Confession Letter vs Zodiac

[morf13]

The other day on the radio show, Michelle the host brought up something interesting in regards to the differences between Zodiac's letters,and the Bates case letters. But I think there are far more similarities in the writings than there are differences, especially concerning the Confession letter. Here's a list of what I and others have noted(some of what follows was found on the net and written by others)

Confession letter writing vs Zodiac letter writing>

From the Bates ‘confession’ letter:
“SHE SQUIRMED AND SHOOK AS I CHOAKED HER, AND HER LIPS TWICHED”
From Zodiac’s 7/26/70 letter:
“Some I shall tie over ant hills and watch them scream + twich and squirm”
Both writers misspell TWITCH the same way as TWICH. And what are the chances of the confession writer using BOTH twitch & Squirm in the same letter, and Zodiac using the same two words in a single line?


Another oddity I noticed in the Confession Letter is the writer's improperly beginning sentences with the conjunctions "BUT" and "OR":

"But she is battered and dead."

"Or maybe she will be the shapely blue eyed brownett..."

"But I shall cut off her female parts..."

“But maybe it will not be either”

Compare to Zodiac’s writing:
Zodiac’s Belli Letter: "But if I hold back too long..."

My Name Is Letter: "But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid..."

Zodiac’s Button Letter: "But now school is out for the summer..."

Zodiac’s Little List Letter: "Or any type of (Zodiac) buttons that you can think up."


MORE:
Zodiac’s uses the word ‘SO’ to explain what he is going to do, or what he is thinking:
"So I shall change the way the collecting slaves."

"So as you see the police don't have much to work on."

"So I now have a little list..."

The confession letter writer writes-
“So don’t make it to easy for me”

Zodiac used the word ‘SHALL’ about two dozen times if memory serves in his letters. That is a word not often used by people in American English. The Bates confession letter writer also uses that word.


The confession letter writer wrote:
“She squirmed and shook as I choaked her”
And again, the Zodiac wrote:
“Some I shall tie over ant hills and watch them scream + twich and squirm”

Thoughts,theories,opinions??? Thanks

[mike_r]

Hi-

Don't forget chickens and eggs. The Confession was published in the papers long before Z wrote his letters, so if Z was so influenced by the case he could have simply paid homage to that case by copying the writing style. "Squirm and twich" were already in the public record. In general, anything that was in the Confession letter was known by the public by 1969.

Mike

[traveller1st]

Hi-

Don't forget chickens and eggs. The Confession was published in the papers long before Z wrote his letters, so if Z was so influenced by the case he could have simply paid homage to that case by copying the writing style. "Squirm and twich" were already in the public record. In general, anything that was in the Confession letter was known by the public by 1969.

Mike

Doesn't that seem a little unlikely though? I mean if we assume that the purpose of the use of the same language was just a homage it's a pretty vague one, isn't it? To bury it in a rambling letter largely about the Mikado nearly 5 years later and then to admit to a connection in 1971. If this was the case would Zodiac let that slide, wouldn't he have jumped on the opportunity to berate the authorities over the missed clue? Maybe, maybe not but it still seems a little too involved and complicated if it was a homage, for him to never mention it. Point is if it was a homage then it would have carried meaning and a purpose so if we believe that the purpose was to attach himself to a crime that he didn't commit then were looking at one complicated and sneaky cookie.

Insert yourself at the time of the crime by writing letters that on the surface look nothing like your later letters, laugh as they find a poem on a desk that you may or may not have written, use the confession letter in the crime as a template to the language you use in your confirmed letters nearly 5 years later then when the authorities finally make a connection, you claim it in writing over 5 years later.

It's not impossible but was Zodiac that guy, was he that complicated, playing a very long game through letters? As I just said, not impossible but could any of us have dreamed that up and relied on blind luck as to the Riverside connection ever being mentioned. Just seems like too big an ask.

[mike_r]

Hi-

Even if it is not an overt homage to the Confession author, I think that whatever was in the public record before the Z case took place that suddenly shows up in his letters has to be looked at with a jaded eye. Maybe he saw the word "twiched" in the Confession, so it was in his subconscious and came out when he wrote out his own letter.

Certainly, the content of the Z letters seem to indicate a much different author from that of the Confession author.

Just IMHO.

Mike

[traveller1st]

Yup good point. It may have been in his thinking. I just think it worked out a little too well. I mean it's not like the "I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a 38" comment, that didn't go anywhere beyond the speculation about Officer Radeditch (did I spell that right? sorry if I didn't).

I'm just trying to work out or at least imagine purpose in this instance. Of course he doesn't make that easy, there's probably enough BS weaved in there just to confuse things but this whole Riverside thing is quite recurring. I mean it's not like he could go back in time and plant evidence.

[duckking2001]

Good spot with the "twich", never noticed that before.

The misspelling of brunette as "brownett" is very Z in his poetic/dyslexic way of spelling things. A true misspell should be phonetic, but to sound it out doesn't even sound like the real word.

A brunette has brown hair, so she's a "brownett." That feels like his little word games to me.

[morf13]

Hi-

Don't forget chickens and eggs. The Confession was published in the papers long before Z wrote his letters, so if Z was so influenced by the case he could have simply paid homage to that case by copying the writing style. "Squirm and twich" were already in the public record. In general, anything that was in the Confession letter was known by the public by 1969.

Mike

Don't forget Sherwood saying that the Bates letters & desk were "unquestionably" the work of Zodiac, and Trav's side by side of the Zodiac's writing compared to the desktop. I think that would be more than just paying homage, I think he actually authored the letters. Let's also not forget the double postage too,just like Zodiac's. Add it all together, and it's pretty strong.

[Tahoe27]

Hi-

Even if it is not an overt homage to the Confession author, I think that whatever was in the public record before the Z case took place that suddenly shows up in his letters has to be looked at with a jaded eye. Maybe he saw the word "twiched" in the Confession, so it was in his subconscious and came out when he wrote out his own letter.

Certainly, the content of the Z letters seem to indicate a much different author from that of the Confession author.

Just IMHO.

Mike

I agree. I also think Zodiac did this with the word "crackproof" in his 1971 letter to the LA Times. I think others (unknowingly) aided Zodiac in his ability to contect him to other crimes, letters, etc.

Some think it must be Zodiac who wrote the FK I'm crackproof card because he wrote about it later in 1971. I think we have "chicken and eggs" here again. The Crackproof card was published in the paper for all (including Zodiac) to read. So did he just take past tidbits and throw them in his letters?

[Nachtsider]

The tone of the Confession Letter is a bit too poetic to be Zodiac. It has a very different tone from the confirmed Zodiac letters. On the other hand, the writing on the envelope looks a hell of a lot like the stuff in Zodiac's Halloween card, and there are a number of linguistic similarities that you guys have pointed out.

At the end of the day, though, if you put a gun to my head and asked me what I thought of Zodiac's involvement in the Riverside case, I would answer that he wrote only the desktop poem and the three 'Bates Had to Die' letters, and that he did not kill Cheri.

[smithy]

Double postage - check.
Writing on the envelopes has that "d" - check.
Facts from newspapers as well as elsewhere - check.
Use of comparable language - check.
Messing in a murder case, taunting police, writing to a newspaper - check, check, check.

I believe it was him alright, up to his little tricks.
Nope, he didn't kill Cheri.

Tahoe - you're absolutely right, he picked up the word "crackproof" and used it deliberately. How very unfair.