1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 MUSIC 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Tonight, a spree of horrifying murders 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,000 shocks Northern California and the world. 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Search goes on in San Francisco 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,000 for the man known as the Zodiac Killer. 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,000 The maniacal killer goads police 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 leaving cryptic clues to his identity. 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,000 The suspect's very involved in this. 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Seems to enjoy taunting law enforcement 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 and he's on a roll doing this. 11 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,000 It's almost something out of a Hollywood movie. 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,000 Now we uncover the top theories 13 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,000 about one of history's most notorious serial killers. 14 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,000 He seemed obsessed with her 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,000 to the point where he followed her every move. 16 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,000 There's a chance that Zodiac had more victims 17 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 and may have left behind evidence that's gone unnoticed. 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,000 Grizzly murders start happening in Florence, Italy 19 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,000 and they fit the Zodiac's MO to a T. 20 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Can new evidence finally crack his code? 21 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,000 After years and years of trying, 22 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,000 they finally crack the cipher. 23 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,000 And maybe that will tell us 24 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,000 who the killer is once and for all. 25 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Who is the Zodiac Killer? 26 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:24,000 MUSIC 27 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 BANESIA, CA 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,000 December 20th, 1968 29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,000 At 11 p.m. 30 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 local resident Stella Borges 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,000 drives along a darkened stretch of Lake Herman Road. 32 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Ms. Borges comes around the band 33 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,000 and then suddenly she sees two bodies 34 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,000 lying motionless on the ground. 35 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,000 She's shocked but she knows well enough not to linger. 36 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,000 So she keeps driving until she can flag down a police car. 37 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:57,000 And when the police come, 38 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,000 they're able to identify the two individuals. 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 Betty Lou Jensen, who's 16 years old 40 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,000 and David Faraday, who's 17 years old. 41 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,000 Just two high school students on their first date. 42 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Detectives examine the bodies and see that David 43 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,000 was killed by a single gunshot behind his left ear. 44 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000 Betty Lou was shot five times in the back. 45 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Police are stumped why anyone would commit 46 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,000 an execution style murder on an innocent high school couple. 47 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,000 There was no evidence of any robbery 48 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,000 or sexual assault of any kind, 49 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,000 which led them to believe that it might have been 50 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 a random attack by a stranger. 51 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,000 For seven months, police have no leads. 52 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Then, on July 4th, 1969, 53 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,000 they receive a shocking phone call. 54 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 The call is taken by Vallejo Police Dispatcher, Nancy Slover. 55 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 And the caller speaks in a very low, monotone voice 56 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,000 and describes where two bodies can be found. 57 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,000 He also states that they've been shot with a 9-millimeter luger. 58 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,000 And before he ends the phone call, 59 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 he also says, I also killed those kids last year. 60 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,000 Police rushed to Blue Rock Springs Park 61 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,000 in the city of Vallejo four miles from the first crime scene. 62 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,000 When they arrive, they find another young couple 63 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 inside of the car suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. 64 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000 EMTs quickly transport the victims to the hospital. 65 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,000 22-year-old Darlene Farron is pronounced dead on arrival. 66 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,000 But 19-year-old Michael Majo survives. 67 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,000 Michael is badly injured, 68 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 but he's still able to describe what happened. 69 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,000 He says that they were randomly attacked by a stranger 70 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,000 who shined a flashlight in their faces 71 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,000 right before he fired five shots. 72 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,000 He describes the suspect as a Caucasian 73 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,000 about 30 years old, 5'8", 200 pounds with short curly hair. 74 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,000 The Bay Area now has a serial killer on the loose. 75 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,000 He's claimed three victims so far, nearly four. 76 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 Almost a month after the Vallejo attacks, 77 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 the killer contacts local press. 78 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,000 He includes a strange three-part coded message or cipher. 79 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,000 On July 31st, three Bay Area newspapers 80 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,000 received three virtually identical handwritten letters 81 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000 from someone who claims to be the killer. 82 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,000 He demands that a cipher, which is included with the letters, 83 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,000 be published on August 1st, 84 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,000 or he threatens to kill more victims. 85 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,000 The cipher and the accompanying letters are published as demanded. 86 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,000 Then, on August 4th, another letter arrives. 87 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,000 This letter sent to the San Francisco Examiner 88 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:44,000 says, Dear Editor, this is the Zodiac speaking, 89 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,000 and now our killer has a name. 90 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,000 Zodiac. 91 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,000 His name becomes front-page news in the Bay Area. 92 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,000 That publicity quickly leads to a breakthrough. 93 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,000 On August 8th, 1969, 94 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,000 news broke that the Zodiac cipher had been solved 95 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,000 by a couple in Salinas, California. 96 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,000 The message read that man is the most dangerous animal of all. 97 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,000 The writer also states that the victims he had killed 98 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 would serve as his slaves in the afterlife. 99 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,000 But it doesn't reveal his identity. 100 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,000 In fact, it specifically says that he won't give his name 101 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,000 because he intends to keep killing. 102 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,000 People are already scared about these murders. 103 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 The victims on this are young. 104 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:29,000 They appear to be random. 105 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000 And now we have all these letters coming out. 106 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,000 And it shows that this maniacal killer that likes to play games, 107 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,000 likes to taunt law enforcement, 108 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 it's almost something out of a Hollywood movie. 109 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:47,000 On September 27th, the Zodiac keeps his word. 110 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,000 At 7.40 p.m., the police receive a phone call from the Zodiac, 111 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 again in that low, monotone voice. 112 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,000 He tells the dispatcher that he wants to report a double murder. 113 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 The bodies can be found at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. 114 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 When the police arrive at Lake Berryessa, 115 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,000 they find the bodies of two college students, 116 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,000 Brian Hartnell and Cecilia Shepard. 117 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Both victims have been stabbed multiple times. 118 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Shepard dies from her injuries, but Hartnell is lucky. 119 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,000 None of his vital organs were struck, so he survives. 120 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,000 Brian Hartnell tells police that the man was over six feet tall, 121 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,000 was heavy set, that he was wearing a hooded costume 122 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 with a crossed circle on the chest. 123 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,000 That same chilling symbol appears in Zodiac's letters, 124 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,000 causing widespread public fear. 125 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,000 At this point, descriptions of the Zodiac killer 126 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,000 are all over the media. 127 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,000 Search goes on in San Francisco for the man known as the Zodiac killer. 128 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,000 He was a big guy, six foot of better, over 200 pounds. 129 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,000 And tips are just pouring into law enforcement. 130 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Some witnesses reported that they had seen a man lurking in the area 131 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,000 just prior to the attack. 132 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,000 The man's name, Arthur Lee Allen. 133 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,000 When police dive into Allen's background, 134 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,000 they find a ton of red flags. 135 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,000 In 1968, the same year the killings start, 136 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,000 he's fired from his job as a school teacher from molesting a student. 137 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000 Allen was apparently seen at Lake Berryessa on the day of the attack, 138 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,000 but he tells police that he was scuba diving 139 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,000 at a totally different area called Salt Point that day, 140 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,000 and he spent the night out there. 141 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 There are no witnesses to corroborate his alibi. 142 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,000 Even Allen's own friends and family are suspicious. 143 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,000 Don Cheney is a close friend of Allen, 144 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,000 and he tells police that Allen is in fact writing a book 145 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,000 about a character that kills couples, 146 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,000 taunts police with letters, 147 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,000 and even calls himself the Zodiac. 148 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Police interviewed Allen's brother, Ron, 149 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,000 who said that their mother had given Allen 150 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:00,000 a Zodiac brand wristwatch for a Christmas gift in 1967. 151 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,000 This watch featured the cross-circle symbol used by the killer. 152 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,000 But not everything lines up. 153 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,000 There are certainly some discrepancies in the witness statements. 154 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,000 For one, Allen is 6'1", and 240 pounds, 155 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,000 which is much bigger than previous witness statements have described. 156 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 He's also bald on top, 157 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 while the witnesses mentioned short brown curly hair. 158 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,000 And that's not the only issue. 159 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,000 Allen's writing doesn't match Zodiacs. 160 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000 Police dispatcher Nancy Slover also doesn't think it's Allen. 161 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,000 When she's asked to listen to a recording of Allen's voice, 162 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Slover is confident that is not the man who called in 163 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 to report the first murders. 164 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,000 It's not Zodiac. 165 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000 Allen dies in 1992, 166 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,000 without being arrested or charged in any Zodiac murder, 167 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:57,000 including one that takes place in San Francisco in October 1969. 168 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Three teenagers are sitting in their apartment in San Francisco 169 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,000 when they believe they hear a gunshot. 170 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,000 They look out the window and they see a man hovering over a taxi cab driver, 171 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,000 and what appears to be a robbery. 172 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,000 One of them calls police to report the crime in progress, 173 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,000 and reports that they saw the killer apparently wiping down the cab 174 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,000 with some sort of cloth. 175 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,000 When they arrive, they find 29-year-old taxi driver Paul Slover, 176 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,000 dead from a gunshot wound to the head. 177 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,000 There are a few other similar murders that some suspect could be connected, 178 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:37,000 but this is the last killing that the Zodiac explicitly takes credit for, 179 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,000 and the letters sent to the newspaper. 180 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:45,000 After the Stein murder, Zodiac keeps sending letters intermittently for a few years, 181 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,000 and some even include more cryptograms. 182 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:53,000 This psychopathic killer seems to think of himself as a man who's been killed 183 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 and he's been able to think of himself as some un-catchable genius. 184 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:03,000 All told, Zodiac sends more than 20 letters and a total of four ciphers. 185 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Then, in January 1974, they suddenly stop. 186 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,000 Luckily, the Stein murder has something none of the others do. 187 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Independent eyewitnesses. 188 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Thanks to these witnesses, police are able to make a composite drawing, 189 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,000 which two days later they're released to the media. 190 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,000 We should mention that this sketch looks nothing like Arthur Leigh Allen, 191 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,000 but it does open the floodgates for a lot more tips, 192 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,000 and police are about to have a lot more suspects to investigate. 193 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:42,000 After the Zodiac killer goes on a 10-month killing spree that claims five victims, 194 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,000 police get a break. 195 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Eyewitnesses help them create a composite sketch with one vital clue. 196 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,000 This is the first sketch that shows the suspect wearing glasses. 197 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Immediately, the police tip line gets flooded with calls. 198 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Everybody and their mother thinks that they know somebody who resembles the man in the sketch. 199 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:08,000 Police estimate they've tracked over 2,500 suspects in the Zodiac case. 200 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,000 Most are very quick dead ends. 201 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,000 People with alibis are with no connections whatsoever to locations or victims in the case. 202 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Most, but not all. 203 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,000 There's a journalist and amateur investigator named Blaine Blaine, 204 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:28,000 who at the time of the Zodiac killings writes a column named Copwatch for the Good Times newspaper. 205 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:35,000 He's fascinated by the case and spends 10 years looking for a suspect who matches the sketch. 206 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,000 Blaine studies the ciphers. 207 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:43,000 He compiles a list of the victim's friends, neighbors, classmates, you name it. 208 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,000 He looks at every angle possible, 209 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,000 and eventually he finds his perfect match. 210 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,000 Army veteran Richard Gajkowski. 211 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,000 We should start off by saying just because someone looks like the sketch doesn't make that person guilty, 212 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,000 doesn't even make him the suspect, that's kind of a long shot. 213 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,000 But the photos are very striking, 214 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,000 and Gajkowski definitely fits the description of the Zodiac killer. 215 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,000 But of course Blaine doesn't stop there. 216 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,000 He finds a lot more circumstantial evidence. 217 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,000 Gajkowski is a journalist, 218 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,000 and he moved to Martinez, California in 1964, 219 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,000 four years before the first known Zodiac murder. 220 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Martinez is within one hour of all the known murder sites. 221 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:30,000 He's in the right place at the right time, and with the right appearance. 222 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:35,000 But the really big red flag, the most suspicious thing about Gajkowski and his link to the Zodiac killings, 223 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,000 comes when Blaine looks into the lives of the victims. 224 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,000 It appears Gajkowski has a connection to at least one victim. 225 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,000 Darlene Farron. 226 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,000 In January of 1966, Darlene Farron gets married, 227 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,000 and with her husband moved to Albany, New York. 228 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:56,000 The next thing you know, Richard Gajkowski uproots his life and then moves to Albany as well. 229 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,000 When Darlene and her husband moved back to Northern California, 230 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Richard also moves back to Northern California. 231 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:08,000 Blaine does not think this is a coincidence at all. 232 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:15,000 When authorities read Blaine's dossier, they find it convincing enough to open an investigation. 233 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,000 Police immediately confirm several key details from Blaine's report. 234 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:24,000 First, Gajkowski lived only 12 miles from Blue Rock Springs, where Darlene was murdered. 235 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:29,000 And second, he seemed obsessed with her to the point where he followed her every move. 236 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:34,000 Detectives look into other possible links to the Zodiac's victims. 237 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:40,000 They look back at the Lake Berryessa crime scene where Cecilia Shepard and Brian Hartnell were attacked, 238 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,000 and they find a very specific style of footprint. 239 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:49,000 They're from a special wing walker model of a boot worn by the Army. 240 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,000 You know who's a medic in the U.S. Army? Richard Gajkowski. 241 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:58,000 There's a possible connection between Gajkowski and victim Paul Stein as well. 242 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:05,000 When the police interview Stein's sister, she tells them that Gajkowski attended Stein's funeral. 243 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,000 She found this very odd because the two men were not friends. 244 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,000 They weren't acquainted anywhere. Why would he be at her brother's funeral? 245 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:19,000 So now we have connections between Gajkowski and three of the four known murders. 246 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,000 The next thing police look at is the letters. 247 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,000 Zodiac writes letters regularly starting in August of 1969. 248 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,000 Pretty much every couple of months letters show up until March of 1971. 249 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:37,000 Then, suddenly, he's silent for almost three years. 250 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,000 The final letter comes in January, 1974. 251 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:47,000 This three-year gap coincides with a time when Gajkowski is committed to a mental asylum. 252 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,000 We don't have a lot of details on his involuntary commitment, 253 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,000 but we know he spent time at Napa State Hospital for, quote, going berserk. 254 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,000 And there's one more clue hidden in the Zodiac's first cryptogram. 255 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:09,000 Zodiac said he was identifying himself in that first set of cryptograms from August 1st, 1969. 256 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,000 But there was no name listed when the code was cracked. 257 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,000 But what if the name was buried in the code itself? 258 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,000 In one part of the code, you can clearly see the letters. 259 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,000 G-Y-K-E, Gajk. 260 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:29,000 In articles written by Gajkowski in 1969, he frequently shortened his name to four letters. 261 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:36,000 He used multiple spellings, such as G-I-K-E or G-A-I-K. 262 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,000 Some theorists have taken this even further. 263 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:44,000 The translation of those letters, once the code was solved, is A-U-S-E. 264 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:51,000 And again, once you look at both the code and the solution, you see the letters K-E-Y. 265 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Gajk-Aus-Ki, Gajkowski. 266 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 The killer says his identity was in the cipher. 267 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000 Was he telling the truth? 268 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:06,000 By 1985, Blaine is ready to take his investigation to the next level. 269 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:11,000 Blaine wants more definitive proof that Gajkowski is in fact Zodiac. 270 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:17,000 So he calls him up and tricks him into talking about code and records the conversation. 271 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Well, detectives get this tape from Blaine. 272 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:27,000 Then they ask Nancy Slover, the police dispatch who actually talked to the Zodiac, to listen to Gajkowski's voice. 273 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,000 She says it's the same as a Zodiac killer's voice. 274 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Detectives confront Gajkowski and ask him where he was at the time of the Lake Herman Road murders. 275 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:46,000 And Gajkowski tells them that he was overseas covering the conflict in Northern Ireland for the Nickerbocker newspaper. 276 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,000 Authorities immediately check his alibi. 277 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:57,000 Detectives pull Gajkowski's passport application, which is dated October 1968. 278 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:04,000 In the box where it says approximate date of departure, it says November 1st, 1968. 279 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:10,000 This isn't proof that he traveled on that date, but it does show that he intended to. 280 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:15,000 Now this isn't a full profiled by. He could have applied for a passport and not traveled on it. 281 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,000 He could have written articles about Northern Ireland from any location and just pretended to be Europe. 282 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Is it possible? Yes, but very unlikely. 283 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Frustrated, police make one final effort to gather proof. 284 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:35,000 Detectives have a handwriting expert look at Gajkowski's handwriting and compare it to the Zodiac killers. 285 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:39,000 The expert concluded that those two samples did not match. 286 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:44,000 With no physical evidence tying Gajkowski to any of the Zodiac murders, 287 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:49,000 detectives determined that there is not enough probable cause for either an arrest or a search warrant. 288 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:56,000 At the time of his death in 2004, Gajkowski is officially no longer a suspect. 289 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:07,000 Between 1969 and 1970, the Zodiac killer sends four coded messages to newspapers. 290 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:14,000 But after code breakers solve the first cipher in less than a week, the remaining three stay unbroken for decades. 291 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,000 A couple in Salinas solve the first cryptogram by using what they call a crib. 292 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,000 That's where you guess the words and phrases that you think might be in the cipher and then you go from there. 293 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:34,000 They believe that the cipher would contain the word kill, so they looked for pairings of certain symbols that could represent two letter Ls, and they were successful. 294 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 The message read, I like killing people because it's so much fun. 295 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Once they verified the corresponding symbols for that phrase, the rest of it they solved pretty quickly. 296 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:53,000 Zodiac's following ciphers are infinitely more complex, and for 51 years, cryptologists don't even come close to solving the remaining cipher. 297 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Investigators wonder if this is one of Zodiac's tricks. 298 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:07,000 Then in 2020, an all-star group of decoders takes on the challenge, hoping to crack one of the three unsolved Zodiac ciphers. 299 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I got involved with this case about 15 years ago. 300 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:17,000 We decided to try to decode a 340-character cryptogram by Zodiac that he had mailed on November 8th, 1969. 301 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,000 We plan to use a method called homophonic substitution. 302 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,000 And that's where one letter might be swapped for multiple symbols. 303 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:31,000 The team creates a powerful software program that processes millions of homophonic substitutions per second. 304 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:37,000 They run this software program for months and months, and not much happens. 305 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:43,000 Then one day they run an updated version of the software, and they finally solve the cipher. 306 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Over time, we were able to identify a few phrases that ended up being part of the right solution, phrases like, trying to catch me and gas chamber. 307 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Once we saw those phrases, we took a closer look in our experiments, and after a little bit of effort, we were able to unlock the entire message. 308 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:04,000 The newly decoded message picks up where the last cryptogram left off. 309 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000 It said, I hope you were having lots of fun trying to catch me. 310 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,000 That wasn't me on the TV show, which brings up a point about me. 311 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:20,000 I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner, because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradise. 312 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,000 So they are afraid of death. 313 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,000 I am not afraid because I know that my new life will be an easy one in paradise. 314 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,000 If this one can be solved, then maybe the other two can be solved as well. 315 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,000 And maybe that will tell us who the killer is once and for all. 316 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:40,000 Among those eager to solve the remaining cryptograms is Parisian engineer Faisal Zirawi. 317 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:45,000 In 2020, Zirawi zeroes in on one in particular. 318 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:52,000 Zirawi writes his own software to tackle what is thought to be the most difficult cryptogram of them all. 319 00:20:52,000 --> 00:21:00,000 On April 20th, 1970, the Zodiac sends a short cipher consisting of 13 symbols known as the Z13. 320 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Because it's so short, it makes it much more difficult to crack. 321 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:10,000 It begins with my name is followed by a 13 character cryptogram. 322 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,000 So solving the cipher is actually supposed to provide us with the Zodiac's name. 323 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,000 Once again, modern technology provides a breakthrough. 324 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:23,000 Zirawi's software translates the cipher as the letters K-A-Y-R. 325 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,000 To many, the translation sounds like gibberish. 326 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,000 But veteran Zodiac investigators immediately recognize the name. 327 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,000 Detectives who study the Zodiac's letters know that he misspells quite a few words. 328 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:42,000 We think that's often deliberate and that K-A-Y-R might just be K-A-Y-E. 329 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,000 This potential solution generates excitement about a decades old lead. 330 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:59,000 In 1973, Escalon police detective Harvey Hines is assigned to the case and keys in on an ex-convict named Lawrence K. 331 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Hines begins looking into K after noticing that K's mugshot bears a striking resemblance to one of the Zodiac's sketches. 332 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:19,000 The Zodiac is described as a male between 40 and 45 years old, 5'9 and 165 pounds with dark colored hair. 333 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:24,000 Lawrence K is 45 years old, 5'9, dark hair and 160 pounds. 334 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:33,000 Lawrence K is a convicted criminal with a long history of arrests for voyeurism as a peeping tom, prowling, burglary and more. 335 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,000 This is important because criminals don't just jump straight to murder, their crimes usually escalate. 336 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Perhaps most surprisingly in K's background is that in 1942 he's admitted to the Navy's Radio Material School in Chicago, 337 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:50,000 where he's trained in electronics but more importantly, encoding. 338 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:58,000 This may have also given him access to the military's Wing Walker boots, which would match the prints at the Lake Beriesa murder site. 339 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:03,000 Hines next tracks K's movements on the days surrounding the Zodiac killings. 340 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,000 K lives at 217 Eddy Street in San Francisco. 341 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:14,000 That's only two and a half blocks away from where the cab driver Paul Stein picked up the Zodiac on the night he was murdered. 342 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:22,000 Hines also discovers that Darlene Farron, who was murdered at Blue Rock Springs, worked at Aran's Cafe, which was just two blocks from K's apartment. 343 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:28,000 When Hines interviews Darlene's sister Pam Huckabee, she recognizes a photo of K. 344 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Apparently he often came to the cafe to pester her sister to the point that Darlene was very afraid of him. 345 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:38,000 But Hines needs more than circumstantial evidence to make his case. 346 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Detective Hines contacts Brian Hartnell, who survived the Zodiac's knife attack at Lake Beriesa, and he's heard the Zodiac's voice. 347 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:52,000 Hines secretly records a conversation with Lawrence K and then plays it for Hartnell. 348 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,000 And without hesitation, he says, this is the voice of the Zodiac. 349 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:01,000 Hines next pays a visit to San Francisco police officer Donald Falk. 350 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:06,000 Falk rushed to the crime scene on the night that the cab driver was murdered in San Francisco. 351 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:11,000 For years, Falk has claimed that he may have crossed paths with the killer that night. 352 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,000 He saw someone suspicious, who matched later descriptions. 353 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,000 But those descriptions weren't out yet, and he was on his way to a murder scene, so he didn't stop. 354 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,000 But Falk claims he's never forgotten that face. 355 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:30,000 When Hines shows Falk a picture of K, he states that out of the hundreds of mug shots he's seen since the murder, 356 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,000 K's picture bears the most resemblance to the man he saw that night. 357 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:38,000 With three witnesses identifying K as the Zodiac killer, 358 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Hines takes his report to Captain Roy Conway and Lieutenant James Huston of the Vallejo Police Department. 359 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:51,000 Hines thinks he's solved the case of the sentry, and he is expecting a huge pat on the back. 360 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:57,000 But after Conway and Husted read his report, they basically say, thanks, we'll get back to you. 361 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:58,000 And they never do. 362 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,000 Discouraged, Hines calls in one final favor. 363 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:08,000 Of course, cops know a lot of other cops, so Hines sends his report to two San Bernardino detectives he knows, 364 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,000 and begs them to take a look at it. 365 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,000 The two detectives read the report and they believe it. They think it's good police work. 366 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,000 These two detectives fly up to Lake Tahoe. They go to K's home. 367 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 They ask him his whereabouts on the night Paul Stein was murdered, Darlene Farron, all kinds of stuff. 368 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,000 K has an answer for everything. 369 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:32,000 K cooperates with investigators, supplying his fingerprints and handwriting samples. 370 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,000 So Hines is at home, and he's waiting with bated breath to hear from the two detectives. 371 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:46,000 They eventually call him, and they say that based on K's answers and the handwriting sample, they concluded that he is not the Zodiac. 372 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:53,000 K passes away in May of 2010. By this time, he's changed his name to K, C-A-N-E. 373 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,000 But he's never arrested for the murders. 374 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Zodiac. A pseudonym first published in a 1969 letter that strikes fear to this day. 375 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,000 For decades, that's all we've known to call this cryptic killer. 376 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:19,000 But in 2002, a witness comes forward with a dark family secret that may finally reveal his true name. 377 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:27,000 For most of Gary Stewart's life, the only parents he knows are the ones that adopted him. 378 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:38,000 Stewart is born in 1963. He's given up for adoption rather quickly, and raised by Lloyd and Leona Stewart of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 379 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,000 He wonders about his birth parents, but he has no idea who they really are. 380 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:49,000 But in 2002, when he's 39 years old, his biological mother, Judy Guilford, tracks him down. 381 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,000 She tells him how she had him when she was just a teenager. 382 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,000 And his biological father, who is now deceased, is named Earl Van Best, Jr. 383 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:05,000 Back in 1963, Van Best is 27 years old, when he impregnates Guilford, who is only 14. 384 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,000 Van Best is sent to prison for statutory rape. 385 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:16,000 But when he gets out on parole, he and Guilford go on the run, abandoning their baby in New Orleans. 386 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:22,000 Stewart is stunned, but the biggest shock comes when he sees a photo of his biological father. 387 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:27,000 And when Stewart looks at the picture, he immediately feels like he's seen this face before. 388 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:35,000 And not because of the family resemblance, but because it actually bears a striking resemblance to the one it poster for the Zodiac Killer. 389 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:44,000 This photo serves as a catalyst for Stewart to find out everything he can about his biological father. 390 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:52,000 He starts digging for information and quickly learns that Van Best is a bad guy with a long history of criminal activity. 391 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:57,000 He's been convicted of fraud, pedophilia, rape, drunk driving, you name it. 392 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,000 But not murder. 393 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,000 So he's a criminal, but is he the Zodiac Killer? 394 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,000 Stewart looks closer into his father's whereabouts at the time of the murders. 395 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:18,000 Stewart learns that his father was incarcerated in San Quentin Prison and that he was paroled right before the first Zodiac killings occurred. 396 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,000 And guess where Earl Van Best ends up when he's released? 397 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:30,000 He moves into San Francisco's Presidio district, the same neighborhood where cab driver Paul Stein is killed. 398 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,000 For Stewart, this is like a bad dream. 399 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,000 Everything he learns about his father points to him being the Zodiac Killer. 400 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:44,000 He reads all the Zodiac's letters and one of them references the musical, the Mikado. 401 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Then he finds out Earl Van Best was a huge fan of the Mikado. 402 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,000 Detail after detail is just piling up. 403 00:28:52,000 --> 00:29:00,000 Stewart decides that the best way to unload all of this personal baggage is to write a book proving that his father is the Zodiac Killer. 404 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:08,000 He really doesn't have enough information to take to a publisher at this time, but armed with a bunch of circumstantial evidence, he digs deeper. 405 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:13,000 Stewart hires an expert to compare his dad's handwriting to the Zodiacs. 406 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:19,000 This is a moment of truth for Stewart. This is where a lot of the other Zodiac suspects have fallen apart. 407 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:30,000 The handwriting expert compares the handwriting of Van Best's marriage certificate to the handwriting of the letters sent to the newspaper by the Zodiac Killer. 408 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:36,000 And after hours of detailed analysis, he concludes they are a match. 409 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:44,000 Next, Stewart asks police to compare his father's fingerprints to partial prints from the Stein murder scene. 410 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:56,000 The fingerprints found on the taxi cab are partial latents which show traces of blood, so they're incomplete and they would be inadmissible in court, but it still might tell them something. 411 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:03,000 Garrett provides in a large side-by-side picture of the best fingerprints from Stewart's father and the Zodiac crime scene. 412 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:14,000 When Stewart looks at the visual comparison, he sees a distinguishing characteristic, an identical scar on both the Zodiacs and his father's index fingers. 413 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,000 Armed with this evidence, Stewart shares his story with the public. 414 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:30,000 Stewart's book is published in 2014, and it's called The Most Dangerous Animal of All, another reference to Zodiac's letters. And it's a huge bestseller. 415 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:39,000 Stewart decides to parlay his success into a television series, so he meets with some TV producers and they tell him they're interested in optioning his book. 416 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:46,000 Before they put their reputation on the line, they decide to hire a private investigator in order to vet his research. 417 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:52,000 And that investigator immediately finds flaws in Stewart's research. 418 00:30:52,000 --> 00:31:01,000 First, he discovers that the handwriting sample taken from Van Bess's marriage certificate is not actually Earl Van Bess's handwriting. 419 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,000 It's the writing of the priest who conducted the ceremony. 420 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:10,000 The investigator also checks Van Bess's credit card records. 421 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,000 Now this is where the case against Van Bess actually crumbles. 422 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:24,000 Through the credit card reports, the investigator is able to determine that Van Bess is actually in Europe during the heart of the Zodiac's killing spree. 423 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,000 So it's definitely not him. 424 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:31,000 Still, when you look at the sketch, the resemblance is uncanny. 425 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:37,000 It's easy to see why Stewart believed, but as we all know, appearances can be deceiving. 426 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:54,000 In 2004, 35 years after the first murder, the San Francisco Police Department officially marks the Zodiac killer file inactive. 427 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,000 Case loads are busy, they have active cases coming in, there's really no leads going on in this case. 428 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:03,000 The public learns that this case has been shut down and they're upset about it. 429 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,000 They don't like the idea that the police have given up on it. 430 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,000 It's clear that there's still not much to go on after all this time. 431 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:19,000 So as we've seen in many cold cases before, the public and amateur investigators decide to take up the mantle and keep going with the investigation. 432 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:29,000 Now a lot of the theories presented by the public are quickly shut down because the evidence just doesn't add up, like Gary Stewart's claims about his father, for instance. 433 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:39,000 But in 2021, a group of researchers makes headlines claiming they've identified the Zodiac killer, and they are definitely not amateurs. 434 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:48,000 The group calls themselves the case breakers, and they are comprised of 40 different people with impeccable credentials. 435 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:55,000 We're talking retired FBI agents, retired military, forensic analysts, and academics. 436 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:02,000 So the fact that they believe they solved this case means a lot more than hearing it from your average Joe. 437 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:11,000 On October 6th, 2021, the case breakers announced that the Zodiac killer is a former military man named Gary Francis Post. 438 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:16,000 Gary Post is quite different than most of the other suspects that they've looked at in the past. 439 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:22,000 He's a very quiet guy, he lives in a rural area, he paints houses, he flies under the radar. 440 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,000 There's really no red flags to make him the suspect. 441 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:30,000 Post is brought to the attention of the case breakers by one of his neighbors, a guy named Chris Avery. 442 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:35,000 When they hang out together, Avery discovers that Post is quite a different man than he appears. 443 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:45,000 It turns out that Avery is one of several young men that Post has recruited to mentor, kind of in a paramilitary way, and they call themselves the posse. 444 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:57,000 Post takes these guys on trips up to the mountains, and they say he is obsessed with torturing and killing animals and building bombs which are similar to the explosive devices described by the Zodiac. 445 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:03,000 According to Avery, on one of these trips, Post makes a confession. 446 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Post implies to Avery that he has committed one of the Zodiac murders, and for him, that's the last straw. 447 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:16,000 He decides that he wants to move away from Groveland, and that it's also time to report Post. 448 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:21,000 Coincidentally, one of Avery's friends is actually part of the case breakers. 449 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:26,000 After speaking with Avery, the case breakers agree to investigate. 450 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Before they have a chance to dive in, Post dies in 2018 at the age of 80. 451 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,000 The case breakers decide to keep going regardless. 452 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,000 One of the first things they learned about Post was that he's an Air Force veteran. 453 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:43,000 The case breakers are able to gain access to Post's property in Groveland. 454 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,000 In the photography dark room, they find an old photo of Post. 455 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:53,000 And the photo bears a striking resemblance to the sketch of the Zodiac. 456 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,000 Soon they find even more chilling evidence. 457 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:03,000 The case breakers look into other California murders, unsolved ones, that happen around the same time as the Zodiac crimes. 458 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:10,000 There's a chance that the Zodiac had more victims and maybe left behind more evidence that's gone unnoticed. 459 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,000 They zero in on a top potential candidate for another Zodiac murder. 460 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:22,000 In 1966, Riverside City College student Sherry Jo Bates is stabbed to death near the campus. 461 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,000 This is just a couple of years before the Zodiac appeared in Northern California. 462 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:32,000 A stabbed young woman certainly fits the mold, but even more so, Bates' killer sends a confession. 463 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:45,000 The letter is typed so they can't compare much handwriting, but the address is handwritten on the envelope and definitely bears resemblance to the Zodiac's writing. 464 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:50,000 The letter itself has the same tone and style as the later Zodiac letters. 465 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:56,000 Naturally, they ask, where was Gary Post on the day of Bates' murder? 466 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:04,000 Turns out he was undergoing a physical examination at March Air Force Base, 15 minutes from the crime scene. 467 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:12,000 According to records of Bates' murder, police find size 10.5 military-style boot prints next to the body. 468 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:18,000 Military boot prints once again, just like Zodiac, and in Post's exact size of 10.5. 469 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,000 If she's the first victim, then he has to be our first suspect. 470 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:28,000 Obviously, Post can't be arrested or tried at this point, so the case-breaker announcement is met with some skepticism. 471 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000 As with every Zodiac theory, the public picks it apart. 472 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:38,000 First of all, despite his resemblance to the sketch, Post never wore glasses. 473 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:48,000 The same day as the case-breakers' announcement, the Riverside Police Department releases a statement saying that the Zodiac was not responsible for the murder of Sherry Jo Bates. 474 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,000 Are the cases connected? Is Post responsible for the Bates' murder? 475 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,000 Was that the first Zodiac killing? 476 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:59,000 At this point, we're stuck with more questions than answers. 477 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:10,000 As investigators pursue the true identity of the Zodiac killer, one vital question could hold a clue. 478 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:19,000 Police think the murders ended in 1969, the letters in 1974. But why did they stop? 479 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:25,000 The suspect's very involved in this. Seems to enjoy taunting law enforcement, and he's on a roll doing this. 480 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,000 And then as quick as he starts, he stops. 481 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:36,000 What happened here? Was the suspect arrested, incarcerated? Were they institutionalized? Were they killed? 482 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,000 There's a lot of open-ended questions as to why these murders all of a sudden stopped. 483 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:47,000 According to Italian journalist Francesco Amiconi, the explanation is truly surprising. 484 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:58,000 Amiconi believes that the reason the Zodiac killing stopped is because the killer moved from California to Italy, and that in fact, the killings didn't stop at all. 485 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:11,000 In September of 1974, just months after the Zodiac killer sends his last message to newspapers, a series of grisly killings begins in Florence, Italy. 486 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,000 And these murders fit the Zodiac's MO to a T. 487 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:20,000 Like the Zodiac killer, the Italian murderer mostly targets young couples. 488 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,000 He attacks mostly on the weekends or public holidays. 489 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:30,000 He almost always shoots the male victim first, then the female. And just like the Zodiac, he uses a small caliber handgun. 490 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:37,000 When the Italian press realize a serial killer is at large, they dub him the Monster of Florence. 491 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,000 The Monster of Florence has a much longer reign of terror than the Zodiac. 492 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:50,000 From 1974 to 1985, he murders 14 people. But he is just as elusive as the Zodiac. 493 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:57,000 Italian police spend decades chasing leads, interrogating ex-cons, staking out secluded lovers' lanes. 494 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,000 But nothing works. They cannot identify this killer. 495 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:04,000 Then in May of 2018, a bombshell. 496 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:13,000 On May 29th of 2018, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale publishes the theories by Francesco Amiconi. 497 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:17,000 He accuses a man named Giuseppe Joe Bebillacchio. 498 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:27,000 According to Amiconi, Bebillacchio, an American army veteran, confessed to him and agreed to turn himself in eight months earlier. 499 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:37,000 As the news breaks, Bebillacchio recants his confession. But police in Italy and America are already investigating every facet of his life. 500 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:44,000 Bebillacchio was born in New Jersey. And from 1954 to 1974, he served in the U.S. Army. 501 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,000 You can see on his military ID that he's five foot eight, 200 pounds. 502 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:54,000 His physical description certainly matches some of the descriptions given by witnesses of the Zodiac killer. 503 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:03,000 Detectives also learn that in 1964, Bebillacchio becomes an undercover agent for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division. 504 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:08,000 One of his assignments takes him to San Francisco right around the time. 505 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000 Taxicab driver Paul Stein is murdered. 506 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:19,000 In June of 1974, Bebillacchio retires from the Army and moves to Florence, Italy. 507 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:25,000 Zodiac's letters suddenly stop and dead bodies start appearing in Florence. 508 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:34,000 In 2020, the Florence Public Prosecutor's Office decides they have enough circumstantial evidence that they better get a DNA sample from Bebillacchio. 509 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:43,000 Everyone is sitting on pins and needles waiting for results to come back because the findings could solve two of the biggest murder mysteries in history. 510 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:51,000 So far, Italian authorities have been unable to match Bebillacchio's DNA to any of the Florence crime scenes. 511 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:58,000 But investigators have hope that DNA evidence will one day solve this long-running mystery. 512 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:08,000 With all of the advancements we've made in forensic science and investigation in general, I am confident that there is still an opportunity for us to solve this case. 513 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:16,000 And there certainly remains an entire community of people who are dedicated to seeing this case solve. 514 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:28,000 Recently, the Vallejo Police Department was able to isolate a partial profile of DNA from saliva on the back of stamps used on Zodiac's letters. 515 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:36,000 While this incomplete profile can't identify a suspect, it can be used to rule out a few. 516 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:43,000 In the meantime, an army of slews continues to try to finally solve this cold case. 517 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:50,000 I'm Lawrence Fishburne. Thank you for watching History's Greatest Mysteries.