Earlier this year a team of specialists who investigate cold cases and mysterious events believe they identified the Zodiac Killer, Law Officer reported at the time.
Now the group of investigators have released a statement indicating a trove of evidence has been discovered and linked to the deceased suspect, Gary Francis Poste, according to Fox News.
“When The Case Breakers approached officials about a new Zodiac suspect last spring, five police and state agencies would not cooperate,” the group said in a statement Saturday. “But last week, the man who runs the 10-year cold case team, Thomas J. Colbert, received a tip from his long-time sources in the remote town of deceased Gary Francis Poste: They had verified the existence of an evidentiary goldmine.”
The Zodiac Killer is one of the great unsolved criminal mysteries in the U.S. He has been connected to five murders that occurred in 1968 and 1969 in the San Francisco Bay area. The Zodiac Killer — unlike most serial murderers — taunted investigators with complex ciphers in letters sent to newspapers and police.
The homicides have been featured in books, movies and documentaries in the years since, and amateur and professional detectives have pored over the case in an effort to identify the killer.
The Case Breakers — a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators, journalists and military intelligence officers — say that prior to his death, Poste had given away firearms and ammunition that could provide key evidence in the case, Fox reported.
Gary F. Poste has been identified as the infamous Zodiac Killer by the Case Breakers, which investigates cold cases. (Courtesy of the Case Breakers via Fox News)
“Old associates of the housepainter/alleged serial killer claim that, a few years prior to Poste’s 2018 death at 80, he had quietly given away his weapons, pistol parts, gunpowder, bullets and shell casings – more than a thousand, involving 25 different calibers – to his favorite locals,” Case Breakers said. “And most of these peculiar ‘gifts’ have remained in basements and closets, untouched, ever since.”
Cheri Jo Bates. A group of cold case investigators claim the Bates murder is linked to the Zodiac Killer deaths. (Riverside Police Department)
The Case Breakers added that it took Thomas J. Colbert, the head of the cold case team investigating the killings, “several hours to cautiously box up the historic haul and forward it to the team members, standing by at private forensic labs in three states.”
The team has spent years of digging. As a result, they uncovered new forensic evidence and photos from Poste’s darkroom. One image is particularly noteworthy, according to the group. It features scars on the forehead of Poste that match scars on a sketch of the Zodiac, the team said.
The FBI announced the case remains open the day after Case Breakers revealed they potentially discovered new evidence.
“The FBI’s investigation into the Zodiac Killer remains open and unsolved,” the FBI told Fox News. “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.”
