In a thread on Valerie Percy, I mentioned a book that Morf alerted me to after the author contacted him. The book is called "Corroborating Evidence III" by William T. Rasmussen. In the book he discusses the Black Dahila case, and a theory that the murder of college girl Valerie Percy in the Chicago suburbs on September 18, 1966 may be the work of the Zodiac Killer, who probably killed college girl Cheri Jo Bates on October 30, 1966.
He also discusses the murders of the wealthy ROBISON FAMILY on JUNE 25, 1968 in Blisswood, near GOOD HART, in EMMET COUNTY, MICHIGAN, at their summer cottage. Killed were Mr. and Mrs Robison, their 7 year old daughter Suzie and their three sons. This case has many similarities to the murders of the Monsanto Chemical Company employee Mr. Bricca and his family in Ohio on September 25/27, 1966 and the murder of computer expert and State Education official Dr. Sims and his family murder in Florida on October 22, 1966. And perhaps also some similarities to the murder of Hughes employee Mr. Boles and his family in California on August 13, 1965, near Riverside, that Morf has looked at.
But here is what is very interesting.
The Detroit News had a secret witness program to get information on the case.
In August 1968 someone sent in a tip that said they had information on the case but in order to get it law enforcement had to place an ad in the personals classified. This is what the ad said - apparently the exact words required by the anonymous tipster:
DR. GUIDINI: Your prescription good.
However, need additional.
-Zodius
------------------------------
ZODIUS?
Remember this is 4 months before the Jensen/Faraday murder, and exactly a year before the killer called himself "Zodiac" in the letter of August 4, 1969.
ZODIUS
ZODIAC
The words share 4 of 6 letters.
From the wiki defintion of ZODIAC:
The term zodiac derives from Latin zōdiacus, which in its turn comes from the Greek ζῳδιακὸς κύκλος (zōdiakos kuklos), meaning "circle of animals", derived from ζώδιον (zōdion), the diminutive of ζῶον (zōon) "animal". The name is motivated by the fact that half of the signs of the classical Greek zodiac are represented as animals (besides two mythological hybrids).
AK Wilks: The Latin term for Zodiac, "ZODIACUS", has the most similarity to the term used by the Detroit News tipster, "ZODIUS".
I had never paid much attention to this case, because the police said it was more or less closed, as they thought that Mr. Robison's business partner, suspected of embezzlement, killed the family. Others have questioned how he could have been seen by witnesses in Detroit and made it in time to go to Good Hart to do the killings and be seen by witnesses in Detroit. He would had to have covered 300 miles in three hours. The police said he may have hired a hitman.
But Rasmussen raises a new theory. He mentions reports that Mr. Robison, a publisher of a magazine called Impresario, was contacted by a mysterious possible investor named "Mr. Roebert", interested in the project of Mr. Robison to create "computerized warehouse operations and cultural support centers" at or near airports. A meeting was scheduled for June 25, 1968, the day the family was killed, wherein Mr. Roebert was to take the Robison family on a trip in his private jet. The strange Mr. Roeberts was reported to have a "robotic", "monotone voice" with "frequent pauses". Sounds very similar to the description of the voice of Zodiac.
The murders were horrible. The killer shot through a window with a .22 automatic to kill Mr. Robison. The killer then entered the home and shot Mrs. Robison, Susan the three boys. He then took a "carpenters hammer" and smashed the heads of the two females, Mrs. Robison and Susan. HE THEN PLACED THE BODY OF ONE OF THE SONS ON TOP OF MR. ROBISON, and part of the body of Susan on top of them. This is very rare and is similar to the possible Zodiac crime of Domingos and Edwards, were the body of Linda Edwards was placed on top of Domingos. He then pulled down the undergarments of Mrs. Robison. Both Valerie Percy and Linda Edwards had clothes cut or lifted to expose them. FINALLY HE COVERED MRS. ROBISON WITH A BLANKET. Domingos and Edwards were also covered with a blanket.
Who was the mysterious "Mr. Roeberts"? Was this the business partner Joseph Scolaro, or an associate of his? Or was he a stranger to the Robison family?
Was this the work of the business partner and possible embezzler Joseph Scolaro, who later killed himself over heavy debts? Maybe, there was evidence to suggest he did it, and that is what the police think. If Mr. Robison suspected Scolaro of embezzlemt, that could perhaps give Scolaro a motive to kill Mr. Robison. Although it makes little sense to avoid possible charges of embezzlement, often reduced to a misdemeanor, maximum punishment one year in jail, usual punishment of probation, by committing six acts of first degree murder, punished by mandatory life imprisonment, with no parole. But the prosecutor did not even file embezzlement charges, citing lack of hard evidence. Scolaro denied doing the murder in his suicide note. And why would he kill the whole family? Mr. Robison died with the first shot fired.
Was this the work of a hitman hired by the business partner? Maybe, but the battering of the female faces and the strange posing of bodies is not usually associated with professional hitmen.
Could this crime be related to the Percy Murder and the "FAMILY MURDERS OF 1965 AND 1966" - BOLES, BRICCA and SIMS?
Boles, Percy, Bricca, Sims all have ties to high tech companies and/or computers. Mr. Robison was seeking investors for a new company involving computerized operations, that was going to tear down a forest in Oakland County to expand an airport and add the warehouse and cultural center, to be followed at more airports throughout the country.
Could this crime possibly be related to the Zodiac case?
Even if the murder was NOT the Zodiac, does the August 1968 use by the tipster of ZODIUS indicate that the tipster may have been Zodiac? If so, does that indicate a possible Zodiac connection in 1968 to the Midwest in general and/or Michigan in particular, in order for him to have heard about the case?
THE FOREIGNER: The problem IMO concerning the Scolaro suspect theorie is that it was stated that Scolaro killed the whole family to get rid of vitnesses.
BUT Richard C Robison, the apparent target, was alleged shot as the first victim, shot to death through the window.
SO... WHY would the killer then have to enter the house and kill the rest of the family?
I mean the killer was possibly NOT seen by any other persons of the family.
And IF it was Scolaro, and he wanted to kill his bizz partner, he could easely have worn a skimask or som other diguise.
The following massacre of the entire family, just IMO do NOT fit a bizz partner who want to get rid of his bizz partner AT ALL.
It seems more likely either an overkill crime of passion OR a psychopathic lust killer.
RAND: Lots of murderers cover their victims. It's usually a sign that they know the person and feel some sense of guilt and shame.
You've got a tipster in Detroit in 1968 that used the name, Zodius. Unless the tipster was the murderer, I don't see it. After all, we have a creepy guy who was down in Riverside who was called Zodiac. So? If Z were the tipster, I thinkn he'd have taken credit for the crime.
TAHOE27: I really don't see how this case is like the Zodiac case at all.
The term Zodiac was quite popular in the late 60's...all the horoscope stuff n'all. I believe if Zodiac knew he wanted to be called Zodiac, he would have used that in his first letters. I think he didn't like "Cipher Slayer" and decided to use Zodiac at that time. Just my opinion of course.
Still so tragic, and unfortunately not that uncommon.
AK WILKS: Rand/Tahoe - Good points. I am not saying this case is linked, just saying an author draws a possible connection. I am ordering the book, hopefully others will too, and we can discuss the evidence.
Astrology was popular, but the more common terms to refer to it were astrology or horoscope. Not Zodiac. So I do find it interesting that a variation of the Latin term for Zodiac was used by a tipster in a murder case, who asks for a message to appear in the paper, as Zodiac did later.
Morf, and everyone, get this. Police reports say it was a .22 LR fired from a weapon with six lands and grooves with a right hand twist. Same as SB 63 and Zodiac LHR. I understand many weapons fit that, but still it is interesting. Weapon was thought to be an AR -7 rifle or .22 automatic maybe JC Higgins.
John Douglas said his study showed posing of bodies happened in about 1% of murder cases. Both SB 63 and this case have posing, including placing one body atop another.
On the flip side the business partner Scolaro owned a .22 AR - 7. There is a damning circumstantial case against the partner.
SEAGULL: I was able to find an article closer to when the bodies were found.
Beckley Post-Herald
Beckley WV
July 24, 1968
The month thing is mind boggling. I guess if the family was taking a month's vacation and no one from their hometown expected to see them for that long it's slightly understandable. You would expect that other family members, say the the children's grandparents or a sister or brother of one of the parents, would have heard from them during that time though. The family probably did not have friends in the area where they were vacationing who would have noticed them not being around.
The father ran an advertising agency and published a magazine, you would expect employees to contact him during that time for business reasons. You have to wonder why one of them didn't ask someone to check on the family if they tried to make contact and couldn't reach anyone or messages went unanswered.
AK WILKS: COLLEGE GIRL AND FAMILY MURDERS CLUSTERED IN 1966 - 1969: ALL OR SOME OR NONE OF THESE CASES MAY BE RELATED
Sharon Bubes, Evanston, IL - Attacked in her bedroom with a hammer, 6/30/66
Valerie Percy, Kenilworth, IL - Murdered in her bedroom by hammer and long 10 - 12 inch knife, 9/18/66
Bricca Family, Cincinnati, OH - Found bound with household objects and murdered in bedrooms by knife, 9/27/66
Sims Family, Tallahassee, FL - Bound with household objects and murdered, 10/22/66
Cheri Jo Bates, Riverside, CA - Murdered at campus library by short 3 inch knife, 10/30/66
Confession letter in Cheri Jo Bates murder, Riverside, CA - probably placed in mailbox on 11/28/66
Robison Family, Good Hart, MI - All family members shot, mother beaten with a hammer, 6/25/68
Cecelia Shepard, Lake Berryessa, CA - Bound and murdered by long 10 - 12 inch knife, 9/27/69
Betsy Aardsma, State College, PA - Murdered in campus library by short 3 inch knife, 11/28/69
Joan Webster, Boston, MA - Harvard grad student abducted and killed, 11/28/81
On September 18, 1966, Valerie Percy was brutally murdered in the mansion of her father, Bell & Howell CEO and Republican Nominee for Senate Charles Percy. With the next 34 days, two American familes would be wiped out in horrorific home invasion slaughters. Father, mother, children. These were the Bricca Family in Cincinnati, Ohio found dead on September 27, 1966 and the Sims Family killed in Tallahassee, Florida on October 22, 1966. Just 8 days later, the first crime of the Zodiac Killer happened in Riverside, California, the day before Halloween. This was the murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30, 1966.
On June 25, 1968, the Robison family would be killed in their Northern Michigan cottage, in Good Hart. Father, mother, daughter, three sons.
Was this the work of five different killers? There is evidence to suggest that.
But could these five murder sites be connected? Were there similarites between the victims, MO, geography and weapons to suggest that it was at least possible these and others were the work of one man? Yes.
There is evidence and witnesses that say Valerie Percy and Linda Bricca knew each other, and they both came from the same upper class social circles in suburban Chicago.
Valerie Percy, Cheri Jo Bates, Celia Shepard, Betsy Aardsma, Joan Webster - each young woman was a college girl.
Percy, Bricca, Sims, Bates, Robison, Webster - in each case the father had multiple connections to the world of business, high tech, computers, government and/or defense contracts.
Dr. Sims was a government official for the State of Florida Education Department and ran the computer division, and apparently was a top "nationally recognized" computer expert.
Charles Percy was the Republican nominee for US Senate, and CEO of the high tech company Bell & Howell, that made camera's and computer like business machines.
Mr. Bricca worked for the high tech chemical company Monsanto.
Mr. Robison was a magazine publisher and looking to do a major expansion at a rural airport to create "computerized warehouse operations" and cultural centers. He then wanted to expand this idea across the country.
The Sims family being bound with stockings, mens ties and socks in their mouth matches exactly with what a Ohio detective told me was done to the Bricca family.
The father of Cheri Jo Bates worked at the Naval Weapons Facility. The father of Joan Webster was ex CIA, and was at the time the Vice President at IT&T, Defense Technologies Group.
The Percy mansion and the Robison cottage are both on or near Lake Michigan.
The Shepard murder was confirmed work of the ZODIAC, the Bates murder was probably/almost certainly ZODIAC and ZODIAC certainly sent letters to the newspaper claiming knowledge of the crime and asked his letter be published in the newspaper, and ZODIAC has been mentioned in published books as a suspect in both the Percy, Aardsma and Webster murders.
In the Robison Murders a tipster sent in clues to a newspaper claiming knowledge of the crime and asked for the name ZODIUS to appear in the newspaper.
Also, the Bricca Family murder was husband-wife-young daughter. Sims Family murder was husband-wife-youngest daughter. Both were brutal overkill stabbings, as was Percy murder, as was Robison murder, gunshots also in Sims and Robison cases. The Robison Family were shot to death. In Bubes, Percy and Robison a hammer was used. In Bricca, Sims and Shepard victims were bound. Bates and Aardsma were killed in or at college libraries, on Fall Holiday periods, with a short 3 inch knife. In Percy and Shepard an approximately FOOT LONG knife/bayonet was used.
In the possible early Zodiac crime of the Santa Barbara murders of Domingos and Edwards, the Zodiac murder on 12/20/68 of Jensen and Faraday and the Robison Family murders of 6/25/68 a .22 with rifling of six lands and grooves with a right hand twist was used.
I think the evidence shows Bates and Shepard were killed by the Zodiac, but we don't know who the Zodiac was. In some of these cases, like Robison, there are good local suspects, who while never charged have a compelling amount of circumstantial evidence pointing towards them. In other cases, like Aardsma and Webster, there are different suspects but none that really stand out and the evidence is not very compelling and they are unsolved. In many of the cases, like Percy, Bricca and Sims, there are no real solid suspects and the cases are unsolved.
UPDATE 2013: Zodiac is now officially a POI in the Bricca case and I think also in the Percy case.
The murder sites in Good Hart, Michigan (Robison Family 6/25/68), Cincinnati, Ohio (Bricca Family found 9/27/66) and Tallahassee, Florida (Sims Family 10/22/66) all are in an almost perfect vertical line on a map. Add in Kenilworth, Illinois (Valerie Percy 9/18/66) and State College, Pennsylvania (Betsy Aardsma 11/28/69) and they all form a rough cross, actually more like the Yggdrasil Symbol/Algiz Rune. The Algiz Rune translates as the English letter "Z". My POI spraypainted a Yggdrasil Symbol/Algiz Rune at the campus of a target.
