Zodiac Killer

[Kell1]

We may not know WHO he is, but we know HOW is (or was)

Never take a suspect and try to make them fit the crime, like many "groups" do you take the evidence (key term here) and see who it connects to

SOMEONE knows who this guy was, even though he was most likely a loner with few if any friends, behaviorally hed stand out like missing teeth .

 

[MAJEthanolic]

I have a question - because I grew up near Mount Diablo and Lake Herman Road, I've been fascinated about this case for decades (30 years now). I'm always baffled why so many people put so much weight on the handwriting. I remember reading 30 years ago that it was theorized that the Zodiac was using an overhead projector to project handwriting (not his) and then tracing that handwriting, letter by letter, onto the letters he sent so that the handwriting couldn't be traced back to him. It would explain why he didn't correct errors in his messages (or, when he did, very crudely) because he didn't want to redo the entire tracing. I still believe that this is true - that he was using one of those oldschool projection tables, placing documents with collected handwriting onto the viewer, and then tracing them out onto the letters he sent so that the handwriting wasn't his.

 

[UncoolNegated]

Wouldn't it be a shame if the Zodiac Killer was only identified 'Poste'humously

 

[SolVic]

Well, if Poste is the killer, we can take comfort in knowing that he didn’t go out peacefully.

 

[Kell1]

I have a question - because I grew up near Mount Diablo and Lake Herman Road, I've been fascinated about this case for decades (30 years now). I'm always baffled why so many people put so much weight on the handwriting. I remember reading 30 years ago that it was theorized that the Zodiac was using an overhead projector to project handwriting (not his) and then tracing that handwriting, letter by letter, onto the letters he sent so that the handwriting couldn't be traced back to him. It would explain why he didn't correct errors in his messages (or, when he did, very crudely) because he didn't want to redo the entire tracing. I still believe that this is true - that he was using one of those oldschool projection tables, placing documents with collected handwriting onto the viewer, and then tracing them out onto the letters he sent so that the handwriting wasn't his.

Ive spoken with people in the FBI on this case, in the past, and you may not be all that far off .

Through his behavior , and through his writing you can see an obsessive compulsive nature to what he did, he was very meticulous in how he portrayed himself to the public via the Zodiac persona

But in some cases, he was also sloppy and frustrated.

Handwriting analysis wasnst as well known in the 60s as it is today, so its possible he just wasnt aware that it existed, and indeed did wrote all those letters.

The primary objective of handwriting is to identify whether or not 2 pieces of evidence came from the same individual

Handwriting experts can take it further however

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

It would not be that weird though if the Zodiac is only discovered after he has died. Sadly a lot of murderers get away with their crimes. IIRC the solved rate for homicide cases in the United States is only 40% and that's a current statistic.

 

[Kell1]

It would not be that weird though if the Zodiac is only discovered after he has died. Sadly a lot of murderers get away with their crimes. IIRC the solved rate for homicide cases in the United States is only 40% and that's a current statistic.

The solved rate for homicides varies depending on race and slightly by state

However its just under 70%

if you commit a murder you have about a 33% chance you will get away with it as of 2021

 

[UncoolNegated]

Can they find a palm print of Poste's and compare it to the one they got off of the payphone receiver?

 

[CaMan60]

The solved rate for homicides varies depending on race and slightly by state

However its just under 70%

After the Zodiac commented a crime he wrote strange letters to prove he did them.
But even stranger is, he phoned in to police and reported what he had done. Was that apart of how he wanted to be portrayed ?

 

[CaMan60]

To fix my spelling, Last message should read.
After the Zodiac committed a crime.

He then wrote in his letter,s to prove What he did. Along with When and Where. Was he making it up as he went ?

 

[Lavender Moon]

After the Zodiac commented a crime he wrote strange letters to prove he did them.
But even stranger is, he phoned in to police and reported what he had done. Was that apart of how he wanted to be portrayed ?

I think he wanted the credit and the attention for his deeds.

 

[UncoolNegated]

To fix my spelling, Last message should read.
After the Zodiac committed a crime.

He then wrote in his letter,s to prove What he did. Along with When and Where. Was he making it up as he went ?

He seemed to be a part of a weird contingent of criminals that want contradicting things: he wanted the attention that came with getting caught and yet he valued his freedom and thus didn't want to get caught.

 

[Kell1]

Can they find a palm print of Poste's and compare it to the one they got off of the payphone receiver?

I beleive the problem in this particular case, was that the prints they did get from the 2 different scenes, didnt even match each other, so one or neither prints, may belong to the suspect.

Print evidence can be tricky, even if they were able to match a print to a suspect, that only indicates that a certain individual used that phone, its not a slam dunk , there has to be more evidence to support, especially with something like a public pay phone where there is going to be hundreds of prints , or a cab that may even have more

Would be different if say we found a print inside a victims personal vehicle, etc...

 

[Kell1]

I think he wanted the credit and the attention for his deeds.

Absolutely

Underlying motive was to cause fear, fear = power, something he didn't have in his "normal" existence .

This phantom killer in our world was most likely an oddball obsessive/ compulsive, paranoid pathetic loner with few friends, non confrontational, with physical and or sexual issues.

The type to cower from an argument, only to do something like poison the person he argued with later.

The "persona" was to compensate for what he really wasn't, the attacks, were to destroy that what he couldn't have or felt was wrong .

 

[breachtones]

I was talking about Poste with a friend today. I think it's either him or some absolute nobody we've never heard of. I don't believe ALA, Gaikowski, etc. for a minute.
Now, don't get me wrong, the press release is TERRIBLE. But they bring up some interesting tidbits in there.
I believe Poste is a decent suspect for Cheri Jo Bates' murder considering the very close proximity between her crime scene and Poste's army station, the paint splattered watch found on the scene (Poste was a house painter), the military wing-walker boots found at the scene which are Poste's shoe size, etc etc etc.

If you were to believe Bates' murder is done by the Zodiac, that in turn makes it kinda interesting...
I also wanna add this guy looks extremely close to the Presidio Heights sketches, those squinty kind of eyes, the crew-cut, he's just got this sort of vibe about him that reeks of those sketches to me.
Plus Zodiac did say he used a disguise, what's a super easy and somewhat effective disguise? Glasses. Of which Poste does not wear any normally.

I wanna see someone compare DNA and/or fingerprints from Zodiac to Poste. Poste's fingerprints are surely on file, he was arrested at least once and was in the military. SFPD/Riverside should at least consider it, to rule it out if anything. I don't care if they consider it "bogus" because what leads do they have to go on now anyways? Might as well.

 

[Ozoner]

I was talking about Poste with a friend today. I think it's either him or some absolute nobody we've never heard of. I don't believe ALA, Gaikowski, etc. for a minute.
Now, don't get me wrong, the press release is TERRIBLE. But they bring up some interesting tidbits in there.
I believe Poste is a decent suspect for Cheri Jo Bates' murder considering the very close proximity between her crime scene and Poste's army station, the paint splattered watch found on the scene (Poste was a house painter), the military wing-walker boots found at the scene which are Poste's shoe size, etc etc etc.

If you were to believe Bates' murder is done by the Zodiac, that in turn makes it kinda interesting...
I also wanna add this guy looks extremely close to the Presidio Heights sketches, those squinty kind of eyes, the crew-cut, he's just got this sort of vibe about him that reeks of those sketches to me.
Plus Zodiac did say he used a disguise, what's a super easy and somewhat effective disguise? Glasses. Of which Poste does not wear any normally.

I wanna see someone compare DNA and/or fingerprints from Zodiac to Poste. Poste's fingerprints are surely on file, he was arrested at least once and was in the military. SFPD/Riverside should at least consider it, to rule it out if anything. I don't care if they consider it "bogus" because what leads do they have to go on now anyways? Might as well.

I don't believe that Cheri Jo Bates murder was connected to the Zodiac killing in any way, so if you want to convince me that Poste is a viable suspect for the Zodiac, then you'll have to do it by tying him to the canonical killings.

But I lean towards your other option: the Zodiac is likely someone we have never heard of.

 

[FOXINBOX]

Without wishing to point fingers, in the core Zodiac canon, the victim's family lives are a lot more complicated that one would be given to expect from newspaper reports, another of the things I would have hoped to have seen in the ensuing decades is a lengthier and more detailed [if still anonymous] account from the Stine witnesses. I do think the Bates case shares a good deal in common with the M.O of the Berryessa attack, and Cheri Bates's mum died the morning of the Fourth of July 1969 - Blue Rock Springs. Like I said. It's complicated.

 

[SolVic]

 

[CharlesRedding]

This article is a great read!

Gary Poste does match the description of witnesses who said he was short/stocky, round face, thin lips and big rimmed glasses. Here is his photo in 1974,

What are your thoughts? I must say this is quite intriguing. Apparently his wife apologized after his death that she was sorry she didn't have the courage to tell about Gary's monstrous past and that he was a "Very bad Man". His neighbors added he had a warm way of being very caring and nurturing but also had a insanely sadistic cruel side to him when he was hunting wild game as that was a passion of his. As the Zodiac put it "Hunting Man is the most dangerous animal of all" Part of how Z put it "The Game".

 

[Winward1]

This: The Zodiac Killer - Stein Case