Cheri Jo Bates | |
|---|---|
 Bates in 1966 | |
| Born | Cheri Josephine Bates February 4, 1948 |
| Died | October 30, 1966 (aged 18) Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Multiple stab wounds; severed jugular vein; homicide[1] |
| Body discovered | October 31, 1966 c. 6:28 a.m.[2] |
| Resting place | Crestlawn Memorial Park, Riverside, California, U.S. 33°56′58″N 117°31′01″W / 33.9495°N 117.5170°W (approximate) |
| Occupation | Student |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[3] |
| Parents |
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The murder of Cheri Jo Bates occurred in Riverside, California, on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College. Police determined the assailant had disabled the ignition coil wire and distributor of Bates' Volkswagen Beetle[4] as a method to lure her from her car as she studied in the college library.[5] The murder itself remains one of Riverside's most infamous cold cases,[6] and has been described by some locals as a murder which "stripped Riverside of its innocence".[7]
Bates' murder was highly publicized due to both its graphically violent nature, and the fact she is considered by some investigators to have been the first murder victim of the Zodiac Killer, although this theory has never been definitively confirmed.[8][9]
- ^ Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer ISBN 978-1-845-76531-6 p. 165
- ^ Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer ISBN 978-1-845-76531-6 p. 166
- ^ Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer ISBN 978-1-845-76531-6 p. 164
- ^ The Hunt for Zodiac: The Inconceivable Double Life of a Notorious Serial Killer ISBN 978-0-998-62317-7 p. 88
- ^ True Crime: Unsolved Crimes ISBN 0-7835-0012-2 p. 6
- ^ Korsgaard, Søren Roest (2017). America's Jack The Ripper: The Crimes and Psychology of the Zodiac Killer. Morrisville, North Carolina: lulu.com. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-1-365-88573-0.
- ^ "Co-ed's 1966 Slaying Still a Mystery". Press Enterprise. November 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ True Crime: Unsolved Crimes ISBN 0-7835-0012-2 p. 8
- ^ "Lone Officer Continues to Search for Zodiac". The Fort Scott Tribune. September 15, 1976. Retrieved January 18, 2018.