Zodiackillersite.com

CuriousCat wrote:

Zresearch wrote:Well, not just Sullivan, anybody.

As I recall library staff reported that Cheri jo was alone the night she was murdered. Nobody was seen with her anyway...

Yes, from all indications CJ was alone that night.

What morf meant by "placed in the RCC library" was that we know Ross worked there, not that he was there that night.

AFAIK no suspect has been confirmed to have been at the library that night.

Thanks for clearing that up.

In relation to the SOLVED EARONS case.

For many, many years, some of the investigators and many people in law enforcement didn't believe the EAR and the later ONS crimes were connected in any way.

Investigators from SoCal refused to work with Sacramento to see if the crimes were related. (This is all covered in "Alone in the Dark")

If it wasn't for DNA, we would have people on this very board claiming that ONS was a copycat of the EAR.

We would have current SoCal investigators telling us the two crimes are totally different offenders.

I read somewhere on this forum that someone has Ross's Social Security information. Is it possible to get Social Security to run the number and tell us who every employer was who contributed money to his account.
This would give us dates and locations in chronological order. Literally a roadmap on where this guy was working and living. However if he was working for cash under the table for menial work there would be no record of this.
Or would Social Security consider this a privacy issue and refuse the request even though the man is deceased. My opinion is that they would. The only way were going to access this information is for law enforcement to reopen the case with him as a prime suspect and then use a court order to get the information released.

^^It would definitely take LE to access that sort of information, but it is out there.

A.N.Other wrote:I read somewhere on this forum that someone has Ross's Social Security information. Is it possible to get Social Security to run the number and tell us who every employer was who contributed money to his account.
This would give us dates and locations in chronological order. Literally a roadmap on where this guy was working and living. However if he was working for cash under the table for menial work there would be no record of this.
Or would Social Security consider this a privacy issue and refuse the request even though the man is deceased. My opinion is that they would. The only way were going to access this information is for law enforcement to reopen the case with him as a prime suspect and then use a court order to get the information released.

Yes, LE would need to legally get this info. But his family could also access it

Below is some info on Patton State. I know that per California law the admission records are inaccessible. However, I noticed reading this that sometime around '66 or '67 the country coroner requested 160 patients be returned to Patton that appear to have been farmed out to unlicensed community facilities. It also reports the County Mental Health unit was doing some shady things. Maybe that report exists archived somewhere and would be accessible? The 160 is a pretty specific number. Perhaps there are names in it? I'm not a great archive researcher so maybe someone who is can take a shot at it.

Also, did Ross end up in one of these "unlicensed community facilities without medication and proper supervision" for treatment?

"During Gericke’s time at Patton, significant changes took place in the state hospital system. Beginning in the 1950s with the introduction of chlorpromazine, the availability of effective psychopharmaceuticals allowed some previously intractable patients to be able to function outside the hospital. In addition, three acts of the California legislature played a significant role in what would become known as the deinstitutionalization movement. The first piece of legislation was the Short-Doyle Act, passed in California in 1957. This act created a funding structure for an enlarged community mental health system. It expanded outpatient resources for mental health care and contributed to the rapid decrease in state hospital patient population. The Short-Doyle Act was followed by the federal Community Mental Health Centers Act, passed in 1963, which led to the further development of the community mental health care system. This act increased grants to improve preventive and community care and was meant to improve treatment in state hospitals. The third piece of legislation that further drove deinstitutionalization was the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, passed in California in 1968. This act ordered the release of all harmless mentally ill patients. The act also established a new process for the involuntary commitment of mentally ill patients only if they were deemed a danger to themselves or others, or if they were gravely disabled. This new commitment process was established in an attempt to balance civil rights and public safety. The LPS Act also linked treatment to the community mental health system and removed financial obstacles to using community services.
Other events contributed to the rapid patient depopulation at Patton. In 1963 eighteen buildings, mostly cottages, at Patton were ruled unsafe by the fire marshal causing Patton to find ways to expedite the release of the harmless mentally ill. Patton’s administrators utilized systems to assist soon-to-be-released patients with their transition out of the hospital and into the wider population. In 1965 Patton established a Community House as well as a Leave Planning Center to assist patients with the transition. In addition, Medicare and Medicaid laws, passed in 1965, allowed for elderly patients to be transferred to nursing homes for care.
By 1966 Patton’s patient population had dropped by thirty-five percent. Further depopulation occurred when Ronald Reagan was elected as governor of California in 1966. In the face of civil libertarians, the patients’ rights movement, and California’s economic issues, Reagan began to dismantle the state hospital system. He ordered a decrease of 550 psychiatric technicians from state hospitals, 237 of whom worked at Patton. Psychiatric technicians played a highly significant role in the care, treatment, and monitoring of patients and this decrease had far reaching implications on the ability of the state hospitals to provide proper care.
There were also inevitable issues with releasing patients so quickly. The community care system was not prepared for the influx of former state hospital patients. Following the deaths of seven former Patton patients in a fourteen month period, death certificates were mailed to all members of the legislature with a letter arguing that patients were being prematurely released from the hospital. In addition, the county coroner requested that 160 patients be returned to Patton when it was discovered that they were being treated in unlicensed community facilities without medications and proper supervision. It was discovered that the County Mental Health Unit received incentives for each patient day that was not used. The board of supervisors authorized the transfer and asked the state to stop transferring patients out of Patton until the community was adequately prepared to receive patients. "

Just a couple more observations from the above text.

* A person could only be involuntarily committed after 1968 if they were gravely disabled or a danger.


If Ross was involuntarily committed there had to by law be evidence he was violent. If Jon did put him into institutions as had been relayed then the "Ross was just a sweet but sick person" narrative given to the private investigator by other parts of the family had to be known to be false when it was said.


*The Patton director Gericke pioneered using chlorpromazine.


Chlorpromazine is majorly inhibited by alcohol, something we know Ross imbibed in. Rapid weight gain is one of it's more usual side effects. Shuffling gait could also be a side effect. Akathisia which is a feeling of inner restless is also another more usual side effect. Restlessness is certainly communicated by Z in his writings.

Khys wrote:Below is some info on Patton State. I know that per California law the admission records are inaccessible. However, I noticed reading this that sometime around '66 or '67 the country coroner requested 160 patients be returned to Patton that appear to have been farmed out to unlicensed community facilities. It also reports the County Mental Health unit was doing some shady things. Maybe that report exists archived somewhere and would be accessible? The 160 is a pretty specific number. Perhaps there are names in it? I'm not a great archive researcher so maybe someone who is can take a shot at it.

Also, did Ross end up in one of these "unlicensed community facilities without medication and proper supervision" for treatment?

"During Gericke’s time at Patton, significant changes took place in the state hospital system. Beginning in the 1950s with the introduction of chlorpromazine, the availability of effective psychopharmaceuticals allowed some previously intractable patients to be able to function outside the hospital. In addition, three acts of the California legislature played a significant role in what would become known as the deinstitutionalization movement. The first piece of legislation was the Short-Doyle Act, passed in California in 1957. This act created a funding structure for an enlarged community mental health system. It expanded outpatient resources for mental health care and contributed to the rapid decrease in state hospital patient population. The Short-Doyle Act was followed by the federal Community Mental Health Centers Act, passed in 1963, which led to the further development of the community mental health care system. This act increased grants to improve preventive and community care and was meant to improve treatment in state hospitals. The third piece of legislation that further drove deinstitutionalization was the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, passed in California in 1968. This act ordered the release of all harmless mentally ill patients. The act also established a new process for the involuntary commitment of mentally ill patients only if they were deemed a danger to themselves or others, or if they were gravely disabled. This new commitment process was established in an attempt to balance civil rights and public safety. The LPS Act also linked treatment to the community mental health system and removed financial obstacles to using community services.
Other events contributed to the rapid patient depopulation at Patton. In 1963 eighteen buildings, mostly cottages, at Patton were ruled unsafe by the fire marshal causing Patton to find ways to expedite the release of the harmless mentally ill. Patton’s administrators utilized systems to assist soon-to-be-released patients with their transition out of the hospital and into the wider population. In 1965 Patton established a Community House as well as a Leave Planning Center to assist patients with the transition. In addition, Medicare and Medicaid laws, passed in 1965, allowed for elderly patients to be transferred to nursing homes for care.
By 1966 Patton’s patient population had dropped by thirty-five percent. Further depopulation occurred when Ronald Reagan was elected as governor of California in 1966. In the face of civil libertarians, the patients’ rights movement, and California’s economic issues, Reagan began to dismantle the state hospital system. He ordered a decrease of 550 psychiatric technicians from state hospitals, 237 of whom worked at Patton. Psychiatric technicians played a highly significant role in the care, treatment, and monitoring of patients and this decrease had far reaching implications on the ability of the state hospitals to provide proper care.
There were also inevitable issues with releasing patients so quickly. The community care system was not prepared for the influx of former state hospital patients. Following the deaths of seven former Patton patients in a fourteen month period, death certificates were mailed to all members of the legislature with a letter arguing that patients were being prematurely released from the hospital. In addition, the county coroner requested that 160 patients be returned to Patton when it was discovered that they were being treated in unlicensed community facilities without medications and proper supervision. It was discovered that the County Mental Health Unit received incentives for each patient day that was not used. The board of supervisors authorized the transfer and asked the state to stop transferring patients out of Patton until the community was adequately prepared to receive patients. "

This is interesting because, according to the Librarians letter, Ross began school at RCC in January 1964. According to Ross' military records he was reclassified 1-Y in November of 1963 (in September of 1962 he was 1-A). 1-Y was the typical designation for those who were physically able but had some type of mental illness. So I wonder if he was released from the hospital around then since he had claimed in 1965, also according to the librarian, to have claimed to have "busted out" of the hospital. If they were releasing patients in 1963 that might fit in with the overall timeline. This might narrow down when Ross was actually a patient there.

By 1965-66 Ross' brothers were telling their family back east that Ross had committed suicide in a mental hospital.

JeffP wrote:...By 1965-66 Ross' brothers were telling their family back east that Ross had committed suicide in a mental hospital.

Can you elaborate on this? Sorry if I missed it somewhere.

Tahoe27 wrote:

JeffP wrote:...By 1965-66 Ross' brothers were telling their family back east that Ross had committed suicide in a mental hospital.

Can you elaborate on this? Sorry if I missed it somewhere.

I spoke with two different sets of Ross' cousins and they told me some stories. One interesting one that both cousins told me independently was that in 1965 or 1966 Timothy hitchhiked across country and visited with his family in Connecticut. There, when asked about Ross, he told them that Ross had committed suicide when he was a patient in a mental hospital. Jonathon visited the same family roughly in 1968 and he told them the same thing.

I was also told that the Sullivan family, through their aunt, had a hunting farm and the kids all learned how to shoot when they were young.

In 1968, when he was dying with cancer, Harold returned to CT. He told his family that he had been in Europe teaching in all the great cathedrals. But we know from his obituary that he was in New York working as some clerk. It's possible he was lying to them. When he died none of his sons attended the funeral.

Harriet Sullivan (nee Gray), Ross' mother, came from a wealthy Maine family. Her grandfather had basically built the town of Old Towne, Maine and her father ran one of the factories in town. He was very prominent in the Universalist Church and was a town leader. His name was Maurice Herbert Gray. He hated Harold and forbade Harriet from marrying him. But she did anyway and was disowned by her father. Her mother had died of brain cancer at 34. Her brother died when he was a kid. After she died Harriet was placed in the Gray family plot in Maine. Although he lived until 1964 and his ONLY grandkids (Ross and his brothers) were basically destitute after 1961, he didn't do anything to help them. He left them nothing when he died.