A Cold Case Team Has Reportedly ID'd The Zodiac Killer

Reports have come in stating that a cold case team that goes by the name The Case Breakers have reported that they have identified the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer from the late ‘60s and ‘70s who was never caught, despite his letters and ciphers he sent to the San Francisco police department.

The Case Breakers are made up of “a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators, journalists and military intelligence officers, has tackled other mysteries such as the D.B. Cooper hijacking heist, the disappearance of former labor union boss Jimmy Hoffa and other unsolved cases. The group believes the killer is responsible for a slaying hundreds of miles away that was never linked to him.”

That murder they believe was done by the Zodiac was that of Cheri Jo Bates on October 31st, 1966, in Riverside, California. This was a case that was often linked to him, but was never confirmed.

The Zodiac is allegedly man named Gary Francis Poste, and he passed away in 2018. Fox News reports that The Case Breakers spent years of digging, and they uncovered new forensic evidence and photos from Poste's darkroom. One image features scars on the forehead of Poste that match scars on a sketch of the Zodiac. Other clues include deciphering letters sent by the Zodiac that revealed him as the killer, said Jen Bucholtz, a former Army counterintelligence agent who works on cold cases. In one note, the letters of Poste's full name were removed to reveal an alternate message. 

"So you've got to know Gary's full name in order to decipher these anagrams," Bucholtz said. "I just don't think there's any other way anybody would have figured it out."

The report goes on to talk about the people in Poste’s personal life who have spoken out, including a neighbor and his son’s ex-wife. Those who did make statements said he was an unusual man with a violent side, as well as a knack for befriending many of his son’s friends who did not have father figures in their lives, and calling them his posse. This lines up with one of the last Zodiac messages deciphered that mentioned his followers.

I have always been a murderino, and have been fascinated by the unusual case of The Zodiac Killer. I was truly unsure that we would ever know his identity for sure, but I regained hope when Joseph DeAngelo was caught and named as the Golden State Killer in 2018. Sounds like that was a good year for true crime all around. I just wish they would have been able to bring him to justice when he was still alive.