A team of cold case investigators believe they have unmasked the Zodiac killer after finding a 'goldmine of evidence' linked to a deceased suspect.
The Case Breakers had identified Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018, as the alleged serial killer in early October who was responsible for multiple murders in Northern California in the late 1960's.
The group - which is compiled of about 40 independent sleuths - announced that Poste had given away weapons and bullets before his death, which could finally lead to the true identity of the killer.
The Case Breakers, an investigative group of about 40 sleuths, believes they have newfound evidence identifying Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste, 80, as the Zodiac Killer
New evidence, which included weapons and bullets, were believed to have quietly been given from Poste prior to his death to his 'favorite locals'
'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 on 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 statement revealed that Poste had given away his weapons and bullets, with most of them still remaining untouched and hidden away.
'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,' they added.
'And most of these peculiar 'gifts' have remained in basements and closets, untouched, ever since.'
Thomas Colbert, one of the investigators, had sent the evidence to be tested at labs in three different states
Investigators with the group believe a scar on the Zodiac killer's forehead is similar to the one seen on 25-year-old Poste
Thomas Colbert, one of the group's members, boxed up the haul and sent it to team members to have the items investigated in labs in three different states.
Colbert strongly believes they have nailed the identification of the Zodiac killer more than five decades later.
'My FBI guys say it's irrefutable. It's a match,' Colbert told Fox News.
'We also have six people that he's confessed to that he was the Zodiac. Three of them on our court affidavits. So we strongly feel that.
'And then of course the murder scenes in Riverside, we have counted six similarities at the murder scene.'
The team of investigators had also used photographic evidence to compare a distinctive scar seen on the Zodiac Killer and compared it to photos of Poste.
They have even requested the FBI to test their findings for DNA.
'The FBI's investigation into the Zodiac Killer remains open and unsolved,' the FBI said in a statement to the network.
'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 Case Breakers have also relied on accounts of people who knew Poste, including a neighbor whom the alleged serial and his wife used to babysit as a child, a man who claimed to have been a part of Poste's criminal 'posse' that roamed the High Sierra region, and an ex-girlfriend of Poste's son.
The members of The Case Breakers believe that the Zodiac Killer was linked to the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in 1966, two years before the killing spree had began
Bates was found stabbed 42 times and nearly beheaded in a California alley in October 1966
Police had recovered a watch, which they believed to have belonged to the Zodiac killer
The watch had been found splattered with paint which investigators believe was linked to Poste as he had been a house painter at the time
Five people were fatally stabbed or shot to death in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, and their killer sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers.
The killer was dubbed 'Zodiac' because some of his cryptograms included astrological symbols and references.
The series of unsolved murders inspired many books, documentaries and movies.
According to information released by the Case Breakers, the Zodiac killer was also responsible for the brutal killing of co-ed Cheri Jo Bates, 18, who was found stabbed 42 times and nearly decapitated on October 31, 1966, in Riverside, more than 400 miles south of San Francisco and two years before the Zodiac's first known killing.
Members of the investigative group claimed that around the time of Bates' murder, Poste, an Air Force veteran, was getting a check-up at a hospital located just 15 minutes away from the crime scene.
A person had claimed they were responsible for Bates's murder in 1967 but was found to be a disturbed youth seeking attention in 2016
Despite the FBI claiming that Bates was the sixth victim of the Zodiac killer, it was later refuted claiming that there was no connection between Bates's murder and the others
A wristwatch splattered with paint and believed to have been worn by the killer was found near Bates' body. Case Breakers noted that Poste spent 40 years working as a house painter.
Additionally, a heelprint found in the dirt at the scene of the stabbing was said to have been been from a 'military-style boot' consistent with the style and size of footprints found at three known Zodiac crime scene, and also of Poste.
A year after Bates' murder, the Riverside Police Department received an anonymous letter, whose author appeared to confess to murdering Bates for turning down his romantic advances.
In 1975, an FBI memo sent to the Riverside Police Department linked the Bates murder to the Zodiac killings, describing the 18-year-old woman as the elusive murderer's sixth victim.
Officer Ryan Railsback, the spokesperson for the Riverside Police
