Murder of Cheri Jo Bates

Uncommon card · No. 147788

The murder of Cheri Jo Bates occurred in Riverside, California, on October 30, 1966. Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College. Police determined the assailant had disabled the ignition wiring and distributor of Bates's Volkswagen Beetle as a method to lure her from her car as she studied in the college library. The murder itself remains one of Riverside's most infamous cold cases, and has been described by some locals as a murder which "stripped Riverside of its innocence". Bates's murder was highly publicized due to both its graphically violent nature and that she is considered by some investigators to have been the first murder victim of the Zodiac Killer, although this theory has been contested by investigators. Regardless, the connection has brought attention to the cold case, though her murder remains unsolved.

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