AN UNIDENTIFIED murderer taunted police as he went on a homicidal rampage and claimed the lives of several victims.
Although the FBI announced the case is still open, true crime sleuths theorized the Zodiac Killer might be Gary Francis Poste.
Who was the Zodiac Killer?
The Zodiac Killer was an unidentified murderer who gave himself that nickname to conceal his identity from authorities.
He targeted three couples and a lone taxi driver; two of them survived gun and knife ambushes.
He called himself "Zodiac" in his fourth letter to the press on August 7, 1969.
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In the infamous cipher, Zodiac wrote: "Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking."
From then on the press called him the Zodiac Killer but it is not known why the criminal gave himself that name.
He would also sign his letters with a circle and a cross over it, seemingly appearing as a target or a coordinate symbol.
Authorities believe that the signature symbols were meant to represent coordinates possibly indicating future killing locations.
"I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me," the murderer wrote in his cipher to law enforcement.
“I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me."
Is Gary Francis Poste the Zodiac Killer?
The Case Breakers, a team of specialists who have worked to crack a number of America's most high-profile unsolved cases claimed to have uncovered the Zodiac Killer's identity.
The man they say is responsible for the string of five murders in 1968 and 1969 is Gary Francis Poste.
They also claim to have linked Poste to a sixth killing hundreds of miles away that has never before been connected to the Zodiac.
According to Fox News, a team of more than "40 detectives, journalists and military intelligence officers made up the so-called Case Breakers," who claimed to crack the Zodiac Killer's identity.
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The team said they discovered Poste's identity after years of digging through new forensic evidence and his darkroom.
One image uncovered from the darkroom purportedly featured scars on Poste's forehead which match a sketch of the Zodiac.
The team said the Zodiac's ciphers also point to Poste.
In one note, removing the letters of Poste's full name revealed an alternate message, according to former Army counterintelligence agent Jen Bucholtz.
"So you've got to know Gary's full name in order to decipher these anagrams," Bucholtz told Fox News.
"I just don't think there's any other way anybody would have figured it out."
How did the Zodiac Killer die?
On August 23, 2018, 80-year-old Poste died from a combination of sepsis, septic shock, dysphagia, and vascular dementia.
The alleged murderer also suffered from hypertension, osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, and atrial fibrillation.
He was alive for 50 years after his murder spree and was never caught or charged before his death.
It's not clear what caused the dysphagia and extremely low blood pressure from the septic shock.
The unsolved Zodiac murders and the allegations against Poste are revisited in Myth of the Zodiac Killer.
On July 11, 2023, the docuseries became available to stream via Peacock.
Who else was suspected to be the Zodiac Killer?
Over the years, many independent sleuths have claimed to have decoded the Zodiac's true identity.
Some researchers have claimed the Zodiac Killer was an alleged pedophile named Arthur Leigh Allen.
He had been discharged without honor from the US Navy and was fired as a primary school teacher after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Allen was first interviewed as a suspect in 1969 after he was seen near the scene of one attack.
He came to police attention again in 1971 when his friend told officers he had spoken of his desire to kill people and used the name Zodiac.
San Francisco police searched his home the following year but found no evidence linking him to the murders.
Following The Case Breaker's reports, the FBI stated: "The FBI's investigation into the Zodiac Killer remains open and unsolved.
"Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, and out of respect for the victims and their families, we will not be providing further comment at this time.
"The FBI is aware that a cipher attributed to the Zodiac killer was recently solved by private citizens.
"The Zodiac Killer remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco Division and our local law enforcement partners.
"The Zodiac killer terrorized multiple communities across Northern California and even though decades have gone by, we continue to seek justice for the victims of these brutal crimes."
