Zodiac killer

Earlier Murder

On October 27, Paul Avery, the key Chronicle reporter on the Zodiac case, received a Halloween card that included a threat on his life. The letter was posted on the front page of the Chronicle. 

Days later Avery received another letter urging him to investigate the similarities between the Zodiac murders and the murder of college student Cheri Jo Bates years earlier.

On October 30, 1966, Bates, 18, had studied at the Riverside City College library until it closed at 9 p.m. Investigators suspect that her Volkswagen parked outside the library was tampered with before she left. When she tried to start the car, the person police believed had disabled it approached her and offered his help.

Somehow he lured her into a secluded driveway between two empty houses, where police believe the two sat for an hour and a half. The man later attacked Bates, beating her, slashing at her face, and cutting her 11 times, seven of which nearly decapitated her.

Clues found at the scene included a size 10 heel print, a Timex watch displaying the time 12:23, fingerprints. a palm print, skin tissue underneath the victim's fingernails and hair and blood in her hands.