Ross Handwriting

[traveller1st]

RS-ssa.jpg

This is the only sample we have unfortunately. He seems consistent with that style of L and we are assuming that it's an uppercase L. Problem is we don't have anything else to compare it to ie normal print and not a form. For all we know those could be his lower case l's. I suspect they aren't but because there's a mix of upper and lower case it's hard to determine exactly what is going on. I mean is that all intended to be uppercase but without all the characters being uppercase versions?

I wouldn't even guess at what his 'normal' upper and lower case print even looks like based off this example.

[morf13]

I am confident that those are Upper case letter L's from Ross, and it's odd, he seems to only capitalize his L's and R's in the middle of words. I don't see Z doing that often

[PinkPhantom]

Deleted by me

[PinkPhantom]

I am confident that those are Upper case letter L's from Ross, and it's odd, he seems to only capitalize his L's and R's in the middle of words. I don't see Z doing that often

It's funny how Ross doesn't write the capital R in "seracuse". Could not being sure of the spelling have made him subconsciously make a little r?

Does he utilize capital letters in the middle of words that he knows how to spell and is confident in?

Subconsciously keeps the r or l lowercase if he isn't sure of the words spelling and isn't confident?

Seems like it.

So did Zodiac ever show signs of this thinking/writing pattern?

[Marshall]

I am confident that those are Upper case letter L's from Ross, and it's odd, he seems to only capitalize his L's and R's in the middle of words. I don't see Z doing that often

It's random. The "r" in "Seracuse" and "New York" are lower case, and the one in "New York" especially looks like the Z "checkmark" r. Meanwhile, all the "N", "A" and "H" are capitalized in the middle of words.

Since Ross actually studied and wrote a paper on the subject of disguising handwriting, I can picture him studying his own handwriting tendencies, and probably identifying some of the same things we're looking at with this form. So, he makes a mental note that when he writes as Z, he will need to do something different, from his usual patterns. We also know, from the ciphers, that he could be pretty meticulous in printing well-formed letters when he wanted to. So he has the full range to work with - careless, sloppy, and apparently haphazard, to neat, meticulous, and precise (which, by the way, was probably his style when marking books in the RCC library.)

But, nevertheless, some of his letter formations, in some of his writings, do inevitably look like good matches. He can't fully disguise every single letter, every single time.

[1doctor]

Honestly, I feel there's too much time and thought being invested in determining Ross's handwriting from this SSA. Like many of us have said, handwriting changes over the years. From my understanding, this SSA was submitted when Ross was 17 (is that correct?), and the zodiac years were when Ross would have been 27. I personally write a HELL of a lot different than when I was 10 years younger.

On top of that, I don't think there's much to be invested in handwriting analysis to start with. In my opinion, a much better use of time would be seeing if Ross could be placed anywhere near the Zodiac murders after RCC, or literally any thing else. People disagree on handwriting analysis all the time (In fact, some even call it a pseudoscience). And as half of the people are speculating, if Zodiac blatantly wanted to obfuscate his typical handwriting vs the handwriting he wrote the letters with, then it would always be speculation when it comes to comparing the handwriting, since it was purposefully obfuscated when written!

[Jarlve]

I don't think the handwriting avenue should be overlooked in a case as tough as the Zodiac, where there is so much written material available. Obfuscation is obviously a big concern.

Come to think of it one of the following should be true: no one ever saw his handwriting and there was no need to obfuscate, or it was of some concern and obfuscation was necessary. It's a no-brainer that the second statement must be true. Given all the different writing styles the author expressed. Though, as diverse as they are, they all ring the same tone. If he truly was a master of obfuscation then we should not be able to determine wether a letter is Zodiac or not. Therefore, comparing handwriting has it's place, and it seems to be popular around here. But yeah, it's a vague science.

[morf13]

Honestly, I feel there's too much time and thought being invested in determining Ross's handwriting from this SSA. Like many of us have said, handwriting changes over the years. From my understanding, this SSA was submitted when Ross was 17 (is that correct?), and the zodiac years were when Ross would have been 27. I personally write a HELL of a lot different than when I was 10 years younger.

On top of that, I don't think there's much to be invested in handwriting analysis to start with. In my opinion, a much better use of time would be seeing if Ross could be placed anywhere near the Zodiac murders after RCC, or literally any thing else. People disagree on handwriting analysis all the time (In fact, some even call it a pseudoscience). And as half of the people are speculating, if Zodiac blatantly wanted to obfuscate his typical handwriting vs the handwriting he wrote the letters with, then it would always be speculation when it comes to comparing the handwriting, since it was purposefully obfuscated when written!

The writing examination is just one piece of the puzzle, or one tool in the shed. Sure, finding out Ross was living in Vallejo during the Z crimes would be the best case scenario, but for now, I'll settle for some more good samples of handwriting from him

[morf13]

I am no writing expert by any stretch, but I see some clear things in Zodiac's writing that look like real 'habits'.

I think, almost all of the time, Z connects his T & H when he writes words that are capital T followed by lower case h. And in words with a GHT in them(caught, fought,etc)he separates the g & h. I think these are likely real habits of Zodiac's. I would love to see if Ross had any habits like these

[PinkPhantom]

when POIs are based on handwriting alone I turn off. But when there is a suspect that circumstantially fits the bill to the extent that Ross has I think handwriting analysis is then interesting. It shouldn't be evidence of someone's involvement, but suggestive of their involvement in writing the Z letters. It helps build a case so to speak, but it isn't necessarily a credible science that is impenetrable to conjecture - not like DNA or fingerprints or a confession. Yes, Ross was known to use deceptive handwriting techniques or at least rumored to have used them, but I am not going to give him as much credit to say that he could pull it off perfectly without flaws and giving up some telltale signs of his own writing style. But Even then, any variations in the writing Ross presents whether as himself or if he was Z would make a test inconclusive, whether the variations were deliberate or not.

At any rate, it is interesting to study and compare IMHO when looking at a credible POI.