Nikki Alexander Benedict, 14 , considered by law enforcement a possible Zodiac victim

I am working on obtaining a copy of this sketch.

morf13 wrote:

I am working on obtaining a copy of this sketch.

Good work fella.

morf13 wrote:

I am working on obtaining a copy of this sketch.

I really hope that it works out, great work morf

Jim moved so often, its a wonder he could remember all the places he lived ?
Southern Calif. is not that far of a drive, so I suppose he could have been anywhere at that time ? We all need to be sure to use the word "alleged", or he will sue for defamation, when he gets told what is being said about him on this site. He can and would shut down this site, the same way he did Zodiac Zee for the same reason.

As far as him being sought 7 months after Darlene's murder, I know that as soon as Paul Stine was killed, that was when the police found him to be a very good suspect. I have papers with that show that to be true. Maybe they were looking for him that long, and didn't find him for 7 months, I don't know ? But in the police report it states that Darlene's family members did see him with a pregnant girl friend sitting in the back row of Darlene's memorial service.

That has always bothered me, why he would say he didn't know she was killed ? Also in that police report he did tell the police that he drove the car ( the car that looked like the shooters car ) down to so. Calif. and parked it for the previous owner to pick it up. When I posted that Darlene was in Reno NV durring the spring of 67, that she went to S.F. in Feb to see Jim. And that her final papers were signed in April.
I wasn't trying to prove anyone wrong , I just knew that the facts showed that she was getting her divorce from Jim at that time, so she couldn't have been in So Calif. at the time of that murder.

And that Jim would have had to sign the final papers . Jim did say, they never stayed anyplace long enough to pay a months rent ? When I was renting back then , I had to pay a months rent up front, so I don't know how he got away with that either ? There are a lot of unanswered questions in this case that is for sure.

Another issue that unfortunately went unanswered when we had Jim available was the statement in the PD report by his step brother that Jim had a wife and child in Germany. As I recall Jim told us he was a somewhat naive young man when Dee came along, and he certainly never mentioned any prior family.

Solar, nice work getting the Carbtree thread from Zodiazee.

Interesting if Jim lived in Germany. I was just reading the FBI Z files and someone wrote to say that Des is a German word.

Bentley it was Rufus who saved the Crabtree thread, he knew I was interested in him and so gave me a copy. If anyone wants a copy of it PM me and I'll try to copy it for you (I say try, I am the biggest dufus when it comes to the computer). I reckon it's nearly all there just prob a couple of pages near the end when Jim was already gone may be missing.

Rand ,I made a thread about that note, it's interesting because there is also a J on that note similar to the way the Zodiac sometimes wrote his j's and a circle with a dot in the middle similar to the one found on the desktop poem. What's really interesting is whether the person who wrote that letter would really have read about it in the Anderson paper given the timescale. It was posted from Iva South Carolina, there are nearby Airports. I think it's a good possibility that it could be from the killer, not 100% but I find it curious non the less. Also why if it was intended for the FBI did it have the address for the Vallejo Times written on it in the first place? The rest of the message is typed.

rand wrote:

Interesting if Jim lived in Germany. I was just reading the FBI Z files and someone wrote to say that Des is a German word.

Like the way Z wrote that SLA had a meaning too.

Solar Pons wrote:

Rand ,I made a thread about that note, it's interesting because there is also a J on that note similar to the way the Zodiac sometimes wrote his j's and a circle with a dot in the middle similar to the one found on the desktop poem. What's really interesting is whether the person who wrote that letter would really have read about it in the Anderson paper given the timescale. It was posted from Iva South Carolina, there are nearby Airports. I think it's a good possibility that it could be from the killer, not 100% but I find it curious non the less. Also why if it was intended for the FBI did it have the address for the Vallejo Times written on it in the first place? The rest of the message is typed.

I looked in the papers for the days leading up to that note, and did NOT find any Zodiac stories that ran in Carolina that would prompt the writer to say he had read a story. OF course, I may not have access to the particular paper, but those stories tend to be ran via AP, and most Z stories would be in multiple newspapers.

Thanks for looking for that Morph, I think it is too short a space of time from the letter being sent to it featuring in any paper, certain details prob wouldn't have been known at the time. I think there's a good probability that this letter from SC could be the Z.

The following link has discussion that Nikki's death may be linked to that of another girl.:
http://forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=3474&page=9

The are discussing a suspect in the two case, with the initials D.W. from Riverside County

One person said- "Wasn't DW questioned about the Patricia Lee Kuzara disappearance? If I remember correctly, he lived in her neighborhood also?"

Wonder who DW is?

morf13 wrote:

The following link has discussion that Nikki's death may be linked to that of another girl.:
http://forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=3474&page=9

The are discussing a suspect in the two case, with the initials D.W. from Riverside County

One person said- "Wasn't DW questioned about the Patricia Lee Kuzara disappearance? If I remember correctly, he lived in her neighborhood also?"

Wonder who DW is?

Found the answer already...DAVID WESTERFIELD, he was the murderer of a young girl Danielle Van Damme (not sure of spelling in last name). I guess they were saying he was in the the area of the 1974 killings.

Here was a small list of kids missing or killed from that area around that time:
Jan. 3, 1960: Mary Lou Olson, 10, was last seen headed for a drugstore in National City. Her killer was never found.

Sept. 28, 1974: Patricia Lee Kuzara, 7, disappeared walking home from her baby sitter’s house in Poway. Killer not found.

Feb. 17, 1975: Tammy Suzanne Johnson, 11, was kidnapped off a Carlsbad street while walking with her 8-year-old brother and a friend. Killer not found.

July 17, 1976: David Clinton Hobbs, 14, of Golden Hill failed to return home from a trip to the store.

Aug. 14, 1976: Aleta Sue Grosenbach, 9, of Kankakee, Ill., went out to buy a newspaper while visiting her grandmother in Bird Rock and never returned. Killer not found.

Sept. 25, 1976: Donald Whaley, 12, of El Cajon was last seen telling his sister he was going to visit his girlfriend.

Feb. 6, 1977: Jose Luis Ramirez, 6, of Golden Hill was reported missing. A convicted molester pleaded guilty.

July 5, 1978: John Mayeski and Michael Bauer, both 16, were kidnapped from the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. Robert Alton Harris was executed for the crime.

I hope I am not too late in telling you that Jim C/ aka P was stationed in Germany , fathered a girl child while there.

Need some help- I have a person in southern CA that is working to secure for me, the article and sketch of the man in Nikki's case. Does anyone have an aprox date of the sketch, or know the name of the newspaper it appeared in?

I have been trying (unsucessfully) to locate the article with the sketch of the suspect in Nikki's murder. I wish I could find it, as alot of people, including her own Family, say it does indeed resemble the infamous Zodiac suspect, and since the crime happened one day after the Bates letter- "there will be more" threat.

Anyhow, I found this case that really seemed to have some similarities to the Benedict case, and it happened near the Pleasanton/Livermore area. A young girl, Tina Faelz, killed in a secluded section of woods, stabbed and killed-no apparent motive:
http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=603

Damn, I wish we could see that sketch!

Police are taking a fresh look at this case...a new detective is reviewing the materials on file. Luckily, there is alot of stuff on file and in evidence, which many time in 43 year old crimes, is not the case.

morf13 wrote:

Police are taking a fresh look at this case...a new detective is reviewing the materials on file. Luckily, there is alot of stuff on file and in evidence, which many time in 43 year old crimes, is not the case.

Morf, if you talk to this detective, please remind him about the murder of Cheri Bates on 10/30/66, how the Benedict murder was one day after the 6 month anniversary of Bates murder, and one day after the "Bates had to die THERE WILL BE MORE" lettters. Despite the stubborn stupidity of the Riverside Police, perhaps any evidence from the Benedict case could be compared to the fingerprints and mtDNA from the Bates case. And the very least they might be able to determine if the blades were the same - they sound as if they could be, both being short blades, and the attacks were similar. Even if the RPD refuses to acknowledge Zodiac, perhaps even they would compare evidence on a nearby murder, near in both space and time to the Bates case.

Rand wrote:

Notice from the autopsy report that Nikki had the letter "H" written on her left hand:

http://thezodiacmansonconnection.com/autop_benedict.html

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AK wrote:

It says on the left palm are:

271

277

278

H

And next to the "H" another marking, perhaps a letter, but can't be made out.

Did she write this on her hand, a note of some kind?

Or did the killer write it? If so, what does it mean?

Someone, perhaps the killer of Cheri Jo Bates, and the police experts said the writing matched the Zodiac, wrote a morbid poem and signed it "RH".

Here we have numbers and the letter "H" and perhaps another letter. Could it have been an "R"?

What do the numbers mean? They add up to 826.

271 = B G A
277 = B G G
278 = B G H
826 = H B F

AK, I will be certain to mention that stuff. Zodiac or not, it is good they are looking at the case again. If that sketch turns up, it will be pretty interesting. I think we will know more in the coming weeks, if I hear anything of interest, I will pass it along. I am not super familiar with Nikki's case, most of what I have heard & read comes from Howard Davis....he certainly digs alot of stuff up, so good job Howard. Whether Howard is right or not, I cant say, but yes, you are right, Nikki's murder happened the day after the letter in the Bates case.

By the way AK, just sent you a PM

Nikki Benedict was quite an incredible young girl.

She was born in Chicago, overcame hearing difficulties and wanted to be an engineer. She had a business selling rabbits. She was only 14 years old when she was murdered.