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Foul Play: Crime Series

S33 Ep21: The Zodiac: Ross Sullivan and the Cheri Jo Bates Murder

Foul Play: Crime Series

Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins

True Crime, Society & Culture, News, Daily News, History

4.4986 Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2024

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Foul Play, we delve into the enigmatic figure of Ross Sullivan, a man whose unsettling behavior and proximity to the 1966 murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside, California, have long fueled speculation about his potential connection to the Zodiac Killer. We explore the circumstantial evidence and eerie coincidences that have led some to suspect Sullivan, from his disturbing poems and cryptographic studies to his resemblance to the Zodiac's composite sketch. Despite the compelling connections, the case against Sullivan remains inconclusive, leaving his role in these infamous crimes shrouded in mystery.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And the Sometimes. Sometimes the smallest things are linked pieces of a puzzle together and ignite those connections in our mind.

0:34.0

A single detail, a stray word, a fleeting image.

0:40.6

Once the seedling of a link takes root, it grows, deepening and intertwining until it becomes impossible to shake off.

0:51.0

But these links can also be red herrings.

0:55.0

Clues and paths that lead nowhere,

0:59.0

except into more speculation and confusion. The challenge lies in discerning which threads to follow

1:08.0

and which to leave untouched. The bait, however, can be too tempting not to chase.

1:17.1

In 1977, Northern California was moving away from the Zodiac killer. He had been dormant for three years.

1:27.0

His messages, codes, and ciphers, lace island. There were no more brutal murders attributed to this killer. This fact greatly

1:37.7

relieved the population of California. He was, however, still a hunted man.

1:45.0

Detectives, investigators, and all those close to the investigation, past and present,

1:52.4

wanted to see the Zodiac caught and imprisoned and those

1:57.0

connections just kept on coming. Dave Peterson was a police reporter for the Vallejo Times Herald during the period

2:10.2

the Zodiac carried out his murders.

2:13.0

Like many other reporters, the crimes of this unknown individual appalled yet fascinated him.

2:21.0

Peterson tracked the case intently through the Zodiac's act of years, and well into the silent years that

2:28.8

followed.

2:31.4

In October 1970,

2:33.0

1970, fellow reporter Paul Avery of the San Francisco Chronicle

2:37.5

received a letter from a man in Northern California.

2:41.0

The man drew his attention to a four-year-old murder case fearing it was the work of the

2:47.1

Zodiac Killer.

...

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