Given that hair color changes over time, and with exposure to sun light, and given the problems of subjective perceptions of color and word meanings, I can give a little slack to RPD for saying the hair was "sandy blonde", which happens to match local suspect "Barnett", while the FBI report says it is "brown."
More troubling is that even after the DNA comparison which excludes Barnett, the RPD still kept the focus on him as a suspect, and refused to pursue the possible Zodiac connection to the case. I can personally state that in 2009 and 2010 Detective Steve Shumway of the RPD refused to look at or consider evidence pointing to the Zodiac as the killer of Cheri.
I am not going to contact RPD at this time. I will try to get other Zodiac and EAR/ONS investigators to access the actual mtDNA results for comparison purposes. Now that I have a case# and lab# that will be a little easier.
Also the report indicates FOUR hairs found on the blod clot in Cheri's hand. IMO it could be possible ONE hair came from a police officer or lab tech. But not FOUR hairs on a BLOOD CLOT.
IMO these hairs are from the killer, and the killer was almost certainly Zodiac. I want to get this mtDNA compared to my POI's mtDNA, that from other good suspects and to any mtDNA from other possibly related unsolved crimes like EAR/ONS and Percy. Thanks Morf you gave me more work to do! But it just may lead to a breakthrough, I am going to try anyway.
I see that a person claiming the whole Zodiac case is a hoax says the mtDNA used to compare to local suspect 'Barnett' was aged and faulty. These reports show that is false as they show a good sample was obtained and Barnett was conclusively cleared as a nonmatch. Also for those who say the hair in Chei's hand could have come from a cop that seems highly unlikely as these reports show it was actually FOUR hairs in a blood clot.
The handwriting, letter, word usage, spelling, MO and circumstantial evidence IMO shows Zodiac very likely killed Bates.
Then we have the early reports from the RPD that say the confession letter writer was the killer because he knew details that had not been released, then years later when a jailhouse informant turned them onto Barnett, they backtracked on everything pointing to Zodiac and said all the letters came from cranks.
Go to google and type in "jailhouse informant" and "wrongful conviction".
California just signed a law barring jailhouse snitch testinmony unless it is backed by physical evidence, because false testimony from jailhouse informants have been responsible for hundreds of false convictions. Of all the convictions overturned by new DNA evidence, at least 15% were found to have involved utterly false and invented testimony from jailhouse informants or informants seeking to reduce charges or prison time.
Was Barnett really playing basketball and then Cheri called him, and then did he really shout out "That ***** is going to the library!" I say no way. False story by a jailhouse informant. It makes no sense at all. Its contrived and melodramatic and rings false. Why would she tell him she was at the library? Why would he care? Why would he shout it out for several people to hear? Why did nobody else report this? Why did Cheri herself never reveal any concerns about Barnett? Why did no other friends of Cheri or Barnett ever report any of this?
For me personally these reports show that the four hairs in a blood clot almost certainly were from Cheri's killer, the killer was not Barnett, and since all the other evidence in the case IMO points strongly to Zodiac as the probable killer, that means for me these hairs and this mtDNA are very likley from Zodiac. I am going to use what contacts I have and what energy I can muster to try to get them compared to Kaczynski, other good POI's and DNA from other unsolved cases. I think this is the best evidence we have.
Also in regards to the evidence pointing to the Zodiac Killer/Ted Kaczynski as a suspect in the Tylenol Murders, if the FBI wants to actually solve that case they could easily compare the DNA here in the Bates case, which is very likely the genetic profile of the Zodiac Killer (and IMO also Ted Kaczynski), to the DNA they have in the Tylenol case.