WILLIAM LESTER SUFF

12/28/2017

There is the very real possibility that the murderer of Cheri Jo Bates went on to kill again, but identifying his signature may be difficult based upon this one crime. The author of the Confession letter exhibited certain traits in his communication that may give us a clue, in particular, using terminology such as "beautiful blond", "shapely blue eyed brownett", "I shall cut off her female parts and deposit them for the whole city to see" and "her breast felt very warm". This may indicate a sexual component in his thinking, and indeed, a willingness to continue his crimes in the future. The question though, is was his reference to "brush offs" and "I asked her for a date in high school", along with the tone of the correspondence, indicative of his immaturity and young age?

Was the offer of a lift in the Confession letter a precursor to luring the young girl away from the area, possibly for sexual purposes, that ultimately failed and reached a violent conclusion in the Riverside alleyway on October 30th 1966. Cheri Jo Bates suffered many knife wounds to her face, neck and body, from which the killer apparently gained great pleasure in reliving, that included such details as "she squirmed and shook as I choaked her, and her lips twiched". So, using all of the above details, we shall look for future crimes containing some of these key elements.

In 1995 William Lester Suff was convicted of the murders of 12 women between 1986 and 1992 in Riverside County, after being released from a 10-year prison sentence, spanning 1974 to 1984, for the murder of his two-month-old daughter Dijanet Suff. However, he may have committed at least 22 murders. But what was he doing from 1966 to 1974? William Suff was born August 20th 1950 in Torrance, California, so would have been 16 years of age at the time of Cheri Jo Bates' murder. He graduated from Perris High School in 1968.

'William Lester Suff, 41--a local boy still remembered by schoolmates and teachers in the Riverside area--has been charged in two of the grisly murders. Authorities say they are confident of linking Suff to a majority of the 19 murders of women, mostly prostitutes and drug users, whose bodies had been dumped in this semirural community and elsewhere in western Riverside County. Every victim was stabbed or strangled or both, according to new details, and three of the recent bodies were mutilated--a breast cut off each.' Los Angeles Times. 1992.

'William L. Suff, 44, a Riverside County warehouse worker who helped deliver office furniture to the law enforcement task force that was searching for the serial killer, was found guilty of luring the prostitutes into his vehicle, strangling or stabbing them and dumping their bodies in alleys, trash bins, orange groves and fields, primarily around Riverside and Lake Elsinore'. Los Angeles Times. 1995.

The mention of cutting off body parts in the Confession letter may have been an early sadistic fantasy, that eventually came to fruition.

The map on the left shows where 8 of his victims were discovered in relation to Terracina Drive in Riverside - the location of the alleyway where Cheri Jo Bates was murdered. The victims were lured into his vehicle before being strangled and stabbed.

His first known victim was 23-year-old Michelle Yvette Gutierrez on October 30th 1986, the 20th anniversary of the Riverside College murder. The young woman was stabbed multiple times about the face and chest in similar fashion to Cheri Jo Bates. She had also received injuries to her breast and buttocks. Her body was discovered near Agua Mansa Road, only five miles from Riverside City College library.

'Another gruesome case began on December 11, 1986, when the half-clothed body of Charlotte Jean Palmer, 24, of Anna, Illinois was found near Highway 74 and Matthews Road in Romoland. County coroners were unable to determine the cause of her death, because of the rapidity of putrefaction. Fear and panic spread as more and more women began mysteriously disappearing. Over a period of five years, from 1986 to 1991, nineteen prostitutes were found murdered - at least three of the Riverside County victims had their breasts severed. A forensic pathologist noted that cutting off female breasts was a way in which serial killers can uniquely hurt and harm the females they loathe'. Murderpedia. Please visit Murderpedia for the full list of victims.

On the 25th anniversary of the murder of Cheri Jo Bates, on October 30th 1991, the nude body of Delliah Zamora Wallace was discovered in Granite Hill Drive, Mira Loma. Could the October 30th 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates have been an attempted abduction by William Lester Suff from the Riverside City College library with the intention of killing her elsewhere, not unlike his later victims. This may have been one of his earliest crimes - and as such - exhibited the inexperience he would later refine.

Click to enter Google maps

'In January, 1992, Suff was pulled over by a suspicious Riverside police officer moments after he saw Suff talking to a prostitute on Riverside's University Avenue, which was--along with Lake Elsinore's Main Street--one of his favorite haunts in cruising for prey.' Los Angeles Times. 1995. University Avenue, Riverside is less than one mile from Terracina Drive.

'The Riverside Killer by Christine Keers and Dennis St Pierre was published in 1996 by Pinnacle True Crime. In 1997 Cat and Mouse - Mind Games with a Serial Killer was published by Dove Books. Suff met with author Brian Alan Lane and told his story. The book includes short stories and poems written by Suff and photos of several of his victims.' Wikipedia.

23 Comments

Drew

12/28/2017 10:12:04 am

That is one scary character and certainly an interesting suspect in the Bates case. I think I may be too disturbed by the details to conjure any provocative questions here, but thank you for the information.

Have you read much about Voigt's Riverside suspect Bud Kelly? I know he was with RPD in some capacity, worked the Bates case, lived across from Ramona High, and maybe forty years later was convicted for crimes involving children. Not exactly the kind of profile we're looking for but another sick individual to be sure.

Thanks for the dark holiday read Richard, I can always count on you!

Richard

12/28/2017 11:44:21 am

Sorry for the depressing article Drew. The problem I see with Bud Kelly, is that he was convicted of child molestation not murder. It was nine felony counts of molestation, and although horrendous, it is totally different from murder involving strangulation and stabbing. The pattern of murder regarding an individual isn't always consistent and can change between crimes, but when we compare the Cheri Jo Bates case, to the case of Bud Kelly, there is limited similarity to draw much in the way of a connection. However, we do know that Suff stabbed multiple victims, stalked and dumped many bodies in a 5-10 mile radius of the 'potential' abduction site of CJB. I say abduction cautiously, because if the Confession letter is genuine, then the disabling of the vehicle and possible intention of luring CJB into a vehicle may suggest he had more sinister motives elsewhere, not unlike Suff later used on mainly prostitutes. If the CJB crime was committed by somebody young, they then have many years to adapt their choice of victim, with several high profile serial killers selecting prostitutes because you don't have to create a ruse or force them into the vehicle. Additionally they have limited or no family connections, so aren't immediately missed. It's a slim chance the CJB murder was Suff, but the mode of attack is very similar, the victims were 23-42 years of age when Suff was 36-41, so would likely have chosen victims similar to his age in 1966.
Only mitochondrial DNA waa secured from the Bates samples, so couldn't rule somebody definitively into the crime, only exclude. Whether a comparison has been done, I couldn't say.
Many have pinned their suspicions on Sullivan, but he hasn't a history of rape or murder, and I highly doubt the murderer of CJB stopped after the October 30th 1966 murder, unless it was purely a personal crime, with the perpetrator known to the victim. But based on the Confession letter and Bates correspondence, if genuine, the intention was "there will be more".

Drew

12/28/2017 12:21:38 pm

Excellent points Richard. Balancing the views of juggernaut zodiac researchers like yourself and Voigt and very few others are the only way I can wade through these waters with any confidence.

I never was clear on why Voigt thought there was more to Kelly than his creepy convictions imply, especially after studying the case for so long. I find Tom is often unable to provide all the information he is working with. I suppose he works with a lot of confidential information. At any rate, Suff is a much stronger candidate than we are use to reading about. I wonder whether he ever wrote any weird editorials to the riverside press. Great work man!

Richard

12/28/2017 12:30:03 pm

I'm more like a mini metro than a juggernaut, but cheers Drew. Suff did write poetry in later years and gave a prison interview to Geraldo Rivera, that I can't find. Here is a letter from death row.
https://supernaught.com/products/bill-suff-letter-from-death-row-signed

Adam

12/30/2017 06:40:24 am

never ever zodiac did targetted prostitutes. Even in the worst cases of supposedly zodiac attacks women had nothing to do with prostitution or drug addiction. To make things worse, usually victims were on a contrary- not ones that could be considered by the killer as "disposable" but the ones a killer likely envied or could percieve as some kind of higher status due to some of his dysfunction. The killer fantasized about killing women which explains the overkill. There was some sadism component to the women murders. So my opinion is that the killer was likely different than the ones which killed prostitutes

Richard

12/30/2017 07:52:35 am

I must stress the article has nothing to do with Zodiac, only Cheri Jo Bates- that I've never been convinced was a Zodiac crime.

Ray Jenkins

12/30/2017 02:46:56 pm

I would tend to agree with you Adam as a "hunch", but I strongly suspect that you never met the Zodiac and never knew him. Really, nobody knows who the Zodiac was, so how can anybody second guess what he may or may not have done? We can only read the rantings of a mentally ill individual. To claim we know exactly what the Zodiac was like and what he might do, based entirely on those insane and disjointed ramblings, is a giant leap in my opinion. Serial killers are a strange bunch of offenders who often fail to squeeze into our narrow pigeon holes. The Zodiac was at least known for his somewhat haphazard and unpredictable MO. He started off killing people in parked cars, then dressed in an elaborate costume to commit a very elaborate crime at a lake, threatened to blow up a school bus with a home-made bomb and pick off kiddies as they came bouncing out on the road, and slaughtered a taxi cab driver in cold blood. Not much consistency there and he never made any distinctions between rich and poor, black or white, middle class or lowly street bums. Then this cold-blooded killer waxes lyrical with lines from The Mikado while ranting about obscure radians on a road map, claiming Mt. Diablo as the center of his "universe". As a very astute friend once said: "The Zodiac was all over the place." Probably a good modern comparison of an offender who is "all over the place" in both thinking and behaviour is Robert Durst. These kinds of killers are often the most difficult to pin down because they always fail our expectations of what a "good" serial killer should be like.

Ray Jenkins

12/30/2017 02:55:17 pm

Drew, I am amazed that anyone still takes any notice of Voigt. I can only say "good luck" to those that do. As for me, it is a case of "been there done that" and "twice bitten, thrice shy". All I can say is if he dispensed justice the way he moderates his boards (i.e. don't ever disagree with him or you will be labelled a troll and banned for life!) there would be a lot of innocent people on death row or summarily dispensed with by now. LOL!

Drew

12/31/2017 01:34:53 pm

Hi Ray, without intending offence, I am going to try to change your mind because I have a lot of empathy for the plight of the truly pro-active Zodiac researchers. If it wasn't for Graysmith (who was very wrong about a great number of things) none of us would be reading about this case. Without Voigt and Butterfield (neither of which I would ever engage in battle!) the data would not be online. Morford and his crew believe many things I do not but they have kept the conversation in the community going for years. And of course if it is wasn't for Grinell we would have no idea how to interpret any of this stuff because it takes full commitment to think these issues through. These people are all tragic heroes of research in so far as they have been afflicted inescapably with the evil contagion that the Zodiac case has become. So many lives have been consumed or destroyed by this thing. I'm obsessed with this blog and I am perpetually flabbergasted by the detailed analysis, but if Richard ever abandoned his journey in favour of tackling something less aggravating I would happy that he achieved his freedom. For the sake of everyone mentioned above I really hope this mystery some day reveals itself.

Ray Jenkins

12/31/2017 02:26:38 pm

Drew, I will only say this once. I have a huge amount of respect for Richard. I am very sympathetic towards Graysmith. I have huge respect for Butterfield. I have limited respect for Morph, mainly because his board has too many of the same Draconian moderators as Voigt. I have no respect at all for Voigt.

To be blunt, I can only say if you are not prepared to challenge the ideas of these self-professed professionals, you probably should not be researching the Zodiac. They may just be leading you down a number of blind alleys. :-) My advice is think for yourself and always be prepared to challenge if you disagree. If they ban you for disagreeing, well that probably just means their theories are wafer thin and their egos are bigger than the planet Jupiter.

Drew

12/31/2017 02:36:52 pm

Fair enough Ray, thanks for hearing me out. I'll try to think for myself more in the futur3e

Richard

12/28/2017 01:21:45 pm

In 1984 while living with his mother in Cottonwood Canyon he dated Bonnie Ashley. I am unsure at this moment if his mother lived here in 1966, but if so, Cottonwood Canyon is only 5 miles from the Riverside City College library and near University Avenue, so would have been relatively familiar with the area. He wore silver colored wire-rimmed glasses.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/28/2017 05:39:57 pm

Suff is an interesting example of a certain type of serial killer,Richard.

Misogynistic,growing into a role,seeking out the drug and sex low life,and vulnerable culture.And desecration of victims.

At sixteen,Suff was too young to have been the perpetrator of Ms.Bates [?].

I am convinced that Morrill was correct,in assessing that Zodiac was the ''Bates'' scribe.Beyond this,50:50 on her perpetrator.

There was clearly a misogynistic side to Zodiac....but it was not his ''whole'' being.....past rejection by young women,a part,perhaps.

Zodiac's problems were quite complex....probably ''birth circumstances'' as bad news,like Bundy,may have been the start [?].

Then it all started to manifest itself....with ''perceived rejection'', a key ''trigger''.

Possibly,later in life,when Zodiac realised that he actually missed killing,he may have sought out a prostitute,as an easy target.

But,I believe that,in general,pretty and intelligent young women,was his ''thing''.

Suff appears to be very different from Zodiac [?].

Adam

12/30/2017 06:44:22 am

all the prostitutes and drug addict thing is highly unlikely in my opinion. There is just no connection. Prostitutes as a constant victims are a whole different target than everything ever associated with the zodiac.

Ray Jenkins

12/28/2017 06:15:42 pm

The Zodiac developed his persona over many years. The thing is he had to start somewhere and at some time. So what began as a kind of teenage sexual fantasy about girls progressed into something larger as his appetite for killing grew. Remember that he was to later write: "To kill something is the most thrilling experience. It is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl." This has very clear sexual connotations. It is not unusual for serial killers to "progress" their killing. In the Zodiacs case the fantasy element broadened, possibly only after he made his first kill and discovered he enjoyed the thrill. I too agree that Morrill was most likely correct in his belief that the confession letter was written by the same person as the Zodiac.

I personally feel that a lot of the Zodiac's "intelligence" was over-rated. Much of his seemingly knowledgeable rants are just smoke and mirrors. He possibly just related various things he had overheard, or seen on TV, or read about over many years, and he put them all together into a kind of presentation that made him look clever.

He also had a target audience in mind. In reality he may not have been all that bright.

Psychopaths can be good communicators who can often fool a large number of people into believing that they are much more important and clever and indispensable than they actually are.

It often saddens me that so many researchers get sucked into these traps that the Zodiac set.

Manson is another prime example, but in his case he fed his disciples drugs along with the horseshit that regularly dribbled from his mouth in order to help maintain the illusion.

Throughout his correspondence I always get the feeling that the Zodiac was just feeding the media and the police the things he wanted them to know. Most were rhetorical boasts presented with a high threat factor, and designed to further inflate his own ego and to keep the police guessing and following false trails. He wanted to remain relevant and newsworthy and was in fact the ultimate media whore.

Ray Jenkins

12/28/2017 06:25:13 pm

It is interesting that I found a letter written by Dennis Rader in which he writes a "Z" with a strange flourishing twirl on the end of it, which greatly resembles the flourishing "Z" on one of the Zodiac's Bates letters.

But despite the similarities in the writing styles, I remain firmly unconvinced that Rader was the Zodiac. I do wonder if Rader himself is subconsciously playing into this fantasy by incorporating Zodiac-esque elements into his modern correspondence. This seems a likely explanation for the similarities. He just wants people to wonder "if"...

There is the small problem that Rader was in Japan during the Vietnam War and, to date, those who consider him a strong suspect have been unable to provide a single shred of evidence placing him in California during that period of time.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/29/2017 03:24:54 am

Agreed on all your key points,Ray.

Zodiac certainly became a ''media whore'',and in effect,seeing his actions,as reported by the press,became a new and almost overriding thrill for him.

Joining a sect,or indeed an army,would never have appealed to him...unless he was appointed to the top of the hierarchy,immediately [!].

Yes,I believe he certainly had a high opinion of himself....which just wasn't appreciated in his everyday life.Becoming ''Zodiac'',was a ''liberation'' that he had been looking for....an ultimate form of escapism.

I do believe he was very bright....but not exceptionally so.I think that,in his education,he had ''settled'' for an applied science,like engineering...for the purpose of a well paid job....but would preferred to have opted for a refined art,like literature.

Hence,we observe this sort of ''Jack of all trades,but master of none'' character,attempting to convey that he was deeply intelligent and an ''eclectic warrior''.

Psychopaths are forever getting into minor trouble,because they fail to understand the normal dividing lines between socially accepted and anti-social behaviour.

But there is also a ''mischievous'' side to them,where they clearly know what they do.

With Zodiac,the word ''schadenfreude'' comes to mind [?].

The mishaps of others,and looking foolish with it,would have kept him greatly amused [?].

Ray Jenkins

12/29/2017 05:58:26 pm

Agreed on all points. I guess there is a difference between the sociopath and the psychopath. The sociopath is perhaps the one most likely to always be in trouble for not following the standard rules by which most people live. Psychopaths sometimes keep out of trouble by playing various mind games and by using deceit on others in order to win favour and to make themselves seem the less guilty party and the more important person in the room.

Psychopaths are perhaps more likely to get away with murder than sociopaths, although it is difficult to generalize too much. I suspect there is also some crossover between the two concepts in some individuals.

How much a part intelligence plays in all this I am not sure. I suspect psychopaths may generally have higher IQs and are smarter, or at least smarter as criminals, more adaptable to changing circumstances, and often very good at dominating or manipulating others to their will. The sociopath could be more introverted, and tending to brood and sulk, while also having a volatile streak when cornered, tending towards acts of extreme violence. But as I say, there are really no hard and fast rules.

Ray Jenkins

12/29/2017 05:45:34 pm

I frequently wonder how the Zodiac would fare in a modern world with CCTV surveillance cameras positioned virtually everywhere, including in cars. Such technology has been around for a while now. I imagine that if the Zodiac was still out there he would have found it increasingly difficult to remain anonymous. But he may have found ways around this by concealing his face and wearing disguises and possibly even using fake number plates or stolen vehicles to mask his identity. He may have chosen areas that were a bit out of the way or secluded, especially at night time. He may have even resorted to killing homeless people or prostitutes. There is so much we don't know about the Zodiac post 1972. His identity was never determined, but after 1972 it seems he either slipped completely off the grid, or was incarcerated or incapacitated, or he went to ground. For someone who had been so egotistical and boastful about his crimes, his silence after this time became all too deafening. Much of the correspondence purporting to be from the Zodiac after this time is suspect.
When we think about those who claim to have been stalked by the Zodiac, even in recent times, the fact that there have been huge technological advancements in phone tracing and home surveillance, as well as the common installation of dash-cams in vehicles, tends to conflict with the notion of an omniscient stalker who can somehow manage to remain anonymous.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/30/2017 06:04:47 am

Yes,these psychological distinctions can come down to fine lines,and I think it would be even ''trite'' of a professed expert to argue some aspects too rigorously.

From what I have read,Psychopaths are just more extreme versions of sociopaths....both really under the heading of ''Anti-social personality disorder''.With its physiological manifestation found in brain damage to the frontal lobes....usually ''underdevelopment'',I believe.

Statistics vary,but it seems that its occurrence is about 3 in every 100 males....and 1 in every 100 females.

Nurture is considered an important factor....in that if the individual has been blessed with a loving and stable childhood,then they are much less likely to become anti-social offenders.

The ''usual'' offences are petty crime,like shoplifting....and cheating,as in important exams or card games.Richard Nixon,Edward Kennedy and Lester Piggott,are well known ''cases'' [!].

And,in particular ''gatecrashing''.....having the ''brass neck'' to advantage themselves,in places they are not supposed to be.

With Zodiac,this comes to mind,particularly ''evidence'' that he constantly took advantage of University and College facilities [?].Not just libraries,but car parking and canteens,I venture [?].Not least,the potential,to meet young women.

Education institutes are notorious for their lax and liberal attitude to security [?].

Rubislaw 32 link

12/30/2017 07:35:25 am

Interesting points,Ray,over the likelihood of Zodiac achieving his crimes,to-day.

Naturally,with the subject of CCTV,the case of Paul Stine,might never have entered Zodiac's head,as something ''viable'',with to-day's technology....and particularly in a very urban setting.

A general opinion is that Zodiac would have been stopped quite quickly....but three of his major crimes were in either provincial or rural settings....and probably with a car,that he normally kept locked up in a private garage.

Naturally,there is all of the advanced forensic technology as a consideration,in the fight against Zodiac's extreme form of crime.In addition,the creation and international agreements on crime fighting databases,as valuable references.

So,perhaps if any one particular ''weapon'',for law enforcement,today.....it is the computerisation of information,as an efficient and expedient ''tool''.

The efforts to track down the ''Yorkshire Ripper'',were,in retrospect,largely thwarted by the logistics of manual file systems.Peter Sutcliffe had been interviewed on at least seven occasions,before his arrest,by good fortune,over a false vehicle number plate.

Hopefully,not too late for modern ''appliances'' to assist in finally apprehending the Zodiac [?].

The ''big question'',I feel,is what murder cases are winnable,in a court of law [?].

Greg

12/30/2017 09:05:34 am

Too many serial killers in California during those times. In the bay area, in August of 1969, Charles Ray Hatcher was active in Antioch, only a 30 minute ride from Vallejo. Hatcher ultimately was brought into custody in San Francisco, using an alias.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ray_Hatcher

Ray Jenkins

12/30/2017 03:08:01 pm

Yes indeed Greg. Was there something in the water or the air at that time? Perhaps a symptom of the Vietnam War and the fact that America was at that time literally tearing itself apart? A side-effect of a rampant drug culture? Who would know?

The sad thing is the Zodiac could have been any one of these low-lifes, or, considering their unprecedented numbers, the Zodiac could have been another individual entirely.

I am also sure there were a number of other Zodiac-like killers out there who never did get caught, the original Night Stalker being just one of them. There were an unprecedented number of unsolved murders in California around that time. Was this a symptom of an understaffed and ill-equipped police force? Were the FBI too interested in following students with potential "communist" leanings rather than go after the real villains in society?

WILLIAM LESTER SUFF

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