The mysterious and elusive Zodiac Killer, who operated in Northern California in the 1960s, remains one of the world’s most infamous murderers.
The Zodiac Killer targeted mostly young couples and murdered five known victims in the San Francisco Bay Area, but once claimed he killed as many as 37 people.
The Zodiac Killer sent taunting letters to the press, some of which included cryptograms, threatening to go on killing sprees unless they are printed.
The authorities have been trying to identify the Zodiac Killer for decades. A team of investigators now claims to have done just that.
Read more below.
Gary Francis Poste
A team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators, military intelligence officers, and journalists called the Case Breakers has identified the Zodiac Killer as Gary Francis Poste.
The Case Breakers spent years looking for forensic evidence, analyzing photos, and deciphering letters Zodiac sent to several news outlets back in the 1960s.
They now claim with confidence that Gary Francis Poste is the Zodiac Killer and say that scars Poste’s forehead match scars on a sketch of the Zodiac, as reported by Fox News.
Cheri Jo Bates
The Case Breakers believe the Zodiac Killer also murdered Cheri Jo Bates on October 31, 1966, in Riverside, California. Bates, who was 18 years old, was found dead in an alleyway on the Riverside City College campus.
In 1967, authorities received a letter, which is why investigators believe the Zodiac was responsible for Bates’ murder. However, in 2016, a person admitted to writing that note as a "sick joke."
Authorities maintain that the Zodiac Killer had nothing to do with Bates’ murder, but the Case Breakers disagree.
The Case Breakers
The Case Breakers believe Bates was murdered by the Zodiac and have tried getting investigators to compare her DNA to that of Poste, which they have refused to do.
"The real portion here has everything to do with ego and arrogance," Case Breakers team member Bill Proctor said of the Riverside Police Department.
"They’re not talking about what they have which means that anybody else who comes to the table might have a reasonable argument that an outside organization’s information is as valuable, if not more valuable, than what the police department has already done."
Is Gary Francis Poste The Zodiac Killer?
Authorities have dismissed the Case Breaker’s claims, saying that the evidence they’ve presented is not very convincing.
"Is there a chance that (the Case Breakers suspect) killed Cheri Jo Bates? No. If you read what they (the Case Breakers) put out, it’s all circumstantial evidence. It’s not a whole lot," Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback told The San Francisco Chronicle.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), meanwhile, said in a statement that "the Zodiac Killer case remains open. We have no new information to share at the moment."
