The FBI has a prime suspect in the ‘Zodiac Killer’ case, according to a cold case group accusing authorities of failing to investigate him while he was alive.
Journalist Thomas Colbert says an FBI whistleblower confirmed Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste as the suspect – due to a “partial” DNA sample connecting him to murders.
Colbert leads non-profit investigative group Case Breakers, which has released a statement, claiming “the felon has been secretly listed as the Zodiac ‘suspect’ in Headquarters’ computers since 2016.”
The FBI has previously insisted it has not solved the mystery – the most famous unsolved murder case in American history.
Countless books, true crime documentaries and Hollywood films have been made about the Zodiac, who killed at least five people in Northern California’s Bay Area in the late 1960s.
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The serial killer’s notoriety grew due to cryptic messages he sent to police and the press, often taunting their faltering investigations.
The Zodiac’s five confirmed victims are David Arthur Faraday, Betty Lou Jensen, Cecelia Ann Shepard, Paul Lee Stine and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin – though he has claimed to have killed as many as 37 people.
Case Breakers claims to have its own DNA sample of Poste, who died in 2018, and believes it could link him to the murder of another person: Cheri Jo Bates, who died in 1966.
“Thomas J. Colbert’s ‘Case Breakers’ found DNA on a 30-year hiking mat once owned by USAF vet Gary F. Poste,” the group said in a release.
“Poste is also the man that a senior FBI agent alerted the team about: The felon has been secretly listed as the Zodiac ‘suspect’ in Headquarters’ computers since 2016 – with his ‘partial DNA’ safely secured at the feds’ Quantico, Virginia lab.
“This shocker triggered ‘Plan B’: Case Breakers found the ancestral town of the now-dead Poste, where DNA from a blood relative was offered by a confidential informant.
“Days later, ‘good profiles’ from Poste’s kin and the mat’s DNA were compared by forensic experts from five colleges.
“‘Strong similarities’ were found; team hopes the results will be compared to hairs found on 1966 victim Cheri Jo Bates.”
Ms Bates, an 18-year-old college freshman, was found stabbed and slashed to death on the grounds of Riverside City College in Riverside, California.
The murders officially linked to the Zodiac killer took place between 1968 and 1969, meaning the teenager would be his first victim if true.
The only distinct difference, besides the two-year time gap, is Riverside is located in southern California – 420 miles from Benicia where the serial killer claimed his victims.
Case Breakers is an independent group made up of 40 former law enforcement officials, as well as academics, ex-military intelligence workers and investigative journalists.
Express.co.uk has approached the FBI and Case Breakers for comment.
Confirmed victims
On December 20, 1968, David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16, were shot dead in the outskirts of Benicia while sitting in their car.
On July 4, 1969, Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22, were shot in a parking lot – a few miles from Benicia in the state’s northern area.
Mageau survived but Ferrin was pronounced dead in hospital.
On September 27, 1969, Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22, were stabbed in nearby Napa County. On this occasion, Hartnell survived but Shepard died a few days later.
On October 11, 1969, Paul Lee Stine, 29, was shot dead in the Presidio Heights area of San Francisco.
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