Zodiac Killer Identified

[Jumper_Dad]

Gary Francis Poste, who passed away in 2018, has been identified as the Zodiac killer.

Clues from his darkroom led to the initial identification. Once his name was known, there were clues in his old ciphers sent to LE that verified his name. A cryptologist said the only way to break the code was to know his full name.

Much internet focus has been on Ted Bundy as the possible Zodiac, but this latest info puts that to rest. 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

5 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Gary Francis Poste, who passed away in 2018, has been identified as the Zodiac killer.

Clues from his darkroom led to the initial identification. Once his name was known, there were clues in his old ciphers sent to LE that verified his name. A cryptologist said the only way to break the code was to know his full name.

Much internet focus has been on Ted Bundy as the possible Zodiac, but this latest info puts that to rest. 

A group called "The Case Breakers" claims they have provided irrefutable evidence that the Zodiac Killer is Gary Francis Poste. The Case Breakers is a non-profit team of 40 individuals that include former law enforcement, FBI, private investigators, prosecutors, and intelligence officers. The Zodiac team was led by a former FBI agent and said they were tipped off about the Zodiac's identity by an individual claiming to be a reformed former-member of a "criminal posse" operated by Poste in northern California. Poste was also apparently connected to 5 murders during his life - I'm not sure whether or not those murders have to do with his posse, but regardless, Poste never was charged with any crimes.

The Case Breakers were able to get access to the contents of Poste's photographic darkroom, which included pictures from Poste's young-adult years showing scars on his forehead from a car-crash that clearly show scars matching the ones that were described by three witnesses and an observing cop in the Zodiac case, which were used in creating the 1969 composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer. In letters sent by the Zodiac Killer, he admitted to 4 attacks in the Bay Area that killed 5 people and left 2 victims alive.

According to a press release issued today by The Case Breakers team, they are also is asking the Riverside, California police department to investigate DNA evidence from a 1966 murder in order to link it to Gary Francis Poste. Murder victim Cheri J. Bates was found stabbed to death, with her clenched fist holding brown hairs, believed to have come from her killer. The police department recovered a wristwatch with broken band, also thought to have come off the killer. The wristwatch was noted to have been most likely purchased at a military base PX, and the watch's face had small paint spatters on it. Additionally they found a heelprint in the dirt at the attack scene, confirmed to have come from a size 10 "military-style boot" - which was the same size and style of boot print that was found at 3 of the 4 Zodiac crime scenes. At the time of Bates' 1966 murder in Riverside, Poste was a USAF veteran living in California and was known to receive his VA medical care at March Air Force Base near Riverside. Poste had brown hair, wore a size 10 shoe, and was already 3-1/2 years into his career as a housepainter in 1966.

Additionally in the The Case Breakers noted that there was a confession letter received by the Riverside Police Department for the Bates murder. The wording of the Bates confession letter shared several distinct similarities with Zodiac messages sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, including the same misspelling of the word "twitch." (Images of the letters were included in the Case Breakers press release, linked above.)

The Riverside Police Department has always held the opinion that Bates' murder was committed by a local, but according to a 1975 memo sent to the RPD by the FBI, the FBI noted that they believed Bates to have been a victim of the Zodiac Killer, given the fact that the Zodiac had admitted in a March, 1971 to having committed Bates' murder when he said, "I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my Riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there."

The Case Breakers press release notes that there have been 8 consecutive RSD police chiefs to have refused to consider the Zodiac Killer as a suspect in the Cheri Bates murder, and as such, they have declined to evaluate the DNA evidence from the hair found clutched in Bates' hand at the time of the murder to DNA samples from Gary Francis Poste.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

5 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

The Case Breakers were able to get access to the contents of Poste's photographic darkroom, which included pictures from Poste's young-adult years showing scars on his forehead from a car-crash that clearly show scars matching the ones that were described by three witnesses and an observing cop in the Zodiac case, which were used in creating the 1969 composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer. In letters sent by the Zodiac Killer, he admitted to 4 attacks in the Bay Area that killed 5 people and left 2 victims alive.

[theguru]

8 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Pretty good sketch!

[theguru]

12 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

The Case Breakers press release notes that there have been 8 consecutive RSD police chiefs to have refused to consider the Zodiac Killer as a suspect in the Cheri Bates murder, and as such, they have declined to evaluate the DNA evidence from the hair found clutched in Bates' hand at the time of the murder to DNA samples from Gary Francis Poste.

I would like to hear their reasoning.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

I already liked this movie a lot (David Fincher does a great job with basically everything he does). I guess I'm gonna have to go back and watch all 2-1/2 hours of it again, haha. I can only assume we'll see this one pop up on all the streaming services in the next few days.
 

 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

2 minutes ago, theguru said:

I would like to hear their reasoning.

Same here. Apparently they're pushing hard for it, and I'm assuming the reason they included contact info for the public information officer from the Riverside Police Department in their press release was to urge some additional pressure from the general public.

From their press release, presumably sent by The Case Breakers to the RPD police chief:

“Fifty-five years ago this month, RPD chose to ignore the obvious. It would take just minutes to quickly and quietly compare Poste’s DNA. You’d think the pain Cheri Jo’s family and her old friends have been living with would be Priority #1. Here’s to hoping the next chief finds the courage to act.”

[theguru]

8 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Same here. Apparently they're pushing hard for it, and I'm assuming the reason they included contact info for the public information officer from the Riverside Police Department in their press release was to urge some additional pressure from the general public.

From their press release, presumably sent by The Case Breakers to the RPD police chief:

“Fifty-five years ago this month, RPD chose to ignore the obvious. It would take just minutes to quickly and quietly compare Poste’s DNA. You’d think the pain Cheri Jo’s family and her old friends have been living with would be Priority #1. Here’s to hoping the next chief finds the courage to act.”

The Case Breakers are my kind of people. 

[Jumper_Dad]

I'm interested in how they came to look at this guy to begin with?

Why were the contents of his dark room targeted by invesigators?

I'm really looking forward to more info coming out.

[theguru]

14 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

I'm interested in how they came to look at this guy to begin with?

Why were the contents of his dark room targeted by investigators?

I'm really looking forward to more info coming out.

Me too JD, fascinating. 

[theguru]

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[BrosefStalin]

Oh wow. I need to know more about the Case Breakers. Any docs? YouTube channels? Love deep dives on this stuff. Thanks for the info!

[Kenny Powers]

On 10/7/2021 at 11:10 PM, BrosefStalin said:

Oh wow. I need to know more about the Case Breakers. Any docs? YouTube channels? Love deep dives on this stuff. Thanks for the info!

https://thecasebreakers.org/

There is the link to their website. Pretty interesting stuff. Some heavy hitters on the "Meet the Team" page.