12:24? Riverside and the Radian

The following letter to the Riverside Police Department was copied to me recently by Mike R. of New Jersey. With the author's permission, I am reprinting it here as an historical document, edited slightly for privacy. It provides a new theory regarding the time shown on the watch found at the Riverside crime scene, and submits that the radian had been planned out as early as 1966. Responses may be made at the newsgroup alt.true-crime, where they will be dissected mercilessly by a panel of self-appointed experts, or through the e-mail link below, whence they will be forwarded to the author.

* * *

November 12, 1998

Chief Jerry Carroll
Riverside Police Department
Riverside, CA

Dear Sir,

I am sending you this letter after consultation with my brother, John, a sergeant in the New York City police department. When you read what it is in reference to, I am sure you will utter a few choice expletives (hopefully mild ones!). Nevertheless, it is my sincere hope that you will read the letter in its entirety and that after doing so, you will find what I have to say intriguing enough to give it some honest thought. That is all I could ask of you and your department.

This letter is in reference to the October 30, 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates. I am certain you must wish, at some level, that you and your department had never heard of this crime or of the Zodiac killer: Undoubtedly, it has been a major distraction and a source of innumerable headaches for the RPD over the years. I realize that and hope to add intelligent, not unintelligible, thought to the discussion of the case. In spite of all the headaches and wild theories over the years, I am sure that there is some part of you, and of the RPD in general, who would love to know who killed Ms. Bates all those years ago. If it was Zodiac, so be it. If not, then who? I do not pretend to know who killed Ms. Bates, but think I have found a way to help your department get insight into who it may have been by using a piece of tangible, physical evidence that is in your possession-the Timex watch.

One of the most controversial aspects of the Zodiac case is the "radian" theory. Many people scoff at this as being part of Zodiac's plan. I feel that the theory IS a valid issue for one reason-Zodiac himself implied in one of his own letters that he was constructing this shape with his murder sites. And after all, he did take incredible risks to make the cab driver (Stine) go into a populated, residential neighborhood before killing him. Knowing that he needed to kill him in a specific location goes a long way to explain the risks Zodiac took that night. The problem with the radian is that it was first explained in a very complex and "out there" book. I grant you that. But we must realize that Gareth Penn did not DEVISE the radian scheme himself: He was merely the first to demonstrate it on paper, at Zodiac's prodding. I do not agree with much of the "out there" stuff that Penn says, but I strongly believe that we ignore the radian at our own risk, as it is an important aspect of the case. I also believe that Cheri Jo Bates was tied into the radian, and that the Timex is the link between her, the radian and Zodiac. I hope you will entertain my thoughts on this subject. If the Timex were planted to tie Bates into the other crimes, it was an act of incredible cunning and pre-planning, because the other crimes were still over two years in the future. I believe that confirming this would provide us with tremendous insight into Zodiac's mind.

I first became seriously interested in the Zodiac case, and heard of the radian theory, early this past August. (I am not an obsessed, long-term follower of this case but a serious, well-educated researcher.) I then saw the Riverside Timex via e-mail on August 28, 1998. I didn't look at it for ten seconds when I knew it was tied into the radian from the Bay area, and I did it with junior high school math (I am not Gareth Penn!). A radian is an angle between 57 and 58 degrees. This is the actual angle made when you link the Vallejo/SF murder sites, with the point or apex of the angle placed on Mt. Diablo, as Zodiac, not Penn, instructs us to do. If you extend the North/South segment of the angle southwards, it passes directly through the city of Riverside (see illustration below). It serves to call our attention to Bates, like a big arrow, and seems to be much more than just a coincidence. Finally, a straight line is 180 degrees. Using that knowledge, we can tie the radian to the watch: To get a straight line (180 degrees) starting with the radian angle (57-58 degrees), you must add 122 to 123 degrees. An alternative way of expressing "122 to 123 degrees" is: "122-123 degrees", or, simply, "122-3 degrees". Translating that last notation onto a watch face, it would then be represented as "12:23". That is the exact time on the Timex. This is the link between Bates and Northern California. What Zodiac may have been saying is that in the future, after he finished constructing the radian up north, you could link the murder of Bates by creating a straight line backwards-by adding the time on the watch to the radian angle. He was giving us a road map two years in advance! I understand that the RPD is currently of the belief that Bates was not Zodiac victim, but I believe that the Timex may prove otherwise.

I believe the watch has a story to tell us. I am submitting the following list of questions to you in the hope you will examine the watch and answer them. This case is over 30 years old. And yet after all that time, we now have a chance to use a real piece of tangible, physical evidence to link Zodiac to Bates. There are no outlandish theories or complex calculations involved here. I believe that at this point in time, it is worth answering these questions if it will possibly provide us once and for all with the truth about the death of Cheri Jo Bates and insight into the calculating mind of the Zodiac. Here are the questions:

1) Was the watch definitely stopped when it was found? Do the pictures of the watch which have been circulated on the Internet reflect the time it showed when found on October 31, 1966 (12:23, or so)? (i.e., was it subsequently wound/tested/reset by law enforcement in Riverside, SF, DOJ or the FBI?)

2) Are there photos/reports indicating whether it was found face-up or face down and the time it showed?

3) Does it have a luminescent face and/or luminescent numerals? (If it was found face-up and if the face had luminescent qualities, might we make a case for the killer having no reason to be unable to locate it that night? Might this add credence to the idea that it was his intent to leave it behind? And if so, why?)

4) Was the watch ever taken apart by your department (or anyone else) and examined? Was the back plate ever removed and the internal mechanism examined? Is there any writing on the inside of the back plate that might link it to Zodiac?

5) If the watch was dismantled, was it in working order that night, or was there any evidence it was disabled in any way-mainspring removed, etc.? (If disabled, it was surely left with the intention of being found with the hands at whatever position the killer set them to.)

I realize that this list may be a bit dizzying in its detail. But this watch could prove to be a key piece of evidence in establishing Zodiac's motive for killing Bates, not as a sex crime but as a seemingly random act which was in fact related to his overall scheme, similar to all but one of his other attacks. (Zodiac was an intelligent and cunning person, and it should surprise no one familiar with the case to learn he may have planted that watch and then run his fingers along the ground to make it appear he was looking for it.) If we are ever to have any hope of unmasking Zodiac at this late date, we must be able to profile and understand him as precisely as possible. I hope you agree with me that finding a tool to help strip this crime of the sexual overtones suggested in "The Confession" letter to your department would change our image/profile of Zodiac and at least put us on a better path to his door, whoever and wherever he is. And after all, Zodiac's later crimes hardly revealed him to be a sexual sadist. He killed men and women and ended his reign of terror by killing a lone, male cabby. Therefore, the letter would prove to be a "red herring", sent for the purpose of making us think Zodiac was a common sexual sadist, when his motives were actually far more complex.

Chief Carroll, I realize that the murder of Cheri Jo Bates took place a long time ago. But a murder case, as they say, is never closed until the killer is brought to justice. The Zodiac case is arguably the most intriguing, complex and baffling case in the history of crime in this country. In the next few days, Zodiac will be featured on America's Most Wanted (11/14/98), is going to be the subject of a new feature movie, and will be the subject of several new books: In short, the case still haunts us, even after all these years. It is for that reason that the search for Zodiac will and should continue as long as there is at least some reasonable hope of apprehending him. I believe that your department, Vallejo and the FBI would still have an interest in knowing just who this man was and how he was capable of doing what he did, even though it all occurred well over a generation ago. Like Jack the Ripper, it has become a timeless mystery which begs to be solved.

Thank you for your time and for your kind consideration of this letter. I feel that if it can be proven that the watch was left behind for a reason, we should make every effort to allow it to tell us its story. To what extent this was done in the past, I do not know. If we can still use hard evidence to prove or disprove theories about Zodiac, and possibly understand him better, I feel we should do it as part of the thorough investigation necessary to find him at this late date.

I have included an illustration of my description/discussion of the radian for your examination. I think that a picture is worth a thousand words in this case.

Sincerely yours,

[Mike R.]

[Graphic to Come]

Back
To
Index