San Francisco police circulated this composite of the Bay Area's 'Zodiac Killer' in the late 1960s. Photo / Getty Images
San Francisco police circulated this composite of the Bay Area's 'Zodiac Killer' in the late 1960s. Photo / Getty Images
One of America's most infamous serial killers may finally have been unmasked, with investigators claiming to have identified the Zodiac Killer.
The much-mythologised killer has been linked to five murders around San Francisco's Bay Area and found himself the focus of intense public speculation after taunting law enforcement with coded messages.
Now a group of investigators claim they have their man - and have tied him to a sixth murder.
The 'Case Breakers' told Fox News that the killer was Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018.
The group, led by former FBI agents and retired police officers — also tied Poste to a sixth murder in Southern California.
Gary F. Poste has been identified as the infamous Zodiac Killer by The Case Breakers. Photo / The Case Breakers
As the bodies piled up in the late 60s, the killer sent coded messages and cryptograms to local newspapers, dubbing himself 'Zodiac' and threatening to kill more if they were not published in print.
At one stage, he claimed to have killed 37 people.
Two of the ciphers sent to media have so far been solved.
The first, solved by a California school teacher in 1969 said little more than: "I like killing because it is so much fun."
The other was only solved by amateur sleuths last year and read: "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. ... 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".
The Case Breakers told Fox News that years of work went into their discovery, including finding photos from Poste's darkroom revealing scars on his forehead that match scars on a police sketch of the Zodiac.
The team also deciphered more of the coded messages, finding that removing the letters of Poste's name in one note revealed another message
"So you've got to know Gary's full name in order to decipher these anagrams," former Army counterintelligence agent Jen Bucholtz said. "I just don't think there's any other way anybody would have figured it out."
The team also claims that Poste killed Cheri Jo Bates on Halloween in Southern California in 1966.
Cheri Jo Bates Photo / Riverside Police Department
Bates was found dead in Riverside, 643km away from San Francisco, and the killing was two years before the first murder linked to the Zodiac.
She had suffered more than 40 stab wounds.
The Zodiac Killer was ultimately never linked to Bates' murder and after years of speculation, Riverside police told Fox News that the case remains open.
However, the Case Breakers have urged investigators to compare Poste's DNA to that collected at the time and believe Poste is a "very strong suspect" in Bates' murder.
Another clue, a wristwatch found at the scene, could link Poste to the brutal slaying.
The watch, believed to have been worn by the killer, was covered with paint splatter and Poste had painted homes for more than four decades, according to the Case Breakers.
