Page 2 of 7

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:38 pm
by ophion1031
I wonder if there's some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:41 pm
by up2something
ophion1031 wrote:I wonder if there's some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.


Death certificate had his occupation as "dishwasher" I think.

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:42 pm
by ophion1031
up2something wrote:
ophion1031 wrote:I wonder if there's some kind of record of Ross collecting disability or social security or anything. If he was allowed to live at a care facility at such a young age then he must not have been healthy enough to have a job but would have needed some source of income. I would imagine he held dead end minimum wage jobs up until he became too unhealthy to work.


Death certificate had his occupation as "dishwasher" I think.

Yeah but it says "last known employment" or something along those lines. It could have been years since he was last employed.

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:10 pm
by Seagull
morf13 wrote:
I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.



Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn't even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:16 am
by ophion1031
Seagull wrote:
morf13 wrote:
I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.



Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn't even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?



Good catch. I never even noticed that it said "informant." So it was probably a nurse at the home that found him. So they would have contacted the coroner right away and he was either taken to the coroner's office or directly to the funeral home if there was no autopsy done.

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:48 am
by morf13
Seagull wrote:
morf13 wrote:
I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.



Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn't even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?


Good point about the informant stuff. The PI told me that the place is currently an assisted living facility, and that it used to be one back in the 70s under a different name & owner. I think the PI mentioned that owner was a phillipino lady if I remember right. The PI never questioned that owner, I dont recall if the PI was able to locate her

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:50 am
by morf13
ophion1031 wrote:
Seagull wrote:
morf13 wrote:
I think Ross was dead when he was found by Jon, so there would be no need for emergency response.



Morf I sincerely doubt that Jon found Ross dead at 7AM, Jon didn't even live in Santa Cruz. Where it says on the death certificate "Informant" it means that the informant is the person who supplied the vital information for the death certificate of the deceased. The vital information would be DOB, parents names, place of birth etc. Most likely Jon was listed as next of kin at the care facility where he died.

If you doubt me, look at the death certificates of the victims, the informants were the parents or spouse and they certainly were not the ones who found their loved one dead.

What did the PI tell you about where Ross died?



Good catch. I never even noticed that it said "informant." So it was probably a nurse at the home that found him. So they would have contacted the coroner right away and he was either taken to the coroner's office or directly to the funeral home if there was no autopsy done.


What sucks is, that Ross's coroners report, which listed stuff like height, weight, other stuff, is missing from the Santa Cruz coroner's office. I spoke to two different people who could not locate it. There should have been one on file

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:19 am
by ophion1031
I wish we could find out how much Ross weighed at the time of his death. We know he was a "beefy 300 lbs" in 1968, but I would bet he started really packing on the weight around 1972 or 1973 and that is probably when the serious health problems began. Do we know how long he lived in the assisted living home? Morf, did your PI contact White's Mortuary to see if they had any paperwork on Ross?


EDIT: Death certificate says he was at 2177 17th Ave for 2 years. So either the later part of 1974 or the first part of 1975 is when he would have went to live there. David A. Carter of White's Mortuary handled the cremation. I wonder if he is still alive. He might remember Ross since he was extremely obese.

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:39 am
by Dag MacLugh
A "beefy 300 pounds" in 1968? Hm. Seems to me Sullivan's huge--and getting huger--size would have been immediately noticeable to witnesses, particularly cops. 300 pounds is way more than "stocky." Further, given his excess weight, would Sullivan have been able to perform as Zodiac? (Let alone have the mental capacity to plan, execute and advertise his murders)?

Re: The morning of Ross' death

PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 10:13 am
by morf13
Dag MacLugh wrote:A "beefy 300 pounds" in 1968? Hm. Seems to me Sullivan's huge--and getting huger--size would have been immediately noticeable to witnesses, particularly cops. 300 pounds is way more than "stocky." Further, given his excess weight, would Sullivan have been able to perform as Zodiac? (Let alone have the mental capacity to plan, execute and advertise his murders)?


He was 300 lbs in his high school pic, and again,for the 1000th time, he doesn't look like 300 lbs. He looks more stocky than fat. He didn't have rolls of fat according to his Friend.

Could he 'perform' as Zodiac? Zodiac was not running marathons, he was walking up to people and shooting them. How much energy or stamina does that involve? Ross was 300 lbs in high school in 1959, and 300 lbs in 1968, so it's likely he was 300 lbs in 1969,and again, he doesn't look like a blubbery rolls of fat guy,he looks stocky.