A volunteer group that investigates unsolved cases has identified the notorious Zodiac Killer and slammed the FBI for not doing enough to investigate the apparent lead.
Case Breakers, a nonprofit run by investigative journalist Thomas Colbert, claims to have connected Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste to the murders and said a FBI agent confirmed to them that he has been considered a suspect since 2016.
The team said the FBI has a partial DNA sample of Poste’s in its database but has failed to utilize the sample in its investigation into the serial killer responsible for five confirmed murders in northern California in the late 1960s.
The group has collected its own DNA sample of Poste, who died in 2018, and wants the agency to test it against DNA evidence collected in a sixth murder — the 1966 killing of Cheri Jo Bates — who they believe the serial killer is responsible for.
However, law enforcement officials have disputed that Bates was part of the murder pattern.
“We 100% believe our Cheri Jo Bates case is not affiliated with the Zodiac case,” Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback told Fox News Digital in October 2021. “Nothing has changed on that.”
Case Breakers is now calling for “a serious review” into the FBI, Riverside Police Department and the San Francisco Police Department.
“We believe that the FBI has failed to properly investigate this case and that the Riverside and San Francisco police departments have not done enough to bring the Zodiac Killer to justice,” Colbert said in the press release.
The FBI, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that it has not solved the Zodiac Killer case and that its investigation remains open.
“The FBI remains committed to the Zodiac Killer investigation and encourages anyone with any information to contact the FBI,” the agency said in a statement.
If Case Breakers’ claims are correct, the Zodiac Killer case would be one of the longest–running unsolved serial murder cases to be solved. It would also bring closure to the families of the victims and provide insight into the motives of one of the most notorious serial killers in history.
