61–70 of 221 posts
This case didn’t only inspire documentaries but also inspired the song “Dire Wolf” by the Grateful Dead.
"So the Zodiac actually emerged some months after the song was finished"
Story behind the song "Dire Wolf" http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2012/10/dire-wolf-1969.html
Looking at the press release [1], it still feels relatively circumstantial to me. Not sure that we can deem the Zodiac Killer to be fully identified yet. It's definitely not nearly as cut and dry as when they identified the Golden State killer. [1]: https://secureservercdn.net/166.62.114.250/g9q.07b.myftpuplo...
Do you know what circumstantial means? It doesn't mean "weak". It means "pertaining to circumstances". Nearly all evidence is circumstantial. DNA is circumstantial evidence. Fingerprints are circumstantial evidence. A smoking gun is circumstantial evidence. Trials are based on circumstantial evidence. Hans Reiser was arrested, tried, and convicted of murdering his wife based on nothing but circumstantial evidence tha…
In particular circumstantial can mean 'pertaining to circumstance' or it can be one of several other meanings derived from the same root. One of which is its noun form "Something incidental to the main subject, but of less importance", which sounds like a more reasonable interpretation. Or it may even be one of those words that only has a particular meaning in a legal context.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know what circumstantial means? It doesn't mean "weak". It means "pertaining to circumstances". Nearly all evidence is circumstantial. DNA is circumstantial evidence. Fingerprints are circumstantial evidence. A smoking gun is circumstantial evidence. Trials are based on circumstantial evidence. Hans Reiser was arrested, tried, and convicted of murdering his wife based on nothing but circumstantial evidence tha…
Usually when a particular interpretation of a word renders it utterly meaningless then that interpretation is not the correct one. In particular circumstantial can mean 'pertaining to circumstance' or it can be one of several other meanings derived from the same root. One of which is its noun form "Something incidental to the main subject, but of less importance", which sounds like a more reasonable interpretation. O…
And since we are talking about evidence, we should be using it within the context of evidence. And in that context, some or all of the evidence being circumstantial has no bearing on whether or not it is good evidence.
This isn't a matter of "other meanings [being] derived from the same root". There is no root. It's a misappropriation of a word from lazy television writers.
"For the full story, and more evidence from the Case Breakers, visit"[0] Can we update the link to just go to the full story rather than the summarized version? (sorry, I know it's kinda "offtopic" but that just bugged me starting to read and just being redirected to another site) [0] https://www.foxnews.com/us/cold-case-zodiac-killer-identifie...
By far the most interesting takeaway from the full FOX news article is that it seems possible that the Zodiac Killer was actually a group of people: > Hans Smits told Fox News he spent 10 years hiding a whistleblower who said he escaped a criminal "posse" headed by Poste [now identified as the Zodiac]. The man, who The Case Breakers only referred to as Wil, told Smits the posse roamed California's High Sierra region…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems like even the article contradicts what this group says... > "Our Homicide Cold Case Unit has determined the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in 1966 is not related to the Zodiac killer," the Riverside Police Department's Homicide Cold Case Unit told Fox News.
The FBI says it is related, the local PD says it is not, and to ask the FBI. The local PD is also refusing to do DNA tests which would resolve the issue.
Yeah, mean ol' law enforcement, refusing to do DNA tests for any crank mystery squad solving team that demands them.
In all seriousness, my daughter in college was in a psychology class where they were talking about serial killers. The Zodiac killer came up and a guy in the class said, in all seriousness, "Isn't Ted Cruz the Zodiac killer?"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know what circumstantial means? It doesn't mean "weak". It means "pertaining to circumstances". Nearly all evidence is circumstantial. DNA is circumstantial evidence. Fingerprints are circumstantial evidence. A smoking gun is circumstantial evidence. Trials are based on circumstantial evidence. Hans Reiser was arrested, tried, and convicted of murdering his wife based on nothing but circumstantial evidence tha…
Consult a dictionary, eg., > pointing indirectly towards someone's guilt but not conclusively proving it. You are correct that within a technical legal context most evidence is circumstantial. But that isnt the only meaning of the word, and indeed, largely not what is meant.
I can consult Merriam Webster, which agrees with what I said. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumstantial%20...
Or Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/circumstantial-evidence
Or Cornell
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/circumstantial_evidence
Or basically any single law firm or courthouse
https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/legal-defenses/circumst...
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/circumst...
https://www.nycourts.gov/judges/cji/1-General/CJI2d.Circumst...
Yes, inferences must be made. But as a lot of those links mention, direct evidence (the other kind of evidence) is often worse as it's usually eyewitness accounts.
Lazy television writers have done us all a disservice by repeated implication that circumstantial evidence isn't good enough.
So two new pieces of evidence are offered up by this article, firstly that Zodiac was identified by several witnesses as having a forehead scar, including being drawn on the famous sketch of him, which matches a scar Poste had at the time. Secondly, some sort of new solution to the cipher is possible by omitting Poste's full name in some way. As exciting as it would be, I always take these claims about famous cases b…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget Jack The Ripper!
At least the Zodiac killer is recent enough for uncovering their identity to feel sort of feasible. That said, I personally find the idea of it being Ted Cruz so amusing that I see little reason to amend my head-canon, regardless of evidence presented.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget Jack The Ripper!
At least the Zodiac killer is recent enough for uncovering their identity to feel sort of feasible. That said, I personally find the idea of it being Ted Cruz so amusing that I see little reason to amend my head-canon, regardless of evidence presented.