Cold case team has said Zodiac Killer ID’d, linking him to a different murder

The Zodiac Killer terrorized the San Francisco area during the 1960s but has never been arrested.

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A group of experts investigating cold cases claims it has found that the Zodiac killer is one of the nation’s most prolific serial murderers that terrified populations throughout areas like the San Francisco area in the 1960s, with an escalating series of murders and inexplicably difficult puzzles.

The Case Breakers, a team comprised of over 40 ex-law enforcement officials journalists, journalists as well as military intelligence officials has solved other mysteries, like the D.B. Cooper Heist of hijacking, the disappearance of the former labor union boss Jimmy Hoffa and other unsolved cases. The group believes that the perpetrator is behind a murder several hundred miles from the scene which wasn’t connected to his.

The Zodiac Killer has been connected to five murders that took place between 1968 and 1969 in both the San Francisco area. Contrary to most serial killers the Zodiac targeted authorities with cryptic messages sent to law enforcement agencies and newspapers. The murders have been the subject of documentaries, films, and books since then and both professional and amateur detectives have studied the case in an attempt to identify the perpetrator.

In the years since the murder of the first suspect, a variety of people have been examined.

Gary F. Poste has been identified as the notorious Zodiac Killer by The Case Breakers who investigate cold cases. (Courtesy of the Case Breakers)

The Case Breakers is now saying they have confirmed the Zodiac Killer to be Gary Francis Poste, who died in the year 2018. The team’s research has revealed new evidence from forensics and images from Poste’s black room. One photo has Poste’s facial scars, similar to those found on sketches of the Zodiac The team claimed.

Other clues include deciphering messages that were sent by the Zodiac which revealed him to be the perpetrator, said Jen Bucholtz, a former Army counterintelligence agent who worked with cold case investigations. In one letter of Poste’s letters, the full name was removed in order to reveal a different message she explained to Fox News.

“So you’ll need to know the full name of Gary for you to figure out the anagrams,” Bucholtz explained. “I do not think there’s any other way anyone could have come up with the answer.”

It is believed by the team that Poste was also responsible for the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in October. 31st, 1966 located in Riverside, Calif., hundreds of miles to the south of the San Francisco area and two years prior to the first murder that was linked to the Zodiac was committed. Bates 18-year-old was discovered to be dead inside an alleyway of the campus of Riverside City College campus after her father contacted police to report her missing.

In the following year, police received a letter written by hand which led investigators to believe that the murder could be tied to the Zodiac Killer. In 2016, police received a letter written anonymously from a person who confessed to writing the previous note, and stated that it was a “sick gag.”

“The author acknowledged that he wasn’t the Zodiac killer of Cheri Jo Bates and that he was simply looking to get the attention of others,” The police stated.

Later, investigators confirmed that the writer did not have any involvement as a factor in Bates’ murder. Bates crime and that the Zodiac was not connected to the crime.

“Our Homicide Cold Case Unit has concluded that this murder case of Cheri Jo Bates in the year 1966 is not connected with that of the Zodiac murderer,” police from the Riverside Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Unit told Fox News. “We are aware of the public’s curiosity about these murders that are not solved however, all inquiries about this case and the Zodiac Killer should be referred to the FBI.”

“The Cheri Jo Bates case is still an ongoing investigation, and we don’t have any further information to announce at this moment,” the police added.

The Case Breakers believe Bates was Zodiac’s sixth victim. They have tried to convince investigators to examine her DNA with that of Poste but to no avail The team claimed. According to the 1975 FBI memo sent to Riverside police that was obtained through the case breakers, the FBI stated that Bates was a Zodiac victim.

“The part that is real here is all about arrogance and ego,” Case Breakers team member Bill Proctor, a former police officer who worked for 40 years working in the field of television news and broadcasting, said to Fox News of the Riverside Police Department. “They’re not talking about the information they’ve got, which implies that anyone else who is willing to participate could be able to argue that information from an outside source is equally useful, if perhaps superior to the police department’s already accomplished.”

San Francisco police circulated this composite of the Bay Area’s “Zodiac” killer. On the left is a sketch from the witnesses to the murder of a taxi driver in San Francisco. A team of investigators who investigate unsolved murder cases claimed to have found that the suspect was the Zodiac Killer. (Getty Images)

The team reported that a string of coincidences linked Bates as well to Poste: Poste was an Air Force veteran during the time he was receiving medical examinations in connection with a shooting at a nearby hospital, fifteen minutes away from Bates’s murder scene. Bates killing scene. A wristwatch that was painted with splatters on it was found at the scene of the murder and was believed to be worn by the murderer.

Posted painted houses for more than 40 years The team claimed. Detectives also discovered a heel print on the military-style boots, which was the same design and dimensions as the ones found in other Zodiac crimes and also of Poste.

This year was the first time that this year, the Riverside Police Department offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who can lead to the conviction of a suspect in the long-running murder case.

The Zodiac was a feared killer who terrorized the communities of Northern California during the latter half of the 1960s. The murderer has been linked to five murders but claims to have killed 37 victims. The first confirmed Zodiac murders took place in December 1968 , when two people were killed in a vehicle within Benicia, California. On the 4th of July, 1969 another couple was killed in Vallejo. He survived.

In the same year, the couple was attacked in the vicinity of an area of water. The man was able to survive despite suffering numerous stab wounds.

A taxi driver was killed by a cab driver in San Francisco that year as well. There has never been a single person accused or identified as a suspect in the slayings. In contrast to most serial killers, the Zodiac was a troll to authorities using complex codes and letters.

In the year 2020, a group of code-breakers broke a 340-character encryption algorithm that was passed for publication in The San Francisco Chronicle by the Zodiac. At the time the FBI declared that the Zodiac case was active.

“I hope that you are having a blast trying to get me. … I’m not worried about the gas chamber as it will transport me to heaven all the quicker because I have plenty of slaves working with me.” The message decrypted read.

The Case Breakers cite a 1975 FBI memo that stated Cheri Jo Bates is Zodiac’s 6th victim. (Courtesy of the Case Breakers)

Fox News has reached out to the Vallejo Police Department and the FBI and has not been able to reach friends of Poste. Poste’s family members have not responded. San Francisco Police Department said they were unable to talk about suspects who might be involved in the Zodiac investigation since it’s an investigation in progress.

A California person who lived right next to the home of Poste along with his wife has told Fox News she believes he’s the Zodiac Killer after seeing the evidence up to now. Gwen who would not reveal her name claimed Poste as well as his spouse stayed with her when she was a baby in the 1970s and 1980s. Poste would instruct her on how to shoot guns often per week but was in addition controlling and abusive to her wife. claimed.

She was hesitant to provide more details. Poste was also the father figure for his son’s peers she added.

“He had a double life,” she said. “As I’m a mature adult, thinking back, everything kind of makes sense. When I was in my teens I was a teenager, I wasn’t able to put 2 and 2 together until I was older. I realized that Gary was one of the Zodiac.”

Sketch from Zodiac Killer. Zodiac Killer is compared to Gary Poste, with specific scars on the foreheads in both pictures. (Courtesy Of The Case Breakers)

Hans Smits told Fox News that he hid for 10 years the whistleblower who claimed to have got away from the criminal “posse” led by Poste. The man, whom The Case Breakers did not name as Wil Smits, said the posse was a rogue group that ruled the in California’s High Sierra region and that the posse was “groomed to become a killing machine.”

Additionally, Wil said he witnessed Poste killing weapons being buried within the forest, Smits said.

“They set up numerous bear caches to be prepared in the event of an incident,” Smits said.

Smits claimed that he provided Wil financial as well as emotional and logistical support throughout his life and relocated him for close to 10 years to ensure his safety.

“I’m the one who took Smits to the FBI office, and then placed his on the train, and took him out of his state,” Smits told reporters.

Another woman whose name was Michelle claimed she was a common-law wed to the son of Poste. Michelle told Fox News she was a victim of harassment from Poste along with the “posse” during the time of their relationship which included damaging her vehicle as well as other incidents.

Despite his death over the past three years a few people seem to be faithful to the man, claimed Michelle she also refused to give her name.

“He targeted young men that didn’t have an adult figure to look up to,” she said. “It was a group of three, but Poste was the only one who caused a lot of harm. He’s still got some kind in command… however, the man is gone.”