The maniac nicknamed “Zodiac”, who terrorized Northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, escaped punishment.
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In the criminal history of the United States, one mystery remained unsolved for a long time. The maniac nicknamed “Zodiac”, who terrorized Northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, escaped punishment. But as he writes edition Daily Star, after half a century, the identity of the serial killer has finally been revealed. The “Zodiac” turned out to be combat veteran Gary Francis Post.
Zodiac carried out seven identified attacks, of which five resulted in the death of the victims. However, what made him especially famous was a series of coded letters sent to local newspapers. The killer used complex codes and puzzles, accompanied by threats and statements about his crimes. As a signature, he used the pseudonym “Zodiac” and a specific symbol reminiscent of a Celtic cross.
This is exactly the cross that was discovered by the private detective agency The Case Breakers near the house that once belonged to the American Gary Francis Post. Then new evidence was discovered: photographs showing scars on Post’s forehead turned out to be identical to those depicted in the Zodiac sketches. According to the Pentagon’s central records, the US Air Force veteran suffered a severe head injury during the accident.
After being discharged from the army, Post got a job as a painter and worked conscientiously for more than 40 years. As it turned out, at one of the crime scenes, investigators found a wristwatch with splashes of paint, which, according to law enforcement officers, was dropped by Zodiac. Imprints of army boots were also found near the murder sites, but the identity of their owner could not be determined.
Post has always been considered a law-abiding citizen, except for an incident in 2016 when he allegedly pushed his wife down the stairs. The man was then sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he died two years later at the age of 80.
The information that Post is the Zodiac was also confirmed by his stepson Chris Avery. According to him, he had long ago brought his stepfather to light, but Post, having learned about this, tried to kill his step-son, and Chris had to go on the run. However, this does not explain why Avery did not immediately go to the police, but spoke about his discovery only after private detectives made similar statements.
The Case Breakers founder Thomas Colbert added that the Zodiac letters finally took on their true meaning when they included the full name of Gary Francis Post.
The maniac’s cryptograms contained four codes in which information about him was encrypted. Three of them managed to decrypt earlier, but there was no personal information about the Zodiac in it. In his letters, he only claimed new victims and the commission of 37 murders, but the degree of veracity of these statements is still unclear. According to the police, the criminal may have exaggerated the number of victims due to a thirst for media attention and a desire to confuse the investigation.
Zodiac’s identity and possible involvement in other murders has been the subject of numerous theories, with hundreds of people considered suspects for more than half a century. The famous director David Fincher made the film “Zodiac”, dedicated to the search for a criminal.
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