiki-PF Flyers.

I buy into anything that comes with a solid foundation,of source.

Indeed,I tend to be persuaded by your ''page number'' suggestion.

This ''believed'' possible variation of a ''z'',I feel is actually a variation of the number ''2''.

But that is not to discount that the scribe is the man,who later self styled himself,as ''the Zodiac''.

I agree with Sherwood Morrill....it is more likely,than not.

But who was the perpetrator ? Perhaps,someone different to the scribe [?].

Reply
Richard
10/10/2017 07:09:01 am

"But who was the perpetrator ? Perhaps,someone different to the scribe [?]." That is an extremely difficult one to answer. Nothing in the Confession letter was information known only to the killer- all the information was readily available in the newspapers, even the middle wire or coil wire of the distributor, and the small knife. In fact some of the Confession letter is difficult to believe going on the known facts. The "twich and squirm" link to the Little List letter, but there was nothing stopping the Zodiac from having read the Confession letter and subtly dropping it into the July 26th 1970 correspondence, knowing people would infer a link. The three Bates letters were immediately followed by the July 31st 1969 letters with familiar double postage, if Zodiac. I have constantly flipped back and forward on whether anything to do with 1966/7 has anything to do with Zodiac. The tantalizing links are there, but nothing concrete. At this moment in time I would say 70-30 against a Zodiac link, but I am 100% not certain, if that makes any sense. There however is more chance that the Confession letter and Bates letters are by the same person. I considered the Confession letter may have been written by a woman, as almost certainly the JonBenet Ramsey ransom note was. But I consider that case closed after listening to the emergency phone call.

Reply
Richard
10/10/2017 07:38:15 am

Bearing in mind the "riverside halloween" suggestion and the Bates letters, the only other time he effectively linked letters together was the October 27th 1970 Halloween card with maybe ZVF, Zodiac Victims Fourteen.

Reply
Rubislaw 32 link
10/10/2017 09:39:16 am

With cards on the table....my inclinations are that the man,who became the Zodiac ''is'' responsible for all the correspondence,related to the Bates case.

In addition,the ''Slow boat to China'' letter to Paul Avery,encouraging Avery,to start taking an interest in the Bates case.And not ''Phil Sins'',who denies any knowledge of that letter.

It is interesting to me,Richard,that you touch on suspicions that the confession letter,may have been written by a woman.

I see that part of Zodiac's ''warped'' talents.....that he was able to remove himself from his own person,and assume a persona,of a ''type'' of other person,in writing.

''Impersonation'',figuratively as well as literally [?].

Whether ''Zodiac'' was Ms.Bates' perpetrator,the ''jury'' remains,well and truly,''out''.

But,one can,I would suggest,certainly see ''Zodiac'' being ''turned on'' by what was enacted,by the perpetrator.....even if this person was not ''Zodiac'',himself.

Reply
nan
8/13/2018 09:35:00 pm

Who is Phil Sins?

Reply

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