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At a first glance, there is no difference in the rather short texts of the Bates Letters other than the words "SHE" and "BATES", and that one letter was unsigned.
However, there are a number of interesting observations that we could make, in spite of the brevity of the messages.
In overall, the script of the notes looks incoherent and erratic. There is a very clear difference in style and size of the message texts and their signatures at page bottom.
Obviously, the author needed to mention the name "BATES" in his letters to the Riverside Police and Press Enterprise in order to specify whom the letters were about.
Same obvious, he did not have this need when he wrote his letter to Cheri Jo Bates' father, Joseph Bates.
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Source: Wikisource.org |
That the author names Cheri Jo just by her family name "BATES" certainly includes a derogative element. Furthermore, it could indicate that her killer comes from an environment where it is common to call people by just their family names, such as for instance the military or a school where teachers call students by their surnames when calling out the class register.
The letter envelopes carried two four-cent stamps each, which was more postage than necessary.
The words "HAD TO DIE" suggest that, from the killer's perspective, Cheri Jo Bates' murder was the consequence of actions and/or characteristics that the killer clearly knows but does not communicate. From his perspective, the killer considers the killing of Cheri Jo Bates as causal, justified, necessary and probably even mandatory.
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Source: Wikisource.org |
With the words "THERE WILL BE MORE", the killer does not only threaten. He announces his clear intention and plan to kill again, and to kill more than one person. Furthermore, his words imply that, from his perspective, there are other persons that deserve the same punishment as Cheri Jo Bates, for same or similar reason/s.
The note sent to Joseph Bates carries no signature. The other two notes are signed with a Z-like symbol or letter. The signature looks disproportionate in size and different in writing style, compared to the message texts. It looks significantly smaller and also much more precise than the text of the message body.
The signature resembles the letter Z with a flying-bird-shaped top, or a fusion of the letter and the number 3, or the letter V and the number 3, or just a combination of the numbers 2 and 3.
Continue to Bates Letters Comments & Conclusions
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