Is Louis Myers the Zodiac Killer?

[RivkahChaya]

There are actually people who went a lot further than your grandmother, and constructed elaborate lies about being camp survivors.

BTW, anyone else think the friend, Randy Kenney, who reported the deathbed confession, looks like the Zodiac sketches? I've been trying to find out how old he is, but I can't, so far.

[Fleetwood Mac]

There are actually people who went a lot further than your grandmother, and constructed elaborate lies about being camp survivors.

BTW, anyone else think the friend, Randy Kenney, who reported the deathbed confession, looks like the Zodiac sketches? I've been trying to find out how old he is, but I can't, so far.

Seem to remember someone writing a few books about the Holocaust, with himself being at the centre of the story as someone who went through at least one camp, turning out to be a charlatan. It could have been Primo Levi, and I've read one of his books, but could be wrong there and apologies in advance for any slander on his character but his name stands out.

I think in any group of people there are a small minority who are confused, bored, attention seekers or plain simple out and out lunatics. It would have been more of a surprise if no one had come forward claiming to have been there when they weren't.

Also remember that Spanish woman, think she was from Barcelona, who claimed to have been at the terrorist attack in New York, even ran a support group comforting fellow victims. Turns out she was sat in a fishing village in Spain eating paella while the atrocity took place. She wasn't in it for the money; she just wanted to be part of something.

And, I think sometimes we forget how flawed human beings are and how much we need interaction: clearly some more than others.

[Ginger]

Seem to remember someone writing a few books about the Holocaust, with himself being at the centre of the story as someone who went through at least one camp, turning out to be a charlatan. It could have been Primo Levi, and I've read one of his books, but could be wrong there and apologies in advance for any slander on his character but his name stands out.

You may be thinking of Miklos Nyiszli, who wrote "Auschwitz", one of the better-regarded early accounts. Much of that was subsequently proven to be fabrication and conflation (lots of details about the gas chambers and crematoria buildings are just flat-out wrong), and Nyiszli himself is said to have admitted before his death that he intended the account to be more of a dramatization than a documentary. He was trying to convey the experience of being a prisoner in Auschwitz, rather than write an exact personal history.

In Nyiszli's case, though, he was most assuredly a prisoner at Auschwitz, and worked on the prisoner medical staff.

[Damaso Marte]

Wasn't there somebody who allegedly confessed to being Jack the Ripper while being hanged for another crime? This confession is given zero credulity here, so we should be familiar with the concept.

[GUT]

Dr Cream is alleged to have said "I am Jack ..." as they hanged him.

There were many people who confessed to being Jacky, most were dismissed after short investigations.

[Beowulf]

I'm aware of false confessions. I came from a family of 4 kids. When we were little we had a hall with wood planks for a floor. We were playing 'bowling' on it, and my mother discovered someone had drawn circles with a grease pencil to mark the pin spots. We were all to be whipped for it until someone confessed.

I confessed, thinking I must not remember I did this and did not want the other kids to be whipped. I then got whipped. My older brother later came to me and asked me why I did that, as he had drawn the circles.

There are a lot of reasons for confessing to crimes, as the column above shows. However, I found some of Louis Myers answers compelling. The idea about the celtic cross instead of crosshairs. He lived in the area, could have or did know some of the victims, worked at a military surplus store where he could've gotten same boots as the prints found at the scene, and the fact that he confessed in 1976 to a friend of the same thing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2568546/Man-claims-best-friend-confessed-infamous-Zodiac-Killer-died.html

[RivkahChaya]

I can't get past his age or utter lack of resemblance to the sketch. I tried to play with his photo to see if I could close his mouth and change his hair to make him look more like the sketch. I put glasses on him, but I don't think it helps. If he's the Zodiac, he's also Lon Chaney.

[Beowulf]

Yes, it's more than likely this guy is not the Zodiac.

Forgot to mention in my last post the idea of the one he confessed to may know more than he's saying. I found this interesting:

...BTW, anyone else think the friend, Randy Kenney, who reported the deathbed confession, looks like the Zodiac sketches? I've been trying to find out how old he is, but I can't, so far.

[RivkahChaya]

Randy Kenney has a youtube video that has to be seen to be believed:
http://youtu.be/9JDNE5RNC5k.

Great points from the comments on the video:

1. If he [Myers] wanted you to write a book and give proceeds to victims families why did he not leave you with any physical evidence. His handwriting, a fingerprint, etc. 2. How was he such an expert on encrypted codes at such a young age.

Also

How can you say "these are intellectual properties of mine" then claim it is details about unsolved murders. That information is not yours. That information belongs to the court, law enforcement, and most importantly the victims.

[RivkahChaya]

BTW, Beowulf, thanks for bringing the story to our attention. I hope you didn't take the skepticism personally. I missed this story in the news, and was glad to see this new development and have a chance to discuss the case some more.

Randy Kenney is now on my radar. He may just be an attention whore, but he has some motive for what I think is a whopper of a lie, and now I want to know more about him and what his motive could be.

[Ginger]

2. How was he such an expert on encrypted codes at such a young age.

My understanding is that mathematicians (of which encryption experts are a subset) generally blossom at an extremely young age compared to other disciplines. Still, I don't think Myers is the Zodiac. All of the witnesses describe him as much older.

[RivkahChaya]

My understanding is that mathematicians (of which encryption experts are a subset) generally blossom at an extremely young age compared to other disciplines. Still, I don't think Myers is the Zodiac. All of the witnesses describe him as much older.

Actually, I think it's where mathematics and linguistics meet. Either he would have to have remarkable intuition, or have studied it some place. Even if he were an autodidact, that is not so remarkable in a 30-year-old as it is in a 17-year-old. 30-year-olds do not have a full schedule of high school classes at the same time.

[sdreid]

An old fellow confessed to the 1898 Gatton Murders on his deathbed in the 1970s. It was investigated and it was found that he was only 12 at the time so he was eliminated as a realistic suspect - probably just some old guy's last ditch attempt at fame or notoriety.

In this case, I have suspicions that there even was a confession but can't know for sure so perhaps there was.

There was supposedly a woman who claimed that her husband confessed to being JtR on his deathbed in the 1950s but I believe most think that she made it up or that the whole story was apocryphal.

[RivkahChaya]

Two things on the sketch I just can't get past are the small nose and the widow's peak. Myers has kind of a big nose, and no widow's peak. Those are features that I think the witnesses would specifically mention, and they are on both sketches.

Also, the face is much-lined-- it's the age thing again.

[Barnaby]

I want to believe, but this is stretching things too far. Not likely. This person died of cirrhosis most probably caused by alcoholism. It could be alcohol induced dementia talking.

These crimes were not committed before forensics. There is evidence. There is DNA. There are survivors and other witnesses. There are genuine communications. There was/is tremendous interest in the case. That this case remains unsolved is actually surprising.